Chop Salad

     I hear you are supposed to eat some raw veggies everyday. I'm sure that is probably a healthy thing to do but, I don't always want to. I'm much rather eat pretzels and graham crackers for snacks. Enter the chop salad. No longer just a handful of carrots. Variety is the spice of life right. Change it up, use what you like, add ranch or Italian dressing, just eat it! Here's my version, but you could add whatever fresh veggies you like.

1 red bell pepper
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
1 seedless cucumber

• Chop and combine.
• Yum.

Healthier Joe Pasta

     I mentioned before that my family ate sloppy joe sauce instead of spaghetti sauce when I was younger.I guess it came from my mom growing up in a family of 5 kids. I think Mamaw wanted to make everyone happy, so they had a choice of sandwich or pasta.

     Our favorite was always No-Fuss, but I haven't found that in years. In my previous post, my homemade version was fantastic, but not really very healthy. I have come up with a better way that still tastes great. You could still serve this on a bun if you wish. We chose whole wheat pasta this time around.
Total cost for dish (with pasta): $4.75/6servings

1 lb ground meat (chicken, turkey, beef)
1 Tbl vinegar
2 tsp Worcestershire
1-1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 c chopped onion
1/3 c chopped green bell pepper
8 oz tomato sauce
1 (12oz) bottle  Chili Sauce
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 box pasta (or buns/bread)

• Brown meat. 
• Meanwhile, combine vinegar, worcestershire, and honey.
• Drain meat. Add onion, bell pepper, tomato sauce, chili sauce, red pepper, chili powder, and vinegar mixture. Stir to blend.
• Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer 20 minutes or until thickened. 
• Serve over cooked pasta or on toasted buns.

Fudge Swirl Peanut Butter Muffins

     We don't usually do anything big for V-day in our house, besides go out to dinner. I whipped these up, rather last minute, as a special treat after our dinner out. 
     The original recipe I found called this creation a cupcake, but in my opinion a cupcake requires icing and this has none. So, I deem it a muffin. Cupcake or muffin; it's so good. I only made six,  and we gobbled them up wishing I made more...and no, I didn't feel guilty about it.
     I've been on a "healthy" sweets kick lately. I'm really trying to lose this baby weight. Can you say that two years later? My mom says she still tells people that thirty years later, so I guess I can. I love sweets and can't give them up, so if I can find a healthier way to eat something I would cheat with anyhow, I'm going for it. This recipe includes no sugar (agave instead) and uses yogurt instead of oils. Adapted from The Biggest Loser Dessert Cookbook.

makes 12
2/3 c oat flour (I grind my oats in the magic bullet)
1/3c + 2 Tbl whole wheat flour
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/3 c Peanut Butter (I used Jif Natural)
1/2 c vanilla yogurt
3/4c + 2 Tbl agave nectar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
8tsp agave nectar
5tsp cocoa

• Preheat oven to 350* Spray muffin tin with oil.
• Sift flours, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
• Cream peanut butter, yogurt, and agave. Stir in eggs and vanilla. 
• Stir in flour. 
• Divide among the cups.
• Combine the 8tsp agave and 5tsp cocoa to make the fudge sauce.
• Drizzle 1tsp of fudge sauce onto the center of each muffin cup. Using a toothpick, swirl the chocolate into the batter. 
• Bake 15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Do you love sweets too? Check out these links for tons more recipes each week!
Sweet Tooth Friday
and
Sweets for Saturday

 

 

Meatballs

     My mom always made meatballs for our birthday parties or on Christmas Day when we just have lots of snack foods sitting around. I've had a lot of different flavors, but I always thought hers were the best. I called and asked how to make them the other day and she says, "half a bottle of Sweet Baby Rays and half a jar Apple Jelly." Sounds healthy right? No wonder they taste so good.
     I've been trying to limit my intake of sugars, salts, and fats, so I had to think of a different way to make these but still taste similar to what I remember. BBQ sauce has a lot of added sugars and salt, but it doesn't have to. I made homemade BBQ sauce for my "healthier" meatballs and they turned out delicious.

1 bag turkey meatballs (or make your own)
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
2 Tbl vinegar
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp brown mustard
1 tsp parsley
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbl Simply Fruit Apricot (or apple jelly)

• Cook meatballs according to package directions (or make your own)
• Combine all remaining ingredients for sauce. 
• Pour sauce over meatballs and heat to boiling.
• Reduce to low until ready to serve.

Meatballs

Portobello Pizza

     Since starting to eat less salt and fat, I've had trouble find foods that still taste good after removing those delicious ingredients. Some things have come out OK, some things have come out terribly, and some things, like this, taste amazing! I could eat this every week, and it's much healthier than traditional pizza.

     One piece of advice before making these: Only make what you will eat in one sitting. We usually save our leftovers for lunch the next day, but if you save these the mushroom gets a little watery. I recommend saving your sauce and uncooked mushrooms separately and putting them together to cook when you want to eat them.
Adapted from The Biggest Loser Book

5 whole portobello mushroom caps (about 5 inches each), stems removed
8oz tomato sauce
6oz tomato paste
chopped onion
1/2 clove minced garlic
1 tsp brown sugar (or substitute)
1 Tbl parsley
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt (or leave out if your watching)
dash pepper
dash bay leaves
1 lb turkey Italian sausage, cooked, drained, and crumbled
4 Tbl mozzarella cheese
2 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp basil

• Preheat oven to 350*
• Wipe mushrooms clean of any dirt. Place them on a baking sheet, gill side up.
• To make sauce: combine tomato sauce, tomato paste, onion, garlic, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Pour over cooked sausage and stir.
• Spoon meat sauce onto each cap, then sprinkle on the cheeses.  (freeze extra sauce for another time)
• Place in oven and bake 6-8 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
• Garnish with basil. Serve immediately.

Portobello Mushrooms

Healthier Waffles with Strawberry Syrup

     If you regularly follow my blog, you know we have a bad habit of eating waffles or pancakes every Friday. You may have also seen an earlier post that I'm trying to eat without sugar, salt, or oils right now. Now you are probably wondering how or if we had waffles or pancakes this morning.

We did. 

     They were a little different than our normal waffles, but to me they were fabulous after eating not so good turkey sausage links and delicious fruit for breakfast all this week. I even made enough for J to try...he's so supportive.

1 c oats, ground into flour
4 egg whites
2 tsp butternut extract
4 tsp sugar substitute (or real sugar if you aren't cutting back)
water
syrup:
1 c berries (I used strawberries, but blueberries would be awesome!)
4 tsp sugar (or sub)

• Preheat waffle iron. If you get it really hot, you don't have to spray it with oil before using.
• Combine ingredients for waffles. Add enough water to make smooth. 
• Pour onto waffle iron until golden.
• For syrup: Over med heat, or in microwave, cook berries until soggy. Puree with a little water and sugar until desired consistency.

BBQ Chicken Topped Baked Potatoes

     This could be made in the slow cooker, which is how I did it, or grilled, sauteed, baked, whatever. It tasted really good, and even a little spicy which wasn't intended. I wish I would have tasted it before I gave a piece to my one year old!

     The sauce is not a traditional BBQ sauce. It actually tastes more like a mix of BBQ and enchilada sauce. Is that what they call "Tex-Mex?" In any case, it's very good and filling. We will definitely make this again.


1-lb chicken
24 oz tomato sauce (no salt added)
2 tsp worchestershire sauce
2 Tbl Chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp pepper
1 Tbl paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
1 onion, chopped
4 tsp sugar (or sugar substitute)

• Cook in slow cooker; 5 hours on low. Shred chicken after cooking. OR marinate chicken, and cook as desired.
• Serve over garlic mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, rice, or salad.

Baked Potatoes

Slow Cooker Chicken Surprise

     This week,in yet another attempt to eat more healthily, I have been trying to create meals without sugar, salt, or fats/oils. It's been hard. I thought that we ate relatively healthy, but it has been difficult to find things to make. Everything has oil in it...even if it's just to keep your food from sticking to your pan.

     My first new recipe attempt is somewhere between success and failure. This chicken was OK; I guess that is the "surprise." My husband described it as, "Fancy," whatever that means. It was definitely flavorful, but I just couldn't put my finger on what it was missing. If I made this again, I would mess with the seasonings and try to find what was missing. I would also wait to add the zucchini at the end of the cooking instead of letting them sit in the crock pot all day. I don't really like soggy vegetables.

2-3 lbs chicken
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, diced
2 c zucchini, diced
1 c mushrooms, chopped
1/2 c wine (I used red)
8 oz tomato sauce (no salt added)
1 tsp parlsey
1 Tbl Italian seasoning
2 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp each: red pepper, thyme, oregano, rosemary, ginger, cinnamon, paprika, and garlic powder

• Throw everything into the slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours. 
• Serve over brown rice.