Cowboy Caviar

My friend Michelle invited me over for dinner this past weekend. She served a truly delicious dish! It was a salsa- like creation, made with corn, black beans, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, olive oil, lime and a little jalpeno pepper. I haven't asked for the recipe yet, but I liked it so much, that I searched for something similar online. It's not quite like the one I had, but it was pretty close. Something is missing, though I can't put my finger on it.... Here is my recipe, and it is addictive! It's pretty good for you, except for the tortilla chips! Unfortunately those make the dish!

I'm going to have to make this when we have company coming over, or expand my willpower! We had it over taco salads tonight, and I think it would be a great flavor-booster to just plain old grilled chicken over a bed of lettuce.

1 bag 14 oz frozen birds eye sweet corn (thawed)
2 cans of Goya black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 small red onion diced small
1 red pepper diced small
1 small tomato diced small
1 bunch of cilantro chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper seeds removed. (be careful and make sure you wash your hands after working with jalapeno peppers.)
1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
1 TBSP EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) or to taste.

Mix all ingredients together in bowl. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours. I read that the black beans absorb a lot of the flavor, so this is good after it has set in the fridge for a while.

Note: I mistakenly used diced canned tomatoes, and fresh are sooo much better. I knew this was one area that the recipe I created was "off". So make sure you use a fresh tomato. I think also I might add a little minced garlic in there as well.

Recipe Re-do

Today I bought some Jenny-O ground turkey at Publix. We use this in place of ground beef in chili and spaghetti sauce. It is a much healthier option for us, and the sauce can mask the taste of the turkey for my beef lovers.

We've been working for much of the day on organizing our master closet, so my goal was a quick and easy dinner. Spaghetti and salad. I am trying to lower my sodium intake for many reasons that I won't go into now. Just suffice it to say, I am limiting sodium and some bad carbs... (like yummy fresh baked bread).

As I was browning the turkey and boiling the pasta, I had a chance to look at my favorite pasta sauce and it's sodium content. Paul Newman's Cabernet Marinara sauce. One half cup of this contains 590 mg of sodium. Yikes!! That combined with the pasta would have put me way up for the day. Fortunately last week I bought some Hunt's unsalted tomato sauce on sale at Publix. A small 8oz can has 70mg.

So I put some ground turkey in a small pot and poured in the unsalted sauce. Then I went to my spice rack and began doctoring my own version of spaghetti sauce with garlic powder, oregano, basil and lemon pepper. The finished product was quite good, and I got to enjoy pasta with my family, without the worry of all the extra sodium. Best part is I only used 1/2 the sauce or 35mg of sodium, and I have leftovers for tomorrow!

Pasta is a staple here at our house, so this will be a great way for me to stay on my healthier eating plan, without cooking a completely separate meal. That works for me!

Grilled Kabobs- A Great Summer Meal

Now that summer is just about here, I'm trying to think of easy meals that are also healthy for our family. Last week my husband and I fixed some beef tip kabobs. They were delicious! So, this week I opted for the somewhat healthier chicken. I personally liked the beef better. Whatever you choose, chicken or beef, red peppers, green peppers, onions, and pineapple....all on a skewer. It makes a fantastic meal! Serve it plain or with a some rice. Yummo!

Recipe- Colorful Chicken Stew

This is a fantastic recipe that I have been making since about 2001. Let me preface this blog post with this disclaimer: I did not come up with this recipe! (I'm not a very good cook). I got this recipe from a friend Stacy- via the net back in '01. It is still in my recipe box, written on the tattered piece of paper I wrote it on 7 years ago. So today I did a search on the recipe name, and low and behold I found at least 10 web addresses listing the recipe, and submitted by different people each time! So, I'll just say, if you want to do a search yourself great....I'm definitely not taking credit for the recipe, but can't say that there is any one person to give the credit to either! lol!

Now back to this delicious, healthy chicken stew. I made this a lot when we were living in New York. The stew is hearty and warm, perfect for the cold months up there. It's still chilly here in the south, and I'm sure Spring is a few months away up north, so try this recipe! It makes enough for a family of 4-6, with leftovers to bring for lunch at work, or to have later in the week. When I was doing Weight Watchers, I calculated 1 cup of the stew to equal 2 points. So a 2 cup lunch is a very low 4 points!! The best thing about this recipe, is that it is made in the slow cooker! Just pop in the ingredients and come home to a wonderful meal!

Colorful Chicken Stew

1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
1 can (14 1/2 oz) Italian diced tomatoes, undrained
2 medium potatoes, peeled & cut into 1/2 inch cubes
5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into circles
3 celery ribs - chopped-diced
1 large onion- chopped
1 medium green pepper- chopped, diced
2 low sodium chicken bouillon cubes (we use no MSG)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1 TBSP cornstarch
2 cups cold water

In slow cooker, combine first 12 ingredients. In small bowl, combine cornstarch & water until smooth. Stir into chicken mixture. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until vegetables are tender. Enjoy!