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 Mondays (Tuesday Edition) -- Cauliflower Crust Pizza

In our continuing effort to better our lives, Erin and I continue to practice our Meatless Mondays... This week, we were invited out to dinner on Monday night at El Potro Mexican Restaurant (Apopka's only Mexican restaurant, I believe, and quite a good one too!) and so we paused Meatless Monday for a night.

Some of you may wonder why we choose to do a meatless night each week...

Even though we are only one family, we recognize that reducing our meat consumption reduces our carbon footprint. It is estimated that the meat industry accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than transportation... it also cuts fossil fuel consumption and water consumption... while us, alone, can't really make a dent, if more and more families implement just one meatless night (or whole day) a week, imagine what a difference it would make, worldwide!

In addition, it reduces our red meat consumption, fatty meat consumption, etc... the health benefits alone will be good for our family.

Tonight, we chose Cauliflower Crust Pizza, which I found on Eat.Drink.Smile. (photo credit goes to them, tonight) thanks to Pinterest.

I'd like to point out just how much I've come to enjoy the Pinterest website. Granted, I don't get much out of the constant pictures of fingernail paint colors, purses, or pictures of dudes in boxer briefs, I do find lots of good ideas for the kitchen.

Let me start by saying that Cauliflower Crust Pizza is a sort of work in progress, I think... Ricing cauliflower is the easy part. The cheese caused the crust to stick (A LOT), which I found irritating. In fact, in classic Joey fashion, my plate ended up a pile of two pieces of the pizza, and didn't look all that appetizing, which is what I get for getting irritable. The recipe suggested cooking the toppings first, which you certainly should. Even with broiling the pizza (Erin suggested against cooking the toppings, because of the broil) the onions and mushrooms still seemed mostly raw (we used onions, baby bella mushrooms and tomatoes).

Erin reports that she really enjoyed it, and Madison ate almost an entire piece (she really liked the crust and cheese), which is excellent. The entire pizza was about 600 calories, and a head of cauliflower makes three pizzas. We made two pizzas, and ate every bit of it. This was not my favorite meal, but it was good, and I've learned a few tips for next time. I think it would have been delicious with peperoni, but that would defeat the purpose of being meatless. Also, I will point out that I'm full from my four pieces.

If you decide, yourself, to try this pizza, please let me know. I'm curious what other people think about it. Until next time...