Healthy Alternative Spaghetti with meat sauce

Tonight's recipe is a little different than the normal. A friend mentioned, the other day, that I should start posting recipes with meat as well, especially since I'm a bit more of a carnivore than a vegetarian. Recently, I've decided to start taking my diet more seriously. In that statement, I mean the primary definition of diet. I'm hoping to make some real changes to how I eat, not just for short term weight loss, but for long term health. Tonight, I made a meat dish that incorporates two things I love and won't give up (red sauce and pasta). Tonight was a sort of Spaghetti Chicken Stir Fry.

This recipe is pretty simple. Here is what you will need:

• chicken breast cut into strips (1lb) or stir fry chicken (as sold at Albertson's and Publix)
• mushrooms (1 package)
• onion (1/2 large onion) - I prefer vidalia
• oregano
• cilantro
• pasta (1 package)
• marinara sauce (1 can/jar) 

1. Begin by putting the pasta on to boil, as this will take the longest. 
2. Spray a little pan cooking spray into your frying pan -- sautee the chicken, onion and mushroom until the chicken has browned on the outside. I usually cook on medium to medium high (5-7 on electric stove top), adding maybe a 1/2 tsp of oregano and 1/2 tsp cilantro  as chicken is just starting to brown. 
3. At the same time that you being the chicken, put pasta sauce on to warm, cooking at a medium temp -- I suggest covering
4. Serve together, topped with a pinch of parmesan cheese

Overall, you will find this to be fewer calories than spaghetti with ground beef or meatballs -- 3 oz of chicken with the mushrooms and onions makes it feel somewhat hearty and very satisfying. Let me know what you think!
 

Meatless Monday -- Locally Grown Veggie Night

It has been a few weeks since I posted a new recipe on here. Gramma Kat (my mother) was here for two weeks, and life has just been hectic for a couple weeks prior and since. I've done probably 60 hours of yard work in the last three weeks, as well as plenty of indoor projects as well.

Tonight's recipe was very simple. This past weekend, the Apopka Woman's Club hosted their annual Apopka Art & Foliage Festival , and I was able to pick up two beautiful locally grown cucumbers (the one we had tonight was one of the best I've had in a while) and a massive locally grown eggplant, fresh picked Saturday in Zellwood.

I may have said this on past blogs, or to some of you in person, but the eggplant has always been a huge challenge to me, and I've just never enjoyed it at home, without frying it. That is, until a few weeks ago. The following recipe is one I love and has pleased everyone that has had it. I usually think of eggplant as a side dish (unless served with pasta and red sauce), but it was the main course tonight.

Joey's Breaded Eggplant (feeds 2-3 as a main course, 4-6 as a side dish):

You will need: 1 large eggplant; 3 large eggs, breadcrumbs (italian or plain), italian cheese mix

Preheat the oven to 350;  lay out two bowls -- one for the egg wash (you will want to whip them, but not until you are ready to start dipping, or the egg begins to separate) and one for the bread crumbs (big enough to roll it around). After slicing the eggplant, wash in egg and cover in breadcrumbs on each side. You can add some spices, like basil (my preference), italian seasonings, or thyme. Bake for about 12 minutes, remove from oven and top with cheese, baking for another 10 to 12 minutes. By then, they should be firm enough to hold and soft enough to bite into or cut with a fork.

The side ingredient that you see above is one of the most simple and tastiest salads in the world.

Tomato Cuke Salad:

You will need: 1 large cuke, 1 large ugly tomato (or 2 vine tomatos or maybe 3 romas), italian dressing (I use the fat free) and italian cheese

Cut the cuke to desired sizes -- I usually just slice and half them myself. I leave the skin on, as I like the flavor. Cut up your tomatos into ite sized pieces. Add italian dressing and sprinkle some cheese into it. Mix and serve.

To top it off, I managed a locally grown watermelon (local to Florida at least) as our second side dish.

All in all, this was a delicious and somewhat light dinner. It was nice to have something like this after some yard work this evening, and I felt very satisfied with it all. If you try any of the above, let me know what you think.

I've been told that I need to start featuring some of my meaty dishes during the week, so I will try to get one up every week for each now, at least when I have something worth sharing.

This week I will post my vegetarian quiche that I made two weeks in a row, to much satisfaction.

Meatful Monday - Taco Spaghetti

Occasionally, Meatless Monday doesn't go as planned. This usually occurs when the in-laws invite the family over for dinner. Since the girls are already there, and if the ingredients are available, and I'm asked VERY nicely (lol, or just asked), I enjoy cooking dinner. This was supposed to be last Thursday's dinner, but my FiL's HOA meeting preempted dinner, and said dinner turned out to be tonight's feast.

This recipe is one of my own making. While it isn't as healthy as some of the meatless meals I post here weekly, this dinner has proven to be a favorite of the Pratt family. I call it taco spaghetti, and soon you will see why.

Ingredients:

1.5 packs spaghetti noodles
1.5lbs ground beef (feel free to substitute ground turkey* or even vegetarian ground beef crumbles or tofu, for those of you who prefer no meat)
2c cheddar cheese
1 packet taco seasoning

(this is for 6 adults)

Directions:

The dish is pretty easy to make. Boil your water, then cook the pasta as directed (rolling boil for about 7 minutes), drain and set aside pasta. Preheat the over to 350 degrees F (176.7 degrees C for you metric folks). Brown the ground beef while crumbling, add water and taco seasoning (again, follow directions). Next, pam your casserole dish (noodles will stick otherwise), cover the bottom of pan with the noodles. Spread the beef evenly across the noodles then cover with even layer of cheddar cheese. Bake for about 10 minutes.

I served this with garlic bread and a simple joey-mexicano ensalada (chopped lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced avocado, sour cream). Erin really enjoyed the salad right on top of her taco spaghetti, as did my MiL (see picture below). Either was is acceptable and quite tasty. If you are thinking that this doesn't sound good, I dare you to try it anyhow. Its a delicious dish. Nearly every last bite was consumed, between us and the girls. If you do make it, check back here and let me know what you thought!

Coming tomorrow -- Veggie Quiche with a Potato Crust! yum!

*a note on ground turkey -- If you're looking to save calories, then you want to look for Lean Ground Turkey Breast. If you just get ground turkey, it is a mix of white and dark meats, and some of the lesser cuts, giving you a fattier and less healthy ground turkey. I find that a lot of people don't realize that there is a distinction and are getting a 80% or 85% lean turkey rather than the very lean breast they think that they are getting. Also, in my opinion, you can use ground turkey any time you use a powerful flavor, like taco seasoning or marinara sauce, without noticing a great deal of difference. A lot of people dislike ground turkey when making burgers because they fail to adequately season the burgers -- which gives me an idea -- in the coming weeks, since Spring is upon us, I will do a burger blog.

Meatless Mondays (Tuesday Edition) -- Veggie Fajitas

This weeks recipe (although somewhat late) was an interesting one, for sure. Erin came up with the idea for veggie fajitas. I was all "what?? fajitas without meat?!? insane!!!" Never the less, we opted to make this dinner, sans recipe.

If you wish to recreate this dinner, here is what you will need. Oh, by the way, this picture is stolen from google, as I failed to take a picture of dinner last night.

Ingredients:
1 zucchini, 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 green bell pepper, 1 large package mushrooms, 1 large white onion, 2/3 head broccoli; tortillas; cheddar cheese; salsa; sour cream; fajita flavor packet; 2tbsp olive oil.

In a nutshell, here is what I did. In a large skillet, add all veggies and olive oil - saute for about 5 minutes, remove from heat and let steam (for the sake of the broccoli) for about 2 more minutes. Add a packet of fajita mix (you can skip this step, or substitute chili powder and lime juice) and saute for another 3 minutes.

Then make your fajitas just as you would, with you tortillas and toppings.

I added a side of spanish rice (Zatterains), which I always enjoy.

Erin seemed to really enjoy them. She stated several times that she liked them, and ate two whole tacos. I enjoyed them, but I would have preferred to skip the fajita mix, and just had the veggies. Caution on the broccoli...if you cook it too long, it reduces and it less appealing (I adjusted the above numbers, but you may have to play with it some). All it really changes is the look, mushier broccoli still tastes like broccoli. All in all, a very good meal, and one we will be making again!

Meatless Mondays -- Pasta Bean Casserole

Its that time again, kids! Yep, Uncle Joey has another tasty meatless recipe that is sure to excite! Tonight's recipe was Pasta Bean Casserole.

I will spare you the details of our 2012 plan to go meatless on Mondays. We're not pushing the vegetarian lifestyle (I make my love of bacon known quite often), nor pushing any sort of green agenda on anyone (for many reasons, meatless Mondays are good for the environment) -- Erin and I mostly started this to see if we could (1) do it and (2) maintain it. So far, so good!

First, here is what you will need:

(1) box of penne pasta (about 16oz)
(2) can of diced tomatoes (about 14oz)
(3) two cans of kidney beans (about 32oz total)
(4) jar/can pasta sauce (about 26oz)
(5) 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
(6) broccoli
(7) 1 small onion

Preheat the oven to 375 and also put water on to boil for the pasta. You will want to go ahead and drain the kidney beans and rinse them and set them aside. Boil the pasta as directed, strain and rinse, return to the pot. Once in the pot, add the tomatoes, pasta sauce, kidney beans, broccoli and onions (chopped up of course). Pour all of that into a casserole dish, top with cheese and bake for 30-35 minutes.

You could serve with bread and butter (a staple in our home) or salad, but its a hearty meal on its own. The girls seemed to enjoy it. Well, Jordan ate every last bite, anyhow. Madison is Madison. Both ate and neither complained. Erin and I enjoyed it quite a bit as well. The beans are a great protein source, and a good substitute for meat (not in taste, of course). However, with the veggies and beans, you won't miss meat. Its quite tasty. We used Italian diced tomatoes (that is what I prefer) which adds some garlic,etc. The casserole is almost on par with a vegetable lasagne, and I think you could add zucchini or summer squash, as well as mushrooms for added depth and nutrients.

Give it a try! Actually, it would go very well with the breaded eggplant I made last week. If you make it, let me know how you liked it!

Meatless Mondays -- Ensalada de la Explosion

It has been a couple of weeks since I wrote our Meatless Mondays blog, not because we've been eating meat, but because the last two weeks were both busy and uninspired. I've been sick for part of the year, and Grandma Kat visited last weekend. I'm hoping to be a little more regular about this, but it is a learning curve, getting used to writing a blog regularly. I might be adding another weekly installment for other goings-on for the family, but we will see.

Tonight, Erin made Ensalada de la Explosion, a very delicious salad that she stole, sort of, from a Tex Mex restaurant she worked at for like 5 years. It remains her favorite dish (and her sister's favorite dish as well) and once in a while we make it at home. I've renamed it (and if you know the original, it should be somewhat obvious).

First things first, I made small cheese quesadillas for everyone. They can be served on the side, or in the salad. I like mine on the side, or to scoop up some of the good stuff at the bottom of the salad.

Now, onto the ensalada... We used a mix of green leaf lettuce and iceberg lettuce. The green leaf gives you iron and fiber, and I like the taste of it in a salad. The Iceberg, while adding little, has that crunch that most associate with salad, and provides a nice mix. On top of the salad we included chopped tomato, chopped onion, and cheddar cheese. We used a corn salsa, but from Jolly Green Giant. Their southwestern mix is a corn, black bean and bell pepper mix with lime and cilantro. Erin then made a nice guacamole ranch dressing (exactly as it sounds -- mix up some guacamole and add enough to turn the ranch greenish and give it the avacado flavor). Top that with some tortilla strips and you're all set.

All in all, the salad is a fantastic salad. Its meatless, delicious, and feels nice and filling.

As a little bonus, I'd like to blog about a side dish I made at the in-laws house Sunday night for family dinner, eggplant bake.

This was a pretty simple dish. You'll need the following:

(1) eggplant
(2) 4 eggs
(3) italian bread crumbs
(4) mozzerella cheese

Thinly slice up the eggplant. Thick eggplant won't cook as well. Whip the eggs until fluffy. Immerse each slice into the egg, then coat in italian bread crumbs. Baked at 375 degrees for 35 minutes on a cookie sheet (sprayed with a light coat of Pam). Remove, cover in mozzerella cheese and back for 5 minutes.

This dish was, I'm proud to say, my first successful eggplant dish, and I didn't have to fry them!

I know this to be true because not only did both of the girls eat a slice, but Jordan got seconds, and Erin had several slices. I highly recommend this recipe. It would be great with pasta and red sauce, but this was served on the side of steaks and baked potatoes.

Try either of these and feel free to give me feedback!

Until next time...

Meatless Mondays -- Corn & Two-Bean Burgers

Just as I post here each and every week, our family continues to take part in Meatless Mondays, dinner edition. At some point, in the near future, maybe we will also make it a full day, with no meat at breakfast, lunch or dinner. However, for now, Erin & I continue to enjoy trying new recipes and seeing what we do and don't like in terms of vegetarian fair.

Tonight, we made Corn & Two Bean Burgers with a side of sweet potato waffle fries.

I think that Erin was somewhat hesitant to try the burgers. I tried to go easy on her, as I've been wanting to try Lentil burgers for some time now. However, we had all the ingredients for this meal, so I chose this option tonight. According to Erin, "they were okay," and said "they weren't bad, I would eat them again." Erin was nonplussed with the consistency. I, on the other hand, really enjoyed them, which is somewhat surprising.

Many of you that know me well, or that join us for dinner here in our home, or out and about, know what a fan of the burger I am. I consider myself a bit of a hamburger virtuoso. In fact, I'd go as far to say that a hamburger is my most favorite food. If I were about to be executed, a hamburger would be a part of my last meal. I've tried all sorts of them, from beef, turkey and chicken, to mushroom, shrimp and even spam.



In form, they took to patty well, and friend to a nice color, very similar to a beef burger (except for the kernels of corn). The consistency was fine. They crisp a little on the outside, but they don't quite hold up as well as a burger would. We topped them with sliced tomato and green leaf lettuce, as well as muenster cheese. I added the ketchup from the recipe, with one accidental change. Instead of chipotle, I used chili powder. It still tasted pretty good.

On the side, we added Alexia All Natural Waffle-Cut Sweet Potato (from the freezer section at Winn Dixie). We'd never made sweet potatoes before, so we cheated, but they were fantastic (and much lower in fat and calories than store bought fries). The girls even ate up the sweet potato fries. I used the extra ketchup from the burgers for my fries, which added a nice zing.

One tip, in my opinion, is to use a lesser bread product than a bun, and we opted for deli flats, which we use in place of buns and bread a lot. Erin feels that it would have been a better burger experience if we had used fancy rolls, so we might try that next time.

I will certainly make these again, and we will certainly eat them again. However, I will continue to search for a good burger alternative for meatless meals. My three mushroom burger was a good example of how good a meatless burger really can be. In the coming weeks, I will make those again and post my own recipe for that.

Until next time, happy eating!