Nutritious Versions of Your Favorite Dishes

Almost two years ago, in the middle of my most severe bout of clinical depression, my daughter Rebekah approached me as I was preparing dinner and said,

So basically, what I’m saying is, I’d pretty much stink as a host of my own Food Network show. I’d either stand there and crack jokes the entire time, cooking nothing. Or I’d cook the whole time and say nothing. But I WOULD love someone to measure out all my ingredients into those cute little bowls. And I’d love a great set of sharp knives always handy.All that to say, despite the dreary, cold Kentucky weather this week, I have not shown one hint of depression (yippee!), and thus, I’ve been cooking up some great dishes in the Fitness Friday Kitchen. These are nutritious versions of some family favorites. Make sure there’s paper in your printer. You’ll want to try these!

Crock Pot Chili—dump all the ingredients in the Crock Pot and forget about it until dinner time!

This recipe started as a basic chili recipe from my Crock Pot Cookbook. But I’ve made so many modifications to it, I think it’s safe to call it my own now. I don’t know if there’s a rule to that—the number of ingredients you must change to claim rights to creating a recipe. I mean, really, God can technically claim rights to ALL recipes, since He created food. And people. So let’s just say, I got this from God.

Ingredients: (I use as much organic as possible)

3 cans mixed beans (like pinto, kidney and black) or 3 cans of any kind of beans you prefer, drained and rinsed
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 box of ground beef substitute/meat crumbles (Don’t be afraid of this ingredient. It feels just like beef in the mouth, has almost no fat, no cholesterol and half the calories of ground beef. You won’t be able to tell it’s not meat, I promise.)
I can sweet yellow corn
I small can mild green chilies
1 green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp chili powder (or more for kick)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt

Dump all ingredients in the crock pot and stir well. Cover and cook on LOW for 10 hours or HIGH for 6 hours. At the end of the cooking time, add water to achieve desired consistency. Add additional spices at this time, if necessary.

Delicious alone, or serve topped with shredded Mexican cheese, sour cream or crumbled saltine crackers.

Keeps well in the fridge for several days. Can be used later in the week as the base for a taco salad. YUM!

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Healthy and Delicious Italian Meatballs, With Marinara and Whole Wheat Spaghetti

My children LOVE pasta and want to eat it several times a week, so I need to think of creative ways to serve it, lest Jon and I go completely crazy. This was a last minute, wing-it sort of recipe yesterday. It went over so well, I had to hurry up and jot it down before I forgot what I put in there!

Ingredients:

1 egg beaten
1 piece whole wheat bread, cut or torn into tiny pieces
About 3 tbsp milk
1 lb ground turkey
A handful of crushed potato chips (My mom used to put this in all her meat balls and meat loaves. It adds flavor, texture and moisture to the meat. It’s like a little cup of love.)
A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried basil
1 jar marinara sauce (or make your own) I like Newman’s Own.
1 box whole wheat thin spaghetti, cooked according to package directions.

Add milk to bread pieces and stir into beaten egg. In a large mixing bowl, add this mixture and all remaining ingredients (through basil) together. Squish with your hands until thoroughly blended.

With an ice cream scoop, measure out portions of meat mixture and form into balls with your hands. Place in a preheated skillet, which has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cook over medium heat, turning frequently with two forks, until the meatballs are browned on all sides, about 10 minutes (be careful, the meatballs are fragile until they are cooked).

Remove meatballs and all the juice and stir them into a simmering pot of marinara sauce. Cover and cook on low for another 15-20 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked all the way through, stirring frequently.

Serve over whole wheat spaghetti, and top with additional grated parmesan. Add a fresh green salad on the side.

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Amazingly Festive Chicken Salad

OK…this one is amazing. Thus, the name. I was first inspired to try my hand at chicken salad after trying Trader Joe’s recipe. I make a great imitation of that, by the way. Then, I recently came across Panera’s version. And again, I was inspired. Then I saw a recipe in Health magazine that used plain yogurt in place of some of the mayo…and I just almost peed my pants from excitement.

I volunteered to make chicken salad sandwiches for the teachers at my children’s school tomorrow, so I thought I would create a combo of the three and then add my own touches. The result is simply the best and prettiest chicken salad I’ve ever tasted…or seen.

Please note that I made enough of this for 25 people, so I had to try hard to reduce this recipe to a reasonable portion for you. In other words, it’s pretty safe to say, all measurements are approximate and can be modified to suit your taste. The “amazingly festive” element is in the combination of flavors. This would also be delicious with leftover turkey breast (Thanks to my friend John D. for that suggestion)

Ingredients: