Cornish Hens with Garlic and Sweet Vermouth

Cornish Hens with Garlic and Sweet Vermouth

I made this super healthy Cornish Hen with Garlic and Sweet Vermouth recipe and my darlin' daughter dropped in and shared it with me a few nights ago (I was so lucky to have halved the recipe, but still had enough for two.)

I'd love to take full credit for it, but I found this yumminess on Epicurious.com, one of my favorite recipe sources. I'll probably up the garlic when I make it again, because I love poached garlic and that's a lot of the flavor in this dish.

I have been stuck, stuck, stuck, at about 210, 211, 210, 212, 210 pounds, etc. for a couple of weeks now. Just driving me nuts when I get on the scales in the morning. Tuesday was Weigh Day and wasn't eventful.

I've been having a terrible week on a completely unrelated business front that I unfortunately can't discuss with more than a tiny handful of people. Formerly I would have reacted with some bad behavior, probably drinking alcohol and grazing. Then you have guilt. Then you have more stress. Rinse and repeat. Not going there this time.

Bountiful Blue Blueberry, vaccinium corymbosum

This morning I realized was a huge bundle of nerves. So I went to the gym and blasted 30 minutes of intervals on the stationary bicycle, then another 30 minutes of leg strength training. Felt SO GOOD when I was done.

My blueberry bushes have a ton of berries on them and I'm just about to harvest the first one. Will be looking at concocting some blueberry recipes.

I also harvested my first yellow cherry tomato today and it was like a veggie explosion in my mouth. I rarely eat tomatoes until the real ones start coming in during spring and summer, because those darn weird, sawdust-tasting tomatoes they sell in the grocery stores in the wintertime are the poorest excuse for any kind of decent vegetables. Occasionally you can find decent ones in the organic stores.

I also had a revelation at the gym. This is a total lifestyle change, not a race. I'm saving my life, day by day, as I lose weight and get in better shape.

Onward,
Carol

Magnificent Morels and Making a Goal

Morel mushrooms

Fresh and fabulous morel mushrooms are in season for just a couple of weeks a year, and my hubby and I were driving by the Earth organic food store and there was their little chalkboard out by the street with fresh morels scrawled on it. We made it a point to go back and get some.

Morels are expensive, but worth it -- and particularly good with beef. Hubby picked up a couple of ribeyes to throw on the barbee and we were good to go. I sauteed up the morels in a bit of olive oil, red wine and garlic and we served them on the side along with mashed cauliflower. Another hubby-seal-of-approval for the morels. Always good news.

Here's a great website on how to clean them along with a couple of recipes, mushroom-appreciation.com. 

I had a sub-goal of getting down to 215 by Easter and made it a day early, so I'm finally off my horrid three-week plateau. So that's 41 pounds off since my gastric sleeve surgery Dec. 27, 2011, and about 58 total since my all-time high weight of 273.

Morels in garlic, olive oil and red wine reduction

Had a great 3 month checkup with Dr. Gregory Walton's office WeightWise. Was so fun to see everybody and for them to see the new and improved me. I'm thinking watching their patients get healthier has to be a whole lot of fun. Great job if you can get it.

Baba Ghanoush -- Eggplant Goodness

Baba Ghanoush

Today was my day to help with refreshments for my Master Gardener class and I brought some of my favorite homemade, low-fat Baba Ghanoush, a Lebanese dip of eggplanty and herby goodness, which seemed popular with my fellow master gardening interns. I was concerned that the ranch-style, mayonnaise-based dip that usually comes with the grocery store's veggie tray couldn't be left out all day during the class, so this was perfect.

Baba Ghanoush is another one of those recipes that, with the exception of the time it takes to roast your eggplant, is light years better when you make it fresh and it is so fast to make. It's always a good sign when you get asked for the recipe, so here 'tis.

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant or several small eggplants
1 minced garlic clove
Juice from half a small lemon
1/2 t. lemon zest
1 T. tahini (sesame paste)
1 1/2 T. olive oil
1 t. ground cumin
1 T. fresh parsley and more to garnish
Salt and pepper

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poke holes in the eggplant with a fork about an inch apart. Roast the eggplant for 35 minutes, remove from oven and let cool completely, then remove stem and peel. Alternatively you could also use your grill and cook it until the flesh is tender and skin has turned brown.  My method of choice is roasting because of the rich, smokey flavor it imparts to the eggplant.

In a food processor, put the eggplant flesh, garlic clove, lemon juice, lemon zest, tahini, olive oil, cumin and parsley. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Garnish with extra parsley. Serve with vegetables or pita chips.

Today was my weekly Weigh Day, and I'm still stuck, stuck, stuck in a stall at 217 pounds, with 55 pounds gone. But I know staying the course will eventually get it going again. Hoping I'll make it to my goal of 215 by Easter Sunday. ;-)

Onward,
Carol

Yummy Homemade Breakfast Sausage

I'm aghast I haven't made breakfast sausage before. So easy and it tastes so much more fresh than the stuff you buy in the grocery store -- plus it got the "hubby taste-test seal of approval," so you know it was good. Takes five minutes to mix it up and you have sausage sans all those additives, fillers, preservatives and nitrates, plus all the stuff you can't pronounce.

I used ground pork this time, but next time I'll lighten it up using ground turkey. If you have leftover sausage mixture, I'd recommend making it into patties and freezing it.

Here's my recipe, which made four good-sized sausage patties:

Ingredients:

One pound of ground pork or turkey

1 T. fresh sage, diced

1/2 T. each kosher salt, black pepper, oregano, ground cumin, cinnamon, rosemary, thyme, smoked paprika, garlic powder and crushed red pepper flakes

1 egg, slightly beaten

Directions:

Mix all ingredients using your hands. Shape into patties and pan fry until cooked throughout.

Crunchy, Tasty Kale Chips -- and Fast!

I mentioned my "head hunger" for a snack in my last post and my wonderful friend Cheri almost instantly came to my aid with an idea about low-cal, super-good-for-you kale chips.

I just happend to have organic kale on hand. Found a recipe that turned out great in a regular oven and didn't take hours like an (expensive) dehydrator would take -- and of course, changed it up. Chips were bright green and would have worked to dip -- but not scoop -- into a nice, hummus, baba ghanoush or another slightly thin dip. Nothing too thick or heavy as a dip or you'll leave the whole kale chip in the dip. Cooks in only 20 minutes.

Here's how I made them:

First, heat your oven to 275 degrees.

Ingredients:

Several leaves of kale

Sea or kosher salt

Olive oil cooking spray like PAM®

Directions:

Wash and dry the kale. Tear the leaf part away from the stems and into smallish pieces. Put them in one layer on a baking sheet and spray lightly with cooking spray, then salt lightly. Turn over each chip and repeat.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until crisp.

I found them very satisfying.

Enjoy!

Carol

Smoky Chipotle Turkey Burgers with Cooling Creamy Salsa

Love to recommend good recipes when I find them and this one came from VerticalSleeveTalk.com's recipe forum.

I made this and although the looks of it are a little offputting, it's a tasty, moist take on turkey burgers. I don't know that I'd call the sauce a salsa, but it's good anyway and a nice accompaniment.

It's from the blog savorysweetie.com. It's shared by permission, since she doesn't mind if people link to her blog -- fact, she's hopeful that it might get her some more readers.

Her philosophy is pretty close to mind after my Dec. 27, 2011, gastric sleeve, and her's on Jan. 20, 2012.

"One of my challenges is that I really want to make this a lifestyle, and not make it feel like a diet. So I am trying to eat small portions of sensible food, but not deprive myself. This fits in really well with the fact that I LOVE to cook and also that I cook for my fiancee, who loves to eat!," she writes in the forum.

I was down to 217.4 yesterday.

Onward,
Carol

My Weight Chart:

Comfort Food -- A New, Improved Shepherd's Pie

Last weekend, I was craving some kind of comfort food. And my dietician buddy Steph at WeightWise had given me a recipe for a Low-Carb Shepherd's Pie.

The key is replacing the mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower mixed with ricotta cheese.

Of course, I can't ever leave well enough alone and I worked on elevating the humble Shepherd's Pie a bit. I added onion, garlic and carrot for color. And I infused some more flavor with fresh rosemary from my garden and some dried thyme. I halved the recipe because I was just cooking for me.

I also cooked the cauliflower a little differently than the recipe called for to get some more flavor into the cauliflower. So here 'tis:


Low-Carb Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
Meat Mixture
1 lb. ground beef, preferably organic
2 oz. fresh green beans, cut in about 1/4" pieces
1/2 zucchini, diced in about 1/4" pieces
1/2 c. carrots, diced in about 1/4" pieces
1/2 c. onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 T. fresh rosemary, diced finely
1 t. dried thyme
1 t. dried basil
1/2 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 egg, beaten

Topping
1/2 head cauliflower
1 c. chicken broth, preferably homemade
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 T. butter
1/3 c. part-skim ricotta cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the ground beef the beef is no longer pink. Drain the cooked meat in a colander and return to pan.

Chop vegetables and start with carrots. Cook carrots for about 2 minutes, then add zucchini, onion and garlic. Add ground beef mixture, herbs and tomato paste. Mix in egg. Pat mixture into a quart baking dish.

Chop cauliflower and put in deep pan with chicken broth and smashed garlic cloves. Bring broth to boil, lower to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Either mash with a potato masher or use a food processor or immersion blender to pureé. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix in ricotta cheese. Spread evenly over meat mixture.

Cook for about 30 minutes.
___________________

And apologies for the pictures going up all katy-wampus. I'm still learning when it comes to figuring out the finer points of blogging.

Onward,
Carol

Shrimpy is Not Short -- Shrimp Salad Recipe

... on flavor.

Hubby got in Saturday morning from West Africa and I was so glad to see him. He didn't even seem surprised over the weight loss since he was here about three weeks ago, and seemed to embrace it (so to speak.)

Last night, we sat in front of the fire and enjoyed each other's company along with some cocktail shrimp. OK, he had some cocktail shrimp and I held off for the main course -- my maiden voyage back into the world of filet mignon.

The sad part was -- darn it -- because it was windy and cold outside, I chose to panfry those little filet babies and overcooked them a bit. Still, they tasted pretty darn good, even cooked medium instead of medium rare. I made mashed cauliflower with my homemade beef broth for a side and used an immersion blender to puree it. Hubby LOVED them. But reminder to self: if you're going to throw in some chopped chives from your container gardening, don't add them until you've pureed unless you want the mashed cauliflower to have a "lovely" green tint. Fortunately, it didn't bother hubby. Mashed cauliflower basic recipe is in previous post.

Today for lunch, there was about a cup of the cocktail shrimp left, so I decided to make lunch for us with those. I didn't have enough celery, so I added some toasted pine nuts for crunch and that turned out to be a great idea. Even though I ate only about a fourth of it, hubby cleaned the bowl -- always a good recommendation. Here's my concoction:

Shrimp Salad
1 c. cocktail shrimp -- cooked, peeled and cut into about 1/4 to 1/3-inch pieces.
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/3 c. chopped celery
2 T. pine nuts, toasted
4 T. light mayonnaise
1 T. Paul Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning "Seafood Magic"

Directions:
Chop shrimp and egg and put in small bowl. Add chopped celery. Spray skillet with cooking spray and toast pine nuts until golden. Add to bowl with seasoning. Add light mayo to other ingredients and stir until wet. Serve with bread for hubby to make sandwich, large lettuce leaves for the lower calorie version.

Enjoy!!

Onward,
Carol

Feeling a Little Crabby - Crabby Cherry Tomatoes

Today I'm going to a baby shower for my Gridiron buddies Megan and Kianoosh. We're all bringing finger food and I wanted to do something that was light and healthy.

The solution was to use some sort of veggies as the vehicle instead of chips and I decided to stuff cherry tomatoes with crab salad. This was inspired by a recipe from Hors D'Oeuvres by Eric Treuille and Victoria Blashford Snell. I used dill instead of tarragon because there wasn't any fresh tarragon at the grocery store. And I lightened it up with light mayonnaise instead of regular mayonnaise. I also added some seasoned salt from my collection of seasoned salts from Native Roots.

I thought it was appropriate since lots of people are looking for healthy game food for the Super Bowl tomorrow. Although I don't have a dog in that hunt, I think I'm going to have to root for the Patriots because of Oklahoman Wes Welker.

Here's my recipe:

Crabby Cherry Tomatoes

20 cherry tomatoes
1 6 oz. can of lump crabmeat
4-5 T. light mayonnaise
1 T. country dijon mustard
1 T. fresh dill, chopped
1/2 t. seasoned salt
1/2 t. freshly ground pepper

Cut the top off the cherry tomatoes opposite from the stem side, and clean the seeds out with a teaspoon. Turn tomatoes upside down on a paper towel while you make the crab salad.

Mix the crabmeat, mayonnaise, mustard, dill, salt and pepper together gently, then stuff crab salad into each cherry tomato. Top with the slice you cut off in the beginning.

Ham and Egg Cups for Breakfast

One of my favorite breakfast meals before surgery was Ham and Egg Cups. Now that I can eat veggies, it was one of the first things I tried Wednesday.

It's another recipe I adapted to make lower fat from the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook by Julie and Charles Mayfield.

Ham and Egg Cups (serves 12)
1/2 c. mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 c. shallots, finely chopped
12 large eggs
12 slices (lean) ham

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sauté shallots and mushrooms in skillet with butter-flavored cooking spray (instead of the butter the recipe called for.)

Coat muffin pan with olive oil spray and place ham slices in cups, cutting as necessary to make them fit. Spoon sautéed mushroom/shallot mixture into each cup.

Crack individual eggs into the ham cups.

Cook for 15-16 minutes or until edges of ham is slightly crisp and egg whites don't look runny. For large eggs, cook about 20 minutes.

Tonight, I attended the WeightWise weekly support group and feel like I'm doing really great. It seemed like the majority of people were pre-op tonight. There's a different mix of people every week. I'm going to try to make it at least once a month to help keep me on track losing.

I added veggies at my four-week mark Tuesday and have had some trouble getting my stomach to accept them. I was fine with the cooked veggies in the Ham and Egg Cups, but not so good with the slaw and lettuce around the Fish Tacos. It's a slow process. I'm thinking cooking the veggies is key right now.