Paella

Today I hosted girl's dinner at my place and I decided to make paella, it's a traditional Spanish dish that can be made with a combination of meats and seafood, depending on the chef's mood. I like to keep it simple and use just chicken, pork and shrimp. I have made it before whit mussels and calamari as well, but I just personally do not enjoy mussels at all....

It is very very easy to make this dish, it just takes a little bit of time:
Serves around 6 - 7 people

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 pound of shrimp
2 butterfly cut pork chops with no bones
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 large red onion
3 garlic cloves
1 chicken buillon cube
salt/pepper
Soy sauce
Whorcheshire sauce
1 tbs of dijon mustard
4 cups of rice

Preparation:
Slice the meats in small cubes, slice very thinly the peppers and onion, mix them with the chicken and pork in a bowl, sprinkle salt and pepper, add a generous pour of soy sauce and whorecheshire and mix, set in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Peel the shrimp and mix with soy sauce and whorcheshire sauce, add the mustard and the garlic, minced. Let it rest in the fridge as well.

around 45 mins before serving:
In a large pan over medium - high heat add some olive oil and cook the pork and chicken mix, around 7 - 10 minutes. place it in a bowl and let it seat for a second.
In the same pan add a little more olive oil and cook the shrimp, around 6 - 8 minutes, set aside.
In a big sauce pan boil 4 cups of water with the chicken buillon, turn the heat off and add the 4 cups of rice, let it cook, when it is done add the cooked meats and shrimp and make sure to use the juices as well, stir until the rice is completely covered with the sauce and it's ready to serve!

You can also add some cilantro and achiote powder if you would like to make the rice a little more orange, by adding it in the boiling water.
If you would like to use mussels, you can cook them in white onions, garlic, white wine and parsley, boil the spices together add some season all and put the mussels, cook them until they open. If you see any mussels open before cooking discard them, that means they are not fresh!

Parsley is a great garnish!
Enjoy!

Perfect Omelet

Since I have been trying to eat healthier I have been exploring different ways to make meals not boring and healthy at the same time, although I have to eat lots and lots of salads, I also try to make fun breakfast dishes, since it is your first meal of the day, it is important to make sure you get all the balance to give you a great start.

In my Spinach Omelet I use:
1 small can of spinach, 80 calories
1/4 cups of Low Fat mixed cheese, 30 calories
2 large eggs, 156 calories
1/4 of a tomato
1/4 of a red onion
1 garlic clove

I make sure all the veggies are cubed very very small, and then with a drizzle of olive oil in a medium pan I saute the tomatoes, onion, garlic and spinach. Once that is cooked I whip the eggs and add salt and pepper, put it in the same pan used before and let it cook for 1 minute, add in one side (kind off more into the middle so you can close the omelet afterwards without breaking it) the veggies and top them with the cheese, close the omelet carefully and cook for a couple of minutes on each side, and voila! Delicious and healthy!!
Enjoy!

Snack time

Going forward with my healthy eating I was craving a snack while updating my blogs, so I decided to make myself a pot of fresh jazmine tea that I brought from China and to complement it I got I sheet of Honey Maid crackers, which have 120 calories per serving ( 2 whole sheets! ) if you want to get some more flavor you can spread I wedge of Light Laughing Cow cheese for 35 cals or Lucern Light Cream cheese for 120 calories for the whole little cup, which for me lasts like 2 or 3 servings! It's so easy to be healthy! Enjoy!!










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Healthy lunch!

Home made spinach salad, mix approximately one cup of fresh spinach with half a can of garbanzo beans (60 cals), 4-6 cherry tomatoes, 1/2 of an avocado, 1/4 of a sliced red onion, you can add grilled chicken for a protein! You an substitute the garbanzo beans for kidney beans, lentils or black eyed peas.... Super easy, yummy and healthy!

For your dressing use Marzetti dressing, their light mixes have 70 calories per serving (2 tablespoons, you an use half of that!)

Bonne appetite!




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Veal Picatta

I usually do not just copy stuff from other sites, but this dish is amazing and low in calories, it is from the Whole Foods website, I cooked it a couple of nights ago and it was amazing, fast and easy! The only change I made is that I sauteed the capers with some lemon juice before cooking the meat in the pan, think it gives the veal more flavor! 

Serves 2

Pair this classic combination of veal, capers, lemon and parsley with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

Ingredients

6 ounces 365 Everyday Value Enriched Egg Noodles
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon butter, divided
2 tablespoons chopped parsley, divided
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 boneless top round veal scaloppine (about 1/3 pound total)
Salt & ground black pepper to taste
2/3 cup 365 Everyday Value Organic Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
1 tablespoon 365 Everyday Value Organic Capers, drained
2 lemon wedges

Method

Cook noodles. Toss with 1 teaspoon butter and 1 tablespoon parsley, divide between 2 plates and keep warm. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season veal with salt and pepper and cook, flipping once, until golden brown and just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes total; remove from pan, place atop noodles and keep warm. Return skillet to heat, add broth and simmer until thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining 1 tablespoon each butter and parsley, capers, salt and pepper; pour sauce over veal and noodles and serve with lemon wedges.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 13oz/369g-wt.): 500 calories (190 from fat), 21g total fat, 7g saturated fat, 135mg cholesterol, 520mg sodium, 53g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 1g sugar), 24g protein

Light and delicious!

Since the holidays are just around the corner and we need to fit in that cute black dress for the Company's Christmas party, I have decided I am going to post some recipies that will make you not only feel full and good, but also that are low on calories.

You can start your day with a Light Vanilla Activia Yougurt, I absolutely love this kind, it is sweet and not as heavy as most of the other other there, perfect to mix it with your favorite fruit! And it is only 70 calories!

In my case I like to add 1/2 a cup of my favorite cereal, today I used Honey Nut Chex, that gives you 160 calories per 3/4 of a cup, so you roughly have 120 calories here. Then I added 2 strawberries sliced, the calories in these are between 7 and 10 each, so you assume you have 20 more calories here. Then I top it with a drizzle of my favorite raw nuts, for me walnuts do the trick but you can add pecans, almonds, anything! The caloric intake should not be more than 60 calories in the walnuts, that is if you put a quantities similar to 3 whole walnuts... remember this is to add crunch not to add consistency.

Roughly you consumed 250 calories, which most of them are not from fat, so you would be able to burn them easily throughout your morning!

If you are hungry in the middle of the morning you can have lots and lots of hot tea and a banana, or you can also get different varieties of 100 clories snacks!

Food Trucks

This has been an increasing trend, now you see food trucks all over the city, today i tried my first one.... H town Streats, they set up shop at Willard and Montrose on Tuesdays, their menu is short but precise and very reasonably priced.



Great option if you are on the run!




Let me know some other ones you love!!

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