Secrets of Success

New Alternative for Stir-Fry

Instead of cooking up brown rice as the base to toss your stir-fry on -- go for the extra green veggie instead. Put a layer of fresh spinach on your dinner plate and top that with your stir-fry. More greens, less starch, but nicely filling.

Chicken stock

Whenever I cook a chicken I make stock from the leftovers. Once I've removed the fat from this I keep it in the fridge (or freeze it in flexible cupcake molds) and use it to stir fry vegetables with/add to sauces instead of oils... it really works. My current favourite use is a steak sauce made from mushrooms and onion fried with the stock, a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, and a tablespoon of reduced fat greek yoghurt... it's great!

NO BRAINER

Take a 2 serving package of Uncle Bens rice and by adding broccoli, make it a 4 serving recipe. I can half all my diet calories by doing that with any recipe. PLEASE!!

Cream Soups

When making a cream soup, use an immersion blender to thicken soup. In some soups like potato reserve some pieces and add to thickened mixture. Great Carb reducer!

Tuna Wraps

I wrap my tuna salad (I substitute a fat free salad dressing to step up taste instead of a light mayo) inside of large Iceberg lettuce leaves instead of a pita or wrap bread.....delicious and way less calories!

Creamy Chicken Casserole

When in hurry and don't have leftover chicken I get a whole cooked chicken from the deli. Any leftover from that I make chicken salad for lunches the next day.

Spice Things Up!

My mother has always eaten tons of salt so to avoid the same pattern, I try combining different and new spices to add flavour. It makes meals more interesting and breaks up the usual routine. Now, I never add salt when I cook or eat, and I don't miss it.

Steamed Chicken.

Under the pasta insert in your stock pot, put halved onions, chopped carrots and celery into the steaming water. Put your chicken (whole or parts - be sure to slit to the leg and wing joints for even cooking) in the pasta insert and steam for a half hour or so, until the meat reads 160 degrees F. Lift the insert out, put the chicken on a baking sheet and finish crisping the skin in a 350-degree oven. Season the broth left in the stock pot, add some of the chicken, and enjoy!

Planning Ahead

Instead of making my usual recipe for Spark's yummy buttermilk cornmeal muffins and freezing the leftovers after DH and I finish a meal, I doubled the recipe and now have muffins for more 5 more meals in my freezer!

Meal Planning

Each night when I clean up after dinner, I make sure that I have things underway for the next night's dinner. I make sure that I know what I am planning to make and I double check that I have all ingredients. If something needs to be taken out and defrosted, I get that done.