Popeye would be proud.

I put spinach in our mashed potatoes last night. Oh my goodness gracious why did I not do this years ago? I was going for a simple, home-cooked meal, but I wanted to figure out a way to add some extra veggies and liven it up a bit. Restaurants serve loaded mashed potatoes, so I was sure I could come up with some things to add that would give great flavor but also be healthy. I ended up with garlic, spinach, and blue cheese mashed potatoes.

The recipe made enough for four people, with each serving being only 150 calories! Plus you got some extra veggies in too. Seriously, you will love them. And I think spinach gives you muscles, so that's a plus ;) I've also included the recipe for the chicken I made. It was pretty simple - a citrus/ginger/soy marinated chicken breast that I threw in the broiler, though I wish I could have grilled it. We had some corn on the side. Yum!

Garlic, Spinach, and Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes: (serves 4)

• 600 grams of potatoes (about 4 medium potatoes, I used yukon golds)
• 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. butter (or olive oil)
• 1/8 tsp. and 1 tsp. garlic salt
• 1 tbsp. garlic and herb sour cream (plain is fine but this kind is packed with flavor)
• 2 tbsp. skim milk
• 2 tbsp. reduced-fat blue cheese crumbles

I always weigh our potatoes soI don't make too much, but if you don't have a scale, this is what 600 grams looked like for me:



(I had some mini ones and some regular size, so I used a mix).

Cube them, put them in a pot, cover with water, and boil until fork tender. Sometimes I add bouillon cubes or chicken stock to the water, but there was enough salt in this meal that I omitted it and the flavor was perfect.

While potatoes are cooking, add butter to a skillet and heat over medium-low heat until melted. Add garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes, then add spinach and 1/8 tsp. garlic salt. Saute until spinach is wilted.

Drain cooked potatoes, then add cooked spinach, milk, sour cream and 1 tsp. garlic salt and mash with a potato masher. Add blue cheese crumbles and gently stir until mixed in.

And that's that - a great way to sneak in some more vegetables with your meal and spice up your plain old mashed potatoes!

Citrus/Ginger/Soy Marinade: (makes enough to marinate 2 breasts and baste them during cooking)

• 1 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 green onion, diced
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp. oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp. white wine (if you have rice vinegar, use that...I just ran out!)
• 1 tsp. sesame flavored chili oil
• juice from one small orange
• 1/2 tsp. truvia
• 1/2 cup water

I know this makes a lot, but I really hate dry chicken, so I'd rather have plenty for basting during the cooking process. I made the marinade first, simply by combining all the ingredients in a large bowl. Put the chicken in a bag, pour enough marinade in to cover it, and refrigerate for at least two hours. Cover the rest of the marinade and refrigerate as well. I broiled my chicken for about ten minutes, adding more liquid every time it started to get dry. I'm sure it would be great on a grill. I think next time I might add honey or some more sweetness to change up the flavor a bit, but I ate my whole piece and I'm not even a chicken fan!

So that was last night. I had all intentions of making something super yummy tonight, but unfortunately a mishap in the kitchen sent us out to eat instead. Clearly I've been working out too much and don't know my own strength, because when I grabbed the handle to turn on the faucet, it broke right off in my hand.

I'll be calling maintenance first thing in the morning. But no water in my kitchen meant a night off of cooking for me! Now go eat.