If we’re not careful, healthy eating (a.k.a. dieting) can become boring and lead us to sabotaging ourselves, to falling back to our old eating patterns, to not just regaining what we’ve lost but gaining even more back. None of us wants that to happen. So let’s jazz up our lives and our food and share some of our favorite healthy recipes that have helped us along the way.
Until I can figure out a way to set up something so that recipes can be categorized for easier browsing, let’s just start by posting the recipes in the comments on this page.
Posted by Kaye Dacus on July 9, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I’ll start with a link to my post for Alternative Asian Favorites–Chicken Wraps and Egg Rolls:
http://fabulousby40.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/alternative-asian-favorites/
Posted by Jacqulyn on July 10, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Kaye,
I had a patron come into the library today searching for more books by you. I was not familiar with you and have done a little digging. The patron loved Stand-in-Groom and wanted to read more. That is a compliment if I ever heard one.
I was surprised by your blog; I enjoyed reading your speech you gave. Then I saw where you were fighting a familiar battle. I too need to lose weight. How I empathized with you as I read about how boring or depressed one can become.
One of my favorite summer foods is a combination of summer squash(green and yellow) cut ito chunks, onions, cut into quarters, Roma tomatos, cut into halfs, Whole fresh baby Okra (if you like it) and two fresh heads of garlic, broken into cloves and peeled. I spray a 9 x13 baking dish with PAM, load it with the above vegetables and garlic in any combination. I spray the vegetables with PAM again and sprinkle it with salt and pepper and run it in a hot oven. 450 degrees for about 10 minutes. You can look at it and leave it a little longer if desired. The vegetables are crisp tender, the heat makes the garlic sweet. I have two sons and a husband. They absolutely love this dish and ask for more. The easiest side dish I make in the summer.
Posted by Kaye Dacus on July 20, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Even though this isn’t really a recipe, I thought I’d share, because it was yummy.
I prepared two small lamb-shoulder “steaks” the other night:
Drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil, each side (about 1 tsp of oil per steak)
Side 1: sprinkle with Tony Chachere’s salt-free Creole Seasoning
Side 2: sprinkle with garlic powder, black pepper, and dry oregano
Pan sear in a pre-heated skillet over medium heat, 5-6 minutes on each side (for medium-rare) or until desired doneness level is achieved. (My stove was actually set about a notch up from true medium—if medium is 6:00 on a clock face and medium-high is 3:00, I had it set at about 5:00). Let rest about 5 minutes before eating (as you should always do with meat).
Posted by Kaye Dacus on August 14, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Healthy Cottage Pie:
1 chicken-flavored bullion cube
1 cup(+) water
1 16-ounce bag frozen cauliflower
1 pound ground meat
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small or 1/2 large onion, chopped
1.5 to 2 cups cooked/steamed bite-sized mixed vegetables
Herbs and/or spices to taste
1/2 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash flour or cornstarch, optional
1 pat (about 1/2 Tablespoon) salted butter
Skim/fat-free milk
Salt and black pepper
1/2 cup grated 2% sharp Cheddar cheese, optional
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large saucepan, add bullion cube to 1 cup water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to ensure bullion dissolves thoroughly. Add cauliflower and enough water to cover. Return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer. (8 to 10 minutes, or longer if you want really creamy mashed cauliflower.)
While cauliflower cooks, in a large skillet over medium heat, sweat onions about 5 minutes, or until softened and beginning to turn translucent (onions should not brown—if they start browning, reduce heat). Crumble raw ground meat into skillet and cook until meat is no longer pink. Drain off all fat, and return to skillet. Season to taste (I used some Tony Chachere’s salt-free seasoning, but not enough to make it spicy in the end product). Add vegetables, beef broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Let liquid come to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. If you would like a slightly thickened “gravy,” you can add a little flour or cornstarch at this point, being sure it is completely mixed in and doesn’t clump.
Drain cauliflower and smash lightly with fork. In a blender or food processor, combine cauliflower and butter. Pulse to puree. Add milk, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, if necessary until desired smoothness is achieved. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let stand.
Transfer meat and veggie mixture to a 3-quart casserole dish. Spoon mashed cauliflower on top. Spread to cover evenly, but leave surface of cauliflower rough (or add texture with tines of a fork). Bake 30 minutes or until cauliflower has browned nicely (golden brown). If using cheese, sprinkle cheese over top after about 20 minutes of cooking.
Let stand about 10–15 minutes before serving. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
The way I made it, with the ground lamb and no flour or cheese, portioned out into 4 servings, per serving breaks down like this:
Calories: 345
Fat: 18g
Carbohydrates: 21g
Fiber: 9g
Protein: 24g
Obviously, ground lamb is one of the higher-fat meats. If made with ground turkey (and no flour/no cheese), here’s how it would look for 4 servings:
Calories: 272
Fat: 11.5g
Carbohydrates: 21g
Fiber: 9g
Protein: 21g