Welcome to (the end of) Week 2 of the
Virtual Potluck Healthy New Year Challenge sponsored by
Bob's Red Mill and
California Olive Ranch. This week's theme is
Supportive Side Dish. The ingredients used in this week's dish were
Bob's Red Mill Grande Whole Grains and
California Olive Ranch Miller's Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
So yeah... it's Saturday already in Week 2 of our
Virtual Potluck party with Bob's Red Mill and California Olive Ranch. Where did the week go?? Sorry I'm a little late sharing my healthy side dish and tips this week, but don't worry... I still have a great dish to share with you, some great tips, and another giveaway of some amazing products that you will love.
I managed to make it to the gym twice so far this week and also made some pretty great dinners trying to use up the huge bags of salad greens, spinach, cabbage, and Brussels Sprouts we have in the fridge(s). For years now, Mark and I have tried to incorporate vegetables and whole grains into as many of our meals as possible for the benefit of our health and frankly, for the benefit of our taste buds. The "healthy" whole foods actually taste better! That packaged and frozen food may taste good for the first few bites, but after you're done eating it, how do you feel? Probably less than awesome, right?
Well, try eating non-processed, whole foods for a while and see how you feel. Shop the perimeter of your grocery store and only go down the aisles that have things like spices, olive oils, vinegars, etc. for a little added flavor and pastas and rice (whole grain and brown and white in moderation). But really most of what you need to make delicious, healthy meals can be found around the perimeter of the store.
Around the perimeter of your grocery store is the
produce section (fresh fruits and veggies), the
deli counter (get some turkey for sandwiches for lunch), the
dairy section (yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs and cheese), the
meat and fish sections (get some lean meats and some beautiful fillets of real fresh fish), the
juice section (get some 100% orange or grapefruit juice to rev up your morning) and the
bread section (whole grain bread). By purchasing most of your groceries from the perimeter of your store, you will end up with real, whole foods that aren't packed with preservatives and that you can feel good about eating. You don't need a boxed up rice dish with the flavoring and a bunch of preservatives added. You are very capable of cooking up some rice and flavoring it yourself with ingredients you can identify and without added chemicals.
Your goal may be to lose some weight this year (I'm with ya there, sister...), but you also want to feel strong and energetic too, right? Well, eating this way will help you achieve both. If you focus on eating nothing but fat-free, fake-sugared, meal-in-a-can type stuff just to save on Weight Watchers points or calories if you're counting that way, you may lose weight, but you're going to feel weak, tired, and well BITCHY. If instead you eat whole foods and pare down your portions, you'll also gradually lose weight, but you'll feel awesome and your body will thank you. You know, if we're gonna do this... if we're gonna slim down, tone up, and feel the best we can feel, then we're gonna do it right. We'll do it together!
Ok, on that note, let's talk about a great side dish you can prepare using some
Bob's Red Mill and
California Olive Ranch products - both delicious and good for you.
When trying to decide what to make, I immediately noticed that the Grande Whole Grains reminded me of brown rice, only slightly larger. I read the back of the bag for the cooking instructions and these grains are prepared the same way: 1 part grains to 2 parts liquid (water, chicken stock). Put both in a pot and bring to a boil, then turn heat down to low and cover until the grains soak up all the liquid, which takes about 45 minutes to an hour (as does brown rice). That may seem like a long time, but if you do this step first, you can then do all the prep work for the rest of the recipe and once you've gotten to the point in the recipe where you need the grains, they'll be ready. You can also cook up your grains the day before, pop them in the fridge, them add them to your hot pan of goodness the next day and save even more time.
So since this is a healthy new year challenge, I wanted to make sure these grains and olive oil, which are super healthy on their own, had more good things stirred into them to create not only a healthy side dish, but a tasty one. Nothing will make you stop eating healthy sooner than eating a bunch of tasteless, bland food. I don't care how healthy it is, it must taste good or I'm not eating it. Oh you too?
Ok well before I show you how this deliciousness is made...
Would you like to find out how you can win some Bob’s Red Mill Grains and California Olive Ranch Olive Oil? Here's how!
Mandatory Entry:
To enter: You must visit the California Olive Ranch Facebook page and retrieve this week's Virtual Potluck Code Word. Then, use that code word in a sentence in the comment section below.
Additional Entries:
For extra entries, do any or all of the below and then come back here and leave a comment for each:
Follow Bob's Red Mill on Twitter Follow California Olive Ranch on Twitter Follow Virtual Potluck on Twitter Tweet about the contest: “I just entered to win @Bobs_Red_Mill & @CA_EVOO products from @TaratheFoodie #virtualpotluck Enter here: http://bit.ly/wXYeGm“ Comment again, letting me know you've done so, by providing the link to your tweet. More Blogs, More Ways to Win: Get additional entries in each week's giveaways by visiting our host blog for this event, Groovy Foody, and finding other participating VP bloggers sites to comment on. You have 48 chances to win great products!
If you are chosen as the winner, you win BOTH products: the Bob's Red Mill Grande Whole Grains and the California Olive Ranch Miller's Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
California Olive Ranch would also like to offer FOODIE readers a 10% discount by entering coupon code ‘BLOGFRIENDS’ upon checkout at their online store.
Contest will end on Monday January 16th at 6 pm EST and a winner will be chosen via random.org.
This contest is now closed... and the winner is...
Faith Tiemann!
Follow her @FCJewelryDesign on Twitter.
See how this side dish is prepared after the jump!
