Beef Tenderloin, Creamed Rutabagas, Sugar Snap Peas and Spinach Salad

Most people don't know what a rutabaga is much less how to cook it. It's a yellow or northern turnip as my mom and dad tease. My mom's from New York and my dad from the small town in Louisiana that we live now.  Dad grew up eating regular white turnips and my mom grew up eating the yellow ones called rutabagas. They are in the sweet side and quite delicious. I cook prepare them the same way I do mashed potatoes. Peal and dice them. Then, boil them in salted water until they are tender. Add butter and milk or half & half and blend! 

Taco Tuesdays

Simple, cheap, filling, flexible, fun and easy ingredients to keep on hand. Everyone seems to love it!  Most of the time with ground turkey. But, that's the beauty of tacos - there are so many ways to make them. Chicken breast in a crock pit all day with salsa and taco seasoning (thanks Becky), ground beef, ground turkey, steak, fish...  We usually do taco salad with chips for the kids because it's easy. During Phase 1 we just do lettuce and after that if we want carbs we use wheat tortillas. Hard shell if you really want a treat to change it up for the kids.  One twist:  I grew up eating on my taco salad was Spicy V8 juice instead of salsa. It may sound weird but we all loved it and think its worth a try. 

Another thing I love about Taco Tuesday is Taco Eggs Wednesday. I usually make extra taco meat to have with eggs the next morning. 

 

Just heat whatever meat and onions are left. 

Add as many eggs as you need and pan scramble. 

Top with cheese and either leftover or fresh chopped tomato. Lightly dust with salt and extra tasty and easy breakfast. 

Kitchen Tip - Fresh Garlic

I hate digging the garlic out of the garlic press. Matter of fact I dont even like using a press anymore. If I'm using fresh garlic it's shaved or hand chopped. When I need fresh garlic I peal enough cloves to fill my garlic shaver. After I shave what I need for the dish I put the whole shaver with leftover garlic in a ziplock in the fridge. It's ready to go anytime I need a fresh slice. Your fridge may reak for a day or two but we love garlic so we don't mind. 

Here's my favorite garlic contraption. It has a top piece that fits into the piece pictured below. 

Guacamole

Veggie (Beef) Soup

Beef soup bones boiled down for an hour. Remove bones. Add fresh, pealed or canned tomatoes. I brought it back to a boil and salt & pepper to taste, a good amount of crushed red peoper for some pizaz, diced zuccini, frozen cauliflower and frozen field peas. Simmer an 30 additional mins. Any vegetable will substitute. It would just depend what Phase you were at. 

When we were done eating I used an immersion blender to purée the soup into vegetable juice. It was great, but would have been much better without the field peas in the juice. It's still super fresh, very tasty juice without all the sodium. 

Have A Plan

I eat so much better when I take the time to plan my meals (even snacks). I have something to look forward to and I'm not left at the mercy of what's closest/fastest or left feeling like everything I want I can't have. It sounds regimented and high maintence but it doesnt have to be. You have to have some idea what you're planning on eating before you go to the grocery store. So, write it down. I like to leave the last couple of days open when I  first write it down to make room for leftovers and life. 

Creamed Spinach & Eggs

I LOVE spinach this way!

1 bag of frozen spinach (leaf or chopped)

2 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp garlic freshly sliced preferred (see kitchen tip post)

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup half & half

Heat 1 Tbs oil in cast iron or heavy pan. Add frozen spinach. Cook down for about 10 mins on medium-high adjusting heat as needed. Push spinach to perimeter of pan and add remaining tbs olive oil. Add garlic to oil and sautéed 1 minute. Add salt and pepper and mix garlic and seasonings into spinach. Add half and half and stir into spinach. Remove from heat and serve for breakfast, lunch, dinner or with crackers for a snack. 

I served the above spinach with an egg and Queso Fresco for garnish.