Thai Grilled Beef With String Beans

Tonight's dinner was another contest recipe that I've been hearing about from my coworker for a little while and dying to try. It was awesome! Husband loved the beef and I loved it all. I was expecting a very different flavor but was very pleasantly surprised. We were generous with the lime which I think made all the difference. We also used the serrano chile rather than the chili paste and green onions instead of scallions. We used a grill pan to cook the steak and it turned out perfectly done. We will be making this again and hopefully soon. 5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Cindy Heiner, West Jordan, UT

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1½ lbs. flank steak
• 1 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ c fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
• ¼ teaspoons (or more) chili paste or 1 teaspoon seeded, minced serrano chile
• ¼ teaspoons sugar substitute
• 1 c coarsely chopped cilantro
• ½ c thinly sliced scallions
• 1 pounds green beans trimmed
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat grill or grill pan to high. Rub steak on both sides with 1 teaspoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until desired doneness. Four minutes on each side for med. rare. Remove from heat and set on cutting board for 5 minutes.
2. Whisk together lime juice, fish sauce, chili paste, sugar substitute, cilantro, and scallions into a large mixing bowl.
3. Heat a saucepan of salted water until boiling. Add beans until cooked- crisp and tender, about 3 minutes. Drain.
4. Thinly slice meat across the grain. Toss with lime juice mixture, adding any meat juices that have accumulated on the cutting board. Add beans, toss, and serve.
5. Makes 4 servings.
6. Number of Servings: 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 319.6

Fat: 13.9g

Sodium: 530mg

Carbohydrate: 10g

Fiber: 3g

Protein: 38g

Chicken Taco Soup

Tonight was another yummy contest recipe. My favorite thing about this one was that it was made in the crock pot which is always nice. We had a chicken taco soup recipe that was ok but we like this one better. I ate mine with a teeny bit of non-fat sour cream and a few hint of lime chips (not the dorito kind but a really yummy kind I found at sunflower market) and I thought those were the perfect toppings. After I finished I thought I should have used some avocado but it was still great. This is one you can make over and over. Yummy. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Emily Mann, Sacramento, CA

Course: Soup

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
• 3 cups water
• ¼ cups taco seasoning (I use the kind from Costco)
• 1 15 oz can stew-cut tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can kidney or black beans
• 1 cups frozen corn
• 1 4 oz can diced green chilies
• 2 chicken breasts cut into large chunks

Directions

1. 1. Add tomato sauce, water, and taco seasoning to a large Crockpot and stir until seasoning is blended well.
2. 2. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook on high fro 4-5 hours, or low 7-8 hours.
3. 3. Take out the chicken chunks with tongs and shred with forks, returning chicken to the Crockpot.
4. 4. Serve with your desired toppings.

Topping Suggestions:
 Tortilla Chips, crushed
 Shredded cheese
 Sour Cream (Fat Free of course)
 Avocado or guacamole
 Chopped tomatoes or Pico de Gallo
 Anything else you like on your tacos (except I don’t recommend lettuce)

Amount Per Serving (without toppings)

Calories: 250

Fat: 2g

Carbohydrate: 30.7g

Protein: 27.4g

Beef and Spinach Lasagna

We had another contest recipe tonight and someone has figured out my weakness. Lasagna. Call me Garfield because I LOVE LASAGNA!!! That being said I had to take a back seat on the rating of this recipe as ANY lasagna is bound to get a 5 from me. This was a good lasagna too. I loved the spinach but I thought the beef needed more seasoning. Altogether yummy. I would've given it a 5 but husband said 4 so we compromised with a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Karen Huntington, Portland, OR

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1 -lb lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion,chopped
• 2 jars (26 oz. each) meatless spaghetti sauce- I used Prego
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 cups (8ozs) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese divided
• 9 no cook lasagna noodles

Directions

1. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce,garlic,basil and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. In a bowl, combine the spinach,ricotta
2. and 1 cup of the mozzarella until combined.
3. Spread 1 1/2 cups meat sauce into a greased 13-in x 9-in x 2-in baking dish. Top with three noodles. Spread 1-1/2 cups sauce to edge of noodles. Top with half of the spinach mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, sauce and mozzarella.
4. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 281

Fat: 11g

Cholesterol: 50mg

Sodium: 702mg

Carbohydrate: 26g

Fiber: 3g

Protein: 20g

Sushi a la Chang

Another contest recipe is one that we always beg our friends to make for us. We almost didn't want to calculate the calories because we like it too much but we were happy to discover the calories weren't too bad! So not only did they teach us to make the sushi but they actually made it for us! Most people wouldn't call this kid friendly but both Thing 1 and Chang 1 ate it so I call it kid friendly. Rather than type out the instructions for rolling the sushi we took a video of Kamai doing a demonstration.  A huge 5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Kim and Kamai Chang, Saratoga Springs, UT




Ingredients:

1/2 cup light cream cheese
1 cup imitation crab meat
1/2 an avocado
1/2 cup cucumber sliced
6 sheets of yaki sushi nori (seaweed)
1 cup long grain white rice (cooked)

It's hard to explain how to roll sushi so we will be uploading the video once we solve our technical difficulties.

Makes approximately 6 rolls. Serving size is 2 rolls.


Calories: 312
Fat: 10.5g
Sodium: 498.5mg
Carbs: 29g

Chipotle Pork and Avocado Wrap

Today's lunch was something that I found online from Cooking Light. Since we bought a few extra pork ribs when we did the tacos we used it for this. Husband cooked  the pork by cutting it in strips and cooking it in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and a couple teaspoons of minced garlic. He added a "spritz" of fresh lime juice while it was cooking. We used a chipotle lime salsa which was medium heat and it was WAY too overpowering in this dish. I suggest a mild salsa with not too many extra flavors. All in all this was a great lunch. We give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

 

Recipe from Cooking Light

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mashed peeled avocado
• 1 1/2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices cut Simply Roasted Pork (about 8 ounces)
• 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1/4 cup bottled salsa

Directions

1. Combine the first 7 ingredients, stirring well. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spread about 2 tablespoons avocado mixture over each tortilla, leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange Simply Roasted Pork slices down center of tortillas. Top each tortilla with 1/4 cup shredded lettuce and 1 tablespoon salsa, and roll up.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 239

Fat: 22%

Cholesterol: 29mg

Sodium: 683mg

Carbohydrate: 32.8g

Fiber: 2.6g

Protein: 13.9g

Pizza with Spinach, Fontina and Onions

Today's lunch was a "make it work" scenario. The bread we were planning to use for our paninis had gone bad so we had to think of what we had in the house. Luckily we always like to keep a pizza crust and onions on hand. We had left over fontina from paninis earlier this week and we usually use spinach for some recipe or another so we had a cup of that left. We had to add some arugula to the spinach to make it go farther but it tasted good. This recipe is supposed to be made on pitas but we usually do it on a thin pizza crust instead. It's nice to be able to make something quick and easy without planning. In the old days we would've just run to Little Ceasers or something of the like but now we try to be prepared for times like this. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recipe from Cooking Light

Ingredients

• 3 teaspoons olive oil divided
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 cups vertically sliced red onion
• 2 cups bagged baby spinach leaves
• 4 (7-inch) whole wheat pitas
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) shredded Fontina cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion; saute 5 minutes or until tender.
3. Add spinach and saute 2 minutes or just until spinach begins to wilt. Remove from heat.
4. Place pitas on a large baking sheet; brush with remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil. Top pitas evenly with garlic-spinach mixture and cheese. Bake at 450 for 4 minutes or until cheese melts and pitas are brown.
5. Serve with: Arugula Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 287

Fat: 9.5g

Cholesterol: 16mg

Sodium: 466mg

Carbohydrate: 42.6g

Fiber: 6.2g

Protein: 11g

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

Tonight we tried another contest recipe. I was really excited to try this because husband has traditionally poo-pooed any recipe with bell peppers as a main ingredient and I love them. Funny that he was more into this recipe than me. This is mainly a case of a good recipe but just not my cup of tea. The flavors are once again those "warm" flavors that I'm not super in love with but it tasted good otherwise. I was all set to give it a 3.5 until Thing 1 ate it. That automatically bumps it up to a 4. Of course for his we added ranch to add the calories for Mr. skinny. So 4 out 5 stars and a big kid-friendly badge!

Source: Maria Rollins, Salt Lake City, UT

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 serving good seasonings Italian salad dressing mix
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce (low sodium)
• 1 Tbsp Splenda (or Stevia or your fav no cal sweetener...)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 4 cups brown rice medium grain-cooked
• 1 1/2 lb lean ground turkey (this amount raw)
• 6 sweet red bell peppers
• 2 eggs
• 8 oz V8 juice low sodium

Directions

1. Brown turkey with soy sauce and garlic. Cook Rice. Preheat oven to 350. Cut tops and clean out insides of bell peppers. Dice pepper tops (sans stems) to add to inside mixture. Mix meat, rice, and all else and stuff into hallowed bell peppers. Bake 1 hour. (I had a bit of the meat mixture left over so depending on the size of your peppers you could probably even stuff 7 of them with this ratio or cut back on the meat and rice amounts..etc.)

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 347

Fat: 9.6g

Carbohydrate: 38g

Protein: 25.7g