Pops De Milk

I’m slowly trying to get back on a somewhat healthy diet but there’s a problem. As summer comes to an end and the weather starts to get cooler I tend to gravitate toward my oven and my cravings turn to baked goods. I love baking apple pie, cakes, muffins, cookies. Anything with cinnamon is always good too. So, this is a bit of a problem.

To offset my end of summer/beginning of fall cravings, I am making a serious effort to exercise and to eat healthy-ish meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dessert can be whatever baked treat I happen to desire. I may not actually lose any weight – though it’s not really my main goal at the moment – but at least I won’t gain weight by gorging on cookies and pies.

So, as a start to my “Sorta Healthy-ish Diet”, tonight’s dinner comes from my diet comfort food magazine. Should the words “diet” and “comfort food” even be in the same sentence together? In any case, this dinner was very tasty and did not taste like “diet food.” I’ve read a lot of reviews on certain diet recipes and most people complain about “blandness” and that it tastes like “diet food.” I beg to differ.

Cheese and Mushroom Chicken Breasts, 4 servings

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 tsp salt, dash pepper

2 tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 cup reduced-fat plain yogurt

1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup canned mushroom stems and pieces (I used 6 fresh mushrooms)

1 tbsp dice pimentos

1 tbsp minced fresh parsley

1 tbsp minced chives

Flatten chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine flour, yogurt, cheese, mushrooms, pimentos, parsley, and chives. Spread mixture over chicken then roll up, tuck in ends and secure with toothpicks and place seam side down in a baking pan. Brush yogurt over chicken. Combine bread crumbs and paprika then sprinkle over top. Bake uncovered at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

Rosemary Red Potatoes, 6 servings

1 large whole garlic bulb

2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered

1/2 medium onion, cut into chunks

4 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

4 to 5 fresh rosemary sprigs

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

4 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Remove outer skin from garlic, separate into cloves but leave them unpeeled. In a bowl, combine potatoes, onion, and garlic then add oil and salt and toss to coat. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking pan, top with rosemary sprigs and bake at 450F for 15-17 minutes or until garlic is tender.

Remove garlic cloves and cool. Stir potatoes and bake 5-8 minutes longer. Discard rosemary. Squeeze softened garlic into a large bowl and mash with a fork. Add mustard and vinegar then add the potatoes and stir gently to coat.

Strawberry Muffins, makes 12

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped

1 tsp grated lemon peel

Preheat oven to 375F and paper line muffin pan. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Make sure the milk and egg are at room temperature when you mix them into the melted butter or you’ll experience what I did; the butter cooled completely and looked like curdled milk. I was afraid I had ruined the mixture but all was well once I beat it with the flour mixture. Once that’s all mixed together, fold the strawberries and lemon peel into the batter and pour into prepared muffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

I think these would be fantastic served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Or maybe cream cheese frosting…Mmm…