Grilled Tomato and Cheese Sandwiches

This was such an easy and yummy lunch! I don't feel quite as bad about having a grilled cheese if there are some vegetables on it :) Also, the cheese is low-fat and I loved it! The roasted red peppers add a great, unexpected flavor. Neat twist on an old favorite :)

http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/recipes/30-minutes-or-less/grilled-tomato-and-cheese-sandwiches.aspx?WT.dcsvid=NTMxMDQ4NjcyMgS2&rvrin=85656AAF-05C4-4739-966E-B1B4D9429E11&WT.mc_id=Newsletter_EBA_2010_07_14

Foil Packet Mixed Veggies

A picture of this recipe is below with the crab cakes. This turned out GREAT! And only had to cook for about ten minutes! Plus, NO clean-up! Can't beat it. I didn't put in the bell pepper that is called for on this but I did everything else exactly the same. I did chop the mushrooms before cooking though. This can be cooked either on the outdoor grill, in the oven or on the stove. I just used my indoor grill and put the foil packets on there for 10 minutes on high and they are absolutely perfect! This side dish goes with just about any entree and it tastes great too. :)

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/sensational-foil-pack-vegetables-106267.aspx?cm_mmc=eml-_-rbe-_-20100720-_-1015

Homemade Guacamole

So I made some chicken tacos tonight on corn tortillas and I decided some homemade guacamole would go great with them.

Here's what I did:

1 large, ripe avocado

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, diced

2 tablespoons lime juice

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

It's hard to believe that four simple ingredients could make something soooo good! Just mash your avocado down and stir in the other ingredients.

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Honey Apple Cake

This was soooo yummy! I made this minus the frosting and it was perfectly delicious! My guess is that it is a little under 200 calories per serving without the frosting since it is 255 calories per serving with the frosting. I just made the cake with light Cool Whip. Chris liked it so much that he had two pieces after dinner tonight hahaha!

This one is definitely a crowd-pleaser-- very moist and flavorful! And I loved that it didn't have any butter or oil in it.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1723427

Cooking Light Crab Cakes

Crab Cakes

From Cooking Light

• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tablespoons light mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 3/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 pound lump crabmeat, drained and shell pieces removed
• 1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• Cooking spray

1. To prepare crab cakes, combine first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl. Gently fold in crabmeat. Gently stir in 3/4 cup panko. Cover and chill 30 minutes.

2. Divide crab mixture into 6-8 equal portions ; shape each into a 3/4-inch-thick patty. Place remaining 3/4 cup panko in a shallow dish. Working with 1 patty at a time, dredge in panko. Repeat procedure with the remaining patties and panko.

3. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil (or more) in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat both sides of crab cakes with cooking spray. Add 4 crab cakes to pan; cook 7 minutes. Carefully turn cakes over; cook 7 minutes or until golden. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil, cooking spray, and remaining 4 crab cakes.

Slow-Cooker Liners

Just wanted to put in a little plug for this wonderful product! If you've never tried slow-cooker liners, this is a must! Cleaning the inside of crockpots can really be a long task. I'm totally hooked to these now. I've only seen these in one size-- fits a very large crockpot. They are soooo handy! I have heard that if you put the heat on high for a really long time, they can melt a little. But I always cook my food on low and have never had this problem or any breakage. These make clean-up soooo easy!

Slow-Cooker Salsa Chicken

This one couldn't be simpler, folks! This recipe is pretty self-explanatory. The chicken will shred very easily when finished cooking and you can serve on tortillas, if desired. Also good with black beans and corn mixed in later on. A much lighter meal than most Mexican food.

Hope you enjoy!

Slow-Cooker Salsa Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 package low-sodium taco seasoning
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup light sour cream

Add chicken to slow cooker.
Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken.
Pour salsa and soup over chicken.
Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.
Serve with rice and black beans.

Campbell's Crockpot Chicken and Rice

I can't remember where I got this recipe since it was quite a while back, but I made this for the first time tonight and this was pretty tasty. And of course, as with most crockpot recipes, SOOOO easy! The chicken was falling apart when I took it out.

My only changes were:

Margarine instead of butter- and only about 2 tablespoons

Low-sodium version of the chicken gumbo soup

Only used three chicken breasts

Even though it said not to stir, after 2-3 hours of cooking, I stirred and everything still turned out great!

Campbell's Chicken and Rice in Crockpot

1 box Uncle Ben's Wild Rice
2 cans Campbell's Chicken Gumbo Soup
2 cans water
4 - 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 TBLS butter melted
Spray crock pot with nonstick spray, pour in box of rice, pour melted butter over rice, place chicken breasts on top of rice, pour soup and water over chicken, sprinkle season packet from rice on top - don't stir, cover and cook on low for about 6 hours.

Ultimate Barbeque- Rubbed Chicken

Here's what I made for dinner tonight. We both loved this- the perfect summertime meal! I have made the coleslaw before and have posted it on here. Here's the recipe if you didn't see it -

Cole Slaw Recipe.

For the chicken, changed up this recipe in order to get more flavor. Instead of just rubbing the spices on right before grilling and then dipping the cooked chicken in the sauce... I decided to marinate the meat in the sauce AND spices for about 4 hours in the fridge before putting it on the grill. The chicken was *perfect*! Lots of flavor! Hope you will give this one a try.

Here's the chicken recipe

Herbs

Here's a new product that I found in the produce section of Target recently that I had to share. The brand is "Litehouse". They are freeze-dried herbs and they are very close to the taste of fresh ones, in my opinion. I have bought their dill, chives and basil and all have been great. Here is their website if you are interested in seeing what all they make:

http://litehousefoods.stores.yahoo.net/freezdriedhe.html

I really like them and they don't go bad like fresh ones do. No need to refrigerate and no chopping! YAY! :-)

Chicken Vegetable Pizza

I made this tonight for dinner and it was soooo good! What a yummy way to get your veggies.

Here's all I did:

Spread out a store-bought pizza crust on a rectangular cookie sheet. (Or make your own if you are more patient than I am!) Lightly drizzle with olive oil and spread out minced garlic all over the top. Bake this by itself for only 5 minutes on 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, cook or boil one boneless chicken breast until done and cut into small cubes.

Take crust out of the oven, and add desired vegetables and cubed chicken. I used fresh mushrooms, roma tomatoes and roasted red peppers. I didn't use tomato sauce because sometimes it can make it a little soggy. Then, I topped it with about 2 cups of shredded 2% mozzerella. (This kind is lower fat.) I also sprinkled it with some basil.

Then, bake for an additional 10 minutes on 400 and cut into squares.

Healthified Ravioli and Summer Squash Toss

Just had this for dinner tonight and this is a winner, folks! Hope you will give this one a try! I loooove squash so when I saw this, I knew I would be making it. I think I used two large squashes just because I like it so much. I don't really like chickpeas too much so I put in sliced white mushrooms instead. I also added about 1/2 cup of chicken broth to the veggies while they were cooking. Parmesan over the top is the perfect way to garnish this meal!

This is a perfect light, summer, vegetarian meal! And sooooo delicious!

Here's the recipe

Low-Fat Raspberry Summer Sensation

I made this today to have for dessert and Chris and I both loved this! So refreshing, cold and creamy! We definitely recommend this one. And it couldn't be easier. This link actually has a vide to show you every step. I couldn't find raspberry sorbet at Target, so I got raspberry sherbet instead. (Basically the same thing.)

All I have to say is - YUMMY!!

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/low-fat-raspberry-summer-sensation-74024.aspx

Crockpot Red Wine/Cranberry Glazed Pork Tenderloin

I know I have posted this a long time ago but it is so delicious that I think it deserves a second post. Try it out and let me know what you think :)

I've made this probably 4 or 5 times in the last year or two and it's always SO tender and juicy! Crockpots are wonderful!!!

I have changed the original recipe and used a 1 pound pork tenderloin instead of a pot roast. This helps to save on fat and calories, big time!

Since I use a smaller, skinnier cut of meat than what is called for, I usually only cook it for 4-6 hours on low. (But I have a pretty quick cooking Crockpot, so use your own judgement on that.)

Also, another tip for those of you that don't have a lot of bottled wine around the house-- Buy the small boxes of wine, like the ones in the picture above. They are perfect for individual portions and for cooking.

This recipe is just about fool-proof and turns out perfect every time!

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/03/crockpot-red-wine-cranberries-glazed.html

Lower-Fat "Fried" Chicken w/ Creamy Gravy

I made this tonight and it was pretty good. Definitely didn't have a fried taste at all. My only complaint about the directions is that they tell you to cook the chicken for quite a while and that really wasn't necessary. Mine was done in about 25 minutes since you put a lid on it for a while. Don't know why they said to cook it for so long.

Also, don't use very much flour at all in the gravy. I accidentally did and it made it super thick and sort of gelatin-like. It tasted decent but the texture was driving me crazy. I had never thought to use evaporated skim milk in gravy before. Very smart idea!

I served this with Ore Ida Steam 'n Mash potatoes and green beans. It was a great combo!

Here's the recipe

Oroweat Sandwich Thins

If you haven't seen or tried these, you really should give them a shot. They are only 100 calories, 0g fat, and 11 g whole grains each. These are very versatile. You can use them for sandwiches, burgers, mini pizzas, breakfast egg sandwiches and a lot more. This website has recipes:

http://www.oroweat.com/Thins/Default.aspx

"Eggstractor" Egg Peeler-kitchen gadget

I saw this on a segment on the Rachael Ray show and I decided I had to have one! It makes peeling boiled eggs a LOT easier. I bought mine through Amazon since it was cheaper. There are two pieces, as you can see, that stack on top of each other. Here is the website that has a video of how it works.

http://www.eggstractor.net/

I tried it for the first time yesterday and it worked pretty well! And plus, it's just plain fun!

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

So I'm not sure if I've posted this recipe before or not, but it is so delicious that it's worth a second post haha! I usually roast it in the oven, but tonight Chris grilled it on the grill for me along with some zucchini. I only had time to marinate the meat for about 90 minutes before grilling it, but you couldn't tell by the taste at all! This was heavenly!

I decided to make an impromptu mushroom sauce with some whole-grain penne pasta mixed in. This was really easy- all I did was saute a 10 oz. package of portobello mushrooms with olive oil and add a can of golden mushroom soup and about 1/2 cup of red wine. Let this reduce on low. Mix in cooked penne and stir.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Marinated-Pork-Tenderloin/Detail.aspx

Blackened Tilapia w/ Secret Hobo Spices

This is a great way to give fish a lot of flavor with hardly any fat. I added dill to the mix of spices since it goes well with fish. The blend of spices are very nice! I did not add the white bread that the recipe calls for. Didn't see a need for it. Tilapia is such an easy fish to cook! If you're scared to cook fish, you should start with tilapia. This only took me 10-15 minutes in the skillet. I used 2 tablespoons of olive oil and that was the only fat I added.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blackened-Tilapia-with-Secret-Hobo-Spices/Detail.aspx

Open-Faced Turkey Burgers w/ Pot Pie Gravy

This was so easy and had so much flavor! I couldn't find the large English muffins called for in this recipe so I used the Orowheat "Sandwich Thins" that are only 100 calories each (50 if you only use the bottom!) But you could definitely eat this without any bread at all and just the turkey patty with gravy.

As you can tell from reading the recipe, this is very low in fat and calories! I used less butter than what she called for and one extra tablespoon of flour than called for to help thicken up the gravy. The dill and chives added a lot of great flavor to the turkey and the gravy is so easy to put together. It definitely reminds me of the inside of turkey pot pies without all of the fat and cholesterol that those have.

This one's a KEEPER! :-)

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/open-faced-turkey-burgers-pot-pie-gravy/

Berry-Filled Lemon Cake

I made this cake for my sister, Amy's birthday yesterday and it was so good- (if I do say so myself! ha!)

I did use real eggs in this instead of egg substitute because the reviews said that the cake won't rise much if you use egg substitute. I used fat-free vanilla yogurt instead of plain because that's all I had. I also used skim milk instead of water in the mix because I thought it give it a bit more flavor. And I added the juice and zest of one lemon to the cake batter.

For the lemon glaze, I used a little more lemon juice than called for in order to give it extra flavor.

VERY easy and almost fool-proof cake!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Berry-Filled-Lemon-Cake/Detail.aspx

Penne with Chicken and Asparagus

So I made this tonight along with my "Fasta Pasta" and this was such a quick, simple meal to put together! To be honest, it's not the most flavorful dish in the world, but it definitely is low in fat and calories and a quick, one-pot meal, so that's about all I cared about tonight. Of course, you can always use your imagination and add things to bulk up the flavor, like different cheeses, veggies, etc.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Penne-with-Chicken-and-Asparagus/Detail.aspx

Portobello Mushroom "Burgers"

I made these last night and OH.MY.GOODNESS-- so delicious and simple! This is a keeper, folks! I WILL be making these again!

The balsamic vinegar adds amazing flavor and the slice of provolone cheese on top is to die for! And these are pretty low in calories too- only 200 per mushroom cap. These are pretty big, as you can tell from the picture. They are more filling than you would think. We just had a side of wild rice and a slice of tomato with these. They only take maybe 15 minutes on the grill for both sides. I suppose if you wanted to, you could also put these on a hamburger bun, but I didn't see the need. Perfect way to save on carbs!! Hope you'll give these a try :)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Portobello-Mushroom-Burgers/Detail.aspx

"Fasta Pasta" Microwave Cooker

Chris and I bought one of these for Chris's brother, Randy a couple weeks back and I was so intrigued with it that I went ahead and bought one for myself on Amazon! :) I used it for the first time tonight and really like it!! I made whole-grain penne pasta in it and it turned out perfect! Not too mushy or hard- - al dente! It only takes 10 minutes in the microwave. You just put your pasta in the container and fill it to the line on the side and microwave without the lid on. It comes with detailed instructions and is so simple to use! It saves you time and another pot to clean after your meal, too. The lid also doubles as a strainer and spaghetti measuring tool. Very handy tool!!!

Healthified Cocoa Squares (aka Brownies!)

I made these for the ladies in my First Place class on Wednesday night and I think they were a hit!

My only change was to substitute sugar-free applesauce for the canola oil. You couldn't tell the difference at all. They were very moist and chewy. The shredded zucchini and mashed banana added some extra fiber and nutrients to the mixture. I sprinkled the top of them with powdered sugar but it had all dissolved by the time I drove them up to the church. But it added a little extra sweetness. I will definitely be making these again in the future!

The recipe says these are only 140 calories each, but I'm sure with the applesauce instead of oil, they are less than that.

Cocoa Squares Recipe