Lasagna gets boring after a while – at least it does for me. Not that I eat it all the time. To be completely honest, I keep lasagna noodles at home and have never made traditional lasagna once. I’ve eaten it and my mom used to make it when I was a kid, but I didn’t really venture into making it the traditional way. I just find it boring – layers of cheese, ground beef, tomato sauce and noodles. But for a working mom, it must have been really easy to pull together for her kids. (more…)
Since I was a kid, I remember weeknight meals at our household consisting of a variation of stews with a side of white rice. Since my mom worked full time, it was easiest for her to just through together one of these super easy stews, simmer while she helped us with our homework, and end up with a delicious, healthy meals.
I never understood how kids don’t like vegetables. For us, these stews consist of primarily vegetables and sometimes beef or lamb. Vegetables were delicious. It wasn’t until late elementary school that I realized I had been eating okra, green beans, peas, eggplant, zucchini and spinach and loving it. I can’t say the same for kids these days- they cringe at the thought of broccoli.
I had a couple packages of frozen spinach and stew meat that needed to be used up.
I’ve been having a serious issue with rice – it’s always either overcooked or undercooked. I’m not really sure what’s going on. I followed my grandmother’s recipe exactly. I guess I’ll just have to keep practicing.
Sabanekh w Roz [Spinach and Rice Stew]
Ingredients
3 10 oz. packages of Frozen Chopped Spinach 1 lb. cubed Beef Stew Meat 1 medium Onion, chopped 3 tbsp. Olive Oil Sea Salt Nutmeg Cinnamon Allspice Lemon Juice, to taste 5 cups of waterFor rice: 1 cup Jasmine Rice, 1 ½ cups Water 20-30 minutes.
Directions
Heat olive oil and sauté onion until brown. Add the meat and brown. Add water and spices to taste. I didn’t specify the spice measurements since I didn’t really measure them. Boil until the meat is tender, then add the spinach. Once it boils, add lemon juice and summer for 25 minutes.For the rice: Add 1 ½ cups water to 1 cup jasmine rice, once it boils, turn to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes. [I suggest you start the rice as the spinach is simmering so that they’re done at about the same time].
Servings: 6
Nutrition Information [without rice]: Cals 181. Carbs 9g. Fat 4g. Protein 20g. Sodium 272mg. Sugar 2g.
Today was probably one of the coldest days this winter. That’s not saying much, considering it was 60 degrees on Monday. Tonight we turned on our fireplace for the first time. It was a very exciting moment – until it got too hot and I opted for my throw blanket over the fireplace. I’m sure we’ll spend many more winter nights by the fireplace. In my imagination, I will be holding a steaming mug with hot chocolate and candy cane stirrer. Tonight, I decided to make a cozy, healthy dinner.
Recipe adapted from The Lovely Cupboard.
Spinach Sausage Sauté Recipe
Ingredients
1 bunch Fresh Spinach 1/2 Lemon, juice of 3 Turkey Sausages 2 tablespoons Pine Nuts 2 Shallots, minced 2 cloves garlic, smashed 1 cup Cherry or grape tomatoes 1 can Cannellini BeansDirections
Toast pine nuts on medium heat in a skillet with no oil. Shake the skillet often to keep the pine nuts from burning. When they are a light brown color, remove from the skillet and allow to cool. Grill sausage on grill or grill pan. Slice and keep warm in the oven or covered. Saute shallots and garlic in olive or grapeseed oil on low-med heat until fragrant and translucent but not browning. While this is cooking, drain and rinse one can of cannellini beans and slice tomatoes in half. Add a half of your spinach and toss with tongs often. Remove first batch of spinach to serving dish. Add remaining spinach, cannellini beans, and tomatoes. Add the zest of one lemon and the juice of 1/2 of the lemon to the pan. Add sea salt and ground pepper to taste. I usually add whatever herbs I have handy. Tonight I added some dried Rosemary. When spinach is cooked, transfer the mixture to serving dish. Add sausage and combine. Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and serve immediately.Nutrition Information – Servings: 4. Calories per serving: 256. Carbs 29g. Fat 10g. Protein 18g. Sodium 838mg. Sugar 4g.
Chili chicken with Mushroom Spinach
Ingredients
1 Chicken Breast ¼ cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth Chili powder Onion powder Garlic salt ¼ cup Mushrooms Baby Spinach Spices to tasteDirections
For the mushroom spinach: Wilt the spinach in a skillet, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Sauté Mushrooms with cooking spray. Add the spinach to the mushrooms add desired spices (I used onion powder and Lemon pepper). Serve.For the chicken: Place the chicken breast in a heated skillet, add chili powder, onion powder and Garlic Salt to taste. Once browned, flip over and repeat. Add chicken broth and cover. Cook another 20 minutes. If the broth evaporates, add more.
Following a failed after work outting attempt, I found myself at home, hungry with few options that didn’t involve pasta, rice or red meat. I stared at my fridge with both doors open searching for something to have for dinner. Then it hit me – Pizza. It only took twenty minutes to make. Five minutes prep and 15 minutes in the oven. Easy.
Spinach Shrimp and Mushroom Pizza
Ingredients
Pillsbury Pizza Dough Olive Oil Mozzarella Cheese Baby Spinach Shrimp, tail-off Romano CheeseDirections
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking sheet (I used olive oil spray) Unroll dough on baking dish and spray with olive oil Sprinkle mozzarella and romano cheese Arrange shrimp on the pizza, layer spinach on top, followed by mushrooms then mozzarella and Romano cheese. Bake for 15 minutes.