A Healthy Twist

I am mildly obsessed with The Biggest Loser tv show, and now I have the wii game which is one of the hardest work outs I've ever done! On the game, they even have a section of recipes and healthy living tips from the trainers and past contestants. One tip is to take a recipe you love and find a way to make it better for you. I recently did this with my hamburger hash. Click here to get the original version. In this twist, I used ground turkey instead of ground beef and substituted black beans for the potatoes. I would love to tell you that I calculated just how much fat and calories you saved, plus you added fiber by adding the beans, but I can't. I just didn't have time. I was too hungry. Ha!

It turned out awesome though! And, I didn't even miss the ground beef or potatoes. The ground turkey tasted almost the same. I just bumped up the seasonings a little more. And I love black beans, so that was an easy swap. Logan also loves beans or peas of any kind, so he was all over this dinner. Plus, this fed all 3 of us for dinner, plus it fed Logan and I for lunch for 2 or 3 more days!! It re-heats perfectly.

Ground Turkey Hash
Source: Me

1.25 lbs ground turkey (Make sure they didn't grind the skin up too. Jenni O makes a great one!)
1.5 tbsp chili powder
1.5 tbsp paprika
.5 tbsp cumin
1/2 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 can stewed tomatoes

Brown turkey over medium high heat. Once almost cooked through, add spices and garlic/onion. Cook a few more minutes, then add corn, black beans and tomatoes. Stir and turn heat down to low. Let simmer about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes. The longer it simmers, the better it tastes!!

It's That Time of Year Again!

And by that time, I mean hunting season. The husband is determined he will get a buck this year, so with a promise of more venison to fill my freezer I need to clean out what I have left. At the end of the season earlier in 2009, my father-in-law gave us a good bit of venison. We haven't eaten much, just every now and then, because it requires at least an couple of hours marinating to taste really good to me. And I don't always prep for dinner that early.

The good news is that venison is a very lean meat, and works great for my new weight loss plan! We had some tenderloin medallions and I decided to do them in a Korean BBQ style. They were SO good! Best way I've had venison yet!


I also tried a weight watchers recipe for mashed cauliflower and potatoes. These were pretty good, and a lot less points than traditional mashed potatoes. And Taylor even liked them. He ate seconds!!

Venison, Korean BBQ Style
Source: Me
Serves: 3-4 people
4 WW points per serving

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
3 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
10-12, 1 oz. venison tenderloin medallions

Mix all ingredients except medallions. Reserve 1/2 cup marinade. Add medallions to the rest of the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Grill medalions until medium/medium-well. Pour reserved marinade over medallions once they are on the serving dish.

Mashed "Potatoes"
Source: Weight Watchers
Serves: 4
2 WW points per serving

8 oz. cauliflower florets
3 small yukon gold potatoes
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp salt, divided
1/4 cup 1% milk (I used skim because that's what we have)
2 tsp butter
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp chives, freshly snipped (I omited because I didn't have)

Place cauliflower, potatoes, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a medium saucepan. Add enough water to cover ingredients and bring to a boil. Boil until vegetables are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes; drain and return to saucepan.Stir in milk, butter, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper; mash with a potato masher until smooth. Stir in chives and serve. Yields about 1/2 cup per serving.

This whole plate? 6 Points!!!

Skinny Chili

Ok, so last week I started doing weight watchers points. I only have 24 daily points and by dinner those points are usually few and far between. I do have 35 extra weekly points I can use to splurge, but I really want to save those up for something good.

Thursday night I tried a weight watcher's recipe for chili. It is only 2 points per serving!!! Taylor and I both loved it. And one serving really filled me up. Taylor went back for seconds. ;) I added some fresh cayenne pepper to mine. I really like to use them when they are green because the skin hasn't gotten as tough and they are still pretty hot!



Skinny Chili (This is my name for the dish, not the original author's.)
Source: Judy Scuderi, find it here
Serves: 6

1 lb. lean ground beef (10% or less)

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes

1 can (15 oz.) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 sweet onion, chopped

1/4 cup canned diced chilies

2 tbsp. tomato paste

Instructions

1. In a large nonstick skillet brown beef and garlic over medium heat, stirring occasionally to break up meat. Drain excess fat. Add chili powder and cumin and stir to combine.

2. Combine tomatoes, beans, onion, chilies, and tomato paste in crockpot. Stir in beef mixture. Cover and cook on High until flavors are blended, 4 - 5 hours.

I added a little dried oregano and basil, salt and pepper to the crock pot for some extra seasoning.

Trying Something New

I am on a mission to lose weight. I can't even really call it baby weight since about a week after Logan was born, I technically weighed the same as before I was pregnant. I even lost some weight after that and started to move in the right direction. Then all three of us got the flu, I quit exercising and things just went down hill from there. My goal is to lose 20 lbs.

I have started using the elliptical machine that has been just a room decoration up until now. And I am going to try the weight watchers point system to help me stay on track. I would really like to lose the weight by Christmas. We'll see how it goes.

I found this great food blog all about weight watchers. She has already figured out the points for each meal, making it really easy! I have added her to my blog list on the left. Here is the first recipe I tried: Asian Grilled Chicken.



Please forgive the picture. My camera battery was dead, so I had to use my cell phone. It was really good. Our whole family liked it, and one 3 oz. serving is only 3 points! Find the recipe here.

Sweet, Satisfying & Slimming!

Those aren't 3 words I can usually use together. I have had a sweet tooth ever since my pregnancy and it just won't go away. I still love spicy, savory food, but I now feel like I have to end every meal with something sweet. This NEVER used to happen to me! This is probably why I can't seem to get rid of this extra weight that keeps hanging around.

This recipe gives me the sweetness I crave with hardly any calories compared to the regular dessert! And which dessert would this be, you ask? Banana Pudding! I love it. And I don't want the traditional kind with meringue. I want cool whip on top. Yum...ok enough of that. This is a great alternative to banana pudding. Banana Pudding has about 466 calories in 1/2 a cup. WOW! This Banana Pudding Smoothie has about 180 calories!!!

I got the idea from Rachael Ray. She gave a quick tip on her show about using frozen bananas and whole milk in the food processor to make a quick alternative to banana ice cream. I decided to take it a step further and made it a smoothie, banana pudding style. And let me tell you, it was awesome! Logan loved it too. We've been having these about once a day lately. :)

Banana Pudding Smoothie
Inspired by Racheal Ray

1 medium banana, sliced and frozen
1/4 cup whole milk
2 vanilla wafers

Throw the banana slices and milk in the blender. Crumble in the vanilla wafers. Pulse the blender until it is all nice and smooth. You can also top it with an extra vanilla wafer for a garnish. Just for fun. ;)

Go Fish!

I love fish, and pretty much all seafood. But my husband is allergic to a lot of it, so we don't eat it very often. Other than shrimp and crab. He can eat shellfish...odd, I know. Anyway, since he has been working out of town this week, I've been eating a lot of fish. It is good for you and most importantly, it tastes great!

This was actually my first time to have grouper. My favorite fish is mahi mahi, but it is kind of expensive. I also like tilapia, but this time grouper was cheaper so I went for it. I LOVE it! I think it ranks above tilapia in my book.

Also, this recipe only has about 350 calories and it is VERY filling!

Italian Baked Grouper with Brown Rice
Source: Me

1 4 oz. grouper filet
cooking spray
2 tbsp Wishbone Light Italian Dressing
1 pepperoncini, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tsp grated parmesan cheese
1 cup cooked whole wheat brown rice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup bell pepper, minced (mine was orange, but I don't think the color matters)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place grouper in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Pour dressing over the fish. Top with pepperoncini, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes until fish flakes easily with a fork.

While the fish is baking, heat a saute pan over medium heat and add the oil, garlic, shallots, and bell pepper. Saute until tender. Add rice and cook an additional 5 minutes or until heated through.

Plate rice and place fish on top.