Cat Can Cook

Have you ever heard the old adage “Eat like a King for Breakfast, a Prince for Lunch and a Pauper for Dinner”?  If you think about it, it really does make sense. In case you missed the point, it’s basically saying that as the day progresses, meals should get progressivley lighter.  Afterall, who really wants to eat a heavy meal, then go to sleep an hour later?

Your Mom was right when she told you you needed to eat a good breakfast every morning. It is indeed the most important meal of the day, especially when it comes to weight loss and maintenance, but also for general well-being and health.

If you are trying to shed some of those extra pounds you gained while having a little too much food fun this Christmas which has lead to a fattening beginning to the New Year, here is a really simple breakfast menu to keep your energy up, supply your body with everything it needs to tide you over til the noon hour and satisfy your hunger after a full night of fasting…after all, isn’t that where the word “break-fast” comes from? It’s only right that we start the day off properly with a healthy meal.

Perfect Breakfast Menu

2 Boiled Eggs with a light dash of salt and pepper

1 cup fresh fruit, topped with 1/2 cup low or no fat yogurt and a sprinkling of granola

1 piece of 100% whole wheat toast, with 1 tsp. light peanut butter

1/2 cup fresh squeezed O.J. or why not get in one of the 8 glasses of water instead?

Yum…kinda wish it was break-fast right about now

Okay, I know I am following my previous *healthy* post with one that is *not-so-healthy* but c’mon people, doesn’t macaroni and cheese sound super yummy right about now? Depending on where in the world you are, winter takes on different meanings, but here in Canada, it’s COLD! So, here’s a great crock pot recipe for easy mac n’ cheese, that will warm your heart and your belly on chilly winter’s nights!

Macaroni and Cheese

8 oz. of elbow macaroni, cooked el dente

13-oz. can evaporated milk

1 Cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

2 eggs, beaten

4 cups cheddar cheese, grated and divided

1/2 tsp salt

dash of pepper

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

In slow cooker, combine macaroni noodles, evaporated milk, milk, melted butter, eggs, 3 cups of the cheddar cheese and the salt and pepper.  Top with remaining cheddar.  Cover and cook on low setting for 3 hours.

Serve with a garden salad (there, at least *that* part’s healthy!)

I decided to do the cliche New Years “thing” by joining the gym just prior to Christmas, and have become discouraged with the lack of results I have seen in the 2+ weeks I have religiously gone every day! Perhaps I am replacing fat with muscle as a few of my friends have suggested, but this is cold comfort for someone who is so used to checking in with the scale as a guideline for weight loss.

So, I decided to do a bit of research tonight, into ways to jump-start my 2009 weight-loss program. What does this have to do with recipes, you ask? Well, as part of my healthier diet and exercise regime, I am committed to providing more healthy recipes here at Cat Can Cook. That’s not to say that I will *only* post healthy recipes. On the contrary, I believe that everything in moderation is a good thing, especially when it comes to cheesecake! However, I would like to incorporate a few more healthier recipes to my site.
I am a Lifetime Weight Watchers Member, and truly believe we can all lead healthy lives simply by balancing our food and exercise. Here are a few pointers from healthylivingformoms.com for jump-starting your weight loss!

1. Eliminate all bread, pasta,sugar and fat from your diet

This is a drastic step, I know. It may even seem contradictory to other information found on Healthy Living for Moms and that’s why I stress that this is a drastic step. But please understand that bread and pasta made from wheat flour are the worst things you can eat if you are trying to lose fat. It doesn’t matter if it’s whole grain, high fiber or low carb pasta, grains in any form will make you fat.

Think about what bread and pasta is made from and you will understand why this must go. To make bread and pasta, grains, lots and lots of grains, are processed to make just a few ounces of pasta or a couple slices of bread. It’s like concentrated calories in just a few ounces once you eat it and then your body has to work extra hard to get rid of it. If you want to lose 5 pounds fast, lose the bread.

If you continue to eat fat while you are fat, the fat on your body will never burn off. Healthy foods can be made to taste great simply by adding lemon juice, garlic, other spices and herbs to your cooking.

Sugar turns to fat if it’s not used as energy immediately. Everything you eat eventually turns to sugar so it is not like you are depriving your body of an essential ingredient. Plus, too much sugar causes too much insulin to be released into your body and raises your risk of insulin resistance and eventually diabetes. If you want to lose 5 pounds fast, lose the sugar.

If you really need to have some kind of bread or pasta, look for products made of rice flour. If you have an asian section in your supermarket or health food store, you will find rice noodles (make sure it doesn’t have partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in it) or rice thins that are a tasty substitute.

2.Eat a small meal every 2 to 3 hours

Your small meal should consist of 2 - 4 ounces of protein and 1/2-1 cup complex carbs or fruit, such as salad, green vegetables, or a dense fruit like apples. You can eat a 1/2-1 cup serving of any kind of rice (white or brown),oatmeal(quick-cooking not instant) or potato to make your metabolism burn fat better. The principle is to combine the right foods to make your metablism work efficiently.

Eating the meal every 2 -3 hours will keep your body burning fuel constantly and steadily increase your metabolism.

3. Eat before you exercise

I was always under the impression that you should exercise on an empty stomach but this is wrong. Your body needs fuel to exercise and it helps to eat a small meal before you exercise to keep your metabolism chugging along. The meal you eat should be about 200 calories and contain a carb like oatmeal or rice (instead of fruit or a vegetable) before you exercise so your body will have plenty to burn.

4. Drink 100 ounces of water a day

Conventional wisdom says eight 8-ounce glasses of water but 100 ounces (that’s 12 eight-ounce glasses plus 4 ounces more) is sure to flush out all the fat you are trying to lose. Minimize salt in your diet, too, since it can cause your body to retain water. If you want to lose 5 pounds fast, drink your water!

5.Give it a week and see if it works for you

You may decide that it’s too much of a sacrifice to lose 5 pounds fast. But if you think it might work for you, make a commitment to this plan for one week and you will see that it really works…you will lose 5 pounds fast. You might even lose more! If it’s too drastic for you to continue, just implement one of these principles at a time and see how it will make a difference!

I invented this recipe for tonight’s dinner. It’s a slightly altered version of my popular Butter Chicken Recipe. This one could also easily be made vegetarian by omitting the beef (or chicken) and using chick peas, potatoes or a combination of both!

I decided to keep the calories and fat low by using only a small amount of cooking oil, as well as light sour cream. You can experiment with the spices as much as you like, try less or more of the recommended amounts to create your own custom curry dish!

Low-Fat Curry Beef Recipe

1 TBSP Cooking Oil

1 Pound Lean Stewing Beef (or Chicken meat) cut into small pieces

1 Large Onion, chopped

5 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 TBSP Curry Powder

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Cumin

1/2 tsp Cardamom

2 Cups Water

1 Packet of Dry Broth

1 Cup Light Sour Cream

Saute beef (or chicken) in the oil. Add in onion and garlic and spices, until meat is fully cooked. Add water and dry broth. Cover and simmer for about 1/2 hour. When liquid is reduced to about 1 cup, add sour cream, and heat til lightly bubbly.

Serve with Basmati Rice, or Peas Pulau and Peach Chutney.

Chicken Parmesan

4 boneless chicken breasts pounded to 1/2 inch thickness

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 cup of bread crumbs and parmesan cheese mixed together (half and half)

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

8 slices mozzarella cheese

1 jar (16 oz) spaghetti sauce

Whisk together the egg and milk, and dip the chicken breasts in this mixture and then in bread crumbs/parmesan mixture. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken in the hot oil on both sides until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Set chicken in a baking dish. Slice 8 pieces of mozzarella cheese and put two on each chicken breast. Pour 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce over all. Bake at 350° for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly. Serve with spaghetti.  Mama Mia!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil/or apple sauce as substitute
3/4 cup Milk
1 egg
1 cup fresh blueberries (or frozen)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin pans or line with muffin liners. Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.  Combine vegetable oil, eggs and milk in a small bowl and mix well.  Gently combine the egg mixture with the dry ingredients taking care not to overmix.  Fold in blueberries.  Fill muffin cups.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven.

Yet another *simple* and *yummy* recipe!  This cake literally takes minutes to make, is light, sweet and delicious! Perfect in a nick of time for unexpected company!

Mandarine Orange Cake

1 Cup White Sugar

1 Cup White Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

1 Egg

1 Can Mandarine Oranges with liquid

2 TBSP Butter or Margarine

2 TBSP Milk

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

Mix all ingredients together and bake in a 9X9 pan for 40 minutes in 350 degrees oven. Remove cake from oven, and top with mixture of 2 TBSP Butter, 2 TBSP MIlk and 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar.  Pour mixture on top of cake, and return to oven for another 7-10 minutes until bubbly.

As I write this post, I am baking my first ever loaf of bread in a bread-maker! It smells great in here!

My parents and In-laws have both had one of these small appliances
for years, and used it regularly, but I have just recently gotten around to buying one, and today, she sets sail on her maiden voyage.

The process itself of making bread in the break-maker was so easy! My two-year-old happily assisted me in pouring ingredients into the “mixer thingie” and after that process was finished 2 minutes later, I hit to *GO* button. It mixes, lets the dough rise, and bakes it all by itself. What a clever machine!

I must admit that the smell of fresh baking bread in the mornings might be counter-productive to my weight-loss and new healthy lifestyle, as I have recently joined a gym, am watching my weight, and bread and I are good friends! I am planning to get into baking the health breads in the near future, but for today, it’s just plain old white. Shhh! Don’t tell!

The variety of things you can do with a bread-maker is also very impressive. Not only can you make bread, but buns, pizza dough, muffins, foccacia, cakes and even pretzels and a whole range of other foods are so easy to make! It really is impressive that this machine can do so much - and here I was considering hiring a personal chef!

In case you are interested, bread-makers come in a wide variety of styles, and function capabilities, but from what I’ve seen, all are alike in that they are so easy to use. The recipe capabilities are seemingly endless. I am eagerly eyeing the Lemon Poppy-Seed Loaf recipe in my users manual. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

——-Moments Later——–

Just finished a beautiful Montreal Smoked Meat sandwich on fresh bread! Mmmm!! Well worth the wait!

If your children are anything like mine, they will love being your little helper in the kitchen.  I wanted to share a few more really easy recipes children will love to help make and eat!

Marbled Fudge

1 (12 oz.) package semi-sweet chocolate
1 (12 oz.) package butterscotch chips
1 cup peanut butter
1 (10 1/2 ounce) package mini marshmallows
1 cup salted nuts

Combine the chocolate, butterscotch and peanut butter in large glass bowl. Microwave on medium for five minutes, but watch so that it doesn’t burn. Stir until melted. Fold in the marshmallows and peanuts. Spread in a buttered 13 x 9 inch pan. Refrigerate for several hours or until set. Cut into squares.

Baked Stuffed Potatoes

4 baked potatoes
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Wash and bake potatoes at 350 degrees about 45 minutes or until softened. Cut cooked potatoes in half, lengthwise. (Use hot pad to hold hot potato) Scoop out meat of the potato and whip with margarine and milk.  Mound back into the potato halves.  Sprinkle with grated cheese.  Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Serves 4 to 8.

Combine the ground beef, rice, onion, 1/4 cup of the water, salt, and pepper. Shape meat mixture into 12 to 15 balls. Combine soup, chili powder, and water in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Add meatballs; reduce heat, cover, and simmer over very low heat for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.

Beef Stroganoff

Brown steak strips in skillet.  Add soup mix and mushrooms with liquid.  Heat until boiling.  Slowly add sour cream and cook until thoroughly heated, about 2 minutes.  Serve on top of egg noodles.