Dinner at Our House: Low Sodium Living

Hello friends! It has been a little bit, but that's just my style I suppose. I pop in and out of the blogosphere whenever the mood strikes. I definitely wanted to update you all on what's being going on here at our house.
Dinners are a-changin'. Tim went to the doctor last week and discovered he's got some blood pressure issues. So step one was to limit his caffeine, and step two was to get his sodium under control. Now let me tell you what I've learned: EVERYTHING I LOVE IS FULL OF SODIUM. I'm not a gal who ever adds salt to a meal, but OMG, it's in everything delicious. Or so I thought. I'm also learning that I can make things on my own. Behold! Two experiences from the past two days: low sodium taco meat and low sodium ranch dry mix for roasting potatoes.

Low Sodium Taco Meat

All this was found in the house (OK, so we had to buy a couple items, but no biggie)

The recipe I made based on a couple of internet searches ended up being:

1 tablespoon Chili Powder

2 teaspoons Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Ground Cumin

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Paprika

1 teaspoon Ground Oregano

Ooohhh ahhh! The colors! Did I mention it smells wonderful?

All shook up! ;)

I always use lean ground beef from Publix and after browning it I added the mix and 2/3 cup water just like you would do on the taco mix. Turned out pretty similar as far as consistency went.

See!

Now check this: 270 mg per serving, times 6 = 1,620 mg total! And what on earth is all that stuff listed in the ingredients? OH! And did I mention this packet is the "Low Sodium" version? Laugh!

When I do the math using myfitnesspal my whole mix is 83.6mg of sodium! And you already saw all my ingredients. Insanity! But, the important question is this: does is pass the taste test? It's a bit different, but I think it's something I can definitely continue to research and play with.

Low Sodium Ranch Dry Mix (I used it to roast potatoes)

If you're a follower of mine on Instagram you saw I made roasted ranch red potatoes the other night. I used a ranch packet and cooking spray to cut calories. Too bad I still had TONS of sodium in the recipe. So tonight, we had the rest of the bag of red potatoes to use up before they spouted legs and walked away (ha, ha, get it?). I again did some internet searching and decided on the following:

2 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried dill
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme

This one really smelled yum!

Annnd mixed!

I once again cut up red potatoes and sprayed them in a light coating of cooking oil and then mixed in the dry spices. Threw them in the oven for about 45 minutes on 450 and stirred every 15 minutes. They smelled AWESOME! Every time Tim did a taste test he'd eat more, that's how I knew they were going to be awesome. So sodium comparison? A ranch packet has 2,160 mg of sodium!! My mix? 16.1mg! Win!!

Nom nom nom - we had it with low sodium BBQ chicken.

Did I mention that the potatoes are only 3 points per cup? Oh yes! I feel like a rockstar! Here's to trying new things and learning how to live in this low sodium lifestyle!

Dinner at our house: Mac N Cheese

Mmmmmac N Cheese!

Some of you saw this on my facebook tonight, and I thought I'd share the recipe. It turned out really yum! This is sure to become a regular in my house, and I plan to try and make my own alfredo sauce next time so I can make it lowfat. There is a skinnier version I can make I'm sure!

Ingredients:

1 lb corkscrew pasta

1 15 oz jar alfredo sauce (I used Bertolli)

3 cups shredded cheese (I used Kraft 2% Sharp Cheddar + 2% Colby Jack Blend)

Sour cream (I used low fat)

Bacon crumbles

Croutons (I bought an asiago blend)

Directions:

Cook your pasta as normal. While it's boiling, in a deep sauce pan heat up sauce over medium-high heat. Mix in your shredded cheese. Make sure it's smooth and not lumpy. Once it's melted all the way, you can go ahead and add in your bacon if you'd like (Tim didn't want it so I set it to the side). Add in your pasta and stir til covered. Add a dollup of the sour cream, bacon (if you didn't use it before) and top with crushed croutons. Eat!

Dinner at our house: Teriyaki steak skewers on the grill!

I renewed my trial subscription of ALL YOU recently, and I'm glad I did. Not only does the magazine pay for itself in the coupons you get from it, it has great life tips like budgeting, organization, and my favorite: food! Tim and I recently started grilling. This is what we made from the magazine. 

I added in onions and peppers!

The man at the grill!

All done, and all gone after the photo was snapped!

These were delicious! Here is the recipe from ALL YOU:

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup bottled teriyaki sauce

• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper

• 1 pound flank steak, cut across grain into 1/4-inch-thick strips

• 4 scallions, white and light green parts, sliced on diagonal

• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. 1. Combine teriyaki sauce, garlic and pepper in a large ziplock bag. Add steak, seal and turn several times to coat with marinade. Let stand 15 minutes at room temperature.

1. 2. Preheat grill to high. Thread meat onto thin metal skewers; oil grates. Grill steak, turning once, until cooked to desired doneness (1 to 2 minutes per side for medium-rare). Transfer skewers to a serving platter, sprinkle with scallions and sesame seeds and serve.

Snacking at our house: Skinny Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones

So I got back in the kitchen and finally tried something new this past week. I Love Skinny Taste! So amazing. We tried making the Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones.

Here's how we did:

They were ok, Tim ate most of them. I ate one warm with milk and it was good, but the next day...not so much. Make them for an occasion where you don't have to store them.

Dinner at Our House: Taco Soup

Tonight we tried something new! And SURPRISE it was really yum. I'm kind of weird about anything with "tomato juice" in it so I've always been hesitant when it comes to soups with tomatoes...but I was brave and we tried this version of taco soup.

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef 
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1 envelope reduced-sodium taco seasoning
• 2/3 cup water
• 4 cups reduced-sodium V8 juice
• 1 cup chunky salsa
• 
  TOPPINGS:
• 3/4 cup shredded lettuce
• 6 tablespoons chopped fresh tomatoes [Mom thankfully put these to the side]
• 6 tablespoons shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
• Tortilla chips, optional

Directions

• In a large saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook the beef, onion and pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning and water; cook and stir for 5 minutes or until liquid is reduced.
• Add V8 juice and salsa; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until heated through. Top each serving with 2 tablespoons of lettuce, 1 tablespoon of tomato and cheese, and 2 teaspoons of green onions and sour cream. Serve with tortilla chips if desired.

My mom also made this sort of taco-pizza too. It was good but it dried out before we could all get home to eat it.

Dinner at Our House: Buttermilk-Blue Cheese Smashed Red Potatoes

So, I got suckered into buying an alumni book from my undergrad college UWG and part of the "Thank you" was a subscription to three magazines. I cannot remember what all I subscribed for, but I did start getting Cooking Light. I think I'm in love! I was flipping through the pages and there is so much in there to inspire me to want to be a healthy eater and start cooking again! First up was this recipe. I actually doubled it because I know I come from a family of starch lovers.

We had it with Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches and salad- classy paper plate I know!

Like I said I doubled it so here is what I did:

Ingredients

• 2 pound small red potatoes
• 2/3 cup light buttermilk
• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

• Place potatoes in a saucepan; cover with cold water to 2 inches above potatoes. 
• Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 15 minutes or until tender; drain.
• Return potatoes to pan. 
• Add buttermilk, blue cheese, salt, and pepper to pan; mash with potato masher to desired consistency. (I had to use a wooden spoon but it did the trick)

These were pretty yummy. Tim is not a fan of blue cheese, but he didn't know it was in them until after I told him. He also ate about half the pot so I am very glad I made doubles! I'm actually shocked there is a little leftover; so I'm surprisingly looking forward to lunch at work tomorrow ha!

Eleven in 11: Evaluating May

Where is this year going so quickly? Each day seems to zoom by! May was an incredibly busy month for us and I hardly had time to blog. But, let's see how we did.

The breakdown:
1. Volunteer opportunity- Check! I am now an advocate. I am also interested in volunteering for the libraries in town. A dear friend of mine is a librarian and I know he busts his for his patrons. I'm a little saddened by what I've read recently about the funding for the libraries in town, so my philosophy is to always be part of the solution, and not just someone who complains. We'll see.
2. The weight loss one- Ugggg. I have hit a plateau, however, I'm not gaining. Which is good. I'm maintaining the net loss of 33 lbs. Part of the problem is that I'm no longer tracking points as strictly. But, also, I've slacked up on the gym. We have a good incentive though for me to press on and finish my ultimate goal. This fall we are going to NY for a family member's engagement party! 
3. Plan and take honeymoon- We went to Amelia Island. Collectively, Tim and I decided that we simply didn't ever have a honeymoon. While the trip was a FABULOUS trip, it just wan't a honeymoon. We missed the boat 3 years ago, and it isn't something you can just have 3 years late. It's ok though, we still loved vacationing! You can see our recent trip photos from here and here.
4. Trying four new recipes- I think we managed to do it this time:

• Parmesan Parsley Chicken
• Roasted Red Ranch Potatoes
• Cube Steak Rollups
• and another roasted red potatoes recipe, only this time tried a French Onion mix

5. Blog three times a week- Only had 12 posts, but again...we were kind of swamped.

6. Student loan- Check!

7. Savings!- Check! 

8. Read 52 books- I bought another book, this time Chelsea Handler's newest release...but I've still only made it through the introduction...

9. Facebook birthdays- I really am reconnecting with some folks because of this!

10. Visit 12 new restaurants- Koreana was soooo yum! I highly recommend!

11. Etsy- I think I'm going to use Fridays as a crafting day. Did I mention I now work 4 days a week? Yay! 10 hours is a little rough M-Th...but having 3 day weekends is a blast!

I hope many of you are getting to take some time off this summer to do fun things. I want to go to six flags at least once. Any takers?

Dinner at Our House: Roasted Red Ranch Potatoes

Tonight we didn't really plan dinner out at all. I was at work and I called mom during lunch to ask her what she wanted to do. She suggested eating out, but I knew both Tuesday & Thursday I'd be eating fast food, and most likely on Wednesday too since that *may* be our arrival time for the kiddos! I knew we had chicken in the freezer, tortillas in the fridge, and we always have tons of cheese & lettuce. I also remembered I had bought some buffalo sauce so I suggested wraps (recipe here).

When I got in the car after work I immediately called mom (my routine when I get in the car after work: Call Tim. check in. Call mom. check in. It's like clockwork). I asked what kinds of sides we had that we could make and she mentioned I still had leftover red potatoes. I also remembered while driving we had a packet of ranch mix and I've been seeing that commercial where a kid makes ranch potatoes. I thought, hey why not try that.

It really was easy.

Use about 2lb of red potatoes quartered
1 packet of ranch dry mix
it SAYS use 1/4 cup of oil, but that's way too much. I used half that. (I also used canola oil if that matters)
Mix it all together (you can use a baggie or I just did it in the Pyrex dish with a cover). Bake at 450 for about half an hour (which works out well because it took roughly that long to get dinner going).

Doing it that way made 4 servings and 1 serving was about 5 WW points. I hate to think of what it would be if I used ALL of the oil suggested. However, they are SO YUM! Easy to make and yum!

I took a picture, but it wasn't very flattering hehe.

Dinner at Our House: Parmesan Parsley Chicken

Last night the family tried something new. I found a recipe on lowfatlifestyle.com for Parmesan Parsley Chicken.

It was really yum, but I think in the future when we make it we should have a side of spaghetti or pasta with sauce. I really recommend this one! It weighs in at 3 old WW pts. (shocking!)

Ingredients:
• Vegetable oil spray 
• 4 slices whole-wheat bread for bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese 
• 1-1/2 tablespoons finely snipped fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley 
• 1-1/2 teaspoons paprika 
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled 
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk 
• 6 (4 ounces each) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, all visible fat removed 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly spray a rectangular baking sheet and slightly smaller cooling rack with vegetable oil spray. Put rack on baking sheet. Set aside. 
2. In a food processor or blender, process bread into fine crumbs. Pour into a shallow bowl. Stir Parmesan, parsley, paprika, garlic powder, and thyme into crumbs. 
3. Pour buttermilk into a shallow bowl. 
4. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Dip chicken into buttermilk, shake off excess liquid, dredge in crumbs, and shake off excess crumbs. Put chicken on cooling rack. Spray each breast with vegetable oil spray. 
5. Bake for 15 minutes, turn chicken, and bake for 10 minutes, or until done. 

Mmmm. And yes, it's on our fine Chinet paper plates! :)

Eleven in 11: Evaluating April

I cannot believe we are already in May! Time is flying by. The blog has been a great way to hold myself accountable for lots of my goals, so if you are curious about how you can start one for yourself, just let me know. It's incredibly easy.
The breakdown:
1. Volunteer opportunity- I will train this month! I'm so excited. I'm basically going to be a rape crisis volunteer once again. This is one thing I care deeply about. Sometimes, people say, "well how is that? It can't be fun..." Well it certainly isn't fun, and I wouldn't even say I enjoy it, but it is just incredibly meaningful to be able to help someone. And to be truthful, I would want someone to be there for me, so I feel it's only "right" to be there for someone else. 
2. The weight loss one- Slowing down here, but it's mostly because I've not been hitting the gym as much as I should, and I've been so busy that I sometimes lose track of my points. But, the good news is that I'm down 15 since January and certainly on track with my original goal. Also, overall I've lost 32 pounds. 
3. Plan and take honeymoon- Amelia Island is still a go. Please let us know if you've been and you have suggestions for fun and food!
4. Trying four new recipes- Ugh, this I think is my first time failing at this, but to be fair, I did have a busy month at work with a few events. I think I'll try for 6 in May to make up for the deficit.

• Buffalo Chicken Wraps (which were AWESOME)
• Pineapple Bliss (sweet and tart)

5. Blog three times a week- I think I keep people's facebook feed flooded. Speaking of facebook feed, I've made a page so you can like the blog on facebook. We'll see how it works out.

6. Student loan- Check! And let me say this also, this month I was about to DOUBLE my payment because of the extra cash I have saved using coupons. HAVE I PERSUADED YOU YET?!?!

7. Savings!- Check! Same thing here. I was able to put away more in savings this month because I had more to spare (and ok, to be fair, I didn't make nearly as many vanity purchases, but part of that is because I wait more for sales now + coupons and deals)...

8. Read 52 books- How am I so bad at this? I love reading. I can't get into the new JR Ward. It's taking me forever to read this latest book...

9. Facebook birthdays- I love that this is actually helping me talk to people more.

10. Visit 12 new restaurants- Wood Stone was great! Make sure to check it out.

11. Etsy- Getting back into the habit. I made Beth's daughter a necklace so it helped me want to make more.

I hope that you weathered April. I know many of you are/were affected by the end of April storms. I pray that your May is full of flowers instead of awful April showers, and I'm so thankful that many of you are safe with your families.

Dinner at Our House: Buffalo Chicken Wraps

I think I've shared my crock pot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches before, but this is a different recipe I found for wraps in a magazine.  I thought I'd try something else out for a change, so let me know if you like it. These turned out super yummy and I thought they photographed very beautifully too :)

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed (on sale at Publix til Tuesday)
• 1/2 teaspoon canola oil
• 2 tablespoons Louisiana-style hot sauce (on sale @ Publix til Tuesday)
• 1 cup shredded lettuce (On sale at Publix!)
• 2 flour tortillas (6 inches), warmed (I buy the reduced fat ones; fat free when I can find them)
• 2 teaspoons reduced-fat ranch salad dressing
• 2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese

This recipe is very easy to make. (Note: it makes 2 servings, but it can EASILY be doubled or tripled for more people and/or leftovers).

Step 1: Spray cooking spray in your skillet. Add chicken and oil. Cook approximately 6 minutes on high heat. Basically, get the pink out.

Step 2: Add in your buffalo sauce, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer (roughly 3-5 minutes). I actually saved the bottle I bought on sale, and opted to finish off a bottle of Frank's Red Hot.

This is what it looked like after it simmered.

Step 3: Warm your tortillas. Add chopped lettuce.

Lettuce! And yes, paper plates tonight because I'm already missing my mom's clean up...

Step 3: Add chicken!

Yumz!

Step 4: Add blue cheese crumbles (ps- mine are reduced fat). Or Tim used reduced fat shredded cheddar.

And...I'm a girl who loves her cheese, but it's ok because I hit the gym earlier.

Step 5: A touch of low fat dressing. We used light buttermilk ranch.

All this for right at 6 WW points. Not too shabby.

This meal for the both of us was right at about $6-7. (We also roasted some red potatoes to go with this meal). Compare that to what you pay somewhere like Buffalo Wild Wings. And compare it to how much FAT is in theirs. You can have great taste for less money and less fat. Just get creative.

Eleven in 11: Evaluating March

I don't want to jinx it this early in the game, but 2011 is GREAT! As usual, I want to be accountable to my Eleven in 11 goals.

The breakdown:
1. Volunteer opportunity- This month I attended a YP meeting for servant leadership and I think there are a few opportunities for me to do some volunteer work. Also, at work this week I put my name in to be part of Relay for Life. 
2. The weight loss one- I have lost 14 pounds since January, which means I'm right on track with my goal. Overall, I've lost 31 since October. I've never been so proud of myself. I feel great, my knees are so thankful.
3. Plan and take honeymoon- New plan: Amelia Island in May. I'm so excited!
4. Trying four new recipes- We did four new ones, but I think I left one off the blog because it was only so-so:

• Tortilla Pie/Fiesta Lasagna
• Creamy Basil Chicken
• Baked Onion Rings
• and the one I didn't post, but you can find online- Blondies with Chocolate Chips 

5. Blog three times a week- We've picked right back up and I'm always trying to think of new and somewhat useful or entertaining content. Feel free to make suggestions!

6. Student loan- Check :)

7. Savings!- Check check :)

8. Read 52 books- I'm failing. I did buy the new J.R. Ward book two nights ago. I will finished that one over the weekend!

9. Facebook birthdays- Doing well :)

10. Visit 12 new restaurants- LOVED Old Siam!!! I think we're going to try Woodstone in April- anyone been?

11. Etsy- Def. falling behind, but now that its getting pretty out, and soon I'll have Fridays off, I think I'll get back into this.

Hope your March was eventful and fun! Here's to April!

Dinner at Our House: Baked Onion Rings w/ BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Well, it's getting close to the end of the month and I really need to hit that magic number for trying new things. I thought I'd try something easy. I found this recipe online for baked onion rings and thought it would go well with a burger or some kind of sandwich. When I saw BBQ cause on sale at Publix for B1G1 free I thought, might as well make BBQ Chicken Sandwiches. Mom still had some leftover chicken in the freezer, so this was a pretty cheap meal.

First of all, making BBQ chicken is super easy in the crock pot. You put in frozen boneless chicken breasts, add sauce of your choice, cook on low 6 - 8 hours or high 3 - 4 hours (well roughly based also on how much you put in...). Anyways, that isn't the new that I want to highlight...

I want to tell you about the baked onion rings. I'm not really an onion ring kind of gal. I don't readily eat an onion unless it's cooked in an Asian dish. But, I'm trying to explore new things. So tonight I opted to try the baked onion ring.

Onion rings out of the oven.

Don't you love this paper plate?

They were pretty good. However, when it says out of the oven, it means it. Don't wait around to eat these. When they got colder I ate them with a little ketchup. I did like that they tasted fried, even thought they were baked. They had a very nice crunch and I'm a gal who loves her crunch.

I used the following:

2 medium onions, sliced into rings
1 1/2 cups low fat buttermilk
1 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
cooking spray


First you need to soak the onion rings in the buttermilk for 1 - 2 hours. (Thanks, Mom, for helping with that)
Next, you'll put them into the crumbs and shake them around. I did a few at a time in a plastic container. *tip* Don't use all your breadcrumbs at once. The buttermilk makes it clump up. Use a little at a time to coat the rings.
Lay them all out on a lined pan. Spritz with cooking spray.
Bake at 450 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes depending on how hot your oven gets.
Pop them outta the oven and into your mouth.

Dinner at Our House: Creamy Basil Chicken tossed in Angel Hair Pasta

I forgot to post this one. Sorry, I plan on playing catch-up this weekend. Last week I made a variation of this recipe.

Dad's plate had all the veggie options too.

This was a closer shot of the pasta.

• 6 ounces angel hair pasta
• 1 12 oz. can evaporated skim milk
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons basil
• 1/4 cup shredded fresh parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons shredded fresh parmesan cheese
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 -3 chicken breasts cut into pieces

Cook pasta according to package directions.

For Chicken:
Cook chicken in a sprayed skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground pepper, garlic and basil to season. Sit to the side.

For sauce:
Stir together milk and flour. 

Stir in garlic and basil. 

Cook and stir over med. heat till mixture is bubbly and thickened. 

Cook and stir 1 minute more.
Add 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Stir till cheese is melted.
Cook 1 minute more.
Toss pasta with sauce and add chicken.

All in all it was ok. It was almost too sweet from all the basil. It needs something salty or spicy with it.