That's a Lot of Meat

For those of you who have never had Goulash, it's pretty similar to Hamburger Helper. It's just meat, noodles and sauce. It's got a weird name, but it's pretty simple. When my BF asked what I was making for dinner, I told him I was redoing Paula Deen's recipe for Bobby's Goulash, he responded with "It sounds like something I won't like." But, being the trooper he is, he everything I served him!

The first thing I noticed about this recipe was that it called for 3 pounds of ground beef and turkey for 6 servings. That's a lot of meat. I only used 1 lb of lean ground turkey and added some finely diced veggies to take the place of the other 2 pounds of meat. I omitted the added salt and in the future I would probably get the low sodium versions of the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. I used the same elbow macaroni that I've used in the past that has a little bit more protein, although it's not whole wheat. I cut the water in half because all the sauce, meat, veggies and 3 cups of water wouldn't fit it my pot.



The final product was OK. I felt like it was a little over-spiced, but that could be because I significantly reduced the quantity of meat and decreased the water. The recipe also makes a lot! It's written to serve 6, but I probably have enough leftovers to last several days.

Nutritionally, the lightened version was a little bit lighter in terms of calories. One serving is close to 500 calories, but that serving is huge! It's also pretty high in sodium, which is why I'd recommend a switch to low or reduced sodium tomatoes.

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 6	Servings Per Recipe: 6
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 748	Calories: 456
Fat: 42 g	Fat: 7 g
Sodium: 2271 mg*	Sodium: 1408 mg
Fiber: 6.5 g	Fiber: 8.6 g

*Do you see how the original recipe has ~2200 mg Na (which is just about what dietitians recommend you consume in a whole day)? When I was calculating the recipe in SparkRecipes, I couldn't find an entry for Italian seasoning (the brand I used had 0 mg of Na) or seasoning salt (which I omitted in my recipe), so I left it out of both recipe calculations. So the original is probably even higher in sodium than I could calculate!

How do you cut sodium from your favorite recipes?

Meat and Veggie Goulash

1# lean ground beef/turkey
1/3 c diced celery
1/3 c diced carrots
1/3 c diced bell pepper
2 large onions, chopped
1 1/2 c water
1 (29 oz) can tomato sauce (look for reduced sodium, if available)
2 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes (look for reduced sodium, if available)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp Italian seasoning (no salt added)
3 bay leaves
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 tbsp black pepper
1/4 tbsp garlic powder
2 c dried elbow macaroni (I used Barilla)

Cook the beef or turkey in a large pot until no longer pink. Rinse off any grease. Add the diced veggies and saute until tender. Add the water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, garlic, and all the seasonings. Stir well. Place a lid on the pot and allow to cook for 20 minutes.

Add the elbow macaroni and return the lid. Continue to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the lid, turn off the heat and allow the mixture to sit for 15 minutes before serving. Don't forget to remove the bay leaves!

Too Right To Be Wrong

If I were Paula Deen and I had some leftover Mac & Cheese, what would I do? I know, fry it! Kat and I saw a video clip of Paula Deen making The Lady's Fried Mac and we were fascinated. I think we both started sizing each other up, just in case we had to arm wrestle to see who would be the lucky one to take that recipe. As fate would have it, I already had The Lady's Cheesy Mac recipe in my pile, so I won this one!



It looked like it was a delicious recipe, but inherently unhealthy. It's mac and cheese (lots of fat), wrapped in bacon (more fat) and then deep fried in oil (eeek!). I used my lightened up version of Mmm...Mac & Cheese, swapped the bacon with turkey bacon, omitted the yolks of the eggs, and made my own whole wheat bread crumbs.

I had a couple of options other than frying. I could try to bake it, but I've didn't know that I would be able to achieve the crunchy texture I was hoping for. I've tried numerous 'oven fried' recipes and while they're good, they're not crispy. I could also pan fry it, which I know would make it crispy, but would also contribute extra calories. Eventually, pan frying won (It's what Paula would have wanted, right!). I only used enough oil to cover the bottom and flipped each side when it got brown.

The final product:



Oh. My. God. These were amazing. I had no words.

Once I composed myself, I was instantly worried that there would be a loud knock and the door and someone would come in and take away my dietitian credentials because I had fallen in love with Fried Macaroni and Cheese. I wanted to marry these golden cubes of cheesy, bacon-y goodness. My only hope was that the nutritional stats would save my hiney. Literally.

And...

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 15	Servings Per Recipe: 15
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 333	Calories: 268
Fat: 33.8 g	Fat: 17.1 g
Sodium: 737 mg	Sodium: 498 mg
Fiber: 1 g	Fiber: 1 g

(Whew). These guys are not something you want to have too often and when you do have them, you really have to watch your portion sizes and limit yourselves. But if Fried Mac & Cheese is what you're craving and nothing else will do, this recipe will save you a few calories and a little bit of fat.

A quick comment on the stats before I share my recipe: I don't know how much fat is really absorbed when you deep fry something, so I just assumed both recipes absorbed the same amount of fat. I suspect less oil would be soaked up with pan frying, but since I don't know how much I calculated both recipes with the same amount of oil.

What's one of your favorite foods that you would like to see Paula Deen fry??

Fried (For Real!) Mac & Cheese

1 Recipie Mmm...Mac & Cheese, chilled and cut into 15 pieces
1 lb turkey bacon
whole wheat flour (for dusting)
3 egg whites, beaten
3 slices whole wheat bread, toasted and ground into crumbs (OR store bought bread crumbs)
1/2 c canola oil

Wrap each square with turkey bacon and use a toothpick to hold into place. Dust each square with flour and then dip in egg whites. Coat with bread crumbs. Place squares into pan with oil and cook each side until golden brown, about 1 minute. Repeat until each side is cooked. Don't forget to remove the toothpick before enjoying!

It was a Two-fer!

Remember the (Wheat) Germy Chicken Strips I made a couple of days ago?? Anyone remember the Mac and Cheese that sat next to the strips?



Well, I was feeling particularly ambitious that day and decided to re-work TWO recipes in one day! I worked on Italian Chicken Sticks AND The Lady's Cheesy Mac; it was a two-fer!

(Sorry about the picture; I guess my shutter wasn't completely open when I snapped the picture!)

For this recipe, I made adjustments to almost every ingredient. I used a brand I've only used a couple of times for my macaroni. It's not whole wheat pasta, so it has semolina flour, but it also has a blend of legume and other flours in it (lentil, flax, barley). I like it because it's a little higher in protein and fiber than regular pasta. It also doesn't have the tough gummy texture of whole wheat pasta. I used my homemade Greek yogurt from earlier this week, reduced fat cheddar cheese and only used 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites.

Reduced and low-fat cheeses don't melt as well as full-fat cheese, so the final product didn't have that homogeneous, orange-y color that regular Mac & Cheese has. It didn't taste like the heavier version, but it was tasty enough to satisfy my craving. But that's okay, because I have plans for these leftovers (insert evil laughter here)!



The revised recipe is almost 100 calories less than the original and 10 grams less of fat. Here are the stats:

Nutritional Information (OLD)	Nutritional Information (NEW)
Servings Per Recipe: 8	Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving	Amount Per Serving
Calories: 333	Calories: 235
Fat: 20.5 g	Fat: 9.7 g
Sodium: 369 mg	Sodium: 285 mg
Fiber: 1 g	Fiber: 1 g

And the recipe:

Mmm...Mac & Cheese

4 c cooked elbow macaroni, drained
2 c shredded, reduced fat cheddar cheese
1 whole egg plus 2 egg whites
1/2 c plain, fat free Greek yogurt
4 tbsp margarine
1 c fat free milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

When the macaroni is done cooking and has been drained, return to the pot and add the cheddar cheese. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl before adding to the macaroni and cheese. When all ingredients have been combined and well-dispersed within the macaroni, pour into a casserole dish or an 8" X "8 square pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.