"Healthy," Veggie-Loaded Shepherd's Pie

Matt has been BEGGING me to make shepherd’s pie.

I have been putting this off for years, actually…but I decided to finally give in. The bland combo of beef, potatoes, and corn just never did it for me, so I went on a cyber mission to find a “jazzier” version of this comfort dish. I came across this recipe by Ellie Krieger and immediately fell in love. It had a wonderful combination of veggies that brought more layers of flavor to the dish, and it was a healthier alternative to the traditional recipe.

I followed the recipe exactly, so I will not post it here (it is linked above). The only changes I made were adding 50% reduced fat cheese to the top, and a few small handfuls in with the potato/cauliflower mixture, and also adding scallions as a garnish.

This recipe was a winner. Partly because it was truly tasteful. Partly because it was somewhat healthy. But mostly because my husband had no idea that he was eating cauliflower! I told him a few days later, once the leftovers were gone. I’m sure now he would say that it didn’t quite taste right…but his clean plates and many helpings proved otherwise!

I apologize for the picture below, but this is a dish that really does not photograph well!

Balsamic Sirloin Salad

The salad trend continues…

Tonight I prepared some sirloin tips in a balsamic marinate to serve over a light, crisp salad. I drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil in a plastic bag, and then added balsamic vinegar, 2 cloves of minced garlic, dried thyme, salt, and pepper. I refrigerated for about 1 hour.

I prepared the salad with romaine lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, red onion, and sautéed mushrooms in a balsamic glaze. Once the meat was done, I let it rest, sliced, and placed on top of the salad.


For the dressing, I combined balsamic vinegar, Trader Joe’s reduced sugar apricot preserves, dried thyme, salt, pepper, and a clove of garlic. I pulsed to combine and then streamed in extra virgin olive oil. Matt and I both LOVED the dressing! The apricot preserves were a great compliment and contrast to the bite of balsamic vinegar. I will definitely using that combo again soon!

Steak & Cheese Sandwiches with Sweet Potato Chips

My husband looooves steak and cheese sandwiches, and I don't mind them either! But, we both know they are something we shouldn't really eat. I decided it might be a good idea to make them at home, that way I can control the ingredients and try to make it somewhat healthier. Here's what I did...

I browned one package of extra lean shaved steak over medium heat, adding salt and pepper as it cooked. I also sauteed sliced green peppers and white onions until soft. I prepared multigrain rolls by slicing across nearly all the way through.

Meanwhile,I began working on the sweet potato chips. I was going to make sweet potato fries, but once I came across this simple recipe in my Martha Stewart Living catalog, I couldn't resit. I sliced 2 sweet potatoes using my mandoline. Once sliced, I placed on two greased (with olive oil spray) baking sheets. I drizzled with the sliced potatoes with a little extra virgin olive oil, and then sprinkled with fresh black pepper, sea salt flakes, and dried rosemary. I baked for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. FYI - I switched the baking sheets to alternate racks half way through the baking, and it seemed to work well.

One the steak and veggies were cooked, I assembled the sandwiches. I placed the peppers and onions on the steak and topped with low fat cheese, and placed under the broiler to melt. I served along with the chips. Pretty tasty! And, while this meal is far from healthy, it is at least a better alternative than a sandwich from a sub shop!

Matt Makes Dinner

Earlier this afternoon, my husband called me to tell me he wanted to make dinner. I was all for it! He was planning to pick up some steak. Perfect! We hadn't had red meat in quite some time, so I was looking forward to a nice, juicy steak, and also a night off from scrubbing pots and pans and the like.

He did a nice job, after all, he is certainly not a gourmet. But, then again, neither am I. He chose a Delmonico steak (wouldn't have been my choice, too fatty, but it was good nonetheless), brown rice (he even cooked it in beef broth), and canned green beans (eehh, whatever).

Now, he only got one steak, but it was a HUGE, monsterous slab of beef! So, he asked me how much I wanted, and I replied with something like "well, not as much as you." He took that and ran with it, as you can see in the portion sizes below!!!

HIS:

MINE:


Oh how I love him! My silly, silly husband!

Steak au Poivre

Over dinner and drinks on Friday night, my husband declared that he was “disgusted with himself” and really wanted to make a more conscious effort to lose weight. We eat healthily for the most part, but we do tend to splurge on the weekends, and I mean ALL weekend! So, as I could also stand to lose a few, I figured now was as a good a time as any to RESOLVE to eating better and splurging less often.

Tonight I made a recipe from the South Beach Diet cookbook. I did this diet about 3 years ago after really “letting myself go” and lost close to 30 pounds. And although I am no longer on the diet, some of my eating habits have been forever changed, and I still make recipes from this cookbook from time to time. I followed the recipe almost exactly, but I included any changes I made below…

1 clove garlic, crushed
1 ½ teaspoons crushed black peppercorns
4 beef tenderloin steaks (4 ounces each), trimmed of all visible fat
¼ onion, chopped
2/3 cup green bell pepper
2/3 cup red bell pepper
2/3 cup yellow or orange bell pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon ground paprika
1/3 cup water
½ teaspoon beef-flavored bouillon granules (I used 1/3 cup low sodium beef broth rather than the water and bouillon)
1/3 cup fat free evaporated milk

In a small bowl, combine the crushed garlic and 1 teaspoon of the peppercorns. Press a small amount of the mixture onto each side of the steaks. (I also added salt to the mixture).

Heat a large, nonstick skillet coated with olive oil spray over medium heat. Arrange the steaks in the skillet and cook, turning frequently, for 10 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the center of a steak registers 160 degrees F for medium. (I did more like 13-14 minutes and still had medium temp steaks). Remove the steaks, place on plate and cover to keep warm.

Clean the skillet, coat with cooking spray, and place over medium heat. Add the onion, peppers, and minced garlic (I also added salt and pepper), stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Pour over the steaks. (I actually poured these onto the plate first, then placed the steaks on top, so the pepper/onion mixture served as a bed for the meat).

In a small bowl, combine the bouillon granules and water (or the beef broth), paprika, milk, salt, and the remaining ½ teaspoon of the peppercorns. Pour into the skillet and cook, stirring often, until the mixture is reduced to ½ cup. Spoon the mixture over the steaks and serve immediately.

I served this with asparagus, which I roasted in the oven with a small amount of olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. I also cooked some brown rice in beef broth as well. I was satisfied with just the steak and the pepper/onion combo, but Matt was happy to have a nice full and balanced meal. Matt had 2 portions of the steak, but didn’t finish. I had one portion, and there are one and a half portions left over for dinner on Wednesday when I won’t be home.

For 4 servings:
204 calories
7 g fat
3 g saturated fat
21 g protein
8 g carbohdrates
1 g fiber
59 mg cholesterol
72 mg sodium

Mexican Fiesta for 8

So, my mother in law came up with this really neat idea in lieu of Christmas gifts for all the adults in the family. She thought it would be fun if we took turns hosting a themed dinner once a month. So, themed dinners were grouped in 3’s, and wrapped up in small boxes. Each of us (4 couples, including my husband and I, mother and father in law, and 2 sisters and brothers in law) picked a box, and found out what meal s and months we would be hosting. We got April – Italian, August – Mexican, and December – Free Choice. Some of the other themes were fondue, Asian -inspired, American grill favorites, seafood, breakfast for dinner, etc. It is a really cute idea, and has been a lot of fun. When it is your turn to host, you provide everything from soup to nuts, and everyone just brings their appetite. We hosted our Mexican Fiesta on Sunday, and it was a great success.

Here was my menu:
Corn tortilla chips and salsa
Guacamole and flour tortilla chips
Jalapeño spiced almonds

Poblano stuffed corn muffins
Corn muffins
Mexican rice
Taco bar with ground beef and ground turkey

Hot fudge brownie sundaes with traditional Mexican chocolate sauce and sugar and cinnamon tortilla crisps

I prepared a good amount of the food on Saturday, which was very helpful! Here are some of the recipes from my favorite dishes of the day:



Chunky Guacamole – I was PETRIFIED to make this!!! I guess because I have had it and never cared for it…until now! Man, was I missing out!!! Everyone raved about this recipe, and I was so glad it was a hit. I was scared mostly because I never work with avocados. I picked them out and totally felt awesome splitting, pitting and scooping them out.



Poblano Stuffed Corn Muffins – My husband Matt and I saw these on an episode of Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller and decided to make them. We followed the recipe nearly exactly, we just omitted the cilantro (not sure why?) from the batter mixture. We also made plain corn muffins for those not adventurous enough to try the stuffed peppers. I enjoyed the complexity of the muffins, but as I am not a fan of mushy pepper texture, the shell of the pepper muffin was not my favorite. But, the muffin itself was really yummy and the presentation was just too cute!



Mexican Rice – I never really searched for a recipe for the rice, I just sort of made it up as I went along. Here is the gist of it…I started with brown rice which I cooked in chicken broth, and added chili powder, a little cumin, and a small amount of cayenne pepper. I heated some frozen corn, and added that in as well. I also added diced red onion and diced red pepper as well. After sprinkling with salt and pepper, and a small amount of garlic powder, I added freshly chopped scallions to the dish. It was tasty, if I do say so myself, and people enjoyed it.



Dessert – I used this recipe from epicurious for the dessert. I wanted something easy, as there were 8 adults and 3 toddlers to serve. I made the chocolate sauce a day ahead, and reheated just before serving. I omitted the espresso powder because I didn’t have any, and added a touch more cinnamon that the recipe called for, and also added a dash of cayenne pepper, which gave the sauce a wonderful added dimension. The tortilla crisps were a piece of cake. I simplified the already easy directions listed in the recipe by spreading butter over the flour tortillas and sprinkling with a sugar and cinnamon combo before slicing into triangles with a pizza slicer. I added brownies (Ina’s) to my dessert, and used vanilla and chocolate frozen yogurt instead of coffee, just because I knew most of my husband’s family are not coffee ice cream fans (what is wrong with them??!). This dessert was soooo easy and super delicious!

Italian-Style Stuffed Peppers

I wanted to try and jazz up my stuffed peppers recipe, and after searching for inspiration, I decided to go with my traditional plan. This recipe was once my mom’s, but I now consider it my own since I have tweaked, added, and omitted various ingredients. Here’s the gist…

4 large bell peppers
1 lb. ground beef, turkey, or chicken
1 cup cooked white or brown rice (so 1/2 cup dry)
2 cloves garlic, minced
I large white onion, diced
Sprinkling of Italian seasonings (fresh or dried herbs work fine)
Salt and pepper
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
2-3 cups of red sauce
Thin slices of provolone or mozzarella

I had ground sirloin on hand, and since we haven’t had red meat in a while, I went for it. But, I have made this with ground turkey and with ground chicken, and all of the above are delicious! I started browning the meat in a pan on the stove. While it was browning, I rinsed and sliced the tops off of 4 large peppers. I usually use green, but since I had sliced up a green pepper for my husband’s lunch, I used 3 green and one orange! Colorful, I liked it! I took at the seeds and extra “stuff” out of the peppers and placed them in a baking dish that had a thin coating of water on the bottom (This prevents the peppers from sticking, and also helps to keep them moist).

Once the meat was on its way, I added seasoning. I sprinkled in some of Trader Joe’s Pasta seasoning and also added some fresh thyme and parsley, along with salt and fresh ground pepper, of course. I preheated the oven to 375 and minced some garlic and grated some parmesan. I also had some instant brown rice working in a pot on the stovetop, cooking with one beef bullion cube. (I would have done regular brown rice, but I had forgotten to prepare it, and it takes 45 freakin minutes!)

Once the meat was browned, I drained the fat and returned to pan. I added the onions, garlic, and one egg (as a binder, although you could omit this if you would like). Once that had a few minutes to come together, I added 1 cup of red sauce (I had some frozen in the freezer, use homemade or jarred). At the last minute, I added in the rice and parm cheese.

I spooned the mixture into the peppers, and topped with more red sauce and some grated cheese. I had cut out the stems from the tops of the peppers, and placed back on top of the peppers. I baked for 25-30 minutes.




I placed some extra sauce on the bottom of the dish, and placed the peppers on top. I cut in half, and topped with a slice of provolone cheese (you could also use mozzarella). I then topped with more sauce, and viola! Time to eat!