Recipe: Curry Popcorn

Here is a slight adaptation on an Aarti Sequeira recipe from her Youtube "Aarti Paarti" days, before she went to Food Network, and they renamed her show "Aarti Party". :)

Curry Popcorn

~serves two peepses

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp vegetable oil (I usually sub canola oil)

1/3 cup popcorn kernels

1 tsp salt, finely ground

1 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp ginger powder

1/4 tsp garam masala (or you can sub cinnamon)

1) Put oil, along with 3 or 4 popcorn kernels, in a 3 quart pot on high heat, with lid on. Wait until all your tester kernels have popped.

2) Take the pot off the heat, then add the popcorn & all spices. Put the lid back on, shake to coat popcorn with oil and disperse spices. Wait 30 seconds.

3) Put the pot back on high heat, shaking periodically to prevent burning, until there are several seconds between popping sounds.

You're done! Remove from heat, toss in a bowl, and enjoy!

--Jay :)

Recipe: Italian Chicken Burger

This is a burger I came up with several months ago, based on ground chicken and Italian spices. Dee quickly named it one of her favorite burgers ever! Bonus!

Italian Chicken Burger
~Makes 4 servings



Ingredients:
1 lb. ground chicken
2 Tbsp. dried minced onion
2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash Italian spice blend
2 tsp. salt (we use a low-sodium variety)

1) Mix all ingredients in a bowl until combined.
2) Toss onto a hot surface until cooked (we use a two-sided contact grill for 7-8 minutes).
3) Eat up! :)

We serve open-faced with a slice of Nature's Own Double Fiber bread, throw on some mustard and pickles, and if we're feeling frisky, some low-fat cheese.

Nutrition Facts (burger only):
Calories: 180
Fat: 11.6 grams (only 3.5 is saturated)
Fiber: none
Protein: 18 grams

One slice of Double Fiber Bread adds 50 calories, 0.5 grams fat, 5 grams of fiber, and 3 grams of protein.

--Jay :)

Minestrone Fail?!

Being pressed for time Tuesday evening, I tossed together a batch of Chicken Chili AND Minestrone within a very short time, and I was feeling pretty good about myself... until we cracked our Minestrone for lunch of Wednesday to find... no rotini. Oops!!! :)

Oh well, we still had the chickpeas in there and I didn't really miss them that much, plus we ended up saving about 30 calories per serving. But I think I'll try extra-hard to remember to put them in there next time.

Live and learn...
--Jay :)

Recipe: Chicken Posole

Inspired by a dish that a co-worker brought to an office party, and our love for hominy... it's the perfect solution! :) Check keyword "recipes" for all our recipes...

Chicken Posole
~Makes 8 servings, 1.5 cups each



Ingredients:
1.25 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large can (49.5 oz) Swanson's 100% Natural Chicken Broth
3 cans (14.5 oz each) hominy
4 medium carrots, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
2 Tbsp. oregano (or blended Italian seasoning)
dried minced onion
garlic powder
black pepper
1/2 Tbsp. salt

1) Place broth, hominy, carrots, bell pepper, and spices in a large pot and get boiling!
2) Grill chicken until cooked through, and dice.
3) Add chicken to soup pot and simmer together 10-15 minutes.

Quick and easy!

Nutition Information (per 1.5 cup serving)
Calories: 182
Fat: 2
Fiber: 6.5
Protein: 16

Yum-o!
--Jay :)

Recipe: Veggie Minestrone

Here's a quick minestrone that I put together to break up those chicken noodle soup blues... :) Click keyword "recipes" to see all our recipes!

Veggie Minestrone
~Makes 8 servings, 1.25 cups each



Ingredients:
2 cans (15.5 oz each) Garbanzo beans
1 cup dry rotini pasta
1 large can (49.5 oz) Swanson's 100% Natural Chicken Broth
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) green beans
1 large handful fresh spinach, rough chopped
4 medium carrots, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
dried, minced onion (or substitute fresh onion)
2 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash Italian Medley seasoning

1) Place broth, tomato sauce, Garbanzo beans, green beans, carrots, bell pepper, spinach, minced onion, and seasoning in large pot and get boiling!
2) Once boiling, add pasta, reduce heat and simmer 10-15 minutes until pasta is cooked.

Quick and easy!

Nutrition Facts (per 1.25 cup serving):
Calories: 187
Fat: 1.5
Fiber: 9.5
Protein: 9

Dig it!
--Jay :)

Recipe: Chicken Barley Soup

This is a slight variation on the chicken noodle recipe... Remember: keyword "recipes" to see all our recipes all together...

Chicken Barley Soup
~Makes 8 servings, 1.25 cups each



Ingredients:
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large can (49.5 oz) Swanson's 100% Natural Chicken Broth
3 cups water
4 medium carrots, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 cup barley, quick cooking
1 big handful fresh spinach, rough chopped
dried, minced onion (or substitute fresh onion)
salt (we use a lower sodium variety)

1) Place broth, water, carrots, bell pepper, and spinach in large pot and get boiling!
2) Grill chicken until cooked.
3) Dice chicken and add to soup pot.
4) Add barley and minced onion to soup pot. Add salt to taste.
5) Simmer for 10-15 minutes until barley is cooked.

Yum yum!

Nutrition Facts (per 1.25 cup serving):
Calories: 163
Fat: 1
Fiber: 3.5
Protein: 19.5

--Jay :)

That's a wrap...

Dee & I crafted a nifty little lunch wrap for ourselves today... We had picked up these wheat wraps at the grocery store, so we decided to toss in a handful of fresh spinach, half a can of tuna, a handful of raw snow peas, a splash of fat-free Italian dressing, and a slice of fat free sharp cheddar. Roll up and toss on our double-sided grill panini-style for 3-4 minutes. Very nice! A bit higher in calories than our normal soup & salad, but Sunday is our "loose" day to experiment a little and break any monotony we may have fallen into. Also, today I'll be trying those two new soup/chili recipes to get us through the work week.

Rock!
--Jay :)

Recipe: Chicken Chili

Here's a mild chili that I created using diced chicken breast instead of ground meat. Remember, you can click keyword "recipes" to see all the recipes together...

Chicken Chili
~Makes 10 servings, 1 cup each

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 packet chili seasoning (whatever heat you prefer, may want to use 2 packets!)
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
2 cans (15.5 oz. each) dark red kidney beans
2 cans (15.5 oz. each) pinto beans

1) Put tomato sauce, all beans, and seasoning in pot and get cookin'!
2) Grill chicken until cooked.
3) Dice chicken and add to chili pot.
4) Simmer together 10-15 minutes.

Break out the bowls! :)

Nutrition Facts (per 1 cup serving):
Calories: 243
Fat: 0.5
Fiber: 8.5
Protein: 23

Cost per serving: $0.61 (we found chicken on sale for about $1.50 per pound!)

--Jay :)

Recipe: Chicken Noodle Soup

Here's a really simple, nitrate-free chicken noodle soup I threw together one day, and Dee and I rocked that stuff every day for lunch without getting tired of it! :) And remember, you can click on keyword "recipes" to see all our recipes!

Chicken Noodle Soup
~Makes 8 servings, 1 1/4 cups each



Ingredients:
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large can (49.5 oz) Swanson's 100% Natural Chicken Broth
3 cups water
4 medium carrots, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1.5 cups dry rotini pasta (we used "garden" rotini)
dried, minced onion (or substitute fresh onion)
dried parsley
salt (we use a lower sodium variety)

1) Place broth, water, carrots, and bell pepper in large pot and get boiling!
2) Grill chicken until cooked.
3) Dice chicken and add to soup pot.
4) Add pasta, minced onion, and parsley to soup pot. Add salt to taste.
5) Simmer for 10-15 minutes until pasta is cooked.

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts (per 1.25 cup serving):
Calories: 156
Fat: 1 gram
Fiber: 2 grams
Protein: 19.5 grams

Cost per serving: $0.96 (we found chicken on sale for about $1.50 per pound!)

--Jay :)

Recipe: Crab & Corn Chowder

Our first experiment with soup, using imitation crab meat, which Dee grew up on. Remember, you can click this keyword "recipes" to see all our recipe posts at once.

Crab & Corn Chowder
~ Makes 6 nice, large servings



Ingredients:
6 cups fat-free chicken broth
2 cans (15.5 oz each) Great Northern beans, or other white bean
24 oz. imitation crab meat
16 oz. frozen corn
2 green onions
1 Tbsp. Old Bay seasoning (we used Old Bay Blackened seasoning)

1) Chop crab meat and green onions.
2) Combine all ingredients in large pot.
3) Simmer on medium-high for about 30 minutes, to a consistency you like. I also tried smashing some of the beans to thicken the broth. (Ah, if only I had a stick blender...)



Chow time! This recipe would lend well to shrimp, and other vegetation of course, so we'll be having some fun with this bad boy. :) If the portions are too large, divide into 8 servings (or cut the entire recipe in half, and divide into 4 servings, same difference).

Nutrition Facts (per serving):
Calories: 370
Fat: 2 grams
Fiber: 8 grams
Protein: 21 grams
Sodium: 1570 mg (this is a little high for my tastes... the chicken broth was already lower sodium, but I'm sure using fresh beans or frozen beans could make a difference, and using a fresh seafood like real crab meat would help as well)

Rock!
--Jay

Recipe: Sweet Potato Fries

All right, so I think we've perfected this one about as much as we're going to... Time to make the first official "recipe" post of the blog. :) I'm planning to have all the recipes linked from the main page, and searchable for keyword "recipes" so they're easy to find all at once.

Sweet Potato Fries
~ Serves 2 people



Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes, washed with skin left on
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. oil (we use canola)

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2) Cut sweet potatoes into 1/4 inch rounds, discarding the ends of the potatoes. Cut the rounds in half to make semi-circles.



3) Toss sweet potatoes in a bowl with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oil, coating all pieces evenly.



4) Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray or oil, and place sweet potatoes in a single layer, leaving a little room between pieces.



5) Bake 25 minutes on the first side, flip all fries, and bake 10-15 more minutes on second side to a dark golden brown on both sides. I've also found it helps to move the fries around the edge into the middle and vice versa, as the outside of the pan seems to cook faster than the center.

Time to eat! These times work perfectly for our oven, but you may want to play with the timing the first time to make sure nothing's getting OVERdone... Also, we use a lower sodium salt, so play with that to your tastes as well. And of course, this recipe lends itself SO well to trying out different spice combinations, so... have fun and explore!

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
Calories: 250 (for about a 9 oz. sweet potato, plus oil)
Fat: 6 grams (less than 1/2 gram of that is saturated)
Fiber: 7.5 grams
Protein: 4 grams

Enjoy!
--Jay :)

Welcome to the Sweet Potato Fry Blog... :)

How do I love Sweet Potato Fries; let me count the ways...

Okay, so we're totally not burnt out on the awesomeness of Sweet Potato Fries, and tonight's batch was the best yet! (Okay, so I think I've only made them four times, but still...) I left them in the oven longer on the second side, and got them nice and toasty... tender inside... mmmm...

Here they sit, next to one of my favorite vegetables of all time...



Why are so many people Brussels-sprouts-haters? I guess I can see they've got a unique taste... a little cabbage-y. If they're not cooked enough, their raw taste isn't very pleasant. But I love these things, AND they're great for you, so... bonus! :)

We hit the gym again today... Dee did 35 minutes on the elliptical, and about 20 on the treadmill, burning approximately 590 calories, according to the electronic brains. I... sat. :) I decided to be there for moral support, but I had a little too much work to do for our theatre group, so I rocked the laptop across the room while Dee worked out. :)

I'll try to limit the number of Sweet Potato Fry photos from now on... Once we clear off some of these leftover Nutrisystem lunches and frozen entrees, we'll start cooking more and have more to show off. :)

Sweetness!
--Jay

Enter: Exercise?!?

Yes, the punishment phase has begun... Actually... it wasn't that bad. :)

Dee and I had begun going to the fitness center to use the elliptical & treadmill a couple of times a week for a few weeks back at the end of last year. But that didn't last.



Today, we decided to partake in an organized exercise class... aerobics with light weight training. The class was about 50 minutes, and it was actually really fun. We both felt really good afterward! We're shooting to incorporate exercise at least three times a week now... probably twice at the fitness center, and one time at home. We have a Gazelle (thank you Tony Little... "you can DO it!!!") and a Core Rhythms dance fitness DVD system.



Dinner was a nice creation from our eDiets days called Tuna Pasta Salad. Normally done with rotini, we had to sub angel hair, as it was the only pasta in our cabinet. :) Throw on a can of tuna drained of its water, some fat-free Italian dressing, some spices, little spinach on the side... yum!

So... exercise count for the day: 50 minutes, aerobics & light weights.

Woo!
--Jay

Smoke Alarms: 3, Humans: 0

Well, we've yet to defeat the smoke alarms during the "sweet potato fry" making process! Due to some residual oil in the bottom of the oven, we had another auditory assault this evening. The fries keep getting better though! Can't improve too much on perfection!

--Jay

Chickpeas = Garbanzo Beans = Cecis = Cicer Arietinum

What's In A Name?

For a "day off" lunch treat, Dee made a variation of a Food Network "Five Ingredient Fix" salad recipe centered on beans. We chose to use chickpeas... I mean, garbanzo beans. Or, as Mario Batali likes to call them, "cecis".

The original recipe (located here) involved endive, cannelini beans, roasted red peppers, with some olive oil and lemon juice. We opted for some substitutions from the fridge, and went with iceberg, chickpeas, raw red pepper, fat-free Italian dressing, and added some water-packed tuna for extra protein, and crushed pretzels for crunch. Rock! I didn't get a photo, but next time we may opt for a fancier green and make a nice beauty plate to put on here. :)

Two more days until weigh day number four!
--Jay

Step One: Disable Smoke Detectors

Sweet Potato Fries - Take Two

Attempt number two at savory sweet potato fries: a rip-roarin' success. :)



We are hard at work perfecting our new favorite way to consume sweet potatoes. I have learned (and not for the first time) that there are certain things that are NOT meant to be baked on perforated pizza pans. Oil-coated sweet potato fries? Definitely one of those things. After having offended the smoke alarm gods for two out of two attempts, I will henceforth lean toward a nice, sturdy, solid-bottomed sheet pan. But these things are turning out to be awesome!

Only changes this time was that I left the skin on, and cut the potato into about 1/4" rounds, which I then cut in half to make semi-circles. Much faster than those silly strips I made the first time. High oven, get a nice char, good to go! So here's the rundown for those who missed it:

Preheat oven to 425. Use one nice sized sweet potato per person, washed with skin left on. Cut into rounds, 1/4-1/2" then cut rounds in half to make semi-circles. Toss in a bowl with just enough canola oil to coat, plus salt, pepper, and garlic powder (I know, right?!) to taste. [The recipe from mi hermana-in-law suggested chili powder as well, but we haven't gone there yet.] Spread in a single layer on a SOLID sheet pan, don't crowd. Bake about 20 minutes, flip all fries and bake about 10 minutes more, until a nice dark golden crunchy brown on both sides. Eat and marvel at the yumminess you have crafted.

In a conversation with my aunt the other day, she mentioned that she cuts the calories of a dish similar to this that she calls "Roasted Winter Vegetables". She takes cubes of sweet potatoes, and mixes with butternut squash and carrots, and roasts them all up until tender. I'm thinking two parts sweet potato, one part of each other item. That must be tried in the not-to-distant future as well. Yum! :)

Keep on keepin' on!
--Jay

Post-Party Depression?

Just got back from the overabundance of deliciously evil food, better known as my company New Year's party. Dee executed decent portion control, but I did go a little beyond. Crab dip, red meat, and a plethora of dessert options could not be resisted!

Upon returning home, I found a delightful e-mail from mi hermana-in-law (and current winner of our weight loss "competition") featuring lots of positive thoughts for Dee, and a crap-load of awesome healthy recipes, which will be tested (and probably blogged) very soon.

Looking forward to the continued "challenge"...
--Jay

Is it still "breakfast" if you eat it at noon?

The Most Important Meal of the Day

Ah, the crack of noon and we're cooking breakfast. Such is the life on our days off from work. :)



There she is... our standard issue breakfast. I like to call it our "happy breakfast"... see the smiley face there, oh how cute... Whole wheat bagel with fat-free cream cheese and strawberry preserves, frittata/omelet made with egg substitute (today's featured bell peppers, onion, and parmesan cheese as we were out of deli meat), a 6 oz. non-fat yogurt, and a large cup o' joe, featuring Splenda and "light" powdered non-dairy creamer. Yum.

* Estimated Cost of Meal per Person: $2.15

So, for about the cost of two greasy things from the local "dollar menu" we've rocked a decently healthy breakfast that left us significantly more satisfied. Nice.

Upon weighing this morning, I'm still a half-pound up from last week, but tomorrow morning is the official weigh day. It feels like it's been a good week, so we shall we how we end up tomorrow morning!

--Jay

Can you overdose on sweet potatoes?

Mmm... Sweet Potatoes



I do love sweet potatoes, but after trying to work them into our "diaita" three times a week, we're already experimenting with nifty new ways to cook them. We decided to try sweet potato fries again tonight, after I failed miserably at making some several months ago. Dee came across a Paula Deen recipe today, and we decided to adapt it and give it another go.

They actually turned out great, and Dee claims they're now her second-favorite food of all time, second only to shrimp! Here's how they went down... super-easy...

I took one nice sized sweet potato for each of us, and cut it into strips like steak fries. Toss them in a bowl with just enough oil (we did canola) to barely coat, along with a pinch of salt, pepper, and (believe it or not) garlic powder! Bake for about 20 minutes at 450, turning at least once. Our thinner fries started to burn and had to be removed before the rest were done, due to my uneven knife skills. :) Anyway, the garlic powder gave them a savory spin, and they almost tasted like regular potatoes with just a hint of sweetness. A great alternative for when you get a little burnt out on the "sweet potato" taste.

--Jay