Meal Planning Tips

A meal plan is like a life vest in the middle of the storm.  You hate it, and it doesn't look good on you, but you really can't live without it--no matter how many swimming lessons you've had in the past.

We all muddle through weeks without a meal plan, turning tacos into taco-salad when we realize we are out of tortillas and watching perfectly good veggies rot in a drawer because we don't have the right things for stir-fry.  But eventually we realize that we don't have a chef on staff and it's time to sit down and actually think about meal time.  I know, I hate it too.

But I have gleaned a few tips you might find helpful as you make a plan.  First, I never sit down until I've poked my head into the fridge and have figured out what needs to be used up in the next couple of days.  The average American family throws away $2,000 worth of unused food every year.  I don't know about you, but I'd rather make a plan to use up the eggplant and put the money saved into my someday-I'll-actually-get-to-Hawaii fund.  Then I make a meal plan around those foods.

Variety is the spice of life, but it's a pain in the rear when you walk in the door at 6:00 every night and have to psych yourself up to get your cooking groove on and tackle a new recipe.  So make a basic plan such as:  Monday is Italian, Tuesday is Mexican, Wednesday is Oriental, Thursday is American, etc.  Fill it in with your family favorites in each category.  If you have more than one favorite for each category, then rotate them based on what you already have so that your shopping list isn't ginormous.  If you want to try a new eggplant Parmesan recipe, then schedule it on Italian night when you normally cook spaghetti.  And don't over-schedule.  If you know you will eat out at least once a week, then plan for it.

Yes, you have to schedule one leftover night (remember the Hawaii fund).  If your family hates leftovers, then turn the leftovers into a soup night.  Soups are versatile and can make use of almost any leftover unless you make lots of casseroles--then it's impossible to camouflage it as anything but leftovers.  I like to make cookies or a great dessert on leftover night so my family has incentive to eat the recycled stuff.

I like extra touches that make your meals feel a little special, but I always seem to plan the main dish and then I completely space-out buying the side items that really make it a meal.  So I made a list, using my categories, of side items that I like to have around.  Check out my example below. 

Mexican Night:  Saffron rice, Sangria, sliced avocado.
Italian Night:  Garlic bread, salad, sparkling cider
Oriental Night: Miso soup with tofu, egg rolls, fresh ginger
Grilling Night: French fries, asparagus

You'll notice that my Mexican side items will go with tacos, fajitas, nachos, tamales, or enchiladas.  I can switch my main dish around without having to change the sides.   Then I add those to my shopping list with the main dish ingredients and I'm ready to hit the grocery store.    

Summer Harvest: Getting Kids to Eat Vegetables

Summer vacation is coming to an end and I have really enjoyed my time away.  Thankfully, just because school is starting, that doesn't mean that the fresh fruits and vegetables of summer are ending too.  There's so much sweet ripe fruit left in summer that it makes me giddy.  The stores are blooming with vegetables that I rarely see in this small neck of the wilderness (can't say woods because I live in the desert.)  I've found parsnips and turnips, huge bundles of bok choy, and purple peppers, not to mention the corn that is just waiting to be grilled under the summer sky.

I hope you're as enchanted by the summer harvest as I am.  I brought home my basket of goodies this morning and started chopping away.  My goal is to keep my kids excited about eating vegetables.  I've tried the Jessica Seinfeld "Deceptively Delicious" approach where you puree vegetables then hide them in their favorite foods. I've also drizzled them with all manner of sauces, but nothing works as well as cutting them in to interesting shapes.  My kids are no longer enchanted by dinosaur shapes, but they do love things that are extra big.  Try cutting your veggies on the bias.  It gives you cucumber discs that are either oval shaped or huge discs, both just beg to be dipped in dressing.  It's also a great way to make a veggie tower.  Just stack large slices of cucumber and tomatoes in the middle of a plate and drizzle with dressing (Italian or Ranch work best). 

Ready-to-eat baby carrots seem to just shrivel away in the bottom of my crisper.  It's cheaper and much more fun to peel organic carrots and cut them into long strips.  These carrot straws are a huge hit with my kids when they're rummaging for snacks.  But the bottom line is that kids like their veggies fresh and ready to eat. If you have room, stack yogurt and nestle string cheese next to your veggies in the crisper.  This turns your crisper into the snack drawer without involving Cheez-Its.  Steer them toward the good stuff and they'll dive in. You don't have to resort to magic tricks.

Celetini with Summer Squash and Ricotta

You may have been eyeing the pasta sitting next to my Wild Rice Salad in my last post.  Yep, it was delicious too.  It's Mario Batali's recipe so of course it was amazing!  I give him all the credit on this one, but have one minor suggestion; put in lots more squash and zucchini because it's super yummy.

PENNETTE WITH SUMMER SQUASH AND RICOTTA

1 cup fresh ricotta

6 tbs. olive oil

1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano, plus extra for serving

1 pound (I'd do more!) summer squash or zucchin (or both!), cut lengthwise in hald and sliced into quarter moons

1 lbs pennette rigate (Walmart doesn't carry this so I used celetini)

6 tbs chopped mint

salt & pepper

1.  Bring six quarts salted water to boil.

2.  Meanwhile, whisk the ricotta and 3 tbs olive oil together in a bowl.  Add the parmigiano, whisking until it's evenly incorporated.  Whisk in 2 tbs. warm water, then whisk in another tbs. water if necessary to loosen the consistency.

3.  Heat the remaining 3 tbs. olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add the squash and cook, stirring until tender.  Season well with salt and remove from heat.

4.  Drop the pasta into the water and boil until al dente.  Drain and reserve 1/3 cup of the pasta water.

5.  Add the pasta and reserved water to the squash, stirring and tossing over medium heat to mix well.  Cover, reduce heat to low and allow to steam together for 2 minutes.

6.  Stir in the mint, season with salt and pepper, if necessary and transfer to a serving bowl.  Garnish with dollops of whipped ricotta and serve immediately with grated parmigiano on the side.

This is just me, but I think this dish would be lovely with toasted pine nuts or a seasoned bread crumb topping dotted with butter and broiled to golden.

Wild Rice Salad with Sweet Lime Dressing

I'm back in my kitchen experimenting away in an effort to add vegan and vegetarian foods to my diet.  For this recipe, I had to use my husband and friend as test tasters since my children wouldn't recognize a salad unless it contained only leafy vegetables and was drowning in ranch dressing.  Asking them to spoon up a pinkish salad with rice sent them scurrying for the boxes of cereal.  If you ask me, it's their loss.  I found this recipe incredibly satisfying and my test tasters agreed.  It has the perfect blend of sweet, tart and nuttiness that makes my taste buds sing.

Thanks to vegan chef Isa Chandra Moskowitz for the bones of this dish.  I love her adventuresome spirit but I'm not quite ready to marry the sweet, tarte, nuttiness of this salad with hot chili sauce the way Ms. Moskowitz prefers.  I like my lips when they're not constantly burning.  If that's your style, then dive into her original recipe found in her "Appetite for Reduction" cookbook.

WILD RICE SALAD WITH SWEET LIME DRESSING

1 navel orange, sliced in 1/2 inch segments

2 tbs. toasted sesame seeds (yep, toss them in a heated pan and stir them around for a couple minutes)

2 cups cooled long grain and wild rice

1 handful craisins

6 cups lettuce mix

1 lb tinfoil beets chopped

SWEET LIME DRESSING

1/4 c. lime juice

2 tbs. red wine vinegar

2 tbs. salad oil

1/8 tsp. salt

2 tsp. agave nectar (honey or sugar works in a pinch)

Toss everything together except the oranges and sesame seeds.  Drizzle on the dressing and toss with tongs (preferably in beat with your favorite song playing on your ipod).  Add the oranges and sesame seeds and toss one last time.



Lick Your Bowl Clean Summer Pasta

This recipe was a total experiment and a total hit.  My family gobbled it up faster than I've ever seen them eat anything.  They were asking for bread to sop up the remaining sauce.  It's flavorful and just a tad spicy.  Please give me feedback on this dish.  We think it's "lick your bowl clean" good.

RECIPE: LICK YOUR BOWL CLEAN SUMMER PASTA

Ingredients: 

• Diced summer vegetables:  such as squash, mushrooms, and broccoli.  Lots if you want lots of vegies with your noodles, less if you prefer more noodles than vegies.
•  Diced red pepper and red onion: about two tablespoons each.
• 2 tsp minced garlic (out of the jar is fine)
• 1 pkg. bite sized pasta such as mini-piccolini.
• 1 cup. vegetable broth
• 1 cup white wine.
• Red pepper flakes (to taste)
• Optional: Grated Parmesan cheese and a diced tomato

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Toss diced summer vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place on a cookie sheet and roast for approx. 20 minutes, flipping the vegies midway.

Meanwhile, start the pasta water and cook according to the package directions.

In a large pan, sautee the red pepper and onion in a tablespoon of olive oil.  Once the onion is translucent, add the garlic and sautee until fragrant.  Stir in the broth and white wine and bring to a boil.  Add the drained pasta and the roasted vegetables and toss.  Heat through.  Top with grated parmesan cheese and diced tomato (for vegetarians) or seasoned bread crumbs (for vegans.)

How Do Vegans Eat Mexican?

The challenge for me, when it comes to overhauling my diet in favor of plants, is replacing staples from my previous diet without sacrificing flavor.  Vegan and Vegetarian cookbooks are exciting because they explore the types of international cuisine that we don't eat much of in the United States like Indian and Asian dishes.  But I was already good at cooking Mexican and Italian dishes so it's only natural for me to start there. 

Thankfully, there's a lot to work with.  Guacamole is vegan without even trying.  Mix it with mashed edamame beans and you get a lower-fat version.  Vegetarian refried beans can be made with butter (or vegan butter substitute) and a little liquid smoke.  Fajitas become meaty deliciousness when you replace the meat with sauteed portobello mushroom strips.

Tonight's burritos were a hit with my manly family.  I simply sauteed onions, peppers, garlic, pinto beans, chipotle peppers, corn, and cubed potatoes in olive oil with a little apple cider vinegar and spooned it into flour tortillas.  The kids topped their burritos with fresh salsa, tomatoes, lettuce and sour cream.  I left off the sour cream for a vegan dish. 

Give it a try and let me know what you think.  What changes would you make?

Ode to Broccoli Slaw

I've just discovered the holy grail of bagged salad mixes.  Why did I never try this before?  And how could matchstick sized pieces of broccoli stalk change my life? 

It began with a lunch out to my favorite restaurant for vegetarian fare.  I was digging into my delicious roasted red pepper and artichoke heart sandwich on multi-grain bread and eyeing the side dish suspiciously.  It looked like cole slaw but it wasn't.  It was broccoli slaw with carrots and red cabbage drizzled in olive oil and fresh pepper.  Crunchy, tasty and cool. 

The next week I bought a bag at the grocery store and started experimenting.  Unlike the cabbage version, broccoli slaw doesn't have a strong taste so it can be used to add crunch to practically any dish.  My favorite salad was transformed.  Leafy greens topped with broccoli slaw, tiny chow mien noodles and almonds with Asian sesame dressing.  Now I had a salad so crisp and crunchy that I couldn't hear what my children were saying--bliss!

Since then I've used it on practically everything.  I topped my pinto bean, potato and chipotle pepper burrito with a handful to give it a crunch that lettuce just can't add.  I've roasted it along with tomatoes and tossed it on top of pasta.  It's a dream.  And to think that I've been throwing away the bottom of the broccoli all these years.  Thanks to my food processor, those days of waste are over.

I'll Do It Tomorrow

It's been difficult coming up with a topic today.  Probably because I've been drowning in a sea of to-do lists and I can't get my footing.  My desk looks like a paper recycling plant run amok and my brain is short circuiting.  Today I was actually surprised when my workout ended because I couldn't remember starting it.  I was going through the motions on auto-pilot.  A stack of cookies mysteriously disappeared off the kitchen counter and I'm pretty sure I was the culpret.  Last night I realized at 9:30 that I never actually fed anyone dinner.  I was making the kids tuna sandwiches at 10:00.

Some days it's just difficult to focus on your goals.  Some days you have to celebrate the meare fact that you made it to the end of the day relatively unscathed.  Some days you have to forgive yourself for a "Cheez-it" weakness.  Tomorrow I'm going to do better--and that's all anyone can ask.

Keep Going

Sometimes you just need to keep going.  You have to get tired of the internal dialog.  "Do I have any clean workout clothes?  I know I swore I was only going to have soda on the weekend, but I really need one today.  I'm tired of busting my butt everyday and not seeing any difference--I should just give it up."  It's like I'm talking to that obnoxious self-centered distant cousin that I always get stuck standing next to in the family reunion buffet line.  I'd rather dunk my head in mashed potatoes than listen, so why listen to whiny self? 

Just keep going.  You know when you're doing what you're supposed to be doing and when you're not.  You know when you're spending more time inventing excuses than walking on the treadmill.  Shut her up and start moving.  You're worth it.

3 Weeks Being a Vegetarian

I've officially hit the three-week mark for being a vegetarian (unless you count the piece of bacon I ate in a moment of weakness), and I'm happy to report that I have not become iron deficient, or lost any of my hair.  I also have not succumbed to unexplained fatigue causing me to fall asleep randomly. I purposely fell asleep during "Snow White and the Huntsman" because it was so freaking boring, but it had nothing to do with my new divorce from meat.  They just announced "Snow White and the Huntsman Part 2".  I wonder if they're just going to hit us over the head with mallets as we enter the theater--it's certainly more humane than making us sit through that goop twice! But, my real point is that none of my fears were justified.

In truth, they were really everyone else's fears.  The minute I announced my intentions, I was flooded with unsolicited advice about how handle my unnatural choice to give up meat.  I was warned about a whole slew of crazy problems that were sure to result: fatigue, iron deficiency, memory loss, muscle atrophy, unexplained cravings to shoot wild elk with a compound bow.  And if I had a dime for every person who asked me where I was going to get my protein, I'd have enough money for a Big Mac Supersized Combo! 

What was really surprising was how easy it was.  I really thought I'd have to transition my way to meatless.  I was going to begin with red meat, then drop pork the next month and so forth, but I just kind of stopped.  The key to success was making the same things I'd always eaten, but meatless.  This meant shish-ka-bobs filled with vegetables, huge salads with every possible goody dumped on top, portobello mushroom fajitas, and pizza with fresh tomatoes and tons of red onions. I even made delectable refried beans in my crock pot.  Yep, you heard it first--I reconstituted a bean!  I know, you're getting hungry just reading about it.  So dive on in!  Embrace Meatless Monday.  My family licked their plates clean when I made a meatless paella, and the veggie pizza went faster than the greasy pepperoni.  Even they were surprised at how painless it's been to be a mostly vegetarian family. 

I could use some new recipes.  Please share your yummy meatless dishes.

Shedding Pounds P90X Style and Becoming a Vegan

You may have noticed that I've taken a break from writing in my blog and that I'm just getting back at it.  You may have been wondering what has been keeping me so busy this year--but most likely you didn't even notice my absence.  It's okay.  I know how you feel.  Your life is busy enough without me.

Still, some people have asked.  I haven't published a book, cured cancer, gotten my degree or anything terribly noteworthy that would logically keep me from writing on occasion.  Actually, I have been on a journey of self-discovery--yep, code word for being selfish.  I was staring my 40th birthday in the mirror and couldn't see it because my thighs were hiding it.  I vowed that I was NOT going to turn 40 and still be overweight and out of shape.  Then, a year rolled around and I knew I wouldn't see my 41st birthday because it was upstairs and climbing stairs exhausted me.  That was it.  I needed a change.  I stopped writing and started exercising.  Guess I thought that I couldn't do them both.

When the pounds started to drop and I no longer needed an oxygen mask to get up to my bedroom, my friends started asking what it was that I was doing and why wasn't I telling them how to do it.  I should have been blogging about it--I know that.  It would have been very reassuring if I had been reading about someone else that was trying to re-introduce exercise into their lives after giving it the boot in college.  But I wasn't thinking that way.  I was thinking about how I had to get to bed by 9:30 because the 5:30am alarm was jolting me out of bed no matter what. I'm sorry that I didn't share it with you.  It would have been nice to know that just one other person was taking the journey with me.

What I did was this.  After watching dozens of exercise infomercials I chose Tony Horton's P90X and ordered it online with the express shipping.  For the next year I got up every weekday morning and did whatever Tony asked me to do (except for the diet part--I can only take so much torture.)  A year later I had dropped 25 pounds and went from a size 12 jean to a size 4.  In the process I discovered that I was stronger than I thought and I had more willpower than I ever knew I could possess.

It's been a great journey so far.  I can jump and kick like a teenager with only a slightly bad knee.  My heart and lungs kick the tar out of the treadmill and my resting heartbeat could lull a baby to sleep.  Best of all, I was able to take a "strenuous" (that's what it said on the map) hike through Bryce Canyon with my son without having to stop, lean over and wish to heaven that someone would airlift me out of there.

I've been at it a solid year and a half now and feel pretty confident that I can write and exercise--though not at the same time.  Since I set goals on my birthday, rather than new years, and my birthday is tomorrow, I have a new goal that I'm actually going to share.  I'm becoming a Vegan and I've given myself a year to do it.  This time, I'm going to share the journey.  So stay tuned.  Oh, and let me know if you're going to do it with me.  I love having friends along for the ride.

I Had No Idea My Child Was This Exceptional

I about had a heart attack when I received a notice in my son’s backpack declaring that, because he tested so highly on his CRT’s (not sure what that stands for exactly), he is eligible for the Gifted and Exceptional Student Program.  Bear in mind that this notice was marked “Third and Final Notification”, which means that my son’s backpack ate the last two notices, and that the paper was wrapped around a dirty sock that he was carrying around in his bag.

This is the same child that got worked up about doing a Science Fair project last year.  He was so excited that I honestly believed that some fabulous teacher had finally sparked an interest where one didn’t exist previously, and so I rushed out and bought stick on letters, poster-board and other stuff totaling $35 earmarked for “higher education.”  We worked on the project for a couple of nights before my husband casually asked his son why he was so excited about doing the Science Fair this year.  Our son beamed from ear to ear and said, “Because my teacher promised us a 2-litre bottle of any soda we want if we enter the Science Fair.”  My husband laughed and said, “I’ll buy you any soda you want, you don’t need your teacher to buy it for you.”  Needless to say, we didn’t enter a project that year because his interest evaporated faster than a bottle of Root-beer.

But if the school thinks he’s exceptional, then who am I to disagree?  The questionnaire simply asked me to site specific examples of times when my son showed an unusual affinity or enthusiasm for an academic project that was unusual for his age.  It gave examples such as, “has your child gotten so involved with a project that he gives up other pleasures in order to work on it?”  Unless you count the time that he sat through the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy without so much as a bathroom break, I couldn’t think of an example.  As a matter of a fact, I couldn’t come up with any examples for any of the questions asked.  The bottom line is that my kid isn’t gifted.  He’s just a typical kid with a strong competitive streak.  If you turn it into a competition, then he wants to win—and tests are just competitions.

I thought about lying to the school.   I daydreamed about hanging out with the other football moms and casually mentioning a few thousand times that, not only did my son just make that amazing tackle, but he’s also an exceptionally gifted student.  I’ve never had anything to brag about in the circle of moms before.  They brag and I’m generally left to tell some ridiculous story about how I ended up in the emergency room after my brilliant offspring engaged in a “rock fight” and had to have $695 worth of stitches.  

I almost did it.  I almost made up a few phenomenal stories, but I just couldn’t do it.  We are boringly normal.  I don’t need CRT tests to tell me that.