Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce

I'm gonna rename this recipe to: OMG, THIS IS INCREDIBLE! Another great one from www.skinnytaste.com! I like fish, but lately I've had a hard time finding recipes that are both healthy and GOOD. This one fits the bill!

For those of you that don't like curry, or have never tried it, this would probably be a great recipe to start with. I urge you (no, I BEG you!) to give it a try! I think some of you would be very surprised by it. You may even become addicted to curries, like I am!

I'm thinking this recipe would be good w/ chicken, too.

Here we go: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/04/broiled-tilapia-with-thai-coconut-curry.html?showComment=1333070739546#c5342031372644975872

Stuffed Pepper Soup

YUM!

I'd never even heard of such a thing until about a year and a half ago, and I've been dying to try it since. But it's finally now that I've had my chance. Now that I'm on my journey to great health by my 50th birthday, I've gone in search of some recipes that taste great and are healthy, recipes that I won't get bored with. This is definitely one of those recipes!!! It's fantastic!!!

The recipe is from www.skinnytaste.com. Gina's got some wonderful healthy recipes on her site, and better yet, she's listed all of the nutritional information, and she's done all the hard work calculating the Weight Watchers Points! I'm very familiar with the original Points program, and because of the ethnic diversity of her site, I know I'll be visiting her often!!!

Here's the recipe for Stuffed Pepper Soup! I didn't realize till I got ready to make it that I didn't have any brown rice, so I used white.






Stuffed Pepper Soup
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 6 • Size: 1 1/3 cups soup, 1/2 cup rice • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 261.2 • Fat: 4.8 g • Carb: 37.5 g • Fiber: 4.7 g • Protein: 17.6 g • Sugar: 6 g
Sodium: 606.3 g (without salt)


Ingredients:

3 cups cooked brown rice
1 lb 95% lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup finely diced onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans (14.5 oz each) cans petite diced tomatoes
1 3/4 cups tomato sauce
2 cups reduced sodium, fat-free chicken broth
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
salt and fresh pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot or dutch oven, brown ground meat on high heat and season with salt. Drain fat if any, reduce heat to medium-low, then add peppers, onions and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes on low heat.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, marjoram and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Serve about 1 1/3 cups of soup in each bowl and top with 1/2 cup cooked brown rice.

55 Weeks to 50

My 50th birthday is coming up in a little over a year. I don’t want to turn 50 weighing what I do now. I don't want to continue to be so tired and in pain. So, I am going to take some steps starting now.

Ultimately, my goal is 55 lbs. in 55 weeks, but because long term goals are very daunting to me, my first goal will be 10 in 10. Ten pounds in ten weeks. Very doable!

As my previous posts reveal, I LOVE FOOD! I've obviously not been watching my diet closely. I don’t want to have to “DIET”. It’s too much work. Lucky for me, I've found some INCREDIBLE blogs that have figured out all of the Weight Watchers Points (the old plan, with which I'm very familiar) for me! These blogs have some fantastic-looking recipes - you know how I like ethnic foods!!!!

As I go forward, I will share my progress with you, and I will also share my weekly menu in advance. Recipes will follow after I've actually made them!!!

You'll probably still see an occasional recipe that I deem "not-healthy", only because I've collected soooooo many recipes that I'm dying to try! But as Weight Watchers teaches, if you don't indulge when you have that craving, you will ultimately eat everything else in sight while trying to satisfy it. So, I will indulge every now and then!

Week One (of 55) Menu:

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Filipino Adobo Chicken

Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce

I'll post recipes as I make them!

Pot Roast in the crock pot

Couldn't tell you the last time I cooked a pot roast. Possibly two years ago, or more. I've had a craving the past couple days, so I threw one in the crock pot this morning. MMMMMMMM! I love coming home to a house that smells like I've been slaving over the hot stove all day!!!

Original recipe is from cooks.com (I really like that site!).

EASY CROCK POT ROAST


3 lb. chuck roast
1/2 can beef broth
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 or 2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion, diced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 bay leaf
dash of salt and pepper

Wash chuck roast. Season generously with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Coat with flour.
Place floured roast into oiled skillet and brown lightly on both sides.

While browning roast, add diced onions to skillet.

Transfer roast and onions to greased crock-pot. Toss in whole garlic cloves and bay leaf.

Pour in 1/2 can beef broth over roast and add salt and pepper.

Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Black Beans and Rice

This is one I've been making for about the last year. The original recipe is from a quilty friend (Mean Megan!), but I've made a few changes to it. I make it quite often!

Black Beans and Rice

14 or 15 oz. can black beans

14 or 15 oz. can diced tomato seasoned (basil,garlic,parsley)

1t fresh garlic

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1 small onion diced

2-3 T olive or canola oil.

Cayenne, if desired

Heat oil in larger frying pan, add garlic, pepper, and onion. Cook until onions are clear.

Add beans and tomato cook until warm, while rice is cooking. Serve beans over rice. Season with cayenne if desired.

Notes from Megan:

You can add canned or frozen corn to this, or chopped baby carrots and celery. You can add sour cream, cheese, black olives, corn bread......

Colcannon

Yum! My daughter decided this year to bring a little more Irish into our holiday dinner, by adding this to the menu. It will be a recurring item on our dinner menu from this St. Patricks Day forward!

The recipe is is below, but watch the video in this website: http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/search?q=colcannon, because Chef John is very entertaining!

Colcannon

from foodwishes.blogspot.com

For the green mixture:
4 oz trimmed kale leaves (As my daughter pointed out in the comments below, the store was out of kale, so I bought a bunch of baby spinach, which is a traditional substitution for the recipe!)
1 leek, light parts only, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 tbsp room temp butter

For the rest:
3 pounds russet potatoes, boiled tender, drained VERY well
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup cream or milk, or to taste
butter and green onion for the top

Peel and quarter the potatoes. Boil in salted water till tender.

While potatoes are cooking prepare green mixture. Trim the kale so that it is leaves only, no stems. Wash well. Cut the leek, using only the white and light green part. Wash very well, making sure that there is no sand in the leek. Chop the green onion, reserving some to use later as garnish, placing the rest in blender.

Blanch kale and leek in salted water for 5 to 7 minutes. When it's cooked, drain and place it in blender with the green onion. Puree with butter.

When potatoes are cooked, drain. Add salt, pepper, butter, milk or cream, and green mixture. Mix well. Put additional butter on top, if desired, and garnish with reserved green onions.

Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake and St. Patricks Day

Happy St. Patricks day! I hope you all had a wonderful day! Here in Chicagoland, we're having unseasonably warm weather. It feels like June instead of March! Which means I spent part of the day outside. With the grandkiddos.

I took part of dinner over to my daughter's, and she prepared most of it. I only made dessert. Everything was fantastic. She made the traditional corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot, with carrots and potatoes. She also made colcannon for the first time - I will post her recipe here as well. It was fantastic!!! We finished dinner off with a non-Irish dessert, but boy was it good!!!

CHOCOLATE CHERRY DUMP CAKE
from www.cooks.com

2 cans of cherry pie filling (21 ounces each)
1 box of chocolate cake mix
2 sticks of butter, sliced into 12 pieces each
2.25 ounce bag of chopped pecans
1/8 cup white sugar

This recipe is so easy and so delicious... a twist on regular dump cake.
Preheat the over to 350.


In a 9 x 13 cake pan:

Dump the 2 cans of cherry pie filling into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the box of chocolate cake mix evenly on top of that. Distribute the butter slices on top of the cake mix. Spread the pecans evenly over the butter and cake mix. Fianally, sprinkle the sugar over all.
Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes and serve warm!

This is also delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Chicken Curry

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Indian food????!!! MMMM! There's an Indian restaurant right around the corner from me that has a lunch buffet daily for $9.95, and I go there often! I even sometimes go there during dinner hours and order an entree. My favorite in Palak Paneer, which is a spinach curry dish with Indian cottage cheese. I haven't made that yet, but I do have a recipe.

I've tried a couple other recipes for Chicken Curry, one of which starts off the same way my curry chicken salad sandwiches (I see I haven't posted that recipe yet) do, and it is very good, but this new recipe is ooooh, sooooo much better!!!!

I have no clue where I got the recipe. I'd saved it under "Recipes from Miscellaneous Sources", so I haven't a clue. There were a few additional ingredients, but I left them out. (Edited 3/17/12: found my source - it's www.beckyhiggins.com - a blog I found while browsing some blogs. She's got some great looking recipes!!!)


Chicken Curry

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2 to 3 pieces)
2 T. curry powder
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
2 T. olive oil, divided
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 c. (14 oz. can) low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 t. salt (I didn't add nearly that much, it really didn't need all of it)
1/4 t. black pepper
cooked white rice

Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Cut into 1" pieces and place in bowl. Sprinkle with curry and cinnamon, toss, and set aside. Heat 1 T. oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Heat remaining oil in skillet. Add chicken and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add broth, cream, salt, and pepper. Return onion to skillet. Heat until chicken is cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. (For more curry flavor, add more curry powder at this time.)

Serve over rice.

Makes 4 servings

Cancun!

Week of April 18 to 25, 2009

What can I say about Cancun???? What a beautiful city, what gorgeous weather, what tasty food, what handsome men.......

I vacationed w/ friends - Vicky, Darlene, Britt, and Liz. Liz and hubby own the timeshare that we stayed at, and Darlene and Britt stayed in the next resort over from us (also owned by Royal).

We arrived in Cancun about noon on Saturday, April 18. The hardest parts of our travel were 1) getting to Midway Airport at 3:45 in the morning (6:00 am flight). We were told to arrive 2 hours early, but the check in counter didn't even open till 4:30; 2) When we arrived at the resort, we were told we weren't on the list. Joe had ended up in the hospital earlier that week, so he and Liz weren't going. He wrote a letter to the resort management, and the resort confirmed w/ Vicky the day before we left that there would be no issues. Well, there were. But all was resolved within about an hour and a half, while we had lunch.

This is the view from our room!!!

The rest of the week was just fantastic. Sunday we sat by the pool, two of them in fact, and had massages on the beach (in a little tent) - very awesome to hear the sounds of the waves and the birds as they were flying overhead! I got a little sunburned that day, although I slathered on the SPF 50. That night at dinner, we had the privelege of listening to a guitar player, I can't remember his name right now. Into the restaurant walks an elderly gentleman, who started singing "Misty" along with the guitar. My birthday was the day before, and somehow that gentleman was told that he should ask me to dance. OMG. I'm not a dancer, and I refused the offer at first. But then I was encouraged by my friends ("It's your birthday, live a little") and a group of 4 strangers at another table ("Oh, come on, you'll never see any of us again!!"). So I went and dance with this gentleman (Terry was his name). It was fun!!!

Monday we hopped aboard a bus that took us to XCaret, a park in the middle of the jungle, about an hour or so south of Cancun. What a pretty place this is! You can see Cozumel off the coast from the park; there are ruins of a Mayan village there; they perform little shows throughout the park, throughout the day, and one extravaganza in the evening. By the time we got to the extravaganza, I was falling asleep from exhaustion!

Two shots of one of the performances in the afternoon.

At XCaret, there is and underground river, down which you can swim. But I'm terrified of water, even with the life jacket on I freaked out. So I passed that up. I regret it now, but at the time was terrified. I did, however, go on the "Sea Trek" (I have to get that picture scanned!!!). We went underwater, I believe they said we started out at 16 feet and went more than 20 feet under later on. We had huge "helmets" on, into which air was piped, and we walked along a metal rail on the bottom of the lagoon. It was about a 20 minute walk, and let me tell you, if that had been all that I did that week, that 20 minutes still would have been worth the cost of the whole vacation. It was just incredible!

Some of the wildlife at XCaret.

This is a cemetary inside the grounds at XCaret. It was actually pretty cool!!!

Tuesday, we got a free yacht ride! That would have been a lot more enjoyable had I not met Takir, whom, other than saying he really creeped me out, I don't want to talk about right now!!!!! Maybe later. Tuesday afternoon, we spent quite awhile at the poolside bar, drinking Chocolate Monkeyes and Mojitos!!

Wednesday we spent the day in a pool, and when we got back, Liz had arrived!! Joe had been released from the hospital the day before, and insisted that Liz join us. Her daughter and son checked up on him daily while she was gone.


3/14/12 Okay, I just realized tonight that this post was never posted, and when I did post it, it was saved with today's date! It was fun re-reading this, and reliving those great moments of that fun vacation! It's hard to believe it was 3 years ago already. I also see I never did finish telling about my week there. We were there till Saturday. I do remember that Thursday and Friday were pretty much poolside days. I also remember that about Wednesday night, I wasn't feeling well. I didn't feel well for the rest of the vacation, with a mildly upset stomach, and it lasted till a couple days after I got home. Probably a combination of the water, the booze, the sun, and the food!!!

Taco Pasta

Updated on 3/15/12 right after lunch!!!

This ended up being great as a leftover. I didn't have cheddar cheese after all (what???!? I'm a cheesehead by heritage, how does that happen?!?!?), and I didn't add the pepper flakes to what I took to work for lunch. I guess the pasta and beef have since absorbed more of the flavor, and it was quite good.

I have, since posting it last night, found a variation of the same recipe that does add shredded sharp cheddar and, instead of the tomatoes with chilies, it calls for salsa. So, next time I make it, that will be my experiment.

Overall, I do like the recipe.


* * * * * * * * * * * *

3-14-12

This one is going to be an experiment for me. I love any Mexican-inspired food, so I was excited to find this recipe, but I was a little disappointed by it.

I made it per the recipe, and since I like things a little on the spicy side, I added red pepper flakes. It's still missing something - I'm thinking it's cheddar cheese. I'll add some to the leftovers that I take for lunch tomorrow, and will post an update tomorrow.


Taco Pasta
from www.fakeginger.com

1 pound ground beef or turkey
8 ounce small dry pasta shapes
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
4 tablespoon taco seasoning
3 ounce cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saute pan, cook the ground meat over medium-high heat until no longer pink. A few minutes before the meat is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Once the meat is cooked through, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Mix in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit.

Bourbon Chicken

I love love love Bourbon Chicken!!! But I must say, I've never had it anywhere other than the little Cajun place in the food court at the mall. So, when I came across this recipe, I knew I'd be making it soon. It's on the stove right now, and does it smell GOOD!!!!

Bourbon Chicken

from You're Gonna Bake it After All, originally from RecipeZaar

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
Olive oil cooking spray or 1 T. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 t. dried ground ginger
1/4 t. ground cayenne pepper
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 T. ketchup
1 T. cider vinegar
1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 T. cornstarch / 1 T. water (optional)

Spray skillet with cooking spray or use olive oil. Add chicken and cook over medium heat until lightly browned.

Remove chicken from skillet.

Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.

Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

If you prefer a thicker sauce, combine 1 T. water and 1 T. cornstarch in a separate bowl and add a little at a time to reach
desired consistency.

Serve over hot rice, if desired.



Edited to add:

Ohhhh, yummmmmmm!!!! It was great!!! I think I over cooked it a little, so you may want to decrease cooking time if your chicken pieces are tiny like mine were. But the flavor was awesome!

MMMMM Shrimp!!!

Shrimp Scampi

Now, this is by no means something that should be eaten frequently!! It is, as they say, a "heart attack on a plate", but oh, so good!!! I've made it with only 2 T butter and 4 T non-fat, low sodium chicken broth, and switched from vegetable oil to olive oil, in an attempt to make it healthier, but this, the original recipe, is so much tastier. The skinnier version will do in a pinch!

Now, without further adieu, here is the recipe!

Shrimp Scampi
from bigoven.com

Original Yield: 4
Shown as 4 Servings
Main Ingredient: Shrimp
Cuisine: American

1 lb Shrimp; peeled
6 tb Butter
1 tb Green onion; chopped, (or more)
1 tb Vegetable oil
4 cloves Garlic
1 tb Lemon juice
1/4 ts Salt; optional
2 tb Parsley; minced
1/4 ts lemon peel; Grated, (or more)
Tabasco; or crushed red pepper

Melt butter over medium heat. Stir in onion, oil, garlic, lemon juice and salt. Cook till boiling.
Pat shrimp dry and add. Cook stirring occasionally till shrimp turn pink (5 min.) Blend in parsley, lemon peel & tabasco. Garnish with lemon wedge. Serve over angel hair pasta or rice.

I've challenged myself.....

.... to start cooking more at home, and to start trying new recipes once again. I've already posted the Hamburger Noodle Bake recipe, that I tried on 2-26-12.

Because I live by myself, sometimes I cook for my daughter and her family. This past Saturday, 3/3/12, I went to their house, enlisted the help of 8 year old Moo and 6 year old Rye. They chopped pistachios; they measured garlic; they measured sugar; they grated orange rind; they measured raisins. And then they were my go-fers as I cooked the dish.

I'd give this one 3 stars out of 4. The rice was very good, but the chicken was just so-so. Nothing spectacular there. I'll make it again, but I'll either leave the chicken out totally, or I'll cut it in small bite sized pieces. I'll only use about half the onions - their flavor was very overpowering. And I'll probably omit the raisins and the pistachios.

The recipe?

Shireen Palow, or Afghan Orange Rice with Chicken
from myrecipes.com, originally from Cooking Light

Shireen Palow (Afghan Orange Rice with Chicken)

Shireen palow soaks up sweet flavors from orange rind, caramelized onions, and sugar. Use a heavy chef's knife or cleaver to cut the chicken breasts in half.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 thighs or 1 breast piece, 3/4 cup rice mixture, and 1 tablespoon pistachios)

2 chicken breast halves, skinned and cut in half (about 1 pound)
4 chicken thighs, skinned (about 1 pound) – I actually used 2 # of chicken breast, since none of us is especially fond of dark meat
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 cups vertically sliced onion
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
2 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups uncooked basmati rice
2 tablespoons raisins
6 tablespoons chopped pistachios

Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove chicken from pan; cover and keep warm.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion; cook 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add saffron and garlic, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar and rind; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, broth, rice, and raisins; bring to a boil. Add chicken, nestling into rice mixture. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Let stand 5 minutes. Sprinkle with pistachios.

Hamburger Noodle Casserole

HAMBURGER NOODLE CASSEROLE - I added onion to the ground beef as well, and forgot to add the cheddar cheese - it really didn't need it!! And I left the green onion out.

from tasteofhome.com

5 cups uncooked egg noodles
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef (90% lean)
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese
1 cup reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
2/3 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large
nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook beef until meat is no longer
pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Stir in the tomato
sauce, sugar, salt and pepper; heat through. Drain noodles; stir
into beef mixture.

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, ricotta cheese and sour cream
until blended. Stir in half of the onions.

Spoon half of the noodle mixture into a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish
coated with cooking spray. Top with cheese mixture and remaining
noodle mixture.

Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with
cheddar cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through and
cheese is melted. Sprinkle with remaining onions. Yield: 10
servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 cup equals 319 calories, 14 g fat (8 g saturated fat), 92 mg cholesterol, 635 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 24 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1-1/2 starch, 1 fat.