Dinner Diva: Don’t lose your cool

The last thing you need to be doing in the middle of the summer is turning on your oven to make dinner. Unless you like huge utility bills and the extra heat pouring out of your kitchen, that is.

I have an easy rule for summer: no oven recipes. My Menu-Mailer subscribers know this and to their great relief, I provide menus from now until September without using the oven. It’s easy to implement yourself—let me tell you how you can do this.

You want to keep the heat in the kitchen to a minimum—especially if your air conditioning is insufficient. So move the cooking, if you can. Utilize your barbecue (and there are SO many great recipes just begging for a barbecue – like the one below!) as much as you can stand it. You can even grill veggies on the barby—try it, it is absolutely delicious. You can get these nifty little pans with holes in them and grill to your heart’s content (kind of essential, unless you don’t mind zucchini slipping through the grill slats). I toss my cut up veggies in a little olive oil and they’re just wonderful grilled. Try this combo: red bell pepper, red onion, zucchini, summer squash and mushrooms. YUM!

Another keep-the-kitchen-cool idea is to use your crockpot elsewhere. We used to put it on the screen porch, but I have heard of people moving their slow cookers to the laundry room. You can have all kinds of delicious things cooking in that thing and never have to worry about heating up your kitchen. When you’re dealing with woefully inadequate air conditioning, every little hint helps.

And don’t forget things like main course salads, sandwiches and fast and easy stove-top suppers.

Doing all of these things will give you a summer kitchen that won’t get you all hot and bothered—know what I mean?

Here’s a recipe to get you grilling!

DO AHEAD TIP: Make the marinade and get your chicken marinating the night before or first thing in the morning.

Grilled Lemon Garlic Chicken

Serves 6

6 (6-oz.) boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

6 cloves garlic, pressed

2 teaspoons　thyme

In a small bowl combine lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and thyme to make marinade. Put the chicken in a 1-gallon ziploc-type plastic bag and the pour marinade over chicken then seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6 to 8 hours or overnight. If you can, squish it around every now and then to distribute marinade. Drain chicken, discarding marinade. (Don’t even THINK about using it again!)

Light the barby till coals are to a medium-high heat. (Not red hot, but slightly ash-y if not using gas). Grill for 5 to 6 minutes per side or until cooked through. (You can also cook this on the stove top in a skillet: heat a little olive oil and cook till browned on each side, about 5 minutes per side or until cooked throughout)

Per Serving: 278 Calories; 11g Fat; 40g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 99mg Cholesterol; 112mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 5 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 2 Fat. Points: 7

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Serve with brown rice, grilled asparagus (lightly steam first, brush with a little olive oil and finish them on the grill—YUM!) and a huge salad.

Need more ideas for keeping your kitchen cool this summer? Be sure to check out our Crock Cooker Ebooks for dinner “easy button” style!

Column by Leanne Ely. More at www.SavingDinner.com.

Dinner Diva: Eating like a leprechaun

An attractive meal with a variety of colors makes for a better appetite. Think about what a meal of white fish, cauliflower and mashed potatoes would like on a white plate if you don’t get what I’m talking about versus a steak, asparagus and broiled tomato halves would look like on that same plate. I’m not just suggesting colorful food because it’ll make your meal look more appealing, though that is an obvious perk, but the more colorful your meal, the more nutrients you’ll consume.

When you eat by the rainbow and start encouraging colorful eating with your kids, it’ll be much easier to coax them into participating. Instead of the “no dessert” threat, you might find that if you show them how fun choosing colorful veggies can be, they’ll have more interest in consuming them without the looming threats!

Start the fun right from the start in the grocery store. You can turn it into a game, tell each of your children that they need to pick out three different veggies that are three different colors. When you’re making dinner that evening, show them how you cooked the vegetables they picked (or better yet, have them help you cook them) and give them a portion of each color. Once again, that “hands on nutrition” rule kicks in and you’ll notice that they’ll have more of an interest since they picked it out themselves and have a vested interest.

Another game you can use to ensure your children are eating their vegetables, is allowing them to be creative around snack time. So let’s say you let them pick out the different colors and veggies again, now cut them up in different shapes and lengths. Place them out on the table and tell your kids that need to use a certain number (you choose how many) of shapes and colors to create a design. Make sure you also remind them that it’s necessary to consume whatever they create.

I challenge you to participate in all the fun and games too! Children aren’t the only ones who need more color in their diet!

Dinner Diva column by Leanne Ely

Dinner Diva: Gold stars

Have you noticed how much easier it is to get something done when there is a tangible reward attached? Everyone likes to be acknowledged for his or her efforts, don’t they?

I sure do! When I make dinner, one of the favorite parts is hearing my family respond positively. You sort of burst with pride when you hear your husband proclaim, “Wow, this is delicious!” or your children say, “Make this again, Mom!” Those are great rewards for those of us who work in our kitchens everyday to feed our families.

Rewards are great—they inspire us to do more and keep trying. Children especially are propelled toward greatness when offered a reward! They love being rewarded for doing the right thing. When I was in 5th grade taking piano lessons, my piano teacher would put a gold star on each page of music I mastered. I lived for those gold stars!

Remember this when you’re trying to get your children to eat their vegetables. They aren’t going to be telling you how much they love their green beans! Perhaps a little reward is in order, like a choosing a toy at the dollar store at the end of the week for eating as many bites of their vegetable that was on their plate each night as their age. In other words, if your child is 3, having him eat 3 bites will earn him a gold star. Put a gold star on the calendar and at the end of the week, ta da! He gets a reward!

This isn’t bribing! This is rewarding excellent behavior. You are teaching your child life skills when they learn to eat their vegetables. And vegetable eating is very important for understanding the significance of nutrition and how that will impact him or her for the rest of their lives.

This week, sit down with your children and give them the opportunity to earn a reward! Teach them that vegetables build muscles (ask to feel your child’s muscles before they eat their veggies and after—let them know you think you felt them grow!) and make sure you’re setting a good example, too! Your child won’t eat his vegetables if you don’t.

Remember—gold stars are for everyone, young and old!

Check out our >>Kids Cooking Club<< for more fun and creative ways for getting your children involved in the kitchen!

Dinner Diva: Is brown better?

I remember eating Weber white sandwich bread when I was a kid. I’d come home from school, grab a slice, yank out the middle and squish it into a small, firm white “bread” cube and eat it with relish. I think back now on those times and am completely grossed out. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I grew up on white bread. Later on, my mom switched to a wheatberry bread and I loved it and wasn’t even aware that it was a healthier alternative to the white squishy stuff I was raised on.

I often admonish my listeners of my radio show to choose brown over white–brown rice, whole wheat flour instead of their white counterparts. Brown rice has the bran still intact which lends fiber to the rice. Whole wheat flour same thing, as well as some important B vitamins. But without exception, someone always wants to know about sugar–brown vs. white or which substitute is better?

The answer should be none. We are a nation addicted to sugar in all forms and finding an appropriate substitute is a sticky wicket in my mind…shouldn’t the answer instead be to learn to go without that sweet taste? With diabetes on the rise and the implications of the sugar/inflammation connection, sugar is an enemy of huge proportions.

But all things in moderation, right? I have to tell you how much I hate that saying! Would you say that about eating rat poison or something you were deathly allergic to? Of course not. There are times in life where we need to simply buck up and understand that we need to step away from something that is causing great harm. Yes, sugar can and will do that to you!

Another question I’ve been asked repeatedly is for a good sugar substitute for baking. When I think of baking, all I see are cakes, cookies, muffins/cupcakes, quick breads and pies. Let me ask you…if you’re sitting on any kind of body clutter or are dealing with any health issues, haven’t you baked enough? So again my answer is none; there is no sweet substitute that is safe because sweet isn’t “safe”; it manufactures fat and inflammation in your body. Sure you’re going to make pie for Thanksgiving and birthday cakes for birthdays–enjoy the smallest sliver and call it a day.

Reserve any kind of sweet for the rare special occasion and make it a tiny piece or a few bites. If you’re a true “junkie” and can’t take just one bite without a binge, than stay far, far away!

I have even cut out xylitol from my diet as I don’t need to taste sweet anymore by adding anything. (Xylitol is a safe sugar substitute; a sugar alcohol, check out xylitol.org). Sweet translates to fat for me; fat on my body that I don’t need. So messing with xylitol or stevia just isn’t wise for me–I’m done with it all.

You may not adopt my policy on sweet and maybe this post even made you mad! If so, there’s a reason why–I’ve touched a nerve; perhaps you’re addicted to sugar? I invite you to rethink your allegiance and defense of baking, eating sweets and “all things in moderation”. There’s too much at stake with your health!

Are you addicted to sugar? You may need to break free–check out our series of Break Free products including our new Break Free Bootcamp!

Dinner Diva column by Leanne Ely