#11: Willie Nillie Shrimp

Ok, so this was an experiment.  I had a package of frozen shrimp that needed to be used so I looked in the cabinet to see what I had to use with it.  Here is what came of it.

Recipe #11: Willie Nillie Shrimp (named because of how it was described by a friend while being made)
Ingredients:
1 pkg Pasta (your choice)
1 jar Artichoke Pesto Pasta Sauce (or your favorite)
1 pkg Shrimp

Directions:
Prepare shrimp as directed on package.  (I would recommend pre-shelled shrimp at least)  Cook pasta as directed, heat up pasta sauce.  Throw it all together.  That is it.  That's all I got.  But it is easy to do and was pretty quick since shrimp cooks quickly.

If you haven't noticed with my recipes I'm into easy and fast for the most part.  Working full-time and working out after work, not much time for planning grand meals, so simple is best for me.  Enjoy!

#10: Homemade Chili

Ok, so it's been almost a month since my last recipe.  I've unfortunately been eating out a bit more or just throwing whatever I can together.  But here is my latest that has turned out really well.  So, I've been just throwing various canned beans together, but had not found out the right seasoning to make it good.  One night I had some left over taco meat and was making bean soup/chili so I threw it in.  Success!!!!  Now for the recipe.

Recipe #10: Homemade Chili
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey (can use ground beef, but be sure to drain the fat off)
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 can red kidney beans, drained
1 can white kidney beans, drained
1/4 cup onions, chopped
1 package of taco seasoning
Olive oil

Directions:
Prepare ground turkey as directed on the taco seasoning packet.  In a soup pot heat some olive oil and saute the onion.  After the onion is cooked add the cans of beans and corn to heat.  You will want to add some water, so use water to rinse out the cans to get all of the flavor in the chili.  When the taco meat is done, add to beans and heat until hot through, probably about 15 minutes at a nice boil.  Serve hot with cheese, sour cream, chips, etc.

I have enough of this for taking as lunch for a few days.  It would definitely feed a full family, with possibly some leftover.  Enjoy!

#9: Beef Enchilada

Good Evening,
It's been a little while since I've posted a new recipe.  I have been repeating some especially the Coconut Curry Chicken, last night's dinner in fact.  I have also been perfecting my chili (non-spicy).  That recipe soon to come also.  But for tonight I tried my hand at Beef Enchilada's.  Turned out pretty good.

Recipe #9: Beef Enchilada
Ingredients
Olive Oil
1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
1 pkg Taco Seasoning
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c chopped onion
1 can Enchilada Sauce
6 Whole Wheat Tortilla's
Cheese

Directions:
Heat olive oil in skillet, add minced garlic and onion.  Cook until onion is transparent/sauteed.  Pour mixture in an 11" x 7" baking dish to set aside.  Put beef/turkey in skillet to brown.  Cook as directed by the taco seasoning package.  When you add the seasoning, mix well then add the onion and garlic mixture back in.  Let it simmer as directed by the package.  Put thin layer of enchilada sauce on bottom of baking dish.  Heat tortilla's just enough to make them more flexible (about 15 sec on the microwave). With each tortilla add meat mixture and a sprinkle of cheese.  Roll and place in baking dish seam side down.  When all are in the pan top with the rest of the enchilada sauce and cover with cheese.  Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 min. Top with cream cheese and salsa as desired.

I had enough meat mixture for 8 tortillas, so with the leftover I can have 2 meals of taco salad.  Enjoy!!

Food Blog #4

I know what you're thinking.  Holy moly, this girl is cooking like crazy.  Well, I sort of am.  But tonight's dinner was a throw together.  I was posting so much that all of the sudden it was 8 and I hadn't had dinner yet.  I had some rice portioned out from the chicken and rice recipe from Monday so I heated that up.  The protein...Tilapia.  No picture tonight, wasn't necessarily pretty to look at and I sort of didn't remember since I wasn't originally going to post this throw together.  It turned out better than I thought, so here goes.

Recipe #4: Tilapia Taco
Ingredients:
1 Tilapia filet
1 whole wheat tortilla
cabbage (left over from Stuffed Cabbage Strata)
Mango Salsa (Costco)
Pappy's Seasoning (low sodium, from Fresno, CA now sold in WinCo)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Coat Tilapia with olive oil so the seasoning sticks.  Rub seasoning on the Tilapia.  Put a skillet on medium heat.  Cook Tilapia until flakes in chunks. (This was not my original intention, but I had the stove on medium-high heat and it was cooking faster than I was meaning to.)  Take tortilla and put the cabbage down the center, then the Tilapia, then the salsa.  Good lean protein.

Food Tip: Try using salsa as a salad dressing.  The Mango Salsa is great because it is sweet and can go with many things.

Food Blog #3

So last night I was trying to figure out which recipe I would make since I had put out some ground turkey to thaw.  I had 2 choices from the recipes I had picked on Saturday, either Sloppy Joe Meatloaf or Stuffed Cabbage Strata.  I chose the later. This recipe has quite a few steps, but stick with it it is totally worth it.

Recipe #3: "Stuffed Cabbage" Strata (c/o The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook p 134)
Ingredients:
8 slices center-cut bacon, cut into 2" pieces (I used turkey bacon, less grease)
1 1/4 c minced yellow onions
1 c uncooked instant brown rice (can use white)
6 c shredded green cabbage
1 1/2 lbs extra-lean ground chicken breast (I used ground turkey)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
16 oz tomato sauce (no-salt added)
3/4 c water

Oven Temp: 400 degrees                                 Total Oven Cooking Time: 55 minutes
Lightly spray 8x8 baking dish with non-stick spray (this was too small, I used 9x13 which was perfect). Line a dinner plate with a paper towel. Can guess what that's for?

Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook for 4-6 minutes per side, or until the bacon is cooked and starting to crisp on the edges. Transfer bacon to the lined plate. Discard all but 1 tbsp of the bacon fat from the skillet. (Since I used turkey bacon and there was no grease I added about 1tbsp of extra virgin olive oil for the next step.)

Add the onions and rice to the skillet and place over medium heat. Cook while stirring until the onions are tender and the rice is just starting to brown, 3-5 minutes. (I found that because of the bacon residue the rice turned brown before it was ready to be taken out.  Go with the 3-5 minutes and you will be fine.)  While this was cooking I was shredding/chopping the cabbage.

While the onions and rice are cooking spread 3 c of cabbage in an even layer on the bottom of the baking dish.  Top with the onions and rice mixture, forming an even layer.

Add the chicken/turkey, salt and pepper to the skillet and place over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken/turkey in chunks.  With a slotted spoon, layer over the onions and rice mixture.  Spread the remaining 3 c of cabbage on top of the chicken/turkey.

Discard any liquid from the skillet and add the tomato sauce and water. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil.  With a ladle or large spoon, carefully spoon the sauce evenly over the casserole, being sure the dish doesn't overflow.  (It looked pretty thin and liquidy to me, but it worked in the end.  Keep going.) Lay the bacon pieces evenly on the top.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Uncover and bake 10 minutes longer, or until the cabbage and rice are tender and the strata is heated through.  Let stand 5 minutes to set.  This makes 6 servings.

Food Tip: Try incorporating ground turkey instead of ground beef to decrease your fat intake.  Turkey is a great lean protein.

Whew! It's Been A While

So, here is it. January 2011 and I haven't posted here since November 2009. Well, a lot has happened. On 10-10-10 I ran the Portland Marathon. After almost 2 full years of getting healthy and training with a personal trainer I decided to go for it. I ran it in 5 hours and 8 minutes. My goal was just to finish, which I far surpassed. Now my older brother, Jason, has been running and wants to run the 40th Anniversary Portland Marathon in October 2011. So I will be running it again in support of his goal and it will keep me on track.

On November 13 I moved out on my own again. I love having my own space again. Being able to decorate has been fun. This also means that I have to relearn how to cook again and cook in a healthy way. Thus my new blog posts will be food related for a while. As I test recipe's I will let you all know how they worked out and post the recipe's here for you all to try. Some will be healthier than others, but I'll give you the reference of where I got the recipe too. So without further ado, read the first of my food blogs. :)