Oh and let’s play “Did You Know That…?” because I have some
fun facts of the day to share with you.
Stress Causes:
1. Frequent headaches, jaw clenching or pain
2. Neck ache, back pain and muscle spasms
3. Difficulty breathing
4. Chest pain and palpitations
5. Increased anger, frustration and hostility
6. Depression and frequent or wild mood swings
7. Increased appetite
8. Rashes, itching and hives
9. Difficulty concentrating
10. Social withdrawal and isolation
For more information you can visit the American Institute of
Stress online at: http://www.stress.org/topic-effects.htm
Anyway, back to my stress outlets. I have several such as
massages, manis and pedis, shopping, exercise, and cooking. Last night to find
a little relief from the pressures, I decided to take a little trip to Italy…
well maybe not all the way to Italy, but I at least made some delicious and yes
even healthy Italian food. I know you’re wondering how on earth Italian food
can be healthy. But here’s the deal, I’ve been collecting recipes that I want
to try out and am reinventing them by substituting ingredients to make my
dishes healthier. Last night I made Chicken Bruschetta Pasta, Baked Mozzarella
& Parmesan Tomatoes, and Zuccini Fries. Now because my boyfriend doesn’t
love the taste of “healthy cardboard food” I am trying to be really inventive
to keep my dishes healthy, but cram them full of bold flavors. Last night our
dinner was good for us and he even agreed that the taste was great too!
The Full Meal
Now, onto the part you actually care about. THE RECIPES!
Chicken Bruschetta Pasta
Ingredients:
1½ Chicken
Breast Tenderloin (cut into small chunks)
2tbs Fat Free
Sour Cream
4 Cloves
Garlic (minced)
2 Yellow
Squash (cut into ribbons)
12oz Whole
Wheat Rigatoni Noodles
2tbs Olive Oil
1 Red
Bell Pepper (sliced thin)
1c Water (for cream sauce)
1/2tbs Chicken
Base
1½c Skim or
1% Milk
1tsp Basil
2 Light
Garlic & Herb Spreadable Cheese (use 2 full containers of the cheese wedges)
3tbs All
Purpose Flour
2tbs Fresh
Parsley (chopped fine)
Directions:
Chicken Mixture: Drizzle olive oil in hot skillet, add
minced garlic and chicken. Cook until done.
Add red bell pepper slices and about 1/4c of water to mix. Cover with
lid to let peppers steam. When most of
water has cooked out, remove lid and turn up heat to get additional sear on
chicken and peppers.
Noodle Mixture: Take yellow squash and create ribbons by
peeling with potato peeler. Set aside. Boil noodles as directed. When noodles
are almost fully cooked, add squash ribbons and continue to boil for about 30
seconds. Immediately remove from heat, drain and run cool water over noodle
mixture to keep from over cooking.
So I know at this point you are probably wondering what I’m
doing with this spreadable cheese… yep, it’s going into the sauce. I used the
Happy Farms brand that I bought at Aldi (an awesome, super cheap grocery store in
OKC, if you don’t shop there, start!) rather than the well-known Laughing Cow brand
because it is less than half the price, tastes just as good and well, I’m just
not afraid of buying off-brands.
Cream Sauce: In a medium size pot bring your water to a
boil and then add chicken base. You can also sub the water and base for 1/2c of
fat free chicken stock. Once the base has dissolved add containers of cheese
wedges (take them out of the foil of course, we aren’t trying to kill people).
Add sour cream and milk to mixture. Turn down heat to medium, so you don’t
scald your milk. Start whisking like a maniac and don’t stop. You want to make
sure your cheese blends in into mixture completely. At this point your sauce will be thin and should be boiling. Continue boil for about 3-4 minutes,
stirring continuously. Then take flour in pinches and add a little at a time.
Make sure you are whisking it in really well or you will be making dough ball
sauce. Continue adding flour until you reach your desired consistency (you may
use less or more depending on how thick you want your sauce).
Add all ingredients together (heat of sauce should warm
noodles) and put in a pretty serving dish because pretty things are better and
you will feel better about your meal. Garnish with parsley and serve.
For the original recipe, please go to: http://www.bhg.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=R160137
Zucchini Fries – I love these little guys!
Ingredients:
2 Large
Zucchini (sliced sticks)
3 Large
eggs (beaten)
3tbs Flour
1c Whole
Wheat Bread Crumbs
2tbs Parmesan
Cheese (grated)
1/4tsp Garlic
Powder
Salt
& Pepper to taste
Directions:
Cut zucchini into sticks. I know, I know, how the heck
are you supposed to do that? I found that the easiest way was to stand my
zucchini on its end (after you cut the ends off) and slice it evenly into 4 long
strips about 1/2” wide. Then take those strips and slice them longwise into 3
smaller strips, then cut in half. You should end up with about 48 sticks total.
Preheat oven to 425*. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
In a small bowl, beat eggs with fork until frothy. In another bowl place flour, and in a third bowl place your bread crumbs (I used Italian). Toss breadcrumbs with garlic, parmesan, salt and pepper.
Dip zucchini sticks into flour and then your egg (make
sure fully coated). The original recipe said to dip them into bread crumbs and
then place them on your pan. But that was taking FOREVER! So since my boyfriend
has a love for fried chicken and therefore knows a lot about Shake N Bake, he
told me to put my bread crumbs in a bag and just throw a bunch of my egg and
flour-laden zucchini sticks in it and shake it all around. He’s really smart.
The trick saved me A LOT of time! Then I placed them on the pan and baked them
for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, turn the heat to broil for a couple minutes
to give them a nice crunch.
For the original recipe, please visit: http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2011/05/baked-zucchini-fries.html
Baked Mozzarella & Parmesan Tomatoes
Ingredients:
4 Tomatoes
(slice horizontally)
1/4c Mozzarella
Cheese (finely grated)
1/8c Parmesan
Cheese (freshly grated)
1tsp Fresh
Oregano (chopped fine)
4tsp Extra
Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
& Pepper to Taste)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450*. Place tomatoes on baking sheet, top
with chesses, then herbs, and lastly olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes until
tender and then turn up heat to broil for about 3 minutes to finish them off.
Remove from heat and serve.
You can find the original recipe here: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/baked_parmesan_tomatoes.html
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