Friday 9/18

So last nights dinner was done in kind of a rush. It was date night for me and the hubby. I rushed to get dinner done so it would be ready to eat before we left Ethan with Grammy. Needless to say there were no pictures taken and it was late when we came back home. Will post pictures of Saturday nights dinner for sure.

Thursday 9/16

So tonight was a pretty easy dinner and clean up and I actually get to sit down before after 10:00 p.m. For the hamburgers I wrap them in foil with some BBQ sauce and chopped onions and the hotdogs go on the bun warming shelf in the grill. I also reheated the beans from Tuesday night on the side burner of the grill so no hot air in the house tonight.

Burgers and dogs on the grill.

Cooking Tips for Making Recipes More Healthy

Today I am working on completing some online health lessons that we have available through our company where we can earn points to go towards cash. I happened to stumble across this lesson on cooking tips so I thought I would share. The lesson basically explains how to tweak certain ingredients in recipes to make them healthier and about half the fat of the original recipe. Enjoy :)

Common Substitutions

There are many common substitutions that can be used to improve the nutritional value of foods and recipes.

Regular potato chips >> Baked potato chips

Whole milk >> Skim milk

Regular corn chips >>Baked tortilla chips

Butter/margarine >> Vegetable oil

Regular ice cream >> Fat-free frozen yogurt

Regular bacon >> Turkey bacon

Whole-milk cheese >> Skim-milk cheese

Oil-packed tuna >> Water-packed tuna

Regular cream cheese >> Fat-free cream cheese

Dark meat chicken >> White meat chicken

Bleached flour bread products >> Whole grain bread

Whole eggs >> Egg substitutes/egg whites

Oil (baked recipes) >> Applesauce or pureed fruits

Regular sour cream >> Fat-free sour cream or plain yogurt (drained)

If a recipe asks for this:	Use this instead:
1 cup Butter	½ cup butter or oil
1 cup Sugar	½ cup sugar
3 whole egg	1 whole egge and 2 egg whites
8 ounces beef	4 ounces beef
½ cup oil	¼ cup oil
1 Tbsp salt	1 tsp salt

Traditional Lasagna

This is a typical list of ingredients for a traditional lasagna recipe. Notice which ingredients are high in fat and what changes could be made to make the lasagna healthier.

A pan of lasagna can be made healthier and still taste as good as it looks!

1 pound ground beef

¾ chopped onion

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 16 oz can of tomatoes

2 6 oz cans of tomato paste

2 cups water

1 Tbsp of parsley

2 tsp’s salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp of garlic powder

½ tsp of pepper

½ tsp of dried oregano

8 oz lasagna noodles

1 pound ricotta cheese

8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Healthier Lasagna Version

Here's what the list of ingredients would look like after we have applied the principles of substitution and modification.

1 pound extra lean ground beef

¾ chopped onion

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 16 oz can of salt-free tomatoes

2 6 oz cans of salt-free tomato paste

2 cups water

1 Tbsp of parsley

2 pinch of salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp of garlic powder

½ tsp of pepper

½ tsp of dried oregano

8 oz whole wheat lasagna noodles

1 ½ cups fat-free ricotta cheese

8 oz shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

¼ cup grated reduced-fat parmesan cheese

1 ½ cups fat-free cottage cheese

Health Savings

Traditional Recipe (per serving)

790 calories

41 fat grams    

1646 mg sodium

Healthier Recipe (per serving)

467 calories

16 fat grams

464 mg sodium

Look at the "health savings" you get when you change from a traditional to a healthier way of preparing lasagna.

DID YOU KNOW?

You're more likely to start cooking more nutritionally if foods taste good to you. Try reducing the high-fat ingredients by about half and substituting an ingredient lower in fat for the other half. For example, reduce the butter in chocolate chip cookies by half and substitute applesauce for the other half. Chances are, you won't notice much of a difference, and you may even reduce the butter even more the next time!

Taking Things a Step Further

You could improve the nutritional value of the traditional lasagna even further by substituting chopped broccoli, spinach or mushrooms for all or part of the beef.

DID YOU KNOW?

Taking this extra step can reduce the calories and fat by about half.

Lasagna - Heavenly for the Heart and Taste Buds

Adding vegetables to the lasagna increases the amount of vitamins and minerals in the meal – making it even healthier.

Health Savings = 8 grams of fat = 72 calories per serving

Wednesday 9/16

Since Wednesday's are the night that my Mother-In-Law and I go to our Women's Bible study I had dinner in the oven before I left so that Daddy and Ethan could eat it when it was done. Needless to say I don't have any picutres of the preparation of dinner since I was rushing to get it in the oven before I left but Here is the finished product.

Crispy Fish-Topped Au Gratin Potatoes

I have determined that my phone camera doesn't take very good pictures of food. I will have to play around with it some but hopefully you can see enough to get the idea and try the recipe!

Tuesday 9/14

Here are the pictures from Tuesday nights dinner. Enjoy!

This recipe originally calls for the On-Core BBQ Rib Pork Patties. I use boneless pork loin chops because they are more often on sale around here at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and they have less preservatives. I do not add BBQ to the pork chops but you can if you want. I just skip the steps on the recipe regarding the rib patties.

BBQ Rib & Bean Skillet Dinner

My onions and peppers cooking. I used red peppers that I got by price matching 3 for $0.99 instead of green pepper.

All ingredients thrown in the pot.

I just season the pork chops with garlic salt and pepper on both side and rub it in. Put them on the grill until the meat is at 170 degrees.

Somehow I missed a picture of the finished product so I will have to post that next time.

Have you ever wondered what is in the quaker chewy granola bars? Looking for a healthier recipe? I found this recipe on the Heavely Homemakers website and am hoping to try it soon. I'm not sure how to get ahold of sesame seeds yet but I am planning to go to Sprouts Farmer's Market today to see if they have them there. Here is the recipe and there will be pictures to come later (hopefully tonight).

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

Monday 9/13

Here are the pictures from Monday's dinner. The recipes are provided in the links and can also be found on the recipe page.

Baked Chicken Quarters In Marinade

Use as many chicken quarters as you need to feed your family. These are just what my recipies say to use as a guildline.

Chicken ready to go into the oven. I leave some of the marinade on the bottom to keep it from drying out.

Finished chicken!

Fried Rice

I cooked the rice right before I put all the ingredients together and it turned out a little gummy. Next time I will cook the rice ahead of time as the recipe calls for cold cooked rice.

 

A picture of my son's plate, before he ate, cut up in toddle size pieces. So if you have a toddler you see they can eat the same meal as you :)

Weekly Meal Plan for 9/13 - 9/18

We will start this week with Monday since I am just starting out.

This is the menu planner that I use and hang up on my fridge so that everyone knows what is for dinner each night.

Weekly Menu Template

This is from the Heavenly Homemakers website. There are also other planners and grocery lists to chose from.
Monday

Bake Chicken Quarters In Marinade with Fried Rice

Tuesday

BBQ Rib & Bean Skillet Dinner (I use pork chops for this instead of the ribs but minus the BBQ sauce)

Wednesday

Crispy Fish-Topped Au Gratin Potatoes

Thursday

Hambergers & Hot Dogs with left over beans from Tuesday night

Friday

Enchiladas in Green Sauce & Rice

Saturday

Stuffed Manicotti Shells, Garlic Bread, & Salad