Dining out hack number one: look for items on the menu that are as fresh and as possible and as close to their natural state as possible. This cuts down on extra fats and sugars that you don’t necessarily need, and hopefully helps ensure that most nutrients and nutritional building blocks have remained intact. Most restaurants, when asked, are happy to do their best to accommodate dietary needs when possible. Just keep in mind that not every request is feasible, and please be flexible.

A few evenings ago, I was blessed enough to be invited to a menu tasting of new items with a small group of foodie rockstars. We met at a local restaurant that is on point with delicious food. I was very excited to see so many menu items that I could, in good conscience, and with very little adjustments, feel comfortable sending some of my wellness clients to order for a night out with friends and family. The offerings we tried were all delicious, and several fit nicely inside my personal nutritional viewpoint.
My family and I decided to have a late lunch there today and I made one such adjustment/addition to a wonderful salad that was served to the focus group on Thursday evening. Those of you that have followed me for a while know I love salads. One of my absolute favorites is caprese salad. Chef @Ed Roberts and his crew at Union Kitchen Towne Lake are doing this one right. The buffalo mozzarella is fresh and soft, the tomatoes are beefy and flavorful, the greens are crisp and varied, and the balsamic drizzle is not only just the right viscosity, but it is also not overstated. You have the option to add several proteins to any of the salads, pizzas, or entrees for an upcharge, and so I choose to add a piece of wood fired salmon to mine. This was a perfect meal for me.

If you are in the area, and wanting a light, protein packed meal, you should visit Union Kitchen Towne Lake and check out their new menu items. Stay tuned for a few more peeks at what we were able to sample.

 

A misconception of starting a healthy lifestyle eating plan is that one will not be able to find anything when eating out. This can feel limiting, and disappointing to someone who truly wants to make a shift to healthier lifestyle eating. More and more restaurants are recognizing the need for more healthful choices for their patrons. As this trend catches on, even if you don’t consider a restaurant or fast food place healthy, there are ways to make most things at least healthier. In the next couple of days, I will be sharing some tips and tricks to make eating out more balanced and beneficial to your lifestyle eating. Quick and easy little substitutions, deletions, or upgrades can make a huge difference in how your body metabolizes and categorizes the food you feed it. Remember, you truly are what you eat since your body utilizes the fuel you feed it to create new cells, so you might as well give it the best possible building blocks!

We love our friends. We love spending time with our friends. We also like to eat around here, like a lot. One of my go to quick meals for a crowd is tacos, I mean we live in Texas, so there’s that. Everyone around here seems to like tacos. It is also fairly easy to accommodate dietary restrictions when all the components can be cooked separately and served from individual containers.

Because I have a child with food sensitivities, and because so many offending ingredients hide in premixed spice packets, I make my own taco seasoning (as well as most other seasoning blends too). It isn’t because I’m a super mom or a famous name wanna be. It is out of sheer necessity that I started doing this. I will leave the recipe, that is the equivalent of a packet of taco seasoning, at the bottom of this post. I also really like making my own salsa. It is incredibly easy and tastes so much better than the jarred store bought kind. We go through a lot of salsa in this house so I usually make up a big batch about once a month. It keeps in the fridge for two to three weeks or can be frozen and thawed out for use at a later date.

I like to set everything up buffet style so that each person can put their tacos together in their favorite combination. When we have company, I always have at least two styles of meat, both corn and flour tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese, sliced olives, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. Sometimes we throw in a pot of queso  and maybe some grilled fajita meat or barbacoa. When it is just myself, my hubby, and my kids, we take a less is more approach. Taco night is always fun, relaxed, and delicious regardless of which option we end up having.

Blender Salsa:

8 large organic Roma tomatoes, quickly blistered

4 cloves organic garlic, peeled

1 medium organic sweet onion, quartered

3 oz canned organic green chilis

1 cup fresh organic cilantro

1 large organic jalapeño, you may add more if you want it spicier

juice from one large organic lime

1 1/2 tsp ground organic cumin

1 tsp organic chili powder

pinch or two of sea salt (to your preference)

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend to desired consistency.

Taco Seasoning:

1 tbsp organic chili powder

1 tbsp ground organic cumin

1 tbsp organic garlic powder

1 tbsp organic onion powder

1/4 tsp organic crushed red pepper

mix all ingredients together and mix into 1- 1 1/2 lbs grass fed ground sirloin for taco meat.

Enjoy!

Last year for Mother’s Day, my husband and kids asked me what I would like for lunch after church, and after a little direction, they made me this beautiful sirloin salad bar. It was lovely and delicious. My husband ran to the store and picked up all of the ingredients he could distinguish from a photo I had shown him of a salad that looked good to me. He doesn’t like going to the store, so that, in and of itself was an act of love. When he got home, the kids worked together to clean and slice the veggies and fruits that I enjoy. My husband grilled a sirloin to nearly exactly the right amount of rareness I like. They even laid it all out “artistically” for me. They wouldn’t let me come downstairs for lunch until everything was set up. After lunch, they sent me upstairs to read while they cleaned up the downstairs. It was so sweet and I appreciated it so much. I truly love and am grateful for this family that I have been gifted.

 

This year, things went a bit differently. My hubby has been traveling quite a bit for work and we are all tired. When they asked me what I would like to do for Mother’s Day, I couldn’t think of anything. On Saturday evening, I planned on making them some chicken parmigiana ravioli, but realize late in the afternoon that I was missing a couple of ingredients. My husband went to the store for me and came home with everything he needed to make fresh marinara sauce (it is the one cooking skill he brought into our marriage!), and whipped it up to go with the pasta. We enjoyed our time around the dinner table just spending it together and talking.

Today after church, when my husband asked me the inevitable question “where would you like to eat lunch for Mother’s Day?”, I just didn’t have any idea. I was a little bummed from some news I had received yesterday, and I just didn’t want to be out and about. We came home and ate leftovers from last evening.  I made the kids watch a documentary on Yellowstone with me, since we are heading out on another adventure before long, and we ended the day with some friends at our neighborhood pool.  Why am I telling you all of this? It is simple. I want to be real. I don’t want to pretend that everything is beautiful and perfect all the time. Life is messy from time to time. Today may not have been the picture of an ideal Mother’s Day, but it was not bad and it was mine.

Finally, here is my little tidbit of nutritional advice for the day, dark chocolate covered strawberries.  The health benefits of dark chocolate, in moderation, are a definite positive. A good quality, organic dark chocolate can help give a sense of calm and well being that build on top of its anti-oxidants, magnesium, flavanols, and other essential compounds and minerals. Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamins C and K, as well as potassium, manganese, folic acid, and fiber. Combine the two things together and you get a really tasty, and even nutritious, sweet treat. Just be sure to chase it down with a celery stick or two to minimize blood sugar impact. While we are talking about it, check out these beauties the kids and I dipped! I only had one, but it was really good.

For the strawberries:

2 cups organic dark chocolate chunks

1 tbsp cold pressed organic coconut oil

a pint of fresh organic strawberries, washed and dry

Directions: Melt the chocolate and coconut oil together until smooth, be careful not to scorch it or the chocolate will seize up and be unusable. Hold the strawberries by the leaves and stem and dip into the melted chocolate. Place the dipped strawberries on wax or parchment paper and allow the chocolate to harden. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

 

So, “who is Healthy Plate Healthy You?” you might ask. Let me share a little bit about me. I am a wife and mom to four kids; 21, 14, 10, and 9.  I am a lover of music and the written word. I am passionate about creating nutritious and flavorful meals that my family can enjoy around our dinner table. I enjoy quite moments of reflection and devotion in the mornings on our balcony.  I live for spending time with family, and friends who have become family.  I look forward to road trips and exploring new things with my kids. Above all else, I am grateful.

Growing up, I always wanted to get married soon after high school and have a bunch of bambinos. I mean, I had it all planned out……..it did not go the way I planned.  I find it amusing, and usually frustrating, when I have something that I have all figured out and then BAM!!, something happens that we didn’t see at all. God chuckles a little, shakes His head, and then says “now let Me show you how that was suppose to go.”  Let’s just say life did not take the path that I expected or wanted—–stories for another time——but what is important to note is that I am grateful for every unplanned, imperfect, and unexpected aspect of the life that I have.  Now don’t get me wrong, there are frustrations, irritations, heart breaks, and unexpected curveballs; but all of them have contributed to this love and life I get to share with my husband, kids, friends, and family. I can’t imagine much that I would trade for this chaos that I call my life, and I would really enjoy it if you would join me as I occasionally share pieces of it with you.

Mostly on this blog, I will be sharing tips, recipes, advise, and etc. on nutritional planning, cooking, and eating. Creating dishes that are not only nutritious, but also delicious is one of my great passions. I also, from time to time, really have fun putting together something really delicious, but not as nutritious…….I will most likely be sharing those too!  🙂   The other great passions of my life are; God, my husband, my children, my friends and family, and roadtrips.  These other loves will also show their faces from time to time on this blogging journey, so I have decided to call this a lifestyle blog. The lifestyle of a very average, everyday woman who appreciates and wants to share; gifts received, fun experienced, and lessons learned. I hope y’all decide to join me on this journey.

Love,

Beth