For Me For Life

I wish I took pictures of my food to entice some of you more.  However, this soup I made tonight was positively amazing, so easy to make, and totally Core.  I adapted it from Rachael Ray.  It was so so so good.  You must try it and feel super healthy, comforted and happy at the end of your fall/winter night! Here goes:

Chicken Noodle Soup - Italian Style

• 1 T. olive oil
• 3 celery ribs chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped (I used a couple of handfuls of baby carrots)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and ground pepper
• 2 quarts chicken stock (broth works fine too!)
• 1/2 pound whole wheat penne pasta
• 1 pound chicken tenders (or breasts) cut into bite-six pieces
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 can kidney beans rinsed
• 1 can white beans (cannelini, great northern, whatever) rinsed

Place a large soup pot over medium-high heat and add the olive oil.  Add celery, onion, carrots, garlic and bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes.  Add chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, add the penne pasta and cook according to package directions (I cooked mine about 8 minutes).  Add the chicken during the last 4-5 minutes of cooking.  Add the tomato sauce and beans to heat through, about 3-4 minutes.  Simmer until you serve.

I’ve gotten so many nice responses to last night’s post on the two recipes—here is one I’ve been meaning to post (I had it posted before the crash). This could be one of my 100% all time favorite recipes. I’ve shared it with many many people and they all can’t believe how good they are either. MEATLOAF MUFFINS! They freeze really well, AND, I often have on a 100 cal. English muffin the next day for a meal OR I fry up and egg, heat up a leftover muffin, and have it for breakfast. I’m serious people, this one is amazing…and approved by children of ALL ages! Be sure to check out my recipe page. I keep trying to add more to it. I try to key all my recipes or cut and copy them from other websites onto a Word document. I have quite a libray of recipes…and I’m trying to post them as I make them! Cooking is the one hobby I actually have and stick to and I truly LOVE it! So enjoy! And thanks so much for all your awesome comments!!!

Meatloaf Muffins (Core)
Cooking Light

• 1 t. olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• ½ cup finely chopped carrot
• 1 t. dry oregano
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 cup ketchup divided
• 1 ½ pounds extra lean beef
• 1 c. finely crushed fat-free saltines (I use a rolling pin and put the saltines in a large Ziploc baggie and go to town!)
• 2 T. prepared mustard
• 1 t. Worcestershire sauce
• ½ t. fresh ground pepper
• 2 large eggs, beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, garlic and oregano and sauté 2 minutes. Cool mixture

Combine onion mixture, ½ cup ketchup, beef and next 5 ingredients in large bowl.

Spoon meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 t. ketchup (I just squeeze a little on top of each) Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160 degrees. Let stand 5 minutes.

6 servings: 2 “muffins” each ☺

I made these up tonight..but I was inspired by the Barefoot Contessa and Rachael Ray. The meal was SO incredibly good and all Core…I don’t have point values, but I estimated each one anyway (and I think it’s probably pretty close to correct!) YUMMY!

Chili Turkey Burgers (Core)

Inspired by Rachael Ray

(Hubby even said, hmmmm these taste like chili!)

• 1 pound ground turkey breast
• 1/4 minced red pepper
• 1/2 minced chili pepper
• 1/4 minced red onion (this was a medium sized onion)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 T. chili powder
• 1 T. cumin powder
• pinch of salt and a couple of grinds of pepper

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix together (the best way to do it is with your hands). Mix well, but don’t over do it. Divide into four burgers and grill them. I used my stove-top grill and sprayed it with Pam. You could also just cook them on a regular grill OR in a regular pan.

I estimated about 4 points per burger…although it depends on how much turkey you actually use!

Serve it with:

Guacamole Salad (Core)

Inspired by the Barefoot Contessa

• 1/2 red onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 yellow pepper (could also be red or orange) chopped
• 1/2 chili pepper minced
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
• 1 can black beans rinsed
• 2 avocados chopped ( cut them in half, score them like a checkerboard, and scoop out the meat. You will have chopped avocado!)
• juice of 1 -2 limes
• pinch of salt and a couple of grinds of pepper

Mix all ingredients through the avocado together. I just layered them in the bowl and then carefully mixed them. Then, juice the lime over the mixture and add the salt and pepper to taste (you decide how much lime juice to use!) SO GOOD! The whole bowl would be about 12 points, so depending on how much you serve will determine points.

Ok, I’m off to bed after I comment on 5 blogs. I didn’t workout tonight. I’m going to have serious issues with the whole working out thing at night. Man oh man….

After we got home from our trip, I went out and harvested all of my tomatoes that were ready. I was just going to make a quick sauce out of them tonight, but then I realized I hadn’t had any protein today and my veggies were low. SO, I grabbed a couple of zucchinis and ground meat out of the freezer and this is what I came up with!

Zucchini Tomato Pasta Toss

• 4 oz. ww noodles of some sort. I used elbows
• 8 oz. lean ground beef
• 1 small onion diced
• 8 tomatoes (mine were pretty small) diced
• 1 1/2 zucchini chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 t. Italian Seasoning
• a splash of beef broth

Cook the pasta according to directions.

Coat a deep skillet with Pam. Brown the meat, onions, and garlic. Add the zucchini and sautee for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir. Then, add in about 1/4 c. beef broth and stir up all the drippings. This will make it more flavorful and juicy. When the noodles are done cooking, drain and then add to the pot. Sprinkle with the seasoning. Stir and let simmer for about 5-10 minutes.

YUM! I calculated it about 6 points per serving and we split this HUGE pot between the 2 of us! I felt so much better about all my food for the day!

After dinner I did a take on Roni’s banana split. I sliced one banana between us, a bunch of strawberries, made some FF/SF vanilla and chocolate pudding. I put 1/4 of each pudding and layered between the banana and strawberry. It was a GREAT dessert. Thanks for the inspiration Roni!

So, here’s my menu for the day. I’m still adjusting to being back…plus I waited too long to have lunch and ended up snacking on a 100 cal. bar. Those are gone now…I’m not buying them again! I was down over 2 pounds this morning though! No workout today. I’ll do Day 2 of week 1 of C25K tomorrow!

Food	Points	Start at 26
grits	4	22
100 cal. bar (I hate these EMPTY calories!)	2	20
Small Quiznos Veggie sub. No guac, olives, or dressing	7 (est.)	13
Baked Lays	2	11
Ice cream bar (Mindless munching!)	2	9
Zucchini Tomato Pasta Toss	6	3
Banana Dessert inspired by Roni	3	0
Activity points– 0
TOTAL	26/26	35 WPA left

I would take pictures and be fancy, but honestly, finding the time just to do this is good enough for me! Some day maybe….

Portabella Mushroom Pizzas

• 1 small onion diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic diced
• 1 green pepper diced
• 1 red pepper diced
• 1 pound ground beef (beef of your choice, you can use turkey if you’d like!)
• 1 t. of olive oil
• 20 slices turkey pepperoni
• 4 oz. grated soy mozzarella (you can use any kind of cheese you want–I use soy so it’s Core)
• 4 Portobella mushroom caps
• 2 t. Italian Seasoning
• 1 (6oz) can of tomato paste

1) Clean the mushroom caps. Take off the stems and de-gill. I just scrape the gills out with a spoon. Brush them off with a damp towel on both sides. Don’t run them under water! They’ll get tough! Spray a non-stick pan with Pam and cook the caps on each side for about 2-3 minutes. Take them off the burner and set aside.

2) Pour in the olive oil and saute the garlic and onion for about 3-4 minutes on med. high until clear. Add in the peppers and cook about 4 minutes more. Add in the meat and crumble until cooked all the way through.

3) Add in the tomato paste and stir until the meat mixture is coated. Add in Italian Seasoning and mix well. Slice the turkey pepperoni into slivers and add to the mixture. Mix well.

4) Turn the mushroom caps so the gill side is up. This creates a “dish” to add the meat into. Spoon the meat mixture into the caps. Top with 1 oz. cheese on each cap. Broil on high until the cheese melts.

YUM! I made mine with 93/7 lean meat and counted about 8 points for 2 caps. I could be totally off…but it seems right to me!

Ok, I managed to make yesterday an entire Core day (except one ice cream bar), got in all my fruits and veggies, milk, and stayed within points. Whee! I didn’t exercise, but I’m ok with that for now. I made this awesome dish that I found on the Core board, but I made several modifications that made it more to my liking. It was so filling and an awesome dish!

Baked Chicken with White Beans (Core)

• 1 T. olive oil
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 medium chopped onions
• 1 (14.5oz) can undrained Italian-style stewed tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 t. Italian seasoning
• 2 (15 ox) cans rinsed white beans

Heat oven to 350.

In a large ovenproof skillet, heat oil on medium. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper and brown in oil on both sides about 2-3 minutes on each side. Set aside the chicken breasts.

In the same pan, sautee the onions until they are browned and crips, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently. Add a little bit of Pam if you need to. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, and seasoning. Mix around getting all the bits and pieces off the bottom of the pan. Pour in the white beans and simmer for abou one minute. Place chicken back in the pan and cover with the bean mixture. Bake in the oven, uncovered about 25-30 minutes until chicken is no longer pink.

Points: This depends on the chicken you use…but with 2 ounces of chicken that I ate and about 1/4 the sauce, I counted it for 6 points.

I served this with whole wheat couscous (soaks in the sauce amazingly) and broccoli steamed, drained, and then sauteed in garlic. Such a good meal!

I made this a while ago and hubby loved it. It’s so flavorful and the pork chops are super tender. I’m not sure of the points… would depend on the size of the chop!

Pork Chop, Rice & mushroom Casserole (Core)

 4 pork chops
 2 TBS canola oil
 2 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
 1 medium onion, chopped
 1/3 c chopped green onions
 1/3 c chopped green bell pepper
 1 can beef broth
 1 c water
 1 c uncooked brown rice
 8 oz mushrooms
 Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, brown pork chops in 1 TBS oil. Remove. Add remaining TBS oil to pan; saute garlic, onions and bell pepper. Add broth, water, rice, and mushrooms. Salt and pepper to taste; stir. Place pork chops on top of rice. Bake at 350*, covered, for about 35 minutes, until chops and rice are cooked through and most liquid is absorbed.

Serves 4 (1 serving = 1.5 tsp healthy oil)