Fervent Foodie

Zucchini Pancakes

July 26, 2010 6 Comments

Sometimes life is just about compromises. Tonight, I had a serious craving for some french fries… a big ole mound of french fries and some ketchup.. mmmmm….

In lieu of this, I opted for a big ole salad… hmm big ole salad vs. big ole mound of french fries? That’s not exactly a fair fight…

My salad consisted of:

1/2 bag fresh express romaine
2.5 ounces grilled chicken breast
1 roma tomato
1/4 cup red onion
1/4 cup white mushrooms
2 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Italian Romano dressing

Not exactly a french-fry-craving cure… but darn tasty in its own right.

Stats on the salad: 204 calories, 18g carbs, 6g fat, 17g protein, 5g fiber

To help curb my desire for some grease, I decided to try out this recipe I found for Zucchini Pancakes on Gina’s Skinny Taste blog.

Here’s what went in to my zucchini pancakes:

1 medium zucchini, shredded
1 shallot, chopped
2 tbsp chopped chives (holler at you, backyard garden 😉 )
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large egg white
2 tsp DiGiorno Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp each S&P
Sprinkling of red pepper flakes

I combined everything up, then heated up a skillet I had sprayed with some cooking spray. Using a small cookie dough scooper, I dropped 3 pancakes into the pan.

One by one:

Batch #1 Finished Products:

These tasted AWESOME. They really spoke to the onion-lover in me. Only problem was they didn’t get crispy like a traditional potato pancake. I tried several different methods, including flattening them out til they were very thin–but they just wouldn’t crisp up! Maybe it’s the whole egg that helps to get them crispy–but regardless of the texture issues the taste was yum-o.

I tried one bite with some ketchup of course:

And I tried one bite with some Frank’s red hot:

(I preferred the ketchup in this case)

The zucchini pancake “batter” made 9 of these little fritters. I ate 7 of them (I had to try one for each cooking method…. haha), and I saved two of them for breakfast tomorrow so I can see how well they heat up in the microwave.

Stats on 9 Zucchini Fritters (entire batter): 159 calories, 27g carbs, 2g fat, 11g protein, 2g fiber

Ramblings, What I ate

Planning ahead

July 26, 2010 3 Comments

When I’m busy at work, I try and do whatever I can to simplify my daily routine. Oftentimes, this involves cooking meals in “batch” so that I don’t succumb to eating fast food to compensate for not having time to cook.

This past tax season, I was really hardcore about precooking meals. Every Sunday I would set aside a couple hours and cook ALL of my meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) for the workweek ahead of time. This took a lot of planning and creativity on my part. Since FerventFoodie.com didn’t come about until after tax season, I don’t have any documentation of my meal plans. Guess we’ll have to wait til next tax season for that 😉

Breakfast #1

Last night, I decided to pre-cook a few things for the week. I threw 3 chicken breasts and 3 Jennie O’s turkey sausages on the George Foreman grill to cook up. I don’t have a plan in mind for the meat at this point — just hoping to simplify what I expect to be a very busy workweek!

I decided to use one of the turkey sausage links in an egg scramble. I whisked up 11 egg whites and 1 whole egg with a splash of water. Once in the pan, I seasoned with S&P and some Red Pepper Flakes.

When the eggs were about 1/2 way done scrambling, I added 1 chopped up turkey sausage link and a few splashes of Frank’s Red Hot.

I also roasted up 3 cups of broccoli. When I roast veggies, I typically spray a heavy coat of cooking spray on a cookie sheet, toss the veggies around on it, then add S&P (and sometimes garlic powder, onion powder, or red pepper flakes). Then, I cook in a 415 degree oven for 15 minutes.

This mix made 3 lovely portion-controlled breakfasts:

One of which I enjoyed at work this morning with a dollop o’ ketchup:

I’m glad roasted veggies taste just as good when heated up in the microwave 😀

Stats on Scramble, Broccoli, & Ketchup: 180 calories, 10g carbs, 5g fat, 24g protein, 2g fiber

Breakfast #2

Chobani strawberry greek yogurt + 1/2 cup blueberries =

I <3 Greek Yogurt

Stats on B#2: 181 calories, 31g carbs, 0g fat, 15g protein, 3g fiber

Lunch

Last month, the BF and I made some zucchini turkey burgers. Jarrod liked them so much, that he replaced the daily burger on his meal plan with a turkey burger. When I was cooking all my foods up last night, I decided to help Jarrod out and make up his turkey burgers for the week… for the low LOW fee of one burger of course 😉

Here’s what went into the turkey burgers this time:

1 package Nature’s Vally 99% Fat Free Ground Turkey Breast (about 20 ounces)
1 small zucchini, grated
1/3 cup red onion, grated
2 cloves garlic minced
Salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes

This mix made four burgers, one of which I brought with me for lunch today. I heated the burger up, then sandwiched it with a Pepperidge Farm 7 Grain Deli Flat, ketchup, mustard, tomato, and onion:

Side shot:

I also had a crap ton 2 cups of roasted cauliflower on the side:

I wish my lunches ALWAYS made me this happy!

Stats on just the turkey burger (no bun/toppings): 163 calories, 3g carbs, 2g fat, 33g protein, 0g fiber

Stats on whole lunch: 363 calories, 45g carbs, 3g fat, 44g protein, 12g fiber

Side note of the deli flats — I compared the backs of various brands and varieties of the “deli flat” style buns in the grocery store the other day. Both Pepperidge Farm and the Arnold varieties were comparable — though the Pepperidge Farm deli flats have 2 less grams of carbs and 1 more gram of protein. Not necessarily something to write home about, but I thought it was interesting nonetheless 🙂

(Screen shot taken from myfitnesspal.com)

Speaking of planning ahead, some things to look forward to in the coming months:

Healthy Living Summit in Chicago in August (shout out to my roommate Haya!)
Wedding in Columbus in September (I love weddings!)
Pittsburgh with mom/sister/brother in September
New Orleans in October
My Annual Halloween Spooktacular 😀
And the holidays….

I have a feeling the rest of this year is going to FLY. Plus, I’m hoping we can squeeze in another trip to Charlotte before year-end….

Recipes

Stuffed Zucchini

July 25, 2010 5 Comments

I saw this recipe for Turkey Stuffed Zucchini on the Skinny Taste website a while back, and have been wanting to try it out since then. Tonight was the night!

First, I sliced 2 large zucchini in half lengthwise, and then scooped out most of the innards (I hate the word “flesh” in reference to foods, so I choose “innards” instead 😉 ):

Then I chopped up the zucchini bits I had scooped out and set them aside.

Meanwhile I sprayed a pan with cooking spray, and once the pan was warm I added:

1/2 white onion, chopped
3 gloves garlic, minced
10 sprays parkay butter spray (yes, I actually counted them out 😉 )

When the onions were translucent, I added the chopped up zucchini bits, seasoned everything with some salt, and cooked about 3 more minutes.

Next, I added a splash of white wine . I’m not a white wine drinker, so I went with the only white I had on hand — charles shaw chardonnay — AKA two-buck-chuck 🙂

When the wine was mostly evaporated, I added:

1/2 a package (about 10 ounces) of 99% fat free ground turkey breast
a healthy sprinklin of Red Pepper Flake & S
a light sprinklin of cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp each of garlic powder, paprika, and marjoram

After the turkey was cooked through, I put the mixture into a bowl and added:

2 tbsp grated parmesan
1 egg white
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
4 fresh basil leaves, chopped

The rosemary and basil were from my backyard garden 😀

I don’t know why it makes me so happy when I use fresh herbs from my garden… It’s not like I put any effort into their growth and prosperity.. other than dropping them in the dirt, I just leave them to flourish on their own 🙂

I stuffed the zucchini halves with the turkey mix, then sprinkled with 2 tbsp Progreso Plain bread crumbs. Put everything onto a cookie sheet that I sprayed with cooking spray:

Next, I carefully poured 1/2 a cup of free range chicken stock into the pan and covered tightly with foil. These baked at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Then I removed the foil and cooked for an additional 5 minutes.

These were yummy! Next time, I think I’ll cook up some spicy red sauce to go on top of the zucchinis. Also, I like my veggies on the crunchy side, so I will use less chicken stock in the pan and probably cook them less time. Definitely gonna make these again and tweak things up a bit.

On the side, we had a salad consisting of romaine lettuce, red onion, green pepper, and a couple generous handfuls of cherry tomatoes that I also grew in my backyard garden 😀

I had some Ken’s Steakhouse dressing on top, of course. Ken’s my homeboy 🙂

Stats on 2 stuffed zucchini halves: 286 calories, 24g carbs, 4g fat, 39g protein, 4g fiber

What I ate

Short and sweet

July 25, 2010 2 Comments

Breakfast #1

First thing first, as soon as I opened my eyes this morning it was all about EGGS. I cooked up a 3 egg white scramble with S&P and Frank’s Red Hot, 1/2 cup oven baked potatoes, 1/2 of a Thomas’ multi-grain English muffin, and a dollop of ketchup (of course!):

Stats of B#1: 168 calories, 31g carbs, 1g fat, 16g protein, 5g fiber

Breakfast #2

A couple hours later, I eagerly dug into my overnight oats. I made the usual version, but subbed in blueberries for strawberries and added a tablespoon Bear Naked Maple Pecan Granola:

Creamy deliciousness:

Stats of B#2: 259 calories, 49g carbs, 6g fat, 8g protein, 8g fiber

The BF’s Breakfast #1

When we were on vacation in Charleston, we had breakfast at Hominy Grill twice and it was DELICIOUS. Both times, we considered ordering their fruit and granola parfait, but opted for pancakes and omelets instead. Ever since then, the BF has been craving the parfait, so being the nice lady I am, I made him one for breakfast this morning:

This parfait consisted of 1 container Dannon Vanilla Greek Yogurt, 1/4 cup Bear Naked Maple Pecan Granola, and 1 sliced banana:

Jarrod said he REALLY like the parfait. Only change we’ll make for next time is to use strawberry yogurt instead. YUM!

Stats on the parfait: 345 calories, 66g carbs, 5g fat, 17g protein, 5g fiber

Lunch

Lunch was 2 ounces of leftover chicken from last night’s Cajun pasta atop a Light Flat-out Italian wrap with spinach, tomato, onion, and a few drizzles of fat-free Italian dressing:

I wrapped everything up burrito-style, then cooked on the george foreman grill for about 5 minutes until it was heated through and the wrap was crispy:

YUM!

Stats on the wrap: 220 calories, 28g carbs, 4g fat, 28g protein, 12g fiber

And with that, it’s off to make some dinner!

Recipes

Cajun Chicken Pasta

July 25, 2010 2 Comments

Change of plans for dinner last night! Jarrod decided he wanted to make us some dinner, and of course I was not opposed to such a wonderful idea 🙂

Jarrod and I LOVE pasta. Prior to my 2010 plan to healthify my life, I’d eat pasta 2-3 times each week. Nowadays, it’s more like 0-1 times per week. As evidenced by the pasta dinner we had on vacation (and again, and again, and again, and again), we just don’t really EVER get sick of a nice pasta dinner.

First, Jarrod sautéed some garlic, sliced onions, sliced white mushrooms, and the rest of the banana pepper I grew in my garden:

Once the veggies were nice and tender, he added them to a simmering pot of Classico Fire Roasted Tomato & Garlic sauce. Meanwhile, he threw some chicken breasts on the george foreman grill. They were seasoned up with a little olive oil and A TON of cajun seasoning. And he also dropped some Dreamfields Penne Pasta.

Pasta dinner comes to fruition:

On the side, we had a delicious salad consisting of romaine lettuce, sliced red onions, roma tomatoes, green pepper and Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Balsamic Dressing:

LOVE me a good salad! I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: that Ken really knows a thing or two about salads!

This dinner rocked my socks 😀

Jarrod didn’t measure all of the ingredients out like I do, so calculating the stats was more of an art than a science this time.

Stats for 1 4 ounce boneless skinless chicken breast with 1 tsp olive oil, 1 serving Dreamfields Pasta, 1/2 cup Classico Fire roasted Tomato & Garlic sauce, 1/4 cup sliced white onion, 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms, 1/4 cup sliced banana pepper: 434 calories, 57g carbs, 8g fat, 31g protein, 9g fiber

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