Grilled Tandoori Fish and Chips

This healthy grilled fish recipe turned out well -- I used mahi mahi fillets. The grilled "chips" were especially tasty.


Grilled Tandoori Fish and Chips
Adapted from Redbook
Yields: 4 servings

1 c. low-fat plain yogurt
2 t. garlic paste
2 t. grated fresh ginger
2 1/2 t. paprika
1 t. curry powder
1 t. red chili powder
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. salt
4 (6-ounce) 3/4-inch-thick tilapia, snapper, or mahimahi fillets
Chips
2 (8-ounce) sweet potatoes or white potatoes, halved lengthwise, cut into 3/4-inch-wide wedges
2 T. unslated butter, melted
1 t. garam masala
1/4 t. coarse sea salt
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil for brushing

In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, garlic paste, ginger, paprika, curry powder, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Remove 1/2 cup of the mixture to a bowl and reserve for serving.
Place fillets in a shallow dish and brush with remaining yogurt mixture to coat completely. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.
Chips: Place potato wedges skin side down on a large microwave-safe plate; cover with vented plastic wrap. Microwave on high 3 1/2 to 4 minutes, or until almost tender; let cool.
Heat an outdoor gas grill, or prepare coals for a charcoal grill for direct grilling over medium-high heat. Mix butter, garam masala, salt, and pepper in a large bowl; add yam wedges and gently toss to coat.
Remove fillets from marinade; wipe off excess marinade. Brush the cooking grates clean and oil the grill rack. Lightly brush fillets with oil. Grill fillets and potatoes (keeping the grill lid closed as much as possible) until fish is opaque and still moist and potatoes are lightly charred, 6 to 8 minutes, carefully turning fillets once when fish releases easily from grill pan, and turning potato wedges as they brown. Serve with remaining yogurt mixture.

Donating Used Eyeglasses

**This is part of a series of posts highlighting ways in which you can donate to community organizations and help others even when your budget doesn't have room for monetary support.

Can you imagine how difficult life would be if you were unable to see, but couldn’t afford an eye exam or glasses? It costs the Lions Club less than $0.08 to provide a pair of recycled eyeglasses and change someone's life.

You can drop off your old eyewear at Lions-sponsored collection boxes in your community. Typical locations include libraries, schools, community centers, places of worship, coffee shops, optometrist offices and other public locations where communities socialize and get together.

For information specific to locations in your community, contact your local Lions club. You can also package your old eyeglasses and mail them to one of two locations:
--Your nearest Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center

--Lions Clubs International Headquarters
Attention: Receiving Department
300 W. 22nd Street
Oak Brook, IL 60523

Nutty Zucchini Bread

I just took this zucchini bread out of the oven several minutes ago and it is good! I used shredded zucchini that I had frozen, along with applesauce cubes that I froze in ice cube trays the last time that I opened a jar of applesauce for a recipe. I used half splenda and half sugar. I don't use really use splenda anymore but I just wanted to use up the rest of a box that I had. Do you use a sugar substitue in recipes? Are the recipe results similar?

Nutty Zucchini Bread

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or 3/4 c. all purpose and 3/4 c. wheat)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups SPLENDA(R), Granulated or sugar or similar sweetener
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat to 350. Spray an 8- x 4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside. Beat eggs and splenda on medium speed with an electric mixer for 5 minutes. Add oil, applesauce and vanilla; beat at medium speed 1 minute. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until blended. Stir in zucchini and walnuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake 40 minutes or until done. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Serves 12.

Calories 160 Protein 4g Fat 10g Fiber 1g Sugar 2g

Meatless Chili

I made this chili last weekend and I loved it. It has a meaty texture and look to it with the lentils. This is recipe makes a large amount - 16 servings! I don't have a pot big enough or a need for that amount, so I cut it approximately in half. The recipe didn't seem very spicy or unique--just a basic tasting chili, but still good. We like spicy and complex chili flavors, so I doctored it up quite a bit with extra spices.
If you have a favorite chili recipe but want to make it meatless, I suggest using the spices that your recipe recommends. I'm always looking for new chili recipes to try (any type of meat) so if you have a favorite, leave me the recipe or link in the comments!


Low Fat Meatless Chili

1 pound lentils (dry) (I used brown)
8 cups water
40 ounces stewed or crushed tomatoes -- no salt added
60 ounces kidney beans -- dark, light or mixed
1 each chopped onion
1 each bell pepper -- chopped
3 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons cumin powder
1 1/2 tablespoons ground red pepper
3 cups water

Bring water to boil in Dutch oven. Wash lentils and add to water. Cover, cook on high until boiling, then simmer on low heat, covered, for approximately 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove lentils from heat, drain and return to Dutch oven. Add stewed tomatoes, undrained kidney beans and chopped vegetables and 2 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Add seasonings, stirring occasionally. Add remaining water, if desired, to dilute consistency. Let simmer for at least 2 hours or cook in a slow cooker on low for the day. Makes 16 10-ounce servings.

Praline-Crowned Brie

This is one of my favorite appetizers to take to a party/holiday. It goes great with wine. Trader Joe's usually has good prices on brie. Sometimes I just buy the wedge and use that instead of a round of brie - it doesn't look as fancy though. While the white rind is edible, it makes it harder to scoop, so I just carefully scrape most of the rind off of the top with a knife. I've been asked to bring this to gatherings several different times.

Praline-Crowned Brie

1 15-ounce round Brie cheese (I usually buy a wedge from Trader Joe's)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

Place Brie on a pie plate, scrape white rind off top of round or wedge if desired. Cover with nuts. Pat brown sugar over nuts. Drizzle with maple syrup. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or till sugar is lightly golden and Brie is warm, but not runny. If desired, garnish with some fresh strawberries. Serve the warm Brie immediately with crackers, french bread rounds, or GF crackers. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Sweet 'n' Spicy Roasted Corn

I made this recipe tonight using corn that I had cut off the cob and froze. I just thawed the corn, mixed the butter and seasonings, and just stirred it into the corn. It gave the corn a nice flavor, but wasn't too spicy.


Sweet 'n' Spicy Roasted Corn

6 large ears sweet corn in husks
2 tablespoons butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Carefully peel back corn husks and remove silk. Rewrap corn in husks and soak corn in cold water for 1 hour. Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill. Grill corn, covered, over medium heat for 25-30 minutes or until tender, turning occasionally. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan or in the microwave, melt butter. Add the garlic, brown sugar, red pepper flakes and chili powder. Serve with grilled corn.

Calorie 163 Fat: 6 g Cholesterol: 10 mg Sodium: 62 mg Carb: 29 g Fiber: 4 g Protein: 5 g

Donating Used Athletic Shoes

**This is part of a series of posts highlighting ways in which you can donate to community organizations and help others even when your budget doesn't have room for monetary support.

Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program collects old, worn-out athletic shoes for recycling, transforming them into Nike Grind, a material used in creating athletic and playground surfaces as well as select Nike products.The best part about this is that Nike accepts ALL brands of athletic shoes (but only athletic shoes). Drop off up to 10 pairs of shoes to any Reuse-A-Shoe collection location, which can be found at Nike retail stores, universities, athletic clubs, special events or at one of the National Recycling Coalition centers across the country. Due to limited capacity of the drop off locations, they can only accept 10 per donation. If you wish to collect more, you need to apply to host a drive. Everyone has old tennis shoes that aren’t good enough to pass on for others to wear, but hate to just throw in the garbage.

Soles 4 Souls collected new or gently used shoes to distribute to those who are in need domestically and internationally. Many Americans, including myself, take for granted owning several (or many) pairs of shoes. However, much of the world’s population cannot afford even one pair of adequate shoes. You can participate by shipping your family’s new or gently worn shoes to one of the warehouse facilities or drop them off at one of the participation locations. There were quite a few near me, so hopefully they are abundant across the country. If you plan to collect more than 10 pair, you can sponsor a shoe drive by volunteering to collect and package shoes from your area. For more information contactinfo@giveshoes.org.

Pumpkin Dip

This dip is good with nilla wafers, graham crackers, pretzels, and apples.  Use gluten free dippers if needed.


Pumpkin Dip

16 ounces canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese (set it out 10-20 min. to soften)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Powdered sugar to taste

In a food processor, mix the pumpkin, cream cheese and pumpkin pie spice until smooth. Add sugar to taste until desired sweetness is reached.

You could probably use a hand mixer or wooden spoon to mix this up as well...it will just be a little more work to get smooth.

Pull Apart Bacon Bread

Pull-Apart Bacon Bread is a great appetizer or snack. I like to have pizza sauce for dipping, or just spice up some tomato sauce. The small sized can is about the right size, as the bread has plenty of flavor on its own.

Pull-Apart Bacon Bread
12 slices bacon, diced
1 (1 pound) loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 (1 ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix
Pizza sauce for dipping

In a skillet, cook bacon over medium heat for 5 minutes or until partially cooked; drain on paper towels. Roll out dough to 1/2-in. thickness; brush with 1 tablespoon of oil. Cut into 1-in. pieces; place in a large bowl. Add the bacon, cheese, dressing mix and remaining oil; toss to coat. Arrange pieces in a 9-in. x 5-in. oval on a greased baking sheet, layering as needed. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cover with foil; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until golden brown.

Football Brunch

If you’re having company to watch an early football game, have brunch! Think of it as a “classier” version of kegs and eggs (because I am a classy lady…stop laughing)! Some of these recipes can be prepared the night before and popped in the oven in the morning so you can sleep in (if you're not too excited...I can always sleep in though). You can have the regular snacks available too…it’s after noon, so anything goes. Tell your guests to come hungry so they don’t eat a big breakfast. I was surprised at how well this went over last year when I made brunch for a game---beer and breakfast food go together just fine.

Brunch Ideas:French Toast Strata, recipe below
Breakfast Casserole, recipe below
Breakfast Cookies
Cut up Fruit, with or without fruit dip
Croissants or bagels
Bacon or sausage (everyone loves bacon)
Baked Ham and Cheese Omelet Roll

Snacks:
Honey Chipotle Almonds or Pecans
Spicy Pretzels
Caramel Apple Bars (these are delicious), click link for recipe

Beverages:
Coffee with Kahlua or Baileys
Bloody Mary’s
Mimosas (yay!)
Cherry Hammocks (cherry vodka and pink lemonade with a floating cherry – courtesy of S.T.)
Most importantly, beer…because on football Saturday or Sunday, it’s never too early to starting drinking.

French Toast Strata

1/3 cup SPLENDA or sugar
1 cup egg substitute or equivalent egg whites
2/3 cup skim milk
3/4 teaspoon imitation maple flavor* or 3 T. maple syrup
8 slices cinnamon-raisin bread
2 cups peeled apples, thinly sliced
1/4 cup low fat cream cheese
1 tablespoon SPLENDA or sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8X8-inch square cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. Blend together 1/3 cup Splenda, egg substitute, milk and maple flavor in a medium bowl. Tear cinnamon raisin bread into pieces, approx. 1-2 inches each. Add bread and sliced apples into mixing bowl with other ingredients. Toss to coat bread. Pour bread mixture into prepared pan. Cut cream cheese into 8 chunks and place on top of strata. Blend remaining 1 Tbsp. Splenda Granulated and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over strata. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven 40-50 minutes, or until lightly browned and set. Serve with extra maple syrup.

Breakfast Casserole
6 slices bread, cubed
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb. link sausage, fried and cubed, or bacon or ground pork, browned
6 eggs, beaten
2 c. milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
Hot sauce, optional

Beat milk and eggs, add salt and mustard (I add hot sauce now too). Butter a deep dish and layer bread, sausage, and cheese, three layers of each. Top with egg mixture. Let set in refrigerator overnight. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serve with hot sauce.