Easy to throw together and a very satisfying ‘bready’ dish. So if you’re in the mood for carbs – this is the one ! This makes a nice big try and really could easily be split into 8 servings so it’s a great breakfast for when you have overnight guests.

Sausage and Cheddar Casserole

6 servings
368 calories per serving

12 oz. turkey breakfast sausage, crumbled
2 c 1 % low fat milk
2 C Egg Beaters
1 t dry mustard
¼ t salt
½ t pepper
¼ t cayenne pepper
3 large eggs
16 slices lite wheat bread
1 c shredded low fat sharp cheddar cheese
¼ t paprika
Pam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a large skillet to medium high and spray the pan with Pam the add sausage and cook 5 minutes to brown it. Remove from skillet. Combine milk, egg beaters, mustard, salt, peppers and eggs and whisk until combined well. Take the crusts of the slices of bread and tear the bread into cubes and then mix with the sausage and cheese. Add to the milk mixture and then pour it all into a 9×13 baking dish sprayed with Pam. Sprinkle with paprika and bake 45 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

A baked potato sounds simple enough but one not done right is bad…and one done good is just GREAT! What makes a good potato? A nice crispy salted skin and fluffy, perfectly cooked insides ! After many years of trying a dozen methods here is the one I like best…

Baked Potato

2 servings
160 calories per serving

2 medium baking potatoes
Salt
Molly McButter or I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray
Chives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash potatoes and poke several times with a fork. Salt the outside of the potatoes if you plan on eating the skins. Place in a microwave and oven safe dish and microwave on full power 7 minutes. Take dish from microwave and place in oven and cook 15 -30 minutes as you prep the rest of your dinner. If you have something else in the oven that needs it to be a little lower or higher temperature, no worries – the potatoes will be fine at the alternate temperature.

If you are using larger sized potatoes, increase the microwave time a few minutes.

Split potatoes and prepare with ICBINB spray and sprinkle with salt and chives. Another great low cal topping for potatoes is salsa – - for just 40 calories you can load a 1/2 cup on top of your potato !

Once again, without FiberGourmet pasta, this meal would not have been near as substantial for the low amount of calories – I can’t live without FiberGourmet Pasta !

I was a bit heavy handed on the crushed red pepper and this came out just fantastic tasting – spicy and hot with a nice deep flavor from having simmered all day long.

Pasta and Lentils (Crock Pot)

4 servings
230 calories per serving

½ c chopped onions
½ c chopped carrots
½ c chopped celery
2 c canned diced tomatoes, undrained
1 c tomato sauce
4 oz. dried lentils, rinsed and drained
½ t oregano flakes
½ t basil flakes
½ t garlic powder
¼ t crushed red pepper
4 c FiberGourmet pasta (cooked)
Up to a cup of hot water

Mix all except pasta in the crock and cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or high 3-5 hours. If your crock pot gets hot and this mix is drying out too much, add up to a cup of hot water. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add cooked, drained pasta to crock and serve immediately.

This is always a crowd pleaser and people can’t believe it’s made without sugar (Equal is the sweetener here). This is a perfect and refreshing end to a meal.

Key Lime Pie

8 servings
150 calories per serving

1 low fat prepared graham cracker crust
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 ¾ c skim milk
8 oz. low fat cream cheese, at room temperature
12 packets Equal
½ c fresh lime juice
Green food coloring (optional)
Lime slices (optional for garnish)

Sprinkle gelatin over ½ c milk in small pan and let stand 3 minutes then cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved. Beat cream cheese until fluffy and then beat in res of the milk and the gelatin mix. Then mix in the juice and 12 packets of Equal. Add a couple of drops of green food coloring if you wish. The pie will be very thin and runny but will firm up quickly. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Bruschetta is simply a dish that has some short of chopped tomatoes served on top of some type of bread product. There are a million variations – this one is Greek and oh so good ! Cut into wedges, these make a great appetizer. Served whole, they make an awesome lunch ! 1 whole pita is only 180 calories so there’s still room for some soup or salad on the side

Greek Bruschetta

6 servings
60 calories per serving

2 7 inch whole wheat pitas
1 T fat free balsamic vinaigrette
1 T chopped basil
1 large plum tomato, seeded and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 c fat free plain hummus
1 T shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place pitas on a cookie sheet and bake 6 minutes or until a bit crisp. Mix vinaigrette, basil, tomato and garlic. Spread the hummus evenly on the 2 pitas and then spoon over the tomato mixture. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake 5-6 minutes or until hot. Cut each pita into 6 wedges.

I just wanted to take a moment and wish you all a Happy Easter !

[FA_Lite id="9343"]

What a festive way to serve fruit! This was a great dessert and great drink – so colorful, so flavorful, so sweet ! It’s also a very versatile recipe – don’t like strawberries, use bananas instead….don’t like raisins, leave them out…substitute mandarin oranges for fresh oranges ! Make it your own

Champagne Fruit

4 servings
82 calories per serving

½ c chopped oranges
½ c sliced banana
½ c chopped apples
½ c sliced strawberries
2 T raisins
12 oz. diet lemon lime soda

Mix fruit and spoon into fancy cups – pour soda over fruit and serve with spoons.

This is so pretty, I had to take a nice close up shot…

Champagne Fruit

This is a crisp salad with the ultimate pairing of zesty dressing and feta cheese. The olives are just a bonus

Cucumber and Radish Salad

7 servings
90 calories per serving

4 large cucumbers
8 radishes, thinly sliced
½ c low fat crumbled feta cheese with basil and tomato
1/3 c low fat zesty Italian dressing
1/3 c pitted kalamata olives

Peel the cucs (optional) and cut into thin slices. I like to use English cucumbers as they are basically seedless. Toss cucs with the radishes, cheese and olives and dress the salad.

Roasted chicken is a bit higher in calories than chicken breast cooked without the skin, but sometimes you just gotta splurge Even though you peel the skin off to stay at the low calorie level, because it was cooked with the skin on, it is super moist and quite tasty.

Roasted Chicken

142 calories per 3 oz. serving of white breast meat

1 Roaster chicken
Water
Salt
Pepper
Lemon Pepper
1-2 onions
Pam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove chicken from wrappings, wash it off inside and out. If there are any packets of giblets or anything stuffed inside the chicken, be sure to remove them.

Place the chicken in a roaster pan, or a baking dish atop a rack. If you don’t have a rack or a roaster, you can just place it in a baking dish and it will do fine, the bottom will just have a bit of a different texture.

Sprinkle the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper and then stuff with the whole, peeled onions. As the chicken cooks, the onion flavor really flavors the meet nicely. Lay the chicken back down breast side up and sprinkle with salt, pepper and lemon pepper. Place ½ c water in the bottom of the pan so the chicken will ‘steam’ as it cooks. This helps keep the meat moist.

Spray one side of aluminum foil with Pam. Place this side toward the chicken and cover the pan trying not to press the foil down against the chicken – make more of a tent of the foil.

Cook chicken for the time directed on the package which will be based on the weight of the chicken. The juices should run clear when it is completely done. Chickens usually cook for 15 minutes per pound.

Let it sit a bit before carving so that the juices do not all leave the meat as you carve it.

Here are some great instructions for how to carve a chicken – it’s really not hard ! Especially if you are mainly wanting nicely sliced breast meat (and you can save the thighs, legs and other dark meat for making soup).
 

http://www.howcast.com/videos/8687-How-To-Carve-a-Chicken

http://www.wikihow.com/Carve-a-Chicken

Simple, simple, simple – and a great side salad to just about any meal !

Artichoke and Tomato Salad

4 servings
73 calories per serving

14 oz. can artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/34 c chopped parsley
¼ c fat free Italian dressing

Mix all ingredients and toss to coat.