Filling low fat quesadillas

Have you ever come home from work and been so hungry you could eat your way through the entire refrigerator and not feel satisfied? I was having one of those days today and wanted a filling meal that would not break my diet. A few weeks ago, I was having dinner at my sister's house and she made us quesadillas and used some veggies to save on calories. I was having such a craving for those quesadillas, so I stopped at the grocery store on my way home and loaded up my basket with veggies. These were so tasty and so filling! I made a smaller amount, because my picky eater hubby didn't even want to try them, so up the recipe as much as you feel you need. I did have a little of everything left over for a yummy lunch tomorrow.

Veggie and chicken quesadillas

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into cubes and cooked (I sauteed mine in a pan)
1 zuchinni cut up into bite sized pieces
1 corn on the cob- cut kernels off the cob
1/2 bag of Birds Eye pepper stir fry frozen veggies (this was the only one I could find with peppers and onions)
1 Tbsp Sante Fe cooking cream (optional)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Tortillas
1 tomato diced
Sour cream

1. In frying pan, saute zuchinni to your liking (I like mine with a little bite, but not crunchy). Put cooked zuchinni aside.
2. In same emptied frying pan, saute corn kernels over medium high heat until heated through and some of the skins have browned. Set aside.
3. Using same frying pan (emptied of corn), saute peppers and onions until heated through and starts to brown. Set aside.
4. Now to assemble the quesadilla. If using the cooking cream, smear a small amount on one half of a tortilla. Cover one half of tortilla with chicken and veggies. Sprinkle with cheese. Fold over and cook in frying pan until crisp and brown, then flip and cook other side. Repeat for each tortilla.
5. Serve with tomatoes and sour cream.

Low fat, low carb brownie cupcakes

I was watching the Food Network this weekend and the Hungry Girl was on. She was making foods that you could replace some of your guilty pleasures with. She made kale chips to replace potato chips. She made butternut squash fries. The one I knew I had to try though, were these brownie cupcakes. So easy, low fat and they are so delicious!

Brownie cupcakes

1 box chocolate cake mix (I used the Sugar Free type)
1 can pumpkin (do not use pumpkin pie mix)

1. Preheat oven to temperature instructed on package of cake mix. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine pumpkin and cake mix. Stir until combined. It will seem dry, but it will come together, just keep mixing. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full. Bake as instructed on package of cake mix for cupcakes.
3. Allow to cool and you can either frost or eat as is. YUM!

Basic Risotto

I got a recipe for risotto from Weight Watchers. I have been wanting to try risotto for so long. I am always seeing it made on cooking shows, but have never gotten around to trying it. Tonight, I was trying to put a few meals for the week together (otherwise I keep snacking while I cook and I am putting the pounds back on...urg) and decided to make the risotto. The original recipe calls for yummy asparagus, but I didn't have any, so I made a basic recipe to which you could probably add just about anything. I have seen risotto made with butternut squash, mushrooms, pancetta, etc. So consider this your base that you can add to as you like.

Basic risotto

Cooking spray
1 Tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 sweet onion or 3 small shallots, minced
1 cup uncooked arborio rice
4 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring broth to simmer and keep warm.
2. Coat a medium pot with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Melt butter or margarine, add onion or shallots and cook until soft and translucent. Add in rice and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add 1/2 cup hot broth to the pot at a time. Stir after each addition and allow to completely absorb before adding more broth. Continue to add broth 1/2 cup at a time until all broth has been used. Will take about 20 minutes. When rice is creamy and done (slightly chewy and not mushy) remove pot from heat and add in chese. Stir well. Season with salt and pepper.

This is so creamy and comforting, but yet does not have a lot of fat to make it that way. YUM!

Tropical Granola

I have been having such a craving for tropical dried fruit lately. Maybe it is the warmer weather or something...who knows. I don't like to snack on just dried fruit though because it does have quite a bit of sugar. I was trying to think of a way to get my tropical fruit craving filled and came up with Tropical Granola! I am a little obsessed with homemade granola lately. It is so delicious and you can customize it to your craving of the week. I found this recipe on Annie's Eats, but modified it slightly. The original recipe calls for 1/3 cup brown sugar; to be honest, I forgot to put it in, but it still tastes great! The original recipe also uses pineapple puree instead of honey. Since I didn't have any pineapple available I used honey. It also calls for coconut extract, but I left it out.

Tropical Granola

5 and 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup honey
1 ripe banana mashed
1/3 cup applesauce (I used the unsweetened type)
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of cinnamon
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups dried tropical fruit
1/2 cup nut of your choice (optional- I left this out this time)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Prepare a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Measure oats into a large bowl and add in nuts if you are using them. In a medium bowl, whisk together honey, mashed banana, applesauce, salt, cinnamon until well combined and smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the oats and stir until evenly coated. Spread mixture evenly on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Bake at 352F for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the granola. Bake for 15 more minutes. Cool for about 15 minutes and then add in fruit and chocolate chips. Stir or toss to combine.

Yummy Easy Side Dish

This recipe is so easy and quick and so delicious! It seems like such a fancy dish, but it literally took me less than 2 minutes to put together. I used canned veggies, but you could use fresh.

Green Beans with Sundried Tomatoes and Garlic
Makes 1 serving of sundried tomato topping (because the hubby won't even try it)

1 can of green beans (I used the sodium free canned green beans)
2 sundried tomatoes
1 small garlic clove
1 tsp water (or oil)

1. In a food processor or blender (I used a small one), blend water, garlic clove and sundried tomatoes. I like mine a little chunky, but you can make it any consistency you like.
2. Heat (or cook) green beans.
3. Spoon sundried tomato topping over green beans and ENJOY!

This would be a great low fat, low salt, low carb, quick and easy side dish!

Freschetta and a Giveaway!!

I recently signed up to be part of the Freschetta Fresh Connection bloggers. They contacted me and asked me to be part of a blog review and giveaway. They sent me some coupons to try their By the Slice and their Simply...Inspired.
I got the Bruschetta Simply...Inspired variety and had a tasting with some family. I decided to try the Bruschetta variety because I am a huge fan of tomatoes and this pizza looked like it was covered from the picture on the package. My husband is a picky eater, and in order for him to enjoy a slice, I decided this was probably the safest of the choices as most of the other choices had veggies that he would not even try. On exam of the pizza when removing it from the package, I discovered that I was right about the great number of tomatoes. If you like tomatoes, this could be your pizza. We popped it in the oven, sliced it up and took a taste. The crust is thin, just like the hubby likes. The cheese is very tasty when you compare to other brands of frozen pizza. I could have honestly used a little more Italian spice flavoring to punch up the bruschetta flavor. It was mostly very tomatoe-y, but I still very much enjoyed it. The family all agreed that this was a very delicious frozen pizza and will be one try another of again.
I also had a coupon for a By the Slice pizza. I decided to try Vegetable Medley because I am a huge fan of veggie pizza. Again, did not dissapoint.
Prior to trying these pizzas, I had never before tried Freschetta variety, but I plan on trying some of their other varities (especially the natural rising and for the hubby the California style).
Freschetta has generously offered to allow their bloggers to have a giveaway for Freschetta coupons and a storage container set.
Here is how to enter: Visit http://www.freschetta.com/ and leave a comment below telling me which variety you would be excited to try. In order to receive your coupon, please leave me a way to contact you in order to get your address so they can mail you your prize.
Winner will be randomly selected on 5/5! Good luck

Disclaimer- Freschetta did provide me with free coupons to try their product as well as a storage container set in order to do a blog review on their products.


Winner Is...

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1
Max: 3
Result:
1

From Random.org- Congrats!!

Root Beer Baked Beans

This weekend, Sams club was giving out free cookbook for giving them your email address. So many good recipes in this cookbook and this was one! We decided to make a pulled pork for dinner, so my mom wanted to try the Root Beer Baked Beans to go along with it. We plan on saving some for Easter too (we will have to make Easter easy this year, because the hubby and I are moving Easter weekend!!). These are so tasty! My recipe is slightly different from the cookbook, so I will post what I made. Root Beer Baked Beans 1 medium onion diced 5 strips of bacon diced (I used cooked peppered bacon pieces- I think Hormel is the brand) 2 cans baked beans (28 oz each)- I used Bush's Honey baked beans and Maple Cured Bacon baked beans 3/4 cup root beer 1/3 cup barbeque sauce 1/2 tsp mustard powder 1. In large deep skillet, saute onion (if using raw bacon cook with onion until bacon is crisp). If using cooked bacon pieces, add after onion has softened and cook until bacon is fragrant and heated through. 2. Add cans of baked beans, root beer, barbeque sauce and mustard powder. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until slightly thicekend. You can serve at this point or put in an oven proof dish and continue heating in the oven. I served after heating on the stove.