I’ve made something similar to this awhile back with fresh baby spinach, Spinach Ricotta Roll, but here’s what I did today. . .

• 1/2 Pound Pizza Dough (1/2 package of Trader Joes works great or you can make your own)
• 1 10 oz frozen pack of spinach defrosted
• 1/2 cup fat free Ricotta cheese (124 g)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt
• 2 oz mozzarella cheese
• Sauce for dipping – I used leftover homemade

Preheat oven to 425 Degrees

Separate the dough into 2 even 4 oz balls. Stretch and roll out the dough.

Drain any excess water from the spinach and mix it with Ricotta, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and mozzarella.

Half the spinach-cheese mixture on place each half on one side of rolled out dough. Fold over the dough, flatten a bit, seal the edges and pierce the top with a knife a few times.

Place calzones on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Bake on the middle rack for about 20 minutes until crust is firm to the touch and the spinach is warmed through.

Serve with dipping sauce and enjoy!

Come on. . . I can’t be the only one that does this now and then. It’s a life saver and so much better then hitting a drive-thru for the family. I made a batch of creamy mashed potatoes and heated some frozen Brussel Sprouts in the microwave and Taaa daaaa! a home cooked family meal… sort of. ;)

After dinner I decided not to just through away the carcass of the chicken but make some stock. As I established in my Turkey Stock, Broth, Soup, Whatever! post awhile back I don’t know the difference between broth or stock and frankly, I don’t care. I do my own thing to make a flavorful soup that I like and if I break some "rules" along the way, oh well. :)

Here’s what I did and the results was delicious!

• Carcass of 3-4 pound chicken with some meat still attached
• About 25 cups of water
• 1 sweet onion halved with skin
• 1 garlic bulb halved with skin
• 1 tsp dried fennel seeds
• 1 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Rosemary
• 1 tsp Peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp whole cloves
• 1 tbsp kosher salt

Put all the ingredients in a large stock pot.

Cover and cook on medium high for about an hour. It should boil in about 20 minutes.

After the hour lower to a simmer and cook overnight. That’s right, overnight. I simply put the burner on the lowest setting and woke up to this. . .

It was at least 8 hours.

The next morning I shut off the heat and got my filtration system in order. I use a large strainer and the top of a cake keeper (like this one)

Simply pour the entire content of the stock pot into the strainer and get your hands dirty. You need to fish through the "stuff" to find all the good pieces of chicken for the soup.

You could separate some of the broth to freeze for later use but I simply put the chicken I plucked out of the strainer back into the stock pot and added all the broth.

At this point you can do anything you want with this broth and chicken. I decided to add some bulgur and carrots, all I really had in the house on a Saturday morning before I grocery shopped for the week. :) Again.. here’s what I did..

• about 10 carrots cut in large chunks
• 1.5 cups of uncooked bulgur

Add both ingredients to the stock pot and bring to a boil. Cover and lower to a simmer. Cook for at least a half an hour and you get. . .

I then separate them into serving sizes and froze some for work lunches. :)

(Side Note: Notice the boxes in the background? FitBloggin’ has taken over my house! 1 more week until the conference! Whoo Hooo!)

So there you have it my Overnight Chicken Broth Turned Bulgur Soup. I love that I got the most out of a store bought cooked chicken that I could and although making your own broth/stock sounds hard and time consuming it’s really not. Especially when you can make it while you sleep. :)

Anybody want to share their own tips and tricks when making broth/stock? What other ingredients do you add to make it more flavorful?

Oh! and as for Nutritional Info.. it’s going to vary based on so many factors so I don’t feel comfortable post but for my fellow Weight Watchers fan I’d count 2 cups of this (what I put in each individual container) as 4 points but that’s just my estimate.

Here’s what I did but this is the kind of meal I’d change slightly every time I make it.

• Thick slice of sweet onion chopped
• 2 small to medium bell peppers chopped (I used 1 red and 1 green)
• 1 small can (8.5oz) corn undrained
• 1 can (15oz) kidney beans drained and rinsed
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp dried cilantro
• 1-2 tsp hot sauce (to taste)
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1/2 cup (80g) uncooked bulgur
• 1 cup water

Spray a a medium to large pot with non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium high heat. Add the onion, sprinkle with a bit of kosher salt and cook until just browning.

Add the peppers, stir i cooking for about a minute. Then add all the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then cover and lower to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes without lifting the lid!

Uncover, stir, scoop out a cup and top with a bit of shredded cheese and cilantro. I packed up the other 3 servings for lunches. This one will freeze well.

Well Saturday I was determined NOT to eat out again. So in the afternoon I pulled out the trusty crock pot and made up this quick meal. To my surprise the husband LOVED it. I was shocked as he normally hates slow cooker meals AND I tried a completely different spice combo, for us anyways.

Here’s what I did…

• 1 small sweet onion chopped
• 1 cup brown rice (180g)
• 1 15oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can of chicken broth
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• Pork Loin (We used 2 about a pound each)

Put all ingredients in the crock pot.

Turn on high.

Wait 3 hours.

Eat.

Seriously, that was it. the rice was perfect. If it cooked any longer I think it would have been glue but the 3 hour mark was ideal.

If you want to make this on a day you will be away longer then 3 hours, I’d use a timer. I’m not sure of the time on low or how the rice would turn out. You Crock-pot veterans out there will have to chime in.

Here’s a little before and after cooking shot.

No nutritional info on this one. It will depend on your pork loin size. I got around 6 servings from it and enjoyed the leftovers at lunch today. :)

Oh and I have to add that the next day I made homeamde sauce and meatballs and today I have lean burgers cooking on the George Foreman. I’m on a roll! ;)

The recipe is for 1 serving but you can easily double, triple or whatever for your situation. As you can see I made it only for me. Between the kid hating fish (I think it’s a texture thing) and the husband not into the greens, I didn’t even bother presenting this as a family dinner. Although I hope to maybe one day get them there. In the meantime I’ll hide the kale in family favorites like stuffed peppers. ;)

Here’s what I did.

• 1 tsp (5g) sesame oil
• 1 thick slice of a sweet onion chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 cup kale cleaned and ripped into chunks
• about 1/2 inch chunk of fresh ginger root (can replace with about 1/4 tsp ground ginger)
• 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• about 1 tbsp wasabi powder
• 1 4 oz salmon fillet

Heat the sesame oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until just turning brown. Add the kale right on top and grate the ginger root on top of the kale. Add the 1/4 of water and tsp of soy sauce. Mix everything together and cover. Keep an eye on it as soon as the water looks like it all evaporated (about 1-2 minutes) remove the kale from the skillet. If you like your kale more cooked more simple add additional water and cover until desired doneness is reached. Then remove.

Spray the same skillet with a bit of non-stick spray and return to the medium-high. Sprinkle both sides of the salmon fillet with the wasabi powder and place in the hot skillet. This is what my wasabi powder looked like. . .

Cook about 2-3 minutes a side depending on the thickness of your fillet. A good indicator of when to flip in the whiteness you’ll see on the edge. Shown in the picture.

Once the salmon is done, place on top of the kale and viola! Wasabi Salmon with Asian Kale for One! :)

Hit her pantry, of course!

I whipped up this crowd pleaser tonight using only 6 ingredients with nothing defrosted or planned in about 20 minutes. Take that tempting drive-thru. Take THAT!

Both husband and child ate with NO complaints. I got a 4 year old "It’s Good! I like the chicken*" and a "This is delicious." from the husband.

*Note: The little guy still hasn’t left the "It’s all just chicken to me" stage. ;~)

Here’s what I did…

• 6 oz of whole wheat noodles
• About 2/3 of a pound of top sirloin (that’s just what I had in my freezer)
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1 can of French Onion Soup (like Progresso 18.5 oz)
• 1 8oz can of mushrooms
• About 3 cups of frozen peas

Here’s all the ingredients

Bring a pot of water to a boil and prepare the noodles according to package.

Cut the beef into thin slices. My meat wasn’t defrosted so I just popped it into the microwave for a minute and it was super easy to cut.

Mix the flour into the can of onion soup. This will help thicken a bit to make the "gravy."

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and brown the beef.

Add the can of onion soup.

Add the can of mushrooms.

Bring to a boil then lower to medium and cook until the "gravy" thickens. About 5 minutes.

Now.. I’d add the peas to the pot and cook for another minute before serving…

BUT the husband isn’t a all mixed up kind of guy. So I through them in a bowl and popped them in the microwave instead. Sometimes you just need to compromise. :)

For some reason I was having trouble calculating the nutritional information on this one so if anyone wants to double check me I’d appreciate it. I split the meal into 3 BIG servings to be realistic but you couldn’t certainly feed 4 just by bumping up the amount of beef or noodles slightly. Or leave them the same and have a lighter meal.

Now let me warn you. Normally I write up and post a recipe immediately after I make it but this one has been sitting in the old noggin for a few days. I whipped it up on Friday after coming home form work early due to the SNOW! Sorry, to keep mentioning it but it’s totally crazy. We are in the middle of our second record breaking snow fall this week! But I digress. :)

So I whipped this up after work and to my surprise BOTH the child AND the husband ate it without complaints. No bargaining had to happen. No whining. No faces or dirty looks. Nothing!

Not only that but the husband actually said they "were good" unsolicited! This is a HUGE win considering the major ingredients were kale, mushrooms and bulgur. They didn’t even question the "green stuff"!

• 1/4 cup dry bulgur (I wanted to use 1/2 cup but this was all I had)
• 1/2 of a sweet onion diced
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 8oz package of baby bella mushrooms chopped up small or diced
• 12oz lean ground turkey
• About 2 cups Kale chopped (~130g)
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 5-6 medium sized bell peppers
• 1 cup tomato sauce (canned, jarred or homemade will work)
• Kosher Salt and Pepper

Prepare the bulgur according to the package. The formula is twice as much liquid as bulgur. Bring both to a boil and then cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. So I used 1/4 cup of bulgur and 1/2 cup water.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Cup the tops of the peppers off. You can blanch but I don’t. We like ours to stay crunchy. :) I also dice up any good pepper parts of the tops and use it in the filling. You know, the stuff around the stem.

Spray a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic with a little salt and pepper. Add the mushrooms and cook until they reduce a bit. The liquid will come out of them. Add the turkey and brown, breaking it up as it cooks.

Once the turkey is all brown (gray) add the chopped up kale, cooked bulgur, and oregano. I also added the diced peppers I got from the tops. Continue cooking for a few minutes until the kale wilts and all the flavors merge.

Fill the peppers with the stuffing. I only had 5 peppers that I could have overstuffed but I added a red pepper and stuffed them modestly. The red one was huge so you should have more then enough for 6 average sized green peppers.

Top each pepper with some tomato sauce and sprinkle with some dried herbs. Bake for about 20 minutes until the peppers just start to scorch on the ends but still hold a crunch.

Here’s an inside shot…

And my boys EATING them. :)

Two peppers make a good serving but I’ll do nutritional info per pepper in case you want to serve with something else. Plus it’s easier to double the nutritional info then half it. At least it my brain. :)

Well, come home early from work and cook, of course. :)

I decided to fill the crock pot and not worry about dinner. While it was cooking we played trouble, soccer, watched The Incredibles and had fun. Seriously… is the crock pot NOT one of the best inventions of the century?!

Anyway, I decided to use Top Sirloin for this because it is one of the leanest cuts of beef AND it was on sale. I got a big cut (like this) for 9 bucks and simply cut it in half for this recipe.

I’m glad I have the other half as the husband actually liked this meal. He’s not a stew fan so having a crock pot semi-stewish type of dinner handy that the family actually likes is a bonus for a mid week dinner.

Here’s how I made it. . . Oh! and I should warn you, there isn’t a lot of liquid in this. you may want to increase for your family. I kept it on the dryer side for the stew hating husband. :)

• 1lb Top Sirloin with visible fat removed
• 1/2 sweet onion chopped
• About 1/2 lb baby cut carrots
• 1 large russet potato cut into large chunks
• 1 large sweet potato cut into large chunks
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp fennel seeds
• fresh ground black pepper

Put the onion, carrots, and potatoes in the slow cooker. Lay the meat on top.

In a small bowl whisk the remaining ingredients and pour over the meat and vegetables.

Cover and cook on high about 3 hours.

Here’s a little before and after shot. . .

When it’s done cut it thin and serve with the potatoes, carrots and a drizzle of the liquid.

This makes 4 servings, but I didn’t measure anything post cooking. I simply seperated it into 4 equal servings. Bogus, I know. :)

It.was.WONDERFUL!

No dirty looks. No questions. No arguing. No dealing. I simply cooked what I wanted and enjoy a pretty, healthy, vegetable filled meal.

Is it sad that I like to cook for myself? I mean, I’d love a family that was more adventurous but since they aren’t I look for opportunities like tonight to experiment. It makes me happy. :)

• 1/2 sweet onion diced
• 2 carrots diced
• 2 celery stalks (with leaves) diced
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric (You can skip if you don’t have it)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (84g)
• About 2 cups baby spinach loosely chopped
• 2 bell peppers (I used yellow)
• kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 Degrees

Heat a pot medium pot over medium-high heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and saute the onion, carrots and celery with a pinch or two of salt. Continue cooking and stirring for a few minutes until the onion softens and look a little transparent.

Add the curry and turmeric. Stir to coat everything. Then add the water and quinoa. Bring to a boil then cover and lower to a simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.

Meanwhile. Half the peppers longways and remove the seeds. Place in a casserole dish and sprinkle with a bit of salt.

When the quinoa is done, mix in the spinach. It should start to wilt immediately. Then stuff the peppers sprinkle with a little more salt and pop in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Here’s a few more pics because they are so darn pretty!

And even though the little guy didn’t eat them he was fascinated by the photo taking. :)

Anyway, if you don’t know, Schnitzel is normally a veal cutlet pounded thin, breaded, fried in butter and served with lemon. I just took the idea and used pork for the veal, bran flakes for the breadcrumbs, and non-stick cooking spray for the butter. I also made a quick gravy and added a hint of lemon just to give the traditional recipe a nod.

Surprising the husband loved it! I don’t know if it was just because he had three separate food items on his plate or what, but I got an unsolicited "This is Delicious!". Which cracked me up as I thought the meal was just OK. The meat was good but the lemon was a bit too tart in the gravy for me and I should have added more spice to the "breadcrumbs".

The toddler? Well let me tell you I may have the only child in America that doesn’t like breaded things. As soon as he sees anything breaded (that’s not a nugget from a fast food chain) he declares he doesn’t like it. It doesn’t matter if it’s fish, chicken or pork. He had his one bite (my rule) and then finished off the noodles and peas. Oh well, you can’t win them all. :)

• 1 lbs (or less, my package was actually .7) thin cut pork loin chops (4 chops)
• 3 cups (120g) Generic Bran Flakes cereal
• Black Pepper
• Non-Stick cooking spray

Cut all visible fat from the pork chops. Lay between two pieced of wax paper or saran wrap and pound thin. About 1/4 of an inch.

Place the cereal and a pinch or two of black pepper in a large ziploc back and pound as well. You could run through the food processor or blender but I wanted larger panko style bread crumbs.

Crack the egg in a bowl. Pour the bread crumbs on a plate.

Dip a flattened pork chop in to the egg and then place in the crumbs. Coat both sides. Repeat for the remaining 3 chops.

Heat a large non-stick pan or griddle on medium-high and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Cook the pork about 4 minutes until you see the edges starting to turn white and the crumbs on the bottom darkening. Flip and cook an additional 3 minutes. I did 2 chops at a time as to no overcrowd the pan.

Serve with a lemon wedge, ketchup (the only way the toddler would take a bite) or a simple gravy. Here’s what I did. . .

• 1 can chicken broth
• 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground sage
• punch of black pepper
• juice of 1/2 lemon (not sure I’ll do again-makes it too tart for my taste)
• 1/2 tbsp molasses (really only to combat the lemon tart)

Whisk all together then bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Watch so it’s doesn’t boil over. Lower to medium-low until ready to use.

I made this first and had it simmering while making the pork. We also used it over noodles. I should add the toddler loved those! :)

The nutritional estimates are only for the pork NOT the noodles and peas. . .

I’m going to write up how I made them this evening but I may change a few things next time. Not quite sure what yet, this is one of those ‘wing it, use what you got on hand’ type of meal ideas. :)

• 1 large head of cabbage
• 2 cups of cooked brown rice (I just used one of these
• 1 lb (16oz) extra lean ground turkey, raw
• 6 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/2 of a large sweet onion diced
• 1 small zucchini diced
• 1-2 cups baby spinach chopped
• 2 stalks of celery diced
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp dried parsley separated
• 2 tsp dried basil separated
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 can of condensed tomato soup
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• Kosher Salt & Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut the core out of the cabbage and cook for 5 minutes. This will help loosen the leaves. After 5 minutes run under cold water.

Combine the brown rice, ground turkey, garlic, onion, zucchini, spinach, celery, 1 tbsp parsley and 1 tsp basil until well mixed.

Carefully separate a leaf from the cabbage head.

Place about 1/2 cup of the turkey/rice mixture in the middle.

Fold the sides in like a burrito.

Roll.

Place in a deep baking dish.

Repeat until you run our of filling or cabbage leaves. You should get about 12. I actually ran out of leaves and used the rest of the filling in a pepper I had in the fridge. :)

Once the baking dish is filled with "piggies" mix the tomato soup, diced tomatoes, and the rest of the dried spices with a bit of water to thin it. Pour over the piggies, cover and bake for an hour in a preheated 350 degree oven. You may want to baste now and then to help keep everything moist.

Serve with the tomato soup mixture drizzled on top and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.

Here’s the approximate nutritional info for how I made them above.

"Apparently all I had to do was shove a beer can up a chicken’s a$$ to get him excited about dinner!"

I may have been wrong. I’m not sure if it was the can of beer or the fact that I was serving him meat on a bone.

He was just as excited about tonight’s dinner and I even served couscous. You all know how much he hates couscous, right? lol

In all seriousness, he love it. Even asking me what spices I used. He NEVER asks me what spices I use. I don’t think he knows what spices are!

The toddler? Well, he ate with minimal complaint. A win in my book. :)

Here’s what I did. . .

Chicken Breasts

• 3 bone in chicken breasts
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp onion powder
• Kosher Salt
• Ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl mix the cumin, coriander and onion powders.

Remove the skin from all or some of the breasts. I always remove mine. Why? Well let’s take a look. . .

Nutritional information from SparkPeople.

That’s almost half the calories simply by removing the skin. Not to mention the fat! Yikes!

Place the breasts in a baking dish and season with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle on the spice mixture.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until internal temp is 165. Mine were perfect at 43 minutes. I pulled them out and let them sit for 5 minutes.

10 minutes before the chicken is done start the couscous. . .

Veggie Couscous

• 2-3 slices of a large sweet onion diced
• 2 carrots diced
• 2 stalks of celery diced
• 1 small zucchini diced
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (4oz)
• 1/2 cup whole grain couscous, dry (110g)

Heat a medium pot over medium heat. Spray with non stick cooking spray and cook the onion for a few minutes while dicing the carrots. Add the carrots, then celery, then zucchini.

Sprinkle with the cumin and coriander (subtle tie in with the chicken). Add the broth and bring to a boil.

Add the couscous, turn off the heat and cover. Fluff after 5 minutes.

I also served with some frozen broccoli. It was a perfect meal for the 3 of us with just enough leftover for a lunch. :)

For my Weight Watchers friends, I’d count this (1 breast and 1/4 of the couscous) as 8 WWP. That’s just my estimate, I don’t have it in me to post nutritional info this evening. Sorry. :(