No Fast Food Here

Dinner tonight will be hard to beat.  It was so good, I didn’t want to share any with the kids!!  I modified this recipe from the geniuses of the “Cook This, Not That”
series.

• 1 bag medium shrimp, peeled, de-veined and tails off
• 1 T olive oil
• 4 or 5 cloves garlic, minced
• Pinch of red pepper flakes (at your discretion, I like a lot)
• Juice and  zest of one lemon
• Chopped parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and red pepper flakes, cook about 30 seconds.  Add shrimp and cook until shrimp is pink and starts to caramelize.  Remove from heat and add lemon juice, zest, and parsley.  Serve over a bed of quinoa pilaf. (Recipe below.)

Pilaf recipe:

• I T olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 2 carrots, chopped finely
• 1 cup Quinoa
• 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the Quinoa in cold water and drain.  Heat oil in medium saucepan.  Add onions and carrots and cook until soft.  Add Quinoa and cook for 3 minutes or so until Quinoa is golden brown and starts to smell nutty.  Add broth and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until all liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes.  Season to taste.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is the new rice in our family.  It is high in protein, fiber, calcium, iron, and essential amino acids.  Quinoa cooks faster than brown rice and is much tastier, in my humble opinion.  It can also be substituted for oatmeal as a breakfast cereal.  Use it for any recipe you would normally eat with rice and you can’t go wrong.

A favorite meal in our house is to make Flatout pizza.  http://www.flatoutbread.com/ (pronounce it Flat-Out, it is not French.)

I buy the Flatout Healthy Grain bread at Costco (where else?) and stick in the oven to crisp it up a bit.  Then, add toppings galore.  Each family member gets to make their own so there is no arguing over cheese, pepperoni, meatballs, etc.

My favorite toppings? I place a very thin layer of sauce (usually store brand spaghetti sauce or jarred pizza sauce) some mozzarella cheese, thin sliced roma tomatoes, very thin sliced red onions, a sprinkling of italian seasoning, ground black pepper, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese.  If I have black olives in the house, I will add them, too.  Just bake it for about 8 to 10 minutes in the toaster or convection oven (there is really no need to turn on the oven when it is 110 degrees outside) and let sit for a few minutes.  Sometimes I will throw the broiler on for the last 2 or 3 minutes.  Then slice it up and dig in!

Want more veggies in your kids diets?  Mix up your own spaghetti sauce using pureed carrots, zucchini, spinach, etc.  At only 100 calories and 8 grams of fiber per Flatout wrap, you can’t go wrong!

Another meatless Monday recipe.  High fiber, low calorie, lots of veggies.  Enjoy!

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup lentils
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 14 oz vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 T italian seasoning
• 1/2 pkg frozen spinach
• 1/2 cup carrots, diced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in large pot.  Add onions and cook until translucent.  Add garlic, cook another minute or two.
2. Add broth and water and bring to boil.
3. Add lentils and rice and return to boiling.
4. Add spinach, carrots, seasoning and cook (simmer on med/low) until rice and lentils are soft (about 45 minutes.)
5. 5 minutes before cook time ends, add sliced mushrooms.
6. Add salt and pepper to your preference.

I love my crock pot (slow cooker if you will.)  I use it at least once a week, sometimes twice.   Easiest, tastiest dish. I don’t have a name for it.  Maybe I’ll call it Italian Chicken?

• 6 to 8 chicken legs
• about half a bottle of italian dressing (I use Kroger brand “Zesty Italian”)
• 1 cup (ish) chicken broth

Yep, that’s it.  Put everything in the slow cooker and set to low for about 6 to 8 hours (use enough broth so that all the chicken is covered.)  Chicken is so tender if falls off the bone.  Serve it with a nice italian salad (bagged salads work great in a pinch) and dinner is served.  The whole house smells like you’ve been slaving over a hot stove all day.  Fancy it up? Sure, serve it with some stove top, or better yet, make real stuffing, wrap it in tin foil and bake it over the chicken right in the crock pot.  Enjoy!

This recipe was modified from an old cook book I found at the library called “Usborne Cooking School: Vegetarian Cooking for Beginners.”

Serves 4

• 4 oz pine nuts
• 4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese (the original recipes calls for 6 oz of ricotta, I am not a fan.)
• 2 T milk
• 1 bag chopped frozen spinach, thawed
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 T italian seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 T butter
• 10 sheets phyllo dough
• 1 large tomato, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put the pine nuts on a baking sheet and toast in oven for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool.
2. Put the spinach in a colander and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
3. Mix spinach, cheese, milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and italian seasoning in bowl.  Add pine nuts.
4. Melt butter and brush on each layer of phyllo dough.
5. Spoon spinach mixture on top of dough leaving a one inch border around the edge.
6. Fold each side of rectangle over so that they overlap the edge of the spinach mixture.  Roll it over like a jelly roll.
7. Place on baking sheet seam side down.  Brush top with butter and place sliced tomatoes on top.
8. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Slice and serve.

I fully enjoyed this meal.  My husband said it was good.  Ben ate a few bites.  Jack balked but ended up eating a few bites later when he was really hungry and said it wasn’t so bad.

I used the extra phyllo dough to make a cinnamon/sugar/nutella dessert.  Not calorically friendly, but delicious.