PORTIONING

Ashley’s diet ruminations of the day: 

How I Keep That Hundred Pounds Off, in other words.

*measuring out nuts for bedtime snack now*

A really huge problem with obesity in America - I know we eat trash, that’s the other huge problem - but really, a big part of it is that Americans just eat TOO MUCH. What a restaurant serves you, just for one, is usually twice a meal!

I cook on the weekends, if you haven’t figured that out by now 😊, and bento box my portions for the week. 

I think we all probably have a tendency, too, to think we can go on eating what we always have been able to eat - no? 

Our metabolisms slow down with age. If you haven't figured that out yet - hold on, it's coming. 

Note that! That means if we want to stay the same weight with a slower metabolism, WE’VE GOT TO EAT LESS THAN WE’VE BEEN USED TO.

I hit the ‘40-year-old’ slowdown a couple years early, I think, but it definitely happened. I kept the weight off! But I’m eating less to do it.

Think about it. Legit think, if you’re struggling with your weight. Lots of times it’s not really a fad diet you need, you know. 

It’s just - not eating as MUCH.

PORTION what you eat. For me, I count calories to keep portions in check. A lot of people don’t want to do that; I get it, it’s work. It's just what works for me!

Measure it. Weigh it. 

Count out how many servings are in that box or bag and separate them out. Figure out how to make 2 oz of pasta a dinner serving! (I add bulk, vegetables and lean protein.) Food scales are the best, too. Get a food scale. They’re cheap, I picked mine up for $10-$15, I think.

Use your measuring cups. Buy that food scale! We ALL overestimate when we're estimating.

KNOW what you're eating - and KNOW HOW MUCH.

InstaPot Burrito Bowls

I LOVE this recipe. Burrito bowls used to be such a mess: your meat, your rice, your beans and whatever else, all cooked separately equaled a total mess of a kitchen, no?

Here it goes all in one Instapot. 

I just used one chicken breast; you can use more, of course, if you like more chicken. But this chicken breast was almost a pound (13 oz) itself, so I called it good!

Chicken breast, trimmed, diced tomatoes, ground cumin, a touch of chili powder (adjust for heat), and garlic powder into the InstaPot: cook on Poultry for 15 minutes. 

Release the pressure carefully. Add in a cup and a half of rice (you can see I’m a rice snob, using brown because it’s healthier, and Basmati because I like it best, lol), a can of black beans, and a cup and a half of frozen corn.

Use your own black beans if you had time to prepare them ahead! I usually do, for the sodium factor, I just didn’t have time since I was on vacation last week.

Stir; replace the lid (don’t forget to turn your exhaust back to ‘Airtight’!), and set it for 16 minutes on the Rice setting.

When it is done, let it rest for another 10 minutes before opening the lid. 

Shred the chicken with a fork and stir back into the other ingredients to combine. 

I portion this out as burrito bowls, myself, because of the gluten-free issues with finding the large tortillas, but you could certainly use it as burrito filling as well. I top with Greek yogurt (easier to find gluten free than low-fat sour cream) and sometimes sharp cheddar cheese.


INSTAPOT BURRITO BOWLS

Ingredients:
1 lb skinless boneless chicken breasts, trimmed
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 T ground cumin
Chili powder, to taste
Garlic or onion powder, to taste
1 1/3 C chicken stock
1 1/2 C brown rice
1 C frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 14-oz can black beans

Add chicken breast, tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, garlic/onion powder, and chicken stock to InstaPot and stir to combine.

Properly close the lid. Start cooking on 'Poultry' mode for 15 minutes.

When cooking is done, release pressure and open lid.

Add brown rice, corn, and black beans and stir to combine. Replace the lid, making sure exhaust vent is closed, and set to 'Rice' setting for 17 minutes.

When cooking is done, let rest for another 10 minutes before opening lid.

Shred the chicken and stir back in to combine with other ingredients.

Servings: 7
Calories per serving: 257

InstaPot Green Beans

I was very wary of vegetables in the Instapot - I thought they’d be too fragile to stand up to pressure cooking - but green beans do GREAT.

You know I tend to buy my vegetables in bulk. I bought two of these bags for the week.

Thankfully they did not need much trimming! 

Lessons from the knife skills class inserted here: how to hold a paring knife! See how my forefinger’s steering the paring knife?

Filled up the Instapot, and just barely covered with beef broth. 

Put the lid on, set on Pressure Cook (pressure high) for two minutes, and - go!

Then I release the pressure manually when they’re done, so they don’t continue cooking, and drain in a colander. 

So nice and easy! And that’s green beans for the week!

Notes from the Knife Skills Class

My father and I took a Knife Skills class at our local community college yesterday- very interesting, we both learned a lot and had a ball!

I can’t quite figure out how to show you the motions of the knives the she showed us, nor how to use both hands with a chef’s knife - I live by myself and don’t have anyone to take pictures!

I can show you how she taught us to HOLD the knives, though: we were using the paring knife and the chef’s knife in class. Namely - get your hand on the blade! You see how I’ve got my forefinger steering the paring knife here? 

And wrapped even better around my chef’s knife! 

You can’t control the blade if you’re not holding onto the blade, she said. 

This is me with my Santoku knife, here.

The chef teaching us also did not recommend spending a bundle on knives! Important to note, because we all know knives can add UP. Better, she said, was to buy knives that feel comfortable in your hands, that you’re willing to replace every couple of years when they dull out on you. 

This was a recent set I picked up at Sam’s Club-  I’m not getting paid for any of this here, by the way, lol, I haven’t figured out how to get paid for a blog yet!- an Emeril Lagasse set, that are a good enough weight to feel comfortable in my hands. Plus it’s got the cutting boards with it for the different raw foods, which is great, because I never feel I can really get raw-meat bacteria off cutting boards. 

It was a steal, only about $20, but I was pleased enough with it after what Chef Bernadette said yesterday, that I’m going to go back and try to snag another one if I can find them, to have a replacement set ready when I need them.

The other two things I’m adding to my kitchen after yesterday: a new knife sharpener and a scooper-off-the-cutting-board tool. 

I had one of these little things, but the sharpening steel was what we used in class, so that’s what I’m getting. The sharpening steels are not expensive at all, I’m getting one for less than $15.

What I mean by a scooper-off-the-cutting-board is one of these things. You are not-not-NOT to use your knife. Dulls them past redemption, she says, and is just something chefs feel quite strongly about, apparently. Thus.

Right around $5. Nice and affordable.

The chef's actual notes on using knives to scoop off the cutting board: she sent us home with these.

"Despite the ease in turning a knife sideways and using the blade to scoop up freshly diced items, it can be quite dangerous and can dull or damage a blade. If you do this, get in the habit of sliding the knife against the spine, instead of the cutting edge."

Hence why I'm buying a 'scooper.'

Other notes she gave us on Knife Handling and Safety:
"Sharp and honed - You should always keep a knife sharp and hones. Dull cutting edges require more force and have a tendency to slip or bounce off objects. This forced, jerky, unpredictable movement could direct the blade towards your hand.
"Grip - Grip the spine of the blade, just above the heel nearest the bolster (my note: that's where the knife attaches to the handle) between your thumb and forefinger, wrapping your hand around the handle. This technique, called the pinch, will give you precise control over the blade and keep your fingers out of harm's way."
(My note: see how I'm holding the chef's knife and the santoku knife above.)
"Chopping, slicing, dicing - Guide the knife with your other hand, keeping your fingers curled in. The blade of your knife should rest and slide against your knuckles (take care not to life the cutting edge higher than your knuckles). This will give you precise control over the size of the cut, and by curling your fingers in, it will keep them out of harm's way. (Note from my father: watch your thumb, though!) Instead of pushing straight down into an object, slide the knife towards or away from you. This delicate sawing motion will let the knife do all the work - a good knife will naturally 'fall' into an item will little effort.
"Mincing -When mincing, keep your other hand flat and place the tips of those fingers on the spine at the tip of the knife. You can now use the tip of the knife as a pivot point for the blade. This will allow you to mince quickly without your hands being in the way."
(My note: she's using a chef's knife for mincing, the top third of the blade, just rocking the knife back and forth across your garlic or shallots or whatever.)

Browned Butter, Thyme, and Pumpkin Pasta

I took the requisite picture of ingredients for you here:


But for those of you who are on my Facebook page, I promised you rosemary pasta, didn’t I?








Zoom in.

I’ve emptied out the entire spice cabinet. Apparently I have used the last of my rosemary and forgotten to put it on the list.

Thus. I am grateful for a well-stocked spice cabinet, and we’re going to give thyme a go in this recipe. I think thyme and pumpkin will go well together, and let’s face it, just about anything goes with butter. 

Celiacs, note the pasta here. Tinkanyada is probably my favorite of the gluten free pastas, though the rice noodles from the Oriental Market are easier and cheaper!  This is a whole grain pasta (brown rice and rice bran), and you all KNOW how hard it is for us to get whole grains. It’s fairly easy to find around here now, and I was pleasantly surprised that my grocery only wanted $2.68 for it now, which is GREAT. (Those of you not familiar with the price of gluten free pasta, these bags used to go for $5 or so. Typical GF pasta price.)

So! Done with talk of ingredients. Let’s get started, shall we?

Get your pasta water heating. You’ll be cooking your pasta while you put the sauce together.

Browned butter is going to be our first lesson. I absolutely adore browned butter; it adds an extra depth of flavor to anything you’d usually use just melted butter on. Toss it just on your vegetables one night and see what I mean!

Browned butter is tricky, though. “Browned” turns to “burned” lickety-split if you’re not careful. Get all your ingredients ready to go for the sauce before you put your butter in the pan, and make sure you’ve got extra butter so you’re willing to toss the first batch out if it burns. 

Everything all together on the side of the stove: go ahead and open that can of pumpkin too.

And the half stick of butter ready to brown in my cast iron!

CHECK that cast iron. The older you can find your cast iron the better (I’ve got a friend who’s found his favorites in thrift shops) - this came from the mother of a friend of mine, who was breaking up housekeeping to go into a nursing home probably fifteen years ago now. This cast iron has probably been in use going on seventy years. 

When they talk about “seasoning” cast iron? There is nothing but NOTHING that seasons cast irons like a half century of use.

Anyway. Digression over. Back to the butter.

Melt your butter over medium. 

Once it’s melted, add your thyme (or rosemary, if you've got it 😊), turn heat to HIGH and start stirring.

You can see mine kind of clarified first - that’s what you call the frothy bubbling, for those of you who don’t do this often 😊 - but keep it on high and keep stirring, and it moves past clarifying to browning pretty quickly.

I know it's kind of hard to see the browning in a dark cast iron skillet. Didn't think of that when I grabbed my cast iron!









Once it browns (it was right about two and a half minutes for me), turn your heat DOWN to medium right away, and add your milk and your can of pumpkin.

Stir it together, and thin it down with some broth if you need to. I had a cup of broth sitting there when I started and used about two-thirds of it.

I’d been cooking my pasta this whole time - you can see the pasta pot to the right there, I’d been giving it random stirs, though Tinkanyada is good about pretty much cooking itself - and everything got done about the same time.

It was, naturally, at THIS point I remembered I’d bought a bag of spinach to add to this recipe.

That’s my favorite trick to keep pasta servings in check, you know, because I really can eat my weight in the stuff. I almost ALWAYS add vegetables to my pasta. I’d debated between broccoli and spinach for this, and decided on spinach; asparagus might be good too. It’s good by itself, just the sauce and the pasta, but toss in extras if you want.

Between the pumpkin and the spinach, this makes up for the butter, never fear! 

So I started the spinach.  I’d already sauced the pasta, because Tinkanyada is good about not sticking together while it is cooking; but it sure will if you let it sit afterwards. 

Toss it together!

I topped it with parsley and my favorite shredded fresh Parmesan.

--And now that you know how good pumpkin is as a savory, go spread the word to all those pumpkin-spice-latte-loaded-with-sugar folks, LOL!--

BROWNED BUTTER, THYME, AND PUMPKIN PASTA

16 oz gluten free pasta

4 T butter

1 1/2 T thyme

1 14oz can of pumpkin 

1 C milk

2/3 C chicken broth, or as needed

2 lbs fresh spinach, wilted

Fresh Parmesan and parsley, to top

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Melt butter over medium. When butter has melted, add thyme and turn heat to high. Stir until butter has browned, about two minutes.

Add milk and pumpkin. Stir until smooth. Add broth until sauce is desired consistency.

Toss sauce with pasta and spinach. Serve topped with fresh Parmesan and parsley.

Servings: 7
Calories per serving: 330