Italian Pizza Salad and Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We started our morning off with our usual tradition of going out to breakfast! We gave up on a romantic dinner out on this day years ago. It isn't romantic to worry about making reservations for Valentine's Day in January and then be in a very crowded restaurant where you feel very rushed to finish so someone else can have your table. We've made this more of a day to remember our love for each other as a family and the one and only true love we receive from above, the love of Jesus Christ! I am going to make a fun dinner at home for all of us though! Maybe I will even light some candles.

So on to salad. If you ever wanted to get a man to like a salad then this is the one you must feed him! I have been meaning to pick up the ingredients for this for quite some time and somehow kept forgetting the essential ingredients. Yesterday Miles and I ate this for lunch and Miles was very excited about it. Then several hours later on the drive home from the dentist in Marshall he commented again on how much he liked it and how it really hit the spot. When you eat as much salad as we do you really need to change it up everyday! This is one of our favorites and I can't believe it has taken me this long to share it with you really!

This is why he likes it so much! Turkey pepperoni is an awesome substitute for the real thing and makes an excellent salad topping. You can have 17 slices for only 70 calories and chopped up into fourths makes it feel like you get even more on your salad.

The rest of the ingredients include green onion, chopped tomato and sun-dried tomato, Greek peperoncinis, and lettuce of course. I always like to mix my lettuce so it was spinach and romaine yesterday.

For the dressing I would suggest this Light Sun Dried Tomato by Newmans or to make your own Italian with these 4 simple ingredients. I start with about 1/3 cup olive oil and added some of the brine from the peperoncinis. I am guessing it to be about 1/4 cup but you know by now I never measure this kind of stuff. Then I add some of this Italian Pesto seasoning but any Italian seasoning will work or use some oregano, basil, and thyme or parsley. I think I added about 1 tablespoon and about 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. I would normally just use fresh garlic but I was in a hurry.

It ended up making this much dressing and Miles and I each had plenty on our salads and I have leftover in the fridge for today!

So if you are tired of the same old salad with ranch dressing and you need to change it up or be motivated to eat more salad then try this. I promise you or any man in your life will not be disappointed!

Even though we have technically already celebrated Valentine's Day I will still make something fun for us tonight. Yesterday on the drive to the dentist I finally took the time to look more thoroughly through my new Clean Eating Magazine and found this...

Hmmm.....I think everyone would love this I thought to myself. Now let me see how they cleaned up ravioli????? I think I can make that work! Plus it is served with red marinara sauce which will be great for Valentine's Day.

Doesn't it look delicious?

Plus check this out! Only 135 calories for 4 ravioli with 2 tbsp. sauce and only 3 grams of sugar that comes from the tomatoes, which is the right kind of sugar to have! That is incredible! Now I will be off to hunt down whole wheat ravioli so wish me luck!

I will serve it with a Ceasar salad tonight and I will be working on a homemade Ceasar dressing that is a bit more healthy and something else red.....

We picked up a big container of these at Sam's on Friday evening so they will be perfect for tonight! Yum!

Happy Valentines' Day! I hope you have a great day celebrating the ones you love!

Hello Quinoa! I have Missed You!

I broke my carb, fruit, sugar fast this morning with a big bowl of my favorite breakfast food, quinoa and Greek yogurt with frozen blueberries and agave! It tasted pretty darn good! That is the amazing thing about going without for a few days. Those foods really do taste better then you ever thought they could!

I still ate very simple meals for the rest of the day however because I liked the last few days! For lunch I had this.....

Since I had quinoa already made up in the fridge I just added some pilaf mix and dried red and green peppers that I got at the local health food store in town. It is right next to Jake's Pizza for you locals and is called Potpourri. Excellent store! I just used a couple tablespoons of the pilaf blend and mixed it with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and tossed it all together to serve over my bed of greens. It looked like it was missing a bit of something though.

It asked me to add feta. I swear!

Then later for a little treat I had some nuts and a glass of green tea with mango that I also purchased at Potpourri. AMAZING! I started out with warm tea and half way through thought it might also be good iced so I filled a cup with some ice and poured it over. I was right. It was GREAT! I have been wanting to add more green tea to my life. I think I have found the way. The mango in there is just divine!

Dinner tonight was brought to me courtesy of the Schwan's Man! Have you heard me talk about how much I love these turkey and spinach meatballs???? Even Faith eats these and that girl wants to be a vegetarian. Quick and very delicious and even healthy!

So we ate them with a side salad topped with soy nuts, some cut up fruit, and just a few baby baker potatoes that also came from the Schwan's Man. We don't eat potatoes too often because you can't really call them a health food but they aren't bad food either. They are an occasional food! Super easy, quick, healthy and I didn't even have to dirty up my kitchen tonight. I just sat and talked to my husband while the meatballs and potatoes were in the oven. I don't usually let Miles in the kitchen when I cook. I have issues with needing to cook alone.

So even though I added fruit and carbs back into my diet today you can see that I stuck with complex carbs like quinoa and still didn't eat any bread. The potatoes on the other hand aren't so complex but I didn't even finish what was on my plate.

I promise I will get back to being more creative soon but I hope that you can see that eating healthy can be very quick and doesn't require a ton of thought and preparation all the time.

Enjoy your evening! Some DVR catch up is on the agenda for me!

Simply Simple

I have really forgotten how much I love simple cooking. Being very restrictive these last few days has caused me to remember how much easier it is to eat simply. I have used no recipes, eaten no carbs, sugar, or even fruit, and have spent very little time in the kitchen, yet we have eaten some delicious meals!

I guess that will equate to a very simple post!

Dinner last night.....

I sliced up some chicken sausage and peppers and onions and cooked them with a bit of garlic in some olive oil. I steamed some broccoli and corn, which was mainly for the sake of the kids. Corn doesn't really have that much nutritional value and I don't serve it often. I also needed to use up the last of my brown tomatoes so I sliced them and tossed some balsamic vinegar over them and topped with a bit of mozzarella. Lots of veggies and a very quick and healthy dinner!

Lunch today........NEW FANTASTIC DISCOVERY!

I had some leftover 8 layer Mediterranean Dip from Sunday's Super Bowl Feast. Instead of dressing I used this to top my simple salad of lettuce, spinach, tomato, and cucumber. We ate this salad yesterday for lunch as well. It is DEFINITELY my new favorite salad. I also added some soy nuts for crunch.

Dinner tonight.........

I baked some chicken I rubbed in one of my favorite spice blends and topped it with Parmesan cheese. I also cooked some black eyed peas and added tomato, green and red pepper, cucumber, and green onion to make it a salad. I made a simple dressing with olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and garlic. It was delicious!

I wish I had some red onion instead of green for color and a bit stronger flavor.

I think I have posted before about Pepper Creek Farms bread dipping blends. They do make excellent dipping flavors but I love to use them in all kinds of foods from salads to meat like I did tonight. The Greek one is my favorite of course but this was super tonight especially with the Parmesan cheese on top of our chicken. You can order these online but oddly enough I usually find them at TJ Maxx or Home Good Stores. Check there if you are fortunate enough to live close before ordering.

Simple post indeed! It took me only 15 minutes, which just might be a record! Now it is possible I might be able to watch the Biggest Loser on the actual night it is on.

I will continue to eat this way for a few more days. It really isn't bothering me. I am not really feeling deprived. In fact I have been reminded like I said at the beginning that this is how I prefer to eat. I just forgot for a while. My body is thanking me! Although you all probably are not. Sorry to be so boring!

Now on to my snack for the evening. Sugar Free Jello.







Baked Spaghetti

Well after a very indulgent weekend and actually last few weeks we will be watching our diet very carefully this week and amping up the workouts! (I'm going to be dying tomorrow I am sure!) So that means I won't be trying a whole lot of new recipes to share with you or being all that creative this week. We will eat eggs for breakfast for the next several days, salad or leftover dinner for lunch, and lean meat and vegetables for dinner. I know. BORING! Right? This is the key to maintaining weight loss however so every once in a while we have to do this. If we don't we will end up right back at square one and it is a heck of a lot easier to pull in the reigns for a few days then go back!

I did however make some baked spaghetti a couple weeks ago and have been meaning to share that recipe with you. I got this recipe from the church cookbook. It is Darcy Dimler's recipe and I cleaned it up a bit. We don't eat pasta very often so this really feels like comfort food and the kids LOVE it! I figured you might want to try this while it is still technically winter before the early spring arrives. (I am choosing to ignore the groundhog and believe it IS coming early! I can't wait to get back to running outside on a regular basis!)

Start by browning one pound of ground turkey or ground chicken breast. Season this with salt and pepper and a little garlic powder or use garlic salt instead of regular salt.

Add one large jar (24-28 oz.) of low sugar spaghetti sauce. 

While that is cooking get your pasta started. Of course we use whole wheat pasta but angel hair is particularly good in this recipe. You need 8 oz.

In a bowl you will need to mix the following ingredients:

The original recipe calls for 1 cup of sour cream. I use 1/2 cup Greek yogurt and 1/2 cup light sour cream to clean it up and add a bit more nutrition.

One egg or use an egg substitute to cut calories even further.

And some cheese!!!! The recipe calls for 3 cups of mozzarella but I can't bring myself to use that much and it tastes great with less. I also like to mix mozzarella and Parmesan. Instead of the three cups I usually just grab a couple handfuls because I am such a precise cook. He he!

Drain the spaghetti and rinse it with warm water. Then pour your mixture over the spaghetti and mix thoroughly.

Press that into a 9 x 13 greased baking dish.

Pour the sauce mixture over that and top with a little more cheese. This actually looks like more cheese then it really was. I like to just cover the top but not have it be too thick. I am saving calories and there is already cheese mixed in the pasta part so there is no need to overdue the cheese. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. I have to turn my oven up to 325 degrees because it is old and naughty so adjust accordingly. Let it sit a little so it can set up before you slice into it.

Serve it with something green of course!

Mmmmm......I wish I was eating this tonight!

Now I must get on with preparing that boring dinner. Just kidding. I do love vegetables so it isn't really that much of a bummer!

BAKED SPAGHETTI

1 lb. ground turkey

Pepper and garlic salt to taste

1 (24-28oz) jar low sugar spaghetti sauce

8 oz. angel hair whole wheat pasta

1 egg or egg substitute equivalent

½ cup light sour cream

½ cup Greek yogurt

8 oz. mozzarella cheese (approximate)

¼ - ½ cup Parmesan cheese

Brown turkey and drain. Season with garlic salt and pepper. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. Prepare angel hair pasta according to package directions. Rinse with warm water and place back in pot. Add sour cream, egg, and 1 handful of mozzarella and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese. Put the pasta mixture in the bottom of a greased 9 X 13 pan. Pour the meat sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle the top with more of the mozzarella and the rest of the Parmesan to cover. Bake 30 minutes at 300- 325 or until cheese is golden.  (Go easy on the cheese. You may not need it all.)



Some Super Bowl Plans???

Well I had high hopes of getting together several fun ideas for Super Bowl Sunday that would be healthy but still feel somewhat indulgent for you but the week happened and my plans did not! These are some ideas I came up with today in an effort to still make Sunday fun and delicious for my family.

One idea I did follow through with was build your own nacho night for my small group of high school girls on Wednesday this week. I had them over for some food and fun and delicious nachos that I took no pictures of. However, we ate some of the leftovers last night for dinner and I snapped a few pictures.

Here is Evan's nachos. He likes it pretty plain. I know. He needs a bit more work.

Here is my non-anemic plate with some green in there!

And this would be my husband with lots of cheese and a little green hiding in there somewhere I think???

I did clean up the nachos a bit so that I wouldn't have too much guilt or have to run too many miles to work them off because that is how you decide if something is worth it or not, right?

First, I bought healthier chips. I like to use the multi-grain tortillas or blue corn tortillas and on mine I even used Food Should Taste Good sweet potato chips.

Second, you need to think about the meat. I mixed beef with turkey and made a homemade taco seasoning so there was no MSG or preservatives in there and I also cooked some chicken in the crock pot and shredded it. I also lightly topped mine with meat. There is plenty going on and you don't need too much of any ingredient.

Third, you should think about using reduced fat cheeses or cheeses that are naturally lower in fat like mozzarella. I bought reduced fat pepper jack which we love and also had a Colby jack mix along with the mozzarella.

Fourth, you MUST load your nacho tin with VEGGIES! For the girls on Wednesday night I had green and white onion, red and green peppers, diced chilies, diced jalapenos, black olives, cilantro, tomatoes, lettuce, salsa, fresh homemade guacamole, and light sour cream.

Pop the tins in the oven for about 8 minutes and let them cool slightly so you can touch the pan and load it with the things you didn't want cooked. It was super awesome to have them all in individual pie tins so you can put whatever you like on them. I grabbed these at the dollar store.

Here is another idea if you want to be really good! Wednesday for lunch we had the most fabulous salad!

I took some of the leftover salad I had served with the nachos Wednesday evening and lots of the leftover toppings and used salsa and light sour cream for dressing. FANTABULOUS! And yes that is a word!



I was also thinking of making my 8 Layer Mediterranean Dip with some Pita Chips. You can find this on my recipe page under appetizers.

Good old deviled eggs would also be a hit around here. Someone eats them in one bite. Even after being told numerous times that it is important to enjoy and chew your food! Clean them up with olive oil mayo or light mayo.

Some homemade hummus and veggies would also be divine! My kids even love hummus. If you are going to buy it instead I suggest you buy Sabra brand. I am a bit of a snob about my hummus and theirs is my favorite store bought brand because it is so creamy. I like the roasted garlic flavor the best.

For something on the sweeter side I was thinking of making a fruit salsa with some cinnamon chips made from whole wheat tortillas. The kids would devour this!

I was also thinking about making some pinwheels wraps similar to these with some laughing cow spreadable cheese, spinach, turkey, avocado or whatever else I have on hand to throw in there. I will probably use Joseph's Lavash bread to make them. I rolls up so much more easily then tortilla wraps would because of its rectangular shape.

The best part about this is that it only has 50 calories! You can find Joseph's products at all 3 stores in Willmar. Check the bakery bread section at Walmart, near the cheeses and deli counter at Cashwise, and by the cupcakes and treats on a smaller shelf at Cub.

I might also buy some more won ton wrappers and fill them with the leftover Asian filling I made a few nights ago and stuck in the freezer. We tried to steam them the other night and it wasn't working so well since we don't have a steamer basket so we ended up pan frying them in a little olive oil. They tasted delicious!

I made a little sauce with these ingredients and cooked some ground pork with a TON of finely chopped veggies.

I believe there is broccoli, carrots, cabbage, water chestnuts, maybe some celery and some green onion in there. I have no idea how much of the above sauce ingredients I used. I just kept tasting and adding what I felt it was lacking.

Here is the method I used to fill and fold these up. Only about one tablespoon will fit in each wrap and you need a little water to help seal the edges.

Like I said we gave up on steaming them and being super healthy but these were quite yummy pan fried. Won ton wrappers are surprisingly not to bad in the health department. You could eat 8 of them for about 160 calories and they were made with wheat flour.

I found these at Walmart in the produce section next to the tofu which I still refuse to eat! One day, maybe if you don't tell me it is in something, and you fix something that looks so delicious I can't resist, I will eat tofu.

The last couple things I am thinking about making come from a blog I read called Happy Healthy Mama. The first one is for quinoa pizza balls with yogurt ranch dip. These really caught my attention!

           

I think I might even try these for small group tomorrow night. You can click here for the recipe on Maryea's Blog. Quinoa Pizza Balls

Her other recipe I want to try is for Super Easy Applesauce Crackers.

These just looked super fun, easy, and something I think the kids would really love and that I could feel good about serving. Click here for this recipe. Super Easy Applesauce Crackers

You could also look on my recipe page for other ideas. White Chili, Three Bean Chili, or Southwest Meatballs would all be fun Super Bowl Ideas.

Now truth be told I don't really care about the Super Bowl. I only care about making my boys happy by feeding their bellies with some Super Bowl worthy fair that doesn't completely ignore our diet while they enjoy the game. It is just an excuse for me to try a few new things in the kitchen. And I guess I care a little about the commercials! I hope they won't disappoint!

Enjoy your weekend and your Super Bowl Sunday!