Healthy meals for working moms

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One more question for my school-teacher sister: Give some suggestions for nutritious meals that are quick and/or don't require an expert cook. We are looking for low-cholesterol meals, as well. Also looking for tried-and-true meal tips from other working moms. My sister has admitted that, as a family, they do not eat a very healthy or balanced diet; she sees this as a good chunk of her family's health problems.

By the way, Melissa, I put this under "Time Savers", but maybe there should be a "Working Moms" and/or a "Nutrition" category?

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), December 19, 2001

Answers

This takes about 20 minutes and is healthy. This is the basic recipe of an original. Especially quick if you have veggies frozen. Saute onion, green pepper in olive oil, add drained tofu-crumbled . Add any other vegetable, like broccoli, a jar/can of beans-black is especially good. Add herbs and spices, like ginger, garlic-lots of garlic, soy sauce, salt, whateer you like. Add salsa, simmer a few minutes. My husband, the meat potatoes and bean man, loves this stuff. If you have time in the morning, you can marinate the tofu if soy sauce and flavored vinegars. Great with noodles or left over mashed potatoes or rice. Bread and butter, and fruit. Enjoy

-- Cindy (SE. IN) (atilrthehony@hotmail.com), December 20, 2001.

One of our favorite healthy, cheap meals is what we call "Fried Cabbage". It's really just a basic stir fry. In a wok, or large skillet, saute whatever veggies you like. Use a small amount of veggie oil, and drizzle soy sauce over everything as it's cooking. I always try to include onions, garlic and carrots, and then just add whatever else I have. Squash is really good in this! If you want to add meat, anykind will do - chicken, turkey, pork, beef, rabbit - it's all good! But, meat is not necessary. I've never eaten tofu, but I'll bet it would work well in this dish, too! Add 1 chopped up head of cabbage to the pan (it will cook down!). As it's cooking, season with salt, pepper, more soy sauce, a little ground ginger and about 1 tsp. of sugar. The tiny bit of sugar really intensifies the flavors. This can be served over rice, noodles, or just on it's own. My hubby and MIL love it. My kids prefer PBJ sandwiches! :-)

-- Cheryl in KS (cherylmccoy@rocketmail.com), December 20, 2001.

How long does it take to boil water?

Italian Dressing 1 package frozen peas 1 lb Angel Hair pasta diced cooked ham or hard sausage

Start with homemade Italian dressing, or use bottled if you prefer.

Put you water kettle on to boil. Put frozen peas in colander then dice your meat. Add pasta to boiling water. Angel hair pasta cooks in 4 minutes.

Drain cooked pasta over peas in colander. Place peas and pasta back in pan and toss with meat and dressing. Serve with grated parmasan cheese.

This recipe method is adaptable for many different vegetables, pastas, and dressings and is only limited by the creative cooks' imagination.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@hotmail.com), December 20, 2001.


I read in a magazine onece that this woman, who works a full time job, as soon as she walks in the door, she puts a pan of water on to boil!! Even if she isn't sure what she is going to fix, she figured she could make something if she has water boiling...

-- Melissa (me@home.net), December 20, 2001.

I like the boiling water idea! If nothing else, you can humidify a room with it!

This is not the fastest thing I make, but it is very tasty, usually leaves leftovers for lunch, and is basically fat-free if you do it as follows:

2 quarts cold water 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 onion, chopped 4 stalks celery, sliced 5 carrots, sliced 1/2 cup frozen green peas 6 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon fresh snipped or 1 teaspoon dried parsley

Put all together in a pot to boil until chicken is done. If broth is not strong enough to suit you, add 1 can of purchased fat-free broth or your own frozen. Remove chicken to plate to cool slightly and add:

8 to 12 ounces of yolk-free egg noodles (these hold together better than regular egg noodles)

Chunk up chicken and re-add to pot. Stir and serve with homemade toast. Yum!

To make this faster, you could pre-chop, blanch and freeze the onion, celery, and carrots. You can also use canned mushrooms instead of fresh, just add them when you put in the noodles. I like this because you can put it together and go off to take care of other business for 45 minutes or so, then come back for about 15 and have dinner!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@aol.com), December 20, 2001.



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