Friday, December 16, 2005

From meat to lovely beans

Ah beans. I love them so. Just don't get too near to me after I eat them sometimes. Not the nicest scent.

In a nice change from the hunks of meat, I made a new hummus recipe that I pulled from a WW magazine. It was a really simple recipe to make on a work night. I mixed it up and chilled for a couple hours. It was perfect with some mini wheat pitas. It definitely has a lemon edge to it, but if you didn't know it was lemon in it, you wouldn't be able to define what the edge was. The flavor lasted nicely for a few days in the refrigerator without overwhelming. I do have one serving left which I will freeze and will be interested to see how it defrosts. Pretty much a repeater.


* Exported from MasterCook *

Hummus

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 3 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Spreads/Dips

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
15 1/2 ounces chickpeas, canned
4 teaspoons natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 garlic clove
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt

Drain and rinse chickpeas, reserving 1/3 cup of the canned chickpea liquid; set aside.

In a food processor or blender, combine the chickpeas, peanut butter, lemon juice, lemon rind, garlic, cumin, and salt. With the processor running, gradually add the reserved chickpea liquid through the feed tube and process until smooth.

Source:
"WW magazine - July/August 2003"

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 224 Calories; 5g Fat (21.0% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 35g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 554mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Fat.

NOTES : 4 points

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Hey - I brought meat!

So, after Thanksgiving excess and a visit from Mom, I finally got back in to cooking. The first holiday weight will be taken off - just in time to fight the Christmas weight! I know the extra would help insulate, but I prefer to wear warm sweaters that fit for that.

Anyway, I finally found a pair of recipes for meatloafs that I actually like and are somewhat healthy. Both recipes are from CL. The first is Mini Meat Loaves from the Jan/Feb 03 issue. This recipe serves 4 as originally written, but I split it in half when I made it, because I wasn't sure how much I would like them. The calorie count I got back from MasterCook is higher than is printed in CL, but it was still reasonable for the size of the servings. This meatloaf baked up easily, and had a nice topping. I definitely could see repeating this recipe. The individual loaves are cool because they look large, and trick the mind in to thinking the serving is larger than it is.

The second is a more unique recipe. It's the Skinny Turkey-Spinach Meat Loaf from CL March 03. This recipe is a mix of meats. I had 1/2 a pound of the beef left from the last meat loaf recipe, and decided to try this instead of the Wedding Soup recipe I thought of. This recipe is interesting because not only does it include meat, but it mixes in spinach as a binder. It gets in vegetables as well as meat. The flavor is very good. It is unusually colored inside, but not unappetizingly. And of course it had the nice topping that I like.

A couple months ago I said I would not be making more meat loaves because I thought I was not a person who enjoyed big hunks of meat. Turns out I like specific hunks of meat. (And keep your minds out of the gutter on that comment, if you can)


* Exported from MasterCook *

Mini Meat Loaves

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 pound 10% lean ground beef
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400

Combine ketchup and mustard, stirring well with a whisk. Reserve 2 1/2 tablespoons ketchup mixture. Combine remaining ketchup mixture, beef, and next 6 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring to combine.

Divide beef mixture into 4 equal portions. Shape each portion in to a 4x2 1/2-inch loaf; place loaves on a jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray.

Spread about 2 teaspoons reserved ketchup mixture evenly over each loaf. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes or until done.

Source:
"CL Jan/Feb 2003"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 293 Calories; 13g Fat (40.8% calories from fat); 26g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 126mg Cholesterol; 985mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.


Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


* Exported from MasterCook *

Skinny Turkey-Spinach Meat Loaf

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 cup finely chopped onion
3 garlic clove -- minced
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 pounds turkey breast, boneless and skinless -- ground
1/2 pound 10% lean ground beef
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen spinach -- thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1/2 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion, and saute 4 minutes. Add garlic, and saute 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Combine onion mixture, breadcrumbs, and the next 8 ingredients (breadcrumbs through spinach), stirring well.


Shape meat mixture into a 12 x 5 inch loaf on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Brush ketchup over the top of the loaf. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160; let stand 10 minutes before slicing.


Source:
"CL 03/04"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 256 Calories; 5g Fat (16.2% calories from fat); 33g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 72mg Cholesterol; 728mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 0 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : 6 points

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0