Friday, February 24, 2012

Making every morsel count

With the price of groceries we have to make every morsel count... that's why I like to use  even the smallest piece of an ingredient to get the flavor/taste, without having to use it all.  
This one is for breakfast...
 Instead of making sausage patties for each person, eggs, home fries, etc...  make a 'breakfast skillet', some call them breakfast scrambles.. whatever you want to call it...
I use whatever is in the fridge... for example this morning I used enough sausage to make 2 patties (which I crumbled and browned), 1 green onion (diced),  a 2 inch slice off of a bell pepper (diced), a baked potato from dinner last night (diced)... once the sausage is cooked I added in the pepper and potato, onion,  then 4 eggs.. scrambled them up in the pan as they cooked.  Served with a piece of 12 grain toast.
It made a great breakfast,  with great flavor but wasn't too much.  

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Food Revolution (Jamie Oliver) ...A change for good!

Today, I found Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.
I realize this has been around for quite some time, however due to working on the road with my husband I never had a chance to view it.  Well, now that I have seen it I'm hooked!
Why has it taken me so long to see this?
It's such an eye opener about how little our government truly cares about the health and well being of our children.  Of all American's.

It is so sad, and infuriating, how much less it costs us to fill that cookie jar on our kitchen cabinet, over the bowl of fruit we should have there.

When we buy bread, and I was guilty of this, we think buying that brown packaged Whole Wheat bread is a healthier choice.
It's not.
The healthy choice is to choose WHOLE GRAIN breads, not whole wheat.  I know,  I just lost half of you because you're thinking whole grain breads are too expensive.  I agree, they are more expensive, but if you look at it this way it may help; whole grain bread is much more filling, it's not empty calories, so you can get by with one sandwich of whole grain bread, as opposed to two or three sandwiches on whole wheat or white bread.  Add in the nutrition value (which whole grain breads actually have), in the long run, whole grain breads are actually more affordable.

If you bake you can add vegetables into anything you bake.  You can also do simple things like offer your children carrot and celery sticks with peanut butter or Nutella.  They shouldn't cost much unless you buy the package of sticks already cut or the baby carrots.  Unless you have a specific reason to purchase those, why not pick up a regular bundle, clean them, cut them into sticks as soon as you put your groceries away and put them in baggies in your fridge.  This way they're ready for when you or your child want a crunchy snack.
If you, or your child, have problems eating full size carrot sticks, just cut them into carrot matchsticks.  They are really easy to eat, and actually a lot of fun!

Some of the best meals are the easiest.  Fresh (or frozen) vegetables, chicken, beef or pork.. makes a great stir-fry.  Add pasta and a homemade sauce and you have a casserole or pasta bake.  

Making a habit of only shopping around the perimeter of the grocery store and staying out of most of the inner aisles will keep your meals healthier and yes, it can be done inexpensively.

I hope you will join me in signing the petition to help Jamie's Food Revolution make changes in our schools and our homes.