Easy Chili and Cornbread

Super quick and easy chili and cornbread...the recipe was given to me by my friend Barbie who helped me see that I needed to actually cook for my family in the first place. That's what started this blog. I'm so grateful for her!

I make browned hamburger and put one pound ziplocs in the freezer when I can. Easy to add one pound ground hamburger to any recipe by pulling it out of the freezer. I like to use ground turkey in this recipe, though I use twice the amount of meat because turkey doesn't have the bulk/fat that the beef does, it is just more tender.

Phillip's Chili
1lb ground hamburger browned (I prefer more protein. I can add 2lbs turkey in addition because it shrinks, or another pound of hamburger for my carnivore family)
saute onion and garlic
3 cans black beans
3 cans pinto beans
1 can garbanzo
plus 1 can water
1 small can corn
30oz tomato sauce
1T coriander
1/4C chili powder
2t cumin
Bring to boil. Simmer 15 minutes. EAT!

Cornbread
I think I made the cornbread recipe on the back of the corn meal box but added a half cup of sour cream to make it more moist. I poured the batter half full into a large muffin tin. Add butter and honey. :)

UPDATE 01/12/2012: We are loving the cornbread (I did not add sour cream, it doesn't need it!) and I usually pour it into a 9x13 pan as the portions are too big in the muffin tin.

Cranberry Orange Chicken Casserole and Roasted Broccoli

I love the flavors!

Mix frozen vegetable medley (carrots, corn, peas, green beans) with cream of chicken soup and some sour cream, put in 9x13 pan. Put cooked chopped chicken breast over the mixture. Prepare box of stuffing (if it takes 1 1/2 cups of water, make it 3/4C water and 3/4C frozen orange juice concentrate). Toss into the stuffing some craisins and chopped pecans. Spread the cooked stuffing on top of the chicken and bake. YUMMY! (I think it would be even better with two boxes of stuffing).

Cranberry Chicken Bake

This turned out delicious! We used my mom's fresh cranberry/cherry sauce from Thanksgiving over chicken breasts and baked it. Superb! The kids LOVE the crescent rolls, so I've been doing those every now and then. Super tasty meal!

Beef Burgundy-No Crockpot!

Well shiver me timbers, I can still taste this DELICIOUS meal just looking at the pictures! The turkey bacon is insanely delicious and flavored the pan right away. I added a little olive oil and garlic and tossed in the meat, then the can of tomatoes and let it simmer then tossed fresh carrots and frozen peas on top...WOW, this turned out SO GOOD without the crockpot! I didn't have mushrooms but who cares because the flavor was outstanding! The TSG seasoning that goes in here is incredible! We all enjoyed the tender meat!

This TSG recipe was prepared in June (read about it here) and it wasn't anything like this because I cooked it in the crockpot (aka-boiled meat). I used BEEF bouillon instead of chicken tonight...wonder if that made a difference, too?

Lean & GREEN!

Since I started a diet, I've been food focused and inspired to post. This has become of our favorite recipes. This is "Dijon Chicken & Broccoli" from Stacey Hawkin's Time Savor Gourmet cookbook. I LOVE how GREEN it is! Cook up the broccoli in her garlic oil with her special seasoning. Put aside. Then cook the chicken with garlic and sauce of soy sauce and dijon mustard. Let all simmer together, yummy! Sometimes I thicken the juice with a little cornstarch for a "gravy" feel. Super yum!

UPDATE: We didn't like the spinach in it...it is best with just the broccoli and chicken...next time!

Clean Kitchen!

Wow. What a delight to cook tonight! It's so funny, every time I put Chicken Puttenesca on the meal plan, somehow that night gets hijacked and we never actually eat it! I've never even made it before and it's been scheduled at least five times! So even though I didn't marinate overnight and slice the chicken breasts and bake it, we DID eat Chicken Puttenesca tonight, sorta.

I've been blogging about becoming free from being messy at my other blog http://tidy-house.blogspot.com/ and the kitchen "after" pictures are here. Viva Italiano!

Chicken Puttenesca & Go Green Medley

TSG's Chicken Puttenesca is delicious! I can't believe how many vegetables we're eating! I had a few frozen green beans, some frozen peas and frozen soybeans so I tossed them in the microwave and called it "Go Green Medley". I served brown rice with the non-dieter's plates and John is doing so well on his diet that his pants are starting to fall off!

Costco Frozen Marinated Salmon & Roasted Asparagus & Christi's FRESH Homemade Bread & Pasta Wheels With Parmesan

Costco offers a fantastic marinated frozen wild salmon that is super easy to fix. A bit of olive oil in the fry pan and the flavor is out of this world! We are probably nearing the end of the asparagus, but while it's here, we'll keep eating! Love the roasted asparagus with olive oil, kosher salt and balsamic vinegar! This salad is just salad greens with spinach from Costco and ready made fat-free italian dressing. John's dinner (photo 2) is lean & green. He's lost FORTY pounds! Way to go honey! The rest of us enjoyed a slice of Christi's Fresh Homemade Bread-SUPER YUMMY, awesome flavor and texture! Also made some pasta wheels with parmesan cheese for the kids (and me)!

Turkey Cabbage Comfort

Another TSG recipe. More later. Served John the main dish and salad. We had brown rice with ours. The flavor wasn't what I was expecting. I would slice the cabbage in strips for smaller pieces next time since John doesn't care for cabbage all that much.

Salmon & Roasted Asparagus With Salad

This is another TSG recipe-can't remember so I need to look and write more. Kids and mom had baked potato and John ate pico de gallo that he bought for himself and it went well with the meal.

Asian Pot Roast

This TSG Asian Pot Roast is outstanding! Sarah loved it and ate it all, asking for seconds. She rated it a 7. John rated it much higher. I used the TSG Lemon Flavored Oil to fry the frozen stir-fry vegetables and tossed in some tomatoes and orange bell pepper I had in the frig. This would have been great with asparagus, too. John ate the roast, stir fry veggies and a salad with Drew's Sesame Orange dressing that was surprisingly tasty for being so healthy. I want to use it as a marinade for chicken someday soon.

I made Uncle Ben's rice (which I hate but it was fast) and molded it in a little bowl. It really helped me eat less rice! Later while putting the dishes in the dishwasher-(I run a load of dishes every night before I go to bed no matter how full or empty-this has helped me as I've been learning to cook)-I noticed a new bag of brown rice tucked under some other stuff by the toaster! Oh well!

Turkey Taco Salad

This is a TSG recipe and I was supposed to serve it over lettuce but we didn't have any. Not sure how that happened. So it is ground turkey and spices and John LOVED it! I simply served it over a huge portion of the Costco frozen green beans. I think I made macaroni and cheese that night for the kids. John asked for me to make this again he liked it so much. Super easy and healthy!

UPDATE: 10/07/11-We now call this "Turkey Fry Up" and have it quite often!

Dijon Chicken & Broccoli

Presenting dinner: TSG's Dijon Chicken & Broccoli. Top pic is what me and the kids ate and the second photo is what John ate (no pasta). This was ok...about a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Broiled Ginger Salmon with Lime Butter

I like this recipe but I didn't like it broiled. It was kinda dry. I think a pan fry or poaching would give better flavor. Besides, this is frozen salmon which isn't the same as fresh! Of course, we have fresh Copper River Salmon at Costco for $10/lb. I plan one fish and one turkey meal per week so maybe we'll indulge since it is in season.

John ate a green salad, green beans and salmon. I added pasta w/ parmesan and butter for the rest of us. I think it super weird that my plate is hanging off the edge of the table in the top photo...was I in a hurry or what!? I like the flavor from this recipe though I really need to get a zester.

Beef Burgundy and Green Salad

TSG's Beef Burgundy recipe was great (I added carrots)! John liked it enough to have it again but the kids didn't care for the flavors. I reserved the sauce from yesterday's asparagus for salad dressing plus cold roasted asparagus for the salad. I made baked potatoes for the rest of the family.

One of the challenges of making new meals is deciding how to actually serve them...what plates to put them on...we've gone through a lot dishes because of this issue!

Salmon & Green Beans-Enter LEAN & GREEN

John has lost more than 20 pounds! He's doing Take Shape for Life and doing great!

So I've had a major change in the way I plan meals. Recently, I actually got my entire month planned! This was a huge milestone and I was very excited to not have to be planning all the time. But the reality is that the kids don't really eat my meals. Enter the BRAINWAVE-if they don't eat my meals anyway, why not cook for JOHN!? I can plan Lean & Green meals for his eating plan and they can not eat that!

So my new focus is to create a new meal plan for one month and just use it again and again. I'm guessing it will improve as we replace what we really like with the less desirable meals. John got the meat and beans and the kids ate a half of a baked potato and some leftover couscous. They didn't eat much, but DANIEL LIKED THE SALMON! Whooohooo!

These salmon patties were pretty good. Wild salmon patties from Trader Joes. I marinated in teriyaki sauce and pan fried them in some olive oil over medium heat for less than 10 minutes (about 4 minutes per side). Frozen green beans from Costco. Really easy meal!

I used the marinade from the PRISM cookbook (bottom of page). In 2004 I lost 40 pounds doing PRISM. I didn't cook in 2004 but I did try two recipes and they are really, really tasty!

Favorite Flank Steak & Roasted Asparagus

This terrific flank steak marinade is my mother-in-law's recipe. So easy!
3T olive oil
3T soy sauce
1T ketchup
1/4t oregano
garlic of your choice
Marinate for 12-24 hours.

We've discovered fresh asparagus-not steamed-but cooked in a super yummy way. Roasted on a foil-lined cookie sheet for about 15 minutes at 350ish. Sprinkle olive oil and kosher salt and a splash of balsamic vinegar before cooking. YUM!

Wrap a poked potato in plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes. Viola! I made another dinner!

Chicken, Couscous & Way Too Much Spinach!

Ooops, this was a made-up dinner. A little chicken, a box of couscous and frozen broccoli and a few carrots. I thought I'd be "healthy" and add some green since John can only have "lean and green" for dinner...I used a box of frozen spinach. This was the SPINACH dinner...too much! I could have just used a half of a box and that would have been OK.

Five Bean Soup

Five Bean Soup with chicken was delicious. Sadly I was the only one who liked it. You won't be seeing this dinner again!

Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake

This turned out awesome and everyone LOVED it! I made an alfredo sauce, boiled up the very BEST whole wheat pasta spirals, cooked up some chicken and tossed into a 9x13 and baked it. I used parmesan regianno (Real Food for Healthy Kids recommends this cheese in a lot of their recipes) and heavy cream in the sauce, I wanted to DRINK it!