Black Bean Bowls

This is technically the filling for black bean burritos or enchiladas, but since I'm not doing the rice and tortillas, I used these beans as the base for a Tex-Mex bean bowl. The beans alone are pretty lean and low cal and the best part? It takes next to nothing in time and attention. Just put everything into a slow cooker, turn that baby on, and leave it alone for 8 loooong hours!

Slow Cooked Black Beans

1.5 C. Dry Black Beans
3 Carrots, chopped
2 Large Onions, chopped
5 Cloves Garlic, smashed
2-4 Birds Eye Chilies, sliced in half
4-6 C. Low Sodium, Low Fat Chicken Broth (enough just to cover everything in the crock)
1-2 T. Cumin, ground
1-2 T. Chili Powder
2 t. Salt

Rinse and soak the beans overnight in cool water. Discard water and simmer in fresh water for 20 minutes, or until they begin to soften (or, you can always substitute 4-5 cans of black beans and skip this step.) Drain and put into the slow cooker with remaining ingredients, except the salt. Cover tightly, and cook on low for 8 hours, or until beans are very tender. Add a little more broth if it looks like the beans are getting too dry. The long cooking time tends to mellow the spices, so you may find the need to add extra cumin and chili powder (and maybe onion or garlic powder) towards the end of the cooking time. This is also when you should add salt to taste.

Makes 6-8 Servings

I ate mine in a bowl loaded with other yumminess for garnish - salsa, low fat cheese, minced cilantro, and a dollop of low fat sour cream. What I love about this meal is that it's so filling and it really sticks with me through the day, so I'm less likely to want to snack. It's just a bonus that it's also cheap, easy, and the leftovers keep well.

 

Nutrition Roundup (not including garnishes): Calories 125.8, Total Fat 0.4 g, Cholesterol 0.0 mg, Sodium 111.2 mg, Total Carbs: 33.2 g, Dietary Fiber: 17.2 g, Protein: 12.0 g.

Asparagus and Eggs

Years ago I dated someone whose family was from Sicily. She taught me a traditional breakfast that her family enjoys - asparagus and eggs. I was inspired to make it this morning since I have so much wonderful produce from going to the farmer's market. This is a super quick meal that I eat any time I want something light but satisfying.

Asparagus and Eggs

1 C. Fresh Asparagus, cut into bite sized pieces
2 Eggs

Scramble eggs in a small bowl until they are blended. In a large skillet, heat 2 t. of olive oil and cook asparagus until it turns bright green. Add eggs and scramble. Easy easy easy! Yum.

I couldn't actually eat all of this food, but I wanted to dress up the plate. ;)

Thug's Spinach Cooler

Some internet friends of mine have introduced me to a very funny (and totally not safe for work!) food blog called Thug Kitchen. Today after a particularly challenging work out at the gym, I decided to try TK's Spinach Cooler. I changed it a little by using only 1 banana, instead of 2, eliminating the flax seed oil (because I don't have any), a bit more pineapple, and a scoop of unflavored Syntrax Whey Protein Isolate. Between the fruit and veggies and the whey protein, it makes a full meal with loads of good things in it. I've reposted his recipe here, but you really should go read his blog. :-)

Thug's Spinach Cooler (w/Protein)

2 C. Fresh Spinach
1 Frozen Banana
1 C. Cucumber, chopped
.25 C. Frozen Pineapple
1 C. Coconut Water
.25 C. Orange Juice
6 Mint Leaves
1 Scoop Syntrax Whey Protein Isolate (unflavored)

Put everything except the protein powder in the blender and blend until completely smooth. Add protein powder and blend until just incorporated. Drink while fresh and cold.

This makes 2 10 oz. servings.

Nutrition Roundup: Calories 164.7, Total Fat 0.7 g, Cholesterol 2.5 mg, Sodium 69.1 mg, Total Carbs 28.5 g, Dietary Fiber 3.3 g, Protein 13.5 g.

Not Potatoes

I've never been a huge fan of potatoes. In fact, if they weren't sliced, deep fried in fat, and sprinkled in salt (chips), I really actively didn't like them. That is, until a few years ago when I found Yukon Gold potatoes which are super yummy, with a lightly sweet/nutty flavor.

Since surgery, however, I've been avoiding most starches. I'm cleared to eat them in extreme moderation, but I've been trying to keep my carbohydrate consumption to nutrition-dense foods, like dairy, but, and legumes. (I have had a little sweet potato here and there, though. :-) ) Because of this, I've been exploring the other root vegetables and have discovered that while beets from a can are okay, fresh beets correctly cooked are fabulous! I got this recipe from a friend named "whipperton" on a message board community and wanted to share it with all of you. Talk about YUM.

Sesame Roasted Beets

2 large Red Beets
2 Large Golden Beets
2-3 T. Sesame Oil
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 400F.

Scrub the beets well, remove the green and trim the ends. Chop into 1" cubes and toss in sesame oil and salt (I used about 1/2 t.) Roast until a knife goes through them easily. If you want to punch up the sesame flavor, you can drizzle a little more sesame oil over them and/or sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds before serving. (I didn't bother because it smelled too good to wait.)

Extremely Lazy Sunday Brunch

Extremely lazy Sunday brunch is when we sleep to a ridiculous hour (noon), enjoy a leisurely coffee, and eventually get to figuring out something for brunch. Today, it turned out to be a veggie frittata with a little goat cheese on top.

Mushroom Onion Tomato Frittata With Chevre

9 Eggs, beaten
1 Large Onion, sliced thinly
1 large tomato, sliced in thick slices
8 oz. Sliced Button Mushrooms
4 Cloves Garlic, minced
4 oz. Chevre
2 T. Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 425F.

In a large, oven safe, skillet heat 1 T. olive oil and cook mushrooms over medium-high heat until lightly browned and tender. Remove mushrooms from pan, add remaining olive oil, and add onions and tomatoes to the pan. Put the onions on one side and the tomatoes on the other. allow the tomatoes to begin to get soft (1-2 minutes) and the flip and allow to cook 1 minute longer. Cook the onions until lightly golden. Add mushrooms back to pan and spread everything out into an even layer. Layer in tomato slices and pour over beaten eggs. Crumble chevre and spread evenly over the top. When the sides of the egg look like they are starting to set, put pan in the preheated oven and bake 20-25 minutes, or until the eggs are almost fully set and there's very little movement in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before turning out on a plate and cutting into wedges.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition Roundup: Calories 165.3, Total Fat 12.0 g, Cholesterol 214.8 mg, Sodium 147.6 mg, Total Carbs 4.9 g, Dietary Fiber 0.9 g, Protein 10.2 g.

 

Treats!

I didn't plan on this post including a recipe, but I have one, so why not?

As a reward for tackling my anxiety and going to the gym consistently for almost a month, my lovely wife bought me the Oster My Blend Blender with an orange travel cup (have I mentioned I like orange? I do! It's just such a cheerful color.) It's similar to a Magic Bullet in that the ingredients are blended directly in the cup, which has a blender attachment, and inverted into the base and pressed down to activate the blender action (there's a travel lid for drinking.) I like that the base - about 6" wide - takes up very little room on my already cowded counter and requires next to no brain power to use (something very necessary first thing in the morning as I'm most definitely Not A Morning Person.) One cup comes with the blender and they sell additional cups in other colors for around $12 each, which might be good for the future. It really all depends on whether I'm the only one in the house drinking smoothies regularly. Isn't it cute?

Now I can start experimenting with protein smoothies! The first smoothie I made was strawberry banana and it was good but nothing special. The smoothie I made yesterday and today and that I will be drinking every day until I'm totally sick of it is my Nutter Butter smoothie. YUM. YUM! It's called such because it tastes like Nutter Butter cookies, but it's really a combination of almond milk, banana, vanilla protein powder, and PB2.

Which reminds me. Have I mentioned how excited I am that my PB2 has arrived?! For those who have no clue what I'm referring to, PB2 is essentially peanut flour left over from making peanut oil. Because the roasted nuts are pressed for oil before they are ground to make PB2, the product is basically all nut solids with very little fat. The company markets it as 85% fat free. There are about 45 calories in 2 tablespoons and it can be reconstituted w/water to make a peanut butter-like spread, or it can be used to flavor things.

On to the recipe! The banana in it helps to sweeten and thick the smoothie a little (and adds a nice infusion of fruit to my day) and the vanilla protein powder helps to give the "cookie" flavor, while the PB2 gives the peanut butter filling flavor. Use as much PB2 as you like until you're happy with the peanut action. I like it with 3-4 T. but I loooove peanuts and this is my substitute for real peanut butter right now. I didn't find that it needed any additional splenda, but your tastes may be different and your vanilla protein powder may not be as sweet as mine. I didn't include a picture of the smoothie because it's really nothing to look at - just a lightly tan milk shake lookin' thing. Meh. But trust me, what it lacks in looks it makes up for in flavor!

Nutter Butter Protein Smoothie

8 oz. Vanilla Almond Milk
1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder (I like the Syntrax Vanilla Bean Torte)
2-4 T. PB2
1/2 Large Banana (frozen or not, it's your choice)

Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Enjoy the Nutter Butter cookie flavor.

Approximate Nutritional Roundup: Calories 298, Carbs 37 g, Fat 4 g, Protein 30 g, Fiber 5 g. (It's also got roughly 45 g of calcium, no saturated fat, and 569 mg of potassium, which is good for your heart.)

Edited to Add: It has recently been brought to my attention that the calorie and carb counts are a bit high for this smoothie, which is true. Looking into it, I saw that you can shave 50 calories and 14g of carbs off of this with a quick and easy swap for unsweetened vanilla almond milk. The other big culprit for carbs in this recipe is the banana, which has around 16g, but also provides around 5g of fiber (making 11g net carbs), for which your digestion will thank you. I personally try to incorporate a fruit or veggie into every meal, but you could always ditch the banana, which would lop off another 63 calories and 16g of carbs. If you go with both of these modifications, you may need to use a little Spenda to sweeten things up, but you'll bring the whole smoothie down to approximately 175 calories and 7g carbs. It won't be quite as thick as with the banana, but you could always add some ice cubes.

Mock (Mac) n Cheese

As I start to feel better from the surgery (and nasty head cold) and have more energy, I've noticed my interest in cooking and trying new foods has started to return. And after all the freezing cold weather we've been having, I seriously want some comfort food. As I mentioned a week or so ago, I have had in mind a pasta-free Mock Mac n Cheese - or Mock n Cheese as I like to call it. It's essentially a gratin with more cheese than is usual, but I'll take it! I've combined steamed broccoli and cauliflower and a few cups of frozen chopped kale for a nice punch of veggies in this cheesy less-fat sauce. I made it with skim milk, 2% cheddar, and just enough olive oil to form the necessary roux. This is by no means a "low fat" recipe, but it's better than it could be and the only significant carbs in it come from the dairy and the flour used in the roux.

A Note About Veggies: As I've mentioned before, I use frozen veggies and heat them in the microwave until they're tender and most of the water is gone. I like frozen veggies because they are a) cheap, b) don't rot in my fridge if I don't get around to using them, c) double nicely as an ice pack on sore muscles and joints, and d) did I mention they're cheap? You by no means have to use frozen veggies.

Mock N Cheese

3 T. Flour
3 T. Olive Oil
2.5 C. Fat Free Milk
1 Egg, beaten
1 lb. Cauliflower, frozen and cooked until tender
1 lb. Broccoli, frozen and cooked until tender
3 C. Kale, frozen, chopped
1 t. Mustard Powder
1/8 - 1/4 t. Onion powder (optional)
1/8 - 1/4 t. Garlic powder (optional)
1/8 t. Cayenne
1 C. Reduced Fat Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
1 C. 50% Reduced Fat Extra Sharp Cheddar, shredded
1/3 C. Bread Crumbs - Italian Style
1/3 C. Parmesan Cheese
Black Pepper to taste

Put broccoli and cauliflower in a large bowl and microwave on high 15-30 minutes, or until the veggies are tender and most of the water is gone. Set aside.

Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat and add olive oil. When oil is hot, add flour and stir to create a roux. Whisk to make it smooth and allow it to cook until it's just lightly tan. When the roux is nicely tan, whisk in milk and continue to whisk until the roux is completely dissolved. Add 2 T. of hot milk to the beaten egg in a small bowl and beat in the milk quickly, to temper the egg. Add egg-warm milk mixture to sauce pan and whisk to combine. Add cheese in 1/2 C. increments, whisking between additions until it's all incorporated. Add garlic and onion powder (if using), cayenne, mustard powder, salt, and pepper to taste. Adjust seasonings as necessary and then pour over broccoli and cauliflower in the bowl and stir to combine. Add 3 C. frozen kale (I didn't bother thawing it, but just broke it up and added it directly) and stir. Mix Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs in a small bowl. Put cheese and veggie mixture into a 9x11 casserole and top with breadcrumb mixture. Bake at 375F until topping is golden brown.

Makes: 8 1 cup servings

Here's the nutritional round up (from sparkrecipes.com): Calories 260.7, Total Fat 13.3 g, Cholesterol 43.9 mg, Sodium 432.4 mg, Total Carbs 21.3 g, Dietary Fiber 4.6 g, Protein 17.5 g.