Savor the Thyme and Tangled Noodle are hosting a fun filled challenge, “Eating Your Words”, and I’ve decided to enter. We basically just had to use food to spell out an idea.
I had read about their challenge and then was going about my day and was thinking about what I might submit. I was getting ready to make my salad when it hit me…carved cucumbers. So here’s my entry – and remember, eat your veggies !
Thanks for the fun, guys 🙂
This is so lemony and refreshing and is easy, easy to prepare. It’s a great addition to a lunch time wrap or sandwich.
2 servings
37 calories per serving
2 c chicken broth
3 t lemon juice
¼ t thyme
1/8 t salt
4 leaves spinach, torn
1 green onion (green part only) thinly sliced
Lemon slices for garnish
Combine all except spinach and onions and bring to a boil on high heat. Place spinach in bowls. Spoon soup over spinach and top with sliced green onions.
These beef rolls are like eating mini cheese steaks – so yummy ! Just look at the cheese dripping out the ends of the rolls !
4 servings
227 calories per serving
¾ pound braciola beef (thinly sliced top round) cut into 4 pieces lengthwise
Kosher salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
2 oz. pepper jack cheese thinly sliced into 4 pieces
2 t oil
7 oz. Very Veggie salad mix
1 ½ t Sherry vinegar
1 T oil
1 onion halved and cut into thin slices
1 ½ yellow or orange bell peppers sliced very thin
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat 1 T oil in a skillet on medium high heat and add onions, peppers and garlic. Saute 7-8 minutes and then add salt, pepper and 1/2 c water. Cover and lower heat and simmer 2 minutes or until dried out. Remove to a bowl and set aside.
Season meat with salt and pepper. Put a piece of cheese and ¼ the onion mix into the center of a piece of meat. Roll up long ways and secure the seam with a toothpick or mini skewer woven in to keep the meat from opening while cooking. Heat a skillet to medium high and add 1 t oil. Place meat rolls in the pan and cook about 8 minutes browning all sides. Lower the heat if it browns to quickly as you want it to stay in the pan long enough for the cheese inside to get melty.
Toss lettuce with vinegar and 1 t oil and season it with salt and pepper. Serve next to the beef rolls. Remove toothpicks from beef before serving.
Here is a video to help show you how to roll these up !
[youtube]2IV1K7tRfQM[/youtube]
This was so incredibly delicious ! The cake is moist, the frosting is decadent – and at only 120 calories per serving, it is pretty much guilt free!
24 servings
120 calories per serving
Cake
1 2/3 c flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 c mashed ripe bananas
1 1/3 c skim milk
2 T pineapple juice
2 large eggs
3/4 c Splenda
6 T butter, melted
2 t vanilla extract
Pam
Frosting
16 oz. fat free cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 c light butter, at room temperature
1/3 c Splenda
2 t vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 13×9 pan with Pam. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. Mix bananas, milk and juice and set aside. Beat eggs and Splenda at high speed for 4 minutes and then add melted butter, and vanilla extract and beat at medium a minute longer. Alternately add flour mix and banana mix and beat at low speed just until blended being sure not to over mix. Put the batter in the pan and bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan. To prepare the frosting, beat the cheese and butter until creamy then gradually add Splenda and beat on medium. Mix in vanilla and then spread over a cooled cake. Chill 30 minutes and then cut into squares. Try serving with a few slices of fresh banana on the side.
I don’t know where to begin when telling you about this product…should I start with the fact that it tastes identical to regular pasta (unlike many wheat pastas and other alternatives)? Or should I start with the fact that it is has 40% fewer calories than regular pasta? Both are soooo exciting to me ! I cannot live without pasta and 400 calorie meals don’t allow for a whole lot of comforting carbs….well, until now !
I am sooooo happy to have found this product. Now I can have a NORMAL portion size which makes me a much happier person ! This product feeds my half Italian soul 🙂
Here are some of the facts about pasta from FiberGourmet:
* 130 calories per serving, 40% fewer than standard pasta
* 18g fiber per serving – 72% of the Daily Value
* Nutrtition Facts backed by actual laboratory analysis
* Convenient 1/2 lb packages with a 2 year shelf-life
* Kosher certified by the Kof-K
* 40% fewer “net carbs” than standard pasta
* Only 2 WW Points
(standard pasta is 4, whole wheat is 3)
They have penne (great in mac and cheese dishes), cut up alfredo noodles (perfect for soups), rotini (I use these in pasta salads), and more. Any recipe that calls for pasta – substitute FiberGourmet pasta and get way more food for your 400 calories !
They also have some flavored fettucine noodles that I have not tried yet. The great people over at FiberGourmet are going to send me some to try out and I’ll let you know all about them and give you some recipes to use with them.
You can buy direct on the FiberGourmet site. Or I sometimes get them from Amazon when I am there getting other stuff anyhow. I recommend a sampler pack to get you started.
When you order, tell Ari I sent ya 🙂
Here are a list of recipes I have made so far with FiberGourmet pastas. Enjoy !
Pesto Chicken Salad
Macaroni and Cheese
Vegetable Mac and Cheese
Hummus is simply a dip made from chickpeas. Many hummus recipes also use tahini, which is just a paste of oil and ground up sesame seeds. Many of the store-bought hummus dips are downright delicious – all the different brands have different consistencies so sample a few and find the one you like. Some are creamier, some are grittier, and some are more spicy than others– and if you can’t find one you like, make your own !
1 serving
130 calories per serving
½ cucumber, sliced into spears
1 stalk celery, sliced into spears
4 T hummus (roasted red pepper flavor is my favorite)
This version of fried rice is not your typical Chinese food fare. This is more of a Middle Eastern recipe and there are a wide range of BIG flavors in the recipe. But they mix well and become amazingly mellow.
6 servings
350 calories per serving
3 T oil
1 large onion, diced
6 oz. Canadian bacon, diced
1 lb. bok choy stems and leaves, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, diced
2 t finely chopped fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
¾ c Egg Beaters
3 t curry powder
4 c cold cooked brown rice
3 T soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Pam
Heat 2 t oil in a large skillet on medium high heat and add onion and bacon. Cook 4 minutes and add bok choy and continue cooking another 2 minutes. Add pepper, ginger, garlic and cook until veggies are getting soft, about 5 minutes. Remove contents and set aside. Add 1 T oil of skillet and then cook chicken 5 minutes or until done. Set chicken aside. Spray skillet with Pam and when hot, add eggs and scramble. Add eggs to bowl with chicken. Add 1 T oil to skillet and cook curry powder 30 seconds and then add rice and cook without stirring until slightly crispy, about 4 minutes. Return all the other ingredients to the pan, add soy sauce, salt and pepper and heat 3 minutes.
This is a wonderfully rich chowder that can easily be changed up just by changing some of the veggies you include. I just suggest keeping the corn – to me, it’s not chowder if it does not have corn ! Today I added some frozen broccoli florets.
6 servings
168 calories per serving
9 oz. boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into cubes (Perdue Shortcuts work great here!)
1 c carrots, sliced
½ c chopped onion
1 c corn
4.5 oz. sliced mushrooms, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ t thyme leaves
14.5 oz. chicken broth
1 can cream of potato soup
1/3 c half and half
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients except the half and half in a crock pot. Cover and cook on low 5 hours or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender. Then stir in half and half and cook covered on high another 15-20 minutes.
Grilled cheesy sandwiches – they make it on this ‘diet’ plan of mine and I am so happy about it ! To make them more sensible, use low fat cheeses, add flavor in the way of herbs, and be sure to use Pam and buttery spray. And then off you go – the variations are endless and here is a great Italian inspired one.
6 servings
285 calories per serving
1/4 c low fat pesto
12 1 oz. slices sourdough bread
12 3/4 oz. slices part skim mozzarella cheese
6 1/4 inch thick slices tomato
18 large basil leaves
I can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray
Pam
Spread 1 t pesto on each slice of bread. Top 6 slices of bread with a cheese slice, a tomato slice, 3 basil leaves, and another cheese slice. Top with remaining bread slice. Spray outsides of sandwiches with at least 5 sprays per side. Heat skillet on medium heat and spray with Pam. Add sandwiches, as many as will fit in a batch. Cook 2-3 minutes each side or until cheese is melted. You can use a Panini press here and the cheese will melt even nicer 🙂
Pierogies are the Polish version of the Italian ravioli or the Mexican empanada. They are little pockets of dough filled with a mixture of cheese and potato. There is nothing NOT to like and tons to love – it’s carbs wrapped up in carbs with some cheese thrown in for good measure 🙂
4 servings
233 calories per serving
1 t oil
2 c sliced mushrooms
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 T flour
2/3 c skim milk
1/2 c vegetable broth
1 lb. frozen low fat potato pierogies (I used the mini ones)
2 T light sour cream
Heat oil in skillet and add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over and stir well. Add milk and broth and stir until smooth. Add the pierogies and bring to a boil and then cook on medium heat 4 minutes or until heated throughout. Remove skillet from heat and stir in the sour cream. Be sure to remove from heat or the sour cream may curdle. Serve immediately.
