15 Minute Chili

Here is the easiest chili you’ll ever make.  And it tastes great too!  I have to apologize though because I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.  Can you believe it?!  Just trust me.  It’s good.  It’s fast.  It’s easy.  Here’s what you do:

  • 1 can chili
  • 1 can tomato soup (reduced sodium, if desired)
  • 1/2 c. ketchup
  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 1 c. whole wheat elbow macaroni
  • That’s it!  Really!

So, here’s the key to making it so fast. 

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You gotta get the whole stove working at once.  In one pot, boil your noodles.  In another pot (a big-ish one), start combining the soup, ketchup and chili.  In a pan, brown your ground beef.  Watch the beef and noodles. When they are done, drain and add to the big pot.  Heat through and you’re done!

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admin, December 11th 2009 | Tags: ,
Posted in Dinner

Layered Meatloaf

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Layered Italian Meat Loaf

 1 lb extra lean ground beef  (96/4 lean preferably)
1 8oz can tomato sauce with basil, garlic and oregano
1 egg
1/2 c. Progresso Italian style bread crumbs
1 t. garlic powder
¼ t. pepper
1 c. shredded Italian cheese blend (4 oz)
1 box (9oz) Green Giant frozen spinach, thawed, well drained

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.  In large bowl, mix ground beef, ½ c. of tomato sauce, the egg, bread crumbs, garlic powder and pepper.  Pat half of meat mixture in pan.
  2. Sprinkle ½ cup of the cheese over meat mixture.  Spread spinach over cheese; sprinkle with remaining ½ c. cheese.  Pat remaining meat mixture on top of cheese.  Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in center of loaf, if desired.
  3. Bake uncovered 1 hour to 1 hour 15 min or until thoroughly cooked in center and thermometer reads 160 degrees.  Run knife around edges of pan.  Place serving platter upside down over pan;  turn platter and pan over.  Remove pan.
  4. In small microwavable bowl, microwave remaining tomato sauce, loosely covered, 30-60 seconds or until hot, pour over top of meat loaf.

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admin, September 25th 2009 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Dinner

Rotel Taco Salad

(One of the reasons I have this blog is to categorize my favorite healthy meals so if I’m at a loss I just hop on here and open up the category I’m looking for and, wala!  I have options!  So even though I’m doing a little food journaling stint I will still “feature” one recipe per day.  Just an fyi.)

Today the kids were still at Grandma’s so I got so sleep in until 8:30!  Wow, did it feel good.  Aubrey and I went for a 30 min walk/jog/run with moderate intervals.  After the workout I had this for breakfast:

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It was so good!  I’ll call it a Mexican Breakfast Scramble.  I’ll feature this soon.  There were eggs, peppers, turkey sausage and kidney beans.  Holy Yummy.

I went back and forth about whether I should be productive or relax while the kids were gone.  I decided to relax.  So after Aubrey’s nap I laid on the couch for a while played with my new Blackberry.  I had to get a dataplan but I’m not sure if I’ll be keeping it so I played around with some different applications.  It was so nice to just be by myself and not constantly needed!!

Lunch was:

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This lovely snack from yesterday plus some more peanut butter.  When I cut out breads and treats I turn to peanut butter.  But it’s homemade natural nut butter so it’s all good.

After lunch the kids came back and we headed to the pool for a few.  We had a ton of fun in the sun. 

After pool snack was some more tofu pudding.  This time it was chocolate peanut butter.  I think I like the chocolate banana better actually.

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Sorry that the picture was taken after I had eaten most of it!  I am planning on making this pudding for dessert on sunday for the whole family!  So, I’m trying to perfect it so that it is even tasty for total anti tofu-ers.

Dinner was really good.  I basically just used up things I had on hand and it turned out fab!

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I just browned some extra lean ground beef.  Then I added some Lime and Cilantro Rotel, kidney beans and peppers.  I stirred in 2 T. guacamole into this mixture and plopped it all on a salad!  It was so good!

For Brandon’s I did the same thing with the meat mixture but I put it on some rice and topped it with guacamole and big tomato slices.  He loved it!  The kids had kidney beans and rice.  The meat was pretty spicy.  That’s how I took my healthy meal and turned it into something the whole family would love!

For dessert I had a frozen fruit cup (only fruit, nothing added) with a little plain yogurt and some chopped walnuts.

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I’m about to head off to workout number two for today.  It will be 20 minutes of something.  Not sure what.  I guess it depends on how hot it is.  We shall see.

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admin, July 17th 2009 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Dinner

Creamy Spaghetti

Ok, so this isn’t the dinner we had last night that I’ve been teasing you about…  It’s been a crazy day and I haven’t had a chance to get those pictures off my camera just yet.  Maybe tomorrow?  Instead I’m throwing a dinner at you we had a little while back that I haven’t posted yet.  It is SO GOOD and my husband still talks about “that yummy spaghetti”.  Here you are:

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You’ve probobly heard that in the health/diet world creamy sauce is a no-no, right?  Well, not this sauce!  It is great for you and really good.  I’ll explain how to make the sauce and then I’ll tell you the little tweak I gave my spaghetti to make it even healthier!

Creamy Spaghetti Sauce

  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 lb extra lean ground beef or ground turkey (I used 96/4 lean ground beef for mine)
  • 1-2 c. premade spaghetti sauce
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1/4 cup fat free Italian Salad Dressing
  • 3 T. low fat cream cheese
  • 1 t. dried basil
  • 1 t. Italian Seasoning

Saute onions in a large skillet on medium heat.  Add meat and cook until cooked through, stirring often.  Drain grease.  Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in cream cheese, seasonings and Italian salad dressing.  Serve over hot noodles.  Garnish with parmesan cheese, if desired. 

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Above is a picture of the sauce.  This sauce is so good, you’d have no idea it’s so healthy.  My family loved it and Brandon went on and on about how it was the best spaghetti sauce he’s ever had! 

With my dish, I cooked about 100 calories worth of whole wheat angel hair pasta.  Then I topped it with 1/2 cup cottage cheese.  I put the sauce on top of that.  I served with veggies on the side but I stirred them into my spaghetti.  It was really good with the cottage cheese.  It tasted just like lasagna!

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Aubrey had a helmet appointment.  Her head has gotten better by another 2 cm so that’s good news.  They still haven’t heard from the insurance and that’s just so-so news.  I really hope we don’t have to pay for the whole helmet!  Ah!  They’re super pricey. 

I’m trying to think of what we can do tonight as a family to be active.  If I haven’t mentioned before, I’m moving into a weight maintenence phase for a while.  I dieted for about 5 months and lost most of my baby weight (the weight is pre preggo but the measurements aren’t quite there).  I just need a break.  I want to get to know my body and be able to read it’s cues and eat more intuitively.  That’s the project I’m working on for the next at least few weeks.  We’ll see how it goes.  Then I’ll probobly take another 4-6 weeks and try and drop another 5 pounds and see if I can happily maintain there.  That’s the big picture.  Anyway, I want to be more active (as if I’m not already… did you see that to do list?!).  I want to go on  walks in the evening, family bike rides, things like that since it’s getting warmer.  We did that  a lot last summer and I’m excited to start back up.  I’m thinking we’ll go to the park and play t-ball/softball.  We’ll see. 

I just made a great veggie drink full of kiwi, avocado, spinach, red bell pepper and cucumber.  It was fabulous.  Dinner tonight is oriental chicken salad.  That one I’ll be featuring soon.  :-)

I’m off to pick up the upstairs before Brandon gets home!  Have a great night!

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admin, May 5th 2009 | Tags: ,
Posted in Dinner

Rogo – My mom’s creation

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For as long as I can remember my mom has made a dish we call “Rogo”.  I’m not sure how it got the name, but, boy is it yummy! 

You start with cooking some lean ground beef in a pan and some rice in a rice cooker.  When those are both cooked, combine the beef and rice in the pan and melt cheese over the top.

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Meanwhile in a separate bowl make a big salad with lettuce, cucumber, radishes and tomatos.  Cut up avocado.

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Put some of the beef and rice mixture in your bowl and top with salad and avocado.  You can then top with either ketchup, salsa or ranch.  Or my personal favorite is salsa AND ranch.  The rest of the family goes on to top with crushed fritos but I’ve been skipping this step lately.  And that my friends is “rogo”.

I have a question for you all.  Have any of you ever seen this dish but called by a different name?  I’m just curious if it really is an original or not.

In my world today:

This week is assessment week for my boot camp that starts next week.  That means I have hours and hours of work to do.  But it will be a ton of fun!  I am really excited about it.  I’m trying to brain storm other places/ideas for boot camps.  I live close to Provo, UT, aka the marriage capitol of the world.  I’m toying with the idea of doing a “Bridal Boot Camp”.  I’m brainstorming dates, times, places, etc.  I’ll keep you guys posted on what happens.

Guess what I did to my hair Saturday:

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Do you love it?!?!  I do!  I have always loved red hair and I finally took the plunge! 

Other news, Brandon’s in park city.  He’s staying at some super fancy place (for a work conference).  His room has a fireplace, big ol’ jetted tub, four poster bed, parade of homes style decor, etc.  I was supposed to go with him tonight but his boss is being stingy and won’t let me come to dinner with them and won’t let Brandon get out of going to dinner with the clients.  (So what if it’s $70 a plate and they already paid? ;-)   )  I am sad I can’t go hang out up there with him.  Oh well.  He’ll be back on Tuesday night, just in time for me to start assessment week insanity! 

That’s about all going on here.  Typical to-do’s for the day.  Nothing too special. 

Question of the day:  What is the craziest thing (cut/color) you’ve ever done to your hair?  (I’m trying to encourage comments here so please join in on the question of the day!)

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admin, April 27th 2009 | Tags: , ,
Posted in Dinner