Made Over Stromboli

Every time I make this slimmed down favorite, I think of my cousin, Krista. We lived together for a summer and this was her favorite! She now has made her own tweaks to this and cooks it all the time...Enjoy!

Quick Stromboli:

Source: adapted from Dieter's Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 - 16oz. loaf frozen wheat or white bread, thawed- Located in the freezer section. I use Rhodes frozen bread and it comes three loaves to a package.

8 oz thinkly sliced lean ham

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella chees

Chopped onions

Chopped bell pepper

Sliced green/black olives

1. Line a large cookie sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray and set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll bread dough to a 15x8 rectangle. (if dough is difficult to roll out, cover with a towel and let rest a few minutes)

2. Top dough rectangle with ham to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Top ham with whatever toppings you like! Olives, onions, bell pepper, mozarella cheese and for an added kick...red pepper flakes. Brush edges with water.

3. On the long end, start rolling up. Pinch ends and tuck under. Place, seam side down, on the cookie sheet. Brush surface with milk. Using a sharp knife, make shallow cuts diagonally at 2-inch intervals along the top to allow steam to escape. If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese (this adds absolutely no taste, just for looks)

4. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until brown. (If necessary, cover loosely with foil after 20 minutes of baking to prevent over browning. )

Technically it serves 8 with two slices per person, but we normally only get 4 servings out of it

*Note: Read the directions on the dough package for defrosting times and suggestions. This is a great Sunday meal or a plan ahead week night meal. The bread needs some time to do it's thing. Serve a side salad because the bread in this has some calories so you want to add "free" items. I like to dip mine in yellow mustard and sometimes a little Ranch. I've also tried this with sliced turkey instead of the ham, have added turkey pepperoni and didn't have mozarella so I just used the blend of cheese...all with great success.

Crazy Food Combinations....

Everyone knows the regular combinations:

• Spaghetti and meatballs
• Oil and Vinegar
• Mashed potatoes and gravy
• Bread and butter
• Fish and Chips (the English variety of course)
• Peanut butter and jelly
• Pizza and beer

But have you heard of these??

• Salt on watermelon (I think more of a southern tradition)
• Cottage cheese and tomatoes
• Ketchup on Doritos
• Pretzels and Carmel with vanilla ice cream

And some new ones I learned about just this week....

• Salt on nectarines
• Peanuts in soda
• Chili powder and fresh lime juice sprinkled on watermelon

Let me leave you with an interesting challenge that was placed before me at my Weight Watchers meeting tonight....look through the produce aisle at your local grocer and pick a vegetable you have never tried before. Research how to cook and prepare and give it a try!

Happy eating from your Everyday Cook

Salmon Foil Pack

Ok, this isn't really a "pack" like the turkey foil pack...but it's in foil and there's more than one ingredient. So here it goes!

Salmon fillet

Feta Cheese

Ranch Dressing

Cooked bacon- chopped up. About one piece per pack

Directions:

Put fillet on foil. Drizzle ranch dressing on top....do not drench! Sprinkle crumbled cheese on top and then the crumbled bacon. Fold in the sides like you see in the picture and grill for 10 min. I'm sorry I don't have measurements for the ranch and feta...just use your best judgement and enjoy! I served this with some steamed asparagus and farm fresh tomatoes. You have to remember salmon is a fatty fish so you really need to pair it with things that don't add to many more calories to your dinner. Albeit a good fat...it's still fat and to much of a good thing isn't always so good.

A little about salmon....

Wild salmon and farm raised salmon are two very different animals. It's much harder to find wild salmon but worth it when you do. The farm raised variety doesn't produce nearly as much Omega 3's as the wild variety does and the fat in farm raised is completely different from wild. Farm raised contains a much higher proportion of inflammatory omega 6s, a fat that we already consume far too much of.

The benefits and why we need to eat our Omega 3's.....there really is so much to say about this wonderful fat I am going to resort to bullet points for the quick and easy version.

• omega 3's are being studied for their positive effects on depression, behavior, thinking and feeling.
• They have a significant effect on the developing brain of a human fetus. Fish really is brain food!
• They are an anti-inflammatory, help lower blood pressure, act as a blood thinner, prevent blood cells from sticking together (blood clots can be the cause of heart attacks and strokes), improve brain function, memory, skin health and kidney function.
• Can improve cardiovascular health as well as immune function.
• Also a good source of vitamin B, A, and D

Need I say more!! Eat more salmon....or at least give it a try if you're not a big fish eater.

"Foil Packs"

Turkey Foil Packs...a staple at our house

Ingredients: for one pack

1/4 lb turkey

1/2 chunked onion

1 cup chunked butternut squash

mushrooms

Directions: place the ground turkey patty on the foil. Top with squash, onions, mushrooms and sprinkle with seasoned salt. Fold in three of the four sides and add 2 Tbl of water. Close in fourth side and put on med heat grill for 20-25 min.

Feel free to make this your own with different veggies. I had some yellow squash from the farmer's market and added it to the pack above. My brother in law loves sliced potatoes in his. If you use potato or rice, add more water.

The great debate of ground turkey vs. ground beef. We always use 93/7 ground turkey and have never used ground beef in the foil packs. We just like the taste but it is also MUCH cheaper than ground beef. While I was at Wal-Mart today....I took a look at the beef so I could inform you of the real difference. Here's how the two sized up against each other:

93/7 beef- 170 cals, 8 g fat, $3.18 per lb., 4 points if you counting

93/7 turkey- 160 cals, 8 g fat, $2.12 per lb., again...4 points

new find I had never seen....96/4 beef- 130 cals, 4 g fat, $3.78 per lb., 3 points

I'm interested to see this new beef in cooking action so I might give it a try next time we are having burgers. But if you have never tried ground turkey, give it a shot....you never know, you may like it.

Butternut Squash: My good friend Lindsey introduced me to this wonderful vegetable and I cook with it all year long. Technically, it's a winter squash so it carries 1 pt per cup but you can find it year round. They are a little tough to handle. I suggest using a vegetable peeler to peel the skin. Then use a large sharp knife to cut the squash into circles...from there, cut it into chunks. There are seeds at the very end much like a pumpkin seed. Just use a spoon to scrape them out. Again, if you've never had it...give it a shot!

Remember...."not a crumb left" on my table

Fajitas

Ingredients: for 2-3 people

1 chicken breast

2 bell peppers (sliced)- green, orange, red...whatever you have

2 onions- sliced

1/2 cup soy sauce- if you have reduced sodium..use that

1/2 red wine vinegar

2 Tbls Karo Syrup (light in color)

Cut everything up and put in a ziploc bag. Pour in the soy sauce, red wine vinegar and syrup. Mix it up in the bag and let sit for 15-30 min.

Put all into a large skillet and cook until done! Yes, it's that easy and super good and good for you.

Additions:

*We normally use "La Bandarita" tortillas either the white fat free or the wheat low carbs. Those are the best that I have found so far.

*Top with fat free or low fat sour cream, tomatoes, salsa, lettuce and a little bit of guacamole if you like.

*If you're cooking for more people...just add more veggies and another chicken breast! When I've cooked this for more or just made extras for the week, I've put chicken in one bag and veggies in another. I also cook it in two separate skillets.

*You can cut up all your veggies the night before and have those ready to add the chicken and marinade to.

Happy Eating!

must haves in the kitchen

These are a few items I ALWAYS have in my kitchen...if you don't have some of them, buy slowly to not wreck your food budget.

Soy Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Egg beaters or any kind of egg substitute
Ground Turkey- I like the 93/7 1lb rolls. I normally cut them in half and freeze them. Perfect portion for two people.
Vinegar- red wine, apple and balsamic
Taco Seasoning
Salsa
Spray PAM
Honey
Minced Garlic
Uncle Ben's 90 second rice packs
Canned green beans, asparagus, spinach and collard greens-- Don't be afraid to try something new!
Low cal/low fat tortillas- don't buy them unless they have 100 calories or less. My favorite are "La Banderita"
Different types of marinades
Ground Cumin

Veggie Dip

Every party needs a good veggie tray and I normally get lots of compliments on this one....feel free to make it your own with variations you may like.

Ranch Veggie Dip:

1 envelope ranch dip

16 oz sour cream

1/4 c bacon bits

Mix all together and chill! Serve with your favorite veggies.

*I always use half fat free and half light sour cream instead of the full fat stuff. Imitation bacon bits seem to work the best.

*On this tray, I used carrots, cauliflower, green peas (found by the bagged lettuce) and small tri-colored bell peppers.

*My husband has also been known to use this on baked potatoes and it's quite good!