Healthy Mashed Potatoes

Healthy, Recipes, Sides, , ,

healthy mashed potatoes

Who doesn’t love comforting, delicious mashed potatoes?  The problem is that too many recipes have you drown them in butter and cream to make them rich.  This recipe replaces the butter with low-fat cream cheese for richness and chicken broth replaces the cream.  End result are delicious healthy mashed potatoes that you can eat anytime.

The family will love it!  Believe me, Will and Brian are crazy about them and every time my Mom makes mashed, they ask her to put the cream cheese in it!  Mom, here’s the recipe 😉 Continue reading Healthy Mashed Potatoes →

Loaded Nachos

Appetizers, Recipes, , , , ,

nachos

I know I have been posting all these yummy, can’t believe it’s healthy and good for you recipes!  Yeah!  It’s so fun to be healthy.  Yeah, it’s so fun to do everything in moderation and hell, when it’s the Divisional round and your team is playing at home and  your QB is Brady, I am not going to eat a salad.  I am going to work my ass off extra that day and I am going to eat some FOOTBALL food Dammit!

These nachos fit the bill.  If you don’t feel like playing with the spices I have on the recipe, skip them and just use a taco mix packet (no one is going to judge you!)  I just might make my famous Honey Hot wings too, last time I made wings and nachos for the game we won……….it’s only crazy if it doesn’t work, right? Continue reading Loaded Nachos →

Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken, Main, Pasta, Recipes, , ,

Chicken Cacciatore

I love just about anything braised in my dutch oven.  Especially on a cold winter night, it’s just so comforting.  I’ve always loved Chicken Cacciatore.  Braising the chicken makes it super moist, fall off the bone.  Most recipes call for peppers but I don’t use that in this one, I prefer chicken cacciatore without the peppers.  This recipe is very forgiving.  For the chicken you can use a cut up whole chicken, or just split breast, or just thighs, whatever you have on hand or whatever your favorite.  You could  make this with boneless chicken but the bones add a richness to the sauce that will be missing.

If I am serving this on pasta, I like to shred the chicken (I have spoiled my family!) but you can serve the chicken by itself with pasta on the side (or just skip the pasta if it’s January and you are trying to lose a few pounds!  boo) Continue reading Chicken Cacciatore →

Mongolian Beef

Beef, Healthy, Main, Recipes, , ,

Mongolian Beef

Day 3 of back on track eating, I made this new recipe last night from a Blog called Just a Taste.  It was delicious.  Quick and Healthy!  The only change I made was to use 1/2 cup brown sugar, the sauce was still great.   The recipe says it serves 2 but with a pound of steak, it really is 4 servings.  I had mine with sautéed Baby Bok Choy.  You can find the recipe here.  Mongolian Beef Recipe

 

 

 

Cuban Sandwiches

Main, Pork, Recipes, Sandwiches, , ,

Cuban Sandwich

OMG there is nothing like a great sandwich, especially one with melted cheese and lots of flavor on crispy bread, yum!!!  This is a great sandwich for a football party, you could get them all assembled ahead of time and just finish when you are ready to serve.  Great use of any leftover roasted pork you might have!  Get your Cuban on! Continue reading Cuban Sandwiches →

Tips for Cutting Calories but not Cutting Taste

Healthy, Recipes, Tips, ,

I think we’ve all been there where we want to cook and eat as healthy as possible but we want food to taste good.  If the food doesn’t taste good, it’s impossible (at least for me!) to stick to a healthy diet.  After years of cooking and years of finding tricks to lightening up recipes, I have a few tricks that work really well but you (and your family!) won’t be able to tell that a recipe is “healthy”.

Below are some of my favorite tips.  If you have a favorite recipe that you need help to lighten up, just send me a note on the contact form and I will see if I can assist! Continue reading Tips for Cutting Calories but not Cutting Taste →

Chicken with Mustard Sauce

Chicken, Healthy, Recipes, , ,

Chicken with Mustard Sauce Here is another, low cal, delicious chicken dish for your files.  A few tricks that I used here:  First, by slicing each breast in half and pounding thin, you eat half the amount of chicken but it still feels like a full portion.  Reducing the sauce adds a lot of flavor and the little bit of low-fat sour cream gives it a really creamy consistency without using heavy cream.  Second, a light dusting of flour keeps the chicken moist and gives it a little crust.  If you are avoiding flour, just skip this step or you could try an alternative like almond flour.

I served this on roasted Brussel sprouts and cauliflower.  Add the veggies to the plate, put the chicken on top and drizzle with the sauce.  Hard to believe it’s good for you! Continue reading Chicken with Mustard Sauce →

Chicken Roulades with Mushroom Sauce

Chicken, Healthy, Recipes, , , , ,

Chicken Roulade with Mushroom Pan Sauce

After the Holidays I am trying to drop a few pounds and eat lighter (sound fimiliar?).  This is a recipe I found that was pretty light already but I made a few additional tweaks to make it even lighter while keeping all the flavor.  The only way I can eat lighter is to make sure the dishes have a lot of flavor.  I don’t want to eat bland food, life is too short to eat bland food!

The original recipe had you put 2 slices of proscuitto and 2 slices of cheese on each roulade.  I put only 1 of each, kept the flavor but saved those calories.  The original used 3 Tbsp of butter to give a richness to the sauce.  I elimated the butter, added shallots and scallions for flavor and reduced the sauce longer.  These tweaks saved more fat and calories but the end result was really good.  Two thumbs up from Bill so I know it passed the taste test!  I served it with sauteed broccolini to make it a complete meal. Continue reading Chicken Roulades with Mushroom Sauce →

Winter Caprese Salad

Appetizers, Healthy, Recipes, Salads, , , ,

Winter Capresse Salad

I am a tomato fanatic.  I stalk the farms in the summer just waiting for the first round of local fresh tomatoes and once they arrive, I eat them every day, sometimes at every meal.  There is nothing so wonderful as a warm tomato with a little salt on it……..heaven.  Once September ends and the only tomatoes I can get are at the grocery store, it’s a little depressing.  Even if they are ripe and red they don’t taste anywhere near like the summer tomatoes.

This salad has you roast the tomatoes slowly and the roasting process makes those ho hum store bought winter tomatoes taste….wait for it………Good!  They may not rank with the summer ones, but they are close.  This is a great starter or side dish for a comforting winter meal. Continue reading Winter Caprese Salad →