To my surprise… it was a complete hit! Everyone like it and I got tons of compliments. I guess people could have just been being polite but I think these pictures say it all…

Before party…

After Party…

They devoured it!

I love when this happens. It makes me feel good to feed good healthy food to people. Sure I could have bought fatty ground beef and simply mixed it according to the manwich package but that’s no fun. ;) Why not veg it out? It stretches the meat, adds vitamins and volume while making it lighter and more flavorful. It’s a win-win in my book!

• About 1.25 lbs (20oz) lean ground beef (at least 90%)
• About 1.25 lbs (20oz) lean ground turkey (at least 90%)
• 1 large Vidalia Onion diced
• 3 stalks of celery diced
• 1 medium zucchini diced
• 2 green peppers diced
• 1/2 bag baby spinach chopped
• 1 15.5 can Manwich
• 1 15oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 6oz can tomato paste

Brown the meats with the onion and all the veggies. I started with the meats and onion in a large stock pot and then cut the veggies in order adding them and stirring them in the pot.

Transfer the browned meat and veggies to my slow cooker, add the manwich, tomatoes, and paste. Cook on High for at least an hour and then lower to low for the party.

You could add the manwich, tomatoes and paste directly in the stock pot and heat through. Then just keep it on simmer until ready to serve.

I served with a variety of rolls. Some people were even eating it straight up!

I’m not going to do Nutritional Info because honestly I have no idea how many servings it is. I fed about 13 people but everyone took varying amounts. For my fellow Weight Watcher friends I’d count a half of cup as 2 points but that’s just based on "Roni Math" it’s not scientific at all.

So I decided to use my unsuspecting extended family over Easter weekend as guinea pigs and I whipped up an idea I had for a few weeks. Thankfully Mom was here to make some suggestions. The result was a hit and I’ll be eating the leftovers for lunch over the next few days. :)

There is one teeny tiny problem and you may have guessed it if you’ve been reading my blog for some time. Whenever I tack on the word "Idea" to a title that means I didn’t really measure anything. I tried. I really did but making this for the very first time I just had to go with it.

I still like to share these "Ideas" and I hope they give you some of your own. I will be making this again soon and I’ll be jotting down a few notes to give you more specifics. In the mean time all you experimenters out there have fun. :)

This is what I did with as much details as I can provide…

• 1 20oz package of lean ground turkey
• 1 cup Old Fashion Oats
• 1 egg
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch of fresh ginger root (preferably frozen so you can grate)
• 1 8oz can of crushed pineapple
• 1 15oz can of chicken broth
• About 5 dried apricots
• Honey (I used about 1 tbsp but went by taste)
• Molasses (I used about 1 tbsp but went by taste)
• 1 sweet bell pepper chopped (I used a mix of red and orange)
• 1 red onion chopped

Preheat the broiler.

Add the turkey, oatmeal, and egg in a large bowl. Grate in 1 clove of the garlic and 1/2 of the ginger. Combine together with your hands and form the meatballs. Try to keep them on the small side.

Brown the meatballs on a cookie sheet under the broiler.

While the meatballs are in the oven, add the remaining clove of garlic and ginger root, the pineapple, chicken broth, honey and molasses to the blender. Blend on high until smooth.

By this time the meatballs should be brown. Add them to the crockpot, along with the onion, peppers and pineapple mixture. I cooked on high for about 4 hours and then lowered low until we were ready to eat, about 2 more hours. I think they were down after 3. At least that’s when I tried them. :)

I served this over rice for a dinner but we’ll be eating them straight up for the shower.

What I’ll do different next time…

• Measure, of course! That way I can do nutritional info
• Add more garlic. I’m thinking at least 2 cloves in the meatballs and 2 in the "gravy".

Any other ideas? Anyone make anything similar?

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! ;)

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. :)

The toddler actually was excited to eat it but he thought it was too spicy. I’ll have to use the regular diced tomatoes next time. The ones with green chilies have too much of a kick for him. I even used cream corn to try and curb the hotness with a bit of sweetness but it didn’t work.

As for the husband? He wasn’t home. Did you really think I’d try a meal like this if he was?! HA! I did have a friend over who enjoyed it, although he said he’d prefer the regular corn. Oh! and he added hot sauce. I thought it was perfect. It’s definitely going to be my new go to veggie chili. :)

• 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
• 1 can kidney beans drained and rinsed
• 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 1 can corn undrained (cream or regular)
• 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 small can (6oz) tomato paste
• 1 bell pepper chopped
• 1 small onion diced
• 1/2 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp dried cilantro

Put all ingredients in the crock pot (slow cooker), stir and cook on low for 5 hours (3 on high should be fine.)

Seriously… how AWESOME are crock pots. :)

I topped mine with a bit of low fat cheddar and cilantro.

As you may know this is the first year I’m cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I’m feeling the pressure to make things very traditional but I also want to make them my own (with health and nutrition in mind, of course! ;~P) So instead of the old fashioned candied mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallow on top, I’m going for sweet potatoes in the crockpot.

The idea here was to make something festive, light, fun and EASY. There are some things I just don’t want to have to worry about yet I still I want, like sweet potatoes.

So yesterday I did a bit of experimenting. I cut up one mother of a potato cranked on the crockpot and I was pleasantly surprised that my idea worked. Now I have a new sweet potato dish and I can’t wait to see how everyone likes it on the big day!

Note: I used 1 pound of potatoes and it was a little much for the amount of marinade. So I’m upping it a bit for the "idea". Again, think of this as a "formula", doubling and tripling, even halving as necessary. You could also throw in some carrots!

• 4 large sweet potatoes (about 5 inches long)
• 1 tbsp honey (21g)
• 1 tbsp molasses (20g)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• dried or fresh parsley for garnish

Clean (scrub) the potatoes with water. Cut into large chunks leaving skin on. Add them to the crockpot.

In a small bowl whisk the honey, molasses, vinegar and all spice to make the marinade.

Pour the marinade over the potatoes, stir to coat.

Cover and cook on high for about 4 hours until potatoes are nice and soft.

Serve in a casserole dish with a sprinkle of parsley.

This chili I purposely made mild to TRY and get the husband and the toddler on board with my chili obsession but alas, I failed. The husband didn’t try it, he’s just not interested in chili! Unbelievable! And the toddler, well, he said he didn’t like before he even tried it. His mind was already made up and I couldn’t change it.

Oh well, their loss, it was GOOD! Now I have lunches for the next week!

Next time, since they aren’t going to eat it anyway, I’m spicing it up with some ground red pepper, hot sauce and jalapeno peppers!

• 20 oz extra lean ground turkey
• 1 small-medium onion chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper chopped
• 1 large red bell pepper chopped
• 1 small can of sweet corn (8oz) undrained
• 1 can of black beans (15oz) drained and rinsed
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (15oz) undrained
• 1 small can of tomato paste (6oz)
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa (5g)
• 1 tbsp Molasses (20g)
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tbsp dried cilantro
• 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
• non-stick spray

Brown the turkey in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.

Spray the inside of the crock pot with non-stick cooking spray (makes is much easier to clean!). Add all the ingredients to a crock pot with 1 tomato paste can of water (6oz). Mix well to combine, it will thick and dry (not a lot of liquid). Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours.

Here’s a before and after cooking photo.

Serve with a sprinkle of cheese and cilantro, over rice, or (my favorite) with some baked Doritos! YUM!

So this idea is simple, a can of creamed corn, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of beans and some chicken. Spice it up anyway you like and add the quinoa at the end to soak up the liquid!

You should have seen the husbands face when I put the bowl in front of him. I tried not to say anything and wait for his reaction (he’s never seen, heard of or would ever want to try quinoa). He was quiet and after about 1 minute I said, “don’t worry I left the chicken in big pieces so you can find it easily.”

He just laughed and said “What is it?”

I went on to explain what quinoa is and he continued to pick out all the chicken pieces. He said he liked it but left most of the quinoa and beans in the bowl. Hey… at least he tried it! The toddler picked at it too but ate a few good bites.

To be honest, the picture doesn’t do it justice, it was really good. Especially if you are a one bowl meal lover like me.

• 1 lb (16oz) of chicken breast trimmed and cut into large chunks
• 1 15oz can of cream style corn
• 1 15 can of pinto beans rinsed and drained
• 1 15 can of diced tomatoes
• ½ tsp ground sage
• 1 tsp dried chives
• 1 tsp dehydrated onion
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp dried cilantro
• 1 cup (170g) uncooked Quinoa

Put all ingredients except quinoa in a crock pot on low and cook for about 6 hours.

A half an hour before dinner, add the quinoa. It will soak up the remaining liquid.

Here’s a picture before and after cooking. I’m sorry they aren’t the greatest, it was a really hard dish to photograph!

I got 5, 1 cup servings and boy was it filling!