MyPlate Fall 2011  Noy Rathakette


                                                                                                                                   




                   

This is my yummy spagetti and garlic toast with vegies and ranch and a glass of ice milk. I usually eat by myself because I don't like to eat late whan my son gets home from practice at 7:30. This sause is easy to make, it just is best if it cooks all day for all the spices to blend together and tase its best. My kids love this meal and will not eat spagetti anywhere else and that makes me happy. Good food is not hard,it just takes a little time and planning and effort. The little white cup on the side is my homeaide ranch that tastes so much better than the bottle. Everything tastes better if you make it yourself.


                           


                                                                                                       

The picture I upload was a picture of a salad we eat alot in our household. Lettuce, tomato, green onion, cranberrys, (any other veggies we have around the house), This picture we had JennyO Turkey that we baked and put onto to give it some protein as well.

My wife plans the meals, and prepares most of them. We sit at a table with our 3 childern and talk about the day. We all eat the same meals, we dont make special things for each kid.









This meal was like many, My Daughter picked the fruit, my Fiance picked steak, I picked the beans and my son asked for rice. As always meal time is amaizing cause not only do we all help in some way but we also eat toghther, so we get time toghther as a family. Usually with meals everyone gets a choice. This is just a pic of me looking down at our food.


                                                   





                                                                                                               
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Chico Pizza :

Planning for this meal requires a quick trip to get some fresh veggies; Most of the other ingredients required are the same for chicken tacos, so I would think most people have many of these ingredients in their houses.

This meal if fun to prepare with your family, it takes some preparation: You can have your kids or friends shred cheese and chop vegetables. At our house I cook the chicken, and my husband shreds it. We have our son shred the cheese and our daughter helps us load the food processor. We all load up the pizzas and put on our own garnishes.

Then we eat. These are much more filling then you would think, most of the time the kids and I can only eat one, with my husband eating two.

Ingredients :1 ½ Chicken Breasts , 2 cans black beans , 2 packages taco seasoning , 4 ciabatta bread squares. (This can be found in the bakery of most any supermarket). 2 cups cheese (you can use mozzarella, cheddar or what ever kind you would like to.)

Salsa Ingredients: ½ green bell pepper, ½ red bell pepper , ½ white onion or ½ yellow pepper, 1 jalapeño pepper

Garnish: Sour cream, avocado, Cilantro, 2 limes

Directions: Cook chicken in pan on stove and season with taco seasoning packets. Shred chicken. Drain and heat black beans. Lightly broil the bread don’t toast.

Make salsa: Chop peppers, onion, garlic and jalapeño into small pieces, you could use a food dicer or processor if you would like. Leave the seeds in the Jalapeño. Cook salsa on stove in olive until soft.

Add beans to bread, then chicken to bread, cover with the salsa and cheese. Broil until golden brown.

Makes: 8 pizzas, with practice this should only take 20 min or so.



                                                                                                            

I planed my food with a picky four year old in mind. I decided lasgna would be a great way to involve her in the cooking and she would love it. I browned the meat and made the cheese mixture. After that my daughter and me put the lasna together. she had a blast. For the side dishes i had zucchinni and jarred peaches and pears for home. We had a cup of milk to finish it off. It was great and i plan on doing it again.

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large skillet over medium heat brown the ground beef. Drain the grease. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 5 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese, eggs, half of the grated Parmesan cheese, dried parsley, salt and ground black pepper.
  3. To assemble, in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish evenly spread 3/4 cup of the sauce mixture. Cover with 3 uncooked lasagna noodles, 1 3/4 cup of the cheese mixture, and 1/4 cup sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with 3 noodles, remaining sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Add 1/2 cup water to the edges of the pan. Cover with aluminum foil.
  4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F(175 degrees C) oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving










We decided to make something that everyone likes. Spaghetti with lean meat, salad , berries, and milk we have ever put the berries on at dinner normally we eat them after bath time. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. We first made the plan of what we were going to have, then we went to the store. Kids everywhere I want this I want that couldn't deal with that so I gave everyone a job. I Put the bigger kids in charge of getting the things needed for  one part of the meal. Then we each had a turn doing something in the kitchen.The kids all liked dinner, but they always like to eat when they get to help in the kitchen. 








 


The first picture is the meal which consists of: chicken fettuccine, with saute mushrooms, a salad, grapes, and granola. There is also a glass of milk for my beverage. 
The second picture is of my holding up my meal.











This was a quick meal that my daughter and myself prepared.  We did a stir fry with 1/2 pound of shrimp and some lobster mushroom, egg flour soup, couscous, spicy surimi rolls, and a glass of low fat milk.  We had a good time and I have been playing around with the sushi rolls when I had a neighbor from Japan that I used to live next to.  My daughter help season the shrimp with olive oil and a vegatable seasoning I have from the company Trager grills out of Mount Angel, Oregon.  I have included grains, protein, vegatables and dairy.  I usually have difficulty adding fruit for dinner unless we are doing a salad.  I did have some apple for lunch this day as well.










The meal pictured consisted of;

Spiral Ham (Protein)

Fruit Salad (oranges, bananas, watermelon, grapes, and apples)

Green beans with Blanched baby carrots (Vegetables)

Sourdough Hard Roll (Grains)

2% Milk (Dairy)

Pictured with me was my son Michael, who helped plan and prepare the meal.  It was a good opportunity to teach him about preparing a meal that has all of the necessary food groups.

The meal was well received by the rest of the family.  However, the vegetables weren't a big hit.  None of my children are big fans of vegetables but they did eat some.







It was so fun to create a healthy, affordable meal with all 5 parts of the MyPlate design, ensuring a well-rounded meal with all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients we have learned about in class so far. I had a vegan tofu spinach lasagna recipe that includes 100% whole wheat lasagna noodles that I made from scratch, using a recipe from an old family Moosewood Cookbook, and got some vegan Dairy substitute yogurt that has the protein and probiotics benefits of dairy, without the fat that goes with using real dairy. My mom took the picture for me and enjoyed sharing the meal, and learning all the things I taught her from my Nutrition class! This was a really fun project.

Vegetables: Organic Romain lettuce, organic cherry tomatoes, organic baby carrots
Fruit: Organic red delicious apple slices added to the salad, making it nice and sweet
Grain: 100% whole wheat lasagna noodles, and a slice of 100% whole grain bread
Protein: Soy (tofu) protein from vegan lasagna, and protein from the spinach in the lasagna
Dairy: Vegan (soy) yogurt, with probiotic and protein