My Healthy Cooking Experience:

[Little Shepherd]

I need to get in shape. There's no two ways about it. My back and one of my knees have been hurting lately, and I need to get stronger and thinner before something irreversible happens. So today I was getting hungry, and my first instinct was to throw some mac & cheese and tuna together. I don't know why, but I suddenly started thinking about how heavy and tired and bloated I'd feel after eating that, and how if I wanted to do anything else today those plans would be pretty much up in flames.

So I cooked! Nothing difficult, but it's way more than I'm used to doing. And I thought about what flavors I liked and what would make the meal interesting, and it turned out pretty yummy, I think. Just one meat and a veggie.

So my meat was a salmon fillet. Walmart sells these 4-packs, and each fillet is approximately the "deck of cards" size that all those health gurus tell you is the perfect amount for a serving, so that makes portion control incredibly easy right there. I asked mom for some suggestions since my initial impulse is to throw it in a skillet and scramble it. She suggested the broiler pan, and so I used that. I've never used it before, but I greased it(duh) and popped it in the stove on broil, flipped it after a couple minutes, and it turned out really good. Oh, and I sprinkled some of this "old bay" seasoning on it. Normally, I use Greek seasoning, but mom used old bay in a soup that was really good so I tried it instead.

The salmon came out thoroughly cooked, moist, and full of flavor. It's definitely going to be my new meat staple.

And my veggie was green beans. Beans, water, pan, bring to boil, simmer, done. I didn't stop there, though. I got to thinking what would taste good on a veggie like that, and butter obviously. But butter's not all that good for you, so luckily we had some of that calorie/fat-free spray stuff that tastes enough like butter. I used that. Oh, and a bit of garlic powder! I was a bit hesitant, but I generally like garlic, so took a chance.

Not as crispy as I'd like, but the flavor was amazing and I popped them like candy! I'm definitely making use of garlic more often.

Best of all, I feel full, but not hurting. And I don't feel all weighed down, tired, and all that other stuff that happens when you eat a bunch of junk food. If I had something else to do today, I'd have no problem doing it because I'm still very much awake and feeling good. I could get used to this.

[Storico]

That sounds wonderful (and very tasty!) Good for you!

(If you cook trout ever, though, it'd probably be best if you didn't mention THAT to a certain someone here.....)

[Little Shepherd]

(If you cook trout ever, though, it'd probably be best if you didn't mention THAT to a certain someone here.....)

[Gideon Brown]

(If you cook trout ever, though, it'd probably be best if you didn't mention THAT to a certain someone here.....)

Unless you cook Trout. Then it won't be an issue.

[Storico]

Look at the difference one capital letter makes. Golly gee. No wonder taoist is so picky.

[Jimmy Higgins]

What to add to Salmon? Salmon is quite good on it's own! Baking if my preferred method of cooking. If one must add a something, dijon or soy and honey. Sprinkle with some walnuts. Always good stuff.

I'd edge away from calorie free stuff. Taste comes at a price. And boiling veggies isn't that good because you'll lose vitamins that way. Frozen veggies in a microwavable container steam up quite nicely on their own. Of course, nothing makes salmon better than being on a bed of citrus couscous. Take an orange and squeeze the heck out of it into whatever amount of water you want. Add some of the peel zest. Cook the couscous... no salt or butter needed.

[Little Shepherd]

Walnuts, soy, and honey? Interesting. I'd have to get some other soy sauce, though. The kikkoman I have is way too salty. I think if I can find reduced sodium kikkoman that would be fine.

I've never had couscous. Hm.

[QuantaFille]

I've never had couscous. Hm.

Couscous is awesome stuff, and one of the easiest things to make, ever. It is like pasta crumbles, that's the best way I can describe it. You can season it however you like, depending on what you'll be eating it with.
It's usually somewhere around the rice section at the grocery store. You can get it either plain in a plastic canister, or in a box with a seasoning packet.
At times it has been a standard lunch ingredient for me. I like to eat it with Boca "chik'n" patties.

Oh, and salmon is supposed to be the best fish as far as nutrition goes.

And yeah, definitely try to find low-sodium soy sauce.

Q.