The Life of Brian

Some Healthy Recipes

Keith and I are doing one of the stereotypical New Years Resolutions — trying to eat healthier and get back in shape.  (gotta be able to walk the beach in April w/o being ashamed!)  To that end we’re roughly following a South Beach / Eating for Life diet.

This first week we’ve cut all carbs (mostly), and will do the same next week.  Beyond that I’m not sure that we’ll be following the South Beach phases as much as we’ll just be trying to reduce portion sizes and eat healthier foods.

I know it’s only been a week — and you sure can’t tell by looking at us that we’re doing anything different — but I’m kind of proud & excited how well I did.  I only had one major fall off the wagon — when I had dinner with Rachel at a Vietnamese restaurant (loads of rice and a sweet sauce).

So I wanted to share a couple of the recipes I made this week (I made both of these twice, we liked them so well).  Both recipes fit in South Beach Phase 1.

Chicken Artichoke Salad

This is a modified version of the recipe in the Eating for Life book.  The original called for canned chicken, but I’d much rather take a few extra minutes to marinate and grill some chicken, rather than get something resembling chicken out of a can.  I also added some extra veggies.

• 1 pkg chicken tenders
• 1 can artichoke hearts
• 1-2 cucumbers
• 1 large tomato
• 1 rib of celery
• 1 green bell pepper
• lemon juice
• olive oil
• seasoning of choice (Mrs. Dash, garlic powder, salt, pepper, etc – whatever you like)
• 1/4 cup fat free Italian salad dressing

Throw the chicken tenders in a ziplock bag.  Add some olive oil & lemon juice and whatever seasonings you like, then seal it up and mix them around so they’re all covered.  Let them sit for 15-20 minutes, then grill (I threw them on my George Foreman).  When done, let them cool, then cut into bite-size chunks and add to a mixing bowl.  (you can also grill the bell peppers if you like – I did the first time I made this)

For the fresh veggies, wash, seed, and cut them into bite-size chunks, then add to the bowl.

Add some lemon juice and the Italian dressing, then mix well.  Adjust seasonings.

The last step is to add the drained artichoke hearts (quarter them if they’re not already).  I add them last b/c I like them to stay whole, and they fall apart easily with mixing.

The original recipe calls for some lettuce, but we just dumped it on a plate and went to town.  ;-)

I bet using Greek seasoning would be good in this — maybe add some olives.

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

This is a modified version of this recipe from South Beach.  It sounds more difficult than it really is – try it, I bet you’ll love it!

• 1 10-ounce package chopped spinach
• 1 pkg large mushrooms (about 8)
• olive oil
• salt & pepper + whatever other seasonings you like (again, garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, etc.)
• 1/4 cup (about) of skim ricotta cheese
• (optional) chicken stock

Begin by putting the frozen spinach in a pot w/ about 1/2 cup of water and cook (follow the pkg directions basically).  I added seasonings to the spinach.

Clean the mushrooms; remove the stems and chop them up. Saute the stems in a little olive oil.

I’ve found that mushrooms soak up oil like crazy, and the amount of oil the original recipe called for was not nearly enough.  So the second time I made this I tossed the mushroom caps into a skillet with some chicken broth in the bottom, then covered with a lid and cooked ’till done.

Drain the spinach and add the saute’d stems.  Stir in the ricotta cheese, and adjust seasonings.  Then fill the mushroom caps – that’s it!

————-

Monday we had white beans & sun-dried tomatoes in the crock pot.  We weren’t big fans of this; we still have plenty of leftovers that neither of us have touched.

Tuesday we had baked fish with the stuffed mushrooms.

Wednesday we had grilled chicken tenders with grilled green bell peppers.  I used the leftovers to make the artichoke chicken salad, which I had for lunch Thurs.

Thursday Keith had the artichoke chicken salad for dinner (I think), and I cheated and had Vietnamese.

Friday night I made baked salmon to go with the stuffed mushrooms, and fresh green beans.

Today for lunch I made the chicken artichoke salad again.

Tomorrow (Sunday) I’ll be making the Southwest pot roast (in the crock pot), with cilantro black beans on the side.  (I’m not following her recipe for that, I’ll just dump some out of a can and add some salsa & cilantro)

Other possibilities for next week include:

• Stuffed Bell Peppers in the crock pot
• Chicken Soutvlaki (except I’m not going to bother with skewers, will probably just throw it on the George Foreman)
• For dessert one day – Jelled Ricotta Pudding

So I’m getting a handle on the food — I just need to make time for exercise now…  :-|

Random Posts

• April 16, 2007 -- Captain
• June 23, 2008 -- John McCain Articles
• January 24, 2009 -- So Long “Dallas”
• February 10, 2008 -- Joe Solmonese on the Colbert Report

Posted in: Food

Tags: chicken, crock pot, healthy, mushroom, pot roast, recipe, south beach

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 10th, 2009 at 2:33 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.