Hello all! I am so proud to announce I am going to be doing a video series!
It is called Frankenfood: Convenient for who?
The reason for this series is to show everyone how easy it can be to make your own food and not resort to convenience foods. It is more work and I am not going to deny that. I want to educate people on what they are putting into their bodies and try to convince them that there can certainly be a better way. I am taking popular convenience food items and showing you how to make them yourselves with real ingredients.
I hope you enjoy the video. Recipe and franken-ingredient details below!
Also for the record from looking online sources said they bought it for about $2.75
By following my recipe each portion only costs $2.95. Not bad if I say so myself..
Creamy Basil Tortellini with Chicken
- 1 lb ‘taco meat’ cut chicken
- 1 tsp each kosher salt, garlic powder, black pepper (for chicken)
- 2 cups snap peas, trimmed
- 1 yellow pepper, sliced
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 1 package tortellini
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- dash of hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped garlic, pre cooked
- 1 tsp each kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder (for sauce)
- about 1 tablespoon fresh basil
Instructions on how to cook are in the video but I will do a run down here.
- Boil tortellini until they float, drain and set aside
- Steam peas, peppers, carrot until tender either on the stove in a steamer tray or in the microwave
- Saute chicken with seasonings in just a little bit of olive oil until fully cooked
- For the sauce melt butter and add flour and stir until there are not any flour lumps. Add milk, but not all at once! Add milk and stir until it becomes thick and keep adding milk slowly and mixing until it becomes a thick Alfredo consistency. Add seasonings and mix well.
- Combine all the ingredients into the pan with the chicken and enjoy!
Above is my version of the Lean Cuisine dish ^^
This is a picture of the original dish made by Lean Cuisine..Which would you rather eat?
(Photo provided by http://www.thefoodhussy.com)
Here are all the ingredients in the Lean Cuisine version of this dish
SKIM MILK, LOW FAT ASIAGO CHEESE TORTELLINI (ENRICHED EXTRA FANCY DURUM FLOUR AND SEMOLINA [DURUM WHEAT FLOUR, SEMOLINA, NIACIN, IRON {FERROUS SULFATE}, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID], WATER, FAT FREE RICOTTA CHEESE [PASTEURIZED WHEY, PASTEURIZED SKIM MILK, VINEGAR, XANTHAN GUM, VITAMIN A PALMITATE], WHOLE EGGS, ASIAGO CHEESE [PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES], BREAD CRUMBS [WHEAT FLOUR], SKIM MILK WITH VITAMIN A ADDED, PARMESAN CHEESE [PASTEURIZED PART SKIM MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES], ROMANO CHEESE MADE FROM COW’S MILK [PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES], COOKED ONIONS, LOW MOISTURE PART SKIM MOZZARELLA CHEESE [PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES], BUTTER [CREAM, SALT], BROWN SUGAR [SUGAR, CANE SYRUPS], WHITE DISTILLED VINEGAR [WHITE DISTILLED VINEGAR, WATER], ROASTED GARLIC, COOKED GARLIC, SPICES, SALT, MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, BETA CAROTENE), COOKED WHITE MEAT CHICKEN (WHITE MEAT CHICKEN, WATER, MODIFIED TAPIOCA STARCH, CHICKEN FLAVOR [DRIED CHICKEN BROTH, CHICKEN POWDER, NATURAL FLAVOR], CARRAGEENAN, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, SOYBEAN OIL, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, SALT), ITALIAN GREEN BEANS, WATER, YELLOW CARROTS, RED PEPPERS, 2% OR LESS OF CREAM, MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, PARMESAN CHEESE PASTE (GRANULAR AND PARMESAN CHEESE [PASTEURIZED MILK, CHEESE CULTURES, SALT, ENZYMES], WATER, SALT, LACTIC ACID, CITRIC ACID), BASIL, GARLIC PUREE, POTATO STARCH, SEA SALT, BUTTER (CREAM, SALT), DRIED CREAM EXTRACT, YEAST EXTRACT, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, SPICE, XANTHAN GUM, LACTIC ACID, CALCIUM LACTATE, SEASONING (WHEAT STARCH, EXTRACTS OF ANNATTO AND TURMERIC COLOR, NATURAL FLAVOR).
Holy cow!
Here are some details about some of these ingredients..
MODIFIED CORNSTARCH – There are probably more than 100 different types of starches available for use as food ingredients, and all have been tweaked in some way through various chemical or physical reactions, to make them more useful. Starches are used for thickening—pudding, gravies, etc. (hooray for chemicals in our food!) Resource – http://whatisthatingredient.com/ingredient.php?id=29
YEAST EXTRACT – Yeast extract has replaced monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as a taste-booster in most processed foods because it appears to be a natural ingredient on food labels. However, yeast extract contains the same concentrated free glutamic acid as MSG. The increasing use of yeast extracts in foods ranging from soups and sauces to meats and canned fish is due to its distinctive taste, resulting from the peptides and amino acids formed by autolysis of yeast protein.
Resource -http://www.livestrong.com/article/345981-foods-that-contain-yeast-extract/
POTASSIUM CHLORIDE – You should not use potassium chloride if you have kidney failure, Addison’s disease, severe burns or other tissue injury, if you are dehydrated, if you take certain diuretics (water pills), or if you have high levels of potassium in your blood (hyperkalemia). Do not crush, chew, break, or suck on an extended-release tablet or capsule. Swallow the pill whole. Breaking or crushing the pill may cause too much of the drug to be released at one time. Sucking on a potassium tablet can irritate your mouth or throat. Take potassium chloride with food or just after a meal. I dont know about you but I dont want drug facts for my food ingredients!
Resource – http://www.drugs.com/potassium_chloride.html
XANTHAN GUM – It is produced by fermentation of glucose, sucrose, or lactose by the Xanthomonas campestris bacterium. After a fermentation period, the polysaccharide is precipitated from a growth medium with isopropyl alcohol, dried, and ground into a fine powder. Later, it is added to a liquid medium to form the gum. Oh Hello sugar sugar and sugar!
Resource – http://whatisthatingredient.com/
EXTRACTS OF ANNATTO – Is made from achiote tree. It is mostly used to color cheeses orange (like cheddar). In its pure form it tastes lightly sweet and peppery. Some people say that it tastes similar to nutmeg. Annatto is one of the top 10 food allergens in America. Although this is a natural item, why do we need to add color to our food?!
Resource – http://whatisthatingredient.com/
NATURAL FLAVOR – Here is an excellent read on ‘Natural’ Flavor
