I absolutely adore quinoa. Unfortunately, my husband (AKA Mr. Picky Pants) does not like it. He thinks its weird. I could not disagree more with him, I think its wonderful and delicious. So, with that being said, I can never make it as a side dish with dinner. I have to find ways to make it for myself for lunches. I found this recipe for quinoa patties on my favorite place, Pinterest. It’s OUTSTANDING! Definitely a must try people. I plan next time on adding some other veggies to the mixture.
Ingredients
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups water
½ tsp salt
¾ cup reduced fat shredded cheddar
½ cup reduced fat cottage cheese
2 small carrots, shredded
2 egg whites
2 whole eggs
2 TBS chopped onions
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 425
Rinse Quinoa (if not pre-rinsed) and cook in 2 cups water with ½ tsp salt.
Shred the carrots and mix all ingredients, including cooked quinoa, in a bowl.
Form into generous patties using a generous ¼ cup.
Place patties on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flip and bake for 10 more minutes.
Summer is coming…I’m getting ready. This mango salsa makes a great snack to enjoy sitting poolside with a nice cold beverage. Maybe a margarita…MMMM margaritas, I guess I can make mine non-alcoholic. My husband bought me a margarita maker for a Christmas this year. This was before we new that I was pregnant. He decided to not give it to me as a Christmas present, smart decision. I don’t think that would have went over so well. Anyways, I will be busting that bad boy out later this summer and putting it to some good use. And serve up some chips and mango salsa.
We served this mango Salsa over some tilapia filets we cooked that were just seasoned simply with cumin, oregano, garlic, salt, pepper and tiny pinch of cinnamon.
Ingredients
1 Cup diced mango
1 medium tomato, diced
½ cup red onion, diced
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Juice from ½ lime
¼ tsp Cumin
¼ tsp salt
Now, these instructions are hard….I mean it. Get ready…
Dice all your ingredients and place them in
Add the Lime juice and seasoning.
Mix well.
Now here’s the hard part. DON’T EAT IT!
Put it in the fridge and let it set for a couple hours.
I want to apologize for my lack of posting recipes. Its not that I am not trying, its just that a lot of the recipes lately have just been so-so. And I don’t want to post anything that isn’t good. This post will be short and sweet, and not just because its a smoothie recipe…bud-ump-bump! Sorry, that was a bad one huh?
This tropical smoothie is a great breakfast, mini meal or snack. Add some protein powder instead of the yogurt for a great post workout meal. Did you know you should eat with in 30-45 minutes of a workout for your muscles to get the maximum benefit? This recipe has Kiwi in it, which is a great summertime superfood. Its high vitamin C, fiber and potassium. There is also an option to make it a “green” smoothie. Try it, trust me, its good…despite the color
Ingredients:
1 Cup unsweetened almond milk (or skim milk, PP would be increased to 4)
1/2 cup fat free plain greek yogurt
1/2 frozen banana
1/4 cup diced pineapple
1 kiwi
1 cup spinach (optional)
Equipment
Blender
Add Milk, fruit and yogurt to the blender…turn on…Simple
Add ice and blend until smooth. Pour into a large glass, insert straw an enjoy!
OPTIONAL – At the very end, add 1 cup of baby spinach and blend.
Trader Joes makes this really good Eggplant Caponata, my mother and I buy it all the time and make sandwiches with fresh mozzarella and Eggplant Caponata. It’s delish. So I had this eggplant sitting around the other day and I figured, how hard could it be? I looked through tons of different Caponata recipes and settled on my own version. Its pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. I had mine warm over creamy parmesan polenta. But it would be good as well room temperature or cold on some nice crusty bread.
I chose to calculate this one on the recipe builder with the vegetables included. If you count the veggies as zero, the points drop down to 1 points+ per serving
Ingredients
1 TBS olive oil
1 medium eggplant
1 onion
1 rib of celery
5 small green olives
1 TBS capers
1 TBS Balsamic Vinegar
1 packet of Truvia
2 tomatoes
1 TBS tomato paste
2 TBS fresh chopped basil
Chicken stock as needed
Equipment
Cutting Board and knife
Large skillet
Mince the garlic and celery into small pieces.
Chop all your veggies into small bite size pieces.
Dice up the olives.
Heat oil in a large skillet and add onion, garlic and celery. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat.
Increase the heat and add the eggplant, cooking until browned, about 15 minutes. I added a splash or two of chicken broth to help keep it from drying out.
Add the remaining ingredients, olives through tomato paste.
(Calculated through calorie-count.com, some data may not be accurate)
Eggplant Caponata
Ingredients
1 TBS olive oil
1 medium eggplant
1 onion
1 rib of celery
5 small green olives
1 TBS capers
1 TBS Balsamic Vinegar
1 packet of Truvia
2 tomatoes
1 TBS tomato paste
Chicken stock as needed
Equipment
Cutting Board and knife
Large skillet
Instructions
Mince the garlic and celery into small pieces.
Chop all your veggies into small bite size pieces.
Dice up the olives.
Heat oil in a large skillet and cook onion, garlic and celery for 5 minutes over a medium heat.
Increase the heat and add the eggplant, cooking until browned, about 15 minutes. I added a splash or two of chicken broth to help keep it from drying out.
Add the remaining ingredients (olives through tomato paste), lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
I am going to admit that I have two major flaws in the kitchen. The first being that I really don’t like making breakfast, not a fan. I am not sure if its just the because I can’t function until I have two cups of coffee, or who knows. It’s just not my thing, I do it, but I don’t like it. But I am lucky because I can usually convince the husband to make breakfast on the weekends. The other flaw is I am a terrible judge at the amount of pasta I should cook. Seriously, I always either make too little or WAY too much. On the occasions where I make too much, spaghetti frittatas are a great way to use up that left over pasta. You can pretty much throw in any veggies too, I made this recipe sans veggies just because I was due for a shopping trip, but oh well. It’s breakfast and dinner all wrapped up into one.
Ingredients
2 Cups cooked whole-wheat spaghetti
4 large eggs
6 Egg whites
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup shredded part skim mozzarella
2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 onion, diced
2 Tbs chopped basil
salt and pepper to taste
Equipment
Cutting Board and Knife
1 large skillet
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a skillet, add onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes until onions start to soften (I don’t know why I didn’t take a picture – ditzy moment, sorry)
Meanwhile, gather your other ingredients. Crack eggs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk well.
Stir in your cheeses
Stir in the basil
Then add your spaghetti.
Add 1 more tsp of olive oil to the pan and add egg mixture to the onions.
Cook for about 5 minutes, pulling in the sides of the egg mixture. Cook until the eggs start to form up.
Then transfer to the oven, and cook for 10-15 minutes until eggs are set.
Serve with a salad and some crusty bread for a delicious meal
(Calculated through calorie-count.com, some data may not be accurate)
Cheesy Spaghetti Frittata Ingredients
2 Cups cooked whole-wheat spaghetti
4 large eggs
6 Egg whites
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup shredded part skim mozzarella
2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 onion, diced
2 Tbs chopped basil
salt and pepper to taste
Equipment
Cutting Board and Knife
1 large skillet
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a skillet, add onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes until onions start to soften (I don’t know why I didn’t take a picture – ditzy moment, sorry)
Meanwhile, gather your other ingredients. Crack eggs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk well.
Stir in the basil
Stir in your cheeses.
Then add your spaghetti.
Add 1 more tsp of olive oil to the pan and add egg mixture to the onions.
Cook for about 5 minutes, pulling in the sides of the egg mixture. Cook until the eggs start to form up.
Then transfer to the oven, and cook for 10-15 minutes until eggs are set.
In an effort to save some money and for health reasons, I decided a while back to try to make at least 1-2 meals a week meatless. Now, this can be really challenging, you know with the veggie-phobe I married, if veggie-phobe is even a word it takes a lot of pouring through recipe books and looking online to find a recipe that Tom might eat. I stumbled across this recipe for black bean tacos on Self. I decided to give them a try and added them to our weekly meal plan.
Well the day came to make them, and Tom called on his way home and asked what’s for dinner. When I told him, I just heard his voice deflate “oh, ok…” ugh. To be honest, I was a little skeptical too. But I pushed through, and boy am I glad I did. These are GOOD. And Tom not only ate them, but also had seconds. WOOHOO! These are spicy; you can tone down the spice by the amount of jalapeno you add (you can also remove seeds and ribs). Black beans are such a good meat replacement in these; you almost don’t even notice you are not eating meat.
Ingredients
1 ½ cup black beans, rinsed and drained well
¼ cup rolled oats
¼ yellow corn meal
1 tbs chili powder
1 tsp. salt (divided)
½ tsp. black pepper (divided)
1 cup frozen corn, thawed (or canned, drained and rinsed)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small jalapeno, minced
2 medium scallions, sliced
Juice from 1 lime
¼ cup cilantro
8 corn tortillas
*** If you use regular corn tortillas, the points+ value is 7. I used crunchy and that made them 9 points+
Equipment Needed
Food Processor
Baking sheet
Small bowl
Cutting board and knife
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
To make the corn salsa:
In a small bowl, add the corn, jalapeno, bell pepper, scallions, ¼ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. pepper.
Squeeze limejuice over mixture, stir and set aside.
To make the tacos:
Chop your garlic in the food processor.
To the food processor, add black beans, rolled oats, corn meal, chili powder, and ¾ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper. Process until well combined. Stop a few times during the processing to scrape down the sides (uh um…turn processor off first)
Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and crumble the black bean mixture on the pan. Yes, I know it kind of looks like dog food.
Cook for 15 minutes until they become crispy.
Break up the pieces with a spoon until crumbly and resemble ground beef.
Cook for 10-15 more minutes. While black beans cook, warm your tortillas. If you sing crunchy, just warp in foil and place in oven. If you are using regular tortillas, heat in a skillet with non-stick spray.
Divide the bean mixture between tortillas and top with corn salsa
Enjoy!
Nutritional Information
4 servings, 2 tacos per serving
7 Weight Watchers points+ (for corn tortillas)
9 Weight Watchers points+ (for crunchy shells)
321 calories per serving, 3 g fat (0 g saturated), 60 g carbs, 13 g fiber, 14 g protein
Spicy Black Bean Tacos
Ingredients
1 ½ cup black beans, rinsed and drained well
¼ cup rolled oats
¼ yellow corn meal
1 tbs chili powder
1 tsp. salt (divided)
½ tsp. black pepper (divided)
1 cup frozen corn, thawed (or canned, drained and rinsed)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small jalapeno, minced
2 medium scallions, sliced
Juice from 1 lime
¼ cup cilantro
8 corn tortillas
*** If you use regular corn tortillas, the points+ value is 7. I used crunchy and that made them 9 points+
Equipment Needed
Food Processor
Baking sheet
Small bowl
Cutting board and knife
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
To make the corn salsa:
In a small bowl, add the corn, jalapeno, bell pepper, scallions, ¼ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. pepper. Squeeze limejuice over mixture, stir and set aside.
To make the tacos:
Chop your garlic in the food processor.
To the food processor, add black beans, rolled oats, corn meal, chili powder, and ¾ tsp. salt and ¼ tsp. pepper. Process until well combined. Stop a few times during the processing to scrape down the sides (uh um…turn processor off first
Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and crumble the black bean mixture on the pan.
Cook for 15 minutes until they become crispy. Break up the pieces with a spoon until crumbly and resemble ground beef.
Cook for 10-15 more minutes. While black beans cook, warm your tortillas. If you sing crunchy, just warp in foil and place in oven. If you are using regular tortillas, heat in a skillet with non-stick spray.
Divide the bean mixture between tortillas and top with corn salsa
Nutritional Information
4 servings, 2 tacos per serving
7 Weight Watchers points+ (for corn tortillas)
9 Weight Watchers points+ (for crunchy shells)
321 calories per serving, 3 g fat (0 g saturated), 60 g carbs, 13 g fiber, 14 g protein
