Sunday, January 31, 2010
What comes first the grocery list or the ideas? Juggling shopping and Sunday dinner.
I learned how to cook from my mother and grandmother, the fresh ingredients, the garlic, the flavors - they taught me how to time the dishes so they would finish at about the same time to the plate.Most important of all is how to put together and shop for your meal. Where do the ideas come from?
When I shopped yesterday I didn't have any preset list for our Sunday dinner as I like to see what is on sale and looks freshest, starting with our protein. I try to purchase clean food that is as unprocessed as possible but that isn't always practical due to cost. Since there are just two of us for most meals, I have worked to change my mindset to only purchase what we need, rather than cook a large amount. I cannot eat leftovers, as reheated foods are not moist enough for my pouch. Two perfect four to six ounce portions, a little more than half a pound of meat or fish for a meal. Even after nearly ten years, it is still difficult for me to not buy a pound of meat for two of us as I guess my eyes will always be bigger than my pouch!
This week the Publix Greenwise Market Beef was on sale and I like the pitch! Completely natural, with no artificial additives or preservatives, this beef comes from cattle raised humanely on a 100% vegetarian diet, never receiving any antibiotics or hormones. We "source verify" all of our Publix GreenWise Market Beef, keeping close track of the cattle all the way from birth, validating all feeding, handling, and living conditions, and ensuring that our strict standards are always maintained.
I picked up a beautiful lean and very fresh Eye Round of Beef, about 1 1/2 pounds (one needs to buy a minimum sized roast or it will be too dry) that will roast nicely seasoned with sea salt and cracked peppercorns, to roast to 140 degrees on a bed of onions and rosemary for flavor. What goes with tender thin slices of roast beef? Mushrooms! So off to the produce section for some baby bella mushrooms for our sauce. This forms the base for our meal.
Winter squash is healthy and delicious - and the two small organic Butternut and Delicata varieties on my kitchen table that I picked up last week at Whole Foods are perfect to cut in half, scoop the seeds, drizzle with butter and herbs, and roast until caramelized at the edges.
60 minutes to cook at 400 degrees, or until soft. After your squash has roasted for 30 minutes, season your beef and pop that onto the same oven shelf. While your squash and roast beef cooks, saute a small package of sliced baby bella mushrooms in a tablespoon of butter until browned and set aside on stovetop. Remove the squash when done, and cook your beef until a thermometer registers 140 degrees. Remove your roast and move it to a plate so it can rest for ten minutes before carving. Scrape all the pan juices from meat pan into your sauteed mushrooms and reheat. Pop your bag of vegetables into the microwave and carve your roast beef across the grain into thin slices. Serve your amazing dinner!
Have a lovely Sunday - cook for the people you love. We are what we eat!
posted by Susan Maria of BariatricEating.com @ 10:57 AM
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