Thanks for the recipe. Even though I am not a "fat chick" I still joined here to find good recipes, food ideas, exercise ideas, etc.
From the looks of the recipe, it definitely looks like a keeper. The salsa make it spicier, and I love spicy foods.
My parents are thinking of getting a medium sized freezer for in the basement. Hopefully they do soon so I can make up a bunch and freeze it. As it is, I'll have to try to make a smaller batch by reducing everything.
May I ask how you freeze? Do you freeze it all in one container or do you separate out into individual servings. When you want to make it after its been frozen, do you have to let it thaw first or can you go straight from freezer to cooking it?
Last edited by claudius753; 10-03-2005 at 08:18 PM.
Hey, guys are a rare commodity here, but they're always welcome. My hubby is Howie (see my sig) and he's a member here.
I have an assortment of 1, 2, 4 and 6-cup containers, so I tend to mete out portions in those for the freezer. That way they're handy for whatever appetite we have at the moment. My containers are microwave-safe, so I just loosen the lid and put the frozen container right in the microwave and cook it in there. Cooking times vary, but stirring the soups once they're part thawed helps them reheat evenly.
When my kids were little, I use to grate carrots & zuchinni in the spaghetti sauce. By the time the sauce was done, the veggies cooked themselves down to where you couldn't see them. To this day, they still don't know I did that! LOL!!
Whenever I cook any type of pasta whether for mac and cheese
or for any other pasta dish, I always put frozen broccoli cuts or frozen chopped leaf spinach in the water with the pasta. Usually by the time the pasta is done, the pieces are small enough that nobody really notices unless they have never seen green mac and cheese before
We also have a green veggie rule in our house. There must be a green vegetable on the plates. There are very few days that we miss this rule in our house and even try to stick to it out at restaurants.
Once a week I stock up on my favorite veggies, bring them home and then spend close to an hour washing, peeling and cutting! In a large plastic storage container I make up a nice selection of vegetables that will be eaten raw with dip.
Generally, baby carrots, red pepper, broccoli, cucumbers, and cherry tomatos.
My kids will take out the container after school and munch away using low fat ranch dressing for dip. I usually pull the container out at lunch time or when I'm cooking dinner, as it keeps me from 'tasting' as I cook. For myself, I make a batch of something called "Skinny Dip" that came from Richard Simmons.
You just mix a container of fat free sour cream with a jar of Salsa.
I take the rest of the raw, sliced veggies (carrots, red & green peppers, zucchini, cauliflour, broccoli, whatever) mix them all together and then store them in large zip lock bags. At dinner time I take out a big portion and toss the veggies with a couple teaspoons of olive oil until well mixed. Spread the veggies out on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam, and then sprinkle with one of the Mrs. Dash flavors. Bake at about 400 degrees until the veggies are 'oven roasted' and tender. Delicious!
The best part about doing vegetables like this is that after that one hour of 'prep work', you can get all the veggies you need during the rest of the week in no time at all.
Oven-roasted veggies are the BEST! Cauliflower is especially wonderful that way. People who don't like veggies should try them prepared that way. They're so different from both soft canned veggies and crunchy raw ones. They're joy sublime.
Roasted veggies do indeed rock...I do a huge pan of cut up (about 1" cubes) of carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, onions, whole mushrooms, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, sprinkle liberally with chopped rosemary, a bit of salt and pepper and roast for 1-1 1/2 hours at 400 degrees. They're fantastic, and I eat them for several days. Sometimes I add eggplant, but you have to presalt and rinse them to get out the bitterness.
May I ask how you freeze? Do you freeze it all in one container or do you separate out into individual servings. When you want to make it after its been frozen, do you have to let it thaw first or can you go straight from freezer to cooking it?
Hi Nathan... welcome to the dude
I freeze in individual freezer bags. I've been wrapping stuff first in Glad Cling freezer wrap for extra protection and then putting it in the new lined freezer bags. You can get a lot more into the freezer that way, rather than containers. Also I do it in individual portions so I can just grab out one and throw it in the microwave. If I think about it in advance I thaw it first, but ca also just put it right into the microwave frozen and use the thaw setting for a few minutes before I turn it on higher. I'm doing a lot of crockpot cooking so have easy wonderful meals!
Karen, I love your idea about the veggies! I was reading somewhere that baking them like this is good, brushed with a little olive oil. But that is also great about cutting them up and storing ahead of time. I would have thought they would have gotten brown without being in ice water or something... but apparently the bags protect them...??? I also often use the salsa and fat free sour cream... yum!
I liberally salt the eggplant on one side, leave about 20 minutes, blot the beads of moisture with paper towel, turn over, repeat the process, and then rinse and dry with paper towel. I find eggplant quite labor intensive, and don't use it often, but I like it every once in a while. I love Alton Brown!
My newest favorites are "fake mashed potatos" made from cauliflower. It's AWESOME. Now i'm not a hater, so i'm inclined to like all veggies, but this is worth a try even if you're not so sure if you like cauliflower. I just boil it, then throw it in a blender with some skim milk or ff plain yogurt, salt, pepper and garlic powder. It's awesome and if you throw in some sort of "healthy" meat and gravy type dish you'll love it.
The other thing that i love is using speghetti squash in place of speghetti. Steam it, use a fork to separate the "speghetti" strands and then throw your favorite marinara sauce on.
I use veggies to beef up virtually every meal i eat. It really makes me feel like i'm not having tiny portions. It's my own take on the volumetrics diet.
