almeeker

Last night honey and I went to the local pub to get dinner, beer and watch the first half of the Super Bowl. Low and behold we got there and they were closed for a private party. So we found ourselves standing outside in the cold, hungry for bar food, we'd even gotten a good whiff of it at the door (smell is a huge trigger for me). Pretty much every other place in town is either closed on Sunday nights, or doesn't make it as well as the pub's kitchen. So we got back in the car and decided to make our own bar food at home. So last night I took a couple of red potatoes, sliced them up, tossed them in steak seasoning, sea salt, black pepper and olive oil and slapped them onto a baking sheet in the oven. Then I got out some lean ground beef, stirred a couple of tablespoons of steak sauce and some steak seasoning in to it. Sliced up an onion, and put it in the pan next to the burgers. While all that was cooking, DH got out some pickles, laughing cow cheese and some low fat Wheat Thin Flat crispbread crackers and made a cute little "relish" tray (the pub usually just brings out bread sticks or peanuts). Then I grilled a couple of 8-grain thin buns, piled the grilled onions on top of the burgers and slapped a piece of low-fat cheese on the top and let it melt while the oven fries finished up under the broiler. Then we popped the tops off a couple of lite beers, assembled these huge fat burgers with a big glob of spicy mustard and pickle relish and plopped down in front of the telly to watch the game.

And guess what? It was everything we were hungry for, and get this - like 800 calories less than the same meal at the pub! And about 1/20 of the cost. We even agreed that the oven fries taste ever so slightly better than the pub fries.

I just thought it would be fun to have a "MYOTO" thread, to see what recipes others have used in place of going out, and maybe get a ball park of the calorie and cash savings.

colliegirl24

Chinese Take-Out
This was dinner tonight. I cut 2 new york strip steaks into cubes (super buy at Costco 4.39/pound), stir fried them in my cast iron skillet sprayed with olive oil. In another pan stir fried sliced peppers and onions, also sprayed with olive oil. Poured 2 tb of soy ginger dressing over the top (80 cal).
Everyone must have liked it, there were no left overs.

Twinnermommy

Great idea, and thanks for sharing your pub recipes! I am a sucker for Cafe Rio pork, but to safe money and calories I found a copy cat recipe:

2 lb pork roast
3 cans coke (or any cola soda)
1/4 cup brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 cup water
8 oz sliced green chilis
18 oz enchilada sauce

1. Marinade pork for at least two hours in a can and a half of coke and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Drain.

2. Place pork, 1/2 can coke, garlic salt and water in a slow cooker. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 8 hours low. I have never cooked it on high because I like it really tender and easy to shred.

3. Remove pork and shred. Drain any remaining liquid from crockpot. Put a half can of coke, the chilies, enchilada sauce and the rest of the brown sugar into the crockpot. Mix the ingredients well. Add shredded pork. If it looks too thick, add more coke or water. Cook for two hours.

I serve it as a burrito or a salad with black beans, brown rice, lettuce, tomatoes, and a wheat tortilla. Burritos taste great topped in green enchilada sauce. I figured about a half cup of pork is about 150 calories if you use a lean pork roast.

MunaAmin

omG marinating meat in Coke that is most unusual. I cook Asian cuisine a lot (mostly Indian and Pakistani dishes). A good way of tenderising beef is to make a marinade with raw papaya, slightly under-ripen is best, but any papaya will do as long as it's fresh, not dried. It perfectly tenderises meat even for BBQ. It's the enzyme papain that does the job.
And cook for how many hours??? It reminds me of that recipe for roast mutton: put meat in a pot with all the ingredients, cook for 3 hours, then turn the meat and cook for 3 more hours.

Twinnermommy

Muna, thanks for the papaya tip! I haven't been able to find any way to make it as tender as cola does, but I will have to try that. I have to admit, the meat really isn't super healthy.. just delicious haha.

I am sure it would take about half the time to cook in the oven, I just prefer using my slow cooker I haven't ever tried this recipe in my oven.. but I'm sure it would work just fine at 250 ish.

You should share some of your indian and pakistani dishes, I would love to try cooking some of that!

Kay_in_PA

I haven't had take out pizza in ages because I enjoy my make at home version as well if not better. First I heat up my pizza stone in a 450 degree oven. I take a Flat Out light italian flat bread and spritz it on both sides with olive oil cooking spray. I toast it on the hot pizza stone, flipping it when it starts to toast.

While that is going, I saute some chopped onions, peppers, broccoli, garlic and diced tomato in a bit of olive oil.

Next, I spread a layer of no sugar pizza sauce on the now crisp flat bread, top it with the sauteed veggies, and add some part-skim mozzarella on top.

I slide the whole thing on top of the pizza stone and set the oven on broil for just a couple minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. The timing can be tricky as can the removal from the oven. I usually use a cutting board as an improvised pizza paddle.

behaze

Mmmm - tried this for dinner tonight.

1 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper (I used 1/2 tsp and it was still slightly spicy, so it depends what you like)
1 tsp ground sage
1 tsp ground basil
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp ground pepper
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp onion salt
1 tsp garlic powder
Enough chicken tenderloins, or skinless sliced breast to serve your family

Dip the chicken in some slightly whisked egg (I have heard milk can be used in place of egg - never tried that before), coat in spices (which have been mixed together, of course!). Heat olive oil in a frypan until water jumps when flicked onto surface of oil. Pop chicken in for one minute each side. Allow to sit on paper towel. Bake at 200C (about 390-400F) for about 20 minutes for tenderloins.

It's probably a 'day off' meal, but is a wonderful substitute for KFC without the fat dripping off your elbows and subsequent self-enforced, guilt-driven starvation. Oh, and my wallet liked it, too.

I served this with steamed veggies and made some potato mash (without the butter) for my partner and son, who gobbled it up as greedily as if we were at KFC. My 9mo, after having a little taste, also tried to steal it off my plate. Haha! I was too quick for him.

almeeker

Funny how you get quicker reflexes with each child isn't it? Sound yummy I'm adding that to this week's meal plan, Friday maybe (we'll all be home to eat dinner together that night). I've made Rachel Ray's "Honey Nut Chicken Sticks" before, and they were yummy, but I think your version has fewer calories.