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