Category: Tips & Tricks

4 WAYS TO MAKE HOMEMADE SPAGHETTI HEALTHIER

1/2/2020

Happy National Spaghetti Day, friends!

While January 4th officially marks this fabulous food holiday, I have to admit that my household enjoys spaghetti for dinner a couple times a month. Why so much spaghetti? This "master meal" is simple, hassle-free, and can easily be made healthier with just a few tweaks. Keep scrolling to find out how!

CAN SPAGHETTI BE HEALTHY?

100% spaghetti CAN be healthy! I truly believe that most meals can be made healthier if you're open and willing to make changes :)

HOW can spaghetti be healthy, you ask? It all comes down to the quality of your ingredients and the quantity of food you're enjoying. Check out these 4 ways you can make this family favorite a nutritious choice for any day of the week!

4 WAYS TO MAKE HOMEMADE
SPAGHETTI HEALTHIER

PICK A BETTER PASTA. Choose a more nutritious noodle by opting for: whole-grain spaghetti or a veggie-based option like Veggiecraft Farms (made with cauliflower) or Banza (made with chickpeas).
MAKEOVER YOUR MEAT. A healthier spaghetti doesn't have to be meat-free to be healthier.
1. I recommend using a lower-fat ground beef -- such as 90/10 or 93/7. (Learn all about the different ground beef grinds here.) Alternatively, you can also use a mix of leans meats if you'd like -- such as half ground turkey and half ground beef.
2. Our secret to keeping the meat mixture moist and flavorful however, is to blend in 1 package (~8 ounces) of finely chopped fresh mushrooms! Not only will this add in extra nutrition with Vitamin D and antioxidants, but you'll also work towards more servings of veggies in your day.
USE A SIMPLER SAUCE. While a homemade pasta sauce is ideal (so you can better control the ingredients that go into your sauce), it may not always be realistic or feasible for a busy lifestyle. So there's no shame at all in falling back on a store-bought sauce that contains little to no added sugar. Some of our favorite pasta sauce brands include: RAGU Simply or Rao’s Homemade.
START WITH A SIDE SALAD. Serving spaghetti with a pile of garlic bread may be standard protocol in your house, but I like to explain it this way -- when you get too much of one thing (in this case, grains), there's no room for other things your body needs (ahem, fruits and vegetables.) So next spaghetti night, sub that garlic bread -- which again, counts as additional servings of grain in your day on top of the pasta you're already enjoying -- for an Italian-inspired side salad. Have fun with topping your favorite salad greens with ingredients like sliced tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, roasted red peppers, olives, and/or pepperoncinis.

Do you have other ways you make spaghetti night healthier at home? Tell us in the comments below!

lindsey

P.S. Interested in other January holidays? Check 'em all out over on National Today!

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HOW WE MEAL PLANNED FOR BETTER SLEEP

5/5/2019

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Hey friends!

I am sooo excited to be sharing about a new resource with you today as it's from a very dear friend and colleague I've known since my Dietetic Internship days at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. (Let's just say, it was over a decade ago and leave it at that haha.) This May 14th, 2019, EAT TO SLEEP comes out - a book all about what to eat and when to eat it for a good night's sleep! This incredible guide is by Karman Meyer, a fellow Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) and the creator behind TheNutritionAdventure.com. I was lucky enough to review Karman's first book and am sharing how I incorporated her expert advice into our weekly meal plans. Keep reading to see how I pulled it all together.

In EAT TO SLEEP, Karman literally has everything you could want to know or need to achieve better sleep in her comprehensive book...

an index of 50 foods that promote good sleep!
25 sleep-inducing recipes (plus example daily meal plans)
and entire chapters dedicated to the science behind sleep essentials, the food-sleep relationship, and more!

For my household, we 1,000% know the importance of good sleep (after all, walking around like a zombie is no way to live!), but life happens and sometimes getting a good night's rest doesn't. This got me thinking more about how we craft dinners to be nourishing, balanced, and enjoyable - yes - but also, better for sound sleep! Here's how we approached this week's meal plan using advice from EAT TO SLEEP...

I focused on incorporating the various foods that promote peaceful sleep.
Tried some of the sleep well recipes to keep my meal plan fun & fresh for the week!

Check out how our meal plans turned out for the week!

Any grocery item with a ** was just to indicate a sleep-promoting food and you can see that I was able to include at least one of these incredible ingredients in every meal for this week! (Score!) Fortunately, in all of these master meals we're planning for this week, it was very easy to incorporate sleep-promoting foods.

If you want to learn more about each of these fabulous sleep-promoting foods or the food-sleep connection, I really hope you'll check out EAT TO SLEEP. Be sure to follow us over on IG (@themealplanningmethod) as we'll be having a GIVEAWAY of Karman's book soon, or you can pre-order your own copy at Amazon or Barnes & Noble here.

Here's to getting them zzz's friends!

lindsey

Pst! Like this Weekly Meal Planner? Grab your FREE printable here so you can start planning meals today!

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5 SPRING CLEANING ESSENTIALS FOR YOUR KITCHEN

3/31/2019

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Happy Spring friends!

You may have noticed that everything is finally beginning to bloom and you even be getting that itch to Marie Kondo ALL the things. So to help you with your #kitchengoals, we're sharing some of our very favorite kitchen cleaning products we think everyone should have, no matter if you're in a tiny studio apartment or cozy 3-bedroom home.

Keeping a clean kitchen is not only important because it's the adult thing to do, but because...

Your kitchen is lurking with bacteria that could cause you or someone you love to get sick. EEEK!
And a clean kitchen is a happy kitchen -- one that's an inviting space in your home that you're not going to mind spending time in. This is critical to cooking more at home!

(1) method Dish Soap Refill (36 oz.)

Having a dish soap that is effective at cleaning dirty dishes AND smells amazing is the perfect formula for dishes done lickety-split! method says it best, "if spring cleaning was more like spring break, it would be a whole lot more enjoyable." (P.S. This refill size from Grove Collaborative is 50% off at only $4.99!)

(2) Grove Collaborative Walnut Scrubber Sponge (Set of 2)

While there are many cleaning accessories to choose from, none is more versatile than the sponge. This double-sided sponge from Grove Collaborative can scour the tough stuff or gently wash away leftover food residue. PRO TIP: Put your sponges in the dishwasher along with your other dirty dishes. The UDSA found that this kills over 99% of bacteria, yeasts and molds!

(3) Grove Collaborative Glass Spray Bottle with Silicone Sleeve

This multi-purpose glass spray bottle is perfect for any d.i.y. cleaner and we love the cute silicone sleeve that protects the bottle from breaking. Check out the next product to see how we like to use this spray bottle!

(4) Grove Collaborative All-Purpose Cleaning Concentrate (Set of 2)

Simply add this non-toxic concentrate to 16 ounces of water (like the Glass Spray Bottle listed above) and you have a seriously powerful spray that's perfect for those icky kitchen counters, greasy stove top, and grimy microwave.

(5) Grab Green Garbage Disposal Freshener & Cleaner Pods

We can not WAIT to try these garbage disposal cleaner pods! They're already sold out on Grove.Co, but they're in our cart and we have a really good feeling about them. Because let's be honest... anything that can freshen up that gag-inducing odor that tends to come from the garbage disposal from time to time is a keeper in our book!

Wanna grab all these kitchen cleaning essentials and give Grove Collaborative a go? Use my referral code here for a 5-piece gift set AND $10 after your first purchase! Let us know what you ordered in the comments below.

lindsey

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4 WAYS TO MAKE HOMEMADE SPAGHETTI HEALTHIER

CAN SPAGHETTI BE HEALTHY?

4 WAYS TO MAKE HOMEMADE ​SPAGHETTI HEALTHIER

HOW WE MEAL PLANNED FOR BETTER SLEEP

5 SPRING CLEANING ESSENTIALS FOR YOUR KITCHEN

(1) method Dish Soap Refill (36 oz.)

(2) Grove Collaborative Walnut Scrubber Sponge (Set of 2)

(3) Grove Collaborative Glass Spray Bottle with Silicone Sleeve

(4) Grove Collaborative All-Purpose Cleaning Concentrate (Set of 2)

(5) Grab Green Garbage Disposal Freshener & Cleaner Pods

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4 WAYS TO MAKE HOMEMADE
SPAGHETTI HEALTHIER