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Easy Ideas for Dad’s Day Dinner

June 16, 2022

Happy Father’s Day weekend to all the dads in my blog audience! In your honor, I’m sharing a few ideas to accompany those steaks on the grill, or salmon, if you prefer.

(That’s a little joke because NEVER would be the day when Mr. Non-Compliant would choose salmon over steak to celebrate his special day, even though he likes salmon.)

I don’t know about you, but I prefer to sit and relax with the family and not spend much time in the kitchen doing prep work. That being the case, I’m tossing out some very simple ideas that don’t require much effort.

Whether the dad in your life wants steak, chicken, hamburgers, or even salmon, hopefully you’ll find a side dish that will be just the right accompaniment, with minimal kitchen time.

SAUTÉED MUSHROOMS

Clean a pound or so of cremini mushrooms. (All mushrooms absorb water like sponges. Only rinse them if they’re going into a salad or soup. If you’re pan-frying, just rub them down with a damp paper towel or brush them with a pastry brush.) Sauté in olive oil or butter over low-medium heat until slightly brown.

SAUTÉED ONIONS

Since it’s Vidalia season slice up a few and sauté them until they’re brown and delicious.

TOSSED SALAD

Combine several varieties of greens and add any combination of tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, shredded carrots, zucchini, radishes, etc. Toss with a simple dressing of extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper, or favorite dressing.

QUINOA SALAD

Here’s a link to a recipe that you could make the day before. Easy peasy. Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

BAKED POTATOES

While you could make any potato variation, this is the easiest. Scrub potatoes, coat with olive oil and kosher salt, wrap in foil, and bake. You could even put these on the grill so that you don’t have to heat up your kitchen.

FRUIT SALAD

Yes, this takes a bit of effort to make. However, a friend of mine once told me that he enjoyed a fruit salad because someone put a lot of love into cutting up all that fruit. Enough said.

If you’re looking for something special to make for dad and need some help figuring out how or what to make, I’m here to help. Shoot me an email and we’ll come up with a dish that is just right.

This weekend, Mr. Non-Compliant gets a free pass with his food choices. I’ll try to maintain silence.

Happy weekend!

Sending you love,
Health Coach Carol

“And so God created dads so that there would forever be bedtime-story-readers and cover-tuckers, shoulder-carriers at parades and star-pointers on clear nights, bike-riding coaches and driving instructors, love-providers and proud protectors. And He saw that it was good.” —Melvina Young

Dad's Day Father's Day fruit salad Mr. Non-Compliant mushrooms onions potatoes quinoa salad salad

The Clean Fifteen and a 5-Minute Habit

June 9, 2022

Food, Health

Last week I covered the Dirty Dozen— the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) 12 recommended fruits and vegetables that should be organic whenever possible, due to the excessive pesticide use.

This week, I’ll give you the list of the Clean Fifteen—those fruits and vegetables that are low in pesticides.

You may choose to buy organics in this list, however it’s not as critical. When budgeting for groceries, you may want to spend the extra money on those that are listed in the dirty dozen and save money by choosing the conventional produce listed here.

The Clean Fifteen

Avocados
Sweet corn*
Pineapple
Onions
Papaya*
Sweet peas (frozen)
Asparagus
Honeydew melon
Kiwi
Cabbage
Mushrooms
Cantaloupe
Mangoes
Watermelon
Sweet potatoes

* A small amount of sweet corn, papaya and summer squash sold in the United States is produced from genetically modified seeds. Buy organic varieties of these crops if you want to avoid genetically modified produce.

When I shop, if the organic variety of what I’m looking for is of good quality, I’ll buy it. If it looks sad, or if it’s not available, I’ll buy conventional. I do my best to avoid conventional when buying produce on the Dirty Dozen list.

Buying local produce in stores and from farmers markets is fresher and more nutritious than produce shipped from afar. At farmers markets, you can inquire as to whether the produce is grown organically. Many times, it is.

A Healthy 5-Minute Habit

My most recent 5-minute healthy habit is one that is perfect for summer. I’ve been putting together a fruit salad after dinner as our dessert.

It’s a sweet treat that is full of nutrients, fiber, and very satisfying.

Any combination of fruit works. Pick up what looks good when you shop and have fun tossing it together in different ways.

Much love,
Health Coach Carol

“Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.”—Miles Kington

5-minute habit clean fifteen Dirty Dozen farmers markets fruit salad local produce Miles Kington organic

In Celebration of June and the Dirty Dozen

June 2, 2022

Food, Fun, Health

With the arrival of June comes Indiana strawberries. It’s also the month to continue planting your vegetables, flowers, and enjoying life.

Some fun, as well as traditional National holidays, are abundant.

Here are some of them that you may choose to celebrate, or not:

JUNE HOLIDAYS

2: National Rocky Road Day and National Rotisserie Chicken Day

3: Egg Day, Repeat Day (so you can watch your favorite movie over and over and over…) and National Donut Day (since it’s repeat day, eat more than one donut for a dual celebration)

4: National Frozen Yogurt Day

5: National Gingerbread Day

6: National Yo-Yo Day

7: National Chocolate Ice Cream Day

8: Best Friends Day

9: National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day

10: Iced Tea Day

14: Flag Day

19: Father’s Day (remember to spoil dad)

Shopping at the IGA

I was recently shopping at a small-town IGA in search of berries, apples, zucchini, and whatever else looked appealing.

While I found a most of the items on my produce list, there were no organic fruits or vegetables available.

I bought my produce anyway, since conventional produce is better than not eating fruits and vegetables. They will get washed a bit longer than if they were organic.

Here is the 2022 Dirty Dozen—the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) 12 recommended fruits and vegetables that should be organic whenever possible, due to the excessive pesticide use. This is especially important for babies, children, and pregnant women.

Strawberries
Spinach
Kale, collard, and mustard greens
Nectarines
Apples
Grapes
Bell and hot peppers
Cherries
Peaches
Pears
Celery
Tomatoes

If you are trying to decide which items to splurge on when buying organic, you now have your updated list.

Cheers to June,
Health Coach Carol

“Be shore of yourself. Come out of your shell. Take time to coast. Avoid pier pressure. Sea life’s beauty. Don’t get so tied down on work that you miss out on life’s beautiful waves.” – Advice from the Ocean

Dirty Dozen Environmental Working Group EWG IGA June organic pesticides strawberries

Guess What I Caught Mr. Non-Compliant Eating

May 26, 2022

Family, Fun, Health, Hope

About a week ago, I walked into the kitchen and saw Mr. Non-Compliant (my dear hubby) eating breakfast.

Up-close inspection revealed that he had a bowl of Greek yogurt, the plain unsweetened variety, with a bit of granola sprinkled in, and a sliced apple on the side.

“Really? You put this together all by yourself?” I said. “Who ARE you?”

Now, to be clear, I’ve seen him eating Greek yogurt and granola before, but usually with a generous amount of honey (he’s been cutting back on the honey over time), and a piece of toast in place of the apple.

I was in shock.

“Are you ruining your reputation?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” he replied ever so calmly. “I’ll make up for it later.”

And he did. I witnessed him gleefully enjoying a brownie later that day.

The point of this brief exchange is to give you hope. Hope for you and/or the people you live with, as you practice eating more nutritionally dense foods in place of some that aren’t.

The apple and toast are both carbohydrates. The difference is that the apple—a complex carbohydrate—will not spike his blood sugar like toast, offers a wider variety of nutrients, and even has fiber. (He won’t eat whole grain bread.)

This was huge.

He’s learned that he must eat some protein at each meal, less added sugar is better, and carbohydrates in the form of fruits and vegetables is preferred over foods made from white flour.

He still enjoys his treats, however, a little goes a long way. Many foods that he was used to eating on a regular basis are too sweet. His taste buds have adapted and are now happy with less.

I saw an article on dessert-inspired breakfasts: Boston Cream Pie doughnuts, Tiramisu pancakes, Carrot Cake waffle breakfast sandwich. None of those are happening in my kitchen, and Mr. NC is fine with that.

It is possible to change your taste buds with a bit of patience and conscientious eating.

Cheers to your progress!

Much love,
Health Coach Carol

“You will find that your taste buds have a memory of about 3 weeks.”—Neal D. Barnard

added sugar apples granola Greek yogurt Mr. Non-Compliant taste buds

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