The War on Beans is Over

Anyone that knows me knows that I HATE beans. Yes, hate is a strong word and it is a fitting word as well.  The thing is...mom was right. "I know you don't like it, but you still need to try it." is what she'd tell me. I get it now, and I'm sorry for all those temper tantrums. 
At our last blogger night we tackled garlic and I was thrilled until I found out she was making bean dip. BLECH. With the words of my mother like an air horn in my head, I tried it and it was AMAZING. I mean it when I say that it was life changing. I see beans in a new light and it is the most delicious light there is.
It's important to continue trying those things you shouldn't hate in different ways. I taught myself to like tomatoes through another friends amazing bruschetta. Allowing the tomato to be overwhelmed by other flavors worked. I still don't eat it plain like my daughter... oooo except for those delicious cherry tomatoes. HAHAHA. Do you hear me? A few years ago I couldn't be paid to eat them.
My point is...continue to try them. Maybe you drown it in garlic until you adapt, at least you are adapting.
So without further ado please say hello to my friend, guest blogger and the lady who put an end to my War on Beans, Bree from Three and a Half Stones to Go.

Hello Everyone! I'm very excited to be blogging here today. Melissa has been an inspiration to me and has inspired me to eat healthier. Even though I don't have MS, I've even been following the Swank Diet myself and I can tell you that so far I feel amazing. I feel like my body is running better than it has in a long time. Because of this I am sharing one of my favorite swank friendly recipes. This bean dip is so creamy and rich tasting that you'd never believe it was low fat!

I have to give you one teensy little warning: Raw garlic is potent! Add at your own risk! Since I have Melissa completely obsessed with The Vampire Diaries (100% Team Damon over here), we decided to make our recipes garlic infused this time around. You can use the base of this recipe to create your own dip (like the southwest version I made for my blog), but here is the garlic version:

Creamy Garlic Bean Dip

• 16oz Fat Free Sour Cream (make sure you get a sour cream that contains a binding agent or it separates)
• 2 15oz cans of white beans (rinsed and drained)
• 4-5 green onions (sliced)
• 1 head of roasted garlic
• ½ – 3 cloves of raw garlic (½ clove is enough to bring out that bright garlic flavor, 3 if you want tons of flavor and to ostracize yourself from civilization for a week)
• ¼ cup low fat mozzarella

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients together, except for the mozzarella, saving a few green onions for garnish. I used an immersion blender to make it even creamier. Pour the mixture into a baking dish and cover with the mozzarella. Bake for 15-20 minutes until it is warmed through and the cheese has melted.

Use your favorite low fat chip or vegetables to dip and enjoy! And remember when the garlic overwhelms you how many great anti-oxidants are in there.


Thanks Bree! This amazing dip is the perfect stepping stone to incorporating beans into more of my recipes. I've been dreaming of using this as a pizza sauce since the second bite.  Be sure to stop by her site and show her some blogger love. 

Roasted Garlic Veggie Spread

Have you ever had a TV show that you refused to watch
because it sounded like the stupidest thing you've ever heard?

Seriously! It even looks lame,
I can't believe I am hooked on this.

I had one of those.
It was The Vampire Diaries. (Sounds lame doesn't it?)
Then one day someone tied me down and forced me to watch it. (Yes, that's my story. I was LITERALLY tied down.) Now I am hooked. After that it didn't take much for her to coerce me into a marathon night. My sickening desire to be productive turned it into a blogger night...a GARLIC themed blogger night. You see, according to this vampire tale, vampires have absolutely no problem with garlic and THAT is a cause for celebration.

Before I became obsessed with this show I'd been craving a veggie spread. I wanted something easy to prepare that could be served hot or cold at barbeques this summer. Often I find that there are plenty of carbs and proteins at parties, but rarely veggies other than a last minute veggie tray that no one really touches. Has anyone had their entire veggie tray finished at a party, ever?! It should happen, but we all revert to teenagers when faced with a buffet and go directly towards the "good stuff". Not this summer. This summer I am fighting back with delicious veggies and I'm starting with this Roasted Garlic Veggie Spread.

This could be perfect for tea parties (yes we still have those) or even a nice picnic. It's delicious served on toasted whole grain bread with cream cheese. We even made grilled cheese and veggie sandwiches with the leftovers which I HIGHLY recommend.
Also, and I say this with the seriousness of a thousand ninjas, you NEED to try my blogger buddies bean dip recipe. If you've been following my blog, you know that I hate beans, and this magical thing she created is quickly converting me. More on that later... for now here is my contribution to society.

Roasted Garlic and Veggie Spread
1 garlic bulb
1/4 green bell pepper
1/4 red bell pepper
1/4 yellow onion
2 tomatoes
2 cups chopped broccoli
Salt and pepper to taste
Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. Take your garlic bulb and peel the loose skins away. Chop between 1/4-1/2" off the top. You want to expose the tops of all the cloves and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Normally I would tell you that you want the garlic to cook for about 30 minutes or until golden and soft. Instead I wanna show you what it should look like when it is done....ready for this?

I think I need to frame that picture for my kitchen.
Allow the garlic to cool while you roast the other veggies. Before going into the oven these should all be chopped into somewhat equal sizes. Spray them lightly with your handy dandy olive oil spritzer, season with salt and pepper and mix to insure all the vegetables are coated nicely before placing them in the oven. They'll need about 30-40 minutes.
After they are done, add the veggies to your food processor along with the garlic. (The awesome part about roasted garlic is how easily it slides out of the skins.) Pulse until you achieve your desired texture and serve. 

Also, don't be afraid to try other vegetable combinations. This is what I happened to have on hand.
If this was featured on a buffet table, I know I'd grab it. How about you? What are you bringing to make your next feast a little healthier?

Smoked Salmon Hash with Dill Vinaigrette

Dinner for our blogger Irish Night was a challenge for me. It was hard to think of something traditional and also suitable for someone with my dietary restrictions. No white at night removes the staple potato from the mash-up. Get it? Mash up! Also, the traditional dishes use a lot of pork and beef.
I was going to make a lovely Colcannon when it hit me. Just because the clock says dinner doesn't mean the tummy can't scream for breakfast!!




Truthfully this wandered a little farther from the traditional Corned Beef and Hash that I was first envisioning. After a fair amount of research I've also learned that Corned Beef Hash actually has roots in Northern England. Oops. So while this doesn't represent St. Patty's Day very well, it was delicious enough to share anyway.
Bree from Three and a Half Stones to Go took the prize for Irish Night. Her version of Shepherds Pie was amazing and my 4 year old is still asking for more of it.

Smoked Salmon Hash with Dill Vinaigrette

Dill Vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 stalks green onion
2 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons fresh dill
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Place vinegar, lemon juice, green onion, dill, garlic, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the oil until emulsified. Transfer the vinaigrette to a bowl or squeeze bottle.

Smoked Salmon Hash
8 ounces smoked salmon, flaked
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 large sweet potatoes, diced
2 tablespoons horseradish
2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
2 cups chopped kale
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 poached eggs or cooked egg whites

Heat olive oil in a large, nonstick saute pan. Add the red bell pepper and sweet potatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally until the sweet potatoes are cooked through. Add smoked salmon, horseradish, dill, kale, salt and pepper stir until well mixed. Divide the hash among 4 plates and top each with a poached egg. Drizzle with the vinaigrette.

Moving on to the nutrition...

• The first thing we need to talk about are eggs. Obviously egg whites have no fat. It's that pesky yolk that brings in 5 grams of mostly saturated fat. On the Swank Diet we are allowed three eggs per week, but no more than one per serving.
• So then we go on to Salmon. Fatty fish contains unsaturated fatty acids and must be counted in your daily oil allowance. You are allowed 50 grams of this unsaturated fatty acid (10 tsp.) per day.
  Salmon, Chinook -- 1 oz. = 1 tsp. oil (5 grams)
  Salmon, Coho -- 2 oz. = 1 tsp. oil (5 grams)
  The majority of people I know are aware of the incredible benefits of salmon, if you are not one of them read this, this, this and especially this.
  Smoked salmon adds a lot of flavor without needing too much. Just watch the sodium because the smoking process adds quite a bit.

So there you have it. It started out brilliantly Irish, and ended as beautiful mix of flavors I didn't think I could have anymore. I absolutely love proving myself wrong!
Have you ever done that with a recipe? Or maybe you proved you actually like something you thought you hated? I'd love to hear your stories!

Cajun Green Beans

I had my first experience with Cajun Green Beans at a friends house. This is the same friend who sparked The Great Smoked Cream Cheese Obsession of 2011. I'm not sure if she is evil or wonderful for introducing me to these things, but I will SURELY keep her around to find out.

I decided these NEEDED to be made at our Mardi Maigre blogger night. We enjoyed them along side delicious open faced Po Boys and Kings Cake that Bree made and the Gumbo I wrote about earlier this week.

Cajun Green Beans
1 large family size can of french sliced green beans
1.5 slices turkey bacon, chopped
1 tbs garlic
1/2 to 1 tbs Cajun Seasoning

Cook turkey bacon until crispy, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Drain almost all the liquid from the can of beans. Add beans to the sauce pan along with Cajun seasoning. Cook until all the liquid has evaporated.

It's kinda like the taco meat procedure. I always hated adding water along with the seasoning and having to wait FOREVER for it to evaporate. I didn't understand the purpose until the day I got lazy and didn't add it. The depth of flavor just isn't there, so trust me. Let it cook for a bit.


These beans were so good it inspired a very similar creation.
I'll tell you more about Roasted Cajun Broccoli next time.

Gumbo with Habanero Chicken Sausage & Shrimp

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE blogger nights. I know I sound like a broken record but I don't care. Seriously, if you take ANYTHING from my blog it should be that cooking healthy foods together with a friend is good for the heart, soul and tummy.


This month we avoided all that mushy gushy Valentine's stuff and went straight for a New Orleans Mardi Gras Celebration. Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, which is basically the practice of gorging yourself one last time before Lent. We chose some terrific, but traditionally high calorie, dishes to makeover for Mardi Maigre (Skinny Tuesday) and they all turned out amazing. No gorging needed because they are all healthy and delicious year round.

Check out the Cajun Green Beans, Po Boys and of course, delicious nutritious Gumbo we made!
Gumbo with Chicken Sausage & Shrimp
1/3 cup flour
3 slices turkey bacon, chopped
1 pound peeled and de-veined raw shrimp
1 package Spicy Chicken Sausages (I used a Habanero Monterrey Jack type), sliced in bite size pieces
2 tbs olive oil
1 green bell pepper
1 red or orange bell pepper
1 large onion
5 stalks celery
3 tbs garlic
1 bag frozen okra
28 ounces chicken broth, divided
1 cup water
1 tablespoon Tony Chachere's® Famous Creole Seasoning
5 cups cooked brown rice
Dice all the veggies.  Add flour to a dry saute pan and cook until it appears brown, stirring constantly. Place browned flour in a bowl to cool. Saute turkey bacon in oil until bacon is crisp, add veggies. Cook until they are tender then add the water. Bring to boil. Whisk 14 ounces of chicken broth into the cooled flour. Add this mixture to the veggies slowly. Also add in the seasonings, remaining broth and okra. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add shrimp and sausage, simmer until shrimp are cooked thoroughly.  Serve 3/4 cup gumbo over 1/2 cup cooked brown rice.

Makes 10 Servings.
Each serving is 310.9 calories, 10.5 grams of fat total but only 3 grams of saturated fat.
Here's a little more info in case you were wondering:
Potassium 475.3mg; Total Carbs 35.1; Sugars 3.5; Protein 19.5. And it's loaded with vitamins!

Isn't okra nasty? Why should I eat that stuff?

1. First of all, it is very low in calories (only 18 in half a cup) and it contains no saturated fats or cholesterol.
2. It's considered by many to be a superfood. (Am I the only one that envisions people getting super powers from eating a superfood?)
3. It is a rich source of dietary fiber, minerals, vitamins so it's often recommended in cholesterol controlling and weight reduction programs.
4. The pods are loaded with vitamin A and it is one of the green vegetables with highest levels of anti-oxidants such as beta carotenes, xanthin and lutein which helps to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
5. Excellent source of vitamin-C.
6. Rich in B-complex group (niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin and pantothenic acid).
7. Good source of many important minerals such as iron, calcium, manganese and magnesium.

Moral of the story:
Make gumbo.
Eat okra.
Smile.

PS: Do you observe the Lenten practice of giving things up? If so what are you doing this year?

Check out more tasty deliciousness at Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup

Blogger night turned into a soup buffet, you'd know that if you read my last blog post. If you haven't you should go back and read it... I'll wait.

Welcome back... now on to the goodness: Spicy Sweet Potato soup is kinda like Baked Potato Soup, only with sweet potatoes and it's spicier hence the name. It was voted favorite soup of the evening by Bree from Three and a Half Stones to Go, but I don't think she gave her French Onion Soup or Tomato Basil Soup enough credit. 



If you need something to warm you on the cold January nights, look no further than
Spicy Sweet Potato Soup
4 sweet potatoes (about 2-1/2 pounds), peeled and sliced 1" thick
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 slices turkey bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped, plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
3 cups chicken broth
3 Tbs fat free half and half
Zest and juice of 1 orange
Fat Free sour cream, for garnish
Boil sweet potatoes 10-15 minutes until tender. Drain and return to the pot. While that is cooking, cook the turkey bacon in a pan until crisp. Set the bacon aside and add oil to the bacony pan. Cook onion and carrot until onions start to become translucent. Add chopped chipotle pepper, and adobo sauce, and cook 5 more minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, orange zest, orange juice and season with salt and pepper.

Add the this mixture to the sweet potatoes in the pot and cook 5-10 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender. Stir in half and half, heat for a few more moments and serve the soup with the fat free sour cream and chopped turkey bacon on top. I also added some tomato that I had leftover.

In my opinion this is very spicy. The sour cream helps to cut that a little but if you are not a fan of spiciness leave out the chipotle. Also, in the rare event you made both my Bean Free Chili and this Spicy Sweet Potato Soup and you were wondering what to do with the 1/2 cup leftover of each one...you should mix them together. Trust me, it was glorious.

What kinds of soups do you make to warm up on the cold days this month?

Find more delicious things at Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Bean Free Chili with Quinoa

I feel like I should admit something to you...
I hate beans.
This doesn't include green beans. I'm ok with those, but the rest of them are nasty.
I know this isn't what you should hear from someone dedicated to providing you with healthy hypo-friendly recipes, but it's the truth. I don't like the texture, the flavor, the smell, the after effects. I hate them.
Because of this intense hatred, I have never been a big fan of chili. I enjoy chili flavor, but every variety I've ever had was loaded with that grossness. I'm honestly not sure what prompted me to think about Chili when Bree and I started talking about Soup Night for our monthly blogger night but I'm very, very glad I did though. My version starts with ground turkey and ends with quinoa to add that extra oomph of protein beans normally contribute to the classic recipes. I also made a Spicy and Sweet Potato Soup, Bree made an amazing French Onion Soup and also a Tomato Basil Soup. And yes, we will be eating soup for every meal this week. I'm ok with that, because seriously look how delicious this is!



Bean Free Chili with Quinoa
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
1 pound ground turkey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 green bell pepper, chopped
3 zucchini, chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
1 tablespoon dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Bring the quinoa and water to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, brown the turkey and set aside. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in onion, garlic, and jalapeno; cook and stir until the onion is translucent. Add chili powder and cumin; cook 1 minute to release the flavor of the spices. Stir in the tomatoes, green bell pepper, zucchini, oregano, and parsley. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. This made mine very thick so I added about 2 cups of water to thin it out and let that simmer for 5 minutes.
Before serving add the quinoa.

This makes about 10 cup size servings. Each serving is only 186 calories and packs 15 grams of protein!! Plus it only contains 3.3 grams of fat, and of that only .6 is saturated. I could bore you with the rest of the nutritional data like the 4.1 grams of fiber and the 161.8 grams of potassium, but the point is that my version is delicious and healthy and waaaaaay better for you than the classic bean-y versions.

Find more delicious things at Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.

Smoked Cream Cheese

There are a few things in this world I can't live without:

Marshmallows
Coffee
Grilled Sandwiches
Chocolate

But right at the top of that list is CHEESE. I love cheese!
I love cheesy jokes!
I love cheesin it up in front of the camera!
I LOVE cheese!

Now I'm not sure if you know this, but cheese isn't very healthy. Sure a 1-ounce serving can supply up to a third of your daily calcium, plus protein and vitamin D, but there is a lot of fat in most of it. And while I'm thankful for the fat-free American singles on my grilled cheese sandwiches (THANKS KRAFT!!) it doesn't always do the trick for me.  Sometimes you need something creamier...a little richer...with more flavor...something completely indulgent.

I was at a friends house recently and was introduced to smoked cream cheese. Immediately I was depressed  knowing something THAT amazing existed and I couldn't have it. I also tasted it to confirm my misery.

Well in a style very typical of me, I was consumed by a stubbornness to recreate the magic.  I spent the next few days researching cold smokers and temperatures, along with the durations and tools needed to accomplish this feat.
It wasn't until I was on my way to Home Depot to pick up the supplies that it hit me. LIQUID SMOKE!? Could it work? Would it be nasty? How expensive is it? How long will it take me to get to the grocery store from here traveling at approximately 60 miles per hour and assuming there is no traffic?
Truthfully none of that mattered, I had to try it.
After a measly $3.50 I realized that I had created something magical. Completely...utterly...magical. It was so magical that I remade it for blogger night with Three and a Half Stones To Go along with my Turkey & Stuffing Meatballs.

Let me introduce you to your new friend:
Smoked Cream Cheese - Hypo Style
2 tbsp liquid smoke
1/2 cup water
1 block fat free cream cheese
garlic powder
Tabasco sauce
Montreal Steak Seasoning
ground black pepper
Find a dish that will fit the cream cheese with only a little room for liquid. (I used one of those Hillshire Farms lunch meat containers.) Mix the liquid smoke and water into that container. Add the cream cheese block. Allow this to sit for 20-30 minutes. The longer it sits the smokier it will taste. After your desired time is up drain all the liquid off the cheese. Drizzle the block with a little Tabasco, then coat it lightly with the seasonings. Press those seasonings gently into the block and serve.

This tastes amazing on everything from cucumbers to crackers to my coworkers breakfast sandwich. I didn't actually try the sandwich, but the sound effects he made after each bite lead me to believe that I am awesome.
I'll also be using this in my Baked Jalapeno Poppers to bribe people in the near future...I just have to find the right victims  things to ask for  people.

Turkey & Stuffing Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce

Blogger nights are so much fun for me. I get to see a great friend, make delicious food, enjoy (a few too many) drinks and share our great discoveries with you lovely people. This month was all about appetizers and while we wrestled with the names (all of which are too horrible to repeat) we dominated on the dishes. Ok...ok...as far as the name of our event, I think we settled on Skinnytizers...don't judge, the other ones were much worse.

Bree over at Three and a Half Stones to Go made these spicy garlic shrimp things that I am remaking for dinner one night this week. She also made this delicious veggie cup with low fat feta and basil. Be sure to stop over and give her some blogger love.

In honor of my love of Thanksgiving food (and holiday food because to me the holidays are just an excuse to make more Thanksgiving food) I decided to mix all the flavors of the meal into an easy to share appetizer. I also made this AMAZING smoked cream cheese which you'll hear about later this week.

Anyway on to the deliciousness...

Turkey & Stuffing Meatballs with Cranberry Sauce
1 cup low sugar cranberry juice
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 packet plain gelatin

3 egg whites
1 package cornbread stuffing mix
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup celery
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 lb. ground turkey
For the sauce:
Bring cranberry juice to a boil. Dissolve brown sugar into juice. Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin, then the orange juice. Put in the freezer to get a nice quick chill and allow the mixture to solidify slightly.
Preheat oven to 375˚F. In large bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Shape into 1" balls or take the cheater route and use an ice cream scoop. Place these on a greased cookie sheet. (I like to cover the pan in tin foil to make clean up easier.) Bake for 20-30 minutes until browned. Serve the yummy balls topped with the cranberry sauce or alongside it like I did for easy dipping.

It tastes like the holidays but waaaaaay fewer calories.
This recipe made about 60 meatballs and each meatball with sauce counts for about 40 calories. The best part is how incredibly low the fat content it. Total fat is .4 grams per meatball and only .1 grams of saturated fat. You'd also count this as a carb and protein serving so make sure you mix in a side of roasted veggies if you are looking for the full meal effect.

What sort of meal revisions are you making to help you survive the holidays in the same pant size?

I take part in Simply Indulgent Tuesdays.

Spinach & Walnut Chicken Roulades with Pan Gravy

Roulade... that sounds fancy doesn't it. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I have never tried to roll anything inside meat before. It sounded delicious and it looked beautiful, but it seemed too intimidating.
I am now educated.
Had I known how easy this really was I would have been rolling meaty things long ago. It starts with violently beating an innocent piece of meat, and turns into something delicious... how can that be bad?! I know it sounds wrong, but I think this process will be my new mental coping mechanism for dealing with difficult people. Just imagine turning that mean spirited neighbor into a beautiful roulade. I feel better already!

This month I joined up with my friend and fellow blogger from Three and a Half Stones To Go to prove that holiday fare doesn't need to be filled with fat. Skinnygiving was a huge success!!


We limited our event to 4 dishes to prevent obnoxious amounts of leftovers. She created an amazing Brown Rice Stuffing with chicken sausage and apples and wow...it was so good. She also made a Crustless Fat Free Pumpkin Pie which I remade for a group tonight and they DEVOURED it. The bowl was literally scraped clean.

I tackled the green bean casserole and a dish to rival any turkey.
Spinach & Walnut Chicken Roulades with Pan Gravy
4 chicken breasts
1 package spinach
1 tbs garlic
1 tsp oil
Crumbled blue cheese
Walnuts
Toothpicks
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Place chicken in plastic wrap and use a rolling pin or saute pan to pound the chicken nice and flat. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
In a saute pan add the oil and garlic, add spinach in handfuls and allow to wilt.
Then you start the fun assembly.
Divide your spinach into 4 segments. Each flattened breast gets one quarter of the spinach, some blue cheese and walnuts. This next part seemed intimidating before, but it's so simple. All you need to do is start rolling one end and secure with a toothpick.

Add the rolls to a heated pan (that you sprayed with olive oil) and allow them to get nice and golden on all sides. Cover and let cook an additional 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Remove from pan and add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and be sure to scrape the pan so your gravy will include all the delicious flavor left from the chicken.
In a cup whisk the cornstarch with cold water. Slowly add this mixture into the boiling stock. Whisk constantly until thick. Serve chicken topped with gravy.

The other dish I tackled that evening was a skinny green bean casserole. It was delicious and I promise to share it soon. For now I'll be dreaming of excuses to make these dishes again.

Have you made a roulade before?

Baked Crab Rangoons

I've said it before... but there is nothing like cooking with friends. I met up with Bree for our much anticipated Hypo/Three Stones Asian Night and it was a HUGE success! She made these amazing Fresh Rolls that were filled with sprouts, shrimp and other goodness. If I hadn't seen her make them I would have thought they were impossibly difficult, but they weren't so TRY THEM!
For this event I decided to give one of my most requested dishes a healthy makeover. Crab Rangoons are typically deep fried and super fattening, but I proved that they don't have to be fatty to be delicious.

Practically Fat Free Baked Crab Rangoons
1 package imitation crab
1 package fat free cream cheese, softened
3 stalks green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 package wonton wrappers
In medium bowl, combine all ingredients except wonton wrappers. Mix until well blended. Place a glob of this amazing mixture in center of each wonton wrapper. Using your finger or a pastry brush, moisten just the edges of the wrapper with water. Fold in half to form triangle, pressing edges to seal. Arrange on baking sheet that has been coated with vegetable spray. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Serve with strawberry jalapeno pepper jelly. Here's a quick recipe in case you aren't the type that makes batches of this to freeze: Combine 1 cup sugar free strawberry jelly with enough jalapenos to give it a good heat. Put this mixture in your food processor until it is nicely evenly mixed.

Each time I make these the amount I get varies based on how much filling I stuff into them. This time it created 36 delicious rangoons. Each one is about 36 calories and .2 grams fat with NO saturated fat. While that doesn't give you the excuse to finish the pan by yourself...it should remove the guilt of treating yourself to a few extra.




I also decided to whip up a few Brown Rice California Rolls. I love love love sushi and making it is much more affordable than picking it up from the store. Be sure to check out my instructions here.

Join us next month for Skinnygiving as we tackle our favorite holiday feast foods.




This post is linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays for 10/4/2011.

Cottage Cheese Enchiladas with Cilantro Pesto

The best part about having friends that hold you accountable to a diet or lifestyle change is sharing the tips and tricks that you've both learned along the way. If you are lucky enough to have one of those friends, send them a cyber hug right now! If you are not that lucky, I am for hire...send me your name, and aspirations and I'll torment you with tips and advice. I might even send you pictures like this one below that make you go "Huh?! No way is that healthy!" But I'll be right (as I usually am) and it will be chock full of flavor and low in calories and saturated fat. You'll thank me.

Cottage Cheese Enchiladas with Cilantro Pesto

10 whole grain tortillas
2 cups fat free cottage cheese
8-10 oz fresh spinach, wilted slightly over low heat

For the Cilantro Pesto
2 cups cilantro, leaves only, chopped
½ cup onion, chopped
½ cup slivered almonds
¼ cup garlic, chopped
½ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Mix everything together in a mini blender or magic bullet until it forms a paste. Set aside.

For the Red Sauce
1½ cups tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup tomato purée
½ teaspoon chicken bouillon

Mix everything together in a blender. Transfer to a sauce pan and cook for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350. Using a brush (or your preferably clean hands), cover tortillas with the pesto. I found it easiest to cover and stack until all the tortillas were covered. Then it’s filling time! Make sure to have your glass baking dish nearby  so you can fill and drop them into the pan. Each tortillas gets about 2 tablespoons of cottage cheese and a handful of spinach. Basically the name of the game is to make sure you have enough to fill all the tortillas evenly. No one wants an all spinach enchilada, or just cheese. In the words of Tim Gunn, “Make it work people, make it work.”
So once each tortilla has been filled, you roll it and put it in the pan. Once the pan is full, top all that amazingness with the red sauce you cooked up. Move the dish into the oven for 10 minutes or until it is heated through.

These were soooo good! Even the leftovers were good cold. And check out that Tequila Chicken and Pico and Baked Onion Rings and SKINNY Margarita made by Bree of Three and a Half Stones to Go. She is seriously amazing and these recipes were perfect for our Hypo/Three Stones Mexican BBQ.  In fact the whole event was so much fun that a tradition has been started and we'll be meeting next month for an Asian twist.

In case you don't believe me that these are pretty darn healthy... take a look. The biggest win here is in the saturated fat content. A typical cheese enchilada contains 21 grams of fat, with 12 of those being from saturated fat.  I'm not willing to sacrifice 12 of my 15 allowed grams of saturated fat to a single enchilada. Here it costs only 2.7 grams, and the nutritional boost is something your mother would be proud of.

Nutrition Facts
Makes 10 Enchiladas

One enchilada is equal to 10 Weight Watchers PointsPlus

Calories    361.1
Total Fat   17.1 g
  Saturated Fat              2.7 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat     2.4 g
  Monounsaturated Fat   9.8 g
Cholesterol      7.8 mg
Sodium        707.3 mg
Potassium    322.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate     38.0 g
Dietary Fiber      4.0 g
Sugars        6.1 g
Protein      18.5 g

Vitamin A          47.5 %
Vitamin B-12       7.8 %
Vitamin B-6       11.1 %
Vitamin C          20.5 %
Vitamin D            0.0 %
Vitamin E           10.6 %
Calcium                9.2 %
Copper                8.1 %
Folate                15.4 %
Iron                    13.4 %
Magnesium         10.0 %
Manganese         26.0 %
Niacin                  3.7 %
Pantothenic Acid  2.8 %
Phosphorus        11.5 %
Riboflavin           11.6 %
Selenium             11.2 %
Thiamin                 5.4 %
Zinc                      4.9 %

So there you have it. Forward this to your mother so she knows you eat well (occasionally), and get your friends together for a healthy night of cooking.  Your waist line will thank you!