Trying to 'melt' away the pounds--Tangy Tuna Melts

Tangy Tuna Melts
The Good Carb Cookbook Copyright 2001

12-ounce can water-packed chunk light or albacore tuna, drained
½ cup finely chopped celery
½ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons nonfat or light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon dried fines herbes or thyme
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 whole-wheat or oat bran English muffins, split and toasted I used multi-grain lite
4 ounces thinly sliced reduced-fat Swiss cheese; or 1 cup shredded

1. Combine the drained tuna, celery, onion, mayonnaise, mustard, fines herbes or thyme, and black pepper in a medium-sized bowl, and stir to mix well. Set aside.
2. Arrange the English muffins on a baking sheet, split side up. Spread about ¼ cup of the tuna mixture over each piece and place under a preheated broiler for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture is hot. Top each muffin half with some of the cheese and broil for another minute or two or until the cheese is melted. Serve hot.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 329 cal, 33g carbs, 35mg chol, 6g fat, 5g fiber, 35g pro, 870mg sodium, 253mg calcium

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It's spring and before you know it, bathing suit weather will be here. So instead of spending my weekend cooking, I spent it trying not to think about food.

The lite multi-grain muffins I used for these tuna melts have 8 grams of fiber each, and only 100 calories. They're great for most weight loss plans. I'm not a fan of nonfat or even reduced-fat mayo but I find if you add something tangy, like the mustard used in this recipe, it's edible. This wasn't the best tuna salad I've ever had but for a healthy version, it was pretty good. I think I would have preferred dill instead of thyme.

I spent a small fortune on food last week, between my regular trip to the grocery store and a trip to Costco. But, I'm set for over a month with meat and fish right now. The last time I went to Costco was 6 weeks ago and I don't expect to go for another 5-6 weeks, so looking at it that way, I didn't spend a ridiculous amount.

Blast From The Past: Hamburger Special from June 2006. I bought the cookbook that recipe was from, at the community yard sale last year. This year they're having it this upcoming weekend and I've decided to put some stuff out to sell, even though I'd much rather go to the yard sale as a customer. I may have to take a short blogging break since I don't have much time to pull everyting together. I swore I was never going to have another yard sale but since the customers will already be in the neighborhood, I might as well. I don't expect to make much but I'd like to get rid of some stuff without having to haul it away myself.

Question of the Day: Have you ever had a yard sale? Was it worth it?

Flavorful but borderline dry--Honey Citrus Chops

Honey Citrus Chops
The Taste of Home Cookbook Copyright 2006

2/3 cup lemon-lime soda
½ cup soy sauce I used low-sodium
¼ cup honey
6 boneless pork loin chops (3/4 inch thick and 6 ounces each)

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the soda, soy sauce and honey; add the pork. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally.
2. Coat grill rack with nonstick coating spray before starting the grill. Drain and discard marinade. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until juices run clear, turning several times. I broiled them - it was threatening rain outside.

Yield: 6 servings Per serving: 62 calories, 1 g fat,
10 mg chol, 621 mg sodium, 7 g carbs, 5 g protein

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I'm finding pork to be the easiest meat to work with these days. That's a good thing since pork loin is lean and can always be had for $1.99 or less per pound. Pork tenderloin is much more expensive but I grab it up when I find a good deal.

This marinade was very flavorful however, due to the high sugar content, you do have to be careful not to burn them. Also, the oil-free marinade combined with the very lean chops can make for some dry chops if you're not careful. I think this marinade would actually be better on thin, bone-in chops.

I spent a small fortune in the grocery store last night. I don't understand it - it doesn't seem like I'm buying a lot of 'extras'. They did suck me in with a few good sales last night so I'm stocked up on several items that I really didn't need to buy for next week, but that I will need. The last 2 or 3 weeks, my bill has been quite low and hopefully next week it will be back to a more reasonable but last night's total stung. And to top it off, my Costco run is tomorrow.

Blast From The Past: Honeyed Pork Chops from October 2005. This was the only time I bought bone-in chops in recent years. I love them, but they're fattier and when I see them on sale, I usually have a freezer full of pork loin and pass them up.

Question of the Day: Are you tempted by great sales in the grocery store?

A good way to get your veggies--Traditional Meat-and-Macaroni Casserole

Traditional Meat-and-Macaroni Casserole
The New Holly Clegg Trim and Terrific Cookbook Copyright 2002, 2006

1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 pound ground sirloin
1 cup shell macaroni I used Dreamfield macaroni and approx. twice as much
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (15 ¼ ounce) can corn, drained
1 tablespoon chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large nonstick pot, sauté the onion, green pepper, mushrooms, and meat until the vegetables are tender and the meat is done. Cook the macaroni according to the package directions, omitting any oil and salt. Drain; add to the meat mixture. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, corn and chili powder. Season with the salt and pepper. Transfer to a 2-quart casserole, and top with the shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until well heated. Serve.

Makes 8 servings. Per serving: 227 calories, 20 g pro, 26 g carbs, 6 g fat, 3 g fiber, 38 mg chol, 527 mg sodium

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This turned out even better than I thought it would be. It was a sort of chili-mac, with a good amount of vegetables snuck in there. I stretched it out by adding more pasta and it was still rather saucy. It made quite a bit - I probably didn't need the extra macaroni.You could throw just about anything you want, vegetable-wise, into this. This came together really fast because I cooked the pasta the night before (I'll do whatever I can not to be overwhelmed after work).

I really struggled planning next week's recipes last night but this morning, I took a minute to work at it and BOOM! it was done. A good night's sleep does wonders.

I'm making a Costco run this weekend. I could probably stretch it out one more week as far as meat goes but I need coffee. Now that they have the 10-pound bags of chicken breasts, I don't need to make a Costco run as often, which it makes it even more exciting LOL.

Blast From The Past: Sausage and Mushroom Pasta from February 2006 - one of my son's favorites. Smoked sausage is on sale this week so maybe I'll be making that recipe again soon. I've made it a few times.

Question of the Day: Do you always try to do as much prep work and cooking as you can ahead of time?

Lemon chicken, take 3--Baked Lemon Chicken

Baked Lemon Chicken
Betty Crocker Best Chicken Cookbook Copyright 1999

4 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 egg white
1 teaspoon water
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cayenne pepper (1/2 tsp if you like spicier)
Chinese Lemon Sauce
cooking spray
1/2 lemon, cut into thin slices
1 green onion, chopped

Chinese Lemon Sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons cold water

Cut each chicken breast half lengthwise. I forgot to cut it. Mix egg white and water in a medium glass or plastic bowl. Add chicken; turn to coat both sides and let stand 10 minutes.

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Spray nonstick cookie sheet with cooking spray. Remove chicken from egg mixture; discard egg mixture. Mix flour, baking soda and red pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Add 1 chicken piece at a time. Seal bag; shake to coat chicken. Place chicken on cookie sheet; spray with cooking spray about 5 seconds or until surface of chicken appears moist.

Bake uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes or until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. While chicken is baking, prepare Chinese Lemon Sauce. Let chicken stand 5 minutes;slice each piece into 5 slices. Pour sacue over chicken. Garnish with lemon slices and green onion. Lemons are too expensive to use as garnish.

Chinese Lemon Sauce: Heat all ingredients except cornstarch and cold water to boiling in 1-quart suacepan, stirring occasionally. Mix cornstarch and cold water; stir into sauce. Cook and stir about 30 seconds or until thickened. Serve warm, or cover and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. I made it the night before and refrigerated it until I needed it. It was a bit thin for my taste so I added a tiny bit more cornstarch and cold water when I reheated it.

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This is my third attempt at a lemon chicken recipe. The first was good, but a bit too tangy and it lacked a sauce. The second recipe, from Katie Couric, was a disaster - way too much sauce and not a good sauce either. Someone commented that they saw her make that recipe on television and she made it differently. I sure hope so - she claims to serve it at dinner parties and I don't think the version I ate was suitable for dinner parties.

Well they say the third time's the charm and in this case they're right. This was the result I was after. I loved the sauce - the garlic in the sweet sauce was really intriguing. For the first time in my life, I could almost understand the appeal of garlic ice cream (something offered at some garlic festivals that I've seen on television but dismissed as completely wacky).

The chicken had a really nice, crispy golden coating. I gave it a generous coat of spray canola oil but it was still much less oil than if I had pan-fried or deep-fried the chicken. Even my husband commented that this was 'good chicken'.

This was quick to prepare too. I made the rice and the lemon sauce the night before and then I mixed up the flour mixture in the morning. After work, I just had to egg and flour the chicken, spray it and bake it and heat up the sauce and rice.

Blast From The Past: Crunchy Baked Chicken from April 2006 - another instance of 'oven frying' leading to miraculous results.

Question of the Day: Do you like Chinese food? What do you usually order?

Satisfying a craving--Creamy Italian Dressing

Creamy Italian Dressing
Pillsbury Complete Cook Book Copyright 2000, 2006

1/2 cup olive oil I used canola oil
1/2 cup mayonnaise leave this out if you don't want a creamy dressing
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar I used rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped pimiento, drained
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, halved
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves or Italian seasoniong
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. In jar with tight-fitting lid, combine all ingredients; shake well. Refrigerate at least 2 hours to blend flavors.
2. Before serving, remove garlic; shake well. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

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I had a hankering for a creamy Italian dressing. I worked for a catering place in high school that served creamy Italian dressing almost every party. This recipe produced a much thinner dressing than the one we used to serve, which is nice. With a thinner dressing, you don't end up using as much.

This is the only recipe I made last night. I free-styled some turkey meatballs and simmered them in jarred (yes, jarred) sauce. I couldn't get Alessio's so I used another somewhat local company, DelGrosso's Tomato and Basil sauce, and it was delicious. Along with some garlic bread made from homemade Italian Bread that I had in the freezer, it was a very nice dinner, with plenty leftover which I divided up into future lunches.

Expect things to get very simplistic around here. It's my goal to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible right now. I may change my mind tomorrow but right now, there's just too much else to do.

Blast From The Past: Light Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs from last month. That recipe for spaghetti and turkey meatballs was very good but I think the fast version I made last night was just as good, maybe even better, probably because I made meatballs the night before and they simmered in the sauce longer than the America's Test Kitchen recipe.

Question of the Day: Do you buy jarred pasta sauce? What brand?