Sweet Pepper Tomato Sauce

Sweet Pepper Tomato Sauce (raw)

-1/4 – 1/3 cup diced tomatoes (can use fresh or canned)

-1/3 red bell pepper

-1 tsp olive oil

-1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes

-water, broth, or other liquid to desired consistency (I use very little and keep it thick)

-salt, pepper, basil, parsely

 

Mix everything in the magic bullet and voila! Delicious, sweet sauce!

Peanut Sauce

Simple and delicious and makes an excellent sauce for peanut noodles if you pair it with Udon noodles or spaghetti. I served mine over a combo of spaghetti squash and zucchini noodles. Perfect!

Peanut Sauce

3 Tbs peanut butter (I used chunky reduced fat peanut butter)
3 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup water (or could use broth)
1 1/2 tsp honey
1/2 – 1 tsp ground ginger
dash hot sauce (optional)

Mix all in a small saucepan over medium heat until peanut butter melts and it’s warm through.

Lemony Hummus

I love this hummus recipe because I don’t have to worry about whether or not I have tahini on hand (note: not usually!) and it’s just the right amount garlicky. The extra lemon juic brightens it up and makes you want to eat it with a spoon!

Lemony Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp minced garlic
3 Tbl olive oil
3 Tbl lemon juice
1/4 tsp cumin

Puree all ingredients in a food processor, blender, magic bullet, or pulverizing mechanism of your choice.

Man Approved: Chicken Enchiladas

I’m not sure there’s anything authentic about these chicken enchiladas (hint: there isn’t), regardless they are easy, delicious, healthy, and a total crowd pleaser. They do take advantage of some processed, canned food, but sometimes you just need easy. I’ve made these the last two times we’ve had company for dinner and people always go back for more. Even my mexican friends! That’s not a bad sign at all. So, authentic or not, make them!

Plus, they get a high fork rating.

Here’s the other thing: there are some easy shortcuts you can use to make these even faster to make. When I was really short on time I made them with rotisserie chicken breasts that I shredded, and a packet of store bought taco seasoning instead of my own.  Shhh!

Of course if you don’t want to use the condensed soups you could make a roux and add fat free half and half for the base but…in this instance, I’ll stick with the cans.

Man Approved: Chicken Enchiladas

1/2 cup chopped onion, any kind you have on hand
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
2 (10.75 ounce) cans 99% fat free, low sodium cream of chicken soup
1 cup light sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast meat
taco seasonings (I use salt, pepper, red pepper, paprika, cumin, cayenne, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder) OR 1 packet store bought taco seasoning
1 cup shredded 2% cheddar cheese
6 (12 inch) flour tortillas (I use the Mission low carb – no one knows!)
1/4 cup skim milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, saute the onion until tender. Stir in the green chiles, cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Season with your taco seasonings. Mix well. Reserve 3/4 of this sauce and set aside. To the remaining 1/4 of the sauce in the saucepan, add the chicken and 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Stir together.

Fill each flour tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up. Place seam side down in the baking dish.

In the bowl of the reserved 3/4 of the sauce add the milk. Spoon this over the rolled tortillas and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Bake 30 minutes.

Amy's Daddy's Artichoke Sauce

This is a recipe my dad sent me saying “when I make this all the girls come over! They love it!”

My dad lives in a neighborhood of old ladies. They love him.

Anyway, I made a couple  minor tweaks to my taste but overall it’s his deal. And it’s delicious!

Amy’s Daddy’s Artichoke Sauce

1 large red bell pepper
1 Vidalia/sweet onion
1 small can slided black olives
1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts (must use the marinated artichokes! We want the brine since it’s the basis of the flavor profile)
1 heaping tsp minced garlic
1 28 oz can diced  tomatoes (or you could dice fresh tomatoes)
salt & pepper to taste
crushed red pepper to taste
1 Tbs basil
1 Tbs parsley
1 packet Splenda
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Cut pepper and onion into thin strips. Saute in 1 tsp oil until onions are translucent.

Put remaining ingredients into the pan including the liquid from the artichoke jar (cut artichoke hearts into smaller pieces if too large.)  Cook over medium heat until boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 1 hour. Continue to stir occasionally.

Serve over angel hair pasta, or rice, or (if you’re me) just eat it with a spoon.

Healthy Chocolate Cake

I didn’t really believe it at first, but it’s good – really good. You definitely want it to sit overnight before eating it for the best flavor but I promise you, it tastes like chocolate cake!

This recipe is very graciously lifted from Lauren at http://healthyindulgences.blogspot.com/ and I’ve included my own preferences below (e.g. Lauren doesn’t like Splenda, but I prefer it as erythritol makes me a little gaggy. Also, I like eggwhites instead of whole eggs just to keep the calorie count a little lower even though whole eggs makes a cake with better integrity).

Healthy Flourless Chocolate Cake

1-15 ounce can of unseasoned black beans
1 cup egg whites
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
5 tablespoons oil
1 cup Splenda
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Put in muffin liners and spray those with extra virgin olive oil cooking spray.

Drain and rinse beans in a strainer or colander. Shake off excess water. Place beans, half of the eggs, vanilla, and salt into a  blender (or magic bullet!). Blend on high until beans are completely liquefied. Whisk together cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat oil with Splenda, add remaining eggs, beating for a minute after each addition. Pour bean batter into egg mixture and mix. Finally, stir in cocoa powder and water, and beat the batter on high for one minute, until smooth. Scrape batter into muffin tins and smooth the top. Grip pan firmly by the edges and rap it on the counter a few times to pop any air bubbles.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cake is done with the top is rounded and firm to the touch.

Don’t forget to let these sit overnight and then, if you are feel like (and I sometimes do) eat a chocolate cupcake for breakfast!

Posted via email from Amyella

Man Approved: Chili

This is, by far, HP’s most favorite meal I’ve made so far. It’s also the cheapest and probably the easiest. Hooray!

Man Approved: Chili

1.25 lbs 96% lean ground beef
2 – 14oz cans kidney beans, drained
1 – 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp minced garlic
.25 cup finely chopped onion
salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes
Franks Red Hot

Saute onion and garlic in a pan sprayed with cooking spray. Add beef and season with salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes. Break up the meat with spoon or fork and brown (you shouldn’t need to drain if you use 96% lean beef, but if you feel the need or you used higher fat content meat, go ahead and drain here.) Add the tomatoes and beans and season with salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, then cover and turn heat all the way down. Simmer on lowest setting for a couple of hours.

Top with Frank’s Red Hot just before serving. Tastes even better the second day!

Man Approved: Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Well we’ve had a couple of weeks to enjoy dinner at the dining room table (can I just tell you how nice it is to have a meal at the table?) and we’ve had some very good results with figure-friendly, man approved meals.

This meal I got from Ashlee’s blog (I made little, tiny modifications in the prep and cooking but it’s essentially her recipe using the flour, sauce, panko method.)

Man Approved: Buffalo Chicken Tenders

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup flour
salt and pepper
Old Bay
1 cup Frank’s Red Hot
2 cups Panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425.

Line a cookie sheet with foil. Place a cooling rack on top of it and spray with cooking spray. Chicken will be cooked on the cooling rack so the bottoms don’t get soggy.

Cut the chicken breasts into strips (I prefer this way over using chicken tenders because tenders have that cord of sinewy-fat down the center and it grosses me out). Line up your assembly stations of 3 plates: flour seasoned with salt, pepper, and Old bay; Red Hot; Panko.

Get a light dusting of flour on the chicken, then roll in hot sauce, then press into the bread crumbs.

Bake on the rack for 9-12 minutes, or until cooked through but still moist.

Spicy Tomato Lentil Soup

I bought some lentils the other day because I’ve never cooked with them before and they are supposed to be quite healthy. With a trip to the beach coming up this Saturday I’m on a mission to keep the eats ultra clean this week.

I looked online and found a few different recipes, then made this based on what I had in the house. It’s quite tasty and has a good kick! If you want to tone down the spice then only use 1 dried chili pepper.

Spicy Tomato Lentil Soup

1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 dried chili peppers, chopped
1 cup lentils
1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes
2 cups waters
1 packet Herb Ox sodium free chicken bouillon
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried basil

Spray a saucepan with cooking spray and add the garlic. Lightly brown the garlic and add the tomatoes, chili peppers, lentils, cumin and basil to the pan along with the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

When the lentils have softened, puree the soup in a blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 4 servings, each:

195 calories
.5 g fat
34 g carb
15.5 g fiber (leaving 18.5 g net carb)
13.5 g protein

Chicken Stuffed Peppers

An alternative to beef and rice stuffed peppers and bonus! I used SupahFood orange peppers!

These came out even better than I thought they would. They’re very colorful and flavorful.

Chicken Stuffed Peppers

6 orange bell peppers, tops removed and chopped, peppers seeded
1 pound 99% lean ground chicken breast
1/2 onion, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 summer squash, chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup fat free ricotta cheese
salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, basil, red pepper flake to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place peppers in a baking dish and bake 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a skillet over medium heat cook onion, pepper tops, zucchini, and squash until tender. Mix in the tomatoes, ground chicken, and seasonings. Cook until chicken is cooked through. Add ricotta and mix. Stuff the peppers with the skillet mixture.

Return peppers to the oven, and continue cooking 15 minutes.

Makes 6 servings, each:
132 calories
1 g fat
16 g carb
17 g protein