spaghetti squash marinara & quiche

i am in love with my version of this spaghetti squash marinara sauce recipe, it was so delish and i didn't want it to end. i was able to get one dinner for two and two lunches for myself out of a medium squash. the key for me was the artichoke hearts & mushrooms i added to the sauce. the addition of the chicken sausage was ok, but not necessary. i would def. add more veggies next time i make this yumminess!

the quiche i made for sweetie for lunches ended up being a dinner & a few lunches for us. it was a great way to use up leftover veggies & cheese. i had feta, spinach & mushrooms in the fridge. i did want to use a lower cal recipe, as the quiche recipe i used to make had cream, numerous eggs & a ton of cheese. i pulled this recipe to use as a guide to making a quiche with an egg substitute and we both really enjoyed how light and flavorful it was. next time i will try it with the phyllo dough, but the pie crusts were on sale and i couldn't resist this time saver. i did use whole wheat flour in the egg mixture, that counts for something... :)

tonight is sesame shrimp salad cups...sweetie's favorite new recipe, since this new phase has begun. i have actually made this a couple of times so far and it's always been a hit. i revamp this to use bibb lettuce as cups and add some chopped snap peas. i do not use watercress or the napa cabbage...until tonight. i did buy some napa cabbage for the veggie mixture in the bibb lettuce cups. i serve 3-4 cups, depending on size of leaves & i put 3 shrimp on each cup and voila! the cilantro/mint/lime juice/chili paste combo is such an amazing flavor..we love this dish and it's a favorite, sweetie would eat this once a week if i made it.

time saver hint...when the med raw shrimp, already butterflied/deveined are on sale...ask the fish monger for a 2 lb bag and keep it in the freezer. shrimp can be defrosted in minutes and can be added to salads, shrimp tacos or for a quick shrimp cocktail. making homemade cocktail sauce is a breeze...ketchup, prepared horseradish & lemon juice...mix ratio to your liking (we like more kick w/the horseradish!)

i hope you have a wonder Thanksgiving weekend - eat well!

yum yum

new baby weekend - not so much cooking

we welcomed in our goddaughter's baby sister this weekend!! we had big sister this weekend and she's an amazing child but a tough eater; no veggies, minimal fruits, no bread & really doesn't like pasta...what does a kid eat then???? nothing of what we had in the house....so it was pizza, mac & cheese & mcdonalds...we broke down, it was late....shame.

i was able to cook the spaghetti squash marinara sauce for dinner tonight and was quite amazed with how tasty it was! i did add mushrooms, artichoke hearts & chicken sausage to the marinara sauce. i made sure to add the spaghetti squash to the sauce and heat it all up together. i did melt a sprinkle of low fat mozzarella on each serving in the oven. we both ate our serving it was 2 points as prepared, but with the chicken sausage it probably brought up the points to 5 WW points...not bad for a dinner that was filling!

with a shortened week, i didn't really plan out any meals except eating leftover spaghetti squash for lunches for me and a quiche for sweetie. i am going to make the sesame shrimp salad/cups and the peanutty chicken cutlets/stir fry for dinners.

i did make a version of a WW quiche with leftovers from last week's ingredients...spinach, mushroom feta quiche. i just used the basic egg version of the recipe that i linked. i also used whole wheat flour and only 2 eggs and more egg substitute. i also used a frozen pie crust, they were on sale and i didn't have the patience for phyllo dough tonight.

sweetie, big sister & i did make mini brownie bites stuffed with reese's peanut butter cups for a party...they were so not low cal...but they didn't stay in the house, thank goodness!!

i will be making my pumpkin whoopie pies for thanksgiving and sweetie will be making her sweet potato pie. it's going to be an interesting eating this year, as i am way more into what i am ingesting.

yum yum

slow cooker chili & yum yum brownie muffins

so it's been a slow week for dinners w/ headaches, after work events & already having chili & lasagna in the fridge. the chili was not so great, b/c i thought i shut the slow cooker off, but alas, it was on high for 4 hours and then on low for 8 hours...bummer...so we had smoked chili (due to a blackened top).

i did make the yum yum brownie muffins and they have been well received. i did use Pillsbury® Reduced Sugar Devils Food Cake and a can of LIBBY'S 100% Pure Pumpkin, so all in all each muffin is about 2 WW points!! it's a great alternative to a full fat chocolate muffin/cupcake.

btw, the clementines from roche bros. have been delicious this week!!

hopefully i will be making the sesame shrimp lettuce cups tomorrow for dinner!

yum, yum

here are this weeks recipes to try...111508

lunches:
slow cooker veggie chili - red kidney beans, black beans, butter beans & mushrooms, tomato sauce, basil, chili powder...no measurements, just throw it all in. let the slow cooker go for 5 hours on high.
nana's fake lasagna! - since this is a recipe i have grown up with, i will write it out..but i don't use measurements, so you might have to wing it if you want to give it a try...it's a great staple for us in the lunch rotation..make it once, eat all week!
light n fluffy egg noodles
extra lean ground turkey - turkey breast only
mushrooms
fresh organic spinach
fat free cottage cheese
fat free sour cream
tomato sauce
2% shredded cheddar cheese

boil noodles according to package, drain, add sour cream & cottage cheese, stir
saute ground turkey & mushrooms, drain, saute again w/ tomato sauce
place in baking pan according to amount you make
layer noodles, then layer of fresh spinach, layer turkey mixture
sprinkle w/ shredded cheese
bake at 350 for 45 minutes

snacks:
for a chocolate sweet treat, i thought i would make these yum yum brownie muffins for a snack for the office. i tried a mini version and it wasn't too bad..it's more like a muffin then a brownie, but it is a guilt free sweet alternative.

dinners:
sunday night - derby party
monday night - sesame shrimp salad - i turn into sesame shrimp bibb lettuce cups
tuesday night - peanutty chicken cutlets & stir fry
wednesday night - spaghetti squash marinara sauce
thursday night - outing w/ friends
friday night - open for anything!

yum, yum.

baked falafel sandwiches w/ yogurt tahini sauce

baked falafel sandwiches w/ yogurt tahini sauce

tonight's recipe of baked falafel sandwiches was a so-so, not top 10, meal for us. it was super easy to make and really healthy, but didn't knock our socks off. don't get me wrong, we both finished up all the recipe that was made (i cut it in half). i used a honey wheat tortilla shell as a flatbread substitute that was quite tasty. the yogurt tahini sauce was yummy, it was just the actual falafel that was not that exciting for me. it might have been my mood and i forced this recipe and i wasn't really feeling it...but i made it, we ate it, i might try it again in the future, but for now, it's not in the rotation.

i would like to thank E for sharing a new recipe...devil's food cake mix & a diet cream soda...you've got yourself all the ingredients you need to make a lo-cal cake (that's right, no eggs, no oil, no water). the www.hungrygirl.com website looks like something i will def subscribe to!

the soft shrimp tacos are going to have to wait for another week.

yum, yum

cilantro pesto pizza turned sandwich....

well this recipe as a pizza was divine, so i thought i could turn it into a sandwich alternative for lunches....the first sandwich was not a home run.

cilantro pesto pizza topped w/ portobellos & artichoke hearts - no onions!

we have been turned onto arnold's sandwich thins (only 1 WW point!), we love the whole wheat option. the multi grain is delish, with a hint of sweetness, but it has the seeds that get stuck in your teeth. so i started with a toast of the whole wheat sandwich thin, put on about 1T of the cilantro pesto, a sprinkling of feta and piled the bella mushroom/spinach saute mix & the artichoke hearts. I placed the top piece of thin back in the toaster w/ some feta to melt it a bit. i wrapped the sandwich in tin foil, to be used in the toaster at work and to hold it all together.

well sweetie, toasted the sandwich and thought it was very tasty, but couldn't really taste the cilantro...WHAT?? that's the flavoring reason to make this concoction!! take 2 tomorrow w/ a bit more cilantro pesto & some additional fresh cilantro. i will make one for myself too, so i can try to decipher the appropriate ratio of pesto, bella/spinach, artichoke hearts, feta....

the shrimp tacos will need to wait until another night this week due to unexpected later night appointments for me and sweetie.

what am i going to make for our derby party on sunday....maybe my version of pumpkin whoopie pies with cream cheese filling?

yum, yum

mixed salad w/ hoisin vinaigrette & crisp panko chicken

well this was VERY easy and really yummy for a lighter sunday night dinner.

mixed salad w/ hoisin vinaigrette & crisp panko chicken

total time to put this together was 25 minutes and that included roasting the asparagus, cooking the chicken & washing the spinach (sub for the mixed greens). i had a few minutes this afternoon, so i put the vinaigrette items in a jar & shook it for a few minutes. i let it meld in the fridge for the afternoon and it was good to go this evening. this evening, i had 2 chicken breasts that i washed, dried, cut up into 1" chunks & dropped into the panko breadcrumb mixture. the recipe didn't call for anything more then some scallions & red tomatoes, but i added some roasted asparagus to get some more veggies in and to use them up.

we really enjoyed this salad, we do love panko anything & hoisin is just a wonderful flavor. i would make this salad again, but add even more veggies to make it really a more robust veggie salad w/ the panko chicken a smaller factor.

sweetie did comment that it was tasty, but odd that she didn't have the flavor or texture of a cheese or a nut...as so many of our salads have these fixings. i felt it was a clean taste and enjoyed the change.

i did also start the cilantro pesto sandwich filling...the sauteed baby bellas & spinach. i am also going to make the pesto tonight so that i can just put the fixings together in the morning and send sweetie on her merry little way to work. a homemade meal, a piece of fruit & a yogurt is pretty much our daily work day eats.

yum, yum.



**i do have a picture, but uploading it has been an issue...so hopefully it will be here soon.

here are this weeks recipes to try...110908

lunches:
leftovers of mediterranean lasagna
leftovers of couscous w/ grilled asparagus, sauteed mushrooms, feta & red bell pepper (this was just something i threw together with leftover veggies from the prior weeks menus)
a remake of cilantro pesto pizza topped w/ portobellos & artichoke hearts into sandwiches for sweetie...cilantro is one of her favorite flavors.

dinners:
sunday night - mixed salad with hoisin vinaigrette and crisp panko chicken
monday night - left overs due to hip hop class ya'll!
tuesday night - soft shrimp tacos w/ tropical salsa
wednesday night - leftovers due to derby practise
thursday night - baked falafel sandwiches w/ yogurt tahini sauce
friday night - open to using what's in the pantry


each night, i will recap the recipes above to let you know how they come out and if i will put them into rotation. we are trying to eat better and with more variety, so most recipes are brand new and i mostly will tweak them to fit our tastes, but i will let you know what those swap outs are.

yum, yum.

new phase...

here goes the blogging....



i am not sure what i will be doing with this outlet, but for right now, it's going to be a space for me to write about the new recipes i am trying and the occasional rant of pleasure or pain.



tonight sweetie and i went to the natick collections to finish up some holiday shopping. we decided to go to the met burger bar for dinner and had a great time reviewing the numerous burger building options. i was also desiring sweet potatoe fries and had heard that they were not too bad. sweetie opted for the mini burgers vermont style and i ordered the mini burgers w/ sharp cheddar. i also ordered the sweet potato planks, which i was so disappointed with...but that's because i make great baked fries...so the total lack of potato & extra fried was just a bummer. the mini's were DELICIOUS! they were just the right amount of house blend beef & toppings to fill the dinner hole, without feeling overwhelmed. i would def recommend this place if you are at the natick collection.