🥬 Vegetable fried rice. 1/15/20

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Beebamom

We were supposed to go out to dinner tonight but the timing did not work out and we arrived home tired and hungry after being caught in rush hour traffic. This would be one of those times when we used to get some take-out or better still have the pizza delivery guy arrive at our house with a hot pizza! But no, we decided to stay on track and rummaged through our refrigerator. We found the makings for vegetarian fried rice.

Onions, garlic, ginger, broccoli, carrots, celery, and snowpeas were sautéed in some neutral oil. John made a plan omelet and sliced that up to put in along with some sesame seeds and the rice. The dish was seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil. This dinner was so good and took about one half hour to make. I wish we had had some tofu on hand because that would have been a really tasty addition.

For a vegan rendition, delete the egg.

WW blue points = 5 (vegetable oil, sesame oil, rice)

Vegetable fried rice

Posted in American, Chinese, Easy, Eggs, rice, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, WW points | Tagged | 1 Comment

🐖 OMG! Soup again! Pasta fagioli. 1/14/20

Posted on January 15, 2020 by Beebamom

Tonight’s soup is pasta fagioli. I must admit that the whole make soups so that John has leftovers to eat while I am away is not going too well. We are supposed to be eating no more than half the soup but we like it so much that we have ended up leaving him only a lunch sized portion!

Pasta fagioli is basically what the name says, pasta and beans. We added carrots and celery and whizzed up some of the beans to give it a heartier consistency. You start with pancetta which is a star in this soup, render the fat from it and cook the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery in it. Then add a tablespoon of tomato paste. Deglaze the pan with red wine. Then add the stock and the beans plus the smushed beans. Cook for ten minutes and then add the ditalini. Cook for another 10 minutes. Done.

Serve with finishing oil and grated Parmesan cheese.

You can find the recipe by Giada deLaurentiis at the Food Network Cooking site.

Pasta fagioli

 

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🐓 Chicken vegetable soup with rice. 1/13/20

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Beebamom

We are trying to use up old leftovers so we can create new leftovers! We still have some chicken from our Costco chicken and some rice from who knows when. Pair those with onions, carrots, celery, parsley, and some chicken stock and dinner is done.

Chicken with rice soup

Posted in American, Easy, leftovers, rice, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

🥚🥬 Scrambled egg and a snausage. 1/12/20

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Beebamom

Monday morning is weigh-in day for John and me so breakfast-for-dinner is always a good choice for Sunday night dinner. We have been unusually hungry this week so it has been harder to stick to the weight-loss regime. Add to flagging enthusiasm the fact that our daughter baked cookies and a loaf of bread on Friday and it makes for a difficult week. I can resist the cookies but the bread gets to me.

Anyway, I made myself some indifferent scrambled eggs (the pan was too hot when I started the egg so the white is not well incorporated) and a soy-based breakfast patty. I served this on top of a slice of the previously mentioned homemade bread. I think John made some sort of omelet.

WW blue points = 4

Scrambled egg and a soy breakfast patty on homemade toast

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📋 Weekly Menu January 12-17, 2020

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Beebamom

John and I did not totally stick to the menu last week so we are adding the eggs and pasta fagioli to this week’s menu again. There are a few soups and stews this week because I am going away for five days starting on Saturday and I wanted to leave some leftovers for John to eat. After all who will he have to cut up all the vegetables if he wants to make something new!?

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🐓 Comfort chicken dinner. 1/11/20

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Beebamom

We bought a rotisserie chicken at Costco the other day. I read somewhere that you should always buy a chicken when you are there because it is such an amazing value. I had no real plans for it other than to use it for lunches. Today was kind of stressful so I decided that I would make what we used to call Chicken Monday before we started eating more vegetarian.

I warmed up chicken slices gently in some chicken broth so they would not get dried out. To go along with the chicken I steamed some butternut squash (also available at a Costco pre-peeled and cut!) and broccoli. Dinner was warming and calming.

Chicken in broth, butternut squash, broccoli

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🥬 Vegetarian/vegan tacos. 1/10/20

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Beebamom

Most people love tacos! They are so versatile. You can stuff them with beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, or,  like tonight’s dinner, with beans and condiments. The filling I made is pinto beans thickened with fat free refried beans and spiced up with salsa.  For the toppings I used more salsa, cilantro, a cabbage-y salad mix, some Greek yogurt (omit for vegan preparation), and a delicious avocado dip that I found on cookieandkate.com. It is a mixture of avocado, cilantro, jalapeño, salt, lime juice, and a splash of water. I whizzed it up with my immersion blender. John toasted the corn tortillas right over the flame on our stove. It was delish!

WW blue points = 9

Tacos!

Posted in American, Easy, Kitchen tips, Legumes, Mexican, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, WW points | Tagged | 1 Comment

🥩 Grilled flank steak. 1/9/20

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Beebamom

I have to admit that I kind of went off the rails on Wednesday. Cooking, dieting, cooking, dieting, I needed a break. Although I had planned a nice vegetarian meal of bean tacos, they never got made. John was a willing accomplice when I suggested Chinese take-out. So we sort of overdid it with moo shu pork, steamed rice, and Mongolian beef. I am paying for it at the scale. Mea culpa.

Anyway we are back on track with a grilled flank steak, baked potato, and Brussels sprouts. Flank steak is a fairly lean piece of meat and coupled with a half potato and a green vegetable makes a nutritious and filling meal. John does a great job cooking the meat and I give him the two potato halves that I have microwaved to finish on the grill. While he is busy outside I sauté the B. sprouts and just wish I could use a bunch of butter to brown them better.

WW blue points = 9

Grilled flank steak, baked and grilled potato, Brussels sprouts

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⚓️ Scallops, snow peas, steamed new potatoes 1/7/20

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Beebamom

Scallops, snow peas and steamed potatoes-if you are me there is nothing better. This is my favorite meal for special events and for every day.  We were at Costco this morning and scallops were on the “to buy” list. Once they were in the cart, I wanted them for dinner. It is good that John likes them a lot, too!

There is no real recipe for this. John sears the scallops. I steam the potatoes, and sauté the snow peas. I make some tartar sauce. And then we dig into the best low calorie meal ever created. Yum!

WW blue points = 6 (oil, mayo, potatoes, lite canola butter)

Scallops, snow peas, steamed potatoes

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🐓 Chicken vegetable soup. 1/6/20

Posted on January 7, 2020 by Beebamom

Today I am a magician in the kitchen. I made chicken soup with no work at all.  I took the remnants of the chickpea stew we has last Thursday and added a half container of chicken stock. Then I dumped in part of a bag of hearty greens and cabbages. This was followed by cauliflower that I had cut up previously for hors d’oeuvres. Next were chicken pieces from Costco and a couple of slices of deli turkey.  Heated it up and, voila, chicken vegetable soup dinner!

Chicken vegetable soup

Use your leftovers creatively! It is easy, delicious, and economical.

WW blue points = 7 (oil, pasta)

Posted in American, Easy, leftovers, Legumes, Pasta, Vegetables, WW points | Tagged , | Leave a comment