Quiz of the Day ..

Let's start out today by sharing ideas, recipes, and information regarding lean meats with each other.  How many different ideas, dishes or preparation methods can we come up with???  This will give everyone some new ideas on how to make some healthy dietary changes/choices in this food category.

We'll be going through each food group .. on different days.

[Ranaesheart]

OK .. we all know corned beef is very fatty and yet I like reuben sandwiches.  So .. since I vowed I would find alternatives that give me the same/similar flavor in a healthy calorie conscious manner .. this is what I came up with.

In the lean deli meat section, you can purchase thinly sliced pastrami.  Just use that in place of the corned beef, and place it on rye bread (whole grain).  You can use a low fat swiss cheese and sauerkraut.  I don't use any additional sauce inside the sandwich and I don't miss it.  On the outside, use the spray butter (0 calories) and brown in a skillet.  Voila!  A healthy reuben sandwich!

[twehner5]

That sounds yummy....when can I come over?  We can dance REALLY, REALLY hard for 45 minutes (exercise) and make a clown video....and then eat these!  YES?

[TrudieC]

Great suggestion!

Our family loves hot Italian sausage.  I had always bought the no name brand and it was so high in fat.  Tonight I tried a name brand (Johnson and Bratt's) and could not believe how little fat was in them.  I'm thinking of making my own by taking pork tenderloin, put it through a grinder, and adding spices.  This makes a tremendously healthy alternative and can work the same for when you want to use any kind of ground meat (lean beef cuts, turkey or chicken breast).

A fast, easy, and healthy chicken dish is to take breasts, put them between two pieces of plastic wrap, and then pound to half an inch thickness.  Season with salt, pepper and your favorite spices (paprika, garlic powder, etc.) and saute in a fry pan with just a touch of olive oil.  When done remove, perhaps saute some onions or shallots in the pan, and then pour some wine and/or chicken stock in, scrape up all the bits, and let it reduce for a few minutes.  Now you have a wonderful low fat sauce for your chicken.

[wonko]

I went vegetarian about a year ago, but here's one recipe that I found to be a good "fake out" for sausage flavor:  I'd take lean ground turkey and add some steak seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic) and some fennel seeds, then make small meat balls.  By making them small, you can eat more of them, and they bake up quickly.  The fennel seeds really made it taste sausage-esque.  I think I got this idea from a R. Ray episode, and it works with ground chicken, too.