Healthy cooking tips, recipes, food facts and more from a Registered Dietitian!
Archive for June, 2009
Layered Mexican Party Dip
Jun 24th
(As Served at my wedding on June 20, 2009)
2 cans refried beans
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies (use 2 cans for more heat)
1 cup guacamole
1 large can pitted black olives, sliced
1 small carton light sour cream
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup finely chopped lettuce
2 cups grated cheese
Mix together refried beans, taco seasoning mix, and green chilies. Blend well and spread over the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ glass casserole (or to see the layers, like at my wedding, put it on a flat platter). Spread guacamole over the bean mixture. Top with sour cream and sprinkle lettuce, tomato, and olives over all. Cover entire top with grated cheese.
Optional: sprinkle top with chili powder or paprika.
Serve using corn chips or tortilla chips to dip. Be sure to dip chip to bottom of dish.
Recipe Adapted from: Vicksburg Evening Post 1984
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...3 Tasty Ways to Prepare Veggies
Jun 17th
For many of us a garden is a classic sign of summer. With gardens, come healthy vegetables, sometimes in enormous quantities. My mom sent me 3 ways to prepare your favorite vegetables from a Spry Living newsletter she received. I hope these cooking and serving suggestions for veggies will liven up your dinner table!
Stir Fry
Vibrant & Crisp
Best for: Quick-cooking veggies with a variety of textures
Equipment: Wok or skillet with roundned sides; long-handled spoons or tongs
How-to: Heat pan on high; add vegetable oil and swirl to coat. Add veggies, starting with the longest cooking varieties (carrots and broccoli) and finishing with the quickest-cooking varieties (mushrooms). Stir continuously until tender-crisp. Finish with a drizzle of sesame oil, soy sauce, and oyster sauce.
Roasting
Rich & Caramelized
Best for: Any veggie except leafy greens
Equipment: A heavy roasting or sheet pan to stand up to high heat
How-to: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Toss vegetables in pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil, herbs, and salt/pepper to taste. Roast until browned (about 15 minutes for tender veggies like asparagus; 30 for heartier types)
Braising
Tough to Tender
Best for: Root vegetables (parsnips, leeks, turnips); sturdy greens like kale and cabbage
Equipment: A large pot with a tight-fitting lid (i.e. Dutch oven)
How-to: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces and cook until brown (about 5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth to cover and salt and pepper to taste. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer until tender (15-30 minutes)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Summer Cookout Decorating Ideas
Jun 11th
Planning a summer cookout? Be it 4th of July, a family reunion, or just a gathering with your family, you are sure to want to show off your cooking style. Why not create a fun and fancy watermelon basket filled with sliced or balls of watermelon, cantaloupe, and/or honey dew? Click the photo to find out how to make this creative design.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Gullah Gumbo
Jun 10th
Many of you from the Golden Triangle, Mississippi area may be familiar with a friend of mine from WCBI-TV, R. H. Brown. Mr. Brown and I crossed paths often while I did the Cooking with Ellen TV segment on WCBI and have since seen each other at events and at a recent book signing. Mr. Brown has written the “Call Me Gullah” book seen (click on the photo for more information) and was kind enough to share his Gullah Gumbo recipe with me. I thought I’d pass it along for you to try as well.
Note: The ingredients below can be added and flavored “to taste.” I would add a few strips of bacon, 1 package of shrimp, and 1/2 to one of each: onion, bell pepper, canned tomato sauce, etc.
Oaks Plantation Gullah Gumbo
Bacon strips
Medium shrimp
Flour
Milk
Salt
Black Pepper
Onion
Okra, cut
Bell pepper
Tomato sauce
Water
White Rice
Fry bacon strips in pan. Mix together flour and milk to make a light breading and dip shrimp in flour/milk mixture. Season shrimp with salt and pepper and use bacon grease to pan-fry the shrimp.
When shrimp is cooked, pan-fry okra, onion, and bell pepper.
Mix together crumbled bacon, shrimp, and vegetables in a boiler. Add tomato sauce and water (to desired consistency) and simmer over low heat.
Serve gumbo over cooked rice.
To make this recipe a little lighter, try cutting out the bacon, or use turkey bacon. Pan fry ingredients in a little olive oil instead of bacon grease to cut back on the fat some.
For more information about R. H. Brown’s book, check out this website
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...My Honeymoon “Camping” Menu
Jun 9th
I have been asked what I chose to take on my honeymoon to eat. So, I decided to share our Honeymoon Menu with you.
Coming from a family of non-sandwich-lovers, we’ve become pretty creative when camping. What I took for Ryan and me is a pretty normal camping menu for my family. We normally take our hibachi grill but the Tishomingo cabin had a grill there, as well as a tiny kitchen.
Here’s our menu:
Sunday:
- Supper: Grilled Hamburgers (seasoned with lemon pepper and seasoning salt) with trimmings (mayo, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, pickles, onions, burgers, buns), French Fries (I cut up the potatoes and baked them in the oven), Grilled Peaches (You can find the recipe here)
Monday:
- Breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls (I made them from my sour dough bread dough), grits, sausage, fruit
- Lunch: Chicken Strips (leftover from the wedding), grapes, cheese cubes, bread (just sorta mix ‘n match lunch that day!)
- Supper: Hot Dogs (we grilled them on Sunday night), Chips – I know, real healthy!
Tuesday:
- Breakfast: Just about the same as Monday
- Lunch: Leftover Hot dogs
- Supper: Grilled Chicken Breasts (marinated all day in low-fat Italian dressing, seasoned with lemon pepper and seasoning salt), Baked Potatoes, Grilled Shish Kabob Veggies (mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, bell pepper – works well to use leftovers from hamburger slicing on Sunday! – seasoned with lemon pepper and seasoning salt), Homemade Bread Sticks, S’mores
Wednesday:
- Breakfast: About the same as before – but also had eggs and sweet bread a friend made us as a wedding gift
- Lunch: Sandwiches on the way out
We were hiking and such most days so I tried to make lunch really easy and breakfast and supper were more exciting. We had cookies, wedding cake and S’mores stuff around for desserts. I also tried to have MINIMAL leftovers since we had to pack everything left to take home.
Sometimes, my family will get po-boy style buns to make sandwiches with instead of just bread, and we’ve also taken the “sausage dogs” instead of hot dogs to make sausage po-boys (I’m trying to decide which would be healthier, sausage or hot dogs – I think neither maybe, but it’s fun when you’re camping!).
Pictured: Ryan and I roasting marshmallows for s’mores over the grill
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...
