Chili con Carne with a Portuguese Roll and Browned Butter

On the weekends, I usually only have two meals instead of three, and be more indulgent in the type or quantity of food I consume. The cold winter weather and sadness of a funeral today increased my need for comfort food. So, today, I made chili, following the instructions on the packet, grabbed a handful of baby carrots, heated up a bakery-bought Portuguese bun, and made some browned butter.

Weight Watchers points for this meal:

Chili (8 points)

Roll (6 points, estimated)

2 tsp butter (2 points)

Total: 16 points

Mmm... browned butter. So rich and nutty-tasting. I wasn't sure how the hardening process would go. It turns out that I needed to stir it occasionally (I did this every 10 minutes or so, who keeping it outside then in the fridge to cool). This was so the heavier brown flecks were evenly blended into the butter. This is the first time I have re-solidified this type of butter (I have used it once before in baking, so used it in melted form).

French Onion Soup

Mmm.... I don't remember when I first tried French onion soup - I know I was an adult - but now I can't imagine not having it! This is a lower point version of a more standard recipe that I find makes a deliciously filling and satisfying meal. When I'm hungrier, I add a salad or raw veggies as a side and/or a glass of milk to meet my dairy servings for the day. Usually, a bowl of this soup is about 6 points for me, depending on how much bread and cheese I add.

Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 4 medium yellow onions, cut in half then sliced
• 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 box (900mL) chicken broth (I used Campbell's 30% less sodium)
• Stale/dried bread
• Grated cheese of your choice (I prefer old cheddar)

Instructions:

1. Put butter in a pot on low heat to melt while you slice the onions
2. Add onions to the butter and sautée until they start to caramelize (turn brown and smell sweet), stirring occasionally
3. Stir in the spoonful of flour
4. Pour the broth in and stir
5. Divide broth among four oven-safe bowls
6. Top with desired stale/dry/toasted bread followed by shredded cheese
7. Put into the oven at about 350F until cheese starts to melt, then broil until cheese bubbles

Nutrition information: 1/4 of recipe (before adding bread and cheese):
Calories: 95
Potassium: 333
Fat: 3
Carbohydrates: 14
Fibre: 3
Protein: 3
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 2

I add 1/2 to 1 slice of bread for another 1-2 points.
I usually add 20-40g old cheddar cheese on top for another 2-4 points.

Pan fried chicken with mashed potatoes and garden salad

To make the chicken, I took out some all-purpose flour and added a bit of any spices I had on hand that sounded good: paprika, mustard powder, oregano, coarse sea salt, etc. Then I broke one egg into a shallow bowl, and whisked it around with a splash of milk. After rinsing the chicken breasts, I dipped each into the egg mixture, coated it in flour, back into the egg mixture and a final flouring before gently putting it into a pan of hot oil. Once removed, I drizzled with some light Renee's Caesar dressing and honey.

The mashed potatoes were two red potatoes I washed, cubed, and boiled, then mashed with my new Pampered Chef potato mashing tool along with some butter and milk.

Point Plus Value for this meal: 14

A blogging failure... no time to post!

I was feeling so ambitious on the first day I started this blog, but quickly realized life is too busy to actually post regularly right now, so I think I will switch to posting meal photos and descriptions for a while to keep me going. I'll start you off with a few recent ones:

Fried chicken with sautéed asparagus and mushroom rice risotto

French onion soup in a handmade bowl

Meatloaf with oven roasted root vegetable and parmesan cheese casserole

Tilapia with asparagus and slightly overcooked (oops!) carrots sautéed with butter and brown sugar

Chicken Avocado Ranch Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Salad

For me, this meal is currently one of my favourites, but it takes some time to get ready. Something about it makes me think I should be enjoying it in California - perhaps it's the avocado...

The sandwich is made up of:

• Two pieces of Farmer's Market cheddar cheese bread

• 2 tsp butter (1 tsp spread on each outer side, for frying)

• 30g cheddar cheese

• A few slices of tomato

• 2-3 slices of avocado (I start with 1/2 an avocado, and put a couple slices into the sandwich, and dice the remainder and add it to the salad, so about 1/4 avocado in each)

• 3 oz chicken breast pieces

• 1.5 Tbsp Kraft low fat Ranch dressing

The salad includes:

• 2-3 cups baby romaine lettuce mix

• 1/2 medium tomato, diced (mostly, whatever was left after the slices went into the sandwich)

• About 1/3 granny smith apple, diced (I just nibble on the rest later)

• Approx. 1/4 avocado (I start with 1/2 an avocado, and put a couple slices into the sandwich, and dice the remainder and add it to the salad, so about 1/4 avocado in each)

• 2 slices of bacon, cooked extra crispy using my microwave tray, then crumbled

• Dressing of your choice (for this one, I used 1.5 Tbsp Farm Boy lemon garlic vinaigrette dressing)

Nutrition information: sandwich / salad

Calories: 512 / 166
Potassium: 385 / 386
Fat: 23 / 12
Carbohydrates: 38 / 17
Fibre: 4 / 7
Protein: 27 /  9
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 12 / 5

My rating: a filling and satisfying meal, mostly healthy ingredients, with healthy fats, plus the deliciousness that can only come from bread and butter (one of my weaknesses). The salad (or variation thereof) is on my menu at least weekly, but the sandwich is a rare delicacy.

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies (Jacques Torres recipe)

Last week, I finally caved and made a recipe I've been wanting to try for a long while now: the famous chocolate chip cookie recipe that ran in the New York Times in 2008 and can be found everywhere online. They were delicious. Amazing. I WILL make these again.

I made a couple substitutions (artificial vanilla instead of the natural kind, and a blend of milk, semisweet and dark Belgian chocolate) so I didn't have to made a separate trip to the store. I also didn't quite make it to the 24-hour refrigeration mark - I ended up baking 22 hours in.

The biggest change I made, however, was to the size of the cookies. This recipe is for HUMONGOUS cookies. I measured mine out (just a bit over a level Tbsp each), and made just over 7 dozen normal-sized cookies about 2.5" across - many more than the 1.5 dozen this recipe is supposed to make. If you made the smaller cookies like me, you should bake for somewhere around 8-10 minutes.

Since I had so many more than expected, I bagged up a couple dozen for my colleagues (see picture), sent a container to work with my spouse, and took a couple dozen to the pottery studio.

Nutrition information: for a serving of two cookies
Calories: 200
Potassium: 0
Fat: 9
Carbohydrates: 27
Fibre: 1
Protein: 2
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 5 (3 for a single cookie)

My rating: a perfect combination of sweet chocolate with sea salt. Everyone loved them. However, because of the quality and the price of some of the ingredients (namely 1-1/4lb of Belgian chocolate), I'll keep these for just an occasional rotation.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

I love chicken. It's my favourite white meat. And it's a little à propos, because for most of my life, I have been somewhat chicken to experiment with food. A part of the reason for this blog is to chronicle my food life and to start trying more - more foods, more recipes, more ways of preparing.

I am simultaneously on a quest to eat a more healthy and balanced diet, so I'm hoping that you'll be seeing a lot more veggies and salads than I've traditionally eaten, accompanied by an occasional dessert or home baked bread recipe. I tend to use a combination of from-scratch and pre-made ingredients, depending on the amount of time I have to devote to the food. I have been using myfitnesspal.com to help figure out the nutrition information for the meals I prepare for several years, and find it very useful.

Today, I tried a recipe from skinnytaste.com for crockpot buffalo chicken wraps. However, I decided to turn this into a salad concoction to suit the ingredients I had in my fridge. I also had an issue where my crockpot is not working, so I cooked it in a covered pot instead. I present to you my very own buffalo chicken salad:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup buffalo crockpot chicken made with Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce
3 cups baby romaine lettuce
1 handful of chopped carrots and celery
1-1/2 Tbsp Kraft fat free Rancher's Choice salad dressing

Nutrition information:
Calories: 209
Potassium: 173
Fat: 3
Carbohydrates: 15
Fibre: 2
Protein: 28
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 5 (4 if you only used 1 Tbsp of salad dressing)

The results: flavourful and fantastic. Definitely something I will make again!