Quinoa stuffed peppers

I am not going to lie.  I was so excited to make these....but I knew I would have to sell it to the hubs.  This is a meatless meal and even though he has lost over 60 lbs, he needs to have his meat at dinner time.  I thought about it long and hard all day long and the only thing I could think to do was to have him bring home a rotisserie chicken on his way home from work.  LOL!  I really liked it.  It has basil, cheese, tomatoes....what's not to love??

I found the recipe here.  The recipe makes one pepper, so plan accordingly.  

Ingredients
1 medium red or green bell pepper
1/3 cup cooked quinoa
1/3 cup chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup grated zucchini
1 Tbsp minced basil or parsley
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, divided
1 Tbsp pine nuts, divided
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. Cut the top off of the bell pepper and remove the seeds and ribs, leaving the remaining pepper intact. Trim the bottom slightly, if necessary, so it will stand up straight.

3. Combine the quinoa, tomatoes, zucchini, basil or parsley, 1 tablespoon of the cheese, 2 teaspoons of the pine nuts, lemon juice, oil, and garlic in a medium bowl. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

4. Place the bell pepper in a baking dish and add enough water to come halfway up the sides of the dish.

5. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Top the pepper with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cheese and 1 teaspoon of pine nuts and bake, uncovered, for 15 more minutes or until the cheese is melted and the nuts are golden.

Dijon Salmon

Ok, it isn't much of a recipe because I stink at measurements when just throwing dinner together, but I
ll do the best I can.... I coated 4 pieces of salmon skin side down with dijon mustard (top and sides only), then pressed a coating of a mixture of about 3/4 cups of panko breadcrumbs and the zest of one lemon.  Then I put it in a pan coated with cooking spray on medium high heat for about 4 minutes.  I finished cooking it in a 425 degree oven for 5-7 minutes more, depending on thickness.  This is my new favorite salmon recipe.  Even the hubs enjoyed it and he isn't a huge salmon fan, but I make him eat it anyways.

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats

I love making dog treats for my dog, Lilly.  There are so many dog treats out there that don't even resemble food and who knows what is in them!  Here are some really easy dog treats and your dog will love them.

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 large eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin purée, canned or fresh
3 tbsps peanut butter

Mix all of these ingredients together, roll the dough out and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes, or you can even just cut them into bars.  Put them in a 350 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes, depending on the desired doneness.  Lilly likes them crunchy so ours were in the oven for about 30 minutes.  Just check on them every now and again.  ENJOY!  Your dog will thank you!

Pumpkin Bread

I like a good challenge.  When I found this recipe on Pinterest boasting the entire loaf is only 500 calories, I knew I had to make it because even if I ate the entire thing, it was only 500 calories....only 500.  Now, I do enjoy the full fat version of this very much.  I make it every year, so I was curious to see how this tasted.  It is certainly a yummy addition to my 3pm snack with my coffee and I only eat 1 serving at a time at 100 calories each.  Delicious.

Batter:
1-1/2 c. pureed pumpkin
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 whole egg
3 egg whites
1 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. Stevia Cup For Cup sweetener
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg

Cream filling
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 T. all-purpose flour
2 egg whites
1 t. vanilla extract

1. For the Batter: With an electric mixer, beat the pumpkin, applesauce, egg, and egg whites on medium speed until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, Stevia, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture.

2. For the cream cheese filling: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, egg whites and flour until creamy and smooth.

3. Grease 2 8x4x2″ loaf pans. Divide half of the batter between the two pans. Pour half of the filling in one pan and the other half in the second pan and smooth with the back of a spoon. Top with the remaining batter.

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Don’t overbake or your bread will be dry on the edges. Cool and remove from pans. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa Cups

I love hot wings and I love to dip hot wings in blue cheese dressing.  I have been known to eat wings for my weekly cheat meal.  I just love the spiciness and the creaminess all together.  Yummmmm.

Here is a healthy alternative that you won't feel guilty about later.

-1 cup cooked quinoa
-1 large egg
-1/4 cup chopped onion
-1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store...I used the rest of the left over chicken to make chicken salad (greek yogurt and dijon mustard))
-1/4 cup buffalo sauce
-1/2 cup reduced fat shredded mozarella cheese
-1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
-1 minced garlic clove
-salt and pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl until combined.  Put a heaping Tablespoon in each cup of a well sprayed mini muffin tin.  Push the ingredients down in each muffin cup so it is compact.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

Now, even better news is that I also used a blue cheese dressing that is only 35 calories for 2 tablespoons.  It is seriously so good and practically

Pizza Panini

If you haven't been to Roni Noone's Green Lite Bites site.  Go now.  I LOVE her site!

It is chilly here today and I am having a hard time staying warm and cozy.  It is just one of those days.  I saw Roni's panini picture and immediately got up and made one.   At only 163 calories, it was so ooey, gooey, delicious.

I got a multigrain 100 calorie English Muffin and spread 1 tablespoon of pizza sauce on it.  Then I sliced a Laughing Cow Light Babybel and put it on top and layered some of my favorite pizza toppings.  I used roasted bell peppers, a mushroom and some spinach leaves.  I tossed it in a nonstick pan and pressed down using the back of my spatula.  I did that for a minute or so and flipped it over to do the other side until the cheese in the middle was all melty.  You could also use a panini press or a George Forman grill, but I was way too lazy to pull out the special equipment.  ENJOY!!

Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnut Holes

I am eating these with a cup of coffee as I type.  Holy cow, these are good.  Just out of the oven, warm, moist.....delicious!  The Apple Cider Doughnut Holes I made last week were a hit, so I decided to make these.  I love pumpkin flavored anything!

I adapted this recipe from here.  I changed it to make it a bit more figure friendly as my recipe made 33  doughnut holes at only 53 calories a piece.

For the Doughnuts:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup skim milk


For the coating:
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl.  Mix half of the dry mixture into the wet mixture until incorporated and then mix the rest.  Do not over-mix!  Using a tablespoon or a small ice cream scoop, place dough into each muffin tin.  Bake for about 10 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Once they come out of the oven, brush the tops with the melted butter and then toss them in a ziploc bag with the cinnamon sugar mixture (about 6 at a time).  Place on a cookie sheet to cool.  Once cool, place them in an airtight container.