🍗 Pan-roasted chicken, rutabagas, and broccoli. 9/28/19

Posted on September 28, 2019 by Beebamom

Rutabagas take a long time to cook. Instead of hauling out the Instant Pot I just put them in boiling water and it took at least 45 minutes. They turned out really tasty though all mashed up with a little butter and salt. So glad that it finally turned cooler so that root vegetables can be back on the menu.

John did a great job roasting the chicken and I also prepared the broccoli. Division of labor in our house, John, head chef and preparer of all meat. I am sous chef and preparer of all things vegetable. We make a good team.

Chicken breast, rutabagas, broccoli

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🍗 Lentils with smoked turkey sausage and veg. 9/27/19

Posted on September 28, 2019 by Beebamom

Here’s my pot of lentils with turkey sausage and a bunch of different vegetables burbling on the stove prior to dinner.

Lentil stew

 

I really like lentils! All the vegetables make this a really hearty stew. Seriously you don’t even need the meat. It is easy to make by just sautéing up a few vegetables, adding the lentils and chicken or vegetable stock, cooking about 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender and putting in the greens (I used lacinato kale) at the last minute.

Looks delicious in my bowl too!

Lentils with vegetables and smoked turkey sausage

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🐟 Penne with tuna and snow peas. 9/28/19

Posted on September 27, 2019 by Beebamom

Thursday’s dinner was another “pantry” dinner.  Some pasta, a can of tuna, olive oil, an herb, and a vegetable. Although I used fresh snow peas and tarragon, it could just as easily have been made with frozen peas and dried parsley or oregano.

John boiled the whole wheat penne in salted water while I sautéed some onions and garlic. When the pasta was nearly done I added the snow peas and tarragon. After he added the pasta to the pot and I had made a kind of sauce out of pasta water and olive oil, I put in the tuna trying not to break it apart too much. For finishing I added a little drizzle of our best olive oil and some cracked black pepper.

WW points – 11

Whole wheat penne with tuna and snow peas

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🍤 Taco Wednesday. 9/25/19

Posted on September 26, 2019 by Beebamom

Tuesday isn’t just the night for tacos anymore! Our taco night consisted of shrimp tacos on corn tortillas topped with salsa, cabbage, and yogurt/cumin crema. On the side we had spicy black beans and the rest of the broccoli salad from Monday.

This was a fun and healthy dinner. It fit right into my WW lifestyle with only 4 points

Shrimp taco, spicy black beans, broccoli salad

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🍗 Rotisserie chicken and yummy sides. 9/24/19

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Beebamom

Weatherunderground said that it hit 102F in my town yesterday. That is too hot to be turning on the oven or stove! So right before it was time for dinner John went to the grocery store and picked up a rotisserie chicken. I had already made a couple of yummy sides.

One of the sides was sliced home-grown red and green tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. I dressed it with lemon juice and Italian-style, WW no-point dressing that I make. I finished it with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. It was pretty enough to get its own picture!

Sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions

My other side consisted of chickpeas, celery, and scallions in a Greek yogurt/light mayonnaise dressing. Both sides were so good that John and I ate all that I made. On my plate along with the sides is a chicken breast that I took the skin off of and some barbecue sauce.  WW points for entire meal totaled 3.

Chicken breast with BBQ sauce and two yummy sides

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🥬 Grilled portobello mushroom with broccoli salad. 9/23/19

Posted on September 24, 2019 by Beebamom

Sorry for getting this post up late. I completely forgot about doing it!!

John grilled the mushrooms after marinating them with a little olive oil and bourbon balsamic vinegar. We served them on light bread toast with a thin smear of light mayo. The toast was more than a little dry. I guess we will go back to eating higher calorie regular bread and have one slice instead of two. I garnished my faux burger with pan roasted onion and basil. For the broccoli salad I substituted Splenda for sugar and water plus xanthan gum for most of the olive oil that is supposed to be in this salad. Obviously without the sugar and most of the oil the texture and taste was a little off but it was still edible.

Grilled Portobello mushroom and broccoli salad

 

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Weekly Menu. 9/22-9/28/19

Posted on September 22, 2019 by Beebamom

This week we stuck to the menu until Wednesday when I discovered I had way too many leftovers in the refrigerator. So I inserted a leftover day and started moving what was the remainder of the week around. We never got around to the scallops or gazpacho. I know scallops will make the menu soon but I think I am cold-souped out for this season. If only the weather would cooperate! I am ready for hot soups and stews. Hopefully this coming week will be the last of hot temperatures.

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🥬 Pasta and chickpea soup. 9/21/19

Posted on September 21, 2019 by Beebamom

Autumn is coming even though here in Northern California it is supposed to be near to 100F in the coming week. So I am thinking warm, cozy soups. I have lots of warm weather dishes that I am so eager to make.

Tonight’s soup is kind of a crossover dish. It is hearty but it is quick to make so it does not heat up the kitchen. This is my take on a recipe from NY Times Cooking, Chickpea Stew with Orzo and Mustard Greens. It is behind a paywall, unfortunately. It is basically a vegetable soup with chickpeas and I use ditalini instead of orzo and spinach instead of mustard greens. To keep the soup vegan omit the Parmesan cheese from the original recipe and use vegetable stock rather than chicken.

Chickpea and pasta soup

 

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🥩 Linguine with meat sauce and salad. 9/19/19

Posted on September 20, 2019 by Beebamom

In deference to my diet I made less pasta and filled half my bowl with salad. I made the spaghetti sauce in July and I do not know the exact amounts of the ingredients so I could not assign a WW value to my dinner. I figured that eating less would have to make it okay.

For a couple of years now I have been lamenting over the fact that Good Seasons no longer makes a fat-free version of their salad dressing packet. In order to remedy this I bought xanthan gum and emptied a regular packet and 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum in a cylindrical container. I poured in a cups worth of 3:1 water and vinegar whilst running my plunge blender. The result was a viscous salad dressing. To this mixture I added 1 teaspoon of olive oil which improves its flavor and mouth-feel tremendously. It only adds 30 calories to the entire cups worth or less than 4  calories for 2 tablespoons. WW points=0!

You can make up your own spice blends and not even bother with the packet if you want. Or try flavored oils and vinegars!

Linguine with meat sauce and salad

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🥬 Vegan vegetable soup in half an hour. 9/18/19

Posted on September 19, 2019 by Beebamom

Tonight is supposed to be chickpea stew but I have vegetables calling to me, so, change in plans! Here is how to get homemade vegetable soup on the table fast. Cut up the onions first. Turn your pan on medium low and add some olive oil. Dump the chopped onions in, add a little salt, and let them sweat. Cut up the garlic, carrots, and celery next. When the onions are translucent pop in the garlic and stir it around. When you can smell the garlic, put in the carrots and celery to cool the pan down and keep the garlic from burning.

In other words after the onions and garlic start preparing your vegetables from the hardest to the most delicate. Add salt along the way and give it a stir every few minutes. Add the vegetable stock at the end and turn up the heat to get it all simmering. In my soup, in addition to what I mentioned above, I added green beans, black eyed peas, snow peas, broccoli, parsley, and tomatoes. By the time I added the last delicate ingredient, the hardest ones were almost cooked through. The final simmer cooks them all perfectly. At the end I added a chiffonade of spinach.

WW points – 1

Vegetable soup

 

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