Tag: healthy eating
Jamie’s Food Revolution- Continued
As I mentioned last week, I am closely following Jamie Oliver’s reality show every Friday on ABC. Since I was away to Austin, Texas, I didn’t get a chance to watch the show for the last two Fridays. I did watch them once I got back and was very surprised to see what they showed at the high school. Jamie showed up there and saw french fries being served and all the kids choosing them as the primary food. To change things a bit, he proceeded to cook a noodle stir fry dish with seven different vegetables and served it with flavorful pieces of chicken. One of the inspectors who was reluctantly giving Jamie a chance looked at the plate and immediately said that the lunch doesn’t fit the regulations. According to her each lunch tray should have a cup and a half of vegetables. Although the noodles were full of veggies, she didn’t think they were enough. I was very surprised to hear that, especially since they had shown what the kids were eating earlier- burgers and fries- where were the veggies in there???
Are you ready for this- the fries were considered a vegetable. I guess technically speaking, they are made out of potatoes- but really??? I couldn’t believe it. Such misguided rules are making our kids obese and unhealthy. I was angry our government is not doing anything while our kids eat crap food in schools.
My daughter was sitting next me while I was watching and getting angry. She immediately came to her school’s rescue and told me they are not served french fries. She explained how there was fruit cups and salad in their cafeteria. I was happy to hear that but still very concerned about the future of our schools.
As I continue to support Jamie’s effort to make our schools healthy, please do your bit and sign his petition.
Jamie’s Food Revolution..
I love Jamie Oliver! I have always loved watching and cooking Jamie’s recipes. I have his show set on my dvr and have saved them all in there. My daughter likes him as well- especially after I told her he is my favorite chef to watch. We watch his shows on the weekends and I love watching him cook in his garden in a rustic kitchen in the UK- I wish I could be there.
Now that he is all over television with his show, The Food Revolution, I love him even more. I remember watching him in the UK doing the same thing for the schools there and thinking I wish he would come here. Essentially, he is trying to make our schools healthier. He goes to a school and talks about all the processed food our kids are being fed and tries to teach the school how to make simple, healthy food out of real ingredients. All I can say is – why didn’t someone else do this a long time ago???
Healthy eating comes from the homes but our government makes it hard to eat healthy especially for families who are on a tight budget and find the processed foods a lot cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables- something is wrong.
When our kids are younger, like mine is (she is seven), we can still control what they eat. I pack my daughter’s lunch everyday except one day when she eats pizza. I am okay with one day of pizza as long as the rest of the days I can give her lunch- but I feel, as she gets older, she is going to want to eat at school and the thought makes me cringe. All the unhealthy food being served is very depressing. I am trying to raise her with healthy eating habits and it gets harder as she gets older. Everywhere I look there are tons of unhealthy food choices, chain restaurants, candy and sugar…
Since Jamie Oliver is trying to make a difference, I want to do everything to help. He has a petition we can all sign on his website. Please go ahead and do so and cook something healthy tonight!
Mushroom and Spinach Quesadilla
This is a great way to transform your left overs and create a wonderful, quick lunch. I made this for myself with the leftover mushroom mixture from the enchilada dinner.
Smoked salmon is always in my fridge. I try to eat it as much as possible especially since the other two people in my family don’t care for the fish at all.
I wanted to make a substantial yet healthy lunch for myself. I took out the mushroom filling and the salmon. I decided to add some spicy low fat cheese- just a few, very thin slices to add some creaminess to the dish. I also always have whole-wheat tortillas in the fridge- and that was it- a quesadilla was born. I added the mushroom filling, salmon, cheese and baby spinach- also, always in my fridge. It was a well-balanced, quick and delicious lunch. Best of all, I ate it with some delicious homemade salsa.
Try the quesadilla next time you run out of ideas for a healthy lunch…
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Do You Get Enough Fiber? Eat These- GG Crackers
I heard about these crackers on Joan Hamburg’s show when she was talking about a diet called the F-Factor which amongst other things, stresses on fiber. What got my attention was that most of us don’t get enough fiber in our diets. Even those of us who take the time out to make sure we are having enough fruits and vegetables. The crackers are called GG crackers and they claim to control appetite and are only 12 calories each.
Well, I thought these sounded really good. I went to Whole Foods to find them and there they were. I brought two packs home to test them out. First of all, they are not the kind of crackers you look forward to eating ever day. Four crackers a day will take care of about 80% of your required fiber intake- for that I don’t care what they taste like- I will eat them. I tried them with a smear of peanut butter and another time I spread some jam. I had them as a snack in between meals. I didn’t see much difference in terms of appetite control. I liked that I was getting a lot of fiber.
After a week or two of eating the crackers as a snack, I decided to incorporate them into a meal. I thought breakfast would be ideal- so I took three crackers, smeared some jam and scrambled an egg. Eating the crackers with the egg made them more tolerable and I was able to wash them down with my delicious coffee. I also had one more cracker with my lunch- which consisted of a salad with some protein and lots of veggies.
What a difference- I was far less hungry the whole day! I am hooked- I don’t miss eating regular bread with my breakfast and I certainly have not eliminated bread or pasta. This is just an additional thing I have incorporated into my daily routine.
Since it is Friday- it is a day to either highlight a top ten list or inform you of something I am very excited about- I thought writing about GG crackers would be ideal. They have the highest dietary fiber. Dietary fiber is a natural substance obtained from fruits, vegetables and cereals. Adequate fiber leads to lower cholesterol and is overall a good thing to add to your diet.
It is great to get fiber from fruits and vegetables but we would need to eat a whole lot to get about 25 grams for women and over 35 for men. So, if you want to incorporate more fiber in your diet- try these crackers.
Healthy Indian Style Hamburgers with Caramelized Onions and Zucchini served with Sweet Potato Fries
Once in a while I come up with a fabulous meal- it is tasty, healthy and very good looking. This is one of them. One of my favorite things to eat is a good hamburger- especially at our local pub. Since watching Food Inc, I have been off hamburgers especially at restaurants.
So, I decided to make turkey burgers but with a twist. I love ground turkey for a lot of things but when I have a regular turkey burger I always compare it to a beef burger and it just doesn’t stand up to it’s competitor. To avoid the comparison I decided to use my seekh kebab mix. It is extremely flavorful loaded with aromatics- perfect for a juicy burger. Now, what about the toppings? I didn’t want to use mayo since it is loaded with calories. I had cilantro chutney in the fridge that I normally serve with seekh kebabs- perfect. I also thought of the delicious tomato chutney from Trader Joes- that would pair up really well with the cilantro chutney. I needed to incorporate vegetables in this meal and so I decided to caramelize onions and saute up some zucchini and use them as toppings for the healthy burgers. Of course, I bought the soft whole-wheat hamburger buns from Trader Joes and while I was there, I also picked up sweet potatoes. They are super healthy and I wanted to incorporate them into the meal as well- I cut them up into wedges and made oven fries- they were delicious- especially paired with garlic powder and smoked paprika. The sweetness in this orange vegetable was wonderful with the savory garlic powder and smoky paprika.
Overall it was a fabulous meal- I did an article about this healthy, delicious meal on the New York Times, The Local.
Try the healthy Indian style hamburgers with the veggies and sweet potatoes next time you want to eat a hamburger.
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Homemade Macaroni and Cheese (Italian Style)
There is really no reason to buy boxed macaroni and cheese- it is so easy and fast to make your own- plus you can control the amount of fat and salt.
Of course I understand why people buy the boxed kind- I do too- sometimes you just don’t have the time or the inclination to cook anything. I do buy the healthy box and have a bunch in my pantry. It is my emergency ‘go to’ for last minutes play dates that turn into a dinner date, etc.
I was making an adult dinner and something that my daughter was not that much into. I was going to give her some components of the meal but I was missing the starch part. I thought of mac and cheese. I went into to my well-stocked pantry to look for a box of macaroni and cheese- well, what do you know- it was not as well stocked as I thought. I couldn’t find any… That is when I decided to make my own. Honestly, it took me less than twenty minutes to cook. I immediately put a pot of water to boil for my whole wheat pasta. I took out some butter (oil can be substituted) and flour; cooked them for a minute and added some milk. I always have shredded cheese in the fridge- in this case, I had a mixture of Italian cheeses- delicious! I added the cheese and my sauce was done. I then added the cooked pasta and topped the whole thing with some more cheese and placed the frying pan under a broiler and browned it- done!
My daughter gave it a thumbs up! She loved it- and I gave it to some of her friends the next day and they all ate it up- no mention of the whole wheat pasta at all. Try this one next time your child asks for macaroni and cheese…
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons white whole-wheat flour
- 1½ cups one percent milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ pound whole-wheat penne, cooked al dente
- 1½ cups mix of shredded four Italian cheeses- parmesan, provolone, fontina and asiago (available at Trader Joes)- divided
Preheat oven to broil.
In a medium frying pan heat the butter and add the flour. Whisk the flour on medium heat till the butter is melted, about 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk, making sure no lumps remain. Add salt and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and cook till it is thickened- about 3-4 minutes. Turn the heat off and whisk in one cup of the shredded cheese. Add the cooked pasta and mix well. Top the mixed pasta with the remaining cheese and broil for 7 to 8 minutes or till the top is golden brown.
Halibut with Zucchini and Spinach Hash
This is a very healthy meal- perfect for the New year, more fish eating plan. I had halibut filets in my freezer which I decided to thaw and cook for dinner.
I had zucchini and spinach in the fridge and was not sure what to do with them. I am trying to cut back on the starch so I decided to do just a few potatoes on the side- to satisfy my starchy part of the appetite.
I diced the zucchini and sauteed it on a high heat. Once the pieces were golden brown, I added the spinach. The garlic and salt made the hash really tasty.
This is such a simple meal- didn’t take very long and it was very satisfying. I broiled the halibut simply with salt, pepper and olive oil- thats it- and it was delicious. Any fish can be used for this meal- use your favorite one or which ever one is on sale that day.
I gave my daughter and her friend the fish and zucchini hash. They ate it- well, they promised me they would earlier that evening when they cajoled me into having dinner together. That is also when I told them what I was serving for dinner- and they agreed very quickly… Well, once I placed the dinner in front of them- the look on their faces was priceless. Sia’s friend proceeded to tell me how she doesn’t like spinach. I looked at her very nicely and informed her how she promised me she will eat whatever I give her as long as she could join us for dinner.
They both ate everything, quietly.. I couldn’t help laughing (to myself). It is so nice have such a good friend and so sweet to see how the two girls wanted to spend time together regardless of what they had to eat to do so. It is all about good friends and good food…
- 10 oz bag of baby spinach
- 2 small zucchini, chopped in small pieces
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
In a non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the zucchini pieces. Saute on high heat till golden brown- about 5-6 minutes. Add salt, garlic and baby spinach. Saute on high till the spinach wilts. Taste for seasonings. Serve with the fish.
- 3-4 fillets Alaskan halibut (4-5 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Drizzle the oil with salt and pepper all over the fish pieces. Broil in the oven for 3-4 minutes on each side or till the fish is done.
- 3-4 potatoes, sliced into ¼ inch
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Add the olive oil, salt and pepper to the potato slices and broil till golden brown and soft- about 15 minutes.