Many American households are eating 60% or more of their meals away from home. 50% or more of those meals are comprised of convenience foods, fast foods, and ready made meals. It is destroying American health. As we discussed the past couple of weeks, eating meals at home is better for us physically, mentally and emotionally. So we need to cook.
Many of us are overwhelmed with the thought of cooking. Deciding what to make, insecurity about if it will be good or not, insecurity about if we have the skills or not, difficulty pleasing everyone, finding time to grocery shop, finding time to do the cooking. I hear you!. We are busy. But this is important, so I know you are willing to give it the time it deserves. What is surprising, is that once you’ve established your pattern, you will find that you have saved time, saved money, and quite possibly saved your sanity.
Recipes can be helpful. I am a big fan of cookinglight.com for ideas. These recipes are usually rated easy to moderate for level of difficulty and use mostly ingredients that can be found in major grocery stores. The nutrition information is also reliable and takes the guesswork out of the “is it healthy?” dilema. You can start by searching an ingredient like chicken or broccoli or searching a cuisine like Mexican or Chinese to find things you think you might like. Read through the ingredients, and the instructions, to make sure you are comfortable with what ingredients are used and what techniques are required. Pinterest, AllRecipes, and many blogs are also sources of recipes but require you to evaluate the nutritional information for yourself, which can be intimidating.
Recipes are also included here and I hope you enjoy those!
The first couple weeks of attempting this will be effortful and challenging. Stay the path. What is hard today will be tomorrow’s normal. You’ll be well on your way to mastering that “Eat Healthy”.
Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
- 1T olive oil
- 1T butter
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 16oz mushrooms, sliced and halved
- 1 cup wild rice
- 1.5 32oz containers chicken broth (48oz total)
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves pulled from stems, fine chopped
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves pulled from stem, fine chopped
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Boil chicken breast until done and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a dutch oven heat olive oil and butter.
- Saute celery, carrots, onion, and mushrooms until softened.
- Add garlic and saute another minute.
- Add chicken broth, wild rice, and herbs. Bring to boil.
- Stir.
- Reduce to simmer for 20-30 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Return chicken to soup. Add parsley. Stir in cream.
- Serve.
RD Notes:
I chose this recipe for February because it is warm and hearty, full of available vegetables, and nutrient dense. Mushrooms are receiving a lot of good press lately because they have B vitamins and a special antioxidant, Selenium. Want to learn more? Check out what the mushroom council has to say about the growing research on mushrooms.
https://www.mushroomcouncil.com/nutrition-benefits/