Thursday night’s dinner was a dinner thoroughly enjoyed by all. This meal definitely received many rave reviews. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does! On the menu:
Corn Chowder: a delicious, veggie-filled soup with a little bit of a kick!
I adapted this recipe, which serves 5-6 people, from a recipe by JustJanS found on Food.com.
Ingredients
1 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 stalks of celery, diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into half-moons
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
4 cups of fresh or frozen corn
1 1/2 cups of frozen green peas
1 TB flour
3 1/2-4 cups of low-fat milk or almond/soy milk (plain, unsweetened)
black pepper, to taste
3 Tsp of vegetable bouillon (I use Better than Bouillon vegetarian base)
hot sauce, to taste (I used about 10 dashes)
1 1/2 Tsp Italian herbs
2 Tsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1. Heat EVOO over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add onion, celery, carrots, and red pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
2. Add sweet potatoes, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add corn and peas and cook an additional 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle in flour and continue cooking for 2 minutes.
5. Add milk and stir until boiling.
6. Lower heat to medium-low. Add in 5 remaining ingredients. Cook an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
My family enjoyed their chowder with a side of corn bread, while I served mine with a side of fresh cantaloupe and raspberries. A little sweetness to balance out the spicy kick from the soup!
I also want to share with you two product recommendations:
1. MorningStar Corn Dogs
These are AMAZING! Seriously! They are far lower in calories and fat than corn dogs made with meat, are a good source of protein, and they taste delicious! I actually prefer the taste of these over a corn dog with meat..they are THAT good! Just an FYI, I have only cooked these in the oven so I am not sure how they taste out of the microwave. Lastly, one thing to watch with products like these is that they can be relatively high in sodium…so don’t go too crazy!
Looks just like a corn dog. Am I right??
2. Cascadian Farm’s Organic Cinnamon Crunch Cereal
Generally speaking, I like to stick with cereals low in sugar, but even I like to indulge a bit here and there. This is a great cereal to satisfy my sweet tooth and the nutrition facts are quite good. Not only is it organic, but one serving (1 cup) contains only 110 calories, 2.5 g of fat, and 22 g of carbs. The cereal also packs 3 g of fiber and 2 g of protein. The sugar content is 8 g per serving, which is decent for a sugary, sweet cereal. This cereal tastes nearly identical to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but the nutrition facts are much better for the Cascadian Farm version. I would not recommend eating this cereal alone as you will take in a bit too much sugar, but I mixed it with my staple cereal: Kashi GoLean (to get my protein and fiber in) and Corn Flakes cereal. If you crave a sugary cereal now and then, I definitely recommend this cereal along with the other Cascadian Farm cereals.
