Lj's Lime & Garlic Yoghurt Marinated Chicken Breast with Roasted Vegetables

Starting off the New Year with a bang and some delicious healthy recipes based on the Dukan Diet. I will be creating recipes from the 100 list of foods that you can apparently each as much as you like of. I'm curious to see if I will have more energy and lose a few kg's as it states. I started this Plan yesterday along with a Food Journal to record my progress. 

"Hungry people don't lose weight"

http://www.dukandiet.co.uk/en/780.html

This Chicken is quick and easy and really delicious.

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breasts with skin and fat removed

For the Marinade:

1 Cup Jalna No Fat Natural Yoghurt

Juice of 1 Lime and some of the Zest

1 Clove of fresh Garlic finely diced

Any Vegetables from the list:

I have chosen Zuccini, Carrot, Red Capsicum, Pumpkin & Mushrooms

What to do:

 If you have time in the morning, marinate the Chicken before you start your day. You could even make this ahead of time, say.. the day before and leave in the fridge. If you are short on time a few hours is ok but the longer the better as the Yoghurt really makes the Chicken tender. Simply add all of the ingredients into a Snap Lock bag and seal ensuring the chicken is well coated.

Preheat the oven to 180 to prepare to cook your Roast Vegetables. Wash and slice your Vegetables.

Line a baking tray with Baking Paper . Spray a small amount of Cooking Spray, lay your Vegtables onto the Baking Paper and spray again. Season with Cracked Himilayan Salt and Cracked Pepper. Bake until tender or to your liking. While the Veges are cooking heat a non stick pan and grill your Chicken. Remove the Chicken from the marinade and brown on either side. Cook until the Chicken is tender, approx 6 - 8 minutes each side. Just before serving add a few Tablespoons of the No Fat Yoghurt to the pan and stir to pick up all the juices from the pan. Cook and stir for a few minutes and you will have a nice little sauce to top your Chicken.

No cook Worcestershire Sauce

After researching what seems like a hundred recipes I found a no cook recipe and modified it to suit what I already had floating around in my pantry. I love the idea of a no cook easy recipe that can be thrown together really quickly!

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tablespoons of Fish Sauce

2 Tablespoons of Honey

1 Tablespoon of Treacle

Juice of 1 Lime

1 Teaspoon of Cloves

1/2 Teaspoon of Onion Flakes

1 Clove of fresh Garlic

1/4 Teaspoon of Chilli Powder

What to do:

In a pestle and mortar grind the cloves, onion flakes and Chilli. Juice the lime, and add all of the ingredients into the bowl of a small food processor. Blend until smooth and pour into a bottle and keep in the fridge. It only makes a small amount so you could easily double the recipe but mix in a bigger processor or in a jug with a stick mixer. It would last about a month in the fridge, but I can't see it lasting that long! It's delicious. I'm leaving mine a few days before I use it to let the flavours infuse.

Here is a link to the original recipe ...

http://www.foodrenegade.com/homemade-worcesterschire-sauce/

Lj's Healthy version of Chicken Burrito's

I am always looking for healthier homemade options, here is a lower fat version of Chicken Burrito's everyone will love. There are lots of Burrito Seasoning Recipes on the internet. I have tried and tested a few of the powdered versions but prefer to use fresh, chilli/onion and garlic. 

Ingredients:

500 Grams Chicken breast diced

1 White Onion finely diced

1/2 Small hot Chilli deseeded and finely diced or more if you like it hotter

1 Clove of fresh garlic finely diced or crushed

1 Tablespoon of Cumin and Paprika

3 Tablespoons of No Fat Jalna Natural Yoghurt and a little extra for serving

Homemade Salsa to serve (Recipe Below)

Lettuce

Low fat Grated Cheese

Lite Mission Wraps (about 1/5 of the fat in the plain ones)

For the Salsa:

Finely dice a White Onion, 1/2 Red Capsicum, 1 clove finely diced

or crushed fresh Garlic, 4 Fresh ripe Roma Tomatoes, 1/2 Teas of Himalayan Salt

Throw in a saucepan and simmer  until soft and then cool down before serving. 

What to do:

Heat a frying pan and add a tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add the Onion, Garlic, Chilli and saute for a few minutes. Add the Cumin and Paprika and stir to combine. Cook off for a few more minutes to infuse the flavours. Add the chicken, giving it a good mix to coat with the flavouring. Add about 1/4 cup of water and turn down the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked. Add the Yoghurt and give it a good stir to combine. The Yoghurt tames down the Chilli and just gives it a delicious flavour. Simmer on low  until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes on low.

Heat the Mission wraps for 30 Seconds in the microwave and serve. I have layered the lettuce, chicken, grated cheese, a little bit of salsa and a bit of the yoghurt, rolled it up and hooked straight in..

YUM!

Nam's Spring Rolls

My Neighbour Nam makes the most awesome spring rolls! I'm pretty sure you would have seen me post pictures of the cooked Spring Rolls on my Facebook Page... today he was kind enough to give me a few lessons and work out the exact measurements they use, as like me sometimes measurements just go out the window. He explained that the amount of sauces added etc was by smell, something his mother taught him. She is an amazing cook if the smells from over the fence are any indication!!

 Here are the Spring Rolls we made today with the recipe below.

 Can't wait to eat some... SO GOOD!

This made 120 

Ingredients

1.2kg Chicken Mince

2 Grated Carrots

3 Small Onions finely diced

2 cloves garlic finely diced or crushed

15g Back Fungus (from any Asian Supermarket)

60g Bean thread Vermicelli 

1 Tbs Fish Sauce 

1 Tbs Soy Sauce

1 Tbs Oyster Sauce 

Chicken Stock Powder 

2 Eggs Separated

60 Spring Roll Wrappers cut in half sideways into a triangle shape

What to do:

Soak the Black Fungus in boiling water until hydrated and drain. Soak the Vermicelli in boiling water until soft and drain. Add the Chicken, Carrot, Onions, garlic,  the sauces and stock powder into a bowl. Add the Black Fungus and Vermicelli. Add the Egg yolks and mix to combine as shown in the photo above. 

Fill and roll your spring rolls and pop into the freezer in snap lock bags until ready to deep fry. 

There is no easy way to explain how to wrap a spring roll so I'll post a link below to show you how to do it.

http://salu-salo.com/how-to-wrap-spring-rolls/

We actually did it differently and  cut the wrapper into 2 triangles and rolled using the same concept putting the large part of the triangle at the bottom. Roll over once then the side and up to the top. Seal with the egg white using a pastry brush or your fingers.

Lj's Herb & Parmesan Hash browns

Had some friends for Breakfast this morning and I just felt like

 Hash browns and not that crap you get at McDonalds... 

Here is how I like to make Hash browns..

Ingredients:

4 Medium Potatoes grated

1 Medium White onion finely diced

2 Free Range Eggs

Freshly Chopped Parsley and Chives

1/4 Cup SR Flour

1/2 Cup Freshly grated Parmesan

Himilayan Salt

Cracked Black Pepper

What to do:

Throw everything into a bowl, mix well to combine and shallow fry in Olive Oil..

That easy and so delicious!

Lj's Spin on Curried Egg Salad

Having a break up BBQ at work tomorrow.

Decided to make a few different salads, this is one of them.

This recipe will serve 8 - 10

Healthy, Fresh & Delicious!!

Ingredients:

1 Cup 97% Fat Free Mayo

1 Cup No Fat Jalna Yoghurt

2 Tbs Lime Juice

3 Teas Curry Powder

1/2 Teas Salt

8 Boiled Free Range Eggs diced

1 Granny Smith Apple cored and diced

1/3 Cup finely diced Red Onion

2 Sticks of Celery finely sliced

1/4 Cup of Freshly Chopped Parsley

What to do:

 Combine all of the ingredients except the Eggs, Apple and Celery and mix well to combine.

Add the Eggs, Apple and Celery and toss to combine.

A nice change for something different :-)



Creamy Smoked Chicken & Sundried Tomato Rigatoni

I found some lovely Smoked Chicken while shopping yesterday and came up with this delicious lower fat pasta dish. My girlfriend Allison was coming over for dinner and I wanted to impress her of course with a nice pasta dish as she hadn't had pasta in ages.  She loved it, much to my delight but I do have the heads up on her fave foods. I served it with a Garlic Bread made with a Parmesan and Onion Batard that I purchased from Coles.

Ingredients:

250 grams of dried Rigatoni Pasta

(you can use whatever pasta you have on hand)

200g Smoked Chicken Breast Sliced

5 Slices of Shortcut Bacon diced

6 Button Mushrooms finely sliced

1 Tuscan Red Onion diced

Large Handful of Sundried tomatoes

(I used the ones I dried myself and reconstituted them in hot water, totally fat free)

Large Handful of Pitted Kalamatta Olives sliced

Tin of Carnation Light and Creamy

2 Tbs Cornflour

100g Reduced Fat Hillswood Tasmanian Feta Cheese

(I love this Feta as it crumbles beautifully)

Fresh Basil Leaves

Sprinkling of Freshly grated Parmesan for serving

What to do:

Heat a Ceramic pot/Frypan and a splash of Olive Oil. Add your Bacon, onion and mushrooms. Saute until soft and then add your Sundried Tomatoes and Olives and give it a good stir to combine. Add the Smoked Chicken and then  half of the Carnation Milk and stir. Mix the cornflour with the remaining milk in the tin until combined and add to the dish. Simmer on low until the sauce thickens. Boil and salt the water for your pasta and cook until al dente. At this point crumble your feta into your dish. Drain the pasta and add to your pot. Stir to combine your pasta and sauce. Serve into bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan and Basil.



Lj's Kangaroo Bolognaise.. best in the world I tell you

I was sitting here this afternoon after working thinking I really feel like bolognaise..(even though I took out a T-Bone for dinner and even though slaving over a hot stove in this isn't that appealing!)

This is the leanest bolognaise ever.. rich and delicious. So low in fat it isn't funny, and for those who "don't" eat Kangaroo I can guarantee you that you will never make a Beef Bolognaise if you tasted mine..

I'm going to serve it with Slim Pasta tonight. There is enough to feed an army so I'll be freezing the rest into one serve containers and popping in the freezer for a quick meal after a long day or for when Mini-Me just wants some of Mum's Bologanise.

Ingredients:

1 Kg Kangaroo Mince

1 Large Red Tuscan  Onion finely diced

1 Large Carrot finely diced

1 Large Zucchini finely diced 

2 Large Portabello Mushrooms sliced

2 x 500g Jars of Passata

A glass of shiraz ( get into the rest of the bottle while cooking!)

( I swear by making all my own sauces but honestly when you are in  a hurry these jar sauces can be great, and to be even more honest they are cheaper to buy than they are to make at places like Aldi)

1 Tin of diced Roma Tomatoes

Fresh Basil, Parsley and Oregano from my garden

What to do:

Heat a large ceramic pot/frypan. Add a splash of olive oil, once the pot is hot add the onions, garlic, carrot, zucchini and mushrooms. Saute until soft and then add the Kangaroo mince. Stir to break up the meat and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the tinned tomatoes, wine and sauce and give it a good mix to combine. Turn the heat to low and put the lids on. Let it cook slowly for a few hours stirring from time to time. 

Simmering will reduce the liquid and make a delicious rich and thick sauce with lots of flavour. Add you fresh herbs and let the flavours infuse by slow cooking for another half hour or so.

Serve with your favourite pasta/spaghetti or fettucine. I'm serving with Slim Pasta and a sprinkle of parmesan as I'm on a bit of a heath kick at the moment. Enjoy :-)

Lj's Healthy..ish Surf n Turf t-bone style

Healthy..ish Surf n Turf t-bone style.. Yum :-)



Delicious cooked T-Bone steak. I let my steak rest while I cook the prawns and sauce. I add a little olive oil to the same pan I cooked the steak in, add the prawns/freshly chopped garlic and cook on each side. The sauce consists of juices from the steak left on the bottom of the pan, cracked pepper, hiilayan salt and some light and creamy carnation milk mixed with a little bit of cornflour instead of cream to kinda make it diet LOL... oh and a splash of the Sauv Blanc I was drinking to bring all the juices off the bottom of the pan. Let the sauce thicken while stiring to Not the traditional way to cook garlic prawns but totally flavoursome :-)

Rissy's Slow Cooked Rabbit wrapped in Bacon..

Would love to be at my Sisters when she cooks this gorgeous Rabbit! She has promised to make it for me next visit and I can hardly wait.. The recipe is from a Camp Oven Cookbook that Mum gave her.

Season the whole rabbit with salt and pepper.

Fill the cavity with sliced onion, tomato and garlic.

Wrap in bacon to enclose. 

Put a bit of ginseng spice (from Tassie), flour in an oven bag and put in the rabbit.

Tie off, pierce bag and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve with the juices and whatever veges you like.

YUM YUM YUM!!!

Pistachio, Basil and Sundried Tomato Pesto (Raw Recipe)

I'm very new to Raw Food Recipes....After days of researching all kinds of recipes I decided it was time to create my own and see what I came up with. I started with a base recipe and went from there.. I have no idea what I am going to do with this Pesto when it's done.. any idea's?????

http://www.food.com/recipe/basil-pistachio-pesto-raw-recipe-337429

Above is the link for the recipe I started out with.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Fresh Basil Leaves and a few leaves of Flat Leaf Parsley

1/2 Cup Raw Pistachios

4 Tbs Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice

2 Lge Cloves of Fresh Garlic

1/2 Tea Himilayan Sea Salt

Approx 10 Pieces of Sundried Tomato

(Best to chop up a little bit before throwing it in, makes it easier to process,

I've used the Roma Tomatoes I dried last week)

What to do:

Simply add everything into the bowl of a small  food processor. Blend until finely chopped.

I've never made Pesto without Parmesan and much to my surprise this recipe tastes FANTASTIC! Very proud of my first efforts... Now what I am going to do with it?

Roasted Pumpkin & Yellow Button Squash Soup

Diced kent pumpkin, yellow button squash, lots and lots of whole garlic cloves (to keep the bugs away!) Himilayan Salt, cracked pepper, splash of olive oil, a good sprinkle of Vegeta Gourmet Stock powder and about 1/4 cup water in the bottom. Pop into the oven until the pumpkin is beautifully golden and soft. Puree in a food process or with a stick mixer. This makes a really thick healthy soup. Just add more water if you like it thinner. You could add sour cream or cream if you wish, I'm opting for a healthier version which is just as delicious. I'm going to serve with some homemade soy and linseed croutons with the bread I've got baking at the moment.

Herbed Soy and Linseed Croutons... Chop the bread and pop into a lined baking tray. Spray with Cooking Spray and toss with a few mixed herbs. Bake in the oven until almost done and then top with a little bit grated parmesan. Cook for a few further minutes until the parmesan is crispy.

Serve the hot soup into a bowl, add a dollop of Fat Free Greek

Yoghurt and the croutons.



Balsamic Sundried Tomato & Green Bean Salad

Can't wait to dig into this for lunch! Mum makes this and it's just to die for..

I've blanched some green beans in boiling water, left for a few minutes and then cooled in cold water so they stop cooking and remain crunchy. Then I rehydrated some homemade sundried tomatoes and Zucchini's I dried last week in some balsamic vinegar. Add some chopped reduced fat feta and sliced kalamata olives. I've left it in the fridge to infuse all those flavours together.

Yum Yum Yum.... Getting hungry! 

Lj's Slow Cooked Rosemary & Mint Lamb Chops

Slow Cooked Rosemary & Mint Lamb Chops.... Delicious comfort food!

served with steamed fresh Carrots, Yellow Button Squash and Peas

Make a marinade out of Apple Mint Jelly.. (I have an abundance of my Mum's..Lucky ME!)

freshly chopped rosemary and olive oil. Smother the chops in your marinade and leave for at least a few hours or if you can overnight like I did to really infuse those flavours.

Heat some olive oil in a large dutch oven. Add a sliced onion and saute,

 then your lamb chops and brown on each side. Season with Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper.

Add a few tablespoons of plain flour and stir into the juices from the marinade. Cook for a few minutes to cook off the flour.

Add some some water, just enough to cover the chops. No need for stock in the recipe as you get all teh delicious flavours from the meat and the marinade. Cover with the lid and simmer on low heat for a few hours (3 - 4 depending on how many chops you have in the pan) or until the meat is falling off the bone and the sauce is thick. Check every half hour or so and stir. I removed the bones and the fat from the meat before serving so it isn't as messy to each but you don't have to.... that is entirely up to you. I leave that fat on while browning the meat for the extra flavour it gives off while cooking, but you can trim off all the fat before cooking if you wish.

Serve with mash and whatever steamed veges you like :-)



Lj's Spicy Mango & Nashi Chutney

After cutting a Mango that I though was delicious and ripe.. and wasn't, I decided to create this recipe with whatever else I could find in my crisper. To my delight it turned out a treat!

I love creating new Chutney Recipes..

Ingredients:

1 Under ripe Mango

3 Roma Tomatoes

1 Yellow Capsicum

I White Nashi Pear

1 Medium White Onion

 2 Cups of White Vinegar

1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar

1 Teas Ground Cinnamon

1 Teas Mixed Spice

1 Teas Chilli Powder

10 Black Peppercorns

What to do:

Dice the Mango, Tomatoes, Capsium, Nashi and Onion and place
into a heavy based pot. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and

simmer on low until thick and soft.

Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal.

This would be so good on a cracker with Camembert,

or any kind of Chicken sandwich!

I can't wait to dig into some..

Natural Hand Scrub.. also fantastic for relaxing pedicures!

Natural Hand Scrub.. almost fantastic for relaxing pedicures!

 

Make your own natural hand scrub for the kitchen... Combine 3/4 cup white sugar, 2 tbs sea salt flakes, 1/2 cup of olive oil and lemon zest.

 

 Store on an airtight container. To use wet your hands and scrub with 1 teaspoon of the mixture between your fingers and over palms then rinse..

Italian Kangaroo Burger

Must be starting to  feel better because I'm kind of hungry (and so I should be as I've eaten very little the last few days) for a delicious burger with some melted cheese and chutney on multigrain bread! This one is for all you Kangaroo lovers... Not that there are many LOL

Mix together some kangaroo mince, tomato chutney, dried Italian herbs, Parmesan cheese, an egg and some homemade breadcrumbs. Heat a pan and spray with cooking spray. Cook until golden on each side and cooked through. Pop it into some bread with low fat tasty cheese and tomato chutney and them into the sandwich toaster.

Demolish! :-)

Semi-Dried Roma Tomatoes With Fresh Herbs In Virgin Olive Oil

Semi-Dried Roma Tomatoes With Fresh Herbs In Virgin Olive Oil.....

I'm new to Dehydrators and loaned my Mum's initially to dry some Sugar Flowers for a wedding cake. I bought some cheap Roma Tomatoes and decided to give making sundried tomatoes a go. Great for summer salads and home made vingarettes and salad dressing.

 Also great in a nice jar to give as gifts.

I've sliced the Tomatoes approx 1cm thick, seasoned with some himilyan salt and dried Italian Herbs. A lot of recipes I have seen have said to take out the seeds but that is a mission and I think leaving the seeds in will give a much nicer flavour even though they take a little longer to dry. They took approx 10 hours to dry . I've made some semi dried (approx 3/4 dry) Added them to sterilised jars and layed them with fresh basil, oregano and thyme from my garden and some mashed galic cloves. Topped them up with Cobram Estate Virgin Olive Oil and sealed. The others I have dried completely and popped into an air tight container. I can use these later and rehydrate in a nice vinegar with mustard seeds and herbs to make a lower fat version. Very happy with the way they have turned out!

Lj's Fried Chicken..

Here is last night's dinner! Keep in mind this is a "sometimes" meal! Man of the house loved it and Mini Me will be spewing she wasn't here for it... NOM NOM NOM!

ღ ✔ Like ✔ “Share” ✔ Tag ✔ Comment ✔ Repost ✔Follow me ღ
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN….Daily recipes, Diet & Health tips??
Invite your friends who love recipes too! --->>>
https://www.facebook.com/groups/healthychoiceswithljsgourmetkitchen/

Lj's Chicken, Bacon & Spinach Canneloni

Chicken, Bacon & Spinach Canelloni...

Ingredients:

400g Chicken Breast finely diced
3 Rashers of Bacon finely diced
1 White Onion finely diced
2 Cloves of Garlic crushed
250g Finely chopped frozen Spinach
1/3 Cup White Wine (I used Sauv Blanc)
Low fat grated Cheese
Basic White Sauce.. recipe below

In a hot frypan, saute the chicken, bacon, onion and garlic for a few minutes until the chicken is browned off. Add the defrosted frozen spinach and mix to combine. Add the white wine and simmer until the wine has reduced.

Make the white sauce with Parmesan:

Basic White Sauce with Parmesan:

2 Tbs Butter ( I used Nutalex)
2 Tbs Plain Flour
350 ml Skim Milk
Cracked Pepper and Sea Salt

In the microwave melt the butter, then add the flour and combine  Cook off the butter and flour for one minute. Add the milk and whisk, cook in one minute spurts whisking in between until the sauce is thick. Add the Parmesan Sea Salt and cracked pepper and mix.

Add 1/3 of the white sauce to the chicken mixture and combine. Roll the mixture into fresh pasta sheets to make canelloni rolls. Place in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray and top with the remaining white sauce. Top with some low fat grated tasty cheese and bake in a 180 degree oven for 45 minutes or until tha pasta is cooked and it loks golden. I'm serving with some homemade garlic bread. Nom Nom Nom