The Dietitian's Way

I am a Registered Dietitian with a professional education in nutrition, health and wellness.  I, however am also a mother, a daughter, a wife and a business owner.  I’m a real person just trying to live a healthy wholesome life, just like you!  My business and my blog are all about that.  Making healthy living apart of your lifestyle, making it easy, affordable and do-able.   The Dietitians Way is part education, part guidance, part real-life trial and error.  I hope you continue to join me on this journey, find my knowledge helpful and smile from time to time.  

My FAVORITE Small Kitchen Appliance

My FAVORITE small appliance is…THE SLOW COOKER; especially during the cooler months of the year!  Here are 5 reasons why…

1.     COST EFFECTIVE – uses less energy and less electricity to cook then the oven, makes larger meals that can be frozen or saved for leftovers. Plus you can use cheaper, lesser cuts of meat that you slow cook over a longer period of time to soften them and make them taste quite good!

2.     HEALTHY - Slow cooker recipes rarely call for added fats and oils, usually a small amount of liquid is used to slow cook the food over a long period of time at a low heat.  Most of the cooking liquid is produced as the meal cooks. 

3.     EASY – Super easy!! – Drop the food in, season, add a little liquid and turn it on.  The recipes are easy to prepare AND easy to follow. 

4.     CONVENIENT- Cook an ENTIRE family meal in ONE dish, protein and veggies, starch if you like.   At the end just one pot to clean - the one that everything was cooked in!

5.     TIME SAVER – Cook hands free and eyes free, once prepared and put in the crock, avoid monitoring it and stirring it.  You can even prepare all the ingredients the night before and have it ready to drop in the pot before heading out the door in the morning.  By the time you walk through the door at the end of the day you have a beautiful meal hot and ready to go.

If you aren’t using your Crock Pot at least once a week well now is the time!  There are thousands of recipes to choose from and ideas that span throughout the entire day from breakfast all the way to supper; including appetizers and desserts! 

 I'm happy to share some of my favorite go-to recipes:

                                 Cilantro Lime Chicken

                                 Cilantro Lime Chicken

Steel Cut Apple Oatmeal

Steel Cut Apple Oatmeal

                                                              CHICKEN TACO SOUP

 

                                                             CHICKEN TACO SOUP

Cocktail Meatballs (half turkey/half beef):  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cocktail-Meatballs/Detail.aspx?evt19=1

Angel Hair Chicken Pasta: http://crockingirls.com/recipes/angel-hair-chicken-pasta/

Zesty Chicken BBQ:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/zesty-slow-cooker-chicken-barbecue/

Chicken Taco Soup:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-chicken-taco-soup/

Glazed Apples (reduced sugar and fat):  http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/glazed-cinnamon-apple

A couple personal cooking tips from my kitchen to help increase the nutrition of the meal in some of the recipes I choose:

  1. ALWAYS make recipes with reduced fat dairy ingredients.

  2. When using soups, I choose the reduced sodium, reduced fat versions

  3. ALWAYS trim the fat from meat prior to placing in the crock pot

  4. Add fresh, frozen or even canned veggies to almost every recipe and I often do it

  5. Reduce or eliminate most of the added fat in recipes (oil, butter, margarine)

  6. ALWAYS use whole grains whenever possible for additional nutrients, protein and fiber

...And YES they  still taste FANTASTIC!!

While it sounds pretty fool proof (and it is)…here are some tips and tricks that will make the process         even easier and better 

  • Leave it alone – slow cookers are designed to do their own thing, everytime the lid is removed it releases some of the heat thus increasing the cooking time.

  • Choose recipes that all ingredients are added in the beginning, that leaves you hands free throughout the process (there are some good recipes that add an ingredient or two to the end which is still easy).

  • Purchase a crock pot with a removable liner, much easier to clean
  • Spray your pot with cooking spray, also makes it easy to clean at the end
  • For food safety reasons, it is a good idea to put it on high for the 1st hour to get the food up to 140 degrees quickly, then reduce it to low if the recipe calls for low heat cooking
  •  Low setting is about 200 degrees, High setting is about 300 degrees
  • One hour on high is equal to 2 hours on low – so 6-8 hours on low equals 3-4 on low
  • Add tender vegetables like mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash the last hour of cooking to avoid mushy ingredients
  • If you are looking to purchase a new slow cooker, find one with a "warm" setting.  You can set it for a set amount of hours then it will automatically switch to warm till you are home and ready to serve the meal.  This also helps avoid over cooking your meals.