Thursday, January 31, 2008

Sloppy Joes

I had 1/2 a pound of beef and 1/2 a pound of turkey leftover after the meatballs so I decided to make some sloppy joes. They were great! This is my mom's recipe for Sloppy Joes with changes by me.

1 pound meat browned and drained
3/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 tsp gound onion powder (we don't lik regular onion so I used this instead)
1 tbl worchestire sauce
1 tbl chili powder (more or less depending on taste)

Place meat back in skillet after draining and mix with rest of ingredients. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Homemade Meatballs

I had a couple of recipes marked in my "to make" pile for meatballs and after spraining my ankle I was looking for something relative easy I could throw together. So I finally made homemade meatballs. It was a combo or recipes and what I had on hand. They turned out wonderful! I had a package of the "pasta sides" stroganoff pasta and made that to go along with them and some green beans.

1/2 # ground beef (I use the most lean I can find)
1/2 # ground turkey
about 2/3 of a sleeve of Ritz crackers
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp salt
2 tbl parsley
about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese (I used a 2% Mexican blend I had on hand)

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix all ingredients together using hands then take about 2 Tbl and roll into balls (I got 16 balls), place on a sprayed cookie sheet and bake on 350 for about 20 mins until it reaches 160 degrees.

Weekly menu 1/28-2/1

M: Homemade meatballs, "Pasta Sides" stroganoff pasta, green beans
T: Turkey/Beef Sloppy Joes with chips
W: Brats
T: Chicken-probably a mexican dish
F: Homemade wheat pizza, just cheese for me and pepperoni for Kevin

Monday, January 21, 2008

SBD-Peanut Butter Cookies

Yes these are SBD friendly. You are supposed to use trans-free peanut butter, but I am not out of the "regular" yet so I haven't bought any trans-free yet. These were yummy and a nice sweet treat! This is from the SBD Easy cookbook I have!

3/4 cup sugar substitute (I used Splenda)
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350. Mix sugar, egg and vanilla together. Add peanut butter then baking soda. Drop by rounded teaspoons on greased cookie sheet, then press down with fork. Bake 12-14 minutes.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Weekly menu 1/20-1/25

Sunday: Dijon-orange pork chops
Monday: Tacos with black beans & cilantro
Tuesday: Turkey sloppy joes
Wednesday: Egg salad sandwiches
Thursday: Some sort of Chicken dish
Friday: Pork tenderloin with green beans (may do a dijon rub)

Ranch-Parmesan Chicken

I got this recipe from one of my May 07 girls--princessannie--I didn't have the recipe the night I went to make it, so I had to kind of remember it from my mind...this is what I came up with.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded as thin as you can
1 packet of dry Ranch dressing
4 tsp light sour cream
1/2 cup of dry parmesan cheese

Turn oven to 400. Spray flat baking sheet very well with cooking spray.
Mix sour cream and Ranch packet together. Rub Ranch mixture all over chicken breasts, then dredge in parmesan cheese. Place on baking sheet.
Bake on 400 for about 20 mins until temp reaches 165.

I roasted some asparagus alongside the chicken for a complete meal.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Roasted Brocoli

How did I not know the delishiousness that is Roasted Brocoli? We had it Sunday night with some steaks and seafood and it was sooooo good. I equated it to potato chips! Here's what I did:

Cut the florets off of a head of brocoli, place on a flat baking sheet, sprinkle EVOO over the top and with your hands make sure it gets good and coated on all of the brocoli, then sprinkle with salt and lemon pepper. Place in a 400 degree oven for about 20 mins.

It was so darn good and I will make this many more times!

Our new addition!


We got a new doggie last night! Her name is Nellie and we adopted her from our local shelter. She is 3 years old, a lab/german shepard mix. She is crate trained and will be an awesome daughter to us!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Weekly Menu 1/11-1/19

Friday: Pork chops with balsamic glaze with roasted brocoli with garlic
Saturday: Steaks with Ratatoullie
Sunday: Thai BBQ chicken with black beans with cilantro
Monday: Parmesan Tilapia with steamed green beans
Tuesday: Marinated London Broil with Spicy Rice
Wednesday: Green chile and cheddar chicken ??? veggie
Thursday: Turkey meatballs with whole wheat pasta and zuchini
Friday: ???
Saturday: We are going out to eat with my BFF and her fiance and then staying at a hotel!

Turkey Parmesan

This is another recipe from the South Beach Quick & Easy recipe book! This is how I made it:

1 tsp EVOO
4 turkey cutlets
1/2 cup finely chopped pine nuts
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp italian seasoning

1/2 cup shredded low-fat mozzerella cheese

I used one bottle of spaghetti sauce

Turn Broiler on high.

Put sauce in saucepan and heat through.

Heat oil in large pan over med-low heat. Mix pine nuts, parmesan cheese and italian seasoning together. Dredge turkey in pine nut mixture, place in hot skillet. Once browned turn over. Cook until both sides are browned and there is no longer any pink.

Place cooked turkey onto a baking sheet, cover with shredded cheese, broil for 30 secs to 1 min until browned.

Place 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce on plate and top with turkey.

We enjoyed these with some green beans.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Jan Girls Dinner Club


Back over the summer me and my two best friends started a monthy dinner club so that we were sure to see each other at least once a month. One girl has joined our group. Every month we have dinner at a different girls house. Jan was again my turn! a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pWlUgU7g69M/R6SC4KNdKWI/AAAAAAAAAE4/9P1Qb6v-Fbw/s1600-h/Picture+009.jpg">


SAUTEED SCALLOPS WITH GARLIC

from The Best Recipes in the World
(2 servings)

8 large sea scallops or about 1 pound bay scallops--I used 1 1/2 Bay for 4 servings
2 T flour for dredging (most will be left on the plate)
1 T good quality olive oil
1 T butter
salt/pepper to taste
1-2 tsp. finely minced fresh garlic
parsley, for garnish--I forgot
fresh lemon slices to squeeze over if desired--I didn't have any so I didn't use



Dry scallops gently with paper towel. Put oil in medium frying pan and turn on heat to medium. Add butter, and while butter melts, dredge each scallop in flour on both sides (I put scallops in a large plastic bag and sprinkled the flour over and then shook the bag). When butter is starting to foam, add scallops to pan. Cook until scallops are barely browned on both sides and starting to feel firm, but not until they feel completely firm, about 2 minutes per side for the initial browning. (This will depend on the thickness of your scallops.)



When both sides are browned slightly, add garlic, lower heat a little, season with salt and pepper as desired, and cook about 2 minutes more, either stirring or shaking the pan so the garlic is well distributed around all the scallops. Garnish with parsley and serve hot, with lemon slices if desired.



I served the scallops with a spinach salad:
1 bag fresh spinach
1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
enough dressing to make the spinach moist-I used a bottled asian vinigrette

Mix all together and place on plate, top with scallops



Basic Milk Chocolate Mousse with Raspberries
Recipe by surfindaave
Serves 4

Ingredients:
½ pound fine milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces no larger than ¼ inch
2 cups heavy cream, ¼ cup reserved for the chocolate mixture
4 eggs, separated, and at room temperature
a pinch of cream of tartar
Frozen raspberries, defrosted on a paper towel, for garnish

Bring the water of a double boiler or Bain Marie to a boil, and turn down the heat, keeping the water just below a simmer. Make sure the hot water does will not touch the container holding the chopped chocolate.

Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add a pinch of cream of tartar, and beat until they hold still peaks. Reserve.

With clean, chilled beaters, and in a chilled, tall container, beat the cream (except the reserved ¼ cup) until it just holds stiff peaks. Reserve

Place the chopped chocolate over the simmering water, stirring. Continue to stir until all the chocolate pieces are melted, and the mixture is smooth. Remove the chocolate from the heat. Whisk in one egg yolk at a time, incorporating the yolks as much as possible. Add the reserved ¼ cup of heavy cream, and whisk the mixture smooth.

Add a heaping tablespoon or two of both the beaten cream and the egg whites to the chocolate mixture, and combine completely. Add ½ of the remaining beated cream, and carefully fold into the chocolate. Add ½ of the remaining beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture, and carefully fold in. Add the remaining beaten cream and egg whites to the chocolate mixture, and fold carefully. Chill the mousse, covered with plastic wrap, for at least one hour. Spoon onto serving dishes, decorate with the raspberries. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

I was really worried how the mousse would turn out so I made a Tastefully Simple Absolutely Almond Pound Cake, just in case. When the mousse turned out Great I decided to do a trifle, I layered the pound cake, mousse and raspberries all together and then placed in the fridge until ready to eat. It was WONDERFUL!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Herb Crusted Pork


This came from a new South Beach Diet cookbook I just bought called South Beach Quick and Easy Recipes. It has some GREAT recipes in it I can't wait to try!

1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin (cut into 1 inch slices)
1 teaspoon Thyme
1 teaspoon dried Basil
1 Tbl Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tbl Fresh Lemon juice
*it called for 2 Tbl capers but I didn't use them

Heat oil in large pan over med-high heat.

Pound tenderloin slices to 1/4". Rub herbs on pork slices. Put in pan and cook about 2 mins per side until nice and golden brown and center is no longer pink.

Remove from heat and put on plate and keep warm.

I found I had to take the pan totally off the heat, then add lemon juice and capers, let warm and then pour over pork. (the recipe called to leave on heat and let reduce, when I put the lemon juice in the pan it instantly evaporated)

We enjoyed this pork with some asparagus roasted ar 400 for 12 minutes. I tossed the asparagus with EVOO and sprinkled with salt and lemon pepper.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Weekly Menu 1/7-1/12

Monday: Dijon pork tenderloin and roasted asparagus
Tuesday: Girls Dinner Club: Garlic scallops over spinach salad with roasted cauliflower and chocolate mousse
Wednesday: Roast in crockpot with green beans
Thursday: Turkey parmesan with roasted brocoli
Friday: Sweedish turkey meatballs with cilantro black beans
Saturday: Steaks with Ratatouille

Friday, January 4, 2008

South Beach Take 2

Last night we had some Tilapia and asparagus. Kevin is not usually a veggie fan and I was a little worried but he ate a big plate of it. He will always eat the Tilapia.

For the Tilapia I took 4 Tilapia fillets and put on a sprayed cookie sheet. I then combined some parmesean cheese, lemon pepper and parsley flakes. I coated the Tilapia fillets in the parmesean mixture and then baked on 400 for 12 minutes along with the asparagus.

The asparagus I made is already in my blog. It has yummy lemon and fresh parsley in it. It was a great combination!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Green Chile & Cheddar Stuffed Chicken--Phase 1



Like most of my South Beach Diet Recipes I must give Kalynskitchen.blogspot the credit for this recipe and the picture!

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded as thin as you can get them
1 1/2 cups cheddar/jack low fat cheese (I used Krafts 2% Mexican blend)
1/4 cup light sour cream
1/2 of a 4 oz can of diced green chiles (you can find this in the Mexican aisle of your store)

Enough parmesan cheese to cover the chicken when rolled in it.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a medium sized flat baking sheet with nonstick spray. Pound chicken breasts until they are very thin, about 1/4 inch.

In a bowl with a fork, mash together cheese, chiles with juice, and sour cream until barely combined.

Spread 1/4 of the cheese mixture over each chicken breast, avoiding the very edges. Roll up the chicken, starting with smallest end, and secure each chicken breast with 2 toothpicks. Put parmesan cheese on a plate. Roll chicken in parmesan cheese.

Place chicken on baking sheet and bake about 30 minutes or 160 degrees by meat thermometer, or until the chicken is firm, but not hard, to the touch. I did turn the broiler on high for about 5 minutes to get the top nice and brown.

These can be frozen, dethaw them in the fridge all day and reheat wrapped in foil in the oven or toaster oven. If you're only making four, freeze the extra green chiles for another time. And you will want another time, these are Excellent!

South Beach Diet

Okay I started this on Jan 1st and so far I am loving it!

A sample day: Breakfast I have a V8, 2 pieces of canadian bacon, 2 egg beaters
Snack is some celery with Laughing Cow Cheese (the best stuff in the world in my book)! 1 small cup of coffee with plain dry creamer.
Lunch is a salad with crab or tuna meat, avocado, cucumbers and peppers diced up and a Sugar Free Jello
Another Snack is a cheese stick
Dinner is some Green Chile Cheddar Chicken with steamed cauliflower and cherry tomatos
Dessert is a sugar free fudgsicle

I'm eating more and better food a day than every before! I'm never hungry, I'm having to go to the bathroom more because I have up'd my water intake, but so far I am loving it! Watch as my ticker goes down!

I will be updating my recipes. Most of them will probably be stolen off of Kalynskitchen.blogspot.com--she has the most amazing recipes over there!