Eat Healthy One Step At A Time

Search Amazon.com for healthy eating

In the last year I made several changes in what I buy at the supermarket.  I  eliminated processed foods and have changed the way I think about food preparation.  The idea is to make healthy choices without feeling deprived.  Sometimes you need light snacks and no fuss fare when you don't have a lot of time to cook.  And realistically, you need a few treats too.  Still, being aware -- coupled with small changes, make a difference in what you eat (and spend).  I stopped buying three grocery items this year.

I gave up soda and switched to drinking ice tea.  If I find myself at an outdoor function on a hot August night, I'll probably drink a can of Dr. Pepper to quench a thirst, but I no longer keep sodas in my refrigerator at home.  And I don't miss them.

Also, I  stopped buying bags of frozen french fries, one of my favorite cheat foods.  [Nachos may be my first love, and potato chips are not far behind.]  Instead, I cut up fresh white or sweet potatoes, brush them with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and bake them golden brown in the oven.  It still only takes 30 minutes.  And eating a handful of nuts usually satisfies a potato chip craving.

Another food item to go is canned soup.  When I don't plan ahead and use dried beans, I buy cans of pink, pinto or navy beans.  It's just like opening a can of soup, but without the thickeners and preservatives.  Simply add water, season to taste and simmer for 5 minutes.  What could be easier?

Another lighting fast soup to prepare is healthy miso.  Buy miso paste in a tub at the supermarket, or health food store and microwave a tablespoon of it, adding water, seaweed and vegetables.  Delicious!

Once you get used to eating real food, it tastes much better, at least that's my experience.  And unprocessed food costs less.  Lately, I favor steel cut oats, quinoa and millet, so boxed cereals may be next on my hit list [except for Raisin Bran once in a while].  Have you given up a grocery item recently?

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Do It Youself Meal Plans Are Cheaper

As we move into the Spring people think about dropping a few winter pounds, and I understand why some of them turn to meal programs like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem. (The latter is the least expensive of the two.) There's no guesswork. Every bite you eat is packaged for you. The cooking and cleanup are light. It's convenient and nutritionally balanced, and if you follow it, you'll drop the weight. Years ago (around 2009), I tried Nutrisystem for 30 days. I wasn't hungry on the diet and remember dropping down to 118 pounds. As a younger woman, my loftier standard of my ''ideal weight'' was much lower. I was a size 6 - 8 for many years (without starving!). Today I'd love to step on the scale at the weight that I started with before dropping down to 118 pounds. THAT number + 20 pounds would be my ideal weight today!:)

At the same time, we also don't want to gain 10 additional pounds each and every year so our weight becomes unhealthy. Unfortunately, even without stringently high (or should I say low?) standards, you can't let yourself go! No, no, never, never, uh, uh, uh.

Today I'm going to discuss the well-known Nutrisystem meal plans. If you were to buy similar food independently and are disciplined not to cheat, but follow the plan, including its portion sizes, you could reduce the cost of the diet significantly. Moreover, I remember not liking all of the Nutrisystem meals, yet ate them because of the expense and my commitment to losing weight.

Breakfasts were a combination of protein shakes, dehydrated scrambled eggs (add water and microwave), protein muffins, and protein bars.

Here's what I think you could substitute:

* 1 dozen fresh eggs

* You're favorite high protein, low sugar meal bars - Clean and Pure Protein bars are examples. Look for at least 15 grams - 20 grams of protein with low sugar per bar.

* Protein shakes - Look for 25 grams - 30 grams per serving with low sugar and minerals. Consider buying protein powder (over liquid shakes) and adding it to skim milk for savings. Also try different brands like Premier Protein, Aldi or Trader Joe's house brands for greater savings.

Lunches consisted of canned soups and you could eat fruit or vegetable sticks that you furnish.

THE SAVVY SHOPPER has recipes for a variety of homemade soups, but this post is about convenience.

So you could buy the healthy choice varieties of any number of soups at your supermarket. Read the labels carefully focusing on low calories, salt, and at least 20 grams (30 grams if you can find it!) of protein. I will give Nutrisystem credit for sending chunky protein-rich soup, trickier to find with supermarket canned soup.

Dinners were frozen meals: meat (beef, chicken, or pork), carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, or pasta), and a vegetable, such as broccoli or peas and carrots).

Look for the many wholesome options of supermarket-carried frozen dinners. They'll likely cost less than what's on Amazon, but I'll link those for educational purposes. At the supermarket, most are half the price of a Nutrisystem frozen meal. I happen to like a brand called Healthy Choice, but there are other options also at the supermarket. Aim to find 17 grams - 30 grams per frozen dinner with 250 - 500 calories per serving. You may have to supplement some meals with a glass of milk to bump up the protein.

Snacks I liked the Nutrisystem protein chips and protein bars. The cookies and cake were good too. I was allowed 2 snacks per day. Protein chips are expensive everywhere. What's more, you don't get much in the costly bag. Consider skipping them as snacks for an ounce of cheddar (or your favorite cheese) on a saltine cracker to lower the price. Still, I'm not against expensive protein chips if they help on a diet. Spend the bucks as needed to succeed. 

I disliked Nutrisystem's dehydrated eggs. The pizza crust was as dry and flat as a cracker (which subsequently may have improved to taste like most frozen pizzas). Nutrisystem's vegetable patty on a bun was not good in taste or texture, and I thought their frozen pasta dinner entrèes were insufficient and expensive. I'll take a lean real hamburger over a Nutrisystem patty any day. It's easy to grill a raw beef burger on a stovetop. Add a slice of onion, tomato, and lettuce with ketchup, and thank me later.

Supermarkets offer all of the above meals for less than $5 - $10 each of the Nutrisystem entrèes. You'll spend far less money plus only have to eat the dishes you like!

When you buy Nutrisystem you still must buy extra fresh fruit and vegetables as they aren't packaged and mailed to you.

Nutrisystem is great at teaching people what they should eat in a day; selecting food with adequate protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber; eating a variety of food; learning portion control; and eating when you're hungry. Also, you should and do consume 1/3 of your daily protein requirements with each meal.

Helpful tip: If you desire to follow the Nutrisystem/Jenny Craig diet on the cheap: Go to the supermarket and buy a full month's supply of alike meals + snacks to follow the plan faithfully. Do not stray from the plan. When you subscribe to the more pricey trademarks, the companies send you a box of food you eat for the month. This will put you in the same mindset for less.

Savings versus Convenience: Finally, if you don't mind paying 3+ times the money, you avoid the work of picking Nutrisystem meal equivalents at the supermarket. The food is shipped directly to your home. Nice! I enjoyed the convenience for a short time. But. After 30 days I decided I didn't need a meal plan, as I had good eating habits and didn't mind shopping or cooking. Sometimes cleaning up seems like a repetitive chore though.

Good luck! Losing weight is hard. The older you are, the tougher it is. Cutting calories is never fun. From time to time, we all go through it. "It's a marathon, not a sprint!"

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Corelle Dishes Are Ideal

Hindsight is 20/20. If I selected a dish set today, it wouldn't be fine china, or from Pottery Barn (where I bought mine in 1990). Instead, I'd buy a Corelle dish set.

Made of Vitrelle®, "a tempered glass ... consisting of 2 types of glass laminated into 3 layers:" The dishes are sleek, lightweight, modern, classic, simple, durable and cheap. If a plate drops on the floor, it will not shatter. Plus, it's microwave, refrigerator, and freezer safe; not to mention you can set a pretty table and eat off of it for years.

A Corelle dish set is full sized. The sizes of the plates and cups are generous, yet they are compact and designed to take up less room when stacked in a cupboard. Wow, I wish I had considered the storage factor when selecting my dishes.

A Corelle dish set comes in over a hundred colors and patterns. There are 2 shapes: round or square (as in a "square meal" a phrase coined by the British navy in the 19th century during recruitment." The plates aboard the ships were square to fit the tables on the ships.) Corelle dish choices include solid white, solid colors, cute florals, geometric shapes, polka-dots, or white with colorful lines.

Personally, I'd select the round, solid white set for versatility, but I would not be unhappy with a bright simple patterned dish set either. 

Moreover, Corelle offers platters and serving bowls to match their dish sets, so you can add-on what you need to serve food. Although I don't own an entire dish set, I bought a set of 3 large white soup bowls in order to microwave leftover soup, stews and chili. In a pinch, I can serve vegetable side dishes in them also. They look as new as the day I bought them.

Furthermore, the dish sets come in quantities to suit your family's needs. Buy a set of only 16 pieces, or a set of 128 pieces, or more ... and cheap!

If I were to do-over, Corelle would be the only dishes in my cupboard! Sold at Walmart and Amazon.😍


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Let's Plan A Wine Party

Photo: Testing Room Wine Potomac

If you don't have the time to put together a full dinner party, try hosting a simple wine party.

According to experts at Walmart, serve 1/2 bottle of wine per person. As an example, for 10 people set out 3 bottles of red (such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignan, Pinot Noir, Gamay) and 2 bottles of white (like Chardonnay, Champagne, Riesling, Moscato). Rosé is made from white wine grapes.

It is suggested that the red be chilled for 15 minutes and the white for one hour. A confession: I like my red wine chilled and tend to keep it in the refrigerator, but for guests I chill it the proper way. If I'm at your party, you may see me slip an ice cube into my glass of red wine.

When I buy wine, I always ask the wine seller to help me select red wines low on tannin. Tannin comes from the skins, seeds and stems of red grapes. Although it gives red wine its health benefits, tannin can taste dry and astringent without a nice juicy steak to balance the sharpness. If guests sip wine without heavy food, a red wine low in tannins is often more palatable.

I like to set out a cheese platter to nosh as people drink the wine, and I often serve a pot of homemade hot soup also. (What can I say, I'd rather eat then drink.) With soup, guests can grab a mug and spoon to serve themselves.

Walmart says, serve light food (like mild cheese, fruit, nuts) with white wine and

rich food (such as robust cheese, ham, sausage) with red. Although Brie is a mild cheese and extra sharp cheddar is robust, they both taste sensational paired with either red or white wine, in my opinion. So there is no need to split hairs, delicious nibbles will always be a hit!

Hosting a wine party is a classy idea without the stress of a full dinner. Most of the work is done in advance, letting you spend time catching up with your guests.

My take away tip from Walmart is the amount of alcohol to serve. One-half bottle per person is a good rule of thumb. That's 2 glasses for each guest. I might add two extra bottles of wine per ten people. Because: What if someone went over his drinking allotment?

Photo: henryhearld.com 

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Summer Skillet Cornbread

Photo: Serious Eats - Vicky Wasik

Food is a serious topic on THE SAVVY SHOPPER because as my Mama says, "We have to eat every day!" Hence, food is a huge part of everyone's budget, not to mention everyone's time and a source of entertainment and staying healthy. We all gotta eat! 

Tonight I made skillet cornbread. It is so moist and delicious, I will share the recipe so that I, too, can return here to make it again over the summer. Eat it with anything you like, soup, chili, fried chicken or pork chops. Southerners snack on cornbread washed down with a glass of buttermilk.

Summer Skillet Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 cup whole corn (can, fresh or frozen)
1 cup corn meal
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 large eggs
Up to 1 cup buttermilk ( I add a little bit more if the batter seems dry.)

2 tablespoons of butter
Butter to coat the pan

Optional: spices
1 teaspoon garlic
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or 2 diced jalapeño peppers).
a sprinkle of parsley

Please note: Sugar does not belong in cornbread. If you're used to it, you may add a teaspoon.

Directions:

1) In a mixing bowl, add the above ingredients in order and incorporate with a fork. (If I don't have company, I reduce the butter in the batter. The other ingredients make the cornbread delicious without butter, and I generously coat the pan with butter for a butter taste.

2) Pour the batter into a well oiled, heated 10-inch skillet. After the pan is hot, I lower the heat, cover the skillet with a lid and let the cornbread cook on low until one side is brown (and the top solidifies from the steam). The cornbread rises in the hot pan. 

3) When the top is no longer runny, take a spatula to flip the cornbread over to brown the 2nd side. Skillet cooking is faster and ideal on a hot day when you don't wish to turn on the oven.

💙Alternatively, you can simply pour the cornbread batter into a baking dish to bake in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 35 - 40  minutes. (Some bakers like to toss butter into the skillet and heat it in the oven for 5 minutes, pull it out and then pour in the batter to bake. This will give the cornbread a lovely brown crust.)💚

After he cornbread is golden brown on both sides, remove from the skillet and slice. Eat hot. Tonight I paired it with smoked Virginia ham, vegetables and a salad.

I bought my cast iron skillet for cornbread and biscuits. 

Feel free to double, triple, or quadruple the recipe to feed a crowd. If so, you probably need to bake it in the oven. More difficult to flip, plus you'd need the MOTHER of HUGE frying pans!


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Coffee Walnut Cake: High Tea My Way

Photo: Darren McGardy, the royal chef's website

I'm thinking of hosting a High Tea. The afternoon meal consists of finger sandwiches (such as cucumber and egg), scones, muffins or crumpets, and if you really want to get fancy, a glass of Champagne. Well ... as an American, I don't have to be as strict as an upper class Brit. In lieu of muffins and crumpets, I'm serving a walnut cake.

Here is a recipe I tweaked from the New York Times. I like the addition of instant coffee to the walnut cake and frosting, but I use the ingredients in different measurements. (Because. I can't leave well enough alone!) I also prefer buttermilk and the use of an electric mixer. So voilà ... the following is my recipe:

Coffee Walnut Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup sugar

Photo: New York Times

2 sticks butter
4 large eggs
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon dried cinnamon
1 tablespoon instant coffee
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon rum (or Bourbon)
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cup finely ground walnuts (I grind the walnuts in a food processor. Dilute with a tablespoon of flour to keep it loose.)

Directions

1) In a bowl, mix the sugar and butter together with an electric mixer. 

2) Add the next 10 ingredients in order and beat with the mixer.

3) Fold in the ground walnuts.

4) Pour into 2 buttered and floured 9'' cake pans. 

5) Bake at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes or until a tester produces a crumb.

6) Cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pans, then cool completely.

While the cake is baking prepare the frosting, cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Coffee Walnut Frosting

Ingredients:

Photo: Hammons

3 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1-2 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup chopped walnuts to sprinkle on  top of the frosting.

Directions:

1) Combine the 1st 4 ingredients into a smooth frosting.

2) Frost the top, center and sides. Place in the refrigeration for 10 minutes and frost the cake again like a professional baker if you wish. Double frosting makes a cake look bakery flawless!

3) Garnish with the walnuts on the top and sides of the cake.

The spirit of High Tea lives on across the pond! I plan to serve tea and this delicious cake on pretty china; the finger sandwiches on a tiered stand; and decorate the table with a vase of pretty pink roses. Also I may serve a light soup (like cream of broccoli; or tomato). In America, we so often eat soup with sandwiches.

Hmm ... do you think anyone will miss their muffins or crumpets?😊

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ATK's Cast Iron Beer-Batter Cheese Bread

Recipe and all photos - ATK - video linked also.

As you know, my lovely readers, the recipes I want to make again end up here on the blog so I can return to find them also. This one from America's Test Kitchen is a keeper because it is a very cheesy quick bread, therefore fresh oven-baked bread without the time of waiting for the dough to rise. The beer, yeast-in-the-beer, and cheese give this bread plenty of rich flavor. Since I always stock extra sharp cheddar, it's what I will use most of the times I make it, but you can use any robust or sharp cheese to make the bread.

Cast Iron Beer-Batter Cheese Bread 

(from America's Test Kitchen here)

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 

½ cup minced fresh chives 

2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 cups Gruyère cheese, shredded (You can substitute extra sharp cheddar or any robust cheese if you wish.)
1 ¼ cups mild lager, such as Budweiser
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1) Whisk together flour, chives, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl.

2) Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese until coated with flour. 

3) Stir beer and melted butter into the flour mixture and just combined. Do not over-stir. Expect the batter to be thick and heavy.

4) Scrape batter into a well-greased 10 1/2 inch cast iron skillet. Smooth the top and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

5) Bake in a 450-degree F oven for 20 - 25 minutes, rotating the

pan halfway through the baking.

6) Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Cast iron stays super hot for a long time, so handle carefully when (after 10 minutes) removing the bread from the skillet to cool for another 20 minutes.

Something to bake over the weekend to go with soup, chili, or stew! Or perhaps wine and a cheese platter. Bon Appetit!

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Yellow Split Pea Curry

Split pea soup is delicious, but tonight I wanted something different so improvised (from looking at recipes) a yellow split pea curry. It may not taste exactly the same, but I think you could use whatever you have ... yellow or green split peas. What I like about the meal is, there's less of it, so you won't have to eat it 5 more times, the main reason I didn't want to make pea soup. Here is my recipe for the curry:

Yellow Split Pea Curry

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow split peas

3 potatoes (I used 1 medium and 2 small. Eyeball the amount), diced

1 fresh Jalapeno pepper (You can substitute a different  hot pepper if you like. If you go dried cayenne pepper, be sure to use less.)

4 cups of water

1 cup celery, diced

1/2 of an onion, diced

1 medium tomato, diced

3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I used Cajun salt.)

bay leaf

A sprinkle of cilantro flakes

A sprinkle Rosemary flakes (Not an authentic Indian spice.)

A sprinkle of Worcestershire sauce (I toss it in soups, stews and curries, but it isn't an Indian spice. It's British.)

Optional: 1 teaspoon coriander seeds (which I didn't have. Next time!)

Directions:

1) Dice the vegetables and toss the ingredients into a saucepan in order.

2) Follow with the spices.

(You can roast the fresh hot pepper of your choice and onions with a little oil in a frying pan before tossing them into the pot to give the curry a smoky taste if you're ambitious. I skipped it. It makes a difference, but I like the convenience of not having to wash a 2nd pan.:)

2) Cook for 30 minutes or until the peas are tender, yet still firm.

Makes 2 tasty servings.

While the curry was cooking, I started dinner with a glass of merlot and brie on whole grain crackers. With the starter cheese and wine, the curry was enough of a dinner. Now that it's committed to the blog, I, too, can make it again!

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Secret Recipes From Popular Restaurants

Have you ever eaten a meal out and liked a dish so much you coveted the recipe so you could enjoy it more often at home? My friend, Cara S., loves the caramel pie served at the family-style restaurant, O'Charley's. She was so happy when her detective work turned up its list of secret ingredients and instructions for how to make it. And who benefited? Friends like me!! Recently I discovered just how easy it is to prepare miso soup at home. The home version takes less than 15 minutes to fix, tastes exactly the same, and is inexpensive compared to what you pay at a Japanese restaurant. And from Chef Mike Colameco, who has worked at the legendary Tavern On The Green and reports on New York restaurants, I picked up a (can't be beat!) healthy kale and black-eyed peas dish -- that is appetizing as a hot side, plus makes a delicious refrigerated snack.

Here are the recipes:

Miso Soup

Sauté vegetables of your choice, such as onion, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower in 1 teaspoon olive oil until tender.

1. Stir in 2 cups water

2. Add any, or all of the following – seaweed, mushrooms, soba noodles and cubes of tofu, or cooked chicken.

3. Add 2 tablespoons miso paste (or to your tastes).

[When I don't have fresh vegetables on hand, I simply thrown in a cup of mixed frozen vegetables and dried seaweed.]

4. Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes and serve. Makes 2 bowls.

Mike's Vegetarian Kale & Black-Eyed Peas

1. Blanch 1 bunch Kale in salt water and drain.

2. In a large skillet, sauté 1 medium red onion, 1 large red bell pepper, fresh garlic, and 2-3 carrots until translucent and tender.

3. Cut up the blanched kale and add it to the skillet.

4. Salt and pepper to taste.

5. Add a 16 oz can of black-eyed peas [or cook ahead one-half bag of dried black-eyed peas.]

6. Simmer the mixture until all vegetables are tender and ready to eat, adding more olive oil as needed.

7. Serve warm as a filling side dish.

8. And, refrigerate the leftovers to eat as snacks. When eating it cold, you can add cider vinegar to jazz it up.

O'Charley's Caramel Pie

1. Pour 2 (14 oz.) cans of sweetened condensed milk into a 9 inch graham cracker crust.

2. Cover with aluminum foil.

3. Place in the oven on a baking rack above a bottom rack with a filled large pan of hot water. This keeps the pie filling from drying out.

4. Bake at 425 degrees F for 1 ½ hours until thick and the sweetened condensed milk turns to caramel. Watch carefully to not over bake.

5. Top with whipped cream and crushed peanuts.

There are a number of websites where you can find free copycat recipes. Click here. With a little ingenuity, serve your restaurant favorites at home, minus the check.


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