Slimmed down Gooey Artichoke Bread

I saw this yummy recipe on Pinterest. Click here for the link to the original version of it. It looked good but had way too many calories and dairy. I decided to try my hand at 'slimming' down a recipe. This one turned out delish! The silken tofu took the place of sour cream and mayonnaise. It still has too much dairy, in my opinion, because it has a hefty amount of fat however if you are looking for a reasonable splurge or just something tasty for your next party, then you should definitely try this.

Slimmed Down Gooey Artichoke Bread

1/2 a loaf of french bread

1/2 of a 14 oz can of artichoke heart

1/2 cup of baby spinach, chopped

3 oz of cream cheese (I used the chive onion version)

3 oz of silken firm tofu

1 tbsp of grated parmesan

2 oz of mozzarella cheese

salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil- to taste

1. Cut the bread in half. I took about most of the 'insides' to hollow out the loaf so that I could put the fillings in.

2. In a food processor, add the tofu, parmesan, mozzarella cheese, and spices. Process until smooth.

3. Chop the artichoke hearts and layer them with the spinach on the bread.

4. Spread the tofu mix on top.

5. Sprinkle with cheese.

6. Bake at 350 10-15 minutes are until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melting. I turned on the broiler for a few minutes to brown it on top as well.

Breakfast Mini-Quiches

I saw a version of mini-quiches made in a muffin tin somewhere but honestly right now I can't remember where that was so I'm sorry that I can't give someone the proper credit. I also can't remember all the measurements so we are going to play this one by ear :) You really could go any direction with these. You can use any type of meat (or no meat!) and any type of vegetables.

Breakfast Mini-Quiches

Broccoli

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Eggs, beaten

Sausage links cut into little pieces

1. Grease a muffin tin.

2. Layer the broccoli and sausage in the bottom of the muffin tins.

3. Sprinkle with a little bit of shredded cheese.

4. Cover with beaten eggs until the muffin cup is mostly full.

5. Bake at 375 degrees until the eggs are set and to desired texture (I like mine really dry).

You can then freeze and reheat these in the morning for weekday breakfasts!

Pumpkin Vegetarian Chili

It's officially fall here in AK and that means it's time for PUMPKIN! I LOVE pumpkin! Can you tell? Sadly, my venture into Pumpkin Alfredo was a miserable fail but this Pumpkin Vegetarian Chili was a hit! I found the original recipe on Pinterest (if you don't know what Pinterest is you MUST. JOIN. NOW) and you can go to it by clicking here. I modified it to cut it in half because the original recipe must feed five thousand and to make it vegetarian.

Pumpkin Vegetarian Chili

1- 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, I used natural, no-salt added

1- 14 oz can of canned pumpkin (NOT the pumpkin pie mix)

2- 14 oz cans of kidney beans, one drained and one not drained

1 cup of vegetable broth

1 package of Morningstar Farm veggie crumbles

Cumin

Chili Pepper

Salt

Pepper

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

little bit of vegetable oil or cooking spray

1. Heat a large pot over medium heat, add the vegetable oil. Add the onions and peppers, saute until fragrant. Add the garlic and saute a few more minutes. Add the veggie crumbles and saute 3-4 minutes longer.

2. Add the crushed tomatoes, kidney beans, pumpkin, and veggie broth. Mix well. Simmer over medium-low heat until chili is heated through.

3. Season to taste with chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper.

Makes approx 8 servings- I served mine over multigrain crackers topped with baby spinach.

Calories 213

Total Fat 3g

Total Carbs 34.4g (there is a TON of dietary fiber in there... 13g!)

Protein 16g

Cabbage Noodles with Peas

Cabbage Noodles with Peas

This came from Food.com. Click here for the original recipe. I used a lot less butter and oil and noodles. I guess I made it slimmer. The boys had bacon bits and parmesan cheese on top. If I ate meat, and didn't care about the calories, I think I would put actual bacon it in and cook the cabbage in the bacon grease. But I don't eat it anymore, sadly, and I'm going for lower calories. The boys loved this and gobbled theirs up.

1/2 head of cabbage, shredded (I used a little bit more than half)

8 oz of egg noodles

4 tbsp margarine or butter

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup onion, thinly sliced

salt and pepper

1. Cook the noodles according to package instructions.

2. In a large pan, heat vegetable oil. Add the cabbage and the onion. Saute until mostly done.

3. Add the peas. Continue saute-ing until the peas are cooked through. Add lots of pepper and salt (not lots of salt) and 2 tbsp of butter. Mix well.

4. Add the noodles to the cabbage mix. Add the rest of the butter and more salt and pepper.

The boys had their sprinkled with real bacon bits and parmesan cheese.

I had mine sprinkled with nutritional yeast for some vitamin B12.

Serves 8

Calories 202

Total Fat 6.8g

Total Carbs 30g

Protein 7g

Lunch and Dinner today....

This post isn't about anything special. I just wanted to post some pics of the food we've eaten today.

Many times on the weekend we skip breakfast (eep! horrible!). Because we sleep in later we don't get hungry until about lunchtime. So we have lunch instead. Today the boys wanted sandwiches on some yummy asiago cheese deli bread and I was in the mood for oatmeal.

Here is what the boys had. Pepperoni, Canadian bacon, and cheese on asiago cheese bread, raspberries, and root veggie chips:

I had oatmeal. Short version of the recipe- 2 cups dry oatmeal, 2 tbsp of crunchy natural peanut butter, about 1 cup of berries with extra to sprinkle on top, and a few healthy shakes of organic cinnamon. Here are the ingredients:

And here is the oatmeal. It was yummy! Austin decided he wanted some too after he smelled it cooking.

Berries are on sale now since it is the end of the season. This means that I bought more than I can possibly eat. So I froze berries today. It's pretty easy. Clean and slice and then mix with a little bit of lemon juice (so the berries retain their color). Then I put them on wax paper on a cookie sheet or baking pan in a single layer. Put them in the freezer like that for a few hours until they are more or less frozen. Then you can remove and put them in a freezer safe bag or container. I find they keep their shape better this way. I froze some blueberries and raspberries earlier on in the season and they were delish. Way better than store bought frozen berries.

And lastly, here is dinner tonight. We are experimenting with different, vegetarian sources of protein. Tonight was Chinese stir-fry with tempeh. It wasn't spectacular. Not bad, but I'm not going to put the recipe here. The tempeh tasted okay but I think I would like it prepared a different way. The stir-fry has broccoli, baby boknchoy, carrots, garlic, sweet yellow peppers, scrambled eggs, yam noodles, and tempeh. The sauce was pretty good. The good news is that the boys tried the tempeh, loved the noodles, and ate the veggies!

Quick dinner.....

Some times dinner is a challenge. Especially when my husband is gone and I don't feel like cooking but I know I need something substantial and the kids want something with meat. Ugh.....it makes me tired just thinking about it! Tonight the kids had egg sandwiches with canadian bacon, cheese, and spinach on nice toasted torta sandwich rolls.

This is what I had:

It's an omelette with sauteed zucchini and summer squash with spinach and a sprinkling of nutritional yeast (high in vitamin B12). On the side is a sourdough english muffin with fig paste. Fig paste is my new favorite toast topping. For the recipe check out this link to the blog, Eat Live Run. Yeah, I know the recipe is for fig bars but we never made it to the bar stage. The kids didn't like the fig paste so it seemed pointless. Now I have a large container of fig paste in my fridge. I wonder if I could can or freeze it?

Anyways.....so that is dinner :)

Cajun Crab Risotto

Cajun Crab Risotto

1 cup arborio rice, uncooked

2 1/2 - 3 cups of chicken broth

1 1/2 cup of broccoli, cooked and chopped

1- 6oz can of crab meat, drained

1/4 cup heavy cream (or half and half if you like)

4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

3 tbsp (or to taste) Shrimp Boil

2 tbsp butter

1. In a sauce pan, heat the brother over medium heat until simmering

2. In a large skillet, melt butter and add uncooked rice. Saute over medium heat until rice is browned.

3. Start adding the broth. Add a ladle full at a time and stir constantly. When broth is absorbed add another ladle full. This is not hard, just time consuming.

4. When you are down to the last couple of ladles full of broth, add the crab, spices, and broccoli to the pan. Continue adding the broth until the rice is the consistency that you like.

5. When all the broth is absorbed, add the cream and parmesan cheese. Mix well.

Serves 4

340 Calories

11.3 Total Fat

45.2g Total Carbs

14.2g Protein