Fettuccine Alfredo on a Diet??

 Alfredo is one of our favorites, but it's not usually very diet friendly.  This recipe however is delicious and skinny to boot! 

Pasta Alfredo

18 oz whole wheat pasta, I used Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne
1 c fat free half and half
1 c skim milk
8 oz fat free cream cheese
2 T margarine
8 T grated parmesan
1 tsp garlic

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Heat the rest of the ingredients over low-medium heat until all is melted.  Stir with whisk until well blended and thickened.  Stir often so it won't scorch.  I was afraid it wouldn't thicken, but it did after sitting a bit.  Pour over noodles and mix well.

Serving size is 1/2 cup noodles with sauce, so this makes 16 servings.  If I didn't have such hungry boys in my family, I would prepare much less.

152 calories
2.8 g fat
27 g carb
3.4 g fiber
7.3 g protein

Weight Watchers points plus 4

I counted this as a smart carb plus one extra.  Serve with 4 oz. grilled chicken and veggies of your choice for a complete dinner.

I like the Smart Taste pasta because it doesn't taste like whole wheat but most of the benefits, plus it's not an unappetizing brown.  This really didn't taste like a low fat dinner, it was delicious!

Jambalaya!!

 
 Dinner is by far the hardest meal for me to do on my own.  DH is a big meat and potatoes kind of guy.  He loves lots of pastas, potatoes and cheesy dishes.  Not exactly healthy fare.  On NS  (1200 calorie plan) dinner consists of 2 powerfuels, 1 smart carb and vegetables to make your daily total at least 4 low gi veggies.  Calories should range from 130-300 with 1.5-10 g fat, 14-51 g carb and 8-26 g protein.  This Jambalaya fits the bill.  It may be a little on the low end for protein, so you could add a little more meat to pump it up if you wanted, sometimes I'll add chicken breast to mine, but of course that would change all of the values.  This recipe makes a ton!!  I have a big family with teenage boys and physical men so we eat a lot, this would be easy to half though or cut it down even more.

Jambalaya

Ingredients:

• Rice, Success Boil-in-Bag Whole Grain Brown Rice, 4 cup (one box with 4 bags, 4c dry)
• Shrimp, cooked, 12 oz
• Hillshire Farm Turkey Polska Kielbasa, 6 serving 
• *Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, wedges in tomato juice, 2 cup
• Bush’s, Black Beans, 3.5 cup 
• Tomato Sauce, 3 cup
• Zucchini, 5 cup, sliced 

Cook the rice as package directs.  In large skillet, sauté the zucchini, add all the other ingredients.  Stir to mix well, season with Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning to taste.  It's best to add a little at a time, it can get too hot pretty quickly.

 

This makes 15 cups and I counted a serving size as 1 cup just to make it easy.

 

Nutrition Facts Serving size is 1 cup 181.8 calories 2.9 g fat 28.5 g carbs 4.9 g fiber 13.6 g protein
		13.6 g

 

WW points plus: 5

 

Everyone loved it, miss picky pants pulled out the zucchini but stirred in her broccoli, so... it was a wash.  I think next time I will shred or puree the zucchini so she won't even know it's there!  This is an easy throw together dinner that I'm sure will get eaten every time. 

Parmesan Pizza Bites

 
 I have been on the Nutrisystem diet plan since the end of January.  I have lost 30 lbs so far, and have at least 30 more to go.  I was getting tired of my food choices and have decided to take a break for a while.  If this is to be a life change and not a diet, I need to learn to cook more healthy all the time.  Thus the change in focus to this blog.  I still love food, and love to eat, but I am making a conscious effort to make my favorite foods more healthy as well as try some new ones.

Parmesan Pizza Bites
38 oz. lean ground turkey (you could sub turkey pepperoni or beef)
24 oz. Hunts No sugar added pasta sauce
9 oz fat free cheddar
22 Nasoya Egg Roll wrappers

Brown and drain meat, add sauce and seasonings to taste.  Place one big spoonful of meat in each wrapper, add a bit of cheese and roll up.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.

Serving size is 2 rolls.
310 cal.
9.1 g fat
26 carb
1.3 g fiber
30 g protein

For NS you could count this as your dinner entrée (2 pf's and 1 sc) or for lunch, your entrée plus a pf from mid-morning.  It is at the higher end for calories, but within the limits.  Serve with veggies and a salad.  WW points 8

The family liked it, even miss picky pants!  Definitely a keeper.

Chicken Enchiladas

Meat from 1 chicken or 1-1/2 lbs chicken breasts, cooked
16 oz sour cream
4 oz can diced green chiles
1 lb grated cheese
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
chopped green onions
1 can mild green enchilada sauce
12 soft flour tortillas
sweet rice (recipe follows)

Put meat, sour cream, chiles, one can soup, and onions in mixer.  Mix until chicken is shredded and everything is mixed.  If you don't want to use your mixer, you can shred chicken yourself and mix in a bowl, I just like to take the easy way.

On tortilla, layer sweet rice, chicken mixture and cheese.  Roll tortilla and place seam side down in greased 9x13 pan.  After pan is filled, pour enchilada sauce over all, cover with second can of soup, and top with cheese.  Bake at 350 for 50 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Sweet Rice

One can chicken broth
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups instant rice

Bring all to a boil, cook over low until liquid is absorbed.

Everyone loves this, even picky pants dd will eat it!

6/17/20014
To make this more diet friendly, sub fat free sour cream, fat free cheese and healthy request cream of mushroom soup.  I also use La Tortilla Factory Low Carb Whole Wheat tortillas. 

Nutrition info for one enchilada without rice
253 cal
6.6 g fat
31.7 g carb
12.8 g fiber
29 g protein

I would count this as your dinner entrée for NS

Weight Watchers Points = 7

The sweetened condensed milk makes the rice add about 200 calories, so I would just skip that, but it depends on your allowance for the day I suppose.  I haven't looked for low fat sweetened condensed milk to even see if it existed.  This is super good even without the rice though

Creamy, Vanilla Buttermilk Syrup

Tonight was breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes and eggs, but the highlight is the syrup.  I do not claim that this is Magelbey's syrup recipe, but it sure tastes like it.  My family won't use any other syrup any more, this is so rich and creamy.

1 stick butter
1 c sugar
1 c buttermilk
1/4 c corn syrup

Mix in a medium size sauce pan, mixture will expand to fill the pan.  Bring to a full boil, let boil 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat, add 1/2 t baking soda, 1 T vanilla, stir well.  Let cool slightly, serve over pancakes, French toast, wherever you like your syrup.  Enjoy!

Ultimate Chocolate Cake

This is the best chocolate cake I have ever had, and I am admittedly a chocolate snob.  It is rich, but not so rich you can't eat it.  It is moist and flavorful.  I could honestly eat the whole cake, it's that good!  I kind of fool myself into thinking it's sort of healthy because there's no oil, but it is still cake!

1 package devils food cake mix
1 large package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 c sour cream
1/2 c water
1 c chocolate chips
1/2 c applesauce
4 eggs

Combine all ingredients, pour into greased bundt pan.  Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.  Cool 10 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Spider Chicken Sandwiches

We call these Spider Sandwiches, because we eat them around Halloween, and also because the shredded chicken looks like spider legs.

1/2 onion
1/2 bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 cup ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
2 dashes worchestershire sauce
1 cup water

Mix all in blender until liquefied.  Great way to disguise the green stuff!  Pour into large sauce pan, add shredded meat from one chicken, I use a rotisserie chicken.  At 4.99 from Costco, they are a staple at our house.  Mix and let simmer until sauce thickens (2-3 hrs, or thicken with ultra gel if you are impatient like me!), adding water if necessary.  Serve on hard rolls.