I've Never Been to Spain...But I've Been to Oklahoma

Quick-who can name the singer who sang that?

Okay. Spanish food.  I admit I don't know a whole lot about it.  One of my mother's best friends comes from Spain and has shared a few classic recipes- paella and tortilla.

Let's start with tortilla, shall we?

I'm not talking about Mexican tortillas here, the flat flour or corn that you use for wraps and tacos.  I'm talkin' Spanish Tortilla, otherwise known as a potato and egg omlette, cooked at first on top of the stove in a skillet, then finished in the oven. Yum.

In order to make it a quick fix, I like to use the refrigerated hash browns or cubed potatoes that you find bagged in the dairy section of the grocery store.  Also, frozen chopped onions and bell peppers are huge time savers, as well as the finely cubed ham from the lunch meat section and the minced garlic in a jar.

I will note now that you need a skillet with a handle that can stand going into a hot oven.  Es muy importante.

Spanish Tortilla

1/4 c olive oil
2 or 3 cups of refrigerated hash brown or cubed potatoes
1 c chopped frozen onions
1/2 c chopped frozen bell peppers (or you can leave them out)
1/2 c chopped ham
1 tsp minced garlic
5 or 6 eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 475.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the potatoes and onions and cook until the potatoes are soft, but not mushy.  I even like mine browned a bit.  Now toss in your ham, peppers if you want them, and garlic and stir til the peppers are thawed and hot.  Pour in the eggs and continue to cook, stirring so the uncooked egg runs to the bottom of the pan. When everything starts looking 'set' and almost cooked, put the whole pan in the oven and watch carefully as it finishes cooking  the top.  ( you can use the broiler, but watch it carefully!)

Let it come to room temp, slice into wedges and serve with fresh fruit or salad.  A dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of Spanish paprika is nice too.  Eat two or three wedges and re-enact the running of the bulls in your living room.

Next time: Easy Paella!

Taste the Rainbow!

Today I will devote an entire blog post to Skittles.

FOOLED YA!

Actually, a good friend of mine suggested I write on "eating the rainbow"...which in healthy eating terms means to have several different colors of food on your plate at a meal.  Natural colors.  I am sure Red Velvet cake and Blue Raspberry Icee's don't count. ;)

Think about the color wheel we all learned in art back in school.  Now, think of the foods that fit into those color categories:

RED- watermelon, tomatoes, strawberries, red bell peppers, cherries, apples

YELLOW- cheese, yellow tomatoes or peppers, summer squash, corn, bananas, sliced hard-boiled eggs

ORANGE- carrots, cantaloupe, oranges (duh), cheddar cheese

GREEN- fresh spinach, lettuce, sugar snap peas, green beans, broccoli

BLUE- Blueberries, blue cheese (Okay..having trouble with blue. Sorry!)

PURPLE- blackberries, red cabbage shreds, plums, grapes.  And as much as I hate them...beets.

Now, if you have a picky eater, my suggestion is to have them get involved in selecting items from the rainbow that they would like to have on their plate.  If it's presented as being 'their' idea, it may go over more smoothly than if it feels like it is being forced on them. 

One fun thing that we do on occasion is have a 'cold plate lunch'.  I might arrange on a plate raw sugar snap peas, carrot sticks, raw summer squash sticks and have a small container of Ranch dressing to dip them in.  On the side can be cubed cheese and whole wheat crackers with a small bowl of mixed berries sweetened with a little honey or topped with vanilla yogurt.  Rainbowlicious if you ask me.  I feel guilty even posting this idea because it's not even really an 'idea', putting stuff on a plate!

Have fun working in the 'rainbow' to your lunch schedules!  The combinations and possibilities are endless.