Category Archives: Recipes

What’s For Lunch?, contributed by FARfetched


Posted by katiebird

The more I work toward healthy eating (and exercise) habits, the more I’m convinced that pre-packaged foods are a major part of the problems we all face. Of course, we can’t get away from them totally — but some are better than others, and (with a little work) the better ones can turn out to be quite tasty.

To be a bit more specific, experimenting with my rice dish has finally paid off with something fairly tasty and versatile!

Like all the other recipes I’ve posted, this can be made with ingredients you can stash in a file cabinet at work — no refrigeration required! It takes 15-20 minutes to prepare, which isn’t that much if you consider how long it takes to drive to a restaurant and get served.

CubeDweller Rice

3/4 c. instant brown rice
1 c. water
5 pearl onions, peeled & halved or 3 cipollini onions, peeled & quartered
3 cloves garlic, peeled & diced*
5 (sun-)dried tomatoes, broken up**
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. herb mix (e.g. Mrs. Dash®)

Combine rice, water, onions, garlic, and tomatoes in a microwave pot. Cover (a paper towel is better than nothing) and microwave on high for 7 minutes. Stir in the olive oil and herb mix. Let stand for a minute before eating.

You can use it as-is for a side dish, or with tortillas & your favorite protein source for tacos, or toss in some smoked oysters at the last minute of microwaving for a passable paella.

* I can’t taste the garlic if I press it.
**Finding & adding the tomatoes made this dish happen for me.


Ode to the Lettuce Wrap: A Tip for Busy, Hungry People with Diet Issues, contributed by DuctapeFatwa


Posted by katiebird

If you cringe at carbs, quake in the presence of calories, sulk at sugar, and fear fat, but still want something good to eat, the lettuce wrap is designed for you.

As the name implies, a lettuce wrap basically involves a lettuce leaf wrapped around some other food. tHis other food can be literally anything you can stand to eat wrapped in lettuce, so it is a maximum flexibility concept.

Traditionally, lettuce wrap fillings include some kind of lean meat, cooked in a spicy sauce. So if you want to be traditional, you can use any leftover lean meat in the house, and saute or microwave it with any of the already prepared spicy sauces available at the supermarket, or garlic and ginger paste, or just mustard or salsa, if you want to strip your calories down to the bone.

If sugar is a concern, add soy sauce to a small amount of the sweeter sauces. But there’s more good news! The amount of sauce of any kind you are going to put on your lettuce wrap is so small that it doesn’t matter too much how sweet it is – or how fattening, if you want to put hollandaise on there, with a chopped up boiled egg, nobody’s stopping you. Continue reading →


Healthy AND Nutritious AND Delicious


Posted by katiebird

I challenge you….any or all of you….to try this new recipe of mine.

I call it

Puget’s Lunch Scramble

sweet onion chopped fine, 1/4 c
fresh ginger grated
several baby carrots grated
fresh kale, several leaves chopped fine
garlic, chopped fine
1 T olive oil
1 T canola oil
2 corn tortillas
Pico de Gallo
salt, pepper to taste.

AND

1/3 lb firm tofu (DO NOT LET THIS STOP YOU FROM READING ON)
mashed with a potato masher

heat oil in skillet, on High heat

ADD:
carrots, kale, onion, garlic, ginger
Stir well, keep it moving.

When onion is translucent add the perfect touch, dump the
rather large pile of mashed firm tofu on top.

Stir well again and keep it moving. Keep stirring until the kale looks wilted and the tofu is softer and obviously warm.

Put one tortilla on your plate. Add generous amount of the above described “scramble”. Add second tortilla, a little more of the scramble. Put a dollop of pico de gallo on top.

Take a good look at your creation. It looks like a plate of scrambled eggs, smells fantastic, tastes amazing. Now dig in and enjoy.

The tofu is tasteless. All the other ingredients make up the flavor and it is lovely.

Let me know what you think.


What’s For Lunch?


Posted by katiebird

Y’all might remember that I’ve been hunting for healthy food that a) doesn’t require refrigeration, and b) can be cooked in a microwave or with hot water — in other words, stuff can you make for lunch at work. I’ve been away for a while, and since my previous (first) What’s For Lunch I’ve added garlic and a garlic press to the collection. On this planet, garlic is about $3/pound (about 9 bulbs)… about six cents a serving if you like lots of garlic like I do.

I cheated a little today — on the way to work, I picked up three Roma tomatoes instead of depending completely on the stash in my overhead bin — and this recipe took some effort. But it was worth it.

CubeDweller Ramen with Oyster Sauce
1 packet ramen noodles (discard “flavor” packet)
3 Roma tomatoes, diced and crushed (peeling is optional, I like the peel)
4 cipollini onions, or one medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
1T. olive oil
1 can (3.75oz) smoked oysters, drained (unless you don’t have any olive oil, in which case you can use the oil in the oyster tin)

Prepare ramen (w/o sodium packet) and set aside.

In a microwave pot, crush the tomatoes and stir in onions, garlic, and olive oil. Cover (a paper towel is better than nothing) and microwave for 1-1/2 minutes. Drain excess juice into a cup. Add smoked oysters and microwave, again 1-1/2 minutes. Drain more juice into the cup. Reheat ramen by covering with a wet paper towel and microwaving for 20 seconds. Top ramen with oyster sauce.

Chill the juice poured off during cooking and drink it if you like.

The entire thing cost me less than 4 bucks, and you won’t find anything nearly as good in the frozen food section!


Sunday Dinner: What’ve you got Cooking? , contributed by CabinGirl


Posted by katiebird

Well, it’s pouring here at Chez Cabin now, but we managed to squeak in a bike ride through Valley Forge Park this morning before it started…time to think about what’s for dinner tonight!

Oh, and can I just tell everybody how excited I am that the inhaled insulin that I’ve been writing about for the last 2 months got approved by the FDA this week?

On to the food…This is one of my favorite recipes. It takes about 10 minutes to put together before you stick it in the oven, tastes great, and there’s enough left over for a second meal at our house.

Simply Roasted Pork
From Cooking Light Continue reading →