Quesadilla

Ingredients:
1/2 cup 365 organic refried beans
1 whole foods wheat tortilla
50 grams sliced peppers, raw
2 oz cabot sharp cheddar cheese
2 tbs sour cream
2 tbs green onion
30 grams avacado diced
2 tbs salsa

Heat tortilla in frying pan on low heat, both sides.  While it is heating, microwave refried beans for one minute.  Lay cheese out over entire surface of tortilla, spread peppers on and refried beans.  Close up tortilla, turn heat to medium and brown both sides.  Use other ingredients as desired!

 

603 calories and worth every single one...

usually I only make this with 1 ounce cheese but I had extra calories to use today!

Chicken Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients:
12.9 ounces peppers sliced
5.6 ounces of baked potato (already baked with skin, diced)
1 tbs EVOO
1 Hot Chicken Sausage (whole foods)

Slice sausage into discs and sautee until browned on both sides.  Combine potato, peppers and EVOO in a bowl.  Mix together and add spices as desired (I did italian spices, salt and pepper).  Add to frying pan with sausage, reduce to low heat and cook until sausage is heated through and peppers have reached desired tenderness.  Makes 2 Servings. 

 

261.5 calories a serving

Chicken Sausage Burger

 

Super easy.

1 Chicken sausage with artichokes and olives cut in half and warmed through in frying pan
1/2 rosemary roll
1 ounce gouda
remaining caramalized onions from the week

warm up, put together, and enjoy!

approx 300 calories

Pasta

Threw a bunch of stuff together, made an O.K. pasta...and served along side a rosemary roll from Whole Foods.

 

I was being lazy so I baked one Bell and Evans chicken finger to top the pasta while I was preparing it.

Ingredients:

2 oz pasta of your choice, cooked

4 roasted asparagus spears

1/2 cup chicken brothe

2 tbs tomato sauce

1 oz caramelized onions

1 quarter tomato diced

1 oz gouda

Place all ingredients in pan and allow to reduce under medium high heat, once desired texture, top with chopped chicken and enjoy!

approx 460 calories without the roll :)

Turkey Burger

Last night I reheated my mashed potatoes, roasted some asparagus and got creative with a turkey burger!

Ingredients:
5ozs boneless skinless ground turkey breast
2 tbs breadcrumbs
leftover gravy from last night
1 ounce caramelized onions
1 ounce smoked gouda

Mix turkey breadcrumbs and gravy together, sear both sides and cook through to internal temp standard.  Top with caramelized onions and gouda, allow to melt and enjoy!

 

yummy yummy asparagus

 

Entire meal was about 465 calories :)

 

Pork Chop

Got inspired when I saw pork chops at the butcher yesterday, so I grabbed one...here's what became of it.
Yesterday I placed my pork chop in 1 cup of chicken stock and 1/2 cup vegetable stock in a Tupperware.   Let it sit in that overnight so it stayed moist.
Today, I caramelized 2 large white onions

 

Crazy how much they reduce!

Pork chop ingredients:

2 ozs caramelized onions

2tbs flour-separated

1 pork chop

1cup chicken stock

1/2 cup vegetable stock

salt

pepper

paprika

garlic salt

1 oz smoked gouda sliced thin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Well, this made 8ozs of onion...obviously I didn't need that much (they'll be used throughout the week)  I put 2 oz aside for tonight's recipe.

While working on that, I seared my pork chop, once dredged in 1tbs of flour.  I sprinkled one side with paprika and one with salt and pepper.  Once, seared, I placed in the oven,  and pour the stock it had sat in over night to cook around it.

After 30 minutes, I removed the stock from the baking pan and reduced the oven heat to 200 degrees.  I placed thin slices of gouda over pork chop to melt.  

I mixed the stock with 1 tbs flour, whisked, and combined with 2 ozs caramelized onions.  I put over medium high heat to reduce for 15 minutes until pork had reached desired internal temp.  This is gravy!  Season with salt/pepper/garlic salt.

 

Sooo good

 

Pork chop, shows gouda on top and gravy

 

Some gravy left over for mashed potatoes too!

Complete meal was 462 calories...including my mashed potatoes. (I mash half a potato with 2tbs milk, add salt and pepper)

 

 

Chicken Pot Pie

This is from Whole Foods, 1/2 price this week so I gave it a try.  Very good!  I ate half of it for dinner tonight because I had to have some of my oatmeal dish too!

 

300 calories

Baked Oatmeal

 Saw a recipe similar on pintrest, googled baked oatmeal and found a million more recipes...took a little bit of this and a little bit of that to create my own!  Super easy!  This will be my breakfast for the week!

unbaked and ready to go in the oven

SO...

3 cups oats                                

1/2 cup light brown sugar     

2tsp cinnamon

2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp salt

1 cup almond milk                   

2tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

4 tbs coconut spread             

260g bananas                             

340g strawberries                      

1972.5 calories in the entire pan

Mix it all together and bake it at 350 degrees for 40 minutes!

 

Fresh out of the oven

 

270 calories for 150g serving

Snack Time

While waiting for Paul and Amy-Jo to arrive, I got hungry.  Here was my 2 minute snack.

Ingredients:
4 homemade tortilla chips (courtesy of my awesome husband)
1 slice Cabbot mild cheddar cheese
2 TBS 365 Organic Salsa

Broiled chips with cheese on top for 2 minutes, add salsa, eat.

 

Quick snack with what I had on hand...under 200 calories

Panera

Went tonight...enjoyed the thai chicken salad with chicken noodle soup!

According to Panera, this is 200 calories for the salad and 80 for the soup...didn't look up the baguette.

Chicken Soup and Rice

Yet another leftover inspired dish this week.
Ingredients:
5oz Chicken soup from monday (approx 1 1/4 cup liquid, then rest solids)
3/8 cup sushi rice
That's it!

I put both in the rice cooker, pushed on, and waited.  Finish.  Tasted better than the soup did on its own.

 Only 379 calories (without the roll)

Strawberry-Banana and White Chocolate Pocket

This is the same concept of my banana and chocolate pocket.  I had some new ingredients, thanks to my awesome husband's decision to make me chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's Day.  Here is what I created with the leftovers!
Ingredients:
Egg Roll Wrapper
100grams banana, mashed
2 ounce strawberries, sliced
2tbs white chocolate
Oil
Cinnamon sugar

Mix together inside ingredients: banana, chocolate, strawberry.  Microwave for 45 seconds.  Placed in middle of egg roll wrapper and wrap up.  brush top with oil and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Broil for 10 minutes and enjoy!

 

 yum yum, there were some leftover bites to enjoy as well!

232 calories of awesomeness

Note: Pan frying this would taste better, but too many calories for me with everything else I ate today.

Leftover Pasta

 

This pasta was a spur of the moment creation tonight with leftovers from my fridge.  It will definitely be a dinner staple for me, tasted way better than expected!

Ingredients:
2.5 oz pasta of choice

4oz tomatoes, diced (from yesterday)

3 tbs caramelized onions (from yesterday)

1/2cup chicken stock

1 oz feta

2tbs pasta sauce (whatever you have)

garlic salt

Boil pasta water and cook pasta according to directions.  

For sauce, combine all ingredients (except the feta) in a small pan along with a few shakes of garlic salt.  Cook on high until liquid has reduced.  Stir in pasta and 1oz feta.  Enjoy.

Super easy, super fast, super tasty.

468 calories.

Specialty Grilled Cheese

Decided tonight to venture into some creative grilled cheese.  Here is what I came up with (served with baked fries and sam adams!)

2 slices wheat bread
2 pcs uncured bacon
2 slices tomato
1.5 ounces cabbot mild cheddar cheese
3 tbs caramelized onions
olive oil

First,  i caramelized the onions in olive oil.  I removed onions from the pan and cooked the bacon in the same pan.  I removed the bacon, and the grease.  I assembled sandwich: bread, 1/2 cheese, tomatoes, caramelized onions, bacon, 1/2 cheese and bread.  I grilled and enjoyed :)

 

Estimate on calories for sandwich is 450, didn't measure exactly...it's valentine's day!

Chocolate Banana Pocket

Ingredients:
1 small banana, mashed
1 tbs dark chocolate chips
1 eggroll wrapper
olive oil
cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top

Add chocolate chips to mashed banana.  Lightly grease baking sheet, place eggroll wrapper on pan.  Put banana mixture in middle of wrapper.  Fold wrapper to desired shape and wet edges with water to seal.  Brush lightly with oil and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Bake for 10 minutes at 275 in a convection oven.

Approximately 200 calories

Beef Stew

Heated some stew I made a few weeks ago that I had stored in the freezer.  Ate it along side a crust french roll.

Don't have the exact recipe because I made it a few weeks ago but...
chuck roast
onion diced
carrots diced
celery diced
beef stock
cream of mushroom soup
2 lg potatoes, sliced

I did this roast/stew in the slow cooker for 2 days ...fantastic.

Accidental Chicken Soup

 

Went to a restaurant a few weeks ago, they served a chicken chowder that tasted like the inside of a pot pie. My attempt to recreate ended in an utter failure...however, the result was a decent chicken soup (nothing like chowder).  So here is the recipe for my accidental chicken soup:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 pound chicken breast, cubed

1.5 pounds of potatoes, no skin, cubed

2 cups of frozen vegetable mix

1 cup chicken stock

1 medium white onion, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

salt, pepper, paprika to taste

put all ingredients, mixed, into a slow cooker...I only had a few hours so I did it on high for 4.5 hours.  I served it with an onion roll, courtesy of the wonderful bakers at Whole Foods.

The calorie count came out at 29.8 calories an ounce...which is a bit higher than I would like for the lack of richness.  This recipe certainly needs refinement.

Spinach Breakfast Pie

Inspired by a recipe I made a few weeks ago, I decided to branch out and create my own spinach pie for the purpose of breakfast this coming week.   Here is what I came up with!

Ingredients:
15 Egg Roll Wrappers
1tbs olive oil
1 Lg bag prewashed organic spinach
2 small containers small curd 1% cottage cheese
2 ounces Feta Cheese
2 Eggs
1 Medium white onion, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray muffin tin lightly and place egg roll wrapper in tin, bake for approx. 10 minutes.
Saute onion in olive oil until translucent, turn heat to medium low and add spinach.  Cover and stir as needed until spinach is wilted and bright green.
In separate bowl, mix cottage cheese, feta and eggs.  Add onion/spinach mixture, stir.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
Place approx 1/4C mixture in each egg roll wrapper, bake 10 minutes, or until warm.

Each spinach breakfast pie came out at a low 117 calories.  I am going to caramelize the onions next time and add breakfast sausage to the mix for more protein and texture.  Enjoy!