Chicken & Broccoli Breakfast Bites

I’ve been sick for just over a week now so I’m hoping that this is it and I can get back into my normal routine. That routine needs to include me being at the gym every morning during the week. So to make a 5:30am workout a little easier, I had the time today to make some breakfast bites that I can just grab from the freezer, throw in the microwave for a minute and eat before heading to Gold’s.

Chicken & Broccoli Breakfast Bites

1 Cup of Fat Free Cottage Cheese

6 egg whites (I used EggBeaters Whites Only)

1/2 Cup shredded 2% cheese (Monterey Jack)

1 Cup frozen chopped broccoli2 chicken breasts, cooked & chopped

Mrs. Dash or your favorite herbs & spices 

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place Cottage Cheese & Egg whites in your food processor for about a minute. Add 1/4C of the cheese, blend for 15 seconds.

Gently pour the mixture into a bowl and fold in the remaining cheese as well as the broccoli, chopped chicken, and spices.

Spray your muffin tin with non-stick spray. Using a 1/4Cup measuring cup, gently scoop into your muffin tin and put in the oven.

If you are using normal size muffin tins, they should bake for about 35 minutes. My “serving size” equals 2 muffin size

6 servings. Each serving = 103.8 calories, 2.3 g Fat, 23.7 mg Cholesterol, 246 mg Sodium, 3.9 g Carbohydrates, 15.2 Protein 

Citrus Sangria

We grilled out with some friends Saturday afternoon after spending the morning at the dog park. Of course the boys had their Corona but Amy & I wanted something a little more girly. So we figured let’s throw together some sangria. Here is our version of a sweet & citrusy sangria.

Citrus Sangria

1 Large bottle of White Zin

2 tangelos (oranges)

2 limes

2 lemons

¼ C Splenda 

Cut 1 of each piece of fruit in ½. Juice both ½’s of tangelo, lime, & lemon into a pitcher. Slice remaining lime & lemon & then cut each slice into quarters & add to the pitcher. For the tangelo, just peel it & pull the sections apart before adding them to the pitcher.

Add Splenda to the pitcher and then pour in the bottle of wine. Stir. Allow to chill for a couple of hours for the flavors to come together. 

Enjoy!  

Crockpot Chicken Taco Soup

I’ve been meaning to make this recipe since I came across it on Melissa’s blog who had it from another Melissa’s blog. So I altered the original to fit what we liked and had on hand. My version is below and you can see the originals through the links above.

Crockpot Chicken Taco Soup

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 oz) can Ranch Style Beans w/Jalapeno

1 (16 oz) can Black Beans

1 (11oz) can Mexicorn (drained)

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 (12 oz) bottle of beer; I used Dos Equis

2 (10 oz) cans of Rotel (un-drained; I used 1 hot & 1 normal)

1 packet of taco seasoning

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 

Place onion, ranch beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, & Rotel into the Crockpot. Add the taco seasoning & stir to combine. Lay defrosted chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until covered by the other ingredients. Set Crockpot for low heat and cook for about 5 hours. 

Remove chicken breasts from the soup and allow to cool just long enough to be handled. Shred or dice the cooked chicken and add back into the soup. Allow to cook another ½ hour to 1 hour.

When ready to dish up, you can serve plain or topped with any number of goodies. I added low-fat shredded cheese & guacamole. Cancy added shredded cheese & sour cream. You could also add crushed tortilla chips.  

6 servings. Each serving =259.9 calories, 2.1 g Fat, 21.7 mg Cholesterol, 1,573 mg Sodium, 38.2 g Carbohydrates, 17.1 g Protein

 

Buffalo Chicken Soup

I heard about this soup but couldn't find a good recipe that I liked. I combined a few of the recipes that I came across on google and ended up with this. It turned out really good. This is definately something we will be making again. The only thing I might do different next time is use Spicy Garlic sauce from Buffalo Wild Wings. I hear we are getting one in Austin soon. Those wings use to be a Wednesday night tradition when we lived in Minnesota. Until then, here is the recipe using Frank's Red Hot Buffalo sauce.

 

Buffalo Chicken Soup

1 sm. onion - chopped

2 ribs celery - chopped

1 Tbsp “I can’t believe it’s not butter” spread

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup skim milk

3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth

2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced

1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo sauce

4 oz. low fat Velveeta®, cubed

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. celery salt

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

In a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, sauté onions and celery in butter until tender.
Stir flour into pan; slowly whisk in milk and broth.
Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cheese has melted.We sprinkled a little bit of blue cheese on top & served this with celery sticks blue cheese dressing.

4 servings. Each serving =192 calories, 4.8 g Fat, 33.6 mg Cholesterol, 1441.8 mg Sodium, 15.9 g Carbohydrates, 18 g Protein

Roasted Broccoli

In an ongoing effort to bring more vegetables into our lives, I am always open to trying  new way of cooking something. I stumbled across this recipes on Melissa's site. Here is the link to her original. The only thing I changed was that I added a little more garlic and baked at a slightly different temp for a slightly different  amount of time. I think that this is oneof those recipes that you can play with and be okay. Enjoy!

 

Roasted Broccoli

1 Head of broccoli, washed and stems removed

4 cloves of garlic, sliced

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Pepper 

Toss broccoli and garlic with enough oil to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake in pre-heated oven.I baked them at 400 for about 20 minutes. 

2 servings. Each serving =154.1 calories, 8.1 g Fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 83.1 mg Sodium, 17.9 g Carbohydrates, 9.4 g Protein

"not quite" Fried Okra

One of the foods I had never had before meeting my husband was fried okra. Oh how I love fried okra. It's one of those great southern comfort foods. So when my husband heard that I wanted to mess with a classic and try baking it instead of frying, his mind was already made up that it wouldn't be a good idea. But in an effort to try to make everything we eat better for us, I decided to try it. We had some cornmeal breaded okra in the freezer already from my in-law's garden last summer. It's been fabulous fried, so what better time to try it out baked.

Not Quite Fried Okra

1 cups cornmeal

1/4 tsp. light salt

2 cups. fresh okra, sliced thin

cooking spray

Coat okra slices with cornmeal and salt. Place in single layer on a baking sheet which has been sprayed well with cooking spray. Also spray tops of okra. Bake at 450* for 30 to 35 minutes or until crispy and lightly browned

2 servings. Each serving =256 calories, 2.5 g Fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 31 mg Sodium, 54.2 g Carbohydrates, 7.9 g Protein

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops & Rice

I always have a package of pork chops in my freezer and I can never think of a good way to use them. I don't remember where I found this recipe. It may have been on the Campbell's soup site. This one turned out pretty well and my lovely husband would eat it again. So if ever you are trying to think of how to use that package of pork chops in your freezer, give this recipe a try.

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops & Rice

 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 boneless pork chops

1 can of reduced fat, low sodium cream of mushroom soup

¾ C Skim Milk

1 packet of Fat Free Ranch dressing mix

Paprika

1 Green Onion

2 bags of “boil in a bag” Brown Rice 

Heat Oil in a skillet, add the pork chops & cook until brown.

Add soup, milk, and about ½ the packet of Ranch Dressing Mix. Bring to a boil.Sprinkle with Paprika  & Cover & cook on low heat for about 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, Bring the water to a boil for your rice & sprinkle in the remaining Ranch Dressing Mix. Add the rice and let cook for about 10 minutes before draining.

When the pork & rice are both ready, drain rice before putting on the plate. Set a pork chop on top of the rice and cover with sauce from the pan.

I garnish mine with little pieces of green onion before serving. 

4 servings. Each serving = 441 calories, 16.6 g Fat, 63.6 mg Cholesterol, 361.4 mg Sodium, 40.7 g Carbohydrates, 28.7 g Protein

"Beef"Stroganoff

This one comes from Polly’s site. Here's the link to the original recipe. This is such a good happy husband meal because it's something he's had time & time again, it just got updated to become healthier. Because it goes together so fast, it is great for a weeknight meal. This has quickly become a staple in our house. So here it is, with a few slight changes...

“Beef” Stroganoff

1 package (usually just over a pound) of 93/7 ground turkey

2 cubes of beef bullion dissolved in about 3 T of warm water

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Lawry’s Season Salt

Pepper

2 cans of reduced fat, low sodium cream of mushroom soup

1-8 oz. can of sliced mushrooms, drained

1-8 oz. container of light sour cream ( I use fat Free)

6-8 oz. of No Yolk egg noodles, cooked without fat or salt ( I used tolk free, whole grain)

A about a half hour before dinner, start soaking your bullion in the water.  A lot of it will dissolve on its own, and the rest will be so soft enough to easily break apart with the back side of a spoon.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, add ground turkey, dissolved bullion, onion powder, garlic powder, Lowry’s and pepper.  Add the spices to suit your own tastes.  The Hubby and I are big fans of garlic, so I go heavy on that (maybe 3/4-1 tsp.), light on the salt (1/4 tsp.?), and somewhere in between on the onion and pepper (1/2 tsp.?).  Brown the meat, trying not to crumble the turkey up too much.  You’ll want bigger chunks, rather than small crumbles.  Add cream of mushroom soup and mushrooms, and simmer over medium-low heat until smooth–maybe 5 minutes or so.  Remove from heat and stir in sour cream until well blended.  Serve over egg noodles.

4 servings. Each serving = 364.3 calories, 4.8 g Fat,53.91 mg Cholesterol, 518.4 mg Sodium, 47 g Carbohydrates, 36.5  Protein

Greco Shrimp Linguini

I love, love, love Elly's blog. Seriously, everything I've tried from her has been delicious! So another Elly dish. We are incorporating more & more vegetables into our diet and wanted to use the shrimp I bought last week so we tried Greco Shrimp Linguini. This is the recipe straight from Elly's site as i made no changes.



Greco Shrimp Linguini

4 oz. thin spaghetti or linguini (I used whole wheat)

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes

dried oregano

1 cloves garlic, whole

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 small to medium zucchini, sliced into half moons

a drizzle or two of balsamic vinegar

8-10 black olives (I used kalamata), pitted and chopped

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

2-3 Tbsp. fresh chopped basil

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil for drizzling (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. On a baking pan, toss the tomatoes and one whole clove of garlic with 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil, and dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes have burst slightly.

Meanwhile, cook your linguini in boiling salted water until al dente and prepare the rest of the dish. In a skillet, add the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil. When shimmering, add the zucchini and minced garlic and saute until the garlic is fragrant, about a minute.

Add the shrimp and olives and cook until the zucchini becomes tender and the shrimp is about halfway done.

Stir in the balsamic vinegar and tomatoes (and their juices, pitch the whole garlic clove) and toss to coat everything. Turn off the burner. 

Add the hot linguini, basil and feta into the pan. Toss to coat everything and finish cooking the shrimp (the residual heat from the pan as well as the linguini will be enough to do this). Drizzle with additional olive oil, if desired, and season to taste.

Nutritional Info (without drizzling additional olive oil at the end): Calories: 468 / Fat: 16.3g / Carbs: 53.2 / Fiber: 9g / Protein: 27.2g

Cornmeal Crusted Chicken Stuffed with Poblano and Cheddar & Southwest Squash Casserole

I got the idea for this chicken from Elly's blog. It is a surprisingly quick meal to put together. I forget where I found the casserole recipe but it was tweaked a little bit to make it a teensy bit healthier. It passed the husband test with ease. Cancy really liked it. So definately something we will be doing again. Thanks Elly!

Cornmeal Crusted Chicken Stuffed with Poblano and Cheddar

2 chicken breast halves

1 poblano pepper

1/3 cup shredded 2% sharp cheddar

1 egg, beaten and mixed with a Tbsp of water

1/3 cup cornmeal


salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne to taste

Preheat your broiler and then broil the poblano for a couple minutes, turning it once the skin has blistered and blackened. After all sides of the pepper look charred, remove it from the broiler and put it in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to let the pepper cool.

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean up) and place a rack/cooling rack on top of it. Spray the rack with cooking spray.

When the pepper is cool enough to handle, peel the skin off (it should come off easily at this point) and dice the poblano.

Slit a pocket into the chicken breasts. Stuff the pocket with the diced poblano and cheddar cheese. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.

Combine the cornmeal with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper to your tastes. Carefully dip the chicken breasts into the egg wash, and then dredge in the cornmeal mixture. Place the chicken on the rack and spray the top with cooking oil.

Bake about 20 minutes or until done, turning once in the middle of cooking.     

2 servings. Each serving = 450.6 calories, 12.1 g Fat, 263.10 mg Cholesterol, 421.3 mg Sodium, 16.1 g Carbohydrates, 66.5 Protein

Southwest Squash Casserole

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash

1 med. Red onion

1 tbsp. butter (I can’t believe it’s not butter, light)

1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies

1 c. shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese

2 tbsp. minced parsley

1 c. Fat Free sm. curd cottage cheese

1 egg

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese Salt to taste Dice squash, combine with onion and butter in skillet. Sauté until tender. Mix in drained chilies (depending on how hot you like it), and salt. Turn into 1-1/2 quart baking dish, greased. Sprinkle with Jack cheese. Mix egg with parsley and cottage cheese. Spoon over top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

4 servings. Each serving = 179.6 calories, 7.6 g Fat, 73.1 mg Cholesterol, 758.1 mg Sodium, 12.3 g Carbohydrates, 14.9 Protein

 

Awww.. I made someone's day!

I think it is so sweet of Melissa to pick me as one of her "You Make My Day" awards. I love her site. I've been impressed with everything I've made from her blog. And it's another night with a Melissa recipe as we're trying out her roast broccoli.

 I wanted to pass the torch along to two of the ladies who got me into this whole food blogging thing. It all started with some Austin nesties who have some fabulous ideas on their blogs. Ashley & Polly… You Make My Day.

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Caribbean Sauce

I wanted to get a head start on eating healthy for the week. While I was at the grocery store today, I decided to get some fresh fish. I hadn’t had Mahi Mahi before, but it looked good and was thick enough to grill. The sauce actually comes from the grocery store’s web site. I came across it while trying to put together my grocery list. The sauce actually came out really nice.

We had Sweet Potato "fries" with it. I’ve never made these before but they were incredibly easy. No recipe needed. Just cut up a sweet potato into strips and place in a Ziploc bag with 1 tsp of olive oil and about 2 Tbsp of garlic salt with parsley. Shake it all up bake for about 30 minutes.

Grilled Mahi Mahi with Caribbean Sauce

2 Mahi Mahi fillets (we used an 8oz fillet per person)

½ Cup of Fat Free Sour Cream

2 Tbsp Fresh Lime Juice

2 Tbsp chopped fresh Cilantro

1 Jalapeno, seeded & chopped

Preheat Grill and place foil over grill. Spray foil with cooking spray.Place fillets on top of foil. You’ll grill for about 5-7 minutes on each side. While fish is cooking, put the sauce together.Combine Sour Cream, lime juice, cilantro, and jalapeno in your food processor. Process for about 1 minute or until you have an almost creamy consistency.

2 servings. Each serving = 246 calories, 2.1 g Fat, 0 mg Cholesterol, 206.4 mg Sodium, 3.8 g Carbohydrates, 41.2 Protein

 

Mini Cheese & Turkey Egg Souffle

I needed something that would be quick and easy to eat in the mornings before heading to the gym. I made these on Sunday and am freezing them for quick breakfast throughout the week. They come together fast, are super low fat, low carb, and good. Warm them up in the morning in the microwave for about 30 – 45 seconds and off you go.



Mini Cheese & Turkey Egg Soufflé

1 Cup of Fat Free Cottage Cheese

6 egg whites (I used EggBeaters Whites Only)

1/2 Cup shredded 2% cheese (Cheddar or Colby)

3 slices of thin sliced roasted turkey (Cut into tiny pieces)

Mrs. Dash or your favorite herbs & spices

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Place Cottage Cheese & Egg whites in your food processor for about a minute.
Add 1/4C of the cheese, blend for 15 seconds
Gently pour the mixture into a bowl and fold in the remaining cheese as well as the turkey and spices.


Spray your muffin tin with non-stick spray. Pour gently into your muffin tin and put in the oven.
If you are using mini muffin tins, they should hold about 1/8 cup of the mixture and bake for 20 minutes.
If you are using normal size muffin tins, they should bake for about 35 minutes.

 **I made a combination of both. My "serving size' equals 1 Cup. (8 mini muffin size or 4 normal muffin size)

5.5 servings. Each serving = 101calories, 2 g Fat, 11.8 mg Cholesterol, 450 mg Sodium, 3.5 g Carbohydrates, 15.3 Protein

My apologies for the lack of posts lately...

I just wanted a quick note in here to apologize for the lack of posts last month. I ended up working 12-9 all month and really just did not do much cooking at all. In addition to my schedule change, 3 weeks ago I started working out & seeing a personal trainer. So I’ve been working out a lot and trying to adjust to a new diet.

I’m back to normal hours at work now as of Monday and will be at the gym in the mornings. So, I’m back. I finally have time to cook after work. Cancy should be happy too now that he can stop eating like a bachelor.

I’ll try to keep the updates coming. You’ll also notice in the last 2 posts that I am now adding the nutritional information for any recipe I do. I’m tracking everything on sparkpeople.com & sparkrecipes.com. Here’s to a healthier us.

Steak & Shrimp Fajitas

We had a beautiful weekend last week so I decided to grill. I’m in the process of completely overhauling the way we eat so I’m tweaking all of the recipes we’ve used before. In this case, I used low carb wheat tortillas & fat free sour cream. I hope you enjoy these.

 



Steak & Shrimp Fajitas

a 12 oz flank or skirt steak

6 large shrimp

Green & Red Pepper (1 each)

2 Jalapeno's

1 large Purple Onion

6 tortilla's (I used low carb wheat tortillas)

low fat cheese and fat free sour cream for topping

Marinate steak in store bought fajita marinade for about 1/2 hour.
Meanwhile, slice green & red peppers into strips, Cut Purple Onion into rings, and slice jalapenos into rings.
Place steak on grill with low heat. Saute vegetables in skillet over med-high heat. Skewer shrimp and add to grill during last 5 minutes of steak.Wrap tortillas in foil and throw onto grill as well.
Slice steak into strips and assemble your fajitas any way you like.
 

2 servings. Each serving = 615 calories, 21.8 g Fat, 130 mg Cholesterol, 1159 mg Sodium, 41.4 g Carbohydrates, 63.8 Protein.

 

 

Greek Spinach Feta Steak Pinwheels with Grilled Zucchini

I made this last weekend to try to stay lean but get my protein in. I am a huge fan of Greek food and by using reduced fat ingredients and salt free seasoning I think I'm more able to fit my love for Greek into my diet. We made this with Grilled Zucchini also sprinkled with Greek Seasoning. Just slice your zucchini into long strips, brush lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle seasoning on before placing on the grill. 

Greek Spinach Feta Steak Pinwheel

2 packages of Beef Round Steak( about ½ pound each)

½ C Reduced Fat Feta Cheese

4 C Fresh Baby Spinach leaves

Greek Seasoning (I used Cavender’s salt free)

Lay each strip of round steak out flat.
Sprinkle each with about 1 tsp of Greek Seasoning.
Cover each with about 2 cups of fresh spinach.
Sprinkle 1/4 Cup of feta on each.
Beginning at one end, roll tightly making sure to keep spinach and feta tucked in. Secure roll with toothpicks.
You can sprinkle additional seasoning on rolls before baking. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.
Let sit for just a few minutes before taking toothpicks out and serving.

2 servings. Each serving = 370 calories, 12.3 g Fat, 139 mg Cholesterol, 540 mg Sodium, 2.5 g Carbohydrates, 58.7 Protein.