Home For Dinner

Bruce and I have such conflicting schedules, most of the time, so I was very excited to be able to come home and make dinner. I decided to make Tri-Pepper Turkey Burgers. (that's the fanciest name I could think of).

 

I started with peppers, red, green and yellow. 1/4 of each, along with 1/4  onion, all chopped small. 

1 pound of ground turkey and 1 egg.

  

Now it was time to add "a little this and a little that".  A palm full Sunny Paris, Fox Point Seasoning, a sprinkle of Rosemary,  Garlic & some smokey paprika. I like to smell seasonings. Then I can tell if they would be good for the taste I am trying to get. Weird? Yeah probably, but it works for me. Hahaha
Time to get down and dirty. Stick your hands in and start mixin'
I remembered I had some baby bella mushrooms in the frig. Mushrooms help keep turkey burgers moist. I threw a handful of them into my Ninja (which we all should have in our kitchen) chopped them and dumped them in with everything else.

Baby Bella

 

 I divided the mixture in fours and forms 4 thick burgers. Put them on a baking sheet. Put them in the oven at a temp of 400 degrees. They baked for 20-30 mins.

In the mean time I sliced a head of cauliflower, sprayed another baking sheet and put the cauliflower in the over also. Baked until it was golden brown. Then I deglazed the baking sheet with a little bit of chicken broth.

I had those left over peppers & mushrooms, so I used the peppers in a salad made up of  chopped romaine lettuce, chopped English cucumber and chopped peppers (green, red & yellow). Toss it all with Mia Famiglia's Balsamic Dressing. This dressing is to die for.  It is made fresh and  with honey as the sweetener. It is gluten free and you can find it at the restaurant or at the Winter Farmers Market. (which is a must for everyone!) I topped the salad with a small sprinkle of sunflower seeds.

  

 The mushrooms I sauteed in a hot pan with the half of onion I had left. I also deglazed that pan with a tad of chicken broth. That dark stuff on the bottom of a pan had tons of flavor.

And ...... we have dinner......... Low glycemic, quick, easy and delish!

 

Leave me comment and let me know how you liked the burgers. Enjoy!

                                    

The Almighty Asian Lettuce Wraps

I have had so many requests for these lately so it's time to post it. Now maybe......

I like Romaine lettuce and Bruce prefers Iceberg lettuce, it is a personal preference. Use your favorite. I always have a big bowl of salad in the frig and I will take a handful of that, warm up the meat and dump in the salad. Yum!!

I found that if I buy the oriental version of the sauces they taste better and they are also much cheaper! Check Cermak or an Asian market.

Let me know how you like the Asian Lettuce Wraps.

Ingredients:

1 pound turkey; ground

1 head Iceberg lettuce

1/2 yellow onion; cubed

1/2 bunch scallions; sliced small

1/2 cup carrot; grated

1 can water chestnuts; diced

1/3 cup cashews; rough chopped

2 cloves garlic; minced

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp ginger; ground

1/4 cup Hoisin sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp sweet chili sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

Directions:

Gently cut out the core of the head of lettuce and begin to remove the leaves in one piece as best as you can. These will be like lettuce taco shells. Wash and dry the leaves gently.

Brown the turkey and mince well. Drain if necessary. Set the meat aside and in the same pan on medium heat add all the veggies.

In a small bowl combine the sauces and the ginger. Pour into the veggie mixture. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Add cashew pieces and meat. Cook for another 4 minutes.

Serve spoonfuls in the lettuce leaves and enjoy.

You might want to add a spicy sauce to top each one with if you prefer more heat.

Don't forget to let me know how you liked them. 

Happy New Year ... Good To Be Back

I hope you all have been having a happy and healthy New Year so far.  It's only the beginning and it's only gong to get better.

I am down about 60lbs right now and have about 10-20 more to go. But more importantly, Bruce and I have found this wonderful way of eating healthy and we have learned so much about out food. The food we ate 50 years ago is NOT the food we eat today. There is less nutrients and more chemicals. I try to cook with clean healthy food as much as I can. We all know you can't do it all the time, but there are new options out there and more popping up all the time.  Did you know that Milwaukee County has a  Winter Farmers Market??? It's wonderful and the venders are some of the nicest people. You can spend the whole morning there, do breakfast, have your coffee and do your weekly shopping. I found so many colorful organic or just plain clean gown items. So much fun. I hope you get a chance to check it out. 

Black radishes, purple carrots, beets and apples (not the pineapple)

One other place I have to mention is Mia Famiglia . They were handing out samples of their focaccia  dipped in their homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette! I thought  I was having a party in my mouth. Unbelievable flavor. I had to ask what kind of sweetener they use (because in my mind, anything that tasted this good has to be bad for you). His  response was "honey".......yup honey. SOLD!  Then I looked up at their hanging sign which showed a picture of their restaurant and said they use the freshest ingredients from local markets, they make fresh Gluten Free meals from scratch, they don't use any processed or frozen foods and so on and so on. They were like a dream restaurant, right in our own backyard. Ok, that was my most exciting find at the farmers market, I am done now.

Bruce and I do a lot of different salads and dipping of veggies so we want to be careful of the amount of oils and fats that we use on them. Salsa/Pico has become a staple in our house that we use for both.
I usually cut up all my veggies for the salsa by hand, it's a sort of therapy for me. It's really simple and has ingredients you have on hand most of the time anyhow.

6 tomatoes
1 bunch cilantro
1 red onion
1 lime
1 jalapeno
6 cloves of garlic

Seed & chop tomato

chop and add the garlic cloves and  juice of one lime

rough chop the cilantro and stir in

seed and chop jalapeno

mix all and refrigerate at least one hour to blend flavors

Try to use as much organic veggies as you can and if you don't have time for therapy here is a recipe that I found from Ree Drummond. You do it all in the blender.

Restaurant Style Salsa

Ingredients

Two 10-ounce cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, such as Rotel
One 28-ounce can whole tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves (or more to taste!)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeno, quartered and sliced thin, with seeds and membrane
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 whole lime, juiced

Directions

Combine the diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, jalapeno, cumin, salt, sugar and lime juice in a blender or food processor. (This is a very large batch. I recommend using a 12-cup food processor, or you can process the ingredients in batches and then mix everything together in a large mixing bowl.)

Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like. I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

Refrigerate the salsa for at least an hour before serving.

Where's The Heat

It's March and the weather doesn't seem to be getting "Spring Like". I think most of us have cabin fever right now. I decided to go with it and make a chicken stew.

I had some chicken breasts in the freezer (a staple in the house). So I thawed them and cut into bite size pieces.  Poured 2 tbsp. grape seed oil into a frying pan and seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, celery seasoning & tajin. I love Tajin, it has this lime salty flavor to it. Really good in bloody mary's  too. (I digress) I sauteed the chicken for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
While the chicken is cooking I cut up the veggies, 1 onion, 2 carrots
( sliced thin), 1 green pepper & 1 yellow pepper, diced, 1 jalapeno, diced & 2 stalks of celery, sliced.

When the chicken is almost done, add a palm full of Montreal Steak Seasoning stir and mix well.  Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve.

Add 1 Tbsp. of grape seed oil and add the veggies to the pan.  Season veggies with salt & pepper to taste.  

While the veggies are cooking, in a sauce pan put
2 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup of rinsed quinoa.
Bring to a boil, simmer for about 20 min. until quinoa is tender.

When veggies are done add the chicken back into the pan. Mix and sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. of quinoa flour. Stir to mix and cook for 1 minute longer. Add chicken broth to pan

 ( about 1 cup) stir and simmer until thickened. This forms the gravy for the stew.

When the quinoa is done place it in a bowel and spoon the chicken stew over it.

Enjoy!
Let me know how you like it  :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hope you all had a fantastic day.
I love Shepherds pie.
Cottage pie or shepherd's pie is a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato.
The term cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791 when the potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor.
In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, and the pie dish was lined with mashed potato as well as having a mashed potato crust on top.

 I have never made Shepherds Pie, have only had it in restaurants. I wanted to think up a good low glycemic way to make it. I had 2 pounds of ground chicken in the freezer so I started with that. I looked up several different recipes and just pulled out the things about each that sounded good. And, away I went.

 I browned up the 2lbs of ground chicken, added sea salt, red onion, celery, fresh ground pepper & carrot.  Then I added tomato paste, chicken broth, green beans, thyme, rosemary & chopped garlic. I let that simmer for about 15 minutes to let the flavors mix.

While that was simmering I cut up and steamed a head of cauliflower. When it was done a mashed it up with my stick blender.

 

 and added a handful of low cal Italian blend, shredded, cheese.

 I then put the meat mixture into a pie pan and put the cauliflower mixture on top and spread it out.

Baked for 35 min and ...... WHAAALAAA

Let it sit for 15 min and then I dug in.

It was DELISH!

Low Glycemic Shepherds Pie

2lb. ground chicken
1 cup chopped onion
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp. organic quinoa flour
3 tbsp. tomato paste
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp. thyme leaves
1 tsp. rosemary
1 1/2 cup organic green beans (frozen)

1 head cauliflower
cheese, shredded (1 palm full)

Preheat oven to 400

1.  Brown the ground chicken and add the onion, carrots, garlic. Cook until they begin to take on color, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Add salt & pepper.
2. Sprinkle the meat with the flour and toss to coat, continuing to cook for another minute. 
3. Add the tomato paste, chicken broth, rosemary, thyme, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer slowly 10-12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly.
4. Add the green beans.
5. Steam the cauliflower. When it is soft, drain the water (make sure it is dry) and mash the cauliflower until smooth.
6. Add the cheese to the cauliflower and stir to mix.
7. Place the meat mixture in the bottom of a 8 x 8 inch pan or in a pie pan.
8. Spread the cauliflower cheese mixture on top of the meat mixture.
9. Bake 35 minutes & let rest for 15 minutes.

Enjoy and let me know how you like it :)

First Week Of Spring TLS Chanllenge

We are now one week in on our Spring Find Your Fit Challenge. We did a week of detox and got rid of all the toxins in our bodies and then moved on to our low glycemic eating. I have lost 12lbs. and Bruce has lost 15lbs. This will probably be the only time we are close in our weight loss, so I am doing the happy dance as I type this.  (that accounts for all the type o's).

We had this GREAT product training today that my friend Jason Barter did. The one thing that sticks out to me is the section he talk about where the US allows chemically derived and potentially toxic ingredients in our foods and the same manufacturers change the ingredients in other countries that don't allow these ingredients.




Some of the key American brands that are participating in this deception are McDonald’s, Pringles (owned by Kellogg’s), Pizza Hut and Quaker (owned by Pepsi), Betty Crocker (owned by General Mills), Starburst (owned by M&M/Mars), and Ritz Crackers (owned by Kraft). In the examples below, red text indicates potentially harmful ingredients and/or ingredients likely to contain GMOs.

        
All the ingredients listed in RED are toxic/cancer causing ingredients. All this info can be sound in the article Food Babe Investigates: How Food Companies Exploit Americans with Ingredients Banned in Other Countries. It really is a MUST read.
               

Now that we have a start (check out the website for the whole story) on what NOT to eat how about some wonderful stuff we should eat :)

skinnytaste.com

Chicken & White Bean Stuffed Peppers

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper
1/4 cup parsley (or cilantro)
5 bell peppers (red, yellow or green)
14 oz. shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 tsp cumin
adobo (or salt) to taste
15.5 oz can white beans
1/2 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese


In a medium pan, heat oil on medium heat. Add chopped onions, garlic, parsley and red peppers.  Saute until soft, about a minute. Add chicken and season with cumin and adobo. Add beans and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water and simmer for about 5-10 minutes, until it thickens and the liquid reduces. Adjust spices to taste.


Preheat oven to 350. Cut peppers in half removing seeds and stem. Place peppers in an oven-proof dish. fill each pepper with 1/3 cup of chicken and bean mixture. Pour about 1/3 cup water or chicken broth on the bottom of dish. Cover tight with foil. bake 40 minutes. Remove foil, top with cheese and bake uncovered another 5 minutes.


We loved these. When I try a recipe or make one up, we never know how we are going to like it. This one was good, really good. I use as many organic ingredients as I can. And when you use good food, not preservatives, fresh, whole foods, it is a amazing how full and satisfying your food is. We may pay a little more for it, but the out come is so worth it.
Serves 5

I added Roasted Brussels Sprouts and a Cucumber Salad. Great meal.


Let me know how you like the Chicken and White Bean Stuffed Peppers. Leave me a comment.


Enjoy!

P.S. I just found a really good blog article from Lauren Ridinger @ Loren's World on 5 delicious and healthy snack choices. Great ideas.

Spring TLS Find Your Fit

We are on our last leg of our weight lose and we have defiantly changed our life style of eating! We make so many different choice when it come to food. The biggest difference is when we make a bad/wrong choice.... we are miserable for hours if not days! We have just finished our 7 Day Detox. I lost 10 lbs. and Bruce lost 18 lbs. So we are off to a good start.

Today was one of our "snow storms". I just wanted to be home and cooking! I got to leave work early so, I went to Cermack and shopped for all my veggies.... if you haven't been there, it's a "must go". They have some of the best produce and the best prices. Today they had organic heirloom tomatoes for $.99 lbs. Red ones, yellow ones and purple ones! Whaooo!

I came home with 4 large bags of food and I was so ready to cook.  It was 5pm and we were getting hungry so I picked the quickest one so we could have some dinner. Chicken Poblano Soup was first on the list. I found the recipe on Pintrest. I changed it up a little to keep it TLS friendly.

Next, I made an Easy Crust-less Spinach and Feta Pie....Outstanding! Then, Chicken and White Bean Stuffed Peppers. I have these in the frig for later in the week. The filling is delicious, so I know these are going to be good. In the crock pot I have Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken. I also made a big green salad with lots of greens and good veggies, to go with everything.

Here is the Chicken Poblano Soup recipe, the rest will follow when we taste test them :)

A good cook always has wine  :)

 

This is a really quick and easy lunch or dinner. Just add a salad and you are complete.

Serves 2
Ready in 20 min.

1 Boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 8 oz.)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lbs. poblano peppers, seeded and chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 small yellow onions, rough chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 C fresh cilantro plus more for garnish
8 oz. plain, nonfat Greek yogurt, divided

1. Cook the chicken breast in a large pot of salted boiling water, about 10 min. When the chicken is cooked through transfer it to a cutting board and use two forks to pull apart the meat. Set aside.

2. Mean while, heat the olive oil in a large, nonstick soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the peppers, onions, and garlic, and season with salt and pepper. Cook about 5 min., or until lightly browned.

3. Add 3 cups of water to pot and season with extra salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, the reduce to simmer. cook for about 5 min. or until the peppers and onions are cooked through.

4. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the peppers onion and garlic to a blender. (don't use a food processor... it makes a big mess)Add the cilantro, half the Greek yogurt, and half of the cooking water, and blend, gradually adding more cooking water until the soup reaches a smooth, creamy consistency.

5. Add a teaspoon of water to the remaining yogurt and whisk until smooth.

6. Divide the soup, chicken and remaining yogurt among two bowls, and garnish with extra cilantro. 

This soup was delicious!! Let me know what you think.

I will post the other recipes this week.

Enjoy!