whole wheat pizza dough

(this recipe uses a bread maker and is approximately a medium, or 1.5 pound, loaf)

put ingredients into bread maker in the following order:
1 c lukewarm water


1 T honey
1 t salt
2 T olive oil
1 c whole wheat white flour


1.5 c whole wheat flour

1 t yeast

use the "dough" option on your bread maker. once the dough is done, spread it out on a greased pan of your choice. cook for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. remove and add toppings. cook for another 15-20 minutes.

enjoy!

(you can use any combination of flour for this recipe. i would not recommend all whole wheat flour, but you can use all whole wheat white flour. you can also try whole wheat pastry flour.)

thick n' hearty chicken cheese soup

from Kirkland Signature Chunk Breast of Chicken 

1 cup carrots, shredded
1/4 cup green onion, sliced
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 whole wheat flour
2 cups milk
1 can (10 3/4 oz) chicken broth
1 can (12. 5 oz) canned chicken
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

In a medium saucepan, cook carrots and green onion in hot margarine or butter about 10 minutes or until tender but not browned. Stir in flour. Slowly add milk, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in chicken and cheese. Cook and stir over low heat until cheese melts. Serve hot.

crockpot chicken pot pie

3 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3-4 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes (I like to leave the peels on)
2 cups carrots, sliced
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped (I used canned chicken)
1 cup frozen peas, defrosted
1 cup frozen corn, defrosted
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 cups prepared mashed potatoes

Coat the inside of your slow cooker pot with cooking spray, brush with oil, or line with a slow cooker liner.

Add the broth to the slow cooker, followed by the thyme, potatoes, and carrots. Stir. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or until potatoes are tender.

In a small bowl, combine the flour and butter to form a paste. Add the butter mixture, chicken, peas, and corn. Stir to combine. Spread the mashed potatoes on top and cook for 1 hour.

Serve warm from the pot.

healthy and delicious tofu tacos + mango salsa

from fellow 8er Scott...

Healthy and Delicious Tofu Tacos

½ package of extra firm Tofu

1 can of red beans

1 package of taco seasoning

1 package of whole wheat tortillas

Cut Tofu into small cubes and cook in a 10” skillet with water and taco seasoning.  Add red beans and cook until heated and coated with taco seasoning.  Serve on whole wheat tortillas topped with Black Bean Mango Salsa.

Black Bean Mango Salsa

1 large mango, chopped

1/3 cup white onion, chopped

1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

Juice of 1 lime

Combine mango, white onion, black beans, cilantro and jalapeno in a medium bowl. Squeeze lime juice over mixture. Stir well, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

tomato pesto soup

from Judy!

Tomato Pesto Soup

Yield 4 Servings

Per Serving: 61 Calories, 2g Fat.

3 large tomatoes or 1 qt jar of tomatoes or 2- cans 14.5 oz canned tomatoes

2 cups chicken broth

2 Tbs. tomato pesto

salt and pepper to taste

4 Tbs. grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Instructions

1. Run tomatoes under hot water and peel off skins ( If using bottled or canned tomatoes skip this step)

2. Place in medium saucepan with chicken broth; bring to a boil over medium heat

3. Cover and cook 15 minutes or until tomatoes are soft ( If using bottled or canned tomatoes skip this step)

4. Remove discard green tomato cores  ( If using bottled or canned tomatoes skip this step)

5. In food processor or blender, process soup in batches until smooth

6. Return to saucepan;  bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally

7. Add pesto and season with salt and pepper

8. Ladle soup equally into four bowls;  garnish each with 1 Tbs. of the cheese

Morrocan Chickpea Stew

From Charees!

Here is a healthy vegetarian crockpot recipe.  I try to eat as many vegetables a day as I can.  I often make my meals based on the vegetables I have on hand.  I'm sure you could add other veggies to this like zucchini, etc.  

Morrocan Chickpea Stew

1 onion, sliced

3 carrots, sliced

1 large can black olives

16 oz can Chick peas (garbanzos)- can be replaced with chicken breasts

1 can (14 1/2 oz) tomatoes or 4 fresh chopped.

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans chicken broth

1 tsp ground cumin

1 lemon sliced with peel on

salt and pepper to taste

garnish with fresh cilantro (optional)

Chuck it all in the crockpot and cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours, the flavors really meld nicely. The lemon is a must. If you use dried chick peas make sure to soak overnight first.  Serve over whole wheat couscous which cooks up in 5 mins. Could also be served over quinoa or brown rice. 

Ground Turkey Meatloaf

From:  Lillian, Team:  California Girls

3 oz. = 173 calories

1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup egg substitute or 3 eggs

One 15 oz. can diced tomatoes with garlic and basil (Italian style)

1 packet onion soup mix

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In large bowl, combine turkey, oats, egg substitute or eggs, and soup mix until blended thoroughly.

Place in 4" x 8" loaf pan.

Bake until well done, about 1 1/2 hours. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

(3 ounces can be weighed on a kitchen scale.  Or, I find, from a bread-loaf size meatloaf, 3 ounces is the same as a slice the width of my pointer finger.)

Indian-Spiced Slow-Cooker Lentils

This recipe from Our Best Bites comes highly recommended by a friend of mine. Plus, Our Best Bites almost never leads me astray. Of course you would serve this with brown rice, not white as pictured above.

Recipe lightly adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients:

2 cups red lentils (if you can find them…check natural food stores, Trader Joe's, the bulk bins or a Middle Eastern market)
10 ounces spinach (fresh and chopped or frozen and thawed)
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want to go vegetarian/vegan)
1 tablespoon curry powder or paste (I prefer curry paste)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
Handful of chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish if desired

Combine all ingredients except for the lemon (or lime) juice and cilantro in the pot of a slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours (or bring to a boil on the stove top and then simmer, covered, on low for 1 hour). Before serving, add the lemon juice and cilantro. This is delicious served over rice. Weight Watchers says this makes 6 servings, but I’d say it’s closer to 8-10.


Nutritional info for 8 Servings:
Calories: 87.3
Fat: .6
Carbs: 15.7
Fiber: 5.7
Protein: 6.6

Meatballs with Couscous and Feta

I was a little worried that in doing this program I'd be eating omlettes and oatmeal and green smoothies for two months. A little searching helped me see that there are plenty of unique and tasty recipes that also fit into our rules.

Real Simple is a great resource for quick, easy and often healthy recipes. This one only needed a little adaptation to fit with Great in Eight. If you want to cut down on the fat content, 95% lean ground beef has about one sixth as much fat as ground lamb.

Serves 4
Hands-On Time: 25m
Total Time: 25m

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground lamb or beef
1/4 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 small red onion, half finely chopped and half thinly sliced
kosher salt and black pepper
1 cup 100% whole wheat couscous (could probably sub quinoa, although it would change the taste a bit)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 plum tomatoes, sliced
1/2 English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
4 ounces Feta, crumbled

Directions
Heat broiler. In a medium bowl, combine the meat, apricots, coriander, chopped onion, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
Form the meat into 1 ½-inch balls (about 20) and place them on a broilerproof baking sheet. Broil until cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the couscous in a bowl. Add 1 cup hot tap water, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
In a small bowl, mix together the oil, lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
Serve the couscous with the meatballs, tomatoes, cucumber, Feta, and sliced onion. Drizzle with the dressing.

Recipe and photo credit here.

hawaiian haystacks

This recipe comes from fellow Great in 8 member Leslie...

My family LOVES Hawaiian Haystacks and I found this delicious recipe! Once I started doing FGI8, I couldn't eat this because of the flour, so I changed it up a bit.  It is still the most delicious recipe I have ever tried.

Here is a link to the original:

http://picky-palate.com/2012/04/01/homemade-hawaiian-haystacks/

And here is my healthified recipe:

32 oz reduced sodium chicken broth
2-3 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
2 tsp dry ranch seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic salt
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

In large sauce pan, bring broth and cornstarch to a boil, until it thickens. Add sour cream, ranch, pepper, salt, garlic powder. Serve over brown rice with cheese, tomatoes, pineapple, mandarin oranges, olives, green onions, craisins, chow mein noodles, coconut, whatever else you like!!!

beef and barley soup

1 lb stew meat
1/2 onion
1/2- 1 cup green beans
1/2- 1 cup carrots
1/2 can of corn or 1 cup frozen
2-3 potatoes
1/3 cup barley (try to use regular barley not quick barley)
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tps parsley
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
salt and pepper to taste
6-8 cups beef broth (low sodium even better!)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup corn starch

Brown the stew meat in olive or canola oil in a large pot. Add onions, carrots, and green beans.  Saute for a couple of minutes. Add the beef broth and seasonings. Simmer for 1 hour.

Add potatoes and corn. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Add barley and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes.

After everything is cooked, mix the water and corn starch into a slurry. Stir slurry to pot. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken and then enjoy!