Chickpeas, sweet potatoes and peanut butter

This recipe is a spin off of another one I prepare, which has many more ingredients and takes a decent amount of time to prepare.  However, us pilot wives don't have a ton of time on our hands, so we have to be quick in the kitchen when our pilots are gone.  I feel that by simplifying the recipe into one that has just a handful of ingredients,  it tastes just as good and keeps time in the kitchen down.

Here is what you need:
- Chickpeas aka garbanzo beans (about 2 cups)
- sweet potatoes (about 3-4 of them, cubed)
- peanut butter (about 1/3 cup - or so)
- cinnamon, paprika, cumin (to taste)
- onion (optional)

Regarding the chickpeas, I prepared a whole bag of dried beans, per instructions on the bag.  To make this meal truly a minute meal, make sure you soak and cook the beans ahead of time.  Soaking takes anywhere from 4-8 hours, and cooking takes about 50 minutes.  If you don't use dried beans, use canned...canned will really make it a minute meal.


Step 1: dice one onion and saute until translucent.  I say this part is optional...I am sure you don't need it, but I like onions and think they give a good base of flavor to dishes.

Step 2: add cubed sweet potatoes.  At this point, add a bit of water or chicken/vegetable stock to the pot to help in the cooking process.  Let the sweet potatoes cook until soft.

Step 3. add chickpeas

yes, I know the bag is empty...I took the picture too late.

Step 4: add spices and seasoning to taste.  I happen to love cinnamon with sweet potatoes.  I also added paprika and cumin.  Ginger is another excellent addition to this dish, I just didn't have any.

Step 5: add peanut butter and continue to heat for about 5 minutes so the chickpeas warm up, the peanut butter melts, and all the flavor mix together.

Step 6: Eat!  How flippin' easy is that?!   

 I will admit, Ben didn't really eat this dish, but he is sort of a picky eater.  What do they say about exposing a kid to something 15-20 times before you give up?  Yup, that is Ben when it comes to certain foods, sweet potatoes being the culprit here.  CC, on the other hand, ate it right up. 

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Ok, so lets talk about how good chickpeas are for you.  They have a good amount of insoluble fiber in them.  Insoluble fiber travels all the way through your small intestine, undigested, and then starts digesting in your large intestine, which is the colon.  When it breaks down there, certain acids form which keep your colon good and healthy.  (see the full write up on whfoods)

I am 33.  Do you think I should worry about my colon health?!  Hell yeah I should.  I don't want colon cancer.  What I do now sets me up for later in life.  What I feed my kids now sets them up for later.  Colon cancer ranks #3, from what I have researched, in cancers in the US.  It is out there - and common!  Be proactive.  Eat foods that prevent disease.

As for the sweet potatoes, all I have to say is Hello Vitamin A! Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of Vitamin A, which helps anything and everything from cells to immune function to vision.  I urge you to read all about it over at whfoods. 

*****

Smacznego!

watermelon

I have always loved watermelon. 

When I was a little kid, my mom would cut up and entire watermelon and place all the fruit into a huge bowl, which was then kept in the fridge.  We would eat out of that huge bowl for days. My poor mother standing at the sink, fighting each little damn seed just to make our little bellies happy.  

When I was big, fat, and pregnant with both kids, I ate a ton of the stuff.  It started as a way to fight off the damn constipation I suffered with Ben, sorry for the TMI - but it worked!  Now, the kids love watermelon too. 

You need to eat it, and since it is in season, do it! 

Have you ever read up on how good this stuff is for you?  (read the whole write-up on whfoods.com) Well, let me tell you a thing or two about it if you don't want to venture over here...and remember this is just how I process the information in my non-nutritionist-head: it is loaded with antioxidants like beta-carotene and lycopene.  Here is my understanding of what these antioxidants do to your body: your body can be full of free radicals, which are bad.  These bad free radicals do things like cause cholesterol to stick in all the wrong places, and cause cancer to set up in all the wrong places.  Well, lycopene travels through your system with its little super blaster gun and neutralizes all these bad things.  Imagine those little blaster shooting away at all those radicals - pew! pew!  It is also loaded with fiber - and we all know how good fiber is for you.

Ok, so how do you choose the right watermelon?  That, I don't know.  I thought I was onto a certain technique last summer, but that failed eventually.  Now, I just put my hands in the big bin, pull a heavy one out, and hope for the best.

I buy seedless watermelon...it makes cutting it so much easier.  No more fighting every seed like my mom used to do.





















Here is how I prepare the watermelon on our house:

Step 1.  Wash it...at least rinse it off.  The thing can be caked in dirt.

Step 2. Cut the end "bowl" off.  I tend to take this bowl, grab a spoon, and dig in!  Yum!

 Step 3. once the melon is nice and flat on that one side, cut off a ring, about one inch thick.

Step 4. cut off the rind

Step 5: start cubing it...cut it into strips one way, and then the other:

Step 6: place watermelon cubes into bowl



It is that easy!  I usually do about two "rings" to fill the bowl.  This amount will last about 2 days.  I find that if I cut up the entire watermelon at once, the bottom cubes get gross after day 2.  If I do a couple rings at once, the watermelon stays good and fresh.

It is so much easier to just grab some watermelon chunks out of a bowl and scarf down, then to get the melon out of the fridge...cut it into a slice...and then eat the slice...and then throw the rind away.  Convenience people! If you keep good foods convenient and accessible, then you will be more likely to reach for it.

Smacznego!

wrap with veggies and chicken

This meal is prepared in about 4 minutes...no joke.  Is it the most healthy meal that I will post on this blog?  No.  But remember, I am a Libra which means I am all about balance.  When my pilot is away, I have to be quick and easy. 

I have mentioned before that wraps are a great canvas for quick and healthy.  I will show how I made these wraps, but I urge you to use what is fresh and available to you.  The opportunities are endless.

I took a wrap:

Added some laughing cow cheese:

and then added some fresh veggies:

I topped it off with some rotisserie chicken from dinner the previous night. 

Roll it, and add some grapes on the side.  There you have it.  Done!  Dinner in about 4 minutes.

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Other ideas for these wraps include:
- substitute the cheese with hummus
- add baby spinach, a super-food
- add apple slices for a sweet and crunchy addition

Quinoa with black beans, corn, and salsa

If you can make the time to make mac and cheese for your kids, then you can make this!

This is a simple recipe with only 4 ingredients:

- 1 cup quinoa (pronounced keen-whah)
- 1 can black beans (rinsed)
- about 1/2 bag frozen corn
- about 1/3 cup salsa

After rinsing 1 cup quinoa, combine it with 2 cups water.

Bring to a boil.  Then reduce heat and cook for about 15 minutes.  It cooks pretty much the same way rice cooks.  It looks like this when it is ready:

When the quinoa is ready, simply add the black beans, corn, and salsa.

Let the mixture heat up for about 5 minutes to heat everything thoroughly.

Done!

CC had two helpings!

As I said earlier, if you can make the time to boil water for mac and cheese, you have time for this!


*****
Don't be afraid to make quinoa.  I buy mine at Whole Foods.  As I mentioned, it cooks like rice, so you can do it.  It is a grain, and tastes like, well, a grain I guess.  It doesn't really have much flavor, and picks up the flavors you cook with it.  It is crazy good for you! It has protein, and full of phytonutrients and antioxidants. 

As for the black beans?  Holy fiber batman! Black beans also have a good amount of protein.  This food is just loaded with good stuff.  Check out whfoods, and you can read all about it. 

I urge you to read about the foods you are eating.  It makes you understand the importance of eating the right foods.  The right foods actually WORK for your body.  I hate to hear people snacking on nuts and saying "oh, I shouldn't be eating these."  You should!  Nuts are good for you!  Know what you are eating.

Who wants colon cancer?  Who wants heart disease?  The need for good foods all start once children are off breast milk, so it is important to achieve nutritional excellence early in life.  But, it is never too late to start.  Make the change!  Add healthy foods to your diet!

Easy Tacos

When I am talking "minute meals" I really mean it!

Here is how I make tacos on the quick.

Ingredients:
- taco shells
- fat free refried beans
- salsa
- avocado
- cumin

Simply heat up the taco shells in the oven.  While those are heating up, warm up the beans (I use the stove, but I would imagine the microwave would do the same thing).  Add cumin to taste.

To assemble: place beans inside taco shell.  Add slices of avocado, and top with salsa.  DONE!


Ok, so the taco shells aren't the most healthy for you.  But, I am all about balance people.  All the other ingredients are good, so I can make way for a not-too-good-for-you-taco-shell. 



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Avocados are ripe when they are soft when you gently press them.  A non-ripe avocado is pretty much worthless.  MAKE SURE the avocado is ripe and ready!

Here is a tip to cut the avocado: you all know how to open up the avocado, so do that and remove the pit.  Now, instead of scooping out the fruit, peel the skin away from the fruit.  The greatest concentration off all the good stuff is right there closest to the skin, so we want to eat that.

There are so many good things about avocado...click here and it will take you to Worlds Healthiest Food and you can read all about it.