Creamy Parmesan Spinach Dip

Happy Wednesday!

It’s snowing just about everywhere in the US it seems! When I walked out of work yesterday (in ballet flats!) a good 4″ of snow had fallen. Needless to say, the 20 steps to my car lead to near frost bite. Brrrrr!!! But despite this weather, the show must go on. I have lab rounds at a clinic that’s 50 miles north of home and then I will double back to go teach tonight. It’s probably fair to say I’ll be commuting most of the day. Fabulous.

Though, sitting in the car sounds okay right about now. I decided to shovel for my workout last night. I went out with intentions of just just do the sidewalks, but that only took about 10 minutes. So I decided to shovel the DRIVEWAY! Yep, you read that correctly. And the best part: we have a brand new snow blower! I’m walking like a hunch-back today, and sore is the understatement of the century, but it was a KILLER workout! I wonder what the neighbors are saying… 😉

On to a lightened up classic! This recipe contains light mayonnaise, which I must admit, I love. I know a lot of people don’t like mayonnaise, but I love the stuff (Hellmann’s mayonnaise, please! And no Miracle Whip! Ew!). It’s not like I use it often, but I love it in recipes where it belongs: chicken salad, tuna salad, dips, etc. I recall several years ago brainstorming summer job options with my sister-in-law — one of her requirements for a job was that it didn’t involve mayonnaise!! We had a good laugh over that one. I have a terrible memory, but I’ll never forget it! 😉

Creamy Parmesan Spinach Dip from Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes

10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and excess liquid squeezed out
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp light mayonnaise
1/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
1/4 cup scallion, chopped
fresh pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Can be made one day in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving. Yield: 2 cups (8 servings, 1/4 cup each).

Nutrition Information (per 1/4 cup): 84 calories; 6.1 g. fat; 16 mg. cholesterol; 172 mg. sodium; 2.4 g. carbohydrate; 0.3 g. fiber; 4.4 g. protein

Result: DELICIOUS! I ate this cold with crackers and veggies, Mr. P heated it up and ate it on chips. It is versatile and scrumptious! It’s perfect to take in lunches to doll-up raw veggies, or as an appetizer at a dinner party. And the portion size is generous for the nutrition stats! Enjoy! 😀

Off for a crazy day! Why do I have a feeling dinner is going to be a Larabar and clementines? Going prepared!

Question: Is it snowing where you are? Do you like mayonnaise?

Drive safe! Stay warm!

Chili Contest: Entry 9 + Crab Queso Dip

While the Illini loss was nothing short of TORTUROUS :(…it didn’t phase Lily. This dog is a SUN GODDESS! She will nap in the sun for hours and even when she’s indoors, she plops down where the sun is shining in. She barely moved from 10am to 7pm. LAY-Z!!

But yes, tough losses all around for the Big 10…thank goodness the food was good, at least!

Best Buffalo Chicken Chili from My Bizzy Kitchen

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 large carrots
3 stalks celery
1 large red pepper
5 cloves of garlic
5 Tbsp of chili powder
2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp paprika
1/2 cup Frank’s Hot Moore’s Wing Sauce
2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce
1 (15 oz) diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) black beans, drained
1 (15 oz) chili beans in sauce (do not drain)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put chicken breasts in food processor to grind up  if you can find ground chicken breast, you can use that too. Heat oil and add chicken and cook about 10 minutes on medium heat until no longer pink.  Rinse out processor and add carrots, celery, garlic and red pepper and puree. Add to chicken mixture and cook about 5 minutes until veggies start to soften.

Next add the rest of the ingredients, put stove on simmer and cook for 1 hour.

Nutrition Information: 248 calories; 3.8 g. fat; 44 mg. cholesterol; 1362 mg. sodium; 25.3 g. carbohydrate; 10.8 g. fiber; 28.3 g. protein

Result: I made this recipe of Biz’s back in February, except I followed the directions this time…since I am now the proud owner of a food processor. And I liked the chili better this time! For whatever reason, it wasn’t as spicy (which was fine with me…still had plenty of spice!) and I LOVED the texture — dicing/grinding the meat and vegetables completely changed the chili (as gross as grinding your own meat is — it’s good!). The chili is low in calories and high in fiber like a lot of the chili recipe entries, and similarly, high in sodium. Just no getting around that with the canned goods!!! Mr. Prevention (got his buffalo chicken fix!) and I both loved it, thanks Biz! 😀

Aaaand…

Crab Queso Dip adapted from Homemade by Holman, inspired by Paula Deen

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 large or 1 whole small onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4-6 jalapeno peppers, minced (I used 4 large)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-8 oz packages 1/3 less fat Neufchatel, cut into 1 oz pieces
1 cup low-fat sour cream
1 cup 2% skim milk
2 cups 2% sharp cheddar cheese, grated/shredded
12 oz lump crab meat
2 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

In a dutch oven or large sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat and add onion, bell pepper, jalapenos and garlic.  Cook 3-4 minutes until slightly softened.  Reduce heat to medium and add cream cheese.  Stir to distribute and melt.  When melted, add sour cream and milk and stir to incorporate.  Mixture should be relatively smooth aside from the vegetables.  Add shredded cheese and stir to melt.  Add crab meat and spices.  Stir until well mixed and simmer an additional 5-10 minutes, until bubbly and hot.

Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with chips or transfer to a crockpot and set on “warm” setting to keep hot. Serves 15 as heavy appetizers.

Nutrition Information (per serving): 176 calories; 12.1 g. fat; 42 mg. cholesterol; 331 mg. sodium; 6.4 g. carbohydrate; 0.8 g. fiber; 12.3 g. protein

Result: As I was stirring this HUGE sauce pan full of cheesy queso I thought to myself, “Wow, Nicole…you’re such a stand-up dietitian!” That thought quickly passed as I tried the queso and my heart skipped a beat. It was really good. Mr. Prevention and I settled in for the Illini game and proceeded to make a substantial, and yet very small, dent in a bowl of this queso dip…the recipe makes a ton! I felt a bit guilty for my indulgence and then (never before!) I decided to calculate the nutrition stats. Like I said, this makes a TON and when the WHOLE recipe clocked in at just over 2,640 calories I was FLOORED! I checked my math, re-checked my math…yep. My best guess is that this appetizer would serve 15 for heavy, heavy appetizers and could easily serve 20 at a party with a large spread. Mmmm! Enjoy!

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My workout for the day was interesting: a 4-mile power walk. My 5’3 frame was HUSTLIN’ at 4.0-4.7 mph. I think it was harder than running!!

Question: What’s one food you’d THINK would be really unhealthy but isn’t all that bad?

Queso loooove,

Bloomin’ Onion

As I was driving home from work yesterday I got a craving. Smack. Straight out of left field. I wanted a bloomin’ onion. You know, the classic Outback Steakhouse appetizer extraordinaire. All 1,560 calories, 84 grams of fat, and 5,510 milligrams of sodium extraordinaire. Or…not.

One brief trip to the grocery store later, I was able to create a bloomin’ onion that surely wouldn’t result in immanent cardiac arrest.

Prevention Bloomin’ Onion

Onion:
1 large yellow onion
2 Tbsp cornstarch
pinch of paprika
pinch of cayenne
pinch of seasoning salt
pinch of pepper
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
canola oil cooking spray

Sauce:
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
2 Tbsp ketchup
1/4 tsp seasoning salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tsp horseradish sauce
pinch of paprika

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

Cut onion ends without separating onion layers, making sure one end flat enough to keep the onion standing on its side. Cut onion into a floret-style, carefully separating the onion layers.

Combine the cornstarch, paprika, seasoning salt, cayenne, and pepper. Spray the onion lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with cornstarch mixture. Drizzle egg whites over onion. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake for 45 minutes.

Combine the remaining ingredients: sour cream, ketchup, seasoning salt, cayenne, horseradish, and paprika.

Serve onion warm with the horseradish dipping sauce.

Yield: 6 servings

Nutrition Information (per serving): 85 calories; 2.5 g. fat; 298 mg. sodium; 11.5 g. carbohydrate; 0.8 g. fiber; 3.7 g. protein

Result: Yum!! My only advice: DON’T eat half of it…at least not without Tums. Or if you’re eating with someone you’d like to kiss sometime in the near distant future… 😉 Oops.

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Your comments from yesterday – wow! You guys are fat-savvy! I was really impressed with the opinions you all have regarding fat in the diet and the importance fat plays in satiety and balance.

I have already received lots of questions for next week’s Q&A (woot!)! Please pass along any questions you have for me!! Send’em to: PreventionRD@gmail.com

Question: Have you had a Bloomin’ Onion? Did you like it? What other menu items have nutrition stats that cause you to cringe?

TGIF!