As many of you know I am NO cook. This is something I would like to change. I eat a lot of chicken, fish, shrimp, salads, omelets, veggies and fruit with little variety or creativity.

There is nothing that I have excluded from my diet; however I try to keep my meals at about 300-400 calories. I try to eat 4 or 5 times a day for a total of 1500 calories per day.

Come on 40-Somethings help me meal plan. Post your favorite recipes and I will start by cooking one each week.

Hmmm, will give this some thought. I have some ideas...

So, CruiseCAT -- are you comfortable with "freestyle" recipes -- ie, throw in a little of this, add a little of that, or do you need step-by-step with exact amounts?

I actually find that most of my cooking has become freestyle, but I have some great recipes, too.

And, do you like things with an Asian flair?

Answers to these questions will help me pick something for you to try...

Most of my cooking is "freestyle" especially with my stir fry that I fix a couple times a week. Asian flair would be great I love LOTS of spice including hot stuff.

I'm not a picky eater so what ever you come up with will be great. Just nothing too complicated.

Okay, here is something easy. It's a recipe that I've adapted from Spices of Life. Once you know the formula you can adapt it with whatever you have on hand, using what ever vegetables you want to steam. Let me know how it turns out! Then I'll post your next recipe to try...

Ingredients:
chicken pieces (your choice - thighs, breasts, I do about a pound)
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
10 cloves garlic, minced
can of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1/2 cup white wine
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
fresh green beans, washed with ends cut off


Instructions:
1. Heat the oil (on med. high) in a large pot. Put the chicken in and let brown on both sides, then set aside.

2. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook the onions until soft; add garlic and cook for a minute more. Add the can of tomatoes and the oregano and cook several minutes.

3. Add the chicken, wine, salt & pepper and stir. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med-low and cook until you think the chicken is almost done (20 min?).

4. Add the fresh green beans on top and then put the lid back on so the beans will steam. The meal is ready when the beans are done (8 min?).

5. Serve with rice and salad.

Sounds yummy.... I LOVE garlic and wine.

Does it matter what kind of white wine? I have a bottle of Pinot Grigio chilled but have not been able to justify opening it. I know that Mack and I will finish it off in a sitting.

I'm fixing pizza tonight. One of the "chicks" from our BL challenge posted the other day about fixing pizza and I have been craving it since.

I wouldn't worry about the type of wine; I just use crummy old cooking wine... I'm sure Pinot Grigio would be wonderful!

Now I'm planning to make this one day this week. Maybe Thursday... We did the make-your-own pizza thing on Sunday; that's always fun!

CruiseCat, I wish I could help you out but I really don't make anything special. I have a lot of recipe books and I keep saying when I get a chance I am going to go through them and look for some healthier recipes, but that hasn't happened yet. If I stumble upon any, I will let you know.

Newleaf, your recipe sounds delicious. I am going to give that a try.

Well, I made my recipe tonight, and was surprised to find that I didn't have a can of tomatoes on hand. So I used about 1/2 cup of chicken broth instead. Then when I put the green beans in at the end, I also added a bunch of cherry tomatoes cut in half, along with a few canned artichoke hearts. It came out great!

The kids like the chicken this way because it comes out nice and moist. They don't like cooked vegetables so I gave one raw green beans on the side and the other raw tomatoes on the side (each to their own taste).

I have some chicken left and tomorrow I'll make it into chicken salad.

Can't wait to hear about your experience with the recipe!

Heidi - I still need to go shopping (out of chicken) but plan to fix your meal Saturday night and enjoy the left over wine. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I am somewhat of a cook but have simplified most of my recipies to fit my new healthy lifestyle which the biggest elimination is salt and sugar. I have 6 children and a husband so everynight I actually fix 2 separate dinners. i have found the easiest thing is to buy several chicken breast and either grill them all at once or stew them. Then make things like chicken salad with lite may, celery, ranch dressing, red grapes and sometimes onion. it is great in a pita or on a salad. I also do things like chop the chicken into bite sizes, cut my pita in two, make it a circle, take some bbq sauce and spread on the pita bake at 350 for a few minutes top with chicken sprinkle on more BBQ sauce top with cheese and purple onions bake at 350 for 5 minutes and it is a BBQ pizza completely low fat with 2% moz. cheese and sparse on ithe BBQ..

I love Quinoa. Last night I sauteed onion for five minutes. Then added 1/2 cup of diced carrots, put in two cups of chicken broth (Fat-Free) and 1 cup of Quinoa. I brought it to a boil and then turned it to simmer for 20 minutes with a lid.

Quinoa is considered a complete protein--it has all 8 essential amino acids. It is also lower carb than most grains and higher in protein. It is cheap and for me, a staple. I love the stuff. For the best price, check your "bulk bins" at the market.

BTW, I served this along side stir fry chicken breast with fresh mushrooms and spinach leaves in a little Sweet and Sour Sauce. I buy the chicken already cooked and in strips and just dump everything in. It cooks in a jiffy.

The best thing about the Quinoa recipe or the Stirfry is that you can use whatever you have. It's a great way to have zero waste with produce.

Newleaf...do you use boneless or boned chicken in the recipe you posted?

The recipe in the book calls for 3lbs of bone-in thighs and drumsticks. I made it with a 1lb boneless breast that I cut down the middle. So the recipe made 4 small portions (myself, my 2 boys, and leftover chicken for chicken salad the next day). It *would not* have been enough if my husband were home that night and I probably would have ended up throwing in some frozen (uncooked) shrimp at the same time I threw in the veggies.

For us we love to throw things in our wok like you do with your freestyle cooking. Whatever meat and veggies you like just throw them in and cook them up. We use a touch of canola or olive oil in the bottom and use garlic, soy sauce, accent, a little sugar and some cornstarch. My favs are Scallops, Cashews, Bella Mushrooms, Cauliflower, Broccoli and Green Peas. I love to put it over some nice Brown Rice or Couscous. Now I am getting hungry after my run today!!