Healthy Alternatives To Old Favorites
I have a lot of favorite childhood memories.
My life was a happier time then: no worries, life was just about school, friends, and good food prepared by my sainted mother.
My Mom is Italian, and she was an awesome cook.
My Dad was raised in the South, so my Mom would cook some good southern dishes that my dad enjoyed.
We kids enjoyed them too.
So last night, I took a page from my Mom's great cooking, and made two of my favorite dishes and "tweaked" them to make them healthier: Italian sausage with peppers and onions, and "breaded" and fried okra.
Instead of using pork sausage as my mother did, I use turkey sausage.
Turkey sausage is much leaner that regular sausage, the calorie count for one sausage is around 88 calories and 44 fat calories, whereas one pork sausage is 266 calories and 204 fat calories! That's a big difference.
All I did was cut the turkey sausage up into bite size pieces, and put into a foil pan with some cut up green peppers and onions.
Cover it with aluminum foil, place on the grill for about 15 minutes (turning it every couple of minutes to prevent burning and sticking), and it comes out delicious! The okra I got from my vegetable garden.
The plants grew very well this year; I have a lot of okra in my freezer, which should last well into winter! Okra is a southern vegetable, and the southern people like it in different ways.
I like to boil it, or cook it in a can of stewed tomatoes and mushrooms with some seasoning; but my family prefers it breaded and fried.
The "breading" is actually processed corn flakes.
One cup of corn flakes is 101 calories and 0 fat calories with 24 grams of carbohydrates.
One cup of bread crumbs is 460 calories, 55 fat calories, and 82 grams of carbohydrates.
So there is a big calorie difference there as well.
What you do is wash the okra and cut up into bite size pieces.
Place the corn flakes into a food processor and grind to a bread-crumb like consistency.
Pour the corn flakes into a large zip-lock bag; you may add seasoning at this point, if you wish.
I like to put traditional Italian seasonings into my corn flakes, garlic powder, onion flakes, parsley, basil, and oregano.
Pour some Egg Beaters (or just egg whites) into a shallow dish.
Coat the cut up okra in the egg beaters, then place in the bag with the corn flakes.
Shake up until thoroughly coated.
Pour some olive oil into a frying pan (about 1/2 cup) and heat on medium heat.
Place the okra in the pan, and cook for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly.
Drain on paper towels.
The food turned out really good! Two childhood favorites, brought together on one plate.
And it was a lot healthier than the original versions.
I will be writing here again soon on some more of my old favorite recipes made healthier.
Till then, enjoy!
My life was a happier time then: no worries, life was just about school, friends, and good food prepared by my sainted mother.
My Mom is Italian, and she was an awesome cook.
My Dad was raised in the South, so my Mom would cook some good southern dishes that my dad enjoyed.
We kids enjoyed them too.
So last night, I took a page from my Mom's great cooking, and made two of my favorite dishes and "tweaked" them to make them healthier: Italian sausage with peppers and onions, and "breaded" and fried okra.
Instead of using pork sausage as my mother did, I use turkey sausage.
Turkey sausage is much leaner that regular sausage, the calorie count for one sausage is around 88 calories and 44 fat calories, whereas one pork sausage is 266 calories and 204 fat calories! That's a big difference.
All I did was cut the turkey sausage up into bite size pieces, and put into a foil pan with some cut up green peppers and onions.
Cover it with aluminum foil, place on the grill for about 15 minutes (turning it every couple of minutes to prevent burning and sticking), and it comes out delicious! The okra I got from my vegetable garden.
The plants grew very well this year; I have a lot of okra in my freezer, which should last well into winter! Okra is a southern vegetable, and the southern people like it in different ways.
I like to boil it, or cook it in a can of stewed tomatoes and mushrooms with some seasoning; but my family prefers it breaded and fried.
The "breading" is actually processed corn flakes.
One cup of corn flakes is 101 calories and 0 fat calories with 24 grams of carbohydrates.
One cup of bread crumbs is 460 calories, 55 fat calories, and 82 grams of carbohydrates.
So there is a big calorie difference there as well.
What you do is wash the okra and cut up into bite size pieces.
Place the corn flakes into a food processor and grind to a bread-crumb like consistency.
Pour the corn flakes into a large zip-lock bag; you may add seasoning at this point, if you wish.
I like to put traditional Italian seasonings into my corn flakes, garlic powder, onion flakes, parsley, basil, and oregano.
Pour some Egg Beaters (or just egg whites) into a shallow dish.
Coat the cut up okra in the egg beaters, then place in the bag with the corn flakes.
Shake up until thoroughly coated.
Pour some olive oil into a frying pan (about 1/2 cup) and heat on medium heat.
Place the okra in the pan, and cook for about 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly.
Drain on paper towels.
The food turned out really good! Two childhood favorites, brought together on one plate.
And it was a lot healthier than the original versions.
I will be writing here again soon on some more of my old favorite recipes made healthier.
Till then, enjoy!
