See Sara Shrink

This week I'm blogging about Sara Sullivan.

Sara is on a mission to reduce her body weight from 275 pounds to 175 pounds -- that's a weight-loss goal of 100 pounds!

She's made public her weight-loss journey on her website SeeSaraShrink.

There, her November 28, 2009 home-page update celebrates Sara having reached the half-way mark; that means she's lost 50 pounds over the past 6 months.

I'd read about Sara in the Boulder Women's Magazine, where Market to Mouth is featured as a regular column, and where a monthly column on Sara's weight loss progress is also featured.

I contacted Sara to see if she would be interested in one of my grocery shopping-cum cooking-on-a-budget consultations. She agreed to meet me.

About a month ago, we spent an hour or so at Sara's home chatting about her weight loss program, the various support people she's engaged to help her -- such as a fitness coach and a nutritionist -- and the emotional hurdles inherent in changing one's eating habits and patterns.

Sara grew up in the south where fried food is the norm, as is eating lots of seafood and bitter leafy greens. She's very aware of the importance of eliminating fried food from her diet (which she has done), whereas fish, seafood and greens are foods she can continue to enjoy.

We also spent a bit of time in Sara's kitchen, going through her fridge and pantry. It was immediately obvious that Sara keeps plenty of whole, unprocessed foods on hand for preparing simple, nutritious, home-cooked meals for her two, fit and healthy nine-year old twin girls, whom she home-schools, and her husband, who is not a big eater apparently, though when he does eat, he makes healthy choices like extra salad instead of a dessert.

It appeared to me that Sara is in an enviably position for someone wanting to lose weight: she's eliminated the high-fat, southern cooking she grew up on from her diet, and with the help of her support team, she's making healthier food choices for herself and her family, plus she's more physically active as a result of working with a fitness coach.

While we stood in front her open fridge, she prefaced the opening of her bottom crisper, with "okay, you're gonna die when you see this." She opened the draw and it was filled with lots of delicious and expensive cheese. "So this is my weakness," she said. "Cheese, oh, and we love a glass of wine occasionally."

I don't see anything wrong with enjoying cheese and wine -- I mean the French live on it! Though of course it's the amount one consumes that is important to consider when on a weight- loss program.

Once Sara had divulged her food preferences, it was obvious that she is drawn to particular foods. We all gravitate toward some foods and not others, and I tend to think there's wisdom in this. Noting that Sara's preference is for dairy and fish, I asked if she knew her blood type. She said it's AB.

I googled Eat Right For Your Type which is not a weight- loss diet per se, but information about lifestyle choices, including food and exercise programs, specifically for health and wellness for the 4 different blood types.

Apparently the bio-chemistry of blood type AB is best suited to dairy, seafood and green vegetables, with an emphasis on these foods if one is trying to lose weight. I recommended Sara peruse the information about her blood type since it appears her preferences are appropriate for her, bar a few adjustments.

Before we met at the grocery store, I also recommended Sara consider my pre- and in-store tips for shopping and cooking for health and wellness on a budget. Sara said her budget for a shop around Whole Foods for a week's worth of fruit, vegetables, some meat and or fish and any dollar-wise items which would add interest to her meals, was about $120.

With this in mind, one of the tips I emphasized was the value of shopping the periphery of the store for whole, unprocessed foods, such as fresh produce, fish, some dairy, and bulk grains, nuts and pulses.

As you can see in the picture above, Sara met me in fresh produce and that's where we began our shopping excursion around Whole Foods today. This week, I'll post about the items Sara bought, how much she spent, and some simple, delicious meals I proposed she make with the food she bought.

Salmon or Barramundi with Winter Greens, Apple & Leeks

I listed 6 ways to incorporate wilted, winter spinach or winter leafy greens into your meals in yesterday's post.

And today, I have two delicious meal ideas to share using wilted spinach (above) and wilted chard (below).

Both these leafy greens are available through the fall and winter and often on sale "two bunches for the price of one."

I discussed the merits of this kind of deal yesterday, including the importance of wilting (or slightly cooking) extra greens, portioning them into containers, and freezing them, before they deteriorate.

Recently, someone made the comment that it appears I post mostly recipes and meal ideas with fish as the main protein item. Noting that today's two recipes include fish, I'm aware that it would be easy to assume that I'm a vegequarian.

However, that's not the case. I eat a variety of protein each day, and some days that doesn't include animal protein, but instead vegetarian protein such as nuts, seeds, beans and or pulses (I'm not a big soy-protein fan).

I do eat fish at least twice a week -- sometimes 3 times -- stretching a 6-ounce fillet into two meals, eating 3 ounces at dinner and the remaining 3 ounces at lunch the following day.

I find 3 ounces of fish like salmon, tuna, mahi mahi, and barramundi, to be substantial, since these are all dense and meaty fish.

Speaking of barramundi, I confess to doing something locavores would frown upon. Barramundi is an Australian fish; I purchased it at Whole Foods in Boulder, which means it traveled a great distance to get to my plate and that's not in-keeping with my desire to be a sustainably-aware, eco-friendly consumer.

However, we all act contrary to our values periodically and apropos this story, it's the holiday season and I'm far from home in the middle of America with a hankering for the food of my country.

So I bought the barramundi because it's Australian, and at around $8 for two, 6-ounce fillets it was priced competitively -- what can I say; I couldn't resist!


Barramundi with Sweet Potato & Chard Mash
1) Boil, and then mash sweet potato with a little butter; season to taste.
2) Into the mashed potatoes, toss washed, chopped, and wilted chard (pic to left). Stir together with a little more butter.
Note: This was tip #5 in yesterday's list of ways to make the most of wilted, winter leafy greens.
3) Line a skillet or pan with equal amounts oil and butter, saute washed and chopped leek with washed and chopped celery.
4) As the vegetables begin to soften, add barramundi fillets (or your choice of fish) to the pan, placing them on top of the vegetables.
5) Pour either white wine or lemon / lime juice diluted with water over the fish and veggies.
6) If you have any herbs on hand, like thyme or dill seed, sprinkle over the fish.
7) Cook on low for about 10 mins. Don't overcook the fish, so check it at around 7 mins, perhaps adding a dash more liquid (if veggies are sticking); turning the fish over for another 3 mins if you think it needs more cooking.

To Serve: Spoon a portion of sweet potato mash onto a plate (pic above), followed by a spoon of sauteed leeks and celery. Gently place a whole 6-ounce fillet, or half a fillet of barramundi, onto the vegetables. Squeeze some lime or lemon juice over the lot (pic to left).

Salmon with Wilted Spinach and Buttered Apple
1) Wash, drain and wilt spinach as per instructions in yesterday's post.
2) Place salmon into a hot skillet lined with olive oil, turn heat to low, squeeze lemon juice over fish, and gently cook with lid on.
3) Meanwhile, wash and slice an apple, and if there's room, toss it into the pan with the salmon. If not, saute the apple in a separate pan with some butter, allowing the apple to soften and brown slightly. You might like to add a rasher of sliced, smoked bacon, in which case, saute the apple in the bacon fat, leaving out the butter.
4) Test salmon at around the 7-min mark. You want the flesh to be firm to touch, but inside, still slightly pink and juicy. There is nothing worse than dry fish, so don't overcook it.

To Serve: Spoon a portion of wilted spinach onto a plate. Place either a whole or half fillet of salmon over the spinach and top with sauted apple and bacon (pic above); drizzle with lime juice.

Tips for Making the Most of Winter Greens

Yesterday, I talked about making the most of cooked turkey meat and bones, simmering leftovers to make stock that can then be used to cook rice, pasta, lentils, or to enrich the flavor of casseroles.

I also like to use stock to cook my vegetables; it infuses the veggies and adds flavor. Try boiling broccoli in stock or brussel sprouts.

Add stock to partially cover the vegetables (don't completely submerge). Once veggies are cooked, whatever liquid is still in the pot, keep it; it's delicious.

It's also rich in minerals, so try pouring it over your meal or into potatoes with a little butter for mashing or over a piece of grilled fish, chicken, and beef -- you get the idea.

Spinach is not a vegetable that I would generally cook in liquid. It's already full of water and tossed into a skillet (above pic) over med heat and stirred gently, it wilts quickly (pic to left).

When winter greens are on sale, I'll take advantage of the sale price and buy more greens than I would eat in a week.

I bought two, organic bunches of spinach for the price of one recently, and then I did what I often suggest in this blog and that is, I wilted one bunch, divided it into portions (pic below), and froze those portions for later.

This takes a bit of forethought at the store, and prep once home, but in winter, when phytonutrient-rich leafy greens are less abundant than in spring make the most of winter sales and stock up.

Because delicate leafy greens perish quickly, it's best to take the time to wash and drain them in a colander or salad spinner, and then either store them in the fridge in the salad spinner or wilt greens -- as in the pictures above and below.

Once wilted, either freeze portions or keep portions in the fridge for use within the week. If you plan on eating spinach raw in a salad, consume it within a couple days of purchase -- before the leaf-edges begin to brown.

Spinach freezes well, since it's full of moisture. When you plan to include your frozen spinach portions in an upcoming meal, simply remove a container from your freezer in the morning and leave it out for the day.

It'll be unfrozen by the time you're ready to prepare your evening meal.

6 ways to make the most of wilted spinach:
1) Add it to a quiche or omelet. First squeeze the liquid from the spinach as you'd squeeze water out of a kitchen sponge.
2) Toss wilted spinach back into a skillet with some butter, spring onions, salt and pepper and perhaps a handful of raisins and pistachios, and serve it on top of rice and or as a side to grilled chicken, turkey, or grilled lamb sausages.
3) Toss with bacon and pine nuts, and spoon over pasta.
4) Add to soups, casseroles, stews.
5) Mash into potatoes or sweet potatoes as you would parsley.
6) Saute with other vegetables like sliced carrots, peppers, leeks, spring onions and celery.

Italian Pasta in Turkey Broth

I relish cooking during the cold weather; the over and hot plates heat the kitchen and enticing aromas fill the home.

You've probably noticed in my fall posts that my preference is for thick casseroles, stews and soups made flavorful with stock, vegetables, herbs, garlic and ginger, meat, and or beans and pulses which are rich in protein without being too rich in fatty calories.

After Thanksgiving (and then after Christmas), plump turkey wings, thighs and legs are plentiful and thus priced well.

I picked up an organic leg (pic left) from Whole Foods last week for around $5 and it made fabulous stock. As you can see I placed it in a pot of water with pieces of peeled and chopped ginger root, and a smashed clove of garlic. I simmered the leg for 2-3 hours.

Instead of making stock, a leg casseroles well with fall / winter veggies like onions, ginger root, celery, yams, turnip, and carrot. Casseroled, one chunky let will feed 3-4 people.

To casserole turkey pieces, put all the ingredients I just listed, plus a sprig of fresh thyme or sage, into a baking dish or dutch oven, add a little water or stock, and the lid, and put into a 350-degree oven for about 2 or so hours.

After Thanksgiving, I'll make stock with leftover turkey meat and bones. However, stock made from the cooked meat and bones tends not to be as flavorful as stock made from the raw meat.

So I'll use less flavorful stock to cook pasta, rice, vegetables and to add to casseroles, such as the one I mention above. (Stock made from the raw meat, I'll use to make soup.)

Pasta and rice cooked in stock is delicious. In fact, there's a wonderful Italian pasta dish which is served in chicken broth (you could use turkey stock) and topped with cracked black pepper and grated Parmesan.

Pasta in Turkey (or chicken) Stock

1) Make a turkey or chicken as in the picture, and as described above.

2) Pick the meat out of the pot and then strain the stock. Strain again through a fine sieve, removing the impurities so that the broth is clear.

3) Into a pour enough stock to cook your pasta, boil, and then add you favorite pasta, or gnocchi, or ravioli. Cook till al dente.

4) Strain pasta, return to pot and hot plate and add more stock, this time, just enough to cover the pasta, heat but don't boil.

To Serve: Ladle pasta and spoonfuls of broth into bowls. Top with cracked black pepper and grated Parmesan or your choice of a firm, dry Italian cheese.

Traditionally, this would be a starter to a main meal in Italy, since pasta is often served before the meat or fish dish. You could serve it this way or you could serve it with a side salad as a main dish or as a side to the turkey leg casserole outline above.