How To Repurpose Leftovers

August 20, 2014 / ktbuchs87

I am a big believer in leftovers. I think that they play a big role in eating good, healthy meals all week long, as well as helping keep food costs down. I only cook for two people, but I tend to cook like there are four of us and make extras to have for lunches throughout the week. One thing that I have noticed though is that people tend to get bored of eating the same thing over and over again. If you get bored with having the same food, you might be more likely to switch back to your unhealthy eating habits. Because we don’t want that, I wanted to share just a few ways that you can repurpose your leftovers and make a whole different meal with just a few minor adjustments.

Meats

This might be one of the easiest things to turn into a different meal. Summer time is the perfect time to pull out the grill and BBQ some meat. When you do this, make sure to throw a few extra pieces of whatever you’re making onto the grill. Now you have some extra meat to turn into lunches or dinners for the week.

Shred chicken or pork and make a stir fry by adding it to some vegetables, brown rice, and soy sauce.
Slice up steak or chicken and add to a salad
Use fish to make some simple fish tacos. Just add some salsa or corn, cilantro, and squeeze a little lime juice over everything
Make a chicken salad with shredded chicken, celery, avocado and mustard
Add any kind of meat to a frittata

Vegetables

If you do your meal prep over the weekend, make sure that you cook up some extra vegetables however you like. Grill, roast, or saute them and you can use them for meals throughout the week. Summer time also means the garden is full and your farmers market is in full swing, so you might be loaded up with extra vegetables. Here are some ways you can repurpose your vegetables for leftovers.

Roasted root vegetables, like sweet potatoes or parsnips, can be added to salads or cooked grains for a simple lunch
Root vegetables are also really good pureed into soup or a sauce for pasta. Add almond milk (or whatever milk you like) for an extra creamy texture
Grilled eggplant can be made into a simple baba ganush
Grilled zucchini or summer squash can be added to tomato sauce for extra texture and flavor
Cooked vegetables can be added to stir frys, soups, frittatas, or sandwiches
If you have an overabundance of cooked vegetables, you can also freeze them to be used later

Grains

Grains are a great thing to cook in big batches and then just add to meals throughout the week.

Grains make a really good bed for stir fry, vegetables with sauce, or cooked meat
Add your favorite grain to a leafy salad for a new variation
Leftover pasta? Use it up by making cold pasta salad. Toss your favorite pasta with some olive oil, seasonings, and vegetables like cherry tomatoes or avocados for a delicious summer meal
Try adding cooked grains to your lettuce wrap for extra texture and oomph

Fruit

Fruit is also pretty abundant this time of year and you can make it into a few different meals throughout the week.

Use leftover fruit salad as a cereal, granola, or yogurt topper for breakfast
Freeze leftover fruit and use in smoothies or added to water for extra flavor
Make a quick toast topping by mashing up leftover berries and adding a little honey/cinnamon
Turn frozen leftover fruit into sorbets by blending them in a high powered blender or food processor

There are a ton of ways that you can vary your leftovers so that you don’t eat the exact same meal every single day of the week. With just a little bit of prep work, you can have the makings of a healthy and new meal each day. Get creative and see what you can make out of the meals in your fridge!

Staying Power

August 18, 2014 / ktbuchs87

There are many steps when it comes to leading a healthier lifestyle. First, you have to actually want to make that choice. No matter how many people tell you that you need to change, if you are not willing to change then nothing will happen. Then you have to figure out how you want to change, what you are going to do, and then actually put it into practice. Along the way there will be a million other little steps and choices that will make up your healthy journey. At many points during this process, it is very likely that you will be met with challenges and possibly even failure. I’ve talked about failure before and it doesn’t have to be your undoing. I’ve also talked about the desire as well as the motivation to change. Today, I want to talk about maintaining your choices for the long haul. What happens once you have done everything else and want to keep living healthy for the long haul?

It’s very common, and helpful, to have goals when you decide to start being healthy. Whether that is to exercise more, eat better, lose weight, or even just relax more, it is good to have something to work towards. Not many people plan for what they’re going to do once they reach that goal. For the longest time, I just wanted to lose weight. That was my ultimate goal. Some days I had a set amount that I wanted to lose, other times I just wanted to lose something. I never really thought about what would happen once I reached that goal, in part because I never seemed to reach that goal. I would lose a little, then gain it back. Start eating better, then quickly fall off the wagon. Get on an exercise schedule for a few weeks, then start making excuses to skip. The whole see saw of good and bad that a lot of people go through when they decide to be healthier. After years of the teeter-tottering back and forth, I finally got my act together and made the commitment, not to just lose weight, but to be healthier and feel good. After a good amount of dedication (and my fair share of sweat and tears), I reached that goal. I felt awesome and proud and… what do I do now?

I had focused for so long on the end prize that I never really thought about what to do after that. I knew that I couldn’t just go back to what I did before, a mistake that many people make. They think that once they get what they want they can just go back to living their “regular” lives. The problem with that logic is that often, their “regular” lives are what got them to unhealthy place that they were. Knowing that I couldn’t go back, I slowly began to realize that my lifestyle was forever, and that scared me. I began to panic and worry that I couldn’t keep this up for the rest of my life. Could I really keep myself healthy for the next month let alone the next 50 years? When you are working towards small goals, it doesn’t seem as daunting. That’s why it’s good to make small and manageable goals. You won’t feel overwhelmed by having to completely overhaul the way you eat if you just work to change a few meals a day. It doesn’t seem as scary to just lose 5 pounds in two weeks compared to losing 100 pounds total. But now that I had reached my goal, I had the seemingly big and scary goal of maintaining this for the rest of my life.

Maybe you have reached that point in your journey. You have managed all the little goals that have added up to your ultimate goal and you’re now faced with the unknown. What do you do now? Take a deep breath and don’t worry. Once I got over my initial panic, I started to think of how I could handle this new challenge. I thought of all that I had accomplished, and realized it was a lot. I could handle a lot of things, challenging things, and come out on top. I had just proven that to myself. I didn’t get healthier overnight, in fact it took a few years to get to a good place. If I could do that, surely I could handle the rest of my life. Building on that confidence, I also realized that I could still set small goals to work towards and not look at this new part of my journey as a huge chunk aka the rest of my life. I could still break it down into small and manageable pieces. My new goals would just look different than my other goals. Try new healthy meals, train for a longer race, buy one new workout DVD a month, there were still plenty of things to work for.

The truth is, if you want to be healthier and feel good, you’re going to have to be in it for the long haul. You can’t just decide to be healthy for a month and then expect to reap the benefits forever, that’s ridiculous. But you don’t have to be intimidated by forever. Continue to set goals for yourself. While the goal might not be to lose weight or start making healthier choices, there are still things for you to accomplish. Be empowered by the fact that you have reached a major goal and use that feeling to keep going. Journeys aren’t short things. They’re long and they’re lasting. Your health is a journey, one that I know you can excel and thrive at. Meet your challenges head on like you have from the beginning and you will do just fine.

Moussaka Over Toasted Millet

August 15, 2014May 16, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Moussaka is a dish that I had heard of, but never seen or eaten. I knew that it had it’s origins in Greece and other Mediterranian countries and I knew that it had to do with eggplant. That’s about it. The grocery store had a sale on eggplant recently and I was trying to figure out what to make with it. Then I remembered moussaka and started looking around for a recipe. One of the most common forms of moussaka is the one from Greece. It is made up of layers of eggplant, tomatoes, and ground meat topped with a creamy sauce. I looked around at a few other recipes and decided to lean more towards the Lebanese form of the dish and eliminated the creamy sauce and ground meat. You most certainly can add ground beef or turkey into this dish if you want and you can serve it over whatever grain you have on hand.

Moussaka Over Toasted Millet

1 large eggplant
olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb of grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup millet
2 cups water

1. Slice the eggplant into large rounds. Lay out a single layer of paper towels and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Place eggplant rounds on top of the paper towels and sprinkle with more sea salt. Place another layer of paper towels on top of the eggplant and let sit for about 15 minutes

2. While eggplant is sitting, preheat oven to 450 and put a large saute pan over medium high heat. Place the 1 cup of dried millet into the pan and toast until golden brown and fragrant. Move the toasted millet to a pot and cover with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then cover and lower to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes and then fluff with a fork.

3. Lightly brush eggplant off and cut into cubes. Place on a baking sheet and add a little olive oil and toss to coat. Roast the eggplant in the oven for about 15 minutes. Once edges are brown, remove from oven and lower heat to 350.

4. In the same large saute pan you used for millet, heat a little oil and saute the onion for a few minutes until it is soft. Add in garlic then stir in tomatoes, salt, and other spices. Add about a 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in eggplant. Take the moussaka and place it into a large casserole dish and cover with foil. Cook in oven for 15 minutes then remove foil and cook for 20 minutes. Serve over a bed of the cooked and toasted millet

I know it seems like this takes forever to make, but it actually goes pretty quickly. Plus, it doesn’t use that many ingredients and most of them you probably have on hand. This makes some excellent leftovers and you can even eat it cold the next day. If you wanted to add meat just make sure to brown it first before adding it with everything else. You could also add in extra vegetables like green pepper or zucchini and beans like chickpeas if you wanted. Enjoy!

How To Cook With Eggs

August 13, 2014 / ktbuchs87

Ah, the humble egg. At first glance it doesn’t really seem all that spectacular. Most of the time we just relegate it to breakfast foods or as an ingredient for delicious baked goods. Sure, it has gotten some press over the years. Yolks, good or bad? How many should you eat a day? Are egg whites really a health food? What came first, the chicken or the egg? I’m not here to debate any of those things with you, as intriguing as they may be. What I do want to talk about is how versatile and awesome the egg can be. I love eggs. I love all the things that you can do with them. I make them every day and sometimes for multiple meals. They are relatively inexpensive, and they can do so many delicious things. Eggs are a huge part of my healthy diet and I wanted to share some of the ways I use them. I know some of you don’t consume eggs for various reasons, and that is totally fine. I have never had a problem with eggs and if you are looking for some quick and tasty meals to eat during the week then keep reading.

I’ll start with the very obvious choice for egg based meals, breakfast. I have one every morning and it’s one of my favorite breakfast foods, after waffles/pancakes of course! If you want something super simple, try a poached or fried egg. I know that you might think poaching an egg is difficult and for awhile I was intimidated too. But it is actually quite easy. In a small saucepan, bring about an inch or two of water to a simmer (NOT boiling). Add a tsp or two of apple cider vinegar or just plain vinegar (this adds a little flavor and helps keep the whites together). Crack open your egg and drop it into a small bowl or ramekin, not directly into the water. Slowly pour your egg into the simmering water and cover with a lid. Cook for 3-5 minutes depending on how runny you want your yolk. Uncover and using a slotted spoon lift the egg out of the water and onto your plate. It might take you a few tries to get it just right, but once you do it’s really easy. Poached eggs are delicious on their own, but they can add so much more to other meals. Try them on top of hashed browns, cooked greens (like kale or collard), over pasta, or even on top of tortilla shells. One of Adam and I’s favorite meals is shakshuka, which is basically eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce.

Eggs are also good scrambled or in an omelette and these meals allow you to be really creative. Add in vegetables like green peppers or mushrooms, leftover meat like shredded pork or rotisserie chicken, beans or other grains like millet. Experiment with different seasonings too like fresh basil or cilantro. Smoked paprika adds a nice meaty touch to eggs and italian herbs go well too. Don’t worry if you aren’t a pro at making omelettes, if you mess up they just turn into scrambled eggs!

Another meal that I like to make, and Adam loves to eat, is a frittata. This is like an egg pie and you can add whatever you would like to it. I’ve posted a recipe for a potato frittata before. One of my new favorite ways to make this meal is to take a few potatoes, peel them and cut the into bite sized chunks. Place them in a pot and cover with water, bring them to a boil and then cover with a lid and let them simmer for about 30 minutes. Once you can easily pierce them with a fork, drain the water move them to a bowl and lightly mash them. You don’t want mashed potatoes, but you want them to be broken up. Place that aside to cool and crack 5 to 6 eggs into a separate bowl. Add a splash of unsweetened almond milk (or whatever milk you drink) and whatever herbs or spices you like (I usually do salt and pepper and then basil and oregano). I sometimes also add in pumpkin puree or tomatoes. Whisk the eggs until they are light and fluffy. Heat the oven to 400 and then heat an oven safe skillet, like cast iron, over medium heat, pour the egg mixture over the potatoes and then pour into the heated pan. Cook on the stovetop for a few minutes and then transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes and then slice it up like pie. You can eat it plain or serve it with salsa or guacamole or hummus or whatever other toppings you would like. It’s an easy peasy meal that fills you up and keeps you going!

You can also hard boil eggs and make a few other meals with them. I like plain hard boiled eggs as a quick snack and Adam likes to mash them up with dill and mustard for a little egg salad. I’ve made healthy deviled eggs in the past by hard boiling eggs, cutting them in half and mashing the yolks up with avocado and paprika before spooning back into the egg halves. That is a quick and easy appetizer that will keep people happy! You can also put hard boiled eggs in your salad or over pasta for a little something extra.

Eggs can even be used to make condiments! One of the easiest is to make your own mayonnaise. Now I am not a mayo fan, never have been, but Juli over at PaleOMG has a really easy 30 second mayo that looks pretty tasty.

As you can see, eggs are a SUPER versatile food that can be used for so many different things. Next time you are scrambling (ha, see what I did there?) for a quick and healthy meal that will satisfy your hunger, try eggs. Get creative and see what delicious things you can come up with!

Are You Projecting?

August 11, 2014 / ktbuchs87

My husband, Adam, and I went to Indianapolis this weekend to watch the DCI world championships. We’re both big band nerds and watching drum and bugle corps perform is something that we both love to do. We had about a five to six hour trip back home and long road trips are always a great time to talk about any and everything. One of the topics that came up was health, go figure. I tend to eat very differently from the way that most people eat. It can make it a bit tricky to go out with a big group of people, especially for someone like me who doesn’t like a spotlight shone on me.

I tried to explain to Adam why I get a little stressed out when I have to deal with a group outing that involves food. I don’t like to be an inconvenience to others and I always feel like the way I eat is a major inconvenience to the general public. Whenever someone asks, “Where should we eat?” I inwardly cringe. I know that the real question behind that is, “Where can Katie eat?”. As I got to think about this a little more though, is that really the question or is that just how I am perceiving others to feel? Am I projecting my own feelings onto them? The short answer, probably.

Do you find yourself doing this? You feel that how you choose to eat or workout or live your life is a little bit outside the general norm and that in turn puts the people you come into contact with off. It tends to bother me when people demand things be a certain way just to make their life easier. I totally understand that in some cases, people need to demand the way they eat for the sake of their health. Those who have Celiac’s disease HAVE to avoid gluten in every way possible or else there can be major medical complications. They deserve to have their food prepared in a way that is safe to them. Other people though have abused things like Celiac’s or lactose intolerance or other eating issues just as a way to lose a few pounds or because it is the fad of the moment. I am not here to debate whether this is right or not, I just know that I don’t want to contribute to the difficulties some face by having to eat a certain way for medical reasons. Because of my desire to avoid that issue, I realized that I am projecting my own feelings onto those around me without ever really knowing if that is how they truly feel.

When I think about it more, I am pretty positive that most people do not care that I eat differently. They probably do not feel overly burdened with trying to accommodate me. When they ask me what can or will I eat, they genuinely care about my answer and don’t think that I am being demanding or a spoiled brat. That is all in my head. As I told this to Adam on our ride home, his response was to just relax. Try not to worry so much about what other people are thinking. Because I am not a person who demands that things need to be a certain way or else I won’t participate, most people are happy and willing to help me out. I would imagine if you feel this way too, you might be overthinking the situation exactly like I did. Making the choice to be healthier and to eat in the way that makes you feel good and allows you to be happy is something that I fully support. Much to your surprise, your friends and family will feel that way too. As long as you aren’t throwing a temper tantrum if something isn’t exactly the way you need it or demanding that they do it your way or the highway, the people around you will be more than happy to work with you. And if you want some tips on how to help them accommodate you, check out this post.

Don’t project your own feelings and insecurities onto others, because like in my case, you’re probably wrong. Try to relax, enjoy time with your loved ones, and don’t worry about what people think. You will have a much better time, I promise!