Tasty Bites: Mighty Marinara

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

When my kids were growing up, “homemade spaghetti sauce” was a jar of purchased spaghetti sauce, a can of mushrooms (yes, the rubber ones), and a pound of browned ground beef. Wow, has my cooking changed! For a dozen years I’ve made marinara sauce from scratch, and it’s not difficult at all. It does take time, but if you cook ahead, you can have some on hand in the freezer for a quick meal.

Tomatoes are the star ingredient. If you have an abundance of fresh ones, they make the sauce even better. It’s a great way to use up the harvest that brings you three dozen tomatoes on the same day. Typically I’ll buy several cans at a time when they’re on sale, or buy a big quantity when I go to the bulk stores. It takes about the same amount of time to make four servings as it does forty, and it freezes well.

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Tasty Bites: Leftovers and Breakfast For Dinner - Frittata!

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

Have you ever had a little of this and a little of that in your fridge and didn’t know what to do with it? There’s not enough to actually serve at a meal, yet you just don’t want to throw smidgens of food away. Here’s your solution: a frittata! It’s one of my favorite meals to make quickly from whatever leftovers you have.

Eggs are inexpensive and we usually have them on hand. When you use only half the yolk, it makes the dish lower in cholesterol and saturated fat. Eggs are a good source of riboflavin, Vitamin B12 and phosphorus, and a very good source of protein and selenium.

Here are some substitutions I’ve used in frittatas, so don’t limit yourself to the ingredients in the recipe below!

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Tasty Bites: Cajun Shrimp with Black Bean and Corn Salsa

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

Hot and spicy foods are the best! I love to make my own Cajun spice mix because I like the flavors of leaf herbs rather than the ground ones you frequently find in the Cajun spice mix at the store. I love Emeril’s recipe and always keep it in a jar by the stove. You can use it on chicken, fish, seafood, and tofu for a real spicy kick.

This recipe is fresh, light, and a perfect quick dinner. Shrimp is high in cholesterol but low in saturated fat. It is also a good source of niacin, vitamin B12, iron, phosphorus and copper, and a very good source of protein, vitamin D and selenium. I usually buy it in bulk at the “stores with cement floors” as it’s much less expensive than in a regular grocery store.

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Tasty Bites: Baked Honey Sesame Tofu

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

You had to know it was coming. Look through my Twitpics, and you won’t find much meat. I have nothing against meat, other than I feel like I was mostly made to be an herbivore. I like to get a good portion of my proteins from plant sources such as beans, nuts and whole grains. And tofu. Yes, I’m one of those people.

Tofu is the curd made from soy milk and is made through the processing of fresh or dried soybeans. It’s also called bean curd. It comes in various textures, and the soft silken tofu makes great smoothies and even desserts. The firmer-textured tofu is more often used in savory dishes.

Tofu is very low in cholesterol. It is also a good source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus and copper, and a very good source of protein. Some brands have added extra calcium.

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Tasty Bites: Holy Guacamole!

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

Avocados are one of those foods you can eat every day and never get tired of them. There’s a reason they’re nicknamed the “butter pear!” You won’t find many whole plant foods that are mostly fat, but good old avocados are loaded with it. The good news is that they are a healthy fat, which means they contain a high amount of monounsaturated fat. This been shown to lower both total cholesterol and LDL or “bad” cholesterol.

If there’s a down side to avocados, it’s that one medium avocado is almost 300 calories. Once you get hooked on them, it’s hard to stop eating them. They are an ideal fruit for someone who is limiting their carbohydrate intake, unless of course, you like to eat it with lots of pita chips in a yummy guacamole.

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