leanKitchen » Kitchen Tips

Quinoa

leanKitchen — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:51:22 +0000

Alright, first of all, how the heck do you SAY it?

It’s Keen-WAH. Not Qua-noah, kween-wah, qui-noah.

KEEN-WAH.

What the heck is this stuff?

Well, it looks like a grain, is used like a grain, but it’s actually the seed of a goosefoot plant.

So why is this a better-for-me option, for use in my high-protein diet?

Well, don’t you miss rice?! I mean aside from the lo-carb rice I make, what option is going to give you HIGH PROTEIN, and all eight essential amino acids? Granted, it’s higher in carbohydrates (so stick to 1/2 cup portions, which are about 15 grams of carbs per serving, or just don’t add additional carbs to the meal [eat it with a lean protein].. Ben says, in terms of carbs vs. proteins, it’s about equal to a regular, non-Greek yogurt).

I buy this at any supermarket, however, typically it’s purchased only in the white variety there, and not the red. I prefer the red, and cook, bake with, and eat the red, primarily because of the differences in texture. If I had to compare, the difference is quite similar to white rice vs. brown rice. Like the red Quinoa, brown rice has a nuttier taste, and more of a bite to it, whereas white rice (like the white quinoa), to me, has a softer, “mushier,” more bland flavor and texture. And you can eat it as a rice substitution, with your proteins. Both have the same health benefits, so really it’s up to your preference.

If you get a boxed quinoa, check and see if it’s been pre-rinsed or pre-strained. If you buy it at a health food store, it’s usually raw and unprocessed in any way (or minimally), so you should run it under water for a while in a strainer, or soak it; this removes saponins, and aids in digestion.

Cooking quinoa is really easy; 2 cups water, 1 cup quinoa, boil, and simmer on low till the germ separates from the seed (roughly 15 minutes). You can also (like me) cook it in your rice cooker the same as you’d cook brown rice.

So go to your grocery store or health food store, and take a peek in the bulk room – and come back and let me know how you liked it!

Kabob Tip

leanKitchen — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:48:49 +0000

Super fast post today, guys: You know how when it’s “kabob” time of year (for me, summertime on the grill) you purchase, and consequently open, a pack of 200 bamboo skewers from a plastic sleeve, only to use 8 of them, and pack the sleeve (skewers poking out everywhere) in the back of a drawer somewhere? And then, through fall, winter and spring, they migrate somehow out of the bag, and are rolling around in the drawer for the rest of the year? And you know how before you even use them to skewer your foods, you have to WAIT while you soak them for a good 20 minutes, so that they don’t burn on the grill? It just doesn’t seem time or space efficient. Well, I learned a quick tip: Soak a WHOLE PACKAGE of kabob skewers for 1/2 an hour, then wrap and foil and freeze. AWESOME!

Now, you can use as you go! No more wasting 20 minutes per time waiting for the soak, or having loose skewers cluttering up your drawers! No more waiting 20 minutes only to realize you still need another 4-5 kabob skewers ( plus the waiting for those to soak…).. Score!

How to easily cut a pepper

leanKitchen — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 08:30:31 +0000

Last year, I was in the presence of an “actual” chef, and I was making a dip that had in it diced yellow, red, and green peppers. As I was hacking away at the peppers, trying desperately not to cut my hand off, this chef stopped me dead in my tracks. She shared with me how she learned to cut a pepper in culinary school, and I’m going to share it with you!

or, if for some reason the video isn’t working for you, click the link below.

How to easily Cut a Pepper

Penny Pinching Cherry Pitting

leanKitchen — Wed, 19 May 2010 08:30:24 +0000

Say that title 5 times fast

Tonight, I was using fresh cherries for something, and found it quite annoying to keep cutting the cherry in half, twisting and getting one perfect-looking pitted cherry half, and one mashed side, as I fought to get the cherry pit out of the side it was still stuck in. I don’t have a cherry pitter, so I took a look around online, and found an ingenious way to pit a cherry-and I bet you have this very special “tool” somewhere in your house now!

Enjoy this video, as I wrestle this cherry no longer!

How to easily peel garlic

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:12:40 +0000

I know it’s weird, but I love cooking with garlic, and eating it by the bucketload, but oddly, I can’t stand it when I’m at work the next day, and my hands smell like garlic!

Garlic Clove

With the back of a big knife, press down on an unpeeled garlic clove with the flat palm of your hand till you hear a POP! One steady motion downwards, and be very, very careful your board, knife or garlic aren’t wet, so you don’t run the risk of slipping and cutting yourself.

Cracking the skin from the garlic

Then, simply remove the skin. Easy peasy!

Peeling garlic

leanKitchen: The Teacher’s Pet!

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 12:55:59 +0000

Tonight, I had parent teacher conferences for my first-grader. After the GLOWING report about my son being such a fantastic student (he’s such a great kid, I’m very lucky!), she commented that she uses his snacks as examples for the other kids. She complimented how healthy his snacks always were, which made me feel great!

(And herein lies the irony: here’s a picture of him an hour later, enjoying a root beer float like it’s going out of style! Hey, I had to reward him ;- )

Root Beer Float!

Nope, I didn’t make supportive ice cream sundaes again, like I did first semester after his other awesome PTC, so we went out for one.

You know how I always talk about how I pre-cook and freeze my proteins (chicken, pork, fish) on Sunday, right?

And how, when I go to the grocery store, I have the kind lady behind the fish department counter season and steam my fish right then and there, so that when I get home, I can simply portion it out in little baggies, and freeze it, pulling it out as needed throughout the week?

Well, I wanted to share a little tip that’s kinda like that, even though it’s not really a recipe, more like a time-saving tip.

When I pre-cook my proteins on Sundays, I also get my sons’ school snacks ready. I do the same thing every week, because he’s in a nut-free classroom, but they must also be healthy. So every week, I go to the local health food store, and buy in bulk plain old sesame sticks, organic raisins, and a weeks-worth of organic fruit leathers. I have anywhere between 5 and 10 (depending on how responsible the little man is with his remembering to bring ‘em home!!)

small plastic lidded containers that I bought at a local bulk store. I just mix the sticks and raisins, pop in a fruit leather, and he’s good!

Sticks, raisins, and fruit leather

I then proceed to stack them in a bottom drawer, for easy self-service so he can be a big helper in the kitchen, and get his own snack packed! It’s a win-win. He feels like a big helper, it’s one less thing I have to do, and it’s also good to have a small snack-stash ready, where they can reach if they need something desparately when I’m in the middle of something else.

Easy access for a little one!!!

And, p.s….that pretty much always happens.

Quick Caprese

leanKitchen — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:45:14 +0000

Traditional Caprese is slices of tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella, served with basil and olive oil. Some twist it by putting balsamic on as well. The other night, I saw some fresh basil that looked great on sale, so I picked some up. The tomatoes, however, were looking sub-par, so I twisted it up a bit.

Here’s what I did.

First, I took the basil, and did my favorite herb-trick; I refer to it as, “put herbs in a cup, insert scissors, and go to town!” : )

Scissors, getting ready to "go to town

Herbs, after "going to town"

I took a nice ball of fresh mozzarella, cut it up into bite sized chunks, and a medium container of well-rinsed, small cherry tomatoes (as I said, the tomatoes at the grocery store were treacherous), and put it all in a bowl. I drizzled with olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper to taste, and enjoyed! Here’s the final product:

Quick Caprese

Super delicious, super speedy, super amazing!!!

(If you have little ones, remember to cut the cherry tomatoes! I’m a little bit [ok a lot!] of a “fraidy cat” when it comes to “choking hazards,” like grapes and cherry tomatoes, so I feel it’s my duty to say that ;- )

I have a Leek-now what the heck do I do with it??

leanKitchen — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:49:02 +0000

In my effort to encourage my blog readers to NOT GROW BORED with their supportive and nutrient-rich diets, I strive to show you how to get into those fruits and veggies that are a novelty to some people. And, who knows, maybe I can help some of you discover your new favorite! Like the pomegranate video I made a while back, my intention is to help you figure out how to a. get into the sucker b. how to prepare it and c. what to do with it once you’ve opened it. So without further ado, I bring to you:

How to prepare a leek. Enjoy my Academy Award winning performance : )

P.S. What do you do with those yummy half-moon shaped leeks? I have an idea! How ’bout putting them in your Faux-tato Leek Soup??

Faux-tato Leek Soup

leanKitchen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:08:17 +0000

My favorite food on the planet? Soup. Pretty much any kind I can get my hands on.

On my list of favorites? Curried Butternut Squash, Carrot Ginger, and Potato Leek. Tonight, I had a “hankering” (love that word: ) for Potato Leek soup. Given that I eat supportively now, I had to make a couple of changes to an old classic for two reasons: 1. Potatoes are a starchy carbohydrate, and in order to lose fat you need to cut out/limit starchy carbs and 2. Typically, Potato Leek soup is just that-potatoes and leeks. I added shredded chicken to mine, because without a good protein source, while still good for you and veggie-packed, it’s not a complete meal (protein with a fibrous carb-fruit/veggie).

So to solve problem number 1, I omitted potatoes, and used a head of cauliflower. Issue number 2, making the formerly non-protein-containing recipe into a supportive meal was done by adding chicken.

So to begin, I cut up three leeks (video on how to cut leeks to follow) -just the bulb, not the leaves, and softened them in olive oil with a tablespoon of chopped garlic:

Softening the Leeks and Chopped Garlic

I then added one 32 oz. low sodium chicken broth (you can use vegetable, too if that’s what you have), and, while that was heating up to a boil, I was busy chopping baby carrots (I like the size of the carrots, because I have kids, and big chunks make me nervous; feel free to use your standard carrot) and roughly chopping up a head of cauliflower. Once it was boiling, I put all the veggies in. It looked like this:

Simmering up the soup

Next, once the veggies were all fully softened, I used a slotted spoon to scoop out some small pieces of veggies; while this soup is pureed, I love a little bit of chunk to my vegetables, too. I left all of the broth and most of the vegetables in the pot, and scooped out a bowl of cauliflower and carrots.

Maintaining Some Chunkiness in the Soup

Next up, my favorite kitchen accessory- my $12 immersion blender. On a side note, if you don’t have one, you SHOULD! This thing is perfect for making sauces, soups, smoothies, Pie in a glass, well…pretty much anything. I blended it

Immersion Blender, Doin' what it does best!

…until it was smooth and creamy, then stirred in the rough chunks of veggies and some shredded cooked chicken (I used about 2 breasts that I had pre-cooked this weekend). Here’s the final result:

Faux-tato Leek Soup

Enjoy a bowl-or two-with little shame. For me, soups and stews are the epitome of comfort food. Especially the cream-based chowder types. Here’s a way for me to really have a rich, thick, hearty soup, without sacrificing or undoing all of my hard work at Bootcamp.

~For all my Vegetarian readers, you can easily make this a vegetarian recipe by omitting the chicken and substituting Chicken stock with Vegetable stock. For added protein, try adding a can of chickpeas before pureeing. Don’t forget to let me know how it turns out!!

Supportive nutrition in the workplace

leanKitchen — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:26:39 +0000

If you’re anything like me, you eat many of your 35 weekly meals at work (this is under the mindset of eating 5 times per day, 7 days per week). Some days I get up early enough to feed myself breakfast before I go to work, but truth be told, those days are few and far between. Realllllly few and far between. Ok fine, they’re annual, and it’s on my sons’ first day of school every year, because it’s a tradition for us to eat a big breakfast together.

Food at the workplace

Ideally, for optimal metabolic function, you should eat as soon as you get up to both “break the fast” (see where the word comes from?), as well as to regulate your blood sugar. My kids eat breakfast at school and daycare, respectively, so I don’t HAVE to cook in the mornings, and, well…really what it comes down to is, I don’t HAVE to get up a whole lot longer than it takes for me to shower and get the kids ready and off to their morning destinations.

Ok, so maybe I don’t leap out of bed and sprint down the stairs, wielding a spatula and frying pan, armed with PAM, ready to make a spinach and turkey bacon omelet. I do, however, try to eat my breakfast less than an hour after I wake up. So my “at the office” meals include breakfast (between 8 and 9am), lunch (noon), and mid afternoon snack (3pm). Dinner (6 or 7ish, depending on the day of the week), late night snack (9 or 10 pm) (Yep, you read that correctly. I eat at 10pm, and it’s usually a delicious, chocolatey-peanut buttery treat, too*. Don’t freak about it, it’s just a nasty rumor that you can’t eat after a certain time. If you’re hungry, eat! As long as it’s supportive, you’ll be fine) and weekends are at home. Given that I eat lots of meals at my desk, I have gotten very proficient in what I refer to as “Office Gourmet”.

I’ve found that, to be consistently successful in my nutritional goals, I need meals at the office to be:

1. Quick: So I can get back to my desk and get on with my workload

2. Convenient: So I don’t mess up and decide that the huge jar of pretzels and/or m&m dispenser on one of my co-workers desk are better options. And hauling things back and forth from home to office would just be annoying

3. Space efficient: I want my kitchen to be in my kitchen. Unless we’re having some margarita party that I am unaware of, there’s no need for a blender in my filing cabinet. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t exactly have a plethora of leftover space in my office

4. Delicious: I do not believe food should be flavorless. I also don’t believe food should be wolfed down without tasting in a frenzy while reading the news during your 15 minute lunch break. Food nourishes our bodies, and our bodies keep us alive, so to enjoy this nourishment to it’s fullest you should enjoy how it tastes, right?

I realize you may not have access to the following in your workplaces, but I’m just sharing what works for me. Here are a few tips that I’ve found makes eating supportively at work as stress and hassle free as possible:

1. Utilize your office fridge and freezer:

Housed within my office freezer right now I have :

-a bag of frozen blueberries (for snacks like brownie batter or cottage cheese shakes)

-a ten oz. frozen price chopper cooked squash (10 oz., and roughly four 1/2 c servings),

-a ten oz. frozen chopped broccoli,

-some cooked frozen cod filets (I cooked them on Sunday, chopped them into 2 or 3 oz. chunks and froze them in a single layer in a large freezer bag),

-some cooked frozen chunks of marinated chicken breast.

On Monday morning, I grab about half of what I cooked over the weekend, and bring it to work, to keep them in the freezer for my weeks’ worth of office meals. Think about it; if stuff is available for you to pull out of a ziploc, pop into the microwave, pull out and enjoy, you’re gonna do it! I also am blessed to work directly across the street from a grocery store, so I stop there on my way to work on Monday morning, and buy other things so I don’t grow bored with frozen meat and vegetables, like a container of of lowfat cottage cheese, hummus, red peppers and spinach (my favorites) and sometimes greek yogurt, so I have a variety of things to choose from throughout the week. I buy eggs and cartons of egg whites, too. Salt and pepper is a must; I like pepper on everything! I stock up on pre-made salad dressings when they’re on sale. You can get price chopper brand (they are really quite good) on sale for a buck if you get ‘em at the right time, I always get a few and keep a Balsamic and an Italian in my work fridge, and one of each in my home fridge.

2. Utensils, Cutlery, etc.-

-Leave a measuring cup and spoon in your workbag/desk (or, if you have room and the need for ‘em, a whole set.) You can buy them at the dollar store, and it takes the guesswork out of portioning. I don’t have a whole set, personally, I have one cup and it has other measurements on the side for 1/2c., 1/4c., etc. You could also take your 1 cup cup (spell check doesn’t believe that I meant to say cup twice; the angry red squiggly lines underneath are screaming right now- Repeated word!!!), and pre-measure increments that you use regularly, and use a sharpie to mark off different volumes before you bring it to the office. You probably don’t need a whole set of measuring spoons, either; most serving sizes are teaspoons and tablespoons, and not 1/3 tsp’s, so be space-concious, and bring what you use most (for me, it’s tablespoons). Besides-when’s the last time you looked at the side of a container and found a serving size to be 2/3 tsp.?

-I keep a paring knife in my desk (and not only to scare off the people who come in with major attitude to chop up whatever I need to chop up

-A medium-sized extra tupperware container (for when I thaw the previously-mentioned frozen veggies. That way, I can portion out what I need, and put the remainder in it to stick in the fridge for my next meal)

-A 32 oz water bottle stays on my desk and never goes home with me. In order to drink Ben’s recommended ”1/2 of my body weight in ounces (and even more if we’re exercising)”, I make a goal to drink at least two of them within my 8 hour workday each day

-Not a utensil, but I should also note that I keep my multi and omega-3 supplements on my desk. Not in my drawer where they’re out of sight and out of mind, but right on my desk, in a small basket that also houses flavored water packets when water gets too boring for me. And I don’t bring my vitamins back and forth with me on the weekends. But I am at the office 5 out of 7 days, and I simply eat a Gummy Multivitamin with my kiddo’s on the weekends.

3. Use your microwave instead of getting burned out on boring green salads every day- Seriously, when it comes down to it, I’m not exactly thrilled with having to use a microwave. But I do because that’s what I have. Every day I make something different, and classy, yummy and looks awesome, and every single day my co-workers ask me what I’m having. I make omelets, turkey bacon, I “saute” veggies and wilt spinach, and because I’m prepped (and also because I’m not afraid to try new combinations) I create a new dish each meal. I’ll sometimes nuke my pieces of seasoned chicken or fish with whatever veg I have and squirt it with the balsamic or Italian, or spray butter and salt and pepper, or a sprinkle of parm, or mix the veggies (squash and spinach is awesome) and put a tablespoon of balsamic in before cooking…the possibilities are endless. Sometimes I make a “salad” with spinach, diced chicken, peppers, mushrooms and squirt it with the dressing of choice (I wouldn’t use a cream based, I pretty much stick with Balsamic and Italian, but those are my preferences), then splash a tablespoon or two of water over it, and stick it in the microwave for a minute. Out comes a perfect “sautéed” chicken and veg meal, has tons of flavor from the dressing, and is beautiful.

Seriously, make the best of your circumstance, and work with what you have. Be creative. Find ways to be successful in your personal space. Your drive to succeed is what’s going to ensure your own personal success!

So everyone: Do you have a workplace tip or “Office Gourmet” recipe that you’d like to share? The more the merrier! Post them as a comment!

*Brownie batter- a scoop of chocolate protein powder, 1 tbsp natural peanut butter, a handful of blueberries or strawberries, a little water to make it the consistency of brownie batter. Mix, and enjoy. Make sure to have a napkin; I’ve heard when you’re licking the bowl it tends to get on your forehead and chin. I don’t speak from experience, I swear