Works For Me Wednesday - Two Recipes My Kids Like

With this light and healthy themed Works For Me Wednesday, I’m trying my first entry in this blog carnival. In my husband’s civilian, real, full-time job (as opposed to his Army Reserve sideline), he works in cardiac and pulmonary rehab and diabetes management, so he is pretty up on current healthy eating research. He came home from a conference recently and now he’s got us working towards a Mediterranean diet (lean meats- but not every day, fish, whole grain breads or pastas, olive oil, lots of veggies and some fruit, as a very brief summary) and smaller portion sizes. This isn’t a scripted diet like South Beach, it’s more just a healthy way of eating. I’m finding that in weight control, portion size is definitely the key. Anyway, these two recipes fit in nicely, and my kids like them (always a plus). I don’t know if they always would have liked them or if they are just getting used to the weird things I fix in the on-going effort to be healthier and lose that pregnancy weight plus another 10 pounds.

Black Beans and Yellow Rice

This is super easy and my kids love it.

1 package yellow rice mix (what size mix you use depends on how many you are feeding, obviously)
1 can black beans (you’ll need more than one can if you have a bigger family)
1 can chicken breast (white meat only) or you can cook as many chicken breasts as you need and shred the meat, but I usually just used the canned because it’s easier.

Prepare yellow rice mix according to package directions, but add the shredded chicken when you pour the rice into the boiling water. In separate pan warm black beans.

That’s it! Serve black beans over the rice and chicken mixture. You can add cheddar cheese, but remember that adds fat! So I usually don’t. My kids love this meal, and it’s quick and easy to fix. I usually will serve it with steamed broccoli and a salad with light dressing, and some fruit for dessert.

Pasta G Viola

We had this last night, and, surprisingly, my boys really liked it! It comes from a vegetarian cookbook I bought just to be nice to a girl who had come to our door with a fundraiser, but I’ve found many recipes in it I like: CHOICES: Quick & Healthy Cooking by Cheryl Thomas Peters

1 Pound vermicelli or angel hair pasta (I use whole wheat pasta)
2 T light olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
10 Garlic cloves, minced
4 cups precooked cannolini beans or white kidney beans, undrained (I used two cans cannolini beans)
Salt to taste if desired (when I used canned beans, I don’t even need to add any salt)
Parmesan cheese, for garnish if desired

1. In a large saucepan, start water for pasta.
2. In large skillet, combine olive oil and onion and cook over high heat until the onion is lightly browned. Add garlic and cook gently for an additional 3 minutes, but do not brown onion or garlic any further. Add precooked beans with liquid and return to a boil. Lower temperature and simmer for 5 minutes. (Additional water can be added to this sauce at this time if necessary.). Add salt to taste, if desired.
3. Put pasta in boiling water during the 5 minutes that the bean sauce is simmering. Cook pasta to the al dente stage and drain. On individual plates put a thin layer of pasta and top with a generous portion of bean sauce. Be sure to drizzle the bean liquid over the pasta to add flavor. 4. Sprinkle lightly with Parmesan chesse, if desired, and serve immediately. This dish tastes wonderful without any cheese.

I serve this with broccoli or another green vegetable. It is also good with a crusty bread like French bread, but we’re cutting out unnecessary carbs, so we don’t do the bread.

Check out Rocks In My Dryer for more Works For Me Wednesday recipes today.