No Guilt Stroganoff

Well I headed for the church to meet with my group tonight, to have everyone calling out, struggling with continued sickness and physical pains. There have been trips to the hospital, lots of meds and missed work. 

The virus that is pounding our area, seems to have a stronghold on everyone who it comes in contact with it. Virtually everyone I know, including myself, has had it in one form or another and it hangs on for weeks. 

Sickness is one of those things that make it real easy to throw positive choices out the window, but that doesn't have to be the case. Stock up on chicken broth and green tea to drink and keep yourself hydrated to help your body do its job of healing and fighting off the bugs that bring us down. Eat small healthy meals and don't over tax yourself while your body fights. God created us with amazing bodies that have the capacity to rid itself from germs that invade us as we interact with the world. We all have times when you are faced with illness that leave us ragged and miserable, we have to take the best care of ourselves as possible and seek medical assistance if it requires. Eating healthy is a sure way to support bodies in times of compromised health. 

Tonight as I fight my own bug, I wanted something in realm of comfort food and as I did some quick snooping around Pinterest I spotted stroganoff and a light went on as to what I wanted to do.  Here is a look at what we ended up with.

No Guilt Stroganoff

1 lb ground beef
1/2 head cabbage thin sliced
3/4 c. sliced Mushrooms
1/2 Med Onion
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese
1/2 and 1/2 or milk
Salt & Pepper
No salt seasoning



In a large skillet brown ground beef, mushrooms, onion and season to taste.  Cook until meat and mushrooms have taken on good color (well browned mushrooms are the best!). Add cabbage and toss until wilted. Stir in cream cheese and feta, thinning with 1/2 &1/2 to desired creaminess, I used around a 1/2 cup. 

Traditionally this would have had parmesan cheese, but the  container I thought was in the frig was gone and the feta is what I had on hand. So if you have parm feel free to use it in place off the feta.

Because this dish doesn't have any pasta in it, there is nothing to suck up your sauce, so it will stay nice and creamy after it's been pulled from the stove top. 

Pair this with a crisp salad, or curl up with just a bowl and enjoy.

So I wish health for you during this cold and flu season, as well as speedy recoveries if have been stricken with the bugs that are going around.

Temptations

Some days are easier to face than others, and with the challenge of avoiding grains and sugars it can be very difficult thing to do.

As I've mentioned before, I work in a fine dining restaurant, which in itself improves my odds of making positive choices, but they also provide food for us during the day that can be far from the plan I strive to follow. 

Most days they are pretty good about fixing things that I can pick and choose from which I'm very thankful for. And when the overall meal is not suitible, they will let me raid the boiled eggs, some cheese or avocado and I can get by.

But somedays, like today, we had scrambled eggs and bacon that was great. And there was a large pan of fried potatoes for everyone else, but the kicker today came in a fresh batch of donuts made this morning. Sitting openly next to the coffee machine, in a walkway heavily traveled.

I have managed to leave them alone in spite of walking past them several times looking at them (Telling myself just drink more water or eat another slice of bacon!). We all have those times when we are faced with a choice that is very difficult. 

Remember your self talk, you can live without them, it's just a donut. Remember why you are choosing to eat differently, you body will thank you for walking away. 

And remember to cheer when you step on the scale and know that you did the right thing. 

Face the temptations and challenges head on, and if you slip, never fear, you can start again and keep going. Remember the goal, making more positive choices than poor ones.

We've been at this for a month now, and I'm down 12 pounds, many more to go, but it is begining to feel like a lifestyle and less like a hurdle to get over. 

Tell me your challenges and we can face them together.

Tuna and "Rice" Casserole

I know I haven't been around much this last week, sadly enough, our entire group has been plagued with a nasty virus that seems to be circulating in our area. Lots of tissues and cough drops have been within arms length, but I think I'm beginning to see the last of it finally, at least I hope so.

Needless to say, when I find myself under the weather I begin yearning for old favorites that scream with familiarity and comfort. Today was one of those days and I was thinking that it had been ages since I had a batch of Tuna casserole, and it sounded like just the thing.

My traditional casserole used a standard white sauce and a big batch of starchy rice. Both of which have become off limits under the new guidelines that I need to follow in order to correct my health issues. So with the challenge in front of me, I tackled the task of modifying the traditional recipe and came up with an alternative that was good enough my husband was back at the pot snatching a second round.  

Tonight's modified casserole turned out to be just as yummy as any of my old recipes and will be used again in the future. So if you are looking for something that will take you back to dinner in mom or grandma's kitchen this is the ticket.

Tuna and "Rice" Casserole
2 ribs Celery - chopped
1 sm Onion - sm dice
Olive Oil
1/2 head Cauliflower - riced in the food processor
1 c. Frozen Peas
2 cans Tuna, drained and flaked
1/2 - 3/4 c. Heavy Cream
4 oz Cream Cheese
2 c. Colby JackCheese - grated
salt & pepper

In my dutch oven I sweat celery and onion in a little olive oil, when they started to soften I added the cauliflower rice and tossed. Salt & pepper to taste. When the cauliflower begins to turn translucent add tuna and pea and toss to warm. When the pea become bright green add cream, cheese and cream cheese, stirring as the cheese melts together and the sauce thickens. (You may need to adjust the amount of cream you use to get the consistency of sauce you want) 

For me, I love dill in my casserole, so I used a natural dill dip herb blend I keep around, but season with whatever suits you. Pepper flakes, a lemon pepper blend (salt free), experiment with your favorite flavors. You also can top it off with something like a extra layer of cheese and then toss in under the broiler for a minute to brown in up, and if you grew up with crackers or potato chips on top of your casserole, try crushed up pork rinds to give you that crunchy texture without the carbs. We just went for it right off the stove.

This is what was leftover after we had our fill, just enough for lunch tomorrow.

Here's to comfort food, memories and healthy choices!

Garlicly Spinach Zucchini Noodles

Garlicly Spinach Zucchini Noodles

Today I had a recipe pop up on my Pinterest alert that peaked my interest, but like any good recipe, I have to make it my own.

Raw spiral cut zucchini

Ingredients:
3 Med or 4 smaller zucchini, spiral cut into noodles
1/2 Med red onion, thin sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small package frozen spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
1 Tbsp Olive oil
2 Tbsp Butter
1-2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste

Prep all the vegetables so they are ready to go it the pan at the right moment.
Preheat a large 12" nonstick skillet to medium or a little more depending on your stove, you don't want it too hot, but if you cook the noodles to slowly, they will get too mushy.

Sauted onions & garlic

Start with warming the oil in the skillet, adding onions and stir around to start the softening process, add garlic and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add noodles and spinach, season with salt and pepper and continue to toss for 4-5 minutes,breaking up an clumps of spinach. Once the noodles begin to soften, add butter and vinegar and simmer for another minute to make a silky sauce to coat the noodles.

Dish it up with your favorite cut of meat and you have a great dinner, tonight we had it with kabobs I picked up from the local market.

Alternative: to jazz it up a bit, add crumbles bacon at the end too!

I know I will be making this one again.

  

Breakfast Scramble

Breakfast for me can be pretty unorthodoxed, but pretty darn tasty. Today was one of those days with a mix of leftovers, some extra vegetables, eggs and cheese.  So here's a peek at my crazy breakfast.

It started with dinner two nights ago when I needed something simple and quick for dinner that we fill the gut, and not derail what I've set out to do when it comes to my health. So what I had at my fingertips in frig included a pound of hamburger, half a head of cabbage and a medium onion. So I browned the hamburger, shredded the cabbage and onion on the mandoline and tossed it in with the hamburger until it was wilted and starting to brown just a little bit. I seasoned it all with salt, pepper and my favorite no-salt seasoning we found at Costco as it cooked and served it up in bowls in front of one of our favorite shows. Leftover tossed in the frig.

So this morning, as I scanned the frig for what to eat for breakfast, I spotted the container of cabbage and hamburger, a bag of chopped kale, a tub of sliced mushrooms and of course eggs and cheese.  ( And yes those are all items that you can find regularly in my refrigerator.)

Starting with the mushrooms, I browned a couple of handfuls with a nonstick fry pan, coated with cooking spray and a touch of olive oil. Once the mushrooms were golden brown and yummy, I tossed in the leftover hamburger and cabbage, stirring until it was heated thought. Adding a good handful of the chopped kale and tossed for another minute. Added five scrambled eggs and stirred until they were cooked though. 

  

We had enough for 3-4 servings and topped each serving off with grated cheese.  It sounds a little crazy and it's a healthy serving of vegetable with your protein, but it was good to the last bite.

This kind of scramble can be achieved with pretty much any combination of veggies that you have on hand, and you don't need to have leftovers either. You can use any kind of meat that you have handy too, its kind of a free range cooking with the ingredient you have on hand that hopefully support the lifestyle choices you are trying to make.

Time to head for the kitchen and go wild!
Coral

Week Two - My Goals - Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Week two was a week of challenges, visiting out of town family, pain and sickness, but we got through it. Only a few pounds lost between us, yet we found that we were more aware of the choices we made, good or bad. We are recognizing when we are making that extra effort to slow down long enough to evaluate our choices before we make them. 

We all accept that fact that we are just getting started in making what should be a life long attitude about our food. We talked about getting back on task with this week and talked about making sure we get to the grocery store and buy the supplies we need to be successful this week.

When we decided to start this group, our goals include loosing weight for a son's wedding, slimming down for a cruise and just getting back into clothes we no longer get into.  I knew part of my goal was to get back into all great clothes that had to be pushed to the back of the closet, but I also knew I wanted to reduce the amount of diabetic medication I have been needing to take. Just the last fall I was forced to take it up a notch and add another med to the one I was already taking. With a diabetic mom and brother, I've seen them both progress through all the levels of medications to the point of full insulin dependence, and that in not a road I want to choose for myself. 

Well, I said at the beginning, that this past week was complicated with pain and sickness. I was dealing with pain in my upper right abdomen, and was expecting to get a diagnosis of gallstones and possibly needed surgery to have my gallbladder removed. One of the others in the group was also have a similar pain, but had her gallbladder removed years ago so she had no idea as what her pain was. With her trip to the doctor established she is dealing with a pinched nerve that is sending pain in the nerve channel that travels around to that region, and they also told her that she has a Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver. Well my diagnosis was yet to determined. 

Thursday I went in for an ultrasound to learn my fate, and of course, they would not tell me anything, just that it will be three to four days before I get my results from my doctor. After a sent off email to my doctor I got lucky to get a response the next morning that I too had Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver.  

In my usual fashion, I started looking at what we need to be doing to support our team member with this condition, and now with my own diagnosis, I found myself diving in even deeper as to what we need to be doing to treat this disease, and to my amazement, the most effective treatment for this is what we had already set out to do two weeks earlier, which is low carb. 

So with this new condition compounding my already compromised health, my goal is now even more intense when it comes to improving my health which will include weight loss in the process.

As I've spent the last day and a half learning more about this disease, and I know we are on the right path to better health. This condition is common if you have one or more of the following health issues: diabetes, high blood pressure, over weight, vitamin D deficiency, high cholesterol and a long list of other common conditions that we hear about every day.

If you have any of the listed conditions, please take it seriously and make positive choices to improve your health. We only have one life, one body and we are the only ones who are responsible for how we will take care of them. 

Well Dressed - Salad Dressing for everyday

In class this week, we spent time reading labels of popular salad dressings, and well, we found some rather disturbing number ingredients that we didn't want in our food , let alone plenty of ingredients that we had no idea what they even were. So it's time that we think about taking control of what we put in our bodies. We have become accustomed to grabbing a bottle off the shelf at the grocery store not thinking about what is put in that bottle to make it stable enough to sit on the shelf for months on end without spoiling. We have it in our power to make wonderfully tasting dressings with ingredients our great great grandparents would recognize as food and we know is healthy to eat.

I work in one of Portland's select fine dining restaurants and I see them every week making batches of different dressing for our varied designer salads we offer our customers. All with fresh ingredient, each one unique to the salad it will be placed on. One would think you need special equipment or skills to produce such dressings, but in reality salad dressing are very simple to produce and once you get used to some basic recipes they become allot of fun to tweak and alter to fit your tastes.

So here are two that I use all the time and you will always find in my frig.

Greek Dressing

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil
Splash of lemon juice to taste

For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Still whisking, slowly add the olive oil to make an emulsion. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta and olives and toss lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.

Uses for the Greek Dressing:

Traditional Greek salad: Cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, olives and feta cheese

Chopped salad: Kale, tomatoes, green onions, olives, bell pepper  and feta cheese

In a pinch, this is a great go to dressing if all you have is a bag salad and a chopped up tomato too

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Slaw Dressing (Kale salad or Oriental Cabbage Salad)

1 c Mayonnaise or Olive oil

5 packet Stevia or other sugar replacement to taste

1/3 c or more Rice Vinegar

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

Whip all ingredients together and adjust sweetener, salt or pepper to taste. Also adjust amount of vinegar to desired thickness.

  

Uses for Slaw Dressing:
Oriental Chicken Salad: Chopped cabbage, grated carrot, sliced radish, green onions, snow peas, toasted almonds, diced cooked chicken, mandarin orange sections (I use the version of the dressing made with oil for this salad)
Kale slaw: Chopped kale, finely shaved cabbage, grated carrots, red onion, sliced radishes, finely chopped cauliflower and broccoli, toasted nuts (prefered pecans) 
Coleslaw: use a  batch of bagged coleslaw mix or your favorite combination of vegetables
For the kale slaw and coleslaw I use the mayonnaise based version