A Colorful Plate for Dinner

When cooking, try to have a variety of color on your plate.  This is the best way to get the vitamins and minerals you need daily from your food.  Tonight's dinner looks like it was hard work, but it wasn't.  

Pesto Chicken, roasted asparagus, 1/4 of a sweet potato and a salad!

I always put my salad on my dinner plate instead of in a separate bowl. I tell myself this keeps me from eating too much of the other things....(Ha!) This salad was made with baby spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers and goat cheese.  I bought goat cheese crumbles at Aldi's the other day.  Aldi's grocery stores are here in NW Arkansas but I had never visited one until recently.  They have a great selection of cheeses and salad dressing and their prices are amazing. My favorite dressing is just a regular balsamic vinaigrette.

Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables and it just so happens it is a "super" food - filled with too many amazing vitamins and benefits to list here, but it is a "perfect" veggie!  I simply wash it, cut the stems about 1 " from the bottom and place on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt and diced garlic or garlic powder and bake on about 350' for 20-25 minutes.  When it starts to brown a little, take it out and put some parmesan cheese on the top and pop it back in the oven for about 5 minutes. 

For the pesto chicken (I recommend using fresh not frozen chicken breasts), place them in a baking dish sprayed with Pam.  Spread pesto sauce on each breast, and top with a slice of mozzarella cheese, and slice a tomato with thin slices and place on top of the cheese.  Bake on 350' for about 30 minutes - I usually check it about 20 minutes in. Try not to overcook it - chicken can get very tough pretty quickly. This is a healthy dinner and will 

fill you up and it's a nice presentation if you are cooking for friends or family!

I am back! How about a mock apple pie?

Well, it's 2019!

My last blog was in 2014 during the holidays.  I have had many people ask me to start blogging again so here I am!  I think I am going to expand the blog - maybe not all abut Type  2 Diabetes this time around - maybe more about the challenges of all chronic diseases, aging in general, and how what we eat and how much we move can impact how well we age, and most importantly how exercise in general can impact your mental state. 

My mom is a great example of this -  at 81, she is still very independent, drives, keeps busy with her art and church and her friends...and this impacts her in a very positive way. 

If any of you have topics you would like me to expand on here in my blog, please let me know!  I have had people in the heath care industry reach out to me and do guest blogging so I may have some guests blog as well!

I love to cook and sort of "invent" dishes that are more heart friendly.  Tonight I am making a "mock apple pie" - it's so easy!  And delicious! And, it will help you survive a sweet craving!
I am not claiming it is as good as real Apple Pie - it isn't, but it tastes great - and you can even put a portion of no sugar added frozen vanilla yogurt on it!


Ingredients

• 4 apples, cored and cut into bite size pieces-leave peeling on(that's where the fiber is)
• 1 cup quick cooking oats - use 3/4 cup mixed and save 1/4 cup for topping
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup Truvia baking sugar
• 1/2 stick real butter cut in slices
• 1/4 cup Canola Oil

Pre-heat oven to 350' Once the apples are cut and diced - place in a bowl and toss with the other ingredients (except the butter and 1/4 cup quick cooking oats) Pour into a pie plate sprayed with Pam cooking spray. Top with additional oats and place the butter slices all over the top and bake on 350' for 30 minutes or until bubbly browned on top. Enjoy!