Recipe for Wilted Spinach

 Greens!

Is there anything better?

For some reason when I eat green leafy vegetables

I feel so satisfied,

complete,

full,

and just feel really good about myself after eating them.

I wonder if it's because they are packed full of so many

vitamins and minerals?

Heart healthy maybe?

Or what about the cancer fighting ingredients they carry?

This wilted spinach recipe was over the top amazing.

I will be making this over and over to place the 

perfect/healthy/vitamin packed side on my meal table.

And I even got the "You know I don't like spinach" person

to try it. And he liked it! Imagine that.....

There is a huge difference between wilted spinach and cooked spinach.

Wilted spinach stays more in a solid form and doesn't 

feel like mush in your mouth.

If I could have had my way.....I would have ate the whole pound myself.

This recipe came from Betty Crocker, Country Favorites Cookbook,

page 223.

I made some changes of my own like, increased the bacon amount,

and increased the garlic amount.

Got to have flavor in greens.

My theory anyway.....

Wilted Spinach

1 medium onion, chopped

2 slices bacon, cut up into pieces

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (I used a garlic slicer)

2 TBS butter

2 TBS olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 pound baby spinach leaves

Juice of 1/2 medium lemon

Cook and stir onion, bacon, and garlic in butter and oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until bacon is crisp and onion starts to brown. Reduce heat, stir in salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Remove from heat and stir in spinach. Stir just until wilted. Drizzle with lemon juice. 

Serve hot.

This recipe is linked to:
Miz Helen's Country Cottage ~ Full Plate Thursday
Foodie Friends Friday

Wilted Spinach with Dried Cherries and Pine Nuts

 Have you ever heard your body talking to you?

And it says, "I need iron and vitamins."

I have been on the go non stop for the last few weeks,

and my body finally got tired,

and SICK.

So I headed to the grocery store in search of iron and vitamins

for my sick body.

I found spinach!

I bought 1 whole pound of spinach, brought it home, wilted it,

and ate it all.

Does my body feel better?

It sure does....

Wilted Spinach with Dried Cherries and Pine Nuts

1 lb. baby spinach
1 c. balsamic vinegar
1/2 c. white onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1/4 c. dried cherries
2 TBS olive oil
1/4 c. pine nuts
salt to taste

In a saute pan cook the onion until translucent in the olive oil.
Add the garlic and stir so it doesn't burn (about 1 minute).
Add the balsamic vinegar
Bring to a boil and reduce mixture to half.
Add spinach leaves and cook until wilted (about 2-5 minutes).
Move the spinach to a serving bowl.
Add pine nuts and dried cherries and mix together.
Add salt to taste.
Serve warm.

Weight Watchers Monday ~ Garlic Chicken

 It's a new year,

a new you,

and to help you out,

I'm going to bring you Weight Watchers recipes on Mondays.

Monday is a good day, right?

That way we cover the weekend binges and get back on track

for the week.

And it's okay to binge. 

You just get back on track the next day.

One of the hardest things to accomplish is change of habit.

When I gave up drinking pop (soda, Pepsi), I thought I was

going to die.....

For real! I didn't think I would make it.

And yes, I fell quite a few times before I was finally able to change

that habit of drinking Pepsi.

I have not drank any pop for over 17 years.

And my body thanks me for the change.

 This Weight Watchers Garlic Chicken is over the top awesome.

There is so much flavor.....

Let me tell you what I did to make this.

I used chicken tenders instead of half chicken breasts.

I used 8 of them and browned them in a little olive oil and garlic.

The recipe below will walk you through it.

 I decided to serve my garlic chicken on top of a bed of fresh baby spinach.

I used maybe a cup and a half of spinach.

Just enough to cover the bottom of my salad bowl.

Then I drizzled the spinach with Balsamic Vinegar.

You can see that I didn't use much vinegar, just a sprinkle for flavor.

I then laid 2 chicken tenders on top of the spinach and used some

of the lemon sauce to drizzle on top.

The hot chicken and sauce wilted the spinach to perfection, while

there were still some crisp leaves.

I also served this dish with a slice of Asiago Cheese Take and Bake bread.

Which, I will give you calorie details below.

There is 10.5 calories in 1 1/2 cups of raw spinach

The one slice of bread has 80 calories

Weight Watchers Garlic Chicken

8 chicken tenders

Olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced or sliced

Zest of half a lemon

1/2 c. fat-free chicken broth

1 tsp. lemon juice (from the half of lemon used for zest)

Fresh baby spinach

Balsamic Vinegar

Pepper to taste

Using a nonstick skillet smeared with just enough olive oil to coat the pan. Slowly saute garlic and lemon zest over low heat. Add chicken tenders and cook over medium heat, about 10 minutes or until brown on both sides. Add broth and lemon juice.

Heat to boiling and then reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 - 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan and place on a plate. Line salad bowls with about 1 1/2 c. fresh baby spinach. Drizzle spinach with balsamic vinegar. Place two chicken tenders on top of spinach and drizzle with sauce left in pan. Sprinkle with crushed black pepper and serve.

The chicken recipe alone without the spinach and bread is 3 WW points

Calories: 153

Fat: 3g

Fiber: 0g

Carbohydrate: 1g

Sodium: 432g

Cholesterol: 40mg

Protein 31g

This recipe is linked to:
Weekend Potluck ~ The Better Baker

Bob Evans Anyone? Spinach Onion Omelet

Do you ever eat at a restaurant somewhere and wish you could make the item you just ate at home?

I do that all the time....

And my trip to Bob Evans was a simple recreation in my own home. Have you ever had their Spinach Onion Omelet? Something so simple that packs a powerful punch.

This is my version of Bob Evans spinach and onion omelet.

Only four ingredients to make the palate happy.....fresh spinach, sharp white cheddar cheese, liquid egg, and onion. Oh and, a little butter for the skillets.

I used a medium sized skillet to saute the spinach and onion in a little butter (maybe 1/2 TBS). I left the butter melt over medium heat and threw in two small handfuls of spinach and 1/4 c. chopped onion. I lightly sprinkled in celery salt and pepper. I sauteed the mixture until the spinach was wilted. It doesn't take long, just a couple minutes.

I used a small skillet for my liquid egg with a little butter in the bottom. I also cooked this on medium heat. I swirled the skillet until all the egg was set and cooked. Turn off heat. On one half of the egg I placed the spinach and onion mixture along with a very light sprinkle of sharp white cheddar cheese. Then I folded the egg over, plated it, and then sprinkled just a little more cheese on top.

There you have it.....a Bob Evans Spinach Onion Omelet (my way).

Can You Become Skinny? Penne With Spinach

I thought I'd take some time and share with you what I have been doing. AGAIN!!

This time I don't think I'm going to fall off the wagon. Yup, another diet try.....

One ingredient that has quickly become my best friend is spinach. I never realized how much that can be done with spinach. And it makes foods taste so good.

Just three ingredients (okay 4, if you count the small amount of left-over taco meat) to fulfill my lunch.

I have started the 90 day challenge with Visalus, Body by Vi. This product is reasonably priced, and the morning shake is a plus for me since I am not a breakfast eater. The shake gives my body a jump start in the morning. I use Silk soy milk for the shake and thicken it with sugar-free pudding. A 7:00 a.m. shake holds me over till lunch time, and then I eat light for lunch. I have been eating liquid egg omelets for lunch, and of course, penne pasta with spinach and organic pasta sauce. If you are interested in joining the 90 day challenge, you can click here.

One thing about organic pasta sauce is, it doesn't contain all the extra, what do you call it? GARBAGE!!

Hopefully you can see the nutrition facts in this picture, but if not:

Per 1/4 cup

35 calories

Calories from fat 10

Total fat 1g

Saturated fat 0

Trans fat 0

Cholesterol 0

Sodium 150mg

Potassium 165mg

Total Carb 4g

Sugars 2g

Dietary Fiber 2g

Protein 1g

Pretty darn good for a pasta sauce, huh? I bought this pasta sauce from All Things Food, and I'm definitely going back to get more.

This is what I did for the Penne Pasta and Spinach.

I cooked a half box of penne pasta to my liking

(While cooking my pasta, I was heating the pasta sauce with a little left-over taco meat)

I drained the pasta. A couple handfuls of baby spinach went into the hot pasta pan, and then I returned the hot pasta into the pan with the spinach. I stirred until the spinach was wilted.

I topped the pasta with 1/4 c. pasta sauce, and Parmesan cheese.

A perfect light lunch!

With the left-overs I placed them into clean Lean Cuisine containers and stored them in the frig for two more lunches (or dinners).

I have been doing the 90 day challenge for two weeks now and I have noticed a huge difference in the way my clothes fit. I don't do scales very well (depressing), but judging by my clothes, things are changing.

Creamy Mushroom/Spinach Soup and A New Puppy

We got a new puppy! This is Sally! Isn't she gorgeous? Sally says hello to everyone, and she would like to tell you a little about herself.

I am a Huskimo breed. That means I'm half Husky and half Eskimo.
I am three months old right now, and very smart. I have one blue eye and one brown eye. When my master tells me to sit, I sit. When my master has a handful of treats I shake hands with him/her to get one. I also do a high-five when I know I have done something good. I am house broken, and my master has been good enough to give me full access to a doggy door so I can go in and out as I please. And that also gives me full rights to bringing in sticks, rocks, leaves, and mud. I don't even get in trouble for bringing in my chewy outdoor stuff......
I spend a lot of time at the doggy park making new friends too. We go on long walks on the weekends to get me used to walking on a leash. I love my new home!

Sally

 Yes, I know.....

I know.....

It is summer and I'm posting a recipe for soup.

But this is a good soup.

This is a soup that is very versatile.

You can use it for soup and salad for a lite lunch,

and then you can use it for a simmering sauce for a great chicken dinner.

 This is one of those recipes that came about to empty out my fridge.

I had heavy cream,

mushrooms,

and spinach that was right on the edge of turning to mush.

So into a soup it all went.

Please bear with me while I try and get this into recipe form for you.

Oh and,

This is the chicken dinner I made with the leftover soup.

Just brown your chicken breast and pour the soup over it to simmer 

for about 30 minutes.

Creamy Mushroom/Spinach Soup

2 c. water

1 1/2 TBS chicken soup base

Heat these to ingredients in a small saucepan until soup base dissolves.

2 large handfuls of spinach, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz package button mushrooms, sliced

3 TBS butter

salt/pepper to taste

1 tsp. dried thyme

2 TBS Worcestershire sauce

4 TBS flour

2 c. heavy cream

I don't think the ingredients are in order, but I will step you through everything.

In a dutch oven melt the butter on medium heat. Cook onion and garlic until translucent. Add mushrooms, thyme, salt and pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until mushrooms are tender. Add flour and stir till butter and liquid is absorbed. Slowly pour in heavy cream while stirring. As it thickens, slowly pour in the soup base mixture. Add spinach, cover and simmer on low until spinach is wilted.