Make Healthy Meals

1 cup uncooked couscous
1 1/4 cups vegetable broth
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1-2 diced tomatoes
1/2 cucumber, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (15 ounce) can black beans
salt and pepper to taste

Bring the broth to a boil. Add the couscous and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Combine the olive oil, lime juice, balsamic vinegar and cumin in a bowl large enough for all the other ingredients to eventually be added.

Drain, then rinse the black beans thoroughly.

Add the black beans, tomatoes, red bell peppers, cucumbers, cilantro and garlic to the oil mixture. Stir with a spoon until all ingredients are coated.

Fluff the couscous with a fork, then add to the other bowl. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This dish can be served immediately or sit in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavors mingle.

Editor’s Note:

If you want to add meat to this, chicken goes very well, but it’s quite excellent as a vegetarian dish. Washing the black beans ensures that they don’t turn the entire dish gray, which many find unappealing. Feta cheese crumbled over this is also a good addition.

You can also switch which beans you use, depending on what you have on hand.

Technorati Tags: couscous, black beans

This year I’ve faced the challenge of making lunch for my daughter to take to school. I just don’t see the point in buying school lunches when I can make something that may well be healthier at home. And if I plan it right it really doesn’t take much extra time in the morning.

The right lunch box really helps matters. I suggest the Laptop Lunches box available from ReusableBags.com. I am extremely fond of lunch boxes that give you compartments to work with. It allows for delightful flexibility and means you don’t have to waste plastic or paper with every single lunch. But you do have to trust your kids to bring it back home and not lose it.

A thermos is another good idea, so that your child can have a warm lunch on those cold days during the winter. I also like having reusable cups of one sort or another rather than pack juice boxes. It’s more cost effective over time and allows you to think more about what goes into the lunch, rather than just throwing a juice box in the bag.

One of the tricks of the trade is to prepare things in advance. My daughter loves the Sand and Shells recipe available elsewhere on this site. She thinks she wants it every day, but I make sure to vary her lunch.

Pasta salad is very easy. To vary this one I cook up a batch of pasta and keep it in the fridge. In the morning I can decide how to mix it up. Salad dressing or pasta sauce, cheese, cooked or fresh vegetables, and you can make a different pasta salad each day in very little time. Use whole grain pasta if you want this to be especially healthy.

If you keep presliced fruits and/or vegetables in your refrigerator you will have an easier time including these in lunches. Some fruits you won’t particularly need to slice, such as apples or pears, but oranges are far easier for kids to eat if you slice them first.

If you have one of the Laptop Lunches bags or other ways to separate the various parts of the lunch it can be easier to think of what you need to pack. Think of one for the main dish, one for vegetables, one for fruits, etc.

A lunch for my daughter may look like this:

Sand and Shells
chopped cauliflower
kiwi
string cheese
apple juice

Sometimes I will include an apple or pear as well, if I see that she has been finishing everything. Right now she is tending to finish her lunch at home, just a few leftover bites and often the string cheese makes it home. I add extra at those times I see she has been hungry enough to eat it all. Kids and growth spurts, after all.

As you try to make a habit of packing healthy school lunches, figure out what has made it too difficult in the past. Packing it the night before is not a bad thing for many foods, and makes life very much easier when you’re dealing with the morning rush.

Technorati Tags: healthy school lunches, healthy food, lunchbox, lunch box, bag lunch, school lunch, kids

1 - 7 ounce package cheese tortellini
1 cup broccoli florets
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 - 6 ounce jar marinated artichokes, drained
2 green onions, chopped
½ cup Italian salad dressing
2 ½ tsp. chopped fresh basil or cilantro
3 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
6 cherry tomatoes, halved Read the rest of this entry »

1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 cups cooked chicken — chopped
1/4 cup diced celery
1/2 cup Thompson seedless grapes — halved
1/4 cup almond slivers Read the rest of this entry »