Hot Tamale Pie

Edited: I missed a couple of ingredients the first time I typed this, so double check if you've already printed it or even made it.

I love this dish I have learned to make from my friend. It has some carbs from the corn meal, but no flour, so I feel like it's a good choice. It's delicious, cheap and so yummy.

1 lb hamburger, browned and rinsed.
Saute in a little olive oil with 1/2 cup chopped onion and 1/4 cup each of diced green and red bell peppers. Add chili seasoning packet (I use Williams) about 1/3 cup of water and simmer until thickened. Stir in a can of Rotel-type tomatoes with chiles and a small can of tomato sauce. (All these amounts are approximate, tailor to your own likes.)

Meanwhile, mix together 3 1/2 cups water, 1 cup corn meal and 1 teaspoon salt. This will be very watery and will keep separating. This is okay. Stir together and then pour immediately into a casserole dish. (2 quart, I think.) Scoop the beef mixture into the middle of the corn meal mixture. It will spread a little, but keep putting the beef right into the middle. You will think there's no way this will turn out because it looks so weird. But don't worry it will.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. You can put a lid on if it's getting too dry. Serve immediately. It will be very hot, so be careful.

This would be a good dish for the soft-food stage after surgery.

*I have recently changed the can of Rotel tomatoes to a can of Mexican style stewed tomatoes. It is much milder this way and the kids will eat it without complaining. I find Rotel too spicy, even for my tastes. (Even the mild kind.)

Melissa's Mandarin Chicken Salad

Iceberg Lettuce
1/2 can of Swanson's Chicken breast in water, drained
1/2 can (small) of mandarin oranges, drained
1 green onion, sliced
small palmful of toasted whole or sliced almonds
Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing from Kraft

Assemble into a salad. Very good.

High Protein Snack

I've really been enjoying this lately. Hormel's Turkey Pepperoni slices and cheddar cheese. Mozzarella would be a healthier choice, but I've been using cheddar. I just cut little strips of cheese, wrap them in a slice of pepperoni and eat it. It's yummy. The turkey pepperoni took a little getting used to, but it's very good and has so much less fat than traditional.

Tuna salad

Today I had some tuna with Ak-mak crackers. Instead of stirring mayo into the tuna, I stirred in a few tablespoons of ricotta cheese. It moistened it right up and was really yummy. I didn't miss the mayo at all and the ricotta added some protein as well. A little pickle relish in there and I was good to go. Yum.

Lasagna in a bowl

The kids love this.

Noodles for those who are not carb conscious, or
steamed zucchini, or spaghetti squash
spaghetti sauce
ricotta cheese
mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
ground beef, cooked and rinsed

Heat meat, spaghetti sauce, ricotta cheese and cook noodles. Layer them in a bowl. I usually do this order: Squash, beef, ricotta, mozzarella, sauce, parmesan. I like to make sure the mozzarella is in between warm stuff so it will melt. It is pretty delicious. I really like it with the zucchini regardless of healthy reasons.

More on yogurt

I found out that the greek yogurt (FAGE) that I love is much higher in protein than regular yogurt. So not only does it taste better, it's better for me. Unfortunately, it's at least twice the price and not available in my little town. So I bought one tub of it in Denver and I will savor every bite. :)

Yogurt and tartness

I was becoming sick of yogurt for breakfast and the texture was making me want to gag. I got some plain Dannon natural, fat free yogurt and tried a trick I had learned about online. I added a couple of teaspoons of applesauce (unsweetened) to the bowl of yogurt. I still added stevia, and my Kashi Go Lean crunch, but it made the yogurt taste so much better. It's not as tart and it somehow breaks up something in the yogurt and it's really yummy. I'm not doing a very good job of describing what it does, but it's a good thing. You have to be careful not to add too much, because then it changes it too much and then it's soupy and like applesauce more than yogurt.