Mexi-Style Salad Bowl

One of the interesting things in the new WW 3-month journal is that it has a recipe for every week. I tried out the week 1 recipe today and hubby had some too. I made a couple of substitutes out of necessity - like digging out baby corn from the frozen stir-fry to replace corn kernals and we didn't have red-wine vinegar so we used balsamic vinegar. Also, we skipped the cilantro or basil to taste - I didn't have any fresh and knew it would be good as-is. What would I do differently next time? Less jalapeno pepper - there was half a pepper in each salad and we are just not used to that intensity. I'll post here the recipe that WE made.

And YES - I would make this again!!! In fact, I made up another container for my lunch tomorrow. Two thumbs up.

Mexi-Style Salad Bowl

2 oz thinly sliced chicken thigh, pan-grilled
2C mixed salad greens
1/2 C defrosted baby corn
1/2 C rinsed canned black beans
1/4 C mixed bell pepper, chopped
1/4 C diced red onion
1/2 minced jalapeno pepper
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp olive oil

Arrange chicken on top of greens and add remaining salad ingredients. Drizzle vinegar and oil over salad.

It's Officially Cold. Need Soup?

The 10 year old loves this. I whipped up a batch on Sunday. Personally, I thought it could have used more veggies and had decided to take half the recipe and add another can of tomatoes with some carrots, cauliflower and cabbage. Unfortunately, there's not enough left...

Mexican Bean and Lentil Soup

POINTS® Value: 3
Servings: 17
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Course: soups

This makes approximately 17 - 1C servings. If preparing ahead, do not add the final 4 ingredients and freeze in portions. When ready to serve, simply re-heat desired portion and add coriander, lemon juice, s&p prior to serving

Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup onion(s), chopped
2 garlic clove(s), minced
2 Tbsp chili powder
28 oz canned tomatoes
3/4 cup dry pink lentils
6 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
2 cup water
19 oz canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
19 oz canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
19 oz canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp cilantro, fresh
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions
1. Heat oil over med. heat; cook onions, garlic, chili powder, stirring occ. until softened.
2. Add tomatoes, vegetable stock, water and lentils. Bring to a boil
3. Reduce heat to med-low and simmer until lentils are soft (approx 20 mins.)
4. Add beans and cook (approx. 15 min) - This is the bake ahead stage where you can freeze portions.
5. Stir in Cilantro, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

YUMMMMMMY!

What is the protocol for sharing recipes that you paid for? I'm never sure about that. Anyway, I suppose it's OK as long as you made the recipe, tell people where you got it, and encourage them to buy the publication. So, I'm going to share.

First off, if you haven't picked up a copy of the recent Clean Eating Magazine, do it now. Wow, I am so impressed with this. I've tried 2 recipes so far and heard the term 'gourmet' coming from the hubby over chicken soup and 'delicious' coming from the picky eater 9yo over lasagna (although this recipe did put dairy in her system, I figured it was OK for a single serving every few weeks as long as she stays away from sneaking her sisters cheese strings).

Adendum: The 9yo dislikes ground beef and will not eat pasta with tomatoe sauce - yucky, she says. She does, however, like tomatoes and tomatoe juice - hmmm. So, for this to be a delicious choice is huge.

So, without further ado, a sample from the current publication. I think I'll be tempted to subscribe to this magazine...

Pasta with Turkey and Spinach:

1tsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1lb extra-lean ground white turkey breast (I used ground chicken 'cause it was on sale last week)
3/4tsp ground cinnamon
1/4tsp ground nutmeg
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes in juice
1tsp sea salt
8 sheets dried high-protein or whole-wheat lasagna noodles (I used PC whole wheat noodles)
1 10-oz box frozen spinach, thawed
1 15-oz container low-fat ricotta cheese (I bought a tub in the deli but couldn't find low-fat - think 500 ml)
1 egg
3/4C shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese (no name, low-fat)

1. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over med heat. Add onion and cook until softened (about 5 mins). Add garlic and cood another minute. Turn heat to med-high and add ground turkey, breaking it up. Cook until meat shows no sign of pink. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg, then add tomatoes with juice and the salt. Reduce heat to med-low, stir, cover and let simmer for 20 mins, occasionally stirring and breaking up with tomatoes with a wooden spoon.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse and allow to cool in colander.

3. Preheat oven to 400 deg. Squeeze all remaining moisture from thawed spinach and place in a large bowl. Add ricotta cheese, egg and 1/4C mozzarella to bowl. Stir until combined.

4. Spread 1C of cooked tomatoe sauce into bottom of a 9x10" casserole dish. Lay a cooked lasagna noodle flat in front of you. Use your fingers to spread 1/8 of ricotta mixture across the noodle and roll it up (a little over 1/4C of mixture per noodle). Place rolled pasta, seam side down, into the casserole dish. Repeat with remaining noodles. Spread remaining tomatoe sauce over roll-ups, then top with remaining 1/2C mozzerella.

5. Bake, covered with foil, for 20 mins. Remove foil and broil for 5 mins or until roll-ups are browned and bubbly.

NI/serving: 234 calories, Fat 3g, Sat. fat 0g, Carbs 27g, Fibre 5g, Sugars 7g, Protein 28g, Sodium 508mg, cholesterol 76mg.

So, be you a calorie counter, weight watcher, or clean eater, this should be everything you need. As a Weight Watcher, I love whole foods. To me, clean eating just gives me another focus on what I'm already trying to do - eat healthy. The fact that this was easy to make, freezes great for lunches later in the week, and is family approved makes this recipe a perfect fit for my meal plan. 2 thumbs up.

Forecasts, Foodflux, Flabfooled

Well, I thought I'd attempt Wendie this week and, well, forecasting foodflux's to fool the flab isn't as easy as it seems. Planning a little off. Saturday evening I went out with my daughter and, with 6 pts left and no books tried to figure out what to order from McDonald's while I was famished. There was really no other place to go (we were shopping at Wal-Mart and it was already after 9pm and they close at 10). I tried, but ended up 4 pts over for the day. Sunday we ended up running into m-i-l's and I had, once again, left all of my books at home. I had no idea what I was shooting for and ordered from Subway. Monday I made a subraction error first thing in the morning and only found it today.

Yesterday I was stuffed. Stuffed on 24 pts! I think this is quite the thing, so I'm gonna post my menu:

And, the recipe for the Chicken Casserole - I've been told by a chef friend that there is no substitution for rosemary, but it does dry well, so she gave me some. The recipe as stated below was calculated at 24pts and I divided it in 4 for 6pt meals:

I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts that were pre-cooked and I wanted to use them up - this could have added to the dryness so I added broth - I also added the chicken in step 2 as it didn't need cooking.

Frozen lunch Wednesday

I got home late from work last night and hubby had some pork chops waiting in the oven. He covers them, adds water and a bit of BBQ sauce. A few small potatoe's and some string beans and I was so tired. As I was packing this up I began to think about Randi's Tuna and Pea frozen dinners. Hmmm, let's go again:

I broke up the 1cup of rice I had frozen in the bag and put half in each of 2 Ziploc containers. I took 1 chop (they weren't big, about a deck of cards so maybe 4oz), cut it in half and put half in each container. Then 3/4C frozen peas and 2 Tbsp of Sauce (I used soy with ginger). I had one today at noon and it was very good.

So, it's only Wednesday and I have 2 boughten frozen dinners in the freezer and 2 homemade ones. I am going to do this more often.

OTOH, I hadn't intended to consume 260 mg of sodium on WI day - crud, I missed that. Actually, maybe being so close to WI it won't matter much.

Cheers,

Smells Good - What is that?

Sunday night I had a hankering for some rice with honey garlic sauce. As I started, I first decided to put on a large amount of brown rice. I had been told about someone freezing this in individual serving bags in their freezer since it takes so long to cook. This was my initial thought - freeze for future use.

As the rice cooked, I decided that it would be nice to have some chicken balls to go with it. I bought these and no one is eating them. I began to defrost some for myself and whoever else wanted a couple (hubby maybe, the kids were into mac & cheese). Then I thought, why not add some frozen ones to the rice. OK, so a short jump later and I decided to make my own frozen dinners for lunch in those Ziploc boxes. I made 3 of them and froze 1cup of rice separately in a baggie. My frozen lunches are 6pts each, but it could be cut by using less meatballs. I could add cooked chicken breasts for less pts, too - maybe because then I'd need more sauce.

What you'll need:

Freezable 2C containers

Cooked rice (I think mine was a no name)

Frozen meatballs (I used reduced fat PC Blue Menu Italian chicken meatballs)

Frozen veggies (again no name mixed veggies, removing the brocolli as it takes too long in the microwave)

Sauce (I used Diana's Gourmet Honey Garlic, pictured above - this is succulent)

OK, I had all of the goods. I calculated out my points and decided that I would only need in each container:

half a cup of rice (2pts)

6 chicken balls (3pts) - mmm, so worth it

2Tbsp sauce (1pt)

top up the container with veggies

Me no chef. Me like food much, though. This yum yum. Make tum tum happy.

The Last Black Bean Fudge

Sadly I finished off my last black bean fudge today. My huband wasn't crazy about these and the kids weren't trying to steal them (I mean, why do I buy LF Brownie mix and go through the trouble of actually adding water and putting them in the oven if they're just gonna eat the whole thing and leave the crumbs for me?). I have gotten used to my fudge and coffee over the past several days, though. They satisfied that 'I want something sweet and chocolatey' but didn't make me feel the 'I want to eat the whole batch' - taking 1/day in my lunch helps. It's because of all this that I know I will make them again. The recipe is thanks to Roni and can be found at http://weightwatchen.com/2007/12/frozen-black-bean-fudge.html - I used the food processor instead so I was able to mix the dry ingredients in without dirtying another dish (oh yeah, not only am I not a fan of cooking/baking, but I dislike clean-up as well).

All totalled, I give this a 3/5. The texture is odd, but the added benefit of the black beans as a great source of protein and fibre works for me. The taste is not quite fudgy and I needed to get used to it. This 4 item recipe is just my speed and was a snap to throw together. I forgot to metion - they're 1pt each. So, definately more good than bad - at least in my books.

Hope everyone has a great OP day.
Cheers, Candace

Lazy Saturday (Fairly long)

I slept in. Hubby was at work early and the chickens were very good this morning. OK, I didn't really sleep, but getting to stay in bed is pretty cool. He brought me home a coffee (my old one without sugar, so I gave him half and added Splenda). OK, vice satisfied. Now he's gone for a nap.
Gonna take monkey #1 shopping today. She's got $45 in birthday money burning a whole in her vinyl purse and I promised her the Twister Dance game. I also have to buy some birthday party stuff for the LO's party. I am going to try Brownie cupcakes as I think all of these birthday cakes are really testing my resolve - there was the 9yo's party, a co-worker the following week, the the family cake on the girls real birthday, now I need something for the 4yo's party. Here goes:
1 package Betty Crocker LF Brownie mix
3C Bran (not the cereal - I bought generic)
2/3C water
Now that I've tried the Brownies and know they are chocolate-worthy, I will attempt this one. Apparently only 1 pt/cupcake and I don't have to mail-order. Unlike many of you, I am not a fan of baking or cooking. You'd think boiling water would be easy. I looks so simple! NOT say my graveyard of once-beloved kettles. I need to get me one of those fancy shmancy electric ones that shut off - they're just so...generic. I always seem to fancy something out of the ordinary and end up buying a stove top one for too much money that is more of a conversation piece and another element-destruction waiting to happen. For now, I use a pot on the stove top - I think we've only lost 1 of those. I love pretty things, but recognize that hubby and/or the monkeys will not allow me to display pretty things without making a clutter in front of it. So, I have moved my focus to anything that makes my life easier.
My favourite kitchen tools are:
Slow Cooker
Blender
A good teflon fry pan
George Forman grill with bun warmer (gonna take mine to Mom's cottage and upgrade to the family sized one like Collette's - 4 chicken breasts at once, WOW).
Microwave (actually I hate mine, it's from the 80's and won't die. I tried to sell it at a yard sale once - someone bought the microwave stand and the microwave now takes up SO much valuable counter top space. I really want a cute white one, or a range one).
Coffee maker (Oh, I don't actually make the coffee. I buy mine at Tim's or hubby makes it on the weekends. Still I need it and wouldn't be without one).
Toaster (I've actually given some thought to trading it in for a convection oven. Mom has one at the cottage and I really like it - maybe I'll steal it for next winter when she shuts down).

My favourite space savers are:
Shelf saver racks from Wally-Mart. This doubles my cup capacity and allows me to not have to 'stack' plates without using extra room.
Storing spices in a drawer. I put them in little baskets from the dollar store and have been meaning to lable the tops of bottle for a long time, but never made it to that. It saves them falling out of the cupboard all the time. Thanks for my friend Heather who told me to do that around 1.5 years ago.

Now, if I could only convince hubby it's time to get rid of the second fridge. Ahh, we bought a new one last December because the old one leaked from the freezer down below the crisper and out onto the floor. Anyway, it was Christmas so we kept both temporarily. Then a friend was going to take it for his workshop once the weather cleared up then changed his mind. 7 months later and I still have 2 fridges. Amazingly, both are full. Maybe I'll clean them out once I get the monkeys settled down - yup, they can't see you actually sitting doing something and not paying 100% attention to them for any length of time without arguing and getting into stuff.

Cheers, Candace