Lobster Stew

We had the pleasure of heading down to Higgins Beach this past weekend for a night of fun and laughter with some close friends of ours. Earlier in the week, Matt said to me, "let's make something really good to bring to Higgins this weekend." We brainstormed for a minute and then Matt came up with the idea that we should try to make a lobster stew. I instantly agreed because I love lobster stew and it's the perfect thing to bring to an oceanfront getaway. Deciding what the make was the easy part, finding a recipe that didn't look too complicated yet sounded like it was going to taste like the "real thing" was the hard part. I must have looked at least 50 recipes online until I found one that I was happy with (found it on http://www.recipezaar.com/). In the end, I think it came out great. Everyone that tried it really seemed to like it although Matt claims that there was something missing from it although he isn't sure what. I'm going to ask his grandmother what she puts in hers when we see her this weekend because she hands down makes the best soups and chowders I have ever had. Now this is in no way low calorie or low fat, but as long as you're not eating it every weekend, I think you'll be OK. Everything is fine in moderation, right?

Ingredients:

2-3 cups cooked lobster meat, chopped
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/4-1/3 cup onion, diced finely

1 teaspon Mrs. Dash seasoning mix (original blend)
1 (14 ounce) can evaporated milk

1 cup light cream

3 cups milk (I used whole milk)

1. In a soup pot, melt the butter over medium high heat.

2. Add the onions and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.

3. Add lobster meat and Mrs. Dash and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Stir occasionally.

4. Add the evaporated milk slowly. Next add the milk and cream slowly, stirring at the same time.

5. Heat the stew until almost boiling, but do not let it boil!

6. Take off heat and let cool.

7. Refrigerate over night.

8. Heat slowly the next day until hot but not boiling.

9. Serve with oyster crackers or fresh bread.

I noticed that a lot of the other recipes said to save the tomalley and the roe while you pick the lobsters, so we did that and I cooked both in a little bit of the butter before I added the rest of the butter and the onions. Matt also had a great idea to pick up some lobsters that were already cooked on his way home from work, so that certainly saved some time as well. The only other suggestion I will make is to make sure you heat it very slowly and do not let it boil, you don't want it to curdle!

I am also including a picture of an appetizer that my friend Kendall made that is so easy yet so delicious. I will certainly be making this myself in the future!

Take some roasted red peppers, some fresh basil and some pine nuts and mix them together with a little extra virgin olive oil. Serve on mini slices of french bread that have been topped with spreadable goat cheese. Yummy!

Lastly, here are a couple of pictures from Higgins Beach, such a gorgeous spot!

General Tsao's Chicken

Mmmmm, Chinese food....everyone loves Chinese food, right? Tonight's recipe is one that I found on weightwatchers.com back in January but only recently got around to making it. I have probably made it 3 or 4 times now and it has quickly become a favorite. There's just enough spice in it from the red pepper and I love how you get a hint of peanuts from the peanut oil that it's cooked in. Now, I can't tell you if it tastes like the "real" General Tsao's Chicken from a Chinese restaurant because to be completely honest, I have never ordered General Tsao's in a Chinese restaurant. So for those of you that have had the real stuff and decide to try out this recipe, please let me know how close it is to the real thing! Matt gives it 3 1/2 stars out of 5, I would give it 4 1/2, it's definitely one of my faves. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup chicken broth, low sodium

1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp peanut oil

2 medium scallions, chopped

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 2-inch pieces

2 cups cooked white rice, kept hot (I use brown rice)

In a medium bowl, whisk together broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and ginger; set aside.

Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallions, garlic and pepper and cook 2 minutes. Add chicken and cook until browned all over, about 5 minutes.

Add reserved sauce and simmer until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes.

Serve chicken and sauce over rice. Yields about 1 cup of chicken and sauce and 1/2 cup of rice per serving, makes 4 servings, 6 WW points per serving.

Turkey Burgers with Chili Fries

As you can probably tell by now, Matt and I both enjoy a good burger with some fries. I have been searching for and making many different burger recipes lately in hopes of finding one that is delicious and at the same time, isn't that bad for you. Enter the Turkey Burger with Chili Fries recipe I recently found on recipezaar.com. Juicy and full of flavor, this was an excellent burger and the fries were tasty as well. Matt gives this one a solid 4 out of 5 stars and has given me permission to make it again in the future. I hope that you enjoy this one as much as we did!

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes, cut into thin strips

2 large egg whites

3/4 tablespoon ground cumin

1/2 tsp table salt

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 lb lean ground turkey (I used 97%)

1/2 med red onion, chopped

1 large egg, beaten

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp ground tarragon (I left this out, didn't have any and couldn't find any at the store)

1/2 tsp table salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

4 medium high-fiber rolls, 2 oz each

1. Preheat oven to 450. Coat a nonstick baking sheet and a broiler rack with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine potatoes, egg whites, cumin, salt, chili powder and pepper; toss to coat. Transfer to baking sheet.
3. Bake until potatoes are barely tender, about 15 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, lightly combine turkey, onion, egg, parsley, garlic, tarragon, salt and pepper. Form into 4 burgers.

5. Increase oven temperature to broil. Transfer fries to broiler rack and broil them until crispy, about 10 minutes. At the same time, broil burgers until brown, about 5 minutes per side. (I cooked ours on the grill instead of in the oven and they took about 15-20 minutes to cook on the grill)

6. Place on rolls and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings, 1 burger and 1/4 of the fries per serving, 9 WW points per serving.

Chicken Pot Pie

Tonight's recipe is one that I have made a number of times and is one of our favorites. I found this Chicken Pot Pie recipe in a Weight Watchers "Time Saving Meal Ideas" book and it is fast, easy to make and delicious. I had to purchase these small casserole dishes (http://tinyurl.com/n4ecge) to cook the pies in but I was able to find some fairly cheap at WalMart awhile back. The recipe below is made to serve one but can be multiplied for additional servings. I usually make 4, we each eat one and have the other two for lunches during the week. I pair ours with baked potatoes because I like to use the gravy from the pot pie to put on the potato, mmmm mmmm good!

3 oz of boneless, skinless cooked chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 cup frozen or canned vegetables, thawed if using frozen

1/2 cup low-fat condensed cream of chicken soup

2 tbsp chicken broth
1 unbaked, refrigerated buttermilk biscuit

In a 2-cup casserole, combine the chicken, vegetables, soup and broth. Flatten the biscuit dough to the diameter of the casserole and set over filling; press edges to casserole rim to seal. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

307 calories, 7g fat, 3 g fiber, 6 WW points per pie.

Barbecue Meatloaf with Garlic Mashed Red Potatoes

I am so happy that it is cool enough in my house tonight so that I can cook in the oven! It appears that the crazy humidity we've had these past few days has come to an end (at least for now). I made tonight's meal for the first time a couple of weeks ago and we both immediately knew this would go onto the regular meal list. Meatloaf is yet another thing that I never ate growing up. One year for Matt's birthday, maybe a year or two after we had started dating, I asked him what he wanted me to make him for his birthday dinner, anything at all. He thought for a minute and then said, "meatloaf". "Meatloaf"? EW! I didn't want to do it, but because it was his birthday, I found a recipe and made it for him. And I really liked it. I haven't really made it that often though because that first recipe I found wasn't all too healthy. I recently found this Weight Watchers version on http://www.recipezaar.com/ and was very excited to find that it still tastes just as good in the lower fat version. Paired with some garlic mashed potatoes and a vegetable, it has quickly become one of our new favorites! Matt's official rating is 4 out of 5 stars. Hope you like it just as much!

Barbecue Meatloaf

1 lb 93% lean ground beef

1/2 cup barbecue sauce, divided
1/4 cup chopped onions

1/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

2 large egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Combine meat, 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, onion, breadcrumbs, egg whites and seasons of your choice in a large bowl; stir well.

3. Shape mixture into a loaf pan. Spread remaining 1/4 cup barbecue sauce over loaf.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until desired degree of doneness.

Makes 4 servings at 4 WW points per serving

Garlic Mashed Red Potatoes

8 small uncooked red potatoes, peeled (I left the skin on) and cut into 2-inch chunks

4 medium garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 cup nonfat sour cream

1/4 skim milk

2 tablespoons chives, fresh (I used dried because I didn't have fresh)

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1. Combine potatoes and garlic in a large saucepan and pour in enough water to cover; set pan over high heat and bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat slightly and boil until potatoes are fork tender, about 8 minutes; drain water from saucepan.

3. Add sour cream, milk and chives to pan; mix until combined

4. Mash mixture with a potato masher until smooth

5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

6. Yield about 1/2 cup per serving.

Makes about 8 servings, 3 WW points per serving.

Mexican Chicken with Mexican Rice

Yes, I am crazy because I cooked in the insane heat last night. It was 92 degrees in my kitchen by the time I got done, really too hot to even enjoy the meal. We are not making that same mistake two nights in a row, Matt is on his way home with Subway right now. Hopefully this heat won't last much longer so I can continue with my regularly scheduled cooking. Last nights meal was something new and all in all, a success. Matt's official rating is just in and he gives the rice 3 stars and the chicken 4 stars. My only complaint was that even after cooking for an hour, the rice never got as soft as I would have liked it to. It had great flavor but was a little too hard. Now, I am used to cooking and eating Minute Rice so that could be the problem. This was the first time I have made anything with "normal rice" so maybe it's just a matter of getting used to a different type of rice. I used organic long grain brown rice. For those of you with experience with rice outside of the Minute stuff, what do you think? Is there that much of a difference? Will it just take some getting used to? Any thoughts or comments are appreciated! I paired the chicken and rice with corn because it seems the most "Mexican" vegetable to me, but feel free to pair with whatever vegetable you would like!

Mexican Chicken Breasts

1 package taco seasoning

16 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup salsa

1/4 cup fat free sour cream

1. Place chicken breasts and taco seasoning in a seal able plastic bag; shake to coat well.

2. Spray casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray

3. Place breasts in casserole

4. Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees

5. Top with salsa about 5 minutes before breasts are done

6. Top with sour cream before serving

Makes 4 servings, 4 WW points each serving

156 calories, 1.7g fat, 1.0g fiber, 6.5g carbohydrates

Mexican Rice

1 tsp salt

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cup brown rice, not instant

2 cups fat-free chicken broth

1 (10 oz) can Ro-Tel tomatoes

1/2 cup red pepper, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1. Heat oil. Add rice and cook until golden and toasted. Add and lightly saute onion, pepper and garlic.

2. Put salt, 1/2 cup of tomatoes (undrained) and broth in a blender. Process till smooth.

3. Add liquid from blender to the rice mixture slowly. You can drain the rest of the tomatoes and add them to the rice at this point if you want extra tomato.

4. Bring to a boil; cover, turn heat to low, and simmer until rice is tender, about 1 hour.

5. Don't remove the lid during the cooking process.

Makes 6 servings, 4 WW points per serving

191 calories, 7.8g fat, 1.5g fiber, 27.7g carbohydrates

Cheeseburgers with Grilled Onions paired with Grilled Vegetables

With temperatures in the low 90's today and my house in the high 80's, there was NO WAY I was cooking inside tonight. It was definitely a night for grilling. So this evening I tried out two new recipes, the cheeseburger recipe is from weightwatchers.com and the grilled veggie recipe is from recipezaar.com. I think the cheeseburgers were lacking a little in flavor, next time I will probably add a little Worcestershire or soy sauce for some added flavor. Matt claims to have become the official "rater" of the meals for the blog and was disappointed I didn't remind him to rate the chili from yesterday. He gives this meal 3.5 stars out of 5 because of the zucchini which he apparently isn't a big fan of. Feel free to add or subtract different veggies based on your personal preferences, it sounds like next time I will be leaving out the zucchini!

Cheeseburgers with Grilled Onions

1 pound uncooked lean ground beef (93%)

1 medium garlic clove, minced

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/2 small red onion, cut into 4 thin slices

1/2 tsp olive oil

1/8 tsp dried oregano, crushed

1/4 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese, sharp variety

4 items reduced calorie hamburger rolls (I use the Arnold's Select Multi-Grain Sandwich Thins)

1 small tomato, cut into 8 thin slices

Preheat grill to medium-hot heat

In a medium bowl, gently combine beef, garlic, salt and pepper; form into four 1/2 inch-thick patties. Place on grill and cook 4 to 5 minutes on one side; flip and continue cooking until desired degree of doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes more. Sprinkle each burger with 1 tablespoon of cheese; cook until cheese melts, about 1 minute.

Meanwhile, brush both sides of onion with oil. Grill until bottom is lightly browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. Flip onion and sprinkle with oregano; grill for 2 to 3 minutes more.

Lightly toast open-faced buns on grill. Place burgers on buns and top each with onion and tomato slices. Yields 1 cheeseburger per serving, 6 WW points were serving.

Grilled Vegetables

Olive oil flavored cooking spray

1 medium sweet red pepper, seeded and sliced

1 medium green pepper, seeded and sliced

1 summer squash, thinly sliced

1 zucchini, thinly sliced

1 cup red onion, thinly sliced

12 oz canned artichoke hearts, without oil, drained (I substituted one package of baby portabella mushrooms because we like mushrooms better than artichokes)

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp table salt

1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

After slicing all of the vegetables, mix them all together and then place them in a grilling basket. Coat vegetables with the cooking spray; sprinkle with the thyme, salt and black pepper.

Cook on grill until they are tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 25 to 30 minutes. Yields about 3/4 cup per serving, makes 8 servings. 0 WW points per serving, but if you eat 2 or 3 servings like we did, it would be one or two points.

41 calories, .2g fat, 3.5g fiber, 9.4g carbohydrates, 2.1g protein.

Crock Pot Chicken Chili

Would you believe that I never tried chili until I was 24? It wasn't something that we ate growing up and it certainly doesn't look appetizing, so when Matt finally got me to try his grandmother's chili about a year after we had starting dating, I was pretty sure I would hate it. I actually loved it and I now make it all the time. I like chili so much in fact that Matt and I went to our first Chili and Chowder challenge this year and had a blast. We must have tried at least 25 different kinds of chili while we were there and we are already planning on going back next year. This is a new recipe that I recently found online at http://www.recipezaar.com/ and it's the first time I have made chili with chicken instead of ground beef or turkey. While it was a little too hot yesterday to be eating chili for dinner, this was cooked in the crock pot so at least I didn't have to work too hard in the heat! Overall, we were very impressed with this chili, I will definitely be making it again.

12 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced

1 (1 3/8 oz) envelope chili seasoning mix

1 quart canned tomato (I used diced)

15 ounces canned corn, undrained

15 ounces canned kidney beans, drained

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup salsa

In a sprayed, nonstick skillet, sear chicken.

Add chicken to crock pot with remaining ingredients

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours

Top with your favorite chili toppings (cheese, sour cream, raw onions, etc) and Enjoy!

Makes 8 servings, 2.5 WW points per serving

158 Calories per serving, 1.3g Fat, 5g Fiber, 23.87g Carbohydrates, 15.1g Protein

Spiced Chicken Cacciatore

Tonights meal was a new recipe that I recently found online (http://www.recipezaar.com/). Come to think of it, I don't really think that I have ever made Chicken Cacciatore before. What makes this Chicken Cacciatore a Spiced Chicken Cacciatore and different from others is the addition of curry. I haven't done much with curry (actually had to go out and buy some) but I have had Indian food before and liked it so I figured we were safe. I was right and Matt and I both give this meal a rating of 4 stars (out of 5). My only complaint is that the chicken turned out a little too dry for my liking which very well could have been my fault because I let it cook a little longer than the recipe said to while I was waiting for my spaghetti to finish cooking. Oh well, I still think that it's one that I will be making again!

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 medium green pepper, diced

1 cup mushroom, sliced

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 2-inch pieces (uncooked)

2 tsp dried basil

1 1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 (8 oz) package whole wheat spaghetti (uncooked)

Heat oil in a large saucepan or stock pot over medium-high heat; add onion, garlic, green pepper and mushrooms.

Saute until vegetables are tender and mushrooms release juice, about 4 minutes.

Add chicken and saute until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Add basil, curry powder, salt and pepper; stir to coat.

Add tomatoes and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low, partially cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in parsley.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions.

Transfer spaghetti to four shallow bowls and spoon chicken mixture over top.

Yields about 1 cup of chicken mixture and 1 cup of spaghetti per serving, 8 Weight Watchers points per serving.

420 calories, 5.1 g fat, 4.3g fiber, 60.7g carbohydrates

If you decide to try it out, please let me know what you think!

Lowfat Cheeseburger Pie

Who doesn't love a good cheeseburger? And when you can find a recipe that is almost as good as the real thing and much healthier for you, I'd say you have found a winner! After last night's dinner disaster, I decided to play it safe tonight and go with a recipe that is already on our regular meal list. I found this recipe on sparkpeople.com where they have over 175,000 healthy recipes to try, all which include the nutritional information. Pair this pie with a yummy salad and you've got yourself a complete meal!

1 lb extra lean ground turkey

1 cup nonfat cottage cheese

1 Egg

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 clove crushed garlic (speaking of garlic, I always used to use the kind from a jar until I recently purchased a garlic press from The Pampered Chef (http://tinyurl.com/ovwkrn) and I am loving fresh crushed garlic, I will never go back to the stuff from a jar again!)

3/4 cup Kraft 2% shredded cheddar cheese

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup of Heart Smart Bisquick (mix only)

4 slices of tomato (the only way I have altered the recipe is by adding more tomato slices on top of the pie, 4 slices just isn't enough!)

Preheat oven to 350

Brown turkey, onion and garlic in a pan

While turkey is cooking, mix Bisquick and water to form a dough (add water gradually as needed for the dough). Roll dough with a rolling pin until it is flat enough to cover a pie pan.

Place dough in pie pan

Mix Worcestershire sauce in with turkey mixture

In a separate bowl, mix cottage cheese with egg

Pour turkey mixture into pie pan

Pour cottage cheese mixture over turkey

Top with shredded cheddar cheese

Then place the tomato slices on top and bake for 40 minutes.

Makes 8 servings, 3.5 Weight Watchers points per serving. 4.5 g of fat, 10.2g of carbohydrates, 163.5 calories, 20.6g of protein.

Enjoy!

Bad Sign?

So is it a bad sign that on the first day that I start my new blog, I would ruin the first meal that I plan to blog about? Should I just stop now? Are all my meals doomed from now on?

Today's meal was called Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken and it sounded delicous. I love cooking in the crock pot because there is nothing better than coming home from work and having dinner ready to eat. Well, this recipe said to cook it on low for 7 hours. I was gone for 8 1/2 hours today and figured that it would be fine. I haven't had any problems in the past with leaving things in the crock pot longer than the recipe suggests. Alas, this was not the case this time. I came home to a burned mess of chicken and pineapple. It was in no way edible so in the trash it went. I now have a back up meal of plain old whole wheat spaghetti and meatsauce cooking. Who wants to blog about spaghetti? Spaghetti is BORING. I will have to try the sweet and sour chicken again on a day when I can come home at lunch and turn it on or on a weekend day. Hopefully tomorrow nights meal will be blogworthy, I don't want to keep my two readers waiting too long!

Welcome!

Hello and Welcome to my blog, What's for Dinner? My name is Angie and I decided to finally hop on the blogging bandwagon and start this cooking blog for my family and friends. I have always enjoyed cooking and baking and thought this would be a great place to share my favorite recipes and tales from the kitchen. I am always looking for new recipes to make and on average try about 2-3 new ones a week. Growing up we ate pretty much the same bland meals every week which I think helped to stem my desire to try new things and add some different spices here and there. I have been married for almost two years now and my wonderful husband Matt is a great sport about trying out my new dishes and overall I think I have a pretty good success rate, there have only been a couple of times we have had to throw dinner away and order take out instead! We have also been trying to watch what we eat and lose some weight so whenever possible I will include the nutritional information for the recipe and the Weight Watcher's points value. Please feel free to leave me comments on the recipes that you try!

I hope that if you ever get tired of hearing the question, what's for dinner?, this blog may give you an idea of something new to try! Enjoy!