First Snowfalls, Late Harvests and Crockpot Turkey Chili!

I remember the first snowfall of the year when I was a kid. When the news folks predicted 12 inches of snow no one prepared for it because it was just another day of the week. When my family lived in Alaska, now that was fun. But that was preparing for an entire winter. And boy did we prepare. Reservations were made at the Anchorage Sheraton (a couple of hours away). We’d take a grand or two to shop and have a blast. We had a favorite Chinese restaurant to visit, and we’d literally run from one movie theatre to the next seeing as many movies as we could because our little artsy theatre in Seward only showed movies that were 2 years late. People had VCR’s in the 1970’s when they cost about $800 and, the people with film libraries were the most popular folks in town.

Seward only had two TV channels back then, one was nbc, and the other was PBS. Both of them turned off at 10 p.m. Well, I say 10, but that was when snow didn’t knock out the transmitter. But in Ossining where I live now, early winter is fun, too. Of course this morning we loaded up and went to the store to make sure we had enough milk and bread so we could survive the next few hours….and then to the garden where we had to harvest the rest of our jalapenos and one giant red strawberry (they just don’t quit!!)

Part of the fun in the first big snowfall is deciding what to cook. We wandered around the store this morning with several thousand of our closest neighbors who were in the same shape we were…endlessly staring at the proteins, waiting for that big idea to emerge, not wanting to waste a perfectly good snow day by not having something wonderful in the crockpot. Now in the BBD days…oh sorry, BEFORE THE BIG DIET, it wasn’t any problem because beef stew is always the perfect partner with fresh rolls or cornbread.

So Paul said “hey we have all those jalapenos, how about some turkey chili?” So that did seem like a good idea. (I’m still a little ticked at Paul, cause I fed him my diet meals all these months and then he went to the Doctor and got rave reviews and was told to come back in TWO YEARS. TWO YEARS???? Anyway where was I?) Oh yeah, turkey chili. So here’s a low-fat scrumptious gem that’s savory, sensory and mmm mmm good.

·         1 pound ground turkey

·         1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion

·         2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes with juice

·         1 can (16 ounces) of your favorite beans

·         1/2 cup chunky salsa

·         2 teaspoons chili powder (I like Penzeys’)

·         1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

·         salt and pepper to taste

·         1/2 cup shredded 2% cheese

That's the basic ingredients, and you can add some of your own favorites, for instance, we like adding a couple of jalapenos and some diced up carrots, and sometimes a little beef bouillon for that hardy flavor. Sometimes I add a little corn for the texture.  Just brown off the meat and onions, mix everything into the crockpot and cook for 4 or 5 hours. What’s your favorite crockpot meal?

Farmers Market Day

Yesterday was the Saturday farmer's market in sunny Ossining. What a great atmosphere. It was about 60 degrees and sunny. There was a crispness in the air and a blue-grass band playing. Kids were picking out pumpkins and the pickle guy was there with full sour, half sour and pickled veggies. There were organic vegetable stands, wholesome baked goods and home-made cheese stands. I stocked my lower bin with carrots, our new favorite vegetable. I bought local celery, beets and a buttercup squash for chicken and squash soup. Chicken and squash soup is a favorite with my Dominican neighbors, and it has good chicken flavor without the noodles. Just reduced chicken stock (or bouillon), chicken, squash cubes (they mash up), carrots, celery and parsley.

Today I am making pork carnitas. Pork? you say. Yep, there are totally lean cuts at the grocery. I'm using a small lean loin that has 5 fat grams for a 4 oz. serving. I chunked it up and rolled it in fajita spice. I browned it in a little olive oil, and added a jalapeno, a red pepper, and onion. I covered it in water and it is reducing for about 3 hours. By then the water will be cooked off and the meat will begin carmelizing in the bottom of my cast iron pot (on top the stove). I'm going to eat mine on top of salad (like a taco salad without the tacos) and others will eat it rolled up in flour tortillas. Yum! What's for Sunday dinner at your house?

Don't Skip the Tex-Mex!

Tex-Mex is one of my favorite styles of cuisine. Yesterday at Shop and Stop (yes dear readers, we have no Wegman's here) I found Mission soft-flour tacos.... carb-balanced. For folks on weight watchers, that's 2 pts. per flour taco. The numbers are: 3 g. fat; 19 carbs, 5 protein...and get this... 13 g. of fiber. That's 6 net carbs. I don't know where they are hiding the fiber, I can't see it and I can't taste it.

Yesterday we had shrimp stir-fry but while I had everything out, I got chicken strips ready using a skillet, pam butter spray and seasoning. Today I will shred the chicken, and mix it with salsa, and a can of Old ElPaso refried spicy beans, which have no fat whatsoever. The number for the spicy beans for a half cup are: 5 g. protein, 16 g. carbs, 5 fiber, which comes out to 2 WW plus points. That's 4 for an entire cup. You can also add other left over veggies to the mixture, and I usually use a tablespoon of taco spices.

Now my housemate prefers this made "enchilada" style, with the tacos rolled up, more salsa on top, covered in cheese, and placed in a hot oven (covered with foil) for 20 minutes. I may eat one soft taco with lettuce/tomato, or sometimes I just eat the bean mixture on top of a salad. You can also use this mixture on nachos for other folks while using it in a more healthy way for yourself. Actually, some of those multi-grain taco chips aren't horrible in content, I just choose not to go there with the salty snacks. I find a regimen works better for me.

If you have a great Mexican style recipe to share with us that promotes health, you can either add it to the comments, or you can attach it to an email to me (robinsbooks@aol.com) and be a guest blogger. Happy Sunday!

Roasted Vegetables

Eating healthy for a sustainable period takes practice. The problem is, no matter what the diet – low glycemic (like me), Weight Watchers or low-calorie – we develop certain “go to” foods and tend to eat them over and over. There are ways to keep those foods fresh tasting and unique. Roasted veggies fit almost any diet, and most of us can sling a little olive oil, sea salt and/or balsamic vinegar together to make them even better. But here’s a nice little recipe for a vegetable sprinkle you can make up, and then use about a teaspoon of it on squash, asparagus, beets or whatever you happen to be roasting.

This recipe can be found on the internet but it was originally published by Fine Cooking Magazine in November of 2007. You can mix it into a sprinkler container and have enough for several trays of veggies. Last night on Alton Brown’s “Good Eats”, he made a sprinkler jar out of a regular jar with 2 lids, one for covering, and one with holes in it for sprinkling. He used his for making dry rubs for meats, but I think you could adapt it. Or just use an old salt shaker.

2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. coriander
½ tsp. chile powder
½ tsp. sweet paprika
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. allspice
¼ tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Pinch of cloves

Although the veggie sprinkle was originally designed for squash, I think it’ll work for sweet potatoes, beets and carrots, too. When I make roasted asparagus, I tend to use lemon zest, sea salt and sometimes a sprinkle of garlic. Invent your own sprinkle and come tell us about it!

Chinese 5-Spice

One of our readers commented on Chinese 5-Spice. I agree, Chinese 5-Spice is wonderful, especially on chicken. Did you know you can make your own? It takes a mortar and pestle, and you then mix up:

2 tablespoons anise seed

2 tablespoons fennel seed

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon                   

2 tablespoons whole cloves

2 tablespoons whole peppercorns

This recipe came from Lydia Scott, writing for Allrecipes.com. She states that she puts the spices on chicken and adds a bit of Soy sauce. The recipe got a ton of good reviews so I'm sharing it here. I'm anxious to try it on my favorite, Cornish game hens. I usually cook 2, we eat them and use the leftovers for chicken tacos, made with a low-fat tortilla or flatbread.

Speaking of tacos, Ortega makes a low-fat spicy refried beans that is delicious when mixed with salsa and leftover, shredded chicken. You can eat the mixture on a salad if you want to skip the grains, too. Does anyone else have any experience with 5-spice?

Genie Bras...no really....

Ok ladies, I have lost 30 pounds, but I have a long way to go. But in the meantime, I rewarded myself with a set of Genie bras. Which I think work out well for a woman like me who are not...well...um....overly endowed. Anyway, I'm sending one to my sis, but I have to put down some instructions of how you get the damned thing on. First you pull the whole thing over your head, straighten it out, and then put one arm in the strap. Then you straighten it up again, and then slide your other arm in the other strap. Then you straighten it up again. Whew. I'm tired just writing about it. But once you have it on? It is the most comfortable undergarment you'll ever wear.

And because this is about lean mean food, we tried out a low-fat salad dressing the other day called raspberry-cabernet viniagrette, and ladies, it was delish! I could have eaten it for dessert! But it has 3.5 grams of fat, 7 carbs, and 60 calories for 1/12th of the bottle. It is well worth the 7 carbs though. I'm wondering what else I can use it on. I wonder if I added a bit of worcestershire it could be like a low-fat sweet and sour sauce. Anyone have any home-made dressing recipes?

Fancy up the Vegies

A couple of years ago I bought a medium-sized microwave steam pot from Pampered Chef and now it's the most overworked tool in my kitchen. Yesterday I sliced a pound of carrots (we like them for leftovers) sprayed them with Pam cooking spray, added some Mural spice and sea salt, 3 tablespoons of water, and microwaved them for 7 minutes. Wow, sweet and tasty and they were not cooked to mush.

Which reminds me, the new Penzey's spice store opened up at the mall so we've already made a trip. Lots of new spices to try. What I love about Penzeys is the spices taste so much better than the cardboard-tasting stuff available in supermarkets. Whether it's chili, taco or smoked salt, there's just such a difference. Mural of Flavor is our very favorite, it's a blend of shallots, onion, garlic, lemonpeel, citric acid, chives and orange peel. Its salt free and works on chicken, pork, fish, vegetables and even popcorn.

I think it's easier to stay on a diet when you eat spicy food. It makes up for the scrumptious flavor you miss eating low fat foods, like I have to do. I think good cooks know about spices and how to use them. Penzeys always has new spices to try. This week we visited the shop at the Palisades mall and bought a new spice called Northwoods seasoning for chicken and fish (I'm eating a lot of lean proteins). You could probably make your own, the ingredients are: salt, paprika, Tellicherry black pepper, thyme, cracked rosemary, granulated garlic and chipotle. It was delicious on Cornish game hens.

They also had great gift boxes, including grill master, pepper-lovers (with or without the mill) and chocolate lovers. Lots more too. I bought up a bunch to use for gift baskets. What kind of food are you cooking up?

Broccoli rabe... it's whats for dinner!

Today I bought broccoli rabe at the grocery for 99 cents a pound. Living in suburban New York, you're lucky to find any vegetable for 99 cents a pound. Even broccoli is $1.59 a pound. The trick to broccoli rabe is to clean it (and you can find lots of instructions on you-tube) well, and then boil it for 10 minutes with a little salt to reduce the bitterness. Then saute it in olive oil and garlic, adding some sea salt and a few red pepper flakes. It's a fabulous side dish, but that's just the start!

You can serve it mixed in with rigatoni and sausage for a one-dish meal, or you can make a pesto out of it. For pesto, drain the boiled broccoli rabe and mix it with 1/4 cup part-skim ricotta, 1/2 cup pistachios and 3/4 cup grated parm. Mix in your favorite pasta and ummm ummm good.

Broccoli rabe is full of  nutrients that are good for your heart and liver. Potassium, vitamin C and beta-carotene are heart healthy. This great vegetable also has cancer fighting phytochemicals that are believed to ward off illness, including some cancers.

I'm learning to feed my organs instead of my taste buds, and this vegie does both.