Eats I'm Eating

I've been doing some moderate experimenting with things to eat because I always want to broaden out my menu so I don't get bored. Thought I'd share a few things I've tried.

1) Vegetarian Chili. This is something I tried last week and it was really good. I typically stay away from box mix stuff because it's overly salty and filled with artificial junk and preservatives. But I was at the co-op the other night and found a brand of vegetarian box mixes on sale called Fantastic Word Foods. I do love a sale, and I do love convenience...so I bought some Tabouli (eh---it's okay) and Vegetarian Chili (YUM!). Looking at the labels, it's not pure whole foods, but I know all the ingredients in the list, and only one or two make me bat an eye. The others are just simple things like dried vegetables. The worst part of it is that salt. If you're trying for a low-salt diet, this would be an investment in your daily allotment: 850mg per serving. I choose no-salt black beans so at least I have that going for me.

The chili is amazing. It has soy protein that doesn't taste funky, so I didn't feel the need to add meat, but you could. I just added what the box told me to: black beans and canned tomatoes. I added extra tomatoes (Muir Glen, which has really nice, thick sauce with the tomatoes) to add extra substance without lots of calories. I also added some onion and green peppers for more texture and nutrition. 

With the extra tomatoes, I got five servings out of the box rather than four. Yay! I put each serving in a plastic container for lunches. The last two I put in the freezer to keep it good till next week so I don't have to eat it all at once.

2) English muffins with frozen blueberries. Awhile back, Snack Girl mentioned how it would be better just to put fresh fruit on your toast or muffins in the morning. I decided recently to try that, and it's great. Much better for you than jelly, though I've been eating preserves that contain nothing but pureed fruit with pectin to set it up (for my Iowa friends, you can get it in the health aisle at Hy-Vee. It's called Barb's Garden Pantry, and it's made by a lady from Iowa...raspberry is my favorite so far.). What works particularly nicely here is if you spread some creamed honey on the toast and then add the fruit on top. The honey makes the fruit stick to the bread easier...and it tastes delicious.

If you haven't tried creamed honey, you should. It has the same nutritional qualities as regular honey but it spreads easier. As Linda from SNL would say, "It's like buttah."  Anyway. It's a great and delicious breakfast that also allows you to get some of your fruit in.

3) Fruity teas. I often get a snack craving before bed. It's not typically a hunger deal, but I need to taste something. Does that make sense? Anyway, now that it's colder, I try to alleviate those situations with calorie-free flavored tea rather than an actual snack. Celestial Seasonings has apple & cinnamon and apple cranberry flavors that are perfect for fall. I end up feeling like I've had a sweet treat, I feel warmer when I'm through, and ready for bed. Of course, if I have actual hunger pangs, the problem often doesn't go away and then I try to find a healthy snack to deal with it. But I would say a majority of the time, I end up not feeling like I need anything more, and that's how I know it's most often just a psychological urge, not a biological need.


This week, my goal is to try a couple different kinds of squash, as part of my effort to eat fruits and vegetables that are local and in season. The first thing I'm going to try is a Southwest Stuffed Acorn Squash. When I'm feeling more ambitious, I would love to try Pumpkin-Apple soup with either pumpkin or butternut squash. If anyone has recommendations on what kind of squash to eat or how to make them, let me know!  I had a somewhat unhealthy weekend (mixed with moments of being good), so I'm ready for a week of solid, healthy patterns. Go me!