Valentine's Day Under 500 Calories: Elegant Eggs!

For most people, Valentine's Day dinner is a steak, lobster or some other expensive fancy meal, but in our house, the gang voted on breakfast for dinner! I have seen several pictures of bacon roses on Facebook over the last few days, so I tried my hand and creating flowers fit for a man! I wrapped the bacon before putting it into the skillet. I had to turn the bacon several times to prevent burning of the outside while the inside cooked through.

I also got creative with the eggs. I sautéed mushrooms, spinach and leeks and mixed them into the egg mixture along with some Swiss cheese. Instead of then making an omelette, I put the egg mixture over hash browns in individual custard dishes. This was my version of a quiche. The finished product was well received by my family. My boys were astonished that they liked all the veggies! My husband said that he felt like he was in a restaurant!!


Elegant Eggs:
(Serves 6; 336 calories per serving)

6 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 leek
5 mushrooms
1 cup spinach
2 slices Swiss cheese
1 tbsp butter
2 cups Oreida hash browns, thawed
Salt and pepper to taste
12 slices of cooked bacon

Preheat oven to 400*. Place 2 cups of hashbrowns in a bowl. And set aside to thaw for about 30 minutes. Dice up mushroom and spinach. Trim the root and leafy ends off the leek. Dice up the leek and place in a bowl of water for 10 minutes to wash off any sand or grit. Spray 6 custard dishes with nonstick cooking spray and place some hash brown in each dish. Shape the potato to the bottom and sides of each dish leaving a well in the middle. Bake the hash browns for 15 minutes. While the hash browns are baking, sauté the vegetables in a tablespoon of butter for 5-6 minutes. Let cool slightly. In a bowl whisk together the eggs and cream. Dice up the Swiss cheese and add to the egg mixture along with the sautéed vegetables. Evenly divide the eggs between the hash brown cups. Place the cups on a baking sheet and loosely cover with foil. Bake in a 400* oven for 30 minutes. Serve with 2 slices of bacon per serving!

Freezer Meal: Lasagna

Last night, we had he first freezer meal from the meal exchange that I did with my friends on Saturday. It was so nice to pull a ready made meal out of the freezer in the morning and have a no fuss dinner ready in under an hour!! The lasagna was prepared by my friend and neighbor, Sherry. She used the recipe on the Creamette Oven Ready Lasagna noodles and it was super yummy! I cut down the serving size so the meal also fit into our under 500 calorie meal plan as it was 497 calories per serving!

Yesterday was day 35 of the under 500 calorie challenge and I had a hold on my weight. I think that was due to eating too many snacks like brownies and cookies! I've refocused for this week and am hoping to see a loss next Monday!

Ladies Luncheon: Quiche, Caparese Salad, Brownies and Ice Cream!

Day 29: Tried and True Chicken Soft Tacos

Last night's dinner was a staple that I've posted before, crockpot chicken soft tacos. Everybody loves this meal and it takes about 10 minutes of prep in the morning and another 10 before serving. Since I do a long cooking time of 10-12 hours, I put the chicken in frozen. This keeps the recipe from getting too dry. The meal is about 490 calories when you add the cheese, pico, salsa, sour cream and guacamole! This is a two meal recipe which I love! If you go back to my previous post, you will notice fewer servings. I didn't change any of the ingredients, but since we have been punting calories, I've tried to be more conscious of serving size. Now, it is one taco verses two. Rewiring our brains to correct portion sizes has been what has made this last month successful. On Tuesday, we had haircuts and scouts so I took the boys to McDonalds. We had a great discussion on daily caloric intake and how we choose to spend those calories. About how we still eat out and stop for DQ treats, but in moderation. I enjoy food too much to limit my choices, but I can choose a balanced eating plan which I hope is what the boys are learning!


Crockpot Chicken Soft Tacos:
(Serves 12; 241 calories per serving)

1 pkg of boneless, skinless chicken breast (~3lbs)
1 can of black beans drained & rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes with jalapeño
1 pkg taco seasoning or homemade taco seasoning (recipe blow)
Corn Tortillas
Shredded Mexican cheese
Pico de gaillo
Sour cream
Guacamole


Taco seasoning:

2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Place chicken breast in crockpot. Mix the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning together in a small bowl and pour over the chicken. Lastly, place the black beans on top. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours. About a 1/2 hour prior to serving, shred chicken and stir. serve chicken mixture on corn tortillas. Top with Pico de Gallo, cheese and sour cream if desired.

Day 28 of the Under 500 Calorie Dinner Challenge: GF Blueberry Crisp!

Yesterday was Day 28 of my under 500 challenge! I can't believe it has been a month! I lost another half pound which was a grand total of 5 lbs in a month! My husband lost weight too so that is incentive enough for me to keep going. That being said, I hit a bump in the road foodwise when I tried a mashed cauliflower recipe. Nobody really liked it, so it will not be a repeat. I also made my miracle meatloaf that I posted in September which is only 242 calories per serving. Since the plate was less than 330 calories, I splurged and made a blueberry crisp. It is a cooking light recipe that I modified to use GF flour. I used King Arthur Multi-Purpose Gluten Free flour. I really love this product as it takes the guess work out of mixing together flours and binders such as xanthum gum! I also used pecans because that is the nut I had on hand. The original recipe called for walnuts. The whole meal was 547 calories, but since nobody really ate the cauliflower, we probably consumed under 500 calories!


GF Blueberry Crisp:
(Serves 8; 217 calories per serving)

Cooking spray
4 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup gluten free multi-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3 tablespoons chopped pecans
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 375°. Coat an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking spray. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons cornstarch evenly in dish. Combine remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, vanilla, and blueberries in a large bowl; toss. Place in prepared baking dish. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through cinnamon) in the bowl of a food processor; pulse twice to combine. Add butter; pulse 5 times or until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Spoon topping evenly over blueberries, packing down lightly. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden.

Days 24, 25 & 26: Broccoli, Bacon & Brussels Sprouts!

This week has flown by us! We had school activities, busy work schedules and winter weather to navigate! We ate out twice this week. Those meals were not under 500 calories so I tried to balance out with our at home meals. On Wednesday, I tried my hand at a GF chicken and broccoli Stromboli. I used GF Bisquik and my crust came out not so pretty because I'm still a novice at handling such soft dough. I tried to roll it out and fold it like a firmer wheat flour dough an it crumbled so I must confess that I just lumped everything on he baking sheet and pressed it together. My friend, Lisa, called it rustica while I called it a hot mess! She has more experience with GF dough and gave me a great pointer of treating it like a double crust pie. Roll out half the dough between piece of parchment and then lay it on your baking sheet, remove the op layer of parchment and add you desired filling. Repeat the rolling process and gently lay the dough layer over your filling and then crimp and seal the two dough layers together. Thanks, Lisa! I can't wait to try that technique!

Last night, I made a really simple meal of baked cod, potatoes and Brussels sprouts! The whole meal took less than 45 minutes from start to table. My seven year old wasn't sure of the meal because it didn't look like fish sticks and fries, but he did grudgingly eat all of his potatoes an fish.

After a long week, we've decided this will be a lay around and read, watch basketball and basically do nothing day! It will be a two simple meal day. This morning, I made breakfast burritos and tonight before the big game, nachos! The big game is IU vs, Michigan of course! The burrito recipe makes enough for 8 servings so we have enough for breakfast tomorrow!

I want to take a moment to give kudos to my husband. He has lost 2 lbs this week! Way to go, Honey!!

GF Chicken and Broccoli Stromboli:
(Serves 4)

GF pizza crust prepared per package instructions
1 pound cooked chicken, diced
1 head of broccoli
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Break up the broccoli into florets. Steam the broccoli florets over boiling water for 6-8 minutes. Set aside and let cool. Roll out dough per the instructions above. Top with chicken, broccoli and cheese. Cover with remaining dough. Bake in a 400* oven for 20 minutes.

Baked Cod:
(Serves 4; 282 calories per serving)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 medium onions, very thinly sliced
1 cup dry white wine
1 1/4 pounds cod, cut into 4 pieces
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper


Preheat oven to 400*. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until just starting to soften, 5 to 7 minutes. Add wine, increase heat to high and cook, stirring often, until the wine is slightly reduced, 2 to 4 minutes.
Place cod on the onions and sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper. Cover the pan tightly with foil; transfer to the oven and bake for 12 . Uncover and bake until the fish is opaque in the center, about 10 minutes more.

Crispy Baked Potatoes:
(Serves 4; 220 calories per serving)

4-5 potatoes (equal sized)
1 grated garlic clove or 1/4 to 1/2 tsp garlic powder
chicken or vegetable broth
tiny cubes butter
minced parsley
pepper and salt

Use an ovenproof dish. Place the peeled and washed (even-sized) potatoes in there and make sure they fit snuggly together. Add the grated garlic or powder to the broth and heat it for a minute to get the flavors going. Pour hot broth in there until there’s about 1 inch of broth in the dish and sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top of the potatoes. Place a tiny slice of butter on top of each potato. Bake for 35 minutes at 350*.


Bacon and Bleu Brussels Sprouts:
(Serves 4; 166 calories per serving)

4 slices uncooked bacon, diced
1 bunch green onions, diced
4 cups Brussels sprouts, halved
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles

Cook the bacon pieces over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until just beginning to crisp. Add in the green onions and stir to incorporate before adding in the Brussels sprouts*. Sprinkle lightly with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until Brussels sprouts are golden brown around the edges and on the flat side. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over the top and stir until the water is absorbed into a natural sauce. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the blue cheese.

Breakfast Burritos:
(Serves 8; 345 calories per serving)

8 tortillas
6 slices of bacon, diced
1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 potatoes, diced
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
8 eggs
1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
1 tsp onion powder
Salt and pepper

Wrap tortillas in foil and warm in a 350* oven for 10 minutes. Cook bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove and drain. Add the bell pepper to the hot skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes and then add the mushrooms and diced potatoes. Cook for 10 minutes stirring frequently. Add crumbled bacon back to the skillet. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, cheese and spices. Add egg mixture to the skillet. Stir gently while the mixture is cooking. Eggs will take 6-8 minutes to come together. Scoop skillet mixture onto the warm tortillas and fold them closed. Wrap in foil if they are going to be eaten on the go!

Day 22 of the Under 500 Calorie Challenge: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Today is Day 22 of the Under 500 calorie challenge! I can't believe it has been 3 weeks! I was another pound down for a total of 4.5 lbs! I've been cooking 4-5 nights each week and eating out the other days. This weekend, we had pizza on Friday night and Saturday night was a great Chicken Salsa Fresca at On the Border along with a skinny margarita, Yum! My inspiration recipe for tonight was a slow cooker recipe. This may sound silly, but I didn't have time to do the slow cooker method as it called for cooking at 4 hours on high which would have meant dinner at 9pm. The recipe also called for the use of a rotisserie chicken, but I'm not a big fan of the mess of taking off the skin and getting the meat of the bone. Instead, last night I cooked a package of skinless, boneless chicken breasts. I placed the chicken in a shallow baking dish with a cup of chicken broth. I cover the dish with foil and baked it for 30 minutes at 350*. I then just stored the meat in the refridge overnight and shredded it this afternoon before adding it to the soup pot.

Chicken Tortilla Soup:
(Serves 16, 507 calories per serving)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
3 14oz cans of low sodium chicken broth
2 28 oz cans of mild enchilada sauce
2 cans of Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
2 packages of Spanish rice
3 tbsp cumin
4 cups shredded chicken breast
Cilantro and shredded cheddar cheese for garnish

Cook spanish rice according to package directions. In a large stockpot, heat olive oil and sauté the diced onion and garlic until softened about 5 minutes. Stir in the broth, enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes and cream. Add the cumin blend all together. Add the shredded chicken and Spanish rice. Let simmer on low for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Garnish with fresh cilantro and a tablespoon of cheddar cheese if desired.