Fresh Off the Square

18/09/2026

The plate is to weigh down the peanuts in the water!

18/09/2026

18/09/2026

It’s football season! And what’s one of the best foods to snack on during the game? Boiled peanuts! 80 minutes, a fourth a cup of salt, a half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, then set it and forget it. 

14/01/2024

Sunday lunch for the fam!

I think I mentioned I cook big on Sundays. I usually have kids and in-laws and such who enjoy a big Sunday lunch.

This is NOT whole 30 compliant only because of the dairy, but it might fit that half 30 I made up, lol. I did use gluten free brown rice lasagna noodles. Sounds terrible-taste wonderful! No one could even tell!

Also, food photography is not my specialty and something I really need to work on. How do they make it look sooo good!! But I digress.

Lasagna (always better in day 2)

1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
Italian seasoning blend
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
48 ou (that’s 2 jars) of marinara/spaghetti sauce. (Remember to look for a short ingredient list and no added sugar. You can also make your own tomato sauce if you have the time.)
12 lasagna noodles, boiled about 10 minutes and then drained. Or get the no boil kind.
3cups shredded mozzarella
1.5 cups shredded Parmesan
2 eggs
Ricotta cheese-the big one. (I think it’s 24 ounces?)
Salt and pepper
1-2 tablespoons dried Parsley

Preheat overn to 350.

On the stovetop, Brown the pork and beef with 2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning blend, until cooked through. Scoop the meat mixture into a bowl leaving some of the fat (about a tablespoon) to cook the onion in. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the meat mixture back to pan and add the spaghetti sauce. Mix well and Simmer for about 5 minutes.

While that’s cooking, combine 2 cups of mozzarella, 1 cup, of parm, the eggs, the ricotta, the salt, pepper, and the parsley.

In a 9x12 casserole dish, layer 1/4 of the meat sauce, 4 noodles, 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Continue layering meat, noodles, cheese until it’s all used up. Top the whole casserole with the remaining shredded mozzarella and parm. Sprinkle parsley on top.
Cover casserole with a sheet of tin foil that has been Sprayed with nonstick spray on the underside to prevent sticking.
Bake for 50 minutes. Remove the tin foil and bake 10 more minutes.
Let the lasagna cook or rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

We paired this with a big green salad. Green beans and garlic bread/toast would also be nice to round out this big meal! And it makes plenty so you’ll have some leftovers for one night this week! Enjoy!

12/01/2024

Now I’m caught up!

Check out this app my friend sent me! It’s called BobbyApproved. She’s been scanning everything in her pantry, lol!

It can be overwhelming reading the ingredients in the grocery store when you don’t really know what you are looking at or looking for.

Use the app in the grocery store or at home. Your purchases may not all be ‘Bobby approved’ but you can at least learn what some of these terms are and start to wean yourself off of them. Knowledge is power!

Remember, we are trying to keep the junk out of our gut. Your gut biome helps control hormones. Hormones are chemical messengers responsible for coordinating most everything in your body: metabolism, weight regulation, diabetes, mood, reproduction, growth and development, etc. it all starts with the gut!

Once we identify and eliminate some of these chemicals and over processed foods-we are going to fill it with some gut-loving nutrition! Stay tuned!

12/01/2024

Day 11! (Yes, I missed a day. No excuse-just forgive me! I’ll double up today)

I talked about snacks and our health a little bit. Here is an article and a study from one of my favorite nutritional gurus, Dr Mark Hyman. Basically most people are snacking on the wrong things! If you have to have a snack, at least make it a nutritious one.

“This study analyzed dietary data from 20,000 adults and found that two snacks per day contributed to 19.5%-22.4% of their daily energy intake. Americans consume an average of 400-500 calories per day from non-nutritive snacks, essentially adding an extra meal to the day. I’m not a proponent of counting calories, but it’s important to recognize when foods are having this much of a caloric impact without contributing to nutrient sufficiency. The most commonly eaten snacks seen throughout the study consisted of convenience foods high in carbohydrates, fat, and sugar. This is a recipe for increased cravings, weight gain, and metabolic syndrome. It serves our bodies’ natural cellular waste-removal processes to have some time between meals, but realistically I know we all need a snack sometimes. In lieu of snacks high in refined grains, seed oils, and sweeteners, try combining fiber, protein, and fat from real foods for a more satiating and nourishing outcome. Cucumbers with olives and hummus, seed crackers with canned salmon and celery, or carrots with almond butter are some of my favorites.”

Little is known about the snacking patterns among adults with type 2 diabetes. The contribution of snacks to energy and nutrient intakes is important to further understand dietary patterns and glycemic control. The purpose of this study is to evaluate snack consumption among adults according to diab...

10/01/2024

On to day 10!!

How are we doing out there? I’ve dropped 4 pounds by just quitting the sugar/gluten!

Feeling pretty good at my workouts too! (You can always find me at 5:15am The Health Club teaching a HIIT workout on MWF!)

I’m always talking about “reading the ingredients”, but what does that mean exactly?

🌶️ You want to look for simple ingredients. Mostly what you can pronounce but you can always google it if you don’t know it. For example, Ascorbic acid is simply vitamin C 🍊 . However, ‘natural flavors’ although it sounds good, just means that it was originally extracted from a plant or animal and then a food chemist created something from it. That’s according to healthline.com (not Paige!) In fact, the FDA hasn’t officially defined the term ‘natural’! 🤔🤔
I’m not saying to avoid them altogether, but if you have major food sensitivities, these flavors could be a source.

🌶️ I try to live by the 5 or less rule. When you get more than 5 ingredients, there tends to be too many things you don’t really need. Ingredients on all packages are listed in order from greatest to least.

🌶️ Avoid artificial flavors, preservatives, and taste enhancers like MSG, high fructose corn syrup, BHA, BHT, and TBHQ. Many of these have been classified as potential endocrine disrupters and/or cancer causing in laboratory studies. And even if they don’t ultimately cause something deadly in you, they can really mess with your gut biome (all that good bacteria in your gut) and keep you from digesting and utilizing your nutrients to the best of your body’s ability.

Some of these addictives have been banned in other countries outside the USA. I wonder why? 🤔🤔

Check out these examples here. I have 3 different creole seasonings that can be purchased. See the different ingredients? All for the same spice. One is Zatarains (too many enhancers for me) , one is Tony Chachere’s (better) and one is Spice It! (Best-just plain ole spices). You can find the Spice It brand with my friends at Piggly Wiggly of Carthage!

The other picture is one of my favorite cereal bars I used to eat all the time. Check out that second ingredient. Not only is it mostly sugar, but again down the list is honey, and again in brown sugar syrup!! Besides that you’ve got those rancid oils (canola and sunflower), soy lecithin (the extraction process for this involves hexane-a solvent used in glue and varnish), and check out the fine print: Contains Bioengineered Food Ingredients.

I’m not sure that we know all the side effects and results of these added chemicals and processes, but why fool with it if you can avoid it? Could these chemicals be contributing to the rise in cancer, diabetes, heart disease, chronic inflammation, etc?

This is why we learn to grow, cook and prepare for ourselves the best we can!

08/01/2024

Day 8 of the diet detox!

How are you feeling? If Anyone has some accomplishments they’d like to share, I would love to hear them! Is your digestion better? Maybe your joints are less achy? Have you lost a pound or two?

Never fear, it is working. Sugar is like a drug so there may be some withdrawals. Hang in there: you WILL feel better. And gluten can be tricky to locate in all the products.

Tonight is the national championship and although the football 🏈 may be blah (where’s the SEC?!) the food doesn’t have to be! My family loves to do a train-wreck 🌮 tacos on ballgame nights! Makes for an easy and quick supper on a busy week night. And yes, it can be healthy!

For a serving of 4:
Brown 1 pound of ground beef, drain and then add taco seasoning.
Good taco seasoning is McCormick but it’s even better if you make it yourself! (Recipe in comments)

Then be sure to load it with allll the veggies! Shredded Lettuce, pico de gallo, salsa, avocados 🥑(or guacamole-homemade of course-recipe in comments also!), diced onions and peppers, jalapeños, black olives, diced tomatoes, and on and on!

You won’t even miss the cheese and sour cream should you be doing non dairy.

Serve these on top of some of those fancy chips I posted yesterday or even tortilla chips. Just check ingredients. You are looking for a short list: only corn, oil, and salt. If you can find the non-gmo blue corn, even better!

Are you teamHuskie or teamWolverine? Both sound equally 😎 to me!

07/01/2024

Sunday is prep day.

Set yourself up for success by planning some meals for the week. One of the worst things you can do is wait till you are hungry and then decide what you are going to eat! You’ll end up grabbing a pizza or eating junk just to fill your belly. And don’t get me wrong-I love pizza. But it is a TREAT. For me, this month, it is off limits because of the crust. But on a regular week that is still a convenience meal that needs to be eaten sparingly.

(If you’re journaling, take note of how many times you are eating out. You have very little control over your food and diet if you are constantly eating out.)

This week, many of us go back to school. So look at your week and plan accordingly. You really only need to focus on 3 meals. I find that the rest takes care of itself through leftovers, preplanning or just our plans changing. And maybe 3 meals isn’t so overwhelming!

We have two ballgames this week and a meal served at church on Wednesday nights. So that leaves me with a full on meal for Monday, Thursday and Sunday. We usually put something fun on the grill for Saturday night.

Here’s how I attack that:

1. Prep: Grill or bake a whole pack of boneless chicken breasts. Go ahead and slice or dice this and put in the fridge for the week. These are great for last minute meal options, or packing a lunch. Top a green salad, add to a quinoa/rice bowl, make chicken salad, sauté it with some onions and peppers (you can buy a bag of frozen to save time) and top a baked potato with it, lots of options!

2. Prep: Get your salad ready. It’s so easy to put a salad on the table for everyone to add to their meal. The washed and ready to eat salads make this very convenient. I usually combine this with some romaine or iceberg to keep it crunchy. All you need is a tomato and a cucumber and you are ready to go! (I’ll talk salad dressings on another day. For now let’s get the salad going!)

3. Meal #1 Plan at least one crockpot meal or soup for the week. We have been loving our white chicken chili, but we also love regular chili, a roast, a whole chicken, 15 bean soup, veggie soup, there are so many good choices! Make a large portion for leftovers or freeze for a future night. I like to do Monday crockpot/soup so I have it for the rest of the week.

4. Meal #2 One night can be a simple meat and veggies. Choose your favs: pork chops, hamburger steak, Chicken wings and then add two veggies: roasted broccoi, baked sweet potatoes, steamed carrots, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, mushrooms, greens! (And don’t forget that salad that is ready to go!!)

5. Meal #3 : A simple sheet pan meal or casserole. Easy peasy. Sheet pan chicken fajitas or sheet pan pork tenderloin with sweet potatoes and pineapple. (I’ll post links to recipes in the comments)

Here are a few of my favorite grocery store items to grab up too:

04/01/2024

Day 4!
Are you getting plenty of protein?

Protein is one of three essential macronutrients — protein, carbohydrates, and fats — the human body needs in large quantities simply to survive.

A protein deficiency can lead to a range of issues, including:

Feeling weak and tired
Loss of muscle, leading to muscle degeneration
Fatty liver disease, which can result in liver failure
Fluid retention, causing swollen and puffy skin
Vulnerability to viruses and bacteria
Stunted growth in children
Brittle bones, increasing the risk of fractures
Hair loss or brittleness
Dry skin and nails
Hormone imbalances
Mood swings

The 9 essential amino acids (meaning essential for your body to function!) must be obtained through food and nutrition.

(Excerpts taken from becomeio.com)

What are YOUR favorite forms of protein?

While I love an organic vegan protein powder, I also love meat! Brack Rudolph made us some excellent SMASHburgers last night (eaten without the bread of course but all the fixin’s)! As a side I had oven baked fries from whole potatoes (no additives or preservatives here!)

Oven baked REAL fries: scrub russet potatoes and leave the skins on. Slice into your favorite size fry. I have a fry slicer that I run them through quickly. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a cookie sheet with olive oil. Spread fries out, lightly spray potatoes with an olive oil and then sprinkle salt. Bake till crisp tender-I think it was about 20 minutes, depending on your oven.