Clean-out-the-Fridge Wrap

The day before a week-long trip, I'm trying to use up leftovers and produce the people left behind will not appreciate, so I've tucked an unopened bag of Glory collards and one of kale into the freezer for future use and tossed out some things that are questionable. We've been out of lettuce for nearly a week, so I've been working with the other greens (including exotic lettuces from the garden).

For lunch today I'm finishing up some Chinese red bean soup. I didn't do anything particularly special with the beans, certainly nothing Asian, but they're those beautiful little round red beans from an Asian grocery in Pittsburgh. I'm also having a wrap sandwich I made up and approve of. See if it inspires you.



Smoky Kale Wrap

1/2 small onion, sliced
2 cups packed chopped kale
clove of garlic, sliced
1/2 tomato, chopped
3 large olives, chopped (I used the wrinkly black kind in non-oil brine)
1-2 teaspoons olive brine or water (balsamic vinegar might be very nice)
1-2 tablespoons plain yogurt (soy is fine)
1 whole-grain tortilla or wrap

Dry-saute the onion for a minute or so, then add the kale, and when almost done (the kale wilted) the garlic as well. Allow it to brown a little on the edges to get that smoky flavor, then add in the olive brine or water and stir to loosen the sticking bits. Spread the wrap with yogurt, then the kale mixture, then tomato and olives, roll up, and enjoy.

Verdict: Very Good. It's a bit unusual but pleasant, with deep, savory flavors. The raw tomato adds sweetness and more of a sandwich ethos.

We're off to San Diego for a scientific conference and a couple of days of R&R in the city. I'm looking forward to more healthy dining options than are commonly found in rural Western Pennsylvania. :-)

Leftovers Surprise

Today I launched into grading for my first quarter of my writing class with 64 online students, and with hubby away at suppertime and some easygoing kids in the house, I didn't need to do more than paw through the leftovers to figure out what to make us for supper.  Here's what I wound up with, presented with the hope that it will give you hope for your leftovers!

Middle-and-Far-Eastern Bowl


Assembled from:
Brown rice
Tasty Bite Madras Lentils (1 pouch)
Cooked cauliflower (2 cups)
Black beans (1/2 can)
Falafel dough/batter (which is it, really?)
Asian Green Pepper Salad* (see below)

First in the bowl goes some brown rice. I combined the lentils, cauliflower, and black beans and microwaved them, then browned little "patties" of the falafel mixture in a skillet to kind of crumble on top.  And on my serving I put some of the pepper salad, which made a beautiful garnish.

Verdict: Pretty good. This made enough to serve four generously. The falafel part could easily be left out, or substituted with hummus. The peppers on top were great.  Now for the peppers recipe . . .

Asian Green Pepper Salad


4 large green peppers, cut into matchsticks
1/4 onion, minced
1 stalk celery, diced fine
1 T. rice vinegar (I used the kind with sugar)
1 T. sesame oil
1 T. roasted sesame seeds (in the spice aisle at an Asian grocery)
1 T. snipped cilantro

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Verdict: Excellent. I really like this combination of flavors, and it makes a great garnish on the above leftovers even two days after making it.

While I'm on surprises, I'll share a great salad I enjoyed today:

Black Bean and Pineapple Salad

Mixed baby greens and romaine lettuce (I used about four cups packed)
1/2 small onion, sliced
1/2 can black beans
several chunks fresh pineapple, cut into small bits
1-2 tablespoons creamy dressing of your choice (optional)

Combine and enjoy!  Verdict: Very Good.  This would be nice more dressed up, but it was just a quick lunch for me today.

Swamp Salad

It doesn't sound too good, does it, "Swamp Salad?"  But that's really what it's like.  And like many nutritarian foods--think green smoothies and pureed bean dips--it can quickly become a favorite, a craving, even!  I was really hungry at lunch today, so I had more of this than I  usually would have--see the notes.

It started with a hankering for some Tasty Bite Madras Lentils I have had my eye on in the cabinet lately. (I used them in a previous post, too, as I have several Tasty Bite products.) I knew they'd be spicy and comfort-food-y with a lot of sauce for the amount of lentils. They do have a bit of oil and cream, but it's only 50 calories of fat per 150 calories (with 7 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber) of the product. My idea grew from there to the kind of salad I read of many nutritarians making--with soup on top instead of dressing. That's what makes it a swamp. :-)

SWAMP SALAD

About 4 cups chopped green leaf lettuce
1/2 small onion, minced
1/2 small bell pepper, minced
1 diced tomato
1/3 cup fresh corn kernels (optional)*
1 package (or 1/2 package if you're not as hungry as I was today) Tasty Bite Madras Lentils

*But then this salad is really a method suggestion, so everything is optional, interchangeable, inspirational

Toss together all the veggies, and pour the warmed pouch of lentils over the top. Stir, savor, and be satisfied!

Verdict:  Excellent!  Of course this salad has endless variations, limited only by what sort of soupy stuff you're willing to put over  your salad.  Or, think of it this way:  instead of topping pasta or rice or couscous or a tortilla with a savory (or any!) sauce, put that stuff over a salad and make it really nutritious.

Real-Life Survival and Celebration on Vacation

Hubby and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary (today!) last week with a wonderful trip to the Boston area. We had five full days of eating out in one form or another, and I thought I'd cover some things that worked well for me without mentioning too much about getting off-track from nutritarian eating.

In my carry-on I had two clementines, two apples, a sandwich bag of almonds, and a sandwich bag of several types of dried fruit, plus a small bag of green grapes.  When I returned I had one of the apples in the car on the way home from the airport, and the other is still withering in the bag.  We had the citrus the first day, and most of the grapes (discarded the others), and a few pieces of the nuts and dried fruit through the days.  I liked the feeling of knowing I had these things for when other choices weren't good ones.

We found a grocery the first evening and I bought some nice peaches and a box of Hodgson Mill muesli, plus some strawberries, I think, plus a little jar of peanut butter and I think some crackers to put it on (we had such a good time I've forgotten!). I also got sugar snap peas and carrots combined in a little bag, and I kept them on ice. Even without a fridge in our room we had a little coffee maker, and for breakfast three days I added hot water to a little muesli and a cut-up peach and was good to go for many hours. The fourth morning our hotel (Best Western Plus Plymouth) provided breakfast (and I was out of peaches), so I had their lovely untreated melon fruit bowl with a boiled egg and a slice of whole wheat toast.

Don't trust the waitress or the chef. In one family-type Italian restaurant I ordered a veggie-strong chicken dish (and it did have a lot of veggies) but asked that it be prepared with as little additional oil as possible. No go. It was covered with sauce (kind of a garlicky one, but not an Alfredo). On the other hand, at Sam Diego's Plymouth I ordered a vegetarian burrito and asked that they omit the cream cheese inside and the cheese on the outside, and the chef took the clue and also left off the sour cream, giving me extra guacamole, I think. A nice touch!

Fish is often the best choice in a restaurant, if you can get it without added oil or as little as possible for the recipe.  At Legal Sea Foods at Long Wharf in Boston I had a deliciously light luncheon-portion Cajun-spiced pollock with diced mango, pineapple, and jicama, alongside asparagus and some jasmine rice.   Yes, I noticed that Legal Sea Foods had a "vegetarian box," but I was at Long Wharf in Boston on the first day of my anniversary trip! :-)  At The Franklin Cape Ann (which we kind of stumbled into when another great restaurant we'd enjoyed 18 months ago seemed to have disappeared) we shared the amazing Grilled Asparagus Salad and I got the Pan Seared Atlantic Haddock.  Only now as I look at the website do I see that they have a vegetarian menu, too.  If I were visiting again, I might try anything on that menu (though skipping the mozzarella salad).  On the other hand, they have an English pea soup listed there with both crispy bacon and creme fraiche!  So perhaps they don't know what they're talking about when they say "vegetarian."  Probably my favorite find as a nutritarian from the sticks (and an hour from the nearest Whole Foods Market) was the WF directly next door to the Cambridge church we visited on Sunday morning, so I experienced the "Whole Paycheck" phenomenon with a big salad bar container that cost me $15!  I couldn't finish it, but it was delicious and about 95% nutritarian.  That was nice. Now that I've mentioned just about every other place we ate, I have to mention Rang Indian Bistro in Stoneham. Gorgeous, delicious food, including Aloo Tikka Chat for an appetizer, and I think I got the Dal Makhani.

I'm glad I'm not a "drinker."  Hubby and I shared a glass of wine at one dinner and a glass of sparkling wine at another, and we even had a first for us and each had a mixed drink in a hotel lounge one late afternoon. I'm glad to have enjoyed these drinks but also glad to have them be so special and not a routine part of life. I have enough challenges with other calorie options out there!  Weight Maven has a good post on this idea of specialness here.

My eating degenerates over the days of a trip.  I start with the best of intentions and practices, and the availability of amazing fun foods and the celebration mentality kind of get to me.  So I had a wrap (grilled veggies with some cheese) sandwich in the airport on the way home, and a donut from the airport Dunkin Donuts afterwards, then both a Diet Coke (my first of the trip!) and salty packaged snacks on the plane. My last hurrah, I guess.  The scale was up a few pounds the first day home, but I'm thankful that just a week later I'm down a pound from when I left.  I'm especially thankful that because I eat mostly nutritarian I didn't have a lot of detox to go through upon my return to nutritarian eating.

It was fun, but it's good to be home!  Our grocery stores (even in the sticks) are paradises of produce compared to what's "out there" on city streets and in restaurants and airports!

Puny DiGiorno Personal Pizza vs. Powerful Pear Salad!

Today at lunchtime my 13yo asked if he could have a Digiorno Small Pizza. I looked at the label and said he could have half--390 calories!  It's a puny thing, about six inches in diameter, though the box indicates two servings (unlike the one 790-calorie serving labeled on the website).  His little puny half-pizza nets 390 calories, 18 grams fat (7 of those saturated), 16 grams protein, and 3 grams fiber, plus almost 750 mg sodium.

While that was cooking for him I made my lunch salad:

POWERFUL PEAR SALAD

4 cups torn leaf lettuce
1 diced bosc pear
2/3 cup broccoli slaw
1/2 cup matchstick carrots
1/2 cup navy beans
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 oz toasted sliced almonds
2 T. plain lowfat yogurt
1 T. light honey mustard salad dressing (25 cal, 1 g fat)
dash each of cinnamon and powdered ginger

Combine all vegetables and fruits, top with yogurt and dressing and spices, then toss. Top with almonds and eat right from the mixing bowl.

Verdict--EXCELLENT. This is a beautiful sunshiny salad with a bright, fresh flavor. I think some lemon juice in the dressing would be good in the future.

Here's the nutrition comparison (and I calculated mine in my head after I made it, figuring it was about the same as the little puny half pizza--I was right!):

Powerful Pear Salad
430 calories, 10 g fat (1 g saturated), 19 g protein, 22 g fiber, and 210 mg sodium (half of that from the tiny tablespoon of bottled salad dressing!)

Puny Personal Pizza
390 calories, 18 grams fat (7 of those saturated), 16 g protein, 3 g fiber, and almost 750 mg sodium.

The pizza serving weighs just 140 g. (about 4.7 oz.) and my salad weighs 650 g, about 22 oz., or 1-1/3 pounds!  Which is more satisfying, do you think? 

In other nutrients here's the score:

• Pizza has 13% of daily Vitamin A and 15% of calcium (all that cheese, don't you know?), plus 5% each of daily iron and Vitamin C.
• Salad has 147% of Vitamin A and 31% of calcium (only 1/6 of that from the yogurt), plus 36% iron and 234% of Vitamin C.

Everybody agrees that salad is more nutritious than pizza, but that much more?!  Yes, indeed.

I just told the pizza consumer to have an apple. That will give him 72 additional calories, double his lunchtime fiber intake, and triple the Vitamin C.

Another win for the nutritarian approach to eating.

Drive-By Post

Just thought I'd stop in and share an amazing and funny and true and inspiring blog post by Robin at "Lean to the Sun":

Abundance

Feta Fusion Rice and Beans

I had my first outing to a Whole Foods Market in Pittsburgh the other evening and brought home a number of lovely things, including golden and regular beets I made into a beautiful dish last night with a recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals. It calls for a simple dressing of vinegar, lemon, and toasted sesame seeds, and the beets were gorgeous in wedges.

This evening I needed a quick supper while grading final exams, so I brainstormed this:

FETA FUSION RICE AND BEANS
Makes 1 serving

1/2 cup rice (I used white but would usually use brown)
1/2 - 1 cup black beans (another color would work fine, too)
1/2 tomato, diced
1/3 cucumber, diced
1 scallion, chopped
2 T. Mediterranean Feta Salsa (from Whole Foods Market--a blend of feta, oregano, onion, tomatoes, kalamata olives, etc.)
2 T. hummus (I used Whole Foods Lemon Hummus), optional

Heat the rice and beans, then toss in the rest of the items and enjoy!

Verdict:  Excellent.  I really enjoyed this satisfying supper.  This includes no more than 1 Tablespoon of feta--I believe in the nutritarian option of using small amounts of animal products to enhance mostly-veggie dishes. Dr. Fuhrman says that if 90% of our calories come from whole plant foods, we can have these variations on the side.

Green Salad With Pineapple and Dried Tomato

Today I got home late for lunch and had been dreaming up a nice salad along the way, inspired by a visit to a Harry and David store.

GREEN SALAD WITH PINEAPPLE AND DRIED TOMATO
Makes one nutritarian-sized lunch or up to four small side salads :-)

Six cups mixed greens (I had leaf lettuce, spinach, and confetti slaw)
1/4 cup red onion, sliced into rings
1/2 cup fresh pineapple, cut into tidbits
1/2 small yellow (or other color) bell pepper, chopped
2 Tablespoons crumbled dried tomatoes
1-2 Tablespoons juice from fresh pineapple
1 Tablespoon Harry and David Charred Pineapple Relish (or a pineapple salsa)
3/4 cup canned white beans, rinsed (optional)

Combine greens, onion, pineapple, and pepper. In a small dish combine dried tomato and pineapple juice and microwave, adding water if needed, to soften tomato. Top salad with white beans, then tomatoes and relish, and toss to combine.

Verdict--Very good. I enjoyed this thoroughly, and I am sure it would be good with fresh tomatoes and canned pineapple if necessary, or rinsed black beans instead of the white. The relish was leftover from Christmas and had just a nice zing of heat to intensify the salad.  A more nutritarian version could substitute a bit more pineapple and a hot pepper for the relish. In any case, the relish was only 25 calories for that amount, similar to what a low- or non-fat dressing might be, and the salad was lovely without any additional dressing.

Copyright Law/Ethics and Recipes?

I have been posting cookbook recipes to this blog when I have found them, or their near-equivalents, already posted online.  But today when I was looking up a couple I started to have a qualm about it.  I'd appreciate your thoughts about what to do in such a case.

For example, you can Google the names of the two recipes I made today from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals book I bought several weeks ago, and you'll find the exact recipes (one even seems to be a pdf from another version of this book!).

For now I'll just name the recipes, mention the main and interesting ingredients, and give a review. That should encourage you to buy the book, and then I'm doing the publishers a favor, right?

First up is SOUTHEAST ASIAN COCONUT ZUCCHINI, which is a sauteed mixture of cubed zucchini, garlic, turmeric, a hot pepper, and coconut milk, with accents of fresh basil, mint, and lime juice.  It was very pretty and very good (if spicy) over brown rice for my supper. And it used up one of our many remaining zucchini from the summer.

Then I tried JAPANESE SESAME SPINACH, but with Swiss chard, a very simple dish of the steamed green dressed with a paste of toasted and ground sesame seed, sugar, and soy sauce. Excellent.

Third in my veggie trio was my own concoction and something to get in part of my bean allowance for the day:

GREEN PEAS AND MUSHROOMS

6-8 ounces quartered mushrooms (I used baby Bella)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 12-oz bag frozen peas
2 "ice cubes" of frozen stock

Dry saute the quartered mushrooms and garlic, then add the frozen peas and the stock and simmer until the peas are done. Or overcook and have the family say that slightly-charred peas aren't so bad after all!

Verdict: Very Good.  What a simple, filling staple

Supper tonight was hearty servings of all these items with a half cup of brown basmati rice. Very nice.

Just for the sake of recording it, I'll provide the rest of my food for today:

Breakfast--half cup of oatmeal cooked with pear, a banana, and 1/2 oz. toasted almond slivers

Lunch--can of Amy's organic minestrone soup (180 calories, 6 g. fiber, 6 g. protein) fortified with extra water, 1 cup of home-cooked pinto beans and about three ounces of fresh spinach, with a little garlic powder, dehydrated onion, and marjoram.  I intended to eat all of this but stopped at about 3/4. Also had an orange.

Snack--big Jonagold apple

And that makes a nutritarian day:
At least 1 cup beans
At least 1 lb. cooked veggies (had more like 1.5 pounds)
At least 1 lb. fresh veggies (skimpy on that today! But I had giant six-cup spring mix salads every day for most of the last week.)
At least 4 fruits (I've had about 3.5 today, so if I quit being full before bedtime I'll have a bit more)
No more than 1 cup grain/starch (was a little over today, which can make up for the calories but not the nutrition of that bit of extra fruit)
No more than 1 oz. nuts

Improving Canned Soup

Today I wanted a quick lunch and thought I'd just pop open a can of Progresso split pea soup. The can has two servings, each totaling something like 160 calories, 2 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber--fine so far--but almost 700 grams of sodium!  I've gotten used to very little salt added to things, and when I tasted this soup I decided it was just too much for me.  So here's what I did to improve it, in the form of a recipe:


Super Split Pea Soup

1/2 cup shredded or matchstick carrots
1 small white potato, shredded
tablespoon dehydrated onion flakes
2 large kale leaves, snipped into shreds
water to cover veggies
1 can Progresso Green Split Pea Soup With Bacon

In a medium saucepan, combine veggies and water to cover and simmer for about ten minutes, until soft or tender-crisp (my choice). Then add the can of soup and heat to desired temperature.  Makes two large bowls (one sufficient for my lunch).

Verdict: Very Good.  This is a great improvement over the soup by itself.  And I'm not tempted to eat the whole can. And I have a nice lunch waiting for me in the fridge on another day. Instead of having a bowl of soup with almost 1400 mg sodium, I have a bigger bowl of much more interesting and healthy soup with less than 700 mg sodium. Yes, it's more than I want, but it's better than what I was going to do, and much better than a lot of other things I could have had for lunch. Win win all around. 

I use mostly fresh items, but there are times when the canned and frozen are a blessing. Now I'll be restocking my shelves with low-sodium versions of canned goods!

Nutritarian Nirvana

I'm not into Eastern religions (nor even some of the Western ones!), but this post title just works.

Emily Boller has posted a great glimpse at the food served at a recent Health Getaway with Dr. Fuhrman.

Click here to see the whole thing.  Amazing--makes me want to pull out that book of recipes!

Day on the Fly

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Smoothie of strawberry, banana, flax seed meal, and lots of spinach--this was greener than I would normally like, and I added a little Crystal Light to it for flavor. If I'd had more time I would have added some more fruit.

Lunch--Leftover CREAMY POTATO-TURNIP SOUP, Giant Eagle Prince Edward Medley vegetables (mine aren't quite what the link has, but close enough, and wonderful!) topped with FUSION HUMMUS--ITALIAN, golden apple

Snack--Roasted edamame, unsalted roasted peanuts (tablespoon), snipped dates (about four), for a total of about 1/2 cup

Supper--2/3 cup canned baked beans with <2 ounces crumbled sirloin burger; salad of spring greens with pear and a couple of walnuts and dijon vinaigrette (homemade by another talented daughter); generous slice of homemade sourdough bread with a bit of butter; orange

Satisfying Sandwich

TOMATO-PEPPER HUMMUS SANDWICH

South Beach Multigrain Wrap (110 calories, 8g fiber)
1/3 cup FUSION HUMMUS--MIDDLE EASTERN
small tomato, chopped
small yellow pepper, chopped

Lightly toast the wrap, then spread with hummus and top with tomato and pepper.

Verdict: Excellent. This "sandwich" was especially good to me today--sweet peppers and tart-sweet tomato, spicy-rich hummus (this one is lowfat), and substantial "bread."

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Leftover oatmeal with apples, raisins, cinnamon, and pecans

Lunch--Salad lovingly prepared by my daughter, so it tasted great: spring mix, romaine, matchstick carrots, raisins, dried cranberries, pecans, a bit of feta, and low-cal Italian dressing; TOMATO-PEPPER HUMMUS SANDWICH; navel orange

Snack--Apple with peanut butter (about a tablespoon), half cup of lentils/brown rice/quinoa with pasta sauce

Supper--Yellow squash and zucchini with onions (boiled), two ounces pork loin, kiwi and banana.

Plus, unfortunately, the several chocolate coins I had this afternoon and several bites of the buttered noodles I made the family for supper. I shouldn't have expected that easing out of the holiday treat-mobile would be easy!!!

Cooking Saturday

We have a dinner at church tomorrow, and I was asked to bring a crock pot of chili, so I asked if I could do a vegetarian version. To save time and effort, I also made a vegetable-beef soup at the same time, so all my vegetable chopping and seasoning could go both ways. The soup is seasoned with garlic, onion, worcestershire, bay leaf, and chili powder, with stew beef and tomato juice for the base--I will add frozen mixed vegetables and additional water the day we eat it, but the "guts" are ready to freeze. The chili is below.

VEGETARIAN CHILI
(All measurements are approximate--I can't be absolutely sure of the number of cans of tomatoes, for example.)

Tablespoon of oil
2 green peppers, chopped
1 very large onion, chopped
Three cloves of garlic, sliced
Two to three ribs of celery, chopped
Two large cans chopped tomatoes (might be three)
2-3 tablespoons McCormick chili seasoning
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
Additional garlic powder and dehydrated onion to taste
Chopped hot peppers to taste--my homegrown "Anaheims" are too hot for the name, so I put in a handful and then tasted the chili and quickly removed most of the pieces of those peppers!
Spoonful of sugar and dash of salt if needed to correct seasoning
Two large cans kidney beans, drained (I used one dark and one light)

Saute the onion, peppers, celery, and garlic until soft, then add tomatoes and seasonings and cook down for an hour or so. Check seasoning, add beans, reheat, and taste again. Refrigerate overnight and reheat for best flavor.

Verdict--Excellent. I had a cup soon after it was all put together, and it's got a nice hotter-than-medium kick to it. It's a little on the "tomato-ey" side, but I'll taste it again tomorrow before serving to be sure that's still the case.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--Leftover apple/raisin oatmeal with toasted almond slices (burned two batches and barely salvaged the third--shame on me!)

Lunch--Amy's Black Bean Enchiladas (yes, I ate both of the ones in the package, for a total of 6g fiber and 100 calories of fat out of 360 calories total) over a salad of spring mix and romaine; larger half of a giant Harry and David pear; sliver of ciabatta sub and of banana coffee cake, about three potato chips, and three chocolate-covered cashews

Snack--Cup of VEGETARIAN CHILI

Supper--Chicken drumstick (baked in the oven with a soy/ginger/honey marinade); 2/3 cup of Lundberg Jubilee Gourmet Blend of Whole Grain Brown Rice cooked in my rice cooker with chicken broth (canned), adding near the end canned sliced mushrooms and a dash of sherry--this was EXCELLENT!; green beans steamed over the rice near the end of cooking time

Snack/Dessert--Will probably have something because we had supper early, but we'll see.

Blackberry-Pear Smoothie and Offline For a While

It seems an extravagance to put a perfectly beautiful Harry and David Royal Riviera pear in a smoothie, but when I start feeling sorry for myself about what I don't get to eat, I figure I should have something that makes me feel privileged. So there.

My modem died today and I will not have another until perhaps Monday or so, so I will be suspending my entries here for several days. I hope to have a good report for Monday anyway!

BLACKBERRY-PEAR SMOOTHIE

One large ripe pear
Cup frozen blackberries (from our garden)
Frozen banana
Leaves from one large stem of kale
Water to blend

Combine all ingredients and blend to smoothness.

Verdict--Exellent. The pear and banana give it smoothness and the blackberries tart depth. I left out flax seed meal today because I figured the kale and berries would put in plenty of graininess--they do. I had about 3/4 of this and saved the rest for NEVER-ENDING SMOOTHIE. :-)

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--BLACKBERRY-PEAR SMOOTHIE

Snack--(was feeling a little nauseated) 1/3 piece of leftover cheese toast

Lunch--1/2 package Tasty Bite Multigrain Pilaf topped with leftover RATATOUILLE SAUCE, navel orange, 100+ calories' worth of chocolate with almonds

Supper--Half ounce of peanuts; apple; 2/3 cup of leftover brown rice, two ounces or so baked chicken (no skin), 1/3 cup canned diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup diced red onion, blop of salsa--I microwaved all the but last two ingredients to take with me for a supper on the run. I will probably have something else when I get home after posting this.

Banana-Nut Oatmeal, Convenience Food, Christmas Party

I started thinking about this a couple of days ago and got to enjoy it this morning:

BANANA-NUT OATMEAL

1/3 cup steel cut oats
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 very ripe banana (mine was frozen)
1/2 ounce broken-up walnuts

Cook oatmeal as directed, adding other ingredients near the end of the cooking time and mashing all together.

Verdict: Excellent! I usually put a dash of salt in my oatmeal and this doesn't need it.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--BANANA-NUT OATMEAL

Lunch--Harry and David Anjou pear; Amy's Garden Vegetable Lasagne (frozen, 290 calories, 80 of those fat, 5g fiber, 13g protein) over dry-sauteed mix of two chopped zucchini, half an onion, and a few mushrooms. Because sometimes nutritarians need convenience food, too! :-)

Snack--About 20 chocolate chips, half a biscotti. This is dangerous territory, but . . .

Supper was a challenge. The first part was at a Christmas Open House for Grove City College. It was a gorgeous spread, and I actually wound up eating some of the table decorations, really! Next to the roast beef and the stuffed mushroom caps and the oysters something-or-other (not Rockefeller) they had giant mushrooms. I didn't take any of those. At the other end of the table, by the miniature beef wellingtons and crabcakes, they had a pile of gorgeous yellow and red bell peppers. I didn't take any of those, but I took a tangelo from beside another meat option. I took a bit of the salmon but left the grapes garnishing the platter. By a platter of toasts piled with ham and strawberries I took a single strawberry garnish. There was a beautiful tray of mini caesar salads in parmesan baskets. I took one of those and enjoyed the salad (a few bites) and single crouton. I sampled the cheese basket to be sure what it was, but I left it. I nibbled a few of hubby's choices, particularly the desserts I didn't even get near otherwise, but I totaled no more than three or four bites of the rich goodies. Sooo...

Supper--Tangelo, strawberry, two or three bites caesar salad and a crouton, ounce of salmon with a bit of sauce, tastes of hubby's choices totaling maybe two ounces of heavy hors d'oeuvres and desserts; at home a salad of romaine, carrot, red bell pepper, half a cup of white beans, 100 calories of guacamole, onion, and salsa, plus one toasted corn taco shell (50 calories); half cup of leftover strawberry smoothie from last week

Progress Report, Kale Revisited, Dressing Up Canned Soup

Okay. This morning I gave the kale smoothie idea another try--I was craving citrusy flavors. It's still "rough" with kale to chew as I drink it, but I actually enjoyed it, especially as I got into it a bit. Betsy tasted it and said it seemed bitter to her, but I like the bitterness of grapefruit, and I thought they went well together. Here's what I did:

CITRUSY KALE SMOOTHIE

1/2 small pink grapefruit
1 tangerine
1 frozen banana
several leaves curly kale, stems removed
tablespoon or so flax seed meal

Combine all in a blender with ice and water and blend. I found that even a longer time of blending did not appreciably reduce the particle sizes for the kale. Maybe when I break out that new blender (about $70 at a local Target store--this link specifies 600 watts but my box says 1000) . . .

Verdict: Excellent. I wasn't so sure with the first couple of sips, but I really enjoyed the rest of it, and I'm even getting used to chewing with a smoothie. :-) This made one very tall glass, but I usually divide and save my smoothies into two servings--this was just one.

DRESSED-UP PROGRESSO CREAMY TOMATO-BASIL SOUP

2 small or one large zucchini, chopped
small onion, chopped
tablespoon or two pesto (my homemade is low in oil)
can of Progresso Creamy Tomato-Basil Soup (130 calories, 7g fiber, 3g protein per serving)

Saute the zucchini and onion in the pesto until slightly softened, then add the soup and heat, cooking to further tenderness if desired.

Verdict: Excellent. I have a reputation for messing with packaged goods (like adding lots more noodles and vegetables to Hamburger Helper or frozen chicken alfredo), so this was a natural for me. I had half of this for my lunch.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--CITRUSY KALE SMOOTHIE

Snack--less than an ounce of roasted edamame

Lunch--DRESSED-UP PROGRESSO CREAMY TOMATO-BASIL SOUP, apple

Snack--two tablespoons of granola with raisins as I set out on a 40-minute walk

Supper--Salad of romaine and red leaf lettuce topped with diced cucumber, chopped bell pepper and tomatoes and red onion, 2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds, about five or six snipped dried apricots, 1/2 cup light red kidney beans, and 2 tablespoons of cucumber dressing (60 calories, 50 from fat); orange

PROGRESS REPORT

Down two pounds this week, for a total of eight-plus pounds in three weeks!