Simple Zucchini Pasta

Last night I was so thankful to come home and realize I had all the food for a simple, healthy meal for my family. I remember when I first learned of using zucchini as the pasta instead of noodles and my first thought was, brilliant!! Easy way to get your vegetable for the meal and super easy. All you need is a food processor or a spiral slicer like this one, Saladacco Spiral Slicer to turn your zucchini into pasta "noodles". No need to cook, eat the zucchini raw! Open your favorite organic pasta sauce, maybe add some veggies or meat and you have your meal. I have a freezer packed with wild game so I sauteed some elk sausage, added the sauce. Meal done in 20 minutes and the whole family loves it.

Enjoy!! You won't even miss the real pasta noodles!

Cooking For A Living

Not only have I gone back to working five days a week, but I cook at my job for 18 people and I am already finding that some days coming home and cooking healthy for my family can be a struggle. Like any job, there are good days and days that are hard. On a day where I have more challenges with a recipe like, having enough food for everyone or having pots/pans that will accommodate a recipe that has been tripled or quadrupled, the last thing I want to do is come home and cook again. This has always been my biggest fear.

 I LOVE what I do at my day job and now it is my job for my family to discover and create recipes that are healthy and easy to prepare even on days when I'm just not feeling it! I've decided to start blogging about how I am feeding my family in hopes of inspiring other busy families who work hard and are tired at the end of the day to provide healthy foods for the ones they love.

Yesterday afternoon I looked in my fridge and saw I had almost everything to make a big, yummy salad. As I made a short list for New Seasons I decided to pick up some salmon patties to complete the meal. Not only was it delicious and healthy but I only spent $8 to feed the three of us and I felt good about what was on the table. Cooking healthy doesn't have to be time consuming and expensive, it just takes a little bit of planning. So here are a few tips to get started:

1. Shop in your fridge or cabinets first. I always do this so I can make sure I use all the fresh produce I have before it goes bad. This helps to cut down on waste and the food bill.

2. Keep it simple. A lot of days I provide just a hearty serving of a vegetable and a protein. You don't have to get crazy and have a plate full of 3 or 4 different foods to make a complete meal.

3. Cook once, eat twice. I LOVE doing this because it is a great feeling to come home and know that I already have a healthy prepared meal in my fridge for my family and I don't have to cook again. Choose recipes that reheat easily and that can  be doubled.

I hope these tips are helpful. Look for more recipes to come as I continue on my quest.

Cheers!