I say frittata, you say… ?

If I ever volunteer to come to your house and make you breakfast, you should consider yourself very lucky.  You should also consider yourself forewarned:

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For no dish, no matter how simple, will the kitchen be left unscathed.  What can I say?  I like to become one with my food Winking smile

And yes, that IS a bottle of wine next to the eggs.

I’ve always wanted to make a frittata, and this Sunday morning I was in the mood to get my cook on so I decided to give it a shot.  Once I started googling frittata recipes, I realized I was lacking a major piece of equipment:  a skillet that could go from stove top to oven without causing a fire.  Dangit.  That’s going on the T.J. Maxx list.

Since I had my heart set on eggy bliss, I decided to just use a standard glass pie pan.  Does that mean it’s not a frittata anymore?  Hmmmm what would its proper classification be?  I say frittata, you say….. frrrrreggcasserole?

Something to ponder as the man pours your mimosa.

This frittata consisted of:

  • 6 egg whites
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 Hot Chicken sausages (casings removed, cooked and crumbled)
  • 1 large handful chiffonade spinach
  • S&P, to taste
  • Frank’s Red Hot, to taste (plus more for garnish Winking smile )
  • 1/4 cup diced tomato
  • 1/4 cup diced red onion
  • 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 2 tsp minced garlic

While I cooked up the sausage, and sautéed the onion, mushroom, and garlic, I got to egg crackalacking.  Once the sausage was cooked and the veggies were soft, I stirred all the goodies into the eggs then poured into a pie pan that I’d coated with cooking spray.

Into the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, and you’ll end up with this beauty:

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The frittata set up PERFECTLY.  Perfect temperature, perfect cook time:

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I started off with just a slice:

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But ended up eating precisely half of the frittata…

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Good news is the stats on half the frittata: 318 calories, 11g carbs, 11g fat, 41g protein, 3g fiber

Molto bene Red lips

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Lazy girl’s guide to stir fry

Lately I’ve had very little motivation to cook anything.  Not sure what the deal is—the heat, the sleep deprivation, the lack of time, or perhaps a missing muse—whatever the case my meals sure have been lacking.

A month or so ago (while still in this cooking rut), I made stir fry for the first time.  I’m talking FOR REAL stir fry. Wok and all. (courtesy of five well spent dollars at Ikea)

I wasn’t really sure where to start with the stir fry.  So I kinda just went with what felt right.  Lucky for me what felt right was a super fast, super easy, super tasty lazy girl stir fry Surprised smile

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Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Minced garlic and or green onion (obviously I prefer both)
  • Pre-packaged stir-fry veggies (I like FRESH not frozen)
  • Some sort of meat (shrimp, chopped chicken, beef, etc)
  • Some sort of sauce (something low sugar/low sodium.. teriyaki, Szechuan, or whatever your heart desires)
  • S&P
  • Minute Brown Rice

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Ok, so first up, you get the water boiling for the rice.  I usually go with 1/3 cup of rice and then overdo it on the veggies – but it’s really your call, lazy girl.. Your call.

Cook the rice according to the package instructions (aka, dump rice in boiling water, simmer 5 min, remove from heat 5 min, FLUFF!).

Meanwhile, heat up a wok (or sauté pan) on medium high heat.  Get that baby HOT!  Coat with nonstick cooking spray, toss in your garlic and/or onions, and then cook up your meat.  I like to season the meat with some pepper and garlic salt.  When the meat is cooked through, remove it from the wok, and toss in your veggies, and season with S&P.  I use half a bag (6 ounces) of the Eat Smart vegetable Stir Fry mix for one serving.

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I use a little spatula to toss the veggies about and get them slightly crisp.  I’m still working on my wok-toss, so the spatula will have to do for now.

Occasionally add 1 tsp of water to the wok to help the veg get their groove on while simultaneously making you feel like a wok-BAMF.  The pan should SIZZLE when you do this.  I know you’ve got it in you!

When the rice is just about done, add the meat back to the wok, and add in about 2 tbsp of your sauce of choice.  Give it a nice stir (or a few tosses if you’ll feeling crazy), then pour into a bowl along with the rice.

Then eat your face off.

Schezuan Shrimp:

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Teriyaki Chicken:

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Good wok, lazy girl. Good wok. Smile

Stats on 1 serving (1/3 cup rice, 6 ounces veggie mix, 4 ounces shrimp, 2 tbsp Szechuan sauce):  300 calories, 40g carbs, 5g fat, 27g protein, 5g fiber

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Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for quite a while, but am just now getting around to it.  Dang you tax season.  Dang you!

This is an incredibly easy soup to throw together, and as and added bonus it’s pretty low cal (not to mention tasty).  Boo. ya.

I searched long and hard for wild rice, but could not find any at my grocery store.  What the heck is up with that?  So, I settled on some Rice a Roni Long Grain & Wild Rice:

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I cooked the rice up according to the package directions (subbing in chicken broth for water and omitting the butter).
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Then I heated up a large pot, sprayed it down with some cooking spray, and sautéed the following:

  • 1  cup  prechopped onion
  • 2/3 cup  chopped red bell pepper
  • 1  cup  cut carrots
  • 3  teaspoon  bottled minced garlic
  • 1/2  teaspoon  dried thyme
  • 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms

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My grocery store doesn’t have “gourmet” mushrooms, but these baby bellas always do the trick:

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All the kids into the pool:
 

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Once the veggies were softened, I added in a splash of chicken stock to decaramelize the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  Once I worked them all off the bottom, I tossed in the rest of the stock, and stirred in:

  • 2 shredded chicken breasts
  • the cooked Rice A roni
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

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Awwwwww yeah.

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This batch made up four delicious servings, two of which I popped in the freezer.

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Cook once, eat fource…errr.. something like that.

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup Ingredients List (serves 4) — inspired by Cooking Light Magazine

  • 4  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided
  • 1  box Rice A Roni wild rice
  • 1  cup  prechopped onion
  • 2/3 cup  chopped red bell pepper
  • 1  cup  chopped carrots
  • 3  teaspoon  bottled minced garlic
  • 1/2  teaspoon  dried thyme
  • 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms
  • 2  shredded chicken breasts
  • 1/8  teaspoon  salt
  • 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper

A random questions for ya’ll this evening–anyone have a Griddler?  If so, is it worth the $$$ and what model is the best? 

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Faux Chicken Parmesan

Do you guys every go through phases where you just don’t want anything to do with certain foods?  Lately, that’s how I’ve been feeling about meat. I just have not been craving it! 

While at Target over the weekend, I picked up a box of Morning Star Chick Patties.  I think I’ve contemplated buying these dozens of times before, but never sealed the deal.

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Over the weekend, I cooked one of these patties up in the oven and had it on a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat.

No sauce.  No veggies.  Just the faux meat and bun.

It was glorious.  It seriously reminded me of the chicken pattie sandwiches from high school.  I know that sounds disgusting, but in this instance it’s actually a very very good thing. 

Then, the other night I had a VISION: Faux Chicken Parmesan… Healthified, no less: 

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Shut the front door!!!!

First up, grab a spaghetti squash and halve it…

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I swear, every time I try and halve a squash I have flashes of severing a finger.  I think to myself, “is this it?”  Is this the day that I lose a finger in the name of squash??

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Once it’s halved, scoop out the seeds, and pop this puppy onto a cookie sheet into a 415 degree over for 30 minutes.  I ‘m no fan of mooshy squashoodles.

Next, I grabbed some leftover pasta sauce from the freezer.  This was Nature’s Basket Roasted Garlic:

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Why do I get such joy from stock piling individual servings of goods in the freezer?  It’s uncanny really. 

I defrosted the sauce a bit in the microwave, then tossed in a pan and added a hodge podge of seasonings including:  red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, parsley.

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Once the squash was done, I pulled it out of the oven and used a fork to scrape out the innards.  Then popped 1 chicken pattie and some broccoli into the oven to do their thang.

Once the pattie was cooked through, I combined all my delicious and oh-so-easy ingredients:

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Faux-chicken-parmesan MASTERPIECE.

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I am in love with these patties… seriously, if you haven’t tried them DO IT.  Just make sure you cook them in the oven (and not the microwave) and you’ll get a crispy delicious bit of faux-meat-heaven.

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Mmmm hmmmmmmmmmmm….

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This WILL be making frequent appearance in my tax season dinner diet.  For sure.

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Stats on 1 serving faux chicken parmesan (1/2 squash, 1 pattie, 1/2 cup sauce):  274 calories, 44carbs, 7g fat, 12g protein, 8g fiber

Lest we not forget….. the winner of my Luna Bar giveaway is…….

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Meagan!  Yay!!!  Email me with your mailing adddres and I’ll get the bars to you ASAP!

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Shrimp & Mac & Cheese

WOW guys.  WOW.

Drooling yet??

For the big game this past weekend, I was looking for a something a little different to take to the family party… Something a little healthified but that still packed a little somethin somethin.  During my search, I stumbled upon the the Mac and Cheese Light recipe from the September 2010 Cooking Lite, and it looked like the perfect fit!  You can never have too much cheese on super bowl Sunday, I always say.

What really drew me to this particular recipe was that it started off with the “secret weapon” – a puree consisting of one whole LARGE onion and 9 cloves of garlic. 

Hello lover. 

Clearly this was destiny. 

First up, I put a big ole pot of water on the stove to boil, then tossed a large Vidalia onion and 9 cloves roughly chopped garlic into a bowl with 1/2 cup water. 

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I covered this guy with plastic wrap and nuked in the microwaved for 10 minutes.  Prepare to smell like onions and garlic for the remainder of the day.  Don’t worry.  I won’t judge you.

After 10 minutes, you dump this onion garlic goodness out into a blender and pulse until smooth.  It should look like grits, ya’ll:

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By now the water should be boiling, so drop in 8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni and cook until al dente.

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Meanwhile season up you onion garlic puree with:

  • 1 tsp dried mustard
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • Salt and pepper to taste (I used A LOT)

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Once the pasta is done, drain and set aside.  Then heat your onion garlic puree up in a pot (large enough to hold the sauce and the pasta), and once hot and bubbly slowly whisk in 2 cups shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese. 

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It should be gloriously thick.

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Once the cheese is all melted in, take it off the heat and whisk in 2/3 cup fat free plain greek yogurt, then add in the cooked pasta.  Once everything is combined, pour the mac and cheese into a casserole dish greased with cooking spray.

Sprinkle the top with

  • 1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • Sprinkling of dried parsley

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Baked at 425 for 15 minutes:

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Cheesy deliciousness:

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Just to balance things out, I also made a big arse salad for the game:DSCF5263

No joke.  Big. Arse.

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Of course I finangled one serving of the mac and cheese to take home with me after the game, and I decided to spice it up a bit for dinner tonight.

I LIBERALLY seasoned up 4 jumbo shrimp with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper and sautéed them up on a pan:

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I also roasted up some broccoli  that I had liberally seasoned with S&P … and I also microwaved the mac and cheese.  Don’t judge.

VOILA!

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That is a seriously grown up healthified mac and cheese masterpiece!!!

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I havent had roasted broccoli in months!! I practically lived off of roasted veggies last summer, and I had somehow forgotten how friggin delicious they are! 

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The mac and cheese by itself was a little too mild for my tastes – so, at the super bowl party I topped it off with some Frank’s Red hot.  But for tonight’s dinner this spicy cayenne shrimp added plenty of kick:

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Can’t get over how delicious!

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Get in my beeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese (no shrimp):  275 calories, 30g carbs, 10g fat, 17g protein, 3g fiber

Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese WITH shrimp:  322 calories, 30g carbs, 11g fat, 26g protein, 3g fiber

 

Mac & Cheese Ingredients List (serves 8 )

  • 1 large Vidalia onion
  • 9 cloves roughly chopped garlic
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni
  • 1 tsp dried mustard
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cups reduced fat cheddar
  • 2/3 cup fat free Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • Sprinkling of dried parsley

 

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