Week 2: Nutritional Yet Delicious Dinners

Welcome back to Week 2 of our How To Eat Better blogs. So just to review the tips that were presented last week:

Tip #1: Prepare your meal plan ahead of time!

Preparing your snacks and meal plans a head of time will help portion control and will help us make sure that we are eating all the necessary vitamins and nutrients.

Tip #2: Physically prepare the food the day before (if you can).

It is imperative to take 10-15 minutes the night before preparing our food for the next day-whether this is chopping the vegetables and herbs or pre-slicing and marinating the meat for the next day’s meal.

Tip #3: Don’t forget to indulge yourself once in awhile.

Plan a treat once in awhile and include a scrumptious dessert to spoil yourself.

Tip #4: Find foods that you like.

Find a recipe that includes items you like, and not so much the food products you don’t like. If you don’t like Spinach, you don’t have to eat it. There are other food items that will supply you with the nutrients that Spinach gives.

Now onto our main course! Literally :)

Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken (6 servings. Calories: 281 per serving, Fat: 10.8g, Cholesterol: 75mg)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup dry bread crumbs

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

In a bowl, blend the olive oil and garlic. In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, basil, and pepper. Dip each chicken breast in the oil mixture, then in the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in the prepared baking dish, and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.

Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Side Dishes: Add steamed red potatoes and zucchini drizzled with dried parsley, garlic salt, and pepper to taste.

  

Heavenly Halibut (Servings: 8. Calories: 235 per serving; Fat: 13.9g; Cholesterol: 58mg)

Ingredients

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup butter, softened

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons chopped green onion

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 dash hot pepper sauce

2 pounds skinless halibut fillets

Directions

Preheat the oven broiler. Grease a baking dish.

In a bowl, mix the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise, lemon juice, green onions, salt, and hot pepper sauce.

Arrange the halibut fillets in the prepared baking dish.

Broil halibut fillets 8 minutes in the prepared oven, or until easily flaked with a fork. Spread with the Parmesan cheese mixture, and continue broiling 2 minutes, or until topping is bubbly and lightly browned.

Side Dishes: Steam asparagus or green beans as a side. Drizzle with herbs to taste.

And for my vegetarians. I have not forgotten about you. I will be writing an all vegetarian meal plan in a later article but thought to include a nice dinner that is both healthy, delicious, and vegan! And for those who aren’t living the vegan lifestyle, take a chance and try this one out! It’s super yummy!

 

 

 

 

Unsloppy Joes (Servings: 8. Calories: 204; Fat: 3.9g; Cholesterol: 0mg)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

8 kaiser rolls

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, green pepper, and garlic: saute until tender. Stir in tomatoes, chili powder, tomato paste, vinegar, and pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Stir in kidney beans, and cook an additional 5 minutes.

Cut a 1/4 inch slice off the top of each kaiser roll; set aside. Hollow out the center of each roll, leaving about 1/2 inch thick shells; reserve the inside of rolls for other uses.

Spoon bean mixture evenly into rolls and replace tops. Serve immediately.

NOTE: This is a perfect meal to double and freeze half! Warms up quite nicely!

 

Side Dish: Brugandy Mushrooms (NOM NOM NOM!!!) (Servings: 4. Calories: 59; Fat: 0.5g; Cholesterol: 0mg)

Ingredients

1/2 cup diced onion

1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth

2 (8 ounce) cans whole mushrooms, drained, liquid reserved from one can

1/3 cup Burgundy wine

Recipes compliments of allrecipes.com