Strategic Food Preparation
The worst part of school lunches is bringing snack-type foods into the house again. All summer long, I've been able to avoid buying salty snacks in bags, unless they were part of a planned meal. But the kids love to take crackers and cheese, and they love those Snap Pea Crisp things, and fruit leather and meringue cookies...
I'm at home with a kitchen full of forbidden foods once again. And no one would be the wiser if I took a handful of crackers out of the box right? Or a few meringue cookies? Those don't count, do they - the package says "fat-free" and all...
I've decided that I'm NOT going to fall victim to an open box of crackers again. I eat at mealtimes, not in between. Well, mostly. Ssssh.
So here's my new strategy. I buy the snacks I want to send in lunches, and then I spend half an hour dividing the packages of snacks into baggies, which I load into a large tupperware box and put high in the pantry, where I would have to make an effort to actually get at them.
The kids have also been loving mini-bagels with cream cheese, so I go ahead and make up the entire package of bagels with cream cheese (one brick of cheese covers 13 mini-bagels nicely) and bag those individually, too. I toss those in the fridge. I buy one-get-one-free eggs all the time, so I'll take one dozen and hard-boil them, while I'm dividing up snacks. Then I'll mark each one with an "H" in crayon before loading them back into their carton and putting the whole thing back in the fridge.
As I've mentioned, I have been enjoying "fancy eggs" in the morning - on shopping day, I chopped one sweet onion, one green pepper and one red pepper, and scooped them into a container for the fridge. I pre-grated some cheese too, so when I want my eggs, I can just open up the fridge, grab the pre-chopped and pre-grated stuff and get cooking. I've been adding some freshly minced parsley too, which has been delicious.
Now - let's talk salads for a minute. As some of you know, I asked the Mom Network's question of the week - I wanted to know "What's for dinner?" There were some fantastic menus mentioned in the responses - and also some great questions. Brenda L. asked if I had some ideas for salads. She's trying to eat more fruits and veggies, and is getting tired of the same ole same ole.
One of my favorite ways to get more veggies is to broil peppers, red onion, small red potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, even sliced corn on the cob and toss together. I drizzle them with olive oil, and toss on some fresh herbs and add some garlic cloves. I love it when they get all caramelized and fragrant.
My dear readers - help me out here: tell me your favorite salads and creative fruits and veggies ideas...
Comments
My favorite way to eat all variety of veggies is to chop up some of whatever Ive purchased on sale, toss it into a foil packetwith a tiny pat of butter, and bake in the oven at 350 for about 45-50 minutes. And as for fav salads, I love mixing avocado and little shrimps into a bed of vrious lettues and fresh spinach and toss with a lite strawberry vinegrette.
Posted by: prov31wisemom | August 26, 2006 5:10 PM
Allison at PretendingSanity.com did a 100 salads project the last two summers. Now she has a whole long list of fabulous salad ideas. You can find them all here: http://www.pretendingsanity.com/eat.php
Posted by: Elaine | August 26, 2006 5:28 PM
Your organization skills amaze me.
I LOVE the fancy egg idea.
Posted by: Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah | August 26, 2006 5:54 PM
Ideas for salads, huh? Well, we love salads, but tend to stick to the same old/same old.
My favorite is a greek salad - love that feta cheese, and hot peppers too!
We do tossed greens a lot - whatever greens we have on hand!
In the summertime when tomatoes are abundant, a tossed tomato and cucumber salad is great!
Posted by: Kate | August 27, 2006 4:55 AM
My favorite salad is just sliced Roma tomatos fresh mozz cheese basil vinagrette and herb flavored olive oil, slice the cheese place on tomatoes, and put tomatoes cheese, and dressings on a bed of fresh baby spinach and basil!... YUMMMMM, and freshh garlic bred for dipping!!! this is a meal all it's own!!!!
Posted by: Tera | August 27, 2006 7:25 AM
I like salads with arugula. You can buy it at Trader Joe's in bags of pre-washed greens.
My favorite is fresh mozarella (comes in liquid), tomato, and prosciutto on a bed of arugula. Drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar. To ensure the low-cal nature of the salad, just make sure you use lots of arugula and tomatoes and go sparse on the cheese and meat.
Posted by: Mary Tsao | August 27, 2006 10:44 PM
Mixed Greens
Baby Spinach
A Handful of Broccoli Slaw
Grape Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Sunflower Seeds
And, if I'm REALLY feeling like a wild woman, kalamata olives and a sprinkle of feta.
Almost always with Paul Newman's light balsamic vinagrette dressing.
Even my kids lurve that salad.
Posted by: EverydaySuperGoddess | August 28, 2006 6:24 AM
I am eating my weight, almost daily in steamed, fresh, green beans and asparagus lately. It is so quick and so yummy, still tender. Oh my God I want some now! Just some simple spices and a spray of one of the salad dressing spritzers that are one calorie for one spray. (But certainly made of dog-crap, I know.) If I have a couple extra minutes I saute the tender-crisp veggies in a little olive oil with tons of garlic. So yummy. My favorite salad right now is a regular tossed salad with the usual veggies, but chopped really teeny-tiny and mixed up well. I am a little bit crazy, but everything chopped up smaller and mixed well tastes amazing. Oh, and the long English cucumbers, sliced with a drizzle of red-wine vinegar and salt and pepper. Yum. However, please take anything that I ramble off with a HUGE grain of salt as I am losing the weight loss battle right now and can not get going again. You are a huge inspiration though, take care!
Ok, one more thing. I have been chopping up a garlic clove very finely and mixing it in with my salads lately, too. It is a bit unusual, but so good if you are a garlic lover. Lots of flavor. Okay, that's it. No more rambling in your comments. I promise.
Posted by: Carrie | August 28, 2006 10:11 AM
I snorted at writing the "H" on the hardboiled egg. I don't know why--I just did. It's a very good idea.
I like thinly sliced cucumbers with squeezed lemon then sprinkled pepper and kosher salt. It seems to keep for a good week in a plastic container.
Posted by: the womom | August 28, 2006 11:03 AM
When I'm at the "oh gawd, all my fresh veggies are about to go bad" point, I chop and saute them in garlic or plain olive oil and toss them over whole-wheat pasta. Husband really likes it when I also add alfredo sauce to the mix. Easy, and relatively healthy (depending on your choice of sauce).
Posted by: Audrey | August 28, 2006 1:11 PM
This takes effort, but it is worth it:
Gorgonzola and Pecan Crunch Salad with Hazelnut Vinaigrette
Salad - 7 c. mixed greens, 6 oz. Gorgonzola
Pecan Crunch
2/3 c. pecans
2 T. butter
1 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt
black pepper to taste
1/4 t. Cayenne pepper
Combine in small heavy pan, cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar carmelizes. Cool on wax paper. Store in airtight container up to 1 week.
Hazelnut Vinaigrette
1 t. Dijon mustard
1 t. grated orange zest
2 t. honey
2 T. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. orange juice
1/4 c. hazelnut oil
1/4 c. olive oil
Combine first five ingredients in medium bowl. Whisk in oils until well blended. Refrigerate up to 2 days.
Posted by: mothergoosemouse | August 29, 2006 6:59 AM
edamame!
Posted by: the womom | August 29, 2006 10:51 AM