Tired of your old food? -- New recipe challenge and shared c

Sure I will I am trying new recipes every day this week just to change it up. Will let you know what I find.

:drinker: Sounds like fun!

I have found a new love of food and cooking through Pinterest, so I have been trying a lot of new recipes lately.

Cream Cheese Chicken Chili - this was easy and I loved it, it was even better the next day
http://www.plainchicken.com/2012/01/slow-cooker-cream-cheese-chicken-chili.html

Changes to original: I used only 1/2 of the cream cheese (added at the end), I only used 2tsp of the the ranch mix, I cut down on the cumin and chili powder slightly (since I knew cutting down on the cream cheese would make the spices more potent, go for it all if you like it spicy)

What I would change next time: I love everything about this recipe except the sodium. I'm definitely going to look for low sodium beans and rotel (or cook my own beans). I will probably use frozen corn and a little extra water, since I always have frozen vegetables on hand.



Baked Oatmeal - This is AMAZING! I was not an oatmeal person prior to this, now I make a regular oatmeal version based on this and eat if for dessert. In my regular version I sub craisins for the blueberries.
http://www.inspiredtaste.net/9928/baked-oatmeal-with-strawberries-banana-and-chocolate-recipe/

Changes to original: subbed egg substitute for egg, unsweetened applesauce for ALL of the butter, added 2 bananas (to the oat mixture), 1/4 tbsp brown sugar total, 1/4 tsp of Chinese 5 spice, healthy sprinkle of cinnamon & nutmeg (or pumpkin/apple pie spice whatever you have on hand), 3/4 c blueberries on top instead of strawberries (strawberries got a little bitter the first time I made this), reduced chocolate chips (not much and added them all to the mix, subbed 3/4 tsp orange extract for the orange zest, and added a couple of packets of sugar substitute to the wet ingredients

What I would change next time: Not a thing!



Crock Pot Honey Chicken - another easy recipe that even pleased my picky eaters
http://ctworkingmoms.com/2012/02/02/tasty-thursday-crock-pot-honey-chicken/

Changes to original: I used about 1/2 of the sauce while cooking the chicken, when it was done, I poured off the liquid in the crock pot and added the rest of the sauce. That way I didn't have all of the fat, and watered down sauce, and I still had enough sauce for serving.

What I would change next time: not necessarily a change, but I use chicken thighs (personal preference). Next time I am going to try split chicken breast ( think bone in would work much better for this recipe than boneless skinless).

I'm game. Been menu planning for a while now, usually searching thru a dozen or so bookmarked recipe sites for ideas.

Tonite was a new one -- Homemade Chicken Curry (http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/151480/Chicken-curry) - I would recommend halving the "tins" of diced tomato and using only one onion (it's what I did, ended up coming out pretty good). I added red bell pepper to the recipe and served it over Jasmine rice.

Doing this later in the week as a side: http://steamykitchen.com/11868-roasted-cauliflower-recipe-bacon-garlic.html

Probably with a new way to do pork chops (other than just shake-and-bake): http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Zesty-Grilled-Chops

Always on the look out for new ideas, so keep posting!

This is a great idea:)

I'm horrible at guessing serving sizes. The recipe says 8 but I went with 6. With the ground turkey I'm coming in at 300 a serving. I loaded it all into the recipe feature here. I love that thing since I do a lot of stuff from scratch.

I usually take whatever it is I just made and throw it in an insulated bowl tared out on the kitchen scale. Divide by the number of servings and dish it up! Takes all the guess work out of it.

What a wonderful idea!

Since starting the journey toward the new me, I've had to go recipe hunting. The old me cooked things that just weren't that good for you, and they tasted... well... bad!

My husband tells me that my diet has made me into a better cook. I respond... this isn't a diet. this is a lifestyle change. Glad you're enjoying it

here's something I made for dinner tonight. It's awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.canadianliving.com/food/quick_and_easy/slow_cooker_chicken_and_sausage_gumbo.php

BUMP should post nutricion info and possibly a pic as well....would be better!

I do have a recipe for almost no fat lasagna:
Your marinara sauce of choice, low sodium/sugar, try Healthy Choice sauce
I use veggies, like onions, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, and eggplant
Here's the cheese layer:
1 carton FF sour cream
1 brick FF cream cheese
1 carton FF cottage cheese
a few cloves garlic
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped

To assemble, put sauce first, then noodles (uncooked), then raw veggies right on top of the noodles. This is important as the water content from the veggies will cook the noodles. Then layer the cheese layer, and repeat. I try to add sauce on top and sprinklye with a little parmesan.

This bakes at 350 for 40-50 minutes, but let it sit and it will firm up as it cools down a little. It is YUMMY!

I haven't tried FF cream cheese in my lasagna before. I will have to remember that, sounds yummy.

I make zucchini lasagna with long slices of zucchini as the noodles. I use a mandolin to slice them. Works great!

In the summer I like to put fresh basil in the cottage cheese mixture, add some fresh mozzarella in the layers so it's like a caprese lasagna.

Bumpity Bump Bump!

This is one of my all time favorite.
Cesar Salad, low cals sauce :

1/2 cup light mayo
1/2 cup skim milk
2 tbsp parmesan
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp worchestire sauce
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp dijon
Salt and Pepper

Give 300 ml of sauce that adds up to 22 cals per 15 ml.
Taste great and good texture. Last over a week in the fridge.

i always thought the point of a ceasar was raw egg and anchovie?