Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Healthy Eating: Burgers, Fries and Pizza


OMG, she's lost her mind! It's all that mindful stuff that's gone to her head and now she doesn't know her (bleep) from her elbow.

Calm down. It's all good.

The Superbowl semi-finals were on Sunday. My wonderful husband usually takes care of the cooking on the weekend, but he's a die-hard football fan. Personally, I can't stand watching a bunch of men jumping on each other, then waiting around for a few minutes and then doing it all again, with the odd burst of speed from a guy who then gets tackled by six other brawny, testosterone-charged males. I guess there's no accounting for taste and since my husband is an otherwise gentle soul, I live with football.

But back to healthy food: What could my husband make on Sunday that wouldn't take him away for too long from the games? Why burgers and fries, of course!

The burgers were home made, using ground turkey, red onion, cilantro, an egg and a small amount of breadcrumbs to bind it all together. Seasoning consisted of about 1-2 tablespoons of pickled jalapenos and some Worcestershire sauce. The buns were multi-grain, quite calorie-dense so I just had a half a bun (the shame: I admit to taking into account the calories).

The fries were made with sweet potatoes, lightly tossed in olive oil and seasoned with ancho chili pepper and cumin (no salt). Then they were baked in the oven.

On Monday night, we had pizza (yes, that's our very own pizza in the picture). I have to thank Andra (via her Facebook page) for the idea. We bought a multi-grain crust but didn't use the sauce that came with it (waaaay to much sodium). Toppings were as follows: store bought pizza sauce that had no preservatives and very little sodium (one small can was enough for two pizzas), fresh tomato slices, arugula, goat cheese, red peppers, red onion (remember the burgers?) and a light sprinkling of mozzarella. Baked in the oven for about 12 minutes with a minute under the broiler and this pizza was absolutely divine.

So think again: burgers, fries and pizza can be really healthy and amazingly tasty.

One last thing, no one pigged out and the two teenage boys were delighted with their meals...as were mom and dad.

4 comments:

  1. This is what I keep telling people, eating healthy isn't punishment it's pure joy when a little thought and care is given. That pizza looks so good!

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  2. It all sounds & looks delish! And yay: "nobody pigged out"!

    emma

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  3. I had pizza for lunch today. Mine was the evil type with a processed flour crust, fatty sausage and pepperoni, etc. And, no, I didn't feel in any way bad about it, nor will I be overeating today.

    Occasionally, there's no reason for people not to indulge in what they like. One pizza, one burger, etc. isn't what ruins people's health. It's having such things too often that causes the problem.

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  4. My husband does most of the cooking, and one of our favorite Sunday night dinner is a "pizza" made from a low carb tortilla with pizza toppings. He makes his own pizza sauce, and then puts on low fat cheese, mushrooms, olives, a little tiny bit of salami, whatever we have in the frig, etc. Then it goes in the oven for about 10-13 minutes (on a pizza stone). We each get our own individual crispy, delicious pizza. It is very satisfying, and relatively healthy compared to a real pizza.

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