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| Chicken Breast with Pears |
I made this and my husband said it was the "best ever!!" I only stumbled across it because I had some pears I needed to use!
Serves with Spinach (Sauté 1 cup spinach in 2 tsp olive oil and a 2 cloves of garlic until wilted- about 5 min) and brown rice.
What works for me: Start the rice before the you start the main dish, and start the spinach while you sauté the chicken.
Ingredients:
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt or salt substitute
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 4 pieces (Probably 2 breast cut in half unless you go to Sams club- then it is more like 1 breast cut into 4 pieces! God knows what they are feeding those chickens...I choose not to worry about it)
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup white grape juice (reciepe actually calls for pear nectar- I have not found that anywhere so I use grape juice, works like a charm!)
1/4 cup defatted chicken broth
2 tsp balsamic vingar
2 tsp honey
2 large ripe pears (Cut into 1/2 in cubes)
1 tsp cornstarch dissolved into 1 Tbsp chicken broth
1 tsp unsalted butter or margarine
1/2 oz toasted coarsely chopped Walnuts (to toast walnuts: spread onto a backing pan and put in oven at 350 degrees for about 10 mins- until the brown slightly)
1- In a cup mix together thyme, salt and pepper. then season chicken on both sides
2- In a Large heavy no-stick skillet warm oil over med-high heat. Add the chicken and sauté for 4-6 minutes per side transfer to a large plate and cover loosely with foil and set aside.
3- in same skillet- Add Grape juice, broth, vinegar and honey and bring to a boil stirring frequently
4- add pears to skillet, bring to boil and then reduce heat to Med-low. Cover and simmer stirring occasionally for 2-3 min until pears are tender (May be a little longer depending on how ripe your pears were). Pour any juices from Chicken plate into the skillet,. Stir in Cornstarch mixture, then add margarine, return to boil stir gently until sauce has thickened. remove skillet from heat.
5- Transfer chicken to plates, cover with sauce and then sprinkle with walnuts.
Makes 4 servings- We have one serving each, and spilt a serving between the boys. the last serving goes into the fridge to be eaten as leftovers later in the week. Each serving is 272 Calories total calories with spinach and rice is 475. I like to add Sweet Hawaiian roll (90 calories) with a little margarine (35 calories) total 600 Calories.
Tuesday: Rosemary Pork Chop (From a Beachbody challenge we did) You can sub chicken if you have it in the house or if you don't do pork.
Super Easy, and yummy too! Serve with Steamed parmesan broccoli (Steam 2 cups of fresh Broccoli in steam basket from 5-8 minutes covered until soft, put in bowl and mix with Tbsp of grated parmesan cheese and 1 tsp garlic powder) and brown rice.
Ingredients:
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| Rosemary Pork Chop |
3 Tbsp fresh rosemary (3 tsp dried rosemary)
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (I use 1/4 tsp of each)
1- Marinate the pork chops in olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper (for at least an hour)
2- Grill or Broil pork chop on high 4 min on each side.
Makes 4 servings, again John and I each have a serving, the boys spilt one and the other goes into the fridge for leftover day. Each serving is 180 Calories. Add Rice and Broccoli it is 400.
Wednesday: Mid week, HUMP DAY!! We will either be warming up a meal I have frozen that I made in the past or going out to eat (the boys love Eat n Park and there are some great healthy option there). THis week we are warming up stuffed peppers. I made the stuffing for the peppers, and froze half. I bought fresh bell peppers to put the reheated stuffing in.
Thursday: Cashew Chicken (Pg 80 of 300 Calorie)
This is a go to for us. John Loves Cashews, I love water chestnuts so we get the best of both world. Yummy and filling. I serve this with a salad and dressing of your choice (Something on the light side).
Ingredients:
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| Cashew chicken |
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp Dry white wine (OR I am substituting white grape juice here a little sweeter, but I have in the fridge from Monday's recipe and it works fine)
1 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp olive oil
6 green onions, cut into 1 inch peices
2 cups fresh sliced Mushrooms
1 red or green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 can water chestnuts, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce (optional, but I recommend it!)
2 cups hot cooked rice (White or brown)
1/4 cup cashews Toasted (You can toast them in a skillet over med heat for 1-2 min or until lightly browned, do that before you start the chicken)
1- Put chicken in a large Zip lock, in a bowl whisk together Cornstarch, Wine(Juice), soy sauce and garlic powder until smooth. Pour over chicken seal bag, make sure chicken is coated and MARINATE FOR 1 HOUR in refrigerator.
2 Drain chicken: Discard Marinade. Heat oil in wok or large non stick skillet of Med-high heat. Add green onions, stir fry for 1 minute, Add Chicken stir-fry 2 minutes or until browned (It will be longer if you use a skillet more like 5-8), Add mushrooms, bell pepper, and water chestnuts stir fry 3 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender and chicken is cooked. Stir in Hoisin sauce and stir-fry for 1 minute I add the cashews at that time to, but you can top with cashews when you plate it.
3- Serve over rice.
Makes 4 servings, 1.5 each for John and I, the boys share one. It is 274 calories for a serving (411 for 1.5), and I add salad and Sweet Hawaiian roll with butter, and this meal comes in at about 580 calories.
Friday: Vegetarian day! Eggplant and Lentil Curry
This is a new recipe for me, but we have been discussing trying to have one meatless dinner a week. What better time to try than January. We will see how it goes!
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 eggplants, cut into 1 inch chunks (Look for firm, shiny with a bright green stem)
1 onion chopped (I will use half an onion because I often find that the onions at my grocery store seem to yield more chopped onions than the recipe needs. Maybe a I just pick large onions? Either way, if it needs more onions I will make a note in the recipe for next time.)
2 Tbsp mild curry paste
3/4 cup vegetable stock, hot (I am substituting chicken stock because I have it, and I am not a for real-sie vegetarian)
3 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
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| Eggplant and lentil Curry |
3 1/2 cups Spinach leaves
1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp Fat free Greek Yogurt
Cooked brown rice
1- Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in large sauce pan over low heat and sauté eggplant chunks until golden brown. remove from pan and set aside
2- Heat remaining oil in the same pan and sauté onion for 8-10 Minutes or until soft. add curry paste and sauté for another 2 Minutes.
3- Add tomatoes, hot stock, lentils, and egg plant into pan. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to a low simmer, cover halfway with a lid, and simmer for 25 minutes.
4- At the end of cooking stir the spinach, cilantro, and yogurt through the curry. Serve over rice.
This serve 4 John and I will probably do 1.5 serving each and split one serving between the boys. I will have something on back up for them incase this is too spicy. it is 335 calories per serving (so about 500 for 1.5) I will probably have a sweet Hawaiian roll with butter too. Love them! (Total comes to 625 calories)
Saturday: Left overs day! YAY!
Sunday: On Sundays we usually go to my mother-in-laws house for dinner. We plan for it to be a bit of a higher calorie dinner because we know what ever she makes will be wonderful, and we will not complain about a a free dinner!! She also tries to make something on the healthy side because she knows that is what we like.
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