Making Boxed Stuff Better

I admit it: sometimes I use boxed mixes. Some of you may have observed the shitstorm that came down on OH (and here, actually) when I mentioned using canned pumpkin instead of oil and stuff in cake mix (dear God, you'd think I held those people down and forced the evil cake mix down their throats...)

Well, here's something slightly better than that, at least. I love Dr. Oetker Organics Muffin Mix. Oatmeal muffin mix, to be precise. It's definitely not low-carb, but also not terribly unhealthy - the ingredient list reads like, well, a recipe (rather than a science experiment) and the mix is made with whole-wheat flour. (as an aside, I'm reading this and thinking, goddamn, I should really make these from scratch if this really is all this $4 mix is!)

So, usually I make them as-is. At 150 cal per muffin, it's not bad. But today, I had a flash of inspiration (as well as a ton of extra Fage in the fridge) and I tossed in a cup of that plus three drops of EZ-Sweetz. Yum! Bonus: added protein! Bonus bonus: It made 18 muffins instead of 12, cutting calories to just over 100 (108, to be precise) per muffin. Each muffin also has 3 grams of protein, a little under 1 gram of fat, and about 22 grams of carbs, most of which are whole-grain. Not too shabby!

Fried Rice

I made some fried rice the other day...so good! It's also very inexpensive to make and healthy. It isn't low-carb, but, because it's made with brown rice, it has no processed carbs. It's a great once-a-week-cooking recipe because it's even better as leftovers!

The other day I made it plain (no meat) and served it with teriyaki marinated broiled flank steak on the side. Today I'm going to make it with chicken in it. You could toss in whatever veggies/meat you like, but here's my basic recipe:

cooking spray
1 egg (if I were to double or triple this recipe, I'd use 1 whole egg and the rest would be egg whites)
1 T canola oil
1 t sesame oil
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup frozen peas/carrots mix (defrosted)
soy sauce (to taste)

Spray a medium-size skillet (or wok) with cooking spray and scramble the egg until barely cooked. Set aside. Add the oil to the wok. When the oil is hot, add the rice and vegetables and stir-fry until hot. Add egg back to wok and stir-fry together briefly, then add soy sauce and stir-fry until rice is dry. Serve hot, or warm, or cold, or reheated... :) Makes 4 sleeve friendly servings.

Latest obsessions...

What have I been eating lately, you might ask?

Lox: Portlock has a retail store in Seattle and the owner/operator is SO NICE, it's an absolute pleasure to go in. Not to mention, 1 lb packages of "trim" are, like, $8. If you're in Seattle, I'd highly recommend stopping in! I eat it on either Triscuits or Wasa crackers with a smear of whipped cream cheese.

Yogurt: by now, we all know about Fage Greek yogurt. It's by far the best plain Greek yogurt (but if you like the pre-flavored kind, totally try Chobani - it's great!) I go in and out of yogurt phases and I'm definitely IN one now! Sweeten it with a few drops of ez-sweetz (or sweetzfree, whichever you prefer - sweetzfree is more expensive, but about twice as sweet), put in some frozen cherries/berries (hey, it's January - I refuse to purchase fresh berries in January on principle!) and top with a sprinkle of Kashi Go Lean Crunch (yummy like granola, but much healthier).

TJ's whole wheat premade pizza dough (it's possible that this isn't on your plan, if so, just skip this part. I've discovered that it's just not realistic for me to try to eat no/low carb. I just try to make as many of my carbs whole grain as possible): this is so good rolled out into a thin-crust pizza, with a smear of pesto, a bunch of part-skim mozzarella and a sprinkle of parm, and a chopped tomato.

TJ's frozen brown rice (see above disclaimer, low-carbers!): I love to cook a chicken dish on the weekend and warm it up all week. This rice is the perfect accompaniment. And the great thing about TJs is that it's so cheap - I normally hate premade stuff like this because the markup is just horrific, but this is totally affordable!

As always: no one ever gives me free shit in exchange for shoutouts, so you know that this is my real unbiased opinion :) I like to share things I've found that work well for me because I found similar posts so helpful when I was a sleeve newbie.

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes

I felt like some comfort food today. Given that my new year's resolution was to build meals around what I have in the fridge/freezer/pantry, I looked in the freezer and found some grass-fed beef and happy Italian sausage (I love Whole Foods - their meat standards program is amazing). So, I decided to make meatloaf and cheesy mashed potatoes. The potato recipe is really nothing special - the only thing that makes it amazing is the Cabot 75% reduced-fat cheddar. God, this post is reading like a freaking ad, but I'm serious - this stuff is amazing. It quite literally melts like full-fat cheese. SO WORTH the extra $$. Every time I buy a different reduced fat cheese I regret it heartily.

Anyway, here's the meatloaf recipe:

Sleevey's Seriously Yummy Meatloaf
1 T olive oil
~ 1 t crushed garlic
a few shakes of dehydrated onion
1 lb 7% fat grass-fed beef
2/3 lb mild Italian sausage
salt and pepper
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1/3 + 1/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup breadcrumbs (I made them for the first time from some stale bread I'd frozen - so easy!)
2 eggs, beaten

Heat oven to 350. Saute the garlic and onion in olive oil and cool until touch-able. Knead together all of the ingredients (except the last 1/4 c ketchup) in a large bowl. Spray a small baking dish with cooking spray. Press meat mixture into dish, spread the last 1/4 c ketchup on top. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Makes about 12 servings.

Artichokes and Green Beans AuGratin

This is also adapted from a Kalyn's Kitchen recipe. Kalyn is my current fave food blogger - she follows South Beach (which I don't know much about) and her recipes are *fab*! This is great for reluctant veggie eaters (which we all know I am), especially those who need to focus on protein (and we all know that I do).

Artichokes and Green Beans Au Gratin
2 cans artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (rinsed if not sodium-free)
1 can green beans, drained (rinsed if not sodium-free
3/4 cup mayo (approx)
1 T lemon juice (approx)
generous sprinkle of garlic powder
sprinkle of dried herbs of your choice (I like Italian seasoning, and bet it would also be good with dill)
black pepper (to taste)
a little chicken broth (if needed)
2 cups shredded parm (approx), plus more for topping (optional)

Towel-dry veggies, and make sure there's no water lurking inside your artichoke hearts. Mix mayo, lemon juice, garlic powder, herbs, and black pepper. Gently fold in veggies, then cheese. Add a little chicken broth to stretch the mayo mixture if needed. Sprinkle parm on top if desired. Place in a small casserole dish and bake at 350 for 20 min. Turn up to broil for ~3 minutes to brown the cheese on top.

I've also made this with 1/2 shredded part skim mozzarella and 1/2 parm. I didn't like it as well, but it was acceptable and does save some calories.

In case you're wondering...

...where all of my rambling crap went, here is the explanation: I had decided to delete this blog altogether, but changed my mind. I just deleted all of the super-personal stuff I posted over the past year but left the recipes.

So, I guess by default, I'm changing this to a (mostly) sleeve-friendly recipe blog. Woohoo!