Perfect Sunday Brunch: French Toast Casserole, Potato Hash & Strawberry Smoothies!

This weekend, I decided to surprise my husband by making brunch from scratch for him. I had never actually cooked brunch before in my life, so I was a little nervous about how it would turn out. But I found a couple great recipes from HungryGirl and EatingWell.com that looked really yummy, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I’m happy to report that the brunch was a total success!! All of the dishes turned out AMAZINGLY well – my husband LOVED them. And the french toast was a huge hit (thank you HungryGirl!) – my husband said he’s never liked french toast made at home, but he loved this dish. And the smoothies – which was a recipe that I made up – tasted exactly like the In-N-Out Strawberry Shakes, but my recipe was much healthier 🙂 All in all, it was a really fun cooking experience! The recipes (with my notes/modifications) and pictures are below, hope you enjoy them!

The Menu:

1) Fuji Apple French Toast Casserole

2) Potato & Onion Hash Browns

3) Strawberry Smoothies

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Fuji Apple French Toast Casserole

Notes: This is an amazing recipe for a super low calorie, fiber filled, and really flavorful french toast. Most recipes like this one would run you 500+ calories for 1-2 slices of french toast, but this recipe gives you a HUGE portion (4 inch by 4 inch casserole square) for only 200 calories! The only considerations here are – a lot of the ingredients in this recipe are somewhat processed (e.g. you’re not using real butter, sugar, syrup, etc.) So if that weirds you out a little, I wouldn’t recommend this recipe. I usually try to stick to whole foods without 30 ingredients per item, but once in a while I’m ok with trying a recipe that calls for more processed ingredients if it saves on calories and still has some good nutritional value (fiber, protein, etc.). Just my two cents before I give you the recipe 🙂

Ingredients

• 8 slices light bread (40 – 45 calories each with around 2g fiber per slice), cut into cubes. I used Sara Lee 45 Calories Delightful 100% Whole Wheat bread with honey (link here)
• 4 oz. fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 medium apple (preferably Fuji), peeled and diced
• 1 1/4 cups light vanilla soymilk
• 1 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)
• 2 tbsp. sugar-free pancake syrup
• 2 tbsp. light whipped butter or light buttery spread (like Brummel & Brown), melted
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 no-calorie sweetener packet (like Splenda), or more to taste. 1 packet made the french toast sweet enough for us.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray an 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Place bread cubes evenly along the bottom of the dish.
3. Sprinkle diced apple evenly over the bread.
4. In a medium-large bowl, combine all other ingredients (cream cheese, soymilk, egg substitute, syrup, butter, cinnamon, and sweetener). If you like your French toast really sweet, add an extra packet of sweetener. Using a handheld electric mixer set to medium speed, mix until lump-free and smooth. Pour mixture over the bread and apple.
5. Make sure bread is soaked in the liquid mixture. If needed, toss lightly to coat.
6. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, until egg mixture is pretty firm and cooked through. Note – mine took about 50 min. (Be sure not to overcook, as bread may burn.) Let cool slightly and cut into quarters. If you like, serve with additional syrup for dipping. Dig in!

Nutritional Info

Makes 4 servings – One serving = One 4inch by 4inch square

Calories: ~200

Fat: 4.25g

Fiber: 6g

Protein: 16.5g

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Potato and Onion Hash Browns

Note: I modified most of this recipe, so my notes are below in purple text. This recipe was also a HUGE hit with my husband. He said he’d actually want this at a restaurant (and he always thinks hash browns at restaurants are the best)!

Ingredients

• 3 medium russet potatoes, (1 pound total), peeled and cut into quarters (Note: I used 1 lb of baby red potatoes and left the skins on for added fiber)
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped (I used a red onion because I like the flavor and color)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Pinch paprika (I omitted this)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (I actually used 1 Tbsp of chopped fresh rosemary because I love the flavors of rosemary with potatoes)

Directions

1. Place potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with cold, lightly salted water. Bring to a boil and boil until potatoes are just tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and cool. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes. (You should have 2 cups of cubed potatoes.)
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until they are limp and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and continue to sauté until golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. (Lower heat slightly if pan becomes too hot.) Season with salt, pepper and paprika (if you use paprika). Stir in parsley or rosemary and serve immediately.

Nutritional Information (for 1 serving)

Makes 4 servings

Calories: ~120

Fat: 2g

Protein: 3g

Fiber: 2g

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Strawberry Smoothies

Notes: This recipe is SUPER easy. Only 4 ingredients, and you can make it in like 2 minutes. A great breakfast on its own, or as an accompaniment to any brunch!

Ingredients

• 8 Frozen whole strawberries (Trader Joe’s has great organic frozen strawberries)
• 3 oz low-fat vanilla yogurt (I used Trader Joe’s organic vanilla yogurt – 140 calories for 6 oz)
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup 1% milk, or soy milk, or Unsweetened almond breeze
• 1-2 packets Splenda sweetner

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender, and blend until combined, creamy and smooth. You can also use a hand blender for this – it’s a lot easier for cleanup (that’s what I used and it turned out great)

Overall, it was a super satisfying, really healthy brunch – definitely felt like we were in a restaurant. Below are the final products all combined – can’t wait to make it again!

Two Fun, Unique Summer Fruit Ideas: Watermelon Salad and Chili-Rubbed Melon

Last week, I discovered a couple awesome ways to dress up fruit, courtesy of one of my favorite cafes! On Monday, they were serving yellow watermelon – which I had never had before. It actually tastes just like red watermelon but feels a little lighter/fresher, and it’s just fun to eat because it’s a yellow watermelon 🙂 And later in the week, they served Honeydew Melon rubbed with Chili and Lime which was really unexpected but tasted amazing! Here are two fun ways to dress up the usual summer fruits – hope you enjoy them!

Fruit Idea #1: Watermelon Salad

Photo Credit: http://www.kirbiecravings.com

Ingredients: Cubed seedless yellow and red watermelon (4 cups), cubed jicama or cucumber (3 cups), fresh lime juice (1/4 cup), salt and pepper to taste, mint leaves thinly sliced

Directions: Toss all the ingredients together and serve immediately! Enjoy 🙂

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Fruit Idea #2: Chili-Rubbed Melon

Photo Credit: http://www.spain-info.co.uk

Ingredients: 1 Honeydew Melon, cut into large slices or wedges, chili powder, lime juice, salt

Directions: Take each of the melon slices and coat with lime juice. Then rub the chili powder and salt generously on both sides of the slice (the lime juice and natural juices of the melon will help it stick). Serve immediately and enjoy!

The great thing about both of these recipes is they will satisfy your sweet tooth, and are super refreshing, but are extremely low in calories! 1 huge cup of watermelon only has about 40-50 calories; and 1 huge cup of honeydew melon has about 60 calories. The spices and lemon juice are pretty negligible so you can definitely enjoy these treats without ruining your diet!

6 Small Meals vs. 3 Regular Meals – Which is the Healthier Diet?

Recently, I was talking to one of my friends who is trying to lose weight. She was telling me that she regularly only eats 2 big meals every day and usually skips breakfast. My immediate thought was: She needs to eat more frequently! Most people think that if they want to lose weight, they should just eat less and the weight will come off. That’s not exactly true.

The weight will likely come off, but it won’t stay off because the only reason you’ve lost weight is because you’ve severely limited your calories. As soon as you start eating normally again, you’ll gain the weight back, and on top of that, your body will begin to store that extra meal as fat fearing that you might decide to cut out that meal again in the future.

The reason for this is, when you start consuming drastically less calories, or have long gaps between meals (e.g. one meal at 12pm and one at 8pm with nothing else in between), your body goes into starvation mode. What does that mean? Basically, when there are long gaps between meals, your body moves from a fat burning mode to a fat preservation mode. That means that your body will start burning muscle instead of fat. This eventually causes a decrease in your lean muscle mass, which actually slows down your metabolism, and makes your body fat percentage goes up.

Also, when you eat only a couple meals a day, your blood sugar levels fluctuate wildly. Those blood sugar fluctuations are often the culprit for the crazy cravings we’ll get once we’re so hungry that any food – 5 chocolate chip cookies, 2 bags of chips, 1 whole pizza – will do. So even when you do eat your meals, you’ll end up overeating and canceling out any calorie restriction gains you accomplished during the day.

So does that mean that eating 6 meals a day is healthier than eating 3 meals a day? Not necessarily. Unfortunately it’s not as simple as that. Because the other part of weight loss that’s important is a simple math equation (my husband would love that I’m incorporating math into this post by the way!). So here’s the equation: Calories in – Calories out < 0.

Or, in other words, the calories you’re consuming must be less than the calories you expend throughout the day. That doesn’t mean that you have to burn 1600 calories at the gym alone – this includes calories you burn just being you – I mean technically, we’re burning calories even while we’re sleeping! Here’s a link to an awesome tool that will help you determine your your BMR – that’s your basal metabolic rate – the amount of calories you burn doing no activity whatsoever.

But I digress 🙂 So back to the question – is eating 6 small meals a day healthier than eating 3 regular meals? Sort of. It’s only healthier if you aren’t consuming more calories as a result of eating more meals. So the key is – 6 small meals. That means that each mini-meal should be about 200-300 calories max – which puts you at a 1200-1800 calorie range per day – which is perfect.

The benefits of 6 small meals a day are:

1. Keeps your metabolism going at a steady rate which allows you to burn calories efficiently
2. Helps you maintain hunger cravings and random food binges – keeps your blood sugar steady which helps prevent hunger attacks
3. Keeps your energy up!

The pitfalls of 6 small meals a day are:

1. Overeating! Small means small! 1 slice of whole wheat toast with a slice of low fat cheese; or a handful of almonds with an apple count as mini-meals so be careful!
2. Takes effort to plan out. If you’re doing well with 3 meals a day and you don’t tend to overeat in between meals, then this might not be the best plan for you.
3. Many experts feel that trying to spread out the day’s calories rather than sitting down to regular meals may throw off the body’s internal clock making it forget how to recognize hunger and satiety cues to the point when you no longer understand what it’s like to be hungry but also never quite feel full. This is not a good thing.

So what’s the bottom line? If you’re the type of person who has the discipline and the patience to eat six small portions every day, can count calories, and you’re also the type of person to binge when you feel hungry – this could be the right fit for you. If you’re the type of person who enjoys sitting down to a regular sized meal and doesn’t have a tendency to overeat, then sticking to the traditional breakfast, lunch, dinner and one small snack is probably the best approach. Either way – the total calories you’re consuming must equal (or if you’re trying to lose weight, be less than) the calories you’re expending. And you should always be eating at least 3 balanced meals a day – don’t ever skip breakfast! 🙂

Healthy & Easy Meals: Great for College Students or Busy Professionals!

Earlier this week, I got a comment from Monica – she’s a college student and doesn’t have much time, but wanted some easy, healthy recipes that she could use during the week. I thought it was a great question – and would apply to anyone who is super busy and just doesn’t have more than 15 minutes to spend in the kitchen. So here are 5 simple, healthy recipes: one for each night of the week — and you only need to buy 5 vegetables in order to make them! You can just use the same veggies in different ways throughout the week, the rest of the ingredients should be pantry staples that you have on hand. The other great thing is that each of these meals is super balanced with veggies, whole grains and protein, and none of them should run you over ~400 calories. Enjoy!

The Secret: Cut all the veggies when you buy them or have extra time (like on a Sunday). That way, when it comes to actually making the weeknight meals, all you have to do is throw the ingredients together and you’ll be done in under 15 minutes!

So here are the 5 veggies you need:

1. Bell peppers – any color will do – just get your favorite (red/yellow/green/orange – they’re all good!)
2. Tomatoes – I like roma tomatoes the best, but again just get your favorite
3. Baby spinach, pre washed & bagged
4. Garlic
5. Red Onion

Monday – Egg White Scramble and Toast

Ingredients you will need:

• Bell peppers, red onion, spinach, tomatoes (chopped)
• 3 egg whites (note: you can add a pinch of the yellow of one of the eggs if you like the flavor)
• 1-3 tsp 1% milk
• Cooking spray
• Salt & Pepper
• Whole Wheat bread
• Ketchup or other condiments that you like with your eggs

Directions:

1. Heat a large non-stick frying pan to a setting just above medium.
2. In large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk and salt. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes. Add veggies to the mixture.
3. Spray the pan with cooking spray. Add the eggs mixture to the pan. Do not stir immediately. Wait until the first hint of setting begins. Start the Martha Stewart scrambling technique (“Using a spatula or a flat wooden spoon, push eggs toward center while tilting skillet to distribute runny parts.”)
4. Continue this motion as the eggs continue to set. Break apart large pieces as they form with your spoon or spatula. You will come to a point where the push-to-center technique is no longer cooking runny parts of the egg. Flip over all the eggs. Allow the eggs to cook 15 to 25 seconds longer. Transfer eggs to serving plates. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve with ketchup and two slices whole wheat toast.

Tuesday – Veggie Quesadillas with Refried (or whole) Black Beans

Ingredients:

• Bell peppers, red onion, spinach, tomatoes (chopped)
• Low fat shredded Mexican cheese blend
• Refried black beans or whole black beans
• Taco seasoning
• Cooking spray
• High fiber tortillas (either whole wheat or Mission low carb tortillas will do – each one should have ~120 calories and over 3g fiber)
• Salsa

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a small pan, heat beans over medium heat. Add taco seasoning to beans, stir until mixed through and heat for about 5 min until beans are cooked through.
3. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Lay tortillas out on the baking sheet. On each tortilla, spread 1/4 cup refried beans (or whole beans), 2-3 Tbsp cheese, and veggies.
4. Fold tortillas over, and broil on low for 10 minutes or until tortillas are browned and crispy on top. Serve with salsa & enjoy!

Wednesday – Quick Pita Pizzas

Ingredients:

• Bell peppers, red onion, spinach, tomatoes, garlic (chopped)
• Pizza Sauce
• Whole wheat pita pockets
• Shredded cheese (fontina, parmesan, mozarella – just get your favorite – any one will do!)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• On each pita pocket, spread pizza sauce, garlic, veggies, and 1/4 cup cheese (max) on top.
• Broil in the oven for 5-10 min or until pita pockets are toasted through and cheese is melted & bubbling.

Thursday – Healthy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Ingredients

• Whole wheat bread (I like Oroweat Double Fiber bread)
• Tomatoes, Onions, Spinach, Garlic – chopped
• Your favorite cheese – I like Fontina or a Mild Cheddar
• Ketchup
• Salt & Pepper
• Cooking spray

Directions

1. Heat a pan over medium high heat (or if you have a grill pan/panini press – warm that up)
2. Layer one slice of bread with a couple thin slices of cheese (shouldn’t be more than 1oz)
3. Top with healthy serving of all veggies, salt & pepper and the second slice of bread (make the sandwich!)
4. Spray pan / grill pan / panini press with cooking spray
5. Grill on both sides until crispy and cheese is melted. Serve with ketchup!

Friday – Asian Stir Fry

Ingredients

• Bell peppers, red onion, spinach, tomatoes, garlic (chopped)
• Soy sauce or bottled Thai Red Curry Sauce
• Tofu
• Cooking Spray
• Minute brown rice

Directions

1. Cook brown rice according to package directions, set aside
2. Heat a pan over medium-high heat, spray with cooking spray
3. Saute tofu in the pan with soy sauce until lightly crispy on the outside. Set aside.
4. Saute veggies and garlic until tender, add soy sauce half way through cooking. Add tofu back to the pan, add 1/4 cup of thai red curry sauce (or other low calorie asian sauce) if you like – towards the end of cooking
5. Serve with brown rice.

Thanks Monica for a great comment that inspired this post! And a quick note for you: For an easy Indian Meal – check out this recipe – super easy Channa Masala that will taste great!

Southwestern Tofu Scramble with Veggies and Stewed Black Beans!

Last night, I found this recipe from EatingWell.com and decided to try it out. My husband has always been skeptical of tofu “scrambles” – because there’s no way tofu will ever taste like eggs and I think the crumbles weirds him out a little 🙂 So I decided to make this recipe but modify it to make it more flavorful and less “scramble” esque. I also added a ton more veggies than the recipe called for – my modifications are in purple below. We ate it with warm corn tortillas and my husband even used it as a topping for tacos and tostadas! It turned out great – hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients – Tofu Scramble

• 3 teaspoons canola oil, divided (I used olive oil and it worked well)
• 1 14-ounce package firm water-packed tofu, rinsed and crumbled (I used extra firm tofu to keep more of the “tofu” consistency” and less of the “crumble” effect – I also cubed most of the tofu and only crumbled a bit)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder (I think I ended up using about 3 tsp chili powder)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (I used about 2-2.5 tsp cumin)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided (I ended up using about 3/4 tsp total)
• 1/4 package taco seasoning (I added this to amp up the flavor. I’d also suggest adding a pinch of cayenne if you like things with a little more spice!)
  
• 1 small zucchini, diced (I actually used 4-5 small zucchini)
• 3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1 red bell pepper, diced (I added this)
• 4 scallions, sliced
• 1/2 red onion diced (I added this)
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used shredded cheddar because that’s what we had on hand)
• 1/2 cup prepared salsa
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Ingredients – Stewed Black Beans & Tortillas

• 1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup Pace Picante salsa (my favorite!)
• 1 package corn tortillas, warmed
  

Directions – Tofu Scramble

1. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tofu, half the chili powder, half the cumin and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until the tofu begins to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Note – only use half the chili powder/cumin if you are using my recommendations for the amount of spices and if you’re increasing the amount of veggies. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to the pan. Add all the veggies and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, taco seasoning, and remaining chili powder/cumin. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are just tender, about 3 minutes. Add additional 1/4 tsp salt if needed (taste the mixture and decide). Return the tofu to the pan and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat. Top each serving with 2 tablespoons salsa, 1-2 tablespoons cheese, and 1 tablespoon cilantro.

Directions – Stewed Black Beans

1. Add the black beans with a pinch of water to a small sauce pan over medium heat. Let the beans cook for 5-10 min until warmed through and slightly soft. Add the salsa about 5 min into cooking, stir and let simmer until warmed through.

Nutritional Information – Tofu Scramble Only

3/4 cup = 1 serving

Calories: ~200 (12g fat)

Protein: 13g

Fiber: At least 3g, but more if you add more veggies

Note: For 1/2 cup of the black beans I’d add another 100 calories, and 1 corn tortilla would be about 70-80 calories.

Pictures!

Tofu Scramble

Veggies, just starting to cook

Veggies and Tofu, Cooked Through

Stewed Black Beans

Dinner is served!

Cumin and Lentil Quesadillas

For dinner tonight, I was looking for something quick and easy to make. I had 2.5 hours of intense dance practice earlier today, so I was hungry and tired – and in no mood to spend more than 30 min in the kitchen! I was inspired by a recipe for cumin & bean sprout quesadillas – from VegetarianTimes.com. I changed the recipe a little – and it turned out great! The cumin was super flavorful and the meal was really healthy overall. And the best part – it took only 20 min to make (30 min including bake time) 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
• 4 Mission 8″ Soft Taco Carb Balance Tortillas (link here)
• 1/2 cup grated low fat Mexican 4 cheese blend
• 1 cup cooked small lentils (I used Trader Joe’s Steamed Packaged Lentils – link for picture here)
• 1 cup pico de gallo – Trader Joe’s has a great flavorful version that only has 5 calories per serving!
• ~1 cup frozen corn

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Toast cumin seeds in large, dry skillet over medium heat 2 to 3 minutes, or until fragrant, shaking pan constantly. Transfer to small bowl, and set aside.
3. Toast corn in the same skillet, shaking the pan for about 5 min or until cooked through. Transfer to small bowl, set aside.
4. Arrange 4 tortillas on a baking sheet sprayed with olive oil cooking spray.
5. Sprinkle half the tortilla with ~2-3 Tbsp grated cheese, and 1/4 tsp toasted cumin seeds. Top with 1/4 cup lentils, 1/4 cup corn, and fold the other side over. Repeat for the next 3 tortillas.
6. Put the tortillas in the oven and broil for 5-10 min until the tops are lightly browned and crispy. Serve with Pico de Gallo.

Nutritional Information (per quesadilla)

Calories: ~200 (6g fat)

Protein: 8g

Fiber: 5g

Healthy Eggplant Parmesan (and other ways with Roasted Veggies!)

Say no to Eggplant Parmesan at restaurants!

I was talking to one of my friends recently, about how she LOVES Eggplant Parmesan, but always feels guilty eating it because it’s loaded with fat & calories. For those of you who don’t know, Olive Garden’s Eggplant Parm has 850 calories and 35g of fat! That is just way too much for one meal. I was watching Food Network, and I was totally inspired by Robin Miller’s Eggplant Parmesan Recipe. I’ve come up with a way to make it even healthier, and you can use this method to make a bunch of different meals. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Eggplant Slices
• Olive oil spray
• Your favorite marinara sauce
• Fresh, shredded Parmesan Cheese
• Chopped fresh basil (1/4 cup)
• Salt & pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange the eggplant slices on a baking sheet, spray lightly with olive oil cooking spray, sprinkle them with salt & pepper, and bake for 15-20 min until slightly crispy.
2. Remove from oven. Top each eggplant slice with 1-2 Tbsp sauce and 1 Tbsp shredded Parmesan Cheese. Bake 8-10 min until cheese is bubbly. Top with basil before serving.
3. You can also serve the eggplant with 1/2 cup cooked whole wheat pasta for a complete meal. Enjoy!

Note: Each eggplant slice shouldn’t have more than 50 calories, so you could have 4 huge eggplant slices topped with cheese for only 200 calories! Add the pasta, and it’s still only about a 400-500 calorie meal depending on how much pasta you eat. And it’s full of healthy fiber, and still tastes great!

Now the fun part 🙂 Use this same method to make a bunch of different, healthy meals!

1) Mexican: Replace the eggplant with zucchini and other squashes to roast in the oven. Once out of the oven, top with a shredded four cheese Mexican blend and broil in the oven for 5 min until the cheese is bubbly. Top with salsa, guacamole, fat free sour cream, and serve with stewed black beans and brown rice. Yum!

2) Mediterranean: Replace the eggplant with tomatoes to roast in the oven. Once out of the oven, top with fat free feta cheese and broil for just a few min until the feta is slightly melted. You can serve the tomatoes on top of a Greek salad (romaine, cucumber, red onion, etc.), or you can put the tomatoes in a pita with hummus and romaine, or you can put the tomatoes on a bagel and eat it for breakfast! The possibilities are endless 🙂

3) American: Replace the eggplant with sliced new potatoes and sweet potatoes to roast in the oven (note the potatoes might have to roast longer in order to cook fully through). Once out of the oven, top with your favorite cheese (cheddar would be my pick), steamed cut broccoli, fat free sour cream, and any other veggies/toppings you like!

If you have any other ideas on how to customize this recipe, feel free to add them as a comment!

Healthy Version of Mexican Flautas!

I found this recipe on VegetarianTimes.com a while back, and realized that I forgot to share it with all of you. My husband loves Mexican food – Nachos, Flautas, Quesadillas, etc. So a lot of the recipes I look for are healthier versions of these foods – that still taste great. This recipe from VegetarianTimes is a great healthy version of Mexican Flautas. The black bean and corn filling is super flavorful, and the oven-baked tortillas turn out nice and crispy. The only thing is – you have to be sure to cool the filling before you put it in the tortillas, otherwise the tortillas will crack. Let me know how it turns out for you!

Oven Crisp Black Bean and Corn Flautas

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup) — I used a red onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp.) — You can use even more garlic to amp up the flavor!
• 2 15-oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 tsp. chili powder — I also added a bit of taco seasoning for more flavor
• 1 16-oz. tub prepared salsa, divided
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 12 6-inch corn tortillas
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Cook onion 3 to 5 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic, and cook 1 minute, or until translucent and fragrant.
2. Stir in beans, chili powder and 1 cup water. Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer 10 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat. Mash beans until mixture is thickened but still chunky, and some beans remain whole. Stir in 1 cup salsa and corn, and season with salt and pepper. Cool.
3. Preheat oven to 425F. Coat 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray. Spoon 1/3 cup black bean mixture down center of tortilla. Roll tortilla around filling, and secure closed with toothpick. Set on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and black bean mixture. Bake 6 to 10 minutes, or until tortillas are browned and crisp. Note: If you want to add more crispiness, you can put the flautas under the broiler for a few min and top each one with 1Tbsp of cheese to get a nice crust on top.
4. Meanwhile, combine cilantro and remaining salsa in small bowl. Place 2 flautas on each plate, and top with remaining salsa.

Nutritional Information

For 2 flautas:

• Calories: 286
• Protein: 11g
• Fat: 3g
• Fiber: 11g

Build a healthy veggie burger!

Last night, I was super tired when I got home from work, and I didn’t want to spend more than 20 min in the kitchen in order to make dinner. Fortunately, I had MorningStar Veggie Burgers in my freezer, which made for a super delicious, healthy and filling meal! Veggie burgers can be made to be either very healthy, or pretty unhealthy. Below are my suggestions on how to build a healthy burger. Enjoy! 🙂

Ingredients

• Veggie burger patty – I like MorningStar Tomato and Basil Pizza Burgers the best. But any veggie burger that has 100-120 calories per burger, 3g fiber or more, and 9g protein or more is a good choice.
• Whole wheat burger buns – I like Orowheat 100% Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns – each bun has 180 calories, 6g fiber and 9g protein!
• Ketchup
• Baby spinach – this is a much better alternative to lettuce. Spinach has more fiber and healthy antioxidants!
• Tomato slices
• Diced Red onion – a better alternative to white onion (again the red color has healthy antioxidants). I also think red onion has more flavor.
• Sliced Red bell peppers (optional) – if you want to add a bit of extra fiber/veggies to your burger, red bell peppers are a great option – they have a great crunchy texture and fiber

Directions

1. Cook burgers according to package directions (I like grilling them on the stovetop – you don’t need any oil or anything – just a nonstick skillet!)
2. Toast buns, and build your burger! Burger bun, veggie burger patty, onion, tomato, spinach, peppers, ketchup, salt/pepper to taste.

Dinner is served in 20 min!

Btw – using the products above, each burger would have about 300-325 calories, at least 10g fiber and 18-20g protein!

Super Healthy Kale Chips!

A couple of days ago, my dad sent me this recipe he found online for Kale Chips. Kale is one of those “powerhouse” foods that is always talked about, but isn’t a “staple” in our diets. This recipe makes it a lot easier to eat Kale on a regular basis! Below is the recipe, and some additional info about the health benefits of Kale 🙂 Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 bunches of kale
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (I’d start with one and add more if needed)
• 3 garlic cloves minced (I love garlic so I’d probably add more here!)
• Sea salt
• 1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Rinse kale in a salad spinner
3. Remove dark ribs and chop kale roughly
4. Put leaves in a big bowl, toss with olive oil, garlic and salt
5. Spread leaves on a one large rimmed baking sheet. Kale does not need to be in a single layer,as it will shrink in volume as it cooks.
6. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring once or twice while it’s cooking, and until leaves are tender, crisp on edges and slightly browned
7. Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving

Health benefits of Kale

• High in fiber
• Excellent source of vitamin A, K, C and calcium
• Low in calories
• Cancer-fighting antioxidants
• Aids in heart and cardiovascular health
• Vitamin E rich leafy greens slow loss of mental function, prevent dementia
• Protection against arthritis
• And much more! Read more about kale here

Enjoy!