recipes...

I have had a couple of requests for me to include recipes.... I will have to experiment with different ways to make this work... if I were good at the linking thing.... I would link over to the recipes... but I am not so much of a computer geek....so for now, I will try putting the recipes at the end of the blog so you don't have to read them if you are not interested.


As you see above, I tried the pesto-crusted fillet of salmon.... it was outstanding. This recipe is from the McCormick and Schmick (M&S) cookbook... it shouldn't have been too bad on the calories... and of course the big plus is the omega 3's from the salmon! M&S does not put the calorie counts in their cookbook.


I made my red onion relish ahead of time and used a jar of pesto (cheated and did not make my own...) but it was still delicious! and I used jasmine rice in my rice cooker.


For dessert - we tried a recipe given to me by a friend chocolate zucchini cake..... yum. I am always trying recipes in which I can sneak a few more vegetables into my kids diet... well, it didn't work this time. For some reason, they didn't like this one. I did! The zucchini made it very moist. I probably could have gone with fewer chocolate chips... 4 cups was a lot!

Last night - we had our tried and true - beer can chicken! - Love it because not only does the chicken always turn out moist, but EASY!! Beer can chicken is quick to make - but it does take about an hour on the grill and works best with a gas grill. I take a whole chicken and clean it up - pull the skin away from the meat and slide down spices in between the skin and the meat. My favorites are either the greek seasonings or the turkish seasonings from Penzeys Spices.... put the chicken over half of a can of beer... I think that is the neck side you stick it on... the chicken will be standing up on the can.... they have little stands at Bed, Bath & Beyond if you want... We have found it works best to put the whole thing (chicken and beer can) on an old cookie sheet that we have lined with tin foil and put that on the grill. Probably about medium heat for around an hour. A lot of the fat drips off onto the cookie sheet (which keeps it from flaming up and burning). Again, I don't know calorie count.... but my intuition tells me that as long as you don't eat the skin... it probably isn't too bad.

Since I spent my morning at the dmv..... ugh... ($1200 later) therefore, I decided I needed simple tonight. So I turned around and used part of the chicken that was leftover and tried the zesty chicken-noodle casserole from the Weight Watchers (WW) cookbook. I knew it was going to be $600 but was a little surprised at the $1200 - didn't realize that when we bought hubbie's new car - we only paid sales tax and not property tax! The husband and daughter both thought it (the chicken) was a little "blah". I thought the dmv was really "blah", the chicken on the other hand, was okay. Reminded me of tuna noodle casserole....was it good enough for 414 calories a serving??? Probably not. For 414 calories... there are some other recipes that look yummier to me. Is it worth $1200 to drive our cars for another year.... well, I have to admit I am rather attached to my car. I used these noodles that I absolutely love... they are Amish noodles. They are in the regular pasta area of my grocery.... but I really like them.

With our chicken noodle blah casserole, we had some acorn squash that I picked up at the Farmer's Market.... very good! I have a butternut squash that I am trying to find a good recipe to try....surprisingly there wasn't anything except soup in the WW cookbook. Maybe M&S has something....

Since we weren't overly impressed with the chicken recipe, I am not going to include it - but if you want it - please feel free to leave me a comment and I will include.

pesto-crusted fillet of salmon

2 ounces of pesto
1 salmon fillet
1 ounce vegetable oil
3 ounces fresh spinach
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons white wine
1 tablespoon cold butter
3/4 cup cooked rice

Coat the salmon with the pesto in an even layer. Heat the oil in a teflon saute pan. Sear on medium high heat pesto side down for 3 or 4 minutes. Turn the fish over, add the garlic, spinach and white wine to the pan. Cover it and reduce heat to low. Allow the fish to cook and the spinach to wilt for 3 or 4 minutes (I think mine took closer to 5 or 6). Remove the fish and set aside. Place the spinach in the center of the serving plate and return the pan to the heat. Add the butter and swirl to mealt. Place salmon fillet on the spinach and top with Red Onion Relish. Drizzle butter around the plate and serve with rice.

red onion relish

1 finely diced medium red onion
2 finely diced garlic cloves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon sambal oelek - some kind of hot sauce - I just used hot sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3/4 cup red wine
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ounce capers
salt and pepper

Gently saute onion and garlic until tender. Remove from heat and set aside. In a separate pot, reduce red wine to 1/4 cup. Combine all the ingredients and toss well. Salt and pepper to taste.

acorn squash

Cut acorn squash in half. Clean seeds out. Cook inside side down in a baking pan (like a 9x13) with about 1/2 inch of water for 30 minutes at around 350 degrees. Pull out of oven, turn over - add butter and brown sugar (maybe a teaspoon of each) and then put back in the over for another 30 minutes. (can add about 1/2 teaspoon of finely chopped onion also if desired)

chocolate zucchini cake

1/2 cup soft margarine/butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour milk
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
4 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini
4 cups chocolate chips

Cream margarine, oil & sugar. Add eggs, vannila & sour milk; beat with mixer until smooth. Mix together all dry ingredients & add to creamed mixture; beat well with mixer. Stir in zucchini. spoon batter into greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips. (This really needs NO frosting!) Bake @ 325 for 40-45 minutes.

skinny one night -not the next!

SKINNY Monday

Monday was a rainy cool day here in Kansas City. The perfect day for some chili. So I tried the Weight Watchers Beef and Bean Chili. As mentioned before, I love a crock pot... so I choose to make mine in the crock pot.

As you can see, this recipe has a lot of vegetables in it... I had some leftover corn on the cob - so I cut it off the cob and threw it in also. It cooked great in the crock pot. I put it on low all day. This is my kind of recipe....

11:47 am and my kitchen was all cleaned up from making dinner! woo hoo! All I had to do was make some corn bread and dinner was served!

The chili itself... well, it was okay. I am not sure if I had some old chili powder, if cooking it all day in the crock pot - the chili powder lost its potency? But it was not spicy at all and really had no chili taste to it. I should have tested it a couple of times throughout the day...

Changes - I did add some corn and onions don't do well with me... so I only put in about 1/4 of a onion. In the future - I would possibly add more chili powder.

This recipe was 341 calories a serving...

NOT SO SKINNY Tuesday....

Last night, my daughter put in a request for Crab Rangoon. Definitely not on the healthy menu. But delicious and really not difficult to make...I normally only give recipes to those that request them... but this one is a tried and true we have used in our family for years....try it!

Crab Rangoon

1 package of fake crab cut into small bite size pieces

1 package of wonton skins (found in the produce section)

2 8 ounce packages of cream cheese (I did use the 1/3 less fat)

1 or 2 teaspoons of either steak sauce or worchestershire sauce

dash or two of garlic powder

Put almost a whole bottle of oil (I use canola) in a deep pot and start warming up for frying the rangoons...(the unhealthy part). Mix all above except the wonton skins. Put a teaspoon full of the cream cheese mixture in the middle of a wonton skin. Dab the corners with egg white. Pull the 4 corners up together and pinch. Cream cheese mixture should last for the whole package of wonton skins. Deep fry at medium to medium high heat. They will float when they are done. You may need to turn them over to get the tops done. Should take 2-3 minutes for each batch. I put about 6 in my pot at a time.

Serve warm with either sweet and sour sauce or duck sauce....

a fortnight....

20 Days - since I last posted. Isn't that a fortnight? I have been trying to read some of the "classics" such as Jane Eyre and Tess of the D'ubervilles. They talk about visiting relatives for a fortnight... I think it is 20 days...can you imagine having family visit for 20 days.... yikes.



Anyways.... a lot has happened in our fortnight... the youngest, P-man as we call him, had pneumonia and was in the hospital for a few days... but is home, doing great and causing trouble! The hubster got a new car (a camaro), so we can check "mid-life crises" off of his to-do list. I painted the dining room. And the daughter, Ginger (second from the left in purple), went to the Homecoming Dance. Which that alone could probably elicit about 4 or 5 different postings. Somehow, every dance and event at school has become this huge production. An hour and half of pictures, hundreds of dollars, wanting to party all night long... and in case you are wondering... I am the meanest mom in town. Only did about 45 min of pictures, spent only a hundred dollars, and made the girls come home at midnight and wouldn't let them go to a party.

Back to the Hungry Girl cookbook...here's where I am at on this cookbook. I think it is a good cookbook but it isn't the type of cooking I do. Most of the recipes are quick easy on the go recipes. I prefer to make up my dinner recipes in the morning after the kids have gone to school so everything is cleaned up and put away by noon. I usually do a lot of crock pot cooking and am pretty good at adapting recipes to the crock pot. (Made a delicious recipe - Beef Mushroom Barley Soup from the Penzey Spice magazine that I was able to make in the crock pot.) This book is a lot of wraps and under 10-15 minute recipes. My main criticism would be that she uses lots of splenda and what I call "fake foods" - substitutes. I probably lean more towards using natural organic items. I also have had a hard time finding the noodles and a few other items that she suggests. If I can ever find the noodles - then there are a few pasta recipes that I will definitely be trying!

I am not giving up on Hungry Girl! I love the fun facts and little tips she gives... but I am going to add a little variety some recipes from 3 other cookbooks that have been sitting on my shelf gathering dust.



Weight Watchers is probably the closest to a low-cal healthy Betty Crocker cookbook. Has casseroles and crock pot recipes. Pretty normal everyday food - your basics. And ingredients are items that you most likely already have in your pantry.

McCormick & Schmick's - well, it isn't super low-cal - but we have all heard about the health benefits of fish! And there is a recipe for lobster pot-pie... how can I NOT try that one??? (probably zero health benefits) The cookbook I have is not exactly the one pictured... I got mine free at Costco...so if I try something and you want a copy of the recipe - please let me know!

Last - as I mentioned, especially with fall coming, I find crock-pot cooking extremely convenient for a Mom so I will be pulling recipes from the Fix It and Forget It Lightly! I have family members eating at different times so this is great for me.

If you have any special requests that you would like for me to try- please let me know! I do love to try a new recipe!

virus at our house

yep - there's a virus at our house... actually, there are 2. child number 2 has been sick since Friday.... but one of the computers also has a virus...keep giving the kid robitussin for his cough... can I give the computer some also?

one would think I am using all of this extra time to bake up 200 calorie goodies... but alas...no. It is all I can do to make sure dinner has been made... therefore; I have no recipes to report on and actually probably won't for another few days.

hope to be back soon!