Mongolian Beef

Mongolian Beef
Adapted from Taste & Tell
Makes 4 Servings

Marinade:
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp hoisin sauce
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil
3 splenda packets
1/4 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Other:
20 oz. sirloin, diced
2 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp minced garlic, jarred
2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely diced
3 green onions, cut into 2-inch lengths
4 servings Jasmine rice, cooked per package instructions

Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Stir in beef. Marinate for 15 minutes. Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Stir fry beef until the outside is brown, but the inside is still pink. Remove from pan and set aside. In the same skillet, add remaining oil. Add garlic and ginger; stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add beef back in and cook until cooked through, about 2 minutes. Add green onion and stir to combine. Serve immediately with rice.

Nutritional information: 400 calories, 44 carbs, 8 fat grams and 35 protein grams.

Review: AWESOME. Me and Austin agreed though, it didn't EXACTLY taste like Mongolian Beef, however, it was a great Asian beef dish that was easy to cook, reheated well, and will be made again. I could also see making this beef and serving it over lettuce with a homemade ginger dressing - the beef had a great flavor and was, again, so easy to make!

Pesto Butternut Squash Pizza

Pesto Butternut Squash Pizza
Makes 4 Servings
Adapted from Cooking Light

6 (1/4-inch-thick) slices peeled butternut squash (about 1/2 pound)
2 tsp splenda
1 tsp olive oil
Cooking spray
1 pound pizza dough OR 1 Pillsbury crust (thin)
2 oz. shredded reduced fat mozzarella
2 tbsp reduced fat parmesan cheese
1 14.5-ounce can finely chopped tomatoes, drained well
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup pesto (12 tsp)
10 grams (4 tsp) shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
Red pepper flakes to taste

Preheat oven to 400°. Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl. Place squash mixture on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes or until squash is tender. If using Pillsbury dough, pre-bake on its own for 5 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle dough with mozzarella and grated parmesan. Top with squash mixture, tomatoes and oregano. Drop Pesto by 12 level teaspoons onto pizza; sprinkle with shredded fresh parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Nutritional Information: 428 calories, 58 carbs, 19 fat grams and 15 protein grams.

Review: YUM! I never would have thought about putting squash on a pizza, but it tasted wonderful and i'm so glad I did it! The pesto went well with it, as well as the parmesean. Although, next time, I will spread the pesto across the top instead of the drops. The drops were fun, but I wished I'd had pesto in every single bite! I will definitely make this again - loved the colors, the taste, how filling it was and think it's a great seasonal meal.

Thai Basil Chicken

Thai Basil Chicken
Recipe adapted from Sweet Tea in Texas

Makes 4 Servings

2 cups thai basil leaves, divided
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp siracha
2 ½ tbsp fish sauce, divided
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp splenda
1 tsp white vinegar
1 pound chicken, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
¾ cup onion, diced
4 servings basmati rice

Place garlic, 1 cup basil and the siracha sauce in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped, scraping bowl one time. Transfer 1 tbsp of this mixture to a small bowl with 1 ½ tablespoon fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar and vinegar. Stir and set aside. Place remaining garlic/basil mixture into 12" skillet and set aside. Place chicken in a bowl with the remaining fish sauce and refrigerate for 5 minutes. Add add olive oil and onions to the skillet, and sauté over medium heat until onion softens, about 5 minutes. Add chicken, stirring constantly, until it’s no longer pink. Add garlic/basil sauce mixture that you made previously. Cook for 1 minute. Meanwhile, dice remaining basil, add to the pan and cook 1 additional minute until basil wilts. Serve over rice.

Nutritional Information: 348 calories, 38 carbs, 8 fat grams and 30 protein grams.

Review: Yum! So glad to find another go-to Asian-inspired recipe. This one tasted wonderful, and I was so happy to use the Thai basil Austin has been growing in the backyard! The splenda is once again a great substitute for sugar, and I left out the oyster sauce since I didn't have it on hand - worked great for me. The onions and the sauce went a long way, and while it's not a huge serving, it's filling, healthy and definitely curbed my appetite for wanting to order out! I also thought it was a pretty simple, short ingredient list - I had everything on hand without planning! I'll make this one again for sure but be forewarned, this one, like the pad thai that used fish sauce, does smell funny when you cook it but then tastes amazing and the smell goes away - so weird!

Greek Pasta Salad

Greek Pasta Salad
Makes 4 Servings

Dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
¾ tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp oregano, dried
¼ tsp basil, dried
1 tsp minced garlic, jarred
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ packet splenda
1 oz. fat-free feta cheese
1 oz. fresh tomatoes, diced

Other:
1 oz. fat-free feta cheese
8 oz. pasta, small shape
3 oz. fresh tomatoes, diced
2-3 cups spinach

Optional:
1 cucumber, deseeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
30 Hormel Turkey Pepperonis, quartered

Cook pasta per package instructions. Drain and set aside. Combine all ‘dressing’ items in a blender or food processor. Mix pasta with ‘other’ ingredients – feta cheese and tomatoes. Add ‘optional’ ingredients if desired. Toss with now-blended dressing. Serve on a bed of spinach.

Nutritional information (without pepperonis): 293 calories, 46 carbs, 8 fat grams and 11 protein grams.

Nutritional information (with pepperonis): 324 calories, 46 carbs, 10 fat grams and 11 protein grams.

Review: I think this one tasted best right after we made it. When we reheated it, it was a little bit dry. Probably because I didn’t use more oil. I added tomatoes in to the dressing part, and think it will improve the dryness. Or, I would suggest adding a 1/4 cup of nonfat Greek yogurt (like Fage). Regardless, this was a great, flavorful recipe – I love the dressing and it’s a super colorful and tasty dish. I think it’s going to make a great spring and summer staple around our casa. The pepperonis can be a fun add on, but of course no biggie to keep it meatless, which is what we're moving toward doing 1-2 days per week at our place!!

Pasta Salad in Vinaigrette

Pasta Salad in Vinaigrette (on right)

For the Love of Cooking recipe

6 oz. rotini (or pasta of choice), cooked per instructions
Handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 large cucumber, seeded & diced
1/4 sweet yellow onion, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
Feta cheese
Vinaigrette (recipe below)
Fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta per instructions, drain and cool. Once the pasta has cooled, add the cherry tomato halves, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, feta cheese and basil then mix thoroughly. Slowly add the vinaigrette, salt and pepper. Taste and add more dressing as needed.

Vinaigrette:
½ cup canola oil
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp spenda
Salt and pepper

Combine ingredients with a whisk. Let it sit overnight so flavors marinate together.

Pasta Salad in Vinaigrette - Side Dish

Pasta Salad in Vinaigrette

Makes 5 Servings

Recipe by For the Love of Cooking

6 oz. cooked rotini
Cherry tomatoes
Small cucumber, seeded & diced
¼ cup Yellow Onion
¼ cup Orange Bell Pepper
1 oz. Fat-free Feta Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Vinaigrette: ¼ cup canola oil, 1.5 tbsp rice vinegar, ½ tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 cloves minced garlic, ½ packet of splenda and salt/pepper

Mix together all ingredients and mix together vinaigrette. One hour before serving add vinaigrette. Put in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve alongside chicken, shrimp or both (like me!).

Nutritional Information: 245 calories, 30 carbs, 12 fat grams and 6 protein grams.

Review: I love this dish of Pam's! I've served it at two parties and it's always gone over well! I have a larger dish of it on the blog as well that I make when I have more people (and it's not as calorie calculated!).

Sausage and Pasta Soup

Recipe adapted from For the Love of Cooking’s Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Sausage and Pasta Soup
Makes 4 Servings
Note: with it being 4 servings it makes it very soupy like – we like that and add noodles (baby wheels!) and eat it with a spoon.

1 tsp olive oil
3 links of chicken Italian sausage, diced
1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp of dried basil
1 tsp of fennel seeds
1/2 tsp of dried oregano
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes and juices
1 14 oz can of tomato sauce
1/2 tsp splenda
3-4 fresh basil leaves
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Reduced Fat Parmesan cheese
8 oz. pasta (we used wheels!)

Add olive oil to slowcooker over high heat. Add sausage, onion, red bell pepper and mushrooms. Add garlic, and stir for 60 seconds. Add basil, fennel, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix to combine well then add the sugar, tomato sauce and whole tomatoes and their juice; crush tomatoes with your hands. Cover sauce and cook on high for 3 hours. When you’re ready to eat, prepare the spaghetti per instructions. Taste meat sauce and re-season if needed. Add the fresh basil and parsley, stir and serve over your favorite pasta.

Nutritional Information: 380 calories, 63 carbs, 7 fat grams and 20 protein grams.

Review: So yes, a little high on the carbs but so filling! You could easily take the pasta down to 1 oz. or 1.5 oz. per serving (instead of 2) and just add more sausage! (maybe one more link!)

Cilantro Lime Salmon

Recipe from Low Fat Lifestyle
Cilantro Lime Salmon
Makes 2 Servings

2 5-oz salmon fillets
1 tsp lime juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp splenda
1/2 tbsp fresh cilantro, diced
Salt and Pepper to taste
1.5 cups white minute rice

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Mix together everything in a bowl while the salmon defrosts. Season the salmon with spray butter, salt and pepper and bake for 10-13 minutes. While salmon is cooking, cook rice in microwave per box instructions. Once salmon is no longer pink, serve each fillet over ¾ cup white rice, and drizzle half of sauce over it.

Nutritional Information: 459 calories, 57 carbs, 9 fat grams and 29 protein grams.

Review: We REALLY liked it – it was very tangy and almost tasted like sushi. I don’t know – it was yum and I’ll be making it again!