What I Ate Wednesday: Week 8 [and Garlicky Spinach]

TGIW. Yes, that's right, I just made that acronym my own. I'm so glad it's Wednesday, I can do that. Wednesday means I get to show you all of the crazy things I've been eating lately, and that always makes for a fun time. But today was a pretty great day overall - it was sunny and in the 70s, and I had a fabulous time eating my lunch and reading outside this afternoon. And the dogs are on a roll. They haven't done one naughty thing while I've been at work this week. (I totally just jinxed myself didn't I?)

But the absolute best thing about today? The husband comes home on Thursday from his business trip. And since Wednesday is just about over, that means we're that much closer to Thursday.

  

Monday's Meals
Breakfast: deli ham and scrambled egg whites and low-fat cream cheese; a chocolate protein shake made with almond milk; half caff

Healthy "Fried" Rice

Thursdays have always been one of my favorite days of the week. Sure, I love Saturdays and Sundays, but I've always been a fan of Thursdays. I was born on a Thursday. Maybe that has something to do with my favoritism. Or maybe I just love Thursdays because they're such promising days. 

On Monday, I'm mourning the weekend. By Tuesday I'm usually revved up for the week. On Wednesday, though, the weekend seems so far away. 

And then comes Thursday. And when it's Thursday, it's almost Friday. There's hope in the air!

So how in the world did I forget on Thursday that today would be Friday and Friday means Freestyle Friday? When it's Freestyle Friday, I can ramble about whatever I want - even if it isn't food-related! I can't believe I forgot.

Oh, well. It looks like I missed my chance this week, 'cause I promise the Twitter followers this recipe would be happening today. So here it is: a fab recipe for "fried" rice that the husband and I both loved - two nights in a row. It's a low GI recipe, so even though it's a little high on the carb meter, it's filled with vegetables and nutrients and, therefore, good for me!


And here's something that's good for you: the Weekend Potluck. Looking for a weekly roundup of fabulous recipes? That's your ticket. I'm sure you'll find something perfect no matter what day of the week it is.

Healthy "Fried" Rice
Slightly Adapted From Rick Gallop's Recipe

1 1/2 cups low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
3/4 cup wild rice
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon light olive oil
3 oz. sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup light soy sauce

In saucepan, bring 1 1/4 cups broth, rice and salt to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 25 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Fluff with fork and set aside.

In large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms for a minute or two. Add onion, carrot, celery and cooked rice. Cook, stirring for 2 minutes.

Add remaining chicken stock and soy sauce and cook for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Makes 4 servings
As per the ingredients in my pantry: 113 calories, 1 g fat, 21.9 g carbs, 1.75 g fiber, 4 g protein

Guest Blogger: Comfort Potatoes From The Mom Chef

I first started writing this blog mainly because I needed a good excuse to feed the husband new dishes. I was tired of serving the same old, and I wanted him to hop on the healthy wagon with me. Never in my wildest dreams would I start reading so many blogs, bookmarking so very many recipes and truly looking forward to other bloggers' posts.  

Today I'm happy to share the words of one of those bloggers with you. Christiane, aka The Mom Chef, tests out magazine recipes on her hubby and beautiful little girl, always offering up her honest opinion and often with a bit of humor. I can still remember the first post I read of hers about making a blue igloo cake. She cracked me up - and made a pretty impressive dessert that I'd never imagine tackling. I was hooked.

I have a feeling you will be, too.

Country-Style Potatoes - Comfort From Things That Go Bump in the Night

di·chot·o·my: division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups.

I am a dichotomy. I love sunlight. I love Mary Poppins and Brigadoon. Many things make me cry; videos of returning soldiers surprising their children, Lassie being kicked, Folgers commercials. I could never go hunting because I couldn't kill anything. Even spiders are sent out of the house, unsquashed, though I loathe the critters. And I never, I mean never, watch horror movies because they scare the bejeebers out of me.

And yet, that contradictory flipside of me relishes reading the king of horror. Sitting directly behind my desk sit two bookcases. One entire case contains over fifty Stephen King books.  I'm entralled with his writing style and I adore his humor. The fact that he can make me laugh in the midst of scaring my pants off is amazing. In print. 

Christmas Corn Puddin'

The Muppets have been singing "Ma Na Ma Na" in my head since last night. Yes, the song is getting a bit old now, 24 hours later, but I can't complain. I have the best boss in the whole world. She took my co-workers and I to the movies yesterday as a little Christmas bonus and, grownups that we are, we chose to see the new Muppet movie.

No, my job has nothing to do with the cinema or puppets. My boss is just that cool.

Popcorn and soda for everyone! 

Meatless Monday: Southern-Inspired Rice Pilaf

We hopped off the Meatless Monday bandwagon a few months ago - not necessarily by choice, but still. But I just realized this side that we served our company their last night here was meatless - and now it's Monday! Hey, hey, look at that. We've got ourselves another Meatless Monday post.

Thanksgiving Trial Run: Buttermilk Cornbread Dressing

Buttermilk Cornbread Dressing
Slightly Adapted From the Recipe Featured in Country Living, November 2011

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 batch moist cornbread, allowed to dry at room temp for two days and cut into 1-inch pieces
a dash of lemon juice
1 1/2 cups fat-free low-sodium chicken broth
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about seven minutes, stirring frequently.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Put the onion mixture into a large bowl. Add in the cornbread. Coat with lemon juice, broth, butter, salt and pepper. Toss until moistened.

Spread in a 13-x-9-inch baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20 minutes or until crusty on top and hot all the way through.

Enjoy!

The original recipe called for sausage, pecans and parsley, but I hate sausage, Little Big Brother is allergic to nuts and I didn't have any parsley in the house. For Thanksgiving, though, I think it'll be worth it to invest in some parsley. It'll brighten things up a bit and add a little more flavor, I think.

This dressing was good - the husband liked it and the tiny piece I allowed myself was awfully tasty. We both agreed, though, that it was quite buttery and next time I should cut the bread into smaller pieces. One-inch pieces were a bit large. The husband even suggested I cook a little onion in the cornbread next time so all of the onion pieces don't sink to the bottom of the baking dish. I suggested I throw some celery in when the big day comes around, but the husband is pushing back on that idea. Apparently he didn't miss the traditional celery, but I think others might.

Overall, this was a winner and will definitely be on our Thanksgiving table. It may need a few tweaks before it hits our family members' plates, but it's a keeper for sure.

You-Gotta-Stop-Cooking-With-Basil Potatoes

Mustardy-Lemon Chicken, Basily-Lemon Potatoes and Boring Ol' Green Beans

You'd think, thanks to my clever titling skills, that this post is about the husband whining that I made bad potatoes for dinner - bad potatoes cooked with basil, to be exact. But our potatoes weren't bad at all. They were a little interesting, perhaps, and had a little flavor we aren't really used to with potatoes, but they were good. 

So what's the husband's issue with me using basil all the time? 

Spicy Grilled Corn

After spending our morning kayaking on a little river, the husband and headed home for a typical Sunday. We enjoyed time with the doggies, did some boring chores around the house and then grilled a little something for dinner. We're easy to please, wouldn't you say?

We have a ton of chile peppers growing in the gardens right now. Every single time I go outside I find more peppers ready to be picked. It's amazing; the excitement never gets old. The only trouble I'm having is coming up with new ways to put those peppers to use. We planned to have turkey burgers and corn for dinner. Chile peppers didn't really seem to fit into that menu, but I was determined to come up with something. Spicy corn? Why not?

Oven-Baked "Fries"

Pulled Pork Sandwich and Oven-Baked "Fries"

There are plenty of things that, excuse my language, really suck about living so far away from our family and friends. We didn't make it "home" for Christmas last year nor will I be able to attend any of my little (big) brother's baseball games this season - his senior year of high school. We've missed everything from large family dinners to impromptu lunch dates with our grandparents. I'm not gonna lie: Sometimes living 796 miles away from our hometown stinks.

The decision to spread our wings and fly south was our decision, though, and, to be honest, has blessed with a number of amazing opportunities. We found great jobs, a sweet home and Stella. The move has also allowed us to open our home to a number of weekend guests and create memories that'll last a lifetime. (Alright, the truth is we've got a journal our visitors write in so we can piece together the visits we can't quite remember.) No one ever called us up and asked if they could visit for the weekend when we lived in our first apartment (in sin, yes). All of our friends lived nearby. That would have just been awkward. But now that we've moved, we get visitors quite often. This weekend, enter our cowboy-hat-wearing groomsman, one of my many cousins, E.

Mama's Roasted Potato Wedges

Temperatures in the upper 60s and nothing but sunshine all weekend? Talk about spring fever! The husband and I spent the weekend outside enjoying the beautiful weather with the doggies. We were able to introduce Stella to a nearby park Chance has come to know and love. (We even let them get into the river. In January. Are we bad parents?) What an amazing weekend! That's really all there is to it. Naturally, we ended the weekend pretending it's May and fired up the grill. It's true the husband grills in winter, but not in shorts. So when he said he wanted to make hamburgers for dinner, I let him go stand in the fading sunshine, PBR in hand and do his thing. I told him I'd cover the veggies.

I've been cooking a lot lately from the newer books in my collection or just searching the Web for inspiration. But after talking to my cousin M yesterday and getting off the phone this afternoon with my momma and then my cousin K, I felt it necessary to pull out the cookbook our family put together years ago. I flipped  Generations II to an old faithful recipe my grandma, my mama, is known to bring to potlucks: Garlic Roasted Potato Wedges. 

Is It a Dessert or a Side Dish?

Mama's Pink Stuff

Pink stuff comes but once a year. I'm not sure why, but we never seem to make it except for at Thanksgiving. And although the dish only makes an appearance in November, the husband and I always have the same debate: Should the pink stuff be served with the main meal or as a dessert? It's always been served as a side dish in my family - we throw it on our plates right next to the potatoes and turkey. But the husband isn't so fond of this idea and says he'd be more comfortable with this jiggly dish if it were served as a dessert. Whether you serve it as a side or a sweet ending is up to you. Either way, pink stuff lovers can rejoice: I've solved the separation mystery! Perhaps I'll be more inclined to serve it more often now.

Mama's Pink Stuff

2 cups boiling water

2 (4-serving) packages strawberry Jell-O (regular or sugar free will do)

2 cups softened vanilla ice cream

3/4 cup strawberry juice

Put on a teapot. While you're waiting for the water to boil, measure your ice cream and let it soften in a bowl.

Dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water and let it cool so it is no longer steaming. Once the Jell-O mixture has cooled a bit, slowly whisk (or beat) in the ice cream and juice. Stir until the ice cream melts. You can even stir for a couple more minutes just to be sure the mixture won't separate. 

Chill the pink stuff in the fridge until ready to serve.

Servings Per Recipe: 8

Amount Per Serving: Calories 148.4, Total Fat 4.9, Total Carbohydrate 24.2 g, Dietary Fiber 0.2 g, Protein 2 g