Shrimp Alfredo with Zoodles

I'm playing around more and more for ideas for cooking for one or two. I need meals that I can throw together  for a healthy lunch for me and sometimes when I'm cooking at work I only have one or two people to cook for. Also, my kids are all teenagers and will start leaving the nest in the next few years. I don't want to be one of those people who forget how to cook once they have less people to cook for. 

This is a dish I threw together one day a couple weeks ago. I went to the store to pick something up and decided to pick up something for my lunch as well. I wanted fish or seafood so I grabbed shrimp. I wanted creamy, so an alfredo or white sauce sounded great. I wanted healthy and the Hubby had gotten me a Vegetti (a handheld vegetable spiralizing tool) for Christmas and so I thought zucchini noodles. Finally I grabbed  a cheese stick, because I wanted to keep this dish cheap and still healthy. It came in at less than three dollars a serving. I think this could easily feed two people, especially if you added a small side salad. 

Ingredients: 

1 small zucchini

 4 oz shrimp

 1 teaspoon cornstarch

 1/2 cup 2% milk

 2 tsp olive oil

 1/4 tsp chicken base (like Better Than Bullion) 

 1/4 cup water

 1/4 tsp garlic salt

 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

1 cheese stick or about 1 ounce of mozzarella cheese.

Directions:

1. Using a spiralizer or julienne plate on mandolin, slice zucchini into noodles. 

2. Heat olive oil in small non stick pan and cook shrimp till done. Remove from pan.

3. Make Alfredo sauce. Mix a bit (just a couple tablespoons) with cornstarch and let set aside. Heat the rest of the milk, chicken base, and water in same pan until it begins to simmer, add cornstarch mix and stir well. Add cheese (pull apart the cheese stick if using) and stir until it's all melted and thickens. 

4. Add zoodles, seasons, and shrimp and toss till warm. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

Nutrition Facts
Calories 307, Total Fat 14.0g, Saturated Fat 3.5g, Cholesterol 249mg, Sodium 708mg, Potassium 580mg, Total Carbohydrates 14.6g, Dietary Fiber 1.4g, Sugars 7.7g, Protein 31.4g, Vitamin A 12% • Vitamin C 34% Calcium 27% • Iron 4%

Spicy Kale, Red Cabbage and Andouille Stir Fry

Hello Dear Readers, I hope everyone had a great holiday season and are sticking with their 2015 goals so far. Sorry I've been MIA for a while, just been busy with life I guess.

So today I'm sharing with ya'll this yummy stir fry I made at work last night. It was kind of a thrown together deal that turned out lovely. It has a bit of a Cajun feel to it and a nice bit of heat that warmed your mouth without making your eyes and nose run. I only work Monday through Thursday, and since I do not like letting veggies sit in the fridge over the weekend I try to use up everything I purchased by Thursday. So I had some unused kale and red cabbage. I figured I could cook the two together and then thought hey a stir fry sounds good. Well I had watched a cooking show on t.v. last week where the cook prepared run up turnips and used a smoked sausage. So I decided a stir fry with andouille would be great. So this recipe was born.

Like I am known to do, I didn't measure my spices and so the measurements are near guesses. You can always add more or less of each spice to satisfy your taste buds.

Spicy Kale, Red Cabbage and Andouille Stir Fry
serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 bunch of Kale, stems removed and leaves sliced thin
1/2 head of red cabbage, sliced thin
12oz of andouille sausage ( I used Aidell's), sliced
3 ribs of celery, peeled and julienned
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
1 jalepeno, diced with seeds and ribs removed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, grated
2 tsp paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 tsp dry mustard
Salt and Pepper
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3/4 cup beef broth or 3/4 cup water with a generous teaspoon of beef base
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Directons:

1.  After you've gathered, chopped, grated, all of your ingredients...heat oil in large skillet. Add carrot, celery and jalapeno. Cook over medium-high heat until veggies are tender, 2-3 minutes.
2. Add sausage and cook until it just begins to brown.
3. Add kale, cabbage, ginger, spices and salt & pepper. Stir until well mixed and kale just begins to wilt.
4. Add vinegar and beef broth. Stir well (in this step it's more of a steamed dish instead of stir fry, but I wanted to make sure the veggies were tender) cover and reduce to medium heat. Cook 5-10 minutes until cabbage is soft but kale still has some structure. We want soft not mush.
5. Serve as is or over rice, noodles or whatever you like. You could also add 2 tablespoons of corn starch to a bit of cold water, stir till smooth, and add to the liquid from the stir fry. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute until thick. This would give you a yummy sauce to go with your stir fry.

Nutrition Data (from caloriecount.about.com)

Calories 338 Calories from Fat 197, Total Fat 21.9g, Saturated Fat 8.9g, Trans Fat 0.0g, Cholesterol 39mg, Sodium 1013mg, Potassium 827mg, Total Carbohydrates 18.0g, Dietary Fiber 4.1g, Sugars 4.4g, Protein 17.4g, Vitamin A 224% • Vitamin C 161%, Calcium 14% •Iron 16%

Deer Stroganoff

Peppery Beets and Carrots

Clean-er Pancakes

Trying to Stay Motivated and Homemade granola bars

I almost talked myself out of going to the gym yesterday.  I had just bombed a test (which the professor is going to let me retake Thursday, woohoo) and really had the just-want-to-go-home-and-sulk thing going on.  I was talking to Hubby as I walked from class to the parking lot and he talked me into going.  His words were "Why not just go to the gym, it'll put you in a better mood and you won't be all cranky later" actually I think he said I wouldn't be a cranky butt later but still he was right.  Of course he doesn't need to know he was right, his head is big enough as it is. So I went and spent 30 minutes on the weight machines.  Working my frustrations out with pec flys, leg press, leg extension, standing quad machine( I forget the name of the exercise) and leg curls.  Then went to the cardio side to do 30 minutes on the elliptical.  Saw the trainer I was with when I took advantage of the 20 dollars for 4 training sessions.  It was great. Afterwards, I was wore out but feeling better.  This morning I'm a little sore but still glad I went.  Wednesdays are my day when I can't make it to the gym, so this afternoon I'll make my oldest son work out so he can maybe pass his PT test so he can rank up in the Civil Air Patrol.  It's all he has left to pass and the poor kid is so lanky and skinny it's probably going to be the hardest part.

Now on to Homemade granola bars.  I found a couple recipes last night and combined pieces of them so that I could make the granola bars for today.  Wednesdays are also my day where I don't have the time to grab something to eat at one of the restaurants on campus so I have to have something I can snack on during lecture.  Being a tight week money-wise I decided to make some and they turned out yummy.  Sorry I don't have a picture, my camera battery died.  I do have the recipe here:
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg
3-4 tbsp ground flaxseed
4 tbsp honey
1 tbsp coconut oil
4 cups old fashioned oats
2 cup flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup coconut

In a large bowl put:  1 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 3 tbsp ground flaxseed and 4 tbsp honey and coconut oil.  Mix well.
In another bowl combine oats, flour, cinnamon and baking soda
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well, fold in coconut.

Press into a large greased baking dish (i'm not sure the size of the one I used it's a large brownie pan).
Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Cool and cut into bars.

These were yummy, not too sweet and had more of a cookie/brownie like texture then a granola bar feel to them.

Nutritional Data from SparkRecipes.com (approx.)

12 Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories  237.9   Total Fat 5.3 g    Saturated Fat 2.5 g    Polyunsaturated Fat 1.2 g   Monounsaturated Fat 1.0 g

 Cholesterol 35.4 mg  Sodium 118.3 mg Potassium 85.6 mg  Total Carbohydrate 43.2 g  Dietary Fiber 3.5 g    Sugars 16.8g  Protein 5.6 g

Snow day and Apple-Cornmeal Muffins

We got about 3 inches of snow yesterday afternoon and today it's a balmy 25 degrees outside.  So it's a perfect day to bake something in order to help keep the house warm.  So here's what I've came up with so far:

I took this recipefrom Fitness Magazine:

"Blueberry-Cornmeal Muffins

In a large bowl, mix together 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup cornmeal, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda. In another large bowl, mix together 3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk, 1/4 cup canola oil, 1/4 cup maple syrup, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 slightly beaten egg, 1/2 cup pecans, and 1/2 cup blueberries. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and combine. Mist muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter into pans and bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins. (Leftovers can be frozen.) Serve with 1/2 cup skim milk and 1 hard-boiled egg."

and adapted it to this:

Apple-Cornmeal Muffins

1. In a large bowl mix together 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups cornmeal, 6 tablespoons sugar, 1 tsp sal, 1 tablespoons baking soda.
2. In another large bowl, mix together 3/4 cup coconut milk, 3/4 cup 2% milk, 1/2 coconut oil, 1/4 cup molasses, 1/4 cup honey, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 slightly beaten eggs
3. Slowly mix wet ingredients with dry then fold in 1 cup chopped apples
4. grease muffin pans pour batter into pans and bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes
5. Makes 24 muffins.

The kiddies loved it and ate 3 muffins and wanted more.  I wanted to save some for tomorrow so it was a no go.  They were different but not in a bad way.  They weren't real sweet as you may be used to muffins being.  After the second bite you get used to the flavor and I liked as well.  I liked that the recipe uses little white sugar and mostly sweetened with the molasses and honey.  I'm trying to switch over to natural, less processed sweeteners and this recipe helps.  It also uses coconut milk and oil, both I'm trying to use more in order to enjoy the health benefits of them.

Lifetime Changes and Homemade Yogurt

After a week of staying fairly close to sugar-less (well as close as I had the will power to do), I'm surprised about how greatly the little I did do affected me.  I noticed this yesterday when I gave in and ate two snack cakes.  A couple hours later I was feeling bloated and gassy, my lower back hurt, my stomach hurt. I was miserable for most of the night.  I'm better this morning, still a bit bloated feeling.  So I'm deciding that this needs to be a lifestyle change.  In a short week I've figured out there is a limit to how much sugar intake I can handle and it's less then I realized.  One small sweet a day or so doesn't seem to affect me too bad.  Any more then that and it seems I'll have the symptoms I had last night.  I'd rather not do that anymore so I'm going to continue to: not add sugar to my coffee(I've gotten accustom to the taste now and Dunkin Donuts coffee tastes better without cream/sugar), no added sugar to my oatmeal (it's just as good with a little coconut oil, honey, fresh fruit).  I'm going to make some chocolate chip cookies for the family today and I'm going to try and halve the sugar in it and see how it turns out.
Okay in another post I mentioned I was going to attempt homemade yogurt.  Yesterday I did this and I am so glad I did.  It is so much better then store bought.  The yogurt has this rich,creamy, melt-on-your-tongue texture and flavor.  I drizzled a little honey on some this morning and it was perfection.  Here is the recipe I used:

Homemade Yogurt

I haven’t experimented with soy milk, but regular milk -whole, 2% or 1%) and goat’s milk work very well.

1 heaping tablespoon of the best plain yogurt you can find, making sure it contains active cultures (no additives, stabilizers etc).

2 1/2 cups good quality milk (I like to use organic)

Bring the milk to a full boil in a saucepan, then turn down the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Pour the scalded milk into a bowl, through a strainer or cheesecloth if you have acquired any brown bits around the edge, and cool until you can hold your finger in the milk and count to 10.

Place the yogurt in a small dish and add some of the milk to it to warm it up, then whisk it back into the milk. Pour into a glass jar (glass holds heat well), wrap in a towel or sweater and put in a warm place for about 6 hours or overnight. In the morning put the jar in the fridge to chill and you should end up with a lovely jar of fresh yogurt.

 I got this recipe from The Family Kitchen

Here is what I did with mine:

I used a quart of whole milk (Kroger's 1.70, I forgot the exact price but this is close)

I added one heaping tablespoon of Dannon's Greek yogurt (1.00 Walmart)

I didn't bring the milk to a boil, instead I brought it up to 180 for 10 minutes (I read on another forum that this was best).

Then I put the pan in a sink filled with a small amount of cold water to bring the temp down to 100 degrees

I mixed the yogurt (mine may of actually been more like 2 tablespoons, it was heaped up real good, lol) with about half a cup of the milk to warm it up like the recipe said.  Then I mixed it in with the rest of the milk until the yogurt was well incorporated. I then put the milk/yogurt mixture into a clean/sterilized quart canning jar.  I took a small cooler and put a bath towel in it and set the jar of soon to be yogurt in the towel and wrapped the towel around it.  I took two more quart jars and filled them with warm/hot water (110-120 degrees) and put one on each side of the yogurt (outside of the towel).  I then took the cooler and set it in a warm place (in my case that was in the laundry closet on the top shelf while I was  doing laundry, the dryer kept the area nice and warm).  Then let it set for 6 hours. After it's set up you can put it in the fridge to chill or drain it for greek-type yogurt or yogurt cheese.  Use it as you would any plain yogurt.

The yogurt after 5 hours incubating, just one more hour to go and it was already looking and smelling like yummy yogurt.

Yummy homemade yogurt with honey for breakfast this morning.  Now I'm wondering why I didn't try this sooner.

BBQ Deer(sorta) and Trying to be Sugar-Less

Last night I tried something new with this deer meat we have in the freezer. I took some that hubby had cut kinda small and we labeled minute steaks, added bacon, jalapeños and barbecue sauce and made dish that was surprisingly good.

I was inspired by this recipe however my "steaks" were too small to wrap around a jalapeño and the only jalapeños we had were the pickled ones. So I sorta of deconstructed it into this:

(I apologize for the sorry looking pictures. I used my phone's camera to take them).

First I took 4 slices of bacon and laid them in the bottom of a med to small sized baking dish. I then took the deer meat and layered it on top of the bacon and added jalapeños on top of that. I sprinkled some seasoning salt, thyme and pepper over everything. I didn't measure the seasonings, just went till it looked like enough.

Next I took two slices of bacon and cut them in half and layered on top. Then I placed in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes I poured some barbecue sauce over everything. I just used original recipe flavored sauce.

After another 10-15 minutes we have the finished product. It was good and didn't have a gamey taste like deer can have. Can't say it's the healthiest product with all the bacon but it came out (according to the recipe thing on Loseit.com) to around 330 calories a serving for the six of us.

Starting this weekend I think I'm going to see if I can have a sugar-less week. I'm going to try to go a week without putting any added sugar to what I consume. I'm also going to try and half the sugar in the foods I make for my family this week and see if they say anything.