I am trying another one of Tara’s recipes tonight for dinner. The first one, cornflake chicken aka chicken kiev, turned out superb, so we are testing our luck. Tonight’s dinner is chicken pasta make with dry italian dressing….I’ll let you know how it goes!
Simple, healthy snack
So I am trying something new. I took a can of garbanzo beans, aka, chickpeas, put them on a cookie sheet lined w/ a paper bag, and am baking them at 150 degrees until they are dry….I am lightly salting them towards the middle of them being dry. This is supposed to turn out like corn nuts….but we aren’t done yet, so we’ll see!! But, if it turns out good, then its a nice, salty, healthy snack!
On the hunt
I have tried a few new recipes this last week, and have just not been impressed. So, I am on the hunt for some more tasty low calorie recipes. I guess this whole eating healthy and smaller portioning is working! I have lost 12 pounds and haven’t done any exercises!! I guess that means that when I finally break down and start doing the dvd’s that my hubby bought for me the things should start moving along quite well!! Which is good cause there is a wedding coming up in August that I would like to go to looking a bit better than I do now!! So, stay tuned, more recipes to come!
What to do with leftover ham
We had a ham on New Years Day…so of course we had a ton of leftover ham…and there are only so many ham sandwiches you can handle. So, I decided to try out some ham recipes and found two that I really liked…so here you go!
Ham and Potato Soup
3 1/2 cups of diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup diced onion
1 cup diced cooked ham
3 1/4 cups of water
2 TBS chx boullion (I used 2 chx cubes)
salt and pepper
5 TBS butter
5 TBS flour
2 cups of milk
potato flakes (if you like a thicker soup)
Combine your potatoes, celery, onin, ham and water and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Then stir in your chx boullion, salt, and pepper.
In a separate pan, melt butter, then whisk in flour with a fork and cook, stirring constantly, until a thick paste if formed. Then SLOWLY stir in the milk. They key here is to do it slow, otherwise you get chunks. Then continue cooking until thick (about 4-5 minutes).
Then add your milk mixture to the potatoes and warm through….at this point I add some potatoe flakes because I like my soup thick.
Serve it up with some warm bread and it is a great meal!
Ham and rice skillet
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 TBS butter
package of frozen peas
1/2 cup chopped cooked ham
1 cup rice uncooked
3-4 cups chx broth
parmesan cheese
Saute the onion and 2 TBS of butter until tender, then add your ham and rice. Cook until the rice is golden brown (low heat or it will burn), then add 3 cups of chx broth.
Cover and cook for 20 mintues- stir frequently.
Add peas and cook for another 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. (you add more broth if needed)
Then stir in the other TBS of butter and add your parmesan to taste.
This dish has a very light flavor which I liked after the holiday sweets!
Tara’s recipe
So over on Tara’s site, she has a list of recipes that I am trying out. And the other night I tried her Chicken Kiev….my oh my was that tasty!!! AND THE KIDS LOVED IT! I was surprised because its just basically garlic and butter in the middle…but they ate it up! And considering she cooks for more than I do, I just halved the recipe and it still made leftovers!
Chimichangas….yummy!!
I came across a great low calorie recipe for chimichangas! It its versatile so you can add/delete things you like/dislike. What made this dinner so great was that EVERYONE loved it. That is a little hard to come by in my kitchen, but, tonight was a success!! Anyway, here you go-Preheat oven to 350 and coat a pan w/ spray/oil (9×13). In a large frying pan fry up a pound of hamburger, then add a can of fat free refried beans, 1 cup of salsa, 1 small can of green chile’s, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1tsp chili powder, and 3 TBS of chopped onion. (I also added some homemade fajita dry mix that I made) Cook until heated through and then add 1 cup of jalapeno jack cheese. Warm some tortillas in the microwave (i wrap in a towel and put a cup of water in as well) then fill with the meat filling, fold the ends in and roll, put in the pan and then bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. The last few minutes of baking I put some more cheese on top and when I pulled them out I added sour cream and salsa as a topping. Add a side, like mexican rice, or some good ‘ol green beans and viola! A great dinner!
