Meals for the Week: Hot, Hot, Hot

Summer has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest. It stopped to say hello in May, then abandoned us for two months, only to return with a vengeance now in late July.

We're expecting a week with highs in the 90s, so I am attempting to cut back on heating up the apartment with cooking a bit. I'm planning to use the toaster oven for tonight's dinner, and I cooked our rice in the microwave yesterday. If I can dig up the half-size muffin pan I think I have in the back of the cupboard, I should be able to make tomorrow's meal in the toaster, too.

Monday
Red beans and rice with smoked turkey sausage
Spinach and tomato salad

Tuesday
Overnight French toast casserole with sage sausage
Cantaloupe and cherries

Wednesday
Corndog muffins with smoked turkey sausage
Pea salad
Salad

Thursday
Grilled pizza
Salad

Friday
Sandwiches
Chips
Salad

Saturday
Bulgogi
Spicy green beans
Jasmine rice

Sunday
Spaghetti with meatballs and hot Italian sausage
Salad

Meals for the Week: Restarting the Week

Our meals got all shifted around all through last week, and we didn't end up sticking much to our schedule. Thus, this week's meals are largely what I'd planned for last week's meals! Since I didn't post meals for last week, it doesn't make much difference in the end.

Monday
Shells and meatballs with tomato sauce
Garlic bread
Spinach salad

Tuesday
Grilled kielbasa
Potato salad
Spinach salad

Wednesday
Beans and cornbread
Salad

Thursday
Turkey bake
Salad

Friday
Beef and bean tacos
Tortilla chips and salsa

Saturday
Pesto pasta with tomatoes and chicken
Rolls
Salad
(Merry Christmas in July!)

Sunday
Huevos rancheros

Picky Eaters? Tips on How to Introduce Vegetables

New on Associated Content:

I didn't always like vegetables. Sure, I ate kid favorites like french fries and corn on the cob, and I even enjoyed green peas and baked beans. But boy, was I picky about the rest.

I'd eat baked potatoes, but only if I could leave behind the skin. I liked tomatoes one year, then decided they were too squishy the next. I loved salad, if by salad you meant cucumbers topped with cheese, bacon bits, and chow mein noodles.

I wouldn't touch mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, cabbage, and shall I go on, or do you get the point? If it wasn't bread, cheese, or meat, odds are I wasn't interested.

When I grew into adulthood and moved out on my own, I decided it was time to let childhood prejudices go. It was embarrassing to ask my mom if she's eat the broccoli off my plate if I ordered the apricot chicken when I was in my 20s.

Still, while I'd shaken off my aversion to veggies like lettuce and celery years before, taking on the broccoli monster still sounded daunting. George H.W. Bush still hated broccoli in his old age, so who said I would be any different?

Go read the rest! It's delicious.

This article moves away from cooking tips and more into general ideas about disguising vegetables or making them more accessible to the skittish. The point about cutting them very small is the best in my opinion. It's way easier to handle a little bite than a big one because you're not stuck chewing it for a long time in case you don't really like it right away.

Interested in seeing everything I've published on Associated Content? Visit my profile page for the full list.

Cooking Tips to Help Picky Eaters Learn to Love Vegetables

New over on Associated Content:

When you hear vegetables, do you think "Yuck!"?

Do you have a child (or, heaven forbid, spouse) whose veggies always seem to end up in the dog's dish?

Do you put white potatoes next to your chicken and biscuits and call it dinner?

Then these tips are for you. Welcome to the wonderful world of vegetables.

Food neophobia, or the fear of new foods, shouldn't be dismissed as mere pickiness. Studies suggest the condition may be genetic, an impulse born into children to help them survive by being unwilling to try that pretty but poisonous berry growing on the random bush. Kids who turn up their noses at new foods aren't doing so just to annoy you; they're responding to primal instincts.

Nevertheless, you shouldn't resign yourself to a couple decades of hot dogs and chicken fingers. We need to teach kids (and adults who never outgrew childhood tastes) to enjoy nutritious foods to set them on the healthy path in life. It takes persistence and patience, but you can persuade a person to try new foods. Just remember, it can take many attempts before a hesitant bite turns to a favorite treat. Keep at it!

Go check it out! I'd appreciate it.

I published two articles recently on ways to make vegetables more appealing. It's hard for me to recall now what it was like to recoil at the sight of almost all veggies on my plate, but I do remember perfectly well all the tricks I played on myself to get over my vegetable (and other food) fears.

Some of my suggestions may seem counterintuitive (as in, what's the point of getting someone to eat a healthy veggie if it's prepared so unhealthily?), but the point is to offer the medicine with a spoonful of sugar the first few times to make it less scary. Once you know you can eat deep-fried green beans without gagging, you'll be more likely to give them a chance plain.

Interested in seeing everything I've published on Associated Content? Visit my profile page for the full list.

Get Started with Easy Meal Planning to Save Time and Money

New over on Associated Content:

If a tight budget is starting to squeeze your food spending, it may be time to consider a strategy that can save you money and help you maintain a healthy diet: meal planning.

Meal planning is as simple as working out at the beginning of the week what you will serve for dinner each night for the rest of the week. You can then use your plans to formulate a grocery list, helping ensure you buy only what you need when you shop. Plus, if you know what you're planning to cook and have the supplies for the meals on hand, you'll avoid unhealthy takeout.

Please go have a look! It's a basic primer on meal planning, great if you haven't tried it yet or are looking for a simpler approach.

Interested in seeing everything I've published on Associated Content? Visit my profile page for the full list.

Strategies for Eating Out at Restaurants Without Wrecking Your Healthy Diet

I've published a new original article for Associated Content. Here's a snippet to whet your appetite:

Every month or so, my high school dismissed students early to allow teachers time for professional development. At 12:30 p.m., students would pour out the doors, pile into the car of whoever could drive, and fill up the dining rooms of every casual chain restaurant in a five mile radius, giddy with anticipation of afternoon of social fun.

I'd peruse the menu of our chosen restaurant, my waistline and the eyes of a half-dozen friends on my mind, and carefully select a "healthy" salad for my lunch. Sure, it came topped with fried chicken and with a quarter cup of dressing on the side, but it was a salad -- how bad could it be? I'd keep with my healthy theme for dessert and generously split the enormous slice of chocolate cake with a friend. Keeping it all for myself would seem piggish, but if I ate only half I was virtuous!

Read more: Strategies for Eating Out at Restaurants Without Wrecking Your Healthy Diet

Interested in seeing everything I've published on Associated Content? Visit my profile page for the full list.

Meals for the Week: Sick in Bed Edition

Despite being sick, I did plan a full slate of meals this week. Ground beef was on sale, so I'm planning several upcoming meals around it. All this week's meals will be served with salad and bread of some sort for simplicity's sake.

Monday
Pork fried rice with mixed veggies

Tuesday
Tamale pie

Wednesday
Chicken and Rice with Broccoli and Cheddar

Thursday
Cincinnati chili

Friday
Franks and beans

Saturday
Spanish tortilla

Sunday
Crispy Tofu with Sweet Soy-Garlic Sauce

Spiced Banana Smoothie

I've been sick since Friday (which yes, means I spent the Fourth of July in bed rather than at a fun picnic or fireworks show). My nose and throat have picked up some nasty infection that causes me to go through plenty of tissues and tonsil-numbing spray. I need to sit by a vaporizer all day and take antihistamines to get any sleep. And then when I do finally sleep, I end up awaking sometime in the afternoon wondering where everybody is.

Anyway, I've been knocking off cooking a bit. I had others handle Saturday's turkey franks, and I elected to simply roast last night's Cornish hen so I didn't have to baby-sit it.

My appetite is kind of weird. I'm not particularly hungry most of the day, but when I do want to eat, I want something mild or a mostly. I've eaten toast, a danish, half a cinnamon roll, a popsicle, chicken soup -- a lot of sick-person food.

Today, I blended up a breakfast/lunch intended to soothe my achy throat, which hurts most when I first wake up. This Spiced Banana Smoothie is based on a recipe I found on the PBS show Everyday Food's site. I added some cinnamon for extra flavor and frozen yogurt for protein, calcium, and probiotics. And to make it more like a milkshake...

Spiced Banana Smoothie
Adapted loosely from Everyday Food

The measurements are kind of approximate. I started with 1/2 cup milk but it was too thick, so I added some more. The spices I just shook/grated straight into the blender, but you should aim for more cinnamon than nutmeg. Vanilla might not be bad in this, too.

3/4 c. skim milk
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg
1 frozen peeled banana, broken into chunks
2 scoops (about 1/2 c.) Dreyer's/Edy's Tart Honey frozen yogurt

Blend on high until smooth. Pour into a large glass. Enjoy.

MacGourmet Deluxe on Sale

My favorite Mac recipe organizer, MacGourmet Deluxe, is on sale today only for $24.95 as today's MacUpdate Promo. The Deluxe version includes the basic organizer plus the very useful nutrition, meal planning, and cookbook-layout modules.

You can read Macworld's review of MacGourmet on their Mac Gems blog. Incidentally, if you're an iPhone/iPod touch user, the review mentions that you can download a companion app for MacGourmet for $5.

Meals for the Week: Clearing the Cupboards

Sorry I'm a little late this week. I'm going a bit crazy and have lost track of time a bit. Summer kind of throws a wrench in the usual routines.

We're trying to eat down our reserves a bit this week. We've accumulated a few odd cans in the back of the pantry, a lot of extra buns and rolls on the counter, and sad-looking foods in the fridge. I had to do some salad surgery on Monday, tearing my way through the three romaine hearts we had to find the leaves unaffected by shrivel and browning. I salvaged three night's worth of salad for two, which we're eating in quick succession before it can go bad.

Monday
Pulled chicken sandwiches
Corn
Salad

Tuesday
Hamburgers stuffed with reduced-fat cheddar
Roasted potatoes
Salad

Wednesday
Rigatoni with meatballs (can)
Macaroni and cheese (box)
Leftover corn
Salad
(Happy Canada Day!)

Thursday
Spanish tortilla
Bagels
Salad

Friday
Lemon-butter chicken cutlets
Mixed veggies
Potato-leek soup (can)

Saturday
Turkey hot dogs
Chips
Salad
(Happy Fourth of July!)

Sunday
Barbecue Cornish hen
Baked beans
Muffins
Salad

Superfoods Save Your Healthy Day

Superfoods Save Your Healthy Day: "The July/August 2009 issue of Health magazine features a list of nine superfoods for women that provide alternatives to common nutrient-rich foods like blueberries and broccoli. Check out these options:

1. Kiwifruit: Instead of oranges, try these fruits also packed with vitamin C.

2. Mushrooms: If your attitude toward broccoli is similar to the first President Bush’s, you can get nutritious phytochemicals from this meaty vegetable instead."

(Via Well Fed Network.)

I enjoyed that article in Health, as you don't hear sky-high praises for a lot of the foods mentioned all that often. That's not to imply they're unhealthy, just that they're neglected.

Incidentally, the article also mentioned three "superfood" spices:

1. Cayenne pepper: This seasoning not only adds a spicy kick to your food but also can help with an overactive bladder and increase your metabolism.

2. Cinnamon: This one I've heard about a lot in relation to diabetes. Apparently, it helps insulin work better, which keeps your blood sugar more stable. I've also heard it's good for helping you lose weight by suppressing appetite or something; I'm guessing that's related.

3. Turmeric: I've read before that this yellow spice is an anti-inflammatory, and Health confirms that it may fight inflammatory bowel disease and keep away pancreatic cancer. I like to add it to creamed corn to make the whole dish shockingly yellow.