One thing I really hate is wasting food. I guess I've had it drummed into mefrom a really young age as while I was growing up there was always enough foodbut we were taught not to be greedy and serving sizes were usually modest inour house.
My mum, although she can sometimes turn out delicious meals and cakes, hasnot got the love for food that I have and I always felt that cooking was something of a chore for her. Its not surprising really when having to cater for 3 fussy,ungrateful children and my dad who shall we say is not the most adventurouseater. He likes traditional meat and two veg, he dislikes pasta, rice, curry,lentils, anything with chilli in etc. etc... the list could go on. That said mydad will eat just about anything you put in front of him. He just doesn'talways receive it in the most gracious fashion if its not to his taste. (He is often quoted in our family from one particular occasion when after a meal of some sort of pasta bake withchilli that my brother had made, as saying he "manfully chomped throughit!" It was said in such a fashion as to imply that my brother should be gratefulthat he suffered through such a terrible meal.)
Anyway I digress, the point being that while I was growing up food was not apassion or a love in my family. While we had nice meals and the usual treatsthat children have on special occasions, mealtimes were there for a functionrather than something to get excited about. I often wonder where my obsessionwith food came from and if it was a reaction to the way we ate as a family.
Needless to say, my portions are not always (or ever) as modest as my mumswere. I suppose I'm a bit of a feeder but I love the satisfaction of giving people anice meal and the option of seconds (or thirds). I find big dishes of food verycomforting even if you dont eat it all there and then. I love to be over generouswith food and give people as much as they want and let them indulge. For memealtimes are something to look forward to. I often start planning what I willhave for dinner that evening while I'm having my morning coffee. That mightseem a bit strange but your either a foodie (a term my sister hates- it remindsher of snobbish, pretentious people on Come Dine With Me who look down theirnose at the other contestants lowly efforts as "not dinner partyfood" and namedrop having been to Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant over 20times) or your not and I think we can safely establish that I am.(Sorry sis!)
So on Sunday night I made a very big roast chicken dinner. There was onlythe two of us eating but I made enough food to sink a battleship with the viewthat we could eat the leftovers during the week. I made roast chicken (basted inlow fat olive oil spread, garlic and fresh herbs from the garden), roastedgarlic and rosemary sweet potatoes, asparagus and spring greens, gravy (madefrom homemade chicken stock and roasted veg) and a big tray off stuffing (madefrom grated carrots and onions, fresh herbs, nuts, breadcrumbs and an egg). Aspredicted we managed to eat quite a lot of it anyway but there were chicken andsweet potatoes left which I have been taking in my packed lunch to work thisweek along with chopped raw vegetables for a healthy, interesting and frugalpacked lunch. There was also over half of the stuffing. I had an idea for whatto do with it yesterday morning (over coffee again). I made it last night andit was every bit as good as I thought it would be. You don't have to make itwith stuffing, it would be good with leftover veg, sweet potatoes or evensausages but I havn't tried any of these I'm just guessing.
Here’s my Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Leftovers and Parmesan
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
100g leftovers (stuffing/ vegetables/ sausages etc.)
50g low fat soft cheese
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
1 packet Parma ham/ Serrano ham etc.
Directions:
First slice the chicken breasts so that they are butterflied and have twiceas much surface area but still in one piece. place between 2 pieces of clingfilm and pound with a rolling pin to flatten out as much as possible.
In a bowl, mix the chosen leftovers (chopped or crumbled finely) with thelow fat cheese and the parmesan. Place half the mixture in the middle of eachchicken breast and roll the chicken around it so that there are no gaps.
Wrap each stuffed breast tightly in cling film and leave in the fridge foran hour or longer. You don’t have to do this but I find it helps keep thefilling inside the chicken when it comes to cooking.
After an hour, take the chicken out and wrap it neatly in the Parma ham.Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
I served this with sweet potato and wholegrain mustard mash. The mustardspeeds up metabolism and adds plenty of flavour so you don’t need to add butteror salt and sweet potato is lower GI than normal potato and fewer calories.Plus its packed full of anti-oxidants.
The chicken has around 400 cals/ serving so add in the sweet potato and somegreens and your looking at around 600 cals for a REALLY tasty and nutritiousmeal. Also worth remembering that parmesan cheese is actually a great cheesefor keeping calories down. The flavour you get from it is so strong that youhardly need any. The calories from the parmesan in this recipe amount to about10-15 per serving but the flavour you get from it is really intense so a much better choicethan a milder cheese.
Sorry no pictures just yet as I forgot to take any but I'm planning on making the same again tonight so will add them asap!
On a different note I have discovered another blog that I absolutely LOVE! Check out SugarHero. Its awsome! Elizabeth who writes it reminds me a little of me because she is totally obsessed with baking and all things sweet but she is also really active and loves running and working out which she says balances out the amount of sugar she eats. I've not had a look at the whole site yet but the recipes I have seen look amazing and I cant wait to try some of them out. Elizabeth, unlike me does not seem to be particularly interested in making healthier alternatives but thats her perogative and I really enjoy her style of writing and like her outlook on life. The only problem is that being an American site her recipes all use 'cups' as measurements. That said I am going over there in October for a week in Chicago so hopefully I will be able pick up a 'cup' measure while I'm accross the pond!
Laters! xxx
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