Oh my...Tomato Pie!

I couldn't wait to get home last night...to make Tomato Pie...again.

No, I'm not a gluttonous monster.  Well...maybe I am, but THIS particular situation deems the title unnecessary.

You see, I received my daily recipes from Allrecipes.com the other day and what to my wandering eyes should appear, but a recipe for Tomato Pie.  I wondered what in the world it is, so then I clicked on the happy link and found out.  It's made of all things wonderful - tomatoes, green onion, fresh basil, bacon, and cheese.  Truth be told, I wasn't too keen on the bacon part, but brother-in-law Jay told me I had to follow the recipe (I have a problem following directions, you see), so I did with the slight modification of using lean turkey bacon instead of the real deal.

I heated a pot of water to help strip my tomatoes of their skin.  I preheated the oven for my pie crust.  I got my skillet all hot and bothered ready for the bacon...and then I placed 6 strips of bacon in said skillet because I don't like to fry up too much at a time.  I went out to my car to get something I forgot and when I returned, I found my once-upon-a-time sweet Delilah guiltily licking her chops over a tasty meal of 3/4 of a pound of RAW turkey bacon.  That can't be good.  I was soooo mad as my Tomato Pie would now be slightly naked with only 1/2 of the bacon I intended for it to have.  =/  Needless to say, Delilah went outside until the storm came to get us.

don't trust this innocent face

I then proceeded to chop up my basil and slice my green onions.  The crust went into the oven for a few minutes to avoid sogginess as I crumbled my bacon.

I then began to layer sliced tomatoes, basil, green onion, bacon, seasonings (garlic powder, crushed red pepper, and oregano).  I did a second layer and then a third.  Next, I topped my pie with a mixture of 1.5 cups of 2% shredded cheese mixed with 3 TBSP of light mayo.

In the oven it went - loosely covered with tin foil - for 45 minutes.  After 45, I took off the tin foil for another 15.  I ain't gonna lie, my house smelled heavenly.

I took my masterpiece out of the oven and pushed it far back on my island to cool.  Now, I had no intentions of eating it for dinner that night.  It was meant for dinner for the next several nights.

A little while later, I went to the bathroom just to come out and discover Delilah (remember her?) had tipped the pie off the counter and it was now laying face down on my kitchen floor.  I could have killed her.  BUT, I didn't.  Instead...she was banished outside and my Tomato Pie went in the trash.  sigh.

I do not give up easily, however.  The next day I went back to the grocery store and bought more turkey bacon, cheese, and basil to do it all over again.  Oye.

It was worth making twice...it's that good. 

Recipe:
4 large tomatoes - peeled and sliced
1 pie crust
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3 green onions sliced thinly
12 strips of cooked bacon - crumbled
3 TBSP light mayo
1/5 cups of 2% shredded cheddar

Directions:
Preheat over to 375 degrees.  Boil a pot of water.  Fry bacon.  Chop basil.  Slice onion.  Put two tomatoes at a time in the boiling water.  Stick pie crust in oven for a few minutes and then remove.  Let tomatoes sit for a minute or two in the water, then carefully remove them and put them under cold water to remove the skin.  Repeat for next two tomatoes.  Slice tomatoes.  Layer tomatoes, green onion, basil, bacon, and seasonings.  Top with cheese/mayo mixture.  Loosely cover pie with tin foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove tin foil and bake for another 15.  Let sit for 5 minutes or so before slicing pie.

If you make 6 servings out of your pie, it's around 313 calories per slice.

***Note:  next time I make it, I would probably choose to chop the tomato***

Lesson learned:  NEVER ever trust Delilah around food

random stuff

I got my new recumbent bike on Tuesday afternoon at work.  My dad convinced me I should let one of the guys at work put it together instead of trying to do it myself.  Turns out this was a smart idea as my dad had to help the dude put it together...it was a bit complex.  My dad was then soooo soooo nice and brought it over to my house for me.  He kept trying to help me out further by placing it, but I couldn't have him do that since I wasn't entirely sure how I wanted to make the room work.

As a kid, I LOVED moving furniture around in my bedroom.  I thought it such an adventure to have a different room design.  Unfortunately for me, I have a small home and a fondness for furniture.  This means there is very little room for my creativity.  =/

I had a vision, however, and carried it through.  I was afraid, you see, of having to get rid of my coffee table ottoman that I absolutely adore.  I managed to make it work without going to such extremes.  I just moved things around a bit to give my bike a great view of the TV.  I do, however, feel a bit guilty.  In case you haven't caught on, my one true love Penelope went blind over a year ago.  She is 10 years old and was raised in my house, so she knows it forward and backward.  It's kind of mean to move things around at this stage in the game, but I think she will figure it out.

Another issue I've been having lately is with my WiFi.  I apparently forgot my passkey.  So, I've been all old school connected through what seemed like an endless supply of wires.  I had no clue how to create a new password or reset my router, so I did some Google-searching, learned how, and managed to do it ALL BY MYSELF.  Mind you...I'm not very computer savvy, so this was a BIG deal to me!

In other news...found out today that my Galveston Seawall Half scheduled for November 19th has been canceled.  This makes me sad as it seemed like a really cool race.  Ah well...maybe they will do it again next year!

and then there is...training.

Training is going...okay.  Since I made the decision to walk The Hottest Half (not a decision I'm proud of, but one that is necessary for survival), I've determined that the new shoes I bought aren't going to make the grade.  They are a really great motion control shoe for "the heavier runner".

New Balance 1012

I like them as far as comfort and feel go, BUT it's a heavy shoe.  The weight is 12 oz.  Yikes!  I did some shopping on Amazon last night and found a lighter (7 oz) shoe (a cross-trainer) that I think will be better for the walk.  With training wearing the heavier shoe, though, I should be super speedy once I get to lighten the load!  ha!

New Balance Women's WX20 NB Minimus Training Shoe

Last, but not least...I got the biggest craving EVER for green bean casserole.  I decided to feed the beast and make me some.  I forgot to take a picture (bad blogger), but trust me when I tell you it turned out delish and it was oh so simple to make.  I just took one can of 98% fat free cream of mushroom and whisked in 3/4 of a cup of skim milk.  I added salt and pepper to taste and then a 19 oz bag of frozen green beans that had been thawed out.  Next, I took a small can of French's fried onion and put all but the last 1/4 in the mixture.  I poured the mix into a casserole dish, topped it with the remaining onions, and baked it on 350 for 45 minutes.  I've determined that 1 cup is about 200 calories.  That's a lot of green bean casserole happiness!

So, that's about it in a nutshell.  I guess I've been kind of boring the last few months with my posts.  Welcome to my world - haha!

Hope y'all are having a lovely week!

"The Same Game" and a Recipe

Can you believe I actually cooked?  I know, right?  It's been a long, long time since I've posted a recipe.

I've been kind of disgusted with myself lately...I've so not been on the wagon.  It's quite frustrating because back when I first started my lifestyle changed, I was so committed...so focused and it was...easy.  Then my injury happened and well...I guess I've been in kind of a funk since then.  It seems every week I "try" to recommit only to fail.  Has this ever happened to you?  Please tell me I'm not alone.  I've said it before...I'm terribly undisciplined.  Sure, sure...I have it in me to be disciplined, but it takes soooo much work (can you just hear my whine?).  ;)

I came up with a new idea.  I'm calling it "The Same Game".  I plan on eating basically the same thing for breakfast and lunch every single day with a healthy light meal for dinner (at least that's this week plan - hahaha).  Yeah, I have no idea how long I will be content with this, but for now, here goes:

Breakfast - a Jay Robb smoothie made with unsweetened almond milk and a banana.  I can, of course, opt to turn this into a green monster by adding spinach.

Lunch - a peanut butter and jelly sammy with a Carb Master yogurt and either a colored pepper or a cucumber. I am, of course, using Simply Jif as it has less sugar than regular PB.  My jelly of choice is Polaner's Sugar Free Orange Marmalade.

Snack - fruit.  This week it's blackberries as they were on sale at Kroger for $1.00.

Dinner - a bag of frozen veggies with some kind of light meal preferably sans bread carbs (meaning no rice, pasta, sweet potato, or bread)

I am allowing myself the addition of a Clif's bar or a Larabar on workout days for additional fuel.  I also recognize that because I am a social butterfly of sorts (read:  single girl), there will probably be a dinner outing once a week in which case I will do my best to plan ahead and choose my selections wisely.

Okay, enough about all that business.  Onto my recipe.  Every day Allrecipes.com sends me their recipe of the day.  Today's was Cheesy Chicken Meatballs.  I thought this sounded yummy, so I clicked on the link.  See the original recipe for yourself by going here.

I wouldn't be me if I didn't change up a recipe to make it my own, now would I?  First of all, the grocery store I went to didn't have ground chicken which forced me to make Cheesy Turkey Meatballs instead.  The original recipe also called for vegetable oil to be added to the meat mixture.  This addition didn't make sense to me and seemed unnecessary.  I read the reviews to see if anyone left this ingredient out, but all anyone mentioned was swapping olive oil for the vegetable oil which totally makes sense IF the oil is necessary.  I consulted with younger sister Linda and my cute mom and they both agreed the oil could most likely be nixed (and they were right).

CHEESY TURKEY MEATBALLS

Ingredients

1.25 lbs 97% lean ground turkey
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup of Italian Cheese & Herb Cooking Creme
1/4 cup of Reduced Fat Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup of Panko bread crumbs
1 TBSP Italian seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp Adobo seasoning

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Spray the bottom of a cookie sheet with Pam.  Mix all the above ingredients together and form into balls.  I used an ice cream scooper and made large meatballs.  Warning - this is VERY messy.  In total, I made 15 meat balls.  Bake for 17-18 minutes.

The Dish

I wanted to make a "pasta" dish with spaghetti squash, but after having no luck in finding a spaghetti squash in two different stores, I gave up and went for zucchini instead.  I sliced up my zucchini in thin slices and then boiled it.  I then drained it and plated it.  Next, I topped my zucchini with fire-roasted diced tomatoes and a bit of shredded Parmesan cheese.  I have to say the dish was delightful and I look forward to having it again tomorrow night.  Oh and yes...it is South Beach Friendly (Phase 2 because of the bread crumbs).

I'm also hoping to post a new recipe each week!

Have you ever played "The Same Game"?

Spaghetti Squash Gratin with Basil

My friend Rachel posted on Facebook a few weeks ago that she was making this deliciousness for dinner for her family.  Well, you know if it has spaghetti squash I am all up on it, so I requested the recipe and Rachel was kind of enough to send it to me.  Here it is in it's original glory.

Yes, of course it's South Beach friendly or else I wouldn't be making it it.  Well...I guess technically the incorporation of the full fat cheeses isn't (Gruyere and Parmesan), but...ah...who's judging?  I could have subbed other cheeses - low fat varieties, but I decided to remain true to this recipe because both are strong flavored cheese that I happen to truly adore.

Here's what you need:
1 large spaghetti squash
1 TBSP olive oil
1 medium onion
garlic
salt
pepper
3 eggs
1/2 cup skim milk (or...um..an alternative - see below)
fresh basil
2 oz (or more) Gruyere cheese
Parmesan cheese

So, first and foremost, I baked my squash.  I bought a big'n since I knew I needed 4 cups for this recipe, by the way.  For a reminder of how I choose to bake my squash, see here.  I did this earlier in the day so it had plenty of time to cool.

Later, I chopped up a medium white onion and added it to a frying pan with one TBSP of olive oil.  I didn't have any fresh garlic cloves on hand, so I just used minced garlic.  I don't have a tendency to measure my minced garlic, so I can't tell you how much I used.  I can tell you that I do like my garlic.  =)  I also added a pinch of salt.

 

While that was sauteing, I went ahead and cut open my spaghetti squash, scooped out the seeds (discarded), and then got my 4 cups of spaghetti strands out. I then chopped up the 4 cups into bite size pieces.  I added this to the frying pan with a bit more salt and some ground black pepper.

Next, I whisked 3 eggs with....wait for it...1/2 cup of vanilla almond milk.  Gross, right?  ha!  I totally forgot I cleaned out my fridge and threw out my this day expired milk because I'm a freak like that didn't have any skim milk on hand and I couldn't possibly fathom leaving the house, so vanilla almond milk (and crossed fingers that it turned out okay) it was!  In my defense, I do only buy the unsweetened almond milk, so that makes it better, right?!  ;)

Then I chopped up fresh basil - a lot cuz...um...I heart fresh basil - and added that to my egg mixture.  2 oz of shredded Gruyere was to be added next, BUT I'm pretty sure I added more than that.  ooops.

I sprayed a glass 2.75 qt. dish with Pam and added my spagetti squash/onion mixture first.  Next, I poured the egg/cheese mixture over the top and sort of stirred it all together.  I then topped it all with some shaved Parmesan and a bit more of the chopped basil and it all went in the oven on 375 degrees.

And then after 45 minutes I took it out of the oven and it looked like this:

mmmmm...

probably not the best plate for picture purposes, but...oh well

my mom, the goose, and some chicken soup

My mom is precious.  I might have mentioned this a time or two.  Not only is she pint size (under 5' tall), but she decorates for all holidays, and just plain does and says the cutest things.  Remember our High tAcKy Texas Tea last July?  Yep. Cute.

She had to undergo major surgery on Friday.  Needless to say, we were all a bit nervous, but everything went well.  I had hoped to go visit her in the hospital on Friday after work, but my dad told me there was no point because she was pretty much falling in and out of consciousness every 5 to 10 minutes courtesy of meds.

Since we always do our family lunch thing on Saturday, we decided to meet (minus the parentals since my dad was at the hospital with my mom) at Red Lobster near the hospital.  We won't talk about how the cheddar bay biscuits are so not on my diet and how I may or may not have had enough to feed a small army (lack of self control much?).  After lunch, we sent older sister Cathy and brother-in-law Jay over to the hospital leaving younger sister Linda and brother-in-law Craig and I to seek flowers.  We went to the Kroger located in the same parking lot.  They had crap.  We didn't know what to do, so we decided to caravan drive until we found another grocery story.  Who knew we would have to drive for countless hours (slight exaggeration) until we happened across a Walmart?  Of course, Walmart doesn't have flower arrangements.  They have flower bouquets.  This meant that Linda and I picked out 2 bouquets of tulips (our mom loves tulips) and one bouquet of mixed floral lovelies.  We then sought out a vase, scissors to trim the stems, and bottles of water to fill the vase.  Whoa.  We were like our own freakin' flower shop.

We then caravanned to the hospital and Linda put the arrangement together (and did a wonderful job, I might add).  We arrived and spent some time with my mom.  About 30 minutes into our visit, the nurse came in to tell us she was being given the boot.  WHAT?!  Um...whatever.  She has gotten better sleep, more comfort, and better attitudes at home (she wasn't very happy with the nurses).

I arrived at their house and saw this:

Yes, it's my mom's goose.  Do you remember it from Valentine's Day in his little outfit of love?  Now he is wearing scrubs, as you can see.  I didn't understand why I hadn't noticed when I stopped by TWICE on Friday to help with Oliver (their bull dog).  My dad confessed that my mom forgot to dress the goose before she left for the hospital, so he had to do it on Friday night when he got back from visiting her.  Okay, if you knew my dad AT ALL, this is hilarious - him dressing a goose.  I mean - imagine your own dad dressing a goose...or a doll...same difference.  Hilarious.   My mom later told me that he couldn't wait to dress the goose...as in he was all kinds of excited about it.  weird.

A few weeks ago my dad was on a golf trip, so my mom put the goose in this outfit:

So, I had 3 vacation days left from last year and they had to be used by the end of this month.  I saved them to help with my mom.  I have mom-care-duty Monday thru Wednesday.  I have such great plans for us.  Um...she is gonna sleep and I'm gonna....do whatever she asks of me.  =)

I decided to start off by making her chicken soup for her soul.  I never roasted veggies before hand when making soup.  I've always just thrown the raw veggies in the pot.  I decided to change things up a bit.  I filled a pot with water and put 4 large (trimmed of fat) chicken breasts in along with several buillion cubes.  I cut up carrots, onion, and celery and placed it all on a baking sheet.  I then brushed the veggies with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled them with rock salt and garlic (from a grinder I bought at H.E.B.).  In the oven they went for about 40 minutes @ 350 degrees.  Once my chicken was done, I used two forks to shred it.  I added my roasted veggies to the soup and put some more water in, as well.  I honestly didn't need to add any more seasoning other than a bit of black pepper.

This will be dinner!

fancy (read French) beef stew

first you cut the bird...out of the meal cuz it's all about the beef tonight...er tomorrow since this meal takes FOREVER to cook!

By the way, did you totally imagine me saying that in my absolute BEST Julia Child accent?  I thought so!  ;)

I was shopping around aimlessly the other day for some kind of inspiration for this week's meal.  I saw some nice lean stew meat for a good price at Walmart, so that got me thinking about Beef Bourguignon.  um...yeah...don't ask me to pronounce it.  I mean it's perfectly clear in my head, but when I go to say it in the audible format, it sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo.  This would be a South Beach Phase 2 recipe, by the way.

I found several different recipes.  Whichever way I went, I knew I would have to employ my lightening skills - no, I can't conjure up thunderstorms with mere concentration and a lightening rod as if I were some kind of pseudo MacGuyver meets Benjamin Franklin kinda gal.  I mean that I knew I would have to remove some calories and fat without removing flavor.

I headed over to ol' faithful allrecipes.com to find a starter recipe or two and these are the two I found:

Beef Bourguignon I
Beef Bourguignon II

Here's what you need for my version:

1.5 to 2 lbs of lean cubed stew meat
3 TBSP whole wheat flour
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp Adobo seasoning
1 onion chopped
10 oz carton mushrooms sliced
1/2 package Turkey bacon chopped
1 yellow squash chopped
1 lb asparagus chopped
1 1/2 cups red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, for example)
1 cup beef broth
1 TBSP tomato paste
1 tsp minced garlic
1 TBSP whole wheat flour
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp dried parsley
pinch of salt
shake of pepper
2 Bay Leaves

In a plastic Ziplock gallon-size bag, add in flour, thyme, Adobo, and parsley.  Shake and then add in beef.  Shake until beef is evenly coated.  Heat olive oil in pan on stove.  Brown the beef.  When the beef is done, put it in a 2-qt casserole dish.

Return pan to heat and add in chopped onion, mushrooms, and bacon.

While that is cooking, add yellow squash and asparagus to the beef mixture in the casserole dish.

Once the onion, mushroom, and bacon components are ready, add them to the casserole dish. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Return the pan to the heat and add in the wine, broth, tomato paste, remaining seasonings, bay leaves, garlic, and then whisk in the remaining 1 TBSP flour.

When your oven is ready, pour the wine mixture  over everything in your casserole dish.

Cover the dish and bake in the oven for 2 1/2 hours.  Uncover your dish and bake for another 1/2 hour.

Serve over brown rice or whole wheat pasta.

Now "they" say never to cook with a wine you wouldn't drink as the alcohol cooks off and you are left with the flavor.  I'm not really too much of a wine drinker and if I were to drink wine, I would most definitely not choose a red (tsk tsk, I know).  This meant that I could honestly have cared less and didn't want to spend the money on something expensive when I probably wouldn't have been able to tell the difference.  My point is that I bought a $2.97 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and still thought the dish tasted AMAZING.  I have to say that this is the most tender *fancy* stew I've ever eaten.  The flavors blended so beautifully and I couldn't have been more thrilled with the final product...ahem...save for the 3 1/2 hour prep and cook time.

Oh and I have no doubt you can use whatever veggies suits your fancy when you get all fancy with your own stewaging.  Next time I shall add zucchini to the mix AND there shall be a next time cuz it was THAT good!

bon appetit!

First day FAIL and some recipes

First day FAIL!

You know that path I walk on - the one paved with fantastic intentions?  Yeah...that's what happened yesterday.  I bit off more than I could chew.  See, Monday is my cooking day.  I go to the grocery store during my lunch break and buy all the ingredients to make my "big meal for the week".  This means I have to go home and make said meal and then clean up the kitchen after the making of said meal.  Some meals are messier than others.  This meal was one of those (South Beach friendly, of course).

What did I make?  Asparagus soup and Greek yogurt chicken quiche was on the menu.  I got my basic recipe ideas from ol' faithful known as allrecipes.com.  The links to the originals are below.

Asparagus soup
Sour cream chicken quiche

Kim's Asparagus Soup (Phase 1, 2, 3)
1 lb asparagus spears, chopped
1 small white onion, diced
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP pesto
1 TSP minced garlic
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup skim milk
white pepper to taste
salt to taste
cholula to taste

In a microwaveable bowl, heat the onion, garlic, olive oil, and pesto for 2 minutes.  Add in the broth and asparagus and resume heating in the microwave for 10 minutes, covered.

Puree in the blender.  Put the soup back into the microwaveable dish and add in the milk and your seasonings.  You may need to heat it up some more in the microwave.

Kim's Crustless Greek Yogurt  Quiche (Phase *1, 2, 3)
1 cup shredded chicken
1 TBSP  olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 TSP minced garlic
10 oz. package sliced mushrooms
*1 TBSP whole wheat flour
3 eggs
3/4 cup Greek yogurt (plain)
3/4 cup skim milk
1 3/4 cup 2% cheese (I used cheddar-jack)
nutmeg
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Saute garlic, onion, and mushrooms, then add in 1 TBSP of whole wheat flour (this knocks out Phase 1, so to maintain Phase 1, don't do this step).

Boil and shred your chicken.  Combine the two components adding your seasonings - nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  In a separate dish, beat the eggs.  Add in the yogurt, beating thoroughly.  Add in the milk, beating thoroughly.  Using a deep dish pie dish (or a casserole dish), put the chicken/onion/mushroom component in the dish.  Add the cheese.  Pour the egg component over the top.  Cook on 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Without opening the oven, lower the temperature to 350 degrees for another 30 to 35 minutes.  Let cool before eating.

Of course the cool thing about quiche is you can add whatever ingredients you like to it.  Next go around, I will add broccoli or spinach.  I just forgot to buy some while at the store.  I saved calories/carbs by not using crust, but I don't judge if you choose the crust route because quiche is even tastier that way!  =)

Okay, but back to business...

The plan was:

Monday - make/prep my meal for the week, clean the kitchen, play my games for 1 hour, watch one TV show from my DVR, run 3 miles, read one chapter from my book while taking an Epsom Salt Bath, in bed by 10:45pm


With all that cooking and all that mess (cuz two dishes made a whole lot of mess TRUST ME), I got finished way late in the evening.  What did this mean for my plan?  It meant that I got in my 1 hour game time (God forbid I were to give that up).  I got in my one DVD tv show (Modern Family from 1/5 - hilarious, by the way).  I went to bed around 10:15pm.
 Since I didn't get my run in, though, I should have gone to bed at 9:30 to wake up this morning at 4:30 to do it this morning, but I didn't.  I figured I needed the sleep since I've been at such a deficit lately. I WILL RUN TONIGHT!!! Do you see the domino effect, though?  Oye!


No run.
No bath.
No book.
Only positive thing is that I actually got 7 1/2 hours of sleep.


Day 2 and I'm already on a modified schedule!  Welcome to Kim's world.  =/

Reubenesque Pork: South Beach Style

We all know what a Reuben sandwich is, now don't we?  It's a delightful number - corned beef, sauerkraut, Russian dressing, and swiss cheese all stuffed with love between two slices of rye bread.  It's magic in sandwich form, I'd say.  It's also a great big giant fattening mess! 

I have been toying with some new recipe ideas - shocking, I know - and I wanted to incorporate the flavors of a Reuben, but sans the bread and a lot of the fat.  Hence - REUBENESQUE PORK  (yes, yes...I know it's supposed to be rUbenesque, but bear with me here).  Please note that I'm purposely not using corned beef to reduce the fat and sodium content. 

Here's what you need:

Boneless pork chops
Sauerkraut
Lite thousand island dressing (according to Wikipedia, it's a "variant of Russian dressing")
2% swiss cheese

Here's what you do:

Spray the bottom of a casserole dish with Pam or something like it.  Trim the fat off of your pork chops - I find those kitchen shears to work wonders.  Lay them down in the dish.  I actually did use put a wee bit of the dressing in the bottom of the dish, before laying down my pork chops, and used a spatula to spread it out.

 

Season them if you like, but since sauerkraut is so flavorful, I didn't find it necessary.  Layer a bit of the sauerkraut upon the chops.  How much?  Well that's up to you.  How much do you like the kraut?  I'm a big fan, so I used a lot (just shy of 2 cans for my 8 pork chops). 

Next, liberally drizzle your dressing over the sauerkrauted chops. 

Finally, top them all off with a slice of swiss.  I used the slices instead of shredded because I have yet to find 2% shredded SWISS cheese.  I think it's also a good way to make sure you are really only having THAT serving size.  There were 9 slices to the pack and 8 pieces of pork, so ... hmmm...wonder what happened to that 9th slice...  I also sprinkled some parsley flakes and I grinded a bit of rock salt and garlic over the top for good measure.

Bake it in the oven - 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.  I think it's best to let it sit for a few minutes so the sauce has a bit of time to thicken.  Serve with a side of veggies if you are like me and nixing those bread carbs for the time being. 

I have thought about how I would make this again when I am not nixing the bread carbs and I think I would incorporate rye bread into the mix.  I once made this Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower dish from Carrots 'n' Cake.  In the recipe, you make a bread crumb mixture using multi grain bread, olive oil, salt, and parsley.  I was thinking I could use the same concept, but with rye bread and add this in as a layer before the dressing.  South Beachers are allowed rye bread, don't ya know!

So there you have it...yet another Kim creation - Reubenesque Pork.  It's a yummy dish and I hope you give it a whirl.  Oh, by the way...since I'm not a "food blogger", my pictures are sub-par.  I apologize for that!

Peace out!

Gumbo: South Beach Style

Younger sister Linda called me the other day asking if I had a gumbo recipe.  She had called our mother first.  I don't recall why my mother couldn't help and/or what lead Linda to me, but I didn't happen to have a recipe for gumbo off the top of my head or in my back pocket (shocker).  This meant I went to old faithful - allrecipes.com to find her one so that she could buy the ingredients on her way home from work (such a good sister). 

Linda knew she wanted to make it with brown rice which happened to be perfect because the recipe that initially caught my eye included brown rice.  She said it turned out really yummy!  I decided to make it myself for this week's meal.

Here is the original recipe:  Sunday Gumbo

Since I'm still doing the Phase 1 thing, I decided to nix the brown rice and to add in red beans - that way I'm still going all Cajun-like. 

Other modifications I made include:   nixing the sweet red pepper because I don't do cooked peppers (don't hate), using minced garlic in lieu of garlic powder, using olive oil in lieu of vegetable oil, using turkey Italian sausage links in lieu of Italian sausage links, doubling the celery, doubling the cayenne cuz I'm no wussy, increasing the okra cuz really...what am I gonna do with leftover okra?! and adding Cholula hot sauce.  Unfortunately, I also had to nix the shrimp even though I had already bought it and started writing this blog (pout).  Read here to see why. 






So here is my list of ingredients:

1 lb. turkey Italian Sausage, sliced
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cubed
3 TBSP olive oil
1 medium white onion, chipped
6 celery ribs, chopped
1TBSP minced garlic (I like lots of garlic - probably why I don't have a boyfriend)
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp cayenne powder
3 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained (I used fire roasted)
1 can red beans, undrained
1 lb uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (missing in action - travesty)
1 bag frozen okra, sliced
Cholula hot sauce to taste

Directions:

In a large pot, brown sausage and chicken in the oil.  Remove with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings.  Saute the onion, minced garlic, and celery until tender.  Add in the seasonings and cook for another 5 minutes.  *Stir in the broth, beans, chicken, and sausage bringing the whole mixture to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.

*Note: If you are making this dish with rice, you will add in 2/3 cup UNCOOKED brown rice when you stir in the broth above.

Stir in the tomatoes, shrimp (tears), and okra.  Cook for another 10 minutes or until the shrimp (le sad) is pink, stirring occasionally.  Buen provecho!

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff: South Beach Style

If you don't like mushrooms, this one won't be for you.  If you don't like beef, we can work with that.  I love me the website allrecipes.com.  Once you find a recipe you like on there, often people will write in with their suggestions/modifications to improve upon that recipe.  You can use those or not...whatever, but I like to read them to get ideas.

I had the idea I wanted to make this.  Somewhere I have a recipe for a lovely hamburger stroganoff that my friend Kim (from college) gave me many moons ago.  The problem is that last week's meal had hamburger in it and I want to keep my meals different so I don't get bored.  So, I went onto allrecipes.com and found a basic recipe, but then I modified it according to some of the reader's suggestions and then I tweaked it some myself, so here is my version:

Ingredients
3 lbs of cubed stew meat (I feel bad because I can't remember what I used, but it wasn't stew meat.  The recipe calls for stew meat, but I sometimes find it to be a bit tough, so I spent the extra $1 per lb. and bought the next caliber up cubed meat instead.)
2 cans of Campbell's Golden Mushroom soup (not Cream of Mushroom)
1 small chopped onion
1 TBSP Worcestershire
1/2 cup beef broth (original recipe was for water, so if you are veggie, you can do that or veggie broth)
1 8oz container of mushrooms - sliced
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1 individual serving size of Yoplait Plain Greek Yogurt
Salt & Pepper to taste

If you are following Phase 1 of South Beach, you will want to use spaghetti squash as your foundation.  If you are following Phase 2, you can use whole wheat pasta or brown rice.  You can find my instructions on how to prepare spaghetti squash here.

Okay, so really you just put everything in the crock pot except for the cream cheese and yogurt.  Set your crock pot on high for 5 or 6 hours.  When done, stir in your cream cheese and Greek Yogurt.  If you don't have Greek Yogurt, you can use lite sour cream.  I prefer Greek Yogurt because of the nutritional benefits it provides over that of sour cream.

I find that the sauce works best when it's reheated as it manages to thicken once it is refrigerated, if that makes any sense.  It's quite tasty!  Some people recommended marinating the beef in red wine prior to adding it into the crock pot - I bet that would be quite tasty, as well!

Serve it over your foundation of choice - spaghetti squash, pasta, rice, etc... For an extra kick, consider mixing spaghetti squash with your pasta!  Hope you enjoy it!

Pizza Chili: South Beach Style

Since I'm vowing to kick the rest of this weight to the curb in 2011, I figured I had better get to cooking!  Eating out is lazy fast and easy, but that isn't gonna get me to my goal, so to keep things interesting I have decided to branch out and try new things.  For me, trying new things doesn't necessarily mean attempting other people's recipes, though I will do that, as well.  I like to come up with my own stuff - maybe it's pride, maybe it's my own little quirkiness needing release...who knows, really?!  Regardless, sometimes little masterpieces are created like this - Pizza Chili!

Here's how it happened...I had bought ingredients to make chili since I decided to take that step back again and do Phase 1 to kick the sugar craving (darn you Christmas cookies).  They were sitting in my fridge and in my pantry wondering when I would put them to use.  I was uninspired by them, honestly.  All I really wanted was pizza.  That's when it hit me - why do I have to make plain old boring chili?  Why can't I up the ante - kick it up a notch - and take the concept to a whole new level by making it into Pizza Chili?!

So, I'm kind of a boring pizza eater.  I kinda like just plain cheese with extra sauce.  When I'm feeling being bold and daring, I'll do mushroom or olive or maybe a combo of the two.  On occasion, I like onion on my pizza, too.  I know a lot of people dig pepperoni on their pizza - I don't mind it, but it's so fattening, so I usually avoid it.  I do, however, like the Hormel turkey pepperoni, so when I am making my healthy version of pizza at home - using a whole wheat tortilla in lieu of pizza crust, I will sometimes use that.

Here's what you need - think of your favorite pizza topping that seem like you could put them in chili.  Then just do it.  Note:  green peppers might be awesome in this if that's your thing.  I don't do cooked peppers cuz I hate them.  I eat them raw all the time, but I hate them cooked - go figure! 

Here's what I used:

1 large white onion
some minced garlic (didn't measure)
2 lbs 96% lean ground beef (of course turkey would work, too)
1 package Hormel turkey pepperoni (slice the pepperonis in half)
1 large can sliced black olives (or buy them whole and slice them yourself)
1 container of sliced mushrooms (or buy them whole and slice them yourself)
1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 15-oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 15-oz can of diced tomatoes (fire roasted would be delightful)
oregano
basil
garlic powder
salt
pepper
2% Italian cheese blend as a topper

Here's what I did:

Chopped my onion and added it into the skillet with the hamburger meat cooking it until the meat was browned.  While that was cooking, I sliced my shrooms and pepperonis.  I opened my cans.  I drained my olives.  I seasoned my meat with all the seasonings above.  Once it was all cooked, I transferred the meat and onion into a large pot and added in the canned tomatoes, the shrooms, olives, and pepperoni.  I let it simmer on the stove until it was all nice and bubbly.  I then scooped it out and topped it with some mozzarella.  It was like pizza, but without the crust.  It was like chili, but without the beans and chili powder.  It is a Kim creation.  Enjoy.

mmm....carrot ginger soup!

I had a fantastic Sunday!  My friend LaShaune came over around noonish and we went to Peli-Peli for some South African cuisine.  We both opted to start with the carrot ginger soup.  We thought it divine!  After dining on our respective sandwiches, mango coleslaw, and sweet potato fries, we headed out to the Texas Repertory Theatre to see Forever Plaid's spin-off production called Plaid Tidings.  I was super excited to see this musical for a few different reasons.  First of all, I love me the musicals.  Secondly, I adore Christmas music - yay!  Last, but not least, a high school friend of mine is one of the stars of the play and I had not seen him since high school! After the show, LaShaune suggested cupcakes and coffee.  I told her I thought there was a newish cupcake place near my house, so we went hunting for it and found Treat.  We picked out some cupcakes and headed to Starbucks for Eggnog Lattes to go.  We brought back our treats to my house.

LaShaune and I both discussed how much we loved the carrot ginger soup.  I decided to make my own version.  I did not look up any recipes...I just kind of winged it.  Here's what I did.

I sauteed 1 small white onion and some minced garlic in 1 TBSP of olive oil in a large pot on the stove top.  I zested two oranges, and then juiced them.  It made for about 1/3 cup of orange juice.  I then grated a large chunk of ginger into the juice.  By this time, my onion and garlic was ready, so I added the orange zest, juice, and ginger to the pot.  I then added in 2 lbs of baby carrots and 4 cups (32 oz) of chicken broth.  I seasoned up the pot with some salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg, as well.  Once the carrots came to a boil, I let them continue to cook until they were soft.  I then turned the stove off and put the contents of the pot in the blender in batches, blending until smooth with the contents of an 8-oz tub of reduced fat whipped cream cheese.  As I completed each batch, I added it back to the pot.  Once everything was blended, I scooped some into a bowl and garnished it with parsley.  Delish!

I think next time I would like more of an orange and ginger flavor and would add another orange and more ginger to the mix.

Carrots aren't on South Beach, FYI.  I haven't exactly been the best dieter (in case you couldn't tell by the cupcakes).  I figured, however, in the scheme of things, carrots aren't THAT bad and I really wanted to try this soup.  I think I can apply the same concept to butternut squash or maybe even sweet potatoes for a variation of this soup when I get completely back on the wagon.

pocketful of randomness

So...December, we meet again.  It's like WHOA...where did the year go?  One minute 2010 began and then I blinked away a whole year....well 11 months.  I don't want to discount this month (not yet, anyway).

Injury update:  I'm not gonna lie...the first two days of my vacation in the Disney parks were ROUGH.  I wasn't sure how I was going to hold up for the remaining 6 with all the walking and standing and the jarring (some of those rides were no joke).  On day 3, my hip/leg decided to cooperate, for the most part.  It would only cause me grief when I stopped walking for a while (lunch or a show) and then tried to get back up again.  I forgot my anti-inflammatory pills at home, so Advil Liqui-gels and I became besties.  As soon as I returned home to Houston, my hip/leg just started aching something fierce.  Though I wanted to jump right back onto the elliptical, I know that rest is what I need to recover.  I'm still hanging onto the hope of being able to complete my RunGirl 13.1 on 12/12 - just as a walker instead of a runner.  I have a follow-up with my doctor next week and he will let me know YAY or NAY.  I realize I'm probably just setting myself up for further disappointment by hanging onto this hope, but...well...it's how I roll.

I *heart* Christmas music.  Did you know that about me?  I'm seriously torn right now about what to listen to while in the car - Christmas music on XM Holly 23 or my latest audio book?  Certain songs make me sad...lonely for some reason.  Other songs make me all kinds of nostalgic.  Have you ever heard of Elmo & Patsy?  They are the singers of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer".  They have some really silly songs on their album like "Percy the Puny Poinsettia" and "Grandma's Killer Fruitcake", just to name a couple.  My mom loves their songs.  I love that - she's so funny/quirky!

I've been cooking all kinds of things this week.  On Monday night, I made my butternut squash soup.  Last year, someone gave me the tip of using light cream cheese in the soup instead of cream to get that creamy texture.  It cuts out tons of fat and calories and tastes great!  The ingredients are simple - butternut squash, apple, onion, salt, peppercorn, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cream cheese.  If you want the full recipe, just let me know!  On Tuesday, I made a macaroni and cheese casserole with cauliflower (vegetarian recipe - FYI).  I got the recipe from Carrots 'n' Cake, but modified it slightly using 2% cheese in lieu of full fat, skim milk in lieu of 1%, greek yogurt in lieu of lite sour cream, double fiber bread in lieu of bread crumbs or whole grain bread, and adding garlic salt.  Tonight, I made homemade applesauce.  I peeled and chopped up 5 granny smith apples and put them in a pot.  I then added some water - not a whole lot - just enough for the apples to simmer.  Next, I added a dash of salt, some cinnamon, some nutmeg, a bit of vanilla, and 1/3 of a cup of sugar substitute.  I let it cool on the stove until it was the chunky/saucy consistency I wanted.  The house smells FANTASTIC!  I am also planning on making a killer chicken soup this week with all sorts of veggies - mushrooms, onion, celery, cabbage, yellow squash, and zucchini.  I'm also going to add great northern beans and barley to my soup for substance!

Oh...I might have done a little happy dance today during my lunch break.  Why, you ask?  Well...I went to Kroger to buy me some of my Carb Master yogurts just to discover they added 6 new flavors to their line!  There are hardly any low carb / low sugar yogurts on the market.  I think Dannon makes one and it's ridiculously expensive, only 4 oz., and comes in 2 flavors.  The Carb Master yogurt is 6 oz and tastes delicious.  I think they already had 8 or 9 flavors, so adding 6 more is HUGE!  The new flavors are vanilla chai, spiced pear, tropical fruit, raspberry yumberry, strawberry colada, and carrot cake.  So far I've only tried the carrot cake and it was DELICIOUS!  Can't wait to try the others!  I bought two of each flavor!

Okay, well this was a pocketful of randomness kind of blog.  Happy December to you, my lovelies!

not your traditional pudding

I'm a fairly open-minded girl when it comes to most things.  At the very least, I always try to see "the other side".  I am not so open-minded when it comes to food.  Or at least I have not been so open-minded in the past.  Something has come over me this year and I'm eating and creating all sorts of weirdness (by my interpretation).  I still have my standards, though...I will never ever try clam chowder.  =P

This year I've eaten sushi.  the raw kind.  ewwwww.

This year I've eaten mussels.  ewwwww.

This year I've put spinach in my smoothies.  yummmmm.

This year I've put pumpkin in my chili.  yummmmm.

Now...I've done the ultimate in odd.  I'm made chocolate pudding without Jello brand pudding mix.  I did it with an avocado as the base.  Also...it's made with almond milk (another newby for me).

Earlier this year, Lauren told me she had it before and loved it.  She recalled the recipe having agave nectar in it.  It isn't that I have any personal issues against agave nectar, it's just that I do follow the South Beach diet, so I try to go sugar free or use sugar substitutes.

I have been laying low on the exercise front this week trying to rest this leg injury into submission (hoping to be able to participate in Saturday's 13 miler with my running group), so I've been cooking and baking South Beach, phase 1 foods (since I'm on the second week of taking that step back to get my cravings in check) in my spare time.  I had this notion to make the pudding today, but I wanted to find a recipe that did not have honey or agave nectar in it.

I heart Google.  I found one right away.  I used this as my base recipe.  Now, keep in mind this is not a low calorie pudding or even a low fat one.  It is rich in nutrients, however - healthy fats, protein, fiber.  I can attest that it is incredibly decadent, creamy, and extremely filling.

Here's what you need:

1 large avocado
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP almond butter (I used Maranatha)
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I used Jillian's)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
6 packets of sugar substitute
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup of chocolate unsweetened almond milk
1 TSP vanilla

Here's what you do:

Mix the avocado and almond butter together.
Add dry ingredients - protein powder, sugar substitute, cocoa powder, and salt

Add in the liquid ingredients - almond milk and vanilla.
Mix thoroughly.
Chill.
Serve.
Enjoy.

Oh...supposedly it's 4 to 6 servings.  I'm thinking maybe 3 or 4, but then again I apparently have a heavy hand when it comes to scooping.  ;)

Chicken "Pasta" Parmesan: South Beach Style

Shortly after Meliska had little Liam, Greggy-D's sister, Lisa sent out a Care Calendar for friends and family to help out by picking a date and supplying dinner for a few weeks while they transitioned into the whole parenthood thing.

I picked Saturday, October 30th for purely selfish reasons - a chance to hang out with my buddies and love on little baby Liam.  I basically made a meal and invited myself over for dinner.  How rude am I?!  =P  When I initially plotted this brilliant strategery (love that word, Al Gore), I instantly thought to make chicken tetrazini for my friends.  It's one of my specialties, after all.  One problem with my plan.  I went back to the basics - took that step backward into Phase 1 of South Beach which meant no pasta for me.  So, what did I do???  I made a chicken tetrazini for Meliska and Greggy-D and then I made another meal for me, of course!

I've made it before, albeit a pasta version.  It was called Chicken Pasta Parmesan and it's a soup based sauce served over pasta.  I decided to modify this to make it Phase 1 friendly.  Now I'm sharing it with you.

Ingredients:

1 lb raw chicken - cubed
2 TBSP olive oil
salt, pepper, basil

one carton of mushrooms - sliced
minced garlic

2/3 cup marsala wine

2 cans 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup (you can use cream of chicken or a combo)

1/3 cup Greek yogurt

1 2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

salt, pepper, basil

spaghetti squash

Directions:

Cook your spaghetti squash for about 45 minutes to an hour at 350 degrees.  Once cooled, remove the "guts and seeds" and then using a fork, pull out the "spaghetti strands".  Place in the bottom of a casserole dish(es) that has/have been sprayed with Pam.

In a large skillet, heat 2 TBSP of olive oil and saute and season the cubed chicken.

Once browned, remove the chicken and add in the sliced mushrooms and saute and season them.

Add in the marsala wine and add back in the chicken.  Heat through before adding in the 2 cans of soup and the Greek yogurt.  Add some additional seasoning - tasting to make sure you have it just right.  Once the mixture is heated through, add in the parmesan cheese until melted.

Pour the mixture on top of the spaghetti squash.

Bake in the oven on 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until bubbly.

Enjoy!  I did just that, but not even half as much as I did my time with my friends and one cutie patootie Liam!