Cucumber Cracker Snackers

These are a great cheese & cracker substitute. I came up with this idea today while scrounging around for some kind of snack that was ultra light, but gave me a lot of volume! I think these would also make great munchies for a get together or shower. And it took all of five minutes to put together. The blue cheese offers big flavor, which makes this snack very satisfying.

1 Cucumber

1 Tbs Crumbled Blue Cheese

2 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges, Original Swiss Flavor

1 Tbs Light Sour Cream

Fresh Cracked Pepper

Slice cucumber in "cracker" like slices. Mix blue cheese, cheese wedges and sour cream in a small bowl, then place in a small baggie. Cut end off of baggie and squirt onto "crackers". Top crackers with 1 small crumble (or very thin slice) of blue cheese and cracked pepper.

Nutrition info:

Serves 2 (very well)

85 Calories 5g Protein 7g Carbs 4g Fat

Potsticker Soup

My first try at inventing a successful recipe. I don't know how much inventing actually goes into a rather simple soup, but here it is. I looked at several different recipes and did a combination of what sounded the best, left out things that sounded kinda gross (vinegar? Bok Choy?) and came up with this simple and tasty (not to mention uber fast) asian style soup! Hope you like you it too!

Potsticker Soup

Serves 2

Total Time: 10 min

32oz Chicken Broth

1tbs Soy Sauce

1tbs Toasted Sesame Oil

1c Asian Style Veggies (frozen; Carrots, Green Beans, Mushrooms, Onions)

1 clove Garlic, minced

14 Potstickers (I love Trader Joe's Chicken)

1 Green Onion, chopped

Put it all in a pot (excluding green onion) and bring to boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 2-3 min. Garnish with green onions.

You can use any type of veggie and as much as you want. Pork potstickers are good too. Reduced sodium broth and soy sauce is always a better option.

Nutrition Info

Serving is 7 potstickers and half of the broth (little more than 2c)

329 Cals

13.5g Fat, 37.2g Carb, 12.6g Protein

On-The-Go Breakfast Cookies

Another divine recipe from the 1,500 Calorie-A-Day-Menu Cookbook by Nancy S. Hughes (p. 32).

The nutrition info in the book is very different from what I figured using my calorie counting program (the BodyBugg one). The nutrition info here is the info that I figured, not what the book said.

These cookies are super good! They were fast and easy to make (under a half hour) and quite large. They tasted even better the next day. You can also use Go Lean Crisp (adds 25 cals per cookie) or the Crunch with Honey versions. Almonds or pecans and chocolate chips would be sinfully delish, and you can change out the dried fruit. Craisins were good. I also added 1/4c of Wheat Germ to up the nutritional value, and I used 2 eggs instead of wasting the yolks.

Ingredients

4c Kashi Go Lean Crunch! (or other high-fiber, high-protein cereal)
1/2c Quick-cooking Oats
1/2c Packed Dark Brown Sugar (I used light and it was fine)
3/4tsp Baking Powder
1/2tsp Cinnamon
1/4c Canola Oil
1 Large Egg and 2 Egg Whites
2/3c Dried Cherries


Directions:
Process dry ingredients in a food processor until it forms a crumb texture (I'm doubting this is a must, you could probably just mix it all and bake them). Add in oil and eggs, process. Remove blade, mix in dried fruit (and nuts or chocolate chips if you'd like).
Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray.
Spoon batter in just shy of 1/4c mounds, 1" apart (they don't really spread) and press down.
Bake at 350* for 12 minutes.
The cookies will not look done, but they are. They'll continue to set up. Pull foil off of pan and place on counter to cool for 7 minutes, then enjoy.
Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container.

Excellent source of Fiber & Calcium and a good source of Vitamins A & C. Adding wheat germ ups these, and adds Folic Acid.

Nutrition Info:

Serving Size - 1 cookie
163 Calories 5g Protein 24g Carbs 6g Fat

Steamer (Steamed Flavored Milk)

I used to get these at a local coffee shop all of the time. The warm creaminess is satisfying deep down, like hot cocoa. I prefer Almond Syrup in mine, but there are tons of different syrups on the market (like Torani or your local coffee shop). They can be found at most larger stores (Meijer, Kroger, Walk-Mart) in the coffee aisle. I prefer ones that are NOT sugar free, I'm not into fake sugar. There are only 35 calories per tablespoon of the syrup making it one of those things that you can indulge in frequently.

1tbs Flavored Syrup (like Almond)

8oz Skim Milk

Combine the milk and syrup and then heat (I just nuke it) and enjoy. You can also sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg, or cocoa powder, etc.

Serves 1

Nutrition

Cals: 121

Fat: 0

Carbs: 22

Protein: 8

Ham and Potato Soup

Ham and Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS:
3 1/2 cups peeled and diced
potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups diced cooked ham
3 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground white or
black pepper, or to taste
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

1860 cals for the whole pot
4 servings
465 cals each

Beer-Battered Fish Fry

I got this recipe from Cooking Light (November 2009). You can find the original post here. For some reason it got bad reviews. I LOVED IT though, the fish anyhow. The chips stuck to the pan and never did seem like fries. So, I'll use frozen fries in the future. But the key is to get the oil up to temp before putting in the fish. The batter is a bit runny and kind of falls of off the fish, but for a lite fish fry recipe I was thrilled with the results. I had lots of left over batter and made onion rings too! It was great and I highly recommend trying it. I also didn't have a problem finding the specified beer at a liquor shop.

Beer-Battered Fish Fry

Use Alaskan cod in this dish. Serve with malt vinegar.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 4 ounces fish and about 1/2 cup chips)

Ingredients
The 5 ingredients:
1 pound cod fillets, cut into 3-inch pieces
1 cup dark beer (such as Negra Modelo), divided
1 pound baking potatoes, cut into (1/4-inch) strips
1/4 cup canola oil, divided
3.38 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 450°. Combine fish and 1/4 cup beer in a medium bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Place potatoes on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil, and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss well. Bake at 450° for 20 minutes or until browned and crisp, stirring after 10 minutes. Drain fish; discard liquid. Sprinkle fish with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine remaining 3/4 cup beer, flour, and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper in a medium bowl. Add fish to beer mixture, tossing gently to coat. Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from bowl, shaking off excess batter. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes or until browned. Turn fish over; cook 3 minutes or until done. Sprinkle fish with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve immediately with chips.

Nutritional Information
Calories:398
Fat:15g (sat 1.1g,mono 8.4g,poly 4.6g)
Protein:24.6g
Carbohydrate:40.7g
Fiber:2.2g
Cholesterol:40mg
Iron:2.4mg
Sodium:524mg
Calcium:30mg

Hearty Pineapple Pizza

*This recipe is from "Better Homes and Gardens Eat Well, Lose Weight cookbook

Ingredients:
1 8oz can pizza sauce
1 12 inch whole wheat, thin Italian bread shell (such as Boboli brand)
1 large sweet green pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/2 cup thinly sliced quartered red onion
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple, well drained
1/2 of a 3 1/2 ounce package pizza style Canadian bacon
3/4 C shredded mozzarella cheese (3 ounces)


1. Preheat oven to 450*. Spread pizza sauce on bread shell. Top with sweet pepper, red onion, pineapple, and Canadian style bacon. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Place pizza on a large baking pan.

2. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and pizza is heated through.

Makes 4 servings

Note: I am not a fan of onions at all, and don't like green peppers on my Hawaiian pizza. So needless to say, mine was only pineapple, bacon, sauce and cheese. It was still great though. Super easy to throw together, and felt like a treat! 2 slices and a salad was plenty, and tasted great. If you ever need a quick meal, or are not in the mood for a lot of fuss, this is an easy choice!