Tostadas

My mom was up for the weekend and we decided to make tostadas for dinner on Saturday night!!  These were super super yummy!!  Two tostadas were VERY filling and only 7 points!!!  WHOO HOO!!

You have got to give these a try!

Ingredients

10 whole wheat tortillas (we used Mission Carb Balance Whole Wheat Tortillas)

1 can fat free refried beans

shredded lettuce

2 tomatoes, diced

3 avocados, diced

fat free sour cream

fat free cheese, shredded

1 lb ground turkey

1 pkg taco seasoning

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Spray both sides of each tortilla with cooking spray and place on the baking sheet.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Flip the tortillas and bake for another 5 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Tortillas will continue to crisp as they cool.  While they are still warm spray with I can’t believe it’s not butter spray and sprinkle some salt on them.

Brown your ground turkey and then prepare with the taco seasoning, according to package directions.

Put your refried beans in a microwave safe bowl and mircowave for approx 2 minutes, or until beans are warmed well.

Build your tostadas with beans, meat, lettuce, tomatoes, a spoonful of avocado chunks, a handful of cheese, and a spoonful of sour cream. You can even add some salsa for no extra points.

Each serving includes 2 prepared tostadas!

Enjoy!

Zesty Cheeseburger Mac Casserole

I found this YUMMY recipe from kraftrecipes.com.  Of course, as usual, I had to make some adjustments to it :-).  Of course all of the adjustments was to make it healthier but you couldn’t tell it from the taste!!  In fact my boys had 2 helpings!  This was a winner!  And one huge 1 1/2 cup serving was approximately 430 calories, 7.6 grams of fat, and 3.6 grams of fiber (that is 8.5 ww points!!)

Here is the recipe with the changes that I made!

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. (16 oz.) frozen vegetable blend with broccoli, carrots, cauliflower (3 cups)
• 1 pkg.  (14 oz.) KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner Made With 2% Milk Cheese
• 3/4 cup fat-free milk
• 1/4 cup  KRAFT FREE Zesty Italian Dressing
• 1 lb. extra-lean ground beef, cooked, drained
• 1 cup  KRAFT Fat Free Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided

Directions

1. HEAT oven to 375°F.
2. PLACE frozen vegetables in colander in sink. Cook Macaroni as directed on package. Pour cooked macaroni over vegetables in colander to drain and quickly thaw vegetables.
3. RETURN macaroni and vegetables to same saucepan. Add Cheese Sauce, milk and dressing; mix well. Add cooked meat and 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese; mix well. Spoon into 2-qt. round casserole dish; cover.
4. BAKE 35 min. or until heated through. Uncover; top with remaining Cheddar cheese. Bake 3 to 4 min. or until cheese is melted.

Make Ahead

Prepare as directed except for baking; cover. Refrigerate up to 24 hours. When ready to serve, bake, covered, at 375°F for 40 to 45 min. or until heated through. Remove from oven; uncover. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

Pasta Shells Casserole

I saw Rachel Ray do this recipe on her show!  I, like her, am a lover of stuffed pasta shells but hate stuffing the shells!!  She came up with a brilliant way of getting all of the stuffed shells taste without the fuss of stuffing the shells!!  And it is DELICIOUS!!

I also made a couple of changes to help it to be healthier and drop those ww points a bit more!

I have my alterations in the recipe below.  Following this recipe below will yield you about 10 ww points a serving (which for a pasta dish – that ain’t bad!!)  (per serving is approx 562 calories, 17.5 grams of fat and 10 grams of fiber)

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped, divided
• 1 large or 2 small to medium onions, finely chopped, divided
• 1 small carrot, finely chopped or grated
• Salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano or marjoram, half a palmful
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1/3 palmful
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed by pressing under flat of your knife
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme, 5 to 6 sprigs
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white or red wine
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 28-ounce cans Italian crushed tomatoes
• 1 pound medium or large shell pasta (not extra-large stuffing shells)   (I used whole wheat pasta shells…my nutritional information above was figured using this)
• about 20 oz frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and wrung dry in clean towel
• Freshly grated nutmeg, about 1/4 teaspoon
• 2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup reduced fat grated parmesan cheese, plus some to pass at table
• 1/2 cup egg beaters
• Yields: Serves 7-8 servings

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Preparation

In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons EVOO, 3 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add 4 cloves of chopped garlic, 3/4 of finely chopped onion and the carrot. Season with salt, pepper, oregano or marjoram, red pepper flakes, fennel seeds and thyme, and gently sauté 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in parsley, stir, then add wine and reduce a minute. Add stock and tomatoes, bring sauce up to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer sauce 45 minutes.

After sauce has been simmering for 30 minutes, preheat oven to 375˚F.

Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Salt water and cook pasta 5 minutes.

While pasta water comes to a boil, heat remaining 2 tablespoons EVOO in a small skillet over medium heat. Add remaining garlic and onion and sauté to soften, 5 minutes. Add spinach, pulling it apart and separating it as you add it to pan. Stir to combine well and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Turn off heat.

Drain undercooked pasta and return it to the hot pot. Add spinach mixture to pot along with ricotta and grated Parm. Stir to combine, adjust salt and pepper then add eggs and stir.

Pour a thin layer of marinara sauce into the bottom of a casserole dish. Fill dish with pasta then top with another thin layer of red sauce. Save remaining sauce to pass at table. Bake 30 minutes until bubbly.

Serve casserole directly from casserole dish, passing extra sauce and cheese at the table.

It’s COLD Outside!

It is COLD outside!  An artic front has hit and it is suppose to get down to 15 degrees tonight (with windchill around 0).  For Texas this is COLD!!!!

What’s better for a cold night than a good ol bowl of chili to warm you up!!  And my new friend Hungry Girl (btw – I got 2 of her cookbooks for Christmas) has a wonderful chili recipe!

This is a wonderful vegetable chili.  The best part about this chili is the fact that 1 serving is 120 calories, 1 gram of fat and 6 grams of fiber (that’s 1 ww point people!) It takes about 2 hours to cook so if you are one who works you might want to do this on a Saturday.  But hey – one batch makes 10 servings so you could freeze part of it for a easy meal later!! 

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 1/4 cups canned tomato sauce
• 1 cup canned diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 3/4 cut canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 cup canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup jalapeno slices, chopped
• 1 cup canned sweet corn kernels, drained
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 3/4 cup chopped carrots
• 1 1/2 cups chopped portabello mushrooms
• 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 tsp worscestershire sauce
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• optional: salt

Directions:

1. Place the tomato sauce, tomatoes, jalepenos, chili powder, and cumin in a large pot.  Stir over low heat.  Once mixture is heated, stir in the garlic and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.
2. Add carrots and continue to cook over low heat.  Meanwhile, over medium heat, cook onions, peppers, and mushrooms for 3 to 5 minutes in a large pan with juat 1/2 cup of water (and some salt, if desired).  THe onions and peppers should still be a little crunchy.  Using a slotted spoon to drain any excess water, add the veggies to the chili pot.
3. Add beans, corn, and worcestershire sauce to the pot.  Mix well.  Everything should now be in the pot.
4. Cook over low heat for about 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so.  Chili is done when carrots have lost their crunch.
5. Makes 10 servings

I served this with Hungry Girl’s Cheesy Good Cornbread Muffins and brown rice.  The entire meal (which includes 2 muffins) is only 8 ww points!!!   You can’t beat that!!!

Enjoy!

And, if you are looking at loosing some weight and need some encouragement and motivation please feel free to check out my new blog Let’s Lose Weight Together.

Kellie