This Mama Cooks! On a Diet

Summer salads: Holly Clegg's Marinated Shrimp Edamame Salad

Summer has finally arrived in Colorado, meaning it’s hot and the AC and fans are most of the day. In this heat, the last thing I want to do is cook. Actually, I want to lie down next to one of the vents and read books all day. (I’m not good in the heat.) So finding easy to make, healthy salads – and sharing them with you - is my mission this week. 

My first choice comes from Holly Clegg. I’m a big fan of her freezer meal bible, Holly Clegg's Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals. She personally sent me a few of her cookbooks, including her latest KIDS COOKING for Mommies, which encourages parents and children to cook together. Love it, but I wish it had pictures and an index, too.

However, the book that really intrigued me was Holly Clegg's Trim & Terrific Gulf Coast Favorites. I lust after Cajun and southern cooking – but don’t like it’s high fat content. (Justin Wilson anyone? Love him! Only he could make pork stuffed pork.) Instead, Holly uses her usual culinary magic to create every day dishes that are healthy and delicious. Each recipe comes with full nutritional info including diabetic exchanges. Trim & Terrific Gulf Coast Favorites also features vegetarian and freezer friendly make-ahead recipes and menus.

Shrimp and edamame are always in my freezer and wasabi paste is always in the fridge, so this salad is first on my list after I get more cherry tomatoes from Costco. The ones I bought last week have magically disappeared. (Burp.)

Food on a stick week: Grilled Shrimp and Scallop Kabobs

Last week I was tweeting with my friend Michelle Lamar, also known as White Trash Mom, that food on a stick like the kind you get at carnivals and country fairs is the ultimate in white trash cuisine.

Well, food on a stick doesn’t have to be fried and unhealthy. It can be fun, low in Weight Watchers POINTS, and nutritious. So this week, I’ll be sharing some delicious “food on a stick” ideas with you.

Our first food on a stick recipe with shrimp, scallops and vegetables, comes from eatbetteramerica.com, a handy online source for healthy recipes (complete with nutritional info) from the folks at General Mills in partnership with Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition and Rodale.

Mother's Day dishes: Sautéed Tequila Lime Shrimp Tacos with Mango and Pineapple Salsa and Spicy Black Beans

Our first dish for Mother’s Day comes from the new Lifetime Television show, Cook Yourself Thin, that premiered today. (Read my review of the premier episode of Cook Yourself Thin.)

Cook Yourself Thin teaches viewers how to take their favorite indulgent meals and turn them into something healthy by cutting the calories and doubling the flavor. The companion cookbook, Cook Yourself Thin: Skinny Meals You Can Make in Minutes would make a wonderful Mother’s Day gift for any mom trying to eat healthier let alone those trying to drop some weight. The cookbook includes all of the recipes featured on the show as well as a calorie guide, a list of calorie offenders, skinny alternatives to your favorite meals, a food personality quiz and more.

My only complaint with the cookbook is that it only lists calories, not fat, fiber, sodium, etc. If you’re doing the Weight Watchers Momentum plan, you’d need to calculate each ingredient’s POINTS, then add them all up and divide by the number of servings to get your POINTS per serving info.

Recipes for dieters from The Mayo Clinic: The Essential Diabetes Book

I don’t have to tell you that the rise in obesity means that more people are becoming diabetic earlier in life. But did you know that diabetic books, cookbooks and websites are a great source of healthy recipes for anyone trying to lose weight? Diabetic recipes always contain nutritional information and are usually low in calories and fat, and high in nutrition.

Just released this week, Mayo Clinic Essential Diabetes Book from the world's first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group medical practice offers clear direction on managing diabetes. It also contains diabetes-friendly recipes that don’t compromise taste or quality. Here’s a few that are also very low in Weight Watchers POINTS.

Grilled Salmon with Sliced Cucumber and Radish
Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. salmon fillet
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• Black pepper (optional)
• 2 c. cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced
• ¾ c. thinly sliced radishes
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. vinegar
• ¼ tsp. dill weed

Directions:

1. Rub salmon with lemon juice, then oil. Sprinkle with black pepper. Cut into 8 pieces.
2. Place salmon, skin side down, onto aluminum foil that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. 
3. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Mix well and refrigerate.
4. Grill or broil at medium to high heat until salmon is flaky but still moist.(For best results use a food thermometer – the internal temperature should reach 145 degrees F.) 
5. Top each serving of fish with the cucumber and radish mixture.

Nutritional info per serving: Calories 168, Protein 23 g, Carbohydrate 1 g, Total fat 8 g, Monounsaturated fat 3 g, Cholesterol 62 mg, Sodium 54 mg, Fiber trace

Exchange list servings:

• Free food 1
• Meat and meat substitutes 3

Weight Watchers POINTS: 4

Recipes from the Campbell's Mom Blogger Event

(Congrats to Shannon of Charming Bitch who won the year’s supply of Campbell’s Chicken and Stars soup.)

Speaking of Campbell’s, the mom bloggers at the Campbell’s blog event were treated to several delicious and healthy dishes during lunch featuring one of their newest products, V8 V-Fusion juices. (Yes, V8 is a division of Campbell’s and the juices are fantastic. They're a great way to get your daily servings of fruit and veggies.)

Two of my favorite dishes were V8 V-Fusion® Pan-Seared Salmon in Peach Mango Sauce and the V8 V-Fusion® Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Açai Mixed Berry. I ended up going back for seconds on the sweet potatoes as my dessert.

V8 V-Fusion® Pan-Seared Salmon in Peach Mango Sauce
Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• vegetable cooking spray
• 4 salmon fillets, 3/4-inch thick (about 1 pound)
• 1 large red pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups V8 V-Fusion® Peach Mango
• 1 mango, peeled, seeded and chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper
• 4 cups fresh baby spinach
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 cups cooked regular brown rice

Directions:

1. Season the salmon as desired.
2. Spray a 12-inch skillet with the cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute.
3. Add the salmon, skin-side up and cook for about 5 minutes or until it's well browned.
4. Turn the salmon over and cook for 4 minutes or until it flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove the salmon from the skillet and keep it warm.
5. Add the red pepper and garlic to the skillet and cook over medium heat until the pepper is tender-crisp.
6. Stir the V8 V-Fusion, mango, honey, cornstarch, lime juice and black pepper in a small bowl.
7. Stir the V8 V-Fusion mixture and the spinach into the skillet. Cook for 2 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens. Stir in the cilantro. Serve over the salmon.
8. Serve with rice.

Notes: If you can find and afford it, buy wild caught over farm raised salmon.

Nutritional info: Calories 430, Total Fat 9g, Saturated Fat 2g, Cholesterol 56mg, Sodium 106mg, Total Carbohydrate 63g, Dietary Fiber 4g, Protein 26g.

Weight Watchers POINTS: 8

Two more recipes from the Fix-It and Enjoy-It Healthy Cookbook

I hope I’ve convinced you to check out Fix-It And Enjoy-It Healthy Cookbook: 400 Great Stove-top and Oven Recipes. They’re terrific for anyone trying to lose weight (on any plan) or just eat healthier.

Here are two more recipes from Phyllis Pellman Good's latest cookbook. Enjoy!

Basil Chicken Strips 
by Mary Fisher of Leola, PA 

Makes 4 servings 
Prep. Time: 10 minutes  Cooking Time: 10-12 minutes 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken strips 
• 4 Tbsp. flour 
• 4 Tbsp. tub-style margarine, non-hydrogenated 
• 1 clove garlic, minced, optional 
• 4 Tbsp. red wine vinegar 
• 1 tsp. dried basil 
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, optional 
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped, optional 

Directions:

1. In a large re-sealable bag, shake chicken strips in flour until coated. 
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt margarine. 
3. Add chicken, and garlic if you wish, and sauté 5 minutes. 
4. Stir in vinegar, basil, and parsley, and cilantro, if you wish. Cook until chicken juices run clear. 
5. Serve over brown or wild rice (not included in analyses). 

Nutritional information per serving:
Calories 257, Kilojoules 1075, Protein 27 g, Carbohydrates 7 g, Total Fat 13 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Monounsaturated Fat 8 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 3 g, Cholesterol 66 mg, Sodium 230 mg, Fiber none

Weight Watchers POINTS per serving: 6 POINTS

This Mama’s Tips: If you have a gluten free diet, try brown rice instead of regular flour. If you don’t like using margarine, substitute olive or another heart healthy oil instead. Try eliminating the oil altogether and cook in vegetable or low fat chicken broth instead.

Smoked tuna, fresh herbs, and squash from the garden

August is here, which means that hunting season is starting and fishing trips to Mexico have been planned by Big Bad Dad. This means making sure that most of the venison and fish have been consumed before the next harvest comes in. This isn't too hard when you have a garden full of fresh herbs and product, and a smoker on the deck set up and ready to go.

Smoked Tuna with Sauteed Summer Squash and Zucchini

This is not a specific recipe, just a record of what I did. Since there is so much room to substitute ingredient, experiment, add your favorites, and most importantly have fun.

1. Take your tuna steaks and marinade for a few hours in the refrigerator in your favorite marinade. I used a store bought fish marinade from our discount market. It was O.K. but too spicy. I would have preferred something sweeter like teriyaki sauce. I also marinade the fish in a large freezer bag, but you can do it in a non-reactive bowl.

2. Get the smoker going and smoke the fish for a couple of hours. I'm not going into how to use a propane smoker grill. There are good directions on ehow, and ezine articles. But if you have the chance to buy an inexpensive smoker grill or borrow someone's, you'll fall in love with it. They're very easy to use, and not too much of a pain to clean. The only draw back is that you have to be at home watching it a bit, unlike a crockpot. Since smoking can take a few hours, you can plan to work on the yard or sit outside reading and working on your tan while you smoke.

3. About 30 minutes before the fish is ready, chop up your squash and zucchini and some onions. My husband chopped up a couple of small onions, a very large zucchini and a big summer squash. It was so much that I had to use two pans.

4.  Heat up pan(s) add olive oil and vegetables. Sautee. Add herbs, salt, pepper, etc. to taste. I used sea salt and dried garlic seasoning from Costco. I didn't stir the veggies enough and a few browned and got a little crispy. A good accident!

5. From the garden, my husband brought in sprigs of parsley, Texas terragon, basil, and sage. I chopped up quite a bit of herbs, and wondered if I had too much. Luckily it was perfect. I'm not used to fresh herbs and don't realize that you can use a lot without overpowering the rest of the food.

Also, I couldn't find my cool herb mincer. Instead, in an act of desparation, I used my pizza slicer, which is pretty darn sharp. It was easy to roll the wheel over the herbs to chop them up.

6. With sadness, we noticed that the fish wasn't very moist. The problem with smoking things the first time is that you're never really sure if you have cooked the meat or fish enough. We should have taken it off the smoker 30 to 60 minutes earlier. Since it was dry, I flaked it over the sauteed veggies on my plate, using the juice from the veggies to revive the fish. Delicious!

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Grilled salmon in foil over a campfire

It was another weekend camping trip to Stagecoach Lake in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The truck was packed and we got on the road early. Then 30 minutes down the road we realized we forgot to bring the food. Doh!

So we stopped at a supermarket and bought another weekend’s worth of groceries. Since it was getting late and we knew traffic was going to be rough (there was an accident up ahead on I-70) we planned to get the kids fed during a potty break at the Target in Silverthorne. The grownups would eat later.

We decided to treat ourselves to a nice salmon fillet. Big Bad Dad grabbed a bottle of lemon pepper marinade. I picked out some sliced mushrooms, an onion, and a package of green, yellow and red peppers. I was going to make grilled salmon in foil with veggies.

Grilled Salmon in Foil Over a Campfire

• 1 bottle of fish marinade
  OR
• olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and dill
• 1 large salmon fillet – enough for 2 people
• veggies – peppers, onions and mushrooms
• aluminum foil
• one roaring campfire under a fire ring grill

1. Place a couple of large sheets of aluminum foil on table. Fold up the sides so the marinade doesn’t run off the sheets.
2. Place salmon fillet on top of it.
3. Cover with 1/2 bottle of marinade (I used a full bottle and it was too much).
   OR
4. Drizzle olive oil on fish to coat both sides. Season with salt, pepper and dill to your personal preference. Then squeeze the juice of one lemon over the fish.
5. Chop up veggies into slices or strips. Use enough peppers, mushrooms and onions to make a good sized side dish for one person.
6. Cover fish with veggies.
7. Carefully wrap fish in foil to make a packet. Use more foil if necessary. Cinch up the edges so the marinade doesn’t leak out.
8. Place on grill over roaring fire or hot coals.
9. Turn packet over every 10 minutes or so.
10. Depending on the size and thickness of the fish – and how hot your fire is - I would cook the fish at least 20 minutes.
11. Remove packet from grill. Carefully peel or slice it open. Remove fish and veggies and dish onto plates.

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Whether you use scallops or red snapper, ceviche is a great summer time dish

On our date to Sugarbeet I had the most marvelous ceviche. It was made with scallops, avocados, lime juice, red onions, red peppers, jalapeños (I think), and pineapple juice. It was served with a large sprig of basil for a garnish and thinly sliced, homemade potato strips (not chips). Some of the scallop slices were white and some were pink. I don’t know if that meant that some were cooked and some were raw, or if the pink ones were marinaded in something different. Either way it was marvelous!

Just by looking at it, I know that ceviche must be a low calorie dish that’s high in lean protein. And this recipe from Relishmag.com that uses red snapper instead of scallops proves it. Each serving is 4 Weight Watchers POINTS

Red Snapper and Mango Ceviche
Serves 6

If you’re worried about using raw fish, microwave it 1 minute before soaking in citrus juice.

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces red snapper filets, skinned, sliced thinly into 2-inch pieces (The ceviche I had at Sugarbeet used large scallops sliced into pieces 1/4 inch thick. You could try that or use baby scallops or cooked shrimp from your freezer section. If you use frozen scallops, I would cook them quickly and let cool – seems safer.)
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 medium jalapeños, seeded and minced
• 1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 large mangos, finely chopped (This recipe uses the mango to sweeten the dish. The ceviche at Sugarbeet used pineapple juice.)
• 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (This is a great recipe to get your daily olive oil requirement in if you’re doing Weight Watchers.)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions:

1. Combine snapper, lemon and lime juice. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Toss lightly. Serve within 1 hour.

Nutritional Information:

Per serving: 190 calories, 6g fat, 30mg chol., 16g prot., 18g carbs., 2g fiber, 530mg sodium. 4 Weight Watchers POINTS per serving.

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Strawberries aren't just for dessert

Two foods that make me think of summer are strawberries and salmon. Both are usually on sale this time of year, and both are low in Weight Watchers POINTS. 1 oz. of salmon is equal to 1 POINT and 1 cup of strawberries is 1 POINT. While salmon is a good source of Omega-3, strawberries are full of anti-oxidants and fiber.

So why not combine the two for a low POINTS, highly nutritious dinner?

Grilled Salmon with Strawberry Ginger Salsa
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 pint strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
• 4 skinless salmon filets, 6 ounces each
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Mix strawberries, onion, lime juice, ginger, and honey in small bowl. Set aside for flavors to combine.
2. Place a ridged grill pan over medium high heat. Oil salmon with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Grill 5 minutes on one side, turn, and grill 4 additional minutes. Transfer to serving platter.
4. Add basil and cilantro to strawberry mixture. Spoon over salmon.

Weight Watchers POINTS per cooked filet = 7 POINTS

Click here for more strawberry ideas...