Archive for the ‘Vegetables’ Category

November 4th, 2024 Blog, Cooking Technique, Dessert, Poultry, Thanksgiving Dinner, Vegetables Comments Off on Stress-Free Picture Book Thanksgiving Dinner Help

Stress-Free Picture Book Thanksgiving Dinner Help

I know it’s just the beginning of November, and Thanksgiving comes late this year: November 28th. But time flies, and these next posts will be about how make the most of that most excellent holiday.

First, Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. All that’s expected is a fully flavorful meal with good friends and family. Great – unless you’re the host AND you’re stressed about how to put that meal together.

Breathe easy – no problem!

To make any of the standard Thanksgiving dishes you see above – and more – as stress-free as possible, just click any picture on this page or this link to the Gotta’ Eat, Can’t Cook Thanksgiving Help page for step-by-step picture directions that will show how how to make any of the fully flavorful Thanksgiving dishes you see above – and more – as easily as possible.

In following posts, I’ll highlight some of those recipes along with other recipes and tips to help you make your Thanksgiving as fun and flavorful as possible.

More soon!

March 13th, 2024 Blog, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Vegetables Comments Off on Microwave Cooked Broccoli & Tuna in Lighter Alfredo Sauce – Easy & All in Pictures

Microwave Cooked Broccoli & Tuna in Lighter Alfredo Sauce – Easy & All in Pictures

Microwave Cooked Broccoli in Lighter Alfredo Sauce

Here’s another recipe we worked on together through AARP-sponsored “Gotta’ Eat Well” senior citizen kitchen empowerment at Eastway Rec. Center in Charlotte last Thursday. As I told an engaged group of women, who have become a band of “let’s make something fun & flavorful” friends, making microwave cooked broccoli and tuna in a lighter Alfredo sauce is just one very easy and fantastically flavorful way to take microwave cooked broccoli from simple to exciting!

Here’s what you need for ingredients:

Microwave Cooked Broccoli in Lighter Alfredo Sauce IngredientsAs shown in the ingredients picture above, the key to making the lighter Alfredo sauce is substituting heavy cream with evaporated milk and using fat-reduced (“lite”) cheese with no loss in Alfredo sauce flavor or creamy texture. Here’s a nutrition label comparison showing that ounce for ounce, heavy cream contains more than twice the calories and five times the fat as evaporated milk (1 ounce = 2 tablespoons; you have to double the numbers you see in the heavy cream label to make an equal comparison with evaporated milk).

Heavy Cream vs. Evaporated Milk Nutrition Labels

Click any picture on this page for a complete, easy-to-follow step-by-step picture book recipe.

Microwave Cooked Broccoli in Lighter Alfredo Sauce Picture Book Recipe

November 15th, 2021 Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Cooking Technique, Poultry, Special Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner, Vegetables Comments Off on Thanksgiving Dinner Help: Stress-Free and All in Pictures

Thanksgiving Dinner Help: Stress-Free and All in Pictures

Just 10 days out to Thanksgiving, by far my favorite holiday because all that’s expected is a fully-flavorful meal and being together with family and friends.

At the same time, I know from my own experience that laying down a Thanksgiving dinner for those same family and friends, especially if it’s your first time around, can be stressful. The goal here is to provide straight-forward stress-relief, which you can access by:

  • clicking this link or the tab above labeled Thanksgiving Help for a Thanksgiving dinner planning and timing guide and uniquely easy to follow step-by-step picture book recipes that show how to make roast turkey, turkey gravy, mashed potatoes, bread stuffing, apple pie, and fresh whipped cream and more.
  • getting your own first-of-a-kind Stress-Free, Quick & Easy Thanksgiving Dinner video/picture ebook for $2.99 (it’s extraordinarily affordably priced, especially these days, to make it as widely accessible as possible). Click this link to a short video trailer about the ebook. The ebook itself is available at:

April 23rd, 2019 Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Beans, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Vegetables Comments Off on Quick Bell Pepper, Cilantro Pesto-Hummus, and Cheese – All in Pictures

Quick Bell Pepper, Cilantro Pesto-Hummus, and Cheese – All in Pictures

 

Last post showed how to make fresh Cilantro Pesto-Hummus, a combination of cilantro pesto and hummus. Great stuff to lay on bread, toss with pasta or grains, mix with cooked vegetables, top on salads, and much more. Imagination is your only limit. Here’s a link to that recipe.

What you see above is a quick fresh meal I put together last night: bell pepper, “pummus”, and cheese. I started with 1/3 fresh orange bell pepper that I sliced into thick strips just so the pepper would spread out mostly flat on a plate. I then laid on a good spread of pummus and topped that with some leftover cooked grains (pearl barley, stone cut oats, and quinoa). For sure, what made this dish so quick for me to put together was having most of the ingredients already pre-made. Please use what you see below as a guide. That’s exactly what I do with just about every recipe I come across.

Next, I spread out a good layer of shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese and put the plate in the microwave oven for 1 minute at 100% power – just long enough to start melting the cheese.

After that quick warm in the microwave, I topped the pepper, cilantro pesto-hummus, and cheese with a good pour of fresh ginger cilantro kefir salad dressing, which you can either see how to make by clicking either this link or the picture below or just use your own favorite salad dressing.

I finished by adding a good blast of chopped hot peppers (jalapeños shown here), chopped fresh cilantro,…

…chopped sun-dried tomatoes, a good shot of kefir, and a mix of chopped nuts and ground flaxseed (I make a jar of nuts and flax every week – very easy & versatile – I’ll show how to do that next time I make it.)

Now make it yours & enjoy!

August 21st, 2017 Blog, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Salads & Salad Dressings, Vegetables Comments Off on Heirloom Tomato, Basil and Feta Cheese Picture Book Recipe

Heirloom Tomato, Basil and Feta Cheese Picture Book Recipe

As I mentioned in my last post posted a few weeks ago (Ow!), one of my favorite summer foods is fresh tomatoes right off the field, and one of my favorite ways to have those fresh tomatoes is sliced and topped with fresh basil, mozzarella chcese, a shot of olive oil, a good shot of balsamic vinegar, and a good crunch of freshly ground black pepper (or chopped fresh jalapeños – yah!). Terrific!

Here’s a slight twist on that combination made with what you see below: heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, feta cheese and Read more »

May 1st, 2017 Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Cooking Technique, Vegetables Comments Off on Picture Book Directions Show How to Microwave Cook Fresh Spinach

Picture Book Directions Show How to Microwave Cook Fresh Spinach

The most important tip regarding spinach is that the less you cook it, the more you retain its flavor, texture, and terrific nutritional value – high in the oil soluble vitamins A, E and K and water soluble vitamins B2, B6 and C as well as rich iron and magnesium content. There’s just no comparison between quickly cooked fresh spinach and spinach that’s been cooked to a very distasteful mushy mass. (My favorite source for spinach’s nutrition and health benefits is The World’s Healthiest Foods: http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=43)

The second most important tip: to avoid an unpleasant crunch on the sandy soil spinach grows in, always give fresh spinach a Read more »

December 6th, 2016 Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Nutrition, Vegetables Comments Off on Kale Teriyaki Picture Book Recipe

Kale Teriyaki Picture Book Recipe

kale-teriyakiDig kale? I didn’t until only a few years ago, but now I’m a big fan, especially when it’s made the way you see here!

kale-teriyaki-with-feta-cheese

Nutritionally, kale rates highest along with collard, turnip, and mustard greens, Swiss chard, and upland watercress with a score of 1000 on the Read more »

October 28th, 2016 Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Vegetables Comments Off on Oven Roasted Delicata Squash Picture Book Recipe

Oven Roasted Delicata Squash Picture Book Recipe

oven-roasted-delicata-squash

I was first introduced to delicata squash only recently when I shot the recipe you see here with a good friend of mine. I’m now a big fan!

Read more »

October 5th, 2016 Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Anti-inflammatory Recipes, Blog, Cooking Technique, Fitness Food, How To & Tips, Vegetables Comments Off on Oven Roasted Butternut Squash Picture Book Recipe

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash Picture Book Recipe

oven-roasted-butternut-squash

The toughest part about roasting butternut squash, if you want it in cubed shaped pieces the way you see above, is removing the outer skin as shown in the picture below. After removing the skin (I recommend using a tougher vegetable peeler than the weak and worthless one you see here), roasting is the easiest, most flavorful way I know to prepare butternut squash.

peeling-skin-from-butternut-squash

Read more »

February 16th, 2016 Blog, Nutrition, Vegetables, Videos Comments Off on Microwave Cooking Broccoli: Best for Flavor & Health Benefits – In Pictures & Short Video

Microwave Cooking Broccoli: Best for Flavor & Health Benefits – In Pictures & Short Video

Microwave Cooked BroccoliAside from its fantastic flavor – quick & easy preparation makes all the difference – broccoli has uniquely potent anti-inflammatory, heart health-promoting, cancer-fighting, body detoxification, and antioxidant properties. To get the most of both flavor and health benefits, it’s best to cook broccoli either by steaming it briefly or cooking it quickly in the microwave oven. You can see how to cook broccoli in the microwave oven (my preferred method for speed, ease, and best flavor & nutrition) by clicking either or both short step-by-step video or easy-to-follow step-by-step picture book recipe links.

Microwave Cooked Broccoli Ingredients & PIcture Book Recipe Read more »

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