Low-Calorie

Oatmeal Pancakes

Yes you read correctly. Oatmeal. And yes, I did eat oatmeal! And yes I did like it! BUT, it was in pancakes. Not as a cereal. (that will NEVER happen) But I still ate it! The pancakes were so good too! Last weekend my husband wanted pancakes. We never have a mix on hand because we make it once and then it sits there for months and months and by the time he wants them again the mix is no longer any good. So I found a recipe in the South Beach Diet Cookbook and changed it up a bit. I used fat-free half-and-half in place of fat-free milk, soy flour in place of whole wheat flour and toasted wheat bran instead of toasted wheat germ. Came out awesome! The only problem was that I do not have a good flat griddle pan. I had to use my largest frying pan and needless to say the pancakes were a bit on the odd-looking side. They were not round. But they tasted really good! Nutty and a little more chewy than pancakes usually are but really tasty. I was going to add some cinnamon to the batter but I forgot. Next time! So please excuse the photos, don’t judge by their looks. We also used agave nectar instead of syrup and it was delicious. Didn’t have to use so much of it either! Oh and if you decide to make them you need prep time. About 40 minutes of  “sitting” is needed. Read below and you’ll see what I mean.

Not your usual round pancakes!

INGREDIENTS:

1¼ cups rolled oats (not quick cooking oats)

2 cups fat-free half-and-half

1 egg

½ cup soy flour

¼ cup toasted wheat bran

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons sugar substitute (I used Splenda)

2 teaspoons canola oil

½ teaspoon salt

There are actually 4 pancakes in this photo.

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the oats and milk and let it stand for 10 minutes.

2. Stir in the egg, flour, wheat bran, baking powder, sugar substitute, oil and salt, mixing until evenly blended and only small lumps are left. Let the batter stand in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. (Don’t do it on High like I did at first. Oops!). Working in batches, pour the batter by ¼ cup into the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the top starts to bubble and the bottom is browned. Turn and cook for another 1-2 minutes longer or until golden brown on bottom.

4. Remove to a plate and keep warm. Repeat to make a total of 12 pancakes.

Makes about 12 pancakes

Sassy Steak Bites

Ok I can’t take the credit for this recipe. It’s another great recipe from my favorite, Hungry Girl. It’s from her newest cookbook Happy Hour. (I did change the title of the recipe however) A great little book with tons of yummy snacks and cocktails! All low-calorie! She even gives Weight Watcher points for all the recipes! How cool is that! She’ll have a new TV show on the Cooking Channel in January. I can’t wait! So I was looking for something different that we could actually serve for a party snack. I like easy recipes that are really delicious that I will make more than one time. This is one of them. I love steak. Could eat it all the time! But this recipe uses it cut into little bites. The best part is it’s cooked in a slow cooker! Yep, just throw the stuff in there and forget about it for hours! Or until you need it for the party!

This recipe is a little more substantial for a party snack. It’s more filling therefore everyone won’t fill up on too much else! This makes 5 servings so if you need more just double the recipe. The serving stats I got from the Hungry Girl website with all her photos of all her recipes. Check it out! I am trying to get back into healthier eating again now that the holidays are almost gone and the New Year is upon us. My New Year resolution is to start going to the gym in my community’s clubhouse. I didn’t say how much I would go but I am going to go. I’ll keep everyone posted. Once I start that and get in a routine it’s back to Weight Watchers for me! But for now try this easy snack and enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Hungry Girl

INGREDIENTS:

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple packed in juice, lightly drained

1/3 cup sweet Asian chili sauce

½ teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more if you like it spicier

1 pound raw lean beefsteak filet, cut into about 30 bite-sized pieces

1 onion, finely chopped (a medium size onion is good)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place pineapple, chili sauce, soy sauce and crushed red pepper in a crock pot. Mix it well.

2. Add the beef and onion and stir well to coat.

3. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours or on LOW for 7-8 hours.

4. Serve with excess sauce and toothpicks.

Per Serving: (about 6 bites with sauce) 196 calories, 4.5g fat, 254mg sodium, 18g carbs, 0.5g fiber, 15g sugars, 19.5g protein. Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 5

Not Your Usual Green Bean Casserole

For Thanksgiving we are going to a friend’s house and when I asked what I could bring, I was asked: “How about that green bean casserole thingy? Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete without it!” I said ok and searched for the usual recipe. Growing up in my house was very different when it came to Thanksgiving. Why? Well it wasn’t until we were all much older that we started to actually have a turkey for the Thanksgiving dinner. I’m not joking. I never really remember Dad carving a turkey. Ever. I do remember us having a huge tray of lasagna though. Every year. And sometimes a ham. But never a turkey. It was usually lasagna. When we started dating and then had to do the two house thing for the holidays we all discovered how different things were out there! Nobody had lasagna! I was flabbergasted! I don’t know why we didn’t have turkey, maybe Dad hated carving? I don’t know. But once we started experiencing the ‘normal’ Thanksgiving foods I was introduced to the green bean casserole. And for some reason it is rarely served any other time of year! Why? Again, I don’t know. So of course I have never made it before. This is a first. But I also didn’t want to do the same ho-hum basic green bean casserole. So I scoured the magazines and internet. I then took a little bit of each recipe that I found and it’s now something new. I am making it Thursday so I won’t know how it tastes until then. I will report back though for sure. And I will remember to take a picture before we eat it!  And have no fear everyone, I’m still using those french-fried onions. My husband insisted on it. I have to keep remembering, change is good. It will be fine. Thanksgiving will still be a food fest. Happy Eating!

**Ok, the green beans were a hit! Very tasty and full of crunchy goodness! The water chestnuts and almonds are a nice change from the ordinary. I also lowered the oven temp to 350 degrees, because the onions got a little too well done, but still really yummy! I’m also thinking next time maybe a little hot sauce added to it would be good also.


INGREDIENTS:

3 packages (9 ounces or so each) of frozen French-style green beans

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 (10.5-10.75 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted (I am using the 98% fat-free kind)

3 ounces cream cheese, softened (I am using light cream cheese)

1 cup french-fried onions

1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, chopped

¼ teaspoon garlic salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

1½ cups shredded cheddar cheese (I am using 2%)

1 (2½ ounce) package slivered almonds

paprika

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook green beans according to package directions, drain.

2. In a large pot or dutch oven melt the butter. Add the soup and cream cheese and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until cream cheese is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat.

3. Stir in the green beans, 2/3 cup of the french-fried onions, water chestnuts, garlic salt, pepper, and cheddar cheese.

4. Spoon the mixture into a lightly greased 1¾ quart casserole dish. Top with the almonds and remaining french-fried onions. Sprinkle with paprika.

5. Bake at 350º, uncovered, for 45 minutes.

Serves 8

Layered Greek Dip

This is such an easy and quick dip to throw together. There are only 5 ingredients! Nice! I love Greek food and we don’t get to go out for it too often. Probably because where I live in south Florida there are very few good Greek restaurants. We did find a great one in St. Augustine called Athena’s. But I’m not driving over 3 hours for Greek food! Anyway this is just a snack food anyway but it’s healthy too.

This is best in a round nine-inch pie plate but if you don’t have one, just use something else. A long oval dish is fine also. You want something that has sides so everything stays where it should.

Photo is for illustrative purposes only

INGREDIENTS:

7 ounces prepared hummus (any brand you like)

4 ounces crumbled light Feta cheese (use regular if you are not watching calories)

½ cup chopped tomatoes

¼ cup chopped cucumbers (best to use the English ones and leave the skin on)

2 tablespoons chopped Kalamata olives

oregano

DIRECTIONS:

1. Spread the hummus onto bottom of a 9″ pie plate or other serving dish.

2. Cover with feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives.

3. Sprinkle with a little oregano if you wish.

4. Serve with baked pita chips!

Cauliflower au Gratin w/Panko Crusted Flounder

Today’s post I have to give props to Biz at My Bizzy Kitchen. (see the original recipe at My Bizzy Kitchen)The cauliflower au gratin part of the recipe is from her blog and it is so good I had to rave about it today. I had to make a few changes to the recipe only because I didn’t have all the exact ingredients. Original recipe called for skim milk, I didn’t have any so I used fat-free half-and-half; original recipe had mozzarella cheese and blue cheese, I used swiss and gorgonzola, which I had. It still came out great. I also didn’t cook the sauce long enough for it to thicken but it still came out great. There were no leftovers which is a good sign it was edible! I served it with panko crusted flounder fillets. For these I just dredged the fillets in a little soy flour, dunked in egg/milk mixture and then coated with panko bread crumbs. Just fry them in a large pan with enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. You don’t need a ton of oil so don’t go freaking out that it’s fried. I used olive oil also. Actually the entire dish is pretty low-calorie.  Lots of protein and vitamins!

Flounder frying in very little olive oil

Cauliflower before baking

So before you look at the finished photo remember, the sauce was a bit watery! But, I also discovered that it tastes great poured over the fish as well! (no pic of that of course!) So all in all I would make this again. Very easy actually and cooked pretty fast. Oh also, the original recipe called for cooking the cauliflower first on the stove in water. I cooked mine in the microwave. Less heat since I was using the stove for the flounder and the oven was heating up for baking the cauliflower.

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium head cauliflower, washed and cut into bite size pieces

1 cup fat-free half-and-half

1 tablespoon butter (I used a butter substitute)

1 tablespoon flour (I used soy flour)

3 ounces shredded swiss cheese (You can use mozzarella, monterey jack or cheddar too)

1 ounce crumbled gorgonzola cheese (You can use blue cheese too)

1 tablespoon Italian bread crumbs (I used panko)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place the cauliflower in a microwave safe container with about ¼ cup of water. Cover and cook on HIGH for 6-8 minutes, checking halfway through to see if it’s tender. Drain water when done. Set aside.

2. While the cauliflower is cooking melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in the flour and cook on medium heat for about 1 minute. Slowly add the milk, making a white sauce, stirring constantly. (Here is where I apparently didn’t cook it long enough. You can raise the heat a bit and keep stirring until it thickens up a bit. Don’t worry if it doesn’t. It’ll still taste good.)

Cauliflower au gratin!

3. Remove saucepan from the heat and mix in the other cheeses until they all melt. The gorgonzola or blue cheese may not melt all the way but that is fine as it will continue to melt in the oven. Add the cauliflower and mix well. If it’s easier to mix the cauliflower in the casserole dish you are going to use that is fine. That’s what I did. Top with the bread crumbs and bake at 425º for 15-20 minutes. I put the broiler on for a minute or so just to brown it up a little more. The cheese should be nice and bubbly! Serve

Voila! Flounder and Cauliflower au Gratin!

Makes about 4 servings.

Parisian Green Beans

Ok I have no clue why these are called “Parisian”. Maybe because they dress up plain old frozen green beans into something fancy? I’ve never been to Paris, maybe this is how they serve them there. It could be because the French were the first ones to put green beans on their menus! No matter what the reason, this recipe is great. It’s different from your normal ho-hum green beans. As you all know I normally double or triple the garlic amounts in recipes but this one already has 3 cloves in it so I think that’s enough. It’s also got bell pepper flakes, which is something you don’t see too often in recipes. (It should be in the spice aisle). Dill weed and walnuts round out this recipe giving it that something extra. It’s a very low-calorie recipe, low carbs, and good fiber! If you have nut allergies, leave out the walnuts. My husband would also insist on putting parmesan cheese on top of these as well. Making it Italian/French! Bon appetit!

INGREDIENTS:

32 ounces frozen green beans, cooked

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup bell pepper flakes

1 tablespoon dill weed

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook beans as directed on the package. Drain any liquid off.

2. Heat a skillet on medium with the olive oil. Add beans to skillet. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes.

Makes 6 cups


Pumpkin Carrot Bars

Yes I am still in Fall mode. Trying to pretend it’s cooler outside and that the leaves are changing here. But then I look outside and see nothing but green palm trees, green leaves on the maple trees, green everywhere! Ok, so the leaves really don’t change here. They do fall on some trees but they aren’t pretty about it. Oh well, the sacrifice for living in the Sunshine State. Maybe they change in northern Florida? And right now the temperature is still 79 degrees. It’s 7pm! But I did buy a couple little pumpkins at Walmart yesterday! I will use them for pies or something later in the year. They actually last a long time after the fall! I’ve had pumpkins that lasted till April!

Well I found this recipe and changed it a bit to make it a little less fattening. I substituted Splenda and Splenda Brown Sugar Blend for the sugars and I use light cream cheese in place of regular. As always, feel free to use the real stuff if you want. I was also very happy to hear that the pumpkin shortage is officially over as well. Last year I had stocked up on the canned pumpkin when I found it. It was like gold! But the crop was good this year and we can all breathe easily now! Whew!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour or whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup granulated Splenda (sucralose)

1/3 cup light butter/margarine, softened

½ cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

2 eggs

2 large egg whites

1 can (15 ounce) pumpkin

1 cup carrot, finely shredded

Cream Cheese Topping/Icing:

4 ounces light cream cheese, softened

¼ cup Splenda

1 tablespoon fat-free half-and-half (or whatever milk product you want)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease a 15 x 10 jelly roll pan. (or similar pan)

2. In a small bowl combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and baking soda.

3. In a larger bowl, beat together sugar (1 cup), butter and brown sugar until crumbly. Add eggs, egg whites, canned pumpkin and carrots. Beat until well blended. Add flour mixture and mix until well blended. Spread into greased pan.

4. Mix together cream cheese, sugar (¼ cup) and milk until thoroughly blended.

5. Drop teaspoonfuls of topping over pumpkin batter and swirl mixture with a butter knife.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Cool in pan completely on wire rack before cutting into squares.

Makes 48 squares.

Skinny Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie is my favorite pie. But I could do without all the extra calories in it. This recipe is lower in calories and fat but still tastes great. If you don’t care about your calories/fat use the regular versions of the ingredients. Key Lime Pie also should NOT be bright lime green in color! It should be an almost pale yellow to very faint green. All those other pies that glow in the dark have food coloring added. You don’t need it! Honest! This recipe is also very easy to make and takes more time to chill and set than it does to prepare and bake. If you are ever in Key West though, try their frozen chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick! OMG! Talk about sugar coma! But it is so incredibly delicious and  heavenly. The last time I had it I shared it with my husband and stepson and we had a hard time finishing it. So worth the extra calories and fat every so often!

INGREDIENTS:

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites

½ cup Key Lime juice (such as Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice)

1 teaspoon lime zest (if you can find a key lime use that instead)

1 (14 ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

1 (6 ounce) reduced-fat graham cracker crust

1½ cups frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. Beat eggs and egg whites at medium speed on an electric mixer until well-blended.

3. Gradually add the lime juice, zest and condensed milk into the egg mixture, beating until well-blended.

4. Spoon mixture into pie crust and bake at 350º for 20 minutes or until almost set. (The center will not be firm but will set up as it chills.)

5. Cool on a wire rack. Cover loosely and chill for at least 4 hours. Spread whipped topping evenly over filling. Serve!

Makes 8 servings


Red Quinoa with Feta & Sundried Tomatoes

Here it is again everyone! QUINOA!!! Woo Hoo!! While in Whole Foods last weekend I wanted to get some more quinoa. Looking in the bulk aisle for it I came across the regular white/beige quinoa. And sitting right next to it was this beautiful red quinoa! Didn’t even know it existed. Then again I didn’t know quinoa existed until a few months ago. I checked the nutritional information and it had almost double the fiber of the regular kind! Sold! I bought a half pound of the stuff,  just in case we didn’t like it. I should have bought more! It is so much tastier than the regular. It had a little crunch to it and a nutty taste as well. I then searched online for a different recipe than I made last time.  I found a great one on the Cooking Books blog. She had gotten it from a cookbook called The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno and adapted it to her taste. I again adapted it to my taste.  It called for cilantro and I left it out (My husband isn’t a fan unless it’s in salsa or guacamole) and vegetable broth. I had chicken broth and used that. The recipe called for 8 sun-dried tomatoes, cut up. I found it needed more. So next time I will add more. I think about ¼ cup will do it. I liked how much feta cheese she said to put in, “as much as you’d like”. Ok, sounds good to me! Sounds good to my husband! I think it was about ½ cup in total, could be more though. I didn’t measure. But one thing I should have done was cut the recipe in half. It made a lot of quinoa for two people. We do have leftovers!

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

2 minced shallots (you can use a small onion or even a few green onions if you don’t have shallots)

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 cups vegetable broth (or any broth you have), or water

1 cup dried red quinoa

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (you can adjust to your taste)

1 teaspoon salt

fresh ground black pepper

½ cup (or so) of crumbled low-fat feta cheese (adjust to your taste)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the tomatoes, shallots and garlic. Saute for 3-5 minutes until the shallots are soft.

2. Add the broth/stock and bring to a boil. Add the red quinoa and cayenne pepper. Stir and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Or until all the liquid is fully absorbed. (It took longer than 30 minutes on my stove, so keep an eye on it after 30 minutes)

3. Stir in salt and pepper and feta cheese. Serve hot or cold. Make sure you mix in the feta good so it melts a bit! Yum…

Makes 4-6 servings as a side dish.

Seafood & Cream Cheese Wontons

I have eaten many wontons in my life. But I have never made them myself. Well after I saw the recipe on Budget Bytes for Lobster & Cream Cheese Wontons I thought I should give it a try! How hard could it be! HA! It actually wasn’t that hard. The hard part was getting the hang of the wontons! First I put too much filling and it oozed out all over. What a mess. Then I put too little filling. And finally I think I got it right. Though my husband said it needed more filling. Next time I will improve. Promise! I found the wonton wrappers in the produce department near the organic stuff. They only had one size so that’s what I got. I also used light cream cheese, as usual. I have to say even though they were weird shapes, they did come out pretty tasty! I served them to my neighbors at the monthly “Girls Happy Hour” we have. They were a hit. The leftovers were gone that night when my husband got home. I served them with a teryiaki sauce for dipping. These little guys are so tasty and they are only lightly pan-fried to crisp and brown them a little bit. No deep-frying involved! And of course I added garlic to the recipe as well as some ginger.

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces light cream cheese, softened

8 ounces Imitation crab or lobster meat (of use the real stuff if you can afford it!)

1 large egg

2-3 scallions, chopped

1 package wonton wrappers

½ teaspoon Sriracha Hot Sauce (In the asian food section)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon ginger

Cooking Spray

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl combine the cream cheese, green onion, egg, Sriracha sauce, garlic and ginger. When it’s mixed well add the crabmeat breaking up the chunks as you mix them in.

2. Working on a pastry board or cutting board work in groups of about 6 wontons at a time. Have a small bowl of water to help seal the edges of the wrappers. Place about 1 teaspoon of the filling in the center of each wonton square. Using your fingers, wet the wrapper all along the edges on all 4 sides. Fold the wrapper over diagonally to form a triangle and pinch the edges to seal. Using more water if needed. Try to get as much air out of the center as possible and fold over the corners to wrap. If this doesn’t work, just fold or crimp the edges to seal as best you can. The shape doesn’t matter.

3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Working in groups of 8-10 wontons, drop them into the boiling water and remove once they begin to float (about 3 minutes). Place the boiled wontons on a cooling rack or large platter to drain. The wontons will look nice and transparent. Don’t put them on paper towels. They will stick to them if you do!

4. When you have all the wontons boiled and drained, heat a large non-stick skillet that has been sprayed with cooking spray, over medium-high heat. When the skillet is nice and hot, place about 8-10 wontons (depends on how many you can fit without overcrowding)in at a time. Cook on each side until they are golden brown, crispy and blistering a little in some spots. If you need more spray in the pan use as you go along. I had to add several times. This will crisp up the wontons nicely.

5. Serve warm with your choice of dipping sauce. Teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, ponzu sauce all work nice. Even have some hot chinese mustard or extra Sriracha sauce if you want! I also had leftover filling so I added some chopped celery and we made a spread for crackers with it! Delicious!

Makes about 32 wontons.

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