Healthy Dinner Challenge

Let's face it, one question we get asked almost every day, "What's for dinner?"

Maybe you are the type of person that sits down at the beginning of each week and lovingly writes out a meal plan.You always has the right ingredients for every meal and your family rises up and calls you blessed.
You are my hero. One day, yes one day, that will be me, but for now when I get asked that question I think...
Oh Snap! Dinner!

This week, however, I was determined not to look in the freezer an hour before dinner and wonder what to make. I was not going to look in the pantry and pray a magic fairy appears with a brilliant idea for dinner. I decided to challenge myself. Make a healthy dinner without a can of cream of whatever soup, no sour cream, no cheese. A balanced meal with little fat and very tasty.

I only determined to do this one night a week, baby steps, let's not get too crazy.

Challenge accepted.... here we go...

I started with dessert, really? would you think any different of me.
A fresh fruit parfait of sorts.

You will need:

Plain yogurt (I used one small container of Chobani)

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla

Fresh fruit 

(I used apples, grapes, clementines and bananas)

nut of choice (I used pecans)

Juice from a lime

Use whatever fruit you have on hand. You could also use Chobani's vanilla and honey yogurt. I thought about that after the fact, but I look forward to using it in the future.

Peel and slice the fruit and squeeze some lime juice on it.

Mix the yogurt, honey and vanilla.

Add the yogurt mix and nuts, then stir to combine.

There you have it! A healthy dessert.

Let's move on to dinner.

Grilled chicken, baked asparagus and "ranchified" red potatoes

I didn't get pictures of the chicken, because let's get real, chicken is not very pretty

I put the chicken in a large ziploc bag and poured low-fat italian dressing over them. Place in the fridge to marinate. Do this step in the morning and let it marinate all day.
Next week I will try a homemade marinade, baby steps remember.

For the Ranchified Red Potatoes you will need:

1-2 Tbls Olive Oil

Dry Ranch Dressing packet

Red Potatoes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Slice red potatoes into cubes and place on cookie sheet. Pour on the olive oil and toss to coat.

Sprinkle on the Ranch packet (I only used half the pack) and toss to coat

Bake for 20-25 minutes

While that's cooking work on the asparagus

You will need:

Asparagus

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Slivered Almonds

Chop the ends off and place in shallow pan. Toss with some olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle on some almonds.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.

Back to the chicken. 

I took some fresh Rosemary, Red pepper flakes and some of the Italian dressing and made a paste. Spread it on the chicken and grill it for about 20 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken.
If you have a fabulous husband like mine. Just hand the marinated chicken to him and he will grill it for you.

Challenge Complete!

It was all very tasty, even my boys ate it with minimal complaints.That is saying alot seeing as one of my sons has an aversion to anything green on his plate and the other son doesn't care for chicken. The rule here is you have to taste it before you can say you don't like it. I would say it was a success.

I hope you get inspired to try something healthy too.
If you do please come back and tell me, I could use some more ideas.

Cooking from my heart to your kitchen,

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Spaghetti and Meatballs

I know, you are wondering what has gotten into me. This is not a joke, it is not made of fondant and frosting. I am really posting about spaghetti and meatballs. After visiting my family, I was thinking about how we would spend Christmas and all the yummy food we ate. The tradition for years was not turkey and stuffing, but rather an Italian feast. Mmmm... it was so good. So I thought I would share one of my favorites with you. I found two recipes that sent me back to my childhood with one bite. 

For the sauce I used Emeril Lagasse's from his lasagna recipe, found here.

Let's start with the sauce,

You will need:

1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

11/2 cups chopped yellow onions (1 medium yellow onion)

1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves garlic)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups water

1 teaspoon sugar

Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and squeeze to break into small pieces. Set aside.

In a heavy 5-quart pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, salt, basil, oregano and black pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, 5 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, sugar and reserved crushed tomatoes, stir well, and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer uncovered for at least 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While this is simmering, let's work on the meatballs.

I adapted this recipe from one of my favorites, Alton Brown, found here.

You will  need:

1 1/2 lbs ground meat

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
1 whole egg
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup bread crumbs, divided

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the meat, cheese, egg, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs.

Using your hands, mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Use immediately or place in refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Place the remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs into a small bowl.

Using your hands, shape the meatballs into rounds, roll in the bread crumbs.

Place the meatballs in individual, miniature muffin tin cups.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Place cooked meatballs into sauce.

Let cook for about 30 minutes more. I left mine on for an hour or so until dinner.

You can use the sauce for lasagna or anything you desire, tonight it was spaghetti.

In the words of my Grandpa, Mange, mange!

Cooking from my heart to your kitchen,

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