Back to Reality....

You know the holidays are officially over when you put away the decadent holiday cookbooks and pull out the "healthy meals in minutes" cookbooks in your collection. Well that's what happened to me this morning. No more cookies for breakfast. No more shots of alcohol added to mid afternoon drinks. No more blatant disregard for fats or lack of veggies. I bought a lot of butter in my holiday prep shopping but, happily I still have most of it. Butter keeps for quite a while in the fridge and freezes beautifully so I'm well stocked until about mid- summer.

Leftover Mashed Potatoes:


I wanted to mention another idea for leftover mashed or boiled potatoes. SOUP! Now hang on, I know I talked about using leftover veggies in soup but this is an another take on the idea. Mashed potatoes can be used in any puree type soup or as a healthy thickener in a chowder. Having light soups on hand this time of year is a great way to get back on track after all that holiday binge eating. I'm going to take some leftover mashed potatoes and make it into a potato leek soup. Toss some into pureed broccoli soup for a creamy finish. Got boiled potatoes... just mash them up!


Another great use for mashed potatoes is cakes. Fish cakes, veggie cakes, crab cakes, cakes for everyone! Can of salmon mixed with some finely diced green onion, mashed potatoes, little of your favorite seasoning and voila! You have fine salmon cakes. Add a salad or veggies on the side and dinner is done! Gotta love leftover mashed tatties.


Super Quick Dinner!


Cheap, easy and tasty at the end of the day? Here's one I bet you've forgotten about. All you need is fresh or frozen spinach, eggs, cheese and a little finely diced red onion and garlic powder if you're feeling frisky. Saute your onion and spinach until soft, pour on your beaten egg and sprinkle with garlic and cheese. Diner's ready! Add a slice of multigrain bread and a some fruit and you have a beautiful balanced meal. Oh, and if you bought a bag of fresh spinach... the remaining spinach is great on the side with those salmon cakes I mentioned above...

Time Tip:


Whenever I grate cheese I grate more than I need and then I have it on hand for omelets, sandwiches, to top soups or throw into dishes. I eat a lot of cheese so instead of grating it a few times a week, I grate once and eat often. Sounds simple but so often we forget to make the effort. It's the little things that make our lives run smoothly!