Foodarrific» Healthy Eating

Meatless quesadillas

Chili Queen — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:02:59 +0000

One of our favorite things to eat on vegetarian days is homemade meatless quesadilla, my version.

As with most things that I cook, I don’t really have the recipe. This is what you will probably need but feel free to adjust the portions based on what your family likes:

red (tomato) sauce
onion, sliced into rings
tomatoes, sliced into rings
mushrooms
bell pepper
cheese
tortilla

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Spread red sauce on the tortilla as a base. Layer on the onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, bell peppers and top with cheese. Fold the tortilla in half. Bake for about 20-30 minutes and you’re ready to dig in.

We love quesadillas because they’re both healthy and delicious and so easy you can practically whip it up in an underground storm shelter if you had to.

Mother’s Day gift idea: A California Healthy fresh fruit and nut basket

Chili Queen — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:26:25 +0000

California Healthy

Crispy, crunchy, sweet and savory – our collection of fresh fruit and nuts is just the right mix of healthy and delicious. Fresh apples and oranges are surrounded by a collection of California grown roasted salted mixed nuts, roasted salted pistachios, roasted salted cashews, honey cinnamon almonds, chocolate toffee almonds and mocha almonds. All packed in a handsome wooden crate.

Stirfried broccoli and carrots

Chili Queen — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:55:33 +0000

This is one of the dishes that I prepared for my son and stored in the fridge to be eaten later. It’s so easy and so healthy you’ve just got to try it.

I used:

2 heads of broccoli, cut into large florets
0.5 bag of baby carrots
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1 small slice of salmon
mushroom/oyster sauce
cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste

First, I heated up some oil in a non-stick pan on medium to low heat.

Place the slice of salmon, lightly salted and peppered, in the pan and let it fry slowly first on one side, then flip over and allow to fry until cooked through and both sides are lightly brown. This should take roughly 10-12 minutes.

Remove the salmon to a plate. Using a fork, break up the salmon into flakes and remove the bones. Leave aside.

Add a bit more oil in the pan on medium heat and lightly fry the garlic for a 2-3 minutes till fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will taste bitter.

Throw in the carrots and add a splash of water and leave it for about 5 minutes to soften up.

Add the broccoli, a dash of mushroom/oyster sauce and a sprinkle of pepper. Stir-fry for approximately 5-7 minutes till the broccoli is cooked. Watch closely to ensure broccoli is not overcooked or it will turn yellow.

Serve on a plate (or in my case, I placed in a Rubbermaid container for refrigerating) and top with the salmon flakes.

And that’s all there really is to it. It’s really tasty and goes well with pasta, noodles or rice.

My son had some fruits left over from the fresh fruit baskets we got for Christmas and he ate those for dessert.

Chicken Margherita sans cooking

Chili Queen — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:16:37 +0000

For the second day in a row now, I’ve been having TV dinners for lunch. Not sure if they still call them TV dinners because these new and improved boxed meals definitely look and taste much more gourmet than I remember them to be when I was going to college.

This is the Chicken Margherita from Healthy Choices which claims to be a healthy, well-balanced meal made from fresh ingredients. It comes in a solid dish with the meal on the top steamer dish which drains all the juices into the dish at the bottom where the sauce/dressing is.

When you’re done microwaving your meal, you simply lift the steamer layer up and pour its contents into the dish below, stir and mix well with the sauce, and you’re ready to eat!

Sure beats cutting and cooking all this from scratch and just think of the washing up it saves you. Taste pretty good too. The chicken is soft (not hard and frozen as you might imagine TV dinners to be). No, I’m not getting paid to say this.

The instructions vary slightly depending on what meal you’re cooking. It was pretty challenging to read the small print. I had to squint and now I need the best eye wrinkle cream!

Whole food by the pound

Chili Queen — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:28:49 +0000

Yes, I’m still here in sunny California enjoying the cool morning breezes and hopefully cooler temperatures this weekend. Well, last weekend, we visited Whole Foods, a grocery store that’s packed with organic food, healthy food and all that’s good and green, even for those with malignant Mesothelioma.

Well, we also found a little surprise. They have a buffet corner where you can pile your recycled paper plate with yummy, healthy food of your choice. What’s interesting is that at checkout, just present your filled plate and you get charged for your food by the pound.

This is what I had. Fish and a few chips, mashed potatoes (yes, I was starving!), salad, chow mein and curry chicken (miss my spicy so much!).

Blueberry yogurt

Chili Queen — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:01:28 +0000

I’ve just had a bowl of blueberry yogurt. It wasn’t bad but I have to admit it wasn’t what I expected. On a friend’s recommendation, I bought a tub of plain yogurt and added a bunch of fresh blueberries to it.

I love yogurt but I never thought to add fresh fruit to plain yogurt. Decided to give it a go since she swears by it. But if you ask me, it’s as strange as us wearing pirate costumes to someone’s birthday party.

The plain yogurt is tasteless and the blueberries weren’t sweet. So that made for quite a bland snack. I’ll be it’ll taste a whole lot better if the blueberries were sweet. The up side is it’s healthy and very good for your tummy.

Juicing away

Chili Queen — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 09:44:39 +0000

Lately I bought a juicer and have been busy whipping up fruit juice for the family. My kids love the juices at Juice Works but each time we walk away with a few cups, it breaks the bank. Pretty much!

So I figured it’d be cheaper, in the long run, to buy a juicer and juice away all we like. We don’t have to be confined to the ones on the menu. We can mix and match any fruits we like.

Eat, or drink more, fruits and you may well end up paying less on your Blue Cross Blue Shield NC plans . No, but seriously I always feel we aren’t eating enough fruits. Now with my handy-dandy juicer, there are no more excuses.

big pots of soya bean milk

Chili Queen — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 07:46:06 +0000

These are blazing hot, sunny days we’re having with little reprieve. If you can’t run away from the heat and make like a piece of office furniture in an air-conditioned building, what’s the next best thing to do? Why, have a cool, refreshing glass of soya bean milk, of course!

For the past two weekends, I’ve been brewing big pots of my very own homemade soya bean milk. I don’t have the machine which I understand makes only one cup each time. Not enough for us . We do everything big!

A huge big pot of soya bean milk makes me a few jugs and barely costs me a few bucks. I stick it in the fridge and it’s all gone, guzzled (burp!) by morning. It’s so ridiculously inexpensive and healthy I can’t resist making lots of it ! Cheers!

recipe: sesame chicken

chili queen — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 05:54:18 +0000

Whenever we eat out, the kids always seem to order Sesame Chicken, if it’s on the menu, that is. As is usually the case, when we order one plate, it’s not enough for my Sesame Chicken lovers. If we order two plates, I’ll start thinking how many plates of it I can cook at home for the same price !

So the next best thing is to cook this at home where I can make a big enough portion without worrying about the bill. I mean, this is so simple and inexpensive to make at home.

I usually use boneless chicken fillet or deboned drumsticks for this, just like the restaurant. The pieces should be cut fairly large, then drenched in a mixture of flour, pepper and salt.

There’s two steps to cooking this. First I deepfry the chicken pieces on high heat till lightly brown. I know what you’re thinking. That we probably have to jump on our ellipticals and peddle like crazy afterwards to work off the weight gain .

Remove chicken and pour away the oil from the wok. I add some hoisin, or sweet and sour plum sauce and a little water and let it come to a boil. Then return the chicken to the wok and mix to coat with the sauce. Just before serving, sprinkle sesame seeds on top and garnish with fresh cilantro. And you’re ready to dig in.

My Sesame Chicken is a bit saucy because the kids like to spoon it over their rice. It’s the perfect wholesome and yummy dish if you have young kids because the chicken is boneless and the sauce is sweet with a light tang and kids are fascinated by the speckled look of the sesame seeds. Try it !

loaded omelette, my version

chili queen — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:48:01 +0000

This is probably one of the easiest, last-minute dish you can whip up on days when your brain juices seem to run dry and you can’t figure out what to cook.

I got the idea for this loaded omelette from the mamak (Indian Muslim) shops where they often either serve a plain omelette or a loaded one like this. Their ingredients are different though with red and green peppers, I think. I can’t remember exactly. I’m usually too hungry to notice .

Anyhow this is my version of the loaded omelette. Simple, different from the real thing but just as delish! You only need 3 main ingredients.

1 medium tomato, diced with seeds removed
1 medium onion, cut into rings
3 eggs

I just heat up some oil in a non-stick frying pan while I beat the eggs in a bowl, adding in the tomato and onion, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Then I just pour everything into the pan and swirl it slowly around to ensure the entire bottom area of the pan is covered. Leave it to cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes until the base is evenly cooked.

The flip the omelette over and leave to cook for another couple of minutes. And that’s it. You’re ready to serve this wonderfully tasty and healthy dish. With all the nutrients in there, you won’t need to be reading arcona reviews anytime soon. You can serve it over rice and curry or even for breakfast with bacon, sausages and baked beans.

This loaded omelette recipe is loaded with healthy ingredients. If you’re a college student who’s new to cooking, this is the perfect recipe for you. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s healthy and it only uses 3 ingredients. What’s not to love ?