Out-n-In California Burger

"On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one slice of swiss cheese..."

If you know me personally you know the draw to this recipe. The thought of never having In N Out again would be a sad one. Even with this recipe I think someday I will have to go indulge. But for now this is a yummy alternative. When I read pickle and swiss cheese I automatically thought of this. I think this is the only recipe containing 2 of his foods. It's cheating I know. Husband should not be considered a Californian since he doesn't really like In N Out so he skips the sauce and just does mustard and ketchup. He also leaves off the pickles. That's one of the great things about this recipe; you can customize it to your taste. We cook our burgers on the foreman grill and use garlic salt to season them which really increases the flavor. This is one of our favorites and we love that it quick and easy. 5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Cooking light

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 pound ground sirloin
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 4 (1-ounce) slices reduced-fat lower-sodium Swiss cheese (such as Alpine Lace)
• 4 green leaf lettuce leaves
• 4 (1 1/2-ounce) hamburger buns
• 4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices red onion
• 8 (1/4-inch-thick) slices tomato
• ¹⁄₂ ripe peeled avocado cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices
• 8 bread-and-butter pickle chips

Directions

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Divide beef into 4 equal portions, gently shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty. Press a nickel-sized indentation in the center of each patty; sprinkle patties evenly with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side. Top each patty with 1 cheese slice; cook 2 minutes or until cheese melts and patties are desired degree of doneness.
3. Place 1 lettuce leaf on bottom half of each hamburger bun; top with 1 patty, 1 onion slice, 2 tomato slices, about 2 avocado slices, 2 pickle chips, about 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce, and top half of bun.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 389

Fat: 16.5g

Cholesterol: 72mg

Sodium: 806mg

Carbohydrate: 34.7g

Fiber: 2.4g

Protein: 38g

Raspberry-Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

"On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone..."

One of our favorite but least used wedding gifts was an ice cream maker so when I started thinking about the ice cream cone possibilities I got really excited. In fact I found SO many possible ice cream recipes that we have decided to make ice cream all summer long! My recommendation for this one is to freeze it over night. It was super melty but delicious. Husband is not a huge fan of raspberries so he didn't like it as much since the raspberries are definitely the main flavor in this frozen yogurt. It is super tart which is a plus for me and the mini chocolate chips are a great contrast. Thing 1 enjoyed helping to make this with us and was VERY interested in the ice cream maker. I loved it. Great low cal dessert! 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Eating Well

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh or frozen (not thawed) raspberries
• 2 cups low-fat plain yogurt
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup chocolate chips preferably mini

Directions

1. Place raspberries, yogurt, sugar and vanilla in a food processor and process until smooth.
2. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker (or see “No Ice Cream Maker?” below). Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions, or until desired consistency. Add chocolate chips during the last 5 minutes of freezing. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve. No Ice Cream Maker? Pour the mixture into a 9-by-13-inch pan and place in the freezer. Stir every few hours, until the mixture is firm along the edges and semi-firm in the center, 2 to 6 hours (using frozen berries will shorten the freezing time). Transfer to a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to an airtight container, stir in chocolate chips, cover and freeze until ready to serve.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 147

Fat: 4 g

Cholesterol: 4 m

Carbohydrate: 25 g

Fiber: 4 g

Protein: 4 g

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins

"On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake..."

Not exactly chocolate cake but Thing 1 calls them cupcakes so it's close. These muffins are one of our most made recipes. If you work with me, are part of my husband's family or go to our kid's daycare you've had them. Everyone seems to like them and they don't really taste all that healthy. These are super easy to make and made from things you might already have on hand. My one tip is to make sure you spray the muffin papers with cooking spray. Husband made them with Thing 1 this morning and forgot but they still tasted good. 5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Cooking Light

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 8 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 3/4 cups)
• ½ cups packed brown sugar
• ¼ cups unsweetened cocoa
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoons baking soda
• ¼ teaspoons salt
• 1 cups warm water
• ¼ cups canola oil
• 1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
• ½ cups semisweet chocolate minichips divided
• Cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. 2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine 1 cup water and next 4 ingredients (through egg) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in 1/4 cup minichips. Add oil mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. 3. Place 12 muffin-cup liners in muffin cups, and coat liners with cooking spray. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup minichips evenly over batter. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 191

Fat: 7.6g

Cholesterol: 15mg

Sodium: 197mg

Carbohydrate: 29g

Fiber: 1.5g

Protein: 3.1g

Normally Thing 1 eats these just the way they are but today he got creative in the kitchen and asked his daddy if he could use M & M's instead of chocolate chips on top. Who can deny a 3 year old who wants to spruce up a recipe with a little color. Husband gave him his muffin which he had already eaten half of before I shouted that I needed a picture so here is my son's half eaten creation. These are super kid friendly with M & M's or just with the chocolate chips and are a good one for little chefs.

Chipotle-&-Orange Grilled Chicken

"On Friday he ate through five oranges, but he was still hungry."

There are some meals that we sort of haggle over the ratings and this was one of them. We came to the conclusion that this is a very quick, easy and low calorie meal that tastes good. Not great but good enough to eat again especially when you think about how easy and low cal it is. We cooked this on the grill pan and served it with some quinoa and an asian salad. We had a great picture of the whole meal but we forgot to include our little insect friend so we had to take another and the salad was gone. Oh well. We also added extra glaze as a sauce once it was on our plate and cut up which added a lot of extra flavor and I highly recommend doing. 4 out of 5 stars.

Source: Eating Well

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons orange-juice concentrate thawed
• 1 tablespoons finely chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (see Note)
• 1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons unsulfured molasses
• 1 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts,trimmed
• Salt to taste

Directions

1. Preheat grill or broiler.
2. Whisk together orange-juice concentrate, chipotle pepper, vinegar, molasses and mustard in a small bowl.
3. Lightly oil the grill or broiler rack (see Tip). Season chicken with salt and grill or broil for 2 minutes. Turn, brush with the glaze and cook for 4 minutes, brushing occasionally with glaze. Turn again, brush with the glaze, and cook until the center is no longer pink, 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 149

Fat: 3 g

Cholesterol: 63 m

Carbohydrate: 7 g

Fiber: 0 g

Protein: 23 g

Strawberry Italian Ice

"On Thursday he ate through four strawberries, but he was still hungry."

Chalk this up as an execution problem. Doesn't really look like Italian ice does it? It was more of a jam smoothie. Oops. Husband made this and he thinks he used too much apple juice. Could be why it didn't set like it should. I think we'll try it again sometime. Good flavor though. As is it was a 3.5 out of 5 stars but we will rerate it when we try again.

Source: Nikee Huntington, Santa Rosa, CA

Ingredients

• ¾ cups unsweetened apple juice unsweetened apple juice concentrate
• 1 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 2 pints of fresh strawberries hulled and halved
• Fresh mint (optional)

Directions

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the apple juice concentrate, lemon juice and strawberries; cover and process until blended. Pour into an ungreased 8 inch square dish. Cover and freeze for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until partially set.
2. Spoon into a large bowl; beat on medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Return to dish; freeze for 2 - 3 hours, until firm.
3. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh mint leaves if desired.
4. Makes 5 servings
5. 1 serving = 3/4 cup

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 109

Fat: 1g

Cholesterol: 0

Sodium: 12mg

Carbohydrate: 27g

Fiber: 3g

Protein: 1g

Open-Faced Prosciutto and Plum Sandwiches

"On Wednesday he ate through three plums, but he was still hungry."

This was a tough one for us. We liked it and then we didn't and then we did. We literally had to pick it apart piece by piece to figure out what we liked and what we didn't. We finally decided that we really like the goat cheese, prosciutto and plum. I didn't mind the arugula but husband wasn't a fan and neither of us liked the "sauce" with the ginger on top. We used 2 different kinds of plums. The reddish one in the picture is called a black plum and the yellowish one is a sweet plum. We got a lot of plum recipes while searching for one so I think we may branch out and try others to see if they are any better. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Recipe from Cooking Light

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• ¼ cups fig preserves
• 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
• ⅓ cups (3 ounces) soft goat cheese
• 4 (2-ounce) slices country wheat bread toasted
• 1 cups loosely packed arugula
• 2 ripe plums cut into thin wedges
• 3 ounces very thin slices prosciutto

Directions

1. Combine first 3 ingredients, stirring with a whisk; set aside. 2. Spread 3/4 ounce cheese evenly over each bread slice; divide arugula, plum wedges, and prosciutto evenly over sandwiches. Drizzle each sandwich with about 1 tablespoon fig preserves mixture.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 318

Fat: 9.1g

Cholesterol: 26mg

Sodium: 689mg

Carbohydrate: 45.5g

Fiber: 1.9g

Protein: 13.1g

Pear-Walnut Sandwiches

"On Tuesday he ate through two pears, but he was still hungry."

This is the one day I was not worried about at all. I have a million pear recipes but in the spirit of the blog we decided to try something new. This is one of those "what's not to love" meals. Cinnamon raisin bread, good. Pears, good. Cream cheese and walnuts, good and good. But my favorite part was the sprouts. Weird, I know, but I just wanted more. Luckily the sprouts are the least caloric thing about this sandwich so if you like them like me go ahead and pack 'em on there. Husband loved how quick and easy this was and we will definitely make it again. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Cooking Light

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• ½ cups (4 ounces) tub-style light cream cheese
• 8 (1.1-ounce) slices cinnamon-raisin bread toasted
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts toasted
• 2 Bartlett pears cored and thinly sliced
• 1 cups alfalfa sprouts

Directions

1. Spread 1 tablespoon cream cheese evenly over each of 8 bread slices. Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon walnuts evenly over each of 4 bread slices. Top each evenly with pear slices, sprouts, and 1 bread slice. Cut each sandwich in half diagonally.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 335

Fat: 29%

Cholesterol: 15mg

Sodium: 363mg

Carbohydrate: 52.2g

Fiber: 5.9g

Protein: 8.7g

Gouda-Stuffed Chicken with Apples

"On Monday he ate through one apple. But he was still hungry."      

       The first recipe in our Very Hungry Caterpillar challenge was something containing apples. We had made this chicken before and I thought I really loved it last time. I was wrong. Husband was right. This was only ok at best. I think the method of cooking the chicken made it taste burnt and dry. The sauce never thickened the way we wanted and the flavors all seemed very separate. They didn't really gel. We'll chalk this one up as a "you can't win 'em all" scenario and the caterpillar can try again tomorrow. 2 out of 5 stars.

Source: Cooking Light

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4 (4 ounce) skinless boneless chicken breast halves
• 3 ounces smoked Gouda cut into thin slices
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 1 cups apple cider
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 tablespoons honey
• 2 medium Granny Smith or Red delicious apples (about 1/4 lb.) each peeled and cut into 12 wedges
• fresh rosemary

Directions

1. Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each breast half to form a pocket; divide cheese evenly among pockets. Dredge chicken in flour.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add chicken and cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from skillet; set aside; and keep warm in a 250 oven. Add broth, apple cider, and garlic to skillet; bring to a boil and cook 10 minutes or until thick and syrupy, stirring occasionally; Add honey and apple wedges, and cook an additional 5 minutes or until apples are tender, stirring to coat apple wedges with sauce.
3. Spoon apple sauce over the chicken, and garnish with fresh rosemary, if desired.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 339

Fat: 9.9 g

Cholesterol: 90 mg

Sodium: 410 mg

Carbohydrate: 29.5 g

Fiber: 2 g

Protein: 32.2 g

Grilled Portobello-Goat Cheese "Pitas"

Those of you that are truly observant will notice that this is not a picture of pitas. we had pitas left over from another recipe that didn't go well so I planned this recipe to save on ingredients. Unfortunately when I looked at the pitas AFTER grocery shopping they were moldy. Yuck. So we thought we were going to have to switch our meals around and make this after we could go to the store. Fortunately this morning I got to thinking and also fortunately I usually buy a pizza crust just to keep on hand for "emergencies" so this recipe morphed into a pizza. We obviously had to make some MAJOR alterations to the original recipe but we thought we would post the original recipe and what we changed and then you could choose which version you wanted to try if any. We took our thin pizza crust and brushed a little olive oil over it. Then I decided to slice 2 cloves of fresh garlic and place them semi-evenly on the top of the crust. I baked the crust for 8 minutes with just the olive oil and garlic on it which was perfect because the mushrooms and tomatoes (which we grilled according to the recipe) were done about the same time. Then I sprinkled the goat cheese over the crust instead of spreading it because I thought the garlic would get in the way. I think next time I will try spreading it to see if it makes a difference. I cut the portobello into smallish chunks and sprinkled them evenly over the cheese. Next I placed the tomatoes on top and baked it for about 2 minutes at 350 degrees just to get everything nice and melty. When I pulled the pizza out of the oven I sprinkled chopped fresh basil on it and let it cool for a few minutes. We were slightly skeptical of our odd variation but it turned out really good and we think we may make it like this again. It even earned a 5 out of 5 stars.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1½ teaspoons bottled minced garlic
• 1 teaspoons olive oil
• 4 (6-inch) pita rounds
• ½ teaspoons salt divided
• ¼ teaspoons black pepper divided
• 1 (6-ounce) package portobello mushrooms
• 2 medium tomatoes cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• ⅓ cups (3 ounces) goat cheese
• ½ cups chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Preheat a grill pan over medium heat. Combine garlic and oil; brush evenly over pitas. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper evenly over pitas. Place pitas in pan, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until toasted. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper evenly over mushrooms and tomatoes. Place mushrooms in pan; cook 6 minutes or until tender, turning once. Remove mushrooms from pan. Add tomatoes to pan; cook 1 minute. Spread goat cheese evenly over pitas. Arrange the mushrooms and tomatoes evenly over pitas. Sprinkle with chopped basil.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 283

Fat: 27%

Cholesterol: 17mg

Sodium: 731mg

Carbohydrate: 39.8g

Fiber: 2.9g

Protein: 11.9g

Blueberry-Lemon Coffee Cake

For Father's Day breakfast we made a yummy coffee cake as a family. I have never had any recipe smell so good while it was still in the mixer but the almond paste makes this smell AMAZING! Husband is a huge fan of lemon so he definitely loved that part of it but he did say there were too many blueberries. Agreed. We used fresh blueberries and they all sank to the bottom of the cake. I think next time I would only use 1cup of blueberries instead of a cup and a half. Also the topping kind of got sucked into the cake when it cooked but you could still taste it. All in all very yummy. 5 out of 5 stars.

Recipe from Cooking Light

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoons salt
• ½ cups sugar
• ⅓ cups almond paste
• 2 tablespoons chilled butter cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoons lemon juice
• ¾ cups fat-free milk
• 1½ cups blueberries
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• Cooking spray
• ¼ cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons sliced almonds chopped
• 1½ tablespoons butter melted
• ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place 1/2 cup sugar, almond paste, and 2 tablespoons butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add egg and lemon juice, beating well. Add flour mixture and fat-free milk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries and rind. Spoon batter into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. To prepare topping, combine 1/4 cup sugar and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, tossing with a fork until moist. Sprinkle topping evenly over batter. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 196

Fat: 30%

Cholesterol: 27mg

Sodium: 243mg

Carbohydrate: 31.6g

Fiber: 1.4g

Protein: 3.8g

The Very Healthy Caterpillar

A few weeks ago I was reading the very hungry caterpillar to Thing 1 when all the sudden I had an idea. We are going to cook through the very hungry caterpillar and find a healthy recipe for EVERYTHING he eats in the story. We plan to start Monday so if you have not read this book please do and if you have read it read it again. It really is a great book. This will be a challenge but will be very fun if we can actually pull it off. It also means we have a fruit bowl full of yummy goodness at the moment. Wish us luck and send us your ideas!

Winner, Winner, Sushi Dinner

A huge thank you to all that sent us recipes for our contest!! If you didn't see your recipe on here it doesn't mean that we didn't like it, we are most likely waiting to post it for one reason or another. That being said, if you couldn't tell by the title of this post the winner of the recipe contest is....
Kim and Kamai Chang of Saratoga Springs, UT for their fantastic sushi demonstration!

Since husband and I share this blog we had to agree on the winner but I had to post my runner ups because there were a few recipes that I fell in love with.

Our 2 runner ups were Cindy Heiner of West Jordan, UT for her Thai Beef with String Beans and Sarah Swindell of Santa Rosa, CA for her Stuffed Acorn Squash.

We really enjoyed all of the recipes we received and hope everyone will continue to send us their yummy healthy recipes!!  Thanks everyone!

Buffalo Chicken Wrap

Last night we had a family picnic in the park and we, of course, decided to try something new. I sent husband a bunch of links to different wrap recipes and this is the one he picked. I could have guessed that really... you put "buffalo chicken" in the title of any recipe and he's game. I suggested to him that he could swap out the blue cheese for feta (even though I LOVE blue cheese but he does not) and leave out the celery. It tasted pretty good but I would've preferred the blue cheese. It was a nice picnic recipe and I could see us making it again. 3.5 or 4 out of 5 stars.

Recipe from Eating Well

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce such as Frank's RedHot
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar divided
• ¼ teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pounds chicken tenders
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• ¼ cups crumbled blue cheese
• 4 8-inch whole-wheat tortillas
• 1 cups shredded romaine lettuce
• 1 cups sliced celery
• 1 large tomato diced

Directions

1. Whisk hot pepper sauce, 2 tablespoons vinegar and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken tenders; cook until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add to the bowl with the hot sauce; toss to coat well.
3. Whisk mayonnaise, yogurt, pepper and the remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar in a small bowl. Stir in blue cheese.
4. To assemble wraps: Lay a tortilla on a work surface or plate. Spread with 1 tablespoon blue cheese sauce and top with one-fourth of the chicken, lettuce, celery and tomato. Drizzle with some of the hot sauce remaining in the bowl and roll into a wrap sandwich. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 275

Fat: 8 g

Cholesterol: 55 m

Carbohydrate: 29 g

Fiber: 3 g

Protein: 24 g

Thai Grilled Beef With String Beans

Tonight's dinner was another contest recipe that I've been hearing about from my coworker for a little while and dying to try. It was awesome! Husband loved the beef and I loved it all. I was expecting a very different flavor but was very pleasantly surprised. We were generous with the lime which I think made all the difference. We also used the serrano chile rather than the chili paste and green onions instead of scallions. We used a grill pan to cook the steak and it turned out perfectly done. We will be making this again and hopefully soon. 5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Cindy Heiner, West Jordan, UT

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1½ lbs. flank steak
• 1 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ c fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
• ¼ teaspoons (or more) chili paste or 1 teaspoon seeded, minced serrano chile
• ¼ teaspoons sugar substitute
• 1 c coarsely chopped cilantro
• ½ c thinly sliced scallions
• 1 pounds green beans trimmed
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat grill or grill pan to high. Rub steak on both sides with 1 teaspoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until desired doneness. Four minutes on each side for med. rare. Remove from heat and set on cutting board for 5 minutes.
2. Whisk together lime juice, fish sauce, chili paste, sugar substitute, cilantro, and scallions into a large mixing bowl.
3. Heat a saucepan of salted water until boiling. Add beans until cooked- crisp and tender, about 3 minutes. Drain.
4. Thinly slice meat across the grain. Toss with lime juice mixture, adding any meat juices that have accumulated on the cutting board. Add beans, toss, and serve.
5. Makes 4 servings.
6. Number of Servings: 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 319.6

Fat: 13.9g

Sodium: 530mg

Carbohydrate: 10g

Fiber: 3g

Protein: 38g

Chicken Taco Soup

Tonight was another yummy contest recipe. My favorite thing about this one was that it was made in the crock pot which is always nice. We had a chicken taco soup recipe that was ok but we like this one better. I ate mine with a teeny bit of non-fat sour cream and a few hint of lime chips (not the dorito kind but a really yummy kind I found at sunflower market) and I thought those were the perfect toppings. After I finished I thought I should have used some avocado but it was still great. This is one you can make over and over. Yummy. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Emily Mann, Sacramento, CA

Course: Soup

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
• 3 cups water
• ¼ cups taco seasoning (I use the kind from Costco)
• 1 15 oz can stew-cut tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can kidney or black beans
• 1 cups frozen corn
• 1 4 oz can diced green chilies
• 2 chicken breasts cut into large chunks

Directions

1. 1. Add tomato sauce, water, and taco seasoning to a large Crockpot and stir until seasoning is blended well.
2. 2. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook on high fro 4-5 hours, or low 7-8 hours.
3. 3. Take out the chicken chunks with tongs and shred with forks, returning chicken to the Crockpot.
4. 4. Serve with your desired toppings.

Topping Suggestions:
 Tortilla Chips, crushed
 Shredded cheese
 Sour Cream (Fat Free of course)
 Avocado or guacamole
 Chopped tomatoes or Pico de Gallo
 Anything else you like on your tacos (except I don’t recommend lettuce)

Amount Per Serving (without toppings)

Calories: 250

Fat: 2g

Carbohydrate: 30.7g

Protein: 27.4g

Beef and Spinach Lasagna

We had another contest recipe tonight and someone has figured out my weakness. Lasagna. Call me Garfield because I LOVE LASAGNA!!! That being said I had to take a back seat on the rating of this recipe as ANY lasagna is bound to get a 5 from me. This was a good lasagna too. I loved the spinach but I thought the beef needed more seasoning. Altogether yummy. I would've given it a 5 but husband said 4 so we compromised with a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Karen Huntington, Portland, OR

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1 -lb lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion,chopped
• 2 jars (26 oz. each) meatless spaghetti sauce- I used Prego
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 cups (8ozs) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese divided
• 9 no cook lasagna noodles

Directions

1. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce,garlic,basil and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. In a bowl, combine the spinach,ricotta
2. and 1 cup of the mozzarella until combined.
3. Spread 1 1/2 cups meat sauce into a greased 13-in x 9-in x 2-in baking dish. Top with three noodles. Spread 1-1/2 cups sauce to edge of noodles. Top with half of the spinach mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles, sauce and mozzarella.
4. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 281

Fat: 11g

Cholesterol: 50mg

Sodium: 702mg

Carbohydrate: 26g

Fiber: 3g

Protein: 20g

Sushi a la Chang

Another contest recipe is one that we always beg our friends to make for us. We almost didn't want to calculate the calories because we like it too much but we were happy to discover the calories weren't too bad! So not only did they teach us to make the sushi but they actually made it for us! Most people wouldn't call this kid friendly but both Thing 1 and Chang 1 ate it so I call it kid friendly. Rather than type out the instructions for rolling the sushi we took a video of Kamai doing a demonstration.  A huge 5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Kim and Kamai Chang, Saratoga Springs, UT




Ingredients:

1/2 cup light cream cheese
1 cup imitation crab meat
1/2 an avocado
1/2 cup cucumber sliced
6 sheets of yaki sushi nori (seaweed)
1 cup long grain white rice (cooked)

It's hard to explain how to roll sushi so we will be uploading the video once we solve our technical difficulties.

Makes approximately 6 rolls. Serving size is 2 rolls.


Calories: 312
Fat: 10.5g
Sodium: 498.5mg
Carbs: 29g

Chipotle Pork and Avocado Wrap

Today's lunch was something that I found online from Cooking Light. Since we bought a few extra pork ribs when we did the tacos we used it for this. Husband cooked  the pork by cutting it in strips and cooking it in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and a couple teaspoons of minced garlic. He added a "spritz" of fresh lime juice while it was cooking. We used a chipotle lime salsa which was medium heat and it was WAY too overpowering in this dish. I suggest a mild salsa with not too many extra flavors. All in all this was a great lunch. We give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

 

Recipe from Cooking Light

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mashed peeled avocado
• 1 1/2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices cut Simply Roasted Pork (about 8 ounces)
• 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1/4 cup bottled salsa

Directions

1. Combine the first 7 ingredients, stirring well. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spread about 2 tablespoons avocado mixture over each tortilla, leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange Simply Roasted Pork slices down center of tortillas. Top each tortilla with 1/4 cup shredded lettuce and 1 tablespoon salsa, and roll up.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 239

Fat: 22%

Cholesterol: 29mg

Sodium: 683mg

Carbohydrate: 32.8g

Fiber: 2.6g

Protein: 13.9g

Pizza with Spinach, Fontina and Onions

Today's lunch was a "make it work" scenario. The bread we were planning to use for our paninis had gone bad so we had to think of what we had in the house. Luckily we always like to keep a pizza crust and onions on hand. We had left over fontina from paninis earlier this week and we usually use spinach for some recipe or another so we had a cup of that left. We had to add some arugula to the spinach to make it go farther but it tasted good. This recipe is supposed to be made on pitas but we usually do it on a thin pizza crust instead. It's nice to be able to make something quick and easy without planning. In the old days we would've just run to Little Ceasers or something of the like but now we try to be prepared for times like this. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recipe from Cooking Light

Ingredients

• 3 teaspoons olive oil divided
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 cups vertically sliced red onion
• 2 cups bagged baby spinach leaves
• 4 (7-inch) whole wheat pitas
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) shredded Fontina cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion; saute 5 minutes or until tender.
3. Add spinach and saute 2 minutes or just until spinach begins to wilt. Remove from heat.
4. Place pitas on a large baking sheet; brush with remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil. Top pitas evenly with garlic-spinach mixture and cheese. Bake at 450 for 4 minutes or until cheese melts and pitas are brown.
5. Serve with: Arugula Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 287

Fat: 9.5g

Cholesterol: 16mg

Sodium: 466mg

Carbohydrate: 42.6g

Fiber: 6.2g

Protein: 11g

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

Tonight we tried another contest recipe. I was really excited to try this because husband has traditionally poo-pooed any recipe with bell peppers as a main ingredient and I love them. Funny that he was more into this recipe than me. This is mainly a case of a good recipe but just not my cup of tea. The flavors are once again those "warm" flavors that I'm not super in love with but it tasted good otherwise. I was all set to give it a 3.5 until Thing 1 ate it. That automatically bumps it up to a 4. Of course for his we added ranch to add the calories for Mr. skinny. So 4 out 5 stars and a big kid-friendly badge!

Source: Maria Rollins, Salt Lake City, UT

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 serving good seasonings Italian salad dressing mix
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce (low sodium)
• 1 Tbsp Splenda (or Stevia or your fav no cal sweetener...)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 4 cups brown rice medium grain-cooked
• 1 1/2 lb lean ground turkey (this amount raw)
• 6 sweet red bell peppers
• 2 eggs
• 8 oz V8 juice low sodium

Directions

1. Brown turkey with soy sauce and garlic. Cook Rice. Preheat oven to 350. Cut tops and clean out insides of bell peppers. Dice pepper tops (sans stems) to add to inside mixture. Mix meat, rice, and all else and stuff into hallowed bell peppers. Bake 1 hour. (I had a bit of the meat mixture left over so depending on the size of your peppers you could probably even stuff 7 of them with this ratio or cut back on the meat and rice amounts..etc.)

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 347

Fat: 9.6g

Carbohydrate: 38g

Protein: 25.7g

Chipotle Pork Tacos

Normally I am very opposed to yummy noises but tonight I couldn't help making them myself. I have been looking forward to these pork tacos all week. Maybe I am just in the mood for Mexican food but regardless these are so tasty they will have you craving them. For the meat we just bought 1 1/2 lbs of boneless skinless pork ribs and saved 1/2 lb for another recipe we are doing this week. When rating them we were wishing we could go above 5 to show just how much we love this recipe. 13.75 out of 5 stars. Ok, 5 out of 5 stars...

Recipe from Cooking Light

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin trimmed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime rind
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons chopped chipotle chile in adobo sauce
• 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup thinly sliced shallots
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• Chopped cilantro (optional)

Directions

1. Place pork tenderloin between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Remove plastic wrap. Cut pork into thin strips. Combine pork, lime rind, and next 6 ingredients (through salt). 2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shallots to pan; sauté for 4 minutes or until tender. Place shallots in a large bowl. Add oil to pan. Add pork; sauté for 3 minutes or until no longer pink. Add pork to shallots. 3. Warm tortillas according to the package directions. Spoon 1/3 cup pork mixture onto each tortilla, and top each tortilla with 1 1/2 teaspoons sour cream and cilantro. Fold in half.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 299

Fat: 9.3g

Cholesterol: 80mg

Sodium: 253mg

Carbohydrate: 27.4g

Fiber: 2.6g

Protein: 27.3g

Easy Tortellini Soup

This is one of my favorite meals and it is so easy and low calorie. I posted it on Facebook and several of my friends made it and really liked it. My favorite part is that it makes 6 servings so I can portion them out and have them for leftovers throughout the week. I prefer mine to be more brothy but husband likes it with more tortellini. This is a big 5 out of 5 stars.

Recipe from Healthy Cooking Magazine

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Hunts Original Diced Tomatoes undrained
• 1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini or tortellini of your choice
• 3 cups chopped fresh spinach
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• Shredded Parmesan cheese optional

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add tortellini; cook for 7-9 minutes or until tender. Stir in the spinach, vinegar and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through and spinach is wilted. Sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 6 servings.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 178

Fat: 4 g

Cholesterol: 18 mg

Sodium: 652 mg

Carbohydrate: 27 g

Fiber: 3 g

Protein: 9 g

Oven Roasted Veggies

Tonight was the 3rd contest recipe so far. We had a BBQ so these roasted veggies went well. They are simple but simple in a good way. I used sea salt and I added the optional mushrooms which in my opinion should not be optional since they were our favorite part. It was my first time using yellow squash so that was a plus. I love using new veggies! Another one we will make again and again. 4 out of 5 stars!

Source: Jackie Harris, Santa Rosa, CA


(You can use just about any vegetables.)


1 med Red Onion, sliced
1 med Green Bell Pepper, sliced
1 med Zucchini, sliced into disks
1 med Yellow Squash, sliced into disks


Sometimes I add Mushrooms.


Layer the veggies in a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then drizzle with Olive Oil. Toss, then bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

170 calories

15g carbs

11g fat

5g protein 586 mg sodium

Stuffed Acorn Squash

The second of our contest recipes and if we are being completely honest here, this scared the crap out of us. Husband even admitted to trying to talk me out of making it without me knowing. The good news: we made it. The better news: AWESOME!!! I was actually hoping not to like it as much as I did because the calorie count is a little higher than we like but if you think of it as a main dish and a side it could be a good meal. Plus it is SUPER filling! Husband didn't even finish his because it was so much (not because he didn't like it) but I couldn't stop eating it. This was definitely a good one for our anniversary dinner. It does take a really long time to cook so I would say due to the high calorie count and the lengthy process this would have to be a special occasion meal but we will definitely make it again! We cheated a little bit and cooked the quinoa in the rice cooker. We've wanted to make quinoa for a while now but been too afraid to actually do it so this was a great push. We still used the vegetable broth just put in the rice cooker as well. Definitely 5 out of 5 stars from both of us. Go on, try something new!

Source: Sarah Swindell, Santa Rosa, CA

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 acorn squash
• 1 TBS olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups veggie broth or 2 cups water and a bouillon cube
• 6 oz goat chèvre
• 1/2 cup pine nuts toasted
• 4-6 tomatoes roasted
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp marjoram
• 1/4 cup parsley chopped
• fresh grated parmesan for garnish

Directions

1. Cut the acorn squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Sprinkle each half with salt and pepper and thyme.
2. Put the olive oil on a sheet or roasting pan and smear each half of the squash- cut side down- into the oil making sure it is well coated.
3. Cut the tomatoes in half through the middle and sprinkle the cut sides with salt and pepper. Place them cut side down in the oil on the same pan as the squash. Roast at 400º the squash for 30-50 minutes (You want a knife to pierce through easily) and the tomatoes for 30-40 minutes flipping them over after 15 minutes.
4. While squash and tomatoes cook rinse quinoa.Then pour straight from the strainer into a pot with the heat on medium. Add broth. The ratio is 2:1. If you don't have veggie broth you can use 2 cups water and add a bouillon cube or some veggie broth powder as well. Bring it to a boil, then turn heat to simmer and cover for 15 minutes. At 15 minutes open the pot and fluff with a fork. Cover again and let it sit off the heat for another 5 minutes.
5. Scoop the flesh from the inside of the squash into a bowl and set aside.
6. Take your chèvre and put it into a small bowl. Using a fork work the chèvre into a paste. Add the roasted tomatoes (minus the skin), two cloves of garlic, pressed, the dry spices and the scooped out squash.
7. Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan on medium heat until they are fragrant and golden, then add them to the chèvre mixture. Liberally salt and pepper.
8. Incorporate the chèvre mixture into the quinoa. Mix gently. Add your chopped parsley and mix again
9. Using a tablespoon scoop generously into your acorn squash. You want the filling to mound over the top.
10. Bake at 375º for 30-45 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parmesan before serving.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 568

Fat: 25.2g

Cholesterol: 24.6mg

Sodium: 856.9mg

Sugar: 12.5g

Carbohydrate: 74.4g

Fiber: 9.7g

Protein: 20g

Guilt Free Double Chocolate Brownies

This is the first of our contest recipes and it will be hard to compete with! We decided to make brownie bites in a mini muffin pan instead of using a regular Pyrex. It cut the calories by about 20 since the servings were smaller. I also cheated and melted the butter in the microwave instead of on the stove. Karyn told me that these "got better with age" which is definitely true. We made them Thursday night and each tried one then and then took them on our anniversary picnic Friday night and they were a way better consistency. I ate mine with raspberries because I think everything tastes better with fresh raspberries. Since I typically only like brownies from a mix I was pleasantly surprised that these were a 5 out of 5 stars!

Source: Karyn Snodgrass, Manchester, NH

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 4 TBSP Butter
• 2/3 C. Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 C Cold Water
• 1 TSP vanilla
• 1 C. All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 TSP Baking Powder
• 1/4 C. Mini Semisweet Chocolate Pieces
• 2 TSP Powdered Sugar

Directions

1. Makes 16
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Coat bottom of 9x9 baking pan with nonstick spray. In a medium saucepan, melt butter; remove from heat. Stir in sugar, water, and vanilla. Mix in flour cocoa powder, and baking powder until combined. Add chocolate pieces. Pour batter into pan; bake for 15 -18 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 111

Fat: 4g

Carbohydrate: 18g

Fiber: 1g

Protein: 1g

Recipe contest!

Would you like to win an apron like this? Here's the deal. Send us a healthy recipe. That's all. Send us your best healthy recipe and we will make them all and pick our favorite. That person will get a custom apron made by yours truly. Any healthy recipe will do and if you don't know the nutrition info we can calculate it for you. Just email your recipe to the4menn@gmail.com and you will most likely see it on our blog with your name and location. Recipes need to be received by June 15th and a winner will be announced once we've had time to make them all. Email or comment with any questions and please share this with your friends. The more the better.

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Tonight's dinner was our 3rd stuffed chicken breast recipe we've tried and husband is officially not a fan of stuffed chicken. This is my favorite out of the 3 but I love the mediterranean flavors and husband does not. Since these were fairly thin I just put the stuff in the middle and folded them over that way. We also decided to cook them on the foreman just for convenience. They take about 6 to 8 minutes when done on the foreman grill. We couldn't agree on a rating husband says 2 and I say 3.5 to 4 stars. If you like these ingredients please try this recipe and let me know if you agree with me. Help a sister out!

Recipe from Cooking Light

Ingredients

• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled feta cheese
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped pitted kalamata olives
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
• 8 (6-ounce) skinless boneless chicken breasts

Directions

1. Directions: Preheat broiler. Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 15 minutes or until blackened. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel and finely chop. Prepare grill to medium-high heat. Combine bell pepper, cheese, olives, and basil. Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff 2 tablespoons bell pepper mixture into each pocket; close opening with a wooden pick. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from grill; cover loosely with foil, and let stand 10 minutes.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 210

Fat: 5.9g

Cholesterol: 98mg

Sodium: 266mg

Carbohydrate: 1.8g

Fiber: 0.5g

Protein: 35.2g