Cinnamon Chips

I love cinnamon apples, pears, etc in the Fall, so today we tried something new and it was a success! I am always happy to find a lower-guilt level desert. This is super easy too!
I used whole wheat carb-balance tortilla. Cut them in pieces. Then spray them with Pam spray and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 400 for 10-13 minutes, and there ya go! Yummy, healthy cinnamon chips.

Taco Chili

Since this is the first open-windows day of the year, I am celebrating with some yummy (and healthy!) chili. I got this recipe from weight watchers and have been meaning to back it up for some time now, so this is great.

Ingredients:

• 1lb 97% fat free ground turkey
• 1 chopped onion
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 cups celery (not too finely chopped)
• 1 15oz can tomato sauce
• 1 small can diced green chilies
• 1 or 2 15oz cans of stewed tomatoes
• 4 16oz cans beans (mix or match pinto, black, kidney etc)
• 1 packet ranch dressing mix
• 1 Packet taco seasoning
  
• 2 teaspoons cumin (or more)
• 16oz bag frozen corn
• 1/2 cup water (optional- I usually don't need it after the canned tomatoes and beans)

Cooking Instructions:

Brown the turkey, add onions, garlic, and celery halfway through. One by one add the remaining ingredients. DON'T DRAIN ANYTHING. Heat through, simmer for a while if you like.

Sunday Splurge... Chicken Rigatoni

Even though we are focusing on healthy cooking, I usually let myself "splurge" once on the weekend and make an especially sinful meal or dessert. This week it was chicken and pasta in a white wine cream sauce... Wine, cream, cheese, and pasta... could you get any better????

Here's the recipe... the only change I would make is cutting it in 1/2.... As is, it makes about 6 servings.... I made the mistake of making the whole thing... now instead of just one meal, I have 3 leftover servings of this sinful treat...yikes!!!!

http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/search?q=chicken+rigatoni

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2tablespoons olive oil
  
• 4 grilled chopped chicken breasts
  
• salt and pepper
• 10 basil leaves (finely chopped)
  
• 1 large onion chopped and caramelized
• 6 garlic cloves chopped
  
• 10 ounces dry marsala wine
  
• 20 ounces heavy cream (or evaporated milk for a lighter version)
  
• 1 box (24 ounces) rigatoni pasta (pre-cooked or cooked as you are cooking the sauces)
  
• 2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used twice this!!!!)
  

In a hot sauté pan add butter and olive oil and let melt. Then add chicken, basil, caramelized onions, garlic, salt and pepper and sauté for approximately 2 minutes. Add the wine and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and bring to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and stir until all pasta is covered with sauce. Lastly add the parmesan cheese and stir until all chesse is melted!

Savory Substitutions

Since we are on a healthy mission, I thought we could list when we found some decent substitutions for less-than=healthful things. My favorite as of late:
Tazo Apple Cinnamon Spice Tea: I am spoiled and only buy the Tazo teas..they are so good. I like this one b/c once Fall hits I want to drink cider every day, but it is not the most calorie-conservative. This does not taste like cider, but it is a nice hot fally-substitution.

Fiesta Rice

You can have this as a side, or I like to add cheese and chicken and make it a bowl meal!

Yield

8 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup chopped green onions
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of salt
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with chiles, undrained
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Preparation

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add corn to pan; cook 10 minutes or until corn starts to brown, stirring occasionally. Remove from pan. Set aside.

Melt butter in pan. Add onions; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in rice, cumin, and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add chicken broth, black pepper, salt, and diced tomatoes to pan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in reserved corn and beans. Cover and let stand 10 minutes. Stir in cilantro and juice.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 226 (16% from fat)

Fat: 3.9g (sat 1.3g,mono 1.7g,poly 0.7g)

Protein: 6.6g

Carbohydrate: 43.5g

Fiber: 4.9g

Fabulous Fajitas... No Grill Required!

(Pics courtesy of Recipe Zaar... I am not used to this whole blogging thing yet and forgot to take my own!!!!

Okay... so this was actually a mis-read of thel recipe on my part (oops!) in which I originally thought the whole recipe was meant to be made stove-top... Turns out the meat is actually meant to be grilled, but by the time I realized that, I had all the ingredients prepared and was in no mood (or state of dress) to hike out to the cabana grill that is currently our only option grill-wise. Sooo... I tried it all stove-top and was pleasantly surprised!

Here is the recipe (from Recipe Zaar): http://www.recipezaar.com/Chilis-Fajitas-8595

The only modification I made was stir-frying the meat on the stove in the same pan as the veggies. It turned out great!!! Hubby said they were better than the pre-marinated stuff we used to buy to grill! To complete the whole Chili's illusion, I went by their "To Go" counter this morning and picked up chips and salsa (waaaay more than you could ever eat at one meal!) for $3.00!

Chili's Fajitas Recipe #8595

Serve on flour tortillas with cheese, guacamole, sour cream, tomatoes, and lettuce.

SERVES 4

For the marinade

• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Meat

• 1 lb top sirloin steak or boneless skinless chicken breast

Vegetable sauce

• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 dash salt
• 1 dash black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Vegetables

• 1 large Spanish onion, sliced thin
• 1/2 green pepper, sliced thin
• 1/2 red pepper, sliced thin
• 1/2 yellow pepper, sliced thin

1. Combine the lime juice, water, oil, garlic, soy sauce, salt, liquid smoke, cayenne pepper, black pepper and either the sirloin OR the chicken in a Tupperware container, cover, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Discard leftover marinade.
3. Grill meat over medium flame 4-5 minutes on each side.
4. Cut meat into thin strips.
5. Set aside and keep warm.
6. Combine the 2 Tbls. water, soy sauce, lime juice, salt, pepper and olive oil.
7. set aside.
8. cook onion and peppers in oil until brown.
9. remove from heat.
10. pour reserved mixture over onions and peppers.
11. combine meat, onions, and peppers.

French Toast (for the healthy and the not-so-healthy...)

You can probably tell just by looking that I do NOT wake up to green monsters like Cassie... Though I swear I will try one since you say you truly cannot taste the spinach... Anyway, here is MY breakfast recipe from the morning... I'll give you the healthy version and the not-so-healthy (but super yummy) version.

Healthy Version Ingredients:

(makes 1 serving or 2 small servings)

2 slices whole grain bread

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon skim milk

Non-stick cooking spray

sugar free fruit preserves

Not-so-Healthy Modifications:

White bread instead of whole grain

Butter instead of non-stick spray

Syrup instead of preserves

Cooking Instructions:

In either variation, whisk together egg, cinnamon, vanilla, and milk. Dip bread in mixture, coating thoroughly. Heat non-stick spray or butter in skillet. Place dipped bread in skillet, browning each side. Top with syrup or preserves. Enjoy!!!

I usually make one piece of the french toast per person and then use the same pan to make mini omelets (1 egg a piece) to go along with them.