Cooking With What’s on Hand

     I was so hungry today as I was driving home from church that I almost stopped by a fast food place to pick up something to eat.  Something stopped me.  I kept thinking about all the fat and wasted calories in fast food and how much I needed to get back to eating better again.  I also thought about my pocket book, which is very thin at the moment being a full-time student and all!

     So I told myself to make do with what I had at home.  It isn’t like my pantry is bare.  I have canned tuna, beans, sardines, tomatoes, soup and the list goes on.  I even have fresh tomatoes and cucumbers from my garden and fruit from the farmer’s market.  I decided I could make something fast, healthy and good tasting from those ingredients.  And I did!  

      I chopped up a yellow (Rose Beauty) and a red tomato (Uncle Lou’s Underground Railroad) from my garden, added a cucumber from there also.  Then I put in a can of tuna, tossed it all with dried herbs, EVOO and balsamic vinegar!  I meant to pick some fresh basil to chop up in there too, but forgot to cut it.  I enjoyed my salad with a side of cantaloupe that I got from the farmer’s market.  I’m already thinking of making it again and adding white beans and onions that I have.

      So my challenge to you (and me!) this week is to see how many meals you can cook from the ingredients you all ready have at home.  I will still be going to the farmer’s market for fresh produce, but instead of stopping at the local fast food joint or buying something at the grocery, I’m going to look in my cabinets and see what I have on hand to add to my produce and make most of my meals this week.

      Eating nutritiously doesn’t have to break the bank or take all day to cook.  I am guilty of letting my food go to waste more often than I like to admit or buying something fast and processed to microwave instead of utilizing what I have.   Let me know what you make this week and I’ll check back in with you on my success!

I Still Love Food!

Ok, so I have tracked my food intake for the last few days and have discovered a few things. The first thing is that I eat a lot of sugar! I knew that I wasn’t eating all that great, but when I started tracking my food I thought that I was eating better. The results show that even though I raised my fiber intake significantly I was taking in a lot of sugar.

The second thing I noticed was that the first few days I was very diligent about tracking what I ate. When I jump into a new project I jump in with both feet! So I created an excel spreadsheet and entered simple formulas to keep a total of my calories, my sugar grams, fiber grams and protein.  It was so exciting!  But soon I became “too busy” to keep up with what I was eating.  And I started eating more.

The last thing I noticed was that I was feeling desperate to eat more sugar as I tried to eat healthier. I didn’t have that problem the last time I tried this so I am researching what to do about those cravings. Every morning I drink a pot of white or green tea. I am going to start drinking a cup of hot water and lemon before that to try to help speed the sugar detox along.

So – what now? Well back to the drawing board. I am going to simplify my tracking to just a pocket-size notebook and pen to have a complete idea of what I eat. Then I am going to ruminate on why I feel a desperate need to grab food and eat. Is it sugar withdraw, is it stress, is it???? We will see.

Stay tuned.

Did you set any new year’s resolutions? How are they going? Don’t give up. Tomorrow is another day!

Suzanne