Recipes

Zucchini Pancakes

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Sometimes life is just about compromises.  Tonight, I had a serious craving for some french fries… a big ole mound of french fries and some ketchup.. mmmmm….

In lieu of this, I opted for a big ole salad…  hmm big ole salad vs. big ole mound of french fries?  That’s not exactly a fair fight…

My salad consisted of:

  • 1/2 bag fresh express romaine
  • 2.5 ounces grilled chicken breast
  • 1 roma tomato
  • 1/4 cup red onion
  • 1/4 cup white mushrooms
  • 2 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Italian Romano dressing

 

Not exactly a french-fry-craving cure… but darn tasty in its own right. 

Stats on the salad:  204 calories, 18g carbs, 6g fat, 17g protein, 5g fiber

To help curb my desire for some grease, I decided to try out this recipe I found for Zucchini Pancakes on Gina’s Skinny Taste blog. 

Here’s what went in to my zucchini pancakes:

  • 1 medium zucchini, shredded
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 2 tbsp chopped chives (holler at you, backyard garden 😉 )
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 large egg white
  • 2 tsp DiGiorno Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp each S&P
  • Sprinkling of red pepper flakes

I combined everything up, then heated up a skillet I had sprayed with some cooking spray.  Using a small cookie dough scooper, I dropped 3 pancakes into the pan.

One by one:

Batch #1 Finished Products:

These tasted AWESOME.  They really spoke to the onion-lover in me.  Only problem was they didn’t get crispy like a traditional potato pancake.  I tried several different methods, including flattening them out til they were very thin–but they just wouldn’t crisp up!  Maybe it’s the whole egg that helps to get them crispy–but regardless of the texture issues the taste was yum-o.

I tried one bite with some ketchup of course:

And I tried one bite with some Frank’s red hot:

(I preferred the ketchup in this case)

The zucchini pancake “batter” made 9 of these little fritters.  I ate 7 of them (I had to try one for each cooking method…. haha), and I saved two of them for breakfast tomorrow so I can see how well they heat up in the microwave.

Stats on 9 Zucchini Fritters (entire batter):  159 calories, 27g carbs, 2g fat, 11g protein, 2g fiber

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Recipes

Stuffed Zucchini

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I saw this recipe for Turkey Stuffed Zucchini on the Skinny Taste website a while back, and have been wanting to try it out since then.  Tonight was the night!

First, I sliced 2 large zucchini in half lengthwise, and then scooped out most of the innards (I hate the word “flesh” in reference to foods, so I choose “innards” instead 😉 ):

Then I chopped up the zucchini bits I had scooped out and set them aside. 

Meanwhile I sprayed a pan with cooking spray, and once the pan was warm I added:

  • 1/2 white onion, chopped
  • 3 gloves garlic, minced
  • 10 sprays parkay butter spray (yes, I actually counted them out 😉 )

When the onions were translucent, I added the chopped up zucchini bits, seasoned everything with some salt, and cooked about 3 more minutes.

Next, I added a splash of white wine .  I’m not a white wine drinker, so I went with the only white I had on hand —   charles shaw chardonnay — AKA two-buck-chuck 🙂

When the wine was mostly evaporated, I added:

  • 1/2 a package (about 10 ounces) of 99% fat free ground turkey breast
  • a healthy sprinklin of Red Pepper Flake & S
  • a light sprinklin of cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp each of garlic powder, paprika, and marjoram

After the turkey was cooked through, I put the mixture into a bowl and added:

  • 2 tbsp grated parmesan
  • 1 egg white
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 4 fresh basil leaves, chopped

The rosemary and basil were from my backyard garden 😀

I don’t know why it makes me so happy when I use fresh herbs from my garden… It’s not like I put any effort into their growth and prosperity.. other than dropping them in the dirt, I just leave them to flourish on their own 🙂 

I stuffed the zucchini halves with the turkey mix, then sprinkled with 2 tbsp Progreso Plain bread crumbs.  Put everything onto a cookie sheet that I sprayed with cooking spray:

Next, I carefully poured 1/2 a cup of free range chicken stock into the pan and covered tightly with foil.  These baked at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.  Then I removed the foil and cooked for an additional 5 minutes.

These were yummy!  Next time, I think I’ll cook up some spicy red sauce to go on top of the zucchinis.  Also, I like my veggies on the crunchy side, so I will use less chicken stock in the pan and probably cook them less time.  Definitely gonna make these again and tweak things up a bit.

On the side, we had a salad consisting of romaine lettuce, red onion, green pepper, and a couple generous handfuls of cherry tomatoes that I also grew in my backyard garden 😀 

I had some Ken’s Steakhouse dressing on top, of course.  Ken’s my homeboy 🙂

Stats on 2 stuffed zucchini halves:  286 calories, 24g carbs, 4g fat, 39g protein, 4g fiber

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Recipes

Hot Caprese, Jalapeno Turkey Burgers, and Dessert!

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One of my all-time favorite things to eat is caprese salad.  For those who have never had it, it usually consists of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fresh basil.  It’s so simple and amazingly delicious.      

After my Jambalaya! success last night, I decided to try the recipe for Hot Caprese in the July/August 2010 issue of Clean Eating Magazine.       

I used their basic ingredients, but modified it to keep it a little healthier (and also to bring it down to a single–albeit it large–serving).      

  • 1 cup grape tomatoes
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • S&P
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 light babybel cheese
  • fresh basil

Mix all the ingredients (except the cheese and basil) in a bowl, then pour onto a piece of foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Wrap into a pouch, taking care to ensure all edges are sealed so that no liquid seeps out.  Poke a few holes in the packet to let steam escape, then pop into a 350 degree oven for 20-25  minutes, until the tomatoes have started to burst and let their juices go.       

Next, I carefully poured the liquid out of the packet and topped the tomatoes with a cubed light babybel cheese round.  Close the packet back up and make sure to leave space between the cheese and the foil so that the melted cheese does not stick.  Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melty.      

When the tomatoes were finished cooking, I poured them out onto my plate and topped with fresh basil that I grew in my very own back yard!  🙂      

backyard herbs

 

To go along side the tomatoes, I cooked up two Jalapeno turkey burgers that consisted of:      

  • 10 ounces 99% lean ground turkey
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 a small zucchini, grated
  • 1/4 cup white onion, chopped
  • S&P, RPF, Onion powder
  • 1/2 a jalapeno, seeds removed,  chopped

Once the burgers started cooking, my nose could tell that the little jalapeno was gonna add some kick to the burger.  So I decided to top the burger with some tomatoes, onion, and cool fat free sour cream atop a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat.      

      

Sooooo tasty!       

Word to the wise — use more seasonings on the tomatoes than you think you need.  I’ll def bump it up next time.      

Also, I definitely want to add some fresh herbs to the jalapeno turkey burger next time.  Possibly cilantro or flat leaf parsley.      

Stats on Dinner:  387 calories, 46g carbs, 7g fat, 47g protein, 7g fiber     

Post-Dinner      

After dinner, I completed Day #2 of my interval running/walking plan.  I was able to complete all 5 intervals of running without any knee pain!  Yay! 🙂      

After exercising, I threw half of a peach onto the george foreman grill for about 6 minutes.  Then I topped it with some plain greek yogurt I had sweetened with 1/2 packet of truvia and a sprinkle of cinnamon and cloves.        

      

This was quite tasty!  But let’s be honest, I was thinking about ice cream the entire time.  Definitely need to give this a shot with the good stuff.      

Other thoughts before bed      

For those of you who have hopped on the Greek Yogurt train (gimme a whoop whoop!), and even for those of you who haven’t this FitSugar link gives a few different ideas on how to switch up your normal yogurt routine.      

I’m trying out some new things for breakfast and lunch tomorrow….  this should be interesting  🙂      

Oh yes!  I tried the Oatmeal Luna Bar today, and thought it was pretty darn tasty!      

      

Not my all time favorite flavor, but overall I was very pleased with my afternoon snack. It definitely tasted like an oatmeal cookie.  I went to a grocery store by work tonight rather than my usual store, and they had a huge selection of Lara Bars.  So I picked up a few of those to try out 🙂      

QUESTION FOR ALL YOU SILENT READERS OUT THERE:  Have you tried overnight oats yet?  If so, did you love them as much as I do?  If you haven’t tried them, what’s holding you back?

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Recipes

Shrimptastic Dinner

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I’ve been eyeballing this recipe for Shrimp and Zucchini Pasta for over a week, so I decided to make it for dinner tonight.  I used the Skinny Taste recipe above as my starting point, and scaled it down to one serving.  I also omitted the olive oil and used extra chicken stock in its place.   

I haven’t had pasta in a while, and just the thought of eating it made me want a HUGE plate.  So I decided to peel the zucchini into thin pasta-like strips (rather than cubing as per the recipe) to really bulk up the pasta feel.   

I also used carba nada pasta.  I just love the stuff!   

Shrimp Zucchini Pasta Ingredients

 

I tasted the veggie/sauce mixture, and decided it needed a little extra oomph.  So I added about a tbsp of balsamic vinegar and a liberal dusting of red pepper flakes (I like it hot!).   

Shrimpy pastalicious

 

Take a closer look:   

shrimptastic!

 

My mouth was on fire after finishing this delicious pasta!  I had to eat a couple frozen grapes to cool things off 🙂   

Stats on the pasta:  342 calories, 49g carbs, 2g fat, 29g protein, 9g fiber   

Here’s a few shrimptastic recipes I’ve stumbled upon that look like things I need to try:   

   

Dinner is done, but I’m headed back to the kitchen to make BLD for tomorrow (breakfast, lunch, & dinner)… more about that tomorrow!

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