Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Healthy Recipes

I had a friend suggest that I share some of the healthy recipes that I make for my family. Well, I aim to please so I'm going to start today! :) Thanks for the suggestion!! I typically look at a recipe that looks yummy and change it up by eliminating this, adding that...so I'll try my best to remember what I did for each. At least it can hopefully give you some ideas to work from.


We are trying to eat more fiber and are doing 1-2 dinners per week without meat. That's a HUGE deal for us, especially me. I almost always eat lean meats (boneless skinless chicken breast, turkey hot Italian sausages, turkey sausage links, 93/7 ground beef once in a while), but I think it will be good to cut down a little bit if I can. I love my meat, though, so it's tough!


On Monday I tried a garbanzo bean recipe I found and made lots of changes adding some extra veggies to help fill us up. It ended up being really yummy! We both liked it. I had it for lunch yesterday at work with a peach and then my afternoon Kashi bar. I was hungry at dinner (around 7:30) but not starving like I mostly am, so I was really excited about that!! Phil has it leftover for lunch today so I'm anxious to see if it keeps him full longer too. So here we go...


Ingredients:
  • Instant brown rice
  • White onion (chopped for the brown rice and then I did some more strips of it for the vegetable mixture)
  • Broccoli
  • 2 cans garbanzo beans (low sodium - rinsed)
  • 1 can petite tomatoes (or fresh cherry tomatoes would be really yummy too!)
  • Peppers (I used red, orange, and yellow - they were on sale - cut into strips)
  • Fresh, minced garlic (probably about 1 Tbspn)
  • Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

In one pan make the brown rice. I added some extra water and after 5 minutes put in some broccoli and onion to give it some added flavor (I think plain brown rice is a little too bland).


At the same time, heat EVOO in a pan over med-high heat. Saute onions and garlic for about 2 minutes and then add peppers and tomatoes. Cook for about 5 more minutes and then add garbanzo beans. I probably cooked it for about another 10 minutes.


Top veggies/bean mixture over rice.


That's it! It was really easy and delicious! We were nervous but were both very satisfied. I will definitely make it again...and soon!!


Okay, so if you really want meat, I'll do one more I made recently that was delicious! My sister came for lunch the day after I made it and had some leftover and really liked it!


Ingredients:
  • Whole wheat noodles (I like the Ronzini ones for this recipe, but it really doesn't matter)
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • White onion, chopped (probably about 1/2 onion)
  • Hot Italian turkey sausage (I used 3 links) **these go on sale at Bi-Lo a lot! When they do, I stock up and put them in baggies of 3 in the freezer since I use them for a lot of different recipes.
  • 1 tspn. thyme
  • 1/2 tspn. oregano
  • 1 tspon. basil
  • Dash of crushed red pepper
  • Red/yellow peppers cut into strips (about 1 cup or however much you want!!)
  • Fresh cherry tomatoes cut in half (it called for a can of whole tomatoes but I like fresh better)
  • 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
  • Parmesan cheese

Directions:
  • Cook pasta according to instructions
  • Heat oil over med-hot heat and saute onions
  • Add sausage, thyme, oregano, basil, red pepper and cook about 5 minutes (or until sausage is cooked - break apart)
  • Drain and set aside
  • Wipe skillet w/ paper towel
  • In skillet, add oil and heat over med-high heat
  • Saute peppers for about 4 minutes
  • Add sausage mixture, tomatoes, and chicken broth and stir well. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Simmer about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Serve over pasta w/ a little Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Yum! We both loved this one too.


I'll share some more another day. I've been trying a lot of new ones lately. Again, my main criteria are 1 - healthy, 2 - quick, and 3 - easy!!


Happy Wednesday!! I had hoped to run today but my knee has been hurting me so I think it would be wisest to take a rest day. I iced it last night...hoping it's nothing serious!

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