Tag: Food

Steak Salad with Salsa Verde Vinaigrette

YUM!!
This meal “just works” on so many levels; 1. I doesn’t take a lot of time to make this meal, 2. It is healthy, 3. The colors pop! The flavors pop! The textures are amazing, 4. My local grocer has sirloin steak on sale!

This recipe will definitely be turned into a video for The Wide-Body

Ingredients
• Cooking spray
• 1 (8-oz.) sirloin steak
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• divided 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons
• finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon capers finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 5 cups arugula (about 5 oz.)
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 ounce shaved fresh Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)

The recipe is straight forward, but nonetheless, check out the rest of the detail on the Cooking Light page: https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/steak-salad-salsa-verde-vinaigrette

Nutritional Information
• Calories 281
• Fat 23g Satfat 6g Unsatfat 15g
• Protein 15g
• Carbohydrate 4g
• Fiber 1g
• Sodium 458mg
• Calcium 13% DV
• Potassium 10% DV
• Sugars 1g Added sugars 0g

You Can Inspire Others With Your Actions

Just by taking action, you can inspire people. You don’t need to stand on a platform and evangelize in order to inspire. The old saying is still true today; action speaks louder than words.

Go be a positive influence in you community TODAY. Lace up your walking shoes and go for a walk. You will feel better and someone in your family or community may be inspired too also walk. And that person’s actions may inspire others, and still others. Your simple act of walking could inspire a movement of people who rediscover the joy of exercise, of clearing their head of all the stress that builds up during the day, and eventually a community of healthier people.

I salute your efforts and wish you all the best.

VIDEO: A Healthy & Easy to Make Breakfast: Tomato Avocado Poached Egg Stack

A few weeks ago, I posted this recipe and it was quite a popular post. I made a video to show you all how easy it is to put this healthy breakfast together, and here it is!

The Wife, my official taster, loved it so much, I had to make another one the very next morning! No more rush for back-to-school schedules.

Leave a comment and let me know if you guys also make this meal. I think your family will like it too.

VIDEO: The Wide-Body Week in Review: August 28, 2020

This week at the Wide-Body, we featured:

* In our exercise feature, we highlighted Xigong, an ancient meditative exercise, similar to Tai Chi. This is a fabulous exercise program for people of all age groups and levels of fitness.

* This week’s health theme was “Gut Health”. We link to a John’s Hopkins research paper that links good gut health to positive mental well being. So, a healthy gut promotes a healthy mind.

* One of our featured food videos was on those foods that contain probiotics, thus building the helpful flora you need in your gut. We focused on foods that we low in sugar and high in probiotics.

* And to wrap up the week, the final feature was recipes you can use to create your own sauerkraut, kim chi, and kombucha. The feature was followed up with a list of recommended products use can buy through Amazon and start fermenting today.

I hope you all enjoyed this week at the Wide-Body. Please leave us a comment as we love hearing from you. And if you aren’t a subscriber, please the subscribe button as we will have more of these videos ready for you.

HOT DOG! We look forward to seeing you again here at the Wide-Body

Equipment for fermenting

You’ve read the recipes I’ve posted, you saw how easy it was to make, and now you’ve decided, “Yes, I want to make sauerkraut!” (or kimchi!)

Besides buying some cabbage and salt, you are going to need a container for your fermented wonder. You’ll notice in the recipes, they tell you that the cabbage must remain submerged, and thus they recommend using weights. That could be tricky if you don’t have the correct weights.

I found a few items that you can readily pick up via Amazon that will get you on your way to making the sauerkraut or kimchi of your dreams.

Easy Fermenter Wide Mouth Lid Kit: What I like about this kit is that $25.99, it is inexpensive and uses a vacuum pump to eliminate air, and a lids allow gas to escape. The kit includes lids, weights, a recipe book. You provide the large mouth jars.

Humble House SAUERKROCK Fermentation Crock with Glazed Weights – 2 Liter (0.5 Gallon): Let’s say that you want to try fermenting in a traditional way, IN A CROCK! I like this crock as it is small and can easily be moved and stored away. Note that is only a 2 liter/ .5 gallon crock, meaning that you will get at most, 2 quarts of sauerkraut from this crock. These 2 quarts may be enough for just one or two people.

Kenley Fermentation Crock 5 Liter and Pounder – 1.3 Gallon Fermenting Pickling Pot for Healthy Kimchi Sauerkraut Pickles Fermented Vegetables: A larger crock to suit larger needs. The only difference between this crock and the one above is the size, and hence, the price.

Ball Wide Mouth Mason Jars: Eventually, you will want to move your fermented goodness into jars. Ball “wide mouth” is the classic mason jar.

Let us know how your sauerkraut or kimchi turns out. Leave a comment below and send us pictures. We look forward to hearing from you.

Are You Ready To Start Fermenting Food?

This week, we focused on gut health and the food that would promote gut health. Some of the more adventurous foodies may be considering making your own sauerkraut, kimchi, or kombucha. If you want to start making these foods at home, I’ve chosen the below list of recipes because their instructions were easy to follow.

Sauerkraut Recipes:

Taste of Home: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/homemade-sauerkraut/ Sauerkraut is surprisingly simple to make, and this recipe highlights that all you really need are two ingredients; cabbage and salt. The use of caraway seeds is traditional in Bavarian sauerkraut recipes.

Pioneer Woman: https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a100555/how-to-make-sauerkraut/ I like this recipe for two reasons; 1. She makes a small batch of sauerkraut which better suits some people and 2. Her step by step pictures are helpful

Eating Well: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/250931/simple-sauerkraut/ Eating well consistently delivers top notch recipes and they also provide a lot of nutritional information

Kimchi Recipes:

The Kitchn: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-easy-kimchi-at-home-189390 Really good details about how kimchi is made, the different types of kimchi, as well as a video in which you can follow along as you make your kimchi.

Feasting At Home: https://www.feastingathome.com/how-to-make-kimchi/ beautiful pictures, easy to follow video, and tips on the different types of ingredients you can use in your kimchi.

Kombucha:

Delish: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a26297879/how-to-make-kombucha-recipe/ This page does a nice job of delving into the details of what is kombucha, and helps direct you on how to develop the “mother” needed to create kombucha

 If you want to learn more about the benefits of fermenting, the folks at Livestrong have put together a really nice article detailing the health benefits of fermented foods. https://www.livestrong.com/article/13727557-fermenting/

VIDEO: Foods that will improve your gut health

If you read our health feature about gut health, and how a healthy gut can improve your mental well being, then you are likely asking yourself what kind of foods you should buy to help you improve your gut health. In this video, I feature three categories of food, each of them containing the healthy probiotics your body needs, and each is low in sugar, which is also what your body needs.

VIDEO: Mediterranean Style Shrimp Skewers

Here is another easy to make, healthy, and full of flavor recipe, that you can serve tonight and I’m sure your family will enjoy it.

I saw this recipe and I was inspired to make it for the family. And WOW, did they love it! Everyone in the family is asking me when we can have shrimp like this again.

The recipe is really easy, and the cooking time is very short. The prep work will take some planning because 1. You will need to peel and de-vein the shrimp, and 2. You will need to marinade the shrimp for about 30 minutes. After that, it is all easy-breezy.

NOTES ABOUT SHRIMP:

  • Buy fresh shrimp if you can
  • Buy “large” shrimp, or larger, if possible. Larger shrimp are easier to skewer
  • Buy shrimp from the US (or at least local to you). I buy “Gulf Shrimp”, which is shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is only 200 miles from me, thus my shrimp is fresh, and I support local and responsible fisherman who work closely with state wildlife resources to protect the health and sustainability of our seafood resources. I’m doing my best to be a smart consumer of seafood.

 Ingredients

2lbs of shrimp (about 24-30 shrimp)

For the Marinade

  • 1/3 cup Extra virgin olive oil
  • Zest of 2 lemons
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • ¼ cup packed chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon coriander
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Peel, de-vein, clean shrimp. Place shrimp in a large zip bag and add the marinade. Ensure the shrimp is completely covered by the marinade and place the bag in the refrigerator of 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, skewer the shrimp and place the skewers a grill tat has been heated to medium-high, or about 325 degrees.

Shrimp does not need more than 2-3 minutes per side to cook. The flesh should quickly change from limp and grey to firm and pink.

Serve with a fresh green salad and a light and crisp white wine. Enjoy! And don’t be surprised if your family goes crazy for this meal.

Nutrition:

  • Calories: 262.6kcal
  • Carbohydrates: 1.2g
  • Protein: 31.1g
  • Fat: 14.1g
  • Saturated Fat: 2g
  • Cholesterol: 381mg
  • Potassium: 136.6mg
  • Fiber: 0.4g
  • Sugar: 0.1g
  • Vitamin A: 213.6IU
  • Vitamin C: 6.8mg
  • Calcium: 228.2mg
  • Iron: 3.5mg

 

#food #healthyeating #shrimp #mediterraneandiet #wide-body

Orange-Almond Chicken-and-Cabbage Bowls

orange-almond-chicken-cabbage-bowls-

Photo from Cooking Light

If getting back into a breakfast routine was challenging for “back to school”, getting back into a dinner routine won’t be easy either. So, let’s skip the frustration of juggling new schedules and trying to prepare a meal. Let’s make this easy. And EASY is EXACTLY what this meal is all about.

Since many of the readers are juggling back to school schedules, I’ll be featuring recipes that are quick to make, healthy, taste great, and containing ingredients you can readily find at your local grocery store.

3 Step Cooking. How Easy Is That!

  1. Buy rotissie chicken. Shred the meat.
  2. Combine the ingredient and put them into a bowl
  3. Eat

Ingredients

  • 2 navel oranges 1 (12-oz.) pkg.
  • shredded coleslaw mix (about 3 cups)
  • 4 ounces shredded boneless, skinless rotisserie chicken breast (about 1 cup)
  • 3 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds
  • 2 green onions, thinly diagonally sliced
  • 3 tablespoons sesame-ginger salad dressing (such as Newman’s Own)

SERVING SIZE: 2

Nutritional Value

  • Calories 275
  • Fat 11g Satfat 1g Unsatfat
  • 9g Protein
  • 21g Carbohydrate
  • 28g Fiber
  • 8g Sodium
  • 415mg Calcium
  • 8% DV Potassium
  • 13% DV Sugars 19g
  • Added sugars 3g

Check out the recipe of the recipe and how to put this delicious dish together here: https://www.cookinglight.com/recipes/orange-almond-chicken-and-cabbage-bowls

Quick and Healthy Breakfast: Tomato, Egg, and Avocado Stack!

Tomato Avocado Egg Stack Cooking Light

Pic from CookingLight.com

Next week, a lot of kids will be starting “back to school”, and in the best of times, this event also means a morning filled with chaos. Even if your child will be attending a virtual classroom, you will still need a morning routine, we have all fallen out of our school morning routine.

So, with this recipe, I will give you:

  1. A quick to prepare dish that so won’t feel rushed
  2. A healthy breakfast that will satisfy your child’s hunger and keep them focused on their schoolwork through the morning!

Ingredients:

  • 1 large beefsteak tomato
  • 1 egg – poached
  • ½ sliced avocado
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • Salt (to taste)
  • Pepper (to taste)

Additional Options: Mozzarella, crumbled goat cheese, pine nuts, slivered almonds, basil, olive tapenade

Putting this together is simple. Slice your tomato into three horizontal pieces. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar on slice, add a slice or two of avocado, salt or pepper to taste, then add the next layer. Add the egg on top. Easy!

TIPS: Poaching or boiling an egg keeps the calories down. You can also boil eggs the night before using, thus making this easier to prepare in the morning. A fried egg would also taste good on this stack, though you will need to consider the added fat.

TIPS: Do you want more protein? Mozzarella is a natural addition to this dish as it goes well with tomatoes. Do you enjoy smoked salmon (lox) in the morning? Most folks can readily find smoked salmon in the store, adding a source of healthy protein, no added fat, and ready to eat. And don’t forget that nuts such as slivered almonds also provide you the protein, fat, and fiber, your body needs.

Now is a great time for this recipe because tomatoes and avocados are in season. Nutritionally, you receive a nice protein boost from the egg, complex carbohydrates from the tomato and avocado, and thus no sugar crash at mid-morning, and the unsaturated fats (the good stuff!) in the avocado will make you feel full without making you feel sleepy.

SERVES 1CALORIES 282; FAT 20.5g (sat 3.8g, mono 11.7g, poly 2.9g); PROTEIN 10g; CARB 19g; FIBER 9g; CHOL 186mg; IRON 2mg; SODIUM 356mg; CALC 63mg

Kudos to Cooking Light for such a fantastic recipe. Check out additional details here: https://www.cookinglight.com/cooking-101/tomato-and-avocado-stack-breakfast-salad-recipe