Cabbage Lasagna???

I have to admit when my mother told me she'd read somewhere a suggestion to substitute cabbage for lasagna I was skeptical, but now that I've tried it, I quite like it. Interesting indeed! A note on bottled marinara sauce. I used it in this recipe, but I watched the calorie count. It was totally eye opening to compare. The calories ranged anywhere from 60 calories per serving to 140 calories per serving. The 140 calorie stuff had a lot of added unnecessary fat and fillers. A goal ought to be to keep food as close to natural as possible!

Cabbage Lasagna

10 servings
324 calories per serving, 132 calories from fat

• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 5 medium carrots shredded
• 7 (3.5 oz) servings boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 jar Newman's own marinara
• 2 cups low fat ricotta
• 2 1/2 cups part skim shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 c shredded Parmesan
• 2 large egg
• 1/2 head large cabbage cut in 1/4 or 1/2 inch slices

A quick and easy way to make your own ground chicken is to pulse it in your food processor. That's what I did here, I placed a few breasts in the food processor at a time, and pulsed until it looked the consistency I wanted. You could just as easily used ground turkey, or, if you are lucky enough to find it, pre-ground chicken breasts.

As always, spray your pan with your favorite non stick spray, add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent, add the chicken and carrots. Cook until chicken is done, and liquid released from the carrots has cooked off. Add the jar of marinara stir to combine and remove from heat.

combine the cheeses all but 1/2 cup of the mozzarella with the eggs, stir to combine well.

Layer together like you would lasagna, only using the cabbage in place of the noodles. I used a 9"x13" pan and start with the meat mixture, then cabbage, then cheese. I repeat this one more time and end with a good layer of meat on top. Cover with foil and bake in 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella. bake until cheese is melted.

I did some searching on lasagna calories the average according to calorie king is 408. Just as a reference. Olive Garden lasagna 850 calories per serving, Old Spaghetti Factory 800 calories, Pizza Hut 600 calories, Stouffer's 350 calories.

Chicken Florentine with Quinoa mock Risotto

My kids, my parents, my brother and my sister-in-law all loved this the other night. It comes together quickly and easily too, which I love.

6 Servings
208 calories per serving 82 calories from fat

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 medium spring onions chopped
• 3 oz mushrooms chopped
• 1 t.  mushroom base
• 1/4 cup water (adjust to your likeness for thicker/thinner sauce
• 1/2 Tbs. corn starch
• 18 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts (6 3 oz. servings)
• 1 bunch spinach

Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the onions and mushrooms, cook until mushrooms soft, add the mushroom base and water, heat through and add the cornstarch stirring constantly so it doesn't form lumps, bring to a boil to thicken the sauce. Remove this mixture from the pan and add the chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper, cook through, set aside under foil to keep warm. Add spinach to the pan and cook until it starts to wilt.

Divide the spinach into six portions, set a chicken breast on top, and cover with the mushroom sauce. Top with a tiny bit of grated parmesan cheese if desired.

Quinoa Mock Risotto

8 servings

122 calories 37 calories from fat

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 medium spring onions chopped
• 3 oz mushrooms sliced
• 1 t. mushroom base
• 1/2 Tbs corn starch
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 t. mushroom base
• 1 cup quinoa
• 3 c water
• 1/4 c. low fat ricotta
• 1/4 c. grated parmesan

You'll probably notice that the first 5 ingredients are the same as in the sauce for the chicken... it's cooked in the same manner too, so if you'd like to combine them and cook it together, then split it in half, that works and is easy to boot!

The rest of the recipe works like this: place the quinoa, water, and mushroom base in a pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover, cook until all the liquid is absorbed in the quinoa. Add the ricotta and parmesan, then the mushroom sauce. Stir to combine all ingredients. Spoon onto plate with the chicken florentine and top with a little more parmesan.

I served this all with a green side salad. Totally delicious!

Dress up your eggs

I must be on an egg kick, because I've sure been posting a bunch of breakfast type recipes so far this month. This one is a kind of scrambled egg hash, with a little bit of greek flair...

1 whole egg
2 egg whites
1/4 purple onion, chopped
1/2 yellow squash chopped
1/2 orange pepper chopped
4 kalamata olives, chopped
1 oz feta cheese
1 sprig chopped parsley

coat your favorite egg pan with the olive oil, place the veggies, except the parsley in the pan and cook until onion is translucent and the squash is crisp tender. Wisk the eggs together and pour over the veggies, cook until the eggs are set. stir in the olives, crumble the feta over the entire thing. and sprinkle with parsley. Plate and serve. If you have a taste for greek-ness I think you might like this.

1 serving 270 calories.

Rainbow Chicken Salad

They say that we ought to include all the colors of the rainbow in our diets, I think I did a pretty good job in this salad.

Rainbow Chicken Salad

1 serving 239 calories

1 stalk celery, chopped
1/8 cup chopped purple onion
1/8 cup chopped yellow pepper
3 small strawberries, chopped
3 oz chopped grilled chicken breast
1 Tbs light mayo
2 large lettuce leaves, preferrable green leaf or romaine

combine the top 6 ingredients, place in the lettuce leaves. Wrap up and enjoy!

I *heart* Soup

This week I have an abundance of carrots, and a curiosity for something original to do with them. I have a GIGANTIC vegetarian cookbook that I get inspiration from. The basis for this recipe comes from the book, of course I tweeked it to make it my own. It got 3 thumbs up at dinner tonight. (Mine, my Moms, and my Sister-in-Law's)

I added yellow lentils to this recipe (yellow split peas) the addition gives the recipe some texture, a little added protein too. If you don't have them, never fear you can leave them out. Better yet, get thee to the market and get some! It's well worth the effort, I promise!


Carrot Cumin Soup

(8) 1 cup servings
164 calories, 33 calories from fat

• 2 tbsps butter (yes, I used butter again!)
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic crushed or chopped
• 1 lb carrots sliced (about 10 - 12 medium carrots)
• 4 stalks celery chopped
• 1 potato peeled and diced
• Juice from 1/2 lemon (about 1 tsp)
• 8 cups chicken stock - use vegetable stock if you'd rather, or what I actually used was 8 cups of water and 4 tbs better than boulion chicken flavor)
• 1 1/2 inch piece ginger chopped fine
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 2  bay leaves
• 3/4 cup yellow lentils
• 1 1/4 cups skim milk

Directions

Melt butter in large soup pot, add the onion and garlic, cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook again for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, lemon juice, seasonings, and lentils. Cover and let simmer until the vegetables and lentils are tender.

Remove from heat, fish out the bay leaves and discard (I actually forgot to take out the bay leaves, so they ended up pureed into the final product. OOPS, it still tasted fantastic).Let cool for a few minutes.

Puree the soup in a food processor, blender, or with a stick blender. Oh how I love my stick blender! Once there are no longer any chunks in the soup add the skim milk and stir to blend.

Enjoy!

Much love,

Alisha xoxoxo

Breakfast Wrap

Broccoli Egg Breakfast Wrap
1 serving
233 calories

1 egg

1 egg white

1/2 cup chopped broccoli

1 plum or italian tomato cut in half (I used one I had roasted earlier)

1/8 cup shredded fat free cheddar cheese

1 small flour tortilla

Spray small omlet type pan w/non stick cooking spray, add the broccoli to the warmed pan and cook until warmed through, place to side. Beat egg and egg white together, season w/salt and pepper if desired. scramble the eggs in the pan. warm the tortilla either in the microwave or on a flat pan on the stove. I used a 6 inch tortilla that I got one of the weeks offered by Bountiful Baskets. Place 1/2 the cooked egg on the tortilla, topped with 1/2 the cheese, then all the broccoli, and the tomato, then the rest of the egg and cheese) rolle it all up burrito style. (Mine was so thick I had to hold it together with a toothpick... this did not hurt my feelings) ;)

Serve with some fresh salsa, and a piece of fruit. Lovely breakfast

Turkey Meatballs and Spinach Salad

I've had a couple of much needed days off, and neglected to post, so here's something to make up for it. :)

385 calories on the plate, nummy too!

Turkey Meatballs

 6 servings (5 meatballs each)
176 calories per serving 50 calories from fat

• 1 lb. 99 % fat free turkey breast
• 1/4 c kraft parmesan
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 oatmeal
• 1Tbs chopped oregano
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion grated
• 3 tbsps ketchup
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chicken stock

Combine all ingredients except olive oild and chicken stock, mashe together with hands until well blended, form into 30 equal sized balls.
Heat oil in non stick skillet, add meatballs in batches browning on all sides. Once all meatballs are browned, add them all back into the skillet, do not clean out the pan, add the chicken stock and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed.

I served these "bare" with a spinach salad (recipe to follow) but you could just as easily add marinara (even use the marinara instead of the chicken stock to simmer if you wanted) and serve over whole grain pasta. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination!

Spinach Cauliflower Salad w/Strawberry Viniagrette

4 servings
46 calories each

1 bunch spinached, washed and torn into bite sized pieces
1 small head cauliflower cut into bite sized flowerettes
10 strawberries, sliced

Mix all these together and top with Strawberry Balsamic Viniagrette

Strawberry Balsamic Viniagrette

4 GENEROUS servings
73 calories each 46 calories from fat

10 strawberries
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

blend all ingredients together until smooth, add some water if you'd like it thinnner.