Going on "Vacation"

Today we leave to go to South Dakota.  This is the only surrounding state I have not visited.  Due to working a job that does not afford me many luxuries, we will be roughing it.  Or camping rather.  And really I wouldn't have it any other way.  Camping next to a fire far surpasses being at a hotel.  I guess I'd rather get ticks than bedbugs.
Anyways, I am going to try my hand at camping over a fire and if I have any successes I will share them when I return. Now let's just hope they're allowing camp fires up their and not in the same burn ban status as Council Tuckey.

Marinara Sauce

It's summer.  Garden fresh tomatoes are everywhere! After you've eaten all the BLTs you can stand (probably not possible) you start looking for a few other ways to use your tomatoes.  This is a super easy recipe! You can add or take away anything you like or don't like.  For instance if you like spicy, add some hot peppers.  After cooking this last week I have used it on pasta, as a pizza sauce, and as a dipping sauce for bread sticks.  Here is my favorite variation.

Marinara Sauce
Easy!
Makes about 5 servings at 1/2 cup per serving
100 calories per serving with <2 grams of fat
Time: Less than 20 minutes
Ingredients:
5 Medium tomatoes (you can use any kind you like but garden fresh are the best)
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
2 green onions
1/2 cup yellow squash sliced
1 clove garlic
1 small bunch basil chopped with stems removed.
1/4 cup marsala cooking wine
6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
Boil tomatoes until skins begin to peel.  Run cold water over tomatoes long enough to safely peel tomatoes.  Remove any stems in tomatoes and set aside. 
Saute whites of onions, squash, and garlic for 1-2 minutes or until tender but not brown.
Add all of the ingredients except salt into food processor and pulse until blended to the consistency you prefer. I like my sauce a bit more chunky. 

Return to stove and simmer on low for another 10 minutes adding salt towards the end. Enjoy now or save some in a jar for later, or in my case, for using throughout the week with almost everything.
 

 

A Few Tips for Healthy Eating

It's been nearly two weeks since this began.  Writing and cooking simultaneously is becoming second nature.  Calculating recipes is definitely a more productive way to spend my time.  Oddly, it's very satisfying, and it feels like I might be getting closer to figuring out what I want to do with myself.
I'm very grateful that I found "The Complete Food Counter" at the library and will probably be ordering it online here soon.  It's been most helpful, especially for things that don't come with a nutritional label like fruits and veggies.
Every meal hasn't been a success. It's hard to balance healthy with tasting good and if the recipe doesn't pass the test, then it's not going online. It's difficult, though, to establish something that may taste good to me equaling something others might enjoy.  I feel like I have retrained my taste buds. I've been slowly retraining my brain as well and it's been a long process that hasn't always been successful. I used to be, and sometimes still am, a bit of an over-indulger. I think that is pretty typical for most people these days. Moderation?! Screw moderation.
If you think about how much time we've spent over the years slowly increasing our portions sizes you can imagine the time it's taking to re-wire my thinking. You really need to read the back of those boxes and pay attention to serving sizes. At first it may seem small and you WILL feel hungry, but in time, you will learn to feel satisfied and even full! Knowing the difference between being hungry and having an "appetite" is a good first step to get you on your way.  Pay attention to your body. Is your it your stomach or your brain that wants to eat?
Knowing your triggers is also helpful. A big trigger for me is boredom. If I have some spare time when I'm not doing anything, I feel the urge to snack. Filling up your time with productive tasks is a good way to avoid boredom.  Take it one step further and get out and do something active with your body, even if that means going for a 15 minute walk. Every little bit helps.
On the opposite end of boredom and another big trigger for me (and probably almost anyone these days) is feeling the need to constantly multi-task. If you're not doing 10 things at once, you feel like you're not doing enough.  Slow down and enjoy the here and now.  This definitely includes mealtime.  I used to have to have the tv on,  be reading something, and be catching up with my interwebs when I was eating anything.  This will almost always lead to over eating. Turn off your electronics, put your books and newspapers down, sit at the table and just eat.   Enjoy your food. Taste your food.  If you're eating with someone, enjoy their company.  Ask them how their day was. Enjoying and tasting your food can go a long way to helping you feel satisfied with your meal.
Well, it's almost lunch time here.  Time to turn off the interwebs and figure out what I am going to eat. Ciao! 

Garlic Bread Rounds

Garlic Bread Rounds
Appetizer or Side
Servings 4 at 1/2 bun
Calories 85 Grams of Fat 2.5 per Serving
Prep/Cooking Time: less than 10 minutes

Ingredients:
2 whole wheat sandwich thins (4 halves)
1/4 cup low moisture part skim mozz cheese
1 Tbsp Best Life Buttery Spread made with extra virgin olive oil
Italian Seasoning
garlic powder


Preparation:
Preheat oven broiler to low. Spread 1/4 Tbsp olive oil butter onto each half. Sprinkle with garlic powder.  Add cheese and Italian Seasoning. Bake on 2nd rack from top for 1-3 minutes until crispy.
Enjoy!

Italian Pasta Fresco

Italian Pasta Fresco
Main Course
Makes 4 servings at 1+ cup per serving
250 calories and 7 grams of fat per serving
Prep/cooking time: about 20 minutes

 Ingredients
4 chicken breast tenders (optional) sprinkled with italian seasoning
2 cups whole wheat rotini
3 Laughing Cow Cheese wedges (light garlic and herb)                                                                      
3 large tomatoes                                                                                 
1/4 cup onion 1/4 cup red pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
Fresh basil, oregano, and rosemary (as little or as much as you like)
of course you can substitute dried herbs
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp marsala cooking wine (optional)
2 garlic cloves
1 cup spinach

Preparation: 
Broil chicken at 500 degrees 5 minutes on each side on top rack. Remove from oven. 
Cook pasta according to package directions leaving al dente so pasta can absorb flavoring of "sauce" when you combine ingredients. Place the 3 tomatoes in with the pasta to cook long enough that skins become loose. Remove tomatoes and place in strainer to cool enough to remove skins.  
Cut chicken into bite sized pieces.
Chop onion, pepper, and garlic and saute in 1/2 Tbsp olive oil in a separate sauce pan until tender but not brown. 1-2 minutes on med/high heat. 
After removing skins from tomatoes, place them in with onion mixture, add chicken and cooking wine  Stir until mixed.  Remove from heat. 
By this time, pasta should be cooked.  Drain but do not rinse.  Put back into pan add remaining olive oil and stir. Add vegetable/chicken mixture, spinach, herbs and salt. Cook a few minutes longer, covered, on low heat, stirring occasionally. Cut cheese into small pieces and add in last, stirring until melted. 

Enjoy! 

 

Chicken Enchiladas and Spanish Rice: A Complete Meal

Chicken Enchiladas
Main Course
Makes 6 servings at one enchilada per serving
or 4 for this meal and 2 for leftovers
230 calories/8.5 Grams of fat per enchilada

Spanish Rice
Side Dish
makes 4 servings (a little under 1/2 cup cup per serving)
140 calories/ 2.5grams of fat per serving

Prep/Cooking time: about 40 minutes
Skill Level: Medium


Ingredients needed for complete meal:
6 chicken breast tenders, no skin, cooked and shredded
15 oz can enchilada sauce (if you are just making the spanish rice, you may substitute 1/2 cup tomato juice and add chili powder. Cooking time will be shorter)
4 oz can diced green chilies
3/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup red pepper
3/4 cup mozz cheese low moisture part skim (you can use a mexican cheese but it is highter in fat and calories)
4 oz fat free cream cheese
6 low carb tortilla shells (Tamaros low carb garden)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 cup lower sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime
1/2 tsp cumin
1 cup instant brown rice

Preparation for Enchiladas:
Cook chicken with the method of your choosing.  I broiled mine about seven minutes on each side. Shred the chicken. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Saute 1/2 cup of the onions in 1/2 Tbsp olive oil. Add 2 Tbsp of the green chiles to the onions after the onions have sauteed for a few minutes.  Remove from heat. Combine onion/chile mixture with the chicken, fat free cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, 1/4 tsp salt, and cumin in a large bowl.
Heat all the tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds on high.  Warm tortillas are easier to work with.
Spoon the chicken mixture onto the edge of the tortillas and roll up. It's about 1/2 cup of filling per tortillas.
Spray a square metal baking pan with cooking spray.  Place rolled tortillas, seam side down, into the baking pan.
Combine 1 cup of the enchilada sauce with the sour cream and stir til blended.  I use the same bowl as the one for the chicken filling.  This picks up some of the chicken flavoring and makes for less dishes to clean later. Pour the sauce mixture over the tortillas. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes.  When there is five minutes remaining, sprinkle with the remainder of cheese (1/4 cup) and the remainder of the green chiles. Finish baking.


Preparation for the Spanish Rice:
Bring the chicken broth to a boil. Add the brown rice and remaining enchilada sauce (about 1/2 cup). Stir, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for five minutes. No peeking!
While the rice is simmering, saute the remaining onion and the red pepper in 1/2 Tbsp olive oil. After the rice has simmered for 5 minutes, mix in onion/peppers. Cover and simmer for another five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the Mrs Dash seasoning and 1/4 tsp salt. Cook for an additional 5 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat to let the sauce thicken.
You may want to garish your enchilada with lettuce and tomatoes, pico, or salsa.. If you do your timing correctly the two dishes should be ready at about the same time.
Serve and enjoy! 

Day Five-sugars, fats, and brains oh my!

It's been five days since taking on this little project.  I've got five recipes up so far.  Usually if I post more than one on the same day it's because they compliment each other. Eventually, when I figure out the workings on this blog, I want to have things easily accessible by food categories (appetizer, main course, side dishes, salads.) Then I will make suggestions on what to mix and match. I may even do weekly menus. It's been a lot of work so far but I am getting better at writing everything down and cooking at the same time.
I've even made two new dishes that I have never attempted before.
 I got a bunch of peaches at the farmer's market on Saturday.  My stepmom gave me a recipe for peach crumble.  I've made two passes so far with trying to tweak the recipe to contain less sugar and less fat.  I'm experimenting with Truvia which is a sugar substitute made using the stevia plant.  Supposed to be better than the "chemically" made sweeteners but who knows. Upon some further research, Truvia is a creation of Cargill and Coca-Cola so I guess that makes me a bit leery.
The first try with the peach crumble wasn't a total disaster but the texture was off.  The 2nd attempt today was a little closer.  Travis reports that this one tasted less sweet and more like peaches (in a good way) so I think I'm almost there. Baking is probably my weak point in the cooking world.  Too scientific and not much room for error.
Yesterday I asked people for requests. My sister suggested Crab Cakes and I rose to the challenge.  I found a recipe by Paula Deen of all people (if you don't know, that lady seriously freaks me out.) I used some healthier ingredients, less fat and better for you fat.  Yes, there is a difference. Your diet should be very low in saturated fat and no trans fats if at all possible. Mono-unsaturated fats are the best for you (think olive oil, avocado, peanuts.) Even with the healthier ingredients, they tasted awesome! The recipe suggested to use with "favorite dipping sauce" but they were so good, no sauce was needed. Hopefully, one day I will be rich enough to use real crab meat. :)
I found a great book at the library "The Most Complete Food Counter." It's got every food imaginable and even some not so imaginable foods.  While skimming through I came across muskrat, opossum, and  brains. Don't worry, no plans for roadkill or zombie treats on the menu anytime soon.
Be on the look-out for my world famous chicken enchiladas soon. I will also be posting helpful tricks I've learned over the years.