This Mama Cooks! On a Diet

Healthy freezer meals for busy dieters and their families

I recently attended a meal making cooking class with a group of friends. Basically, it was a Once a Month-Freezer Cooking session combined with a Prepare Your Own Meals store. Our hostess (this was in a private home with a very large kitchen) shopped for the food, chopped the veggies, browned the ground meat, and prepared the prep stations.

Our group made eight meals. There was one dish per station with two to four people working on putting together the meals. Using printed instructions, we measured out the ingredients, and put them into labeled freezer bags or aluminum casserole dishes. When then loaded our pre-made meals into coolers and placed them in the freezer when we got home.

For $95, I walked away with eight dishes. This may seem like a lot of money, but I only spent a couple of hours making them, and I didn't have to drive all over town to buy the ingredients. I didn't have to do the prep work or clean up. And I have healthy meals in the freezer for those nights when I'm too busy to cook or out of town. The time savings alone made it a bargain.

So now I'm trying to figure out how to do a similar party with friends and not do all the work as the hostess. I'm thinking that each person could shop and prepare the ingredients for one dish for X amount of people. Then we could get together, assemble the meals, and help each other with the clean up and cost.

Weight Watcher's Sweet and Sour Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

My book club is reading A Passage to India by E.M. Forster. I'm hosting the next meeting, so I offered to make a curry. But I'm pretty wimpy and don't like super spicy stuff. And I'm on Weight Watchers, so what's a good hostess to do?

Find a terrific recipe from Weight Watchers, that's what!

I can make the chicken curry that morning my my slow cooker. I'll also triple it (or more) since I have a large crock pot that can handle it. That way I can have leftovers for the next day for both me and my family if my book group of 11 ladies doesn't eat the whole pot.

Sweet and Sour Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
POINTS® Value: 6
Servings: 4 (Yields about 1 1/2 to 2 cups per serving.)
Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 240 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Pop this Indian-inspired dish into a slow cooker and enjoy a tasty, hot dinner, hassle-free.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 large green pepper(s), cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 large vidalia onion(s), sliced
• 14 1/2 oz stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup mango chutney
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder, or more to taste

Directions:

1. Place chicken, pepper and onion in a slow cooker; top with tomatoes.
2. Mix together remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over chicken mixture, cover and cook on low heat for 4 hours.

© 2007 Weight Watchers International, Inc. © 2007 WeightWatchers.com, Inc. All rights reserved. WEIGHT WATCHERS and POINTS are the registered trademarks of Weight Watchers International, Inc. and are used under license by WeightWatchers.com, Inc. 

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A New Year, an old diet

Now that the holiday season is officially over (though I'm sure it really doesn't end until after the Super Bowl in February), it's time to go back on the Weight Watchers eating plan. I'm doing Flex Points, since the Core Plan scares me. I'm a bottomless pit when it comes to food, even brown rice and veggies.

I've also decided to do Weight Watchers Online, since I don't have time to drive 40 minutes round trip to attend a Weight Watchers meeting every week. I love the online tools, like menu suggestions and tracking your points on the computer.

In light of this, I plan to feature lots of Weight Watcher friendly dishes this year, though I won't be abandoning fun stuff like chocolate mousse, cake and fondue. Our first diet friendly dish comes from JJG at Barbo's Diet Kitchen boards. I especially like this board because it has lots of crock pot recipes for my Farberware Slow Cooker.

Slow Cooked Stuffed Cabbage
6 Points per Serving

Ingredients:

• 12 large cabbage leaves
• 4 cups water
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup cooked rice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 3/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Wash cabbage leaves. Boil 4 cups water. Turn heat off. Soak leaves in water 5 minutes. Remove, drain, and cool.
2. Combine remaining ingredients except tomato paste and water. Place 2 tablespoons mixture on each leaf and roll firmly. Stack in slow cooker.
3. Combine tomato paste and 3/4 cup water, and pour over stuffed cabbage. Cover and cook on LOW 8 to 10 hours.

Yield: 6 servings. Per Serving: 256 Calories; 16g Fat (56.3% calories from fat); 16g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 57mg Cholesterol; 468mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 2 Fat.

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Food Blog of the Week - Crock Pot Recipe Blog

Honestly, what would we all do without our crock pots? Well using one just got a whole lot easier thanks to this week's Food Blog of the Week - Crock Pot Recipe Blog part of A Crock Cook.

Not only does this website feature a blog, but oodles and oodles of crock pot recipes. Unfortunately, there's no photos at A Crock Cook. But then again, if you've seen one bowl of crock pot chili, you've probably seen them all.

I knew I was in the right place when I saw that ground beef had its own category. I have so much ground deer and antelope (which I treat like beef) in the freezer that I've run out of ideas. I especially like this recipe for Crock Pot Lasagna. I'll have to omit the egg due to Boo Girl's allergies, and may try adding some shredded mozarella instead.

Crock Pot Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb (500g) ground beef
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (or 2 tspn pre-purchased garlic)
• 1 lb jar tomato spaghetti sauce - choose your favorite flavor (we used spring vegetable)
• 8 oz (250g) fresh lasagna sheets (no boil - found in cold section)
• 1lb (500g) mozzarella cheese - grated/shredded
• 1lb (500g) ricotta cheese
• 2 oz (60g) parmesan cheese - grated/shredded
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 egg - lightly beaten
• 1 tsp oregano salt and pepper

Optional:

• other favorite herbs - depends how much is in the sauce you use
• mushrooms - sliced and added at end of frying meat

Method 1:

1. Fry the beef, onion and garlic in a frying pan, using a tiny amount of oil.
2. Fry until slightly browned. And pour off any excess oil.
3. Meanwhile, gently combine the ricotta, milk and egg.
4. Then mix in the mozzarella and parmesan. Retaining about 1 tbls of parmesan for later.
5. Now we are ready to construct it in the crock pot. We found there was no need to grease the pot, but if you must - do it now.
6. Using a large serving spoon or ladle, place about ¼ of the meat mixture in the crock pot - spread evenly.
7. Top this with a layer of lasagna sheets, cut to size. (See the notes below)
8. Top this with 1/3 of the cheese sauce.
9. Repeat steps 6, 7 and 8 once more. You should now have cheese sauce on top.
10. Now repeat step 6, then 7 and 6 again.
11. Top with remaining cheese sauce.
12. Sprinkle the retained parmesan on top.
13. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Notes:

• Serves 4-6
• While not critical the layers should be - meat, pasta, cheese, meat, pasta, cheese, meat, pasta, meat, cheese
• To assist with cutting the lasagna sheets - use a plate the same size as the crock pot & cut around using a knife.

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Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook

Every slow cooker cookbook I owned had variations on the same recipe, but no new ideas. I was getting tired of making the same old crock pot variations on chili and roasts. Then I came across Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann.

First, I was sold on it because it has a venison recipe. (Big Bad Dad hunts, and we have a freezer full of Wisconsin whitetail.) Now most of the time I treat venison like very lean beef and haven't had problems with a gamy taste. Well, most of the time, anyway. Even so, a slow cooker venison recipe was rare.

Then my curiosity was piqued when I saw "Beef in Guinness" and "Japanese Curry Rice." I thought, How unique. How different. How not-another-boring-recipe-for-chili."

The first recipe I made was for "Sloppy Joes," a slow cooker classic but much more sophisticated take on it. The results were terrific. I liked the recipe because it was full of veggies, like diced red pepper and celery. It also gave the option of adding more vinegar or sugar depending on your personal tastes. Amazingly, my kids LOVED this. Boo Girl liked hers with spaghetti squash. And Monkey Boy liked his on the traditional hamburger bun.

The second dish I tried was the "Braised Beef in Espresso." Yes, a roast done with coffee. Don't worry, it really doesn't taste like a tall latte. Instead, the coffee super-tenderizes the meat and gives it a bit of a smokey flavor. Unfortunately, the dish was rather bland 1) because the turnips, carrots and potatoes didn't add much flavor and 2) since the cookbook recommends seasoning with salt and pepper after cooking. It needed a healthy dose of garlic salt to make it just right.

The next dish I made was the "Honey and Apple Bread Pudding with Golden Raisins." I was intrigued since it was a bread pudding without eggs. (Always an issue since Boo Girl is allergic to eggs.) This one wasn't so successful with my family, however. They thought it was weird. I liked it even though it tasted and looked like turkey stuffing. I think it was the lemon juice and zest. There was too much of it and it clashed with the raisin, cinnamon and nutmeg flavors. Orange juice and zest would have worked better.

Right now I have the "Beef in Guinness" prepared and waiting to be made on Sunday night. I made it with Murphy's Irish Stout and not Guinness however, not that it should matter. (The Murphy's was on $2 cheaper than the Guinness, and the liquor store was donating $1 of the sale towards cancer research.) Since there are more vegetables in this than in the "Braised Beef in Espresso" I have a feeling it will be a tastier dish. Can't wait.

The only drawback on the beef recipes is that you must braise or brown the meat and saute the vegetables before cooking it in the crock pot. Many cooks feel browning meat "locks in" the taste. They're probably right, but it does add an extra step and another dish to wash.

However, you could get a West Bend 84716 Versatility 6-Quart Oval Slo-Cooker which you can use both on the stove top and as a slow cooker. There are a couple of others for sale at Amazon.com, like the Rival SC7500 5-Quart Round VersaWare CrockPot Slow Cooker, Brushed Stainless Steel and the Rival SC7600 6-Quart Oval VersaWare CrockPot Slow Cooker, Brushed Stainless Steel. However, the West Bend had the best reviews. The lids of the Rivals supposedly are awkward and easily break. Also, you can't use cook on the stove top at high heat with their crocks.

However, next time I break my crock pot (which happens every several years when I drop it on the floor with a cooked roast inside, shattering the crock and sending the food over the entire kitchen floor) I will look into one of these dual purpose slow cookers.

Even so, I look forward to making more dishes from  Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook soon.

Super Bowl party - New England clam chowder

Continuing our Super Bowl party coverage...let's discuss New England clam chowder. It's yummy, creamy and really not that hard to make especially if you use canned clams.

If you have access to fresh ones, great. However there's nothing wrong with canned clams especially when you don't live anywhere near an ocean and have to go out of your way to find fresh ones (like the Asian markets in Denver or Aurora, an hour's drive from here).

In fact, if you have an Asian market near you, try buying the canned clams there. I'm always blown away on the selection and cheap prices of items like this at ethnic markets.

So here are three easy-to-make chowder recipes. I especially like the idea of making it in a crockpot since it's much easier to keep warm on the buffet table that way.

Crockery ham with beer glaze

Having company or family over for Christmas is stressful enough without having to spend the whole day in the kitchen roasting a turkey and preparing elaborate side dishes. Spiral cut ham is a great option since it's precooked and presliced. Just warm it up and use the included flavor packet to make a sauce.

This recipe for crockery ham with a beer glaze is an easy alternative to using the sauce packet, requires very little prep time and only a small amount of attention.

So when you need a break from the holiday crowd, dash into the kitchen and prepare some mash potatoes and a couple of boxes of Green Giant's Frozen Baby Sweet Peas & Butter Sauce before serving up the ham.

(Hey, don't turn up your nose at these packaged frozen vegetables. James Beard created the butter sauce recipe for Clarence Birdsye back in either the '40s or '50s, and they're yummy.)

Beef (Venison) Daube Provencal

We have a huge supply of venison thank to Big Bad Dad's hunting efforts. I cook it up like beef, except for extra seasoning and fat/oil, since the meat can be gamey and is very lean.

I saw this recipe by Lia Mack Huber in the November 2004 issue of Cooking Light. Beef Daube Provencal is a classic French braised beef, red wine and vegetable stew. When I made it a couple of weeks ago, I found it very simple to prepare and absolutely delicious.

You can either make it in your crockpot or a small Dutch oven, like my favorite, a Le Creuset 3-1/2-Quart Round French Oven. I have a very old one in yellow and another in classic flame.

I lucked out and found the pots at thift stores. Both were in terrific shape and cost me very little. All I had to do was buy new Le Creuset knobs for the lids, which I found at a local gourmet cooking shop. In fact, I think I paid more for the knobs than the pots.

V8 Vegetable-Beef Soup

Once a month my mom's club does a mom's night out. We bounce back between going out to eat and going to someone's home for a potluck. Last month, club co-president, Brenda Kelley made and brought this to the potluck .

This soup comes from the founder and former member of the Tri-Towns MOMS Club, Cathy Vick who moved to Italy earlier this year.

It's very quick and easy to make and extremely nutritious (talk about getting your daily allotment of veggies in).

V8 Vegetable-Beef Soup

1 pound lean ground beef
2 (46 oz. each) cans of V8
2 medium carrots, sliced (fresh, frozen or canned)
2 cups sliced cabbage
1 onion, dices (or 3 Tbsp. dried)
1-2 cups other veggies, like corn, green beans... (fresh, frozen or canned)
1 cup cooked kidney or pinto beans
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder OR 1 garlic clove, diced

Brown ground beef in a large pan. Pour off fat. Add V8 and other ingredients. Cook over low heat for 2 hours or until veggies are tender.

Or after browing the meat, pull all ingredients into a crockpot on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours.

This recipe makes a lot, but leftovers can be divided up and frozen.

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Lentil-rice casserole

This casserole recipe is taken from Amy Dacyczyn's book The Tightwad Gazette #2. This is a standby at our house when I don't have the time or energy to make anything fancy. Just chop, measure, mix, cook and serve.

I usually double this recipe so we have lots of leftovers for Big Bad Dad to take to work and reheat.

Lentil-Rice Casserole
by Christina Parli of Springfield, Ohio

3 cups chicken broth (you can substitute vegetable broth or use water and bullion cubes)
¾ cup uncooked lentils
½ cup uncooked rice (whatever kind you have on hand, white, brown, basmati,etc.)
¾ cup chopped onion
½ tsp. basil
¼ tsp. oregano
¼ tsp. thyme
¼ tsp. garlic powder

Blend all together in a casserole dish. Bake, covered for 1½ hours at 300 degrees. Serve with some grated cheddar cheese sprinkled on top.

Amy writes that you can cook this in your crockpot, although I've never tried that method.

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