T-A-S-T-E-Y

Well, at least that's how Fergie spells 'tastey' in 'Fergilicious' :)

I'm always on the lookout for new recipes ... so when I got my Wegman's magazine last weekend, I perused through it to figure out what new recipe I wanted to try this week. Since its been freezing here and I'm all about easy meals, I jumped at the chance to try a new crockpot recipe. I really think crockpots are about the best thing invented! Anyway, this sounded interesting to me so I decided to give it a whirl.

Slow-Cooked Pineapple Chili

1 lb Extra Lean Ground Beef
16 oz frozen Diced Green Peppers & Onions (or you can use fresh)
1 1/2 cups Matchstix Carrots (about 5 oz)
1 pkg (8 oz) sliced mushrooms (ewww - I left these out!!)
1 can (28 oz) Italian Classics Crushed Tomatoes with Herbs
2 cans (15.5 oz each) dark kidney beans, drained
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple, drained
2 Tbsp chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown ground beef in skillet on MEDIUM, breaking up meat with spoon as it cooks. Drain off excess drippings. Add beef, peppers and onions, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, pineapple, and chili powder to slow cooker. Stir and cover. Cook 4 hours on HIGH or 8 hours on LOW. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Nutrition Info: Each serving (1 cup) contains 220 calories, 25g carbohydrate (3g fiber), 15g protein, 6g fat (3g saturated fat), 30mg cholesterol and 420mg sodium.

So I threw it all together before work yesterday morning, and let the crock pot do the work. Oh how I love coming home from a day at work and dinner is already ready for me!! Quite honestly, I couldn't really taste the pineapple, but in those few bites that I did, it was a great pop of flavor. I think next time I will actually use twice the amount of pineapple (and maybe actually buy the right kind this time, rather than crushing up my ownslices of pineapple)! The only thing I'm not so sure about were the carrots - but they were sliced up so small (like slivered carrots) that after cooking all day, you really couldn't taste them. It looked a little weird to me at first, but carrots are good for you right?!? :) Anyway, this is just a fun (and healthy - until you add chips, sour cream, and cheese to it!) variation on a chili that you can whip up in about 10 minutes (plus the cooking time of course).

A few other of my favorite healthy 'tastey treats' lately include ...

• Jello sugar-free pudding snacks (the new chocolate mint fudge is awesome - it totally solves my chocolate cravings)
• celery with natural peanut butter
• hummus (roasted red pepper is my favorite) with celery or whole-wheat pita bread
• Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop - Kettle Corn flavor
• whole wheat tortilla spread w/1 tsp light cream cheese, a slice of smoked turkey breast sandwich meat, and fresh spinach leaves rolled up into a wrap
• Dannon Light 'n Fit Yogurt mixed with a little bit of Nature's Path Organic Pumpkin Flax Plus Granola (that's a mouthful! buy it at Costco), 1/2 banana, and some berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or strawberries)
• cottage cheese mixed with a little bit of ranch dressing dip (the powdered stuff) - it makes a fabulous dip, without the extra calories and fat of sour cream and/or mayo ... eat it with carrots, celery, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, baked pita chips, etc.
• edamame (in the shells - totally hits the spot when you're craving something salty!)

Here's a link to a newsletter that my mom just sent me - "10 things you should add to your grocery list NOW" ...

http://www.hungry-girl.com/fridaypreview.php?newsletterid=1012

Some of my thoughts on this list ...

1. Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges. It is REALLY good!! They sell it at Costco. Sometimes they have the original kind and sometimes they have an herb one - I have tried both and they are great. I've also had it with with wheat thins - the baked kind that come in a bag (thanks Courtney & Kirk!), and it was really good. Its good with crackers (maybe those Wasa crackers) but I also really like it with celery. It stays good forever since its cheese, so you don't really have to worry about it going bad or whatever.

2. Nature Valley Fruit Crisps, Cinnamon Apple. Looks good to me! I'll have to try them. They have good granola bars - my boss' favorite thing is to eat a cinnamon granola bar with an apple - he says it tastes like apple pie.

3. Egg Beaters. Lillywhites don't buy egg beaters...

4. 94% Fat-free popcorn. YES I love popcorn :)

5. FiberOne. hmmm - FiberOne. I have a recipe for bran muffins awhile ago that used that in it - I need to try it sometime.

6. Light Vanilla Soymilk. 8th Continent is my favorite brand of soy milk. I used to drink it but I haven't for a couple years. I don't like it plain, and I don't really eat cereal anymore, but...it is good with Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal though.

7. JELL-O Sugar-Free Pudding Snacks. My favorite treat - JELL-O Pudding Snacks! YUM.

8. Smucker's Sugar-Free Preserves. Haven't tried Smucker's - but I just bought some at Trader Joe's the other day - I don't eat a ton of jelly, but it is good on a whole wheat pita with natural peanut butter...

9. Gerber Fruit Puffs & Veggie Puffs. Gerber fruit & veggie puffs?? Hmm - that's an interesting one that I'll have to try...never would have though about that! Maybe some of you with kids can shed some light on this one!

10. Hellman's Dijonnaise. I will definitely get that - and try mixing it in with white albacore tuna fish for pita sandwiches or tuna and fresh spinach salads- I bet that would be really good - and way fewer calories than low-fat mayo. I bet its also good in wraps.

Thank goodness there are lots of healthy options out there that still taste good!