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Week 10 Monday Meeting (March 8)
Chances are as you’re following the South Beach Diet, you’re spending more time in the kitchen, preparing wholesome, nutritious meals. And after last week’s meeting, you probably have a variety of new recipes to prepare! Whether you’re a cooking novice or veteran, get tips on shopping and preparing healthy meals, and learn how you can save time in the kitchen, all in this week's discussion.
Got quick cooking or preparation tips of your own? Post them now!
This week's guest is Marie Almon. Marie, a licensed, registered dietitian with a master's degree in nutrition, helped develop The South Beach Diet with Dr. Agatston. She currently coordinates getting the most up-to-date information onto The South Beach Diet Online. She is also presently in private practice with Dr. Agatston in his Miami Beach office. Marie has more than 25 years of clinical experience, including 11 years working as the cardiac rehabilitation dietician under the direction of Dr. Agatston at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. She also served as the clinical nutrition manager of both the Mount Sinai Medical Center and the Miami Heart Institute. Marie speaks frequently about nutrition at seminars, and she has been interviewed for radio and television programs as well as magazine and newspaper articles. She is a member of the American Dietetic Association.
Welcome, Marie!
Thanks, Teresa!
How to Save Time in the Kitchen
Making healthy, South Beach Diet-friendly meals doesn’t have to take up a lot of your time. There are many ways you can save minutes in the kitchen and still eat nutritious, delicious food. It’s just a matter of having the recipes and ingredients on hand and learning a few shortcuts. So, if you’re feeling time-pressed and daunted by the idea of preparing healthy meals, here are simple time-saving tricks to help you get started:
Always read through the recipes you plan to make to be sure you have all the ingredients prepped and assembled before you start cooking.
As soon as you get home from the grocery store, prep fruit and veggies and separate them into individual containers to use during the week. Always keep a bag of pre-washed greens on hand to create a healthy salad in minutes.
Instead of mincing garlic each time you need it, throw whole cloves into the food processor. Refrigerate any leftovers in a plastic container and use within one week.
Cook once so you can eat twice (or more). On Sunday, for example, prepare enough food for two or three meals so you can freeze some in microwavable containers and enjoy the leftovers throughout the week (and take a night or two off from cooking). If you’re grilling, grill extra for lunch the next day.
Stock your kitchen with easy non-cook foods, like canned or pouched tuna, plain low-fat or nonfat yogurt, or ready-made hummus, to grab for on-the-go snacks.
Prepare veggie crudités once a week and keep them in the fridge to snack on or chop to add to soups, salads, and more.
Clean as you cook -- rather than stacking the dishes in the sink to clean after dinner, wash pots, pans, bowls, and other kitchen utensils as you’re preparing the meal.
Last night while making dinner, I quickly cut a bunch of asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces, and added that with some mushrooms to 2T of smart balance in an oven-safe skillet to sautee. While that happened, I preheated my oven to 350, cracked 6 eggs, and beat them lightly with a fork, adding a splash of skim milk. A few minutes later, when the veggies were like I wanted, I poured the eggs over, and sprinkled about 2 ounces of lowfat cheddar on top. This cooked on the stove top for a coupld of minutes until the bottom started to set, and then I popped it in the oven for ten more minutes. You could usd ANY veggies. I cooked my breakfast for the week at the same time as I was cooking Sunday dinner. And this morning, when I was whining about having to put together breakfast, I realized it was already done. I had 2 cups of veggies and 8 ounces of protein...so that's 4 breakfasts.
I need to do this EVERY week!
That sounds delicious! That's very creative, and I think that's exactly what you should do -- experiment with foods to find something that works.
Hi Marie & Teresa,
I have a tip. I don't know that it saves that much time but it helps with my portion sizes.
I don't know what they feed the chickens around here, but when I buy boneless chicken breasts, 1 single breast can easily weigh 8 oz or more. For many of my recipes, I substitute the chicken tenders instead. They cook a little faster because they're smaller, and I can have 2 or 3 tenders instead of having to cut a breast in half.
I agree preparation is 9/10's of the battle. Yesterday I chopped up ingredients for a salad, made a huge soup to use up veggies that were reaching their prime, popped garlic out of their skins and covered them in EVOO for later ease of use, and made Yam chips (oven dry with EVV and spices)
Marie - are there any products you have seen that really stand out in your mind that might help us in the fast paced environment we all live in?
Laurie
That's a great tip, and very resourceful. Portion size is an important consideration, and anything that helps cut time in the kitchen can't hurt, as long as you're still eating healthy.
Teresa, how do you store this for the week?
Several years back, when I tried SB the first time, I tried making the Quiche-To-Go cups (I think that was the name) from the first SB book. I stored them in the freezer because I didn't know how long they would keep in the fridge, then I microwaved them to heat them back up before I ate them. I don't know if it was the freezing or microwaving, but I found that they were dry and a little rubbery.
Zebra_2 wrote: "I agree preparation is 9/10's of the battle. Yesterday I chopped up ingredients for a salad, made a huge soup to use up veggies that were reaching their prime, popped garlic out of their skins and covered them in EVOO for later ease of use, and made Yam chips (oven dry with EVV and spices). Marie - are there any products you have seen that really stand out in your mind that might help us in the fast paced environment we all live in?"
Congratulations on all the cooking, and especially the early preperation -- that will save you a ton of time. I myself am certainly always looking for quick and easy. The artichokes I use so often in omelets is one way I do this; I occasionally use frozen artichoke hearts (or canned in water) to save time. I've also picked up pre-chopped vegetables, frozen chopped onion, and sliced peppers from the produce section. There's nothing wrong with using pre-chopped vegetables to save time and energy in the kitchen.
I find that it keeps find in the fridge until Thursday or even Friday. I've never tried freezing it.
I agree !
While this is a little "off" topic, I find having the right equipment for the job is very important. My garlic press of many years went missing about a month ago and I just about went crazy without it. I had to run out and buy another! I also can't live without a good chef knife and a high quality blender.
For those not used to cooking much, what would you recommend be in their "south beach kitchen toolbox" ?
Laurie
Another good one is frozen 3-pepper and onion mix, which has red/yellow/green bell peppery and onions in strips. This is good for fajitas or stir fry...as long as you don't want to leave your peppers really crisp. The freezing takes away the crispness, but not the flavor. I like to let my peppers/onions caremlize for fajitas, so they end up really soft anyway. Might as well start from frozen, especially when they are on sale!
I have a quick question. I'm looking for quick and easy dinner ideas. I hit the gym after work so by the time I get home, I don't have the time to prepare a lot of food. Any make ahead dinner ideas? Thanks!
Some things I do to save time:
Plan my weekly menu and buy groceries for the week - I had to do this for a while as my husband and I were sharing a car (he works nights, I work days) and I didn't have a way to the store in the evening. But I still continue this practice even though we have our own cars now, because it saves me from having to run to the store every day.
Prepare salad greens - I buy a head of iceberg and 1 of romaine, and sometimes baby spinach or other greens when they're available (I've stayed away from the pre-packaged salads since that salmonella outbreak a while back). I wash them and tear them into bite-size pieces when I get home, then store it in a large tupperware-type container in the fridge (a bag would get crushed in my fridge -- I need a bigger one!).
Chop my snack veggies - as others have mentioned here.
Buy the already minced garlic.
Save leftovers for lunches - My family frowns upon having the same meal more than once a week, so I usually use leftovers for my lunches. If I had a bigger freezer, I'd make a double recipe and freeze one to have a week or two later, but that's not feasible right now.
The above tip is really helpful to me. On days where I'm doing things the "best way," I will have a sink full of hot soapy water that I use to pop the dishes in as I use them. Then they are easy to clean up while I have some down time.
Another tip is to think about how to re-use measuring cups as you go. For example, If I'm making a sauce that calls for chicken stock, and then later I'm going to add some milk to make it creamy...or perhaps I'm going to add water with 1T of cornstarch to thicken it up, I can use the same measuring cup for all of that. No need to dirty two cups.
First thing, I agree with you, a good sharp knife is indispensible! It makes everything so much easier. A garlic press and a blender are also incredibly important. Also for me, since I work in a hospital, I can't stress enough the importance of making sure not to allow cross contamination. For that reason, I use color-coded cutting boards to prevent mixing raw chicken or beef with my vegetables. I also highly recommend a good omelette pan. It makes omelettes so much easier. Finally, use a good pepper grind. I love the taste of freshly ground pepper.