Romanian Garlic Chicken

Friday, April 3rd, 2009 | Recipe | 2 Comments

Aren’t cookbooks great? While I must admit I almost never really follow the recipe exactly, I get so much inspiration from them.  This week I’ve purchased 2 great ones, both Romanian, which makes my husband so happy.  I’ve just tried a version of Romanian garlic chicken, with only a few modifications to weightwatcherize it.  It was really really good, I was so excited for lunch the next day to have leftovers!  Give it a shot and shock your friends with a cuisine they’ve almost certainly never tried! (Notice the ingenious move of thickening the sauce with mashed potato, a great trick for other sauces too!)

Romanian Braised Chicken with Garlic (8 Servings)

• Cooking Spray (4 sprays)
• 3 lbs of chicken pieces (mixed) without skin, with bone (or you could used boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, it will cook faster)
• 1/2 cup of onion, chopped
• 1 Tbs. tarragon
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed (or 5 tsp of jarred garlic)
• 1 Tbs. salt
• 1 Tbs. black pepper
• 1 large potato, boiled and mashed (or do what I did and nuke a potato for 4 minutes in the microwave, then smash it up!)
• 2 Tbs. chives, chopped (I had green onions, so I used those instead)
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 cup chicken stock (low sodium so YOU can add the salt)
• 1/4 cup plain fat free yogurt (this would be a good place for Greek yogurt if you have it, or you could substitute fat free sour cream, the nutritional information may change)
• 2 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped (looks pretty if you have it!)

Sear chicken pieces in a skillet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray over high heat, about one minute on each site.  Remove from heat and cover. Let stand.

In a saucepan, saute onion in cooking spray until golden, about 5 minutes.  Add tarragon, garlic, pepper, and salt to onion and stir.  Now add the potato, chives, and lemon juice, stir it up again then add in the chicken broth. 

Put the skillet with the chicken in it back on the burner, add the sauce to the chicken skillet, if the sauce seems too thick, add a little water.  Cover the skillet and simmer over low heat until chicken is tender and cooked through.  (30 minutes or so)

Remove the skillet from heat, stir in yogurt. (Creaminess, Yum!)

Serve it up and enjoy!!!

Nutrition Facts
8 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		178.5
Total Fat		3.7 g
	Saturated Fat	0.9 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.9 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.2 g
Cholesterol		78.1 mg
Sodium		300.2 mg
Potassium		504.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate		7.7 g
	Dietary Fiber	0.6 g
	Sugars	1.3 g
Protein		27.3 g

You could serve this with potatoes, rice, roasted veggies, whatever you like; but I served it the traditional way over polenta.  Never had polenta you say? Well, you are in for a treat, polenta is a filling food, it’s creamy, warm, and somewhere in the mashed potatoes area of comfort food! Polenta is great with stews, steaks, chili, it makes a great tamale pie.  Possibly best of all in this economy… it’s CHEAP! Here’s the down low on the low fat method:

Yummy Polenta (4 servings)

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 3 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
• 1 garlic clove, crushed (or 1 tsp jarred garlic)

Heat broth in a pot until it boils vigorously.  With one hand slowly pour in cornmeal, while stirring with the other hand. (octopus like abilities appreciated here)  Keep stirring until it bubbles again.  Lower the heat to medium-low, and stir occasionally until it’s thickened and all of the broth is absorbed, it should be about the texture of mashed potatoes.  Turn off the heat and let it stand until you’re ready to eat it!

Nutrition Facts
4 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		169.9
Total Fat		3.1 g
	Saturated Fat	0.7 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.9 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.2 g
Cholesterol		1.9 mg
Sodium		1,189.2 mg
Potassium		410.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate		25.1 g
	Dietary Fiber	2.2 g
	Sugars	0.2 g
Protein		10.8 g

Tags: chicken, garlic, polenta, Recipe, romanian

The Yummiest Peanut Butter Cookies Ever!!

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 | Recipe | No Comments

That’s right people here we have, not the yummiest low calorie peanut butter cookies, but the yummiest peanut butter cookies period! Really, you don’t believe me? Try them out for yourself.  Chewy, nutty; my husband loves them, my friends ask for the recipe, and the weight watchers didn’t want to eat them because they didn’t believe they could be so low calorie!

I must admit, I am not the original peanut butter genius here, the credit goes to the brainiacs over at Bell Plantation peanut farms in Georgia.  They’ve figured out how to make a totally fantastic powdered version of peanut butter, that eliminates a lot of the fat, while still smacking of peanutty goodness. 

I’ve ripped off the recipe from the www.bellplantation.comwebsite (makers of PB2) with minor modifications, and now, you can rip them off from me, and have your own little piece of peanut butter heaven!

Chewy PB2 Cookies (25 cookies)  

 1/2 cup(s) sugar 

 1/2 cup(s) packed brown sugar 

 1 item(s) egg 

 1 tsp vanilla extract 

 1 tsp baking soda 

 1 tsp table salt 

 2 tbsp honey 

 1/4 cup(s) water 

 1 cup PB2 (dry)

 3/4 cup(s) whole wheat flour 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium-sized bowl, cream together sugars, egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt, honey, water and PB2, beating until smooth. Add flour, beating until mixture is well combined. Dough will be very sticky. Drop Tbsp-sized balls onto prepped baking sheets. Press top of each cookie with a fork to make parallel lines, flattening cookies to about 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick. Bake cookies for 10 minutes, reversing pans midway through (top to bottom, bottom to top). Remove from oven, and transfer to a rack to cool. 

	Nutrition Facts    25 Servings     Amount Per Serving   Calories 69.7   Total Fat 0.9 g       Saturated Fat 0.2 g       Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g       Monounsaturated Fat 0.6 g   Cholesterol 8.5 mg   Sodium 172.6 mg   Potassium 18.8 mg   Total Carbohydrate 13.4 g       Dietary Fiber 0.6 g       Sugars 5.9 g   Protein 2.5 g

Tags: cookie, dessert, PB2, peanut butter, Recipe, weightwatcher recipe

Bread!!!

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 | Food Finds, Recipe | No Comments

Ok, so I’ve been striving to eat more cleanly this year, trying to weed some of the junk out of my diet and eat more natural, “real” foods and less prepackaged stuff (Although, I can’t give it all up I confess!) One thing that I have rediscovered on this journey is home made bread! I love handmade bread, but have gotten so busy lately that I haven’t bothered to make my own, and well… you never know how many calories are in that great bakery loaf. I’ve discovered a new method that makes it easy to make it myself, without a big time commitment.

On a public radio show I heard the authors of a book called “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” talk about their book, and give the base recipe for their bread baking method,  so here’s the base recipe:

• 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (about 1-1/2 packets)
• 1-1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 6-1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting dough (I used whole wheat, yummy, and kept those points down!)
• 3 cups lukewarm water
• Cornmeal

In a large plastic resealable container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm (about 100 degrees) water. Using a large spoon, stir in flour, mixing until mixture is uniformly moist with no dry patches. Do not knead. Dough will be wet and loose enough to conform to shape of plastic container. Cover, but not with an airtight lid.

Let dough rise at room temperature, until dough begins to flatten on top or collapse, at least 2 hours and up to 5 hours.

After this you store the dough in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, that’s right, 2 weeks! This amount makes 4 loaves.  Then, anytime you want bread just take out as much dough as you want, gently shape it into a ball, let it rest for about 20 minutes, then cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so.  Put some hot water in a container in the oven to steam the crust and make it crunchier if you like that sort of thing! So far I’ve used it as bread dough and pizza dough, and it’s been amazing and fast both ways!!!

Not only is this bread natural, warm, and totally yummy, but it’s cheap too, you can make a loaf of this for far less than inferior store bought sandwich bread! I’m sold, and I’m buying the book, I hear there’s a killer cinnamon roll recipe in there that I’m just dying to weightwatcherize!

Tags: baked good, bread, weightwatcher recipe, whole wheat

Thanksgiving Madness!

Monday, November 24th, 2008 | Recipe | No Comments

Well, it is time for the holiday that is completely centered around food.  Thanksgiving, more than any other day is about the meal, and I for one love it! I look forward to all of my traditional favorites, and putting a new spin on some of them to wow the family. 

My turkey day strategy is all about balance, I’m making some things lighter, but only when the taste isn’t sacrificed, this meal is really a labor of love, and I want my guests to feel appreciated, but I don’t want to weigh them down with the meal so much that they pass out in a food coma 20 minutes after the pie. 

Here’s what I’m serving:

Whole smoked turkey (seriously people, you cannot improve on a turkey, so lean and so yummy!)

Turkey pan gravy with white wine and mushrooms

Homemade cranberry/apricot sauce (based on a WW recipe)

• 12 oz cranberries fresh
• 1/2 cup dried apricot halves, chopped
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup orange marmelade

Cook everything together in a big pot until your cranberries pop (keep a lid handy!), this serves 10 with 1/4 cup servings.

Roasted root vegetables, this is not really a recipe, more of a method, cut up 2 potatoes, 2 sweet potatoes, 2 turnips, 3 beets, 3 carrots, 2 onions and whatever other vegetables you want (brussel sprouts are nice) add 2 t olive oil, salt, pepper, sage, parsley, thyme, and toss, roast in a 450 degree oven for 30-45 minutes or until veggies are fork tender and golden (you can do this the day before and reheat with good results!)

Whole wheat sausage and chestnut stuffing (8 servings, based on WW recipe)

• 12 slice(s) whole-wheat bread cubed and let to become stale or dried in 200 degree oven for 1 hour 
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp light butter
• 1 cup(s) onion(s), diced
• 3 medium stalk(s) celery, diced
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 2 cup(s) canned chicken broth
• 4 oz turkey breakfast sausage
• 8 oz chestnuts (you can get the already shelled ones in the produce area of your grocery store)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 4-quart shallow baking dish with cooking spray. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil and butter together for 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion, mushroom, and celery; sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Add thyme, sage, salt and pepper. Cook about 1 minute. Transfer onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add bread, chestnuts, broth and combine. Bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes more.

Pumpkin Pie (make it with ff evaporated milk to lighten!)

My guests are contributing rolls, salad, mashed potatoes and green beans to the mix, I’m really excited about the meal, and of course, the company.

Tags: holidays, thanksgiving, weightwatcher recipes

Seize the Season - Pomegranates, CSAs and Soup

Friday, November 14th, 2008 | Recipe | No Comments

One of the things I look forward to most throughout the year is the wonderful fruits and vegetables that peak in each season. I’m always excited when summer rolls around and it seems that mouthwatering produce is everywhere you look. But now it’s almost winter, the tomatoes are yucky, the late apples are everywhere, but more exciting than that is pomegranates!

I love Pomegranates! They’re weird, hard to figure out but full of great nutrients and anti-oxidents, not to mention they taste great! So… what do you do with them? Well, first of all, you have to get into them, it’s really quite easy even if not completely obvious.

1. First, fill a big bowl with water.
2. Then, put the pomegranites in the bowl, submerging completely under water.
3. Third, quarter each fruit with a knife while submerged under water (this avoids spurts of tasty yet possibly staining fruit juice from ruining your favorite sweater)
4. Finally, scrape out seeds with your fingers, the white pith will float to the top of the water discard this, the seeds will sink
5. Load seeds into a container and store in the fridge until you get hungry!

Now that you’ve gotten the good part out of the pomegranate, what do you do with it? First of all, you eat the seeds, (call arils) all of them, it’s kind of like a grapenut with a little burst of juice. I love to eat them straight, they take forever and are great if you’re munchy at work or while watching tv. You can also throw them in yogurt, add them to pancakes, fruit salad, as crunch for salads, and they are traditional in Indian cooking. Have a great time being creative and coming up with your own great pomegranate ideas!

—-beep beep—-beep—beep beep beep—–

This is a public service announcement! Now is the time to sign up for your local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Make sure you get in on next year’s program before enrollment is done in your area, and enjoy a year of fresh local foods, while supporting local farming and industry!

While I’d love to claim that I’ll plant and tend to a giant garden of vegetables and fruits, I probably won’t. This is the next best thing. I’ve already gotten on the list, and am anxiously awaiting a 2009 of produce!

Find out about local CSAs in your area by clicking here.

Crockpot Alert!

It’s cold, and rainy. My husband whipped up this weightwatcher friendly soup/stew (originally given to him by our WeightWatcher leader) and it was wonderful and warming on a cold day!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

• 1 pound 93% lean ground beef or turkey
• 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 28 ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 cups diced green peppers
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 1 can beef broth

Combine all ingredients, add salt, pepper and garlic if you’d like, and throw it in your crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Tags: Crock Pot, CSA, Fruit, Pomegranate, recipes, Seasonal Fruit, slow cooker, Soup, weightwatcher recipes, Winter Fruit

Provencal Style Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Friday, November 14th, 2008 | Recipe | No Comments

Provencal Style Beef Stew

This is a recipe based on a WeightWatcher crockpot recipe, I made it in my new dutch oven because I was so excited to try it out! To get the same effect, you could brown the meat and veggies in a pan, then throw it all into the crockpot. The stew was a big hit, and it’s been requested that I make it again.

6 Servings (About 1.5 cups each)

• 1 pound(s) lean beef round, cut into 1-inch cubes (London Broil)
• 1 small onion(s), chopped
• 2 cup(s) mushroom(s), sliced
• 2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
• 1 large carrot, sliced
• 2 small turnips cubed (I like them, alternatively, add extra carrots)
• 2 ribs celery sliced
• 15 oz canned cannelini beans, drained and rinsed, divided
• 1 1/2 cups canned beef broth
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 14 1/2 oz canned crushed or diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp herbs de province or (1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed and 1/4 tsp dried thyme, crushed)
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Brown meat in nonstick pan with non-stick spray. Remove and put in crockpot. Brown onions and mushrooms in the same pan with non-stick spray. Add onions, mushrooms, garlic, carrots, turnips, celery, broth, tomatoes, wine, herbs, salt, pepper, and 1/2 of the beans. Mash remaining beans in a bowl or in the blender to form a paste. Add mashed beans to slow cooker (they will thicken the stew). Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Note: To save time in the morning, I often prepare the ingredients for my slow cooker meals the night before, and put them in the crock in the fridge overnight, then just assemble the slow cooker and start it in the morning before work.

Serve with salad or bread and dinner is done!

(nutritional information is based on ingredients I used, your brands may vary)

Tags: beef, crockpot, healthy cooking, round steak, slow cooker, weight loss, weightwatchers