I made the falafel using the recipe from here. I did this because I had bought parsley but didn’t remember what for. I added one tiny ground up bhut jolokia, and that made this super, super spicy. I was almost not able to eat it. I liked making this just for me since it isn’t too bad (only points come from chick peas) and ends up beging a lot of food.

I also made roasted broccoli. I cut it up and tossed it with some oil and lots of rosemary, plus some other seasonings. I roasted them on an aluminum covered pan for 20-25 min at 435. They got nice and crispy, and very, very good! I love eating broccoli like this

The meatballs were very good and very tasty. The sauce may have cooked down a bit too much to the point that is was really just goop. But, it was still rather good.

I tried something slightly different with the zucchini. Before I grated them, I grated half an onion. Well, that made onion mush with LOTS OF WATER. I had to drain it as best I could and I still struggled to get all the water out. This may also be why I had so much trouble pressing the water out of the zucchini. Despite spending a day in the fridge with lots of weight on the pans, I had to put in new towels and stand on the pans to really get the water out. I may try my Dad’s suggestion next time which is to use dried, minced onions. THey will absorb the water!

I made the meatballs based on the recipe below. The major changes I made was to use extra lean beef (and less, 2/3 lbs), egg beaters, no garlic and finally to bake the meatballs (375 for 25 min). For the sauce, the only change I made was less oil and I replaced half of the brown sugar with Splenda. That saved about 8 points plus. I realized as I was making this that the points would climb so I actually calculated them. The entire meal (half of what I made) was 17 points plus. I guess that isn’t awful compared to what I would get if I ate out, but it was a bit more than I think I want (not that I have been budgeting).

Meatballs:
Beef…10.5
Bread crumbs …2
Egg Beater…0.5
Brown Sugar (halved)…8
Ketchup…7
Total:28

Fritters
Egg…1
Flour…6

So, the entire meal was 34 but I made dinner and lunch so 17

Continue reading →

This is based on the recipe below. I pressure cooked some chicken breasts and shredded it instead of using rotisserie (obviously, much less chicken). Also, since I pressure cooked it, I used the broth from that instead of chicken broth (well, this is more real chicken broth). I skipped the olive and the lemon juice. Instead of couscous, I used quinoa (and again, less of it). I cooked the quinoa with chicken broth (not from the pressure cooker). I used the orange juice in the quinoa but skipped the lemon in the chicken.

Overall, I liked the meal a lot but there wasn’t really any new flavors. It kinda reminded me of most other tomatoey meals. Though, I let it cook to be pretty dry which was different. Again, like yesterday, it had chick peas which I am getting kinda tired of it now. So, good, but nothing too special.

Continue reading →

I used the recipe below to make this. I didn’t have good mozzarella cheese so I just used grated, 2%. I also used toscano for the top. The arugula I used was a bit old and possibly pushing its lifetime. It worked pretty well. The dominant flavor was the balsamic vinegar but I still liked it. The chickpeas gave it some real protein too. Also, I used whole wheat penne (and less) instead of shells

I was in a hurry to I forgot to take a picture of my dinner serving, and then took a picture of the lunch version.

Continue reading →

This was based on the below recipe except we used the griddler to grill the chicken and then sliced it. We also added some sliced carrot to the cabbage part. Instead of Soba noodles, we used brown rice noodels (and 1/2 pound instead of 3/4). I also think we skipped the scallions but I may be wrong.

It was very good and I really enjoyed the peanut sauce, especially when we mixed it all with the cabbage. It made 4 servings (lunch!) so overall, I do not think the meal was too bad in calories either. We didn’t have chicken for the lunch. ALso, we used olive oil and less

Continue reading →

This was supposed to be like taco cupcakes, again using the basis of the taco stew as the filling. However, I accidentally added fajita seasonings instead of taco. It was different. Not bad, but different. THe filling was beef, a lot of onion, zucchini, seasonings, salsa (key ingredient) and some corn. I forgot the black beans until I was assembling,

To assemble, we put a layer of wonton wrapper down, then some beef, some cheese, another wrapper, more beef and more cheese. We put a bit too much beef into the first layer so they two wrappers didn’t totally meld together. Still, most held their shape.

While it would have been better had I used the correct seasoning, I still liked them a lot. I also really like using the wonton wrappers since it gives a nice crunch and a nice texture

This was supposed to be the standard Posole, but we did a lot differently. First of all, we forgot to buy peppers. So, the only peppers in here were a bunch of pickled jalapeños. We didn’t  use chipotles so there was no smokiness (A good thing, I think). Also we used canned tomatillos. And, since I didn’t want to only use half of a can, We had more than double the amount. We used fresh cilantro but dried parsley. I also added all kinds of spices including some hot (not smoked) paprika and some crushed red pepper

I do not recall what. if any, other changes I made, but it was very good as usual. Maybe even better. A bit spicy.

This was the pretty standard taquitos but as usual, there is a lot of room to play. I do not remember exactly what I did (it was a while ago), but they came out great. Off the top of my head, I remember putting some carrots in (which you coudln’t even taste but made it healthier) and some black beans (new idea). Other than that, the pretty standard onion, some corn, shredded chicken and two melted laughing cow cheeses to bind it all.

I again shredded the chicken in the mixer. However, in testing to see if it was done enough form the pressure cooker, I cut it into too small of pieces. That made it really hard to shred so I had to run it for a while. It didn’t matter in this application since it was going in something, but I should be more careful in the future.

Also, I usually use a hot pan to warm the tortillas before rolling but this time I used the non-stick. It was even easier.

This was basically the typical Hungry Gril Enchilada Casserole except with beef instead of chicken. Also, we discovered that the healthy option condensed soup was healthier than the 98% fat free. I do not know if it made a difference, but it was good in here.

I do not recall what else I did differently or changes, but it was very good!

We also had steamed edamame on the side which we both enjoyed!

Grilled extra lean hotdogs and corn. I have never grilled corn still in the husks, but it was very good.

We made gumbo using the same recipe as last time but this times used mix seafood. I do not know what we changed, but it wasn’t as good. Especially when I used added water to the leftovers

We made salmon just like I described here but with some Emril Essence. I also roasted sweet potatoes. It was a very orange meal, but very tasty.

This was a long time ago so I do not remember all of the details but we made stir fry with tofu (bought by accident). We used soy sauce, some teriyaki, and a bunch of other stuff.

We used real brown rice done in the pressure cooker. According to the timing chart at http://missvickie.com/howto/grains/rice-cooking.htm I was supposed to use 18 minutes and then a natural cool with a 1:2 rice:water ratio. I do not remember why, but I had to do something so I did 15 minutes then let the heat on the electric stove keep it warm. It worked fine

Meredith made this so she may have more comments, but we made 4 lbs of Beef Barbacoa. We had it for one dinner and 3 lunches. It was really good and nice having it for all of our meals later in the week. The broth was also really tasty. We also made something like the veggie tian before

——————————

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef (from TheKitchn)

Makes enough meat to stuff 30 tacos

• 4 chipotle peppers (from a can) plus all the adobo sauce it sits in
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 red onion, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 1 head garlic, peeled and cloves smashed
• 5 dry bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• Juice of 4 limes
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 5 to 7 pounds beef brisket
• 4 to 6 cups beef or chicken stock

Stir together chipotle peppers and sauce, cilantro, red onion, garlic, clove, salt, lime juice, and cider vinegar in the insert of a slow cooker (if you have a food processor, pulse till combined first before adding). Place the brisket on top of this mixture. (I like to cut my brisket in two pieces so it fits better in the slow cooker.) Add stock to cover the meat and place bay leaves on top. Use tongs to move the meat around gently to combine everything and put the lid on.

Cook on HIGH for 4 hours. Once finished, turn crock pot to WARM and let sit for 6 to 8 hours.

I like to make mine before bed and then let it sit on WARM overnight. This allows the meat to cook fully and then come to a point where it can be shredded easily and will essentially fall apart when pulled with a fork. If you don’t have overnight to accomplish this, another hour of cooking on HIGH will get the job done. The meat will not be as tender, but will still be tasty.

Remove meat from slow cooker and place on rimmed baking sheet. Use two forks to pull the meat apart. Discard the fat, if desired. If you plan on frying it again before use, the small fat bits are extra tasty and should be kept! Place shredded beef in large bowl and ladle cooking liquid over the top a few scoops at a time. You want the meat to hold the liquid but not swim in it.

To keep it warm for guests you can return it to your slow cooker after you have removed the remaining liquid. That liquid is extra tasty and can be frozen into ice cube-sized portions to be used in other dishes later, if you so desire. Serve with fresh tortillas, onion, cilantro, and salsa.

Note: This recipe makes roughly 30 tacos, give or take. You can make two recipes back to back in your slow cooker for the initial 4 hour cooking time (or two slow cookers at the same time) and then add the meat to the same slow cooker to sit overnight since the meat will have reduced in size. This will allow 60 tacos of meat to be finished up at the same time.

This was so long ago and I am pretty sure Meredith made it so I do not recall what everything was. I’ll let Meredith come back and describe it if she rememebrs

We made quinoa from the recipe below. Meredith put it together so she may have more comments, but we basically followed the base of the recipe though we needed a bit more egg. We also used gouda instead of the parmesan. We also used regular flour. Instead of frying it, we baked it like the zucchini fritters. We baked them at 440F for 15 minutes, then flipped them and baked for another 10. I was prepared to have to really scrape but in the end, they came off nicely. They were really good. I really liked the thin parts that were extra crispy. The flavor was subtle which contrasted with the patatas bravas and its heat. It didn’t help that my head/nose was stuffed so the flavors were even harder to discern.

The patatas bravas we more or less based on the standard except I also added some leftover canned sauce. I used a lot of cayenne and all of the called for paprika was hot paprika plus, I added some smoked hot. I also forgot the garlic and vinegar but I added a lot of onion and garlic powder. The sauce was good, but it was rather spicy. Again, being a bit stuffed up, made this strong flavor eclipse the quinoa.

Continue reading →

I made just lentils similar to what I did with the lentil stuffed cabbage. Again, I do not recall all of the details, but it was lentils, a lot of really finely chopped mushrooms (important), carrots, celery, onions, a whole bunch of seasonings and finally broth. I think I had to use extra broth since there was so much more than just the lentils.

They had a subtle, but really, really good flavor. Really filling and low in points! Also, the date is not exact.

First, the Zucchini Fritters: We used the standard recipe, again adding some cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder and other spices. I even put a tiny bit of dill. I did the usual pressing of the zucchini to get it really dry. Even though I pammed the pan really well, I had to really scrape to get them up to flip. The trick it to use the sharpest and thinnest spatula to scrape them up and flip. Doing that worked! They were really good. Next time I make them, I want to try to remember to grate the onion with the zucchini so I do not have to finely chop it. I meant to do it this time, but forgot.

I made the shrimp by putting them on the griddler from frozen. For future reference, this is not a good way to do it. Even with a low enough heat, they overcook to get the inside fully done. They shrink into tiny, overcooked shrimp. And, since they do not lie perfectly flat when frozen, they cook unevenly. Finally, since you cannot skewer them, they are hard to flip and check on (they stuck to the lid). Oh well, It was worth a shot. I also brushed the shrimp with a mixture of lemon juice, lime juice, seasonings and water before and right after putting them on the grill.

We made pizza using sandwich flat-breads we found that were pretty low in calories. It was a while ago so I do not recall all of the details, but the biggest thing was that I roasted/sauteed a bunch of artichokes with onions and garlic. It was pretty good. My pizza, (above) was just goat cheese, the artichokes mix, sopressata and then some low fat cheese on top.

Meredith’s (below) was a more standard pizza also with some of the artichoke mix.

We made asian lettuce wraps, I think using the recipe from here (in the comments). Meredith made them so I really do not know all the details. The bigger deal was how we shredded the chicken. Meredith baked the large chicken breast (I have no idea how long and at what temp), but then to shred it, we used the Kitchen Aide mixer with the beater blade. I do not remember where I first read it but it works really well. The trick is to make sure you are using warm chicken so it shreds easier (but I think that is true regardless of how you shred it).

It made quite a bit. We had enough for 1.5 lunches the next day! We also ate leftover soup from the night before.