Portobella Pizza Caps

Pizza is one of my absolute favorite things to eat but sadly it isn't the healthiest food choice. It is ok to splurge every once in awhile and have the real deal but for all the other times I am craving that cheesy goodness I try to find alternatives that are just as tasty but a little bit healthier for me. This recipe is super easy, delicious and filling. Even if you aren't a mushroom fan give portobellas a try, they are so different from your typical mushroom I bet you will like them!

Portobella Pizza Caps
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15-18 minutes
Serving size: 2 pizza caps

• 8 Portobella mushroom caps
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups pizza sauce (store bought or homemade)
• 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 2 cups low moisture, part-skim, shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 green bell peppers, diced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 white mushroom, sliced
• 32 turkey pepperoni

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Lightly coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and place mushroom caps, top side down, on a pan and brush lightly with olive oil.
3. Place ¼ cup of pizza sauce in each cap and sprinkle ½ tsp Italian seasoning on each cap.
4. Sprinkle each cap with ½ cup mozzarella cheese and top with even amounts of onion, green bell pepper, mushrooms and 8 turkey pepperoni, (as an option, you can also add black olives).
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cap is tender.

Per Serving: 2 pizza caps

Calories: 320
Calories from fat: 97
Fat: 13g
Saturated Fat: 6g
Cholesterol: 48mg
Sodium: 1118mg
Carbohydrates: 26g
Fiber: 4g
Sugar 10g
Protein: 29g
Calcium: 43mg
Iron: 7mg

Source: Skinnymom.com

Healthified Apple and Cheese Toasting English Muffin

I love fruit and cheese and saw this recipe and put it on my list, they are delicious! They are also great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Completely satisfying, delicious and healthy!

Healthified Apple and Cheese Toasting English Muffin
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4

1 medium apple or pear

4 whole wheat English muffins, split

2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard

4 ounces Canadian-style bacon (4 slices)

4 ounces low-fat Swiss cheese (4 slices) 

 

• Core apple and thinly slice crosswise to form rings. Spread cut sides of muffin halves with mustard.
• To assemble, top the cut sides of four of the muffin halves with Canadian-style bacon, apple rings, and Swiss cheese. Top with remaining muffin halves, cut sides down.
• Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-low heat. Place sandwiches in skillet or on griddle. Cook for 9 to 10 minutes or until sandwiches are golden brown and cheese starts to melt, turning once. You could also cook them in a panini grill or toaster oven. If desired, secure sandwiches with toothpicks.

Per sandwich: 250 calories, 4.5g fat, 19g protein





Source: Live Better America

 

Don't Hate Your Zucchini!

This is the time of year when your zucchini plant seems to be producing more zucchini than you know what to do with! My two zucchini plants are pretty much the only thing in my garden that is doing much of anything and it is just my husband and I so I have to get creative to use it up. There are tons of delicious healthy and not so healthy desserts out there to bake with that zucchini but it is nice to have a savory dish too. I will be sharing a couple of my favorite sweet treats in the near future but for now try out this savory dish. We love it and most of the time eat a big bowl of this with a slice of home made bread or some toasty garlic bread along with it. It is one of my husband's favorite meals!

This meal is also great because you can adapt it easily to whatever veggies you have on hand or whatever your family likes. It is easy to make a small amount for a side dish or a huge pan full that you can eat off of for days.

Gather up your veggies and chop them up. We like bite size pieces and try to keep them all about the same so they cook evenly.

Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Corn on the cob (cut the kernels off)
Fresh Green Beans
Cherry or Grape Tomatoes

We usually keep it pretty simple and just use those veggies but if I have other things in the fridge I sometimes will toss in:

Broccoli
Cauliflower
Onion
Asparagus

Heat a big frying pan on medium to medium high heat. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Once the oil is heated us toss all of your veggies in together. Add in your seasonings now. We like to always add salt and pepper and then whatever else we are in the mood for. Mrs. Dash, Montreal Steak Seasoning, Italian Seasoning, Rosemary/Basil/Thyme. Experiment and see what good combinations you can come up with! The secret to these tasting so good though is that you cannot stir them around much. Let them sit until the bottoms brown and get that yummy caramelization. Then flip them over and do the same thing, add your seasonings and let them sit until they brown. The grape tomatoes will also pop as they cook and they taste amazing when they do this. Once your veggies have some nice caramelization and are cooked through turn off the heat. You can either eat them just like this or I love to sprinkle on a little bit of fresh Parmesan cheese and let it melt in.

Give this a shot, you can have a delicious and healthy meal on the table in 30 minutes or less!

Asian Chicken Tenders With Zesty Lemon Sauce

Usually when you think of chicken tenders you immediately think of the drive through at a fast food restaurant and their crispy yet completely unhealthy chicken tenders!  Sure, they may taste good but you don't always know what parts of the chicken have been formed into that shape and they are deep fried so they are loaded with fat.  Yuck, that doesn't sound so tasty to me.  But there are ways to make homemade chicken tenders in the oven that bake up crunch and super flavorful and the best part is they really are easy to make!  A trick I learned that makes them feel even a little more indulgent is when they are almost done cooking I pull them out and use a pastry brush or carefully toss them in a ziploc bag or bowl in a little bit of sauce and then finish baking them.  It creates this yummy, caramelized coating on top of the crispy panko exterior!

Asian Chicken Tenders
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 12

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup panko crispy bread crumbs

1/2 cup sweet-and-sour sauce

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel 

 

Cut each chicken breast across grain into 8 (1/2-inch-thick) slices. In medium bowl, mix soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic powder. Add chicken; stir gently until coated. Let stand 20 minutes to marinate.
 

Heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil; spray foil with cooking spray. You can also place a metal cooling rack on top of the pan and spray it with cooking spray.  This allows air to circulate on all sides and make them extra crispy! Place bread crumbs in shallow dish. Drain off any remaining soy sauce mixture from chicken. Toss chicken pieces in bread crumbs to coat; arrange in single layer in pan.
 

Bake 5 minutes. Turn chicken; bake 5 to 7 minutes longer or until golden brown and crisp.
 

In small bowl, stir together sweet-and-sour sauce and lemon peel. Serve chicken with sauce for dipping.

 

10 Tips To Make It Fast

Here are 10 tips from Cooking Light to remember when you are trying to get a healthy meal on the table fast.

1. Use a food processor or mini chopper to quickly chop, slice or shred onions, potatoes, celery or carrots.
2. When cooking in a skillet, allow the pan to preheat while you season the food to go in it.
3. Lean, healthful cuts such as flank stead and pork tenderloin cook in less than 30 minutes.
4. To save prep time, purchase precut vegetable and packaged pre-washed salad greens.
5. Choose portion-sized boneless cuts--chicken breasts or thighs, pork chops, or fish fillets.
6. Thing ahead.  Grill more chicken breasts than you need and freeze the rest for later.
7. In general, when you're in a hurry, stick to sauteing and broiling instead of roasting or braising. 
8. After sauteing chicken or pork in a skilled, deglaze the pan with chicken broth or other liquid for an easy sauce.
9. Turn to quick-cooking starches for go-to sides; couscous, egg noodles, and polenta.
10. Start longer tasks first and complete shorter ones in the meantime.

Toss Together Dinner-Healthified Confetti Quinoa Salad

Live is busy.  We all have so many different things we need to be doing and so many places we need to be.  Its very easy to feel like we don't have time to make dinner and just grab take out from somewhere or hit the drive through for a fast meal.  Eating out all the time isn't healthy and will start to add weight onto you.  There are many great tasting and healthy meals that you can through together in 30 minutes and have a meal that will satisfy you and not pack on the weight.  The great thing is you can do so much of it ahead of time, have all the ingredients in your fridge that you can quickly throw a delicious meal together.

Healthified Confetti Quinoa Salad
Prep Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 6

1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup chopped sweet peppers
2 tomato, chopped
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 T chopped fresh parsley
2 T chopped fresh mint
2 T lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

In a small saucepan, combine broth quinoa.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until broth is absorbed.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl combine sweet peppers, tomatoes, chickpeas. green onion, parsley and mint.  Add the cooked quinoa, mix well.  Add lemon juice, toss well to mix.  Season with salt and pepper. Can be eaten warm or cover and refrigerate and eat cold.

Source: Live Better America

Grilled Fish Tacos

I love the beginning of May because it means Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner and I absolutely love Mexican food!  Most of what you can find in restaurants though is so full of fat, calories and sodium that I have a hard time letting myself enjoy it.  Fish tacos are one of my favorite Mexican dishes lately and these tacos are good for you and super tasty.  Give them a try!

Grilled Fish Tacos
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
Servings: 8

1 lb firm white fish fillets such as sea bass, red snapper or halibut
1 T olive oil
1 tsp cumin or chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
8 corn tortillas
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/2 cup salsa
Toppers (shredded lettuce, diced tomato, diced avocado, chopped onion, fresh cilantro, shredded cabbage)

Heat gas or charcoal grill. (You can also cook in a frying pan or in the oven.) Brush fist with olive oil and sprinkle with spices, salt and pepper.

Carefully spray grill rack with cooking spray.  Lay fish on grill, cover, and cook 5-7 minutes, turning once, until fish flakes easily with fork.

Heat tortillas.  Spread sour cream on tortillas then add fish, toppers and salsa.

Source: Live Better America

Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers

Now that you have learned all about quinoa, try out this easy and delicious recipe that uses quinoa.  Quinoa adds such a great texture and flavor to these peppers.  This dish will leave you feeling feel and is super healthy for you! And did you know that bell peppers, regardless of their color, provide vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid. Choosing vitamin C-rich foods keeps gums and blood vessels healthy.

Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers

Prep time: 25 minutes
Total time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 4

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

4 large red, green or yellow bell peppers

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 package (10 oz) fresh spinach, tough stems removed, torn into large pieces

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/4 cup dried currants or raisins

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning 

 

Heat oven to 375.

 

In a small skillet, toast almonds over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes.  Put on a plate and allow to cool.

 

In a 2-quart sauce pan heat water and salt to boiling.  Place quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold water for 2 minutes.  Stir quinoa into boiling water.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa tender.  Uncover and set aside.  

 

Fill 5-quart Dutch oven half full with water; heat to boiling.  Cut off and reserve tops of peppers.  Remove seeds and ribs.  Add peppers and tops to boiling water, cook 5 minutes.  Drain.

 

In same saucepan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion; cook and stir 6 minutes or until onions are browned.  Stir in garlic.  Remove 2 tablespoons of onion mixture; set aside.

 

Add spinach to saucepan, cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes until it is wilted and any water evaporates.  Remove saucepan from heat.  Stir feta, almonds, currants and quinoa into spinach mixture.  Arrange peppers in shallow baking dish.  Spoon stuffing peppers, mounding to fill; replace tops.  Cover loosely with foil.  Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until peppers are tender.  

 

Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, stir together tomatoes with juice, tomato paste, Italian season and the reserved 2 tablespoons onion mixture.  Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer 30 minutes or until thickened.  Spoon sauce onto plates; top with peppers.   

 

Source: Live Better America 

Thai Chicken with Basil

I absolutely love Thai food!  It is one of my favorite ethnic cuisines, but unfortunately its really not that healthy for you.  Every once in a while it is ok but it is not something that I can consistently be eating.  This recipe gives me those same great Thai flavors but only has 210 calories and 8 g of fat per serving.  If you love Thai food definitely try out this healthified version and if you are a little wary of Thai food this would be a good one to start out with!

Thai Chicken with Basil
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
4 Servings

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 pound)
1 T canola or soybean oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red or green jalapeno chiles, seeded and finely chopped
1 T fish sauce or reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 T chopped fresh mint leaves
1 T chopped unsalted, roasted, peanuts

Cut each chicken breast into 4 pieces.

Spray skilled with cooking spray.  Add oil; heat over medium high heat.  Cook chicken, garlic and chiles in oil, 8-10 minutes until chicken is no longer pink in center.  Stir in fish sauce and sugar.  Sprinkle with basil, mint and peanuts. 

Source: Live Better America

Quick and Healthy Breakfasts

Don't skip the most important meal of the day just because you don't think you have time.  You can make a quick, delicious and healthy breakfast that will get you on the right foot for the day!

Top Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries or granola.

Make a batch of steel-cut oatmeal at night.  In the morning cover it with fresh fruits or raisins and heat it up. 

Eat a poached egg on a multi grain English muffin with a glass of fresh orange juice and some fresh fruit.

Make an egg-white omelet with basil and chives fresh from your garden, along with peppers, garlic, onion and a little Swiss cheese.

Frosted mini-wheats with berries and low fat milk.