I didn't think of it untill I fixed it last night. I cook my chicken in light Italian dressing. Usually in a skillet.
Mnm

Here is an easy recipe I learned in Japan:

Asparagus Enoki Bacon Rolls

6 spears thick asparagus
1 pkg. enoki (straw mushrooms)
6 slices bacon (as lean as you can find)

1) Cut asparagus spears in half; parboil 2-3 minutes or until tender-crisp.

2) Cut bacon in half; trim excess fat. Separate enoki mushrooms into 12 equal portions. Line up bacon and put one asparagus half and some of the enoki; wrap and secure with toothpick.

3) Lay bacon asparagus rolls in non-stick frying pan (you do not need oil). Fry until crisp, turn over, fry other side. Note: it helps to fry seam side down first to keep roll intact.

4) Serve with red pepper flakes or Japanese 7-spice (featuring red peppers & sesame seeds), and soy sauce.

Great as an appetizer or as a side dish with broiled chicken or fish!

green beans with garlic, tomato and pine nuts
. Saute garlic and pine nuts, throw in bag of frozen french cut green beans, small can chopped tomatoes, simmer and deliciouso!!

quote:

Originally posted by Bee:
Lori
You can substitute silken tofu for the buttermilk for the mac n'cheese to up the protein if need be - I take equal parts of lf cheese and tofu, put it in a food processer until smooth and then pour it over the cooked pasta. It's super creamy and very yummy.

My dd calls it "momma's extra special mac n'cheese" and the neighbor kids don't have a clue it has tofu in it ; )

Thanks Bee,

I'll try that! This was one of those "I have two extra mouths to feed, and we are at the end of the month, and all I have is bits and pieces" dinners But it was SOOOO good, and SOOOO easy that I'm going to make it on a regular basis now

TWO IN ONE

ROASTED VEGGIES AND CHICKEN

Here's a "clean out your fridge" recipe I use all the time, plus a "morph":

1) Cut up any combination of veggies you have on hand (asparagus, red/green peppers, squashes, onions, mushrooms, etc.). Toss with olive oil or cooking spray, and any herb/spice blend you prefer (I use thyme/lemon/basil blend made by McCormick). Broil for 10 minutes -- watch carefully.

2) Slice boneless chicken breast into strips; toss with olive oil/cooking spray and same herb blend. Lay onto broiler pan beside veggies, continue broiling 5-7 minutes or until veggies and chicken are done.

3) I like to serve with barley pilaf (3 parts liquid i.e. water and chicken broth, 1 part pearl barley, simmer 50 minutes or until tender.

MORPH:
ROASTED VEGGIE OMELETTE CUPS
Makes 6 muffin cups

1) Beat 2 eggs. Beat in 1/2 cup cottage cheese, season with salt, pepper, dill.
2) Chop leftover roasted veggies, add to egg mixture. Wilted spinach added at this point is good too.
3) Line muffin pan with foil muffin cups; spray with non-stick spray. Spoon egg/veggie mixture into cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Delicious and great for you!!!

Lori
You can substitute silken tofu for the buttermilk for the mac n'cheese to up the protein if need be - I take equal parts of lf cheese and tofu, put it in a food processer until smooth and then pour it over the cooked pasta. It's super creamy and very yummy.

My dd calls it "momma's extra special mac n'cheese" and the neighbor kids don't have a clue it has tofu in it ; )

Oh! I made a KILLER homemade macaroni and cheese the other night, and it's just 3 ingredients. I was out of everything and had to feed the family. So I made due, and it was DELICIOUS!

SUPER Easy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

1 pound elbow macaroni (or you can do what I did and mix and match pastas to equal 1 pound )
3 cups grated 2% cheddar cheese (this is about 12 ounces)
1-2 cups low fat buttermilk

Cook macaroni to al dente. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 13" casserole with olive oil spray
In a very large bowl, mix cooked and drained pasta, cheese and buttermilk until it's all combined and the noodles are wet looking. Pour into baking dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown. (You can also add bread crumbs if you have them, before baking).

I served this with steamed broccoli, cooked spinach and apple slices. All 6 of the kids (I had a couple extras that night) LOVED it! As did dh and I. It reminded him of the mac and cheese that my mil makes....she uses sour cream and does about the same thing as I did. YUMMY!

You can make a "Baked Cheese Pasta" dish for 3 ingredients if you don't mind using jar pasta sauce (I prefer homemade sauce though but jar sauce is still good).

Barilla Plus pasta (or WW pasta of choice)
Jar spaghetti sauce
1 bag Kraft Italian Blend shredded cheeses

Cook pasta according to directions (you may even want to under cook it just a bit). Pour in a casserole dish and stir in shredded cheeses while pasta is hot. Pour sauce over top and top with a little more cheese. Bake at about 375 degrees until heated through and cheese has melted.

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
My lunch -
Left over meat from dinner (or chicken or fish or tofu)
defrosted frozen spinach - about half of one of the square packages
1-2 TBS rice wine vinegar


Heat the spinch in a bowl. Put the meat on top. Sprinke with rice vinegar.

I did that the other day for breakfsat, I had a slice of toast with spinach and sausage mixed together and eaten over the bread. It was DeLICIOUS! I sprinkled a little rice wine vinegar and a bit of Franks Red Hot sause on it

My lunch -
Left over meat from dinner (or chicken or fish or tofu)
defrosted frozen spinach - about half of one of the square packages
1-2 TBS rice wine vinegar


Heat the spinch in a bowl. Put the meat on top. Sprinke with rice vinegar.

Kd,

Your Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe only has 4 ingredients (unless you include the water )

My dinner tonight qualifies:
WW couscous w/broccoli and chicken

Bring lf veggie or chicken stock to a boil. Add in broccoli. Cook until al dente and strain out the broccoli, leaving the stock behind. Season stock with cumin, corriander and tumeric. Add the couscous and cook per package. While the couscous is cooking, zap the left over chicken in the microwave and cut up into bite sized pieces. Mix the chicken with the broccoli and couscous and enjoy.

It's easy, quick, healthy and yummy.

I thought of another one...it is a budget meal also!

This is comfort food for ourfamily
Hamburger Soup

1 pound ground turkey or extra extra lean ground beef, fried and drained of any fat
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (I use a 1 pound bag)
1 46 ounce can tomato juice (I use the low sodium type)
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks

Put all in crockpot and cook on low for 4-6 hours OR stove top, let it simmer until the potatoes are cooked (it takes about 30 minutes)

This is one of our favorite quick dinners, and it is great with leftover cooked pasta, or a slice of whole grain bread.

This one goes a little past the 3-4 ingredients, but still a very quick & easy dish.

Fresh Veggie Pasta

1 carton grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 bell pepper, chopped (I prefer red)
chopped garlic, dry herbs/spices and olive oil
Turkey pepperoni (if desired), 5-10 slices julienned
Grated parmesan cheese
Pasta (I usually use storebought fresh pasta because it cooks SO fast which means dinner gets on the table faster--the beauty of a kit meal!)

Note: If you're using dry pasta, you'll need to start the pasta BEFORE you start the sauce. If you're using fresh pasta, you can put the water on when you start the sauce and put the pasta in right when you get to #4, below. Fresh pasta only takes a minute to cook.

1. Drizzle a little olive oil in a skillet and lightely saute the garlic and whatever herbs and spices you want...I love oregano with tomatoes, and always black pepper and usually some Mrs. Dash table blend.

2. Toss in the grape tomatoes and chopped bell pepper and stir around a bit to mix together with the herbs/spices/oil (if you don't like your pepper al dente, you may want to give the pepper a head start on the tomatoes).

3. Once the tomatoes and peppers are cooked to your preference, toss in the juliened pepperoni and toss that about with the tomatoes a bit.

4. Once the pepperoni is heated through, sprinkle a bit of shredded parmesan over the mixture and turn off the heat--don't stir, don't touch, just let it sit while you're preparing your bowls/plates with the pasta.

5. The cheese will kinda make the mixture stick together so you'll need to separate it into servings and then spoon or slide it on top of the pasta.

The whole thing comes together so fast and it is insanely good. I use the pepperoni, like the parmesan, more as a garnish because these are the only 2 fatty elements of the dish.

About 2 servings.

Millet with veggies.

about a cup of millet
shallot
bag of frozen veggies
(optional: can of chickpeas)

Toast the millet in a heavy pan. add water and microplane the shallot in. let cook till almost done. Add the veggies and chickpeas, salt to taste. (I like adding spices sometimes when I'm toasting the millet, cumin is yummy, dried onion is nice too)

Simple pasta (obviously a brown rice or amaranth for me)

Pasta (sometimes elbows, sometimes spaghetti)
goat cheese (or sheeps milk cheese/soft farmer's cheese)
Trader Joe's red pepper/eggplant spread (or you can chop up roasted red peppers) (this recipe also works with a tapenade/chopped olive spread too)

Cook the pasta, drain, add dollops of the goat cheese and the red pepper spread. The goat cheese goes a long way....mmm creamy and scrumptious.

Yummy Macaroni (Great on Cold day's)

3 to 4 cups of Elbow macaroni
1 can of Tomato Soup
1 Cup of Shredded Cheese (cheddar)
1/4 cup of onions diced (optional)

Cook macaroni until tender. Drain and add 1 can can of tomato soup, 1 cup of shredded cheese, the onion and stir constantly until heated through and serve..

"Roni's"

elbow macaroni
tomato juice
butter, sugar/splenda

cook macaroni until tender, drain and return to pot with enough tomato juice to cover. bring to a simmer, add ~1T butter and a sprinkle of sugar/splenda. heat and serve over american cheese slices cut into pieces in a soup bowl.

jen

My dd just reminded me of another 4 ingredient recipe that we make alot during the fall months.

I ALWAYS serve this with acorn squash slices...just because it's so pretty, and Grammy's European Potatoes (that I posted below)

1 pork loin roast seasoned with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cups apple cider and a pinch of cinnamon
3 apples, cored and sliced

Cook in crockpot on HIGh for 4-5 hours.

"Un-deep Fried Chicken" or Mushrooms

8 oz container of yogurt
homemade bread crumbs from whole wheat toast
boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (make cut into strips for fingers - or not per taste of eater)
spices of choice (thyme, oregano, paprika, basil, parsley, etc.)

dip the chicken (or mushrooms) in yogurt and dredge through the breadcrumb and spice mixture. Bake 450 for 20-30 minutes.

I also do something similar with potatoes and then THE spice is paprika.

Both of these recipes make my teenaged son and meat and potatoes husband happy. (Well, not the mushrooms - those are for ME!)