Chef Creations: Delicious Healthy Dishes Created by a Home Chef

I'm serious when I say that I think I missed my calling as a chef. Don't get me wrong, I don't need a show on Food Network or anything, but I make some pretty darn good dishes. I had the inspiration for our dinner tonight from a trip to Houston where I saw an item on the menu and thought it was interesting. I'll give you a hint, I made mine more delicious, more healthy, and a quarter of the cost of the meal at their restaurant. If you want to know how, keep reading.

So over my birthday weekend I was in Houston. For my birthday lunch we went to Saltgrass Steakhouse. I'm not exactly sure the name they gave their steak, but it was a filet wrapped in bacon with bleu cheese on top and served with two sides. My two sides were a caesar salad and mashed potatoes. The item was on the dinner menu only for a list price of $24.99. Kinda steep for a steak I'd say.

Well, I recreated that dish for under $5. Simple delicious flavor, a ton fewer calories, and in the comfort of my own home. I bought two filets wrapped in bacon from the grocery store.... $5.25 for the pair. I bought a package with (7) 1 oz. servings for $7.29 (you only use 0.5 oz per steak). Butter melted on top was only 1 Tbsp, so roughly $.10. I bought three potatoes for $3.19. The rosemary I had growing outside on the patio. The shredded parmesan cheese was $3.50 for 10 servings. The mashed potatoes made 6 servings.

So we'll break it down this way. 

Steak - $5.25/2 = $2.63. Bleu Cheese - $7.29/14 = $0.52, Butter - $0.10.   

2.63+0.52+.10 = $3.25 for the steak itself. 

Potatoes - $3.19/6 = $0.53, Butter - $0.20, Parmesan cheese - ($3.50/10)*2.5 = $0.88, Rosemary - FREE. 

$0.53+0.20+0.88 = $1.61 for cheesy mashed potatoes with rosemary, which was better tasting that the mashed potatoes from the restaurant.

So instead of eating in a restaurant paying $24.99 for one or $49.98 for two, I recreated the dish for one person for $4.86 or to dine with someone, two people for $9.72.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes with Rosemary

Make 6 Servings

Nutritional Facts (per 1 serving):

105 Calories, 4g Fat, 6mg Cholesterol, 1437mg Sodium, 325mg Potassium, 14g Carbs, 1g Fiber, 

1g Sugars, 4g Protein, 7% Vitamin A, 23% Vitamin C, 18% Calcium, 4% Iron

Ingredients:

3 Medium Potatoes

1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

3/8 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

1 Tsp. Diced Rosemary

Steps:

1. Cut off the skin of the potatoes and then dice into 1 inch cubes.

2. Place pieces into a pot and cover the potatoes with water.

3. Bring potatoes to a boil.

4. After cooking for 6-8 min., check the potatoes with a fork to see if they are soft enough for mixing.

5. Add almond milk, rosemary, and parmesan cheese.

6. Blend together by hand or a blender. Add almond milk if the mixture starts to harden when mixing.

7. Serve and enjoy.

Another One Bites the Dust......... a.k.a. Stephen's Birthday

Over the past weekend, I celebrated my 28th birthday. I decided that I had been working too much and not taking a chance to relax, so I took off the weekend, packed my bags and Jesse & I went to Houston. I enjoyed spending my birthday with family as my parents also drove over and we all stayed with my sister and her husband.

To show how much relaxing we indulged in, below are the pictures of our breakfast as we left out of Baton Rouge on Friday morning. Lets take a wild guess at who has which breakfast??

If you guessed that I enjoyed the traditional Chocolate Milk and Mary Lee Donuts, you would be correct. Jesse enjoyed a nice breakfast from Community Coffee House consisting of a Latte and cake.

Of course after Jesse enjoyed breakfast and we hit the open road, she quickly pulled out her favorite travel companion, her pillow and blanket. Can you feel the love from her on my 5 hour drive as she sleeps? Not to fear, about an hour and forty-five minutes in, we had to stop in for gas. As I woke her up to let her know we were having a fill up with gas, stretch, and bathroom stop, I jokingly said, "Want to go hold baby alligators across the street??" Granted I've seen this place a bunch of times driving to Houston, but have never stopped to go. But to my surprise, she responded, " Heck yea I wanna hold a baby gator." So hopefully she'll forgive me for posting this picture below, but she was already in her sleep portion of the trip when she was suddenly woke up for this experience.

On Friday night, before dinner, Jesse and my sister and mother went and enjoyed a pedicure in Rice Village. After returning, my sister and brother-in-law wanted to take Jesse and I out for dinner to get to know her a little better, since this was the first time since we started dating that they had a chance to meet her. So we decided since it was still Lent and on a Friday, to head over to Woodrow's in The Heights for some boiled Crawfish.

Jesse and I decided to grab and early morning run on Saturday. Since the train and dogs woke us up early, we headed out about 8 am. We went to the nearby Buffalo Bayou Walking trail. We started towards downtown Houston, unfortunately it was rather foggy still, so in the pictures you couldn't see the sky-scrapers. Instead for your viewing pleasure, we provide a stretch of the trail through the trees.

After we finished our run, we headed back to my sisters to clean up and grab breakfast. My brother-in-law once again out did himself on the breakfast prepared for six people at 9 am. It was a good start to the day, which parlayed into our trip up to Cypress to the Houston Premium Outlets. This was a major item on the agenda for both Jesse and I as we had both been getting into better shape and as everyone knows, when you lose weight and inches exercising, your clothes begin to fall off and no longer fit. So Jesse was mainly looking for jeans, shorts, and some cute tops. I on the other hand had a main focus on jeans, with the wondering eye looking out for dress pants for work, some new khaki shorts, and some casual shirts. My sister and mom took the opportunity to go with us as well and the below shot of Jesse's SUV shows everyone's success in Cypress.

After the outlet mall, we made a quick b line to Chuy's Mexican Restaurant for dinner. We met up with my dad and brother-in-law, Mike. As always, Chuy's hit the spot with the delicious food, even though I was a little disappointed they would not substitute beef for chicken on the chimichanga.

Sunday morning, Jesse and I went with my parents to church in Memorial park for Palm Sunday. I must admit that having the priests we did was enjoyable. One of the priests was from the United Kingdom and he waved the palms around as someone at a sporting events would wave a rally towel. Unfortunately, my mind continued to wonder and somewhat have the occasional laugh at the thought of him at a Manchester United match. Like I said, my mind can wonder at times. But my mom looked it up when we got back to Baton Rouge and apparently the church wants us to celebrate with the palms as he was doing.

After church we stopped at a local nursery and picked up some herb plants to bring back and rejuvenate our herb garden. We then met up with everyone at Saltgrass Steak House for my birthday lunch. Aside from the pair of screaming kids next to us just to hear themselves scream, as the parents laughed and didn't try to calm the situation, it was a great lunch. I enjoyed the 6 oz. Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon topped with Bleu Cheese crumbles and melted butter served with mashed potatoes and caesar salad. Jesse enjoyed a 6 oz. Sirloin Steak served with soup.

Jesse and I broke away and headed to the Galleria to walk around and look at various stores, but I learned a quadrant to keep her away from. I know in a few years that I will need to keep her away from the quadrant of Sephora, Tory Burch, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade, and Zara. Other than that quadrant, her eyes never really lit up.

After leaving the Galleria, we headed over to Trader Joe's to see what we've heard so much about and get a preview of what's coming to Baton Rouge. We grabbed some great things which aren't available in Baton Rouge, so we'll definitely be shopping there when it opens. And of course, I can't go without saying that while Jesse was having a pedicure, the men headed to Spec's and I was able to find one of Jesse's favorite wines, Covey Run.

It was time to head back to Baton Rouge and what does Jesse do?? And of course, she grabs the pillow and blanket out. 

We all enjoyed the nice break from the busy schedule and getting to relax in Houston for my birthday was the perfect choice. Even though I hate the fact that I'm climbing in age, at least with Jesse by my side and family around, I'll be aging like a fine wine only getting better as the years pass by.

Another Birthday for Jesse!!! And Stephen's isn't far behind :/

Over the past weekend, Jesse celebrated her birthday. She undoubtably did not enjoy making that leap of age into the late twenties. I really have no room to talk, I'm already in my late twenties and have accepted that I'm not going to get younger in age by number, but I can get younger, faster, and stronger in ability of mind and body.

I never realized what kind of girl I fell in love with, apparently I didn't notice she is a four year old trapped in an aging body who is over the age of twenty one. What makes me have this comment?? Oh just the fact that the breakfast she asked me to make her on her birthday morning was a banana cake batter protein pancake with sprinkles baked inside, topped with bubble gum flavored icing, sprinkles, & candles.

Even though she is a kid when it comes to her birthday, apparently I have blonde hair that is just colored wrong. Last night I cooked a dinner for Jesse and my parents. How simple is cooking chicken wrapped in bacon?? Not only did I mess it up, I burned the heck out of the first two pieces of chicken.

My only defense was that I was using my cast iron skillet for maybe the third time, used a little too much extra virgin olive oil, and had the temperature raised too high for too long (I didn't think the skillet would heat up that quickly).

I will admit that there are no pictures of my disaster, only because my plate did not resemble the fact I was eating chicken wrapped in bacon, but Jesse made some delicious twice baked potatoes. She'll have to give the recipe just in case you don't already know how to do it, like me.

Unfortunately for the two of us, we've been rather busy and fell off the healthy eating and working out schedule we had created. Fear not, we will be jumping back on the wagon after this weekend and/or whenever we get back from Houston for my birthday weekend.

Healthy Chef creations: Under 100 calorie Buffalo/Turkey Burgers!!

So the other day was a food prep day for me. I made a simple dish, yet very delicious and healthy. Try it out if you'd love something easy to make, low cal, and high protein. It's also great to grab on the way out the door.

Stephen's Buffalo/Turkey Burgers with Jalapeños and Bacon

Nutritional Facts per 1 Burger:

Calories: 95, Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 48g, Sodium: 63.4g, Carbs: 1g, Fiber: 0.3g, Sugars: 0.7g, Protein: 15g, Vitamin A: 0.2%, Vitamin C: 1.2%, Calcium: 2.2%, Iron: 8.8%

Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 lb. Ground Buffalo
1 lb. Lean Ground Turkey Breast
1 Jalapeño, diced
1 Medium Yellow Onion, diced
1.5 Tbsp Cajun Seasoning
2 links Jennie-O Turkey Bacon

Steps:
1) Diced the onion, turkey bacon, and jalapeño.

2) Place the buffalo, turkey, and diced ingredients into a mixing bowl.

3) Add the Cajun seasoning into the mixture and mix together the ingredients fully.

4) Using a food scale, roll 3 oz. balls of the mixture.

5) Use either a George Forman grill or a BBQ pit. Place the amount of balls into the grill. Space about 2 inches apart. Smash the ball down while on the grill into a patty about 2 inches thick.

6) Flip when necessary, let them flip twice and should turn a light grey color, not fully brown like a traditional beef burger. Cook time on the grill is roughly 5-9 minutes depending on temperature of the grill.

8) Serve and enjoy.