January 24, 2012: Homemade Meatball Stew Recipe

Last year I shared an easy meatball soup recipe that uses convenience food items. I decided there was no excuse for being lazy and remade that recipe using homemade ingredients and keeping the calories as low as possible.

Homemade Meatball Stew

1 cup crushed Saltine crackers

¼ cup fat free half and half

1 egg

¼ cup ketchup

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 t. Italian seasoning

1 t. garlic salt

1 t. dried parsley

1 pound 93% lean ground beef

1 cup baby carrots, cut into small pieces

1 cup fresh green beans, cut into thirds

1 large Russet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks

1 celery heart, rib, greens and heart thinly sliced

1 cup canned corn (or fresh)

1 carton beef stock

1 cup water

2 cups dry macaroni or farfalle (bowtie) pasta

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine crushed crackers and half and half; let sit for five minutes to soften crackers. Add egg, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings. Mix in ground beef with your hands. Shape into small balls.

Spray a Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray. Place meatballs in the bottom of the Dutch oven and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from oven and remove meatballs with a slotted spoon.

Add vegetables (with the exception of canned corn) to Dutch oven. Sauté for 2 – 3 minutes, scraping up bits of meatballs from bottom of pan. Add beef stock and water and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium; boil gently for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add reserved meatballs and corn. Cook for an hour, until vegetables are soft.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and add to meatball stew just before serving. Add water, if necessary, to thin stew.

Serves 6

January 17, 2012: Healthy Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe

Last year I shared a Spicy Stuffed Bell Pepper recipe with you. This year, when I’m concerned with calories, I decided to redo that recipe and make it healthier. Here’s what I came up with which, by the way, my husband loved (and he’s not counting calories!).

Healthy Stuffed Bell Peppers

½ cup brown rice

4 medium-sized green bell peppers

1 pound ground chicken breast

1 T. red bell pepper, minced

1 clove garlic, minced (divided)

2 green onions, minced (divided)

1 ½ T. green chile, minced (divided)

1/3 cup canned corn, drained

½ t. each: oregano, garlic salt, paprika, dried parsley, black pepper, dried cilantro and cumin powder

1 can condensed cheese soup (divided)

¼ cup fat free half and half

In a saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups water to boil. Add half cup brown rice. Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes. Remove from heat.

Remove the cap of the green peppers and clean out seeds and membranes inside. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each, if necessary, to make them stand up straight (good posture for peppers, ha!). Spray a baking pan with cooking spray and stand peppers within.

In a skillet sprayed with cooking spray, cook ground chicken over medium heat. Add red bell pepper, half of the minced garlic, the white parts of the green onion, and half of the green chile. Sauté for another two minutes, until veggies are soft. Add corn, rice, seasonings and ¼ cup of the cheese soup. The rice should have a small amount of unabsorbed water in the bottom of the pan; if not add a tablespoon of water to mixture to chicken mixture to thin it a bit.

Stuff each pepper with one quarter of the chicken/rice mixture. Cover the baking pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour, until bell peppers are soft.

While the peppers are cooking, mix together remaining cheese soup, reserved vegetables and half and half. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes, until heated through.

To serve, place one pepper on a plate and spoon a quarter of the warm cheese sauce over the top. Goes great with a hot bowl of soup or a crisp, fresh green salad.

Serves 4 with 349 calories, 11 grams of fat and 761.5 mg of sodium each serving.

November 19, 2011: Chili Mac Recipe

Here’s an old standby that was the perfect recipe for some leftovers I had hanging around in my fridge. While the dish is reminiscent of the goopy casserole I remember being served from the school cafeteria, this recipe tastes a whole lot better!

Tip: If you don’t have leftovers available, just go ahead and double the amounts listed in the recipe; use a full can of corn and chili. I used homemade chili and corn that I had canned myself over the summer.

Chili Mac

½ lb. macaroni noodles

4 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed

½ t. dry mustard

2/3 cup nonfat or low fat Greek yogurt or sour cream

¾ cup shredded Cheddar or Colby Jack cheese, divided.

1/3 cup cooked corn

1 cup chili with beans

Dash Tabasco sauce

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and return to cooking pot. Add cheese and stir until melted. To the pot, add mustard, yogurt or sour cream, ¼ cup shredded cheese, corn, chili and Tabasco. Pour into greased casserole cheese. Top with remaining cheese and cover with foil.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, until bubbly hot. Remove foil and bake an additional five minutes, until cheese is completely melted.

Serves 4

November 10, 2011: Cornbread Stuffing and Chicken Bake Recipe

Here’s a quick and easy weeknight meal perfect for serving the family. It’s hearty and the juicy, tender chicken is sure to please even your finicky eaters. And because you can often find the ingredients for this dish on sale, it’s very economical, too.

Cornbread Stuffing and Chicken Bake

1 package cornbread stuffing mix (such as Stovetop)

1 T. butter

1 2/3 cup hot water

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Garlic salt and black pepper

1 can corn, drained

1 can cream of chicken soup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Stir together stuffing mix, butter and hot water with a fork; set aside.

Grease a casserole dish. Place the chicken breasts in a single layer in the bottom. Sprinkle with garlic salt and black pepper. Combine soup and corn. Spread over the top of the chicken breasts. Top with stuffing.

Bake for 45 or until juices from chicken breasts run clear.

Serves 4