My new favorite burger...Pizza burger

So last night for dinner was a repeat and i have decided it's my favorite way to make burgers (clean and feingold if you make your own burger)...so juicy and even my mushroom hating child gobbled this up like no tomorrow.


http://heymommywhatsfordinner.blogspot.com/2010/11/whats-for-dinner-111310-pizza-burgers.html


In my keep it clean attempt I didn't add the bacon into the burgers I let everyone take them if they wanted it after cooking it up.  I also made sure my tomato sauce was 100% natural (hunt's has no added sugar or other junk you just don't want in a sauce) and only added cheese to who wanted them.


Last night I served the burgers with oven baked fries (slice up a potato, drizzle with some EVOO and spices and bake until done) and steamed baby green beans...DELISH


NOTE: if you have a child who doesn't like mushrooms dice them really small and they won't even say anything about it...just gobble up the burger


Guess what I am having for lunch!

Creamy Tarragon Chicken w/ Wild Rice & Roasted Asparagus

Dinner 1/9/10: Okay my 1st post and it was a Feingold & Eat Clean approved recipe.  It was really good.  Tonight's recipe was complements of Chelle's Fitness Recipes.  Creamy tarragon chicken and I served it with a nice organic wild rice mixture & roasted asparagus...delish

PS. make sure all ingredients are approved FG ingredients







Creamy Tarragon Chicken
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp unsalted butter
4 chicken breast
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup greek yogurt
1 1/2 tbsp whole wheat flour
parsley

Heat oven to 375

Bake chicken on a baking sheet until almost cooked all the way through (about 30 minutes)

When chicken is almost done cooking, melt butter in a large pan, add garlic & tarragon and saute for about a minute. 

Add chicken broth, salt & pepper and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add chicken and simmer until no longer pink (basting occasionally)

While the chicken is simmering mix the yogurt & flour in a small bowl.

When chicken is cooked remove chicken to serving platter (or in my case, plates).  Add the yogurt mixture to the broth and mix until smooth.

Serve over chicken & parsley

VERDICT:  Now my kids didn't like the sauce but hubby and I did...I actually made 6 chicken breast and had enough sauce...What a great clean meal...Thanks Chelle

Clean Eating Coffee Creamer...

So one thing I love is Coffee Mate Creamer...well that isn't part of the Eat Clean Diet (regular sugar is a no-no) so today I just used Almond Breeze Vanilla milk and as it did take away the bitterness of the coffee it just wasn't my coffee mate...so in looking for a clean version of creamer I have to thank Tiffany over at The Gracious Pantry for her wonderful version of coffee creamer.

Clean Eating Coffee Creamer
makes 5 generous (1/4 cup servings)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup soy milk (or almond milk, or even milk I am guessing)
3 tsp of pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of extract of your choice (see note)
2 tbsp of honey (I may do this a little less next time)
1/2 tsp of xanthan gum (I actually left this out, it's to thicken it)

Flavor options:  extra vanilla extract, almond extract, orange extract or any other extract as long as it's clean.

Directions: 

1) in a blender mix all ingredients until well blended.

2) Pour in a container of choice (I found my italian dressing bottle fit it perfect, yes it was cleaned REALLY well) and keep it in the fridge.

VERDICT: well I dumped the container of coffee mate down the drain...This was really good.  I used almond milk and all vanilla extract and it taste like the sweet cream creamer I had in the fridge...oh and a major plus, it's lower in calories than the stuff you buy in the store.  The stuff I had was like 50 calories per 1 tbsp (and let's face it if you want creamer usually you don't use just 1 tbsp) and this is like 50 calories for 1/4 cup...thank you Tiffany

My blog going in a little bit of a diffrent direction...Feingold and Eat Clean Diet in 1 happy home?

So as the new year started I decided to make a fresh start (as the majority of Americans do).  The last half of 2010 I focused my life on helping my children and less on me...with starting Feingold, my diet went on the back burner and the weight came back on...don't get me wrong I LOVE Feingold and what it has done for my children so I will continue to follow FG.

I tried to incorporate FG with weight watchers and that just didn't work, the plan is great (I lost 15 lbs on it before my wedding) but when you can't use low fat & processed products in your cooking it makes things hard so I started to do some research and came across the Eat Clean Diet.  The concept is going to be easy when it comes to dinners and I will just have to continue to do it through out the day...

The Eat Clean concept is a simple one that is great...eat smaller meals more frequently, have protein with a complex carb (good carb) and stay away from artificial and fake stuff.  Pretty basic if you ask me...hopefully it will work (I recall a few of my trainers telling me the same thing in the past)

So here's to my new journey...Feingold & Eat Clean working as one in my household.

So dinners will still be Feingold friendly AND follow the Eat Clean concept...if you see a mistake please bring it up to me so I can correct it...trying to merge 2 diets is a challenge at 1st, but I am blessed that my kids seem to do good on most ST2 foods.

Thanks for following my blog over this short journey and here's to more to come!

PS. I was pretty excited to find someone on the EC support board who also does FG!!!

What's for dinner 1/4/11: Homemade Mac & Cheese...YUMMY!

Okay 1st off this photo is not good, but man was the mac & cheese LOL


So last night's Feingold friendly meal was homemade mac & cheese.




Four Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
Serves 6-8 (depending on your serving sizes)

Ingredients

	1 spray(s) cooking spray
	1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste (for cooking pasta)
	1 Tbsp unsalted butter
	1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
	2 1/2 cup(s) low-fat milk
	2 cup(s) onion(s), finely chopped
	5 oz cheddar or colby cheese, shredded (extra-sharp suggested)
	3 oz shredded cheddar cheese
	3/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste
	3/4 tsp table salt, to taste
	2 oz Parmesan cheese, finely grated (Parmigiano Reggiano suggested)
	12 oz dry whole-wheat elbow macaroni
	1/4 cup feta cheese  (original recipe called for blue cheese)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 3-quart casserole dish with cooking spray; set aside.

Cook macaroni in salted water as directed on package; set aside.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly add flour, stirring constantly; cook for about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in milk to thoroughly incorporate flour mixture. Stir in onion and bay leaf. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently; remove from heat.

Combine feta with about two-thirds of both types of cheddar cheese in saucepan and season to taste with salt and pepper; stir in macaroni. Pour half of macaroni mixture into prepared casserole dish and top with remaining cheddar cheeses. Pour in remaining macaroni mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese; bake for 30 minutes. Let stand for about 5 to 10 minutes before slicing into 6-8  pieces.

VERDICT: I will change it next time...next time I will just add all the cheese instead of layering and cut the parmesan cheese in half and mix that in also...my kids didn't like the cheese on top (I think they were sick LOL) but overall it was really good...perfect comfort food.

What's for dinner 01/03/2011: Pioneer Woman's Beef & Snow Peas

OMG so tonight I made Pioneer Woman's Beef & Snow Peas and let me just say...SOOO good.  Of course I had to adjust a few of the ingredients to make it Feingold friendly but that is so okay.  The ingredients I changed was:

I omitted the sherry & red pepper but man was it good and the sauce tasted just like you would get it in a chinese restaurant.  So I say thank you Pioneer Woman for another wonderful dinner!!!

Beef & Snow Peas
serves 6
8 weight watcher points (not including rice)

Ingredients

• 1-½ pound Flank Steak, Trimmed Of Fat And Sliced Very Thin Against The Grain
• ½ cups Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• 3 Tablespoons Sherry Or Cooking Sherry
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Ginger
• 8 ounces, weight Fresh Snow Peas, Ends Trimmed
• 5 whole Scallions, Cut Into Haf-inch Pieces On The Diagonal
• Salt As Needed (use Sparingly)
• 3 Tablespoons Peanut Or Olive Oil
• Crushed Red Pepper, For Sprinkling
• Jasmine Or Long Grain Rice, Cooked According To Package

Preparation Instructions

In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger. Add sliced meat to bowl and toss with hands. Set aside.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet (iron is best) or wok over high heat. Add snow peas and stir for 45 seconds. Remove to a separate plate. Set aside.

Allow pan to get very hot again. With tongs, add half the meat mixture, leaving most of the marinade still in the bowl. Add half the scallions. Spread out meat as you add it to pan, but do not stir for a good minute. (You want the meat to get as brown as possible in as short amount a time as possible.) Turn meat to the other side and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove to a clean plate.

Repeat with other half of meat, allowing pan to get very hot again first. After turning it, add the first plateful of meat, the rest of the marinade, and the snow peas. Stir over high heat for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Check seasonings and add salt only if it needs it. Mixture will thicken as it sits.

Verdict: once again DELISH and oh and it's points friendly if you are doing weight watchers

What's for dinner 12/21/10: Spinach Pie with Walnuts

So tonight's Feingold freindly meal was really good...YUMMY spinach pie with pinenuts walnuts (pinenuts are expensive) LOL




Spinach Pie with Walnuts
Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 tsp garlic, minced
pepper to taste
2 10oz packages of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (or pinenuts if you like)
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (I use approved bread and just make crumbs)
1 tsp dried dill
4 eggs, beaten
1 pie crust

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

1) Make the filling: In a large nonstick skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and salt and pepper and cook until garlic is tender, 1 to 2 minutes. 

2) Transfer mixture to a large bowl; stir in spinach, pine nuts, feta, Parmesan, breadcrumbs and dill. Fold in eggs until combined. 

3) Place the mixture into a deep-dish pie plate that is covered by your pie crust; press firmly to flatten. 

4) Bake until heated through and topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

VERDICT: this was yummy...next time I may add in some mozzarella cheese but the kids like it and it's similar to the 4 cheese spinach pizza I make that the kids like.  This can be made the night before and baked when you get home, it's fairly easy to make...I actually skipped the 1st step (left out the onions and oil this time).