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Roasted Squash and Zucchini

20 Apr

This is one of my favorite summer side dishes.  I could literally eat a bowl full for dinner. I love this stuff. I hope you do too!

Ingredients:

  • 1-2 green zucchini sliced (about 2 cups worth)
  • 1-2 yellow squash, sliced (about 2 cups worth)
  • 1/2 a purple onion, sliced in large “chunks” (basically quarter 1/2 an onion)
  • 2 Tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tsp Sea Salt
  • 1/2 Tsp  black pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 475, and place a large baking sheet In the oven while it heats.
  2. Mix sliced vegetables, oil, salt and pepper.  I like to just throw them into a big ziplock freezer back and shake them around until everything’s covered.
  3. Spray the baking sheet with nonstick spray.
  4. Spread veggies in a single layer and bake for 15-20 min, turning once about halfway through.

Makes 4 Servings= 65 Calories per serving

1 serving = 1 weight watchers points plus

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Chocolate coconut cookies

19 Apr

These little gems were super low calorie, and pretty delicious! I think next time I’ll add a tsp of almond extract and call them “almond joy.”

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
  • 6 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 3 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 4 egg whites
  • 2 cups shredded sweetened coconut

Directions:

  1. Sift together confectioners sugar, granulated sugar, cocoa and flour. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, mix egg whites until soft peaks form.
  1. Slowly mix in cocoa mixture a little at a time until incorporated.
  2. Stir in coconut.
  3. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
  4. Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, place batter on sheet about 1 inch apart.
  5. Bake at 325 for 22 min.
  6. Cool completely before serving.

1 cookie= 45 calories

2 cookies= 90 calories

1 cookie= appx 1 weight watchers points plus

2 cookies= appx 3 weight watchers points plus

 

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Vegetable Beef Soup

18 Mar

Hi Friends!  Winter is winding down here in Kentucky, so I thought I would take this last cool week (i hope) to make a pot of Vegetable soup.  Now, Veggie soup is something I’ve made since, well, I don’t even remember when.  But, for whatever reason, I never thought to post it here.  Veggie soup is so versatile, which is one of the things I love about it.  For instance, nobody in my family ever made meatless vegetable soup, but I cooked it for 10 years during my vegetarian days.  My mom always included stew meat, and my granny always made it with ground beef.  Today, we’re going to go the ground beef route, but if you’re a vegetarian, you could easily just leave the beef out, so I’m going to mark this one “vegetarian friendly” over there on the categories column as well.

One of the characteristics I always found interesting in my granny’s soup, was her ability to get the ground beef to break up into a very fine texture.  I asked her how she did it like that, and she just said she didn’t really know.  So, after years of experimenting (including a couple of years where i literally poured a whole lb of ground beef into a blender) I finally got my own technique that works.  You’ll notice the “boil and stir” method in my directions below.  If you like big chunky ground beef, you can skip that and omit the broth altogether.  This is not my Granny’s recipe per-se, but it combines her beef technique with my mom’s addition of chopped cabbage, which is my favorite thing about her soup. So this is the best, of both.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 1 can of beef broth
  • 2 cans of original “Veg-all”
  • 1 Large can of V8 juice (use the whole thing- 46 oz)
  • 1 can (15 oz) petite diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups of chopped raw cabbage
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:

  1. In a saucepan, on the stovetop, combine 1 lb ground beef and 1 can broth.  Cook on medium, and stir the heck out of the beef until it all breaks up into a weird beefy sludge. (appetizing, i know…but this is how you get the really fine beef I talked about).  Continue cooking on stovetop, and stirring, until all the beef has browned.  Then drain the beef in a colander over the sink.  You don’t even need the broth. It’s strictly for beef-texture purposes.
  2. Now, combine all those other ingredients, including beef, into a crockpot or a large pan on the stove top.  If you’re using the crock pot, cook on low for 5-6 hours.  If you’re doing the stovetop, just simmer it for an hour or so until the cabbage is nice and done.

Makes 10 cups of soup

1 cup = 145 calories per serving

Approximately 3 weight watchers points plus 





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Asian pork loin medallions

25 Feb

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1 lb pork loin, sliced into 1/2 inch medallion
  • 6 tbsp water
  • 1/3 cup red wine
  • 3 tbsp hoisin sauce

Directions:

Coat a large skillet with nonstick spray. Add sesame oil, and heat on medium heat.

Salt and pepper pork medallions.

Add red pepper, garlic, and pork to pan. Cook pork medallions about 5 minutes per side, stirring garlic around as meet cooks.

Remove pork and set aside. Add water, wine, and hoisin sauce to skillet and cook until sauce thickens.

Return pork to pan for about 2 minutes to warm.

Serve over rice or noodles. (Not included in calorie count)

Makes 4 servings=  220 calories per serving

Appx 5 wow points plus

 

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Moroccan Chicken

22 Jan

Remember a while back, when I said I was experimenting with new spices?  Tonight’s exotic adventure includes the North African spice “Ras El Hanout” and it was really fragrant and delicious.  Next time, I think I’m going to cut the chicken up, add some peppers, and serve this over rice.  I ordered my Ras El Hanout on ebay but you can make your own if you want.  Here’s a recipe on Epicurious!

Ingredients:

  • 4 (6 oz) chicken breasts (i used Tyson right-size. they’re perfect!)
  • 1 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 TBSP Ras El Hanout
  • 1 TBPS light butter or margarine
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • Salt
  • 2 TSP honey

Directions:

1. In an oven-proof skillet, heat olive oil on medium.  Add 1 TBSP ras el hanout, Mix and cook for 2-3 minutes, just to toast the spices.

2.  Add chicken breasts, and coat each breast with the spice mixture. Allow breasts to cook about 4-5 minutes.  Remove chicken, and set aside.

3. Add butter to skillet, and melt butter, swirling it around to incorporate remaining spices.

4. Add onions to butter mixture, and sauté about 4 minutes. Place chicken breasts on top of onions in pan.  Sprinkle the whole dish with salt.  Drizzle honey over the top of the mixture.

5.  Place skillet containing onions and chicken into a preheated oven.  Bake on 400 for 10-12 minutes. Serve chicken and onions together.

Makes 4 servings= 278 Calories per serving.

Appx 7 weight watchers points per serving

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Simple broiled chicken

15 Jan

This is about as basic as it gets folks, but it’s one of my husband’s favorite was to prepare chicken. It’s quick, easy, and super healthy.

Ingredients:

– 4 (6 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
– salt
– pepper
– paprika (all to taste)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika on both sides of chicken.

3. Spray a baking pagan with nonstick spray.

4. Bake for 10 min.

5. Turn oven up to “Lo” broil and broil 5-7 min.

Voila! Easy breezy. Enjoy!

1 breast = 210 calories

Appx 5 weight watchers pp

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Thai chicken lettuce wraps

10 Jan

I’ve had this on my list for so long, and finally got around to making it tonight! Man I’m glad I did! These were light, delicious, just enough spicy, and pretty easy, to boot. This is the first time I’ve ever bought Thai peanut sauce, but I would recommend this brand. I was very pleased with the results. This one was a 2 person recipe, because my kids are not in to it. You could easily double the recipe to serve 4.

Ingredients:

– 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
– salt and pepper to taste
– 1/4 cup very thin sliced onion
– 1/4 cup very thin sliced red bell pepper
– 1/4 cup sliced water chestnuts, cut into quarters
– 1 tsp minced ginger
– 1 tbsp minced garlic
– 1/3 cup Thai peanut sauce (San-J brand recommended)
– 1 head Bibb lettuce

Directions:

1. Dice chicken into little pieces. I used frozen, thin sliced filets (Tyson select size) and left them slightly frozen to make them easier to cut. Cut into pieces about 1/4- 1/2 in square. Salt and pepper chicken.

2. Spray a medium sized skillet with non stick spray, and add chicken, onion, and peppers. Sautéed until chicken shows no more pink.

3. Add garlic, ginger, and water chestnuts, and continue cooking mixture until liquid cooks off.

4. Once liquid is cooked off chicken mixture, mix in sauce and cook on low just another minute or two, to heat sauce through.

5. Separate, rinse, and dry the leaves of your Bibb lettuce. Snap off long stems if needed, but be careful not to tear leafy part.

6. Divide chicken mixture into two equal parts, and serve with lettuce leaves for wrapping.

2 servings= 406 calories per serving

Appx 9 weight watchers points plus per serving

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Chocolate banana milkshake

5 Jan

So, I love sweets, and ice cream is really a weakness for me. This is a little high calorie for a midnight snack, but…sometimes you need a shake. This one guarantees that you also get some potassium and fruit too. Makes about 10 oz.

– 1 cup of breyers fat free vanilla ice cream
– 1/2 a banana
– 1/3 cup 1% milk
– 1 tsp cocoa powder

Everything goes in the little personal smoothly blender until smooth.

Makes 1 10 oz shake= 265 calories
Appx 7 weight watchers points plus

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Mcdonalds egg white delight switcheroo

4 Jan

So, I love the egg white delight at McDonald’s for breakfast. It’s filling, and pretty reasonable at 250 calories. However, on days when I’m home I sometimes make these for myself, and at a much lower calorie count.

Ingredients:

– 1 Thomas 100 calorie English muffin, toasted
– 1 slice of Canadian bacon
– 1 or 2 egg whites
– 1 slice American cheese (40 calories)

Notes: 1 egg white is less than what comes on the mcdonalds version, so I use 2. But if you like it lighter on egg, the 1 is good. American cheese varies significantly from one friend to another in calorie count. I used a velveeta single. Try pepper jack singles for a bit of variety. They’re my favorite!

Directions:

1. Spray a small skitter with nonstick spray and heat Canadian bacon.

2. Remove bacon and use same skillet to “fry” the egg whites, folding them over to make them about the size of the English muffin.

3. Once the eggs are cooked through, add cheese to the top, and place egg and cheese on the bottom toasted English muffin.

4. Add bacon and top of muffin. Enjoy

With 1 egg white= 185 calories
Appx 5 ww points plus

With 2 egg whites= 210 calories
Appx 5 ww points plus

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Roasted cabbage and carrots

3 Jan

This is an adaptation from a recipe I found in a magazine, and it was definitely a “make again” in my house. I love cabbage as it is, but this take resulted in a sweet, tangy treat, with just enough smokey char flavor. I served it with grilled turkey kielbasa, which was a good pairing.

Ingredients:

– 1 head of cabbage, cubed into 1 inch cubes
– 1 yellow onion, sliced
– 1 tbsp olive oil
– 1 tsp sugar
– 1/2-1 tsp salt (to taste)
– 1 tsp pepper
– 3 carrots
– 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
– 2 tsp franks red hot sauce
– 1 tbsp melted light butter or margarine

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, stir together cabbage, onion, oil, sugar, salt and pepper.

2. Line 2 baking sheets with foil, and spread cabbage mixture evenly between them.

3. Bake 10 min at 450, then stir cabbage around on pan and continue baking another 10 min.

4. Wash and peel your carrots, then continue using peeler to “peel” layers of carrot into “ribbons.”

5. In same large bowl Mix carrots, butter, hot sauce and vinegar.

6. Remove pans from oven, and spoon cabbage back into bowl with carrot mixture. Stir together.

7. Redistribute mixture back onto 2 pans and broil on high about 3 minutes.

Makes 4 servings= 100 calories per serving

Appx 1 weight watchers point per serving

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