Replacing that bad "food" day 4~dinner

Now dinner is really hard for some if you work out of the home it can be really overwhelming to have dinner ready at a decent time and in comes fast food. It doesn't have to be this way.
One of the biggest helps on days you will not have much time is a crock pot if you do not have one I suggest you go purchase one as soon as you are finished reading this=) Seriously there are a lot of good recipes out there just for crock pots and once you get used to it you will learn what goes good together and be able to just throw some stuff in there, make a nice green salad and you can eat. Even less time than a drive through especially during rush hour!
Also if you are already cooking you might as well make a big batch of whatever it is and freeze half of it. That way next time you need an easy meal you can just lay it out to thaw and heat it up! Just as easy as any frozen dinner but with less sodium no chemicals and you control what is in it! I like to do this with my homemade manicotti it's a little labor intensive because I make crepes to use as shells and make the tomato sauce so it's not hard but takes a bit of time and effort.
If you do not have a good selection of spices this would be a very good thing to invest in. How many times have you seen a good recipe and wanted to try it but didn't know what Turmeric was much less have any? If you go to your local health food store most of them have a section of bulk spices so you can buy a very small amount to try it out!!! Whole foods here in Dublin has a fantastic selection of bulk spices! If you have been using seasoning packets I suggest you stop they are often full of sodium and chemicals. You can easily make your own spice mixes and store in a jar or container. My favorite is my Mexican spice mix which I also use for chili it's awesome and I almost always have some in the fridge except right now because we had taco salad last week and I haven't replenished it. Most things you would use a mix for really don't require that much I make my spaghetti sauce with very few spices and I can use it for pasta, pizza, and sandwiches.
Now if you are like me you probably have some stand bys you know are healthy are easy to fix and inexpensive. The problem is you get tired of having it everyday. Now is when it's time to shake things up. The seasonings we talked about before can change something completely. Try adding cinnamon to rice or quinoa and you'll see what I mean! There also is something to be said for just putting things together that sound good and seeing what the result is. Last night for dinner I made quinoa(pronounced keen-wah and if you haven't had it try it it's delish) added some chopped apples cranberries cinnamon(I love cinnamon) and chopped fresh Italian parsley(I do not like the curly kind the Italian has a better flavor in my opinion.) I didn't know how it would turn out I had never even made quinoa before but it was absolutely wonderful! I served it with a nice green salad with chopped tomatoes, calamata olives and homemade croutons! Then for dessert we had peach smoothies. It really was a very satisfying cooking experience that took less than twenty minutes. All because I was willing to take a chance and try something. I love to look up new recipes although I rarely use them as is when I think of something that sounds good I will look up all the recipes I can find for it to get the technique and then just go for it. Then I end up with a recipe I can use later that I made from a combination of all the others. This also works well if you think something would go good together but you are not quite sure if you can find a recipe for it where someone else has done it it will probably work try it. Depending on who you are how you were raised and your cooking experience cooking will be either a science or an art. If it's an art to you just go for it and try new things pick up new things at the store and take them home and see what you can do with it. It's very exciting and fulfilling to do this. Now if you haven't had much cooking experience or you are not one for flying by the seat of your pants you will need recipes to come up with ideas. I love going to the library to get cookbooks you just scan or copy the recipes you like and you stick it in a folder in your kitchen! I've been doing a lot of recipe searching online on vegetarian websites lately. Now if you need some meat to go with it most of the time you can just add some grilled chicken or just alter it to your taste. The thing is it seems vegetarians are very creative with there food choices and we could all use more fruits and veggies!

Speaking of fruits and veggies I would like to talk about what kind of fruits and veggies you are getting. Are you still getting canned veggies and fruits that are swimming in salt and other junk? If so you need to stop. When possible buy in season fresh produce. Of course a very good portion of my veggies come from the freezer as long as you are getting fruits and veggies with nothing added(check those labels for added salt and sugar) they are just as nutritious if not more so than fresh. Not to mention a great deal cheaper sometimes. If you have it on hand you will eat it. Try mixing veggies into your tomato sauce, your eggs, your soup, your pasta. You will be pleasantly surprised at the depth it brings to your dishes.
Also one complaint that I have heard is when you buy fresh it doesn't last as long. This is true because food does go bad(doesn't that make you think about the stuff on the shelf?) Get to know your produce and eat the stuff that's going to go bad more quickly(spinach, berries) at the beginning of the week saving the sturdier produce for later(carrots, apples.) If you follow a plan according to this you shouldn't have waste. If you have leftover vegetables from dinner save them and they can go into a soup or veggie omelet the next day. Or even freeze them for this use another time.

One big thing about dinner is most of the time you are not going to have the option to be flexible you need a plan. Sit down with your calendar once a week or less often if you wish and plan out at least dinner. Some of you will do well to plan out every single meal at least for a while until you kick the fast food habit! When I was keeping other children I had breakfast lunch dinner and snacks on the calendar so I knew exactly what to get at the store. However when you get to the store and strawberries are on sale but they are not on the plan change the plan!
If you are concerned about going organic here is the Dirty dozen list which shows the top twelve produce items to buy organic(strawberries is number six on that list) also the clean fifteen which is the fifteen produce items with the least amount of pesticides.

One more thing and then I'm done for the day! If you are picky about your vegetables or fruits I really want to challenge you to start trying some things. Even if you didn't like it before peoples taste changes and sometimes you just didn't have it fixed right! Try cooking things a different way I love roasted asparagus but I used to couldn't touch the stuff because all I'd ever had was canned. Try adding it to things you know you like or adding different spices. It's well worth it. For those of you with children you know they say to give them a bite of something several times before you give up. Why not do that with yourself especially if it's something that's really good for you. Don't give me that I'm an adult and I know what I like!!! How's that got you so far not very good probably so get over it and try it already!
Anyway I'm really proud of all of you that are really going at this and it's great that people are talking. I know I might not be reaching a huge audience but I feel privileged to have each one of you as readers. This really means a lot to me!!! I love you all!

Tomorrow is dessert watch out it might be brutal=)

Remember you can do this!!! You and your family are worth it.