Yellow Tomatoes December 19, 2009

Jamie says:  I was grocery shopping at Publix and I saw yellow tomatoes in the produce section for the first time.  They were a lot more expensive than the red tomatoes, but I really wanted to try one.  It was worth the splurge.  I chopped them up and put them over spinach to make a salad.  I drizzled extra virgin olive oil on top and added sea salt and freshly ground pepper.  The combination is amazing.  To accompany my salad, I made grilled cheese with sliced low-fat mozzarella cheese and whole wheat bread.  Now that’s what I call a grown-up grilled cheese lunch.  I would highly recommend trying a yellow tomato if you haven’t already. 

Nutrition note:  Aim to increase your whole grain consumption.  Whole grain products offer the benefits of fiber and many other important nutrients, including magnesium (important in bone integrity and many reactions that occur in the body, including metabolism) and selenium (an antioxidant).

Italian Dinner for 3 November 8, 2009

Italian Dinner for 3Whole Grain Pasta with Onion and Sausage Red Sauce and Broccoli

Whole Grain Pasta with Onion and Sausage Red Sauce and Broccoli

Jamie says: Kathryn has been sick this week, so I told her I would cook her a nice pasta dinner last night.  I invited Eric to join us, too.  After swim practice, I began to cook.  Although it was a Friday evening, it felt like Sunday because the house smelled like red sauce…reminding me of Sunday evenings at my Grandma’s house.  I cooked the red sauce in my Grandma’s Grandmother’s skillet!  As I was cooking, Kathryn was playing recordings of her singing.  It was very pleasant.  Dinner was whole grain pasta with onion and sausage red sauce with oven toasted broccoli.  To make the dinner, I first chopped fresh broccoli and added olive oil, Italian seasoned sea salt, and pepper and baked in the oven for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  I then boiled a box of Barilla whole grain rotini until it was soft.  To make my sauce, I first sauteed chopped onions (from Mom and Dad’s trip to Georgia) with extra virgin olive oil in my special skillet.  I then added chopped sausage- cooking until the meat was done.  Finally I added, a large can of Hunt’s Whole tomatoes (I cut these into smaller pieces) and 1 can of Contadina Organic tomatoe sauce (thank you Mom for sending us that whole case).  I added dried basil and parsley to the sauce, too.  To serve, I topped the pasta with the sauce and then the broccoli.  We had a little fresh basil and parsley growing, so I added that on top.  Kathryn was raving over it and Eric liked it, too.  (I think Grandma’s skillet deserves some of the credit, too.)  It was a nice and relaxing Friday night. 

     Nutrition note: The whole grain pasta is an excellent source of fiber.  Fiber helps keep you full.