Mexican Beef over polenta

I made this recipe this week, and it was really yummy. My only problem was my polenta not setting up enough, so next time I make it I think I'll serve the polenta separate from the beef and allow people to pour their own beef over polenta- I think it had a hard time setting because I poured the beef over it too soon. I omitted the olives and jalapenos and added a can of drained and rinsed black beans. This is a Weight Watchers Recipe.

Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 18 min
Cooking Time: 12 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Seasoned ground beef and vegetables are spooned over homemade polenta. Then they're topped with traditional Mexican ingredients like cheese, salsa and fresh cilantro.

Ingredients

• 1 pound uncooked lean ground beef (with 7% fat)
• 1 small onion(s), chopped
• 14 1/2 oz canned diced tomatoes, with chiles, drained, reserve 1 Tbsp of liquid
• 1 cup canned yellow corn, drained, or frozen, thawed corn kernels
• 10 items olive(s), Kalamata, sliced
• 2 Tbsp canned jalapeno peppers, pickled, chopped (optional)
• 3/4 tsp table salt, divided
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 3/4 cup polenta, quick-cooking
• 3 cup canned chicken broth
• 1/3 cup salsa
• 1/3 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese
• 2 Tbsp cilantro, or scallion, fresh, chopped (optional)

Instructions

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook beef and onion, stirring frequently, until meat is fully cooked, about 5 to 7 minutes; drain off any liquid. Stir in tomatoes and reserved liquid, corn, olives, jalapenos (if using), 1/4 teaspoon of salt, cumin and pepper; simmer 5 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
• Meanwhile, in a small pot, combine cornmeal, broth and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt; stir well. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly, until cornmeal is thick, about 5 minutes.
• Spoon polenta onto a large serving plate and top with beef mixture. Top with salsa, cheese and cilantro (or scallion). Divide into 6 portions and serve.

Notes

• The polenta will still be soft after cooking but will firm up if allowed to stand for a few minutes before serving.

crock pot stir fry

so i am not too sure about this - but we LOVE this recipe and it seems to be pretty "healthy". or maybe i am just telling myself that. of course you can always make things more healthy, right?

so i am not a cook who measures...i go with a feeling i have, a little of this, a smidgen of that...so i tired to pay attention tonight as i cooked this and of course failed to take a picture. but i figured it was only fair that i attempt to contribute to this great blog. thanks heath!


so here you have it:

you need-

angel hair pasta - whole wheat if you desire
1-2 frozen chicken breasts (1 is good for 2 adults)
1 1/2 cups of Honey BBQ sauce
1 cup of orange marmalade
1/2 cup of Lite Teriyaki Sauce
Frozen Stir Fry Veggies - our faves are "pepper stir fry" and "sugar snap peas" - nummy - at least 1/2 a bag.


Mix BBQ sauce, orange marmalade, teriyaki sauce together. Place your chicken in the crock pot and cover with sauce mixture. Cook the chicken for at least 4 hours...the longer the juicier and easier to shred into pieces. That's it! Let it cook. An hour before eating time, add your frozen veggies...the more the merrier. the water they bring in with them, helps the juice ratio stay fair.

Then about 15 minutes before the feast begins, start your pasta. Then voila - a scrumptous yummy dinner that is edible for all ages and enjoyed by all in the Reeder home.

There is really no wrong way to make a made up recipe...so i hope someone is able to enjoy this easy stir fry.

angel hair

I've been looking for whole wheat angel hair in every store. One of the drawbacks of going whole wheat is the dense heaviness of the pasta, so I thought since we always use angel hair anyway- maybe it would help. I couldn't find it anywhere. I finally found some online- but lets face it who wants to spend 30 bucks on a load of angel hair plus shipping? Not I,

but you wouldn't believe, I was wandering through walmart today and WHOA- there it was! I know I have looked there before, or maybe I just assumed that this place of so little choice would have this sought after ingredient... but there it was. and yes I picked up a few boxes. More on this later.

Wheat Pasta with Chicken and Spinach Sauce

This is Heather...

Tonight I recreated a dish I actually made up a little while ago, but in the spirit of this blog, I made it healthier. Try it at your house and see if it is as big a hit as it was at ours:)

1 box whole wheat bow tie or penne pasta
1/4 c butter
3 huge handfulls of fresh baby spinach
1 tea minced garlic
3/4 c grated parmesean
5-6 froz chicken tenders

1 tea lemon juice

Start the pot of water boiling for the pasta. To cook wheat pasta you need to make sure you have plenty of water so it helps to start it first.

Put the froz tenders in a skillet with 2 tea of oil to coat bottom of pan. When hot add 2/3 c of water and put the lid on. Shortly after, season well with garlic salt.

When chicken is finshed cooking through (about 2-3 min on each side) and browned take chicken out and to the drippings add butter and minced garlic. Saute untill the garlic is soft and add the spinach. Cook the spinach down and add a the lemon juice. When the spinach is soggy, pour the whole mixture into the food processor and blend untill smooth. Toss on top of the now cooked noodles and stir untill evenly coated. Now dump in the parmesean and chunked chicken... Serve hot!!