Corn, Barley, and Lima Bean Stew

March 19, 2015

I've been on vacation and we've been on a lot of trips in this month and even more to come next month so GTLF has not been as consistent as I intend according to my goals. This is apparent in my weight as well. I've been learning that consistency is the key to weight loss... consistently eat less calories than you require to run your body and you'll lose weight... and GTLF provides meals that help me to do that.  I LOVE that. It really brings down the amount of stress I have in managing my body.

The next recipe is a vegetarian one. I had an interesting conversation about vegetarian dishes with my cousin on my trip home this past month. In it we discussed the worthiness of a vegetarian meal and what makes them desirable. I've always avoided vegetarian because of all my misconceptions such as 'They're not filling', 'They're not satisfying', 'They're boring'... and on this journey I have learned all these things are untrue. The thing I didn't think about is the fact that their are many vegetarians out there who adopt this diet for political reasons, not necessarily health reasons or taste reasons... In these situations, the vegetarian may miss meat, remember eating meat and secretly want to eat meat again. When they prepare their dishes, they may look for dishes that resemble meat dishes. This is one reason why I have not been able to resolve to be a vegetarian, although we're eating vegetarian more and more times a week and really enjoying it.

I have learned that eating vegetarian on GTLF is full flavored... and while there are many mimics of meat dishes, there are more recipes that are naturally delicious in their own right. They are not meant to be substitutes for the taste or texture of meat.  I hope you'll enjoy this dish...

Another interesting question that I was asked by my family members is how my grocery bills have changed. If you're reading my blog, you might remember that I mentioned that I never really shopped at the grocery store since I was never really expected to prepare dishes for a family and since I was a single woman with a career, I was never interested in doing this for myself.  Well, Brian shopped and from him I have learned that his grocery bill has not changed significantly even adding me to the midst. I think this is because I don't waste food very often and I'm using the same series of books. Often when you try a recipe you're having to pick up ingredients that you're not used to having on hand... but since I've been working out of the same books, I have all the ingredients on hand on a regular basis that are generally asked for. I think that having a good working shopping list, sticking to it and completing your cooking goals during the week will keep the grocery bill down. Of course, it's just me and Brian right now... so what do I know. Haha!

Corn, Barley, and Lima Bean Stew

GTLF: Hearty Soups and Stews p. 86

Serves 4, working time 20 min., total time 40 min.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 tsp sage

1 tsp dried thyme

2 tablespoons flour

13 3/4 oz can reduced sodium chicken broth defatted

1/2 C quick cooking barley

3/4 pound red potatoes, cut into 1/2 in. dice

10 oz. package frozen baby lima beans

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 in. squares

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 C frozen corn kernels

1/4 C chopped fresh paresley

1 tsp salt

1. In a Dutch oven or flameproof casserole, heat the oil until hot but not smoking over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions is softened and lightly colored, about 6 min. Add the garlic, sage, and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle the mixture with the flour, stirring to thoroughly combine.

2. Stir in the broth, 3 C of water, and the barley. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 min. Add the potatoes, lima beans, bell pepper, and cayenne. Simmer until the barley is tender, about 10 min. Stir in the corn, parsley, and salt and simmer until the corn is heated through, about 3 min. Divide among 4 bowls and serve.

Nutritional Information: 5 g fat, 347 calories, 0.5 g sat. fat, 66 g carbohydrate, 13 g protein,  0 mg cholesterol, 866 mg sodium.

Tips:

1. GTLF suggests that you can use dill instead of parsley.

2. This is one recipe that you'll want to have everything measured out, especially the spices and flour. This will ensure they won't burn when you're adding them to the vegetables.

Barbecued Chicken With Tropical Fruit Salsa

March 23, 2015

Today I made the first of two recipes I will make this week. In these couple of months we've had a very busy schedule and we've been traveling. It's been fun seeing the sites between Arizona and New Mexico and enjoying our dog Romulus as he's been our travel companion.

The dish I made is one that I found to be easy and really delicious. I think it may be one of those recipes that you can make for family BBQs or potlucks.  There is a fruit salad and a spiced ketchup that you use to marinade chicken before grilling.

Barbecued Chicken With Tropical Fruit Salsa

GTLF: Grilling p. 15

Serves 4, working time 15 min., Total Time: 25 min. plus marinating time

20 oz. can juice packed crushed pineapple

1 mango, peeled and died 

1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

1/4 C chopped mango Chutney

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 C ketchup

2 tsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (1 pound total)

Tropical Fruit Salsa:

1. Drain the pineapple, reserving 1/4 C of the juice. Transfer the pineapple to a large bowl and stir in the mango, cilantro, chutney, lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp of the salt.

Marinade:

2. In a small bowl, combine the reserved pineapple juice, the ketchup, oil, oregano, allspice, cloves, cayenne, and the remaining 1/4 tsp salt. Stir 1 tablespoon of the spiced ketchup into the remaining 1/4 tsp salt. Stir 1 tablespoon of the spiced ketchup into the pineapple mango mixture, cover, and refrigerate until serving time.

3. Transfer the remaining spiced ketchup to a sturdy plastic bag. Add the chicken, squeeze the air out of the bag, seal, and marinate at room temperature for 30 min. or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator.

4. Preheat the grill to a medium heat. Spray the rack, off the grill, with nonstick cooking spray. Remove the chicken from the marinade. Grill the chicken, covered, turning once and basting, for 8 min. or until cooked through. Cut the chicken into thin diagonal slices. Place the chicken slices on 4 plates, spoon the tropical fruit salsa alongside the chicken, serve.

Nutritional Information: 4 g fat, 332 calories, .7 g sat. fat, 48 g carbohydrate, 27 g protein, 66 mg cholesterol, 705 mg sodium.

Tips:

1. Don't peel the mango before dicing. What you do is cut open the mango and then make a criss cross pattern on the fleshy part. Then bend back the peel and the fleshy part will pop up and you just cut it away from the peeling.

Chicken Divan.... Well, If you have to eat broccoli...

March 19, 2015

In my life, I've had my share of broccoli, but it's always been steamed and then coupled with baked chicken seasoned with salt and pepper... simple, but boring and stigmatized as diet food.  If you have to eat broccoli, I suggest eating this dish as it's very tasty and definitely NOT boring...

Chicken Divan

GTLF: Chicken Breasts p. 86

Serves 4, working time 40 min., total time 1 hour

3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 c reduced sodium chicken broth, de fatted

1/2 C coarsely chopped onion

1/2 tsp. dried sage

1/2 tsp dried thyme

6 C broccoli florets

1/3 C flour

1/2 C evaporated skimmed milk

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray an 11 X 7 in. baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium saucepan, combine the chicken, broth, 1/2 C of water, the onion, sage and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 6 min. With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a cutting board and cut crosswise into 1/2 in. slices.

2. Add the broccoli to the saucepan, cover, and simmer until the broccoli is crisp tender, about 2 min. With a slotted spoon, transfer the broccoli to the prepared baking dish and arrange the chicken on top. Keep the broth at a simmer.

3. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the flour, evaporate milk, sherry, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard and shake until blended. Whisk the flour mixture into the simmering broth. Cook, stirring, until the sauce is slightly thickened, 1 to 2 min. Stir in the Parmesan, salt, and pepper and simmer until the cheese is melted, about 1 min.

4. Spoon the sauce over the chicken. Spray a large piece of foil with nonstick cooking spray and cover the baking dish with the foil, sprayed side down. Bake for 25 min. or until bubbling hot.

Nutritional Information: 3 g fat, 224 calories, 1.3 g sat. fat, 19 g carbohydrate, 29 g protein, 55 mg cholesterol, 655 mg sodium.

TIPS:

1. I have these dishes that are marked for 4 C , 3C, 2C and 1 C... while I have plenty of measuring cups for 1 and 2 C, I have the 3 and 4 C measures really helpful for things like broccoli or cabbage or leafy lettuce... 

2. I have bought several measuring spoon sets. I separated all the spoons and have a drawer for just the spoons and cups.  I find this to be really helpful as well. When I started with GTLF I only had two sets of spoons and I found it really annoying to have to wash those everyday.

Beef Lo Mein Salad

March 18, 2015

In the old days... being the days before GTLF, I had an enormous number of  "Beliefs" about food. In fact, I didn't even realize most of them until I started working with GTLF. In this case, I realized I have a belief about food temperatures. I believed that in order to really have a meal, specifically dinner, it should be hot. If it's hot it's a meal, if it's not, then it's just a salad and is more like a side meal instead of a true dinner.  With more experience in cooking and eating different kinds of foods, I've learned that dinner doesn't have to be hot to be satisfying. It can often be cold... and interestingly, a cold meal is more comfortable to eat during the hot months of summer, or if you've had a heavier lunch... or even if you're lazy and not much interested in turning on the stove. Enjoy!

Beef Lo Mein Salad

GTLF: Main Dish Salads p. 47

Serves 4, working time 25 min., total time 35 min.

8 oz. linguine or spaghetti

3 in. piece fresh ginger

3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

4 tsp. dark Oriental sesame oil

1 tablespoon honey

2 tsp. creamy peanut butter

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 yellow bell pepper cut into 1/4 inch wide strips

1 red bell pepper cut into 1/4 inch wide strips

1 cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 2 X 1/4 in. strips

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

10 oz. well trimmed top round of beef

1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta until just tender. Drain well.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. Grate the ginger into a small bowl. Squeeze the ginger to extract as much ginger juice as possible. Discard the solids. You should have about 2 tablespoons of juice. Transfer the ginger juice to a large bowl. Whisk in the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, honey, peanut butter, salt, and cayenne until smooth. Stir in the bell peppers, cucumber, scallions, and cilantro. Add the pasta, tossing well to combine.

3. Broil the beef 6 in. from the heat for about 4 minutes per side. or until medium rare. Place the beef on a plate and let it stand for 20 minutes. Thinly slice the beef on the diagonal, reserving any juices on the plate. Transfer the beef and juices to the bowl with the pasta, tossing to combine. Serve warm at room temperature, or chilled.

Nutritional Information: 9 g fat, 402 calories, 1.8 g sat. fat, 54 g carbohydrate, 26 g protein, 40 mg cholesterol, 783 mg sodium.

TIPS:

1. Onions! In my mind, any onion works well in any recipe. In this case, if you don't have any scallions, try white onion or shallots.

2. GTLF says you can serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.

Corn Beef and Cabbage

March 17, 2015

While shopping at the grocery store this week, I made an impulse buy. I bought a package of Corn Beef, some cabbage and carrots. Usually I try to stick religiously to my grocery list because it means that I won't have any real left overs. This is very important to me since I hate wasting food. But I couldn't resist. I have an aunt, my Aunt Norma, who loves to cook. She made a fantastic buffet for my wedding and is incredibly talented in the kitchen. She LOVES to cook for the holidays. She's a great inspiration.

With me, I barely even know the holidays outside of Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and Mother/Father days much less what the traditional meals are. I always knew that at Christmas times red chili tamales are in order... and then in summer, the Green Corn Tamales are required.  With GTLF I've become so inspired to widen my range of cooking that I think having an excuse to make something different is well called for. So, when I saw the corned beef, I couldn't resist. Here is what the dinner looked like. BTW: I ended up missing the day for lack of knowledge... I made it the day BEFORE St. Patrick's Day. OOPS! On Saint Patrick's, Brian and I ended up eating corn beef soup with the broth from making the beef the day before. It had all the same ingredients and confused Brian greatly. He couldn't tell the difference until I told him that in yesterday's meal we used forks, and in today's we ate with a spoon... which he giggled at... To him, it looked the same and what does a little broth have to do with it. Which makes sense I suppose.... Anyway, here is what came of our meal....

Corn Beef and Cabbage

Total Time: 2-3 hours... planning is required

1 package Corn Beef

Potatoes

Cabbage

White onion

Carrots

1. Boil the meat in water that covers the meat for 2-3 hours or until tender and easily separated.

2. Meanwhile, boil potatoes, carrots and onions... unseasoned. Check every 5 minutes or so until the vegetables are tender according to your preference. In my case, I like them Al Dente...

TIPS:

1.Prepare the beef according to package directions. On the pack I made, there are two ways written. One way includes boiling the meat, the other is roasting.

2. The potatoes and cabbage don't require much seasoning. Once boiled, they can be sprinkled with a little salt and topped with a little broth from cooking the beef.

3. Make a soup with the left overs. Save the broth and you'll have a perfect base for a soup the following day. I cut up the rest of the cabbage, smaller potatoes and smaller carrots and onions and boiled it all together. Enjoy!

Puttanesca Sauce

March 16, 2015

The most interesting thing I've learned is how to eat the general vinegary taste of things like olives, capers and the like. Also, GTLF has many different recipes that include anchovy paste. Since I've completed over 300 of these recipes I've learned that various flavors tend to turn up in these books together. I'm getting the impressions that these flavors might go together as a general rule. By discovering these patterns, it's becoming more and more clear how chiefs invent dishes.  Today's dish is one that includes olives, capers, balsamic vinegar and anchovy paste. This makes for a strongly flavored dish that is surprisingly tasty and definitely outside my general norm in the kitchen.

BTW: This is a no grocery and no cook sauce. The only thing you have to do is boil the pasta. Also, you'll have to let the sauce stand for about 30 minutes before you add the past.

Puttanesca Sauce

GTLF: Pasta Sauce p. 137

Serves 4, working time 10 min., 40 min. total time

1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, coarsely

chopped (can use equal amount of canned diced tomatoes no salt added)

1/3 C chopped fresh parsley

1/4 C Calamata or other brine cured black olives, pitted and finely chopped

3 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon anchovy paste (or 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese)

 1 tsp firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp salt

10 oz. shaped pasta such as small shells, ruote (wagon wheels) or radiatore

1. In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, parsley, olives, capers, oil, vinegar, anchovy paste, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, and salt. Cover and let stand for 30 min. at room temperature.

2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta until just tender. Drain well.

3. Toss the sauce with the hot pasta and serve.

Nutritional Information: 11 g fat, 401 calories, 1.6 g sat. fat, 64 g carbohydrate, 12 g protein, 3 mg cholesterol, 778 mg sodium.

TIPS:

1. There is no real cooking you just have to boil the pasta. I used ditalini.

Chicken, Prosciutto and Artichoke Sauce

March 13, 2015

Today I made this dish. It's called Chicken, Prosciutto, and Artichoke Sauce. Artichokes are new to me and I've only had it a few times.  To tell you the truth, they're a little scary looking. I've seen the plant before and have been tempted to try to grow it as a gift for my husband. He really enjoys funny looking plants. Maybe one day.

Chicken, Prosciutto, and Artichoke Sauce

GTLF: Pasta Sauce p. 19

Serves 4, working time 40 min., 40 min. total time

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 C plus 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped prosciutto or Canadian bacon (2 oz.)

2 carrots quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 rib celery, quartered and thinly sliced

10 oz. lasagna noodles, broken crosswise into thirds

9 oz. package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed  and coarsely chopped

1/2 C dry red wine

1 C canned no salt added tomatoes, chopped with their juices

1 C reduced sodium chicken broth, de fatted

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dried thyme

3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 C frozen peas

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil until hot but not smoking over medium heat. Add the prociutto and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly crisped, about 3 minutes. Add the cartots and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until the carrots are softened, about 5 minutes.

2. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta until just tender. Drain well.

3. Meanwhile, add the artichokes to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until the artichokes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the wine, increase the heat to high, and cook until the wine has almost evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, broth, sat, and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the chicken, and cook until the chicken is just barely cooked through, about 3 minutes.

4. Add the peas to the skillet, return to a boil, and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Toss the sauce with the hot pasta, divide among 4 bowls and serve.

Nutritional Information: 8 g fat, 510 calories, 1.5 g sat. fat, 71 g carbohydrate, 38 g protein, 61 mg. cholesterol, 837 mg sodium.

Tips:

1. I have very little experience with artichoke hearts. For this reason, I don't know how the artichoke hearts that are frozen differ from those preserved in water.  I used those preserved in water. In step 3, the directions state that the hearts 'should be added to the sauce and cooked until tender for 15 minutes'. I felt that they were already tender when I took them out of the jar, so I didn't want to cook them for the full amount of time. Still, I monitored them carefully and when I felt they were very tender, and the vegetables around them also felt tender, then I continued. In the end, I don't know how this affected the dish. I guess time will tell and with experience I'll look back on this blog and be aghast at my questions.

2. I feel I've had enough experiences with prosciutto and Canadian bacon, and personally, I enjoy the taste of the Canadian bacon better than the prosciutto.