Colorful Food

My son is so creative with his food sometimes. He made me oatmeal.

Isn’t he so sweet? I tell him he should be a cook. Or maybe a car mechanic. That way, I won’t have to fork out the thousands to have my car fixed. Yeah. Too many young people want careers in computers today. A nephew of mine is interested in making computer games– drawing the animated characters and designing stuff for them. What kind of career is that? I don’t know, maybe I’m showing my age, but making games isn’t a REAL job, it’s a hobby! At least they’ll keep the document scanning software companies in business….

We’re reading in our health book that colorful food, which is naturally attractive, is very healthful. Not artificial colors, of course! The bright reds, greens, purples, yellows and pinks of food. YUM. By the way, did you ever stop to realize that very few foods are truly blue? There’s blueberries, and …. and… I can’t think of anything else. Can you???

Anyway, colorful foods contain antioxidants and phytonutrients and all sorts of yummy stuff that your body needs. Raw is better for most fruits and vegetables, too.

Oddly enough, I like the appeal of bright red foods, but I don’t like to eat them very much. I like the colors of tomatoes, red peppers, etc, but I don’t like to eat them. However, I do like strawberries. I’ll eat anything green.

How about you? Are you attracted to one color over another? Do you like the color AND the taste, or just one over the other?

Easy Quesadillas

I went to a Chili’s restaurant for the first time last week. I’m not terribly fond of Mexican food, and I admit I did hesitate a little when going in there. But I ordered some chicken quesadillas, and they were quite yummy. I was astonished at the portion sizes there, I couldn’t even eat half of what they served! I took the rest home for the kids to try. They thought it was Greek pizza!

Well, all this quesadilla eating started to make me want to try cooking some. So I gave it a shot. My concoction turned out pretty good– very basic but nutritious. I decided to add more veggies and less meat in mine, to pack a vitamin punch; not as potent as, say, prenatal vitamins, but pretty good. Of course, there’s alwats room for improvement. Here’s my basic recipe.

Easy Quesadillas

Chicken breasts- boned, skinned and thinly sliced
White onion
Water
Chili powder
Cumin
Fresh or frozen corn kernels
Red pepper, diced
Kale, destemmed and chopped
Shredded cheese
Tortilla wraps (smaller ones work best)
Butter

Cook the chicken, onion, and spices together in a frying pan. Add a little water if necessary. Add the vegetables and cook until just tender.

Butter one side of each tortilla. Place it on a griddle and sprinkle the cheese. Add a scoop of the chicken and veggies. Fry another tortilla and add a little cheese to that. Once the tortillas turn a golden brown, slap the two together to make the quesadilla. Repeat with additional quesadillas.

I served mine with salsa, but there’s also the traditional sour cream, too. These are even good as leftovers- I had one the next day for lunch, and while the tortilla was a little rubbery, it was still very good.

Tsatziki Cucumber Yogurt Dip

My daughter made this dip, took the photos and wrote this guest post. The dip is SOOOO GOOD. It’s so good for you, too. It’s great with vegetables, corn chips, on salmon, everything! The amount may seem like a lot, but if your family likes this, the dip will be gone in a day. It is just so good and perfect with everything. Here’s her post:

Tsatziki Cucumber Yogurt Dip
32 oz. tub of plain yogurt
1 cucumber, peeled and grated (or diced into very tiny cubes)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried dill weed (more or less, depending on your taste)
Salt to taste

I’m typically not a Greek food fan, but their cucumber yogurt dip, “tzatziki,” is phenomenal! I love cucumbers and yogurt! Vegetables and flat bread simply are not as good without it! So if we ordered take-out from Simeon’s, we’d have to get some of this stuff! But of course, there were those days when one or a few of us would crave that luscious dip, and not be able to get it from Simeon’s. We once bought some from the Wal-mart deli, but it really didn’t taste like the real stuff– I think they put too much sour cream in it. So Mom and I would talk about making it ourselves someday. She recently bought a cucumber and a tub of plain yogurt specially for the endeavor, but in the midst of all the crazy stuff happening, none of us got around to looking up the recipe and making it. But New Year’s Day only happens once a year! That’s why I resolved to wait three days afterward to quickly search for a recipe and make this stuff, lol!

I found a basic recipe on e-how, then did something that we will just call my creative custom style– I tweaked it. I think I do this with every single thing I ever make; if I do use a recipe, it’s just my basic outline, like a rough pencil sketch that you add colorful paints and details to. It can make for a beautiful landscape, a diverse melting pot, or a bunch of colors that just don’t match– and flavors that don’t sit the best with the family members. So watch how you tweak!

I started out with what was left, that is, most of, a 32 oz. tub of plain yogurt, an entire cucumber, a tablespoon of lemon juice, and almost a tablespoon of minced garlic.

Having put the yogurt in a glass bowl, I began to prepare the cucumber. I was a little irked that I had to use four different tools to get the job done; I tend to use one tool all around (so it’s not just a guy thing), but if I get into dental hygenics, I guess that’s a habit I will have to break.

First, I peeled the cuke with a vegetable peeler, cut it into quarters, then scooped the seeds out with a spoon. The recipe explained that you may either dice or grate the cucumber, so I decided to try a little of both in the same recipe. The first quarter I diced (but forgot to get a picture; sorry. You see, I was talking to my Mom, and you know what happens when you start talking with your Mom. You get so caught up and distracted you forget what you were doing). The remaining three quarters I grated, as seen.

The smell of cucumbers was driving us absolutely nuts! After stirring in the shredded cuke, I added the lemon juice and minced garlic. Once that was all done, it was time for the spices! The recipe called for parsley and salt to taste. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the parsley, but we did have dill weed, so I added some of that with the salt, and then proceeded with the official tasting-test!

Wow, it was good! But we needed a bit more spice, so I sprinkled in more dill weed and salt, then tested again.

Better, but it still needed some kick. And what do chefs think of when they need kick? Well, I had already used garlic, and knew that wasn’t what it lacked. Of course, paprika! A sprinkling of that with some dried minced onion, then it was time for Test 3. Oooo, that was SO much better! Now what could the next step be? Discover popular opinion! Time to test somebody else! So I got our family Greek food lover/ top chef/ expert taster, Mom! She took the broccoli, dipped it in ever so delicately into the glass bowl covered on the sides by the drips that had resulted from the spills associated with vigorous stirring and multiple recipe alterations.

Verdict? Mom’s approval= it’s a hit. Success! She even decided to make fish and rice for dinner, so that we could enjoy the latest gastronomical creation to it’s fullest.

But this dish does not need to be reserved just for the dinner table; it’s a perfect lunch or snack condiment to accompany vegetables, flat bread, even crackers or sandwiches. I’ll even dip pizza in it. To my knowledge, it’s not incredibly fattening like most dips and dressings out there (or like pizza), so we’ll call it a healthy snack! And best of all: yes, you can try this at home!

Woohoo! How did she do with her first cooking post, huh? Get that gal a blackberry curve or something! Thanks, Alice, for all your hard work. As we speak, the dip is GONE. Told ya it goes fast.

Score Another One for Leafy Greens

After a sever bout of eye problems over the weekend, I’ve been doing a little research about eye health and dietary solutions. Once again, leafy greens come riding to the rescue!

I developed a Weiss ring floater in my eye. Everyone has floaters– some are leftover embryonic debris in the vitreous gel in the eye. The vitreous gel is transparent and like jelly. As a person ages, the vitreous gel liquifies, leaving behind small protein bits and crystallized particles. These appear as dark strings or spots because they drift in front of the retina, casting a shadow as light enters the eye. A Weiss ring is a large floater that looks like a snarled string with a large loop on the end (like one of those White Gold Promise Rings, but WAY uglier and darker). This floater occurs when the vitreous lining detaches from the optic nerve. It’s usually harmless, but in some cases the floater may pull on the retina, causing detachment (and blindness) and therefore a Weiss ring is viewed as an emergency until it is determined that the retina remains in place. This posterior vitreous detachment occurs in less that 10% people under 50 years of age. I am way under 50, but I suppose because my eyes are severely myopic, I have more eye problems than many. I sure appreciate prayer, if you are willing to pray. My vision is poor and I want to be healed.

Well, I read an article today that many eye problems caused by aging are preventable or can be delayed, particularly age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The biggest factor is diet. Some studies have shown that high doses of antioxidants (Vitamins C and E, beta-carotene and zinc) may slow AMD progression, even if it is already diagnosed.

No I don’t know if leafy green veggies will help the vitreous gel or retinas or myopia (these seem to be more physiological in nature, as the elongated shape of the eye is to blame), but if this will help change my eye health one teeny-tiny bit, I’m happy to eat scads of raw kale every day.

Yummy Lunch

My daughter put this plate of leftovers together for me. WOW, it’s terrific! Looks simple, and it IS simple, but so healthy.

The dish uses all leftovers. The daughter quickly steamed some broccoli and kale, and placed it on a plate of leftover Jasmine rice. She dribbled a little bit of leftover pot roast broth and a dash of soy sauce on the rice. She toasted some leftover Panera bread and buttered it with garlic butter. Voila! Instant, super-healthy lunch. It was so good, and so filling.

« Previous Page — Next Page »