Spice Rubbed Pork Chops, Brown Rice, Steamed Broccoli with Parmesan

This is relatively healthy. It's not something I make with the kids around, but it's pretty easy to fix and yummy to eat.

Throw in a salad, if you like, and a fruit parfait for dessert (using nonfat yogurt and fresh fruit).



Spice Rubbed Pork Chops
(2 servings)

• 2 (3oz) boneless pork chops
• 1/8 tspn garlic salt
• 1/4 tspn ground coriander
• 1/4 tspn ground cumin
• 1/4 tspn brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tspns. olive oil

Spray skillet with nonstick spray. Heat skillet over medium heat.

Sprinkle pork with garlic salt. Combine other spices in a shallow bowl with the brown sugar. Sprinkle over one side of the pork.

Add oil to pan. Add pork to pan, spice side down. Cook 2 minutes; turn pork over. Cook 4 minutes, or until done.

Brown Rice

Cook according to package directions.

Steamed Broccoli with Parmesan
(2 servings)

Use fresh broccoli, if possible. Chop one bunch if broccoli, and steam until tender, yet firm. (Boil if you do not have a steamer)

Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Maple Glazed Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli-Cheese Casserole

Family dinner bliss! Did you know that families who sit down and eat dinner together all at one table tend to be closer? This has always been something that has been important to me as a mother: to have everyone at the table for dinner. It's not always feasible, but whenever possible I strive for it.

As I've mentioned, I have a picky eater. I really try to have at least one thing on the table that everyone likes, and this is not always easy! Since I plan most meals ahead of time, tho, it's become easier to do it. The kids are not here every single night, as they spend time at their father's as well, and those are the nights that we usually experiment with things the kids would turn their noses up at!

But who doesn't like meatloaf? I mean, other than vegetarians. And cows. There are a variety of recipes for meatloaf, but tonight's is one that happens to be a favorite for my kiddos. Even my autistic one eats it up and asks for more when I make this! It's one of the few beef dishes he'll eat.

Now, it's a bit high in sodium due to the beef bouillon the recipe calls for. This is easily omitted, however, without much sacrifice on flavor if sodium content is something you watch (like we do). The fat content can be manipulated depending on the leanness of the beef you use. We try to use Laura's Lean Ground Beef that is a 96/4 (only 4% fat).

So, Dinner Tonight is:

Garden Salad
Maple Glazed Meatloaf
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli-Cheese Casserole
Fresh Fruit and Yogurt

Maple Glazed Meatloaf
(6 servings)









Ingredients

• 1 tspn beef bouillon granules
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Glaze

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup maple syrup

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl, dissolove beef bouillon in hot water. Add the remaining meatloaf ingredients' mix well. Form into individual meatballs

Bake in oven for 30 minutes; open oven and pour half the glaze over top of meatloaf. Place back in oven to bake for another 30 minutes, or until beef is thoroughly cooked. Remove from oven and top with remaining glaze. Let stand 5-10 minutes.

Mashed Potatoes

• 5-lbs yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1/3 stick of margarine
• salt/pepper to taste

Boil mashed potatoes in large pot until tender. Drain. Add potatoes back to pot and put back on burner for about 30 seconds. Take off burner and add margarine and whipping cream. Beat on high speed with mixer until mashed and fluffy. Add more whipping cream while mixing, a little at a time, if needed.

Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

1 package of frozen chopped broccoli
1stick margarine
1 lb of Velveeta, cut up
1 1/2 stacks of Ritz crackers, crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cook broccoli until tender; drain.

In saucepan, melt one stick of butter, then mix with crushed cracker crumbs.

Grease casserole dish and sprinkle half of the cracker mix over the bottom. Add broccoli.

Add cut up Velveeta to broccoli. Add remaining cracker crumb mix.

Bake 15-20 minutes.

Creamy White Italian Bean Soup

The weather is getting cooler, and that means it's time for soups! I love making homemade soups, and D loves it too. It's wonderful to experiment as well as soothing to come home to a nice bowl of hot soup on a cool evening.

`course, as I have mentioned before, we have some picky eaters at home. Sometimes, the soups have to wait until they are somewhere else or else they may get a substitute soup from a can that they do like. There are few soups they like. All of the children love tomato soup, especially if I make grilled cheese to go along with it. They also love chicken noodle soup. When I make potato soup, only one of them eats it. Same with the broccoli and cheese soup (oh it's delicious). And none of them will eat the various bean soups I make, which are all good.

So, our first soup of the Autumn Season is one of our favorite soups: Creamy White Bean Soup with Spinach with cornbread. (REAL cornbread, not from a box)

Creamy White Italian Bean Soup
(makes 6 cups at 295 calories and 5 grams of fat per serving)

• 1 tblspn vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 medium celery stalk, diced
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 2 cans cannellini beans, drained (you can use navy beans; I use dry ones for lower sodium)
• 1 can chicken broth (I use the low sodium broth)
• 1/4 tspn pepper
• 1/8 tspn dry thyme
• 2 cups water
• 10-12 oz fresh spinach (I use baby spinach)
• 1 tblspn lemon juice

1. In a 3 qt saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and celery. Cook 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring.
2. Add beans, broth, pepper, thyme and water. Heat to boiling over high heat.
3. Reduce to low heat, simmer 15 minutes uncovered.
4. With a spoon, remove 2 cups of the bean mixture from soup. Blend in a blender, with the middle part of the lid off to allow steam to escape. Add back to the saucepan.
5. Stir in spinach and cook until wilted. Add lemon juice.
6. Remove from heat, Serve topped with Parmesan.

Southern Cornbread
(not so healthy, but good)

• 2 cups of self rising corn meal
• 1 3/4 cup of buttermilk
• 1/4 cup of oil

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 9 inch ovenproof skillet or 9 inch square pan; place in oven to heat.
2. In large bowl, combine all ingredients; mix well.
3. Remove heated pan from oven, and pour batter into the pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Lime Marinated Steak and Baked Potato

Another low sodium recipe! We've had this one before, so I am not certain how come I never posted it. Of course, there have been several stints between posts, so time was probably an issue.

The recipe calls for a sirloin steak, but I used a top round because it had less fat (only 4 grams per 3 oz serving). It needs to be marinated for 6- 8 hours, so requires some forethought. Personally, I start marinating the night before I cook it, almost a full 24 hours.

D's blood pressure has dropped significantly in the last few days since we have been focusing more on virtually no sodium again, even for his lunches and snacks. It's down about 50 points. It's still a bit high, but in the not-so-bad high range. I always notice a huge difference in his BP readings when we follow a low sodium diet, as does my own mother who also struggles with high blood pressure.

So, dinner tonight is:
Garden Salad
Lime Marinated Steak
Baked Potato
Skillet Green Beans
*************************************************

Garden Salad

Garden Salad

This salad when using iceburg and without dressing or cheese, contains:

59 calories
0 fat
virtually no sodium

• 2 cups of lettuce of choice
  
• 1/4 yellow squash, sliced
• 1/4 cucumber, sliced
• 1 small portobella mushroom, sliced
• 5 cherry tomatoes
• 3 baby carrots, sliced lengthwise
• Parmesan Cheese (optional)
• low cal, low fat dressing of choice
• Add more raw ingredients of choice
  

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Serve.


Lime Marinated Steak

Ingredients:
(note: because this marinade contains lime juice, it's best to marinade in a plastic bag, ceramic bowl or glass. The high acidity can react with metal bowls and cause your meat to have a metallic taste)

• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of red hot pepper sauce (optional)
• 16-oz boneless sirloin steak, all visible fat removed
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1. For marinade, combine all ingredients except steak in an airtight bag.
2. Add steak and turn to coat. Seal and refrigerate 6-8 hours.
3. Preheat grill to medium heat, or preheat broiler
4. Remove steak from bag and sprinkle with pepper. Discard marinade.
5. Grill steak for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, or until desired doneness

Makes 4 servings at 3 oz per serving 164 calories 6 grams of fat 59 mg of sodium

Baked Potato

• 4 medium baking potatoes
• An acceptable oil
• light unsalted butter, such as smart balance (optional)

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice into the top of the potatoes with a knife, making a large X across the top
3. Rub with oil and wrap in aluminum foil
4. Bake for 60-90 minutes

A medium baked potato contains 161 calories but zero fat and is exceptionally low in sodium with only 17 mg.

Skillet Green Beans

• 16 ounces fresh green beans
  
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced in strips
• 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, sliced in strips
• 1 small onion, halved and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter ( we use smart balance)
  
• pepper

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
2. Add green beans, peppers, onion, and garlic.
3. Cook slowly, stirring, until peppers are crisp tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Add pepper to taste.

Serves 6 to 8.

Contains approximately 88 calories per 3/4 cup serving, and less than 5 grams of fat per serving. Very little sodium.

Vegetable Night!

We're back to starting to follow a more stringent healthy diet again. This summer we have been lax -- well, really, since the spring. When we cook at home, we're using the same healthful ingredients but the warm weather and kids out of school has brought along with it being away from home. When away from home, it becomes easier and easier to make bad food choices since restaurants are usually involved.

Well, this has finally caught up with us. I've gained about 3-5 lbs and D has gained some as well. Also, his blood pressure shot up sky high this past weekend after we had spent the whole week with the grandkids taking them out to various places. There was healthy food involved, but there was also a lot of bad food involved as well.

So, it's back to cooking at home for dinner and I am also packing D's lunches again. Right now, he is getting mostly raw stuff in his lunch to help bring his blood pressure down, because raw foods have very little sodium. It seems to have worked after the first day. It's not down low, but it's out of the big red danger zone that it was in the other night.

This also means that I am back to buying and using fresh veggies and herbs in the dinners we cook. `tis not bad, just more work. When using fresh food, preparation and chopping is usually involved and it can be time consuming for those who don't have an 30 minutes just to chop the needed ingredient for dinner. The way I look at it is, it's worth it! To be healthy, to get rid of the massive amounts of sodium, fat and calories that is in pre-prepared food or canned goods, it's worth it.

In the meantime, I am hoping that the kids pick up on what they see and grow to think that's the way it should be. I know that my father never allowed sugar in the house unless he was baking, which was usually Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Other than that, we always had artificial sweetner and very seldom used actual sugar. This is something I have carried over from my childhood, as I can actually feel the granules of sugar when it's used in drinks and such and I don't like it! Just as well......we get enough processed sugar in breads and starches and cereals.

Last night we had a couple of things that I have made before, so I am just gonna copy and paste the recipes for those, but I also made a new dish --- Creamed Spinach. I got this recipe out of a low fat cookbook, so it's rather healthy.

This whole meal, with the serving sizes suggested and without dressing or cheese on the salad, is only 271 calories, 5 grams of fat, and virtually no sodium. How's that for a healthy meal??I also included the individual nutritional information with each dish, in case you want to make them separately to add to other dished you may make.

Add non fat yogurt and fresh blueberries/strawberries for dessert!

So Dinner Tonight is:

Garden Salad
Spaghetti Squash
Creamed Spinach
Broiled Tomatoes
*********************************

Garden Salad

This salad when using iceburg and without dressing or cheese, contains:

59 calories
0 fat
virtually no sodium

• 2 cups of lettuce of choice
  
• 1/4 yellow squash, sliced
• 1/4 cucumber, sliced
• 1 small portobella mushroom, sliced
• 5 cherry tomatoes
• 3 baby carrots, sliced lengthwise
• Parmesan Cheese (optional)
• low cal, low fat dressing of choice
• Add more raw ingredients of choice
  

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Serve.



Spaghetti Squash

1 cup has:
42 calories
0 fat
10 grams of carbs
4 grams of sugar
28 grams of sodium (very, very low)


1. Pre-heat Oven to 400 degrees.

2. After cutting and cleaning the seeds out of the spaghetti squash, place 1/2 cup of water in a casserole dish. Place the squash open side down in the water. Bake for an hour.

3. When you take it out, the outside of the squash will be very very soft, as well as hot. I use an oven mitt to pick up one half of the squash, and take a fork and clean out the inside into a large bowl. It will come out in strands, like spaghetti. Do this with both halves.

4. Use about 1/2 stick of Smart Balance butter (a 50/50 butter blend with omega fats) and toss with the squash.

5. Serve, adding pepper if desired.


Creamed Spinach
Makes 4 servings at 137 calories and 4 grams of fat per serving

• 2 lbs of fresh spinach
• 2 cups of 1% milk
• 1 small shallot clove, peeled and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon oil
• i teaspoon unsalted butter (we use Smart Balance, a butter blend that's healthier)
• 1 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch (you can use flour, but cornstarch has no sodium)

1. Trim the spinach and rinse in cold water. Shake and squeeze the excess water from the leaves. Put spinach in a large pot, cover and cook on medium high heat until wilted (about 3 minutes).

2. Pour into colander and rinse with cold water to cool it. Squeeze out excess water and coarsely chop.

3. In a small saucepan, mix milk, shallow, garlic and thyme. Bring to boil, then immediately reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes.

4. When milk mixture is close to finishing, place oil and butter in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat to melt butter. When melted, add the cornstarch and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly with a whisk.

5. Strain the milk mixture into the flour mixture, stirring constantly with whisk. (Discard the milk solids left behind from the garlic and shallots). Cook, stirring constantly with whisk for about 5, 10 minutes or until thickened.

6. Add the chopped spinach. If sodium is not an issue, season with salt and pepper. Cook one minute to heat thoroughly.



Broiled Tomatoes

One large tomato has about 33 calories, less than 1 gram of fat, virtually no sodium, and comes packs with a good 1/3 of your recommended daily intake of Vitamin C and Vitamin A. Of course, they're also a wonderful source of lycopene an antioxidant known for its disease prevention properties. Sinply factor in the sprinkle of parmesan into your calorie intake.

• 4 large tomatoes
• basil
• parmesan cheese

1. Halve the tomatoes
2. sprinkle with basil and Parmesan
3. Broil for 2-3 minutes

Makes 4 servings.

Slow Cooker Ribs, Corn on the Cob and Cucumber Salad

For a family reunion dish, I chose a slow cooker recipe that I found. Amid the usual hamburgers, hot dogs and fried chicken, I though that it would be a welcome change.

I was correct! I now have a feeling that I will be expected to make this dish every year.

It's good for summer time cookout too. You can complete the last step on the grill as called for, or not. At the reunion, I didn't and it turned out great! I simply added the BBQ sauce to the crock pot instead.



Dinner Tonight is:

Slow Cooker Ribs
Corn on the Cob
Cucumber Salad
Freshly cubed watermelon

**********************************************
Slow Cooker Ribs Ingredients:

• 3.5 lbs of pork loin back ribs
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons liquid smoke
• 1 medium onion, sliced in strips
• 1/2 cup cola carbonated beverage
• 1 1/2 cups of BBQ sauce

1. Spray inside of a 5 qt slow cooker with cooking spray. Remove outer skin from ribs.
2. In small bowl, mix garlic, brown sugar, pepper and liquid smoke. Rub mixture into ribs. Cut ribs in 4-inch pieces. Layer ribs and onion in the slow cooker. Pour carbonated beverage over ribs.
3. Cover; cook on low heat for 8 hours.
4. Heat grill. Remove ribs from slow cooker; drain and discard liquid. Place ribs on grill over medium heat; brush with BBQ sauce. Cover grill. Cook 15 minutes.


Corn on the Cob:

Ears of corn, husked

Seasoned butter:
Beat together one stick softened salted butter, two cloves garlic, one teaspoon pepper and one teaspoon dried dill. The result is amazing on corn.

1. Soak ears of corn for 15 minutes in water.
2. Remove corn from water and shake off excess water.
3. Rub seasoned butter lavishly over corn.
4. Wrap in aluminum foil and grill over medium heat for 15 minutes.

Cucumber Salad:

• 3 cucumbers, peeled and cut
• 8 oz sweet cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 small purple onion, cut
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• squirt of dijon mustard
• Greek seasoning

1. Add cucumber, tomatoes, and onion to a bowl.
2. In a small bowl add red wine vinegar and dijon mustard. Whisk until miked well. Add oil and whisk.
3. Refrigerate until ready to serve; pour dressing mixture over cucumbers and tomatoes. Add Greek Seasoning to taste. Toss.

Tex Mex Beef and Bean Dip

Tonight we're having taco salad, and you can find the healthy recipe here.

But I am also making Beef and Bean Dip. This dip has only 99 calories per 1/4 cup serving (plus 5 baked tortilla chips!) and 2.5 grams of fat. Lots of flavor for little guilt.



To make this dip you will need

1/2 lb ground sirloin (buy the 96/4 if you can)
2 tablespoons no salt added tomato paste
1 to 2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (15 ounce) canned pinto beans (no salt added), rinsed and drained
1 (14 ounce) can of diced tomatoes (no salt added), undrained
3/4 cup of crumbled queso fresco
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
3 ounces of bite sized baked tortilla chips (about 60, like Tostitos Scoops)

Cook beef in large skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well; return beef to pan. Add tomato paste and next 4 ingredients and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, or until thick, stirring occasionally.

Spoon meat mixture into a serving bowl; top with crumbled cheese and green onions. Serve with tortilla chips.

12 servings of serving size of 1/4 cup of dip and 5 chips

99 calories 2.5 grams of fat 7.3 grams of protein 11.7 grams carbs 216 (or less) mg of sodium