More for Less - Recipe!

A great way to get good nutrition and make less food go further…make casseroles (or other one-pot dishes)!  When we aren’t feeling up to 5 days of cooking, we’re sure to make a good one-pot dish (meaning meat, veggie and starch all in one) to go the distance for at least 2 nights.  One of those dishes, we make tonight.  Well, to be fair it's not a one-pot dish completely (couscous on the side), but it's close.

We’re having an “African Sweet Potato and Chicken Stew,” originally from Eating Well’s March/April magazine of this year.  As usual, due to lack of all appropriate ingredients, I made a couple swaps so the recipe featured today is adapted from the original.

I think casseroles get a bad rap as dishes that can only come as ooey gooey and not-so-healthy, but au contraire.  They can be the perfect dish for the frugal and health conscious cook.  Budget is a consideration for so many families these days, making your meat or other higher dollar ingredients go farther by combining less of them with your cheaper items is one good way to save some dough.  Plus, combinations are endless even without a recipe.  I still prefer using recipes, at least as a guide, as I gain confidence in new and different flavor combinations.

In tonight’s dish we get both a flavor and nutrition punch from sweet potatoes, tomatoes, olive oil, natural peanut butter, and lean chicken breast among a bunch of spices and served atop whole wheat couscous. 

Definitely give one-pot dishes a chance.  I find only one downside.  When all components of my dish are served as one (protein, veggie, starch), I initially feel like my portion is less or not enough (visually).  I have overcome this by using smaller plates when I need to and doing my best not to begin my meal with the thought that I will not be satisfied/filled – the mind is a powerful thing.  Both by knowing and believing that my dish will be filling and by eating it mindfully there is never a question that one serving is enough.

We’ve made this dish on several occasions and it is a winner!  It's creamy, slightly spicy, slightly sweet, has a great mix of textures, and is super filling and nutritious!  Find original at: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/african_sweet_potato_chicken_stew.html

African Sweet Potato & Chicken Stew (Makes 4+ servings)

Serving Size: 1 3/4 cups stew & 1 cup couscous
(I serve ½ cup couscous and 1 ½ cups stew for reduced total calorie intake)

Ingredients

¾ - 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed (2-3 breasts)

2 teaspoons ground coriander, divided

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 large onion, halved and sliced

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 large sweet potato (about 1 pound), peeled and cubed (1/2-inch)

1 15-ounce can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, chopped (juice reserved)
               OR 1 15-ounce no-salt-added diced tomatoes, with juice

1 15-ounce Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes (semi-drained)

1/4 cup smooth natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons lemon juice, divided

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 cups water or low sodium chicken broth

1 cup whole-wheat couscous

Instructions:

1. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon coriander and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, until browned on all sides, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, onion and ginger to the pan and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Add sweet potato, tomatoes and their juice, peanut butter, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, cayenne, and the remaining 1 teaspoon coriander and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potato is tender, 14 to 16 minutes. Return the chicken and any accumulated juice to the pan and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes more.
3. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in couscous and the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Cover, remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Serve the stew over the couscous.

 

 Serving Pictured: 1/2 cup couscous, 1 1/2 cups stew

Nutrient content of original serving (1 ¾ cup stew and 1 cup couscous): 612 Calories, 24 g Fat (Sat 4 g), 13 g Sugar (0 added), 35 g Protein, 12 g Fiber, 465 mg Sodium.

 

 

A Tiger's Tailgate

 

Cue a sea of orange, purple, tiger paws, flags, grills, music, food, drink, friends, family, spirit, tradition, and fun.  Whether you join me in rooting for the Clemson Tigers or your allegiance lies elsewhere, most of us have a pretty good time tailgating before and after our favorite team’s game…too good of a time?

With all the fun comes another challenging day for those minding their healthy habits and watching their waistline, especially when it falls amongst other food filled celebrations like Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Scanning the field of fellow tailgaters, I saw everything from homemade casseroles and treats to those big yellow boxes…you guessed it, Bojangles (or “JoBangles” as we like to say).  Some go all out and decorate for fall like it’s a new house, flowers and pumpkins and all, while other simply flip out their tailgate and decorate with empty bottles and plates.  There’s no wrong way to do it, but what DO you do when you’re looking to maintain control of your intake?

It would be so easy to throw caution to the wind and graze all day on everything that’s available, but with a few strategies you can still enjoy your time, while avoiding diet sabotage.  I’ll tell you how I handled it this weekend.

My 3 top strategies this weekend: take a few things to contribute to the food spread that do fit into my diet plan, be aware of hunger cues versus wanting to nibble just because it is there, and have more water than alcohol.

The dishes I brought included a homemade salad (spring mix greens, grape tomatoes, celery, mandarin oranges, slivered almonds, shredded parmesan, and balsamic vinaigrette – this was super easy and super tasty), our award winning chili (don’t get too excited…Sunday School Chili Cook-off winners 2013), and green grapes.

The salad functioned perfectly as a pre-meat dish to offer some color, freshness, and filling power prior to digging into the protein and dessert.  The grapes served wonderfully as a snack to nibble on when I felt like something more, but knew I wasn’t truly hungry.  Might as well get some fruit.  The chili was the perfect dish to fill and warm up with on the cool (cold!) night we had (topped with fat free sour cream and reduced fat cheddar cheese).

I’m proud to say we had some really great mains this trip too.  Mom picked boneless, skinless chicken breast simply marinated and a flavored chicken sausage, both grilled fresh right before hitting our plates.  We had chicken sandwiches with a little BBQ sauce and homemade slaw.  Of course desserts made an appearance…one of my brother’s specialties, a “like-crack” cheesecake and M&M cookies (novel idea ;)).  Our cream cheese based dessert was made with the lower fat Neufchatel, go bro!  Ultimately though, desserts come down to portion control.  I surprisingly was able to stick to 1 cookie and a 2 small slices of cheesecake the whole day (oh how I love baked goods!).  I was able to steer clear of more treats by sipping my water and noting my lack of hunger, having already enjoyed either our chicken lunch or chili dinner.

I’m proud to say they worked!  I had an awesome time and feel no lingering regrets of food choices.  Did I have more food/calories than usual?  Yes, a little.  However, I felt in control the whole day, was not pre-occupied with my food choices because the healthier options were available (plan and preparation makes a huge difference), and had a blast with the family cheering on our Tigers and sharing the Clemson experience with some Clemson tailgate first-timers.

Rock Confidence

No food this week, but a little about something I think impacts us as we try to make changes for a healthier lifestyle and body...confidence.

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27

 “I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139:13-14

Do you remember “What Not to Wear”?  I think they still make new episodes, but I remember watching it back in high school.  The TV show helps a nominated ‘poorly dressed’ person find a whole new wardrobe that expresses that person’s personality and flatters their unique body shape and lifestyle.  Stacy and Clinton would so often fuss at this person about wearing clothes that didn’t fit their body as it is in the present.  So many people either tried to get into clothing that was too small (those they wanted to get into) or too big (when they’d given up and decided just to make their body shape unrecognizable).  The prevailing theme of the end of each episode…a person in the exact same body as at the start of the week, but with a new comfort and confidence, not just in their new clothes, but their own skin.   All from a new set of clothes?

There is something about putting yourself together.  When you feel confident in who you are and how you look, you walk with a different confidence.  When I give a presentation, I like to put a little extra attention into how I look (maybe wear my hair down, pay extra attention to my outfit, or wear heels).  I feel especially put together and confident walking out of the door and thus have a nudge of extra confidence while speaking in front of a crowd.  That’s just one example.  I considered this concept after it was mentioned on two separate occasions with friends this week.

One friend, when complimented on her outfit and asked about the change in her wardrobe, simply answered, “I’m trying. [Why?] I feel better.”  She could tell a difference in how she carried herself just because she put an extra thought into her appearance.  The other was a friend at the gym.  We were discussing workout clothes and both agreed that having a couple fun, flattering workout pieces help boost your confidence and almost push you to work even harder because you feel so good!  Wearing clothes that fit your current body shape and make you feel good is WAY better than being daily disappointed in how something fits or succumbing to not caring. 

Of course I’m not saying all your confidence lies within your appearance.  Your beauty and confidence come from within regardless of how you dress.  Plus, we all have those days when sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt is our non-negotiable outfit even when going out (it’s inevitable that you’ll see someone you haven’t seen in months THAT day…always happened to me at Target or the grocery store.  Really?!).  Taking care to present yourself in a way that you feel most confident about yourself may be the strategy you need to stay motivated to keep up the hard work.

There is something about confidence.  Whether you have met your weight goal, are just beginning, or are partway there, be confident in who you are and how beautiful you are.  Present yourself that way.  Don’t “give-up” because you’re not where you want to be yet.  Rock confidence.  Then whatever you wear will flatter you. 

Don't stress...Plan

We’ve all been there; there at the head of a row of 3 or more tables long…tables filled with hot dishes, cold dishes, entrees, sides, finger foods and desserts as far as the eye can see.  What to do?  'Tis the season of family and friends gathering to fellowship and be thankful, and 'tis the season of having eyes bigger than our stomachs.

Well you can’t over-serve one item because what if there is something even better down the line that you now won’t have room for (although some would say you could just build UP)?  At the same time, this and that look oh so good, you’ve just got to have some, and if you pass by now you might miss out.  Then you get to the end and who doesn’t have a roll with dinner? 

You exit the food mile with a plate filled to the brim with a little of most available dishes, maybe sparing a couple repeats, and decide you’ll have to come back for dessert.  The story typically ends with you feeling over-full, consuming maybe double or triple of a normal meal, and if you’re working on controlling your intake, feeling a little, or a lot, guilty.

Can we both enjoy grand potluck and family holiday meals and keep our diet in check?  Absolutely.  It just takes a little strategy.  No, you don’t have to sit-out of events, but do go with a plan. 

·       Don’t starve yourself all day to save up for the big meal.  This equals bad news bears…super hungry + all you can eat homemade dishes = full on a scale from 1-10…14.

·       Do be very conscious of your decisions that day (you can save a little sodium, fat and sugar budget by being especially diligent to eat healthily all day).

·       Find a smaller plate (this may or may not be an option at an event, but if you can make it happen, make it happen).  Less white space to feel the need to fill.  Your eyes will reach “full” sooner than if you had a bigger plate.

 

 Which plate has more food?

(Dinner last night - 4 oz salmon, 1/2 cup whole wheat couscous, and a squash/zucchini/carrot mix)

Same food, same portion, different plates - I choose the left one. More food right? ;)

·       Plan to enjoy lean protein, lots of fruits and veggies, and a starch (or split your starch serving between a couple of your holiday favorites) and stick to it.  Don’t fill up on a plain yeast roll if you’d really prefer the oven baked mac and cheese…just don’t have both, pick a top priority and enjoy it.

        Example:  There may be mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, sweet potatoes, and mac & cheese.  While I’m sure I would enjoy every single one of these foods, it is the stuffing (especially if it’s how Mom makes it) and the sweet potatoes that would be my “top priority,” favorite or only get during the holidays, starches.  I would have a small serving of 2 dishes and not a small serving of 5 dishes.

·       Eat slowly, finish your plate and then fellowship.  Sip some water and enjoy your company to give your brain time to catch up with your body.  Your brain and body will concur in about 20 minutes that you are full.

·       If you enjoy adult beverages, do so in moderation (try alternating between alcohol and water).

·       Get away from the food…it’s harder to resist when you have the food staring you in the face and calling your name softly to return for more.  Get food off your mind (you’re no longer hungry) and put your back towards the food, or better yet find a different room.

·        Be the one to bring a healthier dish to the party…that way you’ll know at least one is there. 

You can enjoy the out-of-the-ordinary meals even while keeping an eye on your waistline.   Don’t stress over it, PLAN for it.  Don’t most things turn out better when you plan and prepare?  You can do it!

Anyone have their own strategies that have proven successful during the holidays?

Feeling Shlumpy

Do you ever get in a rut of feeling puffy, heavy, lazy, un-fit, and just overall blah?  I will call this “shlumpy,” as it just seems the only quasi word that fits.  Do you ever get in a rut of shlumpiness?  I have, and it can be terribly un-motivating.  You think at first that this could motivate you to get up and get going…say plan a trip to the gym tomorrow morning.  Then the morning comes and the shlumpy feeling takes over – oh, how it feels so much better and is so much easier to stay in bed.  You’ve made the decision once again to pass on the opportunity for added activity, and when you wake up later you feel disappointed and blah, again.  A vicious cycle that gets harder and harder to get away from the longer you are there.

When you’re feeling shlumpy, less motivated, and less confident in your ability to succeed, it is also harder to make healthier eating decisions.  You may get to a point of feeling like “well, I already feel icky so what will another doughnut do?”  It is no mystery that the way you feel about yourself can impact your food decisions.  Stress and emotional eating are real and tough beasts to tame, but climbing out of your shlump is a good place to start handling both a little better.

Go back to the last time you were in a good exercise routine.  How did you feel? When I am in a good consistent exercise routine, I want to keep exercising, I want to excel and challenge myself, and the more I believe I can do.  When I feel strong, active, lean, and fit (whether or not I have truly reached these milestones physically), I feel MOTIVATED.  It doesn’t necessarily take weeks or months to get to this feeling.  You just have to experience it once and then hold on to it.

The last time I was feeling more and more un-motivated, I was out of any sort of planned exercise.  Routine day in and day out, feeling less and less healthy and energized (even with controlled eating).  I decided to change something.  I started by heading to a boot camp style class held at our gym at the time.  Apparently no one else felt like sweating it out that morning because I found myself alone with the instructor.  Blessing in disguise.  He was kind enough to stay and give me a one-on-one boot camp style training.  AWESOME!  When I got home that day, at the risk of sounding cheesy, I wrote down how I felt and stuck it to the fridge.  I noticed such a change in one work out alone.  I felt and wrote “strong,” “fit,” “active,” “lean,” and “confident.”  I felt motivated again.  That was one day, one class, one 30 minute training, and it got me climbing quickly out of my shlump.  After that I took action.  I committed and planned at least 3 days per week that I would go exercise (cardio and strength training).  To get me started my hubby created my workouts for me.  I wanted to fashion my workouts like that which got me going in the first place – challenging and instructed (not of my own choice).  For a while my husband came and “trained” me, but then I just had him jot down workouts for me to take to the gym.  I got back into a routine and really saw progress not only in my physical strength, but in my desire to make good food decisions and in my confidence.

I was reminded of the impact of exercise this weekend after I finished with Zumba and getting my booty kicked in a weights class.  I not only felt great (tired, but great), but found myself seeking out a wholesome lunch.  I wanted nothing other than foods that supported my health and could help refuel and rebuild after my workout.  Exercise alone impacted my approach to food.  I didn’t want a piece of Halloween candy, I wanted fruit and protein!

I’m not an exercise expert, but I can tell you that it is an incredibly important piece to your overall health.  I think of that commercial – “a body at rest stays at rest, but a body in motion stays in motion” (or something like that).  If you can just take the first step and add a little activity, you may be surprised at how positively your mind and body react.  I hope it gets you motivated to not only keep moving, but to support your activity with nutritious fuel.  Don’t let yourself hang out in an un-motivated cycle feeling shlumpy.  Don’t let negative thoughts overtake your motivation to make a change.  One active day, one sweaty hour, one moment of strength and confidence could make all the difference.  Always remember too, you’re not making this climb alone.

From the founder of Pray Fit Ministries, Jimmy Pena:  “It's my experience that the more we focus on Christ, the stronger we are to either get over hurdles or to get over ourselves.  Make it a holy climb - one you make only by reaching for His hand.”

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.” Psalm 28:7

Stack the Odds

I was in need of some veggies.  I was feeling a little veggie-less after a brunch meal void of green and I didn’t have any veggies at breakfast.  That is one thing you may be surprised to find as you start making better food decisions and intentionally getting all of your recommended servings of fruits and veggies each day…you start to crave the colorful nutritious things.  Just like you used to crave a sweet or a soda if you didn’t have one for a whole day, now you feel “off” if you don’t get your veggies!  It may seem impossible that day would ever come – “yeah right!” you say, a day when I am hunting down veggies, ha!  But it will happen.

They make you feel so good!  Not only do you just know that you’re putting good nutrition in, but as you make those healthy swaps more and more, you start to feel the difference.  When it makes you feel good, feel nourished, and feel healthier, you’ll look for more.  You might not know what you’re missing yet if you haven’t started making those swaps.  Fruit cup instead of fries, veggies and humus instead of potato chips, or simply just adding veggies to dinner and moderating your portion of pasta or rice.  You might not realize how poor you feel when fueling with sweets and fried foods until you experience the alternative.  You just have to intentionally give the alternatives a chance to show you what they can do!  Better quality fuel = better quality feeling and performance.

I find that one key to getting all my fruits and veggies is simply having them available.  Make the healthier options the convenient options.  If the fridge and pantry remain brimming with snack cakes, potato chips, and candy and you would have to go somewhere to get, or have to prepare a fruit or veggie, let’s not kid ourselves, you’re going to grab what you already have, especially if you are hungry.  So, keeping chopped veggies and grab-and-go fruit in the fridge, pantry, and on the counter will encourage better choices.  Re-vamp your shopping list this week to include some easy fruits and veggies.

My problem this afternoon…no easy snack veggies.  I’ll have to wait until dinner to fill my vegetable craving because I did not plan a convenient veggie snack option.  I didn’t have to turn to an unhealthy snack instead, just not a veggie (I chose unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon…yummy).  Lacking the veggie snack I was looking for reminded me of the power of planning and setting yourself up for success.  If you were given the power to stack the odds in your favor to make a nutritious snack decision versus trudging through the weekly battle of trying to avoid the not-so-healthy snacks in the pantry, would you take it?  Good news, you can do it!  Plan for it, shop for it, make the good decisions the easy decisions.  Take away those battles and feelings of guilt post junk food snack.

Same goes for good ole Halloween candy.  It’s so easy to justify having several bags of candy around for the trick-or-treaters that will be coming in…uh, T-minus 30 days? (When did you buy your candy this year?)  Ha, by the time Halloween actually rolls around you have to go buy more candy because the first bags were too often the easy snack choice.  I’m not going to lie, I currently have candy corn in my home.  1 bag.  My strategy, since I’m the sweet tooth in the house, is to keep it covered.  I’ve noticed that if it’s in an open bowl on the coffee table, it’s a sure-fire way to go through a whole bag of candy corn in 2 days, but if I keep it covered and put away where I have to make the conscious decision to go get some, our bag lasts a lot longer!  My advice, don’t buy Halloween candy until Halloween is actually right around the corner, don’t over-buy, and keep the candy out of sight, out of mind.  Make it the inconvenient choice, or at least a choice you have to intentionally make and seek out instead of mindlessly grabbing handfuls of treats just because it’s there.  Give yourself the upper-hand, an opportunity to think the decision through.  Instead, keep those little clementines around, or how about grapes or apples?  Easy, sweet, and good for you. 

Have a happy and healthy Halloween!

A Fishy Dinner Tale

To create dinner this evening I had the beautiful blank slate that is salmon.  Salmon is a great protein, rich in heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids (heart protective and anti-inflammatory), and delicious.  If you have not explored salmon or other fish, jump on board for new flavors and easy dinners.

I hear on occasion that people do not cook fish because they are unsure how to cook it and/or because they don’t like the smell…both things that can be remedied. Choose to bake, broil, grill, or lightly pan fry the fish and open a window or light a candle after dinner.  You can season and cook salmon just like chicken, it just takes about half the time (another great reason to incorporate it – turns into a 20 minute dinner).  Eating fish 2-3 times per week gives you the dose of Omega-3 fatty acids that are shown to provide such great benefits like reducing your risk of heart disease, among others.

Oftentimes we only get in one hefty serving (5 ounces is considered 1 serving) per week depending on what is on sale and/or available.  Recently, I have found a 2 lb. pack of wild caught salmon fillets at Aldi for $7.99.  In the fish world, I think this is great! That breaks down to $1 per 4 oz. fillet.  They are conveniently individually packed and easy to defrost.  Our simple go-to recipe is olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder and black pepper.  Easy-peasy and done in 12 minutes.

So what did I make tonight?  It was another game of “What’s In the Pantry?!”  Dana Plummer….come on down!  I had extra Roma tomatoes and a can of black beans to work with.  I figured I could do something with those two because they sound good together anyways.  After searching “black bean and tomato salmon recipes,” I saw a recipe that provided a great idea, one that I could pull off using the ingredients I had on-hand.  The idea – black bean encrusted salmon.  The kicker - I didn’t have breadcrumbs.  My replacement this evening…wait for it…crushed up bran flakes.  It sounds a little funky, but worked wonderfully!  So, check out the following recipe for black bean encrusted salmon with fresh tomato salsa.   It turned out SO great!  We are adding it to our recipe bank for sure.

For the Salmon:

4 salmon fillets (3-4 oz. per fillet), skin removed
1 cup crushed bran flakes (about 2.5 cups flakes)
1 can (15.25 oz.) drained and rinsed black beans, separated
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ skim milk
black pepper
2 Tbsp. canola oil

For the Salsa:

½ small onion, somewhere between minced and diced
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
½ Tbsp. (or to taste) balsamic vinegar
Thyme to taste (I used about ½ tsp.)
Black pepper and salt to taste (less than 1/8 tsp. each)

Preparing the Salmon:

1.      Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.      Pulse ½ cup black beans in food processor 5 times

3.      Add in crushed flakes and spices

4.      Blend in food processor until pieces are uniform in size and like corn meal

5.      Heat canola oil in large skillet over medium heat

6.      Dunk salmon in milk, season with black pepper, and coat in bean/bran mixture

7.      Brown one side in pan about 4 minutes, flip, and finish cooking in oven for about 5 minutes

8.      Top with fresh tomato salsa and enjoy

Preparing the Salsa:

1.      Dice tomatoes and onions, combine

2.      Add remaining black beans, olive oil, vinegar and spices

3.      Stir to combine and serve on top of salmon

Done!

 

 

Super tasty!  The bran flakes added a slight sweetness that wouldn’t have been there without them.  This dish was also incredibly filling! We served broccoli, carrots, and whole wheat couscous with our salmon, but we both agreed we could have done without the extra starch.  We left most of our couscous on our plates and saved it for leftover night.  Tonight was a good lesson in hunger and fullness cues.  I would have been STUFFED had I finished my whole plate, so instead I stopped when I was just full and will adjust how we build our plates next time.  Likely just salmon, salsa and veggies.