Archive from July, 2012
Jul 26, 2012 - 500 Calories or Less, Posts    No Comments

Skinny Corn Chowder

It’s Ramadan, that month on the lunar calendar when you can’t have food, water, or gum from sunrise to sunset. It’s also a month when you’re supposed to concentrate on other things besides food, being a better person, getting closer to your faith, etc. While all that’s true, I find more and more that Ramadan is really All About the Food. We’ve received numerous dinner invites, even a few weeks before Ramadan even started. With the long days (16 hours, give or take), all I can think about is food. What happens, is that although I’ve been eying the sweets in the fridge, or thinking about burgers, dinner time rolls around and I can’t down more than soup and salad. Go figure. All those cravings for nothing. It makes sense, you’re stomach contracts when you’re fasting so you can’t stuff it like you usually do. Unless you’re one of those people that doesn’t mind the uncomfortable feeling of being so full you need to unbutton the top button on your jeans and lay down until you fall asleep.

So this year, we’re trying to be healthy or at least conscious of it. We’re sticking to soup and salad and changing it up a bit with main dishes on other days. I tried out this skinny corn chowder this week. If this is skinny, I’d hate to know the calorie content in regular corn chowder.

 

 

Adapted from Skinny Chef

 

 

Skinny Corn Chowder

 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small White Onion, chopped
4 Slices Turkey Bacon, chopped
1 teaspoon All-Purpose Flour
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1 large Russet Potato, peeled and cubed
1 cups Frozen Corn Kernels defrosted under hot running water for 30 seconds
2 cups Fat Free, Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Skim Milk
2 oz Reduced-Fat Cream Cheese
Sea Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped chives

Directions

Heat a pot over medium-high heat
Add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions and bacon
 Cook 5-6 minutes until the onions begin to soften but do not brown
Add the flour and cayenne if using
Cook an additional 2-3 minutes stirring continuously until the flour coats the onion and starts to stick to the bottom of the pan without browning
Turn down the heat if needed
Add the potatoes, half the corn, and the chicken stock
 Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are tender
Add the cream cheese and skim milk. Blend until smooth
Stir in remaining corn and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in half the chives. Use the other half for garnish when serving

 

 

Servings: 2

Nutrition Information: Cals 335. Carbs 37g. Fat 17g. Protein 15g. Sodium 979mg.

Jul 24, 2012 - 500 Calories or Less, Posts    3 Comments

Oven Fried Fish and Chips

Winter Break 2010 I went on a four-country tour of Europe with my mother. We spent the last leg of our trip in London. It’s a great city, if you don’t mind rain, gloom and cars coming at you from the wrong side of the road. It wasn’t all rain and gray skies. We enjoyed spending hours in Harrods and afternoon tea at The Savoy. And we even tried the oh-so-famous English Fish and Chips. Did I mention that they serve fish and chips with something called mushy peas? Well that was a shocker. Standing in a crowded pub trying to figure out how exactly to get my order in, and then not even being able to comprehend the words “mushy peas” on the chalkboard behind the register. Looking like the clueless Americans we were, someone finally explained that mushy peas were in fact, mushy peas. Kind of like mashed potatoes, but we’re talking about green peas here. In a very un-American like manner, I stepped out of my comfort zone and ordered said peas. The meal was everything I had expected (mushy peas aside) – Greasy and delicious. The peas weren’t bad either. It must be the English way of adding vegetables to their diet.

It’s not like you can’t find fish and chips here in the U.S., let alone the DC Metro area. But I’m definitely opposed to inducing high cholesterol and a potential heart attack.

 

 

Oven Fried Fish and Chips

Ingredients

1/2 pound haddock fillets (or Cod)
1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup egg Beaters
2 tablespoons Water
2/3 cup Cornflakes, Crushed
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
 
2 Large Potatoes
1 tablespoon Olive oil
Sea Salt, to taste

Directions

For the fish:
Prepare 3 shallow bowls – one with flour, one with egg substitute and water and in the third, cornflakes, cheese and cayenne
Coat each fish with Flour, then dip in egg mixture and then cornflake mixture.
Place on a baking sheet pre-sprayed with cooking spray, and repeat with remaining fish.
Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
 
For the potatoes:
Cut potatoes into wedges.
In a Gallon-Sized Ziplock bag, mix together olive oil and sea salt. Add potatoes and shake until coated.
Place in a baking dish and bake, uncovered, at 425° for 30 minutes.

 

Servings: 2 (1 Filet  each)

Nutrition Information: Cals 206. Carbs 23g. Fat 2g. Prtotein 27g. Sodium 233mg.

Lemon Garlic Chicken

It was my mom’s birthday last week! Who doesn’t love celebrating birthdays? Well, my husband didn’t … until I threw him a surprise birthday party after which he was “reborn” to birthdays. But that’s another story for another day.

The best part about birthdays, no matter how old you get, is that it’s the one day a year you can be selfish and expect everything to be about you. Between demanding workdays, short weekends, busy families (especially those with kids), it’s the day you can put everyone else on the back-burner and say “Today, it’s all about me for a change.” That does not go away with age.

The least we do for birthdays (my family, anyway) is get a cake, light the candles and sing happy birthday. We snap a couple pictures too, and present our birthday cards. It’s a whole family affair! This year, I decided to have my mom over for dinner. I have been dying to try this recipe out and it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

 

Adapated from Out of the Box Food

 

Lemon Garlic Chicken

Ingredients

 1 Whole Chicken, cut into Large Pieces
3 lemons
4 bulbs garlic, and 4 peeled whole cloves
4-5 Fresh Rosemary sprigs
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Sea Salt and Pepper, to Taste
 

 

Directions 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Season Chicken pieces with Salt and Pepper, to taste
Keeping the peel on, cut tops off of the heads of garlic. 
Slice lemons into thick slices
Heat cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
Add olive oil to skillet, then, place lemon pieces and whole bulbs of garlic, cut side down in and brown for 2-3 minutes.
Remove lemon and garlic and set aside.
Place chicken, skin side down in hot skillet. 
When chicken is golden brown, flip and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.
Place lemon slices between the chicken pieces and cook for another 2 minutes
Place the garlic heads around the chicken. 
Scatter garlic cloves around the skillet.
Place Rosemary between chicken pieces
Bake the skillet in the oven uncovered for 30 minutes.
Careful when removing the skillet, it will be very hot.

 

Servings: 6

Nutrition Information: Cals 304. Carbs 22g. Fat 14g. Protein 19g.