Home
NUTRITION SPECIFICS:For most of the last 15 years (perhaps longer) I have had a pretty homogenous diet. It started out of a certain amount of laziness, in that I don't enjoy spending much time cooking, but I wanted a dinner that would be highly nutritious and tasty enough to eat every day. I tried a number of different dishes, but finally settled on a kind of spaghetti goulash (recipe below). It's evolved over the years to optimize the desired characteristics. Friday nights I typically get take-out and eat anything I like. Breakfast and lunch have gone through a bit more variety over the years but have currently settled into the routine listed below.
Since I'm pretty constant about my diet, it was worth figuring out a
nutrition chart to see exactly what I'm getting. |
| Breakfast: | A large bowl of three different kinds of healthy cold cereals (shredded wheat, flax flakes, and a little bit of some slightly sweeter cereal for a bit more flavor) smothered in mixed berries, with skim milk. |
| Lunch: | A banana and some other piece of fruit, plus a small bowl of brown rice mixed with mixed nuts and a few crunched up potato chips (for flavor). |
| Dinner: | My spaghetti sauce over whole wheat noodles, two whole wheat and corn tortillas with a little cheddar and bruschetta. Every other day includes a salad with mixed greens, avocado, pine nuts and a little creamy dressing, with a little less of the spaghetti. |
|
|
| This is for a 6-quart crock pot. Modify as needed
for anything smaller: Chop up (large pieces): 1 large bell pepper (red is the healthiest, with far more Vit. C than the green, but they're all good) 1 med. zucchini 1 med. yellow crook-neck squash 1 pkg. crimini mushrooms (if no packages, get a double handful or whatever you like) 1 pkg. of 4-5 spicy turkey sausages or meatballs (Trader Joe's has a great spicy Italian sausage and turkey meatballs) Grate (not finely): 1 med. sweet potato (for the nutrition, but it is tasteless in sauce) Add: 1 can small black olives (rinsed) 1 can kidney beans (rinsed) 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes (no salt added, ideally), chopped (or use fresh tomatoes) 1 26 oz can of Classico Vodka sauce 1 1-lb package of frozen spinach (fresh is fine but a bitch to wash) Pour on peas, chopped green beans or succotash or the like to top off the load Cook in crock pot (top setting, if there are any settings) for 4 hours. The sauce should be just beginning to actually bubble by this point. Thoroughly mix a cup of burgundy wine with 1/2 cup of corn starch, then thoroughly mix into the sauce. Continue cooking another 1.5 hours. Turn off. Allow to cool a few hours before putting in fridge. Serve over TJ's whole wheat noodles (or any other whole wheat noodles that taste as good as regular noodles). I cook up a package and refrigerate the leftovers (which last nearly a week). Serves about 10 large meals and lasts in the fridge well over a week (although you may prefer to freeze some if it's to last longer). When cold, just ladle over cold noodles and nuke till hot (actually, it tastes better nuked than freshly cooked--aging helps). Consider adding 1-2 whole wheat tortillas (TJ's has a great whole wheat and
corn tortilla that doesn't fall apart and tastes great) with a little bruschetta
(also TJ's jar) and a sprinkling of cheddar or mozzarella, nuked till hot. Fold
and serve. |