Author: Lisa P

Roasted Pork Loin with Pears

Posted on by Lisa P

Serves: 2-4 people
Hands-on time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min

I made this Pork Loin with Pears recipe last year when I found it on the Williams Sonoma website and it was “quite good” or at least that’s what I wrote in my notes. It just so happens that we received a box of Harry and David pears for Christmas this year and I’m looking for something to make with them, so decided to try this recipe again.

I changed a few things this time around. Since I wanted to create a larger quantity of pork, I bought a 3-lb pork loin roast instead of the 1-lb loin the original recipe called for. Obviously this big roast was going to take much longer than the 1-lb loin, so I sliced it into three pieces and increase some of the other ingredients to compensate. Some of the pork is going to be saved for later in the week so I didn’t need to triple the pears and such, just the seasonings and browning oil.

Anyway, here’s the recipe. I think it makes a great-tasting but easy Sunday night meal. Continue reading “Roasted Pork Loin with Pears” →

How to Automate Breakfast and Lunch

Posted on by Lisa P

Years ago I read Dr. Oz’s book “You: On a Diet.” It’s a great book, check it out on Amazon here.  One of the things I remember from that book was to automate at least one meal per day.  My husband has automated his breakfast by making oatmeal with almond butter and maple syrup.  I generally have a bowl of cereal (Heritage Flakes are my favorite) with 30-calorie almond milk and a half a banana, followed by a hard boiled egg.  By automating this one meal, we don’t even have to think about it. Continue reading “How to Automate Breakfast and Lunch” →

The Versatile Salad Bowl

Posted on by Lisa P

This is one of my favorite ways to use up leftovers at the end of a week. It was inspired by those assembly line-style, create-your-own-salad restaurants that are popping up like weeds in malls across America.

Start with the base, usually lettuce or rice (I prefer lettuce), then just add a bunch of healthy add-ins (leftover items from your frig) and top with a homemade vinaigrette. It’s a perfect “clean out the fridge” meal.

The thing to remember here is that you are going for a balance of colors, textures, and macro-nutrients. Try to use ingredients that have not been previously seasoned, so you won’t have strange combinations of seasonings from different meals. (Hey, if you want to try that anyway, go for it, sometimes you hit the jackpot.) Try different things! Experimentation is good — it teaches you what works and what doesn’t work — it helps you improve your ability to “throw a meal together.”

So, enough preamble. Let’s get to the instructions already. Continue reading “The Versatile Salad Bowl” →

Nutrition 101

Posted on by Lisa P

This is a lecture I gave at one of my Healthy Cooking meetup groups in 2016.  Sorry it’s somewhat of a work in progress but will polish it up soon!

Agenda

Nutrition Defined
Basic Nutrients
Digestion
Calories
Nature’s Intention

Nutrition Defined

What Most of us Learned in School
From Merriam Webster:
the act or process of nourishing or being nourished; specifically :  the sum of the processes by which an animal or plant takes in and utilizes food substances Continue reading “Nutrition 101” →

Easy No-Cook Oatmeal

Posted on by Lisa P

Serves: 1
Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Total time: 1 hour

Also called “muesli” in many parts of Europe, you don’t need to soak this no-cook oatmeal overnight. A good one-hour soak in the morning will do the trick. Make it while you’re waiting for your coffee and by the time you get out of the shower it’ll be ready to go. Continue reading “Easy No-Cook Oatmeal” →