Happy Friday and a Winner!

Upon reading the title of my post yesterday:

• “Sweat is the cologne of your accomplishments”

Tony sent me an email that said:

• “Poo is the cologne of high fiber!”

Maybe I should make a t-shirt that has both sayings on it! 😀

My battery camera was charging at breakfast, but I had another stuffed baked potato with baby spinach and added pepper jack cheese – 9 Points total.

One of my co-workers who is in our soup club was going to be off yesterday, so I switched our soup week up a little.  Long time readers know that I make chicken tikka masala – first made over a year ago – I just love the combination of flavors in this dish with the cinnamon, cumin, jalapenos and dried chiles.  Only problem I see with the recipe is the addition to heavy cream – while delicious, those extra calories add up.

I was lucky enough to receive a case of Chobani yogurt this week!  I have Marisa to thank and I have a post and giveaway on Monday, so be sure to check back because it will be a good one!

So I decided to only use Greek yogurt to thicken the sauce and guess what?  I don’t miss the heavy cream at all!  Still spicy, flavorful and delicious!

Chicken Tikka Masala  (printer friendly version here) Course: main meals
PointsPlus™ Value:    6
Servings:  4 (about 4 ounces of chicken and 2/3 cup sauce)

Preparation Time:  70 min
Cooking Time:  20 min
Level of Difficulty:  Easy

The prep time includes the one hour of marinating the chicken.

Ingredients

1 pound(s) Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
6 oz Nonfat, Plain Greek Yogurt, divided
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
4 tsp ground cumin, divided
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp table salt
1 Tbsp regular butter
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp curry powder
6 item(s) dried red chili peppers
2 cup(s) canned tomato sauce
1 small jalapeno, cut in half, seeded and chopped
1/4 tsp Sriracha Chili Sauce

Instructions

Mix 3 ounces of yogurt with the diced chicken, lemon juice, 2 tsp. cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper.
Let sit for an hour.
Melt butter and add jalapeno pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons ground cumin, paprika, curry powder, sriracha sauce and stir for 2 minutes, until nice and fragrant.
Add chicken and cook for five minutes. Add tomato sauce and dried chiles and simmer for 15 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked.
Remove from heat, stir in remaining 3 ounces of Greek yogurt. Garnish with cilantro and serve over brown rice.My serving with 1/2 cup cooked brown rice is 9 Points.  I really could eat this every week and not get sick of it.  My one co-worker I shared it with said this should be on my menu just as much as my Party Pizza Friday.  Except no one in my family would eat this dish – so it’s all mine! 😀

And while it seems like a long list of ingredients, it took me about3 minutes to chop and marinate the chicken.  I stuck it in the fridge when I went to the pool to swim.  I finished it up in about 20 minutes after I got back, packed it up and was good to go!

I also ended up doing 45 minutes on the treadmill.  Although I am not happy.  Food Network seems to think that Ina Garten needs three shows in a row – really?  Although I did get a good tip from her yesterday.  She was catering a dinner and one of the side dishes was an onion (gag) and zucchini gratin.  I’ve always made my gratin’s like mac n cheese – make a roux with butter, flour and milk, thicken it up, add cheese, then mix whatever veggie and bake.

This version is much quicker for a week night meal.  It’s all done in the microwave and stove top, and finished off in the oven.

Cauliflower Gratin (printer friendly version here)

Course: main meals

PointsPlus™ Value:    5

Servings:  4 (1/4 of whole dish)

Preparation Time:  5 min

Cooking Time:  20 min

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Ingredients

1 pound(s) cauliflower

1 Tbsp regular butter

1 tsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 cup(s) low-fat evaporated milk

2 Tbsp Panko crispy bread crumbs – plain

1 Tbsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp table salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 oz Asiago cheese, shredded

Instructions

Cook cauliflower in microwave until fork tender.

Meanwhile, melt butter and add garlic, cooking until it just starts to get golden.

Add the chopped cauliflower, and sauté for a few minutes.

Sprinkle the cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of flour. Slowly pour the 1 cup of skim evaporated milk and stir constantly, until sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.

Add parsley, salt and pepper and mix well.

Pour into a baking dish that’s been sprayed with Pam. Sprinkle the top with the shredded cheese and panko bread crumbs.

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes until nice and bubbly and browned on top.

I also made a pork roast:

It was nice and juicy!  My cauliflower on my plate is about 1/2 of a serving – I hadn’t figured out the points until after dinner, but don’t worry, I heated up the other half and ate that too! 😀

I am submitting this gratin recipe to Christina’s Friday Firsts – its the first time I’ve used evaporated milk in a gratin! 😀

So now onto the winners of Rocco DiSpirito’s new autographed cookbooks!  I am so excited to put 90 healthy recipes together in an eCookbook for everyone who left a comment.

The first winner is . . .

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: 90 Result: 60