Quesadillas

Quesadillas have to be one of my favorite go-to meals.  You can leave them plain or dress them up for an adult taste.

Large tortilla (you can also use small, we like burrito size tortillas)
handful of favorite cheese
butter for the outside of the quesadilla

*** add chicken, veggies, beans, etc with cheese for a more gourmet quesadilla***

**top with sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, jalapeños, salsa, shredded lettuce, etc**

*easily reheated as a leftover meal*

Heat pan on medium heat.  Butter 1 side of the tortilla and then lay butter-side down onto hot pan.  Sprinkle cheese on 1 half of the tortilla and fold over. Cook each side until lightly brown and cheese is melted. We like to cut it into triangles.

Berried up to Here- my version of a Blendtec Smoothie

We bought a Blendtec Blender with a WildSide Jar.  It is incredible!  I am trying to have at least one smoothie a day, so hopefully I will come across some awesome smoothie recipes.  Today I tried

Berried Up To Here-by Blendtec
I will post the Original recipe and then say how I altered it in parenthesis.
 1-1/4 cup Apple Juice (I had a capri sun apple juice 3/4 cup and 1/2 milk)
1 cup Frozen Strawberries
1/2 cup Frozen Raspberries (I didn't have any so I used 1/2 cup frozen berry medley)
1/2 cup Frozen Blueberries

Pouring it into my cup reminded me of watching the smoothies pour out at Jamba Juice. It was so pretty;)  Best part is Lucy tried it (my sensory picky eater) and LOVED it and Evan raved about it too..

Makes 2 servings (Lucy had a little and I finished it-so really 1 serving if it is taking place of a meal)
about 150 cal per servings

We LOVED this recipe.  Definitely will make this many more times.

Thanks Kim Barlow for motivating me to post to my blog again:)

And I'm back...

I haven't recorded a bunch of my recipes for a long time.  A friend mentioned my food blog when I was asking about smoothie recipes, so I decided to start adding to my blog again:)  YAY

Low Calorie Lettuce Wraps

Lettuce Wraps

So if you didn't know this about me I LOVE LOVE LOVE lettuce wraps. My first experience with lettuce wraps was at PF Chang's with Evan. I order them every time we go(cheaper during happy hour). I don't need anything else.

I love them so much I found a copycat recipe for them online and make them a lot.
They are TASTY!!!

6 years ago I really had worked hard on getting in shape etc. After I started my venture on that I happened to meet Evan. A year later we got married, and through the course of five years I have had different things affect me causing me to gain weight and my body shut down a little.

I would REALLY love to have more children, and if you already know how hard we tried for Lucy and Peter and how the pregnancies and births went, then you understand how crucial it is for my body to be in better shape. I have let what people suggest to me and say to me about health and what I need to do crush my self esteem, but I am done with that. I REALLY want to get my body into birthing shape again, so I am working really hard. I am working with a nutritionist and we bought an elliptical and I am training for a 5K, 10K, bike race and 1/2 marathon. I just bought new shoes making me even more excited that it actually could happen and family bike rides outside. I even have some friends that encourage me to go to the gym with them.

I have slowly been losing weight in a healthy and slow way, but under doctors orders, this is what needs to happen.

Anyway. I am trying to eat 6 times a day, low cal meals to fit in my allotted amount. So if you have any 300, 200 or 100 or less calorie meal options I would love to try them.

Back to the lettuce wraps. I looked up a fast easy way to make wraps. The copcat version of PF Chang's is higher in calories because of all the oil and sauces that go in, but this new version was quick, yummy and low cal. I found it on Rachael Ray's site. I will still make the other wraps other times but for now this is what I will try.

They called for Teriyaki sauce, I didn't have any so I substituted A Thai Peanut Sauce that we had-higher calories, but yummy. Next time I will make sure I have Teriyaki sauce to try as I am sure it is equally yummy.
Here is the recipe I followed and changed a little. My changes are in blue

TERIYAKI TURKEY LETTUCE WRAPS Burcu Avsar By: Noemi Costanzo From: Dinner

About 12 wraps from this. About 90 calories a wrap(without brown rice) but using peanut sauce. If you stick to the Teriyaki 45 calories a wrap without rice. Amazing eh! I love it. Evan said I could make these each week. They are a keeper. I am sure if we wanted a little more, then scallions, water chesnuts, mushrooms etc would add more flavor. This recipe takes only five ingredients to make! INGREDIENTS: 1 pound ground turkey
1 10-ounce bag shredded carrots -I used pre-made cabbage/carrot coleslaw-mostly cabbage from Target
4 to 5 scallions, thinly sliced -I didn't have any
1/4 cup to 1/3 cup store-bought teriyaki sauce -I used Peanut Sauce
1 head iceberg lettuce, leaves separated
I had brown rice on the side-Evan ate that, I didn't to conserve calories since I used peanut sauce instead of Teriyaki. I used the frozen brown rice from Costco. It just needs to be microwaved for 3 minutes and then it is good to go. I want to learn to freeze rice myself. My sister said she heard it could happen so I googled and found this.

My Dipping Sauce: soy sauce/chili/hot mustard equal parts for dipping sauce. You can change the portions to fit the consistency you like.


DIRECTIONS: In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil over high heat.-I didn't use oil, just threw the frozen but defrosted turkey roll into the pan. Add the turkey and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in the carrots, scallions and 1/4 cup water; lower the heat to medium-low. Cover loosely with foil and cook until the water is absorbed and the veggies are soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the teriyaki sauce to taste and cook until heated through, about 4 minutes. Divide the mixture among the lettuce leaves, about 1/4 cup for each; roll up and serve immediately.

Yes, paper plates. We are having dishwasher issues!

My Southwestern Burger Meal

This is what we had for dinner tonight. Yummy!

I was going to make this but we didn't have lettuce so I made what I could:) I'm calling it my southwestern burger meal We both Loved it and it goes well with Weight Watchers!

SANDWICH:
Bun
bbq chicken
cilantro
shredded cheese

SALAD:
equal parts:
corn, avocado, black beans

to taste:
sprinkle on green onions-I like a lot of them
cilantro
garlic salt

Chicken Cacciatore

We had this for dinner tonight. My new favorite!!!!! Recipe is from my friend Rachelle Milligan


2 1/2 -3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken, cut into serving piece
(4 nice sized chicken breasts ought to do it)
1 stick butter(you can do less)
2 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp basil
3 regular cans of diced tomatoes, petite diced is best
1/2 cup chicken broth
hot cooked rice or pasta-I liked wild rice
Brown chicken in melted butter and oil. When golden, add onion, garlic,
salt, pepper, basil. Cook until onion is tender but not brown, about 5
minutes. Add undrained tomatoes and simmer. Cover, reduce heat, simmer for 20 mins., stirring occasionally. Add broth and simmer again for 10 mins. Serve with cooked rice or pasta.

You can add diced bell pepper if you want. This freezes well and will feed you for a week. All
that butter will probably kill you but it makes it taste oh so good. ENJOY!!

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

So making enchiladas out of random ingredients, here we go:

Combine:
2 cups sour cream
1 can cream of celery soup
2 small cans of green chilies
1/4 cup sharp cheddar
2 cans costco chicken(the ones that look like tuna)

Saute:
1 large onion
3/4 cup slivered almonds
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder(about)
1 tsp cumin(about)
salt and pepper to taste

Add cream mixture to frying pan once the onions look clear and the almonds are toasted a little.

I used 5 LARGE tortillas for about half of the cream, and froze the second half for later.

Assemble:
place tortilla flat on cookie sheet
spread a good amount of sauce in the middle of tortilla.
sprinkle cheese over the filling
roll tortilla
and continue until you have made the amount you desire
spread a little sauce over the top of the tortillas to they don't burn
sprinkle more cheese


cook 375 for 20-30 minutes or until they look good to you(i like to see a little browning)

we topped with sliced olives and green onions


I was hurting, so Evan pulled them out, he was so excited and so cute helping:)



YAY, my green onions, white onion, and sour cream didn't go bad thanks to this meal:)

Chicken fried pockets and Rice Pudding

So I am trying not to spend any money for the next two weeks until the next paycheck, so I am trying to make and invent things or remember old recipes. While I was attempting to take a nap, which never happened, I thought of making some type of chicken roll-ups, the kind with the biscuits, cream soup, chicken, etc... But I didn't want to make those, sooo..

This is what I did.

I put in some rice pudding (needed to use up milk before it went back)
This is one of the best recipes ever!!! My mom would make this all of the time




In a big glass bowl stir in:
1 cup white rice
1 1/4 cup sugar
6 cups of milk
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
1/2 cup raisins

cook on 350 for 60 minutes

stir down and 3 tbs cream or butter
cook another 30-40 minutes until the top is golden or rice is done

Then I created my creating, kind of as I went along...
and since the ovens were taken with rice pudding, I decided to fry dinner.


So my Chicken Fried Pockets:

2 chicken breasts
2 cups bread crumbs(I use progresso bread crumbs and mix the Parmesan and Italian style together)
1-2 eggs stirred up-not cheese that is pictured but you could add that too
1 cup flour
oil(I used canola)
1 can large biscuit dough
1 pack of Gravy-to mix on the stove

Thaw chicken in microwave and slice into strips:
roll in flour

dip in egg
roll in crumbs


fry about 2-3 minutes until done, but not totally crispy

once all are fried(our you could bake them)
wrap half a biscuit dough around the chicken strip

fry again until dough is cooked(or you could bake them)

Then make gravy to package directions, serve over chicken rolls(i use the cheapest one on sale)

YUMMY!!! Evan loved them!

Cottage Cheese Faux Lasagna and Sinful Bread

Cottage Cheese Faux Lasagna
Hilary Biddulph

We are trying to save money and when I make one meal make a few extras to save on cooking time and money. The extras go in the freezer for later, and then we pull them out when the weekly menu calls for it. Today I wanted to make lasagna and use up the cottage cheese that we bought from Costco and were probably never going to finish eating before it spoiled.

So this is the recipe I came up with:


1 1/2 package of small shell noodles(I didn't have
2 lbs ground turkey
1 diced bell pepper
1 diced onion
garlic powder
salt
dried oregano
dried basil
dried parsley
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups cottage cheese
2 cups mozzarella-shredded
2 cups cheddar cheese-shredded
12 slices provolone(optional-just thought it sounded good)
1-4lb costco size prego spaghetti sauce(used what you think you need)

Step one:
Boil noodles
drain
set aside

Step two:
saute
2 lbs ground turkey
1 diced bell pepper
1 diced onion
garlic powder
salt

Step three:
mix
(with the dried spices I just did what looked right, about 1 tsp each??)
dried oregano
dried basil
dried parsley
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups cottage cheese
2 cups mozzarella-shredded
2 cups cheddar cheese-shredded

Step four:
layer:
sauce
noodles
meat
cheese mixture and repeat(however many layers you want, or spread it in about 4 pie pans, or 2 9x13 pans)

Step five:
top with provolone slices and bake(I sprinkled some cheddar cheese over the provolone)

375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until bubbly.





Sinful Bread

Submitted by Mindy
http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/2010/01/sinful-bread.html

1 cup parmesan cheese (grated fresh)

I cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup minced onion

Combine ingredients. Split French bread horizontally, spread mixture and sprinkle with paprika (if desired... the above picture is minus the paprika). Broil to crisp up. Enough for 2 loaves of French bread.

I used a small artisan loaf from Costco and halfed the recipe. I still had half leftover, so I saved it in a container for another day.

Easy Homemade Baked Egg Rolls and Ramen Lo Mein

Easy Baked Egg Rolls(makes about 11-12)
by:Hilary Biddulph
I used:
4 cups coleslaw mix
1-2 tsp oyster sauce
1-2 tsp soy sauce
3/4 cup chopped scallions(green onion)
1-2 tsp ginger paste
1 can water chestnuts chopped up and drained
1 can Costco chicken(looks like tuna) drained
I picture whole garlic, but I was too lazy and used about 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tablespoon of sesame oil
(season with the amounts you like)



Put all ingredients in a pan and cover on med heat for about 10 minutes, or until the cabbage is wilted

Put in a strainer and
squish out all extra juices to prevent having mushy egg rolls

Add 1-2 heaping tablespoons of mixture to the middle of the wrap. fold both sides and then bottom or bottom and then both sides. Put water on the top point and then roll up the egg rolls.


Brush with oil, butter, or spray with either.
Bake on 375 for 10-15 minutes. Take out and spray with more butter or flip egg rolls and put back in (maybe another 10 or 15 minutes) to get the crispyness that you prefer. I didn't have to flip mine, they crisped on the bottom, but I did take them out, spray them with parkay spray butter and cooked for another 1oish minutes. Total about 25 minutes.


For Easy Lo Mein
-Hilary Biddulph
Microwave ramen noodles in a bowl covered with water, including the season packet for 8 minutes.
Take out and drain water.
Add noodles and the rest of the coleslaw(1 cupish) to a frying pan and maybe add 1 tablespoon sesame oil or any other seasonings and cook until cabbage is wilted and it looks how you like.

You could add
carrots
celery
scallions
chicken
eggs
or anything else you like in it

I cooked up gioza (pot stickers) from Costco, I was too tired to make some by scratch, another day:)

Evan thought everything was great and thought they were so good and looked like I had purchased everything.

We dipped in soy sauce, red chili, and hot mustard

Mexican Meal