Pasta and Bean Casserole (single serving)

 

Yay for single servings!

Yay for cheesey pasta dishes!

Yay for delicious food!

I am so happy that I can make these tasty, homemade pasta dishes in under 40 minutes and they make just enough for me.

Of course, you can double or triple the recipe if you like but I developed it as a single serving.

According to Fitday: 500 calories, 13.7 fat, 68 carbs, and 25.5 protein.

Yes, it is a little high...BUT... this will fill you up and you will not have to add anything to your meal. Plus, as pasta dishes go, it is full of healthy, good stuff like beans, cheese, and vegetables!

 

 

Pasta and Bean Casserole (single servings)

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup mini shells pasta (uncooked)

1 tsp olive oil

1 Tbsp onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup spinach, chopped

1/2 cup white kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 Tbsp tomato sauce

1 round Canadian bacon, cooked, diced

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded, divided

1 tsp dried parsley

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a 2 cup, oven safe casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan, cook pasta in water according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

In the same saucepan, heat olive oil. Add onion, garlic, and spinach. Cook and stir until vegetables are soft. Stir in beans, tomato sauce, and Canadian bacon.

Remove from heat and stir in pasta. Stir in 3 Tbsp of the Parmesan cheese.

Spread evenly in prepared casserole dish. Top with remaining 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese and parsley.

 

 

Bake at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve hot.

 

 

It was too hot to eat out of the casserole dish so I used my new bowl. Cute, right?

 

This makes a lot. It is a single serving but, if you made a salad to go along side, you could easily stretch this into 2 servings.

The nutritional values were figured using the recipe as written above. You could easily add more cheese, more tomato sauce, more veggies, etc.. but that would change the nutritional values.

I happen to like my pasta on the not-so-spicy side but feel free to add your favorite spices or hot sauce to fancy it up.

I didn't have any tomato sauce at home so I used my Magic Bullet and pureed a quarter of a tomato with a clove of garlic and a pinch of Italian spice blend and it worked just as well!

Meals for one don't have to be boring.

 

Be sure to stop by Carole's Chatter for more great links!

Spinach Crust Pizza

 

Woooooooow! Another healthy blog post in the middle of December's Christmas baking frenzy.

How does that happen?

I have no idea...... I'm as surprised as you are.

This recipe is as uber healthy as you can get. I mean....spinach crust for a pizza? Really?

Yes.

Really.

It's delicious. Honest, I wouldn't lie about a thing like that.

I was trying to think of a way to describe this crust without making it sound like something you wouldn't want to make. See...it's not really pizza crust-y. It's super thin and kind of floppy.

Then I had a light bulb moment.

The best way to describe this crust is to compare it to a tortilla. It's soft, pliable, really thin, and fairly stable but you are not really able to pick up a slice and eat it as you would a normal pizza. It's too bendy for that. Just like if you tried to make a pizza on an un-crisped tortilla.

If you don't mind getting messy then you can try eating this with your hands (I did!), otherwise, break out the forks and dig in.

I was really surprised at how easy this is to make.

And how amazingly tasty it is.

And how healthy it is.

(As per Fitday) Crust only: 400 calories, 29 fat, 5 carbs, 32 protein.

With my toppings: 600 calories, 37 fat, 18 carbs, 48.7 protein.

That's for the entire pizza.

*gasp*

I googled the nutritional info a plain cheese pizza of the same size (12 inches). The calories are over 1,100 and the carbs are 163. That's 400 more calories (at least) and 145 more carbs.

Holy he-double-hockey-sticks.

 

 

Spinach Crust Pizza

 

Ingredients

Crust

2 cups raw spinach leaves

1 egg (large)

1 cup shredded Kraft Italiano cheese blend

spices (I used salt, pepper, and seasoning salt - a sprinkle of each)

 

Pizza Sauce

24 grape tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

 

Toppings

2 rounds of Canadian bacon, diced

1/4 cup onion, diced

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Line a 12 inch pizza pan with parchment paper (Definitely do this. DO NOT skip the parchment paper. I found that where the crust touched the pan it stuck horribly! It peels off the paper no problem.). Set aside.

In a blender (or magic bullet), blend spinach until it is a baby food consistency. Add egg and pulse until combined. Add in cheese and spices and pulse until just combined.

Spread evenly in prepared pizza pan. (If you are like me you are going to think there is no way there is enough to cover a pizza pan. There is. Just spread it out slowly and carefully and it will get there!)

 

 

Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes. Edges will be browned and crispy.

 

 

Prepare pizza sauce by placing tomatoes and garlic in blender (or magic bullet) and pulse until smooth.

Spread evenly over cooked crust. Top with diced Canadian bacon, onion, and Parmesan cheese.

 

 

Place back in oven and broil until cheese is melted.

 

 

Mmmmm.....pizza.

I ate half the pizza for dinner - hello, only 300 calories - and I saved the other half for the next morning so I could see if it was any good cold. I mean, we all know the taste of leftover pizza for breakfast is what determines if a pizza is worth making again.

Ummm.....

yeeeeeeeeeeeeah...

I don't know how it's possible but it is even better the next day. It is easier to eat because you can totally pick it up when it is cold (it is a little floppy but still doable), the flavors are more intense, and the texture is chewy-but-not-chewy but in a totally good way.

 

The best way to eat cold pizza!

 

We had made a Cauliflower Crust Pizza a while ago that is also delicious and is a little sturdier if you are looking for another vegetable crust pizza to try. It is also very tasty.

I haven't decided which is my favourite.

 

Be sure to stop by Carole's Chatter for tons of fun links!

Light Potato Soup

I needed to make something fairly quick for dinner tonight. My day was rediculously busy and I didn't feel like prepping for a billion hours.

Also, both mom and dad weren't feeling well so I needed something that would sit well on their upset stomachs.

Plus, I am still trying to eat as healthy as I can so I wanted something that wasn't full of fat, etc...

Guess what I found?

Yummy, hearty, yet healthy potato soup.

Naked soup without toppings!

Light Potato Soup

(adapted from Skinny Taste)

Ingredients

1 medium potato, washed and scrubbed

1 medium head of cauliflower, stem removed & cut into florets

2 cups fat free chicken broth

2 cups 1% milk

salt & pepper

1/2 cup light sour cream

6 Tbsp chives, divided

1/2 cup light, aged cheddar cheese, shredded

3 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled

Directions

Pierce potato with a fork and microwave for 5 minutes - or until tender.

Boil cauliflower in a pot full of water until tender. Drain and return to pot.

Over medium heat, add chicken broth, milk, salt & pepper, and potato. Bring to a boil.

Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth. (I didn't have an immersion blender so I just used my Magic Bullet and processed it in batches until it was smooth and then poured it back in the pot.)

Add sour cream and half the chives and cook over low heat another 5 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat, ladle 1 cup into bowl, top each serving with 1-2 Tbsp cheese, remaining chives and bacon.

Oooooh pretty!

It is now loaded baked potato soup but without all the fat and calories of regular potato soup.

According to Fitday the breakdown per serving (serving is 1 cup)

Calories - 115

Fat - 2.5

Carbs - 15

Protein - 9

A cup of "regular" potato soup is about 150 calories, 6.4 fat, 17 carbs, and 5.7 protein.

Trust me when I say - you won't know this isn't full fat "regular"potato soup.

Yes, it tastes THAT good.

There is hardly any prep involved in this. You have to love that!

I left the skin on the potato because it adds more nutrients but you certainly don't have to. (Keep in mind you puree everything so you won't have any bits of skin floating around.)

Plus..... it turns out it was a really good choice for mom and dad's upset tummies. They both said it helped them feel less nauseas. Yay!


Check out Carole's Chatter for some great links.

Fresh Apricot Salsa

I normally am not a chips and salsa kind of girl. Chocolate and caramel and such are more my thing. That being said, I came up with this recipe last year to enter into our local Apricot Festival and, now that the apricots are ready this year, have rediscovered it.

It is quick, easy, inexpensive, and - most importantly - full of flavour. Depending on your personal preference you can make it as spicy as you like. As written it provides enough of a kick to wake you up but not so much to scare you away after 2 bites. I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to heat so you decide what is right for you!

Fresh Apricot Salsa

Ingredients

3- 4 cloves garlic

1 jalapeno pepper

pinch salt

8 large (16 small) fresh apricots, pits removed

juice and grated rind from 1 lime

1 tsp brown sugar

Directions

In a food processor, pulse garlic and jalapeno pepper until coarsely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse on and off until coarsely chopped.

(Of course, if you have a Magic Bullet feel free to use it! I did - surprise, surprise! I found it was chopping it too fine though so before serving I mixed in a few more apricots that I chopped by hand to give it a coarser texture.)

Spoon into serving dish, cover, and chill for at least an hour or two before serving.

This is one of those recipes that improves greatly if you let sit in the fridge overnight. The flavours have time to blend together. If you don’t have time to make it a day ahead it’s okay - same day is delicious too just not as intense.

For those of you who, like me, prefer sweet to salty; I encourage you to give this a try. The apricots provide an interesting sweetness amongst the garlic and jalapeno.

For those of you who, like Sue, prefer salty to sweet; I encourage you to try this recipe because it is in an amazing, interesting salsa to enjoy with tortilla chips.

.

I just wanted to add - you can also spoon some of this over your chicken or pork before you bake it. It goes really nicely with either.





Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars

My friend’s husband has gotten me hooked on crème brulee. First let me just say “Thanks a lot Drew!” I mean that in a sarcastic and non-sarcastic way. Non-sarcastic: he made the best crème brulee ever and shared with me! Sarcastic: I am now addicted to crème brulee and NEED to have his recipe and will be gaining a million pounds because of this.

I am surprised that I love it so much. I can remember trying it many, many years ago and not even being able to eat more than a bite or two because the texture put me off and it was too “eggy”. Drew’s amazing crème brulee recipe has lead me to believe that way back when, when I tried it the first time, something had to have been horribly wrong with the recipe. Although I am not above believing my friend has kept her husband’s baking expertise hidden to keep us from stealing him away.

So, before you get too excited. This is NOT Drew’s crème brulee recipe. (I know…I know….sorry for getting you excited!) This is a crème brulee cheesecake bar. I saw this recipe on the Betty Crocker website today and had to try it. I mean, crème brulee CHEESECAKE…. How could I NOT make it? Besides, I have to harass Drew some more before he will (hopefully) share the recipe with me.

　

Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bar

Ingredients

1 pouch of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

1 box (4 serving size) French vanilla instant pudding mix

2 Tbsp brown sugar, packed

½ cup butter, melted

3 tsp vanilla

2 eggs plus 3 egg yolks

2 x 8 oz pkgs of cream cheese

½ cup sour cream

½ cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup toffee bits, finely ground

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9-inch pan with parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray.

In large bowl, stir cookie mix, pudding mix, brown sugar, melted butter, 1 tsp of the vanilla and 1 whole egg until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan.

(**NOTE ** I scooped out about 1/2 cup of dough because I felt the crust was too thick. It turned out just right, in my opinion, having done this.)

In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining whole egg, 3 egg yolks and remaining 2 tsp vanilla; beat until smooth. Spread over crust in pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until set in center. Immediately sprinkle top with crushed toffee bits. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 3 hours or until chilled. Cut into bars. Store covered in refrigerator.

.

It’s really, really tasty!. It didn’t really remind me a lot of crème brulee but there was a hint of it in there. The ground up toffee bits on top really were a nice touch. I was very excited to use them as this meant I got to fire up my Magic Bullet!

.

See, look how finely ground the toffee bits are. I love my Magic Bullet. (If you don't have a Magic Bullet then you can put the toffee into a pastic bag and roll it with a rolling pin to crush it.)

.

Plus, I was very, very, very excited because I got a new kitchen appliance to use. I have being dying to try it out. A new Kitchenaid mixer. I don’t know how I managed this long without one. (Technically I did have one given to me but then our mother gave it to Sue. It's okay though, I'm over it now, I have a shiny new one) 

Ooooooh…so pretty! I am going to need a bigger kitchen……



Fruitsicles

Here is a great, healthy snack to make for the kids or for yourself. Any combination of fruit would work. I decided to whip these up for a coworker's birthday. She requested "something with fruit". Well, you can't get much more fruity than this.

Fruitsicles

Ingredients

2 kiwi, peeled

1/2 cup pineapple chunks

1/4 cup yogurt (I used Greek yogurt so it would be nice and creamy)

1 Tbsp maple syrup

and

12 large strawberries

1/2 cup blueberries

1/4 cup yogurt

1 Tbsp maple syrup

Directions

Using Magic Bullet (or other blender), place first 4 ingredients into blender cup and process with pulsing motion until smooth. Pour equally into popsicle holders (OR - I used little plastic wine glasses), filling only bottom half of holder. You want to freeze the first layer for a few hours so the layers won't mix.

If you are using the plastic wine glasses - place a small piece of tin foil over the top of the glass and puncture with lollipop stick (or popsicle stick). Press stick into fruit mixture. (The tin foil will hold the stick in place)

When the bottom layer is partially frozen, place next 4 ingredients into blender cup. Process until smooth. Remove tin foil from glasses. Pour equally into the holders, over the bottom layer. Return to freezer until completely frozen. I let them freeze overnight.

Unmold the fruitsicles by running the outside of the popsicle holder or glass under hot water for a few seconds. They should pop right out.

.

This is what they look like if you wait for the first layer to freeze before adding the second layer.

.

This is what they look like if you don't wait for the first layer to freeze before adding the second layer.

These were tasty and not too tart. Not too many calories either. (It's not too often I can say that about one of our recipes!) I believe the recipe, as listed above, made about 6 -7  fruitsicles. I could only do that much at a time as I used my Magic Bullet blender and it has a smaller capacity.

What fruit combinations would you prefer?



Cheese and Bacon Biscuits

I love buying new kitchen gadgets. Yesterday on Sue and I's daytrip to a friend's house I was able to buy something I have been wanting for a while now. I got a Magic Bullet! You know, the mini blender that can do a million things. Okay, I admit it....the infomercial sucked me in.

Don't judge me!! It's cool.

See, cool - right?

That being said, I now had to make something that involved using the new gadget. I wanted something quick and easy that involved little clean up. You know, start slowly and work my way up to the complicated messy stuff. I decided on these delicious Cheese and Bacon Biscuits. (Why? Well, because my fridge was a little empty but I did have cheese that I could grind in the Magic Bullet!)

These biscuits (or you could even get away with calling them scones if you want to be fancy schmancy) are light and airy and very flavorable. I took a basic biscuit recipe and tweaked it a little and came up with this recipe.

Cheese and Bacon Biscuits

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 Tbsp sugar

big pinch salt

1/4 black pepper

1/2 Tbsp Oh! So Garlic (from Sunset Gourmet) - optional

1/2 cup butter, chilled

1 1/2 cups aged cheese, shredded

5 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled

1 cup + 2 Tbsp milk (or cream)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and pepper (and Oh! So Garlic if using). Cut in the butter using 2 knives or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cheese and bacon.

Add 1 cup of milk and stir together just until it becomes a sticky dough - do not over work or your biscuits will be tough. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp of milk if you need to, to bring it together.  

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and pat until it comes together. Gently roll out to 1 inch thick. Use a 2 inch cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits. Bring together scraps and roll out gently again.(I got about 15) 

Bake until golden brown, about 20 - 25 minutes. Best served warm.

I thought I should also mention that my new Magic Bullet is also handy for crumbling bacon as well as shredding cheese. I will keep you updated on what else can be put into a Magic Bullet Blender.

*Note - I was going to buy a really, really cool SQUARE muffin pan. But, Sue wouldn't let me. "Honestly, how many times are you REALLY going to use it?", she asked.

"But, but, but...it's SQUARE!" I responded.

It's okay... It will be added to my collection one day :)