Cauliflower Rice

If you have found your way to my site, chances are you've already done some research on healthy food trends and most likely have come across cauliflower "rice". Perhaps like me you initially scoffed at this and dismissed it. I now admit that was the wrong approach! I took a chance on cauliflower rice this week and made cauliflower fried rice (paired it with a Broiled Miso Salmon). It was delicious! Many thanks to Gina of Skinnytaste whose recipe I followed. I modified it only slightly.

Since I've been trying to follow a 1200 calorie diet (and have been mostly successful!) I am constantly looking for interesting and filling lower calorie alternatives, which forced me to try this dish out. In the fried rice case, I did not even miss eating the rice. All the flavors and textures were there! I'm not convinced cauliflower would work in a risotto or anything like that, but I'd try another cauliflower "rice" recipe for sure.

For those counting calories or curious about the differences, 1 medium head of cauliflower has about 140-150 calories. This made several cups of "rice" (3-4). 1 cup of cooked rice will cost you about 170 calories and doesn't have as much vitamins and nutrients.

To follow the recipe, I encourage you to visit Gina's website (it's also where I got the Broiled Miso Salmon recipe). I cut the recipe in half and opted to only use the whole egg, no egg whites. I also decided to add a drained can of 'Asian' vegetables (bean sprouts, water chestnuts, baby corn, and bamboo shoots) to increase the Asian flair of the dish.  Get creative!

Enjoy!

Picture taken from Skinnytaste.com

Crustless Vegetable Quiche

Here's a super easy recipe to make for a low carb (gluten free!) and high protein breakfast meal. You can also make this ahead of time for the work week. I get bored with cereal and oatmeal, so this is a great way to break up my breakfasts. 

This recipe can be altered in a variety of ways. I often make it with all egg whites to reduce the cholesterol, fat, and sodium (and without reducing protein that much!), but you can also use eggs ( which case I recommend using 5-6 eggs depending on their size) or a mixture of eggs and egg whites. You can change the vegetable if you aren't a fan of broccoli to peppers, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, the possibilities are really endless. The cheese is another way for you to make this your own - I typically use a 2% cheddar, but swiss, mozzarella, and others would also be great. If you want to skip even more calories and cholesterol, skip the cheese.

Below is the recipe (image was taken from the same recipe, but I used a mixture of eggs and egg whites):

Servings: 4 * Calories: 121 * Fat: 3 g * Carb: 5 g * Cholesterol: 15 mg * Protein: 18 g * Sugar: 2 g * Sodium: 420 mg *  Fiber: 1 g

Vitamins: A (10%), C (42%), Calcium (25%), Iron (1%) based on a 2000 calorie diet

Ingredients:

• 1 cup egg whites
• 1 cup nonfat cottage cheese
• .5 cup 2% shredded cheddar cheese
• 1.25 cup broccoli (frozen or fresh, cut into bite size pieces)
• 1.5 tbsp chives (fresh or dried) - optional
• pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium to large size bowl, mix all ingredients together (if you are using real eggs vs. egg whites, whisk the eggs before mixing any other ingredients in). Add pepper to taste.

Pour the ingredients into a greased baking dish (8x8 baking dish or pie dish is preferable) - I used my Misto. Make sure vegetables are evenly distributed.

Bake for ~1 hr. 

Let sit for a couple minutes, cut and serve. If making ahead of time for work, this can be reheated in the microwave!

Harvey Wallbanger Cake

As healthy as we all strive to be, there are occasions that call for desserts. Since not all of my anticipated guests would be happy with a fruit salad, I do like to keep certain desserts in my repertoire. I am not a baker, but I know enough to be dangerously delicious. Because of this, I have not experimented with alternatives to make desserts more healthy and I really should. Some ideas for alternatives here would be egg whites vs. eggs, a different glaze, and sugar free pudding mix.

This recipe is one from my grandmother. I'm not quite sure what other desserts she makes (aside from cookies) or where she got this recipe from, but I enjoy it every time! It's also not a dessert everyone knows about, so it makes for a great dessert for guests, especially when you tell them it is based off of a drink.

Servings are estimated and can vary based on the server.

Note: 1/4 cup is about the size of an alcohol nip. This is a cheaper method for buying the alcohol if you don't typically carry it in the house. 

Servings: 14 * Calories: 289 * Fat: 12 g * Carb: 40 g * Cholesterol: 60 mg * Protein: 3 g * Sugar: 28 g * Sodium: 306 mg *  Fiber: 1 g

Vitamins: A (2%), C (15%), Calcium (7%), Iron (6%) based on a 2000 calorie diet

Ingredients:

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding
• 3/4 cup orange juice 
• 1/4 cup Galliano liquour
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• Butter or shortening for greasing
• 1-2 tbsp flour (used when greasing pan)

    For glaze: orange juice and powdered sugar.

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Place all cake ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until blended. This can be done by hand with a whisk or by a mixer.

Grease a bundt pan with butter or shortening and lightly flour. For easy greasing, I take a ziplock bag and put my hand in it. My hand is then protected and clean while greasing. Once done, I flip the bag inside out and voila, no mess! 

Pour the mixture into the bundt pan.

Cook for 45-50 minutes.

Once cooked, let cool for a minute or two and then flip the bundt pan onto your serving dish. Be careful, because the pan is hot! If the cake isn't coming out, of the pan, gently shake back and forth. If it is still resistant, use a butter knife to gently loosen the sides where it is stuck. This may occur as the cake cools and contracts.

Once the cake is flipped onto the serving dish, let cool. 

Mix ~1/4 cup orange juice and 1 cup powdered sugar together until smooth. Add more powdered sugar until the consistency is thick, but still spoonable. This will be drizzled onto the cake as a glaze. It is ok for the glaze to pour down the sides of the cake a little, but thick enough that the top of the cake will be be covered in the glaze. 

Using a spoon, drizzle glaze onto top of cake. Glaze will often drip down the sides of the cake.

Let stand for 10 minutes and serve. I made mine a day ahead of time and put in a portable cake dish.

Tropical Smoothie

Smoothies can bring out the creativity in all of us. There is a lot of room for flexibility and different concoctions. They also are a great way to quickly pack in a lot of nutrients and vitamins. Some personally learned lessons:

1. Mixing green and red in a smoothie makes it looks brown and unappealing.
2. Not including enough liquid creates a gel-like consistency.
3. Bananas are a very powerful tasting fruit. A little goes a long way in flavor.
4. Don't be afraid to use spinach, kale, avocado's, nut butters - they add a lot of nutrients and flavors!

Having just gotten a Nutri-Bullet Rx for Christmas, I wanted to try my new fancy kitchen tool out! Since it is winter my fruit options are limited, but they exist! Below is the recipe I followed. Some additions could be:

• sunflower seeds
• coconut chunks
• pineapple

This recipe is also dairy free, gluten free, and vegan.

Servings: 2 * Calories: 153 * Fat: 5 g * Carb: 24 g * Cholesterol: 0 mg * Protein: 2 g * Sugar: 16 g * Sodium: 92 mg *  Fiber: 4 g

Vitamins: A (20%), C (95%), Calcium (16%), Iron (2%) based on a 2000 calorie diet

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond vanilla milk
• 1/2 banana
• 1.5 oranges
• 1/4 cup orange juice (with or without pulp)
• 2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 tbsp apple butter
• Ice 

Directions:

Place all ingredients in blender and mix per the instructions for your blender. Ice can be added during blending or after and only needed if serving immediately - the smoothie will be room temperature otherwise.

Eggplant Lasagna

Lasagna is a great winter comfort dish, but the calories add up quickly! In an effort to reduce calories and carbs, I came up with the following recipe which happens to be low calorie AND gluten free!

While I typically use 99% lean ground turkey in my recipes, I opted for 93% lean ground turkey due to using non-fat and reduced fat cheeses which tends to make the lasagna a bit drier. The lasagna was still a tad on the dry side, so if you are very picky with wanting a gooey lasagna, increase some of the fat on the cheeses.

This recipe also skips red sauce. If you'd like sauce, add it in. You can do this in the traditional way with layers or you can add to the top when serving. As an alternative to red sauce, you can also use stewed tomatoes.


Servings: 5 * Calories: 231 * Fat: 7 g * Carb: 19 g * Cholesterol: 65 mg * Protein: 24 g * Sugar: 7 g * Sodium: 326 mg *  Fiber: 8 g

Vitamins: A (338%), C (29%), Calcium (47%), Iron (16%) based on a 2000 calorie diet

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant
• 10 oz frozen spinach (thawed)
• 3 carrots
• 1 zucchini (medium)
• 1-2 shallots
• 3 cloves garlic
• 8 oz 93% lean ground turkey
• 1 egg
• 16 oz nonfat ricotta cheese
• 8 oz - 2 % italian mix shredded cheese blend (mozzarella also works)
• parsley (dried or fresh) (optional)
• pepper

Directions:

Thaw frozen spinach and squeeze all liquid out - using a cheesecloth is an easy way to do this. 

Set the oven to 350 F.

Peel carrots. Finely dice carrots, zucchini, and shallot(s) using a food processor. Finely chop garlic or use a garlic press.

Cook meat, carrots, zucchini, shallots, and garlic in a pan over medium heat.

While meat is cooking, slice eggplant to create long thin slices (to be used as your "noodle" layer). Slices should be thick enough to contain meat and cheese layers - ~1/8 of an inch should suffice. I used a mandolin to do this, but in the absence of one, eggplant is easy to slice by hand. The thickness of the slices is just not as easy to control. The eggplant does not need to be peeled.

As the meat is cooking, stir and chop occasionally to break up the ground meat and allow it to cook thoroughly. Add in parsley: 1-2 tsp for dried parsley, 1/4 cup chopped for fresh. Once the meat is done cooking, turn the heat off and drain any extra liquid.

In a medium size bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, spinach (thawed and drained), 2/3 of the italian cheese mix, and pepper (1/2 tsp or to your preference). Stir well until egg yolk is completely broken and the spinach is mixed evenly throughout the mixture.

Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with olive oil - a Misto is great for this, but Pam also works well. 

You will be creating 2 layers for the lasagna, so plan accordingly when you layer meat and cheese. Place 1 layer of eggplant on the dish, as you would noodles. - this should be ~1/3 of your eggplant slices. Make sure all bottom surfaces are covered. Use ~1/2 of the cheese mixture and spoon this onto the eggplant layer. A rubber spatula can be used to help spread the cheese evenly. Spoon cooked meat mixture onto the cheese layer in an even amount throughout the dish - you should use about 1/2 of the meat and vegetable mixture. Place another layer of eggplant on top, again making sure the surface is completely covered with eggplant. Overlap if need be! Repeat the process for the cheese and meat layers.

For the top of your lasagna, place the remaining 1/3 of the eggplant slices on top, covering the entire surface. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of the italian cheese mix blend on top.

Place in the oven for ~1 hour. 

After cooking, let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving. Because the recipe does not use noodles, you may notice additional liquid that noodles would have otherwise absorbed. This liquid can be drained out if desired - use pot holders to hold the dish over the sink and slowly tip the dish on one corner facing away from you to drain some of the liquid. If this is done slowly and at a minimum angle, you should have no issues with the food being dislodged in the dish.

Enjoy!

Chicken with Artichokes

Who doesn't love Pinterest? I think it's a great place to get recipes, but also to get new ideas. Some of the recipes are amazing as is and others I like to, or feel the need to, tweak. This recipe caught my eye because it looked homey, yet healthy. I followed the recipe as listed more than I should have - it called for 2 whole onions and they swallowed up the spinach and everything else. Below is what I would do next time, to include some of the changes I already made. 

The number of servings is estimated - I added couscous to my meal, so I ate half a breast of chicken. As you'll see, I used 3 breasts of chicken and this amounted to 4 servings (my boyfriend ate a whole breast of chicken). If you do not plan on serving over top of a grain or having leftovers, using 1/2 cup of broth versus 1 cup might be preferred.

I was shocked to see high cholesterol and sodium levels. Cholesterol actually came from the chicken according to My Fitness Pal and the sodium surprisingly came from the artichokes!

Servings: 6 * Calories: 290 * Fat: 9 g * Carb: 12 g * Cholesterol: 103 mg * Protein: 40 g * Sugar: 3 g * Sodium: 475 mg *  Fiber: 4 g

Vitamins: A (256%), C (56%), Calcium (13%), Iron (22%) based on a 2000 calorie diet

Ingredients:

• 4 breasts of chicken
• 20 oz fresh spinach
• 3 carrots, sliced into thin rounds 
• 4 stalks celery sliced
• 1/2 yellow onion (small-medium) cut into 1-2 inch pieces
• 1/2 red onion (small-medium) cut into 1-2 inch pieces
• 1 cup reduced sodium, fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
• 1 14 oz can of artichoke hearts in water (quartered)
• 1/4 cup black pitted olives
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.

Heat butter and olive oil in a large nonstick skillet that's safe for stovetop and oven. 
             If you do not own one of these, do not fret! Use any skillet of appropriate size and transfer to a casserole/baking dish.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Add to skillet and brown on both sides; about 5 minutes on each side.

Remove from skillet and set it on the side, leaving oil in skillet.

Add artichokes (drained), onions, carrots and garlic to the skillet.

Cook for 5-8 minutes, or until vegetables are slightly tender, stirring occasionally.

Add spinach, celery, and olives; continue to cook for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. The spinach should all be wilted.

 If you are not using a skillet that is safe in the oven, transfer the food in your skillet to a casserole dish and follow the rest of the instructions.

Remove from heat and add broth and chicken.

Place in the oven and bake for 18 minutes, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes.

Serve as is or over couscous or quinoa.

The original recipe that was used as a foundation can be found here: 
http://diethood.com/baked-chicken-spinach-artichokes/

Baked Oatmeal with Berries

Recently, I've gotten into oatmeal casseroles. I came across them while searching around in Pinterest. I get into work early and don't take the time to cook something at the house before heading into work. This limits my breakfast options to bagels, cereal, pastries, yogurt/fruit, and oatmeal. Most of these options are not very nutritious or not filling enough for me, so to save time during the week and to add in some nutrients I sometimes make oatmeal casseroles. This typically lasts me 4-5 days worth of breakfasts.

The recipe below is one of the casseroles I have made before. It's great on cold mornings - just heat up the leftovers and you have a nice warm breakfast after being out in the cold. It's also a good way to use up bananas that have gotten a little too ripe for your liking.

Servings: 5 * Calories: 254 * Fat: 4 g * Carb: 43 g * Cholesterol: 46 mg * Protein: 7 g * Sugar: 19 g * Sodium: 138 mg *  Fiber: 4g

Vitamins: A (3%), C (4%), Calcium (10%), Iron (11%) based on a 2000 calorie diet

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oats
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 1.5 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 banana (ripe preferably)
• 1-1.5 cups of berries of your choosing: blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries
• Optional additions: chocolate chips, extra brown sugar for the top of the casserole, sliced almonds.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Spray a baking dish (I used 7x11 glass casserole dish) with cooking spray.

I opted to place the sliced banana pieces on the bottom of the dish. You can also add them later (I will mention when.).

In a separate bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. [I have read that baking powder helps to keep the dish from being too dense.]

Add half of your berries to the dry mixture. Mix well with a spoon and then pour the mixture into the baking dish. Be sure that everything spreads evenly. Shaking the dish lightly in a back and forth motion on your countertop usually does the trick.

Add the remaining berries evenly across the mixture. If you did add your banana in yet, place the banana slices evenly over the mixture.

Whisk together the milk, water, vanilla, and egg.  [I used 2% milk and instead of using so much milk decided to lower the calories and cholesterol by combining 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of water.].

Pour the liquid mixture into the casserole dish, ensuring that all of the oats are covered. Make sure everything is distributed evenly, otherwise sections may be dry after baking.

Bake for 30 minutes. 

Note: If fresh berries aren't available, frozen berries work well, too. Let them thaw in a colander to eliminate extra water. This can also be a cheaper option, depending on the time of year and where you live.

Avocado, Smoked Salmon, and Egg Toast

I LOVE breakfast. I have even eaten breakfast for dinner on numerous occasions. It's a tricky meal though, because the calories can add up quickly. Eggs Benedict (one of my fave's!)? Biscuits and gravy? Bacon? Sausage? And the list goes on. When I am in the mood for Eggs Benedict, which I like to have with smoked salmon, I usually decide to make the following as a healthier alternative, which I made for breakfast today and is relatively quick to put together.

Servings: 1 * Calories: 302 * Fat: 15 g * Carb: 20 g * Cholesterol: 223 mg * Protein: 20 g * Sugar: 2 g * Sodium: 753 mg *  Fiber: 5 g

Vitamins: A (15%), C (13%), Calcium (6%), Iron (14%) based on a 2000 calorie diet

Ingredients:  

• 1 piece of toast (I used Hearty Rye)
• 1/4 of a ripe avocado
• 2 oz smoked salmon
• 2 slices of tomato
• 1 egg (I fried mine this time)
• Other options: spinach, dill, red onion, capers.

Directions:

Toast the bread of your choice. I opt for breads with grains and wheat. I am also a big fan of 'Light' breads, which are a lower calorie bread.

Cook your egg however you like - scrambled, fried, poached, sunny side up. For a healthier option, I go for poached because it eliminates any butter or oil you might typically use to cook scrambled or fried eggs.

Mash the 1/4 avocado on the toast. Layer your salmon and tomato slices on the avocado and toast. Place your egg on top. The yolk, combined with the mashed avocado, gives the meal a little bit of that 'sauce' that we all love in Eggs Benedict.

Feel free to add some scallions or chives (I did!), salt and pepper (beware - smoked salmon has a lot of sodium already), or dill.

Notes:

I have been trying to eat any breads in the morning for breakfast, and skip them for lunch and dinner. I also have been making a better attempt to include more protein in my meals. In this meal, the smoked salmon adds the most protein, with the egg as a good runner up. If you feel more hungry, add another egg! There are a lot of opinions out there about whether or not eggs are good or bad for you. As I have high cholesterol, I try to take the middle road and eat them in moderation.

Pot Roast (in the Crock Pot)

It's been awhile since I've had a good pot roast. It used to be a staple when I was growing up. Having never made one, I started searching online to get some ideas. I knew I wanted to use my crock pot, in my never ending goal of using that more often! Here is what I ended up with (sorry for no photos yet) and it was a hit for dinner tonight! I will be making this again.

Servings: 6 * Calories: 512 * Fat: 26 g * Carb: 15 g * Cholesterol: 130 mg * Protein: 53 g * Sugar: 4 g * Sodium: 874 mg *  Fiber: 2 g

Vitamins: A (107%), C (9%), Calcium (5%), Iron (38%) based on a 2000 calorie diet

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs roast
• 1 package of dry onion mix
• 1-2 cans of cream of mushroom condensed soup (personal preference)
• Red wine (can use water as an alternative)
• Carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, mushrooms - as much as you'd like to add

Directions:

Brown the roast on all sides (this helps to lock the juices in while cooking). Place the browned roast into the crock pot. Sprinkle the onion mix onto the roast and also add in the cream of mushroom soup (I used two cans because we wanted extra gravy for mashed potatoes). Add your vegetables to the crock pot.

Meanwhile, in the pan you browned your roast in, pour some red wine into the pain (shouldn't need more than 1/4 - 1/3 cup). For those avoiding alcohol or if you do not have any available, simply use water. Stir with a spoon to get all of the drippings up. This is called "deglazing". Once you feel you have all of the drippings up, pour the mixture over top of the roast and vegetables.

Cook in the crock pot for your desired time. I cooked mine for 8 hours and the roast came out juicy and tender. 

** I added in about 1.5 - 2 cups of carrots (chopped into 2-3 inch pieces), a sliced onion, and some chopped celery. I opted to have mashed potatoes, so I did not add the potatoes to the crock pot, but this would also come out well. The mushrooms were not thought of until after and I think they would make a great addition. 

** Not everyone likes mushrooms. In this case, I would try Cream of Onion, Cream of Celery, or Cream of Potato condensed soups.