I Am Supposed to Eat Healthy But I Don’t Want to Cook Today

/ April 15, 2013

Do you ever say to yourself: I Am Supposed to Eat Healthy But I Don’t Want to Cook Today (IASEHDWCT)?  I do the IASEHDWCT routine quite often in the winter. Like today: it is windy and cold. I am in slug mode. The garden is bare (it is not even planted so no surprise there). Nothing in the cupboards is inspiring. The frozen leftovers look frost bitten. I cannot possibly down another Subway salad.

I had the same IASEHDWCT issue yesterday and ended up at the local diner. Don’t worry,  I acted responsibly. I ordered my omelete made with egg beaters, my hash browns extra crispy with onions (vegetable serving), and asked for the fake whole wheat bread. It was all luscious. There is nothing better than breakfast for dinner. However, I cannot maintain my bikini figure and eat there everyday.

bikini grandma

So, again: IASEHDWCT. It is time to think about dinner, and so far today I have consumed a bowl oatmeal and a Cliff Builder Chocolate Mint Protein Bar. What I really want is plain pasta with olive oil, parmeasan and green olives, but I have plumped out before on that diet. My second choice would be orzo pasta baked in tomato sauce and soy choirzo, and  then smothered in high fat Mexican cheese.

No, considering my spartan diet today and my splurge yesterday, it veggies and fruit, veggies and fruit, five to eight servings in one fell swoop (and a calcium supplement). 

So, if a veggie/fruit serving equals 1/2 cup, and I go for the full 8 servings, that is 4 cups of vegetables/fruits. Hmmmmmm. I crank up Deep Tracks on Sirrius Radio, amble to the kitchen, and slap together something befitting my slug mode. Both Tango and my inner child have checked out of this project. Its just me and the kitchen and empty pots and pans. Rattle rattle.

IASEHDWCT Stew

8 cups veggies (mixture of vegetables from your freezer or pantry, rinse of salt if using anything canned)

1.5 cups broth (low sodium if at all possible)

1/2 cup uncooked orzo or other pasta (measure out two servings)

optional toppings: 1 Tbs flax meal, 1 Tbs nutritional yeast, 1 Tbs feta (really I use 2 but that is between us)

  • dump everything inot one big pot
  • simmer until everything thaws, including cabbage/broth lump
  • add orzo, add water if needed, turn up heat,  cook ten minutes (I like the orzo to absorb most of the liquid)
  • eat calcium chew while waiting to avoid low blood sugar
  • let sit about 10 mins so pasta gets just right
  • sprinkle the optional toppings on top of stew after scooping  into bowls
  • take your evening meds
  • EAT
  • Move on to dessert, below

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Dinner!

  • Front Row from left:  1 cup frozen scallop squash (2012 garden), 1.5 cups frozen broccoli (CSA), 1.5 cups frozen asparagus (CSA), 1 cup frozen edamame (shelled version, from store)
  • Back Row: 2 cups frozen cabbage and organic chicken broth ( 2012 garden), 1 cup frozen cherry tomatoes (2012 garden), and for dessert, 2 cups fresh-ish sliced apples in lemon juice (with calcium chew on top)
  • In case you don’t want to do the math, that is 8 cups of veggies plus two cups fruit, which equals 10 cups, which equals 20 servings!  That is enough for several meals!!!! Protein comes from the edamamae and the little bit of feta I will mix in before eating. 

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In the middle, frozen lump of cabbage/broth

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From left to right: orzo, flax seed meal, nutritional yeast, giant container of Feta

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Ready to eat

IASEHDWCT Baked apples

2 cups sliced apples

1/4 cup Atkins baking mix

1/4 cup Jiffy Baking Mix (or other)

Dash of cinnamon

1 teas Truvia

2 teas olive oil

water to moisten

  • Place apples in small baking dish
  • Stir everything else together in a bowl
  • Pinch little bits of the dough and drop on top of apples
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes, maybe more
  • Would be very yummy with a little yogurt on top!

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Diced, raw apples

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Topping Ingrediants

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Baked apples with mini cinnamon bisquits

Notes

  • It’s not Olive Garden or Cheesecake Factory but it was great and I felt proud of myself for not grabbing something off the fast food dollar menu (too lazy to go out anyway).
  • The stew is quite filling thanks to orzo, edamame, cabbage and feta.
  • There are so many possible variations on this stew,  you can make a different version every day. Just change up the veggies and carb (pasta, potato, sweet potato, beans, rice, quinoa) each time. I live on this all summer when the garden comes in. The very best version includes spinach or other greens.
  • Use any mixture of fruits in dessert
  • Some of these ingredients may be new to you or unavailable. I live in a rural area and buy most things through Amazon. Try the Amazon link on the right side of my blog or click on these  individual links: