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 :)

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 :)