slightly O/T - want to exchange healthy recipes?

[hopie]

So, as a former "will eat whatever and get it over with ASAP," I'm really struggling with coming up with things to prepare for my mom. Her doctors suggested "eating healthy," but I guess I didn't know what that means (nor was really interested in it)...? I feel like she's growing tired of eating same things, so I'd love to have some suggestions!

I'm mostly going for fish 2-3 days a week. I cook them in the oven with veggies like carrots, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and sometimes potatoes, garlic, or onion. I put a tiny amount of olive oil, salt, and sometimes pepper and that's it. It's super easy, super fast, and super yummy. If you use sheets, then it's really minimum amount of work too!

She gets a cheat-day where she eats rice with meat, pasta, or a cracked wheat dish (it's a big thing here). This is mostly her carb-heavy day.

On other days, she eats non-wheat grains or vegetables cooked with tomato paste, onions, and water. I'm not sure how to describe these as my American partner calls them "soup" but here we call them "pot dishes." So far, it's mostly cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, lentils, beans, chick peas etc. What I do is I put in some olive oil and chopped onions, then add some tomato paste, then whatever the main ingredient is and then add water. With lentils and cauliflower, it helps to boil them separately before. With chick peas and beans, leaving those in water overnight helps them soften. Sometimes I add chopped beef.

I also make yoghurt for her, which she eats with dried fruits and nuts as an in-between meal. I recently made some peanut butter and mixing it with raisins turns it into an amazing dessert! Mixing cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds with dried fruits (like raisins, apricots, or my favorite--strawberries) with some yoghurt is great too. I use a food processor to mix them all. If you can tolerate cold (mom can't), putting it into freezer might make it yummier.

Per advice given here, I got some liver today and will experiment with those too!

What do you all cook/eat?

[CRguy]

For my feedback please see the NEWS topic first post wherein I list a number of sources of recent info
INCLUDING .....

http://www.aicr.org/

https://www.eattobeat.org/evidence

these sites have regular updates and current info on the dietary aspects of cancer in general and CRC

Cheers
CRguy

[hopie]

Dear CRguy, thank you so much for these links! I'll check them and will add here if I come up with new recipes.

What I'd really love to hear is what people cook. I'm very new to cooking so I'm struggling a bit with coming up with healthy meals everyday...

[Lee]

Easy Gazpacho

This recipe is from The New American Plate cookbook by American Institute for Cancer Research. Here in Arizona, it is a big hit in the summer time. This is the recipe as written in the cookbook. When ever I try a new recipe, I tend to follow it to the letter. I also expect feedback from my family and tweak accordingly. With this recipe, I don't add salt, do add more garlic, use low sodium V-8 vegetable juice and a special hot sauce. I also tend to double the ingredients, and make it 1st thing in morning or night before.

1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped (I just peel and chop)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large roasted red bell pepper from a jar. No seeds
2 large garlic cloves
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, loosely packed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 cups tomato juice or vegetable juice
salt and pepper to taste
Hot pepper sauce (optional)

Any or all the following for garnish: croutons, diced tomato, diced onion, minced fresh cilantro leaves, or diced cucumber.

In blender or food processor (I recommend food processor), combine the tomato, cucumbers, onion, bell peppers, garlic, cilantro, vinegar, and olive oil. Add 1 cup of tomato juice and puree to desired degree of smoothness, (I like mine on the thicker side). Stir in the remaining tomato juice, pepper and hot sauce to taste.

Refrigerate the mixture for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days. Before serving, check the seasoning again and add salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce, if desired. Cold soups usually need more seasoning than hot one, but the spiciness of this one will increase over time (and that is the truth with this one).

Stir the soup and serve very cold in bowls or glasses. Add which ever of the garnish you desire directly into serving bowls or pass the garnish around in separate bowls

We usually have this with crusty bread.

I have a few weight watcher recipes which are very popular in my house. Will add them when time permits.

Lee

[Lee]

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala,

This is a classic Indian dish, lighten up!!

This is a weight watchers recipe that is good during the colder months. I pretty much follow this recipe as is, except we cook chicken breast rather than chicken thighs.

28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
1 small onion, minced
1 Tbsp minced garlic ( I buy this in a tube already minced up, I also add more than just 1 Tbsp, garlic is popular in this house)
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger root (again I buy this in a tube, miced)
2 Tbsp garam masala
1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (I use chicken breast cut up)
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1/2 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, optional (I recommend it)

Combine all ingredients, except yogurt and cilantro, in slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hrs, or low for 6-8 hrs. Stir in yogurt and cilantro. Yields about 1 cup chicken with sauce per serving. This recipe serves 8 servings.

Lee

[Lee]

Vegetable Soup

Weight watchers Italian spin. Says to cook in a slow cooker for about 5 hrs. I cook in a big pot, once it's boiling, I reduce heat to a slow boil/simmer and cook for about 20 mins.

10 oz baby spinach leaves
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 medium celery ribs chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium garlic clove minced
4 cups vegetable broth (I use low sodium)
28 oz canned diced tomatoes (I get this at Whole Foods, they have canned tomatoes with no salt added)
2 bay leaves (I don't add these)
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, crushed

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker: cover and cook on high for 5 hours. Remove bay leaves, stir and serve. Yields about 1 cup per serving

Lee

[hopie]

Dear Lee, all of these sound so amazing that I'm tempted to cook and eat them now (it's 00:08 here!)
Thank you so much!

[zephyr]

Please forgive me while I hijack this thread for a moment.

@Lee: we are both in Arizona and both, I think, in the Phoenix metropolitan area. If you would kindly PM me your address, I will happily invite myself to sample your dishes and provide all the feedback you want!

[Lee]

Seasoned Pork Tenderloin

This recipe says to cook in the oven (broiler), I generally use the out door grill. While the directions say to add ingredients into a plastic bag, I have better success adding the ingredients into a bowl or measure cup, then add to bag, then add tenderloins. I do the prep work in morning, and turn the bag through out the day until ready to cook. This is nice when people are coming over for dinner.

1/2 cup reduced-calorie pancake syrup
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I tend to go less on this, can be strong, DH not a fan of cinnamon)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 lb uncooked lean pork tenderloin

In a large zip-close bag, combine syrup, dry mustard, cloves, ginger, salt, cinnamon and pepper. Trim pork of visible fat and cut each tenderloin in half, lengthwise. Add tenderloin to plastic bag, squeeze out air, and seal bag; turn to coat tenderloins. Place bag on a plate and refrigerate on bottom shelf, turning bag occasional, at least 2 hrs or overnight. Preheat broiler. Place tenderloin in a roasting pan and pour marinade over them. Broil 5 inches from heat until pork reaches an internal temperature of 145 F, about 5 mins per size. Let stand at room temperature for at least 3 minutes before slicing. Yield about 4 ounces pork per serving

Lee

[Lee]

Please forgive me while I hijack this thread for a moment.

@Lee: we are both in Arizona and both, I think, in the Phoenix metropolitan area. If you would kindly PM me your address, I will happily invite myself to sample your dishes and provide all the feedback you want!

I just sent you a PM

Lee

[hopie]

high protein, yummy, and healthy pancakes:
mix 1 ripe banana, 2 eggs, and cacao powder (optional, but heavily suggested) make them really smooth and that's it! try to go small, they're not as easy to flip as regular pancakes, but they're really yummy. i put strawberries, cinnamon, and some honey on top of them. they're perfect for breakfast or as snacks or as desserts.

if they don't turn out to be pancake-y (it takes some time to get used to flipping them), just put those weird chunks into a bowl, top with strawberries, and they're delicious still. this recovery works better with cacao powder mishaps, though

[hopie]

tahini & zucchini:

this one goes great with fish or chicken. mix tahini, olive oil and salt (pepper, cumin, turmeric, optional). slice zucchinis, dip them into the tahini sauce, put some sesame seeds on top them and cook them in the oven (don't know what degree or for how long, but will check next time i make this dish!)

[zephyr]

I know this will sound crazy but it's really good: avocado smashed sweet potato. You bake a sweet potato, take out the insides and mash it up with a fork, then add 1/4 - 1/2 an avocado and smash it all up some more until the potato and avocado are blended, then add a little olive or avocado oil, and maybe a touch of salt and pepper. My naturopathic doc recommended it when I was only able to eat small amounts of soft food but it was so good I kept eating it long after the GI crisis was over.

[ginabeewell]

Here’s a favorite I am enjoying right now:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source= ... 7489358241

I sub zucchini for red pepper and Greek yogurt for sour cream. We toss the burritos into a panini press to toast them up. And I scramble eggs with the leftover filling for amazing breakfast tacos or quesadillas. Just made some quesadillas for lunch for me and my husband and they were SOOOO good!