Recipes for filling lunches and dinners

MB_Positif

Ok, so I have been saying I was going to share some recipes for a while. I have a crazy busy life that just finally slowed down now that my son's birthday party has happened Anyhow, here's a good start...heads up, did not enter the actual breakdown for all of the recipes when I originally typed them up. Some will have more info than others.

Beef Stew with Red Cabbage and Kale

I slightly adapted a recipe from www.5dollardinners.com, here is my version! And of course it cost me way over $5 to make it because the lady who runs that site is a crazy couponer and I will never attain that kind of money saving!

1.25 lbs. angus beef london broil
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 cups beef broth
6 cups water
1 red onion, chopped
6 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 bunch kale, stem removed and chopped
1/2 small head of red cabbage cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 can great northern beans, rinsed and drained
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Brown the beef in the olive oil and garlic over medium high heat. Once all sides are browned, add beef broth and water. Then add the mushrooms, carrots, kale, red cabbage, and onions.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the beef has cooked through.
3. Add desired amount of salt and pepper. I only added 1/4 tsp. of kosher salt and about 1/4 tsp. of fresh ground pepper.

Makes 6 main dish servings. All of this for only 314 calories, 28 g carbs, 10 g fat, 28 g protein, 9 g fiber and 587 mg sodium!

Tonight I made a version of this soup without the beef (I did use the same amount of beef broth because I already had it. This recipe could be vegetarian with just a switch in the broth). I also added 2 medium sweet potatoes, a bag of frozen Italian Green beans, an additional can of white beans which made it come in around 315 calories.

Pork with Sweet Potatoes & Apples

3 boneless pork chops (about 1.2 pounds), cut into 1" chunks
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1" chunks
1 large granny smith apple, cut into 1" chunks
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
small pat of butter
I used my favorite cast iron skillet to make this....so here goes:

1.Heat pan over medium-high heat, add oil to heat.

2. Add sweet potatoes and toss to cover with oil, continue tossing for a few minutes so they don't get burned.
3. Add pork and garlic and cook until pork is browned on all sides.
4. Add apples and stir it up, cover and allow to cook over medium heat. Didn't really pay attention to time...just checked the pork and potatoes for done ness...
5. When everything is cooked through, add pat of butter, cinnamon and brown sugar, toss to coat everything, cover again and cook for a few more minutes.

We had a little bit of corn with it because I knew that would help convince Gabriel to eat it. He liked it, with the exception of the apples...he probably would have prefered a red delicious apple in it instead of the granny smith. Anyhow, comes in at 410 calories for 4 servings. We really got about 5 servings out of it since we all had some and have enough for two lunches as well.

Chicken with Spinach & Tomatoes

This was just a comment I left on someone else’s post about spinach recipes.
I use spinach for almost anything! Something yummy recently was I cooked chicken breasts in a pan and then threw in some canned tomatoes, garlic and onions until the chicken was done. Then I put in some spinach and covered the pan, let it steam the spinach and then put just a teeny sprinkle of parmesan cheese over it. It was a 400 calorie meal

Chicken Stir Fry with Dried Fruit

Got this recipe from Oxygen Magazine, I actually didn’t change it at all!
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 -6oz. chicken breasts cut into 1-2” pieces
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8 oz. low sodium chicken broth
12 dried apricots, halved
12 dried prunes, halved
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/8 tsp. sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup cooked cous cous

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden on both sides. Add onion & garlic and cook until soft.
2.Add broth, apricots, prunes and vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in Salt & pepper.
3.Divide in half and serve each with ½ cup cous cous.

The calorie count for this meal is 610, but I added one additional chicken breast and a little extra of the dried fruit to stretch it into 4 servings and they were around 400 calories.

smcclaycouffer

*bump* thanks for the recipes

jlbryant2

thnks for sharing the pork with sweet potatoes and apples sounds really good:)