Stocking Your Kitchen and Being Prepared For Every Meal

In order to be prepared for every meal, there is certain food I like to keep on hand at all times.


Fridge

• Meat
  Chicken, beef, fish, turkey. I prefer to eat a verity of meat, but stick with a leaner meat with most meals.

• Vegetables
  I always have lettuce, spinach, broccoli and parley. These green vegetables are loaded with nutrition which is why I like to eat them on a daily bases. Since they make a great addition to a salad, my fridge is often packed with bell peppers, cucumbers, cauliflower, mushrooms and carrots. Loading your salad with a verity of vegetables makes it more enjoyable to eat.

• Fruit
  Fruit is great at breakfast, part of a salad or as a dessert. I limit myself to 2-3 servings a day, sometimes 4.
  
• Eggs
  Eggs are a great way to get your morning protein and the yoke has a lot of nutrition. 

Pantry

• Dried fruit with no added sugar
  Dried fruit without added sugar is hard to find. It is important to stay away from food with added sugar. Fruit is already very sweet and dried fruit is even sweeter since the water is removed. Adding sugar to it only makes it sweeter and causes your blood suger to rise more than it should. Since raisins don't have added sugar, I keep them around. Raisins are really sweet, so be careful on how many you have at once.
  
  
• Nuts
  Even though they are high in fat, nuts are a great addition to a diet. The fat they contain is a good type of fat, and fat is needed in a healthy diet. I most regularly eat almonds, but also keep other nuts around for verity. I have at least one serving a day.
  
• Nut Butter
  Nut butter adds verity and is very good with fruit and vegetables.
  
• Seeds
  Seeds are a great addition to a salad, stir fry or any mix of vegetables and fruit. As I stated in my previous post, Quinoa is a new addition to my diet and I now keep this seed in my pantry. I also like to keep flaxseed.
  
• Cocoa
  This is 100% cocoa, chocolate without the added sugar. You can buy this in the baking section as cocoa powder or 100% cocoa bar. Yes, it is bitter, but in my opinion, very tasty. Once upon a time I couldn't stomach this. However, when I stopped eating food with added sugar I started to enjoy the taste of 100% cocoa. I keep it around because I love chocolate and when I want chocolate this is what I eat. Sometimes I go for the 85% or 99% cocoa as well.
  
• Honey
  Honey is a great natural sweetener.
  
• Canned Tuna or Chicken
  You come home from a long day of work, didn't plan dinner and need to eat now! Grab a can and mix with some vegetables, quinoa and olive oil.
  
• Olive Oil
  A heathy fat to add flavor to your meats and vegetables.
  
• Spices
  Great addition to salads and meats. Be careful about the spice mixes you purchase, a lot of them have added sugar. Always look at the ingredients.
  
• Vinegar
  Another great addition to salads
  
• Hot Sauce
  Most hot sauce consists of dried peppers, vinegar and salt. This is another great way to add flavor to your meals. Again, take a look at the ingredients to make sure there isn't any added sugar.
  

Freezer

• Meat
  Fish, beef, chicken, etc. Cosco sells individually wrapped wild caught frozen fish which has been a life saver for me. They defrost in 20 mins and take 20 mins to cook. This makes for a great back up meal for the days you don't have any fresh meat on hand. You can certainly do the same thing with chicken or beef.
  
• Vegetables
  I personally never keep these frozen because I always have fresh. However, I believe that frozen vegetables are great to keep around for the days you may run out of fresh.
  
• Fruit
  Frozen fruit makes a great dessert.

Swimming and Quinoa, My Two New Discoveries

Swimming
I decided to add swimming to my routine after a friend offered to observe me during her practice once a week. According to her, I would need to devote three 15-20 minute secessions a week, one day with her and two days on my own. This would be a great opportunity to cross train, so I decided to substitute it with time I previously devoted to running.

Every swim I feel an improvement. Previously, the only “skill” I had in water was keeping myself from sinking. I tensed up using too much energy to maneuver myself through the water, fighting rather than working with the water.

Sometimes the things you resist/fear the most are often things you end up enjoying the most. Today my dogs, who were very skittish about running water, learned to enjoy playing in the sprinkler.


Quinoa
Quinoa is a seed from the quinoa plant. I discovered quinoa this past year and it is an exciting addition to my diet. This seed is cooked just like rice and can often be used as a replacement for rice. Though it’s main calories source is from carbs (having 39g in once cooked cup, 156 calories from carbs), it also has a significant source of fat (4g in a cooked cup, 36 calories from fat) and protein (8g in a cooked cup, 32 calories from protein). It is also lower in fat than many other seeds.

Here is a comparison between quinoa, born rice and white rice. The nutrition information I found on the quinoa varies a little bit by source.
1 cup cooked:
Quinoa – 4g fat, 39g carbs, 8g protein
Brown Rice, medium grain – 1.6g fat, 45.8g carbs, 4.5g protein
White Rice, medium grain – 0.4g fat, 53.2g carbs, 4.4g, protein

I use it as a side dish adding a little extra protein and a verity of protein to my meals. I really enjoy the texture and the taste and find that others I introduce it to also enjoy quinoa, health nut or not.

My mom and I decided to make stuffed grape leaves using quinoa as a replacement for rice. I can honestly say my mom’s stuffed grape leave recipes (meat and vegetarian) are the best I have ever tried. The results of the substitution were satisfying.

The meat turned out to be good. The texture and the flavor were good being in par with the rice version; The rolled leaves did not fall apart while eating. I will definitely make these again. The vegetarian filling with the quinoa was extremely yummy. However, the rolled leaves fell apart while eating. Next time I would use the vegetarian filling to stuff something else, like a pepper, or just eat the filling alone.

Below are the recipes. Try them out and let me know what you think or if you have any ideas.

Meat Stuffed Grape Leaves
2lbs Beef
2 cups Quinoa
Lamb bones, chops or whatever (optional). Enough lamb to make one layer on the bottom of the pot.
1-2 jars Grape leaves
7 spice – eyeball the amount
1 small can of tomato sauce or an equivalent amount of fresh chopped up tomatoes.
Juice of 1 lemon
Water
Big pot

Mix all the above together except for the tomatoes and the lamb meat/bones. Put one layer of lamb on the bottom of your pot (optional). Fill the leaves with the meat. See link below to an instructional youtube video. Layer the leaves in the pot, tightly packing each layer. Pour the tomatoes on top and add water until it covers the grape leaves. Put an upside down plate on top of the leaves to keep them tightly packed while cooking. Cover and bring to a simmer. Simmer 30-45 minutes. When the quinoa is cooked, they are finished. Five minutes before finishing add juice of one lemon.

Vegetarian Stuffed Grape Leaves
1 can garbanzo beans, mashed
1 cup quinoa
Juice of 1/2 - 3/4 of a lemon
Olive oil – about 1/2 cup, but to your own liking
Water
Big pot

Mix all the above together, except water. Fill the meat with the leaves. See link below to an instructional youtube video. Layer the leaves in the pot, tightly packing each layer. Add water until it covers the grapeleaves. Put an upside down plate on top of the leaves to keep them tightly packed while cooking. Cover and bring to a simmer. Simmer 30-45 minutes. When the quinoa is cooked, they are finished.

Youtube video on how to stuff and roll grapeleaves.