These cucumber bites make a great appetizer or side on a lunch platter.
4 servings
90 calories per serving
1/2 c shredded carrot
1/2 c 1/4 less fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese with Chive and Onions
2 cucumbers
Keep 2 T of carrots aside for garnish. Mix the rest of the carrots and cream cheese. Cut cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place cheese mix in cucumbers. Cut each half into 5 pieces. Top each piece with leftover carrots.
Retread #2 – Oh so yummy ! I served them with roasted tomatoes and zucchini fritters for a super tasty, healthy and balanced meal 🙂
I usually skip right by kabob recipes – threading the skewers is a pain and a lot of time, the food falls off into the grill. Now I use a grill basket instead and gather up as many kabob recipes as I can 🙂 Just be sure not to stir or shake the basket too often. You want the food to get the nice little charred ends just as you would if you were cooking on skewers. Add some extra veggies and a bit more spice to bulk up the meal without adding too many more calories – grape tomatoes, button mushrooms, different color peppers….they all work well.
4 servings
145 calories per serving
1 lb boneless pork cut into 1 inch cubes
1 T taco seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 large onion in thin slices
1/2 medium green bell pepper in thin slices
Pam
Combine all ingredients and toss to coat well. Grill 10-15 minutes in a grill basket sprayed with Pam or on skewers that you have thread with the pieces. Here’s a link to the grill basket that I use:
You can also put all the ingredients in a bowl to mix, and then place on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam under a heated broiler for 10-12 minutes.
And here is my first retread of the week….this salad is so spicy and so enjoyable. I have been looking forward to making it since the last time I made it back in January. But I am usually too busy testing NEW recipes and I had not gotten back to it. That is, until today. My mouth is pretty happy right now !
Hot, Hot, Hot !! But just the right amount of hot – – – almost like eating hot wings together with the celery and carrots – all in one mouthful.
2 servings
120 calories per serving
6 oz. cooked cubed chicken (Perdue Shortcuts works great here !)
3 T fat free mayonnaise
3 T chopped celery
3 T chopped carrots
1 1/2 t Frank’s Red Hot sauce
1/2 t dry ranch dressing mix
Combine the mayo, hot sauce and ranch dressing mix. Place chicken in a hot skillet and saute 3 minutes to heat up. Add chicken, celery, and carrots to sauce. Mix well and serve.
As well as posting some new recipes, this week I will be pulling some ‘oldies but goodies’ and reposting them for you. My personal menu this weeks consists solely of recipes I have made and posted before and they were sooooo good that I have to have them again ! So I’ll repost (retread) some of those recipes so maybe you can try them too !
As a sneak preview, some of the ones I’ll soon be eating again are:
Monte Cristo Sandwich
Spicy Chicken Salad
Good and Healthy Meatloaf
Pork Kabobs
Zucchini Fritters
Cheeseburger
Lazy Man’s Stuffed Cabbage
If you can’t wait for them to be reposted – – just use the search box above and type in the recipe name and you can see them right now !
Can’t wait to dig in 🙂
Sometimes nothing can replace the taste of a good old Sloppy, Messy, Ketchupy Sloppy Joe. This recipe has just enough of the sweet along with just enough of the spicy. For under 400 calories, you can’t go wrong !
4 servings
330 calories per serving
1 t oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
3/4 c ketchup
1 1/2 T brown sugar blend by Splenda
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
¼ t salt
¼ t pepper
4 whole wheat burger buns
Heat oil in skillet and cook onion, pepper and garlic 5 minutes then stir in beef and cook 10 minutes or until no longer pink then add ketchup, sugar, Worcestershire, cumin, salt, pepper and chili powder and cook 4 minutes. Serve on buns.
Apples and caramel – what a mix !! There’s no one here that didn’t want seconds of this tasty treat !
4 servings
245 calories per serving
2 large apples
24 caramels, unwrapped
2 t water
Heat grill and fold 4 pieces of heavy duty foil then spray with Pam. Cut apples in half and remove cores. Cut each half into 4 wedges. Place 6 caramels in center of each piece of foil and place apple wedge over and sprinkle with ½ t water. Wrap each foil packet securely and grill 15-20 minutes or until all melted. You can also do this in the oven – preheat to 425 degrees and place the packets on a cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until all is melted.
This was great served warm and equally as good chilled. The lemon and cilantro flavorings are what make this a really tasty side salad.
4 servings
69 calories per serving
1 ½ lb. zucchini (about 3), cubed
1T oil
Coarse salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T fresh cilantro, chopped
Heat oil in a large skillet and add the zucchini and toss then season with salt and pepper and cook about 5 minutes letting cubes brown a bit. Add lemon juice and cilantro and mix well. Season with more salt and pepper and serve.
Any kind of fish will do ! And these are a great change to the boring lunch sandwich. Whenever I have bits of fish leftover, I freeze them – then you can just defrost and do a quick reheat and you are ready to make tacos !
4 servings
370 calories per serving
½ jalapeno pepper finely chopped
2 T lime juice
1 T chopped cilantro
1 T oil
1 lb. firm white fish filet (halibut, orange roughy, etc.)
1 t chili powder
1 t cumin
8 corn or flour tortillas
2 c shredded lettuce
1 tomato, chopped
1 avocado, sliced
Mix jalapeno, lime juice, cilantro and some salt. Heat oil in a skillet. Sprinkle fish with chili powder, cumin and some salt to taste and cool 5 minutes per side or until done. Warm tortilla according to package and them fill with fish, lettuce, tomato and avocado. Top with jalapeno mix.
Peppersteak is great no matter how you slice it 🙂 But this recipe really is a winner – the sauce made with coffee and balsamic turned an already savory dish into something just exquisite.
4 servings
226 calories per serving
½ t ground cumin
½ t ground coriander
½ t chili powder
¼ t salt
¾ t pepper
1 lb. boneless top sirloin steak, trimmed
1 clove garlic, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T oil
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 t brown sugar
½ c brewed strong coffee
¼ c balsamic vinegar
Combine first five ingredients. Rub steak with cut garlic and then rub the spice mix into the steak. Heat 2 t of oil into a skillet and cook the steak 6-8 minutes per side or to desired doneness. Get a nice sear on the outside for extra flavor ! Remove steak from pan and tent with foil to keep warm. Add 1 t oil to the skillet and stir in the pepper and onions and cook 4 minutes then add the minced garlic and brown sugar and heat a minute before stirring in the coffee and vinegar. Heat 3-4 minutes. Slice steak into thin pieces and plate with pepper mix on top. Pour any sauce from pan over platter.
The grapes did not really ‘make’ the dish and the chicken could certainly be served on its own since the sauce was really tasty. But the grapes certainly made a more standard chicken dish into something special and definitely company worthy !
4 servings
229 calories per serving
2 t oil
4 5 oz. boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 T flour
½ c dry white wine
¾ c chicken broth
½ t salt
¼ t pepper
¼ t rosemary flakes
2 c seedless red and green grapes, halved
3 T low fat sour cream
¼ c parsley, chopped
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Dredge the chicken in the flour and shake off any excess, but reserve it for later. Cook the chicken 3 minutes per side or until browned. Add the wine to the pan, increase heat to high and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the broth, salt, rosemary and pepper and bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Add the grapes and cover and cook another 5 -7 minutes or until grapes are tender.
Whisk sour cream and any leftover flour. Stir into the pan and cook, stirring constantly, 2-3 minutes or until the broth is thickened. Plate chicken and add parsley to the sauce and then spoon it over the chicken.
