Saturday, June 9, 2012

Grilled Dijon and Wild Rice Turkey Burgers

Hello friends, and welcome to another edition of Mama Feta's Meals!  This meal I made last night was so delicious and different that my husband actually asked if I would try making regular burgers this way next time!  Woo!
So first thing's first: I mixed 1/3 cup of mayo with 1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed and 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard into a small bowl, covered it and put it into the fridge to keep cool while I worked on the burgers.
While that was cooling, I mixed some ground turkey, green onions, cooked wild rice, some more dried dill weed and some Dijon mustard into another small bowl.
Then I formed the mixture into patties, but make sure to make them longer than more round, as the final burger product goes onto French rolls.  This was the cool thing my husband liked and wanted me to do again!  The recipe originally called to grill the burgers, however, if you've read my blog, you should be aware of my lack of finesse with that item!  So I used my handy grill pan to grill the burgers.
I let those grill for about 12-15 minutes, throwing the French rolls onto the grill for the last 4 minutes to let them get grilled a bit, as well.  Once those were cooked, I added the patties to the buns, topped it with the chilled sauce and voila!  Dinner was served!
My husband doesn't even like mustard and he liked this meal!  Not to mention, throwing in the wild rice gave the burgers great texture, so I really suggest trying this one!
The meal was only 350 calories per sandwich and only $1.39/serving AND this meal made 6 sandwiches!  Whoa!
Here's the recipe!

Dilled Dijon Sauce:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Burgers:
1 pound ground turkey
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
1 cup cooked wild rice
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
6 French rolls, split

Happy cooking everyone!!!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Lime-Jalapeno Chicken Upside Down Nachos

All right friends, last one for the night!  This one I actually started taking pictures later on in the process, so work with me!  :)  I had originally decided I didn't want to post this one, when it was just the Lime-Jalapeno Chicken.  However, when I saw how low the calories were just for the chicken, I decided to make something else with the chicken and that's how I got Lime-Jalapeno Chicken Upside Down Nachos!
So the first part, without the nachos, was an actual meal adapted from Eating Well.  First thing's first: I whisked some lime juice, canola oil, white vinegar, cumin and salt in a bowl, then added one jalapeno that I had sliced.  After that, I placed some chicken breasts into a glass baking dish, poured the liquid over the chicken and let it marinate during the day while I was at work.
Then, when I got home, I heat my grill pan over medium-high heat, spraying it with some cooking spray.  I added my chicken and cooked through until no longer pink.  Some pieces I had were larger than others, so overall it took about 8-10 minutes to grill.
While it was grilling, I started slicing some corn tortillas into small chips (cut it first in half, then cut the halves in half, and then cut those once more).  I placed them onto cookie sheets, spraying them with some cooking spray, and cooked them in my oven (preheated to 350 degrees) for about 10-12 minutes, just make sure to eyeball them so they don't burn on the bottoms.
Then I also chopped some tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro, onions and green onions as toppings.  I also tried my best to make a cheese sauce.  It wasn't amazing, but it worked.  Unfortunately, I was having a bit of a difficult time with the cheese sauce, so I forgot to take photos of that!  However, I used about 1 1/3 cups of Mexican blend cheese and melted it with about 1/4 cup milk until the sauce was a bit liquid and stringy.  Next time I'll be trying something else, maybe a bit more liquid, but it was delicious!
Then I diced the chicken, put them on plates, and added the toppings as my family prefers (I always use the sour cream and Tapatio myself!).  I wanted to make sure the nachos were yummy so instead of piling them all on top of the chips, I decided to make a mixture and put the chips on the side, so each person got to basically 'dip' their chips.  It was pretty cool because not a one of us got a chip that wasn't full of toppings.  It was fun to eat and voila!  That's how we do dinner in this house!  :)
The meal, with the chips, was only 514 calories (this was based off of my nachos, which had tomatoes, cilantro, both onions and sour cream) and only $4.35/serving!  The meal made 4 servings and each serving included 32 homemade tortilla chips.  That's right, I totally counted them to make sure everyone had an even amount.  :)  Yum!
Here's the recipe!

For the Lime-Jalapeno Chicken:

1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 limes)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 jalapeno, sliced
1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

For the Homemade Tortillas:

16 small corn tortillas, cut into triangles
cooking spray

For the Toppings:

Tomatoes, diced
Lettuce, diced
Onions, diced
Green Onions, diced
Cilantro, diced
Sour Cream
Any kind of cheese you prefer
Basically anything you want to put on top, just recalculate the calories if you change it!  :)

Happy cooking everyone!!

Asian Chicken & Noodle Skillet

Hello again, and here's another installment of Mama Feta's Meals!  Anytime I can use ramen noodles to make a delicious meal, I'm all for it!
So first thing's first: I took 2 pounds of chicken breasts and cut them into thin strips and then set those aside.  Then I sliced some carrots, a red bell pepper and some green onions, setting those aside, as well.
Then I took a small mixing bowl and mixed sesame oil and two seasoning packets from Oriental flavored ramen packages.  The recipe also called for Asian seasoning mix.  I gotta be honest with you, I had NO idea what that was (I know, I'm a terrible part Asian, leave me be!), so I just used my Chinese five spice, and it actually really worked well!  Once I mixed that, I added 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a skillet and added the chicken, cooking it for about 8-10 minutes, until it was done and the juices ran clear.
Once the chicken was cooked, I removed it (making sure to keep it warm) and added the carrots and bell peppers, cooking for about 2 minutes until it was tender/crisp.  Then I added 4 cups of water, as well as two additional season packets, to the skillet, loosening any brown bits that had stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Then I added the dry ramen noodles to the mix, as well as the white parts of the green onions, covering it and letting it simmer for about 5 minutes, checking it once or twice to make sure all sides of the noodles were softening.  Then I put the chicken back into the mixture, removed it from the heat and let is stand, covered, for about 4 minutes.
Then I garnished it with the rest of the green onions and voila!  Dinner was served!!
This meal was so good, and right up my husband's alley.  Like I said, I'm a terrible part Asian (I hardly ever make any Asian food, and, of course, it's his favorite!).  Seeing as this meal was so easy, I may have to work on getting more recipes in like this!
The meal was only 260 calories (the recipe made 6 servings) and was only $1.73/serving!  For real!
Here's the recipe!

2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
1 medium red bell pepper, sliced
5-6 green onion with tops, sliced
2 pounds chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons Chinese five spice
4 packages Oriental flavored ramen noodles
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 cups water

Happy cooking everyone!!

Garlic Chicken with Orzo Noodles

Happy Sunday everyone!!  This meal I made last week and it was really delicious!  I've always wanted to use orzo and I was glad I did!
So, first thing's first: I cut 2 chicken breasts into bite-size pieces and set it aside, and then  I also chopped 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley and peeled two cloves of garlic.
I brought out my larger skillet, added 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and heat it on medium-high heat.  Then I added the whole garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper, cooking it until it was golden brown.  Once that was browned, I added the bite-sized chicken and seasoned it with some salt, cooking it for about 5-7 minutes.
While the chicken was cooking, I brought a pot of water to a boil and cooked the orzo until al dente, about 8 minutes, draining it and immediately adding it to the chicken mixture.  I reduced the heat to medium, as well as added the chopped parsley, making sure to mix it well.
Then I added some fresh spinach to the mix and cooked it until it wilted, about another 5 minutes or so.  I love fresh spinach, so I'm always excited when I get to use it!  Then I topped the meal with grated Parmesan cheese and voila!  Dinner was served!
This meal was, surprisingly, very light.  I assume it was the orzo, which I LOVED.  It was like having rice with the taste of pasta, yummy!  The meal was only 351 calories per serving (the meal made 4 servings) and only $2.50/serving!
Here's the recipe!!

1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
salt to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
grated Parmesan cheese

Happy cooking everyone!