Category Archives: Healthful Eating

April 3, 2020 · 2:51 pm

Quarantine Cuisine Day #3 – Grits

Breakfast. I’m a firm advocate of eating breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day because you are “breaking” the “fast” of sleep.

I’m also no fan of fasting. Those diets that involve fasting are not for me! Just as with any meal, I will need to be creative with breakfast if I stick with my vow to stay home 30 days.

We still have eggs and egg substitutes, so today I combined the two to make a lightened version of scrambled eggs. We have plenty of Jimmy Dean turkey sausage patties in the freezer, so I added those to the menu. But the star of today’s breakfast was grits.

I blogged previously about making grits in my pressure cooker.(No Grits , No Glory)

Today I needed only a cup of grits so I adjusted the recipe accordingly.

INSTANT POT GRITS FOR TWO

  • 1 cup water in the pot of the cooker (the grits are cooked in a bowl on the rack within the pot of the cooker)
  • 1/4 cup old fashion grits
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 Tbsp (1 pat) unsalted butter
  • Salt to taste
  • Cook grits under pressure 5 minutes.
  • Turn off cooker. Allow pressure to drop completely on its own.
  • Carefully open cooker and remove bowl using silicone mitts or potholders.
  • Stir grits vigorously.
  • Serve immediately

This recipe produces one cup, or two half-cup servings. If you need more or larger servings, simply double the recipe.

In conclusion, I strive to vary our menus while meeting this thirty-day challenge. I don’t want my quarantine routine to turn into a rut.

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April 2, 2020 · 3:22 pm

Quarantine Cuisine Day #2 – Fiesta Salad

Day #1 wasn’t challenging as I had stocked up Tuesday with a pickup order from Walmart. Today I found myself with aging produce and a pound of ground turkey nearing its sell-by date.

Lunch is typically our main meal, so today I used these items to make two large servings of fiesta salad. It may contain Fritos chips, but it’s surprisingly healthful.

Brown and season the ground turkey.

Basically a salad of chopped lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and (optional) cilantro, the only cooking was browning the ground turkey. The cheese sauce was cheddar cheese soup heated in the microwave oven, thinned with 1/4 cup milk.

According to my recipe builder, we each ate 556 calories, including 57 g. protein and 18 g. fat. and 6.2 g fiber. It’s a fun dish as well as a good use-up of produce.

It’s early in the month, so we’ll see how the thirty-day challenge progresses. So how’s your quarantine going?

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March 31, 2020 · 7:12 am

Quarantine Cuisine Challenge

We have thirty more days ahead of operation #StayHome to stop the spread of Coronavirus. So for the month of April, I’ve challenged myself to creating as many meals as I can from my freezer and pantry, without a visit to the supermarket.

It’s particularly challenging because I prefer fresh foods over canned or frozen. I haven’t a garden, thanks to the deer who thought we planted vegetables just for them. But we fall into the vulnerable demographic and I’m determined to make this work.

I won’t post every meal, but as often as possible I will share the interesting (?) menus and dishes I develop. So who’s with me? It’ll be fun.

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February 27, 2020 · 2:20 pm

Beef and Mushroom Stew

We love all meat yet try to limit our consumption of red meats. So I developed a recipe for beef stew that uses only half a pound of meat. By adding a pound of mushrooms, I boost the umami taste. I sneak in more vegetables, too.

This is a pressure cooker recipe that’s easily adapted to slow cooking. By using the pressure cooker, we get that cooked all day flavor in about half an hour.

Recipe

Beef and Mushroom Stew

Makes 4 one-cup servings

  • 1/2 pound beef (chuck or round works) cut into 1” chunks
  • 1 pound mushrooms, sliced and cleaned
  • 1 cup broth + 1 Tbsp (reserved for slurry)
  • 2 tsp. Oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 2 small red or gold potatoes, sliced or cubed
  • 2 ribs celery, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced or sliced
  • 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

  • Preheat cooker pot.
  • Add oil.
  • Generously salt and pepper the beef.
  • Brown the beef on all sides, then remove from pot and set aside.
  • Sauté onions, garlic, and mushrooms 1 minute.
  • Add cup of broth, deglaze bottom of pot, and return the beef to the cooker.
  • Seal and cook under high pressure for 10 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, prepare slurry by combining Worcestershire sauce, reserved broth, and cornstarch.
  • Remove pot from heat (or hit Cancel if using electric) and allow pressure to drop on its own.
  • Carefully open pot and add potatoes and carrots. Reseal.
  • Bring to pressure and cook 1 minute under pressure.
  • Remove from heat, allow pressure to drop 5 minutes on its own, then release remaining pressure.
  • Carefully open the cooker and check vegetables for doneness.
  • Stir slurry again right before adding it to the pot. Return to heat (or use sauté mode on electric models) just until sauce thickens.
  • Remove from heat immediately and check for seasonings. Add salt and pepper if needed and serve.
Beef and Mushroom Stew

Adding fresh chopped parsley before serving adds flavor. Unfortunately, I was out of parsley when I cooked this stew today. Next time …

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