GETTING HEALTHY FOR FIFTY
3/30/2023 0 Comments The veggie lasagna Even this Last week I talked about how I was making a Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna for dinner. I never made a slow cooker lasagna before. I have however made lasagna many many times. I'm Italian, so it's kind of a staple, lol. And it is something that I can actually make and it is edible and yummy!
Well, I think this lasagna will taste better made in the stove (the noodles were a little more mushy then I like), but while my oven is broke and we are deciding on a new one, the slow cooker is what I have. Other than that, it was delicious! I actually wish it had MORE zucchini in it (and carrots-why I didn't add carrots I don't know). For dinner I added extra sauce, but to me, it didn't need it (plus I bought the wrong sauce. I always buy meat FLAVORED, and this time I accidentally bought MEATLESS) So the next day I had a piece for lunch, no extra sauce, and believe it or not, I ate it COLD. It was so GOOD!!! Better than day one! I literally ate veggie lasagna EVERY day for lunch, lol. I don't put meat in my lasagna anyways, so I think I'm going to add the zucchini more often. Probably not the spinach though. Our son didn't eat any, he isn't a lasagna fan, but I wish he would've at least tried it. Mr. G enjoyed it and suggested he would like even more zucchini since it seemed to have disappeared as it cooked. It was a good recipe! I highly recommend it! Even this Italian who loves her pasta and lasagna loved this recipe! https://www.shopnsavefood.com/recipes/detail/6353/Slow_Cooker_Fresh_Veggie_Lasagna?fbclid=IwAR0gm_8h-87m-wV3nMgi2i8FLU7pYZN7cbjGN5iyhJ5HHoDyhCi05D7v6WE
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3/30/2023 0 Comments apple talkI always enjoyed apples as a snack. But I always defaulted to Red Delicious. Well, this shopping trip, I saw two new (or new to me) kinds of apples. Cosmic Crisp and Ambrosia Gold.
I Googled them and they sounded similar, but really, how different can apples be? We bought both. I tried the Ambrosia Gold first. Even my young adult son enjoyed them (and was eating all my apples, but I didn't dare complain!) The Ambrosia gold tasted like candy to me! (Well, healthy candy) They were so sweet. (TIP: buy the ones sitting out, not the ones in a bag that are like $4.99 - I bought those and they are TINY and not ripe. The ones you pick one at a time were amazing.) Then I tried a Cosmic Crisp. It was sweet, but had a tartness to it. Still good. I enjoyed both and will buy both again. And apples seem to be something all three of us will eat as a snack. And I'm learning (slowly) find the healthy treats you ENJOY eating, or look forward to eating. If your healthy eating is a chore, and you're shoving it down your throat just to eat it, it's not worth it, and you'll just grab a donut (sooner or later, trust me.) I was going on and on about the Ambrosia Gold apples, about how they taste sweet like candy, and I'm over here really enjoying one. Mr. G takes a slice and says to me (after eating it) "You know what my first thought was when I took a bite?" I said "candy?" joking. He says "paint thinner." Seriously? So I guess one man's paint thinner is another one's candy? LOL... 3/22/2023 0 Comments Veggie lasagnaDid I tell you on Monday I made the family Farmers Market Linguine? I used bucatini (which was really good) didn't use the lemon zest, and added more cream cheese and butter - hoping to make more sauce. It is loaded with zucchini and mushrooms. I also made roasted asparagus. So, basically day one of LOTS of veggies.
I enjoyed it, my son not so much. Honestly, I could've just eaten the zucchini and mushrooms! Anyway... today I am making them a veggie lasagna. It has zucchini, spinach, and mushrooms in it. I wanted to add shredded carrots, but I forgot. (sometimes I used to add shredded carrots the the ricotta in lasagna, and I really liked it) Side Note: lasagna is one of the meals I can cook. And meatballs. There is a very small list of meals that I make and they turn out edible and delicious. Very small. But lasagna is one of them. My son already turned his nose up at it. He is not a fan of lasagna. I recently was told he isn't a fan of grilled cheese either. I've failed as a mother - LOL.... But, again, I am hopeful and looking forward to it. I mean, come on, it is made like I would make any other lasagna (and I can actually make that), just with veggies. I don't put meat in mine anyways. Bonus - it is a SLOW COOKER recipe! Since my oven is broken, I am stuck getting creative with the slow cooker and air fryer, and stove top. It's getting harder as the days go by. I am going to make carrot/zucchini fritters to go along with the zucchini and maybe asparagus. Yes, veggie overload. But it's all about adding the good foods back into our diet, and finding ways that we actually enjoy eating them. I'll let you know how this turns out, lol. Here is my pretty veggie lasagna, just put in the slow cooker. And yes, I use slow cooker liners. I hate the clean up. I learned that there is a such thing as a casserole size slow cooker? Maybe I should look into one of those for casserole shaped dinners. Mine is oval. so this was a challenge, lol... 3/22/2023 0 Comments what I've been up to...I finally feel a lot better. I went to a new chiropractor and she's fixing me up. The first visit she had me *almost* standing up straight, but at least I was upright! The next visit I was standing straight. So I am on my way. But with my back out, we were ordering out a lot last week. I had bought all these fruits and veggies and tofu, and couldn't stand to cook any of it. Yes, it was that bad. I never get tired of ordering out - Mr. G does though. I never get tired of someone else making my food. I LOVE to eat but hate to cook. And some foods I cook, I don't enjoy. Like chicken. It never seems done to me. But everyone else eats it, so my job is done then, right? And since I enjoy eating food I don't make, I do love holidays! Good, home cooked meals that are actually tasty - like my mom's, or my grandmother's while she was still alive. I don't consider many of the meals I make as tasty, lol. But I'm feeling better and ready to get back at it. I'm making use of the fruits I bought as snacks - even my son is eating them! Color me impressed! TOFU I really don't enjoy the taste of most ground meat. And that is sad because I crave a good hamburger often. And no, veggie burgers are not the same. I can't even eat burgers at most restaurants. The meat has a weird taste to it, almost like a raw meat taste, or a spoiled taste. I'm probably alone on this. But it is what it is. There are a few places I can eat the burger, and some are fast food like McDonalds, BK, and Sonic.
And (I've never said this before, even though my son and husband say this often) I am tired of chicken. So I thought, maybe take a vegetarian approach, just because I'm bored with other foods. I did research and found some fun looking recipes for tofu. Even some air fryer ones - score! First attempt. The recipe I tried didn't have you marinate it, maybe that was a mistake. And you were to use firm or extra firm. I'll tell you right now, I didn't care for the spice mixture. It called for paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. I think the onion powder was too much for me. So, I was excited preparing it. I imagined a tofu cube being like a breaded mozzarella cube (Max & Erma's have the best). If you are a tofu eater you are surely laughing at me right now, thinking "this girl has never had tofu". Bingo. They coated nicely, and plopped into the air fryer basket, they began to brown nicely. I wasn't fond of the aroma of the spice mixture. Again, I think it was the onion powder. Also, I was scared of the middle being a weird texture, so I cooked them longer than suggested. (that is a usual fault of mine while cooking. Nothing ever "looks" done so I over cook it. I burn almost everything I cook, lol. And I enjoy that taste of some foods - like chicken - when they are overcooked.) Cooking longer was a bad move. And I use my air fryer the wrong way too. Folks in my air fryer FB groups preach about how you have to keep an eye on the air fryer while cooking, you can't just turn it on and leave. Well... if I'm in the kitchen for other things, I have no issue watching the air fryer, but if I have nothing else to do, I'm not going to just stand in the kitchen and stare at it. Needless to say, I went to sit down for the last few minutes, and when I returned to it, the cubes were over cooked. My bad. I still looked forward to this new food. And a food that looked and smelled like chicken nuggets or breaded mozzarella cubes! I had ketchup and bbq sauce to dip them in, and away I went! I tasted one - interesting. I ate another - eh, okay. By the time I ate 4 or 5 cubes, my stomach was turning, lol. I think it was the texture that turned me off. It didn't taste bad, but the tofu had a weird taste, and I think my brain was comparing it to old milk - even though it didn't really taste like that. FAIL. I ditched my plate for a little of the chili I made the guys. I asked Mr. G if he wanted to try one, and I thought he should try one to see the texture I was talking about. But after my "glowing" review he wasn't interested. Do you blame him? Oh, did I tell you that I made the whole package of tofu? Brilliant, I know. I still have one package of tofu, so I will give it another try. I have a recipe that look like more of a mozzarella stick or breaded zucchini recipe. After that package I will decide if tofu is for me or not. (and not over cook it) But I did realize if I could eat zucchini for everything instead of a main protein, I'm here for that. Maybe that's my next move. Speaking of zucchini. I realized I LOVE cut up zucchini, seasoned with olive oil, garlic salt, and salt, air fried/roasted. I like them so much, that I am going to make a bunch at the beginning of the week, and use it for my afternoon snack! Here's me chopping up the tofu and feeling creative and hopeful. And here's the outcome, overcooked, tofu cubes. Before the first taste. |
ABOUT GETTING HEALTHY
Just an author who loves to eat trying to get healthy in a fast food world. There's no quick fix to losing the weight, just like it took time to put it on, it will take time to lose it. Join me on the journey to getting healthy for fifty, and beyond. Learning how to eat what you love, without binging, is the key to happy and healthy. Archives
March 2024
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