We have a crouton crisis in my kitchen. The new way I’m making them is so good, someone keeps sneaking them before dinner. I won’t say who, but that person has a mustache. Oh wait… that could be either one of us! 😀 Here’s what I cooked this week:
Soft croutons
Spinach fried rice
Lemon blueberry loaf
Soft oatmeal raisin cookies no butter
Creamy chicken & broccoli pasta
Granola bars
Oatmeal muffins
Cabbage soup
Linguini with broccolini & mini squashes
Taco salad
Chocolate pudding
Chicken tenders with roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes & peppers
Almond butter
Dark chocolate cashew clusters
No knead whole wheat bread
I have a new way to make my croutons! I bake a loaf of no knead white bread, and after it’s cooled, I slice the whole loaf into croutons and freeze them. Then… before dinner, I remove a handful, let them thaw a little, put them in a plastic bag, drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper and bake them on an ungreased pan in my toaster oven at 350 for about…. oh crap… I forgot to write down the time, but I think it’s about 15 minutes, until they are golden and crispy but still soft on the inside. I will post them soon as a new recipe with the exact time.
My husband loves these too… so much so that I caught him sneaking some before I made the salad. Busted! 😳 I now have a new plan: I count them before toasting. If I start with 16, then I put 8 on my salad and he gets the rest. If there’s only 3 left, it’s his problem. 🙂
Vegetables are your lifeline to good health, especially a variety of colors, both cooked and raw. But which ones are better cooked or better raw? I’ll keep it simple. Some vegetables should be cooked to get the most benefits. Some not so much. Heat destroys vitamin C but heat helps your body absorb vitamin A. What should we do? It can be confusing so here is my own take on it:
BETTER COOKED:
Tomatoes
Spinach
Carrots
Collard greens
Swiss chard
Broccoli – short steaming (3-4 minutes) preserves its cancer-fighting compounds
Cabbage – easier to digest, cooking still provides some cancer fighting compounds
Mushrooms
Kale for mineral absorption
Bell peppers for vitamin A
Green beans
BETTER RAW:
Leafy salad greens
Bell peppers for vitamin C
Broccoli for cancer fighting compounds (who eats raw broccoli?? 🤮)
Cabbage – raw cabbage has more cancer fighting compounds
Cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, bok choy, Brussels sprouts, etc.)
Beets (again, who eats raw beets??)
Kale for vitamin C
STILL GOOD EITHER WAY:
Bell peppers
Cabbage
Cauliflower and other cruciferous vegetables
Broccoli
Kale
Beets (cooked beets provide betacarotene and are more digestible when cooked)
Most vegetables need fat to absorb efficiently so my salads always have lots of heart healthy olive oil and sometimes avocado or nuts. I also drizzle extra olive oil on most pasta dishes. Steaming is generally the best way to cook most vegetables, retaining a lot of their nutrients. Roasting is my next choice but boiling is the least optimal way to cook any vegetable, except in soup, chili or stew where you consume the liquid.
*Several reputable sources are reporting that to gain the most benefits from cooked cruciferous vegetables, you should chop them 40 minutes before cooking to activate the beneficial enzymes. I don’t know if I’d have the time… ⏰
I hope this helps. I eat lots of vegetables in lots of colors. In fact, every meal I cook starts with what vegetables are in the fridge. Then I build the rest of the meal on that. When I serve a colorful plate of food, I ask my husband, “How beautiful are these vegetables?” He always replies, “Not as beautiful as you.” 😍❤️😍❤️😍❤️ Awwwww… (or he’s just angling for me to make brownies. 🤔)
Here’s a closing poem:
Bake them or steam them, or roast in a pan, Eat lots of veggies, as many as you can.
Mix up the colors, you’ll benefit more, You’ll look and feel way better than before.
If you take my advice, if you do as you should, Your friends will all say… “Bitch, you look good!” 😀
“Fat-free” might sound like a good idea but fat is something not to be avoided, even if you’re trying to lose weight. Your body needs fat, particularly healthy fat so if you avoid fat altogether, your skin and hair and nails will pay the price. Worse than that, there are many reasons why healthy fat is essential in your diet.
Some important vitamins require fat to be absorbed by your body. (vitamins A, D, E, and K)
Your brain needs fat to function at its fullest. (Omega-3 fats from salmon, sardines & walnuts are best for the brain.)
Consuming healthy fat helps prevent chronic inflammation, which can lead to many diseases like some cancers, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, depression, and Alzheimer’s.
If you avoid fat, your skin will be dry, more prone to pimples & blackheads, and you’ll have more wrinkles.
All I’m saying is fat is good, but only the good kind. Here is a basic guide:
FOODS WITH UNHEALTHY FATS:
Bacon, hot dogs, sausages, and pepperoni… you know… the things we all love! ☹️
Ham, salami, and other deli meats.
Cheese, especially soft cheeses like Brie. The harder the cheese, the healthier.
Anything deep fried, batter fried or French fried. 🍟 I know. I love French fries too… but I love me more. ❤️
Chicken wings are at the top of the bad list. Don’t eat poultry skin.
Check ingredients in processed foods. Avoid palm oil and all partially hydrogenated oils.
FOODS WITH HEALTHY FATS:
Olive oil 🫒
Avocados 🥑
Nuts, with best being walnuts, almonds, and cashews. (I have almond butter sandwiches all the time – yummy & healthy!)
Fish, primarily fatty fish like salmon, sardines, and mackerel. (Salmon sandwiches, anyone? Yes!)
It’s not hard to incorporate good fats into your meals.
I eat salmon sandwiches and almond butter & jam sandwiches all the time.
I cook salmon, too.
My salad dressing is always homemade and olive oil based and I often add avocados to salads.
I always keep containers of raw nuts in the fridge for snacking.
If you’re still not convinced, maybe my poem will help…
Fat is good. Fat is fine. Eat healthy fat like I eat mine.
Why not give sardines a whirl? You just might like them. You might not hurl. 🤮
Walnuts, olive oil, salmon too. Bacon and ham? Not good for you.
Eat healthy fat, I’m saying it twice, Or eat more bacon and roll the dice. 🥓 🎲
I keep forgetting to take pictures of what I cook, usually because I’m hungry! And when I do remember, it’s a quick snapshot with my phone so the food doesn’t get cold. Here’s what I cooked this week:
Creamy chicken & green beans with salad (recipe coming soon)
Tapioca pudding
No knead whole wheat bread
Chicken tenders (not a picture worth taking 🙂) with roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and peppers
Spaghetti with meat sauce + salad
Dark chocolate dipped coconut macaroons
Egg salad
Apple pie bars
Green fried rice made with broccoli, bok choy, and peas
Cabbage soup with added carrots
Leftover chicken tenders with spaghetti in olive oil & garlic + steamed broccoli
Whole wheat crepes
Taco salad
Faster no knead white bread
Croutons made with ⬆ that bread
Whenever I’m busy, which is most days, I go to my easy one pan meals like creamy chicken and green beans. I sometimes make it with broccoli and will be posting the recipe showing both versions, since broccoli cooks faster than green beans. 🥦 Also, sometimes, green beans are not worth buying. 👎 I realize my apple pie bars are a little ragged but they did taste great. My husband loves traditional apple pie (who doesn’t?) and he insists it’s just a square apple pie. He says he would like a slice of the pie and I say, “There is no apple pie, but I can give you an apple pie bar.” He says, “Okay – it’s a bar – now can I have a pie-shaped piece?” 😍
Removing the tendon is easy, they say. Just grab it with a paper towel, they say. Just pull it through a fork, they say. They lie! I have never been able to remove the tendon just like that. I tried the fork thing with a paper towel. I tried the knife thing and sliding it down the tendon. Tweezers. Pliers. Scissors. Gloves. A giant fork. A serrated knife. I thought about calling 9-1-1. Hey, they should have a special phone line for chicken tenders, like they do for Thanksgiving turkeys. 🦃 Can’t remove the tendons? Just dial T-E-N-D-O-N-H-E-L-L and we will talk you off the cliff. And remind you that you are a good and capable cook. Then suggest a tendon support group to know you’re not alone. They meet every four hours. ⏰
Maybe it’s just me but I give up. I will cook them and my husband will remind me that he still loves me no matter what. ❤️ Then he’ll offer to take me out to dinner.
