Baked Cod

Michael bakes this in a Emile Henry ceramic baker. Shown here with Kraft's mac & cheese (made lite), beets, salad.

Ingredients:

12 oz frozen cod, thawed

1 carrot, sliced & halved

1 stalk celery, sliced and diced

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 oz chicken broth

butter spray, cooking spray

salt & pepper

Spray the baking pan with cooking spray. Form a bed of the chopped vegetables in the baker. Add broth. Place thawed fish on the veggie bed. Spray with butter spray. Salt & pepper to taste. Bake at 400 degrees until fish flakes (15 to 20 minutes). Watch closely. Serve with veggies. Spoon broth onto fish and veggies.

Curried Turkey Burger with Pasta Gypsy

Shown here with Pasta Gypsy (see recipe Jan. 19, 2009 in this blog)

For 2 patties:

Mix together:

8oz ground turkey

1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. curry powder

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. salt

Shape into patties. Saute in 1 tsp. olive oil or canola oil, turn, cook until done.

Aunt Helen's Cottage Cheese "salad" (dessert)

I love this! Easy to make and even easier to eat.

Be sure to drain the pineapple, or it will not set up!

In a medium bowl, stir together:

1 small carton cottage cheese

1 small box lime jello (or any other color)

1 small carton Cool Whip lite

1 small can crushed pineapple, well drained

Refrigerate for a few hours to let it set up. Eat!

Trail mix for healthy people

This is a simple mix of items we buy at Trader Joe's:

1 c raw almonds, whole

1 c broken cashews, roasted and unsalted

1 c Thompson raisins

1/2 c raw Pepitas

1/2 c sunflower seeds, roasted and unsalted

Delicious! Healthy stuff if you're careful how much you eat!

Salad

After a few meals at the fabulous Ruby Tuesday salad bar, we decided to make fancier salads at home.  The trick is to watch the amounts of the higher calorie items and dressings that go into your composition.

Greens:  We grow our own mixed lettuces in the spring and summer, but the rest of the year we puchase the bags of mixed baby greens.  You can also use leaf lettuce, romaine, spinach, or your favorite greens.  Remember, the deeper green colors have more good nutrition.  (We hate head lettuce -yuk!)

Other low calorie stuff - USE LOTS:  Tomatoes, cucumber slices, carrots, onion, shredded cabbage, salsa, cauliflower, broccoli, celery. 

Medium calorie stuff - USE SOME to make your salad interesting:  beets, grapes, craisins, dried apricot pieces, dried cherries, edamame beans (shown in picture*), kidney beans, chickpeas, peas, corn.

* Edamame beans are soy beans, can be purchased frozen in the pod.  You thaw them, use the beans, but throw away the pods.  Edamame is delicious!

Higher calorie stuff - WATCH THE AMOUNTS YOU USE: Hard boiled egg, cheese, Chinese rice noodles (from a can - for a touch of crispy), croutons, sunflower seeds, almond slices, pecans, walnuts, pignoli (pine nuts), olives, meats, salad dressings. 

Dressings: Our current favorite dressing is Kraft Light Raspberry Vinaigrette which shows 60 calories for 2 tablespoons.  Salsa is another wonderful alternative.  Read the labels on your dressings!  Sometimes you can cut the calorie count by mixing equally with low fat yogurt (like ranch dressing).  Whatever you choose, be careful, as you can really load up the calories with the wrong choice of dressing.

Restaurant Leftovers

Restaurant meals are often much higher calorie count than we should be eating.  One of our favorite local meals is this Angus burger with cheese, onions, and mushrooms, with a baked potato and a side of vegetables, and bread.  At the restaurant we eat 1/2 of the meat and potato, the bread, and all of the vegetables (if you have the restraint, you can also skip the bread!).  We bring the other 1/2 of the meat and potato home.  The next day, we add a salad and some steamed vegetables, and have another wonderful meal.  

Meatball Stew

This is a great recipe we have used for years.  To control calories, be sure to watch the calorie count of the meatballs you purchase.  We are currently using Casa Di Bertacchi Italian Style meatballs from Sam's (frozen).  They show 5 meatballs = 220 calories.  This is lower than some of the meatballs we used previously.  You can also make your own meatballs, but watch the calories.

Meatball Stew (serves 4)

20 Italian meatballs

15 oz can diced tomatoes

1 medium onion, chopped

10 oz potato, chopped

16 oz frozen peas and carrots (or mixed, or add a few lima beans)

15 oz can green beans

2 beef bullion cubes

1 t chili powder

4 c water (or use carrot water, see January 18.2009*)

Put all ingredients in a large pot excdept the green beans.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add the green beans and simmer 5 more minutes.  Serve.