Introduction, Recipe: Spaghetti with spinach and veggie sauce, salad with croutons Play-By-Play

Introduction
Recipe: Spaghetti with Spinach And Veggie Sauce (Master File 1)

So far so good?  Here's a super easy one for you.

Spaghetti with spinach and veggie sauce, salad with croutons

Spaghetti
spaghetti, preferably whole wheat
spaghetti sauce
spinach
onion
zucchini
olive oil
any other veggies you have laying around, cut into small pieces

Croutons
1/2 baguette
olive oil
garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

• Put a big pot of water on for the spaghetti.  If you cover the pot it will heat faster.
• Lay two layers of paper towels on a plate and set aside.
• Cut the baguette into cubes.  Toss in a large bowl with 1-2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp garlic powder (more to taste), salt, and pepper.  The bread should just be coated with oil, not dripping.
• In a large saucepan heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add onion and zucchini and saute five minutes.
• Is your water at a rolling boil yet?  If so, add 1 Tbsp salt and your spaghetti noodles.  Bring it back to a boil, then drop the heat down to a gentle boil.
• Meanwhile, add the entire jar of spaghetti sauce to the onion and zucchini.  Bring to a simmer and drop the heat so it doesn't splatter all over the place.  Let this simmer while your pasta is cooking and you work on the croutons.
• Heat a large pan over medium-high heat.  Add the croutons (in batches if necessary) and saute 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until golden brown all over.  Remove with a slotted spoon or spatula onto the paper towels.
• Drain your pasta when it's done but keep it kind of wet so it doesn't stick.
• While your pasta waits take the sauce off the heat and add a handful of spinach at a time, adding more as it wilts.
• Toss the salad with croutons and salad dressing, top with any leftover Parmesan cheese you may have, and enjoy!

Variations:
Cook 1 lb ground turkey/beef/sausage/crumbled tofu/rehydrated TVP along with the veggies for the sauce.
Just about any kind of veggie can be added to the sauce.  Some things to try would be shredded carrot, celery, bell pepper, eggplant, broccoli, olives.

So how did the first week go?  We've covered burgers, pizza, and spaghetti.  Familiar recipes with a twist.  Next week we'll start learning some knife skills and techniques to make cooking with real food faster and easier.

Your Homework
Write each of these topics down on a separate line: bake, roast, saute, chop, slice, meal plan, toast, boil.
Now do a word association for each.  Write down the first thing that pops into your mind, be it a single word or a sentence, next to each topic.  We'll revisit this later.

Introduction, Recipe: White Bean and Spinach Pizza, tomato and zucchini saute, Parmesan toast Play-By-Play

Introduction
Recipe: White Bean and Spinach Pizza (Master File 1)

Ready to cook again?  It looks like there's a lot going on here but I promise it's nothing you can't handle.

White Bean and Spinach Pizza, tomato and zucchini saute, Parmesan toast

White Bean and Spinach Pizza
Source: http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/recipes/dinner/vegetarian/white-bean-and-spinach-pizza.aspx

Prep Time:10 min
Start to Finish:30 min
makes:8 servings

1/2 cup sun-dried tomato halves (not oil-packed)
1 can (15 oz) Progresso® cannellini (white kidney) beans or 1 can (15 or 16 oz) great northern beans, drained, rinsed
2 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 package (10 oz) prebaked thin Italian pizza crust (12 inch)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 cup firmly packed washed fresh spinach leaves (from 10-oz bag), thinly sliced or torn into small pieces
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Colby-Monterey Jack cheese blend or Cheddar cheese (2 oz)

• Heat oven to 425°F. Pour enough boiling water over dried tomatoes to cover; let stand 10 minutes. Drain. Cut into thin strips; set aside.
• In food processor, place beans and garlic. Cover; process until smooth. Spread beans over pizza crust. Sprinkle with oregano, tomatoes, spinach and cheese. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• If you don't have a food processor, use a blender and add a tiny bit of water.  Or just mash them by hand with a fork.  It doesn't have to be perfectly smooth!
• Prepare the Parmesan toast and put it in the oven too.
• Bake about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Check the toast after five minutes.
• Prepare Tomato and Zucchini Saute while everything is cooking.

Tomato and Zucchini Saute

1 tomato, chopped
2 zucchinis, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and saute (stir often) three minutes.  Add tomato and zucchini and saute five minutes, or until tender.  Season with salt and pepper.

Parmesan Toast

1/2 baguette
butter
shredded Parmesan cheese

Cut the baguette into slices.  Spread with butter.  Place on a sheet pan and top with cheese.
Bake at 425 degrees 5 minutes or until cheese is browned.

The Takeaway
Today you baked, sauteed, and toasted.   You made a tasty, healthy pizza that didn't arrive by car.  Everything here is generally family-friendly and minimally processed.

Introduction, Recipe: Veggie Burger Pitas

Introduction
Recipe: Veggie Burger Pitas (Master File 1)

Check out Master File 1 to see how you can prepare for this meal and the two other meals this week.

Veggie Burger Pitas, french fries, sliced apple

Veggie Burger Pitas
Source: http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/recipes/dinner/vegetarian/veggie-burger-pitas.aspx

Prep Time:10 min
Start to Finish:25 min
makes:4 sandwiches

Pitas
1 package (12.8 oz) frozen vegetarian burgers (4 burgers)
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 medium onion, cut into thin slices
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (3 oz)
Cooking spray
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 pita breads (6 inches in diameter), cut in half to form pockets
4 leaves red leaf lettuce

Topping
2 tablespoons fat-free (or regular) mayonnaise or salad dressing
2 tablespoons fat-free (or regular) sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped cucumber
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill weed or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed


Heat oven to 450°F. Spray 15x10x1-inch pan with cooking spray. Place burgers on one side of pan. Place bell pepper, onion and mushrooms on other side of pan. Spray vegetables with cooking spray for about 3 seconds; sprinkle with seasoned salt.

On another pan arrange your french fries.  Put both pans in the oven together.

Bake 10 minutes. Remove mushrooms from pan. Turn burgers and vegetables; bake 5 to 8 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender and burgers are hot.  The fries may need more or less time; keep an eye on them.

Core and slice your apples while everything is cooking.

In small bowl, mix topping ingredients. Spread topping on insides of pita bread halves. Fill each pita bread half with lettuce, burger and vegetables.

I know what you're thinking.  Veggie burgers?  Frozen french fries?  Aren't those convenience foods?  Yes, but we're doing baby steps, remember?  As you learn more cooking techniques we'll be adding in more and more fresh food. 

The Takeaway
This menu is an exercise in preparation and juggling three meal components at once.  We also learned how to roast vegetables, which is a great way to squeeze a lot of flavor out of your veggies.  How did it feel to cut up those veggies?  If you're not comfortable with a knife yet, do your best for now and hang in there.  We'll be discussing knife skills later.

Your Homework
Prepare for the rest of the week if you haven't already by referencing the "Plan of Attack" tab of Master File 1.

Introduction, Lesson 1: Pantry Raid - The Big Box O' Crap

Introduction
Lesson 1: Pantry Raid: The Big Box O' Crap
 
I'd like to talk about your pantry.  If you're like a lot of people you've either got it stuffed with convenience foods or it's nearly empty.

Convenience food out
If you've got one of those empty pantries, you don't have to worry about this.  The rest of you, I want you to go find a box or a bag or something roomy enough to hold all the crap food in your pantry.  Don't worry, we're not purging yet.  We're doing baby steps here.  Take out what you would normally eat for dinner tonight and put it in your container.  Be honest.  Were you going to make tacos with that Old El Paso kit and serve them with that box of Rice-a-Roni and a pitcher of Crystal Light?  Then maybe finish with a boxed cake mix or some pudding?  Put all this stuff into that box/bag.  Now put the box/bag in your basement or a closet.  We'll refer to this as the Box of Crap from here on out.  Please refrain from removing items from the Box of Crap for the duration of the boot camp.

Fresh food in
This week it would be easier if you would follow the plan exactly.  If you don't want to that's fine -- just please don't replace crap with crap.  Time to go shopping! I'm going to give you three recipes to incorporate into this week.  They're all easy enough for anyone to make.  They're all meatless so feel free to add the protein of your choice.
Download Master File 1, the menu, shopping list, and recipes

Recipes anyone can make
This week's recipes are:
Veggie Burger Pitas, french fries, sliced apple
White Bean and Spinach Pizza, tomato and zucchini saute, parmesan toast
Spaghetti with spinach and veggie sauce, salad with croutons

The recipes are all in Master File 1 but subsequent posts will hold your hand through each recipe.

If you have any questions on methods or substitutions, let me know!

The Takeaway:
Your food sucks.  Otherwise you wouldn't be doing this.  If it seems like you're jumping into this boot camp with both feet, you are!  Don't let that intimidate you.  The first couple weeks of this boot camp are pretty hands-on but it's nothing you can't handle. 

Your Homework:
Get that notebook, fire up your blog, or open a new word processor document.  This will be your RFBC Journal.  Write down what you put into the Box of Crap today.  If you had an empty pantry, write down what you would most likely eat for dinner tonight.

Now go shopping.

Introduction

You can call me PPC.  I'm not a nutritionist, doctor, fitness expert, or chef.  I'm just a busy wife and mom who works full time and tries to keep her family healthy.

I know a lot of people who say they want to eat healthier but they  A) don't know how to cook, B) don't know anything about food, C) don't have time to cook, and D) think they can't afford to eat better.  So I came up with a (gentle) boot camp series of blog posts to see if I could help out even a little bit.  I'm not terribly happy with the first version so I'm rewriting everything.

When you look at a cookbook, online recipes, magazine and newspaper articles, and TV reports about how we're all fat, lazy, and killing ourselves with processed food, it's easy to get overwhelmed and just go right back to that box of mac and cheese in the cupboard.  We all have to start somewhere when it comes to cooking.  I'm a big fan of the Couch to 5K running program which does exactly what it implies -- 9 weeks of baby steps to get anyone running a 5K.  It's easy to say "I'll start tomorrow" to anything in life, but when it comes to your health let's face it -- there may not be a tomorrow for some people.  So why not change people's perceptions of cooking with real food through baby steps?

I don't want to throw around a whole ton of scientific articles and info about the nuts and bolts of nutrition.  This is a series of simple steps to tip the scale from mostly convenience food to mostly fresh food.

What you need:
A notebook, a blog, or a word processor document
... that's it.