Confessions of a Bulk Eater

I can’t take credit for this.  I got it from a Cooking Light book that I pull out everyonce in awhile when I need a good crock pot recipe.  I’ve used it about twice.  But this one was pretty good.  It was a little thicker than I thought it would be, so I don’t know if more water needs to me used, or if it cooked too long or what.  Hubby and kids put ketchup on theirs.  I put tabasco sauce on mine.   Also, I’m copying the recipe exactly, but I know my calories and fat weren’t quiteas high as they say because i left off the sunflower seeds.  Anyway, enjoy!

• 5 cups water
• 3 vegetable-flavored bouillon cubes
• 1 cup uncooked pearl barley
• 1 cup dried brown LENTILS                         **thank you moonfairy for bringing this to my attention!!
• 1 cup chopped carrot
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 (8oz) package sliced mushrooms
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup (4oz) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese - divided
• 2 Tbsp unsalted sunflower seeds

Combine water and bouillon cubes in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring until cubes dissolved.  Pour into a 4 quart electric slow cooker; stir in barley and next 8 ingredients (through bay leaf).  Cover with lid, cook on low-heat setting 6 hours or until barley is tender and liquid is asbsorbed.  Discard bay leaf.  Stir in 1/2 cup cheese.  Spoon barley mixture into bowls; sprinkle with remaining cheese and sunflower seeds.  Yield 9 servings (serving sauce: 1 cup, about 2 1/2 tsp cheese, and 1 tsp sunflower seeds)

CAL 216 (19% from fat); PRO 12g; FAT 4.7g (sat 1.9g); CARB 32g; FIB 6.8g; CHOL 5mg; IRON 2.7g; SOD 671mg; CALC 135mg

Oh, and I remember something as I was writing this!!   There is NO WAY I got 9 cups out of this.  NO WAY!!!  I think I may have cooked it too long.

Again, not my recipe or my photo… this is from Cooking Light and it is SO good! It doesn’t make very much (only 3 servings) so I am going to double it tonight so I can make sure there is enough for my lunch tomorrow and the baby’s lunch. I am going to have it with pitas tonight. Last time I put it over rice. YUM!

Yield
3 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups chickpea mixture)

Ingredients
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 1/2 tablespoons bottled ground fresh ginger (such as Spice World)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons red curry powder (such as McCormick)
1 (19-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
4 cups fresh spinach
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preparation

Combine onion and ginger in a food processor; pulse until minced.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion mixture, sugar, and curry to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add chickpeas and tomatoes; simmer 2 minutes. Stir in spinach, water, and salt; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts.

Nutritional Information
Calories:247 (15% from fat)
Fat:4g (sat 0.6g,mono 1.6g,poly 0.9g)
Protein:11.1g
Carbohydrate:45g
Fiber:8.4g
Cholesterol:1mg
Iron:5mg
Sodium:857mg
Calcium:194mg

For bigprof, here is the pierogies recipe I made the other night. I added the (and Peas) to the title b/c there are peas in it and I feel they are more of a component than the sour cream. You really wouldn’t have to use sour cream. Anyway, enjoy. It is SO good. I am definitely adding this one to my pierogies repitoire (and for not being of Polish descent, I have a substantial one) ***I must add that I cannot take credit for the picture, it’s the one that came with the recipe***

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 3 pierogies, about 1/2 cup onion mixture, and 1 tablespoon sour cream)

Ingredients
12 frozen potato and onion pierogies (such as Mrs. T’s)
8 slices center-cut bacon
2 cups vertically sliced onion
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup frozen green peas
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
Preparation

Cook the pierogies according to package directions. (I boil mine. The original recipe says to microwave them)

Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet until crisp. Remove bacon; crumble. Increase heat to medium-high. Add onion, sugar, and thyme to drippings in pan; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in peas; sauté 1 minute. Add pierogies, salt, and pepper; cook 30 seconds. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon. Serve with sour cream.

Nutritional Information
Calories:350 (29% from fat)
Fat:11.2g (sat 4.1g,mono 4.8g,poly 1.6g)
Protein:13.4g
Carbohydrate:47.8g
Fiber:4.6g
Cholesterol:38mg
Iron:1mg
Sodium:712mg
Calcium:50mg

I’ve now had 2 requests for the fajita recipe I made the other night. I will post the recipe and then tell you what I did. This was from allrecipes.com. This particular one serves 12. If you want to make it smaller or larger, you can go to the website and change the servings.

INGREDIENTS
1 (1 1/2-pound) beef flank steak
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion, undrained
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped*
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, sliced
1 medium green pepper, julienned
1 medium sweet red pepper, julienned
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
12 (6 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
3/4 cup fat-free sour cream
3/4 cup salsa

DIRECTIONS
Thinly slice steak across the grain into strips; place in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Add tomatoes, jalapeno, garlic, coriander, cumin, chili powder and salt. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours. Add onion, peppers and cilantro. Cover and cook 1-2 hours longer or until meat is tender.
Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until slightly thickened. Using a slotted spoon, spoon about 1/2 cup meat mixture down the center of each tortilla. Add 1 tablespoon each sour cream and salsa. Fold bottom of tortilla over filling and roll up.

Nutritional Analysis: One fajita equals 273 calories, 11 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 23 mg cholesterol, 494 mg sodium, 35 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 21 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 lean meat, 2 starch, 1 vegetable.

Now, here is what I did:
1. I used a 2.5lb flank steak (don’t ever send your husband to the store for meat) I cut the meat but you really don’t need too. It ends up falling apart anyway so you could just put the whole steak in the crock pot and then shred it when cooked.

2. I didn’t put my onions and peppers in with the meat. I sauted them right before we ate with some ground coriander. This way they were still a little crisp.

3. There is NO way that this serves 12 with 1/2 cup servings. That is at one fajita each (and really, who only eats ONE fajita) but still. There were 5 people eating meat. I didn’t see how many fajitas each person had (I was late to my own dinner party) but there was not that much left over. And I’m sure they were not putting 1/2 cup portions. That’s a lot of meat on a small tortilla. Especially when you have other stuff to go on it. And I had almost twice the amount of meat as needed.

Anyway, they were very very good and we enjoyed them. I hope you all do too!!

Okay, so it’s only day 2, but it’s all about the encouragement, right. Postive self-talk? And that is huge for me. Yes, I know the day isn’t over yet so I am being proactive in telling myself I am back on track to keep myself on track. Still following the Core Plan. I get 35 extra points during the week if I eat something that is not Core, but I haven’t used any yet.

Breakfast: this brown rice cereal thing I made last night… I won’t make it again. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t something I would want again.

Lunch: salad with lettuce, corn, kidney beans, tomatoes, salsa, fat free ranch dressing. Oh, and a short 5 minute nap.

Snack at work: apple

I still have to make it home, make dinner, and go running. I’m sure I will eat something while I cook dinner — one of my biggest problems — but I have celery at home, so I’ll probably crunch on that. Maybe put some PB2 on them. It’s only 1 points — or maybe 2, but not a lot. And it tastes just like peanut butter to me, so it’s like cheating but not.

I’m making Eggplant Lasagne tonight. If it’s good, I’ll post the recipe. I’ve never made it before — well, I’ve never made THIS eggplant lasagne. And I must go running again to stay on track. That way I can start week 2(again?) on Saturday. I’ll update later.
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I did it again… stayed on track. The only thing I cheated on was garlic bread with dinner, but it was only 4 points but that’s okay because I still have 31 of my extra points avaliable

Dinner: Eggplant Lasagna again from the Fat Free Vegan Recipe Database. Again, if you are looking for something healthy and yummy that is the place to look. Anyway, it was good, but not really lasagne… more like casserole. No pasta obviously, but it was “soupier” than other eggplant lasagnas I have made. Maybe too much sauce? It was good though. I also had a salad with lettuce, spinach, grape tomatos and fat free Cesear Italian Dressing. Plus the garlic bread. I was HUNGRY though since I ran before i ate. Totally worth it.

I ran again.. I don’t know if I should have or not. That’s two days in a row with no rest, but I did okay. I tried to focus on the music during the running part, not the fact I was dying. It seemed easier today. I am wondering though if I am ready to go to week 2 on Saturday or if I should do week 1 again. Maybe I’ll try it (I mean, I did it the first time out accidently). I don’t know. Someone may need to talk me into it over the next few days. My legs are a little sore. I’ll definitely be taking some ibuprofin before I go to bed. Man, I feel so old. That’s the 3rd time I’ve done that this week.

Two days of rest coming up though. I want to do something during those days.. not just sit on my ass. I’ll probably do Debbie. That is if the kids let me……..

This was so good, I have to share it with you. Thanks to Susan at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen for this great recipe. If you get a chance, you should really check out her blog. There are so many yummy looking things to make. And healthy. For one, there are no animal product in the food plus Susan sometimes takes traditional recipes and figures out a way to cut the fat out of them with pleasing results. I’ve tried quite a number of things from her site and they are so good. So, without further ado…

Chocolate Orange Cake

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup soy yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons grated fresh orange peel

Chocolate Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
2 teaspoons orange juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/8 tsp. if double strength)
–plus extra orange juice as needed

Orange Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon orange juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1/8 tsp. if double strength)
–plus extra orange juice as needed

Spray a Bundt cake pan with non-stick spray and dust it lightly with unsweetened cocoa. Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine the flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, cocoa, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add the yogurt, vanilla, balsamic vinegar, water, and orange juice. Beat by hand or with a mixer on low speed just until well-combined, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in the grated orange peel, and pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert it onto a serving platter and cool completely.

When the cake is cool, make the icings. For each icing, mix the ingredients in separate small bowls. One half teaspoon at a time, stir in enough extra orange juice to make a drizzling consistency. Drizzle the chocolate icing over the cake, wait a few minutes for it to set, and then drizzle the orange icing.

Makes 16 servings. With icing, as shown: 198 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (3% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 294mg Sodium; 3g Fiber.

Cake without icing: 167 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (3% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 39g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 294mg Sodium; 2g Fiber.

Try it out!! And check out Susan’s blog!!

I made this for supper last night and I wanted to share it with you.  I can’t take the credit for it though.  This is courtesy of Susan at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. It is SO yummy and nutritious!! I highly reccommend it! It was hard for me not to eat the whole pot!!!

White Bean and Garlic Stew

2 15-ounce cans cannellini or great northern beans (about 3 cups), rinsed and drained
1 head garlic (the whole bulb–15-20 cloves)
2 tablespoons water
3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Break the garlic bulb into cloves and peel off the skin. If you’d like, chop one of the cloves, but leave the others whole. If some of the cloves are very large, you may cut them in half lengthwise.

Spray a large, non-stick pan lightly with olive oil. Add the onion and sauté until it turns a rich, medium-brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and carrots and sauté for 1 more minute.

Add the beans, tomatoes, bay leaves, and water. Cover the pot and simmer for about an hour, adding water if it gets too thick.

Stir in the salt and pepper. If you’re serving the stew right away, add all the parsley and the lemon juice. If you’re serving it later or at room temperature, add the parsley and lemon juice right before serving.

Serve over brown rice. Makes 6 servings. Each contains: 246 Calories (kcal); 1g Total Fat; (3% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 47g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 385mg Sodium; 15g Fiber