Poultry – Grit Cooking- A Southern Girls Taste

Entrees, Garden, High Protein, Poultry, Vegetable

Zucchini boats w Italian Chicken Sausage

August 23, 2020 Gritcooking- A Southern Girls Taste

What a simple lowfat option for those large zucchini’s coming from the garden this time of year. Trying to keep my eating more lowfat and clean Im forced to avoid my favorite fried zucs.this was so easy and delicious! Its also lowfat!

Large zucchini
Italian chicken sausage 98 percent ff
Chopped 1/4 cup each onion, red bell, green bell, cored center of zuc, two. Garlic cloved
Tsp garlic powder
1 egg
1/2 cup italian seasoned breadcrumbs
Two springs fresh basil stemmed and chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper
Jared marinara sauce
Parm and or mozzarella shreaded

Cut ends and then lenghtwise zucchini

Pending size half to fit baking dish

Carefully core out soft centers fine chopping half for meatloaf mixture.

Mis meat, chopped veggies, seasonings , egg breadcrumbs together and form into loafs on sectioned squash. The sausage already is heavy seasoned and simply delicious!

Arrange over 1 cup sauce in cooking dish.

Sprinkle w parmasean optional

Bake 400 degrees 40 minutes

Cover with mozzarella and bake 5 more minutes to melt.

Served over whole wheat basil pasta

Angel hair wholewheat pasta is so delicious and a bit lighter than the white flour version . I cook according to the box and then toss w olive oil, crushed chopped fresh basil and salt and pepper

Simple delicious!!

Entrees, High Protein, Poultry

Lil’ Chicken on the BBQ with sweet espresso glaze

July 17, 2020July 17, 2020 Gritcooking- A Southern Girls Taste

What a fun twist to just chicken…. make up cute little Cornish game hens on the BBQ. My oldest sister taught me the fun of the tiny chicken that packs a great flavor and easy to prep. They come in all sizes… tonight I had two rather large birds so I cleaned and halved them for four good servings.

These have been in the freezer for a while so I thawed in the fridge overnight and cleaned and split with cooking shears down the breast bone. Toss in some olive oil and garlic grilling seasonings and black pepper. Allow to sit at room temp for 20 minutes. I sear all sides on a HOT grill and then turn grill down to med (375-400 degrees) for 30 minutes. Leaving the skin side up to roast. as they roast slathering with sauce periodically. The espresso BBQ saucecreates a sweet glossy glaze, Light foil half way to 165 degrees.

Summertime I like to do as much cooking outside to keep the house cool from the summer heat. So adding a skillet of yellow potatoes with peppers and onion make a nice dancing partner on the plate for this evening meal. This one I even throw together after a long work day. Easy clean up.

Entrees, Gluten Free, Dairy free, High Protein, Poultry, Soups and Appitizers, Traditions

Chili (shh…its healthy!)

June 9, 2020June 10, 2020 Gritcooking- A Southern Girls Taste

I love chili- but chili doesn’t always love me. the heat from spices as well as the fat from the red meat didn’t always sit well with my tum tum. I ventured out to make a healthy hearty chili- with out all the fat but high in protein. This recipe was a real home run with the family as well as hitting home with 98% fat free, low calorie, high fiber and high protein. Punching almost 18 grams of protein per 1 heaping cup serving.

Recipe:

1 Lb ground lean turkey browned
1 cup each follow veggies
- Yellow Onion
- Mixed bell peppers
- roasted sweet potato chopped
- zucchini
- cauliflower
5 12 oz cans each of organic beans red kidney, black, pinto, great northern
Large can 28 oz crushed tomatoes
sm can 12 oz chopped roasted tomato
small can roasted green chilis
2 tsp chopped jar garlic or 2 cloves cleaned and chopped
2.5 TBS Chili Powder
1 tsp Cayenne pepper (more to taste)
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder

Veggies hiding in this pot! so yummy.

yes veggies! As you can see I added cauliflower, chopped zucchini, mixed bell peppers (frozen from my freezer shortcut) and not pictured sweet potato to add a bit of sweet spice. 1 cup of each.

98% fat free lean ground turkey

browned meat then add veggies to cook.

add tomatoes and spiced

Brown the ground turkey (98% Fat free lean) in a tablespoon of olive oil. drain any fat and add veggies, fresh garlic, pepper and garlic powder – cook until soften and to flavor the meat. Add seasonings.

Let us talk Chili Power. they are not all alike. They all have salt and major color differences. there is Organic, low sodium and smoker flavored. so go to your spice store and explore. Taste- and see what you prefer. I like a darker color but the lighter has more flavor- so I do a three pic chili powder.

Then Cayenne to taste. I go light to avoid the hot…

Beans! Beans! Beans!

Dried beans work great if you do the pre-soak the night before. This is a great option for the pressure cooker. Doing dried beans in the pressure cooker can rush the process if canned is not available. I use organic canned that has no added seasonings. Black, red kidney, great northern and pinto. all fat free, high fiber and protein and full of flavor. Canned be sure you rinse the metallic slime water off before adding to your pot.

Add your large crushed organic tomatoes, and a small can roasted red tomatoes as well as a can of roasted green chilis. I also incorporated a half cup of TVP (Bobs Red Mill). (Total vegetarian protein) It hides like the turkey meat and absorbs all the great flavor and added protein. really amazing product.

add tomatoes and spiced

Slow simmer for 2 hours. If you don’t want to babysit the pot- stirring to insure it not scorch- trader to your large crock pot on 4 hour low.

Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream and chopped onions. All optional. This freezes fantastic.

Gluten Free, Dairy free, High Protein, kitchen Tips, Poultry

Grilled Chicken- easy weekend prep

June 8, 2020June 10, 2020 Gritcooking- A Southern Girls Taste

My College student son is home for the summer and we had a challenge to each other to jump on the health train and do a summer workout challenge. Part of the challenge was giving up sugars and carbs and eating more healthy protein and whole grains. I have found with his appetite I need to have easy healthy proteins to throw on a salad or heat up with wild rice was the best. I love grilling a mess of chicken breast and then having them in the fridge for recipes. Here is my easy grilled herb chicken breast.

I like to get a the jumbo package of organic chicken breast and fillet each breast into two portions. It cooks faster and seems to come out more juicy.

The big packs of chicken I will cook up half and then single wrap the other Breasts to put in the freezer for future use,

I marinade in olive oil, herb de Provence seasoning, garlic seasoning and lemon pepper. allow it to marinate at room temp for 30 minutes.

then grille to 165 degrees. approximately 10 minutes each side on a hot med high heat gas grille.

Then store in a airtight container in the fridge. we seem to go thru these in less than a couple of days. so good cold, or chopped in a salad. Makes taco night a breeze when getting home from a long day at work. Enjoy the shortcut.