Kitchen Experiments: Penne with Chicken Sausage

It's amazing to me what kind of reviews I get with each meal; which ones get rave reviews from the kids and which ones don't. For instance, a cheesy pasta I made earlier in the week: blank looks and crickets in the background. Really?

A dish full of broccoli and red peppers, "THIS IS NYUMMY!!!"

?????

OK! I'll just go with it!

Well I found this recipe on an e-mail I get from www.active.com and it was in an e-mail about great and tasty recovery and/or pre-run fuel-ly type dishes. Because I, along with other people (as stated in the article) are known to scarf down something like a bowl of cereal after a workout just to get some protein and some carbos instead of actually eating something tasty.

But I didn't run today and didn't have to have a "recovery" today. But this meal looked so yummy I had to make it anyway.

It's the Penne with Chicken Sausage:

1 box whole wheat penne
1 pkg of chicken sausage (4 links), sliced (I used Al Fresca)
10 oz. pkg frozen broccoli
2 red peppers, diced
1 bunch basil, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese

Directions: sautee broccoli and red peppers in a large skillet using spray oil. Set aside. Using same skillet, brown sausage. Cook pasta according to directions. Add veggies and cooked pasta to skillet. Top with feta and chopped basil.

I can't tell you how much the kids loved this. (Go figure!) The husband is lukewarm on broccoli so we won't count him. But I loved it. Loved it!! I think even red sauce, chicken sausage and penne would be yummy. I never knew about chicken sausage! It's deeelish!

Stats:
Servings: 4 (I actually think it could feed 6, we have a ton of leftover)
Calories: 397
Fat: 12.4 (A little more than I would like, but within the calorie range. Maybe low-fat feta would work better?)
Protein: 26.5

Carbs: 51

If you try it let me know! Got any good recipes? E-mail me!

Kitchen Experiments: Penne with Chicken Sausage

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2009/07/kitchen-experiments-penne-with-chicken.html?m=0

Kitchen Experiments #3

Good morning and welcome to another episode of Kitchen Experiments with Christie O. where we dive into some sort of concoction and see how it turns out.

This week, we're trying a low-fat vegetable casserole. I superlove cheese (despite the cheese cube rant and besides, this cheese happens to be of the low-fat variety and will also function as only a piece of the whole recipe, thus not being the entire meal.)

I love veggies. And I love trying to figure out the best ways they can go together. Really, is that too much to ask? So I'm searching high and low for a veggie casserole that incorporates squash, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (all my faves). I found this recipe and it was deelish --(you're welcomed to try it!), but that one was just a little too fattening for me, so I needed to tone it down. The result was this, and it was pretty darn yummy (official reviews below).

So here are the ingredients:

2 cups zucchini, sliced
2 cups squash, sliced
2 10 oz. bags frozen broccoli, carrots, cauliflower (I use Bird's Eye steamers)
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
1 cup lowfat cottage cheese
1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix
4 cups Instant Brown Rice
2 Cups Lowfat Shredded Cheddar or whatever Lowfat options you have or desire

*If you want a topping, mix up 1 cup bread crumbs and 1 cup parmesan cheese

Now normally I don't like to have a bunch of pans going at the same time, I like to make life easy for myself, but I did with this one just because I like sauteed onions so much. So in a pan lightly sprayed with Pam, combine onions and garlic. Sautee just a little, put aside. Cook brown rice according to directions, and steam the frozen veggies according to directions. Meantime, in a separate bowl, combine the cottage cheese with one cup of cheddar cheese and the onion soup packet. Add sauteed onions and garlic and mix. Add veggies. (Since there were so many veggies, I actually mixed it all in the baking dish. Don't tell anyone. But if you do that, make sure the pan is sprayed lightly with Pam or whatever spray.)

Combine veggie mix with rice. Sprinkle all over a lightly sprayed 13x9 pan. Top with the other cup of cheddar cheese. If you use a topping, sprinkle it on top of that.

Bake on 375 for 30 minutes.

Makes appx. 6 servings but probably could be 8, it's a lot of darn stuff!

Nutritional info: 450 calories 10 g fat

I suppose you can add mushrooms if you like that sorta thing (I am not a mushroom gal).

But was it the veggie casserole I've been searching for my whole life? I think it might still be out there, but we're getting pretty close! I feel like I'm a mad scientist, still mixing away to improve it (feel free to e-mail me any veggie casseroles, I'm on the prowl!)

In sum, husband preferred the full fat version but said this was still pretty good. (That means I'll keep it around but make it only on occasion.) I personally really liked it and will gladly make it again although I may add a light sour cream next time to make it a little creamier. Poops liked it like he likes everything, which is just kinda sorta. He's a grazer. He only seems to take bites of every meal.

But this one, the Mini:
He cleaned up! Yep, that's my veggie kid. Loves his veggies. That's his second plate full. (BTW he's only nakey because we were going to Cirque du Soleil after dinner and I didn't want him to be a mess. And if you're wondering if Cirque is kid-friendly, stay tuned. I got to review it! Woot!)

Kitchen Experiments #3

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2009/06/kitchen-experiments-3.html?m=0

Kitchen Experiments #2: Mango Chicken

This is my new favorite thing EVER. This is another recipe I found from SparkPeople because I had mangos and I had chicken but I didn't have half of the other things in the recipe so I tweaked it in Christie fashion. And now I want to make it every day. Except that no one else but me can eat the same thing for days in a row and be perfectly happy. So I won't make it every day. Except that I want to.


So, I give you, the Mango Chicken.

Ingredients:
2 mangoes, diced
1 cup mild salsa
1 cup onion, chopped
1 tbsp. dried cilantro
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I use Purdue pretty much all the time because I like that they're all individually packed and I can freeze or thaw one at a time or a million if I choose)

Directions:
Brown the chicken in the pan until fully cooked. Add onions. Cook onions until they're soft or clear. Remove chicken briefly but leave the onions (you will add the chicken back later). Add the mangoes, salsa, cilantro, and cayenne pepper to the onions. Cook on medium for about 10 minutes or until all ingredients are hot, not boiling. Add chicken to pan. Serve chicken with mango-salsa dollopped on the top.

This makes four servings. The nutritional info is my favorite part. If you scoop 1/2 cup of the mixture onto a chicken breast it is:

300 Calories!
2.8 Grams of Fat!

If you pair it with yellow rice like me, the meal is 490 calories. Brown rice even less. I got nothing but rave reviews over this one (the 18month old SHOVELED into his mouth!) so let me know if you try it!! Ps. it's not spicy -- the pepper adds a little flavor but that's it.

* * *

Feel free to e-mail me your favorites and if I try it I'll feature it here! (christieo_7 at msn dot com).

Kitchen Experiments #2: Mango Chicken

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2009/06/kitchen-experiments-2-mango-chicken.html?m=0

Recipe O' the Week: The Bean and Rice Burrito

I'm making a desperate attempt to revive my recipe repertoire here so I'm looking everywhere and anywhere to try and find yummy ideas for healthy dishes. Things are just getting old with the family. I've found a few new things that I have fallen in love with and have gotten rave reviews from the family, whic includes a not-very-picky husband, a somewhat picky 3 year old and a will-eat-anything one-year-old. And even though I'm kind of mean with the whole, "You'll eat what I make" philosophy, I am nice enough to take cues from the family on what recipe's a keeper and what's not. Trust me, I won't repeat a recipe that makes them gag. And I save my favorites that no one else likes (rice and ketchup or my Spaetzle, that no one seems to think is as spectacular as I do, for special occasions of just me.)

So here is one of my newest favorites ever! It's so simple and so easy and boy was it DEELISH.

It's a simple bean and rice burrito. My kids tore this UP. I based it loosely on a recipe I saw on SparkPeople, but no recipe is safe from my changes. If cooking were like American Idol and Paula was one of the judges, she'd say, "Girl, you took a bean and rice burrito recipe and you MADE IT YOUR OWN! Good job!" And then Simon would say, "I think it was a little over the top and theatrical..."

Anyhoo, ingredients:

2 Red Peppers, diced

2 cups Instant Brown Rice (Publix brand for us!)

1 8 oz. can black beans

1 cup lowfat cheese

4 whole wheat tortillas

1 raw onion, diced

1 cup salsa

Cook the brown rice and black beans as directed. Then, spoon 1/4 cup rice into the tortilla, followed by 1/4 cup beans, 1/4 cup cheese, then sprinkle the veggies on, top it all with salsa and then good luck getting that baby rolled up! Makes about 4 burritos but you could probably get a couple more out of it if you put less in each burrito. I love this recipe. It's so simple, filling and it's got the protein, the carbs and the whole grains wrapped up in a perfect combo platter.

YUM!

Anyway, nutritional info is as follows: 329 Calories, 10 grams of fat.

Scha-wing.

So there you go. I also tried a new recipe tonight that I will share next week, it was AMAZING! Something to do with mangoes and chicken. YUM! Maybe I'll get it together and take some pictures in the future.

I might as well make this a regular thing! PS. Got a great low-fat and low-cal recipe you wanna share? E-mail me at christieo_7 at msn dot com and I'll feature it, after I try it first!!

Recipe O' the Week: The Bean and Rice Burrito

https://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2009/06/recipe-o-week-bean-and-rice-burrito.html?m=0