What’s for Dinner?

I’m trying to be healthier in my food choices, and more frugal in my spending choices. I recently purchased Absolute Fitness1 for my iPhone and have been tracking my nutrition and caloric intakes (along with my very sporadic and very low level of exercise right now—I know, I know, I’m working on it). Simply taking the time to record what I’m eating and drinking, not to mention looking at the calories and HUGE amount of sodium that I’m consuming each day, has helped me focus on changing my eating habits. Not all at once and not 100%, but when faced with a choice, I’m finding myself tending more toward the healthy choice.

As a consequence, I’m trying to buy less pre-packaged foods and buy more bulk items and vegetables; and I’m starting to cook more often. By cook I mean something more than putting pasta in water and then, when done, putting pasta sauce from a jar on the pasta. Last week I made a slight variation on this recipe from 101 Cookbooks, and I’ve been sauteing kale and onions to mix with diced tomatoes and (yes from a jar) pasta sauce to top my pasta (which is a trick I credit to Joya, although she more often used spinach). Tonight I made this dish:

Sautéed brussel sprouts, lima beans and corn (would you call that a “succotash?”) over a bed of mashed parsnips. Simple and moderately tasty, though it needed some more spices . . . oh, and I just realized I should have given it a squeeze of lemon.

What did you have for dinner?

1. I have mixed feelings about this program. I’m making it work for me, but it definitely has some major shortcomings, not the least of which is a rather limited database [↩]