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!
 

Taco Pie

I think we are going to start posting some of our recipes on here. Maybe one of them will become famous :)

Also, sorry for the picture. We were already eating when the decision was made to post this recipe. So our taco pie is half eaten. But this way you get to see the... layers... So we can pretend it was on purpose?

Dinner tonight is a Joey Original: Taco Pie.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef 
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg (12 oz) crescent rolls
1 pkg Fritos Corn Chips
1 pkg (8 oz) jack & cheddar cheese shredded
1 large tomato
2 cups lettuce
Sour Cream
Salsa

1. brown ground beef, add taco seasoning as the package directs, then set aside
2. dice tomato and lettuce
3. roll crescent rolls flat into long casserole dish, place into oven at 350 degrees for about 7 minutes
4. top crescent crust with ground beef, cover with Fritos and cheese - bake for about 7 more minutes
5. serve topped with lettuce, tomatoes, salsa and sour cream

To save some calories (which one of these days we will start doing again...) you can always use 99% lean ground turkey, non-fat sour cream and cheese, and skip the corn chips. Although, the corn chips do make the dish pretty delicious!