Tag Archives: yummy
Quick Cajun Stuffed Red Bell Peppers
Another awesome recipe using the amazing Old Bay Seasoning! My kiddos won’t eat the peppers, so I leave some filling out for them and they enjoy it with a little ketchup. I’m not going to lie, I put a little ketchup on mine too.
4 servings at 348 calories/serving
Ingredients
1lb lean ground beef
4 red bell peppers
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 14.5 oz can of stewed diced tomatoes
3 stalks celery, minced1 Tbls Old Bay Seasoning
Directions
Pre-heat grill on med-hi heat.
Slice peppers in half, devein and spray with a very light coat of cooking spray on skin side. Grill 5 minutes on each side.
Cook ground beef on medium heat. Add celery and Old Bay Seasoning as beef just starts to brown. Once beef is browned as desired, add rice and stewed tomatoes. Cook until liquid is evaporated.
Spoon into cooked peppers in even amounts. Serve and enjoy.
TIP: These peppers can also be made the traditional way by preheating oven to 350°, mixing all of the ingredients raw(make sure the rice is cooked,) stuffing the peppers and baking for one hour.
Three Cheese Veggie Pizza
I loved this pizza with some of my favorite veggies and the super creamy and amazing Fontina cheese! Careful with the serving… You only get one slice. Yikes!
6 servings at 345 calories/serving
Ingredients2 tsp EVOO
1/4 tsp
2 garlic cloves, minced
1(8-ounce) package mushrooms, sliced
1 cup marinara sauce/pizza sauce
1 pre-made pizza crust (such as Boboli)
1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded part-skim Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded Fontina cheese
1/4 cup (1 oz) grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup roasted red bell peppers, sliced
1 TBLS capers, rinsed and drained
4 drained canned artichoke hearts, thinly sliced
Directions
Preheat oven to 500°F
Heat 2 tsp olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-hi heat. Add black pepper, minced garlic, and mushrooms; saute for 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and most of liquid evaporates.
Spread sauce over the pizza crust, leaving a 1/2 inch border, and top with mushroom mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Mozzarella, Fontina, and Parmesan cheese. Top with roasted red bell peppers, 1 TBLS capers, and artichokes. Bake at 500°F for 10 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown. Let pizza stand for 5 minutes before serving.
TIP: To save some money, roast your own red bell peppers on the grill. Buying roasted red bell peppers in a jar, you generally get one pepper or a little less for around $4. I buy them fresh for $1/pepper.
Directions
Preheat grill on medium-hi heat
Cut peppers in half and rub a minimum amount of EVOO on the skins. Cook peppers flesh side down on grill for 5 minutes, flip and grill for 7 minutes. Place the cooked peppers into a plastic bag for 3 minutes. Peel skin off peppers and discard. There ya have it! Homemade roasted red peppers.
Mediterranean Chicken Couscous
This recipe is so simple and quick to put together. All you need is your microwave. This dish makes it really hard to stick to the right sized portion. It is just so good! It’s also a great dish to take for a picnic or potluck with it’s hot or cold serving option.
6 servings at 282 calories/serving
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
1 (5.6 ounce) package toasted pine nut couscous mix
3 cups chopped cooked chicken (about 1 rotisserie chicken)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 (4 ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 1/2 TBLS fresh
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1/4 tsp course ground black pepper
Garnish: fresh basil leaves
Directions
Heat broth and seasoning packet from couscous in the microwave on HIGH for 3 to 5 minutes or until broth begins to boil. Place couscous in a large bowl, and stir in broth mixture. Cover and let stand 5 minutes.
Fluff couscous with a fork; stir in chicken and next 6 ingredients. Serve warm or cold. Garnish if desired.
BLT Salad
Have I mentioned I love bacon? This is another delish and easy recipe that is low in calories, and yes it has bacon in it!
4 servings at 237 calories/ serving
Ingredients
1 small head iceberg lettuce, chopped
3 medium tomatoes, gutted and chopped
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
5 slices cooked bacon, chopped
Dressing
2Tbls mayonnaise
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1 tsp white vinegar
Directions
*Mix mayonnaise, Old Bay, and vinegar in large salad bowl
*Wash and chop lettuce and tomatoes
*Shred cheese and chop bacon
*Add all the ingredients to the dressing, mix well
*Serve and enjoy
*Mix mayonnaise, Old Bay, and vinegar in large salad bowl
*Wash and chop lettuce and tomatoes
*Shred cheese and chop bacon
*Add all the ingredients to the dressing, mix well
*Serve and enjoy
TIPS
Make the dressing first so the spices have time to hydrate. This recipe is plenty for me but although it is delicious, it doesn’t satisfy my husband. He is usually back in the kitchen looking for something to eat within 30 minutes. FYI Target’s brand of bacon is amazing and a great price!
Yes Peas
My little girl’s first food was bland store bought baby peas. She did not like them in the least. After making the decision to make my little one’s food myself, I found many websites with baby food recipes encouraging the use of spices. That thought had never crossed my mind previously. If you are nursing your baby, he or she has already been tasting the spices and flavors of your food.
In an effort to spice things up a bit for little London, I tried my own recipe and she GOBBLED them up! My 3 year old also sat like a baby bird eating these off of a spoon.
Ingredients
1 lb bag of frozen early harvest petite peas
1tsp minced dried onion
1tsp jarred minced garlic with water from jar
Directions
*Defrost bag of peas
*Add all ingredients to food processor blend until smooth
*Add breast milk, formula, or water to dilute to appropriate consistency for your baby
*Portion and freeze extras
TIPS
I used the jarred garlic and the dehydrated onion to 0btain flavor without heat. You can also use fresh if you’d like, just saute them first, omitting any oil or butter.
Grilled Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken Breasts
If you like Mediterranean food, you will enjoy these yummy chicken breasts. Don’t let the look of them scare you. Super easy to prepare, I had my husband do the grilling.
4 servings at 210 calories/serving
Ingredients
1 Large red bell pepper, or jarred roasted red peppers
1/4(1 oz) crumbled feta cheese
2 TBLS finely chopped pitted Kalamata olives
1 TBLS minced fresh basil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
EVOO for brushing(i actually rub)
Kosher salt for rubbing
Coarse ground black pepper for rubbing
Directions
*Preheat broiler
*Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise
*Discard seeds and membranes
*Place pepper halves, skin up on foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand
*Broil 15 minutes or until blackened
*Place in a zip-top plastic bag and seal
*Let stand 15 minutes, peel
IF YOU ARE USING JARRED ROASTED RED PEPPERS SKIP TO THIS STEP
*Finely chop roasted red pepper
*Pre-heat grill
*Combine bell pepper, cheese, olives, and basil in a small bowl
*Cut a horizontal slit through the thickest part of each breast to form a pocket
*Rub the exterior of each chicken breast with EVOO, black pepper, and kosher salt
*Stuff 2 TBLS bell pepper mixture into each pocket; close with toothpick
*Grill 6 minutes on each side or until done
*Place left over bell pepper mixture in a zip-top plastic bag and freeze
TIPS
I cut the original recipe in half for my family, but still made the entire batch of filling and froze 1/2. 8 servings of chicken would take too long to eat! Everything I buy goes toward a recipe and every meal is from a recipe, so I picked up a small container of prepared Kalamata olive and feta salad from my deli. This way I didn’t have any waste of olives or feta cheese.
Morning Snack
So, I must be the last person on earth to try Old Bay Seasoning. I love cottage cheese as a healthy low calorie snack. (only 80 calories for 1/2 cup of the 1% milk fat kind) When you eat it every other day, it can get old quick. I just bought some Old Bay Seasoning for a new salad recipe and fell in love. Shake just a little of this Cajunny heaven on your cottage cheese and you just may fall back in love with that old staple snack. I might even call it Old Yay.
Low Calorie Margarita Pizza with Bacon
This healthy pizza is super tasty! Of course it is, it has bacon on it. Another recipe from the internet, I changed just a tiny bit to fit my budget.
6 servings at 243 calories/serving
Ingredients
1(11 ounce) can refrigerated french bread dough
2 Tbls yellow cornmeal
Cooking spray
1 1/2 lbs roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 tsp minced garlic (I use the kind in the jar for this application)
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 oz cooked chopped bacon
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
Directions
*Pre-heat oven to 450°F
*Sprinkle cornmeal over baking sheet (I use a large rectangular cookie sheet)
*Unroll dough and stretch to fit baking sheet
*Lightly spray the top of the dough with cooking spray and bake for 8 minutes
*Slice tomatoes and sandwich between paper towels to absorb juice for 5 minutes
*Sprinkle garlic evenly over cooked dough
*Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese over dough
*Arrange tomato slices on top of cheese
*Sprinkle with black pepper
*Top with left over shredded cheese and bake for 5 minutes
*Sprinkle cooked chopped bacon over the top and bake for 1 minute
*Spread basil over top of pizza and cut into 6 pieces
TIPS
I use a large cookie sheet because even though it ends up being the same amount of pizza, spreading it out makes it look bigger. You may think that you need to use more cheese, but this dish is delish, so if you are worried about calories stick to the recipe. My husband was worried that it had no sauce and was surprised the tasty fresh tomatoes are plenty juicy even after drying out some of the juice. The original recipe called for pancetta. After finding out the price on a 3 oz bag was over $7, I opted to use regular bacon and was not sorry in the least. Can’t wait to have my leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Yummy Chile Rellenos Recipe
This may look, eh, ok… It is AMAZING. My husband picked this recipe online and I hesitated to make it for some reason. I decided to try it and so far, it is one of my new favorites! Wonderful combination of sweet, a little spicy, crunchy, creamy, ahhhh mazing. Please enjoy.
6 servings at 278 calories/serving (at that rate, you may have 2!)
Ingredients
1 lb lean ground beef
2 Tbls beef bullion (I use 2 of the little cubes)
1 Tbls EVOO
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
6 fresh poblano peppers
1/4 cup chopped ripe olives
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup slivered almonds, blanched
1 cup salsa verde
1/4 cup fat free sour cream
Directions
*Brown ground beef in stockpot with bullion cube, set aside
*Slice peppers, devein, and seed (wear gloves!!)
*Boil water in a small pot and blanch almonds
*Boil peppers in water for 5 minutes, set aside
*Pre-heat oven to 400°F
*Heat oil in pot over med/hi heat, add onion and garlic and saute until tender- 5 minutes
*Add salsa and simmer 3-5 minutes
*Add cooked beef, olives, raisins, almonds and salt to taste
*Stuff peppers with mixture and place on a pan sprayed with cooking oil
Bake for 10-15 minutes
Sauce
*In a blender place 1 cup salsa verde and 1 cup sour cream and blend for 30 seconds, pour over chile rellenos and serve.
TIPS
I said it before, wear gloves when handling these peppers! You will be sorry if you don’t. Some stores sell these poblanos as “pasilla peppers.” Wikipedia says that name is incorrect, but who cares as long as you get the pepper you need. I don’t waste time slivering almonds, or money buying them slivered. I buy almonds in bulk and just chopped them with my little hand chopper along with the olives.
