A new year is always a good time to think about change and
taking steps to achieve goals. I usually
think about eating better due to the gluttony of the holidays.
 |
| Sun Setting on 2015 |
Recently, one of my favorite authors, Michael Pollan, had a
television show based on his book, “Food Rules”. It captured my attention and gave me some inspiration
for eating, cooking, and making change for 2016 because the rules were simple
and funny.
In 2016, I will share in this blog, the rules set forth in
his book, and how I try to apply them to my daily life with a job, family, and
other responsibilities.
Michael Pollan is not a scientist or a nutritionist, but a
regular person like you and me, who just wants to know how to eat better. As a parent of a child with food allergies, shopping
and cooking safe, healthy, and nutritionally packed food is a daily focus.
Michael Pollan suggests in his book, “Food Rules” that how
to approach eating and nutrition can be boiled down to these seven words:
“Eat Food, not too much, mostly plants”
Eat Food: Early on in
managing food allergies, most people discover that the best option for eating
is real, whole food. My son’s packed
lunches have always garnered the attention of his daycare providers, teachers,
and other parents with comments like: “He has the healthiest lunch” and “You
are lucky he eats vegetables”. Trust me,
there were many mornings that I wished he could just eat something from the
store shelf, but in the end, I am thankful that we were pushed into eating more
whole foods and less processed foods.
 |
| A sample of my recent order |
Mostly Plants: I thought that I was doing a good job of
providing vegetables and fruits in our diet, but realized that I depended on
mostly broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, cucumbers, apples, bananas, beans, and
potatoes. I have been influenced over
the last two year to add more variety in our vegetables and eating more of them
on a daily basis. We recently subscribed
to a home delivery for organic fruits and vegetables. Everyone in the house looks forward to our
weekly box of veggies and now I hear my family say things like kiwi, squash, and
kale. Let me know if you want more information
about home delivery as I can help you save $$$ on your first order.
Not too much: Admittedly, pregnancy had a big influence on
me for “not too much” as I couldn’t handle larger meals and switched to smaller
portions with healthy snacks. The
following recipe incorporates all of these rules. This meal feeds my family of five for two
dinners.
Butternut Squash Chicken Enchiladas
1 butternut squash
¾ cup of chicken stock
12 corn tortillas
1 can of white beans
2 chicken thighs
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Shredded Cheese (optional)
Chopped Cilantro (optional)
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Prepare the butternut squash by slicing in half, lengthwise
and removing seeds. Place in a casserole
dish with ¼ cup water and salt and pepper. Salt and pepper chicken thighs and place in dish with
squash.
-Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove chicken and continue to bake squash
for another 20 minutes or until it can be easily pierced with a fork.
-While the squash is finishing, sauté onions and garlic with
1 tablespoon of oil. Divide onions and
garlic into two equal portions.
-Remove skin and meat from chicken thighs. Discard the skin and bones and cut the meat
into small bite sized pieces. Remove the
rough skin from the squash and mash squash.
Divide the chicken and squash into two equal portions.
-In a large casserole dish, pour ¼ cup of chicken broth on
bottom of pan. Layer 6 corn tortillas on bottom of dish. Next, place a layer of squash, chicken, beans,
onions, and garlic. Pour ¼ cup of chicken stock over dish. Repeat sequence of tortillas, squash,
chicken, beans, onions, and garlic. Once
more, pour ¼ cup of chicken stock over dish.
Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Serve with shredded cheese and cilantro and a bountiful
salad.
