Soup Kitchen in Full Swing... (White Chicken Chili)

After my Carrot Dill Success I decided to try #37 Carrot Ginger, which seemed like a more natural pairing. It tasted, well, like carrots and ginger. It was good, but I was not as thrilled as I had hoped. (However, if anyone needs a good baby food recipe..I recommend!)  In this recipe, which was precisely like the Carrot Dill except using ginger, I omitted the 2 tbs brown rice because my roomie doesn't eat rice. What a difference in texture it made! I will never underestimate the importance of thickeners/starches in a soup recipe (i.e. keep the 2 tbs rice)

My camera is currently broken, so I have been unable to take pictures- which significantly impairs my motivation to blog. BUT I am pressing on...(the above pic is courtesy of google images-don't sue me!)

This weekend I made a White Chicken Chili recipe which a friend promised was the "best chili recipe ever." Sure enough, it was darn tasty! It uses lots of canned ingredients, which I modified a bit to lower the salt content. But after refrigerating overnight as she suggested to allow flavors to blend..it truly was a great white chili recipe!

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded (I shredded)
• 1 10 oz can Rotelle tomatoes with green chilies
• 2 cans White Northern Beans (I drained and rinsed)
• 1 can white shoe peg corn
• 1 can chopped green chilies
• 3-4 cups Reduced Sodium Chicken broth (depending on how thick you like it..I do less)
• 1/2 large yellow onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Chili powder or cayenne pepper (a couple dashes, to taste)
• Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Saute onion and garlic in cooking spray or oil about 5 mins, then season with chili powder
2. Add tomatoes, beans, corn, green chilies, chicken and broth to pot. Bring to a boil. (I added chicken just after boil because it is fully cooked).
3. Simmer for 10-15 mins. Remove from heat. (I think it is best the next day..so make ahead of time or in the morning to serve later in the day).
4. Top with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream or plain non-fat Greek yogurt. De-lish!

Dietitian on a Mission...not always in the Kitchen

This is just an "FYI" post, but there was an article in my local newspaper by a dietitian in town who did a great job breaking down the job description of a dietitian as well as addressing a lot of the misconceptions. I can relate, that in a typical day's work, I am referred to as everything from "doctor" to "the food lady," and even as- wait for it- the "poop lady." (As one of my professors used to say- you can tell a lot about a person's eating habits by their poop; "what you eat is what you excrete."...That saying is a personal highlight from my college career, and I ask people about their poop all the time). Anyway, there are a lot of misconceptions about what we do and how we help people, and any registered dietitian will tell you it makes our skin crawl a little bit when we are called "nutritionists" (the article explains why).

http://jacksonville.com/news/health-and-fitness/2010-11-17/story/what-registered-dieticians-do-and-how-we-can-help-you

Some fall favorites: Pumpkin Oatmeal

We are in the midst of autumn and although the blogging has been slow, the cooking has not! I've been trying to fully embrace all of the wonderful fall flavors and seasonal foods, and I keep finding myself wondering why I don't eat some of this stuff all year round. I now could package and sell my pumpkin oatmeal, which I humbly feel I have perfected; and I am also on a personal mission to convince my Resident Expert/roommate about the wonderful-ness of soups. She is not a soup lover and I'm committed to making one new soup recipe per week (so naturally I've renamed our kitchen The Soup Kitchen). I've done this for the past 3 weeks, and each recipe is better and better! Last week I made a creamy cauliflower soup which required me to pull my food processor out of the garage and get it in working order! I received the creamy cauliflower soup recipe as a part of an online recipe exchange, and am so glad I made it. I will share in a separate post, and below is my pumpkin oatmeal recipe.

As I am writing, I am making a simple carrot dill soup, courtesy of the Food Network which has a 50 Simple Soups section on their website. I'm overwhelmed with options! I am making #34 carrot dill soup because I happened to have all the ingredients on hand, and figured if I'm going to make some of these then I need to get started. (This particular one happens to be Gluten Free as long as GF broth is used!) Here's the link: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/50-easy-soups-1--10/index.html.

Pumpkin Oatmeal a-la-Heather
(Makes 4 servings)

• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4-1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• dash of ground cloves
• pumpkin pie spice (be generous!)

Bring water to a boil and add oats. Immediately reduce to a simmer, stir for a minute or two (I recommend a non-stick pot). Add vanilla extract and spices. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 15-20 minutes. Add raisins and maple syrup cook for an additional 5-10 minutes. I stir in canned pumpkin during the last 5 minutes, but it can be added at any time. Let cool before serving or refrigerating.
This will stay good for several days! Just add a few tablespoons of water or milk before re-heating in microwave. I also top mine with 1 tbs of ground flaxseed and 1 tbs chopped walnuts.
*Side note: spice measurements are estimated- I probably use double by the time I'm done shakin' and playin'!
Can you see why breakfast is my favorite meal of the day?? It is my favorite meal of the day...until lunch :)

Falling in Love with Fall

October is my favorite month of the year- there are so many reasons to celebrate! My birthday (a questionable reason to celebrate), Florida finally reaches less than 90 degrees, and of course the wonderful seasonal food! I would not be surprised if I woke up orange one day from the amount of pumpkin I've been eating. It can be added to everything- oatmeal, cookies, pudding, brown rice, smoothies, sauces...this list goes on. In addition to pumpkin, there's cranberries, pears, butternut and acorn squash and the debut of soup/chili season. I've got more recipes than I can keep up with. A fun one I tried with a friend recently was a butternut squash-apple-cranberry mixture with a little bit of brown sugar and butter. Can you say delicious?

As dietitians, we encourage people to eat from the "rainbow;" meaning the brighter the colors the more nutrient-filled the food (vegetable or fruit). It's true- they are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and other health-boosting, disease fighting nutrients. Fall foods provide such a good opportunity! It's never been more fun to eat healthfully. Baked or poached apples, peaches or pears tossed with seasonal spices like cinnamon and nutmeg make the perfect side dish or dessert. No kidding, my roommate and I have gone through at least 3 bottles of ground cinnamon.

I'll be sad to see all these foods go, but until then I'll experiment all I can. I know it's a little premature for New Years resolutions, but this year I think I'll resolve to eat pumpkin all year long. To whet your taste buds, check out this yummy recipe below-courtesy of Whole Foods of course :) www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2377.

Yes, No, Maybe later...

Did you know the average person makes about 200 food-related decisions per day? Wow! There's a lot more to it than deciding "what will I have for dinner tonight?" We are constantly making decisions and many of those are influenced by our environment (i.e. do I eat the candy sitting on my co-workers desk? If so, how many? One handful? Two?) . I ran across this article that highlights some other examples: http://www.ahwatukee.com/ahwatukee_medical/article_5c985a3a-c827-11df-9837-001cc4c03286.html

I always encourage my patients to set themselves up for success. The less decisions you have to make, and the less contact you have with environmental eating cues, the easier it is to eat healthfully. For example, it's a lot easier to say "no" to the ice cream ONCE in the grocery store than it is to say "no" every time you open your freezer. (Trust me, I know from experience.)

Mission: In Progress

I have been a bad blogger. Life got (extra) busy for a few weeks and I did not share about my GF adventures. I successfully finished my GF month with only a few minor slip-ups. My biggest rookie error was eating a non-GF frozen mac'n'cheese entree thinking it was GF (I swear it was when I grabbed it off the shelf). Since I last blogged, I have transitioned into the young old age of 26 with GF pumpkin cream cheese cupcakes (thanks roomie), successfully navigated an unplanned eating out experience (it was Mexican), and experimented with some delicious quinoa recipes (I'm obsessed)!

I also got to refine my explanation of a gluten free lifestyle to the many people who asked me why on earth I would do this. My knowledge is far from complete, however. I know that it would take many months to become truly expert in the day-to-day living, but I am confident that I could function fairly well.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading other people's blogs about gluten free living and talking with friends-it has been enlightening! I also kept my eyes open for professional updates that came through my work contacts and found several new resources. One I was particularly happy about is that General Mills brands (including Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Progresso, etc) is introducing several new products in the coming months and will have more than 350 soon. And all will be labeled 'Gluten Free.' You can find recipes, menu planners, product listings, and additional resources at http://www.liveglutenfreely.com/.

I am taking a hiatus for the next few weeks until I decide on my next mission. I am open to suggestions! I will plan to stay connected with interesting articles and fun recipes in the mean-time. Until then- per la salude!

She must have read my blog...

An article came out today quoting Shelley Case (the Registered Dietitian who is a leading expert in Celiac Disease) on her stance that Gluten Free products should focus on nutritional quality and not just taste/texture. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, many GF products are not fortified with vitamins and minerals that regular wheat/grain products are. The result is that people following GF diets that may not be health-conscious can become deficient in certain nutrients. (Who would ever think to check if they are getting 100% of their daily riboflavin besides a dietitian anyway?)

Here's a link to the article: http://www.bakeryandsnacks.com/Formulation/Industry-warned-over-nutritional-content-of-gluten-free-products