Tag Archives: avocado

Hawaiian Pasta Salad

Looking for something a little different for lunch? Instead of regular old pasta salad, how about some Hawaiian pasta salad? Plentiful Pantry makes it so easy and it is such a refreshing change of pace.

Hawaiian Pasta Salad
Hawaiian Pasta Salad

8 servings
180 calories per serving

Their mix basically handles the noodles and the dressing spices – you just add some cooked chicken (I used leftover Thanksgiving turkey and it was great !), pineapple tidbits, mandarin oranges, onion and avocado. The mixture of noodles (colors and shapes) makes for such a fun salad! And their poppy seed dressing is so special – sweet without being too sweet and just a little tart with the mustard in the dressing and the vinegar bite. Just whisk up the dressing and pout over the fruits, meat and cooked pasta. Chill a bit and presto…LUNCH IS SERVED !

Hawaiian Pasta Salad
Hawaiian Pasta Salad

Plentiful Pantry does such a great job of getting you out of the kitchen fast providing mixes that are tasty and easy to put together. I have tried several of their products and I find them all to turn out very good food.

Check out our reviews of other Plentiful Pantry products:

Blondies and Maple Sauce
Key Lime Cheesecake Bars
Roasted Tomato Parmesan Bisque

Pumpkin Cobbler

Turkey and Feta Wrap

Wraps are a nice change from a sandwich – and they hold in the contents so much better than 2 slices of bread. Here is a standard turkey, bacon and tomato sandwich and because it is on a wrap you can add in some crumbled feta and avocado slices without worrying about them flying out the sandwich. And the avocado adds your MUFA for the meal 🙂 Enjoy !

Turkey and Feta Wrap
Turkey and Feta Wrap

1 serving
300 calories per serving

1 T Miracle Whip
1 T low fat crumbled feta cheese
1 Whole wheat wrap (80 calorie version by Smart and Delicious)
¼ c shredded lettuce
4 slices deli turkey breast
1 slice tomato, cut into strips
2 slices turkey bacon, cooked
¼ c avocado slices
Pepper

Sprinkle turkey with pepper. Place it all in the wrap and roll it up ! Here is a video that will show you how to fold up a wrap securely

Turkey and Ranch Wrap

Simple, quick, and a great tasting lunch wrap.

Turkey and Ranch Wrap
Turkey and Ranch Wrap

2 servings
340 calories per serving

1 T light Ranch dressing
1 Whole wheat wrap (80 calorie version by Smart and Delicious)
1 lettuce leaf
6 slices deli turkey breast
2 slices tomato
1 Laughing Cow light cheese wedge
2 avocado slices

Spread the cheese on the wrap then fill with the rest of the ingredients and wrap it up. Here is a video that shows you how to make a wrap that does not leak 🙂

Couscous Salad

This salad uses Israeli couscous which is a bigger grain and is more like a piece of orzo in size than a piece of pastina. This makes for a heartier couscous suitable for all type of salads. This on is particularly good !

Couscous Salad
Couscous Salad

5 servings
346 calories per serving

2 T oil
1 c Israeli couscous
1 ½ c water
Kosher salt to taste
Pepper to taste
½ lb sliced mushrooms
4 scallions, sliced, greens and whites separated
1 ¼ c frozen corn, thawed
15/5 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 T lime juice
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
1 avocado, sliced

Heat 1 T oil and add couscous. Stir until it begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Then add water and salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Heat 2 t oil in a skillet and cook mushrooms until brown, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and move to a bowl. Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan and cool scallion whites with corn about 5 minutes, season with salt and pepper and add to the mushrooms. Add couscous, black beans, lime juice, jalapeno and scallion greens to the mushroom mix, season with salt and pepper and divide into bowls. Top with avocado slices.

Sacramento Sandwich

The goat cheese and avocado surely make up for the meat on this sandwich and you won’t feel deprived at all. Packed with healthy MUFA and tons of veggies, this will surely be a favorite of yours like it is mine. If you are packing it for work or school, just pack the vinegar separately and pour over just before serving.

Sacramento Sandwich
Sacramento Sandwich

1 serving
340 calories per serving

1 small piece of cucumber
2 t red wine vinegar
2 slices wheat bread (45 calories per slice)
1 slice goat cheese
¼ c alfalfa sprouts
¼ of an avocado, sliced
¼ c shredded carrots
2 radishes, sliced

Cut a small piece of cucumber into thin slices and sprinkle with vinegar. Toast bread and spread with 1 slice of goat cheese and then add cucumbers, alfalfa sprouts, avocado, carrot and radish.

If you are packing this to go – skip the toast and just place all the ingredients on the bread and douse with vinegar just before serving.

Southwest Spinach Salad

What a symphony of flavors ! Your mouth doesn’t know what to be the happiest about – is it the pine nut accent? Or the spicy pepperjack cheese? Or the creamy avocados? Or the smoky chipotle dressing? This is one of THE BEST salads I’ve ever made.

Southwest Spinach Salad
Southwest Spinach Salad

4 servings
300 calories per serving

8 c fresh baby spinach
1/2 c corn with sweet peppers
1/3 c halved black pitted olives
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
2 oz. diced pepper jack cheese
2 plum tomatoes, cut into 8 wedges each
2 hard boiled eggs, quartered
1 ripe avocado cut into 16 slices
3 T lime juice
2 T oil
1 t chopped chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1/8 t salt
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T toasted pine nuts
A few extra squirts of lime juice if you like your salad nice and ‘wet’

Combine spinach, corn, olives, cilantro and cheese. Place 2 c worth on each plate. Arrange tomato, egg and avocado slices atop the spinach. Combine lime juice, oil, chopped chipotle, salt and garlic. Whisk well and pour over salads. Sprinkle with pine nuts.

ALT Sandwiches

Take out the Bacon, replace it with avocado and you have an ALT instead of a BLT. You still have the bacon flavor since you have Bacos in here, but the main flavor is the avocado. So get your MUFA on and have a great sandwich for lunch today !

ALT Sandwiches
ALT Sandwiches

4 servings
290 calories per serving

Even though there are bacon bits here, the main star of this sandwich is the avocado, so I call it an ALT instead of a BLT.

¼ c low fat mayonnaise
2 T bacon flavored veggie bits (Bacos)
8 slices of toast
4 lettuce leaves
1 avocado, pitted and sliced
2 large tomato, sliced

Combine mayo and bacos and mix well then spread of 4 pieces of toast and layer with lettuce, avocado and tomato.

MUFAs in Your Diet

MUFAS are monounsaturated fatty acids. They are the ‘healthy’ fats that we find in food such as avocados, olives, olive oil, dark chocolate, peanut butter, and nuts and seeds of all types. Many times people following low cal meal plans leave this out of their diets because the food items containing MUFAs are high in calories. DON’T DO IT !

For weeks I have been ‘stuck’. After dropping 30+ pounds consistently losing a pound a week, week after week, all of the sudden for a month or more I am stuck. Many dieters call this a plateau and they scream about it. I see why – here I am eating right, even lowering my daily caloric intake, my activity level is the same or higher – and I cannot continue dropping the pounds. What’s going on?

Well, I looked back and realized that I had been foregoing the MUFAs to increase other caloric intake. It was not even junk that I was adding – it was more veggies and fruits. Alas !

So last week I go back to peanut butter or yummy Barney Butter almond butter on my toast in the mornings. I add back semi-sweet chocolate chips as a nice little after lunch or dinner snack. I add back guacamole / avocado. And I add back a bit more olive oil and olives. Guess what? I’m down 2 pounds in a week !

It can only be the MUFAs ! Be sure to add them to your meal plans. As well as helping you feel satisfied (don’t all high fat items make you happy? hehehe) they supposedly also help your body flush out other not so healthy fats. Whatever the case, I am a believer – I have seen it for myself now and I’ll be making more room in my diet for the MUFAs I need to keep losing weight and reaching my goals 🙂

Fish Tacos

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 !

Fish Tacos
Fish 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.

Chicken Cobb Salad

Cobb Salads are one of my favorites – there are always lots of good substantial ingredients so you get filled up and the bacon flavor always permeates all the other ingredients. The goat cheese is a nice addition that you usually don’t find in a cobb salad.

Chicken Cobb Salad
Chicken Cobb Salad

3 servings
325 calories per serving

4 1/2 c shredded romaine lettuce
1 ¼ c cooked, shredded boneless skinless chicken (Perdue Shortcuts work great here)
2 hard boiled egg (yolks removed and whites chopped up)
1 tomato, chopped
2 T low fat crumbed goat cheese
2 slices turkey bacon, cooked, cooled and crumbled
½ avocado, diced
3 T chopped green onions
½ c fat free ranch dressing

Divide the lettuce on plates, arrange an even amount of each of the ingredients onto each plate and drizzle with dressing.

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