Cooking Thursday for 3/12/2012

Cooking Thursdays is dedicated to the premise that if you want to be serious about losing weight and being healthy, you need to cook the vast majority of your meals at home. Of course, there are times when you have to eat out or even treat yourself for a special occasion, but knowing what to cook and how to prepare your food at home is essential.  Today I will cover items that I feel indispensable to a well stocked pantry in order to whip up a delicious, healthy meal anytime.

Coming home at the end of a long day of work, shuttling your kids from point A to point B or even both can be a daunting proposition if you know you have to make a nutritious meal and are not sure what that meal might be. One thing that can help tremendously is to have, at all times, the right ingredients on hand that can serve as tasty, wholesome components of your supper. Here are some things I always have stocked to aid in my cheffing.

Spices and dried herbs:
I always have a cadre of staple spices and herbs in the pantry. My ‘go to’ choices are usually garlic powder or garlic salt, oregano, dried basil, and red pepper flakes. I have a few dozen others as well but the 'go to' ones so easily add zip to pasta dishes, seasoning of meats or vegetables and for homemade salad dressings. Bland food will make you feel deprived and bored. That only leads to failure. Set yourself up for success and keep these items on hand.

Brown rice:
Brown rice is not only delicious, but so much healthier than your run-of-the-mill white rice. Sorry, Uncle Ben. That converted stuff is about as healthy as packing peanuts. Brown rice does take longer to prepare so you will need extra time, but if you are in a pinch, I like the Success Boil in a Bag Brown Rice. Ready in about 8 minutes. 

Brown rice is a good source of iron, riboflavin, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, trace minerals such as copper and manganese, and selenium. Plus, it has 4.5x the fiber of white rice.

Whole grain pasta:
If you are trying to lose weight, let’s face it, pasta is not your friend. But if you’d like some pasta occasionally, then use your noodle when choosing your noodle. Look for the stamp similar to the one pictured above, indicating you are getting the most nutrition for your buck. Be wary of labels that say ‘whole wheat’, ‘whole wheat blend’ or 'made with whole grains'. While nutritionally better than white pasta, it’s a slight advantage. When it says ‘100% Whole Grain’ it has the germ and bran intact, the most nutrient rich parts of grain. A typical serving is 1.5 to 2 cups cooked. Most restaurants serve 4 cups of ‘white’ pasta plus sauce and that can be upwards of around 1200 calories. 4 cups of ‘white’ pasta is the equivalent of eating 12 slices of white bread. YIKES! Also, beware of the sauce trap. Just because you are eating a whole grain pasta doesn’t mean it goes into mac and cheese or is served with a high-fat, high-caloric, jarred sauce. A straight up marinara is your best bet.

Extra virgin olive oil and a variety of vinegars:
I use extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) sparingly in volume, but almost daily in my cooking. Oil is a fat and although EVOO is a somewhat healthier form of fat, it is still a fat. Go easy! 

I keep many different kinds of vinegar in my pantry for salad dressings and cooking in general. More than I dozen, I bet, but here are some you might want to keep on hand.

• Red wine vinegar; that old staple that every Italian grandmother put on her salads.

• Balsamic; sweeter and smoother than the red wine variety. Perfect over tomatoes and fresh basil. Reduced over fresh strawberries is one of my faves.

• Apple cider vinegar; take some cabbage and sauté it with onions, apples, caraway seeds and a touch of this vinegar. Fabulous!

Canned beans:
These are a great source of protein. I have become addicted to beans. I love cannellini beans most, but also keep chick peas (aka garbanzo beans) and kidney beans hand. These add texture, fiber and a host of nutrients to your dishes.
Hopefully these tips will keep your food interesting and flavorful. If you don’t enjoy the food you eat, you are doomed to revert to bad choices.

Cya tomorrow,
M

What I ate today and how I exercised:
Breakfast ~ Kashi Island Vanilla Cereal with ½ a banana and Vanilla Almond Silk
Lunch ~ Whole grain pasta with homemade pesto, cannellini beans and fresh tomato
Pre-walk snack ~ ½ of a Honeycrisp apple. If you find these in the store, buy them. My favorite apple.
Dinner ~ Tuna salad a la Mike. A mix of white tuna, cannellini beans, artichoke hearts, tomato and capers in a red wine vinaigrette. I also roasted a sliced eggplant with some EVOO and garlic salt. 
 Exercise ~ I always thought walking all the way around our lake was 2.7 miles. Tonight I found out, via my nifty pedometer watch, it is just 2 miles, but I walked it all. Beautiful weather to walk in.