Make Healthy Meals

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 clove crushed garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
1 teaspoon honey Dijon mustard
1 pinch salt
ground black pepper to taste

Combine olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, garlic, oregano, and mustard powder in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Editor’s Note

If you love garlic, add more! If it’s too tangy, add honey.

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound fresh asparagus spears, trimmed
dash lemon juice

Place olive oil, salt, lemon pepper, asparagus spears and lemon juice in frying pan. Cook over medium-high heat for 5-10 minutes. Vary the cooking time by personal preference and thickness of asparagus stalks. Add garlic about 2-3 minutes before the asparagus is finished cooking.

Editor’s Note:

Nuts go well  in this. Slivered almonds or chopped cashews are personal favorites. Parmesan cheese also works well. You can also chop the asparagus into bite size pieces rather than stalks to make it easier to eat.

Don’t overcook the asparagus. This habit is why a lot of people think they don’t like asparagus. It should still be green and a little bit crispy, not soggy, when you’re done cooking.

Technorati Tags: asparagus recipes

It’s a few weeks into the school year for me, my first year of needing to pack a lunch. But I’m learning a lot about how to do well at it.

The most challenging part is making sure it’s a healthy lunch. My daughter’s school has a rule against candy in the lunches, but I like to treat that as obvious.

I’ve found that my daughter is not the sandwich sort. She just doesn’t eat them, as a rule. It’s kind of funny since she loves bread, but that’s how she is.

On the other hand, she loves bringing Sand and Shells for lunch. Very healthy, so I don’t mind that it looks like I’ll be storing batches of that in the fridge for her. It’s the one thing she has requested for lunch, and just now she thinks she could have it every day. I think she’d get tired of that, but I’m certainly willing to let that be a regular component of her school lunch.

Beyond that, I generally give her a stick of string cheese, some vegetables and some fruit. It’s a nicely balanced meal that way, and it goes well in a lunchbox with compartments, such as the Laptop Lunches box available from ReusableBags.com.

Another option I use is to pack leftovers from the night before, if it will taste good cold. This is where ice packs come in handy, since you really do have to be careful with a lot of foods for how long they sit out.

One thing I haven’t picked up yet is a Thermos. This will come in very handy in a few months, of course, when winter kicks in and she needs a warm lunch. You can get them at sites such as ReusableBags.com, Amazon or, of course, at stores in your area. They’re great for packing soups and other foods you want to keep warm until lunch time.

I do allow juice, but not soda. Water is a good choice too. If you choose juice too, just make sure it’s a good quality juice, not something that is more added sugar than juice, or even partially added sugar. I’m much a fan of 100% juice. We use a reusable bottle rather than always spending money on juice bags. In addition, depending on how early your child eats, freezing the bottle mens you have an instant ice pack which should melt sufficiently by lunchtime to provide a drink.

One of the keys to successfully getting your child to enjoy his or her school lunch is to find favorites, and vary them. If it takes a dipping sauce to get him or her to eat the vegetables, so be it. Vary the veggies, vary the sauce, vary everything in ways your child will eat it.

Technorati Tags: healthy school lunch, eating at school, school lunches, kids, parenting, children, school

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup rolled oats or bread crumbs
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
1/4 tsp ground ginger
ground black pepper and salt to taste
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 brown sugar, packed
1 can pineapple chunks
1/3 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 bell pepper, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix ground beef, oats, onion, egg, ginger, black pepper and salt. Roll into meatballs. Bake for 15-20 minutes on a rack, or until meatballs are done.

While meatballs are baking, combine corn starch and brown sugar in saucepan. Add juice from pineapple chunks, reserving the chunks. Add vinegar and soy sauce. Stir frequently over medium heat until thick. Add pineapple and bell pepper.

Editor’s Note:

These are great served over rice or noodles. The taste is fairly sweet. You can water down the sauce if it comes out too thick, but I have rarely found that to be necessary.

Technorati Tags: maui meatballs