Tuna Salad

This was my lunch today.  Oh so yummy!!

The onion gives it a sweet zest.  Mmm. Looking forward to having more tomorrow. 

2 (7 oz) cans albacore Tuna (I use costco brand)
4 stalks of celery, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 T freeze dried dill
1 T dill relish
1 cup mayo (more if desired)

Drain Tuna and break up in large container.   Add celery, onion, dill and relish and mix adding mayo.  Combine thoroughly.   Eat immediately or refrigerate to allow flavors to meld.  Good with a side of veggies, with noodles, crackers, or as a sandwich or wrap.  Get creative!  

Zonya's breakfast casserole

Here is my favorite breakfast casserole recipe.  It is from Zonya Foco's cookbook.

Preheat oven to 375
spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray
Makes 8 servings
1 bag (24oz) frozen ore ida potatoes o'brien (hash browns with onions and peppers)
1 c reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
4 oz lean ham or canadian bacon or lowfat smoked sausage
4 whole eggs
8 egg whites
1/4 c skim milk
1/4 c dijon mustard
1/2 tsp thyme
40 grinds fresh ground pepper

Place the frozen potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish.  Break up large chunks.  Cut the meat into small chunks.  Sprinkle the meat and cheese over the potatoes.  In a small bowl, whip eggs, egg whites, milk, mustard and thyme with a fork.  Pour evenly over the potato mixture.  Top casserole with pepper.   Place in oven uncovered and set timer for 45 minutes.
Serve with toasted english muffins and fresh fruit.

1 cup casserole has 165 calories, 4.5 grms fat and 2 grms fiber.

I like to make some and eat the leftovers the rest of the week, at that calorie amount I can have two servings with no remorse.   It is fantastic with just a little bit of ketchup.

Cashew Chicken

A favorite chicken recipe of ours.  So easy!  It is from Leanne Ely's book Saving Dinner.  A great book if you want recipes, side dishes, menus and shopping lists all in one!  She also has a website.  check it out!  I found her through the Flylady website, if you are anything like me, uh, not so organized!!  You will like the flylady! 

I hope you enjoy this recipe.

3/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 T cornstarch
1 t ground ginger
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t pepper
2 T vegetable oil, divided
2 large carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch strips
1 cup cashews

Combine juice, honey, soysauce, cornstarch and seasonings. 
In a large skilet, heat 1 T oil until it begins to smoke.  Stir-fry vegtables for several minutes until the vegetables become bright.  Set aside and keep warm.

In the same skillet, heat another tablespoon of oil until smoking and stir-fry chicken strips until browned and tender.
Add cooked vegetables, cashews and sauce mixture.  Continue cooking until sauce bubbles and thickens.

You can add 4 green onions, chopped--I left it out due to my hubby's extreme dislike 

Serve with brown rice and spinach salad

Serves 6

265 calories
15 g fat
5 g Protein
31 g carb
3 g fiber

Veggie sketti

I got inspired today and decided to create something for lunch. Yum! All veggies and so hearty I couldn't finish it! Let me know what you think.

1 onion chopped
Put into skillet with 1 T olive oil. Sauté until almost soft. Add
2 large tomatoes chopped
2 portobello mushrooms cleaned and chopped
2 large handfuls of spinach roughly chopped
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste.

Sauté all ingredients until soft pour over bed of spaghetti squash. Top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Healthy brownies

 

Healthy Brownies.  How could brownies be heathy you ask??  Good question.  Well these are chock full of protein, fiber, gluten free and vitamin rich.  On top of that my kids love them!  Impossible!  Well it's possible!!  The secret ingredient is a sweet potato.  These are very moist and heavy.  So the very discerning of taste and texture may not appreciate them.  However I like it as a guilt free snack!! 

Enough Teasing!  Here's the recipe

1 medium sweet potato, cooked and peel removed

3 eggs

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup honey

1/2 T vanilla

1 1/2 T coconut flour

4 T cocoa

1/4 T baking soda

pinch of salt

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.  Add 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and blend slightly, or add as a topping after placing in an 8x8 greased baking dish.  

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.

Enjoy! 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 23 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 62 Calories from Fat 42

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 4.7g  7%

Saturated Fat 3.5g 17%

Cholesterol 31mg  10%

Sodium 86mg  4%

Total Carbohydrates 4.0g  1%

Dietary Fiber 1.7g  7%

Sugars 0.6g

Protein 1.8g

Vitamin A 28% • Vitamin C 2% Calcium 1% • Iron 2%

Nutrition Grade C-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Quick and easy roasted potatoes

Red or white potatoes for as many as you want to serve.  I prefer red.

Olive oil

Kosher Salt

Fresh ground Pepper



Cut potatoes into fourths, place onto large roasting pan or baking (cookie) sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil a pinch or two of salt and ground pepper to taste.  Mix on the baking sheet and roast at 450 degrees for about 20-30 minutes.  Or until potatoes are tender.  My daughter who hates potatoes loves these!

Hamburger Minestrone Soup

Yet again a staple food from growing up.  Very hearty and tasty.  You can whip up this whole thing  and then freeze leftovers for when you just want some yummy soup!   (Oh I always have a piece of toast, homemade of course, with cheese on it to dip in.  MMMMM!)  Go ahead and crockpot this too...

Hamburger Minestrone Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 c onions, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed
2 c sliced carrots
2 stalks celery, diced
2 c shredded cabbage
1/2 c brown rice or barley
1 small zucchini, sliced (optional)
1 qt tomatoes or tomato juice
2 tsp Mrs Dash
1 small bay leaf
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
2 tsp beef bouillon granules
2 qts water

Brown hamburger with onions until tender.  Drain fat.  Mix all of the ingredients together and boil for 5 minutes.  Turn down to low and cook 1 1/2 hours or until vegetables are tender.  Makes 12 large servings.

Creamy Chicken Soup

This recipe is a tasty creamy soup.  If you leave out the cheese it saves you 200 calories a serving.  But then this soup wouldn't be nearly as good!  I am a cheese lover I guess.  It sure warms the soul on a cold day, and is quite easy.  I adapted it to use my powdered milk, but if you prefer regular milk just use 4 cups instead of the powdered and water.  Let me know what you think!

Creamy Chicken Soup

2T butter
3 stalks celery

1 cup chopped carrots

5 T cornstarch
4 cups water
12 T Powdered milk  (wisk with water)
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
8 oz sharp cheddar shredded or cut in small chunks
1 12.5 oz can chicken breast
2 tsp worcesterchire sauce
2 tsp fresh black pepper

In a six quart dutch oven, saute vegies in butter until crisp tender.  About 10 minutes.  Stir in cornstarch.  Slowly add milk (or reconstituted powdered milk), chicken broth, worcestershire sauce and black pepper.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Stir in chicken and cheese.  Allow cheese to melt, stirring frequently.  Then Enjoy!

Serves 4

Cals 580
Fat 28.6
Carbs 26.1
Fiber 1.3
Protein 52.5

Fruity Breakfast Cookies

I found this recipe on the My Fitness Pal Website, it was quite yummy and low cal too--it made 22 cookies and they came out to 58 cals each.  Mmmmm!     Not bad for a breakfast on the go.

Ingredients:
3 mashed bananas
1/3 cup apple sauce
2 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp Splenda , sugar or other sweetener (I used sugar but only 2 tsps)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a bowl really well. Let this mixture stand for at least 5 minutes to let the oats become good and hydrated. Heap the dough by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes and let cool.  ( I couldn't help it I dove right in!)

Marinated Turkey Breasts (Manti Chicken)

This is our very favorite chicken recipe.  We make them out on our smoker, but they are just as good if not better cooked on the bbq. I use a bag of chicken breast tenders from costco-but it is just as good with turkey or chicken breast.  Dip into ranch dressing and have a salad on the side.  Yummy!!

1 cup lemon-lime soda  (I have also used ginger ale)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup oil
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp horseradish

Mix ingredients together.  Slice breasts length wise 3/4 inches thick  (If using tenders just put them in)  Marinate 3-4 hours or overnight in refrigerator.
Grill until meat is white and juices run clear, about 10 minutes.  6 out of 5 stars.  The best!

Christmas Fudge

Every Christmas and New Years the family pulls out the famous fudge recipe.  There is really no other fudge that compares to it.  I personally think it is the only fudge to eat, although I am enough of a chocoholic that I won't turn down a bit of chocolate that is offered to me.  As long as I can remember we have had this fudge for Christmas, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

Christmas Fudge

1 lb Hershey's Chocolate bars  (I use 8 oz Symphony bar with toffee and almonds and 8 oz special dark chocolate since they have reduced the sizes it is actually 2-4.25 oz bars of each)
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 lb butter
4 cups sugar
1 16 oz package miniature marshmallows
2 oz unsweetened chocolate

Break up all the chocolate; open the marshmallows.  Set aside.  Combine milk, butter , and sugar and bring to a boil.  Boil 5 minutes (7-10 if you like harder fudge).  Take off heat and add other ingredients; stir well until all are melted and mixed.  Pour into greased 9 x 13 inch pan.  Let cool. 

Yummy!!

Chicken and Corn Chili

One of the things I like to do when looking for something to cook is to google it.  I find some good recipes that way.  This is one I just did a day ago.  DH says that he likes Salsa Chicken better but it is basically the same thing.  I really just liked this one.  This link is the recipe I got, and here is how I tweaked it.  I would add the chili powder and cumin to taste--DH liked it better before I added the tomatoes and beans.

Chicken and Corn Chili

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (I pulled mine straight from the freezer)
1 16 oz jar salsa (2 cups)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (I buy pre-minced in the bottle)
1-2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-2 teaspoons chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 can corn
4 cups pinto beans cooked as directed, or two cans beans
1 can green chilis
1 can diced tomatoes
2 t sugar

Place chicken, salsa and spices in crockpot.  Cook on high for four hours, turn to low for 6 hours and add beans, corn, tomato, chilis and sugar.  I was able to shred the chicken easily after 5 hours but you can pretty much do that as you mix it all together.  Great as just chili, with french bread on the side.  You can also use in a tortilla.  I give this 4 stars of 5.