As Dr. Oz says, when you miss the turn the GPS doesn't scold you, it tells you to take the next U-turn. I took my u-turn on Sunday. I was not eating particularly bad last week, but I need to exercise. One day I forgot my camera at work, so here are the remaining days.
Yum applesauce...
A little peach and kiwi salad...
Oh boy. This was a new meal that I had not had before. I was anxious but Amy's usually delivers.
It certainly did! Some of the black beans did explode in the microwave, but other than that, this meal was outstanding. Full of flavor and not dry at the very least. Amy's does it again!
Next meal...
Healthy Choice Sweet Asian Potstickers...sadly the only one of the new HC organic/natural meals that is vegan :(
It is really good though and a lot cheaper than Amy's stuff. I can usually get Amy's stuff for $4-5 and this one usually hovers around $2.50. There is also tofu in the potstickers.
Some chickpea salad...
The leftovers of the peach/kiwi salad.
Fast forward to today's lunch...
A organic vegan Boca with spinach, sprouts, dijon mustard, and hummus on a whole wheat sandwich round...
The whole she-bang...burger with carrots and hummus.
Honestly, these Boca burgers were gross. They were tasteless and super dry. I almost wanted to add a whole bunch more mustard because I felt like I was choking each bite down. I was also craving something with some juice to it, like a peach, but today is food shopping day and that means there is not much fresh left around.
To satiate a friend who was requesting ways to cook squash/pumpkin...here are some ideas, moreso for the squash than a pumpkin. You see cutting up and cooking a whole pumpkin is a great feat and will definitely not be a quick meal. Remember when you made jack-o-lanterns and didn't realize that pumpkins were for eating. Don't worry, most people are perplexed when faced with such an enomorous piece of produce. So, for pumpkins, if you have the time, the best is to clean it and roast the thing either sliced or whole in the oven until it is tender. Then it can be made into soups or you can even use it in place of, wait for it, canned pumpkin, if it is pureed ;).
Fall brings a ton of different kinds of squashes and most people are also a little afraid of them. They do have warts so it is a little off-putting. Don't be afraid. Butternut squash is the most recognizable. But you can pretty much cook them all the same way with the exception of the Spaghetti Squash (I'll cover that later on, keep reading). So basically get your oven nice and hot, 400-450 degrees. Peel and cube the squash removing any seeds that may be inside (which is also no easy feat, you need to have a really good knife, or a clean street corner you could smash it on). If you want a comforting sweet/savory type dish, you toss the squash with olive oil, a little brown sugar (don't go overboard!), cinnamon, and if you want the last 10 minutes, throw in some halved nuts, like walnuts or pecans. Alternatively, you could just toss the squash with olive oil and salt and pepper and you would be fine. Either way, you can roast them around 25-35 minutes, tossing every so often. You can also add squash to roasts, like when you roast a turkey or ham with potatoes, carrots, and the other wonder root veggies.
Now for the Spaghetti Squash. The inside of the spaghetti squash is very fibrous and resembles spaghetti noodles. So clearly, you can use them as you would spaghetti noodles, like with a tomato sauce. To prepare the spaghetti squash, slice it in half and put the cut side up in a microwave. Microwave around 5-10 minutes until it is tender. Scrape the flesh out with a fork and surprise! You now have a pasta alternative. Great for people that have to eat gluten-free diets.
I hope you start to explore squash and root veggies as the seasons start to change. It is certainly still 90 degrees here in FL, but I'm sure some of you are starting to see the colder temps.
No comments:
Post a Comment