Ginger Beef Stir-Fry

adapted from Cooking Light

Honey, can I turn on the heat?

It’s freezing here today.  The thermostat has barely hit 65.  And, its raining.  In fact, I can’t remember the last time it didn’t rain.  Very unseasonable for this time of year. 

We’ve been traveling far more than I desire to this summer.  Off on vacation with the in-laws, picnics and bbq’s, local fairs, bridal showers in New York, and the latest – SOULFEST, a four day Christian music festival and camping excursion with 6 of our teens from youth group.   

I’m plum exhausted.

Next week is the last trip of the summer: New York again for my baby sister’s wedding.  The 8-hour trip gets longer every time.  Fly?  What a great idea, except the nearest airport is over 2 hours from my parents house.  Can you say boondocks?

Upon returning I plan to practice agoraphobia.   Hibernation will commence September 1st.  All joking aside I’m really looking forward to fall.  Back to schedules, cooler weather (although 65 is pretty cool), leaves, pumpkin spice candles, far less tourists (especially ones that go 10 miles below the speed limit in the left hand lane) and fall cooking (read: soup/stew/chili).

Are you ready for fall or are you clinging every last bit of summer?

I decided to take advantage of the weather and day off and cook me up some chili.  DH won’t touch the stuff seeing as how “everythings is all mixed together”.   Looks like chicken fingers for him tonight.

Three Bean Turkey Chili

                

Click below for the recipe and more pics!

Healthy Buttermilk Chicken Fingers

Last night I made The Skinny Chef’s Healthy Buttermilk Chicken Fingers.  I’ve never made anything from her site before, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good the chicken fingers came out.  Even my husband ate them which says a lot. 

Click here for the recipe!

WWP:  7 for 3 fingers

Cola Pork & Apple Slaw

Cola Pork & Apple Slaw

I’m doing this new thing with grocery shopping lately.  Usually I would go to the store for a big shop once every two weeks.  That worked OK except I have this big problem with keeping produce fresh.  We also waste SO much food because things always come up and meal plans go out the window.   So in order to correct these problems I’ve been going to the grocery store every other day on the way home from work and I pick up only what we need for the next few days.  Because the store is right on my way home I don’t waste gas and so far it’s worked out great!   Yesterday I stopped for the ingredients for Apple Slaw and Cola Pork.  Two new recipes I’m trying out.  And, may I say they both turned out amazing!

Click here for the printable version of:   Cola Pork

Click here for the printable version of:   Apple Slaw

 

White Bean & Barley Risotto

Adapted from Rachael Ray

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 1/2c. Fat free beef broth
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
• 1/2c. quick cooking barley
• 15oz small white beans
• 1/4c. flat leaf parsley

Planning Ahead

Mac N’ Cheesey (click for printable recipe)

One of the keys for me staying on track is having dinner already prepared and ready.  If I make extra of something, I preportion it, and put it in the freezer for a quick meal. 

Lately though I’ve been falling into the convenience trap.  Well we’ve been traveling a lot, so we’ve been constantly going out.  It’s been hard to get back into the swing of things when you get out of it for a few days…weeks. 

In an effort to get back on track I made two things yesterday:  Mac N’ Cheesey (my absolute favorite recipe) and shredded chicken for tacos.  I’ve already portioned each and put them in the freezer for the week.

I’ve also climbed back on the ‘ol treadmill.  It was tough, but I felt GREAT after my workout.  *Bonus* I always workout to an online show (my computer faces my treadmill) and guess what I found on CBS?  Full episodes of Family Ties and other classics.  Woohoo!

I’m also working on my meal plan for the week.   Weight loss is definitely all about planning ahead!

Shredded Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Packet Taco Seasoning (low sodium)
• 1c. Fat Free Chicken Broth
• 1lb.  99% Fat Free Boneless Chicken (all fat trimmed)

DIRECTIONS:

Place ingredients in a crock pot on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours until chicken falls apart with fork.

WWP:  3pts per 1/2c.

Tagged and Turkey, Spinach & Feta Meatloaf

I’ve been tagged by Kate at Winning Friends with Salad. Here are the rules!

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

My Five Facts:
1. If I could only only eat one thing for the rest of my life it would be cheesecake.
2. I am the second oldest out of 8 children.
3. One of my favorite things to do growing up was making and pulling taffy from scratch with my best friend Erica.  She is still my best friend today.
4. Two of my sisters were Lumberjack Princesses. They rode in the Lumberjack Parade every 4th of July and held hunks of wood instead of flowers.
5. My great-grandfather on my Mother’s side worked as a cranberry bogger South of Boston in the early 1900′s.  He died before I got to meet him.

Ok, now I tag:  PB Boy, Melissa, Anne, Gluten-Free Girl  and Dieting Battle girl.

Now that we got that out of the way, I present glorious Turkey Meatloaf Roll:

Spring Pasta Salad

This salad deserves it’s own post – it’s that good. Oh my.

Spring Pasta Salad
(Click here for a Printable recipe)

I don’t have a lot of experience with asparagus or squash. In fact I’ve exhausted a lot of energy avoiding these two vegetables quite successfully for the last 20ish years. Last week though for some reason I brought them both home from the grocery store and came up with this pasta salad. I hope you try it – I really like it, and the husband actually ate it.

Look at the nutritional information for Asparagus! It’s crazy good for you!

INGREDIENTS:

• 8oz. Rotini (I use Heartland Plus ALA Omega-3), cooked.
• 1/4c. Fat Free Italian Dressing
• Grilled Asparagus
• Grilled Yellow Squash
• Black Olives
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Turkey Pepperoni
• Cubed Cheese (Cabot 75% Reduced Fat Cheddar)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grill Asparagus and squash on indoor grill until soft. Set aside to cool.

1. Slice tomatoes, olives, pepperoni & cheese into bite size pieces.

1. In a large bowl combine pasta (cooked), veggies and fat free Italian dressing.
2. Serve or cool in refrigerator.

Yield: 8cups
WWP: 3 (1/2c portion)

Click here for printable recipe of Spring Pasta Salad

Chicken Cordon Blue

Chicken Cordon Blue Bleu

Tuesday is golf day around here. After work I pick up my husband (we commute together) and he drops me off at home then speeds north to the driving range. On these nights we don’t eat together, he usually eats on the road (read: fast food) and I take the opportunity to make something I like for dinner (it’s so nice not to ask the age old question – “What do you want for dinner?”). Tonight it was Chicken Cordon Blue. Yum, right?

Most CCB is really high in calories and fat because it’s deep fried, but this version is baked. It’s not exactly like the real thing, but its still really good. I served mine with 1% cottage cheese, but it would go great with mashed sweet potatoes. That was just way too much effort tonight though.

INGREDIENTS: (for one)

• Boneless chicken breast, fat trimmed
• Deli ham (I use Healthy Choice – it’s 40calories for 3 slices)
• 28g. Weight Watchers Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/4c. Corn flakes, crushed
• 1/4c. Egg Beaters

Stuffed Peppers

This is probably not rocket science for most of you, but I was fishing around in the fridge today and came across red peppers and leftover Mexican casserole and thought..hey..stuffed peppers.

Easiest thing to make in history and oh-so-good.

INGREDIENTS:
Leftover Mexican Casserole
Low-fat Shredded Mexican Cheese (I use the WW variety)
Red Peppers
Olive Oil Spray

DIRECTIONS:
1. Spray pan with Olive oil spray.
2. Cut red pepper in half and stuff with Mexican Casserole (1/2c. each side).
3. Top with shredded cheese.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

WWP: 4pts per half