Tag Archives: cooking

Cracker Barrel and the under 300 dinner

Vegetable Beef Soup & Cheddar Beer Biscuits

I am not a fan of February. It’s a dreary month, looking out the window to month old snow, flurries won’t quit and freezing temperatures make me want to relocate to a tropical locale. Instead, I find my self making pot after pot of vegetable soup and hoping for an early spring.

Last February I was 9 months big and pregnant, there was record snow fall, my 87-year-old neighbor kept me company and I watched the entire winter olympics. Needless to say, I didn’t leave the house much so I would wait for my husband to come home and beg him to go Cracker Barrel. In the twenty times we went, I ordered the same thing every time - bowl of veggie soup and a big side of those sourdough croutons that are covered in butter.

I know for sure that my Cracker Barrel dinner did not ring in under 300 calories but my version does even with a biscuit!

Recipe:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 to 3/4 lb lean stew meat

2 cups low-sodium beef broth

6 cups water

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 large new potatoes, diced with skin on

3 carrots, chopped

1 cup green beans, frozen

1 cup lima beans, frozen

1/2 cup corn, frozen

1/2 cup peas, frozen

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

Heat oil over medium-high in a large stock or soup pot. Add onion, meat, salt and pepper. Brown meat quickly then add broth and water bringing to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Add carrots, potatoes and crushed tomatoes to pot and continue simmering for 30 more minutes. Meat should be getting more tender and potatoes and carrots will be softening.

Add the rest of the vegetables, bay leaf and season again with salt and pepper. Simmer at least another hour before serving. If more liquid is needed just add water. The longer the soup cooks the better it will taste. Take out the bay leaf before serving.

Recipe:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp butter, melted

2/3 cup beer, I used Michelob Ultra

1/2 cup low-fat or 2% cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a small bowl. Combine beer and sugar then add to flour mixture, then add butter and combine. Add cheese and stir well.

This will make a sticky dough. Just drop spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Makes 8-10 biscuits

Notes:

Using My Food Diary’s recipe builder, the soup is about 100 calories for a one cup serving and each biscuit is around 100 calories with 3 grams of fat.

One of my favorite places to shop is The Fresh Market, if you have one nearby go take a look. They have these fabulous frozen vegetables including Silver Queen Corn! Yep, Silver Queen Corn frozen and there all year round.

Spaghetti – Oh!

Bolognese with Pappardelle

Last week I was watching Top Chef All Stars and realized how much I love a good plate of spaghetti! They were cooking a traditional Italian meal in the kitchen of Rao’s in New York City. My granny’s kitchen is a long way from Rao’s but I swear her spaghetti and meatballs could go toe to toe with theirs any day.

Each year for my birthday, she would make my favorites, spaghetti and meatballs and a strawberry cake. We would spend hours in the kitchen perfecting those meatballs, letting them slowly simmer in a big pot of sauce and one thing that all good Southern and Italian cooks know is that food cooked with love is just – better food!

Recipe:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup carrots, finely diced

1/2 cup onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb lean ground beef

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 cup low-sodium beef broth

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp half and half

salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large, heavy pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add onions and carrots cooking until tender. About 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for a minute more. Add ground beef, season generously with salt and pepper and continue cooking until no longer pink.

Add broth, bring to a steady simmer, continue cooking until almost all of broth has cooked away. Stir in milk, simmer and let most of the liquid cook away. Then add crushed tomatoes, sugar and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Let sauce simmer for 30 minutes or so. Just before serving, stir in half and half.

Serve with pappardelle or your favorite pasta and a crisp green salad. Here’s a recipe for a quick creamy herb salad dressing perfect on a simple wedge of iceberg.

Creamy Herb Dressing

1/4 cup Fage 0% greek yogurt

1 tbsp light sour cream

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp basil, dried

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp oregano

salt and pepper

Whisk all ingredients together and chill before serving.

Notes:

Bolognese is a hearty meat sauce that is typically cooked for hours. This is a quicker version but the trick is to use good canned tomatoes. I prefer San Marzano tomatoes. I buy mine at The Fresh Market and they can be found in the italian specialty section at the grocery.

A heartier pasta works best with this sauce. I use pappardelle but a tubular pasta like penne or rigatoni would also work well.

Lou loves tacos

Spicy Chicken Tacos

Bless her heart, Lou is our rescue dog from College Station, Texas. While my husband was an intern at the veterinary hospital, he ran across Lou who had been hit by a car on a busy highway and brought into the hospital by a good samaritan. She underwent numerous surgeries, physical therapy and was used as a teaching case for the hospital. A cranky little dog, she earned the nickname ‘bad sam’ and with that my husband was smitten. We brought her home, carrying her up the stairs and telling our other dog to be nice to the fragile, cranky, little dog.

Not much perked her up until one day I was in the kitchen making tacos. She waddled over to me, sat at my feet sniffing, hoping a taco would drop to the floor. Sharing a little of the taco with her, we became fast friends and to this day anytime tacos are being cooked up, Lou is right at my feet.

Recipe:

1 1/2 to 2 lbs boneless chicken breast

1 tbsp canola oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced

1/4 cup green bell pepper, sliced into thin strips

1/4 cup onion, sliced into thin strips

1 can Rotel, pulsed in blender

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tbsp cornstarch

Heat oil in a large frying pan (one with a lid), add chicken and brown on each side. Remove from pan and set aside. Add onions, peppers and jalapeno and cook until tender about 5 minutes. Then add garlic and cook for a minute more.

Deglaze pan with chicken broth, stirring up all of the brown bits from the bottom. Cook for about 5 minutes and then add Rotel and spices, stirring well.

Add chicken back to pan, cover with lid and simmer on low to medium-low heat for one hour. After cooking, remove chicken from pan and shred with fork and set aside.

Turn heat back up to medium-high. Take out a few spoonfuls of the broth mixture and place in a small bowl, mix in 1 tbsp of cornstarch. Add the cornstarch mixture back into the pan and stir well until sauce thickens. Add chicken back to sauce a continue heating for 15 minutes before serving.

Notes:

Serve with your favorite tortillas, lettuce, cheese and sour cream. The chicken is also a great filling for burritos or on top of a salad.

I attempted to make my own flour tortillas for this dish but still haven’t perfected them – I’ll let you know when I do!

Now days, Lou is happy, healthy and still a little cranky but she spends most of her day hovering over the baby and barking at the mail man.

Southern Style Slaw

Southern Style Slaw

Wrapping up meat and three week with this cool, creamy salad just about sums up a good slaw. Some meals are just better with a side of crunchy, tangy slaw. I have never quite understood why some restaurants serve cole slaw in a small silver container on the side of your plate. It seems like an after thought and it’s usually not all that good.

In a meat and three or barbecue joint, the cole slaw is a pretty important side dish. With just the right amount of crunch and zest, a good slaw can compliment an already great meal. I love cole slaw on a good barbecue sandwich or a spicy taco and cannot even imagine a basket of fried fish with out it.

My version has a lot less mayo but still the same zip as a classic southern slaw.

Recipe:

2 cups cole slaw mix

2 tbsp 0% Fage greek yogurt

1 tbsp Hellman’s mayo

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp celery salt

pepper to taste

Combine yogurt, mayo, vinegar, sugar, celery salt and pepper in a small bowl. Gently toss dressing with slaw and chill at least 30 minutes before serving.

Leftovers? Make some meatloaf sliders. I use Sister Schubert’s wheat dinner rolls, top with meatloaf and spoonful of tangy slaw!

Not Your Nana’s Green Beans

Not Your Nana’s Green Beans

Meat and three week is back in action! Yesterday was spent in a dark, cold house with a 10 month old and three dogs thanks to the ice storm that whipped through Columbus. So here we are at perfect green beans to go along with our meatloaf and mac and cheese.

Until I was well into my twenties, I never ate anybody’s green beans but my Nana’s. Freshly snapped, cooked all day with a big piece of salt pork, they were the real deal.

A few years ago, after I had gotten past only eating Nana’s green beans, my mom let me in on a little secret. Those green beans weren’t always cooked the long hard way – there was a secret and its a good one.

You only need two ingredients to make green beans that look and taste like they have been cooking all day. Frozen green beans, beef bouillon and that’s it! My mom says this is an old Weight Watcher’s way of cooking green beans without any added fat. Follow this secret and you will fool even the pickiest of green beans connoisseurs.

Recipe:

2 – 12 oz bags frozen green beans, italian cut

8 cups water

2 tbsp Wyler’s beef granules

In a large pot, combine green beans, water and beef granules. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat so that there is a steady simmering boil. Cook for one hour or longer. If water gets too low add more.

It’s that easy and the longer you cook them, the better they taste!

Notes:

You can used canned green beans just be sure to rinse and drain them before cooking.

The skinny on mac and cheese

Macaroni and Cheese

In the south, we think of macaroni and cheese as a member of the vegetable family and after all no self-respecting meat and three joint would leave this gooey concoction off the list of daily veggies. Always a crowd pleaser, chock full of butter and cheese makes this favorite a definite belly buster and hip plumper!

Mother always says ” a moment on the lips is a lifetime on the hips” and if your short like me, decadent food always shows up on those hips sooner rather than later. You won’t miss an ounce of butter in this dish and your figure will thank you.

Recipe:

1/2 lb elbow macaroni or favorite pasta for mac and cheese

1 tbsp butter, unsalted

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese, lightly pulsed in blender

1 1/2 cups low-fat or 2% sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp parmesan reggiano, shredded

I personally like to use shells for my macaroni and cheese. This is a great pasta to use – it has 6 grams of protein per serving and is made of organic durum wheat. You can find it a your local Whole Foods.

Always try to use wheat or whole grain pasta when cooking. Barilla has an excellent line of whole grain pasta called Barilla Plus which has added protein and omega 3′s.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil large pot of water. When water comes to a boil add a pinch of salt and then pasta. Boil pasta according to directions for an al dente finish.

Drain pasta in colander and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

In same large pot, turn heat to medium. Add butter and let melt. Stir in flour and let cook for one minute. This will be a thick to almost crumbly paste.

Slowly whisk in buttermilk until a thick sauce is formed and there are no lumps. Stir in blended cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Once cheeses have melted into sauce, add macaroni back to pot and stir together to coat pasta evenly.

Spray a baking dish lightly with cooking spray and pour in pasta. Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes until bubbly.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Notes:

You may notice I do use butter even when trying to lighten up a dish. I do not like “light” butter type products. A lot of them contain palm oils and other things I cannot even pronounce. My theory is to use what is real and just less of it. Butter is all-natural and is made from cream and we all know where cream comes from so that makes me feel a lot better about what I put in my body.

I also never buy fat-free products. Whatever they take out to make a product fat-free you have to figure that what is going back in to make it taste good is probably not all that good for you! Try to stick to low-fat and 2% dairy products whenever possible.

Meat and Three

Meat and Three

My high school sweetheart took me on a our first date to Dotson’s in Franklin, Tennessee. He must have figured out this was a good way to win me over because it has always been one of my favorite places to eat. When it came time to break-up, I couldn’t think of a better spot than right back where we had started, Dotson’s.

There’s something about that looming list of fresh vegetables and meats that serves up comfort. A big plate of biscuits and cornbread, vegetables served in small bowls and big glass of iced tea to sip on while you gaze around at the hundreds of country music stars autographed glossies that hang on the wall are what make this place an institution when comes to meat and threes.

First up on my tribute to meat and threes this week is meatloaf. It’s the cornerstone of any meat choices keeping up this southern tradition. Stick with me this week and by the end you’ll have the recipes to build a perfect meat and three to enjoy right at home!

Recipe:

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef, 95/5 or 93/7 percent fat

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup sweet onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup green bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 cup oatmeal, quick cook

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 egg

1/4 cup tomato sauce, no salt added (buy an 8 oz can)

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a small skillet. Saute onions and bell peppers for 5 minutes or until tender.

Place ground meat in a large mixing bowl, season well with salt and pepper, add oatmeal, Worcestershire sauce, egg and tomato sauce and cooked onions and peppers. Combine well – using your hands works best!

Place meat mixture in a medium loaf pan and gently form a loaf. Do not mash down meat. Make a shallow well down the center of the loaf.

Tomato Topping:

3/4 cup tomato sauce ( rest of the 8 oz. can)

2 tbsp ketchup, I use Heinz Simply Ketchup

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

Mix all ingredients well and set aside.

Place meatloaf in the center of the oven. After the first 15 minutes of baking pour the tomato mixture over the top of the meatloaf and continue cooking for 30-35 minutes. Bake time will be a total of 45-50 minutes. You can always check the temperature to make sure it is cooked through. The temperature should register 160 degrees.

Before serving let meatloaf rest for about 5 minutes.

Notes:

I like to use no salt added or reduced sodium products whenever possible. By adding your own salt when cooking you can control the amounts.

I don’t like high fructose corn syrup. You’d be amazed how many products contain it; breads, spaghetti sauces, salad dressing and ketchup are just a few. Look for products without it such as Heinz Simply Ketchup. The simpler the ingredients the better for you.

I really like beef. Its easy to cut down on fat with ground beef if you buy leaner cuts. I like ground sirloin with a 95/5 or a 93/7 content.

Muffin Top Sunday

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Elaine had a million dollar idea when she became obsessed with muffin tops on an episode of Seinfeld. She insisted that you had to bake the whole muffin and break the top off the stump to get the muffin top. Little did she know that muffin tops would take on a whole new meaning.

A few years ago I mentioned that my jeans were giving me a muffin top and one of my male friends gave me bewildered look. I had to explain just exactly what that was – you see the jean makers of the world got together with the personal trainers of the world and came up with the crazy idea to sell really low-rise jeans. The result, no matter how flat of a stomach you have those low riders are gonna push that extra fluff right up over that waistband!

So muffin top and all, I decided to make a healthy muffin that won’t add too much fluff to the waistline!

Recipe:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup oatmeal (quick cook oats), rough cut in a blender

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/4 cup applesauce, no sugar added

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

3 bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a blender or food processor, pulse oatmeal a few times for a rough cut – not to0 fine. Combine flours, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, mash bananas. Then add the egg, sugar, buttermilk, applesauce, oil, vanilla and stir together.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold together. Do not over stir.

Fill muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes. This will make 12-15 medium-sized muffins.

Notes:

I made extra-large muffins using Panettone paper baking molds from Sur La Table. The cook time for an extra-large muffin will be about 20-25 minutes.

When I punched in this recipe to My food diary’s recipe builder. The calorie count per muffin was around 170 calories with 5 grams of fat.

Black beans and quarters

Hearty Black Bean Soup with Chipotle Cream

The first time I ever had black bean soup was in Puerto Rico. That set the bar pretty high as far as black beans soups go. It was the most exotic thing I had ever eaten. It had a subtle heat, served with a side of rice and a delicious pineapple salsa.

So while enjoying my new-found love of black beans, my sister was honing her skills as a card shark and gambler. Sister was a marvel at poker and relentless at the blackjack table. She would come running up with buckets of money flaunting her skills.

As we strolled through the casino one afternoon, she asked me for a quarter and I did what any good sister would do. So the quarter changed hands and into the slot it went. There it was, that secret talent. She won the $500 jackpot then turned to me and flipped the quarter back into my hand and said ”thanks for letting me borrow that quarter”.

Recipe:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 carrot, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 15 oz. cans black beans, pureed

2 15 oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup salsa, good quality

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin

pepper to taste

32 oz low-sodium chicken broth

Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large soup pot. Saute onions, carrots and celery for 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and cook for a minute more.

Reduce heat and add pureed black beans and whole black beans. Stir in spices and combine well with bean mixture. Add in chicken broth, stir well. Simmer for 30 minutes before serving.

Chipotle Cream:

3 tbsp 0% Fage greek yogurt

2 tbsp light sour cream

1 chipotle pepper, in adobo sauce

Put ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Chill before serving.

Serve soup with a scoop of brown rice, a drizzle of chipotle cream and chopped cilanto.

Notes:

I am picky about salsa. The best jarred salsa I have found is called Texas-Texas and can be found at The Fresh Market.

This soup gets better with age. I usually make it a day ahead, store in fridge and then reheat before serving.

True story, T.J. Maxx and MSG

Orange Chicken Stir Fry

Sometimes a true story is way better than a tall tale. You be the judge of this one. This all came about on one of our favorite mother-daughter past times, trolling through T.J.Maxx and to this day I blame it on the msg fog from the chinese food we had eaten earlier that evening.

So you see my mother and I have a knack for finding TJ Maxx stores anywhere and discovering priceless treasures during our sprees. This one evening they had put out the new arrival of winter coats and anyone that knows mother knows she loves coats. So in her excitement off came the white terry cloth hooded jacket and on went the coats – the oohs and aahs followed. While we were commenting on the coats and parading to the mirrors that little white hooded jacket got lost. We never found it…that night.

So forward 6 months later when the summer clothes were being wheeled out and yes, we were once again trolling late one evening. Mother ventured into the workout section. Still forlorn about her little white hooded jacket, she began browsing and across the store I heard a squeal of delight. She had found the little white terry cloth hooded jacket! Yes, on the rack with the same stain on the sleeve, Merona tag in tact and on a hanger complete with a price tag. The jacket was found!

The events sounded so unbelievable as we rambled on to the manager about the losing and finding of the coat. She must have felt sorry for us or was worried for her own safety that she believed our too crazy to be true story and off we went with the jacket…down the road to the Homegoods store.

Moral of the story…don’t go shopping after questionable chinese food. Make your own!

Recipe:

1/4 cup orange juice, the frozen kind thawed and undiluted

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tbsp canola oil

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

1 lb chicken breast, diced into 1″ pieces

3 cups stir fry vegetables, I use broccoli and carrots

Combine first 8 ingredients and set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes then add in green onions and veggies. Cook until chicken is done and veggies are tender.

Reduce heat and pour orange juice mixture over the chicken and vegetables. Stir well making sure to coat chicken and vegetables with sauce. Cook for a few more minutes until the sauce thickens.

Serve over brown rice. Makes 4 servings.