Category: Healthy Things

Traveling to Tuscany in a Bowl

CarrieLeave a comment

During the Lenten season, my church has soup suppers on Wednesday night.  I usually bring a pot of soup to church twice a year for this event.  One of my favorite things to do is to take a recipe and adapt it in order to please the masses.  I went on the Food Network website and found a delicious recipe for Tuscan Bean Soup by Emeril Lagasse.  It sounds delicious but there were a few things that I needed to change.  I didn’t think the general population at my church would enjoy chickpeas and I wanted to cut down the cost by eliminating the pancetta.  I knew I needed to make a larger batch than what the recipe provided so I kept that in mind when I went to the grocery store.  While there, I saw that Bob Evans sage sausage was on sale for $1.99 so I knew that would sub out the pancetta and save me money.  Here’s how I made the soup and it is sure to please.

Ingredients

1 package Bob Evans sage sausage, 2 yellow onions (diced), 3 stalks celery (diced), 3 carrots (diced), 4 cloves garlic (minced), 28oz canned diced tomatoes, 3 15 oz cans cannellini beans,  1 15 oz can kidney beans, 2 1/2 quarts chicken stock, 2 sprigs rosemary (minced), 5 sprigs thyme, 2 bay leaves, sprinkle of crushed pepper, 1 head kale (cut into bite size pieces)

Directions

1. Brown sausage in the bottom of a large stock pot. 2.  Add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic and cook until tender. 3. Add diced tomatoes, beans, and stock.  Let it come to a simmer. 4. Add rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and crushed pepper.  When the soup is complete, be sure to pull out the thyme sprigs and the bay leaves.  Continue cooking until the beans and vegetable are tender. 5.  Add the kale and cook until tender.  Enjoy!

Five Things

Sadie1 Comment

I’m doing to improve my diet.

1.  Drink more water.  This is a goal I always have in mind, but I’m not always good about it.  I want to keep a water bottle with me at all times so I always have the option.  It will keep me hydrated and make me less hungry throughout the day.

2.  Minimize sugar.  I used to be a salty rather than sweet girl, but for some reason when I went on a serious (and effective) diet a few years ago, my cravings switched from salty to sweet.  But I know that sugar is addictive, and it’s not doing much for me in terms of nutrition.  My goal is to eat things to fuel my body, and too much sugar slows me down.  I’m cutting back on baking in my house to minimize temptation, and keeping an eye on the grams of sugar in the packaged foods I eat like yogurt, snack bars, and cereal.

3. Focus on protein.  I work out every day, so I need protein to help build and maintain my muscles.  Plus protein is supposed to keep your stomach satisfied for longer than carbs.  As I build and tone muscle, my hope is that the fat will burn off.  I want to be a lean mean fitness machine again!

4. Fill up on vegetables.  I love vegetables and we all know they’re healthy, but sometimes they’re problematic for me because they aren’t always as quick and easy as a packaged snack, or they go bad in my fridge before I can enjoy them.  The great thing about veggies is that they’re so low in calories, so there’s minimal guilt.  I just need to remember to put in the extra effort to keep them available and ready to eat in my house, and grab them first before I move onto other less nutritional options.

5.  Stop rationalizing bad choices!  This is probably my biggest challenge when it comes to my diet. I need to be able to eat a correct portion rather than always cleaning my plate.  If I go out to eat with my brothers I can’t go course for course with them, we do not have the same metabolism or nutritional needs.  If I have a good day or a bad day, I don’t need a cookie!

I’m no expert but these are just some of my goals based on the large array of reading I’ve done about nutrition.  Last year was a bad year for me when it came to my weight.  I rapidly gained back the large amount of weight I was previously so proud of losing.  I am not happy to be back to the drawing board, but my recent mantra is: progress, not perfection.  I loved the confidence boost of losing weight and getting in shape when I did it the first time, so hopefully I will experience that again, and maintain it!

Simple Spaghetti Squash

SadieLeave a comment

One of the best things I’ve ever ordered at a restaurant was something I had never had before: spaghetti squash.  I’m always intrigued by vegetarian dishes, and this did not disappoint.  It was a whole half of a large spaghetti squash with sun dried tomato pesto, fresh tomatoes, and pine nuts.  It comes on a bed of rice, a perfect compliment.

My mom mentioned she was attempting to make spaghetti squash for dinner and I was inspired.  I decided to replicate my favorite dish.  On the way home from school I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a spaghetti squash, a little jar of sun dried tomato pesto, and cherry tomatoes.

I didn’t use a recipe, I just consulted a couple recipes on the Food Network website to figure out a good method.  And I decided to nix the pine nuts (I forgot to buy them), and rather than fresh tomatoes I wanted to roast the cherry tomatoes to add to the mix.  I wasn’t in the mood to make rice, so I kept it simple.

Here’s what I did:

1. Preheated my oven to 450.

2. Sliced the squash in half length wise, scooped out the seeds and innards, added salt and pepper on each half, and put them cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet.  Roasted the Squash for 40 minutes.

3. Sliced a handful of cherry tomatoes in half and spread them on another baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil, plus salt and pepper.  I put them in the oven about 15 minutes after the squash went in.

Roasted Tomatoes

4.   I removed the tomatoes and the squash from the oven.  Then I flipped the squash over and used a fork to fluff up the “spaghetti” on the inside.

5.  I added a heaping tablespoon of the pesto to each half as well as the cherry tomatoes, then gave it a mix and let the pesto melt in a little.  Salt and pepper to taste, and Voila!

I’m still perfecting my technique because I think I left it in the oven a couple minutes too long, and yet it was still delicious.  It’s not winning any beauty contests, but it was quick, easy, and tasty, give it a try!