Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Slug day


Kind of a sluggish day for my son yesterday, so as a result I had to do a lot of waiting for him to catch up and finish with things so we could move on. Part of it was that he literally wore himself out playing hours of some kind of balloon tag with a room full of toddlers on top of singing for two services on Sunday. The other reason was eating the food at the Shower- including cake. I am noticing that eating with a focus on nutritionally dense foods makes your body preform better, and when you take it down a notch to eat "regular" foods, you feel it. Both guys were in a sluggish fog yesterday, and I sincerely think it was because of the food.It takes more work to digest lower quality food, plain and simple. Not that it will never happen again, but it is an observation. A day of dense eating will bring em around again .

Breakfast was Millet with dried fruit compote

Millet with Dried Fruit Compote

1 cup millet
dash of salt
2 cups water
1-½ cups dried apricots and prunes combined
1 cup chopped nuts and seeds such as walnuts, sunflower seeds, or cashews
2 cups orange juice, preferably fresh squeezed
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 TBS honey
optional vanilla yogurt

Cut dried fruit into quarters and simmer in small saucepan with orange juice, lemon juice, lemon zest, and honey for just about 5 minutes.
Remove fruit with a slotted spoon to a small bowl. Continue to cook sauce reducing it to about half in volume.
Return fruit to sauce. While sauce is simmering, bring water to a boil over high heat in medium sauce or soup pan. Add millet and bring back to a boil. Cover, and turn heat to low. Cook about 15 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the millet is tender.
Stir chopped nuts or seeds into the millet at end of cooking. Top with stewed fruit sauce and a little vanilla yogurt.

Serves 4

After exercising with the Wii Walk it out we moved into a very slow school day, and eventually took a break for lunch- a black bean salad with grapes


15-Minute Black Bean Salad

½ cup minced onion
2 medium cloves garlic, pressed
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered( I used 2 whole, chopped)
½ cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
3 TBS fresh lemon juice
salt and black pepper to taste


1. Mince onions and press garlic and let sit for at least 5 minutes to bring out their
health-promoting benefits.
2. Mix all ingredients together and serve. This salad will keep for a couple of days and gets
more flavorful if you let it marinate in the refrigerator for awhile. Serves 4

The afternoon found me busy with my own work and eventually it was time for dinner. One of my favorite styles of cooking is oriental ( I love the way it looks ) and i was looking forward to making this one all day Chicken Bok Choy stir fry and a salad of Romaine, oranges and red onions


15-Minute Stir-Fried Chicken & Bok Choy

2 TBS low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup chopped onion
2 TBS fresh minced ginger
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1½ cups sliced fresh baby portabello mushrooms
4 cups chopped baby bok choy
2 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS rice vinegar
salt and white pepper to taste
pinch of red pepper flakes


1. Heat broth in a stainless steel wok or skillet.
2. When broth begins to steam, add scallions and Healthy Stir-Fry for 2 minutes.
3. Add ginger and continue to stir-fry for another minute.
4. Add chicken and continue to stir-fry.
5. After 2-3 minutes, add shiitake mushrooms and bok choy. Continue to stir-fry for another
3-4 minutes, and then add soy sauce, rice vinegar, salt, and pepper. Serves 4

4 comments:

WWSuzi said...

I have never tried millet. I'll have to keep an eye out for it!

Di said...

Millet is kind of a cross between the chew of rice with the mushy of mashed potatoes and a very mild taste. To be honest on its own it tastes a little like wall paper paste, but for this reason it takes on other flavors really well. It seems most people get introduced to this one through multi grain bread. I find mine in my produce store- they carry a lot of different ethnic type cuisines. I thing Trader Joes carries it as well.

Anonymous said...

What a great resource!

Anonymous said...

nice post. thanks.