Okay girls, you're getting your money's worth on this post.I am one of those people who will eat a specific food for several weeks in a row and then change to something else. For example, I may spend a couple of weeks eating almost nothing but omelettes, then get a craving for chicken and rice and not eat another omelette for a year. I have been through many of these phases - ham sandwiches, brown rice and veggies, grilled cheese, scrambled eggs, ceasar salad, chipotle pasta, yogurt, tortilla soup, you name it. For the past few weeks it has been Carribean rice with crab but I think I've moved on.
I was given a jar of homemade strawberry-rhubarb preserves a couple of weeks ago and have been on an English muffin kick for about a week now as a result. Now, there are certain things which you should never turn down if they're homemade. Tortillas, peach cobbler, salsa, and gumbo all come to mind. Preserves fit squarely in that category as well. If someone loves you enough to share something that much trouble to make, I think you should count your lucky stars to have that person in your life. But now is not the time for me to start backsliding. I need to get over these English muffins (slathered with the strawberry-rhubarb yumminess) and I need to do it quickly, before the scales start moving in the wrong direction.
So please, share your favorite WAIWMIWLI dishes with me. I promise to try each one and hopefully find something else to help break this latest food fixation.
But I'm not going to just take and not give anything in return. Below is my Mango Salsa recipe - very easy with a food processor - which is great on fish and chicken (especially in the summer) and as a salad dressing. Who needs tortilla chips?
Mango Summer Salsa2 large tomatoes, chopped (food processor)
1 ripe mango, peeled, seeded and chopped (food processor)
2 kiwi fruits, pelled and chopped (you guessed it, food processor)
1/2 c. chopped red bell pepper (I tried this in the food processor but it doesn't work. Sigh. It has to be chopped by hand)
1/2 c. chopped yellow bell pepper
1/2 c. green bell pepper
1/4 c. chopped red onion (food processor)
1 tomatillo, husked and diced (food processor)
1/4 c. cilantro (food processor)
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 jalapeno, cored, seeded and diced (be careful with your hands)
I have an aunt who makes this all by hand, chopping and dicing forever. I shamelessly cheat, doing everything separately in the food processor and then transferring it to the salsa bowl. It comes out sweet and tangy and, as you can see, is really not bad for you. It was my food of the week - over spinach salad - before the Carribean rice.
(It's also probably worth it to note that I don't like mangoes but I love this salsa. Don't let them scare you off. Also, you're supposed to put some pepper in there but since I'm allergic to black pepper I leave it out of the recipe. Do with this information as you wish.)
And now that I have ante'd up, does anyone have any suggestions for my next food of the moment? I have to kick this English muffin habit I'm developing before it gets the best of me.
7 comments:
My food of the moment is grilled chicken tacos...
I buy the pre-cooked grilled chicken strips by Tyson. I heat them in the microwave for 90 seconds, while they are heating, I spray 2 corn tortillas with cooking oil spray and salt and pepper them, putting them under the broiler to crisp up.
Then I put on whatever sounds good: sour cream, cheese, salsa, guacamole, and now your mango salsa would be perfect, too.
You can also use these strips for a bbq chicen salad.
Cook the strips, put them on a bed of your favorite lettuce, then put bbq sauce on the chicken. Add black beans, a bit of cheese, a sliced avacodo, some diced tomatoes and some type of onion. Then dress with a bit of ranch.
These strips are great to have around!
And about your preserves, why not buy some plain yogurt and stir them in for a healthy snack? Or stir them into a bowl of oatmeal instead of the english muffin. Or buy whole grain muffins and tell the guilty feelings to buzz off, baby!
Jules
Jules is right. Those Tyson seasoned chicken strips are fantastic! I eat them all of the time in a salad . It is quite simply a garden salad with some diced up bell red pepper, about 4 or 5 stalks of steams asparagus, sliced up, and my very favorite salad dressing which is Newman's Own light honey mustard. Oh yum! That particular dressing is outstanding with chicken breast strips.
Jules had a good idea too about putting those preserves in some yogurt, or on a whole grain muffin. The white bread is so bad for you, and SOOOO addictive!
Kristina
Okay, I have to confess: they're whole-grain English muffins from Central Market. Not just your not-so-good pre-packaged off the supermarket shelf English muffins. But I find myself eating them pretty much three meals per day. I may have to bring the preserves to the office and let every one else get rid of them for me.
Thanks for the chicken strip idea. One question, though: are they frozen? (More precisely, where would I find them in the market)?
Frozen
Your salsa sounds wonderful - can't wait to try it. I don't vary my breakfast or lunch much. Sometimes it is just laziness. It's easy to eat the same thing and know what the points are. Usually it's a high fiber cereal for breakfast and low fat cottage cheese and fruit for lunch. I love sandwiches but all that bread is a no-no. I do eat salad when I have time to make it. It's not really that I don't have time it's more like "I'M HUNGRY NOW!!!!" If I wait too long and get that hungry I'm libel to just start dipping into the peanut butter with a spoon or melting cheese over tortilla chips. A better thing to do would be to cook up a pot of healthy soup and just warm it up. I just got a receipe from Weight Watchers for One-Point Chili.
10 oz extra-lean ground turkey breast
1 medium onion, diced
2 (28-oz) cans diced tomatoes
2 medium zucchini, diced
2 medium yellow squash, diced
1 (15 oz) can black beans
1 (15 oz) cans fat-free, reduced sodium beef broth
4 celery stalks, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
1 (1 1/4 oz_ package dry chili seasonings
Cook the turkey and onion until browned. Transfer to a large soup pot and add remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook aprox. 20 minutes.
Serves 20
I haven't actually tried it yet but it sounds good.
I wish I could record my Weight Watcher meetings. They have great sayings, ideas, catch phrases, poems and stories. I would love to pass some of them on but by the time I get home I can't remember anything. Maybe I will start taking notes.
I love the idea of sharing receipes.
Lisa-I find them at Tom THumb back by the meat counter. Ask the butcher, he will help you find them. I don't know if they sell them at Central Market but their already grilled chicken breasts that they sell by in the restaurant area cut up would do the same thing.
Thanks Jules and Kristina for the taco idea (and thanks Amy for letting me know where to find the chicken). Jodie, the chili recipe sounds really good and I think I'll try it...and let you know how it works out!
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