For my vegetable fix, I have been working my way through a huge bag of kale. I find kale to be pretty bitter when it's raw but if I cook it quickly in a pan with olive oil and salt, it's much milder. And it's an extremely nutritious green, packed with vitamins and antioxidants. I definitely recommend giving it a try if you haven't.
This week, I've been relying on quick and nutrient dense meals. My grain salad has definitely been a staple. Along with that, I made a huge pot of chili loaded with veggies (i'll post the recipe soon), and cooked a package of chicken tenders for a lean source of protein. For the chicken, I cooked it in a pan with olive oil, salt and pepper for about 10 minutes or so and just reheated it when I was ready to eat.
For my vegetable fix, I have been working my way through a huge bag of kale. I find kale to be pretty bitter when it's raw but if I cook it quickly in a pan with olive oil and salt, it's much milder. And it's an extremely nutritious green, packed with vitamins and antioxidants. I definitely recommend giving it a try if you haven't.
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As my roommate asked, what is a grain salad? The way I describe it is as a cold grain served with vegetables and herbs. May not be the exact culinary description but it works for me! So last night I made a huge batch of grain salad. The grain I chose to use was barley. Barley is a great grain that is very similar to pasta. In fact, you cook it just like pasta: boil it in water and then drain it. Barley also isn't too expensive. I started with the plan of following a recipe, but I forgot a few ingredients at the store so I kind of had to wing it. Fortunately, it turned out well. I love this salad because it has that sweet and salty combo. The green apple is slightly tart but also has a subtle sweetness, while the vinegar adds a saltiness. The parsley adds a really fresh taste and great color! Hope you like it.
Ingredients: -Barely -1 Green Apple -Parsley -1/2 Onion -White Wine Vinegar -2 Tablespoons Olive Oil -Salt and Pepper Directions: Prepare barley according to package directions. I made the whole bag of barley. Once cooked, drain the water and then added cold water to the pot to stop the barley from cooking and to cool it more quickly. Drain it again. Set aside. Dice the onion and green apple. You want small cubes. Chop the parsley-a rough chop is fine here. Add all the ingredients to the cooked barley. The vinegar can be added to taste, I probably used about 6-7 tablespoons*, along with the salt and pepper. Mix it all together and chill. *Note-If you have a lot of leftovers, you may want to add more vinegar, salt and pepper when you eat them. The flavors tend to mellow out a bit in the fridge. I'm being very honest here. Yesterday I went way over budget. $70. Sticking to $25 is really really hard. But I'm still learning! It's only the first month. I did get a beautiful bounty of food though. Lots of veggies and fruit, and I have some great meals planned for the week (I have chili bubbling away as I type!) This week will also be another chance to learn. This is one of the first weeks I actually sat down and planned out three solid meals. My hope is that they will last me all week, but it will be interesting to see if I bought too much or too little. It's also interesting to compare grocery stores. I've shopped at two different stores now, and spent significantly less at a different store last week than this week. I probably bought a few more things this week, but still good to keep in mind! I also don't have the whole "staple" food thing down yet. Example: I ran out of oatmeal after two weeks. I now know to buy the big tub rather than the small for the month.
Happy Sunday! I woke up bright and early this morning, had a cup of coffee and did some meal planning. It was a perfect way to start my day. What's of the menu: -Chicken with grain salad and kale -Turkey Chili -Pasta with veggies and sauce. All of these should provide me with plenty of leftovers for both lunch a dinner. Shooting for $25 this week, but we will have to wait and see. I was watching the news the other day and they did a segment on health and wellness. The topic they were discussing was granola. During the segment, they stopped people on the street and asked them to serve themselves a normal portion of granola. As expected, everyone served themselves WAY more than one serving and ended up with 400-600 calories of granola in front of them.
Now I just bought some granola this past weekend and did take the time to check out the nutrition label, avoiding super high calorie and sugar counts. But one of the things that I took away from the tv segment was using granola as a topping rather than a main ingredient. So for my breakfast the last few days, I've been doing just that. Rather than building off of the granola, I start with a base of fruit: apples, banana, pineapple. Then I top it with yogurt and finish it all off with a handful of granola. Here's what's for dinner tonight: whole wheat pasta, ground turkey, roasted veggies and pasta sauce. Nothing too challenging about that.
Today I only had one class, meaning I had a lot of free time. So I decided to use it to make a hearty lunch. For this meal, I followed a recipe from Shape Magazine called the Fall Market Harvest Bowl. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of my results. Also, it was super yummy and filling. It may look like a lot of work, but it really wasn't! It probably took me about 30 minutes total to put this together, and I also have a lot of leftovers that will be perfect for lunch or dinner later this week. Well worth the time in my opinion.
I did do two things differently than the recipe: I sliced the portobello mushrooms before roasting them, rather than leaving them whole. I think this made them roast a bit faster because it only took about 10 minutes for them to soften rather than 20 like the recipe said. And secondly, I used brown rice instead of farro. This was simply because I already had a half bag of brown rice lying around. I definitely recommend giving this recipe a try! OATMEAL!! I'm totally loving oatmeal right now. I mean, I always like oatmeal but right now i'm REALLY liking oatmeal. Here's how I make it:
1. Add 1/4-1/2 cup of milk to about 1/2 cup of oatmeal in a bowl. 2. Microwave 2-3 minutes. 3. Meanwhile, in a saucepan I heat frozen strawberries and blueberries with a tablespoon of water and some maple syrup or honey. I let this come to a nice simmer and thicken for a few minutes, about 5 minutes or so. 4. Add half a banana to the oatmeal and top with the frozen fruit mixture. 5. Enjoy! This breakfast is quick and delicious and a great way to start my morning with fruit and whole grains. You could also use any other frozen fruit, peaches, blackberries, etc. I bought a whole bunch of ingredients with the intent of making a taco-like casserole dish. But I don't have a casserole dish. So, no casserole. Instead I just threw all the ingredients together and it turned out great!
Happy Sunday! I woke up and was craving pancakes this morning. I absolutely love pancakes and bought a mix during yesterday's shopping trip. So I threw some stuff together and ended up with a masterpiece. Impressive, right? But it was actually really easy. I used my favorite pancake mix and added some banana. For the fruit, I just took frozen strawberries and my blueberries that were at the end of their road and heated them in a pot with a bit of water and honey. A few minutes later I had a delicious sauce!
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AuthorCharlotte is a junior nutrition and food science major at the University of Vermont. Archives
April 2016
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