Baked Potato with Black Beans and Corn

A couple weeks ago I joined Sparkpeople in an effort to track my eating and exercise. Like all things, I was really good at entering it all in every day...for the first two weeks or so. That's when it all went steadily downhill. Entering everything I ate was really good practice for me though. It helped me see that all those little "snacks" during the day really add up. Even though I'm not tracking my meals as religiously anymore, I think I've become more conscious of the mindless eating I do at work.

There are also some really excellent recipes for lunches that the site suggests. One such recipe is a variation on your regular baked potato.

Baked Potato with Black Beans and Corn
from Sparkpeople.com





Ingredients
1 baking potato
1/2 cup canned black beans, drained
1/4 cup canned sweet corn
1/2 cup salsa - I used medium because I didn't want it too spicy

Directions

Scrub potato with a wet paper towel to clean. Poke several holes in it with a fork. Wrap with a paper towel and cook in microwave for 4:30. Place on a plate and slice the potato in half. Top with beans and corn. Cook for another 30-45 seconds in microwave. Remove from microwave and top with salsa.

Servings: 1

This makes an excellent workday lunch because the whole thing can be put together in my office kitchen and it's really filling. I'm sure it would also be tasty on summer weekends when firing up the oven is the last thing you want to do.

This meal is also abs diet friendly because it incorporates black beans and corn.

3-Bean Chili

I apologize for the updates that are few and far between. We are in the middle of buying a house right now so most of our spare time has gone to reviewing contracts, writing repair requests and talking to our realtor. The good news is, after this week, we'll be done with everything and will just have to wait until August when we close. Yay!

Anyway, thanks to all that fun stuff, I haven't been cooking much. I've also been using more "tried and true" recipes, since I can make them much quicker. Most of those are already on the blog. Tonight I did another re-make, but after a quick look at my blog, I noticed I never posted it.

3-Bean Chili
Women's Health Magazine

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 pound lean ground turkey breast
1 14 1/2-oz can petite diced tomatoes with jalapenos
1 10-1/2 oz can chickpeas, drained
1 10-1/2 oz can black beans, drained
1 10-1/2 oz can kidney beans, drained
1 10-1/2 oz can low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 Serrano pepper, diced

Directions
In a large pot, heat the oil on medium-low. Add the onion and pepper and saute until soft (about 3 to 5 minutes). Add the turkey and brown it (about 5 minutes). Add the remaining ingredients. Stir and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. I simmered this for about a half hour.

Servings: about 6



I would recommend adding either another pepper, or some additional cayenne pepper if you like your chili with a little heat. This isn't very spicy, but all the flavors work very well together.

Black Bean and Corn Soup - redone

I got out early from work earlier this week and actually had the chance to cook. Since "early" meant I got home at 8:45, I wanted dinner to be light and easy, but flavorful too! I dug up this recipe from my archives but changed it up a little for the ingredients I had in the house. I'll repost the recipe ingredients below with modifications in italics.

2 1 cans (15 oz.) black beans, drained
1 can (15 oz) of yellow corn, drained
1 2 cans (15 oz.) chicken broth
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 cup 2 tablespoons jasmine rice
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
1 sprig rosemary
1/4 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

This recipe came out a little better than the last one. I think it was because I used two cups of chicken broth instead of 1 cup broth, 1 cup water. I wanted to add some green peppers to it, but we didn't have any in the house. I think it would go excellent with it, though! If you want to make this meal vegetarian, you could easily substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.



I also have a crockpot recipe for black bean and corn soup you might enjoy. Can you tell I LOVE black beans???

Abs Diet Trail Mix

This snack is the perfect thing to keep you going during the work week. If I have time, I make it on the weekend and put it into plastic bags to take with me during the week. It's much healthier than anything I can pick up at work! This would also make a great snack to bring with you to a party. It only takes about 20 min total to make.

Abs Diet Trail Mix
Abs Diet Eat Right Every Time Guide

Ingredients
1 cup Whole almonds
1 cup Pecan halves
1/3 cup Oats
Cooking spray
2 tbs Honey
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 cup orange cherry Craisins
1 Large packed dried apricots

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Place nuts and oats in bowl and spray evenly with cooking spray (about 3 shots). Drizzle with 1 tablespoon honey and add cinnamon. Mix well and spread on a non-stick cookie sheet.



Place in oven for about 10 minutes.(Mine burn a little at 10 min, so keep a close eye on them) Remove from oven and let cool.



Stir in the second tablespoon of honey and mix in the dried fruit. Divide into 1/4 cup servings and place each into a zip top bag.



Review
Like I said above, this is a really quick snack that you can take just about anywhere. After tax season, we plan to do some more hiking, so I'm sure we'll be taking this with us to replenish. I haven't tried it with other nuts, but I'm sure it would taste great! I think my husband gives it two thumbs up. The picture below is evidence he couldn't even wait for it to cool!

The Official Abs Diet Burger

This is by far my FAVORITE burger. When we tailgate at Phillies games over the summer, I always make sure I make them. They are always a hit. You almost forget that they are actually sort of "good" for you.

The Official Abs Diet Burger
adapted from Men's Health magazine

Ingredients

1 egg
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup diced onion
1/2 cup chopped spinach
2 tablespoons reduced-fat shredded Mexican-blend part-skim Mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground flaxseed
1 teaspoon garlic powder


I used my food processor to chop the onions this time. Usually when I make them, I hand-chop, but that creates too chunky of an onion. The food processor created the perfect consistency.I also used it on the spinach, but didn't take a picture of the result.

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk egg. Add everything else, mixing it--your hands are the best tool--until well blended. Form into four patties. Place burgers in a grill pan or nonstick skillet that's heated over medium-high.



Cook 6 minutes per side or to desired level of doneness.(I must make mine thicker than they do, because mine took about 7-8 min per side to cook through)

Servings: 4 (Wrap any extra burgers in plastic and freeze them for later.)



Nutrition Information
Per serving: 263 calories, 27 g protein, 8 g carbohydrates, 13 g fat (5 g saturated), 1 g fiber, 416 mg sodium

Waffles with Blueberry and Peanut Butter

Every so often I like to switch my weekday breakfast up. It gets really boring to have cereal over and over, every morning. My options are slightly limited because oatmeal sort of grosses me out.

A couple years ago, I bought the The Abs Diet and its companion recipe book. I lost about 15 pounds using the recipes and doing the exercises. The diet (I hate to call it that, because it's really a lifestyle change) is based around the idea of Powerfoods. There are twelve of them, and they are:

Almonds and Other Nuts
Beans and other Legumes
Spinach and Other Green Vegetables
Dairy Products
Instant Oatmeal
Eggs
Turkey and Other Lean Meats
Peanut butter (the all natural kind)
Olive Oil
Whole Grain Breads and Cereals
Extra Protein (Whey) powder
Raspberries and Other Berries
12

I still keep up the basic principles of the diet, but am not so strict with it.

Most importantly, the book helped me to understand the difference between foods that are healthy and foods that aren't. One example of this is partially hydrogenated oil. This is not very good for you, and most foods contain it. I try to stay away from this as much as possible, but it's very hard since it shows up EVERYWHERE!

Anyway, now that I got a little off subject, I'll steer back to the point of this post. There are lots of healthy options for breakfast in the book,(click here for some of them) and this morning I whipped one up.

Jam Session
taken from the Abs Diet Recipe Book

Powerfood count: 3

Ingredients:

1 whole-wheat toaster waffle
2 Tbsp peanut butter (I used Skippy Naturals, super chunk)
1/4 c slightly crushed blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries

Directions

Prepare the waffle according to the package directions. Spread the peanut butter on the waffle, cup the waffle in your hand, add the berries, then squeeze lightly. Think of it as a blueberry breakfast taco.

Servings: 1

Review
I love this recipe because it's pretty fast. If you are running late, you can take it in the car with you, or you can even make it at work since there are so few ingredients. I've tried this with both raspberries and blueberries, and I like the blueberries best. I think it's because they aren't as tart as the raspberries. Also, instead of cupping the waffle, I just cut it in half. When I tried to cup it, it just broke anyway, so cutting it works out best.