TUESDAY TIPS: The New Year

*With the new program, add fruit as much as possible. If nothing is in season, buy frozen and then defrost in little snack bags. I’ve been adding blueberries and strawberries to my morning cereal. My leader is adding apple to her yogurt. The road is endless!

*Have you ever tried anything OTHER than chips with cheese dip? Next time slice up some zucchini and try that. Raw zucchini has very little taste and is a great alternative to the unavoidable cheese dip.

*Water, water, water. It’s just as important in January as it is in July.

*Do weight loss for yourself. Make sure you give yourself the personal time and devotion it takes to get the weight off and keep it off. The most important piece of advice I have ever received from a leader was “Give the 30 minutes it takes to go to a Weight Watchers meeting to yourself. It’s your time to get away from the kids, spouse, cleaning, work or whatever keeps your mind busy all the other time. Give it to yourself.” And that’s what I think about every week when deciding to go or not….this is MY time!!

*With the New Year and the endless resolutions revolving around weight loss and diets, give Weight Watchers a chance. It’s been around forever, many doctors suggest it and it’s just a great way of life. This January will be my 6th year with the program and I’ve lost 80 lbs and still go to meetings. No…it didn’t take me six years to lose my weight…but attending meetings on a regular basis is something that I believe in very strongly and enjoy. Weight Watchers is not a diet, it truly is a way of life.

*Really evaluate what you are eating on a day to day basis. Get back to the basics….remember the food pyramid we all learned about in elementary? Get those fruits, vegetables, milks and proteins!

*Here’s to all of us having another successful year in whatever your resolution may be. Cheers from the Everyday Cook

Happy New Year!! How many of these traditions do you follow?

I'm sure all of us have our very own New Years food traditions....mine eating at least a spoon full of black eyed peas...but it seems like every year I hear of new ones so I thought I would share some interesting facts out about our traditions or superstitions if you may.

*Legumes: beans, peas and lentils are symbolic for money. Apparently different parts of the world choose different legumes....I.E- Brazilians have lentil soup; Japanese eat sweet black beans; Germans traditionally have lentil or split pea soup with sausage; and us Southerns in the United States, we eat Black Eyed Peas. This tradition traces back to the time of the Civil War in a small town in Mississippi. They ran out of food while under attack and apparently the residents of the city found some black eyes peas thus dawning the small legume "lucky".

*Pork: Symbolizing progress. The animal that continues to push forward, rooting itself in the ground before going forward. Again, a vast variety of pork dishes throughout the world but here in the U S of A, we eat it because we feel the rich fat of the meat is an indicator of wealth and prosperity.

*Cooked greens: green leaves look like money!!! And don't we all want just a little more of that from time to time. Danish eat stewed kale sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon; Germans enjoy sauerkraut (of course they would!) and the United States eats collard greens. Never tried collard greens?? Try this for a tasty green treat.

*Grapes: This one was a first for me. The people of Spain eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight....one for each bell tole. This interesting tradition started when there was a grape surplus in the country and it stuck. Each grape represents a different month and the goal is to consume all 12 grapes before the last stroke of midnight.

*Fish: Cod more specifically. This started long before the time of refrigeration and cod was easily preserved and transported. Danish eat boiled cod; Italians enjoy dried salt cod between Christmas and the New Year; The Polish and Germans consume herring at midnight; Japanese eat herring roe for fertility, shrimp for long life and dried sardines for a good harvest.

*Germans leave a little bit of food on their plate past midnight to guarantee a stocked pantry in the New Year. And the Philippines believe it is important to leave food on the table at midnight. Why?? Eat as much lucky food as you can, just don't get too greedy or you'll spend the first part of the New Year in the gym!

I hope everyone had there traditional food today because I sure ate my spoon full of black eyes peas and maybe next year I'll try for another one of these interesting traditions.

Source: Epicurious

Spaghetti and Meatball "Stoup"

"Stoup"- according to Rachael Ray is thicker than soup but thinner than stew and this is a great recipe for your first adventure into stoupland. I've adapted mine from Rachael's recipe and I think I did pretty good.

Source: adapted from Rachael Ray

Serves: 2- her original recipe is written for 4, but I am firm in believing only cooking the amount of servings you have people. Feel free to double or make alterations for you and your family/guests

Ingredients:

10 baby carrots, sliced

2 ribs celery, sliced

1 small or 1/2 large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 8oz can of tomato sauce and 1/2 of another small can

2 cups chicken/vegetable broth

1/2 ground beef/turkey/venison

1/8 cup bread crumbs, Italian if you have them. If not, add a tsp or two of Italian seasoning

1/8 cup plus 2 Tbl egg beaters

2 cups egg noodles

Preheat a med. soup pot over med. heat. Add a tsp of olive oil, carrots, onions, celery, garlic and saute 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and broth and cover pot. Turn up heat and bring to a fast boil.

While your soup is warming up, start making the meatballs. Mix the ground meat with the bread crumbs and the egg beaters. Roll into meatballs. I try to make an even number for easy splitting.

Once the tomato and broth mixture is reached the boil, slide the meatballs into soup. Bring back to a boil and then stir in spaghetti. Reduce the heat and simmer soup 10 minutes more stirring one or two times, until pasta is tender and meatballs have cooked through.

Feel free to serve with crusty bread but I have never chosen this route. Enjoy!

Caramel Corn

Nothing says holidays better than peanut brittle and caramel corn....so this year was my time to try my hand in it. I think both of them turned out pretty good!

Ingredients:

12 cups air popped popcorn

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup light karo syrup

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking soda

Put popcorn in a big roasting pan.

Mix the brown sugar, butter, syrup and salt in a sauce pan over med. heat until it's a foamy boil. Quickly stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla and then 1/2 tsp baking soda (in that order). Mixture will foam. Pour quickly over popcorn (stir well) and bake 1 hr at 250. Must stir every 15 minutes. Cool in pan and then break up.

SUNDAY Slow Cooked Soup: Beans and Greens

Nothing says cold winter day better than a pot of beans cooking all afternoon. And when I say, all afternoon, I don't mean standing over the stove baby sitting them. This wonderful soup is a low maintenance meal that you will cook again and again. It may sound tough and labor intensive, but give it a chance. I enjoy cooking throughout the day and warming up at the end of the night with a hot bowl of soup and nice glass of vino.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup dried Great Northern white beans

1 med. onion, chopped

1/2 bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 lb turkey sausage (kind of like kielbasa)

4 cups chicken broth

4 cups water

1 bunch of greens, stems removed and chopped....feel free to experiment with this one...but my preference is collard greens

to taste: salt, pepper and red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Place the beans in your soup pot with enough water to cover them. Covered, bring to a boil and then turn off heat. Let the beans stand at least one hour.

2. Drain the beans and set aside. In the same soup pot, add the onion, bell pepper and sausage. Cook until the vegetables and sausage are slightly browned, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the beans, chicken broth and water to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours.

4. Add the greens, salt and pepper. Stir well and continue cooking over low heat, covered, until the greens are tender. Another 30-45 minutes.

*I normally start step one when I get up and just leave them in the warm water until I'm ready to start the remainder of the steps.

*The greens may seem like a lot but they really cook down. If this is your first time using them, feel free to use less. We just found ourselves really enjoying them so every time I make this I end up adding more and more.

*There are recipes out there using canned beans that don't take near as long...but I just find this slow cooked meal really self-gratifying, extra yummy and relaxing. Plus, no sodium in dried beans like there can be in the canned ones.

Fruit Dip

There are tons and tons of different fruit dip recipes out there using ingredients such as: jello, yogurt, cottage cheese (yes, I found one), cool whip and the list continues. My favorite...and the favorite of a few of my friends happens to use:

1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme

1 pkg of reduced fat cream cheese, softened

2-3 Tbl orange juice

Using an electric mixer, whip the marshmallow creme with the cream cheese. Once those are nicely incorporated, stir in the orange juice. If you drink orange juice on a regular basis and keep it in the fridge...use that. If you're like me and never have the stuff around, feel free to buy ONE orange and juice it yourself! For an extra flare, stir in some orange zest.

Use with fruits of your liking!

*If you're using apples, sprinkle them with some lemon juice to help them from going brown. Using bananas....soak in pineapple juice! Enjoy

Microwave Peanut Brittle

WOW!! I can't believe this was the first time I've ever made peanut brittle but it definitely won't be my last. Super easy, super fast and super yummy!! Try it with your family...they'll thank you.

Ingredients:

1 cup raw peanuts (found in the produce area)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light karo syrup

1 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

Place peanuts, sugar, syrup and salt in a microwave safe dish. Cook in microwave for 4 minutes. Remove and stir and then cook for 4 more minutes. Stir in butter and cook for 2 more min. Remove and stir in vanilla and baking soda. Pour on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray and let cool. Break in pieces.