Back in the Swing of Things

Hello everyone!!

I know it's been a while, but things have been rather chaotic around here for the last while! I got a new job, and we have been doing a lot of projects around the new house! I will be beginning posting again very soon, and am working on some great recipe posts as we speak which you should see shortly! :)

Have a great weekend!

Chinese Beef & Broccoli

Chinese food is one of those things that I think everyone loves, and I don't know anyone who doesn't! However, it is terrrriibbblllleeee for you. Beef & Broccoli is one of my favorites, as well as crab rangoons, egg drop soup, orange chicken, mmmmmm! But, I'll save those for another day. This Beef with Broccoli recipe is only around 330 calories too.

Ingredients
~3/4 lb round steak, cut into 1/4 in strips (sometimes I'll use sirloin if it's on sale..it's more tender)
~1 lb broccoli, cut up into florets
~1/3 cup oyster sauce
~2 tsp sesame oil
~1/3 cup white wine
~2 tsp soy sauce
~1 tsp sugar
~1 tsp cornstarch
~About 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
~1 slice ginger root
~1 clove of garlic peeled and smashed

1. Stir together the oyster sauce, sesame oil, white wine, soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch. Add beef strips to the marinade/sauce and let marinate in the fridge for about an hour.

2. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat, and stir/toss around the garlic and ginger for about 2 minutes to flavor the oil. Then, pull out the ginger and garlic clove and throw it in your compost pile :)

3. Stir the broccoli around in the oil, and toss & stir it until it's nice and green to your desired doneness (I like mine still crunchy but where the heads are JUST starting to get soft) right around 5-7 minutes. Remove the broccoli and set aside.

4. Add a little more oil to the wok if needed. Stir and toss the beef WITH the marinade in the wok until the beef is cooked and the sauce turns into more of a glaze (about 5 minutes).

5. Return the broccoli to the wok and toss with the beef for about 3 minutes to heat through and thoroughly coat. Makes 4 servings. Serve over rice if desired!

Let me know what you think! 

Five Ingredient Soup

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE soup!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Mexican food too!!! Tortilla soup, Enchilada soup, Taco soup.....mmmmm!!! I'm such a sucker for them!! Well, I have a five ingredient soup that is not only DELICIOUS, it's HEALTHY!!! and cheap!!

Ingredients

-1 can corn

-1 can fat free chicken broth

-1 can No Fat Rosarita Green Chile & Lime Refried Beans

-1 can Peeled & Diced "Chili Ready" Tomatoes

-1 can Black Beans "Seasoned"

1. Mix all together in a pot, and stir until refried beans have "melted" and blended thoroughly. Usually by the time it's boiling its ready.

Here's the finished product! Yum!! It's 143 calories per 1 cup of soup. My bowl holds 2 cups, and you can still add a little bit of light/fat free cheese or no fat sour cream without breaking your diet! This is also one of those things that tastes even better the next day, after the flavors have all had a chance to blend. Sometimes if I'm craving something a little spicier, I'll throw in some fresh minced jalapeno's too. 

Let me know what you think when you try it! 

Avocado Tuna Salad Pita Sandwich

Recently, I've been trying to find some new ways to eat the same old "boring" foods that I love so much. I've seen several recipes for healthy tuna salad, but they lack the creaminess that the tuna salad we know and love has. I found one that used avocado to bring it that creaminess, and added a little twist of my own to create an Avocado Tuna Salad Pita! 

Ingredients

-2 small (I believe they are 6 oz) cans of Tuna in water, drained and flaked (this should yield about 6-6 1/2 oz of actual tuna)

-1 ripe Avocado, chopped

-1/2 Tomato, chopped/minced depending on how much you like tomato

-1/3 Onion, chopped/minced depending on how much you like onion

-2 tsp Dried Parsley Flakes

-1 tsp Lemon Juice

-1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

-1 Tbsp Fat Free Mayo

-Pepper to taste

-Whole Wheat Pita Pocket Halves

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and blend thoroughly with a fork. 

2. Add about 1/4 of mixture to each pita pocket half, and enjoy! Feel free to add some lettuce to the bottom of the pita (like we did) for some extra crunch! 

These pita pocket halves are only 245 calories per half!! They were surprisingly filling, and adding some lettuce to give it a little bit of a crunch made it that much better! If you'd like you could throw in some sliced apples, chopped nuts, or minced jalapeno to shake it up. Super easy, took only about 15 minutes to make, and were definitely yummy! 

Give it a try, and let me know what you think. :)

Ellie's Garden Creations

Sorry for not posting as much recently, we finally moved!! I have been getting everything settled in, unpacked, and organized. I'll actually try to do a post on my kitchen organization soon! 

Now, my first post to get back on the regular posting bandwagon is going to be something delicious my sister invented!! This is a picture of Ellie, and one of her "Garden Creations" as she calls them. They're delicious and I calculated them to be only 25 calories for each one! They're a delicious snack, and all the veggie's are from my Mom's garden! 

Ellie uses the Formaggio brand Fresh Mozzarella balls from Sam's Club, cucumber's, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, and Ken's Lite Caesar salad dressing.

First, she prepares the cheese, by taking the cheese balls and slicing them into fourths.

Next, she prepares the cucumbers, by taking slices of cucumber and slicing them into fourths as well.

Now, you have your prepared cucumber fourths, and mozzarella fourths.

After that, she cuts/pinches the basil leaves from the stem to prepare them as well.

Now, Ellie slides a cherry tomato onto a toothpick.

Next, she adds a piece of the mozzarella, a basil leaf that has been folded into thirds, and tops it with a piece of the cucumber. 

 

 After that,  take your Ken's Steakhouse Lite Caesar dressing and pour a little into a tupperware container. Lightly dredge your Garden Creation in the dressing on both sides, and then leave it in the container. 

Finally, let them "marinate" over night, or enjoy right away!!  

These are delicious, and such a healthy, light, fresh snack! 

Let me know what you think!! 

Moving, and Kitchen Ideas

Sorry for my lack of posting in the last few weeks!! We are moving next week, and it's been a little crazy & busy! I haven't done too much cooking since we've been packing, so nothing much to post on either!

Normally this time of year, I have long started indoor planting my seeds/seedlings for my spring garden of herbs & veggies. However, since we're moving, I didn't start them...so they don't get shocked and die, or get knocked about too much. So, I wanted to come up with some way to grow something, anything easily and where I wouldn't feel guilty about it dying in the move.

So, I was thinking (actually a month ago, on my anniversary) that if you get flowers and you put them in water, what else can you put in water to last longer? So, the day after my anniversary I was cooking and used some green onions, and you know how you pretty much never end up using them all..., and I put them in a glass of water on the window sill. They're still growing now!  A month later! With the exception of a weekly "haircut" to keep them from growing too much (which is why they look all scraggly in my picture, because they just got their hair cut), they have grown beautifully and non stop! There are actually some new little onion bulbs growing on the roots right now. I just clean out the glass every couple days too keep it from getting to green, and give it a hair cut. All from one $0.89 bunch of organic green onions!

Then, I was thinking about a week ago, that if you can grow green onions in a glass like that, what else can you grow?? So, I cut up some celery and stuck the bottom of that in a container on the window sill. Look!! This much growth in a little less than a week!! It's just started shooting out little roots too! Super cool!

Yesterday, I cut up some pineapple and stuck that in the window sill too. Not sure what will happen with it, but we'll see!! I'm interested to see what else I can throw in my window sill in water and grow successfully! 

Any suggestions? =]

Grilled Mahi Mahi

I've never really liked fish (with the exception of canned tuna...but that doesn't count)....not going to lie about that. I actually despise fish, and would rather not eat than eat fish. BUT, recently the hubby's aunt made some Mahi Mahi that transitioned me...big time, and I couldn't get enough!! Then, right after that Mahi Mahi was on sale at Kroger and I got a giant almost 3 foot long filet with the skin on one side for $7. It's sat in my freezer for about a month because I had no idea how to prepare it, let alone cook it!! Well, like I said we're cleaning out our kitchen, so I finally had to give in. It was wonderful!!

Ingredients
-Mahi Mahi filet with skin on one side, cut into individual portions
-Vegetable Oil
-Lemon Pepper Seasoning
-Saltgrass Seven Spice Seasoning

1. Rub filet pieces on meat side with oil.
2. Sprinkle generously with lemon pepper and seven spice.
3. Grill over Medium High heat meat side down for 4 minutes.
4. Use grill flipper spatula thing & flip and grill skin side down for 4 minutes.
5. Use a meat thermometer and make sure it's above 140*.

This was delicious and was great reheated in the microwave the next day.

Let me know what you think!!