Baked Mini Chicken Meatballs

Here's a recipe that I came up with (combined about 3 different recipes to form my own). This is for Baked Mini Chicken Meatballs. Never have worked with ground chicken before, I didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised!

• 1 pound ground chicken (Perdue recommended)
• 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 2 large whole eggs
• 3 T ketchup
• 75 grams (3/4 cup) Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated (no green can stuff if you can help it)
• 1/2 onion, grated
• 3 cloves, garlic, grated
• 2T Mrs Dash Onion & Herb
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• Ground pepper, to taste
• Paprika

Directions:
Preheat over to 425

Mix all ingredients except the ground chicken and paprika. Mix well. Place ground chicken in bowl and mix well, but don't over work. Using a 2 teaspoon "cookie" scoop, scoop up mixture, leveling the excess off onto the side of the bowl. Place into hand a gently round out the meatball. Place onto a broiler pan or cookie sheet. If at all possible, refrigerate for a few hours. This step can be skipped if you need to. Sprinkle paprika over the surface of the meatball.

Place pan into oven and bake 10-15 minutes, or until done.

Number of Servings: 45 (1 meatball per serving, I'd say a true serving would be 4 meatballs)

Nutritional info: Calories 29.8, Fat 1.8 g, Cholesterol 20.5 mg, Sodium 42.7 mg, Carbs .8 g, Fiber 0, Protein 2.6 g

Last night I served them in a Pasta Fajolie soup. So yummy. I'll post the recipe for that next, but here's a picture....

I'm also going to try this using ground turkey breast and frozen spinach. I'll let you know how it goes :)

The *Best* Watter Bottle Ever!

 (Click on the picture for a bigger and more detailed view)

Thanks to my good Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger friend, "Too Many Hats", I have discovered the best water bottle ever. I'm sure you're thinking I'm exaggerating a bit, but I'm not. It's the ""Thermos Nissan Intak Hydration Bottle with Meter" . I know it seems a little crazy to get so excited over a water bottle, but I can't help it. It has absolutely everything you could want in a water bottle. It's spout is the perfect size for sipping or downing some water (like during/after a good hard workout), it seals very tightly, no leaking at all. I have thrown it in my purse, dropped it on a hardwood floor (like I did just after I took the above pictures), my cat has attacked it, etc... You name it, it's been through it. It is still in perfect condition. I think my single favorite feature is the meter. There is a line of numbers printed on the lid with a dial underneath it. Every time you fill your bottle up, move the dial to the next number. For those who need a little bit of encouragement to get all their water in each day or just to make it easier to track, this meter is perfect! The bottle holds 24oz of water and the dial goes up to the number 6. So you could drink and track 144 oz of water with little to no effort :). Let me know if you actually make it up that high because I sure haven't. I'm working on it.

The only word of caution that I have is about the silicone seal in the lid. It is what folds over the top of the spout when the lid is closed, keeping it spill free. I've read many reviews about these silicone seals getting misplaced or falling out. If this happens, it is no longer leak proof (still a great water bottle though). Even though the entire bottle is dishwasher safe, I strongly recommend handwashing the lid instead. At the very least, remove the seal before placing into the dishwasher and putting it in a safe place.

The bottles come in 4 different colors: Pink (pictured), Blue, Purple, and Green. At the time of this post, amazon.com is offering a buy 3 get 1 free deal too. They are also available at Target.

Salad Dressing: Gaelos Miso Dressings

"Welcome to Galeos World"

I can't say enough about these dressings! They are out of this world. It's hard to believe they are all natural (no funky stuff at all), low fat, low carb, gluten free, and actually good for you. There are 4 flavors, but so far I've only tried the two pictured above. The Miso Dijonnaise is the best honey mustard dressing I've ever had. The Miso Ginger & Wasabi reminds me of the ginger wasabi dipping sauce that went with the O'Charley's grilled Ahi Tuna (shame on you O'Charley's for taking that off your menu...I will never forgive you!) Both of these are excellent when used as something other than a salad dressing too. Try marinating a lean protein and either grilling or baking it. You can use them in place of high fat condiments too. I can't wait to play around with these more.

You can usually find them in a Whole Foods type of store or order off the internet.  Visit them at Galeos Miso Dressings for more information.

Depending on which flavor you use, 1 Tablespoon is less than 20 calories (the Sesame Seed is 22), 1-2 grams of fat, < 1 gram of carbs, < 1 gram of fiber, and < 1 gram of protein.

Happy Healthy Eating :)!!

On My Way Back

I promise, I have not quit. We've had sickness around here for the past couple of weeks and I just haven't had time to blog. I will be back soon (hopefully tonight) with some product recommendations and a recipe. Stay with me :).

What an Inspiration!!

Individual Chicken Pot Pies

I found this on the Pillsbury website and it looks really yummy. I haven't tried it yet, but will be sure to post when I do. You can significantly reduce the calories and fat by using low fat butter, skim-1% milk, and reduced fat biscuits (or pass on the biscuits all together). The formatting below is off so for the full recipe, click on one of the links above.

Individual Chicken Pot Pies
	Flaky biscuits top these veggie-packed pot pies. The individual servings are a nice change from passing hot pie pans or casserole dishes at the table. Prep Time: 25 Min Total Time: 45 Min Makes: 8 servings User Rating:
NGREDIENTS 1/4 cup margarine or butter 1/3 cup all-purpose flour Dash pepper 1 can (10 1/2 oz) condensed chicken broth 3/4 cup milk 2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey 1/3 cup chopped onion 1 can (4 oz) Green Giant® mushroom pieces and stems, drained 1 cup Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ frozen sweet peas 1 cup frozen sliced carrots 1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury® Grands!® Flaky Layers refrigerated original biscuits Additional milk, if desired Sesame seed, if desired DIRECTIONS 1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 8 (10-oz) ramekins, custard cups or large muffin cups. 2. In 10-inch skillet, melt butter; stir in flour and pepper. Cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly. Gradually stir in broth and 3/4 cup milk; cook until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Add chicken, onion, mushrooms, peas and carrots; cook until hot and bubbly. Spoon mixture evenly into ramekins. Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Press each to make 4 1/2-inch round. Place biscuit rounds on tops of filled ramekins. Cut slits in biscuit tops. Brush biscuit tops with additional milk. Sprinkle with sesame seed. 3. Bake 17 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown DIRECTIONS: 1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 8 (10-oz) ramekins, custard cups or large muffin cups. 2. In 10-inch skillet, melt butter; stir in flour and pepper. Cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly. Gradually stir in broth and 3/4 cup milk; cook until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Add chicken, onion, mushrooms, peas and carrots; cook until hot and bubbly. Spoon mixture evenly into ramekins. Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Press each to make 4 1/2-inch round. Place biscuit rounds on tops of filled ramekins. Cut slits in biscuit tops. Brush biscuit tops with additional milk. Sprinkle with sesame seed. 3. Bake 17 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown. High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change. NUTRITION INFORMATION: 1 Serving: Calories 380 (Calories from Fat 170); Total Fat 18g (Saturated Fat 4 1/2g, Trans Fat 5g); Cholesterol 30mg; Sodium 980mg; Total Carbohydrate 35g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 9g); Protein 18g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 120%; Vitamin C 2%; Calcium 8%; Iron 15% Exchanges: 1 1/2 Starch; 1 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 2 Lean Meat; 2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 2 *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Special Touch: For a nice flavor twist, add 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or rosemary leaves to the chicken mixture. Then garnish each little pie with a sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary.

Baked Eggs

One of my favorite ways to prepare for the week is to bake a batch of eggs. They come out the perfect size for the "Thin" Breakfast Sandwich or anything else you might want to come up with. You can also do this with egg substitute, but the cook time will probably be less.

You will need:

• 6 large eggs (pictured are Extra Large eggs because that's what I had)
• a muffin top pan (ramekins or extra large muffin pan can also be used)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan lightly with canola oil (or any oil you like), using a Misto. Crack 1 egg into each muffin top section. Poke egg yolk with a fork and very, very lightly combine with the egg white...

Place in oven for 7-10 minutes (I go with 7 minutes because they will be reheated later in the week. I try to avoid the eggs becoming overdone and rubbery).

Now your eggs are ready for the morning, or any time, all week long. It takes almost no effort at all and can be a God send in the mornings.

What I've Learned This Week....so far

This journey, as with any journey, is not solely about the final destination. It's partly about learning from the mistakes you make on your way to the final destination...right? This is what I've learned this week, so far....

• Trying to “wing it” really doesn’t work. I need to have my menu for the week planned out with the food already prepped and ready to go.

An example of this happened Wednesday night. I was so incredibly sore from exercise that I could hardly move. My son made dinner for the kids, but it was kid food, hot dogs and shells and cheese. It didn’t bother me much because they’d been doing well with their eating and it really helped me out. However, I got very hungry. Of course, I grabbed the quickest thing I could. Hot dogs! Not one, but two hot dogs (not low fat either) and took several bites of the shells and cheese. If I had something prepped and ready, I would have chosen that instead. *Lesson learned!

• Exercise. Ahhh, good ‘ole exercise! I am the rare person that does really enjoy exercising, once I actually get up and do it. I used to do step aerobics (back in the day) and run at 4.5 or more for 45 minutes to an hour. I also used to strength train (not a fav). This week I learned that it is not possible, even idiotic, to think you can pick up anywhere near where you left off several years ago. I thought I modified my “training” appropriately, but that was not the case. Monday, I did 27 minutes on the treadmill followed by upper body and core (abs) work. Tuesday, I did 28 minutes on the treadmill (went .25 miles further) followed by lower body work (wall squats with ball, lying adduction and abduction work…fancy name for inner thigh and out thigh leg lifts). Wednesday I was in so much pain, as previously mentioned, I could hardly move. I went to bed early that night and slept for 14 hours! Friday was the first day that I could move without saying “OUCH”. So, I’ll be taking it a bit easier on the exercise this coming week. I’m not doing myself any favors by working out really hard 2 days of the week and not being able to work out the rest of the week. Patience, which I do not possess much of, needs to be used. >Phooey!!<----this is me, pouting
  

Roasted Veggies

I spent most of the day looking for "recipes" for roasting vegetables. Then in dawned on me that it's really a method, not a recipe.  So, this is what I came up with:

*Preheat oven to 450 - 475
*Wash and prep veggies of your choice (I used broccoli, carrots, zucchini, and red & orange sweet peppers)
*Place veggies on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet
*Spritz with oil (I used canola, but any oil will do), season with salt, pepper, and any herbs you like (I used Mrs. Dash Onion & Herb)
*Toss veggies on the cookie sheet and place in oven for 10 minutes. Give the veggies a toss and place back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes or until they're like you like them
**I did find that I needed to place the peppers under the broiler to char the skin. I placed them in a sealed container and let steam for about 10 minutes. The skin peels right off after that. They taste so much better than the jarred stuff (I don't have any problem with jarred red peppers. I keep them on hand).

The picture above is what's left of the veggies. They were so good, my 10 year old daughter and I couldn't stop eating them (she mainly went for the carrots). YUM!!!

Nutritional info will vary depending on the veggies you use and how much oil you use. As long as you keep the oil to a minimum this is a very safe and healthy way to eat. I look at veggies as "free food". Nobody ever got fat from eating too much broccoli!!

After poking around some blogs, I did discover *this* recipe. Scroll down to  "Calabacitas". This is an excellent blog and an example of where I'd like to be in about a year (not weight wise, that will take much longer).

"Thin" Breakfast Sandwich

 

Yummy breakfast sandwich:

1 serving Arnold's Select Sandwich Thins Multigrain or Whole Wheat (MG pictured)

1 large Egglands Best Egg, cooked in pan that's sprayed lightly with oil using a Misto

1 slice Kraft 2% American cheese single

.5 ounces Earthbound Farm Organic Baby Spinach

1/2 plum tomato

Toast bread lightly, assemble in any order you like, and enjoy :). 

Calories: 228, Fat: 8, Protein: 15, Carbs: 26, Fiber: 7

Today's the Day

Here we go....

For the past several weeks I have been watching what I've been eating (or not eating in reality) and making changes there. It used to be that I wouldn't touch food until around 4:00pm. What I did eat was not healthy at all either. It usually consisted of fast food and/or cleaning off my kids plates. So the beginning of this journey hasn't started today, but is going into full swing today.

Today was a busy day that involved eating out. I didn't make the best choice at all, but I knew what was going to happen and planned for it. I also exercised on the treadmill and did some upper body and core work. I've been using SparkPeople.com to track "myNutrition" data and "myFitness". It's a free site and so incredibly useful. I love it there.

My menu for tomorrow is somewhat planned (must get better about that) and workout scheduled. I'll be doing more walking and lower body work.

Until then....