I gotta tell you. I can find a way to turn even the healthiest of ingredients into junk food.
Blueberry pie.
Broccoli smothered in cheese.
Carrots dipped in buttermilk ranch dressing.
So when I heard that Country Crock was encouraging families to be eat more vegetables and to use a healthier alternative to butter, I knew I wanted to do it.
Normally, we will have a deep fried chicken breast with pasta smothered in cheese, butter and oil with strawberry shortcake for dessert.
How on earth was I going to make the a healthier meal and make it fit into the new USDA guidelines??
Challenge accepted grasshopper.
(and I soon realized it was a lot easier then I thought!)
I decided to add some of the magnificent zucchini that is growing in the garden. My husband thought it would be a great idea to grill it, so the kids could see just how beautiful it is.
He cut up 1/2 inch to 1 inch slices and coated with a teaspoon of EVOO and some spices.
Since we are a family of six and since we are trying to be conscience of portion size, I made three chicken breasts instead of five. (the 5 month old doesn’t eat grilled chicken quite yet)
These were simply marinated in terriyaki sauce and then grilled right along side the zucchini.
Instead of pasta we went with an USDA approved organic rice.
Surprisingly, one of my favorite substitutions ended up being some fresh cut strawberries. Its amazing how that healthy sweetness trigger my brain that I was full, in the same way the cake would have.
Now, I love butter. I thought I was going to miss it in my quest for cooking better.
After doing some research, I realized that Country Crock is a healthier alternative to butter, but with all the flavor! With Country Crock I could even get calcium and Vitamin D! Goodbye nasty trans fats!
So I went all in. And decided to make a Bearnaise sauce.
I adapted this recipe from Micheal Ruhlman.
I would recommend following his directions (full video as well), as I did not have an emulsion blender.
Gotta tell ya. The flavor of the chicken and zucchini when the bearnaise was lightly drizzled over top… was… well…
perfection.
Guilt free indulgence.
It was also delicious on the white rice! So with less than a tablespoon of the Bearnaise, we were able to deliciously flavor the entire plate.
Well. Except for the strawberries.
My kids gobbled up that zucchini. They gobbled up their rice. They smiled as they ate their strawberries.
They even went so far as to have seconds of the grilled zucchini!
Now wouldn’t you enjoy seeing that delighted expression on your families faces right after they eat something that you know is better for them???
Think you want to try incorporating vegetables into your everyday meals? If you do be sure to leave a comment and tell me how it went!
When you do, you will be entered to win a $100 Cooking.com gift card!
Now how easy is that? 🙂
No duplicate comments. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
You may enter between August 24 – September 30th.
It’s easy to sneak veggies onto a nice, cheesy panini!
My kids don’t like carbs and are veggie fanatics, so its pretty easy to incorporate them into every meal. We eat them on a daily basis.
I try to have veggies with every meal. We have a small garden and when the kids help grow it the are more likely to eat it.
We signed up for a CSA this summer, so we’ve been eating lots of veggies!
We always grill our garden veggies during the summer…especially the zuchinni!!!!!!
I try to incorporate as many fruits and vegetables into everyday meals as possible. I even sneak them into places when I can 🙂 I’ve gone as far as to put shredded zucchini into brownies and everyone loved them!
Yes I would love to! I grill zucchini and my hubby and kids love it…i would LOVE to try that sauce you mentioned above!! Thank you for the opportunity!
actually all of those processed “butter like” spreads are MUCH worse for you than actual butter. they’re made with hydorgnated vegetable oils which studies are showing are more responsible for rises in heart disease than a natural ingredient like butter.
i understand that your blog is pushing certain products which sponsor your writing, but i think it’s irresponsible for you to advocate the use of these products as “healthy alternatives” to women who trust you and your opinions without doing any actual research.
why don’t we as a society go back to food which is actually food vs. something manufactured by in a huge plant by science? if you’re so concerned about the negative health effects of butter, just eat less of it! learn to make yourself healthy with portion control instead of eating more of something that is “low fat”.
Agree with comment above! We love butter around here but try to use in moderation. I love most veggies, but how to get a toddler and husband to enjoy too??
I try to add extra seasoning when having vegetables in or on the side of any meal. It helps to sneak them in for me and my family.