Chez Robinson

Keeping it real

2011-12-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I started participating in a fitness challenge at a local gym. Through the challenge I was paired with a personal trainer, and heard weekly informative talks by nutritionists and dietitians. The nutritionist in particular got through to me in a way nothing else ever has. Every time I heard her speak I re-evaluated my eating habits and the contents of my kitchen.
About three weeks into the challenge my personal trainer suggested I give up processed foods. At the time I was down to only eating one processed food a day, so giving them up entirely didn't seem like much of a stretch. It also coincided with the start of October Unprocessed at Eating Rules. I took the challenge and went an entire month without eating processed foods. I lost weight, I looked better, I felt better, and I'm not going back.
There is some debate about what foods are "processed". I have my own definition that I am comfortable with. I am stricter than some people on some things, but I also allow things other people avoid. As with many things, it is a balancing act.
I eat oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, whole grain couscous, vegetables, fruit, fish, poultry, beef, beans, cheese, yogurt, milk and butter. I try to avoid bread, crackers, tortillas, etc. If I do eat those things I aim for the least processed options with the fewest ingredients. I avoid artificial sweeteners and preservatices. I also, for the most part, don't eat sugar, or sweeteners of any kind.
This blog will reflect this new focus. I hope you will join me as I keep it real and unprocessed.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-09-28T17:18:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's Tuesday again. :)

Last week we tried two new recipes which were big hits! My plan fell apart by the end of the week though. On Thursday I was too tired to cook, so no chicken fried rice for dinner. I did end up making it for lunch on Friday though. I think I need to plan on on leftovers for every Thursday. Thursday is the day I am most likely to be burnt out from the week, and then I am re-energized on Friday because it's practically the weekend.

This week's plan is shaping up like this:
Monday - Rotini pasta with Chicken Al Fresco Sausage (The same recipe as last week, with rotini pasta instead of bowties) This recipe was so good I have been craving it, so I decided to make it again. It's still good, but I think I prefer it with the bowtie shaped pasta.
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Crockpot Beef Stew served over rice
Thursday - Leftovers
Friday - Black bean and cheese quesadillas

You can find many more menu plans and ideas at OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Recipe Review - Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce

2010-09-26T08:09:00.001-04:00

We tried another new recipe this week, Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce. I initially chose this recipe because my husband likes mustard, and always appreciates sauce or gravy. This is a great recipe, and we'll have this again. There are two things I will do differently in the future. 1 - Make more sauce. 2 - Pound the chicken as called for in the recipe. I skipped that step because I was in a hurry - don't skip this step! It took a long time to cook the chicken, and I had to turn the pieces in strange ways to get every side cooked. I had a package of very large chicken breasts that I cut in half for this. I think that worked out well, half a breast was just enough, and a whole one would have been too much.
The best part of this recipe is the Mustard Cream Sauce. Yummy! I served the chicken and sauce over brown rice and it was delicious. Next time I will make more sauce - we finished off the sauce with the first 2 pieces of chicken, leaving no wonderful sauce for the remaining pieces. I rounded the meal out with my favorite frozen broccoli and cheese. :)

Recipe Review - Bow Tie Pasta with Chicken Al Fresco Sausage

2010-09-21T12:11:00.000-04:00

Last night I made Bow Tie Pasta with Chicken Al Fresco Sausage. Lately I've been shopping the Publix sales, so I had most of the ingredients and I wanted to try something new. It turned out to be one of the best new recipes I've tried in a while. This dish is a winner!

It was easy to prepare, and the flavors were perfect together. The major test for any pasta dish is my husband's reaction, as he doesn't care for pasta most of the time. He loved this and proclaimed it "As good as a restaurant".

Give this one a try, I think you'll love it too!

Menu Plan Monday

2010-09-21T07:28:00.004-04:00

Yes, it's already Tuesday, but I have an actual plan this week, so I have to share! :)

Monday - Bow tie pasta with Chicken Al Fresco sausage
(My review of this recipe)
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce, brown rice, veggies
Thursday - Chicken fried rice
Friday - Skillet dinner from the freezer

You can find many more menu plans and great ideas at OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday.

Meatloaf: Mexican Style

2009-03-06T06:21:00.002-05:00

Hello to those of you who have found my blog! I'm so excited to know there are real people out there who might see this! :)

As promised, here is the recipe for Mexican Style Meatloaf.

Meatloaf: Mexican Style

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (I used a mixture of ground chuck and extra lean ground beef)
1 jar salsa (I used mild, but use whatever you like)
1 can black beans (you'll only use 1/2 the can)
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Drain and rinse the black beans. You'll only need 1/2 of the can for this. I like using the leftover beans in scrambled eggs or omelets.

Mix the beef, 1/2 can black beans, 1/2 cup salsa and egg in a large bowl. Salt and pepper to taste, and add any other seasoning you might like. I added onion powder and seasoning salt.

Shape the meat mixture into a loaf-shape in the baking dish of your choice.

Once shaped into a loaf, make a channel or indentation on the top of the loaf, down the middle, for the salsa. Pour 1/2 cup of salsa on top. Sprinkle the top with grated Cheddar.

Bake for 35-45 minutes.

This recipe should give you 4 nice sized servings. If you are cooking for more you could easily double this recipe, though I would recommend cooking it as two loaves.

This is a slightly different twist on traditional meatloaf. I served it with brown rice and veggies.

Meatloaf: Italian style

2009-03-03T16:27:00.005-05:00

I apologize in advance for not having any pictures to go with these recipes. Meatloaf, or at least my meatloaf, doesn't make for pretty pictures. Besides, dinner was later than usual and I was hungry. :)

Last night I made two meatloaves: Italian and Mexican. I do not use breadcrumbs in my meatloaf, and I'm only cooking for two, so I tend to make small, dense meatloaf.

Meatloaf: Italian Style

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (I used a mixture of ground chuck and extra lean ground beef)
1 small can chopped mushrooms
1 can Italian diced tomatoes, divided (sometimes these are labeled "Italian", or just look for diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, etc)
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
shredded Mozzarella cheese (or use Parmesan from the green can in a pinch)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix* the beef, mushrooms, egg and half of the diced tomatoes in a large bowl. Salt and pepper to taste, and add any other seasoning you might like. Last night I added onion powder, seasoning salt and McCormick's All Purpose Seasoning Blend (which is a variety of dried herbs).

*By mix what I really mean is "Take your rings off, wash your hands, stick your hands in the bowl and get it all together"

Shape the meat mixture into a loaf-shape in the baking dish of your choice. Since I was making two loaves I used a large glass baking dish that would hold both with room to spare.

Once shaped into a loaf, make a channel or indentation on the top of the loaf, down the middle, for the tomatoes. Pour the remaining half of the diced tomatoes into this channel. This keeps the tomatoes from running down the sides of the meatloaf and ending up in the bottom of your pan. Sprinkle the top with grated Mozzarella. I was out of Mozzarella so I used green can Parmesan instead.

Bake for 35-45 minutes.

This recipe should give you 4 nice sized servings. Or, if you are feeding a hungry man, as I was last night, one hungry man serving and 2 other servings. If you are cooking for more you could easily double this recipe, though I would recommend cooking it as two loaves.

Results: This is my standard meatloaf recipe, and we liked it as usual. This is the first time I've used grated Parmesan, and it was good. The Parmesan went well with the other flavors (of course!).

I'll post the companion, Meatloaf: Mexican Style soon.

Crustless Broccoli and Mushroom Quiche

2009-02-25T04:59:00.005-05:00

While searching for an idea for dinner, I ran across a recipe for Crustless Asparagus and Mushroom Quiche in the April 2005 issue of Shape magazine. I read through the ingredients list, decided to substitute broccoli for the asparagus, and headed to the grocery store.

Later in the afternoon I started really reading the recipe, and it called for starting the quiche in a frying pan, then transferring it to a glass baking dish and finishing it in the microwave. The microwave? I've never made a quiche before, but I've had quiche, I am aware of the concept of quiche, and I've never heard of making it in the microwave. That's when I abandoned the recipe. I searched the internet and found generic instructions for crustless quiche, and decided to follow the recommended baking method. This is what I came up with:

Crustless Brocooli and Mushroom Quiche

Ingredients:
cooking spray
butter
1 1/2 cup broccoli florets
1 cup coarsely chopped white mushrooms
6 large eggs
1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup lowfat sour cream
1/4 teaspoon paprika
3 slices lowfat Swiss cheese, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375

I briefly steamed the broccoli and sauteed the mushrooms in a tiny bit of butter. I sprayed a 10 inch glass quiche pan with a quick coat of cooking spray, then spread the cooked broccoli and mushrooms in the bottom. In a separate bowl I whisked together the eggs, milk, sour cream, paprika, salt and pepper. I poured the egg mixture over the vegetables, then sprinkled the chopped Swiss cheese on top of everything.

The generic recipe calls for baking it from 30-45 minutes, beginning to check on it after 30 minutes. I started checking on it at 30 minutes, and pulled it from the oven after 38 minutes. I let it rest on the counter for 5 minutes, then we dug in. It was perfectly delicious. I ate 1/4 of it. My husband went back for seconds and ate close to half of it.

This was fantastic, and I will definitely be making other variations of this. As an added bonus, my "You're putting meat in that, right?" husband ate it without complaint. In fact, he raved about it and declared it one of his new favorites. This further proves my theory that he doesn't miss the meat if a dish is hearty enough.

Here is the nutritional info provided by Shape for their version: 250 calories, 15g fat (7 saturated), 8g carbs, 20 g protein per serving. One serving is 1/4 of the quiche. Substituting broccoli for asparagus shouldn't make much of a calorie difference. I did add a tiny pat of butter to the mushrooms, but without the butter those numbers should be pretty close.

Saturday, April 5 - $22

2008-04-06T07:22:00.000-04:00

For breakfast I toasted the last bagel, spread it with cream cheese, and shared it with DH. DH also made coffee from ingredients in the pantry.

For lunch we ate at the Flowertown Festival. For $22 we sampled a variety of things from local restaurants. I planned to take water bottles along with us, but we rushed out of the house and I forgot them. We ended up spending $3 on 1 bottle of coke and 1 cup of sweet tea. We sampled BBQ pork sandwiches, coconut shrimp, shrimp cakes, a beef gyro, mahi mahi bites and a large cookie. All of the food was quite good. The mahi mahi looked like grilled chicken, and DH confirmed that it tasted as it looked.

It was hot and humid at the festival. There had obviously been a rain shower before we arrived, and we left shortly before another thunderstorm rolled through. I've lived in Charleston my entire life, but that humidity still gets me every year.

For dinner I tried a new recipe for Brown Rice and Lentils (inspiration here). DH rarely eats a meal without meat, unless it's a Friday during Lent, and then he has fish or shrimp. He's really not interested in vegetarian meals, regardless of health or economy. I could tell he was not looking forward to this experiment, and a few times he asked for chili and cornbread. I didn't have the ingredients for the chili he likes, so Brown Rice and Lentils remained on the menu. I offered to make him the rest of the Pierogies if he really didn't like it. I also made corn bread using a mix from the pantry and some frozen corn.

The Brown Rice and Lentils were amazingly good. I've never cooked (or eaten) lentils before, so I didn't know what to expect. The dish came out slightly creamy, and we ate all of it. We also finished the pasta and tomato sauce leftovers.

Total food cost today: $22 (eating out)

Food from the refrigerator:
Milk
Cream Cheese
Butter
Grated Parmesan
Leftover Pasta and Tomato Sauce

Food from the freezer:
Frozen corn
Ice cream

Food from the pantry:
Bagel
Coffee, splenda, creamer
Brown rice
Lentils
Corn bread mix
Mini microwave popcorn bag

Friday, April 4 - $0

2008-04-06T07:14:00.000-04:00

My husband surprised me today. In an e-mail he told me he's interested to see how much we will save by eating out less for a month. I wasn't sure how happy he was about my new project, and I'm glad he's on board.

Everything we ate today came from our refrigerator or freezer. Lunch for both of us contained leftover pasta & tuna salad and fruit salad. Dinner was leftover pasta and tomato sauce and frozen pierogies with sour cream from the fridge (DH doesn't like pasta and tomato sauce as much as I do). DH had his usual ice cream for dessert, and I ate a SF Jello Pudding from the fridge. Luckily we have a small stockpile of ice cream in our chest freezer - DH eats a small cup every single night.

Total food cost today: $0

Food from the refrigerator:
Yogurt
2 Eggs, Cheese, Tortilla (breakfast burrito)
Leftover pasta and tuna salad (finished)
Leftover fruit salad (finished)
Leftover pasta and tomato sauce
Sour Cream
SF Jello Pudding

Food from the freezer:
Pierogies (1/2 box)
Ice cream

Eating Money No More - A One Month Challenge

2008-04-03T20:52:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my new blog. I'm starting this blog to document a challenge I've suggested to my husband - to spend as little as possible on food for one month. We will start this challenge on April 4, and the last day of the challenge will be May 4th. I've wanted to do a challenge like this for a while, but a holiday or a birthday always pops up, or for some other reason it wouldn't be a good time. Today I read through The (Organic) Thrifty Food Plan Challenge for at least the 3rd time, and I decided there's no time like the present.

Unlike Rebecca's challenge, I will not be following the food stamp guidelines, or calculating the cost of items already in my pantry or freezer. Instead I'm just going to eat as cheaply as possible, by eating what we already have, and limiting purchases. I'm also hoping to limit eating out during this time. My husband is a big fan of eating out, so we'll see if he stays on board.

I know we will be eating out at least three times this month. This weekend we are going to the Flowertown Festival in nearby Summerville, and we plan to sample the offerings from the local restaurants. On May 3rd we are heading to Beaufort for the annual Taste of Beaufort festival. Sometime in between we will get together with our best friends to celebrate a birthday. We have gift certificates to two restaurants, so I'm going to suggest we eat at one of those.

I'll try my best to post every day from now until May 4th to track our progress. We leave for vacation on May 5th, which to my mind is just another reason to eat frugally and save our money for the trip!