I forgot to update on the sugar challenge, let's just sum it up with "I really love chocolate" and chocolate with peanut is pretty much my favorite food of all time. I craved chocolate chip cookies all week and so all in all, it's pretty darn tough to eat 6 tsp or less of sugar. But, it does make me appreciate my sweets even more :)
The majority of my patients are on Medicare and getting their diet/social history I've learned that oftentimes trips to the grocery store might only happen 3 times a month. A MONTH! I probably end up going 3x a week. Between transportation issues, food stamps and such, my patients are at the mercy of frozen, canned and packaged foods (lets be real, even if I didn't work and had all the time in the world I wouldn't food prep an entire month's worth of food from fresh produce within 3 days of grocery shopping to then freeze). I can't go one day without a fresh piece of fruit so the reality of living that way hits hard, it's also an interesting thought to try to live that way. Maybe next month? Although really, to go without fresh bananas and apples (applesauce just isn't the same thing!).
I've been really bad about putting up new recipes, now that my apartment is all set up and I'm getting settled at work, I'm getting back into looking up recipes and going actual grocery shopping (my $50+ grocery bill today attests to that!).
This was my lunch all put together. I made some adjustments to the recipe (I couldn't help myself, and I was too lazy to buy everything I needed).
Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya
Serves 4 (a generous 1 1/4 cup serving)
Ingredients
Olive oil
Heaping spoonful of minced garlic
Half an onion, chopped
Half a bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 oz fully cooked chicken sausage (it was two links in my package), sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1 cup water
14.5 oz vegetable broth
Handful fresh spinach
Dash of red chili pepper flakes
14.5 oz (1 can) diced tomatoes
1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
In a large pot saute chicken sausage in garlic and olive oil, mix in vegetables and saute until tender. Add brown rice, water and broth, bring to a boil then simmer for about 30 minutes or until the rice is done (I'm wondering if leaving the rice a bit uncooked would lessen the amount of broth the rice soaks in later). Add spinach leaves around the last 10 minutes of the rice cooking so it can cook down. When the rice is done, add the red chili pepper flakes, tomatoes and chicken, bring to a boil then eat (or let cool and freeze/refrigerate). Add hot sauce as desired.
The majority of my patients are on Medicare and getting their diet/social history I've learned that oftentimes trips to the grocery store might only happen 3 times a month. A MONTH! I probably end up going 3x a week. Between transportation issues, food stamps and such, my patients are at the mercy of frozen, canned and packaged foods (lets be real, even if I didn't work and had all the time in the world I wouldn't food prep an entire month's worth of food from fresh produce within 3 days of grocery shopping to then freeze). I can't go one day without a fresh piece of fruit so the reality of living that way hits hard, it's also an interesting thought to try to live that way. Maybe next month? Although really, to go without fresh bananas and apples (applesauce just isn't the same thing!).
I've been really bad about putting up new recipes, now that my apartment is all set up and I'm getting settled at work, I'm getting back into looking up recipes and going actual grocery shopping (my $50+ grocery bill today attests to that!).
A glimpse of my new home! It's really spacious and the high ceilings and windows make it feel even roomier. I have a huge closet you can't see, built in shelves (I'll have to get a snap of that once my pretty plates are up), the table and chairs I found at this furniture store in Keene (Penelope's) and was on sale for $80 and best of all, it fit in my car! The people at the store were super friendly, I stopped by several antique stores and consignment shops and I could easily start amassing too many things. I'm trying to figure out the lamp situation but that's a work in progress :)
But back to food, now that I eat meat but am too squeamish to handle raw meat, rotisserie chickens are my new favorite buy and there's tons of ways to use all the meat. I get a baby bird for under $5 at the store and I take off all the meat (took me 10 minutes, I know because I was also hardboiling eggs at the same time). I shred most of it for quesadillas, soups, salads, etc. The bigger pieces are great for sandwiches or wraps. Here's a slideshow with 55 ideas for a rotisserie chicken. I ended up going for the chicken and sausage jambalaya (it's kind of scary how much meat I eat these days, although I would say at least 50% of my meals are still vegetarian, I made this yummy mac and cheese last night...).
Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya
Serves 4 (a generous 1 1/4 cup serving)
Ingredients
Olive oil
Heaping spoonful of minced garlic
Half an onion, chopped
Half a bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 oz fully cooked chicken sausage (it was two links in my package), sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1 cup water
14.5 oz vegetable broth
Handful fresh spinach
Dash of red chili pepper flakes
14.5 oz (1 can) diced tomatoes
1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
In a large pot saute chicken sausage in garlic and olive oil, mix in vegetables and saute until tender. Add brown rice, water and broth, bring to a boil then simmer for about 30 minutes or until the rice is done (I'm wondering if leaving the rice a bit uncooked would lessen the amount of broth the rice soaks in later). Add spinach leaves around the last 10 minutes of the rice cooking so it can cook down. When the rice is done, add the red chili pepper flakes, tomatoes and chicken, bring to a boil then eat (or let cool and freeze/refrigerate). Add hot sauce as desired.
