Eat Your Greens! Some Recipes...

Along with the general advice to just throw whatever veggies you have in the fridge into on on top of whatever it is that you are cooking, here are a few easy recipes that work well with most any vegs you have on hand.

"HOMEMADE" PASTA SAUCE

You may think that making pasta sauce takes too long and is too much "cooking" for you. I beg to differ! The best thing about making your own sauce is that you really can't go wrong, no matter what you end up throwing in there.

• First, the meat. Optional. Cook a pound or two of ground beef or turkey in a large skillet until brown on the outside. Or, chop up some chicken breast into small squares and cook until done (when you press on the chicken with the back of a spoon, the juices should run clear, not pink or cloudy).
  
• Second, dice a whole bunch of veggies, whatever you have, and throw them in a pan with some olive oil to saute them just a bit. Or, toss in some frozen veggies (frozen spinach works great) or canned veggies. I usually do at least one onion
  
• Last, the sauce part--you can use plain tomato sauce or one of the jarred sauces (just watch to avoid the ones high in sodium). Heat and serve, that's all there is to it! If you want to get fancy, you can add fresh basil and parsley right before serving.

STIR FRY

Basically the same principal as above, only don't add tomato sauce. Instead, add some spice! I usually just throw some ground red pepper and salt on mine, or soy sauce, but there is a plethora of Asian-inspired sauces out there to experiment with and find what your family likes.

I also hear rave reviews for Trader Joe's frozen stir fry veggies, although I haven't tried them yet. I'm usually shorter on money than time, so I go for the cheaper but more labor-intensive option of just buying veggies separate. If you're more concerned about getting in and out of the kitchen quickly, or with having something on hand that just needs to be heated up, then these ready-to-eat bags are probably great.

QUESADILLAS

What could be easier than a tortilla, some cheese, and some veggies/meat? Grill up some chicken breasts, (or, to save more time, get a rotisserie chicken from the market). Layer a flour tortilla, cheddar cheese, chicken, peppers/onions (optional), another tortilla - and heat in a frying pan or George Forman grill like a grilled cheese sandwich. Easy, fast, neat enough to take in the car...it's the perfect food!

(Leave off the tortilla, add eggs, and you have a Veggie Frittata!)

PIZZA

Another very easy at-home fix that sneaks veggies into a kid-appealing package. Rumor has it that Trader Joe's sells the dough (plain or wheat) for $0.99, although I can't vouch for it personally. I can highly recommend Wegman's pizza dough, especially the whole wheat variety. It's in their prepared foods section (by the bakery) and it's only $2.50 (approx.) for a package, which for us makes 2 pizzas that serve 4 each. Toppings, like all the other recipes on this page, can be anything. Chicken and onion is a favorite in my family, but thinly sliced tomato, bell peppers, leftover slices of eggplant parmesan, olives, canned artichoke hearts, broccoli crowns, thinly sliced zucchini and other squash all work well.

Bon Appetit!

Learning to Live Lean

Lots of us have a few extra pounds hanging around after having had a baby. Or perhaps after starting your first desk (read: sedentary) job. Or perhaps just after putting on a few pounds a year every year since college. Whatever the reason, there are a plethora of diet plans out there. I read about most of them with skepticism, because for me the absolute bottom line has always been:

calories in - calories out = weight gained (or lost)

Simple, right? And yet, such a difficult equation to internalize. One article that does a pretty good job at showing some places where people tend to make unhealthy choices is this Lose 10 Pounds in 5 Weeks from MSN. Normally I eschew articles like this, but this one points out that simple, everyday choices that you don't even realize you are making, really add up.

Maybe this is you:

"Often, I see overweight people at salad bars. Presumably they have chosen to eat a salad because it’s healthy and less fattening than a meal elsewhere. But the salad they create often has more calories than a Big Mac! It’s piled high with very few vegetables, but with all the meat toppings and creamy potato and pasta salads that can fit on the plate. And then, the entire thing is slathered with blue cheese or ranch dressing."

Or, this is you:

"This fat mindset doesn’t just apply to eating. It applies to being active. I know overweight people whose hobbies are all sedentary: watching movie after movie, playing video game after video game, surfing the Net, and watching endless TV shows. Studies have shown that the more hours spent doing these sorts of activities, the more overweight a person is."

How to fix it? How to break the cycle? Some people swear by keeping a food log, either on paper or by using on of the many online calorie counters. An easier solution, if you're fairly aware of what you eat and the relative calorie counts of foods, is to do the 500 rule: decrease your total calories by 500. You can do this by cutting calories that you take in, or increasing calories that you burn, or doing both. For example, making breakfast a bowl of healthy cereal with skim milk rather than a fancy coffee and a high-calorie scone or muffin, plus taking a 30 minute brisk walk at lunch, will probably get you to that 500 calorie mark fairly easily.

At least, this is the path I'm taking...I'll let you all know how it turns out!