Womans Day magazine recipes

We are finally back in our home. Unpacking is continuing and I have no idea where my church cookbook is but I hope to find it soon and resume my testing of each recipe in the book. Until then I have been looking for healthier ways to feed the family.

The March 2017 issue of Womens Day has four recipes that are 400 calories or less. The first one I made tonight was the Meatball soup. It was a little bit labor intensive because of the grating of the fresh ginger. Outside of grating the ginger, it was a fairly easy recipe to make. I admit I was a little nervous broiling the meatballs but it worked very well. I am not going to list the recipe but instead I have provided the link to the website as this is not mine.

Gingery Meatball Soup with Bok Choy

My take aways for this recipe:

• I only bought one head of Bok-Choy. Truthfully the recipe was not exactly clear. It said four heads and about 12 ounces. I believe it actually needed four separate ones but not sure. I felt like the one I bought did not provide enough greens for the soup. Next time I make it I will use more Bok-Choy. 
• It was the very first time I have ever tried Bok-Choy and was not sure how to use it. My little friend Google told me that the stem parts are edible as well so I tore the leaves into the pan but chopped the stems up so that they would cook quicker.
• The ground chicken was very, very sticky. I have no idea what I should have done to make it easier to roll the meatballs.
• I made my meatballs too big so the cooking time under the broiler was longer for mine.
• I did not chop the cilantro up well enough. Mine had large pieces of the leaves and that just did not work out well. Next time I will chop finer. 
• The husband liked it but the son did not. I liked it but felt the cilantro was too strong and that it needed more garlic.

As if trying one new recipe was not enough, I also tried a second recipe from the same magazine and same set. I have provided the link to the website as this is not my recipe.

Sweet and Sour Pork and Vegetable Stir-Fry

My take aways for this recipe:

• This recipe was quite delicious. The only problem is it did not have enough sauce. I do not know if it was the recipe or if it was me as I followed it completely except for the bean sprouts.
• The only reason I did not add the bean sprouts was because Kroger did not have them today.
• I think next time I will try this with chicken as my hubs cannot have very much pork.
• I will also double the hoison sauce mixture
• Everyone like this one - hard to believe a serving is only 317 calories.

Overall it was a successful meal. It was very challenging for me to use new ingredients I had never tried before. I hope you give it a try and I sure wish Womens Day would let me know some more info on both recipes.

Glad to be back!!