Spinach Scramble

This is my default breakfast. When I don’t want to think about what to eat and I’m in a place where I’m eating well, I throw this together and it’s delicious and filling every time and packed with nutrients. It also comes in at under 300 calories. When I’m not in a place where I’m eating well, I eat cheese. Lots of cheese.

Place a skillet over medium heat. Add a teaspoon of olive oil, ¼ cup chopped onion, and 3 large sliced mushrooms. Mist veggies with cooking spray as needed to get a good sauté.  Cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms are nicely browned.

Add two large handfuls of spinach to the pan. This will look like an insane amount of greens, but don’t worry, it will cook down.

 

Then you can feel good about yourself and your nutritional superiority all day long. Stir the spinach constantly.

When the spinach has wilted, add two beaten eggs. If you’re lazy like me, you’ll just crack two eggs right into the pan and whip them up with your spatula as they cook. Keep the eggs moving until they're cooked and scrambled. There should be just enough egg to give you a shot of protein and sort of stick everything together.

Salt and pepper to taste and serve with your favorite salsa. I like to pour Pace all over the top of my scramble. So good. And your house will have that wonderful sautéed onion smell for a couple of hours.

Cut-and-Paste Recipe

Spinach Scramble

www.biteuponbite.com

1 tsp olive oil

Cooking spray

¼ cup chopped onion
3 large mushrooms
2 cups baby spinach
2 large eggs
Salt and pepper
Salsa

Place a skillet over medium heat. Add a teaspoon of olive oil, chopped onion, and mushrooms. Mist veggies with cooking spray as needed to get a good sauté.  Cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms are nicely browned.

Add two large handfuls of spinach to the pan. Toss and stir to cook down the spinach.

When spinach has wilted, add two beaten eggs and stir until egg is cooked. Salt and pepper to taste and serve with your favorite salsa.

Veggie Enriched Chili - My Husband's All-Time Favorite

Our favorite healthy chili recipe.

Perfect for a fall night. Stuffed full of healthy veggies, and using up some of those zucchinis the size of your arm. From my calculations, a mere 135 calories per 1 C serving, and full of nutrients and low on fat. It also freezes wonderfully. I cook it in my big 8 quart stock pot, because I need lots. I love this chili.

My husband just might marry this chili if he and I ever call it quits.

Soooo... now that I've over-sold it. Enjoy!

Oh... and it's simple to prepare. Especially if you have the right magical kitchen equipment.

Start by browning the meat, and while it's cooking, toss in the finely chopped onion, zucchini, garlic, jalapeno, and bell peppers. 

If you want to simplify your life, buy this food chopper. Only $16.95, and I use it for everything. With its help, I can finely chop all these veggies while the meat is starting to brown, and easily get them all chopped in under 10 minutes. And they are the size of the ground meat bits. Teeny, camouflaged vegetables. See:

Those used to be baby carrots! (P.S. Feel free to substitute finely chopped carrots in place of some of the veggies in this recipe. They are perfect in it, and made it into this particular batch I photographed.)

Anyhoo. Let that meat brown with those veggies until the meat is cooked through and the veggies are getting tender. About 20 minutes.

Then add the beef or chicken broth, tomatoes, and spices, and let simmer for another 20.

Near the end, throw in your beans, corn, cilantro, lime juice, and finally, mix in your tomato paste to thicken.

And voila! Your chili is ready to be topped with some shredded cheese, sour cream, and served with a side of whole wheat corn bread or tortilla chips.

Cut and Paste Recipe

Veggie-Enriched Chili

1.25 lb extra lean ground beef or chicken breast chorizo   
1 Cup finely chopped onion
8 Cups finely chopped zucchini
1 finely diced or puréed jalapeno pepper
1 T minced garlic
3 finely chopped green or red bell peppers
2 T granulated sugar
9 tsp beef bouillon and 9 C water (or 9 cups broth)
3 cans diced tomatoes
1/2 T paprika
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
2 cans tomato paste
3 Cups cooked black beans
3 Cups cooked Great Northern Beans
3 Cups canned or frozen corn kernels
1 bunch finely chopped cilantro
1/4 C lime juice

Cook first six ingredients until meat is cooked and veggies are tender. Add spices, broth, and diced tomatoes and cook for about 20 more minutes. Then add beans, corn, cilantro, lime juice, and tomato paste, and let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Veggie Enriched Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Sneaking up more veggies on my kids is part of my job as a mom. I do it with glee and satisfaction. What they don't know might help them. This is my motto when it comes what I like to call: Stealth Veggies.

It's also a good way to keep your budget reasonable while feeding you children nutritious food. I almost NEVER make a pasta sauce without a healthy serving of stealth veggies. I use my amazing little food chopper to make this possible. The vegetables are cut up so finely, that they blend right in with the consistency of the ground meat in my spaghetti sauce, and my little picky eaters never know the difference.

The start of this sauce may be different today than other days for me, and for you as well.

I start off with about a pound of ground meat, 1 medium finely chopped onion, and 2-4 C of finely chopped assorted veggies. Favorites for spaghetti sauce are carrots, zucchini, and occasionally bell peppers.

Now, this time, I had some gorgeous Italian chicken sausage as my meat, and it is so lean that you'll see I had to add 1-2 T olive oil to help it all sauté without sticking. If you're using 93% lean ground beef, I'd just add the meat and the veggies and sauté without oil, and without rinsing and draining. If you have any higher fat content on your meat, I'd cook the onions and ground beef together, then drain the fat, and then add the other veggies, or your sauce will be really greasy and high in fat.

Anyway, I sautéed the sausage and veggies together until the sausage was cooked through. You can see how adding in the chopped veggies can really expand your meat. The finished sauce was about four quarts. Enough to feed our family of four for four different meals. This sauce freezes really well.


When the meat was cooked, I added 2 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes. I puréed both in the blender, since my kids aren't big fans of chunks of cooked tomatoes. Sometimes I purée one, and leave the other for more texture.

This is the point when I realized my error in starting in the large skillet, and transferred to my 6 quart stock pot. Too much sauce!

After adding the tomatoes, I began adding spices.
3 bay leaves
1 T Italian seasoning
1/2 T oregano
2 T sugar
1 T beef bouillon, or 3 cubes
1 T of minced garlic

Seriously, the giant canister of minced garlic... one of my best culinary friends.

I allowed the whole thing to simmer for about 30-45 more minutes, getting nice and thick, and wonderful, before adding 8 oz of fresh quartered mushrooms right near the end. These are optional, but so delicious. If your family can handle the chunky texture, I also love to throw in some more coarsely cubed or diced or sliced zucchini at this point.

I then added 2 cans of tomato paste and 2 cans of water, and 1 large can or bottle of pre-prepared spaghetti sauce. I use Hunts, because it is the cheapest.

And voila!


Serve over whole wheat spaghetti, top with parmesan cheese, and enjoy!

Cut And Paste Recipe

Veggie Enriched Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb very lean ground meat
1 medium finely chopped onion
2-4 C finely chopped veggies (carrots, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms)
1-2 T olive oil if meat is nearly fat free
2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 T Italian seasoning
1/2 T oregano
2 T sugar
1 T beef bouillon, or 3 cubes
1 T of minced garlic
8 oz mushrooms, quartered
2 cans tomato paste
2 cans water
1 large can pre-prepared spaghetti sauce

Sauté meat, onions, veggies, and oil until meat is cooked through. Add 2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes (puréed if preferred). Add all spices. Simmer 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally until water is reduced, and sauce is thickened. Add mushrooms. Add tomato paste, water, and spaghetti sauce, simmering and stirring until well combined. Serve over whole wheat pasta and enjoy.

Sauce freezes well, as long as you don't mix it with noodles. Cook fresh noodles, and thaw out sauce, and serve.