Turkey Jambalaya

This dish is flavorful! I actually halved the ingredients to make less and to also  turn down the heat a bit, which I’m glad I did cause it was FULL of flavor, the husband was in love after his first bite! If you like a good jambalaya, this is a much healthier version with only 336 calories per serving. By using turkey you save lots of calories then using other proteins, though you could definitely change this as to what you wanted!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1  half of a yellow onion, diced

3 teaspoons of garlic, if you are using already prepared garlic, if not 3 cloves mashed will work

1 half of a green bell pepper, chopped

1  half of a red bell pepper, chopped

1 teaspoon  paprika

1/2 teaspoon of  salt

1/2 teaspoon of oregano

1/2 teaspoon of ground red pepper

1/2 teaspoon of ground red pepper

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 cup uncooked long-grain brown rice

2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 tomatoes, diced I use a Roma

1 pound of ground turkey, cooked

6 oz turkey andouille sausage, sliced

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large pot  over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 6 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in bell peppers and next 5 ingredients; saute 1 minute.
2. Add the rice; saute 1 minute. Stir in broth and tomato; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30-40 minutes. Add turkey and sausage; cover and cook 10 minutes.

Adapted from Prevention RD. 

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Baby Food-Beef Stew

Check out my latest post on Shop Rite’s Potluck Blog:

Baby Beef Stew

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Healthy Joes

I remember being a kid and asking my Mom what was for dinner and she’d say “sloppy joes”. Immediately, I get super excited because they were SO yummy. Then I grew up and thought they were the most disgusting thing ever! Until recently, when she made them again and it tasted good again.  I waned to lighten up the typical sloppy joe recipe so help us save some calories.  So here is a lighter version:

Ingredients:

3/4 lb of ground turkey

1 cup onion, chopped

1 medium bell pepper, chopped

1 1/2 cup of tomato sauce

1 medium zucchini, shredded

1 tablespoon of chili powder

1 teaspoon of paprika

1/2 teaspoon of fresh garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Hamburger buns

Directions:

1. Brown turkey meat. Remove from pan and drain. Add back to pan and cook with onions, peppers, garlic over medium heat until onion is tender.
2. Stir in tomato sauce, zucchini, chili powder, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper, bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes, uncovered.
4. Serve on hamburger rolls.

Enjoy!

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Shrimp Scampi Bowls

I apologize up front for the picture,  I totally forgot my camera in another room and so opted for the I-phone camera! But this is yummy! Pretty quick to put together as well and pretty reasonable calorie wise, about 400 calories per serving.This makes two servings.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup uncooked couscous

1/4 teaspoon of salt

A bunch of asparagus, more or less, your choice, cut into about 1 inch pieces

1 tablespoon of butter

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

14 shrimp

Pinch of black pepper

1 tablespoon of dry seasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Coat two ramekins with non stick cooking spray.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine couscous, 1 cup of water and some of the salt. Bring to a boil and cover reducing to medium low, cook till couscous is cooked only about 5 minutes or so. Stir in asparagus and set aside.
3. Melt butter in saucepan, add garlic till browned a bit.  Whisk wine and lemon juice together in a separate bowl, add to saucepan and cook about 2 minutes, stir in shrimp. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the shrimp.
4. Divide the couscous mixture among the two ramekins, top with shrimp mixture. Sprinkle each dish with 1/2 tablespoon of the bread crumbs and spray with non stick cooking spray. Bake for about 15-20 minutes till shrimp is cooked through.

Enjoy!

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Smothered Chicken Thighs

Recently(ok so really like 3 months ago) I saw this post on Nutmeg Nanny’s Blog.  My mouth started to water, because smothered chicken is SO delicious, but so bad for you! So when I saw that she had lightened up the recipe, I knew I had to make it. This is SO delicious.  I don’t need that 1,000 calorie smothered chicken dish anymore.

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 green bell pepper – sliced
8 oz mushrooms – sliced
1 large onion – cut in half and sliced
1 clove garlic – minced
1 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper – to taste
1/2 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat half of olive oil in a skillet and add peppers, mushrooms and onions. Saute until soft and then add garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir together and set aside.
3. Heat remaining olive oil and add chicken thighs, cook for about twenty minutes, cooked all the way through.
4. In a 8×8 pan and chicken, and top with veggie mix, top with chicken, place cheese on top of chicken and bake until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

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French Onion Soup

A lighter version of a yummy soup! With a swap of some simple ingredients, like soy sauce and fat-free swiss cheese, you lose a lot of calories and fat! This has about 260 calories and makes 3 servings.

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon of olive oil

2 large red onions(sliced very thin)

Dash of thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 cup dry red wine

1 can low sodium chicken broth

1 1/4 cup of water

1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce

2 slices of whole wheat baguette

1/4 cup of gruyere cheese

3 slices of fat-free Swiss cheese

Directions:

1. In a large deep skillet heat oil. Stir in onions, thyme and some salt. Cook 15 to 17 minutes or until onions are very tender, stir occasionally, do this low and slow, so you don’t burn onions.
2. Add wine and simmer 2 to 4 minutes or until reduced by half. Add broth, water and soy sauce. Heat to boiling, then reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add some salt and pepper to the simmering pot.
4. Heat broiler on high, place bread slices on jelly roll sheet along with ramekins filled with the soup, place gruyere cheese on each ramekins and then a slice of swiss cheese. Broil 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

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Chicken Scaloppine Marsala

We are trying to eat healthy, once again here in our household.  I wanted to lighten up this dish a bit, so instead of using a pasta I used a couscous.  We love pasta in our house, but pasta isn’t too friendly if you eat a lot of it! This dish has about 415 calories and makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup flour

2 chicken breast, pounded out

1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil

4 ounce of mushrooms, sliced

1/4 cup Marsala cooking wine

1/4 cup low sodium beef broth

Dash of Salt and Pepper

1 cup of couscous

Directions:

1. Place the flour on a large plate. Coat the chicken in the flour. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and saute the chicken, 1 to 2 minutes per side until lightly browned. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
2. Add reaming olive oil to skillet and stir in mushrooms. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until tender. Add in Marsala wine and cook for 1 minute, scrapping any pieces off the skillet. Add broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and return chicken to skillet. Simmer for 15 minutes.
3. While preparing the chicken, start the couscous as to package.  If using fresh couscous, I generally use 1 cup of water, boil it, add 1 cup of couscous, and turn off heat, stir and then fluff after 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

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Gooey Enchiladas

I saw this recipe in Parenting Magazine and put into my files, I’m glad I found it, because it’s just a different spin on enchiladas!

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons of olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon of garlic

1 can (14.5) ounces of diced tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon of coriander

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

1/2 teaspoon of oregano

Pepper to taste

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 pound ground turkey

1 can (15 ounces) of black beans, rinsed and drained

6 tortillas

1 1/4 cups of reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in pan. Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer, but don’t allow garlic to brown. Add the tomatoes, coriander, cumin, oregano, and pepper; cook for a few minutes longer. The  sauce will be a bit chunky. Stir in cilantro.
2. Cook beef; drain fat and stir in beans. Warm the tortillas in the oven for about 5 minutes to make them easier to roll; remove. Spread 1/2 cup of cheese among tortillas. Fold over tortilla sides, place seam side down in the baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce on top and bake, uncovered for about 15 minutes. Sprinkle on remaining cheese and bake another 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

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Slow Cooker Corn and Crab Chowder

With the crisp cool air of fall finally coming to use, I decided I wanted to make some sort of chowder. I looked through my recipe box and found this one that I found in the Family Circle July 2010 issue.  It was quite yummy! I love crock pot meals, because you just get them all together and let them cook and give your house a yummy aroma!

Ingredients:

2 can (14.5 ounces) each of low sodium chicken broth

1/2 pound of potatoes , peeled and diced

1 cup of baby carrots

1 medium sized onion, chopped

2 ribs of celery, trimmed and diced

1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1/4 teaspoon of old bay seasoning

1 package of frozen corn

1 sweet red pepper, seeded and diced

1 can (12 ounces) of evaporated skim milk

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

1 container (8 ounces) of crab claw meat

Directions:

1. Combine chicken broth, potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, thyme and old bag in a large oval slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.
2. In a bowl stir together red pepper, evaporated milk, corn, cornstarch and salt. Uncover slow cooker and add in stir in red pepper mixture into slow cooker, replace cover and cook on either high or low for one hour.
3. Stir in crabmeat into soup and heat through. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

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Pork Chops with Roasted Veggies

Simple, easy and fast.  Three words describe this meal. Great for a busy week night meal!

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

1 bag of baby carrotts

2 tablespoon of olive oil

A pinch of salt and pepper

2 bone in pork chops

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 1/2 teaspoons of dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place veggies on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, mix to coat evenly. Roast for 25 minutes browned around the edges.
2. Heat frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Pat pork chops dry with paper towels and sprine both side with some  salt and pepper. Place pork in pan and fry on both sides for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from pan.
3. Discoard remaining fat and return pan to medium heat. Add broth to skillet, boil 4 minutes. Return pork and nay juice to the pan and stir in heavy cream; cook another 4 minutes  or until its thick. Stir in mustard. Serve with veggies!

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