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Vegetable Beef Soup

18 Mar

Hi Friends!  Winter is winding down here in Kentucky, so I thought I would take this last cool week (i hope) to make a pot of Vegetable soup.  Now, Veggie soup is something I’ve made since, well, I don’t even remember when.  But, for whatever reason, I never thought to post it here.  Veggie soup is so versatile, which is one of the things I love about it.  For instance, nobody in my family ever made meatless vegetable soup, but I cooked it for 10 years during my vegetarian days.  My mom always included stew meat, and my granny always made it with ground beef.  Today, we’re going to go the ground beef route, but if you’re a vegetarian, you could easily just leave the beef out, so I’m going to mark this one “vegetarian friendly” over there on the categories column as well.

One of the characteristics I always found interesting in my granny’s soup, was her ability to get the ground beef to break up into a very fine texture.  I asked her how she did it like that, and she just said she didn’t really know.  So, after years of experimenting (including a couple of years where i literally poured a whole lb of ground beef into a blender) I finally got my own technique that works.  You’ll notice the “boil and stir” method in my directions below.  If you like big chunky ground beef, you can skip that and omit the broth altogether.  This is not my Granny’s recipe per-se, but it combines her beef technique with my mom’s addition of chopped cabbage, which is my favorite thing about her soup. So this is the best, of both.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 1 can of beef broth
  • 2 cans of original “Veg-all”
  • 1 Large can of V8 juice (use the whole thing- 46 oz)
  • 1 can (15 oz) petite diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups of chopped raw cabbage
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:

  1. In a saucepan, on the stovetop, combine 1 lb ground beef and 1 can broth.  Cook on medium, and stir the heck out of the beef until it all breaks up into a weird beefy sludge. (appetizing, i know…but this is how you get the really fine beef I talked about).  Continue cooking on stovetop, and stirring, until all the beef has browned.  Then drain the beef in a colander over the sink.  You don’t even need the broth. It’s strictly for beef-texture purposes.
  2. Now, combine all those other ingredients, including beef, into a crockpot or a large pan on the stove top.  If you’re using the crock pot, cook on low for 5-6 hours.  If you’re doing the stovetop, just simmer it for an hour or so until the cabbage is nice and done.

Makes 10 cups of soup

1 cup = 145 calories per serving

Approximately 3 weight watchers points plus 





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Asian pork loin medallions

25 Feb

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 lb pork loin, sliced into 1/2 inch medallion
  • 6 tbsp water
  • 1/3 cup red wine
  • 3 tbsp hoisin sauce

Directions:

Coat a large skillet with nonstick spray. Add sesame oil, and heat on medium heat.

Salt and pepper pork medallions.

Add red pepper, garlic, and pork to pan. Cook pork medallions about 5 minutes per side, stirring garlic around as meet cooks.

Remove pork and set aside. Add water, wine, and hoisin sauce to skillet and cook until sauce thickens.

Return pork to pan for about 2 minutes to warm.

Serve over rice or noodles. (Not included in calorie count)

Makes 4 servings=  220 calories per serving

Appx 5 wow points plus

 

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Moroccan Chicken

22 Jan

Remember a while back, when I said I was experimenting with new spices?  Tonight’s exotic adventure includes the North African spice “Ras El Hanout” and it was really fragrant and delicious.  Next time, I think I’m going to cut the chicken up, add some peppers, and serve this over rice.  I ordered my Ras El Hanout on ebay but you can make your own if you want.  Here’s a recipe on Epicurious!

Ingredients:

  • 4 (6 oz) chicken breasts (i used Tyson right-size. they’re perfect!)
  • 1 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 TBSP Ras El Hanout
  • 1 TBPS light butter or margarine
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • Salt
  • 2 TSP honey

Directions:

1. In an oven-proof skillet, heat olive oil on medium.  Add 1 TBSP ras el hanout, Mix and cook for 2-3 minutes, just to toast the spices.

2.  Add chicken breasts, and coat each breast with the spice mixture. Allow breasts to cook about 4-5 minutes.  Remove chicken, and set aside.

3. Add butter to skillet, and melt butter, swirling it around to incorporate remaining spices.

4. Add onions to butter mixture, and sauté about 4 minutes. Place chicken breasts on top of onions in pan.  Sprinkle the whole dish with salt.  Drizzle honey over the top of the mixture.

5.  Place skillet containing onions and chicken into a preheated oven.  Bake on 400 for 10-12 minutes. Serve chicken and onions together.

Makes 4 servings= 278 Calories per serving.

Appx 7 weight watchers points per serving

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Simple broiled chicken

15 Jan

This is about as basic as it gets folks, but it’s one of my husband’s favorite was to prepare chicken. It’s quick, easy, and super healthy.

Ingredients:

– 4 (6 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
– salt
– pepper
– paprika (all to taste)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika on both sides of chicken.

3. Spray a baking pagan with nonstick spray.

4. Bake for 10 min.

5. Turn oven up to “Lo” broil and broil 5-7 min.

Voila! Easy breezy. Enjoy!

1 breast = 210 calories

Appx 5 weight watchers pp

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Thai chicken lettuce wraps

10 Jan

I’ve had this on my list for so long, and finally got around to making it tonight! Man I’m glad I did! These were light, delicious, just enough spicy, and pretty easy, to boot. This is the first time I’ve ever bought Thai peanut sauce, but I would recommend this brand. I was very pleased with the results. This one was a 2 person recipe, because my kids are not in to it. You could easily double the recipe to serve 4.

Ingredients:

– 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
– salt and pepper to taste
– 1/4 cup very thin sliced onion
– 1/4 cup very thin sliced red bell pepper
– 1/4 cup sliced water chestnuts, cut into quarters
– 1 tsp minced ginger
– 1 tbsp minced garlic
– 1/3 cup Thai peanut sauce (San-J brand recommended)
– 1 head Bibb lettuce

Directions:

1. Dice chicken into little pieces. I used frozen, thin sliced filets (Tyson select size) and left them slightly frozen to make them easier to cut. Cut into pieces about 1/4- 1/2 in square. Salt and pepper chicken.

2. Spray a medium sized skillet with non stick spray, and add chicken, onion, and peppers. Sautéed until chicken shows no more pink.

3. Add garlic, ginger, and water chestnuts, and continue cooking mixture until liquid cooks off.

4. Once liquid is cooked off chicken mixture, mix in sauce and cook on low just another minute or two, to heat sauce through.

5. Separate, rinse, and dry the leaves of your Bibb lettuce. Snap off long stems if needed, but be careful not to tear leafy part.

6. Divide chicken mixture into two equal parts, and serve with lettuce leaves for wrapping.

2 servings= 406 calories per serving

Appx 9 weight watchers points plus per serving

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Grilled sirloin

2 Jan

When grilling a great steak, there are often high calorie marinades, or buttery toppings involved. I’m sort of a steak purist. I like just a simple seasoning, and some A1. In reasonable serving sizes, steak is completely doable on a low calorie diet. Here’s my simple take.

Ingredients:

– 3 (7 oz) top sirloin steaks
– 1 tsp salt
– 1/2 tsp black pepper
– 1/2 tsp garlic powder
– 1/2 tsp paprika
– Fat free spray butter

Directions:

1. Mix salt, pepper, garlic and paprika in a small container.

2. Spray steaks with spray butter on one side.

3. Sprinkle half of seasoning mixture evenly over tops of steaks.

4. Flip steaks and repeat butter and seasoning.

6. Allow steaks to sit 10-15 min at room temp.

7. Spray the grates of your gas grill with non stick spray, then heat grill to high temp.

8. Place steaks on grill and close lid. Grill on high for about 3-4 minutes on each side.

9. If you like your steak more “well done” go ahead and turn the heat to medium and continue cooking until center reaches desired temp.

10. Allow steak to rest about 5 min before serving.

3 servings= 370 calories per serving

Appx 10 weight watchers points plus

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Crockpot lasagna

18 Nov

A coworker recently brought me a recipe she had found for a crockpot lasagna. Naturally I was inclined to take it and use it to experiment on a low cal version. Lasagna is a dish I love to make, but it’s time intensive. This recipe still requires some prep time, but I can do it the night before and just have my husband pop it in to cook.

Ingredients:

– 12 oz lean ground beef (I used 93%)
– 12 oz Italian turkey sausage
– 1 jar prego light smart sauce
– 1 can diced tomatoes
– 1/2 cup water
– 1 medium onion, dice
– 2 TBSP minced garlic
– 15 oz part skim ricotta
– 3 egg whites
– 1 tsp dried oregano
– 1 tsp dried basil
– 1/2 tsp garlic powder
– 1/4 tsp salt
– 9 standard lasagna noodles
– 1 cup 2% shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Sauté beef, sausage, onions and garlic together in a skillet, breaking up meat until it’s all cooked through.

2. Add tomatoes (don’t drain them), prego, water, salt and garlic powder to the skillet and mix until all ingredients are incorporated.

3. In a separate bowl mix ricotta, egg whites, oregano, and basil.

4. Line the inside of your crockpot with aluminum foil. I used one large piece going longways, and one long piece going too to bottom. Press foil down to conform to the shape of the crockpot. Spray with nonstick spray.

5. Pour 1 1/2 cups of sauce mixture in crock and spread evenly across the bottom.

6. Use 3 noodles and lay them side by side across bottom of crock, longways. They’re too long for the crockpot so you’ll need to break the end off to make them fit. Lay the middle noodle down first. The edge noodles may overlap the middle noodle which is fine.

7. Spread 1/2 of ricotta mixture evenly over the noodles.

8. Spread 2 cups of sauce mixture over ricotta.

9. Repeat steps 6-8. Noodles. Ricotta. Sauce.

10. For the The last layer of your lasagna, arrange noodles, too with remaining sauce, and mozzarella cheese.

11. Place lid on crockpot and cook on low about 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

12. Use aluminum edges to carefully remove lasagna and foil from the crockpot. Set the foil and lasagna on a platter and allow to cool 15-20 min.

13. Peel aluminum edges away and slice and serve your lasagna.

6 servings= 605 calories per serving
Appx 16 weight watchers points plus

8 servings = 455 calories per serving
Appx 16 weight watchers points plus

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Low calorie tuna salad sandwiches

9 Nov

This is your basic tuna sandwich, with a few substitutions to bring down the calorie count and up the flavor. My memories of tuna sandwiches are based on a slightly sweet variety of tuna salad, which is what this recipe is based on. It tastes just like my Granny’s and my Moms. If you prefer a more savory version, you can sub fat free mayo and dill relish for great results and about 5 calories less per serving.

Ingredients:

  • 2 (5 oz) cans of chunk light or white tuna in water
  • 3 tablespoons fat free miracle whip
  • 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
  • 2 tablespoons of onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons of celery, finely chopped (optional)
  • 1 egg, hard boiled and chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Drain tuna and mix in a bowl with all other ingredients.

editors Note: Serve with 2 slices of 35 calorie bread for a 140 calorie sandwich!

Makes 4 servings.

105 calories per serving

Approximately 3 weight watchers points plus per serving

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Pork, Sauerkraut and Dumplings

8 Nov

This recipe was handed down from my mother-in-law. It is a comfort food for my husband, who remembers it fondly from his childhood.  I have to admit, I had never heard of sauerkraut and dumplings, and I wasn’t sure about it.  After trying it at my in law’s house, I had a change of heart.  This stuff is pretty good, and, it’s way outside my comfort zone, which, for me, makes it even better.,

 

Ingredients:

– 4 boneless pork chops, 4 oz each

– 1 cup original bisquick mix

– 1/3 cup 1% milk

– Chicken broth, 1 1/2 cups

– 4 cups, or 1 bag of sauerkraut, with juice

– Salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

1. Mix Sauerkraut and chicken broth in a crock pot.

2. Salt and pepper pork chops, and add to crock pot, on top of sauerkraut mixture.

3. Cook on low 5-7 hours.

4. Remove pork from crockpot. Pour sauerkraut mixture into a large pan (with lid) and place on the stove, on medium heat until nearly boiling.

5. Mix bisquick and milk in a bowl.  Divide mixture evenly into 4 segments, and use a spoon to drop each one into the pot.

6. Allow dumplings to cook for 10 minutes uncovered.   Cover with lid and continue cooking and additional 10 minutes.

7. Serve Pork with 1 dumpling, and 1/4 remaining sauerkraut.

 

*Note: this is delicious with mashed potatoes

 

Makes 4 Servings: 408 Calories per serving

Approximately 11 Weight watchers points plus

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Apricot Chicken

29 Sep

This was good, easy, and definitely a repeat recipe 🙂 Enjoy

Ingredients: 

  • 4 (4 oz) boneless chicken breasts
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup apricot preserves
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary

Directions: 

  1. Heat your grill to high heat and let it sit about 5 minutes before cooking chicken.
  2. Salt and pepper chicken to taste.
  3. Mix apricot preserves, vinegar, salt, and rosemary together in a microwave safe measuring cup.
  4. Turn grill down to medium heat, and add your chicken breasts.  Cook about 5 min on first side, or until chicken is cooked about 1/2 way through.
  5. Turn Chicken over on grill, and spoon/brush half the apricot mixture evenly over the chicken breasts.  Continue grilling another 3-5 min or until completely cooked through.
  6. Remove chicken from grill, and distribute remaining apricot mixture evenly over the top of the chicken breasts.

 

Makes 4 servings= 207 calories per serving

approximately 5 weight watchers points plus per serving

 

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