Italian Chicken and Shrimp Stew

It was a cold and snowy day today, and so stew or soup sounded pretty yummy to me. It used to be that stew would involve potatoes or be served over rice. No longer. And I honestly don't miss it.

This recipe was originally written for fish and shrimp and so can be done in about 30 minutes or so. I changed it to chicken (for me) and shrimp (for Robert), and it came out really yummy!

From Better Homes and Gardens Diabetic Living:

Italian (fish) Chicken and Shrimp Stew

8 ounces fresh chicken breast or thighs

6 ounces fresh or frozen peeled and deveined shrimp

2 tsp olive oil

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

1/2 tsp bottled minced garlic

1-1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

1 14.5-ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes

1 8-ounce can no-salt-added tomato sauce

1 tsp dried oregano, crushed

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 Tbsp snipped fresh Italian parsley

1.  Thaw shrimp, clean and devein if necessary.  Cut shrimp in half lengthwise.  Cover and chill shrimp until needed.

2.  Clean chicken by trimming excess fat, and cutting into 2-inch pieces.

3. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, garlic, and pepper in hot oil until tender. Carefully stir in broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, salt, and pepper. Return to boiling; reduce heart. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Add chicken and return to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 30-45 minutes or until chicken is well-cooked.

5. Stir in shrimp. Return just to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until shrimp are opaque. Sprinkle with parsley.

We  finished this meal with a bag of salad and fresh low-carb bread. A nice meal on a cold evening.

Kung Pao Chicken

One of Robert's favorite Chinese-food meals is Kung Pao Chicken, but it's hard for us to eat out (or grab take out) from a Chinese restaurant. There is always hidden sugar in there, and the rice is really high carb, so we avoid it when we eat at home.  Luckily I had this recipe for "Spicy Peanut Chicken" which is really kung pao chicken, and we were able to modify it slightly for our needs.

From Betty Crocker's New Cookbook:

Kung Pao Chicken


1/2 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp Splenda
4 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp white vinegar
1/4 tsp cayenne, or to taste
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 can water chestnuts
1 small onion, chopped
(other veggies to taste - like broccoli, shredded carrots, etc.)
1/3 cup dry-roasted unsalted peanuts
2 green onions, sliced

1. Mix broth, cornstarch, Splenda, soy sauce, vinegar, and cayenne.

2. Heat wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat. Add oil, rotate wok to coat side. Add chicken, garlic, and ground ginger. Stir-fry until chicken is no longer pink in the center. Remove cooked chicken to plate and keep warm.

3.  If needed, add more oil to skillet and heat.  Cook onion and bell pepper until tender. Add other veggies (if using) and cook until tender-crisp.  Add chicken back to the skillet.  Add cornstarch mixture to work. Cook and stir about 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Stir in peanuts. Garnish with onions.

Finish the meal with a small (like 1/3 cup) serving of couscous, bulgur, or millet.  We finished this with frozen egg rolls (12 grams of carb each) that were baked (not fried).  Tasty meal, and we had control over the amount of carbs, especially sugar, that is involved.

Easy mid-week meal

I haven't updated in a while, but we've been repeating meals (see Slow Cooker Asian Pork for instance or Asian Steak Salad, but with chicken) and improvising some. Tonight was definitely one of those improvised meals, but not high in fat or carbs, and really tasty.  We buy frozen Chicken Cordon Bleu from Sam's Club - it's ready to go in the oven, ready in 30 minutes (from frozen) and really tasty. And it's only about 12 grams of carbs, even though it's breaded.  Tonight we did that with a green salad and a cucumber/radish salad.  The latter is yummy and easy, and so I'll include the recipe here, even though there's not much else to mention.

From quick and easy meals (diabetic living - A Better Homes and Gardens Book):

Cucumber-Radish Slaw


2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp Splenda
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 of a medium English cucumber, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1 cup radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced (I use less of these)
thinly sliced red onion to taste
2 Tbsp finely chopped green onion

In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, olive oil, sugar, salt, and black pepper. Add cucumber, radishes, red onion, and green onions. Toss to coat. Serve immediately or cover and chill for up to 2 hours.

Herbed Pork Chops

Tonight's dinner was herbed pork chops and "vegetable pasta" with salad. I actually try to keep our dinner carbs to about 25-30, but tonight's dinner was more like 10 grams. This was a great and light meal. And really easy, although it does require a little prep time (for the "vegetable pasta"). The pork chops were *extremely* easy, and only took 30 minutes in the oven, plus about 5 minutes before to brown the pork chops, combine the herbs, and get it in the oven. Excellent weeknight option!

From Idiot's Guide:

 Herbed Pork Chops


6 pork chops, 3/4 inch thick
2 Tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped into large pieces
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Mix oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, and black pepper together. Set aside.

3. Melt butter in an ovenproof medium saucepan (that has a lid for later) over medium-high heat. Brown both sides of pork chops in butter.  Near the end, throw in chopped onion.

4. Sprinkle both sides of the pork chops with the herb mixture.  Off heat pour in water and cover pan.

5. Bake covered for 30 minutes.

Vegetable Pasta


3 (6-inch) zucchini
1 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp black pepper

1.  Cut each zucchini in half crosswise and then into several lengthwise strips, 1/2 inch thick. cut each strip into 1/2 inch-thick-pieces. Place in a colander and sprinkle with salt.  Put over a bowl since this will make water drain from the zucchini.  Let stand for 30 minutes. Pat dry. (This is supposed to pull water out of the zucchini to make it hold its shape and get less mushy during cooking).

2.  Put zucchini in a microwave-safe bowl. Toss in olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper. Microwave for 1-2 minutes or until tender-crisp.  Serve as is or with sauce.  (I sprinkled it with grated Parmesan, and it was pretty tasty, although definitely not pasta-like).

We, of course, finished this with a salad (green salad with blue cheese and sunflower seeds).  Definitely a very light meal, but the pork chops were very tasty! They are definitely a repeat item!

Chicken "Spaghetti"

We tried this Sunday because it requires a little bit of time (you have to cook the chicken before you make the casserole and then bake the casserole for 30-40 minutes), but it sounded reminiscent of the chicken spaghetti that was a comfort food for so many of my friends when I lived in TX. So it was a nice Sunday dinner. In the end, the sauce is more like an alfredo than I remember "traditional" chicken spaghetti being.  And this doesn't use pasta (not even whole wheat, although you could make that substitution if you wanted). We considered making the recipe as listed (which is what we did) or using tofu noodles (which are a pretty good low-carb alternative, especially for stir fry or with a lot of sauce).

From Idiot's Guide:

Company Chicken Spaghetti

2 lb chicken, cooked and shredded (I used boneless breasts, so the shredding was really easy)

1 medium sized spaghetti squash, cooked and shredded (see directions below)

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup non-fat cream

1 cup light sour cream

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided (3/4 cup in the casserole and 1/4 cup on top)

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup white wine (optional and I skipped this)

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp dry mustard

1 Tbsp butter

8 oz sliced mushrooms

salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the chicken (boil in water for about 30 minutes or until it shreds easily).  Remove from water and cool slightly.  Shred the chicken and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Make basic white sauce by stirring cornstarch into chicken broth until smooth. Add cream, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, wine (if using), garlic powder, red pepper, and mustard. Set aside.

4.  Melt butter in a skillet and saute mushrooms until soft. Slowly stir in cream sauce mixture and simmer until bubbly.  Mix sauce mixture and chicken together and pour into a sprayed 3-quart baking pan. Sprinkle top with additional Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 30-40 minutes.

5.  Cut spaghetti squash in half, remove seeds, and place on a buttered baking sheet. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until soft.

6.  Take a fork and scrape the inside meat from the squash, making spaghetti-like stings.

7.  Serve chicken mixture over 1/2 cup spaghetti squash.

We finished this meal with homemade low-carb bread and a salad.

This was the first time we had tried spaghetti squash. I expected Robert to be a little resistant to this, but he said that it was actually pretty good - it has very little flavor of its own, but holds sauce well, and the texture is actually better than tofu noodles. This was really easy and a great alternative to pasta!  We have a couple of other recipes that call for spaghetti squash, and I'm looking forward to trying those, too. We'll let you know how they are!

Stuffed Peppers

This is one of several stuffed pepper recipes we've tried. Honestly, it's not the best of them, although that might be my fault. I will type the recipe below as it was in the book, but I substituted ground turkey for ground beef and turkey bacon for bacon.  The peppers were a little dry (the traditional tomato sauce contains a lot of sugar, believe it or not and so isn't included in this recipe), but Robert thinks the dryness could be attributed to the ground turkey (to make matters worse, I used ground turkey breast instead of regular ground turkey, which is only about 1% fat, and therefore innately dry.  I also microwaved the peppers to partially cook them first instead of boiling them (as the recipe states).

The meat also seemed to get more flavor from the green peppers than the red, but I'm not sure if that is typical or not.

Anyhow, here's the recipe from Idiot's Guide, but with my adaptations noted...

Stuffed Green Peppers


4 green or red bell peppers or a combination
2 slices (turkey) bacon, diced
2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, diced
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 lb ground beef (or ground turkey or ground turkey breast)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp dried basil

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cut a slice from the top of each pepper and remove seeds and membrane.  Put peppers in a microwave safe casserole with some water in the bottom. Microwave for 5 minutes on high.

3.  In a heavy skillet, cook bacon until crisp.  Remove bacon and add butter, onion, and celery and saute until tender.  Remove mixture and set aside. Brown and drain ground beef (or ground turkey). Add vegetable mixture and bacon back into the skillet and set off heat. Stir in eggs, salt, pepper, parsley, and basil.

4. Fill pepper shells with meat mixture, and place in a greased baking dish. Pour hot water to a depth of 1/4 inch around the peppers. Bake 30 minutes.

Ham and Broccoli Frittata

Sunday morning breakfast


This is not a difficult breakfast, but it does require a little prep time - the potatoes need to be thawed and the broccoli needs to be cooked. I used frozen potatoes, but put them in some cold water to thaw when we first got up, and frozen broccoli (ditto). So then it really doesn't take very long to put together.

From Diabetes and Heart Healthy Cookbook:

Ham and Broccoli Frittata


vegetable oil spray
2 cups frozen fat-free potatoes O'Brien, thawed
3/4 cups broccoli florets
3/4 cup egg substitute (or whites of 5 large eggs plus one egg)
6 oz lower-sodium, low-fat ham, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (or diced deli ham)
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.  Heat 10-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Remove from the heat and lightly spray with vegetable oil spray (being careful not to spray near a gas flame). Put the potatoes in the skillet. Lightly spray with vegetable oil spray. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

3.  Meanwhile, rinse the broccoli in cold water; drain but do not dry (some water droplets will cling to the broccoli). (If using frozen - thaw in some cold water, drain, and then continue).  Cook, covered on high power for 3-4 minutes (for fresh) or 2-3 minutes (for frozen) or until tender-crisp. Stir the broccoli into the potatoes.

4.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg substitute, ham, milk, and pepper. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and broccoli. Stir well.

5.  Bake uncovered for 15-18 minutes, or until the eggs are set (they don't jiggle when gently shaken).

6. To serve, but the frittata into wedges.

This morning, I topped the frittata with swiss cheese for the last 10 minutes of baking. I also baked some turkey bacon for that same amount of time, and served with toast.  I like the kick of the swiss cheese, and it made the whole dish more like a meal.

Basil Stuffed Chicken

This was a great Sunday night dinner, because it does need to bake for a while (50-60 minutes), and that's what we did. It also gave me a chance to make some fresh (low-carb) bread in the bread machine to go with the main course, which is something that we pretty much never do.  This is definitely another dish that we'll do again because it was easy to put together, but really tasty.

This was also very low-carb (3 grams per serving) so adding in bread made sense for us.

From Idiot's Guide....

Basil-Stuffed Chicken


2 Tbsp butter
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves chopped garlic
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 egg
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
Black pepper to taste
6 chicken quarters, leave skin intact

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Melt butter in a 2-quart pan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic, and cook until tender, about 2 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat; add basil, egg, cheese, and pepper.

3.  Carefully loosen chicken skin on each quarter by pushing your finger between the skin and meat to form a pocket. Spoon stuffing into each pocket.

4.  Place chicken in a 9x13-inch buttered baking dish, and bake 50 minutes or until tender.

We finished this with green beans with carmelized onions, a green salad, and the following bread (from http://www.food.com/recipe/best-low-carb-bread-bread-machine-102631):

Low-Carb Bread

• ½ cup water
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon butter or 1 tablespoon margarine
• 2 tablespoons Splenda sugar substitute
• ¹⁄₃; cup ground flax seeds
• ¼ cup soy flour
• ¾ cup vital wheat gluten flour
• 1 teaspoon dried yeast

Directions:

       1.  Using a 1 pound capacity bread machine, combine ingredients according to order given in bread machine manual.

1. 2.  Select 'light' browning setting. 
2. 3.  Don't remove bread until it is cooled.
3. 4.  Cut into slices, and store, covered, in the refrigerator.

Mexican Chicken Avocado Soup

I was looking forward to this soup all day, and it didn't disappoint! It wasn't difficult, but took about 45 minutes from start to finish (partly because the chicken I was cooking was still partially frozen). This was tasty and the carb count is very low (9 grams per 1 cup of soup).

From Idiot's Guide to Low-Carb Cooking:

Mexican Chicken Avocado Soup


1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
6 cups chicken stock
1 tomato, diced
1.5 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar (or Splenda)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb chicken breasts or thighs
1/2 cup corn (I used frozen)
1 avocado, sliced

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion and saute until onion is translucent. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Stir for 1 minute.

2. Add chicken stock, diced tomato, salt, sugar, and pepper.  Bring to a boil. Add chicken. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken to a plate and cool slightly.

3.  Shred chicken (discarding skin and bones if there are any). Add corn to soup. Simmer until corn is tender. Add shredded chicken. Simmer for 1 minute. Ladle into soup bowls. Top with avocado slices.

We finished this with a green salad and cheese quesadillas.