Category Archives: Recipes

Nacho Twist

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I had meant to post this recipe several weeks ago but completely forgot!

We had the kids for the week and I let them pick what we will be having for dinner each night.  It seems to work when they are here.  If they have a say in what they are eating they don’t complain and request that we go out for sushi.  One night they requested nachos, which I knew during my pre-op diet just would work since I was doing Lean & Green dinners.  I had a couple of peppers on hand and had an ah-ha moment; Replace the nachos with peppers!

Nacho-Normal-Nachos

Ingredients

  • 1 Pepper (Red, Yellow, Green, Orange, doesn’t matter) cut into large chunks and seeded
  • 1/4 Cup Fat Free Re-fried Beans
  • 1/2 Cup 99% Lean Ground Turkey browned and then cooked with taco seasoning
  • 1/2 of a small onion diced and caramelized in olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp Black Olive Slices
  • 1 Tbsp Chopped Jalapenos
  • 1/4 Cup Reduced Fat Mexican Cheese Blend
  • Hot Sauce to Taste

Directions

  • Pre heat your oven to 450 degrees.
  • Place your pepper chunks onto a baking sheet

  • Top with re-fried beans

  • Cover with cooked ground turkey and caramelized onions

  • Top with black olives, jalapenos, a dash or two of hot sauce, and finally the cheese

  • Bake for 10-15 minutes until everything is warm and melty.

I didn’t pull together the nutritional information for this recipe since I was just focusing on low carb at the time, but they are certainly a lot healthier than your standard nacho!  They were SO good!

 

 

Stuffed Mini Peppers

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I picked up another bag of the stuffed mini peppers that I bought a month or two again.  Arent they just so flippin’ cute?

I decided I wanted to test out a recipe I’ve been thinking up in my head on our newish charcoal grill.  The recipe still has a little room for improvement (perhaps an egg to help pull the ingredients together??) I figure it’s still good enough to post.  You could add meat, you could add fresh herbs, so many options.  Here is the base recipe:

Stuffed Mini Peppers

Ingredients

  • 8oz Part Skim Ricotta
  • 1/4 C Crumbled Feta
  • 1/4 C Grated Parm
  • 16 Mini Peppers
  • Salt & Pepper to Taste
  • Red Pepper Flake to Taste

Prepare the peppers by slicing a small portion out of the top side, leaving on the stems.  The slit needs to be big enough to be able to remove the seeds and large enough to stuff, but not big enough to let the stuffing just fall out.

In a mixing bowl, mix all of the remaining ingredients together well.

 

Add the cheese mixture to a ziplock bag.

Clip a corner off of the ziplock bag and use it to pipe the cheese mixture into each of the stuffed peppers.

Please the stuffed peppers directly on the prepared grill.  If the grill is too hot, you might need to move the peppers to a grill pan.

Finished peppers!

Nutritional Information

Decent amount of protein and fairly low carb, this just might be a good post surgery (like months post surgery) meal!

Breakfast Casserole-South Beach Friendly Breakfast

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One of the issues I run into with South Beach is figuring out what I’m going to each for breakfast.  Most mornings, I dont have time for make eggs.  I read on someones blog (not sure whose, sorry) to use cottage cheese in egg casseroles, it’s pure genius!  The cottage cheese takes on a cream cheese like texture in the casserole and keeps the casserole moist.

Breakfast Casserole-Turkey Sausage, Asparagus, Onion, and Mushrooms

  • 9 Eggs, Beaten
  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 pound raw Turkey Sausage (remove casings if there are any
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 1 package sliced mushrooms
  • 1 bunch asparagus cut into 1″ pieces
  • 1 package 2% light shredded cheese of your choice
  • 1 package 1% light cottage cheese, drained and rinsed

Makes 8 Servings

Pre-heat oven to 350

With 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil sautee the diced onions and mushrooms until the mushrooms are translucent:

Prepare a casserole dish by oiling it or buttering it.

Add onions, mushrooms, and chopped asparagus to the casserole dish.

Add the browned turkey sausage to the casserole dish.

Top with drained cottage cheese to the casserole dish.  Trust me on this one, it sounds strange, but its so blasted good!

Add the beaten eggs to the casserole dish.

Top the casserole with cheese.

Into the 350 degree oven.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes.

Allow to sit for 15 minutes or so to set.  Makes 8 servings.

Tons of protein in this recipe, so it keeps me full for hours and hours.  You could easily reduce the calories by reducing the amount of cheese, using egg beaters, and using fat free cottage cheese.  This reheats fantastically well in the microwave.  Heat a serving for about 90 seconds and shazam, breakfast is ready!

Red Pepper & Garlic Chicken Sausage

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While doing some research on recipes I came across a few recipes that talked about making homemade chicken sausage.  At first it sounded like too much work, but it turned out to be so easy!  I used my food processor for this one, without the food processor this might not have been possible. 

I actually made this recipe a few weeks ago and just now got around to posting about it.  I put the majority of the chicken sausages into the freezer, wrapping each one in saran wrap and then putting them in a freezer Ziploc bag.  I took one out each night and put it in the fridge, so that it was thawed and ready for the next mornings breakfast.  They still tasted fantastic even after having been frozen.

I mainly used the Chicken Sausages on a bagel with egg whites, but I also chopped one up and put it in an egg white omelet.  TONS of flavor in these little guys!

Red Pepper & Garlic Chicken Sausage

Ingredients:

    21 ounces Chicken Breast
    4 Roasted Piquillo Peppers (Trader Joe’s Brand)-You could also used Roasted Red Peppers if you can not find these specific ones.
    1 Tbsp minced garlic
    1 Tbsp Olive Oil
    1/3 C Plain Bread Crumbs
    1 tsp Red Pepper Flake
    Salt & Pepper to Taste

Directions:

Place the chicken in the freezer 20 minutes prior to starting the recipe. This will help the chicken breast not become mush in the food processor.

Add into the food processor:
Extra cold chicken & Red Pepper-Pulse until the chicken begins to have a sausage consistency.
Add the remainder of the ingredients and continue to pulse until well blended.

Form the chicken mixture into 9 even patties.

Cook in a non-stick skillet over medium heat that has been sprayed with cooking spray. 3-4 minutes per side uncovered. Covered and cook over medium low heat for an additional 4-5 minutes.

Makes 9 servings

Nutritional Information:

  • Calories: 106.9
  • Total Fat: 2.5 g
  • Cholesterol: 38.3 mg
  • Sodium: 90.5 mg
  • Total Carbs: 4.0 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 0.2 g
  • Protein: 15.9 g

    • Weight Watchers Points Plus Points: 3

    Hope you enjoy!

    Italian Beef with Noodles

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    So there is probably nothing Italian in this recipe with exception of the noodles and the Italian Seasoning, but that is the name I gave it.  I had taken out ground beef for dinner with no plans for it.  We werent really feeling spaghetti or tacos and I didnt have the patience for making meatballs one evening, so this meal was born.  Oh yeah, it’s also NOT pretty to look at.  I can tell you that its really delicious and DH wants it again…soon.  It’s also really simple and something you could throw any veggies that you have on hand into. 

      1 LB 93% Lean Ground Beef
      1 TB Olive Oil
      1 Large Onion Diced
      1 1/2 C Chicken Broth
      8 oz Egg Noodles
      2 TB Corn Starch
      1 TB Butter, unsalted
      1 Garlic Clove Minced
      2 TSP Italian Seasoning
      Salt & Pepper to Taste
      In a pot bring water to a boil for the egg noodles. Once the water comes to a boil, cook the egg noodles per the package instructions.In a skillet add the 1 TB Olive Oil and allow to heat over medium. Add the diced onion and sautee 4-5 minutes until the onions begin to become translucent and soft. Add in the ground beef and cook & crumble until the beef is cooked through. Drain any fat off of the beef & onion mixture.

      Add the garlic and the italian seasoning. Allow to cook for 1 more minute allowing the garlic to cook.

      Mix the chicken broth and corn starch together with a wisk, ensuring that there are no lumps. Add the chicken broth mixture to the skillet with the beef. Allow to cook until the broth begins to thicken creating a gravy. Salt & Pepper to taste. Add the butter and allow the butter to melt, stirring the butter in.

      Serves 4.

    • Calories: 486.7
    • Total Fat: 15.9 g
    • Cholesterol: 128.8 mg
    • Sodium: 443.9 mg
    • Total Carbs: 48.0 g
    • Dietary Fiber: 2.3 g
    • Protein: 32.9 g

    WW Points Plus: 12

    Enjoy!

    Tata for now,

    Scale Warfare

    A Whole-Lotta Shrooms

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    Completelly random, but today is my 500th post!  I cant believe it, I cant thank you all enough for how much support you give me, whether its through an email (scalewarfare@gmail.com) a tweet (@scalewarfare) or via a comment on the blog!  There are so many of you that I read and learn so much from.  This weight loss community is so wonderful!  I plan on putting together a belated give-away that I will announce next weekend once I get back from my work trip.  Stay tuned!

    My DH hates mushrooms, can’t stand them.  He wont touch anything that he thinks that he might have mushrooms in it.  On Monday when I opened the veggie drawer I realized we had a lot of mushrooms leftover from a container of them that I got at Costco.  I didn’t want them to go to waste, so I knew I needed to finish them up on Monday since I was leaving for a business trip super early on Tuesday morning.  I personally LOVE mushrooms.  They can be made so many ways and they absorb the flavor of whatever you’re cooking them in. 

    See…lots of mushrooms:

    Actually this picture doesn’t do the quantity of mushrooms justice.  Some of the mushrooms (Baby Bellas) were about the same diameter as the palm of my hand, the majority though were about the diameter of a golf ball.  I started going through the different things I could do with all of the mushrooms in my head (Forest Gump style,) stuffed mushrooms, fried mushrooms, mushroom soup, stir fried mushrooms, mushroom burger, mushroom sandwich, mushroom sauce, mushrooms with pasta, etc.

    I decided to go back to what first made me fall in love with mushrooms.  Mushroom Salad.  At the Melting Pot (a fondue restaurant) when I was in High School they accidentally brought me a Mushroom Salad.  I knew it was a mistake because why on earth would I want anything to do with mushrooms?  I decided to just go for it and took a bite.  In.LOVE.  I loved the salad.  It was composed 85% of fresh mushrooms.  I made this mushroom salad with sliced mushrooms, a dressing of olive oil and lemon, and then threw in some salt, pepper, and some dried herbs.  Delicious!

    After the giant bowl of mushroom salad, I was left with three of the golf ball sized mushrooms and six of the really big ones.  I decided I would use them to make stuffed mushrooms.

    Ingredients:

    • 2 oz Low Fat Cream Cheese room temp
    • 1 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese
    • 1 Chicken Sausage Patty broken up (recipe is coming)
    • 6 Large Mushrooms
    • 3 Medium Mushrooms diced finely
    • 1 Tsp Olive Oil
    • Salt & Pepper to taste

    Sautee the diced mushrooms and the sausage patty in the olive oil until the mushrooms are cooked 4-5 minutes.

    Mix all of the ingredients together until well blended.

    Stuff each of the  mushrooms with the mixture.

    Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.  Enjoy!

    Makes 1 serving (as a main dish)

    Nutritional Information

    • Calories: 352
    • Fat: 19
    • Carbs: 14
    • Fiber: 3
    • Protein: 32
    • WW Points Plus: 9

    Not a single mushroom was wasted!

    Tata for now,

    Scale Warfare

    Buffalo Bites

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    This is something that I threw together for lunch today.  I was pretty hungry, and wanted to invade the fridge/freezer/cabinets/pantry/etc. to find junk food.  I decided to take a 15 minute break and come up with something that I really wanted, rather than to go crazy and lose control.

    I cooked up a pound of 99% lean ground turkey last night.  I only ate 1/4 of it with dinner so I had plenty of leftovers.  I wanted to come up with something to use some of it, and so this recipe (if it can really be called a recipe) was born.

    Buffalo Bites

    • 3 oz Cooked Ground Turkey (99%)
    • 1 tsp or so of Franks Hot Sauce
    • 12 Tostitos Scoops
    • 1/2 oz Crumbled Blue Cheese

    I pre-heated the oven broiler and then I heated up the left over ground turkey and then evenly distributed it between the 12 scoop chips.  I put a squirt or two of Franks Hot Sauce on each of the chips and then evenly distributed the crumbled blue cheese over the chips.  I put the plate (make sure to use an oven safe plate!) under the broiler for about 4 minutes while the cheese melted.  They were so good and felt a bit indulgent!  I paired them with left over roasted veggies from last night for a really filling lunch.

    Makes 1 Serving.

    Nutritional Information:

  • Calories: 310.0
  • Total Fat: 11.0 g
  • Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
  • Sodium: 318.0 mg
  • Total Carbs: 18.5 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 1.0 g
  • Protein: 33.0 g

    • Have a great long weekend!

    Tata for now,

    Scale Warfare

    Buffalo Chicken Casserole

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    Last weeks recipe might not have been a winner, but this one ya’ll it’s a winner.  SO good and the leftovers are just as yummy.

    Buffalo Chicken Casserole from EatingWell.com

    12 ounces whole-wheat elbow noodles
    2 tablespoons canola oil
    3 medium carrots, sliced
    3 medium stalks celery, sliced
    1 large onion, chopped (I skipped this…hate celery!)
    1 tablespoon minced garlic
    2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
    1/3 cup cornstarch
    4 cups low-fat milk
    1/8 teaspoon salt
    5 tablespoons hot sauce, preferably Frank’s RedHot
    3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (about 4 ounces)

    1.Preheat oven to 400°F.
    2.Bring a Dutch oven of water to a boil. Cook noodles until barely tender, about 2 minutes less than package directions. Drain, rinse and set aside.
    3.Heat oil in the pot over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic and cook until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink on the outside, 5 to 7 minutes. Whisk cornstarch and milk in a medium bowl; add to the pot along with salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often, until bubbling and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in hot sauce.
    4.Spread the noodles in a 9-by-13-inch (or similar 3-quart) baking dish. Top with the chicken mixture; sprinkle with blue cheese.
    5.Bake the casserole until it is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

    Makes 8 Servings

    Nutritional Information:

  • Calories: 443.6
    • Total Fat: 10.3 g
    • Cholesterol: 95.5 mg
    • Sodium: 696.6 mg
    • Total Carbs: 46.9 g
    • Dietary Fiber: 1.8 g
    • Protein: 38.7 g

    WW Points Plus: 11

    I hope you enjoy this one as much as we did…even DH loved it!

    Tata for now,

    Scale Warfare

    Garlic-Lemon Shrimp

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    Some recipes just dont work, and for me this was one of them.  I LOVE shrimp, thats probably not emphasized enough there.  Shrimp is one of those things that if cooked properly, I could eat probably non-stop.  To me shrimp shouldnt be chewy or tough, these were both.  I’m not sure if I did something wrong.  When I initially read the recipe I worried that this would be too much acid, which I know actually cooks seafood, but I figured I’d give it a shot anyway.

    Lemon-Garlic Shrimp

    I halved the recipe:

    1 lb shrimp peeled & deveined
    1/4 cup lemon juice
    1/4 cup white wine
    2 cloves garlic minced
    1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
    1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
    Cooking spray

    Peel shrimp, leaving tails intact. Combine lemon juice, wine, garlic, steak sauce, and pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal, and shake to blend. Add shrimp; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 20 minutes, turning bag once.

    Prepare grill. (I used a grill pan)

    Remove shrimp from bag, discarding marinade. Thread 8 shrimp onto each of 6 (12-inch) skewers. Place kebabs on a grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill 2 minutes on each side or until shrimp are done.

    Nutritional Information:

    Nutritional Info:
    • Calories: 190.1
    • Total Fat: 2.6 g
    • Cholesterol: 229.7 mg
    • Sodium: 332.1 mg
    • Total Carbs: 6.1 g
    • Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g
    • Protein: 31.0 g

    WW Points Plus: 4

    Maybe it’ll work out better for you. 

    Tata for now,

    Scale Warfare

    PS-Next weeks recipe is a winner!  They cant all be great :)

    Chicken Tortilla Casserole

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    This weeks recipe is modified from the Chicken Tortilla Casserole recipe on EatBetterAmerica.com

    This one was SO good.  Also made for fabulous leftovers.  DH gave it a “Eff yea do this one again!”  Which is a pretty great endorsement!

    Here is the recipe for the version that I did, it only changed the fat free sour cream to low fat sour cream since that is what I had on hand.  I also calculated the recipe using the brands that I had (instead of just using the nutritional information off of the website.)

    Ingredients

      1 can (10 3/4 oz) 98% fat free 45% less sodium condensed cream of chicken soup
      1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
      1/4 cup Franks Hot Sauce
      1 container (8 oz) Reduced Fat sour cream
      1/2 cup fat-free (skim) milk
      2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
      8 yellow corn tortillas (6 or 7 inch), torn into bite-size pieces
      1 medium green bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
      1 large tomato, chopped (1 cup)
      1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar or Mexican-blend cheese (6 oz)

    Directions

    1 Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix soup, chiles, sour cream and milk until blended. Stir in chicken, tortillas and bell pepper. Stir in tomato and 1 cup of the cheese. Spoon and spread mixture in baking dish.
    2 Cover with foil. Bake 40 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake uncovered 5 to 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and mixture is bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes.

    Makes 8 servings

     
    Nutritional Info
    • Calories: 259.1
    • Total Fat: 9.4 g
    • Cholesterol: 59.3 mg
    • Sodium: 253.8 mg
    • Total Carbs: 20.2 g
    • Dietary Fiber: 2.4 g
    • Protein: 23.7 g

    Enjoy!

    Tata for now,

    Scale Warfare