Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Light Bolognese Sauce

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Light Bolognese Sauce

Skinny Skins

Skinny Skins

Shepherd’s Pie with Buttermilk-Chive Mashed Potato Crust

Shepherd’s Pie with Buttermilk-Chive Mashed Potato Crust

Not-So-Fried Chicken

Not-So-Fried Chicken

Mediterranean Calzone

Mediterranean Calzone

Individual Chicken "Pot Pies"

Individual Chicken "Pot Pies"

A Better Béarnaise Sauce

A Better Béarnaise Sauce

Country-Fried Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Country-Fried Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Meatball Sub with Roasted Veggies & Tomato Sauce

Meatball Sub with Roasted Veggies & Tomato Sauce

Buffalo Chicken Fingers!!

Boneless hot buffalo chicken fingers are my absolute favorite.  It's one of the many reasons I have had major slip ups in the past while trying to diet.  So instead of avoiding my comfort food I've created a way that I can still eat my favorite comfort foods without spiraling into an eating frenzy and adding inches to my waist.


How to make 'em:  Cut the fat off the chicken tenders.  Use wing it sauce or another organic (no/low sugar type of sauce from Whole Foods) to cover the chicken.  Batter the chicken in wheat germ (substitute for bread crumbs).  I also add onion powder, garlic, black pepper and oregano to the wheat germ for flavor.  Lay pieces on baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.  Then flip over and bake another 10 minutes.  And then broil for 5 minutes (makes them extra crispy).

For a dressing to pair with these check out my post on Ranch Dressing and Blue Cheese.

Smothered Cheeseburgers

Smothered Cheeseburgers

Go ahead, eat this burger! We’ve transformed a diner classic so you can indulge while keeping fat and calories way down. One bite and you’ll never go greasy spoon again.

 

Serves:

CATEGORY:
Under 45 Minutes 4
Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
You Save: 310 calories, 21 g total fat, 9 g saturated fat, 568 g sodium

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb 96% lean ground beef
• 2 tbsp white onion, finely minced, plus 1 cup, thinly sliced, divided
• 3 tbsp Italian parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tsp chile powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt, plus additional to taste
• Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tsp olive oil, divided
• 1 cup pre-sliced button mushrooms
• 1 small red bell pepper, cut into strips (about 1 cup)
• 4 thin slices deli reduced-fat Swiss cheese (3/4 oz each)
• 4 standard-size whole-wheat hamburger buns
• 4 romaine lettuce leaves, thick stems removed
• 4 tomato slices (1/4-inch thick each)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add beef, minced onion, parsley, chile powder, salt and black pepper to a large bowl. Mix with your hands until just combined. Gently form beef mixture into 4 equal patties, about 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick. Transfer to a broiler pan or rimmed baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate.
2. Add 1 tsp oil to a medium nonstick skillet and set over medium. When oil is hot, add mushrooms and cook until golden brown and soft, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl. Add remaining oil to skillet and return to medium heat. Add red pepper and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sliced onion and continue cooking for 6 more minutes or until vegetables are tender and lightly browned. Add to bowl with mushrooms. Season vegetables with salt and black pepper and stir to combine.
3. When you’re ready to eat, preheat broiler to high or a grill to medium-high.
4. Place patties under broiler, about 10 inches from heat source, or on a grill. Cook 4 to 5 minutes per side, until meat is no longer pink in center or the internal temperature registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer. Immediately place 1 slice cheese on each hot burger. (If you want cheese very melted, add it to burgers 30 seconds to 1 minute before end of cooking time.) To serve, layer each bun with 1 lettuce leaf, 1 slice tomato, 1 cheeseburger patty and 1/3 cup vegetable mixture.

Mix up your burger routine with Turkey Sliders and Meatless Lentil Burgers!

Nutrients per cheeseburger: Calories: 320, Total Fat 10 g, Sat. Fat 3 g, Carbs 25 g, Fiber 4 g, Sugars 5 g, Protein 33 g, Sodium 570 g, Cholesterol 65 mg

Original Post: http://www.cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Recipe/Smothered-Cheeseburgers.aspx

Carrie Underwood's No-Guilt Veggie Pizza

Carrie Underwood's No-Guilt Veggie Pizza

This recipe is as easy as pie. The tortilla crust and reduced-fat cheese trim calories and fat, and the more vegetables you pile on (Underwood likes spinach, olives, onions and bell peppers), the more disease-fighting antioxidants you get.

INGREDIENTS

Vegetable oil cooking spray

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray

1 Food for Life Organic Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain (or whole-grain) 9-inch tortilla

1/4 cup pizza sauce

1/4 cup low-fat shredded mozzarella

Vegetable toppings of your choice

1 cup mixed greens (optional)

PREPARATION

Heat oven to 400°. Coat a cookie sheet or pizza stone with cooking spray. Spray I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray on both sides of tortilla; place tortilla on sheet; spread with pizza sauce; sprinkle with cheese. Top with your favorite vegetable toppings. Bake until tortilla is crispy and cheese has melted, about 5 minutes. Top with mixed greens, if desired. Cut into 4 slices and enjoy.

 *From Self Magazine

Pizza Party

Klean Pizza! Yippy!

Below is one way to make clean pizza.  If you are cut on time you can head on over to Whole Foods and grab their fresh Whole-Wheat pizza dough.  I prefer thin crust, it’s a bit more light!

DOUGH

Serves:
Makes: 2 1-lb dough balls
Hands-on time: 30 minutes
Total time: 2 hours

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp raw honey

1 cup less 1 1/2 tbsp lukewarm water (105° F to 110° F), divided

1 pkg active dry yeast (1/4 oz or 2 1/2 tsp)

2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour, divided

4 tsp vital wheat gluten

1 tsp sea salt

3 tbsp olive oil, divided

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a large bowl, mix together honey and 1/3 cup water. Sprinkle in yeast and allow to proof, undisturbed (do not stir or move bowl), for 10 minutes or until yeast is foamy. (NOTE: If yeast does not foam, it is dead and your dough will not rise. Discard and start again with fresh ingredients.)

While yeast is proofing, mix together 2 cups flour, wheat gluten and salt in another large bowl.

Once yeast is foamy, add remaining water and 2 tbsp oil to yeast mixture. Pour in flour mixture and gently fold in with a bowl scraper or spatula until just combined. Mixture will form a very wet ball. Coat the bottom of another large bowl with remaining oil (ensure that bowl is large enough so that, when doubled in size, the dough will not reach the top). Transfer dough to bowl, rolling ball a bit to coat with oil. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature to rise for 1 hour. Dough will be very soft and sticky.

Lightly dust counter with about 1/4 cup flour. Transfer dough to floured surface and roll lightly in flour as needed. Gently knead dough, using remaining flour as needed, for about 1 minute. Form dough into a ball and place back into bowl. Cover bowl again tightly with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature to rise for 30 minutes.

Transfer dough back to floured surface, adding more flour to prevent dough from sticking, if needed, and cut dough in half to form 2 balls. Lightly knead each for about 30 seconds and reform into balls. Dough is now ready to be formed into crust or wrapped for future use. To store, wrap each dough ball individually in plastic wrap. Dough can be kept refrigerated for 24 hours or frozen for up to 1 month.

TO USE FROM REFRIGERATOR: 

Remove dough from fridge and allow to warm a little at room temperature, about 10 minutes. Form a pizza crust. 

TO USE FROM FROZEN: 

Transfer dough from freezer to fridge and let it defrost overnight before following the Use From Refrigerator steps above.

Nutrients per serving (1/8 of each dough ball): Calories: 96, Total Fat: 3 g, Sat. Fat: 0.5 g, Carbs: 15 g, Fiber: 2 g, Sugars: 1 g, Protein: 3 g, Sodium: 121 mg, Cholesterol: 0 mg.

MAKE THE PIZZA

INGREDIENTS:

1 14.5-oz can, no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained

1 home-made pizza dough (or Whole Foods version if you are pressed for time)

3 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated (about 3/4 cup)

Any vegetable topping you’d like / add a protein like chicken

PANTRY STAPLES:

Olive oil cooking spray

Ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Place 1 cup tomatoes in a fine mesh strainer and press out as much liquid as possible. Spread tomatoes onto pizza crust and mozzarella. Bake 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Rest pizza on a cutting board for 5 minutes. 

1/8 of the pizza with just the dough is 96 calories (see above).  To figure out all of your calories just divide your ingredients you add on top by 1/8.