Tuesday Wk2

mlashay

Happy day Challengers!

Did you get good sleep last night? I used my FitBit to track my sleep and it says I got a little over 7hours *thumbs up*
Ugh I am going grocery shopping soon. I really need to start meal planning, especially for when school starts!
So recipe sharing has me looking forward to doing that.

Lunch meals are usually my problem. I usually want to go for salads but dressings have such a high fat and calorie content it overrides the healthiness of choosing the salad in the first place. I LOVE ranch. I HATE fat free ranch. It just does not taste as good as the full fat. So I avoided it all together until I found this recipe on Pinterest. So simple, nutritious AND it tastes fantastic!
*Thats a lot coming from the pickiest eater on the planet*

Healthy Fat Free Ranch

-1/2 cup of plain fat free greek yogurt
-1/2 cup of cottage cheese (low fat or non fat works)
- Hidden Valley Ranch dressing seasoning packet (or homemade ranch seasoning)- (you do not need to use the whole thing, I probably used about 1-2 tablespoons, you'll want to watch this because the more the seasoning the more the sodium.)
*Also make sure to get the DRESSING and not the dip. It wont turn out right.
- water or milk to desired consistency (milk will add more calories if so)

Directions- Blend and ENJOY! :bigsmile:

Nutritional Content-
1 serving= 1tbls, Calories per serving= 11 carbs= 1g fat=0g (if using nonfat cottage cheese) protein= 2g Sodium= 86mg

Can't wait to see your recipes! Hope you all are having a fabulous day!:flowerforyou:

Lizajane42

I am going to try to make cottage cheese a theme ingredient since I saw it in the first post!

I tried this yesterday, and it was really pretty good.

I shall call it Faux Quiche.

3/4 c cottage cheese
1 egg- beaten
veggies of your choice.

Heat oven to 350.
Mix egg and cottage cheese- add chopped up veggies (I used red and green bell pepper and spinach).

Bake at 350 for about 30 mins.


Mine was a little watery- not sure if baking higher temp or longer would solve, but it was really pretty good- fewer calories for a yummy quiche consistency!

keeleen

Ok... so I'm a pasta lover, it's not something I'm willing to give up, at least not yet... LOL I think last week's recipe was a pasta dish also... This one is a crockpot recipe, which I LOVE using my crockpot...

Slowcooker Bacon Ranch Chicken

2 strips of butterball turkey bacon, cooked and shredded. (I left the bacon out and it was still good)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 package ranch dressing mix
1 cup fat free sour cream (you can also substitute greek yogurt)
1 can cream of chicken soup (don't add the can of water to it)
16 oz of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Pasta of choice (I used penne wheat pasta)

Combine the first 5 ingredients. Place chicken in slow cooker sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Then pour sauce mixture over the top of the chicken. Cook on high for 3 1/2 hours. (Could also do low for 7 hours) Once done, shred chicken with 2 forks. Serve chicken and sauce mixture over pasta.

Depending on substitutions and pasta, the nutritional value will vary... I didn't use bacon, but I did use the sour cream, and with the wheat pasta, one serving was a little less than 450 calories. Not something you'd want to eat all of the time, but I love alfredo sauce, and creamy pasta sauces, and this is a nice substitute, that is still very yummy!

tomfrnk5

Another easy and lowcal salad dressing option. Rather than waste the 150 calories it takes to dress your salad, you can use lemon juice, salt, pepper, and minced garlic to add flavor. 0 calories! I usually add some low cal feta cheese too. Tastes great!

jcoco

My evening sweet fix is a smashed frozen banana with a little chocolate syrup on top. Helps with my ice cream craving.

alhunt8587

I'm going to have to give that Ranch Dressing a try!! I love ranch but don't eat it near as much now because of the Calories!! Thanks for sharing that!

Here is a recipe for a yummy breakfast wrap

1 Flatout Light Flatbread
1 Tbsp reduced fat peanut butter
1 Tbsp sugar-free Jam
2 strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 banana, cut in half lengthwise
2 Tbs low fat granola

Spread peanut butter evenly over entire Flatout. On one rounded end, spread jam. Layer strawberry, banana and granola. Roll, cut and enjoy!
263 Calories 14g Protein 50g Carbs 12g Fiber 8g Fat

shanniebanannie73

I use emealz menu planner/shopping list for budgeting purposes (any other Dave Ramsey fans out there?) and "tweak" the recipes a bit to make them healthier. This week there was one for zucchini fritters and I baked them instead:

4-5 zucchini shredded. salt w/ 1 tsp salt and leave to drain in collander 15 minutes. A LOT of juice comes out. Then I rinsed the salt off and squeezed some more.
1 egg
minced garlic
onion powder
+/- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
just enough flour (i used whole wheat) to hold it together

plop it on parchment paper so you don't have to spray your baking sheet and bake at 350-375 until it starts to brown.

Mine made 12 patties and calories for 2 was 176. Serve with salsa on top and/or a little bit of fat free sour cream.

My husband, who hates diet food, said these were great.

loserchick

I made one of Gina's Skinnytaste recipes the other day and quite enjoyed it, so here it is:

Raspberry Coconut Chia Pudding Pops
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 4 • Size: 1 popsicle • Old Points: 1 pts • Points+: 2 pts
Calories: 74 • Fat: 5 g • Carb: 6.8 g • Fiber: 4.6 g • Protein: 1.8 g • Sugar: 0.6 g
Sodium: 27 mg

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup lite coconut milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 3/4 cup raspberries
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp sweetened shredded coconut
• 8 drops Nu-Naturals liquid stevia (or sugar/honey to taste)


Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a large container. Mix well and close container; refrigerate 4 hours so the chia expands. Pour into 4 popsicle molds and freeze overnight.

(I didn't freeze it, instead I just ate it like pudding and it was yummy :happy:)

shanice_22

I totally forgot to post my recipe!

Spicy tuna and tomato pasta:

1/2 a tin of tuna
1/2 a tin of chopped tomatoes (half of a 400g tin)
1 tbsp oil (I use olive oil)
Pepper
Thyme
Sugar (pinch)
Dried chilli flakes
50g Wholemeal pasta

Boil the pasta and in another pan, heat the oil then add dried chilli flakes - this is purely by eye, too many and it's too spicy, not enough and it's too bland.
Add the tomatoes, pepper, thyme and a pinch of sugar. It's up to you how much seasoning you wish you use.
Let that simmer for a few mins then add the tuna.
Heat through and serve on top of the pasta.

Last time I made it, mfp said: Calories 323, Carbs 20, Protein 27, Fat 16, Sugar 9, Sodium 264