smalltownhealthyliving

Think I’m going to cool it on the recipes for awhile.  I’m getting carpal tunnel writing the blog these days.  jk

 

Today I made two different recipes for lunch and dinner, or dinner and supper for you farm families.  Both recipes come from the latest edition of Cooking Light magazine- one of my favs. 

 

 

Lunch was Greek-style.  I can’t even pronounce it, but I made Tzatziki Chicken Salad.  When I was looking through the magazine, I saw these ingredients and thought they sounded yummy together.  Here is the original recipe, but I halved it to make a smaller portion since I knew Hubby wouldn’t like it. 

 

Tzatziki Chicken Salad

• 2/3 cup plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
• 3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cucumber, seeded and shredded
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
• 3 ounces multigrain pita chips

Combine first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add chicken; toss to coat. Serve with pita chips.

 

I did a couple things different.  I didn’t have 2% yogurt so I used 0%.  I left out the onions because I didn’t want to have onion breath for my afternoon patients.  I also did not use fresh dill, which probably was one downfall.  The second was that I did not use fresh lemon juice, instead I used lemon juice concentrate and to top it off I spilled it when I was measuring so there was way more than there should have been.  I also did not have pita chips, I just turned it into a wrap since I had some wrap bread.

 

 

 

So yeah, not a fan of this recipe.  I suppose if you don’t screw it up as much as I did you may enjoy it. 

 

Supper was much more of a success.  Again, I went with a Cooking Light recipe.  Creamy Spring Pasta- this was waaaay tastier.  I did change a couple things, but I’ll post the original recipe first.

 

Creamy Spring Pasta

• 3 quarts water
• 2 ounces French bread baguette, torn into pieces
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
• 1 1/2 cups (2-inch) diagonally cut asparagus
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 6 ounces uncooked fettuccine
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup finely chopped sweet onion
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 3 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1/4 cup packed)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon

1. Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a Dutch oven.

2. Place torn bread in a food processor; process until coarse crumbs form. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 garlic clove to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add breadcrumbs; sauté 3 minutes or until golden brown and toasted. Remove breadcrumb mixture from pan; wipe pan clean with paper towels.

3. Add asparagus and peas to boiling water; cook for 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon. Rinse under cold water; drain.

4. Add pasta to boiling water; cook 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and keep warm.

5. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and the remaining 2 garlic cloves; cook for 3 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Place flour in a small bowl; gradually whisk in chicken broth. Add broth mixture and milk to pan, stirring constantly with a whisk; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from heat; add cheeses, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheeses melt. Add pasta, asparagus, and peas; toss well. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and tarragon.

   

 

Here are my changes: I used the butts of loaves of whole wheat bread for bread crumbs, and I didn’t have any peas or tarragon so I just left those out.  And I forgot to mention on the first recipe, instead of using fresh garlic, I used some of this:

 

 

I always keep this in my fridge because I hate chopping up garlic.  I know it tastes better fresh, but they’re so tiny and they make your hands stink so much. 

 

 

Back to the recipe- it was magnificent.  I probably made too many noodles so it wasn’t too saucy.  I think I also made too many breadcrumbs, since you can hardly see the dish below the mounds of crumbs. My only gripe with the recipe that it is a little more labor intense than the original recipe says.  30 minutes?  Yeah it took me at least 45 minutes to do everything.  We grilled some chicken breasts (finally got the grill going- yay!) so I cut up half of one and tossed it in with the pasta.

 

 

 

That was my day in food.  I didn’t take a picture of breakfast, think it was half an English muffin and half a container of yogurt.  I did do some juicing this morning, same thing- carrots, grapefruit and an apple. 

 

 

I only had 2 sips and then made the mistake of letting Tyler try it… he drank the rest of the glass.  What a hog.  Hey check out my palmaris longus tendon in that pic.  Random little piece of trivia- not everyone has a palmaris longus tendon.  I have one on my left arm but not on my right.  Simple test to see if you have one?  Press your pinky and your thumb together and slightly flex the wrist forward.  If you have one it should pop out.  In the picture the tendon on the right is the palmaris longus- it’s located in between your flexor carpi radialis and flexor carpi ulnaris tendons.  There’s your random trivia for the day.

 

In other random news, guess who’s back??

 

 

We love us some AMC series, especially Mad Men.  Breaking Bad is right up there too, but Mad Men is pretty awesome.  Love how dedicated the creator is at making everything as authentic as possible when it comes to sets and costumes.  Obviously I was not around in the 1960’s so it’s cool to watch.  It’s a smart show, which makes me feel a little better about myself planting myself in front of the tv to watch the 2 hour season premiere (DVR of course, so wasn’t quite 2 full hours).

 

One more note…. Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma Pat!  We love her so much, she’s such a great mom and grandma… hope I can be half the mom she is. 

 

 

Isn’t she beautiful?!