Healthier Meal Ideas

Anybody have any healthy meal ideas that you really like?

I made lasagna tonight - the sauce had ground turkey, veggies (carrot, onion, zucchini all diced or grated small enough so picky people don't know they are there), whole & crushed tomatoes, cooked in the crockpot all day yesterday. I used whole wheat noodles and part skim cheeses - not a ton of cheese. It wasn't smoked but could have been baked on the pellet grill.

the lasagna sounds fantastic. i like to grill a steak (sliced thin) or fish (in chunks) and put on really good salads. veges and protein. and everyone in the family will sit down to eat it. i like to make some home made biscuits on the grill also. i know the biscuits aren't that healthy but i am eating a salad.

I'll take boneless and skinless chicken breasts and brine them for a few hours in brown sugar brine. Hit them with rub, then smoke them on the pellet cooker or grill until done, can sauce them if you like. Serve them with steamed or grilled veggies.

We also like grilled fish tacos, nice and light. Season the fish with garlic, salt, lemon pepper, chile powder and some cumin. If you use salsa and skip the sour cream, go light on the cheese these are way healthy. We do the same with grilled chicken breasts.

Another staple in our house is chicken kabobs, take some boneless skinless breasts soak them in your favorite Teriyaki marinade for an hour or so (the Soy Vay very very teriyaki is great) skewer them with peppers, onions, mushrooms, and pineapples and throw them on the grill. Serve up with some rice and its both tasty and healthy!

CarterQ said:

I'll take boneless and skinless chicken breasts and brine them for a few hours in brown sugar brine. Hit them with rub, then smoke them on the pellet cooker or grill until done, can sauce them if you like. Serve then with steamed or grilled veggies.

We also like grilled fish tacos, nice and light. Season the fish with garlic, salt, lemon pepper, chile powder and some cumin. If you use salsa and skip the sour cream, go light on the cheese these are way healthy. We do the same with grilled chicken breasts.

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Care to share your recipe for the Chicken including times and IT?

DolphinLvr said:

Care to share your recipe for the Chicken including times and IT?

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Sure!

For the brine:

Use a 1 gallon container and fill it full of water.

Add 1 cup of coarse kosher salt to the water and stir until the water returns to clear.

Add 3/4 cups brown sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Once you get the brine mixture combined, place the chicken breasts single layered into a plastic/glass container large enough to hold the quantity of meat that you have. For best results use a container that has a tight fitting lid.

Pour the brine mixture over the chicken breasts until the chicken is completely covered, put the lid on and place the container in the fridge for about 1 hour per pound of meat.

Once the chicken breasts are finished brining, rinse them lightly under cold water to remove any excess salt and pat them dry with a paper towel.

Preparing the chicken breasts:

Rub the breasts with olive oil

Dust with your favorite rub or just a salt and pepper.

Cooking:

Set your smoker/grill up to run at 250-275 (I usually go 275)

Cook the chicken until an IT of 165 (usually about and hour and half), to keep chicken from drying out baste the chicken every half hour or so with olive oil.

Sauce the last 20 minutes if desired.

Chicken doesn't really benefit from low and slow, the main thing you are doing with a lower temp is getting the nice smoke flavor.

Sweet! Thanks Carter

No problem, if you want to get creative you can always add different spices to the brine.

Dinner tonight was on the fly and not much in the house to work with. (waiting to go shopping without the girls, much easier) So came up with a quick soup.

Sauteed onion, carrots, celery and then added a lot of garlic Then put in a large can of crushed tomatoes and a can of cannelloni beans & 6 cups of chicken stock. Added leftover shredded taco chicken, frozen peas & green beans. Then a few Remes frozen noodles. Boiled 20 minutes. Everyone love it!

It's a great feeling when you can throw things together on the fly like that and have it be a hit! Nice Kim!

Soup is great especially this time of the year.

I find that smaller portions and leaner cuts and not using sauce is a great one. Using pam and rubs on your ficsh chicken and veggies makes a tasty meal and you still get to burn pellets.

Got some smoked chicken breast noodle soup this past weekend while I was in bed with this dang bad tooth. Only solid food I got was a soft noodle. NO wise cracks.

I'm thinking that this weekend will be a grilling marathon. Grill up a whole bunch of stuff and then break up and freeze it. KC is suppose to get REALLY cold next week.

Mike just pull the damn thing You are a Texan.

Heart Healthy Pizza

Posted this in last weeks contest...It's pretty low fat and all veggies. We've been making them in the oven for a few years, but it was way better the pellet way.

Pre-made crust, pizza sauce, smoked veggies, mozzarella cheese. Cook on the smoker at 450 until desired browness is reached. Use grill grates for a crisper crust.

Veggie prep: Chopped peppers, onions, and sliced mushrooms. Added garlic olive oil, seasoning, and smoked at 225 for about ~60 minutes.