Archive | March, 2014

Homemade Marinara Sauce

3 Mar

So, I love Italian Food, as you probably have noticed if you follow this blog. I also love to make my own sauce. Jarred sauce has so much sugar in it, it’s hard to find a good one that’s low calorie, plus I think the homemade stuff is so much better. Plus, it’s easy to make. Although, to get it right, you should let it simmer at least an hour or so. You can double, or triple, the batch and make it on low all day in a crock pot. The leftovers freeze well in a regular ziplock freezer bag.

Fun fact: this was originally going to be a post about turkey meatballs and marinara, but while I was multi-tasking, my dog ate my meatballs!

On a side note, if you’re going to opt for a jarred sauce, Prego “Smart Light” has almost half the calories of any other jar sauce I’ve seen, and it’s pretty good. That’s the only one I buy these days.

Ingredients:

– 29 oz can of crushed tomatoes
– 1/2 an onion, chopped
– 2 tbsp minced garlic
– 1 tbsp dried oregano
– 1 tsp dried basil
– 1 packet splenda no calorie sweetener
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms (optional)

Directions:

1. Saute onion in a medium size pot, with non stick spray, until they begin to soften. Add garlic and stir over heat until well incorporated, but be careful not to burn garlic.

2. Add all other ingredients, and simmer on low for 1 hour or so, stirring occasionally.

3. Serve with meatballs, over spaghetti or other noodles, or with spaghetti squash. Delicious!

Makes 5 Servings, 1/2 cup each= 65 Calories per serving
1/2 cup= 1 weight watchers point plus

When served with 3 oz of Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta, and 1/2 cup of sauce= 350 Calories (appx 9 weight watchers points plus)

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Lemon Cake Bars

3 Mar

This is a light, lemony treat. It doesn’t have the texture of a traditional “lemon bar.” Meaning, it doesn’t have that sugary-creamy texture. Instead, it’s light and cake-y (it’s totally a word!). I love how low in calories this is, and also how totally simple it is to make. I’m thinking about making it this summer and topping with a can of light blueberry pie filling. yum. Anyway, for now, it’s simple and lemony, and delicious. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

– 1 box of angel food cake mix
– 1 (17.5 oz) can of lemon pie filling
– 1 tbsp of lemon juice
– 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar.

Directions:

1. Mix cake mix, pie filling, and lemon juice.

2. Pour into a 9×13 pan, sprayed with nonstick spray.

3. Bake for 30 min at 350.

4. Remove from oven and allow to cool about 3-5 minutes before cutting into 15 bars. Sprinkle with Powdered sugar and refrigerate for 30 min or longer.

Enjoy.

makes 15 squares

1 square= 155 Calories

1 square= appx 4 weight watchers points plus

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Buffalo turkey burgers

2 Mar

So, I made these tonight, and I liked them pretty well. Now, you should know something about me. I’m really not a burger girl. If given 5 options on a menu, a burger would be in the bottom 2 choices nearly every time. But, for the sake of trying new things, and keeping my (burger eating) family happy, I tried this one today. In my approximation, it wasn’t bad. My husband really seemed to like it (he’s a burger guy). I will say this. Serve it with a soft cheese. I used goat cheese, which added a lot of flavor and went well with the hot burger. I imagine blue cheese would work well too, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Ingredients:

– 1 lb ground turkey
– 1 1/2 tbsp franks hot sauce
– 2 tbsp minced garlic
– 2 teaspoons ground cumin
– 2 tsp chili powder
– salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Mix turkey, hot sauce, garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper together. Mix well.

2. Separate meat into 4 equal sections.

3. Form 4 patties. I like to roll out a sheet of plastic wrap, lie my meat balls down, cover with another sheet of plastic, and smoosh them out that way. It’s less messy.

4. Heat a non-stick skillet on the stove, and spray with nonstick spray.

5. Cook patties about 4 1/2 minutes on each side, or until meat reaches 165* in center.

Makes 4 Servings: 1 Patty Only= 160 calories

TOP IT:

For me, the most important thing with this burger, is how you top it! I used 90 calorie buns. I sprayed them with fat free spray butter and grilled them to toast the edges. Then I topped each burger as follows:

Bottom bun: 1 tbsp goat cheese, 1 tbsp chopped onion, 1 tsp franks red hot sauce
Top bun: Romaine lettuce, 1 tsp light ranch dressing

1 Burger topped as listed above: 284 Calories

Patty alone= appx. 4 weight watchers points plus
topped as mine= appx 7 weight watchers points plus

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Ham and cheese Stromboli

1 Mar

This one was a big hit with the husband. I’m excited to try it again with turkey pepperoni too.

Ingredients

– 1 roll of pillsbury French bread
– 1/4 lb sliced deli ham
– 1 cup shredded mozzarella
– 1/2 tbsp melted butter
– 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
– garlic powder to taste
– 1/4 cup flour

Directions

1. Sprinkle flour in a clean, flat surface.

2. Roll bread dough flat into a 12×16 rectangle. If you look carefully you can find a seam in the dough which will allow you to simply separate the layers to “unroll” inflat.

3. Sprinkle cheese evenly over dough. Top with Italian seasoning, and sprinkle with garlic powder.

4. Place a layer of ham on top of cheese.

5. Rolling longways, begin to roll the dough and ingredients into a tight roll.

6. Place roll seam side down on a baking sheet, which has ben coated with nonstick spray.

7. Brush melted butter generously over top of roll and sprinkle with garlic powder.

8. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Makes 4 servings- 293 calories per serving

Appx 8 weight watchers points plus per serving

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