Light Watermelon Green Bean Salad

In the summer I love coming up new light clean salads so we are not constantly eating the same thing.  The other day,  I had green beans on hand and wanted them to be secondary in a dish.  This is how I came up with the Watermelon Green Bean Salad.  Pair with the following meatball recipe for a complete and healthy meal.  Below is the recipe and directions.

Ingredients

Handful Arugula (about 1 1/2 cups unpacked)

2 Handfuls baby lettuce mixture (about 2-3 unpacked cups)

1/4 cup feta cheese

1/2 cup cubed watermelon

3/4 cup preped green beans (cut 1-2 inches in length)

1/3 shallot onion sliced thinly

1 teaspoon fresh garlic

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinaigrette

1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Add the baby lettuce, arugula, feta, watermelon to a bowl and chill in fridge.  Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan (to about med temp) and add the garlic and onion, saute about 2 min until garlic becomes translucent.  Next, add the green beans to the pan and continue to saute for about 5 min.  I like my green beans to still have a little crunch to them so I saute for only 5-6 min.  Remove pan from heat and let beans cool down to room temperature (about 15 min).  Next add the entire pan to the chilled lettuce including olive oil as this is part of the dressing.  Then add the balsamic vinegar, toasted pine nuts and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Toss together and ENJOY!

Turkey Meatballs

Sometimes its hard to find a light filling summer meal.  I do a spin in the summer on my Turkey Meatballs and pair them with a salad instead of pasta because it feels lighter.  Make extra because they are even better heated up the next day on rye bread as an open faced meatball sandwich.  Here is the recipe...

Meatball Recipe

1 lb of ground turkey meat 

2 tablespoons cumin

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 cup chopped basil (loosely packed)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

3 tablespoons grated parmasean cheese

3 tablespoons bread crumbs

2 teaspoons garlic

1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

Additional Ingredients 

*sauce (about 15 ounces (store bought or home-made) )

* low fat mozzarella cheese for topping (I use about 4-5 ounces)

*parmasean cheese for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine all ingredients (up to additional ingredients) and roll out rounded tablespoon size meat balls so they are about 1 inch thick.  Spray cookie sheet with olive oil non-stick spray.  Bake meatballs for about 45 min (until not pink in center) turning once half way through.  Next transfer meatballs into a deeper baking dish (picture I used 4 single size baking dishes) and poor sauce over meatballs so they are all covered, add the mozzarella cheese evenly over the top and continue to bake for an additional 10-15 min until cheese turns golden brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkle parmasean for additional flavor.  ENJOY 

Prepare a salad, asparagus or pasta, whatever you prefer for a complimentary side. 

Santa Fe Steak Salad

On a hot summer day, a salad with grilled steak, chicken or seafood is such a refreshing meal choice.  Below is my recipe for a very healthy Santa Fe Steak Salad.. A May house favorite :)


STEAK
1 pound Skirt Steak or Filet (whatever you prefer)
2 limes juiced
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves minced (I like a lot but you can add 1 if you like less)
1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano
1/2  tablespoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin (My FAV)
Pinch of fresh ground pepper (I like white pepper for mexi cooking)
Pinch of salt

Directions
Combine lime juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, chili powder, and cumin in a bowl.  Pour marinade over meat in plastic zipper bag or bowl whatever you prefer.  Add the fresh pepper and salt.  If you have time marinade for 4 hours or over night.  The longer you marinade the better but if you do not have a lot of time 30 min will do.  You can also add a little corona to the marinade if you have it on hand--I do this when we are having a beer with our dinner.  Just gives it a little extra kick.

Preheat grill on high heat, Brown on both sides.  If you like your meat med plus like us, cook for about 4 min on each side if its thin skirt steak.  If its Fillet you will need to cook longer to get the med plus temp.

SALAD
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 ripe tomato diced
1/2 avocado sliced
1/4 cup thinly sliced jicama
1 chopped green onion
1/4 cup of mexican shredded cheese
1/8 green pepper thinly sliced
1/8 red onion thinly sliced
1 grilled corn cob (can be taken off cob and mixed in salad or ate on side)
1 grilled poblano pepper

DRESSING
3/4 cup olive oil
splash of balsamic vinegar
1 lime juiced
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon coriander
pinch of red pepper flakes

Directions
Toss all salad ingredients together in large bowl except for the last two.  Grill the corn and the pepper when you grill the steak.  The corn can be cut off the cob and tossed in the salad or served on the side.  The Poblano pepper can be cut up and tossed in the salad or served on side as garnish.  Mix the dressing and toss in salad.  Top with grilled steak and spritz with fresh ground pepper.

ENJOY!

HOW TO: Meal Plan

People always ask me how I plan meals for a whole week?!?  The two biggest questions I get are what if I decide I do not want Lasagna on Monday or Fish on Wednesday and so on and so forth.... and How do you plan on what to get for everything in just one trip?  My experience comes from being a poor college student having to pay ALL my bills entirely on my own, making a meal plan was the only way I could survive.  It was not fun at first but I got into the habit of planning to save money!  Now its about actually enjoying all the little details of cooking, the food itself and saving money!  I have answers below for both questions!!!

The Menu

Question 1

I plan 6 meals a week but decide the day of what to make for dinner.  I do 6 meals because this means we can go out to dinner one night if we choose AND we can have a smorgasbord of left overs one night if we decide against going out for dinner and or leftovers for lunch.  I promise you--we do not waste ANY food around here!!  We pick the meals the day of for what we want for dinner and freeze anything if it will not be consumed right away.  Also--you do not have to stick to your menu exactly, for example... This week I am making the turkey burgers that I never go to last week (they are safe in the freezer).

Question 2

I have this down to a science!  Below is the planning and preparation step by step to describe how meals are planned.  It may sound like a lot, but all in all--this saves me so much time. 

• Prior to actually writing out the meals, I go through the fridge and pantry and get rid of anything that is old and take note of what I need to use before it gets old.  I try to incorporate some things that need to be used up in the coming menu.  
• I write out the list of what I want to make (keeping in mind the things that need to be used before they spoil).  If I need inspiration, I look at old menu's, cookbooks, pinterest, instagram (I follow a lot of good foodies), etc.. anything for inspiration.  I actually write about 8-10 meal ideas down and then I ask Greg to pick the top 6.  
• I separate the list by category for easy navigation while grocery shopping, otherwise I run around the store for many hours going from side to side forgetting things from each section.  My categories are produce, pantry, dairy, and meat.  
• I then go meal by meal writing down each ingredient I need to make the meal.  After that I add in the things I always buy like, milk, bread, fruit.. any of the basics.  
• NEXT, I shop at our house first, crossing off anything that I already have on the list.  This ensures you keep everything fresh and you do not over buy things that do not have to long of a shelf life.
• Then I head to usually target for basics and wholefoods for produce and meat.  I walk around the store with my mini clip board and list and usually get a few laughs from the workers but they are always so excited to hear what I am making... I tell them if I didn't have this list I would be here 8x a week and if I didn't categorize it my 1 hour trip to the store would be a 6 hour trip! 

The List

That's pretty much it in a nutshell!  Hope this helps ...ENJOY 

Turkey Tacos

I am really excited that people are interested in trying my recipes mainly because I love food and I love to cook!  This is one of my favorite recipes so I am very happy to share!  I have a favorite rice and bean mixture that I pair these low fat turkey tacos with and I think it completes the meal (see below pic).  This is cheating because we live a low sodium diet (or at least try to) and this rice is high in sodium, but everything in moderation right? Also the rice is not made from scratch (which I prefer to do since I know what I am eating) but this is 2013 so sometimes you have to save yourself some time! 

Ingredients: *these are estimates since I do not measure.. but will work on getting more accurate

Seasoning Mix
1/3 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust for your spice level)
1 1/2 tablespoon of cumin 
1 1/2 tablespoon of chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper 
1/4 teaspoon oregano (or Italian seasoning.. I switch it up)
1 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar

Rice we like, VIGO! 

pinch of paprika 
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of salt

Turkey Meat
1 lb ground turkey
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoons cilantro 
1/2-1 cup water

Toppings
whatever you like--see pic for ideas :)

Turkey Tacos! 

Directions:
First, I like to mix the entire list of seasonings together and then set aside, this allows me to be able to chop up the taco toppings when browning the turkey.  Meanwhile preheat oven for hard shell tacos (around 350 deg), we like hard shell the best for this type of meat.  In a large skillet on med heat start to brown and crumble ground turkey, about 10 min later (half way through) add in onion, green pepper and garlic--continue to cook for about 5 more min, if you feel as though the meat is sticking you can add a little olive oil to make it more smooth when mixing about 5 min after adding onion etc, add the cilantro and cook for 5 more min (about 20 min total).  Now you can start to slowly add your seasoning.  Keep the water and seasoning on hand and add about 1/4 of the seasoning with 1/4 cup of the water continuing to cook on med heat.  Add more stirring and letting the meat soak up the water with the seasoning every time you add more.  This is where personal taste comes into play, depending on how strong you want the meat seasoning to taste, after adding a little over half the seasoning, taste the meat and see if this is enough for--if not add more till you feel as though you have reached your desired taste.  We nearly use all the seasoning.  I like to cook it a litlte extra longer about 2 min more after adding our desired amount of seasoning to make sure all the water is soaked up and my fiance likes his meat extra extra well done! Don't forget to take your shells out before they burn, I leave them in about 8 min.   Top with your fav toppings and ENJOY! 

Enhanced: chicken pot pie

Perfected.. In my opinion!  I make my recipes based off of memory and no measuring, this translates into the recipe changing every time.  Here is the small twist on the Chicken Pot Pie recipe I already posted with estimated measuring amounts.  Hope you enjoy the changes..

~only 375 calories per serving~

INGREDIENTS:
1lb grilled pulled chicken breast (cook breast on grill or in pan, then pull apart)
1 bag frozen mixed veggies 
20 ounces of *low sodium chicken breast
10 ounce can of cream of celery 
1 baked potato cubed 
1/3 teaspoon of pepper (we like a lot)
1 teaspoon fresh oregeno
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1 tube low-fat biscuits (you can make your own if you like, i do--will post recipe later) 

DIRECTIONS:
Grab all ingredients and preheat oven to 375.  On high heat in 4 quart saucepan whisk together chicken broth and cream of celery dissolving all lumps and bring to a low boil.  Add in diced potato, pulled chicken, frozen veggies (or fresh if you prefer using fresh), pepper, oregano and thyme.  Bring back up to a low boil.  Spoon mixture into large oven safe dish while mixture is still pipping hot.  Place bisuits on top of mixture with sides touching, you can stretch them out a little if needed.  Bake for about 15-20 min (according to the biscuits directions, until golden brown.  ENJOY! 

Winter Salad with Adult Grilled Cheese

In the winter it is hard to eat clean and light--but I think this was well accomplished with this Bistro like meal.  

      (left: salad dressing after blended, top: ingredients for salad dressing, bottom: salad ingredients) 

Cooks Note: Allow about 30min prep time and 10 min cook time

Winter Salad Ingredients
Dressing Ingredients: 
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, or as needed
2 ounces brown sugar
1 Gala apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 garlic clove minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
juice of 1//2 lemon
salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup expeller pressed canola oil

Salad Ingredients:
5 slices thick-cut bacon
6 ounces mixed greens 
1/4 celery root peeled and very thinly sliced or cut into matchsticks
1 fennel bulb, trimmed, halved and sliced very thinly
3/4 cup pecans
1 tart apple, cored, halved and sliced very thinly

Directions:

First, preheat the oven to 375 and toss in bacon strips.  Combine 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the vinegar and the brown sugar in a small skillet and cook over medium heat.  Stir and cook until the mixture turns a dark caramel color and begins to thicken   You will start to see big foamy bubbles on the surface.  Add the apples and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until the apples are tender about 5 minutes.   Remove from the heat and put into a blender along with the remaining 2 tablespoons of vinegar, thyme, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.  Mix until blended.  Then add the oil blending the dressing till emulsified.  Taste and season with salt and more vinegar if needed.  Combine the bacon with the remaining ingredients for the salad and toss with about 1/2 the dressing, add more to taste.  (reserve the rest of the dressing for another delicious use)

Adult Grilled Cheese

Ingredients: 
Baguette cut into skinny diagonals 
Gruyere Cheese (1/2 slice per sandwich)
Cheddar Cheese (1/2 slice per sandwich)
butter (just a tad to butter bread on outside for golden touch)
Ham optional 

Directions:
Assemble sandwich and grill on panini pan for about 6 min till you reach desired darkness.

Wish I had more time to write but here are the basics; its amazing, a fun new recipe and well balanced...back to work and wedding planning!  Enjoy and please leave comments after you make--love to hear feedback!