I’ve been in the kitchen a LOT
lately. I’ve always said that I don’t
like cooking (and I don’t) but I do LOVE to eat delicious food. So, that’s been my motivation recently. That, and the countless people that come into
my office that don’t cook for themselves.
Yes, believe it or not that has inspired me too. Cooking takes time. The last thing someone wants to do when they
come home from working a long day is to cook dinner! It’s easy to be tempted to take your car
through the drive through and let someone else do the cooking for you. I get it.
At least I get the convenience part of it. I definitely don’t get the flavor part and
the feeling “ick” after you’ve eaten that greasy gross food feeling. I digress.
The convenience part of it I truly do get. Along with the cooking comes the
planning. Planning is key. Maybe you make your rice up for the week (it
really does heat up easily). Then all
that’s left to do is steam a vegetable and sauté or bake your protein up. It’s the planning and knowing what you’re
going to have for the week that allows you to not dread the preparation part of
it. That’s why I love Rachael Ray’s
concept of 30 minute meals. If you do
have all the ingredients on hand (and you will if you plan to have them) and
the meal can take just 30 minutes from start to finish, why not make something
healthy and good for you? My challenge
to my patients is to simply start making a few meals at home and limit the
frequency of the meals eaten out. And
when you do eat out try and make some of the healthier choice selections that
are more readily available than used to be.
Here are a few recipes that I promise are “Keepers” and won’t leave you
wondering if they’ll turn out or not. They’re tried and true and are simply
delish.
Snack: Raw
Hemp Bites
I started making my own “energy
bars” a few years back. Most of the
packaged ones have too many additives or added sugar that I felt that I should
explore making my own. Lära bars are my
go to if I don’t have time to make any.
They simply have dates and a nut with a few spices here and there to
give you as natural as can be energy bar.
There are many that I make, but I stumbled across this one the other day
and love that it had the hemp seeds mixed in.
It’ll definitely be in my rotation of bars that I’ll be making from now
on:
Not too much to say about this
one, but simply delish. I’m pretty
boring when it comes to my salad. It’s
most times just my leafy greens, tomatoes, and a nut with a couple different of
my go to salad dressings. The dressing
always gives me that different taste feeling so I don’t think I’m eating the
same thing over and over. But recently I’ve
been stepping my salad game UP! I think
the more things I can throw in my salad, the better! And this one doesn’t disappoint. I love how she marinated the chickpeas in a
little of the dressing ahead of time. It
really does enhance the flavor. And then
the combination of pine nuts, feta, the garbanzos, and hemp, oh my!! I’ve made it two weeks in a row it’s that
good.
Soup/Stew: Butternut
Squash, Kale & Quinoa Stew
This one is for all of you in
those cold weather states that need some warming up. It’s 74° and overcast today but next week it’s
going to be in the 80s. Definitely not
soup weather here in the MIA. The thing
is even here people love soups. We just
eat them to warm up from the cold air conditioner J This soup has it all – a great mix of flavors
and you can spice it up as much as you like.
A great combination of butternut squash, kale and quinoa. The color on my stew was off (hers was WAY
brighter and prettier) and I didn’t realize until later that my smoked paprika
was old. It’s been replaced and this
stew needs to be made again. And to
think it’s going to taste better than the 1st time!
Main Dish – Seafood: Halibut
with Coconut Creamed Kale and Quinoa in a Papillote
Every so often I will have
seafood. It’s not often, but sometimes
it’s a good option when eating out. Not
every restaurant is vegetarian friendly.
You’d think by now most restaurants would
have an idea of how to make a vegetarian meal that wasn’t just vegetables and
more vegetables. Maybe they need a
dietitian to give them an example of a well-balanced meal with protein, carbohydrates
and fat. I made this dish a couple of
weeks ago for a friend. Needless to say
it was my 1st time cooking with parchment paper (yes I had to watch
the video to make sure I cooked the fish the right way. I even got my friend involved to make sure I
was doing it right – note to self, next time don’t make a meal for the 1st
time for someone, too stressful!) I had
some extra quinoa already cooked up, so I didn’t cook the quinoa in the coconut
milk. Regardless it still turned out
amazing! The parchment paper makes
clean-up easy and it only takes 15 minutes to bake – too easy NOT to cook a
dinner like this at home. 
Dessert: Crispy
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles
Chocolate and peanut butter. Peanut butter and chocolate. Yeah, they just go together. They really really do. This recipe made quite a few, so I even
shared. And these are not just I think
they’re “keepers” good these were everyone’s “keepers” good. Yeah, that good. So make them.
Share them. I bought the crisped
rice cereal in an individual container, no need for a whole box that’ll go to
waste. And that way I can have some
always on hand and not be stale when I need it.
I must now go look for another of her truffle recipes to try.
So there you have it – a few more
recipes that have recently made it into my “keepers”. I hope you see a recipe or two that you might
like to try. I currently have a stack of
recipes that are just waiting to be made.
So I’m off to cook and look for more “keepers” of my own. I’m pretty sure I’m going to need a new
folder soon to hold all of these “keepers”!
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