Healthy Dinner Ideas

Beans and rice! I make pinto beans, use a lot of garlic and a little bit of pork seasoning (I am talking a tablespoon for two quarts or so of beans) and you put this over steamed rice- you can use brown, my husband and I will eat that, but not my kids so much. I chop green onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and use canned green chilis and just a little bit of grated cheese. I usually put all the fresh stuff in bowls, then everyone can dress it the way they want to.

Another trick I use to bring down the calorie count on a traditional favorite is stacked enchalada salad. You only need one or two corn tortillas per person (steam first) a bag of shredded lettuce, chopped onions, shredded cheese, and hot enchelada sauce. You start with a handfull of lettuce sprinked with onions on a plate, dip one of the tortillas in the sauce, and place over it, sprinkle with cheese, and repeat if you want more to it, then cover wtih additional sauce to taste. Reapeat if you want more, or add more lettuce and onions and sauce for a very low calorie meal that feels like you are cheating!

M.

Will your family eat fish? Even if it's unfamiliar or they think they don't like it, you might try some really simple salmon recipes. Our whole family will eat these:
1) chop up a few cloves of garlic, and put that in a baking dish with a few tablespoons of soy sauce, a few tbs of orange juice or pineapple juice, or lemon juice and honey if you like, or just water. Lay salmon fillets in the marinade for a half hour or so (coat both sides). You can bake or broil these, depending on how thick they are.

2) another salmon recipe my family loves is also simple, although a little more fattening: use 1/2 stick melted butter, 3-4 chopped cloves of garlic, 1 TBS worcestershire sauce, and juice of 1 lemon. Stir this in a baking dish, and lay the salmon fillets in this (again, coat both sides). Bake at 350 till cooked through. This one is always a hit. MArinade also works great for shrimp.

3) Here is another recipe we like: you could substitute rice, or not eat any carbs if you don't want, with it:

Beans, Bowties, Spinach and Cheese

8 oz bowtie pasta
1 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed/chopped
3 plum tomatoes, diced
1 can great northern beans (15 oz), drained and rinsed
¼ cup chicken broth
5 cups fresh spinach
¾ cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
½ cup parmesan cheese

Begin cooking pasta according to directions.

Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet. Add garlic and tomatoes, and cook & stir about 2 minutes till soft.

Add beans, broth, and spinach. Cook until spinach wilts, stirring.
Season with salt and pepper.

Drain pasta, and add to skillet.
Add in cheeses, toss, and serve.

4) Here is a very simple chili that our family also eats -- very easy and fast, and tastes good:
(you can omit the pepper of course)

White Bean Chili

1 tablespoon olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 15-ounce cans cannellini (any white bean will work) beans, rinsed

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and their liquid and 1½ cups water to the onion mixture; bring to a boil. Add the beans and simmer until slightly thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Divide the chili among bowls and top with cooked bulgur (I didn't include this part because we never make the bulgur, but you can buy bulgur from the health food store and cook like rice).

I have lots more too, if you want :)
Good luck and enjoy!

Hey Shannon!

My sister and I started a dinner blog where we post our weekly menu and then the recipes. I cook mostly vegetarian (we eat meat just twice a week), so a lot of recipes are packed with veggies, beans, rice, tofu, etc. Feel free to take a look! onourdinnertable.blogspot.com

Here are a couple that we have gotten out of the Biggest Loser Family Cookbook - yummy & healthy :-) My kiddos are 2 & 4 & they like them also.

Baked Ziti (Biggest Loser Style)

Olive Oil Spray
1 (141/2 oz. ) box of fiber-enriched ziti or pene rigate
1 (15 oz.) container fat-free ricotta cheese
2 large egg whites
8 ounces (4 cups) finely shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
3 1/2 cups low sodium marinara sauce (spaghetti sauce)
2 Tbs grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 450. Lightly mist a 13” x 9” x 2” ceramic or glass baking dish with the olive oil spray.
Cook the ziti according to package directions until al dente. Drain.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the ricotta, egg whites, and all but 1 cup of the mozzarella until well combined. Add the garlic powder and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir in the cooked pasta until well combined.
Spread 1 cup of the marinara sauce on the bottom of the prepared dish. Add half of the pasta in an even layer over the sauce. Top the pasta evenly with another 1 cup of sauce. Layer the remaining pasta over the sauce. Spoon the remaining sauce evenly over the top of the pasra, then sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and the Parmesan over the top.
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes longer, or until the mozzarella is melted. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces or spoon among 8 bowls and serve.
Per serving: 350 calories, 22 g protein, 57 g carbs, 6 g fat (3 g saturated), 20 mg cholesterol, 8 g fiber, 429 mg soldium

Enchilada Chicken (Biggest Loser) This is truly some of the best chicken I have ever had!

4 (4 oz.) trimmed boneless/skinless chicken breast
2 tsp. salt-free Mexican or southwest seasoning
Olive oil spray
4 tbsp. enchilada sauce
2 oz (1 cup) finely shredded 75% light cheddar cheese
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 350.
Season each chicken breast evenly on all sides with the seasoning.
Place a large ovenproof nonstick skillet over high heat. When hot, lightly mist with the olive oil spray and add the chicken. Cook, turning once, for 1 to 2 minutes per side, or just until the chicken is golden brown on the outsides.
Remove the pan from the heat & top each chicken breast with 1 tbsp. of the enchilada sauce, followed by one-fourth of the cheese and one-fourth of the cilantro. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 4 – 6 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink inside and the cheese is melted.
Per serving: 162 calories, 31 g protein, 1 g carbs., 3 g fat (1 g sat.) , 71 mg cholesterol, trace fiber, 230 mg sodium

I'm a big fan of throwing things together and popping them in the oven. Because I do it so much, I'm not sure of quantities. But one of the recent family favorites has been an egg bake... kind of like a crustless quiche.

Eggs (6 or so)
Milk (like you would make scrambled eggs)
Veggies (onions, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, minced garlic, asparagus... whatever you can think of!)

Saute the veggies until they are about 1/2 done, using salt and pepper as usual. Add veggies and scrambled egg mixture to a baking pan (a small casserole or cake pan should do). Season with salt and pepper, or O. family favorites (seasoned salt, etc). Bake at 350 degrees until it is set (no wiggling when you shake it gently), usually about 45 minutes to an hour. Serve with a green or fruit salad and hash browns, bread, or pancakes. Or whatever you like!

My husband also makes great Indian and Thai curry, but I do not know how to make them. They are chock full of vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes, peas, peppers (but you don't need to use them), lentils, etc. We serve it over rice and the boys really like it.

i like homeade corn dogs.

1 or 2 packages of jiffy cornbread mix
milk, and eggs (for the corn bread)
3 tblspoons of sugar
hillshire farm sausages (whatever flavor you like)

mix cornbread as directed but put the sugar in it.
then, cut up the sausages into small links and place into the cornbread mixture. bake as directed (it might take a little longer depending on what you bake it in)

Trust Me it is sooooooo Good.

Here is a link to my all time favorite recipe website:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/

They have tons of great recipes...one of the things that I like best is all the pictures(I like to see what I'm making) Well anyway, hope you find it helpful.

~G.

Gout is caused by too much acid in the diet. I am a health and nutrition teacher and would love to talk you you about a great nutrition program. I will refer you to my website, please feel free to write if you have any questions. http://phytomom.isagenix.com. Most people on the program lose a lot of weight as well as alkalizing their body. Their cholesterol is normalized, blood pressure is lowered all naturally. I also recommend a vegetarian diet and staying away from sugar, aspartame, or high fructose corn syrup.

Well alot of people buy frozen veggies but i like fresh- here is what I do for brocoli- I but it into pieces, long stems too- and put it in a lidded pan with an inch of water to which I add SOY sauce- maybe 2 T or so, and steam for about 8 minutes. Soy makes such a difference in taste.

I love carrots and zuchini. I like to eat them together.
I will cube my carrots, then put them in boiling water for about 5 minutes or so, until "just" getting tender. I drain the water, add raw cubed zuchini, 1t of butter and 1t of oil (oil keeps the butter from burning and getting bitter). Stir fry until zuchini is just starting to get tender, then add cajun seasoning to taste.
I love to serve these over steamed medium grain rice, (mostly veggies, some rice) with some yoshidas sauce mixed in- yum. If you cut them into thin sticks instead of cubes, they work well with cooked noodles- rice noodle or spagetti- and some soya and butter. I like to add a dash or two of mongolian fire oil to spicen it up.

If I serve pizza, I fry zuchini slices so that I can heap zuchini on my pizza. I eat less pizza that way.

I was microwaving peperoni , cutting into into slivers, and adding it to my salads for "zest" when I was on low carb.

homemade turkey burgers (add some beef flavoring, either beef boullion or worshestshire) fry in pan- then put mushroom gravy over top- with fried mushrooms too.

My family loves my homeade "sloppy joe's". It super easy. I use 1lb. of ground turkey browned and drained. Then I add a can of low sodium tomato soup, 1 tb. of white vinger, and 1-2 tbs. of brown sugar. I also buy whole wheat hamburger buns. It tastes amazing!! :)

Check out www.cookinglight.com for lots of yummy, healthy recipes

A new, easy favorite around here is Mexican Chicken -
In your crock pot:
3-4 frozen chicken breasts
2 cups of your favorite salsa
2 cups of frozen corn
1 can black beans, drained
cook on high for 3-4 hours
shred the chicken and then add 8 oz of cream cheese to the crock pot and let cook for 1 hour on low until the cheese is melted - stir and serve with rice
You can scoop it up with chips or wrap in a tortilla or just eat it over the rice. This recipe makes a ton of food - I have a couple bowls in my freezer for future meals!

I was struggling with wanting to try new recipes. I subscribed to Healthy Cooking Magazine (it is Taste of Home's new name for the Light and Tasty Magazine). I have tried so many new recipes and when I get thumbs up from everyone, we tear the pages out and put it in the "make again" binder. You can get one of their magazines at the grocery store I believe, and if you like it, then you can get a subscription. They time their recipes with the season too. Good luck!