Re-Sip-P Of The Week: Spicy Vegetable Chowder In The Slow-cooker

Last night I made a spicy vegetable chowder and quesadillas for dinner. It turned out hotter than I expected, but was not only edible but delicioso!

Spicy Vegetable Chowder

You will need:

• About 6 cups of broth
• 1 small bag of frozen corn (I used half the bag)
  
• 1 small bag of frozen lima beans (I used one small box in its entirety)
  
• 1-2 large squash, cut into chunks (if you want a thicker soup, use more squash)
  
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 mild pepper, diced
  
• Optional: 1/2 red pepper, diced
• Optional: 2 slices of a hot pepper
• S & P
• Dash of cumin
• Optional: feta cheese to sprinkle on top (I used homemade buttermilk cheese instead, but feta will work just as well.)

To make:

1. Place 3 cups of broth in the slow-cooker/crockpot.
2. Add all the vegetables. Or you can reserve some of the corn and 1 carrot to toss in near the end of the cooking process to add some crunch and texture.
   
3. If the vegetables are not covered by the liquid, add more broth until all veggies are just submerged. One thing that distinguishes this "chowder" from a typical veggie soup is the amount of broth. I kept it as minimal as possible to keep the final product thick. But you want to make sure everything is cooked sufficiently in the liquid.
   
4. Add a dash of S & P and a dash of cumin.
5. Allow to cook on low for ~8 hours.
   
6. Ladle into bowls and serve with garnish of crumbled cheese.
   

To make the quesadillas I allowed about 1 tsp of real butter to melt in a saute pan on medium heat. Then I placed one corn tortilla in the pan and covered it with a small amount of shredded mozzarella cheese and a few pieces of crumbled blue cheese. Then I topped it with another corn tortilla and cooked it liked a grilled cheese, flipping from time to time, until both sides were browned.

Side note: I prefer corn tortillas to flour. Corn tortillas provide about 50 calories each, while flour tortillas can pack on at least 150, but usually over 200. Additionally, corn tortillas contain less ingredients and have a robust flavor. If you don't like corn tortillas, use flour, just be aware of the calorie content and portion (use just one flour tortilla folded in half rather than two per each quesadilla.)

It didn't produce a large quantity, but it made enough to fill up both me and Sir Cakewalk and I was able to pack up a couple of lunch portions, which I will be enjoying today after my work out.

From Then On I Was Runnin

In 31 days I will run 13.1 miles with 2399 people.

I have had a love/hate relationship with running since I was a kid. When I was very young, my Dad was a marathon runner. I often went with him to his races. Although I don't remember it, I got to meet a lot of famous distance runners. What I do remember is the excitement and emotion of a marathon.

In high school I was prompted to join the cross country team because I knew I wasn't coordinated enough to do another sport and I wanted to do something active. I was never fast and I ended both seasons I participated on the injured list.

After that I ran and trained off and on for years, running many 5k's, but it never felt natural, let alone good.

Then I had a conversation that changed my perspective. While catching up with a friend I had not seen in a year, I learned she had trained for and run a marathon, although she had never run a day in her life prior. I shared with her how I was intrigued by running but how much I hated it and how I always ended up getting hurt, no matter what I did. She told me, "You're running too fast." Even though I assured her that I was not fast, she kept insisting that I was still running too fast for me and that I should slow down.

Since then I have learned to run at my own pace. I still do speed work on occasion and I push myself during my shorter runs. But for the most part, I run at what many would consider a snail's pace. And I love it! When I am out on a trail, running slow and easy I feel like I can run forever (within reason....I don't always feel like doing cartwheels as the miles go by...I mean it's hard no matter how fast or slow you go.)

This post doesn't really have a lesson or a point for that matter. I simply wanted to share my experience in a nutshell. But I would welcome any questions you may have on running, training, sports nutrition, etc or would love to hear your story about running or being physically active.

Reader Question: Using Leftovers

Q:

"I typically try and plan out our meals for the week and then go to the grocery store. Sometimes work gets crazy so we end up eating out, but even if we don't, we inevidably have ingredient leftovers that will eventually go bad. Can you maybe plan out 5 different meals utilizing all of your ingredients? For example, we will make a pasta and only maybe use half a jar of sauce. We don't want to eat pasta 2 days so what to do with the leftover sauce? Or veggies, or anything. I would love to be able to make dinners for the week and not have portions of ingredients leftover that get wasted. Thanks!"

A:

First I would like to say that I regularly toss stuff that doesn't get used. I try to use as much as I can, but I'm still learning and I know it's par for the course if you are making your own meals. It doesn't bother me because I know that even with the waste, I'm still spending less $ per meal and eating better than I would if we went out. Plus I'm going to start composting soon, so the leftovers will provide fertilizer for my garden, but that's another matter.

Next, I would recommend planning your meals with the anticipation of leftovers. If I buy baby spinach for homemade pizza on Monday, I know we won't use it all. So I will plan to have sauteed spinach as a side on Tuesday or I'll toss it into a sauce for pasta on Wednesday. I think vegetables and produce are the items that go bad the quickest, so I try to use them within a few days of getting them, even if it takes more than one meal. OR, I intentionally make extra so that I have leftovers for work. For example, last night I made pasta with vegetarian meatballs. I could've just made enough for us for dinner, but I knew I could eat some for lunch (either today or later this week or I could even have frozen it for later) so I made the whole pack of pasta, and all the meatballs I could. If you have trouble using an item more than once because of lack of ideas, use google or a web search...that's what I often do. It's a great way to find new recipes you wouldn't otherwise look for. Great sites for recipes are eatingwell.com and wholefoods.com. You can put in an ingredient and diet specifications and get tons of recipe ideas. Enter "pasta sauce" or "tomato sauce" and you will probably get some good ideas. But here are a few that come to mind:

• Pasta sauce over polenta
• A different type of pasta like baked
• Eggplant or chicken parmesan
• Eggplant or chicken parmesan or meatball subs, broiled in the oven so they are toasted and have bubbly cheese on top

If you can't find another recipe to use, don't feel like you have to use leftover ingredients immediately. Pasta sauce can keep for weeks if you seal it well. Use the fresh produce first. Meat and prepared dishes can easily be frozen for another time.

I'm also a big fan of meals made with leftovers. The easiest are casseroles, soups, stir fry and pasta. You can toss almost any leftover veggies or meat into any of these dishes. (Or you can put stuff on a homemade pizza or fold into an omelet.) If I have some veggies that are going bad, I'll make one of these items. That's one reason I always have pasta and rice on hand. I use them to make these dishes with whatever perishable items I have on hand. Couscous is also versatile and can be used to pull together or supplement a lot of meals. I've had some in my fridge that we used for probably 5 different meals over the course of a couple of weeks. I just tossed the last of it in the trash but didn't care because we ate so much of it.

It's pretty tricky for me give you a week's menu with specific recipes that you'll actually use, but here is a sample based on the idea that you made pasta last night:

Monday
Pasta with sauce from a jar.
Not sure if you did this, but you could beef up the sauce with fresh meat like ground beef or turkey and veggies like an onion, peppers, carrots, or spinach.

Tuesday
Chicken parmesan with mashed/baked potatoes and broccoli (fresh or frozen).
Pound the chicken flat, bread it and saute it with EVOO in a pan. Then place it on a cookie sheet and top with leftover pasta sauce and shredded mozzarella and broil for a couple of minutes.

Wendesday
Quiche with potatoes, broccoli and cheese. Simple spinach salad on the side.

Thursday
Homemade pizza with veggies and chicken (pesto or BBQ?).
Buy a pre-made crust or make your own. Layer with sauce or tomato paste, any fresh or sauteed veggies you have/like and leftover chicken breast. If the chicken is already cooked, pull apart with a fork and mix into a sauce like pesto or BBQ. If not cooked, cut chicken into cubes and saute with any sauce or seasoning.

Friday
Eat out or try soup and sandwich.
Prepare pre-made soup or make a quick soup using any leftovers. Potato soup? Broccoli and cheese soup? Carrot and red pepper? Chicken and veggies?
Make a panini with a George Forman or in a saute pan. Put cheese, any kind of meat, veggies, etc on bread which is lightly buttered, put sandwich together and cook on Forman until crisp and browned. You can keep it simple and just do cheese or cheese and lunchmeat or you can make it more elaborate (think Panera.)

On the weekend you can eat the leftover quiche with some fruit for a great brunch.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions. And if you try any of these suggestions, let me know how it goes.

Krispy Kreme Challenge Caloric Breakdown

This weekend 6,000 runners/walkers will attempt to inhale 72,000 Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts....during a race!

To complete the KK Challenge, runners/walkers must trek from NCSU to the Raleigh store and production center (2 miles), eat a dozen glazed doughnuts (not hot), and then make the return trip (2 more miles), within a time limit.

So what is the caloric breakdown of this vomitous yet enticing event?

1 glazed doughnut = 200 calories
12 doughnuts = 2,400 calories
72,000 doughnuts = 14,400,000 calories

1 mile of running/walking ~ 100 calories
4 miles of running/walking ~ 400 calories

2,400 calories IN - 400 OUT = 2,000 gained

1 pound of fat = 3,500 calories

What does this mean for competitors and participants?

Well, first it must be noted, that the above calculations are not exact. We burn calories at different rates based on our age, gender, body type, etc. But, in general, it can be estimated that traveling 1 mile will burn about 100 calories, whether it be walking or running.

So based on these estimations, if a participant were to consume all 12 donuts, she/he could stand to gain about a half a pound, not taking into account what they consume or burn the rest of the day. For example, if this person typically burns 2000 calories a day, and she does not eat anything else that day, she will essentially break even for the day and not gain any weight. But I do NOT recommend this strategy (for the KK Challenge, to compensate for alcohol consumption, or as a means to lose weight or avoiding gaining weight.)

To play it safe, a participant could choose to only eat 2 doughnuts. This would assure that they were calorically even at the end of the event. And while this is one real life method for tackling weight loss ( by considering calories consumed and calories burned and striving for balance or a caloric deficit), what would be the fun in that in this circumstance? :)

So my realistic nutrition advice would be this:
If you're gonna do it, do it. But don't let this be a regular occurrence. If you allow yourself too many exceptions for overdoing it, it will add up. Every day there is a birthday, special occasion or reason to overeat or treat yourself. Don't deny yourself, but choose your treats wisely and carefully.

Sidenote:
If I were stranded on an island and I could eat all the yummy nutritious foods the island had to offer AND I could bring two foods from the modern world with me it would be KK glazed doughnuts and McDonald's fries (assuming they would taste like they were prepared fresh at their respective establishments.)

What one or two treats could you not live without???

Diet Fad Timeline

Want to learn about fad diets over the past ~200 years? The American Dietetic Association has a timeline of fad diets. It isn't even close to being all-inclusive, but it is kind of interesting to see the trends and how some are repeated.

FAD DIET TIMELINE

Ask Me Your Random Food/Nutrition Questions

Last night I taught a nutrition seminar. Throughout the 2 hours I got the most random food and nutrition questions. But, I tried to answer them all as best I could, even if they were off topic, because I recognized that this may be the only chance for this group of people to talk to an RD for free.

You get me for free all the time!

Are there questions you'd like to ask? It doesn't matter how random or how silly it might seem. If it will help you make a decision about food, it is worth asking.

Maybe you want to know about diet coke, the benefits of drinking red wine, how to properly cook a steak, which fruits are better than others, why organic food costs more $, etc etc etc.

Or maybe you recently received an email about how onions are dangerous and poisonous and you aren't sure if it's true.


Whatever your question or topic may be, I am here to answer it/clarify. If you ask something and I don't have the answer I will speak to my colleagues (near my office are 2 more RD's, a Phd food safety specialist, a PhD specialist in adult nutrition, a PhD specialist in child nutrition and others), or I will do some research and find the most current answer for you.

So what do YOU want to know???? Most your question as a comment to this post. If you don't want me to share it, just specify and I will respond to you off the record. Otherwise, I may post the comment without your name so that I can share the Q and A with readers.

It's Never Too Late To Make A Healthy Choice

I didn't bring my lunch today. I only brought some fresh fruit, which I ate for my morning snack.

When it came time to take my lunch break I couldn't think of anything I wanted to eat. I am surrounded by fast food restaurants and a couple sit down establishments. I just wanted something quick that I could get and take back to the office.

Before I left I saw a co-worker eating a bagel and thought "Brueggers!" They have tasty soups and salads. And I can get a bagel for a snack later since I won't be able to eat dinner until 9pm. So after running some errands, I headed over. And they were closed due to the snow. :(

At this point I didn't know where to go and my 1 hour was dwindling quickly. So I decided to hit up Bo-han-gu-lays. They usually have good sides, so I could get some veggies and a biscuit. Not the healthiest...but I what other choice did I have?

But when I drove up, I realized they didn't have any veggies on the menu, just potatoes and rice and fries. Ugh! So, out of desperation, I got an egg and cheese biscuit and an unsweet tea.

Then, I was heading back to work when I passed Subway. I had forgotten it was there. Time to make a decision. I had already spent a couple dollars on the biscuit. But I really didn't want to eat it...and didn't want all the crappy calories. I went for it. I got myself a veggie sub with all the veggies (except onions and jalapenos). I don't get paid for endorsing Subway like the Biggest Loser folks. But in a pinch, it is a great option. Just be careful not to eat the fatty meats or high calorie sauces. Instead, choose a lean meat and top your sandwich with as many veggies as you can and either mustard or a low calorie sauce. I would also recommend skipping the cheese. It doesn't really add much flavor, but it does add calories.

As for the biscuit, it is currently stinking up my car. I didn't even want to bring it into the building to throw it away and risk someone thinking I ate there. ;)

So remember, it is never too late to make healthy choices.