Happy Back To School!

Back to school time is always a mixed blessing for me. While I enjoy having our normal routines going again, the normal routine is pretty hectic and doesn’t leave much time for things like leisurely breakfasts, meticulously packed and artfully arranged lunchboxes or hours devoted to cooking gourmet dinners. However, it is possible to make healthy and delicious versions of all of these with just a little planning. Over the next few weeks, I will be posting recipes and tips to help you feed your family as deliciously, healthfully and easily as possible when time is limited. In the meantime, peruse the recipes – and try this very popular one for Slow Cooker Tequila Chicken. Easy and delicious!

When the kids are away…

Yummy dinner!

Both of my girls are at sleep-away camp this week. While they’re off having fun in the great outdoors, I am enjoying a week of leisurely dinners. Tonight I decided to make fish chowder – a dish that would have been sorely underappreciated by my daughters. I had some frozen halibut pieces I got at Trader Joe’s and there was a handy recipe for fish chowder on the label. After a few additions and changes, I had a truly delicious (and healthy!) soup. I layered some tomatoes and basil from the garden with some roasted red peppers from a jar, drizzled with olive oil and sea salt, added a crusty Asiago  bread for sides and we had a delicious summer dinner that would have been so unappreciated by the kids.

I like this recipe because it utilizes a trick – nonfat milk powder – to make skim or lowfat milk taste richer and creamier without all the fat of a traditional chowder recipe that uses cream. Plus, you get the benefit of added calcium and protein. The combination of fresh thyme and Old Bay make this chowder taste much fancier than the ingredient list looks. A good addition (which I didn’t use) would be the addition of a couple tablespoons of sherry.

Enjoy the recipe for the fish chowder!

Don’t try this at home!

I love this article about crazy diets. The thing that most fad diets have in common is that they do not work and in many cases can be dangerous.