bellaconfusa's recipe scrapbook

Serves 10

Cooking spray
1 Large onion (chopped)
4 Celery stalks (sliced thin)
1 cup baby carrots (sliced)
1 potato (cut in 1/4 pieces)
1 48oz cans low sodium chicken broth
12 oz of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

Dumplings:
1 Cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 cup Egg Beaters
1 TB olive oil
1 TB fat free sour cream
2 TB skim milk

1. Spray large pot with cooking stray and saute vegetables.
2. Add chicken stock and simmer for about 1 hour
3. Meanwhile... prepare dumplings. In medium bowl mix together flour, salt, and baking soda. In a different bowl, blend together eggbeaters, oil, and sour cream. Then mix dry and wet ingredients together, add milk until it is the consistency of mashed potatoes. If needed add more milk.
4. Add chicken pieces to simmering broth until just cooked, lower temperature so soup is simmering but not boiling.
5. Add dumplings mixture 1 tsp at a time into the soup. Cook 15 minutes more and serve.

Nutritional Information
156 Calories, 11g protein, 18g Carbohydrates, 4.5g fat, 16mg cholesterol, 414 mg sodium

Maybe I should call it leftover surprise... because I literally through it together with stuff I found laying around the house. I actually used Christmas Tree shaped pasta that someone at work got me as a gag gift. I figured I might as well use it... so why the heck not. It looked like a funky mess in the pan, but man was it good!

So here goes...

3/4 pound pasta - cooked al dente and set aside
1/8 lb. prosciutto
EVOO - 2 turns in the pan
2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp granulated garlic)
1 can crushed tomatoes (15oz)
fresh basil
1 can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 glass of dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio that I had in the fridge)

In a large pan (medium heat), fry the prosciutto and garlic until golden.

Turn heat down slightly, add the can of tomatoes and let simmer for 5 minutes.

Add chopped basil, the glass of wine, and kidney beans.

Turn back up to medium heat and let simmer (low boil) for 10 minutes or more... allowing the sauce to reduce slightly. One it has thickened a little bit, turn the heat down to low. Add the cooked pasta a spoonful at a time. Once the sauce covers the pasta, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top and stir.

Delisshhh!!! The white wine and the garlic really gave the sauce a nice twang, and the kidney beans added almost a "meaty" feeling. I had some for dinner and placed the rest in a tupperware so I can take some to work this week.

I know I haven't posted anything here in a while, but I'm still around and hopefully I'll keep it up in the New Year!

I just made something delicious!

I purchased buffalo-flavored chicken sausage from the supermarket because it looked interesting. However, I didn't really know how to serve it because I'm used to putting sausage in pasta, and that just wouldn't really "go." So here's what I did:

• Heat 2 sausage links in a grill pan until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees
• Take a sub roll (baguette) and scoop out the doughy part so the roll makes a nice "container"
• spread 2 tablespoons lowfat Greek yogurt (plain) on the top of the bread
• Fill with fresh mescalin greens and sliced, hot sausage

Yum-o!!

I find that the Greek yogurt is very tasty and it is much lower in fat than blue cheese or blue cheese dressing - plus it provides a lot more flavor because it's easy to spread on the top of the roll and it does not take away from the flavor of the sausage.

I scooped out the sub roll to save some calories. I suppose you could also very easily use pita bread or a wrap.

Enjoy!!

I saw this recipe in my local newspaper and I can't WAIT to try it!! Ok so forgive me, it's not exactly tailored for 2, but it's at least healthy!

2 cups skim milk
1 pinch plus 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup insteant polenta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 green pepper, diced
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlice, munced
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
1 lb. lean ground turkey
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomato
1 cup part-skim ricotta
1 cup light mozzarella, shredded

( Instructions under the cutCollapse )

This should come out like more of a casserole. I'm going to make it for myself later this week and seperate it into rubbermaid containers to take to work as lunch. I may also try freezing some of it to see how that goes.

To all that read this journal and contribute...

Here's a wish for a safe, healthy, and happy Holiday!!!

-off to make some pumki

Mary (bellaconfusa)

Courtesy of my friend itsblondie07

Again, NOT lo fat, but perfect for the Holidays!

2 1/2 - 3 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided use
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1) Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

2) Combine vanilla wafer crumbs and butter. Press into the bottom and just up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan; set aside.

3) In a bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the sugar and vanilla; mix at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended.

4) Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Reserve 1 cup of this cream cheese mixture. To the remainder, add pumpkin, remaining 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; mix well.

5) Layer half of the pumpkin mixture over the crust, spread on the reserved cream cheese mixture and top with the remaining pumpkin mixture. Swirl a knife through the batter several times without touching the crust for a marbled effect. Bake for 55 minutes or until set.

6) Loosen cake from the rim of the pan; cool before removing from the pan. Refrigerate before serving.

Makes 12 servings.

This is definitely NOT a lowfat recipe, but I made it last week and it got rave reviews from my boyfriend. I just wanted to post it here so I can keep it somewhere handy.

Ingredients
1 pound dry penne pasta (or rigatoni, whatever works...)
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 lb. prosciutto, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 (16 oz) cans of whole peeled tomatoes (or diced would work too)
1/2 cup vodka
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
salt to taste

Boil pasta to al dente, drain, and set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Saute garlic, prosciutto, and red pepper flakes for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in vodka and cream. Simmer 15 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in Parmesan and basil. Toss with pasta until evenly coated.

I just got this recipe from a running mag. And I just made it and it's really pretty good. The only thing that I would say is that personally, I wish that I'd left off the chocolate because it overwhelms the yummy fruit.

Here we go!


Berry Chocolate Crisp
2 12 oz bags of frozen mixed berries (appx 5 c)
2 T cornstarch (okay... I am so dumb. I read this as corn syrup, and added it to the berries thinking - oh, a sweetener. Makes sense. But the berries came out really soupy [which is okay with me because it's nice and sweet]. Hence, they wanted cornstarch to thicken up the juice into a more jellyish consistency. Have no fear, though. If you make the same gaffe I did, it still comes out VERY tasty. But probably with a bit more calories than it should have. Oh well. Live and learn.)
2 T honey
1 c rolled oats
1/3 c wheat germ
1/2 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 c chopped almonds
12 Dove dark chocolate pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix berries and corstarch in a small bowl and then plunk in a 8 by 8 glass baking dish (didn't have one so I put it in a 9 inch pie dish and it worked fine). In a large bowl combine honey, oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, cinnamon, and almonds. Spread evenly over berry mixture and bake 30 mins. Remove and top evenly with chopped up dark chocolate pieces. Bake 10 more minutes. Serve warm with vanilla frozen yogurt.

Nutritional Info for one serving (cobbler serves six):

68 calories
a little more than 1.5 g protein
10 g carbs
2.75 g fat

serves 2, 1 chicken breast half per serving (or double it for a 360 calorie serving)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (the one with the brown speckles in it is best)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon red hot-pepper sauce
Vegetable Oil spray
2 skinless chicken breast halves (with or without bone)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a small bowl, stir together the mustard, oil, rosemary, salt, and hot-pepper sauce.

Spray a 2 inch deep baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Place the chicken in a single layer in the pan. Spoon the mustard mixture over each breast.

Bake for 40 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center.

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I'm going to make this tomorrow... yum!

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (less than 3/4 lbs.)
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/8 teaspoon red pepper sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Between peices of wax paper, place chicken breast half with smooth side down; gently pound with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with remaining chicken. Cut chicken into smaller peices if desired.

In shallow dish, mix flour, cumin and salt. Coat chicken with flour mixture with the exception of 1 teaspoon.

In nonstick frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown and no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from pan; cover to keep warm.

In small bowl, stir reserved 1 teaspoon flour mixture into broth. Graduatlly stir broth mixture and red pepper sauce into skillet. Heat to boiling; stir in lime huice and cilantro. Serve sauce over chicken.

( Nutritional InformationCollapse )