It’s a Cooking Party!

My daughter has always loved parties.  For her, there is always a reason to celebrate-and I love that about her!  I am not so good in that area, but I am trying.  Recently, I got together

with a client and we spent our session applying some of the things I have been discussing here like the importance of planning, prepping and cooking.  So, we had a Cooking Party!

The first step was PLANNING.  We talked about the recipes she wanted to make.  She picked three of her favorite South Beach recipes.  YAY! One of the best things about her choices was that there were some shared ingredients.  I find this to be a really good way to save money and time.  I often make a list of dishes I want to prepare and I look at the ingredients needed.  Then, I choose dishes that have shared ingredients, either so I can buy in bulk and use for both, or so I can use the leftovers of one dish for a second dish later in the week.

In this case, two of the recipes used cabbage and tomatoes.  So we peeled as many whole leaves off as we could, washed them and used them for the Reuben Wraps.  The remainder of the cabbage was chopped up for the soup. Tomatoes- use fresh or canned diced.  Save by cutting more, buying larger can.  Use part of can for soup, puree rest for the crushed tomatoes needed for the Chicken Capri.  This PREPPING piece can be done ahead of time.  The leaves can be washed, dried and stored for later use and the chopped cabbage can be bagged and stored in the fridge as well.  Other prepping for her recipes that could be done ahead of time might include browning the meat for the Vegetable Beef Soup and the Chicken Capri.  Another trick to the PREPPING piece that I use is to look at recipes and see if there are ways to conserve time-in this case the diced tomatoes and green beans for the soup could be the canned variety.  Don’t worry- we aren’t loosing too many nutrients by doing this! Fresh is definitely best, but sometimes we need those time-conserving options! Another time saving idea is to brown more meat than you need for one recipe. For instance, brown enough chicken for two or three dishes and either freeze or refrigerate the remainder for later.

Now for the COOKING! I mentioned previously that I have found that cooking seems to be a dying passion.  I think this might stem from the frenetic pace of our lives.  I want you to know that my client and I PREPPED and COOKED enough food to feed two adults for at least the better part of a week in less than two hours!  (In addition-we had six children under 10 in the house at the same time!) We browned the meat at the simultaneously-might as well, you are already standing at the stove!  We diced/chopped and processed the other ingredients while the meat was browning. We rolled the wraps (and handed out snacks to the little ones) while the soup was simmering and the chicken was baking.  It was a busy, but very fun morning. Our two hour COOKING PARTY ended with a trunk full of food for my client to take home and enjoy with her family for several days. I am also hoping that it gave her a new appreciation for cooking and how a little PLANNING and PREPARATION can go a long way toward making healthy, hearty, hugely tasty food choices!

Now for the recipes-I know you are dying to know how to make them!  Enjoy!  Your Best Fitness Friend

 

 

 

Vegetable Beef Soup

2 Tbls. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (evoo)

1 lb. top round steak, trimmed of fat and cubed **

1 rib celery

½ c. onion, chopped

¼ lb. or 1 can green beans

5 c. water

¼ to ½ head of cabbage, coarsely chopped/shredded

¼ bag (from 10 oz. bag) fresh spinach, coarsely shredded (opt.)

1 can diced tomatoes or 1-2 cups diced fresh

Pepper to taste

2 beef bouillon cubes (opt.)

Heat the oil in a pan to brown the steak (**you can always use leftover meat from a previous dish-saves time!). Cook through, about 8 minutes, turning consistently. Remove meat from pan and drain on paper towel.  Add celery, onion, and green beans to drippings in pan and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 10 min. Add steak back in to pot, and add water, cabbage, spinach (opt) tomatoes (w/juice) and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 30 min, to as long as an hour.

4 servings

Per serving: 290 cal, 1 g fat, 24 g protein, 11 g carb, 4 g fiber, 60 mg chol, 420 mg sodium

Reuben Wrap

Head of green cabbage

Sliced or shredded Reduced Fat (RF) swiss cheese

Pastrami (I buy turkey pastrami at Sam’s club)

Grainy mustard or low-fat Thousand Island dressing

Sauerkraut or prepackaged coleslaw mix

Pull full leaves off of cabbage, as many as you can (save rest of cabbage for another dish-like the Vegetable Beef Soup).  Wash and dry.  Place 1-2 slices of pastrami, on slice or 2 tbls swiss cheese , tbls of dressing or mustard and 2 tbls of sauerkraut or slaw on leaf.  Roll and secure with toothpick.  Can be made ahead and stored in fridge for several days. Per Wrap: 180 cal, 11 g fat, 11 g protein, 7 g carb, 2 g fiber, 35 mg chol, 880 mg sodium-some amount less if using Turkey Pastrami

Chicken Capri

1 c. reduced fat (RF) ricotta cheese

½ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp each salt and pepper

4 bnls, skinless chicken breast (I usually get 6 smaller)

½ tsp garlic powder

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

1 c. crushed tomatoes

RF mozzarella cheese, slices or shredded

Preheat oven to 350* Rub chicken with garlic powder and brown in pan with evoo. 12 min per side.  Process first four ingredients-ricotta, oregano, salt/pepper while chicken browns.  Place chicken in baking dish, top with ricotta cheese mixture, tomatoes and slice or sprinkle of moz cheese and bake for 25-30 min- depending on thickness/ size of breasts-to 170* internal temp and juices run clear.

Per serving: 340 cal, 15 g fat, 44 g protein, 6 g carb, 1 g fiber, 115 mg chol, 470 mg sodium