It's well known that many of us in the United States are both overweight and lacking in the nutrients contained in a healthy diet. Somepeople gain a lot of weight by frequent stops at the fast food places, just because it's more convenient and we don't have any cleanup or we're simply short on time. With a little planning and foresight, you can make balanced, nutritious and healthy dinner recipes ready to serve in 20-30 minutes from beginning your cooking. You'll win all the way around, enjoying better health, saving money and maybe losing a few unwanted pounds.
Start by setting aside a half an hour each week to look over your pantry and think about what you want to eat next week. Plan your dinner menus, making sure to include foods from the “food pyramid” of healthy choices.
This is more common sense than a strenuous exercise in principles of nutrition. We all know we need fruits and vegetables, protein, dairy and grains included in our daily meals. Easy enough. Everyone has their favorites in each group, so just choose foods you enjoy.
One dish meals, like crock pot dinners, casseroles and pasta or rice combined with veggies and a little meat will fill the bill with all the components of healthy dinner recipes.
You can cook up a big batch of rice on the weekend to be used throughout the week. Portion the cooked rice into three or four containers sufficient for one meal, suited to your household size. Rice can be frozen and quickly reheated in the microwave. Fresh vegetables may be chopped en masse and frozen for “instant” use another day. Investing a few hours on the weekend preparing ingredients for the coming week lets you throw together attractive healthy dinner recipes on the fly in no time at all.
Similarly, you can prepare quantities of meats for quick inclusion in your healthy dinner recipes. Cook a couple of pounds of hamburger, chicken or sausage and divide into two or three portions. Season each a little differently. For example, hamburger might be seasoned with a Mexican flavor for tacos or chili, Italian for a lasagne dish or a bouquet garni for that slow cooker Bourguignon.
Slow cooker dishes are your friends in producing healthy dinner recipes with little effort. You need only toss veggies, broth and meat into the pot in the morning and come home to tempting aromas and a ready to serve dish. Just add bread.
Soups, made in quantity with healthy dinner recipes, can provide dinner for weeks to come. Make a batch of hearty gumbo and freeze in single portions, ready to eat in minutes.
You'll be surprised at the variety of dishes you can have on hand with less effort than you'll expend on driving to the takeout. Healthy dinner recipes are as close as your imagination. Best of all, you'll be enjoying nutritious meals, saving money and trimming the fat in one fell swoop!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Greek Recipes
One of the best things about the culture of Greece is the food. Greek restaurants have spread around the world and Greek recipes are popular for their flavor and their largely healthy way of cooking. The food has the taste of the Mediterranean and the country has been particularly influenced by Italian and Balkan cuisine. Olive oil is a constant component of the dishes and olive trees have always been common sights in the landscape.
The land is suited to the rearing of sheep and goats, rather than beef and so goat meat and lamb are much more common. Locally caught fish take up much of Greek menus, especially in coastal areas. There is also an emphasis on fresh vegetables in Greek recipes, the most popular being green beans, okra, eggplant, tomatoes, and onions. Yogurt is another favorite and there are numerous types of honey available. A lot of honey varieties come from fruit trees such as lemon and orange. The combination of yogurt and honey is sometimes served as a dessert. Cheese is an important export and there are distinctive varieties, such as Kasseri, Feta and Mizithra. Several dishes use filo pastry, which is very thin and flaky.
A Greek meal will very often begin with an appetizer, known as Meze in Greek recipes. These are meant to stimulate the palette and are usually served with wine or ouzo (the alcoholic beverage flavored with anise). There may be dips accompanied by bread, including the Greek pita bread. Tzatziki is a popular dip, made from yogurt, garlic puree and cucumber. Another common Meze is Taramosalata, which is fish roe with moistened breadcrumbs or boiled potatoes.
There are a variety of main courses, some of which will be familiar to people living outside of Greece, from their restaurant or vacation experiences. The most famous one is probably Moussaka. This casserole contains fried eggplant and spiced minced lamb topped with a thick, cheese sauce. Another staple on menus is the Dolma. This traditionally uses vine leaves wrapped around lamb, rice, onions, herbs and spices. If making at home, cabbage leaves are a good substitute. Both of these Greek recipes are successful when adapted for vegetarians.
Desserts are delicious in Greece by any standards. Baklava is popular, a sweet, filo pastry with chopped walnuts or pistachio, sometimes sweetened with honey. There are different breads to commemorate major holidays and Tsoureki is the traditional sweet bread eaten at Easter. It is similar in texture to brioche. The perfect way to finish a meal from Greek recipes is to sit under an olive tree with a glass of Metaxa, the local sweet brandy, and watch the sun go down.
The land is suited to the rearing of sheep and goats, rather than beef and so goat meat and lamb are much more common. Locally caught fish take up much of Greek menus, especially in coastal areas. There is also an emphasis on fresh vegetables in Greek recipes, the most popular being green beans, okra, eggplant, tomatoes, and onions. Yogurt is another favorite and there are numerous types of honey available. A lot of honey varieties come from fruit trees such as lemon and orange. The combination of yogurt and honey is sometimes served as a dessert. Cheese is an important export and there are distinctive varieties, such as Kasseri, Feta and Mizithra. Several dishes use filo pastry, which is very thin and flaky.
A Greek meal will very often begin with an appetizer, known as Meze in Greek recipes. These are meant to stimulate the palette and are usually served with wine or ouzo (the alcoholic beverage flavored with anise). There may be dips accompanied by bread, including the Greek pita bread. Tzatziki is a popular dip, made from yogurt, garlic puree and cucumber. Another common Meze is Taramosalata, which is fish roe with moistened breadcrumbs or boiled potatoes.
There are a variety of main courses, some of which will be familiar to people living outside of Greece, from their restaurant or vacation experiences. The most famous one is probably Moussaka. This casserole contains fried eggplant and spiced minced lamb topped with a thick, cheese sauce. Another staple on menus is the Dolma. This traditionally uses vine leaves wrapped around lamb, rice, onions, herbs and spices. If making at home, cabbage leaves are a good substitute. Both of these Greek recipes are successful when adapted for vegetarians.
Desserts are delicious in Greece by any standards. Baklava is popular, a sweet, filo pastry with chopped walnuts or pistachio, sometimes sweetened with honey. There are different breads to commemorate major holidays and Tsoureki is the traditional sweet bread eaten at Easter. It is similar in texture to brioche. The perfect way to finish a meal from Greek recipes is to sit under an olive tree with a glass of Metaxa, the local sweet brandy, and watch the sun go down.
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