Egg White Omelet: My favorite healthy breakfast

The following is my go to breakfast when I'm not working.  It's low in points+, filling, and tides me over for about 5 hours.

1.  Start with a good non-stick pan.  Spray it with cooking spray and put it on medium heat.
2.  Separate the whites from 3 eggs.  You can save the yolks for another recipe or pitch 'em.  If I'm making my husband French Toast I add them to the batter to make it more custardy.  If not, I thrown them down the drain.  Put all three egg whites in the pan.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
3.  Once the egg whites look pretty solid, cover the pan.  You can flip the omelet if you want, but adding a cover steams the top so it firms up without having to do the flip.  Once firmed up add low fat cheese (I find that 1/2 oz. of feta or parmesan OR one wedge of laughing cow swiss is perfect).  You can recover and keep cooking if you want to melt the cheese.
4.  Slide the omelet out of the pan and onto a plate.  Meanwhile add chopped veggies of your choice into the same pan.  You may need a bit more pan spray.  Today I used chopped tomatoes and asparagus.  Salt and pepper if desired, recover.  When veggies are cooked through (I like them well cooked for an omelet) dump them onto of your open omelet and fold it over.
5.  While veggies are cooking toast 2 slices of Sara Lee 45 Calories & Delightful Wheat bread.  (1 pt+ per slice).
6.  When everything is done - eat up.

I usually have this with a big mug of coffee with half a cup of Almond-Coconut Breeze & Stevia.  The Almond-Coconut Breeze is 1 pt.+ per half a cup.  It makes my coffee taste like an almond joy bar (really).

The total point count for this is 5 points.  Pretty good.  Add fruit and this is HUGE!

Steaming the top of the egg whites.

All cooked!  Never flipped!

Tomatoes, onion (not for the hubby), spinach, summer squash

Dumped the veggies on top of a broken up wedge of laughing cow cheese

Folded (of course it broke on the day I'm taking pictures) with toast!

Weight Watchers Zero Point+ Veggie Soup

Weight Watchers Garden Vegetable Soup

It's 0 points plus per cup and a good snack to keep me from eating what I actually want to eat.  Says it makes 6 servings.

1.  Use cooking spray to spray a nonstick saucepan, heat.  Saute' 1/2 cups sliced carrots, 1/4 cup diced onions (my husband will never eat this), and 2 minced cloves of garlic over low heat until softened about 5 minutes.
2.  Add 3 cups fat free broth (beef, chicken, or veggie), 1 cup diced green cabbage (I buy the pre shredded stuff), 1 cup chopped spinach, 1 Tbs. tomato paste, 1/2 tsp. dried basil, 1/4 tsp. dried oregano, and 1/4 tsp. salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, & simmer for about 15 minutes.

(Obviously, I used a huge soup pot... overkill.  A large sauce pan will be fine).

3.  Stir in 1 cup diced zucchini, and cook 3-4 more minutes.  I also added 1 cup of diced summer squash (yellow squash).

(Taken with my phone... much better!)

This was absolutely delicious!  Yes, I'm eating soup on a 100 degree summer day.  No, I don't know what's wrong with me.

A rhubarb recipe I love

We have an ENORMOUS rhubarb plant in the backyard.  It's always a little magical in spring when it starts to unfurl from winter's death.  We can watch it grow inches every day.

This is a recipe I discovered when my husband and I were first dating.  He got sick in our first year together and while caring for him I had to find foods he could eat and would eat to keep his weight up. This one isn't super weighty, but he'd eat lots of it.  I'm posting it here because I currently have the recipe on a ripped piece of paper, and while I've kept it for 7 years, I can see it getting lost or ruined.

The following is for an 8x8 baking dish or a pie pan.

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Put 2 Tbs butter into whatever dish you're using and put it in the oven to melt.
2.  In a bowl mix 2/3 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of vanilla sugar (I have never owned vanilla sugar, so I just throw in some actual vanilla), 1.5 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 2/3 cup skim milk.
3.  Add batter to pan & sprinkle 2 cups chopped rhubarb on top.
4.  Bake 40-45 minutes then cool.

It is light and yummy and especially good with vanilla ice cream!

Pear Risotto with Prosciutto & Fried Sage Leaves

Sunday July 1, 2012
Well, it's Monday July 16 and I'm just getting to this.  We went on a fantastic vacation to San Diego where I ate as much local fresh fish as I could, but we went camping so there were lots of burgers and brats too :)

Pear Risotto with Prosciutto and Fried Sage Leaves.  From Eating Well Magazine.

Directions:
1.  Put about an inch of vegetable oil in a small sauce pan.  Heat it and drop in four largish fresh sage leaves & 1 slice of prosciutto (cut into strips).  Cook until crispy.  Place in a strainer over heat proof bowl to drain (I used a porcelain cereal bowl).
2.  (My directions here based on there being too much salt in the initial recipe.  If you want the original directions go to the link above).  Heat three cups of broth and three cups of water together in a sauce pan until simmering.  Keep it simmering.
3.  In a large pot or dutch oven heat 1 Tbs of olive oil.  Add 2 tablespoons of shallots or garlic (I used garlic because my husband won't eat shallots).  Stir for 1-2 minutes.  Add 1-2 tsp of minced fresh sage leaves.  Add 1 cup of chopped peeled Bosc pears.  Add 1 cup of Arborio Rice (risotto).  Stir to coat the rice with oil.  Add 1/3 cup dry white wine.  Turn up the heat and stir for 1-3 minutes until the wine is absorbed.
4.  Start adding the hot broth/water mixture 1/2 cup to 1 cup at a time to the rice.  Keep a simmer going.  The Arborio rice will absorb a lot of water and become creamier.  After about 10-15 minutes if you want softer pears, add 1 more cup of peeled chopped Bosc pears.  If you want your pears to have a bit more tooth feel - wait another 5-10 minutes.  This is the annoying part of making risotto.  You need to baby sit it, stir it, watch the water absorb and when the mixture feels more creamy than liquid - add more.  You'll be doing this for 20-30 minutes total.
5.  When all broth has been absorbed, turn off the heat.  Add 2 Tbs parmesan & 1 Tbs butter (I used brummel and brown because it's what I had in the house.  Honestly, I don't think this needs any additional butter.  It's creamy enough.
6.  Serve with fried prosciutto and fried sage leaves on top.  Should make four 1 cup servings.  1 cup was pretty filling.

From eatingwell.com:

NUTRITION

Per serving: 267 calories; 10 g fat ( 4 g sat , 4 g mono ); 22 mg cholesterol; 32 g carbohydrates; 10 gprotein; 2 g fiber; 405 mg sodium; 122 mg potassium.

Pictures as I go!

Fried Sage Leaves and Prosciutto 

Cooking!

My husband's dinner.

The Verdict:  This was too salty and the pears didn't hold up after being cooked for so long, but I used Anjou instead of Bosc (which are a bit harder), so that may have been the problem.

Here's what I would change if making this again:  I would use HALF broth and HALF water.  I think the intense saltiness was caused by too much broth being cooked down.  I would also cut it down to 6 cups total liquid instead of 8 (the original recipe called for 8 cups of broth).  I would definitely use Bosc pears and I would use more fresh sage in the cooking.  I also might not add the pears until the end so they weren't mushy like the risotto.

Fruit, Chicken & Goat Cheese Spinach Salad

Friday June 29 Dinner

Simple tonight, strawberry, blueberry, and chicken spinach salad with optional goat cheese.  Dressing will be just balsamic vinegar that I got at the Olive Oil Shops.  It's so good it doesn't need anything else.

Roasted Lime Cilantro Eye of Round Tacos

Dinner Thursday June 28, 2012

Roasted Lime Cilantro Eye of Round Tacos.   If using a 2 pound roast, 4 servings = approx. 8 points+ each (not including taco fixings).  Honestly, I think it's more like 6 servings.. maybe more.

This needs to be prepped the night before you cook it!  I always miss that so I thought I'd put it first.

The Night Before
1.  In a cuisinart make a paste of 8 garlic cloves, 1 jalapeño seeded (if you're weak) and diced, 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (about 3 limes), 1 Tbs. Coriander seeds (the website I got this from says 1 Tbs of ground coriander will work too), 1 Tbs. Cumin seeds (I didn't have seeds, so I just used 1 Tbs ground cumin), 1 Tbs coarse-grained salt, 1 Tbs olive oil.
2.  Slice into a 2 to 4.5 pound eye of round roast (I have a 2 pounder, and so did the website I got this from), making a few one inch cuts on each side.  Rub a tsp. of the paste (mine was a sauce) into the cuts and then slather it onto the whole roast.  Wrap the roast tightly in plastic wrap and put it back in the fridge.
Day of
3.  Put the roast into a crock pot on low for 8 hours.  Shred and serve with taco fixings.  You can also do this in an oven, but it's going to be 100 degrees F tomorrow.  Why would I turn on the oven if I don't have to?

5 1/2 hours left to cook.  I really need to get a better camera.

3 Hours left.  Look at all that juice!

It said 1 hour left, but I wanted to test how shreddable the beef was... and it just fell apart.  AND THE TASTE! OMG.  I just texted my husband and told him to come home from work early because dinner is going to be SO GOOD.

Notes:  Next time I make this I'm going to try half the salt (1.5 tsp instead of 1 Tbs.)  It's really good, but I am pretty salt sensitive (just taste, not effects).  I think this would be fabulous with much less.

For those who watch calories (or points plus), hard taco shells are 3 pts+ each, soft corn tortilla's are 1 pts+ each.  Light sour cream is 1 pt+ per table spoon.  Avocado is 3 pts+ for 1/4.  I went WAY over points tonight because I didn't pay attention to the extras when I was eating.  I still have activity points, so I'm okay, but I think I'd eat this on a salad next time.  The beef was delicious.  The rest is gravy. 

Chicken & Corn Salad. Cauliflower Tots!

Wed. June 27, 2012.

Tonight's dinner.

Chicken with Corn.  From Weight Watchers Magazine. Makes 4 servings.  Pointsplus 6

1.  Remove kernels from 3 ears husked corn on the cob.  Mix Kernels with 2 Tbs. water in a shallow microwavable casserole.  Cover with paper towel and microwave on high until corn is crisp-tender, 1:30-2 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, whisk 2 tsp olive oil, 1.5 tsp balsamic vinegar, and .25 tsp kosher salt in a large bowl; stir in 2.5 c. diced cooked chicken breast, 1 c. halved tiny red & yellow tomatoes, .25 c. chopped fresh basil and 12 sliced pitted green olives.  

Combine.

Also making Cauliflower Tots.  I initially heard about them on pinterest, but did a search for a weight watchers friendly version (linked above).

Review
Salad:  This is absolutely delicious! I will definitely make this again.

Tots:  I screwed up the recipe and they still came out well.  I wound up ricing the cauliflower in my cuisinart (like the recipe said), but I didn't cook it.  I just tried to squeeze out the water (does anyone have a good method for this?  I used paper towels... there has to be an easier way).  Then I added the ingredients, shaped the tots, baked them on parchment (highly suggest)... and they came out great!  Pretty sure I could eat the entire recipe.  And since other than cauliflower it's just 1 egg and 1 egg white... oh and half a cup of low fat cheese... it can't be that bad.  The recipe says 15 for 3 points.  I don't know that mine were the same size as the original chefs.  Even my husband liked these and I've made cauliflower faux mashed potatoes before, and he HATED them.  So this is kind of huge.

Anyway - good dinner tonight!  

Introduction & Curry

About Me & This Blog
This is a place for me to post recipes that I'm cooking for myself & my husband that aren't on line, and to link to recipes that are.  I try to cook healthy foods because I'm on a perpetual diet, which means the hubby has to make up any calorie deficit with lunch, breakfast, and snacks.  He's no worse for the ware and I don't seem to be any thinner.  But we eat well :)
Also, all recipes will be Onion & Shallot free because my husband is, well not allergic, but as he puts it "mentally ill."  He just can't stomach onions.  So lots of garlic (he can handle that), no onion.


The First Recipe:
Red Lentil Curry

Spray the bottom of a sauce pot with cooking spray (I use organic), but you can also make your own.
Grate some fresh ginger into the pot, I probably had about 2 tsp.  Add 2 tsp of curry powder.  I used one that had other seasoning in it.  It's called Curry Row from Urban Accents (it has turmeric, Moroccan coriander, cumin, China #1 ginger, Cayenne red pepper, nutmeg, fennel, cinnamon, white pepper, fenugreek, fennel arrowroot, cardamom, cloves, & Tellicherry black pepper).  Then add about 2 tsp of minced garlic (I definitely used more, but use what you like).  I always buy the pre-chopped kind.  Then a pinch of red pepper flakes.  Add 1/2 cup of red lentils (they cook faster).  Add 2 cups of broth (veggie or chicken).  Bring all of this to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes.  Then stir in a few cups of fresh spinach until it's wilted (a minute or so).  Serve with brown rice.

Review:  The flavor was fantastic.  The brown rice gave it just enough tooth feel.  I think if I made this again I would add some roasted veggies like asparagus and carrots just to thicken it up.  It was quite good though and I'll probably make it again.