Saturday Vittles

 

My daughter and I are trying to eat healthier so I thought I would share some of the food we are eating. 

Beef and Polenta Casserole

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups water, divided

1 pound ground beef

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. McCormick Montreal Chicken seasoning

1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (4 ounces) tomato sauce

1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

For polenta, in a small bowl, whisk cornmeal, salt and 1/2 cup water until smooth. In a large saucepan, bring remaining water to a boil. Add cornmeal mixture, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 3 minutes.

Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 15 minutes. Put mixture in a greased 8-in. square baking dish. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 1-1/2 hours.

In a large skillet, cook beef, onion, green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, mushrooms and seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until thickened.

Loosen polenta from sides and bottom of dish; invert onto a plate and set aside. Spoon half of the meat mixture in the bottom of a baking dish, add polenta and spoon the rest of the meat mixture over the polenta. Top with cheese. 

Cover and bake at 350° until heated through, 40 minutes.  Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Nutrition Facts

1 serving= about 1 1/2 cups: 300 calories and 20g carbohydrates

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The next day for lunch I used the leftovers from the night before (The Beef and Polenta casserole) and made Arepas (Pan bread) to go with it. 

Arepas

Ingredients

2 cups pre-cooked cornmeal

2 1/2 cups warm water

1 tsp. salt

No calorie cooking spray

Directions

Mix the water and salt in a large bowl. Slowly add precooked cornmeal to the water, a little at a time, mix with your hand to get all the lumps out as you add the cornmeal. Once all the cornmeal has been mixed in, set aside and let rest for 10 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350F

After resting, make 8 same size balls from the dough. Flatten and shape to make 1 inch patties. 

Heat non stick frying pan with no calorie cooking spray. Lay the patties down in the pan and fry over medium heat until they are golden brown.

After they have been fried, add the patties to a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. 

This is what the finished product should look like. Take a knife and cut them in half when you're ready to use. 

This is what mine looked like using the beef and polenta casserole from the night before. You can put whatever you like in the Arepas. It reminded me of a Sloppy Joe of sorts. 

The Arepas by themselves are 100 calories each and 20 grams of carbs. 

When I added the casserole to it, it ended up being 200 calories and 30 grams of carbs. But this was very good tasting and very filling. 

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Later that week I made Cheese Arepas.

Ingredients

1 cup pre-cooked cornmeal

1 cup warm water

1 tsp. salt

2 TBSP melted butter

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

Mix the water, butter, half of the cheese and salt in a large bowl. Slowly add precooked cornmeal to the water, a little at a time, mix with your hand to get all the lumps out as you add the cornmeal. Once all the cornmeal has been mixed in, set aside and let rest for 10 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350F

After resting, make 6 same size balls from the dough. Flatten in your hand so the dough is very thin, add a little cheese and fold the dough in on itself, flatten again very thin. 

Heat non stick frying pan with no calorie cooking spray. Lay the patties down in the pan and fry over medium heat until they are golden brown. 

After they have been fried, add the patties to a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

These cheese Arepas have 150 calories each and 30 carbs.

Would you eat this?