Oh for the Joy of cooking!

My bruschetta is betta.

2011-08-20T17:30:00.000-04:00

I have been terrible with posting recipes, and that is unacceptable! To make it up to you, you're all invited to my house for a meal of your choosing. Seriously, if you show up, I promise I'll cook you something in lieu of my lack of posting. Do it.

But until you get here, I'll give you a quick recipe for some flatbread bruschetta that I made awhile back. It's a perfect party appetizer, plus it's light and won't sit in your stomach, which is perfect during these super hot summer days.

Flatbread Bruschetta:

1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. olive oil (plus additional for brushing on bread)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped (more for garnish)
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 green onion, diced (top dark green part only)
1 large piece of flatbread
garlic salt (to taste)

Combine all veggies with balsamic, olive oil, salt, and basil and set aside. The longer the mixture sits, the more flavor it will have, so I like to make it a few hours ahead of time and leave it in the fridge to marinate.

I use this flatbread that I found at the commissary. I like it because it's super thin and comes out nice and crispy. One piece was great for two of us.

Cut it up into squares of your desired size. Place on a baking tray or foil and brush lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic salt.

Toast in toaster oven (or broil) until lightly browned and crispy.

Serve with bruschetta topping, garnish with a few fresh basil leaves, and you have one tasty snack!

I'm not sure I should be this excited about cutting potatoes.

2011-08-08T15:27:00.001-04:00

I pretty much instantly NEED every kitchen gadget I see on the infomercials playing at 3am, because I'm positive they will make my life better. I was at the store one day and they announced a demonstration happening just a few aisles over. It was one of those things where the person takes their super sharp knife and cuts things no normal person should ever have to cut through, and then they somehow convince you that your life would be pretty terrible without their product. Well, needless to say, I bought the knives, because I don't want my life to be terrible! (To be fair, the knives work quite well, and were a great price, so I can't complain.) But, if you raised your hand at the right time during the presentation, they gave you free stuff. FREE STUFF! My favorite!

That's where this amazing spiral cutting potato tool came from. I threw it in the drawer and left it there forever before I finally figured out what the heck to do with it. But when I did, oh boy! I'm not sure if I'm just easily entertained, but I seriously think it's amazing. It makes fun curly strips, but it also makes slicing potatoes (or apples, etc.) a million times easier. So I wanted to share it with you. Take a look:

(a special thanks to Mike who let me use an old guitar track he had recorded so I had something to play in the background!)

If you cook regularly, you know how much work and time is involved in prepping, cooking, and then cleaning up after a meal. And I don't know about you, but I am thankful for anything that makes my job easier and cuts down on the amount of time I spend in the kitchen.

So I suppose I should show you what I actually cooked right?

2 medium/large potatoes
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. rosemary
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. Sazon tropical
1/2 tsp. salt (to taste)

Preheat oven to 400°. After slicing potatoes, coat them with olive oil. Add seasonings of your choice. Place in single layer on baking pan (coat the pan with nonstick spray first if you go light on the olive oil so they don't stick).

Bake for about 20-30 minutes, turning at least once, until desired texture. Sometimes I cook them to be soft, other times I like them well done and closer to french fry texture.

We had ours with steak and snap peas. Yum!

Hi, my name is Joy, and I'm an Avocado-holic.

2011-07-29T14:03:00.000-04:00

My obsession with avocados has really become ridiculous. I mean, don't get me wrong, avocados are wonderful and super healthy in moderation (click to read about all their good stuff here). It's not that I feel bad about eating them; I'd much rather crave them than a fast food burger or some Krispy Kremes. But, I've actually made a morning trip to the store because I dreamed about avocado and woke up wanting some. I dreamed about it. Avocado dreams. That's pretty intense.

So I diguised it and made it into fries. If you're looking for a subsitute for regular fries, trying to incorporate more nutrients and healthy fats into your diet (great for energy! we went for an awesome run later!), or just want an excuse to add avocado to every meal you ever eat, make these. Super easy and delicious. Promise.

Avocado Fries: (serves 2)

1 whole avocado
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup egg substitute (or 1 egg)
about 1/2 cup panko Japanese bread crumbs (I ended up needing a tiny bit more at the end to coat everything)
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. Sazon Tropical seasoning
1/8 tsp. dry cilantro
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. paprika
Cooking spray
Grated parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Cut avocado in half, remove pit, and scoop each half out of the rind. Cut into slices of desired thickness up to about a 1/2 inch.

Lightly salt the avocado slices before you start coating them. Set up three stations, one for flour, one for eggwash, and one for panko. Add garlic salt, Sazon, cilantro, cayenne, pepper, and paprika (or any spices of your choosing) to panko and mix.

Dust each avocado slice in flour, dip in eggwash, and cover in panko. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Lay breaded avocado in one layer on pan, spray tops with cooking spray if desired, and bake for about 12-15 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden brown and crispy. You can cook yours darker than mine...but I was starving and I'm really impatient.

I added some fat free parmesan cheese on top of ours, and we dipped them in a spicy ketchup, though I don't even think they need a dipping sauce. The texture is awesome - super crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside. I am actually concerned about how much I like these, because it makes me want to cook them everyday. And that brings us back to my avocado addiction...

Oh well. I've accepted it.

So I served my fries with some teriyaki marinated chicken cooked on the old George Foreman Grill that I somehow ended up with possession of after college. I have used it maybe twice in my life, but since the oven was occupied, I gave it a shot. I totally suck at it, and my "grill marks" look ridiculous, but it was fast and easy. The marinade for the two thin sliced chicken breasts was super simple.

3 tsp. low-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. honey
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. sesame oil

Marinate for up to a half hour, then cook!

Small salad on the side, and this was dinner.

So go cook some avocado fries and tell me how much you love them!

I'd probably eat a shoe as long as it was covered in enough fruit topping.

2011-07-17T18:15:00.001-04:00

When I was little, I didn't like chocolate. And I hated cake.

I hope you didn't hurt yourself falling off your chair when you read that. Yes, it's true. I was a very strange child. And my eating habits were pretty weird too. (corny joke noise here)

But alas, I have matured and I sure do love me some sweets every now and then. I don't know about you, but I'm a fruit kind of girl. Generally I will choose strawberry topping over hot fudge, though you can't go wrong with a nice combination of both! Here is my recipe for a fruit topping, followed by the ice cream sundae I made with it. My whole sundae was less than 200 calories, and low-fat!

The fruit sauce is SUPER easy and you can put on pretty much anything (though I don't recommend shoes). I use it for pancakes, waffles, ice cream, etc. In fact, put it on top of your 60-calorie Jello Temptations chocolate mousse, and the combination is almost too delicious. Plus, each 1/4 cup serving (which is quite a bit) is only about 40 calories depending on what fruits you use. The recipe here gives you 6 servings, 37 calories each.

Fruit Topping: (makes about 1 1/2 cups, or 6 servings)

1 lb. of berries of your choosing (I used 8 oz. strawberries, 4 oz. blueberries, and 4 oz. cherries)
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. and 2 tsp. Truvia
about 10 drops of lemon juice

Wash fruit and remove any stems or pits. Cut larger berries into halves or quarters. (I have only used berries, but if you want to use another fruit, I say go for it! The recipe is pretty customizable and you can always cook it longer if you use firmer fruit.)

Put the fruit in a medium saucepan, add cornstarch, truvia, and lemon juice, and stir until mixed.

Cook on medium-low, stirring occasionally, until berries are soft and have reduced down to a chunky sauce, around 10-15 minutes. I smash them with my spoon while I'm stirring to help get the consistency I like.

Cook it down as smooth or as chunky as you like. If you want a completely smooth sauce, you can use a hand mixer or throw it in a blender after it is done cooking. Let it cool a bit before adding to ice cream, though I prefer the topping warm when I add it to pancakes and waffles. Make a batch and keep it in the fridge for whenever you need a little treat!

For my ice cream sundae, I used Edy's Slow Churned Cookies 'n Cream ice cream, which is low-fat and 120 calories for a 1/2 cup.

I am a huge fan of Skinny Cow as well, but it doesn't come in larger tubs. The single serving cups are pretty great though.

Here are the other toppings I used on my sundae...

The two in the middle are calorie free marshmallow and caramel toppings made by Walden Farms. Though I am skeptical that anything that is calorie free is too good to be true and probably not that great for you, I couldn't resist. They are made with Splenda, and tasted pretty darn good. I only used about a 1/2 tbsp. of each, and it was plenty! Next was a 1/4 cup of the fruit topping. I never buy chocolate syrup, but it was given to me by a friend who was moving away (thanks Kari!), so I threw on a 1/2 tbsp. of that (25 calories), and then a generous helping of some fat-free whipped cream. Throw on a cherry and you have a delectable and guilt-free sundae that I promise will take care of that sweet tooth.

Word to my mother.

2011-07-11T23:35:00.000-04:00

When I was growing up, my mom was known around our house as "Mother Hubbard". She could always find something to make no matter how few ingredients we had in the pantry. It's a pretty great skill to have, and my mother has perfected it. This isn't necessarily one of her Mother Hubbard meals, but it uses ingredients that you most likely already have around, and is one I remember her making when I was little. I think since I loved stroganoff so much, I just eventually took over the job of cooking it. This is how I make it now, using fat-free sour cream to make a guilt-free stroganoff sauce that is creamy and delicious.

Beef Stroganoff: (serves 2)

1/2 lb. grass-fed steak
4 oz. dry no-yolk egg noodles
bouillon cubes
1/2 medium onion, sliced
5 mushrooms, sliced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce, divided
5 tbsp. fat free sour cream
1/4 tsp. seasoned salt

Cut steak into cubes and pour 1 tbsp. soy sauce over top. Cover and refrigerate up to a few hours. The longer you marinate, the better flavor your meat will have. I never measure out the amount of soy sauce I use, just make sure you cover all the beef.

Boil water, adding the appropriate amount of bouillon cubes based on how much you are using. Cook egg noodles as directed.

While noodles are cooking, cut up veggies. I feel like stroganoff is supposed to have mushrooms, but you can add whatever floats your boat. I know from working at Noodles & Co that people add all sorts of things to stroganoff. Spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers, and broccoli are all great additions. But I kept it simple here.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute until translucent. Add garlic, cook for another minute, then add beef. Cook until steak begins to brown, then add mushrooms. Continue cooking until steak is cooked through and mushrooms are tender. Drain most of liquid out of pan, leaving just a small amount in with the meat mixture. Add remaining tablespoon of soy sauce, then turn heat to low. Stir in sour cream and seasoned salt, and cook until heated through. If sauce is too thick, add soy sauce or chicken broth. If sauce is too thin, add more sour cream. (Fat free sour cream is my favorite base for cream sauce: only 30 calories for 2 tablespoons, obviously no fat, and no one ever knows it's not the regular kind unless you tell them!)

Pour over top of cooked egg noodles, and top with parmesan cheese if desired. EnJOY!

And a shout out to my mom, since she originally taught me to cook this, and lots of other things I still make today. You rock, Mom! Love you!

Popeye would be proud.

2011-07-10T21:41:00.000-04:00

I put spinach in our mashed potatoes last night. Oh my goodness gracious why did I not do this years ago? I was going for a simple, home-cooked meal, but I wanted to figure out a way to add some extra veggies and liven it up a bit. Restaurants serve loaded mashed potatoes, so I was sure I could come up with some things to add that would give great flavor but also be healthy. I ended up with garlic, spinach, and blue cheese mashed potatoes.

The recipe made enough for four people, with each serving being only 150 calories! Plus you got some extra veggies in too. Seriously, you will love them. And I think spinach gives you muscles, so that's a plus ;) I've also included the recipe for the chicken I made. It was pretty simple - a citrus/ginger/soy marinated chicken breast that I threw in the broiler, though I wish I could have grilled it. We had some corn on the side. Yum!

Garlic, Spinach, and Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes: (serves 4)

600 grams of potatoes (about 4 medium potatoes, I used yukon golds)
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp. butter (or olive oil)
1/8 tsp. and 1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tbsp. garlic and herb sour cream (plain is fine but this kind is packed with flavor)
2 tbsp. skim milk
2 tbsp. reduced-fat blue cheese crumbles

I always weigh our potatoes soI don't make too much, but if you don't have a scale, this is what 600 grams looked like for me:

(I had some mini ones and some regular size, so I used a mix).

Cube them, put them in a pot, cover with water, and boil until fork tender. Sometimes I add bouillon cubes or chicken stock to the water, but there was enough salt in this meal that I omitted it and the flavor was perfect.

While potatoes are cooking, add butter to a skillet and heat over medium-low heat until melted. Add garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes, then add spinach and 1/8 tsp. garlic salt. Saute until spinach is wilted.

Drain cooked potatoes, then add cooked spinach, milk, sour cream and 1 tsp. garlic salt and mash with a potato masher. Add blue cheese crumbles and gently stir until mixed in.

And that's that - a great way to sneak in some more vegetables with your meal and spice up your plain old mashed potatoes!

Citrus/Ginger/Soy Marinade: (makes enough to marinate 2 breasts and baste them during cooking)

1 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 green onion, diced
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. oyster sauce
2 tbsp. white wine (if you have rice vinegar, use that...I just ran out!)
1 tsp. sesame flavored chili oil
juice from one small orange
1/2 tsp. truvia
1/2 cup water

I know this makes a lot, but I really hate dry chicken, so I'd rather have plenty for basting during the cooking process. I made the marinade first, simply by combining all the ingredients in a large bowl. Put the chicken in a bag, pour enough marinade in to cover it, and refrigerate for at least two hours. Cover the rest of the marinade and refrigerate as well. I broiled my chicken for about ten minutes, adding more liquid every time it started to get dry. I'm sure it would be great on a grill. I think next time I might add honey or some more sweetness to change up the flavor a bit, but I ate my whole piece and I'm not even a chicken fan!

So that was last night. I had all intentions of making something super yummy tonight, but unfortunately a mishap in the kitchen sent us out to eat instead. Clearly I've been working out too much and don't know my own strength, because when I grabbed the handle to turn on the faucet, it broke right off in my hand.

I'll be calling maintenance first thing in the morning. But no water in my kitchen meant a night off of cooking for me! Now go eat.

"I'm just going to make something up...if it doesn't work, we'll order Chinese."

2011-07-03T23:00:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I can pick one ingredient I know I want in my meal, but I have no idea what the heck to do with it. Yesterday I wanted to use some ground beef, but I knew I didn't want the normal tacos, nachos, burgers, or spaghetti. So, I just started grabbing things out of the fridge that looked like they would compliment each other and I went with it. What I ended up with was a sort of Asian-style spaghetti, but you don't have to pay the delivery man. (Your thighs won't pay either. Bonus.) And it was mighty tasty!

Asian spaghetti (serves 2)
3 oz. whole grain spaghetti
bouillon cubes
6 oz. 90/10 grass-fed ground beef
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. and 1 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
chicken stock or white wine
1 tsp. sesame flavored chili oil (optional)
1 carrot, cut into 2-3 inch sticks
10 asparagus spears, cut into 2-3 inch sticks
1 green onion, dark green parts separated
1 mini bell pepper, julienned
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
20-25 leaves fresh spinach
fresh lime juice (optional)

Cook the spaghetti in water with the bouillon added. I used chicken bouillon but any would be fine...just follow the amount directed for how much water you're using. Cook noodles al dente, as they will cook a bit more later. Drain and set aside.

While noodles are cooking, cut up veggies.

I previously used the tips of my asparagus for another meal, so that's why they're missing, but feel free to use all of yours, or any veggies that sound good to you.

Brown meat in a skillet with 1 tsp. of soy sauce and garlic powder. Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in large skillet, add whites from green onion and saute until translucent. Add carrots, asparagus, bell peppers, garlic and ginger. Saute until vegetables are cooked but still have a little crunch to them. Add chicken broth or white wine during cooking whenever liquids dry up to continue to soften veggies. Once veggies are cooked, add cooked spaghetti, ground beef, 1 tbsp. soy sauce, and sesame chili oil. (The sesame flavor works great in this dish, so if you don't like spicy, I'd recommend using regular sesame oil if you have it. If you like more spice, you can add chili paste or red pepper flakes.) Cook until warmed through. Turn off heat and stir in spinach until just wilted.

Divide into bowls and top with dark green parts of onion, and squeeze some fresh lime juice on top. This dish would also be great garnished with some fresh cilantro, but unfortunately I didn't have any.

This was a quick, colorful lunch and a nice change of pace from our usual routine. Enjoy!

I feel like if I had an unlimited supply of sushi, I'd most likely eat myself to death.

2011-06-30T00:34:00.000-04:00

I really love sushi. A lot. Like a lot lot. If I could eat it every day, I would. But I don't get enough sushi coupons to afford that, and I think my husband likes to eat more than just fish. However, we did agree a few years ago that we would like to have sushi a little more often if we could learn to make it at home instead of paying for it at a restaurant. The best husband ever promptly surprised me with a sushi kit that Christmas and I found a fish market nearby where we used to live that sold sushi-grade fish. I had to practice a little and it didn't come out too pretty at first, but it's not near as hard as I expected. Look, I'm not coordinated. I run into walls and smack my head on cupboard doors while I'm opening them, but when I roll my own sushi it kind of looks like I know what I'm doing.

And if I can do it, I know you can. Now I'm totally not an expert, and I am sure I have plenty to learn from a real sushi chef. But it looks alright, and it tastes delicious, so it's fine with me!

The word "sushi" is referring to rice prepared with vinegar, sugar, and salt. Often when people think sushi, they just think raw fish or rolls, but really there are many kinds of sushi, and the one thing they have in common is the seasoned rice. My sushi here is maki, or rolled, and that's really the only kind I'm good at, but the rice can be used for any of the different varieties.

Sushi is something that I never feel guilty about eating. I know the rice can be a lot of carbs if you aren't careful how much you eat, and there's some sugar added, but it's full of good protein, healthy fats, and just fresh, good ingredients. Plus it's delicious.

Sushi Rice: (for about 6 rolls)

2 cups short white grain rice (I always just buy the rice that says sushi rice so I know it will work)
2 1/3 cups water
1 small square kombu/dried kelp (optional)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Start by putting the dry rice into a bowl, adding water, and stirring the rice with your hand to rinse it. Drain the water, swirl the rice, add more water, stir, and drain again. Do this about three times until your water is mostly clear. Add the rice to a large pot along with the water and kombu.

If you don't have kombu, you don't have to use it, but I think it adds a lot of flavor to the rice. You can find it at any Asian grocery store and sometimes just in the international aisle of your normal grocery store. Cover the pot and bring to a boil, turn down to medium and cook until you can see the surface of the rice. Turn pot to low and simmer until all water is absorbed, leaving the lid on the entire cooking time. Let rice sit in pot, covered, for 15 minutes, then discard kelp.

While rice is cooking, combine rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in small saucepan and heat on medium-low until sugar and salt are dissolved, then set aside to cool. Use rice vinegar that does not say "seasoned", because that means it already has salt and sugar added.

Once rice is done (and still warm), scoop it out onto a large, shallow surface. I just use a cookie sheet, but the super cool kids have a fancy wooden sushi rice bowl. It's a secret dream of mine to own one someday... *cough* MybirthdayisinSeptember *cough* Pour the cooled vinegar dressing over the rice. I usually use all of it for my rice, but you can add it to taste if you want.

Use slicing motions with a spatula or wooden spoon to thoroughly mix it in, making sure you are lifting the rice gently and not smashing it down. Keep running the spoon through so it coats all the grains of rice. As soon as rice starts to feel like it's sticking together, spread it out and fan it so it cools off a bit. Put it in a smaller container and cover with a damp towel until ready to use.

Making Sushi:

Making sushi is the best because you can put only the stuff you want in it, instead of having to order something off a menu. I went simple this time, and besides the fish, we only used avocado, cucumber, and scallion, but add whatever you like! Other common ingredients include carrots, sprouts, crabstick, and cream cheese. Cut your veggies (and other things that aren't raw) into strips. I like to peel and seed my cucumbers first, and cut them into pretty thin slices. I make my avocado pieces bigger, mostly because of my own avocado obsession. If I lived on a desert island and could only grown one thing, it would probably be avocados. Oh, dice your scallions.

The trickiest part to sushi is finding the fresh sushi-grade fish, then going to get it and making it on the same day. There is nowhere that sells it very close to us, so this is the first time I've made sushi in over a year. I happened to find a place that was near somewhere we were already heading, so I added picking it up to our trip. I pretty much always use tuna and salmon when I make it myself, and they're the easiest to find fresh. Slice it into strips just like the vegetables on another cutting board. I minced some of each as well to make spicy versions.

To make the spicy fish, just mix the minced fish with a few drops of chili oil (mine is chili sesame oil so it has a great flavor) and the diced scallions. Add chili oil until it is spicy enough for you.

Now you just need a bamboo rolling mat, plastic wrap, seaweed (nori) sheets, and some imagination! Wrap your mat with plastic wrap so the rice doesn't get in between the slats. Put the seaweed sheet on it, shiny side down. If the rice sticks to your fingers, make a mixture of 10 parts water and 1 part rice vinegar to dip your hands in. Then press on desired amount of sushi rice, leaving a little room at the top and bottom for a seal.

Play around with this step. Sometimes you can cut a wrap in half If you are making simple rolls with only one or two things inside. Sometimes you have too much left at the end and need to cut a little off. And some people like different amounts of rice than others. But you will figure it out quickly as you start experimenting with different ingredients inside.

Now just add whatever you want in a line across the middle. If you want the roll to have the seaweed facing out, put the ingredients directly on the rice. If you want the roll to have rice on the outside, flip the wrap over after pressing on rice and add ingredients to seaweed side.

Now just roll it up! Use your fingers to hold your ingredients in place and roll the mat up with your thumb until the roll meets itself. Squeeze it together, then pull the mat up and continue to roll to the end. Squeeze the mat to shape the roll, then take it off. This part will take some practicing, but it's just something you have to try a few times to get the hang of it.

With the rice on the outside, you can add toasted sesame seeds. Or, I added some of my spicy fish on top of two of them like this:

Have fun with it. For some reason I tried to use all the fish I bought (over a pound!) and ended up stuffing every roll full. For two people, 6 ounces of salmon and 6 ounces of tuna is more than enough. So here are the 6 rolls I made:

Wet your knife to cut them, and do this frequently in the cutting process as the rice will stick to your knife. Each of these were cut into 8 pieces. I really made way too much sushi for two of us. Who is coming to dinner next time?

And that's all I do. I don't think it really needs any sort of fancy sauces on top, though you may feel free to get creative. I know spicy mayo is popular at sushi restaurants, but neither of us eat mayo, so I don't have any recipes for that. I use sriracha sauce sometimes for heat, and other than that, we just dip it in soy sauce. Now I just need to learn to make that fire volcano out of an onion, and flip an empty eggshell into my chef's hat, and then I really won't have any reason to visit a Japanese steakhouse anymore.

"Money Mailer coupons are the highlight of my month." "...You might need a hobby."

2011-06-28T20:46:00.001-04:00

So I promised a recipe for the open-faced turkey sandwiches that Mike requested of me the other day. I debated whether I should post it or not, because it needed some changes for me to really give it my stamp of approval. But I can say that it was an uber easy meal that came together in less than 15 minutes with no work on my end. On top of that, the ingredients for the entire meal cost a whopping $8.47 for the two of us, and that includes a whole loaf of bread. If you know me, you know I'm a sucker for savings. Coupons literally make me squeal like a baby. The more money I save, the nicer I am. If I'm being super nice to you, it's possible that I really think you're great, but it might be that I just bought a great groupon.

So this is everything I used:

Turkey Breast: $3.59

Loaf of Whole Wheat Bread: $2.99

Gravy: $0.89

Corn Cobs (2): + $1.00

$8.47

Here is my disclaimer. This was way too salty for my tastes, and I love salt. I think it was mostly the carving board turkey. If you have any chicken or turkey breast leftovers, definitely warm it up and use that. I am such a red meat kind of girl, and I pretty much cook bird only when it is requested of me, so if you're the same, look for a low-sodium version of thick sliced turkey (or chicken) at the deli. Also, the gravy comes in a low-sodium version as well, but they didn't carry it in the store where we happened to be shopping. I'd recommend going low-sodium for both of them, and just adding your own salt if it's not enough, because packages products tend to be so overloaded with it to begin with.

Other than that, this definitely does the job of open-faced turkey sandwich! I put the corn on the cob in a pot of water, boiled it for a few minutes, then turned it on low while I finished everything else. I cooked the gravy according to the package, toasted the bread, warmed the turkey up in the microwave, and threw it all together.

1...2...3. Seriously the easiest meal ever. I threw some butter buds and salt on the corn and called it good. And it's under 350 calories. Done.

If you don't like this salad, I will come to your house and eat it myself.

2011-06-26T01:00:00.004-04:00

Alternate title consideration for this post:

My basil plant has an enemy.

I was originally planning to use basil on my salmon tonight from my basil plant in my window.

(I think buying the plant versus just a package is totally worth the couple bucks it costs, and it is not hard to keep alive. And trust me, I'm good at killing plants. If you use a lot of basil, you should definitely grow it yourself.)

But my poor basil plant has had a rough time lately. It has a natural enemy in our apartment. A fuzzy, four-legged enemy....

and she likes to knock it over every chance she gets. Apparently ferrets hate when you grow basil. Who knew? So I decided to leave the basil alone today because it's looking pretty beat up. But the salmon was still delicious without it. I think you'll like it.

So, enough chit chat! Tonight I made citrus-herb salmon, super lowfat shrimp scampi, and israeli couscous salad. It was delicious. Low carb and low fat, with tons of protein, flavor and good stuff. My kind of meal! When I bought a pound of salmon last, they gave me three pieces, which is a really annoying number when there are only two of us. The last piece wasn't enough on it's own to make a meal for two, so I split it between us and made shrimp scampi as the rest of our protein. The salad turned out delicious. I ended up making enough for four servings at least, and I am thrilled to have leftovers, because I will definitely want to eat it again.

Citrus-herb salmon:

4.5 ounces wild-caught salmon
1/2 lemon
1/2 lime
4 sprigs dill - ends finely chopped
8 chives - diced
Salt and pepper

This salmon is super simple. Take a cookie sheet, line it with foil, spray it with cooking spray, and put salmon on skin down. Squeeze enough lemon juice and lime juice on to cover fish generously. For me, it was about half the juice from each. Add the dill and the scallions. Salt and pepper to your liking.

Broil until fish flakes with a fork and is cooked through. This took about 8 minutes for this piece, but it depends on the thickness. Add fresh squeezed lemon at the end if desired.

Lowfat shrimp scampi: (Serves 2)

28 small shrimp, raw, frozen, cleaned and deveined
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 green onion - diced
1 large garlic clove - minced
1 stalk lemongrass sliced lengthwise
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
3 tbsp. low sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp. butter buds (you can find these in the spice aisle at the grocery store)
1/4 tsp. cornstarch
fresh lemon juice (as desired)

Thaw the shrimp in cold water and remove shells from shrimp. Heat oil in skillet on stove over medium heat. Add green onion and saute until opaque. Add garlic and lemongrass and cook for 1 minute. Add shrimp and garlic salt, and cook just until shrimp is pink. Don't overcook or it will get rubbery. (If liquid dries up when cooking shrimp, add lemon juice, broth, or white wine to keep moist.) As soon as shrimp is cooked, turn heat to low and add chicken broth, butter buds, and cornstarch. Simmer 3-4 minutes until sauce thickens. Remove lemongrass before serving. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on after plating as desired.

Israeli-couscous salad: (Serves 4)

7/8 cup low sodium-chicken broth
2/3 cup Israeli couscous
3-4 drops olive oil
1 cup curly parsley - chopped
1 cup cucumber - diced
1 cup tomatoes (I used one red tomato and one heirloom tomato for color) - diced
1/2 cup avocado - diced
1 green onion (green only) - chopped
1 1/2 tbsp. fresh mint leaves - chopped
1/4 cup reduced-fat crumbled blue cheese
juice from 1/4 navel orange
juice from 1/4 lemon
Salt (to taste)

You can also use traditional couscous or quinoa if you prefer, but to me the texture of israeli couscous really works perfectly in this salad. Cook 2 servings of the couscous according to package label, but using chicken broth in place of water. I boiled 7/8 cup chicken broth, added 2/3 cup israeli couscous, turned to low heat, and simmered, covered for 10 minutes.

Once it is cooked, let it cool to room temperature. Add a few drops of olive oil so when it cools it doesn't stick together. You can also make this ahead of time and keep it in the fridge to make prep time of the salad much quicker.

Cut up all veggies and put them in a large bowl.

Add room temperature couscous, blue cheese, orange juice, and lemon juice. Salt as desired.

This made four good servings for us. It is a low-carb and low-fat side with tons of veggies. And it's super yummy.

So this was everything! This meal had tons of great flavors. I hope you like it! :)

Do these nachos make me look thinner?

2011-06-24T23:10:00.001-04:00

You probably don't need a recipe for nachos. And I don't do anything super special when I make them myself. But I wanted to post this for all those people who think you have to take things out of your diet to eat healthier. Well I like nachos. And I eat nachos. All the time. When Mike and I did P90X, people would always ask if it was hard to cut so much out of our diet. And I told them we still ate everything we wanted. These nachos have 551 calories in this whole plate...

On top of that, on P90X, it only counts as just over a half serving of carbs, 2 servings of protein, 1 of dairy, 1 of veggies, and a half of fat, which rocks. Most of the fats in here are good ones - you have the heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids from the grass-fed beef and the cholesterol-lowering monounsaturated fats in avocado. The cheese is made with 2% milk, because I will never give up cheese, and I just can't do the fat free. It doesn't melt...and I'm not ok with that. The meal is hundreds of calories less than Nachos BellGrande, plus it tastes better and your heart will most likely last longer. And I'd like that. Because I probably like you.

Nachos: (serves 2)

1/2 pound 93/7 organic grass-fed ground beef
1/2 package reduced-sodium taco seasoning
2 ounces Baked Tostitos Scoops
2 ounces shredded mexican cheese made with 2% milk
6 black olives - sliced
3 mini bell peppers - julienned
jalapeno slices - diced
1 medium tomato - diced
1 ounce avocado - diced
1 green onion - diced
4 tbsp. salsa
2 tbsp. fat-free sour cream

Assembling these is pretty self-explanatory. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the meat according to the directions on the taco seasoning. If you're cooking a half pound, use half the package of seasoning. About 3 years ago we purchased a kitchen scale for about $10, and it was the best decision we ever made. If you don't have one, get one.

This is the best way of learning portion sizes and being able to eyeball how much you should eat. I measure everything I cook, and that keeps my calorie counts super accurate so I know exactly what I'm eating. My 8 ounces of beef cooked up to be about 3.75 ounces (200 calories) each.

Cut up the peppers, olives, and jalapenos while the beef cooks.

I spray my baking pan with cooking spray so the clean-up is easy. I weight out 1 ounce of chips for each of us (120 calories). I keep our portions seperate on the pan so we both get the same amount of everything.

Put cooked seasoned meat onto chips. Like I said, I weighed ours out for calorie count, but you can just split it equally. Then add the peppers, olives, and jalapenos. Put 1 ounce of cheese on each serving.

Bake 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted and heated to your liking. While it's baking, cut up your tomatoes, avocados, and green onion.

Now just put plate the nachos, add the above veggies, and put on salsa and sour cream if you want it. The calculations include 2 tbsp. salsa and 1 tbsp. fat-free sour cream for each serving. I am not a huge salsa fan, but I always add hot sauce. I love spicy food. So that's it! Now go eat.

My cauliflower can kick your mashed potato's butt.

2011-06-24T05:01:00.004-04:00

I have been desperately searching for ways to substitute more vegetables for the carbs I love oh-so-much and I have to say this cauliflower mash does the trick. Mike and I both found it be just as good as mashed potatoes, so I'll be using it again. Plus, if you read about all the benefits of cauliflower (detox, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory), it makes you feel plain good about eating it.

Tonight I made:

Ginger-Soy Marinated Sirloin Steak
Cauliflower Mash
Sauteed vegetables with lemon

Before we headed out the door to go for a hike today, I threw the steak in a quick marinade so it would have about two hours to soak up some flavor. We bought organic grass-fed sirloin steak from Wegmans...I think everything we've been reading about the nutritional benefits of eating grass-fed meat has finally converted us. Plus it's less calories and tastes great. Poke holes in it before you put it in the bag with the marinade.

Ginger-Soy Marinated Sirloin Steak:

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/8 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp. sesame flavored chili oil
1 scallion - diced
1 inch fresh ginger - minced
1 large garlic clove - minced
1 pinch truvia (or any sweetener, sugar, brown sugar, etc.)

Marinate steak for at least an hour...I recommend overnight for best flavor.

This steak was pretty thick, so I broiled it for 5 minutes on either side, and it came out rare, but we like it that way.

Cauliflower Mash:

1/2 head cauliflower (about 4-5 cups chopped)
Chicken bouillon/broth
2 tbsp. sour cream
Cayenne pepper (to taste)
Seasoned salt (to taste)

Cut up the head of cauliflower and break half of it into small pieces and cut off the length of the stems.

Put them in a pot and cover them with water. I added a chicken bouillon cube, but you could also use chicken broth instead of water. Cauliflower will soak up whatever flavor is in the water, so add whatever you want. Cook on Medium-High to boiling, and continue boiling for about 6 minutes until the cauliflower is tender and you can easily poke it with a fork, just like potatoes would feel that are ready to be mashed. (Note: Cauliflower texture is a little odd if you haven't worked with it, and the 6 minutes is just a rough number. The first time, I cooked it way too long. It was fine, just mashed really easily. If you don't cook it long enough, it might not come out as smooth. If that happens, just throw it in the blender or food processor to make it your desired consistency.)
Thoroughly drain cauliflower and pat dry with a paper towel to absorb as much water as possible. Return to pot and add 2 tbsp. sour cream. I usually use fat-free sour cream, but we recently bought a garlic/herb flavored sour cream and 2 tbsp. is only 60 calories. Split between the two of us it's minimal, and adds tons of flavor.

Add seasoned salt and cayenne pepper and mash with a potato masher. Just use seasonings to your taste. I made ours a little spicy and it was great. If it is too watery/thin, put the pot back on the stove on Medium-Low and until it thickens.

Sauteed vegetables with lemon:

1 Scallion - diced
1 garlic clove - minced
3 mini sweet peppers - julienned
4 mushrooms - sliced
4 sprigs cilantro - chopped
1 1/2 cups organic baby spinach
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
Garlic salt (to taste)
Sazon Tropical (to taste)

Add oil to pan and heat on medium until hot. Add scallion and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add peppers and cook 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cilantro and continue cooking 3 more minutes. Add lemon juice and stir, then add spinach. Turn off heat and stir until spinach is wilted. Add garlic salt and sazon to taste. Sazon can be found in either in the spices section or the Latino foods setion. All the flavors are delicious, but right now I'm on a Sazon Tropical kick. You'll find you can add it to pretty much anything and it will taste delightful.

And that's everything! So here is what we ended up with...

It all came together in around a half hour, so it was pretty quick too! This is my first time sharing recipes so let me know if I left anything out or you have any questions. And let me know if you make it and how it turns out for you!

Who the heck is Joy and what does she know?

2011-06-24T03:25:00.003-04:00

So this is my first attempt at a blog, and I sure hope someone reads it. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen creating and cooking food that not only tastes good, but makes me feel good about eating it. Like a lot of other people in this world, I'm concerned with eating healthy and taking care of my body. I've spent a lot of time not doing that, and I know what a difference it makes on how you feel, as well as how you look. I like to read about nutrition, food benefits, and styles of eating, as I think it is all very interesting. In the end, my food is an attempt to create relatively low-fat meals, in proper proportions, that look and taste good with no guilt about eating them afterwards. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I eat perfectly, and you better believe sometimes I just need to order a pizza or go out for ice cream. But I try to keep it occasional, and I try to eat well regularly to make those indulgences not seem so bad.

But why should you listen to me? I don't claim to know everything, and I'm sure there are countless other people out there who know way more. But I know a little. I have a bachelor's degree in communication and public relations from Michigan State University (Go Green!). Not much to do with food, but it does explain my attempt at blogging and connecting with others. I worked as a restaurant manager for a few years, so I have some experience with proper food handling procedures, and working in a kitchen in general. My husband and I have completely P90X together before, including following the food plan for the entire 90 days (and pretty much ever since), so we spent a lot of time researching nutrition, weight loss, building muscle, etc. In fact, I have lost almost 20 pounds in the last 6 months that I had gained as a side-effect of medication, simply through hard work and being aware of what I was eating. But I refuse to give up taste to eat healthy. Plain and simple: I don't eat anything I don't like. And you shouldn't either. Because it's just silly. And food should taste good, even when it's good for you. So, here's a glimpse into my kitchen!