How do you conduct love to eat and still look fabulous? That’s the million-dollar question most moms would love to answer. Women love everything about food: the look, feel, smell, taste and even the sound of it cooking.
We create beautiful meals for our friends and family and spend hours in the kitchen, yet have such a push-pull, love-not-so-much-love relationship with food, feeling guilty after enjoying a scrumptiously delicious meal or dessert—regretting every bite. Truth is, we don’t have to experience remorse after enjoying sweet or savory self indulgences, there is a way to “have your cake and eat it too.”
A Healthy Lifestyle Recipe
Add 1 cup of passion for food and 2 cups of nutritional savvy topped with snappy time-saving tips and you have the ingredients for a practical, yet tasty recipe for a lifetime of eating.
Energy Eating: Busy moms know that sitting down to 3 square meals a day (plus 2 healthy snacks) can be a challenge. It is tempting to nosh on not-so-nutritive snacks while juggling household chores, play dates and personal appointments.
Take time the night before, when the kids are in bed, to set aside your tasty snack and meal options for the next day. Thoughtfully fill snack bags filled with mixed nuts and dried fruit (nothing says yum, more than the sweetness and salt in roasted and salted almonds and raisins!), cut up fruit, whole grain crackers with cheese sticks or ¼ cup of hummus and sliced veggies. By eating a satisfying, flavorful snack or meal at least every 3 hours you’ll guarantee less overeating at mealtimes.
Cooking with Love: Moms know balanced nutrition is one of the many ways we take care of and nurture our children. Time savers can make a big difference in quality time that can be spent with the kids. Cook once, eat twice or three times. Consider preparing meal staples in bulk, saving you time in the kitchen.
Prepare a whole roasted chicken for dinner. Save part of it for chicken soup the next day and chicken tacos for supper. Chop, shred or dice vegetables for more than one meal at a time—chop a salad for dinner and reserve one cup of chopped broccoli and onions for omelets the next morning. When you have a relaxed, enjoyable pace in the kitchen, you can really appreciate the beautiful food you’re preparing for yourself and your family, and you reap the benefits of “prepared with love” home cooking.
Beth’s Kitchen Sink Salad
The easiest way to get all those beauty-enhancing, energy-bestowing, immune-building vegetables into your daily diet is to have a salad with every lunch and dinner. For lunch, I love a big salad with protein, the more greens and raw veggies the better. You can’t overdo it. Mix your own dressing to avoid unnecessary, energy-zapping sugar.
Salad
- 4 cups mixed greens
- 6 ounces grilled salmon or chicken breast
- 2 cups chopped raw vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, shredded carrots, chopped celery, sliced radishes, or whatever else is fresh and in season
- 2 tablespoons of my Italian Dressing
Italian Dressing
- ½ cup Balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar
- 1 teaspoon dried crushed Italian seasoning (or a pinch each of dried oregano, basil, and thyme)
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
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