Honey Ginger Shrimp with Broc Slaw over CousCous

This recipe offered something very new to our house. We had never had broccoli slaw nor couscous before. I was looking forward to trying something new last week; last week was the first week we actually had planned meals since our little guy was born in December. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the meal. I'm hoping to put in on the menu again next week! I found the recipe in the January All You Magazine.

Ingredients

1/4 cup dry couscous (whole wheat is recommended but not necessary)
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger root
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil (I used half EVOO and half garlic infused EVOO)
3 ounces of fresh or frozen shrimp
2 cups broccoli slow (found in the refrigerated produce area)

Directions

--Prepare couscous and directed on the package
--Combine honey, ginger, lime, and oil in a small bowl. Whisk until combined.
--Saute sauce with shrimp in a skillet on med-high heat for 3 minutes or so.
--Add slaw to the skillet and continue to saute. Make sure the slaw gets covered in the sauce! Cook 3-5 minutes
--Serve shrimp mixture over couscous

Nutritional information

This makes a solid 2-serving meal. I doubled it when I made it, though, so we could have left overs the next day for lunch. Each serving has about 225 calories, 3 g fat, 3.4 g fiber, and 16.5 g protein.

Apple and Walnut Muesli

Until I fell upon this recipe, I had never heard of Muesli before, but I sure glad I did! It is delicious! This makes an excellent filling breakfast, but I can imagine it would work well for lunch or a power-snack too. It can be made ahead of time, even. This was adapted from a similar recipe in Jan 2011 All You Magazine.

What is Muesli? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muesli

Ingredients

1/2 cup uncooked rolled or old fashioned oats
1/2 cup low-fat milk
2 Tbsp chopped walnuts
1 cored and chopped apple
1 tsp honey
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. Let stand for either 10 minutes or overnight in the fridge for the oats to soften.

Nutritional Information
This recipe is for one serving. It has about 340 calories, 8.5 g fat, 12.4 g protein, and 8 g fiber

Beer and Brat Stew

This is a delicious stew that helps chase the winter chills away. IT makes a lot, so plan on eating it for a few days. This recipe was inspired by one found on Foodnetwork.com by Emeril Lagasse.

Ingredients

3 (12 oz) bottles of dark beer
1 package (12oz or more) of Andouille sausage
1 package (12oz or more) of turkey bratwurst (you choose the flavor. I've used both smoked and hot and spicy before)
5 slices of turkey bacon
3 cups of yellow onion, diced
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 can of reduced sodium, 99% fat free chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs small red potatoes cut in halves and quarters
3 large carrots peeled and cut into disks
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
3/4 tsp slat
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes

Directions

-- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-- pour two bottles of bear in a medium Dutch oven and bring to a boil
-- Peirce the sausage and brats and add to the beer. Turn the heat down and simmer 10 minutes
-- Remove sausage and cool slightly
-- Reserve the sausage-liquid in a bowl and set aside
-- Slice the sausage into disks once they are cooled
-- Add the bacon to the pan and cook over medium heat until crispy. Remove and set on paper towels to drain.
-- Add the brat to the bacon drippings in the pan and cook 2-3 minutes.
-- Add the onions to the pan and cook 5 minutes or so
-- Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds or so
-- Add the remaining sausage-liquid, beer, chicken broth, potatoes, carrots, and seasonings. Bring to a boil and cover.
-- Place the Dutch oven in the oven and back for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and thyme and serve.

Nutritional Information
Bases on 12 hearty portions, each portion contains 256 calories, 9 grams of fat, 13.9 grams of protein, and 1.7 grams of fiber

Apple Pork Chops and Stuffing

So sorry for getting behind on this again, but having a baby changes your downtime a bit. It doesn't change the need for tasty, easy, and healthy meals though! Here are some new recipes for you to try. This was taken from a Kraft Foods magazine.

Ingredients

1 package of Chicken stuffing mix (like Stove Top)
1 can of sugar-free apple pie filling
4-6 lean, boneless pork chops (about 1 1/2 lbs)


Directions


--Heat oven to 375 degrees
--Prepare stuffing as directed
--Grease a 13x9 casserole dish or pan with cooking spray. Add apple filling
--Salt and pepper the pork chops on the apples. I also sprinkled some dried thyme.
-- Then place the prepared stuffing on the chops.
--Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes
--Remove foil and bake 10 more minutes until chops are cooked through (160 degrees).

Nutritional Information
Based on breaking down the recipe into four servings, each serving will have about 340 calories, 6.5 g of fat, 30 g protein, and 2.5 g fiber

Speedy Chicken Stir-fry

This is one of the quickest, easiest, healthiest meals I have made in a loooooong time. I was very pleasantly surprised! This was adapted from a Kraft Food & Family Cookbook.

Ingredients

1/2 lb whole wheat thin spaghetti noodles
2 cups of fresh broccoli florets
1 yellow bell pepper cut into strips
1/2 cup Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

-Cook pasta in a large saucepan as directed on the box, adding the broccoli and bell pepper to the boiling water for the last three minutes of boil
-Meanwhile, spray nonstick skillet cooking spray
-Add chicken to the skillet and cook 6-8 minutes, stirring, until done
-Stir in dressing, soy sauce, and seasoning; cook one minutes
-Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl
-Add chicken mixture to the large bowl and toss to coat
-Spoon evenly into four bowls and enjoy!

Nutritional Information
This awesome recipe makes four servings. Each serving has approximately 286 calories, 7.3 g fat, 7.7 g fiber, and 9.4 g protein.

Firecracker Chicken Stir-fry

This is a really quick and tasty dinner! Don't be turned off by the name. You make it as much of a "firecracker" as you want based on the crushed red pepper flakes. This recipe was taken from a Kraft Foods & Family magazine.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into strips
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 cup of snow peas or sugar-snap peas
1 cup prepared broccoli (optional)
1/3 cup Light Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups hot, prepared white rice

Directions

-Heat oil in a nonstick skillet on med-high heat
-Add chicken and garlic to pat and cook for about 5 min, until chicken is evenly browned
-Add veggies to the pan and cook 3-4 minutes, until peppers are crisp and tender and the chicken is done
-Add water chestnuts, dressing and flakes. Cook about 2 minutes until everything is heated through.
-Serve over white rice

Nutritional Information
This makes four servings. Each serving has approximately 356 calories, 9 g of fat, 3.4 g fiber, and 27.2 g protein

Sausage Potato Packets

Sorry for the delay. Summer kept me pretty busy and left me with little time on the Internet. Here's something super easy and tasty to help make up for it! You can make it as spicy or sweet as you like.

Ingredients

4 pieces of aluminum foil approx. 12 in by 18 in
1 14-16 ounce package of Italian (sweet or hot) turkey sausage cut into 1/4 in think slices
1 1/3 lb of potatoes (baby reds or yukon gold) cut into 1/2 in cubes
1 med. green bell pepper cubed
1 27 oz jar of spaghetti sauce of your choice (I say the more garlic the better!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions

-Heat oven or grill to 450 degrees
-Spray foil with nonstick spray
-Combine sausage, potatoes, gr pepper, sauce, and salt in a large bowl. Toss to coat.
-Center 1/4 of the mixture on to each foil piece
-Bring to sides to the middle and roll/fold down. Do the same to the ends.
-Bake 25-30 minutes in the oven, or leave on the grill for 20 minutes. No need to flip!

Nutritional information
This recipe makes 4 servings. Each serving has about 420 calories, 14 g of fat, 2.6 g fiber, and 26.3 g fiber.