Food Coupon Blog: Culinary Tourette's

Simply (Mashed) Potatoes with a Healthy Secret

9/13/2010

As a former nutrition coordinator, I've been hiding veggies in food for a while - pretty evident based on the recipes I post. It's a simple variation of the Cauliflower 'Mashed Potatoes' carb counters picked up from the Zone Diet. Looked like potatoes, but they were too wet for my taste. So I started mixing cauliflower and potatoes together, whether they're mixed with fresh potatoes (I always leave the skin on the potatoes to boost the fiber content), instant potatoes or a combination of the three, always awesome. They're flavored with about 4 cloves of garlic, poultry seasoning, pepper, salt and a little butter. When I worked in a Kids Cafe, kids of all ages devoured these potatoes and always asked for seconds. They're a hit at our house too. A super healthy way for people living with diabetes to dine on a reasonable portion of mashed spuds.

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Beating Betty Crocker Blues: Chocoholics Rejoice!

7/4/2010

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red velvet cake and brownie and s'more cupcakes

Something decadent for a change! With plenty of Betty Crocker Brownie mix and Devil's Food Cake mixes in stock, we played around with some things and have a page full of dessert recipes including recipes for the (Not So) Red Velvet Brownie and Cake and S'more Brownie Cupcakes!

You know me, I added ground flax seed to the s'more brownie mix to add some kind of fiber to the recipe. Shared a cupcake with my husband, it was pretty good. I liked the distinctive chewy texture from the marshmallows. I just shared with Patricia, that you have to indulge wisely with chocolate and any other intense snackage. Make it for a potluck on the condition that you get the first piece. Portion control issue solved!

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Canned foods and veggies converge in a super simple stir fry recipe

6/19/2010

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LaChoy Beef Upgrade

I spent a couple months teaching nutrition to a group of teens in a program called Louie's Kids. I learned that LaChoy canned dinners offer 3 grams of fiber and only contain about 2-3 grams of fat per serving. We eat this recipe at home every few months, so I should've known (slapping my own hand for not reading the nutrition label before this class). We doctored the mix by stir-frying fresh red cabbage, celery, carrots and onions in batches and then mixing the tender crisp veggies with the dinner kit ingredients.

Cooking spray
Coarsely chopped veggies: 1 small red cabbage, 1 small onion, 2 unpeeled carrots and 2 stalks of celery, broccoli and peppers would also work here too.
Garlic powder
Low sodium soy sauce
1 LaChoy dinner kit
1 Tbsp minced garlic and ginger
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
1 can Hormel Roast Beef and gravy (only contributed another 2 grams of fat)

Remember the crunchy vegetable speech? You don't need a wok to stir fry veggies, just a good quality pot and a some quick hands. Heat a large heavy bottom pot on high heat. Do a quick spritz of cooking spray directly on the veggies because it'll burn in the pot. Stir fry veggies in batches so they won't wilt, about 2-3 minutes per batch. After veggies start to brown add garlic powder and a little soy to the batch, stir and remove from pot. Tongs work well in transferring hot veggies to a large bowl. Continue to do this until all the fresh veggies are cooked. Take the pot off the heat to cool it down before proceeding.

Return the pot to medium low heat and add minced garlic and ginger, canned beef and sesame oil to the beef and sauce portion of the dinner kit. Drain and rinse (to remove some of the sodium) the canned vegetables and stir into the sauce. Heat through and toss in the stir fried veggies. We serve this dish with whole wheat pasta.

Side note: Who do I lobby to get more coupons for whole wheat pasta and brown rice? I'll find out after this post!