Tomato Bread

As I have mentioned before, I spent much of my youth at the family cottage with my extended family.  I have many fond memories of fun times at the cottage with my multitude of cousins.  We would often spend hot days swimming in the cool lake.  In the evening, the kids would help my grandma and aunts make dinner and dessert.  Dessert was usually made from freshly picked fruit (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, peaches) that we kids worked very hard picking.  I'll share those recipes later.

My absolute favorite dinner that I learned to make at the cottage was (and still is to this day) Tomato Bread.  I have tried many tomato breads while dining at restaurants, but nothing beats the homemade kind.  The dish is quick and easy, and a great meatless choice ( I like to eat it on Fridays during Lent.)  I prefer tomato bread as a meal, but it can also be served as an appetizer or snack.

If you have tomatoes growing in your garden, it's a great way to use them quickly.

TOMATO BREAD

Ingredients:
2 long twin loaves of bread, cut in half lengthwise
Speadable low fat margarine, butter
Garlic powder
Oregano
Basil
2 large tomatoes or 3 medium tomatoes
2 cups low fat shredded cheese (I prefer mozzarella and cheddar)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place sliced bread onto large baking sheet and spread lightly with margarine.  Sprinkle to taste garlic powder, oregano, and basil.  Slice tomatoes in thin slices and place on bread to cover loaves.  Sprinkle with seasonings again.  Top with shredded cheese and bake until cheese is melted (about 15 minutes).  Let cool and slice with sharp knife or pizza cutter.

NOTE: Tomato Bread may also be grilled if you like a smokey flavor.

Meatballs with Orzo & Zucchini

This is a quick, simple recipes for those days you need to throw together something for dinner.  The key is having frozen cooked meatballs.  You can use the store bought kind or you can use your own.  Meatballs are perfect to use in many recipes, including soups, stews, and skillet dishes. 

When you have more time, just prepare a big batch of meatballs.  Cook them and freeze them in Ziploc bags.  I would put about 1/2 pound of meatballs per bag. Then you're ready to pull them out of the freezer and use them in a quick recipe like this.

The recipe calls for orzo, tomatoes, and zucchini, but you can adapt the recipe to suit your taste.  I didn't have zucchini on hand the day I prepared it, but the dish was fine without it.  You might also want to add some seasonings if you like a little more flavor.

MEATBALLS WITH ZUCCHINI AND ORZO
Ingredients:
16 frozen cooked meatballs
14 ounces low sodium beef broth
1 can low sodium diced Italian tomatoes  (I just had a can of regular tomatoes, so I added Italian seasonings to the tomatoes)
1 medium zucchini, julienned

Preparation:
Place frozen meatballs and broth in skillet and boil.  Stir in pasta and reduce heat to low.  Cover and simmer 12 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes and zucchini.  Cook about 5 minutes, until zucchini is tender.

Italian Chicken Skillet

This chicken recipe is another one that's easy to make and it doesn't take too long to cook.  Those are my favorite kind of recipes.  You can save a little preparation time by chopping the vegetables the day before.  Leftovers keep well in the fridge for lunch the next day, or you can even freeze them for weeks.

I have a friend who is a busy working mom, and she prepares several main dishes on Sunday to serve her family for the coming week.  She simply freezes them and then will move the meal into the refrigerator the night before she plans to serve the meal.  It's thawed and ready to reheat and serve to her family when she comes home from work.  This recipe would work well for her.

ITALIAN CHICKEN SKILLET

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
1/4 cup sliced celery
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can (4 oz) low sodium sliced mushrooms
1 can (14 oz) low sodium diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:

In large skillet, saute chicken over medium heat until browned.  Remove and keep warm.  In same skillet, saute vegetables until tender and return chicken to skillet.  Combine tomatoes, vinegar, and seasonings and pour over chicken and vegetables.  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Uncover and simmer for 10 minutes longer.  (I didn't simmer the last 10 minutes because the chicken was cooked through after 30 minutes.)

Stuffed Green Peppers

I'm always looking for new ways to serve ground beef because I feel like I'm always eating burgers, meatballs, or meatloaf.  They're good but they get boring after awhile even if you use different seasonings with them.  Stuffing meat inside other food seems to be a specialty of the Polish people (of which I am a member).  I have already posted a kolacky recipe, so now it's time to stuff peppers with meat instead of dough.  In the future, I will make a recipe called Golabki, more commonly known as stuffed cabbage rolls.  So you have that to look forward to.

Unfortunately, I don't have photos to go with the recipe because my camera batteries died.  I'll post the pictures next time I make it.

Enjoy!

STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS

Ingredients:
4 large green peppers
1 pound ground meat
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 can (14 oz) low sodium diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup long grain rice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Preparation:
Halve peppers lenthwise and remove insides.  Boil for 3 minutes and drain.  In skillet, brown meat and onion; drain.  Stir in tomatoes, water, rice, Worcestershire, basil, and oregano.  Bring to boil and reduce heat.  Simmer covered for 15 minutes.  Place peppers in large baking dish and fill with meat.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.  Makes 8 servings.

Low Sodium Chili

Doing this low sodium diet can be such a challenge especially when dining out.  Most often, I will simply order a green salad with vinaigrette dressing.  That's usually the safest route.  I get really excited if the restaurant offers the option of a fruit side dish.  Sometimes I will add grilled chicken breast to the salad and hope that it's not too salty.  Mostly, I just compensate by balancing the daily sodium intake.  That means I eat almost no sodium before I dine out so that I can eat the foods with the extra salt.

I like chili but I will almost never order it from a restaurant because I have no idea how much sodium is in it.  I do make it at home fairly often because it's so easy to make and saves well.  I found a recipe I like and I altered it to keep the sodium low.  It's also low fat if you use lean meat.

This recipe is not too spicy because I don't like hot chili.  Add more spices if you do, but this is a good basic chili recipe.

LOW SODIUM CHILI:

Ingredients:
1 pound ground meat
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1 can (14 oz) low sodium diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) low sodium red kidney beans
1 can (8 oz) low sodium tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:
In large saucepan, cook meat, onions, and pepper and drain.  Stir in tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, and spices.  Bring to boil and reduce heat.  Cover and simmer 20 minutes.  Makes 5 cups.

Chicken Pomodoro

I enjoy eating Chicken Pomodoro at restaurants, so I looked for a recipe that was easy enough for me to make.  I prefer not to let my lack of culinary skills impede my eating delicious food. 

This is a simple and quick recipe.  It's perfect if you've had a bad day and need to get out a little aggression because you pound the chicken breasts thin.

This recipe goes well with almost any side dishes: rice, pasta, potatoes, vegetables, salad, and fruit.  I love tomatoes, so I used more than what the recipe called for and had plenty leftover.  I just threw the extra into some soup.  No food goes to waste at my house.

CHICKEN POMODORO

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, pounded thin.
1/4 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (fresh is best, but canned works too)
2 tablespoons cream or milk
 1/3 cup green onions, chopped

Preparation:
Place chicken breasts in plastic zip bag and pound thin using mallet. 

Put flour and pepper in plastic bag with chicken and shake until coated.

Saute chicken in oil until browned.  Add broth and lemon juice and cook 2 minutes.  Remove chicken and place on serving dish.  Add tomatoes and cream to broth & juice.  Heat through.  Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with green onions.