Spaghetti and Sauce

When you don't know what to make and you're hungry now, one of the easiest and fastest dinners to make is spaghetti with red sauce. We love spaghetti around here! Making your own really tasty sauce is super easy. First, put a separate pan of water on to boil for your pasta.

The DishDiana: Tomato Sauce

1 large can crushed tomatoes (28 oz)

1 crushed tomato can of water

2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

2-4 TBLS sugar (I use sucanat)

basil - 10-15 leaves - fresh is best, chopped

oregano - teaspoon or so - again I like fresh, chopped

In a medium saucepan, add all ingredients. Heat it up and you're done. You can cook it all day, or just for a few minutes. As with many dishes, the longer you cook it, the better it tastes!

The Pasta

Pasta of your choice

Pan of boiling water

Once your water is boiling you can add your pasta. If you want it quick, use angel hair pasta. It cooks in about 3 minutes. Don't cook it longer or it will get mushy. Other pastas can take anywhere from 8-12 minutes and they are all good. Drain the pasta. Return it to the pan and add a few tablespoons of the sauce to keep it from sticking.

Serve it with grated parmesan. Again you can't beat fresh parmesan. You can buy a 5 oz. wedge of Frigo around here for about $2.50.

Notes: As with anything you make, there are all kinds of little tips and tricks you can do to change things up. I find it difficult sometimes to write about a recipe because all of these little things are going through my head. I'll try to hit the main ideas for you and if you have any questions, let me know. First of all, if you don't have fresh ingredients try it with what you have. You'll appreciate the difference more when you try it with fresh. It will still taste good! You could sauté the garlic before adding it to the sauce. It will soften the intensity. You can leave out the sugar if you cook it long enough. You add the sugar to reduce the acidity. Sometimes I'll cook my sauce for hours and I've actually cooked it for days. The sauce becomes deep red and thick. You do have to continue to add water. You can use oregano flakes, I just prefer it fresh. For the pasta, the directions say you can add oil and salt. I don't.

Garlic: Fresh garlic is better. The jarred garlic is okay, but it still doesn't hold a candle to fresh. If you need other reasons to go fresh, here they are. It's cheap. Maybe 30 or 40 cents a pod. No waste. You don't have to throw away a container. Also, you can grow your own too. Buy a pod and break up the cloves. Stick each clove in the ground with your thumb (rough side down). That's really cheap! And it's fun to watch. They will sprout before you know it.

Basil: You can't beat fresh basil. The difference is huge. I grow my own and it's super easy. Throw some seeds on loosened soil and cover them lightly with soil. You can also store the basil through the winter by mincing it with a little olive oil in a food processor, dividing it into ice cube trays, freezing it for a couple of hours and then store the basil cubes in a freezer container.

About Sucanat: This is cane sugar in it's less processed form. The name comes from SUgar CAne NATural. It is brown and still has molasses in it. I use it for everything that requires sugar. I buy mine online through Amazon.com. It costs between $2 and $3 per pound. You can also get it at Whole Foods, Market Street, Sprouts, Target, and I used to get it at Kroger. It's cheaper in bulk.

Enjoy!

Popcorn in a paper lunch bag!!!

I like this one! Quick, easy and cheap. The DishDiana for the day is POPCORN! Who doesn't love popcorn. The problem with microwave popcorn is that most of them have hydrogenated oils and lots of sodium. Here is a healthier alternative that's simple and fun. If you don't have a microwave popper, you can use a brown paper lunch bag! I tried this years ago and was unsuccessful. I attempted it again tonight and figured out what I did wrong the first time. Here it is:

Popcorn:

1 brown paper bag

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

Put the kernels in the bag (need I say that???) and fold the end of the bag over 3 times. Pop it in the microwave and cook on high for about 2 1/2 minutes. When the popcorn popping slows down to one pop second, take it out.

Toppings:

I'm sure the list could be endless here. Tonight I tried something new.

Bragg Liquid Aminos

Powdered Garlic

I sprayed the popcorn with Bragg's Liquid Aminos and then sprinkled it with garlic powder. Very tasty.

Option 2:

Bragg Liquid Aminos

Nutritional Yeast Flakes

Option 3:

Melted Butter

Salt

This is the old standby. Yes it has fat and dairy and sodium, but it's preferable to any packaged popcorn and it tastes much better.

Notes: The reason my popcorn in a bag didn't work so well the first time I tried it was because I didn't have enough kernels in the bag. You can find Bragg Liquid Aminos and Nutritional yeast at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Market Street and sometimes at Kroger's in their healthy food section. Liquid Aminos is a soy based product that contains 16 amino acids. It is an alternative to soy sauce and Tamari. It contains 160mg of sodium for a 1/2 teas. You use very little with the spray.

I hope you try this and send me some of your ideas for tasty toppings. I'd love to have a healthier version of the caramel or kettle corn flavor.

Thanks for reading and Happy Eating!

Baked French Fries

Today, as many other days, I found myself trying to figure out what to eat tonight. Sometimes, when I can't think of anything for dinner, I make breakfast. That's what I did tonight. The DishDiana for the night - french fries. Actually, potatoes, cut like fries and baked. Yummy.

Baked French Fries (serves 4) Broil

4-5 small to medium potatoes with the skins - washed

garlic (powder or fresh)

parsley

oregano

black pepper

paprika

1 TBLS olive oil

Turn your oven on to broil. Cut your potatoes however you want - trying to keep them all about the same thickness. Place them in a bowl. Dry them off with a dish towel. Pour the oil over the potatoes and toss them. Sprinkle all of the spices over the top and toss well. Put the potatoes on one or two cookie sheets in a single layer. Place under the broiler for 10 minutes. Flip over the fries and broil for an additional 10 minutes.

Notes - use whatever spices that you want. If you don't want to use oil, don't. They will cook just fine without it. The spices will stick just fine too. The paprika gives the potatoes a nice color. You just want to cook them long enough to make them soft. To tell if they're done, stick a fork in it. That's fun to say! If it goes in easily, they're done. The smaller you cut up your potatoes - the faster they'll cook (increased surface area for those of you inspired by science).

Suggestion: This one dish inspired me to make omelets. Tonight I made them with fresh bell peppers, onions, garlic and mushrooms. I added a touch of 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese. I sprinkled a bit of cilantro on top too. It would taste yummy without the cheese. I have some fries and veggies left over. They will be great for tomorrows breakfast!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 potato large (3" to 4-1/4" dia) (299.0 g) 1 potato medium (2-1/4" to 3-1/4" dia.) (173.0 g) 1 potato small (1-3/4" to 2-1/2" dia.) (138.0 g) 1 NLEA serving (148.0 g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 161 Calories from Fat 2

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 0.2g 0%

Saturated Fat 0.1g 0%

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1g

Monounsaturated Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 17mg 1%

Total Carbohydrates 36.6g 12%

Dietary Fiber 3.8g 15%

Sugars 2.0g

Protein 4.3g

Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 28% Calcium 3% • Iron 10%

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Notice that the calories are minimal for a medium-sized potato. 161. If you eat a teaspoon of the olive oil, you're adding about 37 calories ending up wish a dish that is 198 calories if you're interested in that sort of thing. I like to think that I've just made something that's pretty easy and I didn't pick up fast food. Notice that a medium serving of fast food fries is 380 calories - that includes a lot of fat and sodium.

I got the calorie charts off of http://caloriecount.about.com

Fast Food Fries

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 4 1/10 oz (117.0 g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 380 Calories from Fat 171

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 19.0g 29%

Saturated Fat 2.5g 13%

Sodium 270mg 11%

Total Carbohydrates 48.0g 16%

Dietary Fiber 5.0g 20%

Protein 4.0g

Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 15% Calcium 2% • Iron 6%

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Why Start this Blog?

Because ... I want to eat healthier and so do you. Let's accept the fact that we're all busy and some of us are too tired to do much of anything at the end of the day. The idea here is to make just one dish a day that is healthy or at least healthier than the quick alternative.

The dish may be as simple as popcorn - air popped with pure ingredients instead of the microwave popcorn that contains a bunch of stuff that no one should be eating. I'll make different kinds of breads where the ingredients are simple and the only time consuming part of the process is the waiting. I'll talk about making healthier ingredient choices, comparing calories and comparing ingredients where possible.

For some of the recipes, I will include pics and videos.

I can't wait to get started. I hope this becomes a fun adventure for you and me!