Broccoli, Beef & Potato Hotdish

I found this in a magazine.

1 1/2 lb broccoli
2 tbs oil
1 1/2 lbs 95% lean ground turkey
1 large onion
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbs soy sauce
4 cups low fat milk
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 cups shredded Mexican mix shredded cheese
4 cups frozen has brown shredded potatoes
1 large lightly beaten egg
mixed seasoning
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450*

toss broccoli with 1 Tbs oil in large bowl. Spread out on baking sheet and roast stirring once halfway through until soft and browned in spots about 15 minutes.

Heat remaining oil in skillet. Add beef and onion and cook until browned. Stir in soy sauce, garlic powder and salt if desired.

Whisk milk and cornstarch in large saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat whisking often until bubbling and thickened enough to coat back of spoon. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.

Spread the beef mixture in 9x13 inch baking dish.

Top with broccoli and pour the cheese sauce evenly over top.

Combine potatoes, egg, and seasoning. Sprinkle evenly over casserole. Coat top with cooking spray.

Bake casserole until bubbling and potatoes are beginning to brown, about 40 minutes.

Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Jim loved this!! It also is a very healthy meal and cost less than $2.50 per servings!

Some of this....Some of that...Chili

Busy days are good days for crock pots! I knew that the day ahead of me was going to be full of driving around and running in and out of the house so Wednesday night I got busy preparing for some kind of meal that I could put in the crock pot on Thursday morning. I wasn't sure what I was going to make. Just looked in my refrigerator/freezer to see what was available!

I already had a lot of ground turkey meat left over from our taco meal we'd just had. So thought that Chili would work!

I chopped up a whole onion and put in container to keep in refrigerator.

Decided that some veggies included would be good so;

chopped up a whole green bell pepper in very small pieces

chopped up two carrots into very small pieces

chopped up the top leaves of three celery stalks into very small pieces

Then I put all the chopped up veggies into a container and stored overnight in the refrigerator.

Now most is prepared which will make the morning easier.

On Thursday morning I put into the crock pot -

the cooked ground turkey meat which was about one full package of the Jenny-O brand.

the one whole chopped up onion

the container of chopped up bell pepper, celery, and carrots

two crushed garlic cloves

two cans of rinsed & drained kidney beans

one can of rinsed and drained white beans

two cans of diced tomatoes

3 Tbls. of brown sugar

about 3/4 cup of apple juice

and then shook the container of Kirkland Organic Salt Free Mixed Seasoning into the crock pot until it looked like enough :)

gently stirred all the ingredients to mix them together and then turned the crock pot onto low for the day.

later that afternoon it was hot and bubbly and we were hungry! Sprinkled a little touch of cheese on top of each serving and ate....................YUMMY!!

Simple Summer

So I have two things going on right now. I need to get back into keeping track of what I eat to be sure that it's healthy for me and posting on this blog is very helpful with that plan.
Second, I'm trying to make this summer as simple as possible so that I may enjoy it.

So this is my idea of a very simple , very tasty lunch which is also healthy. I try to stay away from the breads and carbs as much as possible. I bought these "Oroweat Thins" and I really like them because ....well, they are thin! They don't fill you up with the bread part of the sandwich yet they are just enough to make it a sandwich. They taste good and each one has - 100 calories, 0 trans fat, 0 cholesterol, and only 2g sugar.
I smashed up a fresh avocado to spread on them. No mayo, butter or anything else.
I had some large grape tomatoes. I love those because they always taste good and are easy to use in salads, etc. Yes they are small for a sandwich but I just sliced them and laid them on.
I then laid a slice of the rotisserie style chicken breast lunch meat I had bought yesterday at Costco. It's a "Columbus" brand and says it has no gluten, no msg, 0g trans fat, and 98% fat free.

YUM!!! This was really good!

Quick & Easy

Lately my life has all been about making life as easy as possible. Summer is busy. So I haven't spent much time on here.

It's been very hot here and cooking hasn't been too comfortable. We've just been eating a lot of simple salads and whatever is quick and easy to make and doesn't require the oven.

But I was at the store and that flank steak was speaking to me so I bought it. We don't have a BBQ. I wish we did because I love the grilled foods but we just don't have the yard to do it in. So last night I took that flank steak out of the freezer and let it thaw some. Then before I called it a night I rubbed the mostly thawed steak with some olive oil and sprinkled it heavily with my mixed seasoning. Then I let it sit in the refrigerator over night.

This morning I got up at 6am. I turned on the broiler and put the steak in. Broiled it until it was just slightly pink in the middle and still juicy. Then let it sit covered with foil for about 15 minutes. Then I sliced it up in very thin slices and wrapped it in foil and put it in a container back into the refrigerator.

When we got hungry today I simply took out that sliced up meat. I sliced up some tomatoes, lettuce, avocado. Then using a tortilla sprinkled a slight amount of cheese on it and rolled it up.............YUM!

I will also use the slices of meat to make a salad. Same ingredients just no tortilla and a little salad dressing instead.

I need to get creative and think of some more good summer meals....................I shall return!

Salmon with Asparagus Foil packet

Spray two sheets of foil with Pam spray or use non-stick foil packets.

Clean and pop off stems of asparagus.

Lay asparagus evenly on each sheet of foil

Put thawed out salmon fillets on top of asparagus

Sprinkle seasoning over top.

Put approx. 1/4 cup of sun-dried tomatoes on top of Salmon.

I use the packed in olive oil tomatoes that I bought at Costco.

Then drizzle a Tbs. of balsamic vinaigrette over each fillet.

I forgot to get a photo of the sun-dried tomatoes I use but here are photos of the dressing and the seasoning that I love to use.
I bought the sun-dried tomatoes from Costco and they are packed in olive oil with garlic seasoning.

After you put all the ingredients on the foil you wrap it all up with the foil. Fold up the sides and seal the top to keep in the juices but also leave it loose enough to allow the heat to circulate

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Bake in 450* oven for 30 minutes

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We LOVE this meal!

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The dressing and tomatoes give it such a good flavor and takes away any fishy taste. The salmon is tender and moist. The asparagus is flavorful and tender.

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I put my meal on a plate but you could leave it in the foil if you wish.

Would be really good with brown rice also!

A great healthy meal!

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And to make it even better the clean up is so easy!

This wasn't one of my favorites. I can't eat salsa. I'd like to but I'm allergic to some of the ingredients. I did not put the salsa in the mix. I also do not eat much cheese. So the chicken, FOR ME, was very dry and had no flavor. Those of you who can eat salsa and can enjoy the flavors it gives may like this dish.

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Crock Pot Southwestern Chicken

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2 cans corn, drained

1-2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed

1/2 cup salsa

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

shredded cheese

Combine the corn, black beans and salsa in crock pot.

Top with chicken breasts.

Cook on high for 4-6 hours.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Serve with brown rice.

Soup for a Cold

I've had a head cold for the past few days.

So today when wondering what I should make for the days main meal I figured what better than good ol' chicken vegetable soup!

So I opened my refrigerator and grabbed what I had and made it.

I didn't measure. Just threw it all together.

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Brown chicken strips in olive oil until cooked.

Remove from skillet and set chicken aside.

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Cut up some carrots, onion, broccoli, & celery into small pieces.

Saute the vegetables in skillet until tender.

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Cut the chicken into small pieces.

Put the chicken and the vegetables into crock pot.

Pour some chicken broth into the crock pot.

Pour a can of diced tomatoes in.

Add two minced garlic cloves.

Add some no salt seasoning.

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I cooked about one cup of Orzo pasta.

It's what I had in my pantry. I was out of whole grain rice.

So I cooked the Orzo then poured it into the crock pot.

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After pouring the Orzo in I then judged how much more liquid it may need to create a good broth and put some water in until it looked right.

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Then I let it cook in the crock pot four hours.

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Perfect!