Caprese Burgers

Since spring has FINALLY arrived in Minnesota, it felt like it was time for some grill food!  I pinned this recipe on Pinterest a while ago.  The first spring weekend felt like a good time to test it out.  Stuffed burgers are hard to make on the small side because you need two thinner patties to seal together, so this is a bit high in terms of points, but well worth it I have to say.  You can serve with a side salad to get some more veggies in without adding points to your meal too.  These burgers were delicious and filled with some of my favorite salad ingredients.  Who doesn’t love a good caprese salad with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella?!

Servings:  2

Size:  One burger patty
Points Plus: 11 pp (this is only for the burger, not including a bun)

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes (adjust cooking time based on your preference)

Rating: 4 stars – Very good

Ingredient List:

1 lb. lean hamburger meat

Burger/Steak seasoning

¼ cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Fresh mozzarella cheese

Fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons

Directions:

Mix the burger/steak seasoning into the hamburger meat.  Our favorite is Byerly’s Dry-Aged  Beef Seasoning – it’s a delicious blend of herbs, onion and pepper. Shape 4 thinner hamburger patties – make the middle of your patties a little bit thinner than the edges, this will help to make sure the burgers cook all the way through evenly.  Pile your tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil in the middle of 2 of the patties.  Make sure all your ingredients are in the center of the patty.  Layer the 2^nd patty on top and press to seal the edges.  Throw on the grill; cook until your preferred level of doneness.  We made our burgers on a grill pan on the stove.  The edges cooked well, but the middle took a little bit longer.  To speed up the cooking process we used a pan cover to help trap the heat and produce a more even cooking for the burgers.

Tip:

Although caprese ingredients are great in this recipe, there are MANY other options you could swap out for these caprese burgers.  You could make Mexican with jalapenos and cheese, Greek with feta and olives… the possibilities are endless!

XOXO Megan

Sausage and Pepper Chili with Baked Polenta

I love a good one dish dinner, especially when it helps you clean out your cupboards and fridge.  This dish is super easy, filling and has the right amount of spice.  It is sort of a cross between a really thick chili and chowder and the polenta adds an additional interesting texture.  Think of your favorite side to chili = Cornbread!

Servings:  4
Size:  ¼ of pan, size will vary depending on how many peppers you add
Points Plus: 6 pp
Level of Difficulty:  Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time:  20 minutes
Rating: 3 stars – Good

Ingredient List:

1 t. olive oil

Peppers! (I used about 6 small sweet peppers in varying colors, you could also use one red and one yellow pepper)

½ cup white onion

2 jalapeno turkey sausage links from Trader Joes

1 can diced tomatoes with chilies

1 cup sliced polenta (1/2 log, sliced in circles)

1 can pinto beans

Salt and pepper to taste

Hot sauce!

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°.  Dice peppers and onion into small pieces. Heat olive oil in a skillet until hot, then add peppers and onion and sauté for about 8 minutes until cooked. Cut up sausage links in ¼ inch round pieces.  Add sausage to veggies and cook until warmed through. These sausages are pre-cooked, so if you are using different raw sausage sauté until cooked through.  Rinse and drain pinto beans, and add them to the mix along with the canned tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper to taste.  Move mixture to an oven safe dish.  Slice polenta into ¼ inch round slices and later on top of chowder mixture.  Loosely top with a piece of tin foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove, add a little hot sauce and enjoy hot!

Tip:

If you are lucky enough to own a Le Creuset (or any stove to oven safe dish with a lid), use that dish instead to save some dishes! 

XOXO Katie 

Banana Bread Muffins

I was really craving banana bread and was in the mood to make a homemade baked good.  I also had some bananas that were well past their prime.  So I thought why not shake up the traditional banana bread recipe and try to turn it into muffins instead of loaves.  We have a family favorite recipe so I took that and adapted it into muffins.  Another perk, one muffin instead of a slice of bread is a great way to cut some points!

Servings:  16

Size:  1 muffin

Points Plus: 4 pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time:  18-20 minutes, depending on your oven

Rating: 3 stars – Good

Ingredient List:

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups flour

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup mashed bananas

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line a regular muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Cream butter and sugar together, mixed thoroughly.  Add eggs, one at a time and beat well. Sift flour, baking soda and salt, combine in a separate bowl.  Add flour mixture to the butter/sugar/eggs, alternating with bananas.  Fold in nuts (if you prefer).  Scoop the banana bread mixture into muffin tins, filling each about ¾ full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Check with a toothpick to test if they are done!

Tip:

You can easily convert this recipe back into loaves if you prefer slices of banana bread instead of muffins.  Double the recipe above and pour into loaf pans instead of muffin tins.  The doubled recipe will make 3 loaves of banana bread. Bake the loaves for 55-60 minutes.  Adjust the color of your bread/muffins depending on what sugar you used.  I went with white sugar in these muffins, but you could substitute ½ cup of brown sugar to make a darker muffin.

XOXO - Megan

Harvest Blend + Leeks

I love grains because they are soooooooo versatile.  You can add practically anything to them to create tons of flavorful combos to serve as a fun side or even a main meal over your favorite type of greens.

ie:
Quinoa + black beans + salsa + cilantro = Mexican burrito bowl
Brown rice + tomatoes + red onion + cucumbers + feta = Greek!
Bulgar wheat + apples + onion + roasted butternut squash = unique fall treat

So, clean out your fridge and get cooking with your grains!

Anyways,  the above are fun combos and everything, but have you ever had Harvest Grain Blend from TRADER JOES?? It is a perfect combo of couscous, orzo, red quinoa AND baby garbanzo beans (cute)!  It is creamy, filling and I swear it slightly resembles the flavor of macaroni and cheese, for real!  Anyways, I am also a huge fan of onions, and had some leeks to use up, so created the delicious dish below! It is a mix of sweet and savory and color and crunch!

Servings: 2

Size: Generous cup

Points Plus: 9pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 10-12 mins

Rating: 4 stars - Very Good

Ingredient List:

1 1/4 cup Trader Joe's Harvest Grain Blend

2 1/2 cup water

1 leek
1 t. olive oil

2 T. sliced almonds

2 T. craisins

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup reduced fat feta

Directions:

Cook Trader Joe's Harvest Grain Blend (mmmmmm) according to package directions on the stove*. Set aside. Dice leek into desired size pieces. Separate leek and rinse in a colander to remove any dirt and grime. Heat olive oil on stove and saute leeks until cooked through, about five minutes. Add leeks, sliced almonds, craisins, salt and pepper to taste.  Mix up and add feta, allow it to melt just a bit.  Serve warm!

Tip: 
You can cook a lot of grains in a rice cooker (it is the only way I cook quinoa). BUT, I tried this in the old rice cooker and it didn't turn out.  Cook the Harvest Grain Blend on the stove and add more water if unnecessary. 

XOXO Katie

Pesto Chicken

Pesto, mozzarella and tomato is such a great flavor combination!  It combines classic Italian flavors to add something extra to baked chicken.  This is a quick and easy weeknight dinner.  Pair it with a veggie (I chose frozen peas because we didn't have anythign else on hand) or a side salad.  The original recipe comes from Skinnytaste - her version includes a recipe for making your own pesto.  I don't have a food processor so I went with a store-bought pesto, but I would love to try out making my own some day!

Servings: 4

Size: 1 piece of chicken

Points Plus: 6 pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 5 minutes 

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Rating: 3 stars - Good

Ingredient List:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (16 oz total)

Salt and pepper to taste

4 tsp. pesto

1 medium tomato, sliced

6 Tbsp. shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the chicken breasts horizontally in half to get 4 thinner chicken cutlets. Season each cutlet with salt and pepper. Line a baking sheet with foil (this saves a TON of time when cleaning up/doing dishes later!). Put the chicken cutlets on the baking sheet. Spread 1 tsp. of pesto on each cutlet. Bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the center. Remove from oven to add tomatoes slices and mozzarella cheese. Bake for an additional 5 minutes to make sure the cheese is melted. 

Tip:
Slicing the chicken breasts in half can be a kind of difficult task.  I made my fiance do it. :)  Another great option is to ask the butcher at your local grocer to cut them for you.  These are people who are much more experienced at cutting meat, so why not ask for the favor and save yourself some time?

XOXO - Megan

Chicken Gyros (Yee-Roh)

NEWSFLASH! Chicken gyros are just as good as regular normal delicious wonderful lamb gyros.  Ok, this might not be 100% true (coming from a major gyro lover), but they are a good, healthier substitute! I think this was the first time I actually ate a chicken gyros, and slightly altered this recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything (good blog). You begin by mixing up a Greek inspired marinade AND your own Tzatziki! I served this with a basic Greek chop salad of cucumber, tomato, feta and red onion.  Made me feel like I was in Greece! (jk)

Servings:  2

Size:  Ingredients below split in half, 5 oz of chicken

Points Plus: 10 pp

Level of Difficulty:  Medium

Prep Time: 1 hour 10 mins, including marinade time

Cook Time:  10 mins

Rating: 3 stars - Good

Ingredients:

Tzatziki sauce:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 regular cucumber, peeled and seeded

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. white wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

For the chicken:

2 tsp. minced garlic

Juice of 1 lemon (2-3 Tbsp.)

2 tsp. red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 heaping Tbsp. plain Greek yogurt

1 Tbsp. dried oregano

Salt and pepper

1 1/4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

To assemble:

Pita bread, one split in 1/2

Fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced

Red onion, sliced thin

Directions:

Shred the cucumber and wrap in a towel a squeeze to remove as much water as possible. Mix together the yogurt, shredded cucumber, garlic, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Don't over salt! Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.

To prepare the chicken, combine the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, yogurt, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Spray a non-stick pan and sauté chicken until cooked through. Once the chicken is completely cooked through, transfer to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes. Broil pitas. Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, and sliced onions. Serve immediately. Also feel free to add chopped romaine and diced tomatoes if you have them, which I didn't!

Tip: Marinades such as this are a great way to spice up (not literally) your boring run-of-the mill chicken.  You could use this marinade without the pita and serve with a salad and veggie side OR use to top a simple Greek salad of tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and feta.

XOXO - Katie

Summer Fiesta Bean Salad

This recipe is delicious and packed with fiber and healthy fats.  It’s good to find ways to fit power foods into your daily eating because they tend to keep you feeling satisfied longer after eating.  This dish is packed with power foods! I served it as a main dish the first time I made it, but you could easily use it as a side and serve it with grilled chicken or fish.

Servings:  4 (recipe will make 4 1/3 cups)

Size:  A little more than 1 cup

Points Plus: 7 pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time:  n/a

Rating: 5 stars – Excellent

*Recipe from Skinnytaste.com

Ingredient List:

1 clove garlic, minced

3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. cumin

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

½ tsp. salt

15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 c. canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved

¼ c. red onion, finely diced

¼ c. cilantro, chopped

1 medium avocado, diced

Directions:

Combine the garlic, lime juice, oil, cumin, crushed red pepper and salt in a small Pyrex measuring cup; whisk until mixed well.  In a large bowl, add the black beans, chickpeas, tomato, onion and cilantro; mix well.  Pour the cumin-lime vinaigrette over the salad and mix together.  Add the avocado and gently fold in; serve immediately.

Tip:

If you plan to eat the entire recipe in one sitting, feel free to add the avocado.  If not, I would recommend you only add avocado to what you plan to serve.  Although the lime will help keep the avocado from browning, you will want to use fresh avocado every time so you are eating fresh looking and tasting ingredients.

XOXO - Megan

Chocolate Stout Cake

Here is a good little recipe if you ever want people to think you are the most amazing baker of ALL. TIME. This cake is amazing, relatively easy for being 100% home made, and the bomb (did I already say it was good??)  Chocolate + Beer is an dynamic combo, especially stout.  Warning, this cake is dense but worth every bite. And even better, it can be made days ahead of time, it only gets better by sitting overnight(s). I followed this cake recipe, but used my own cream cheese/whipping cream frosting recipe (which deserves it's own post). The chocolate frosting that is included with the recipe is also amazing. When calculating the points plus value, I honestly could not bring myself to tell the truth (ahm, over 30pp per slice if you follow the recipe).   So, to practice portion control which is essential for a healthy lifestyle, I calculated them as cupcakes using just under 1/2 cup of batter for each.

Servings: 1 cupcake with 1 smearing (about a Tbsp.) chocolate frosting included in the recipe link above
Size: 1/48 of recipe
Course: Dessert
Points Plus: 8pp (only 5 pp without frosting)
Level of Difficulty: Moderate
Prep Time: 30 mins total including frosting
Cook Time: 18-22 mins
Rating:  5 - AMAZING

Tip:
Use a big bowl! There is enough batter for a three layer cake or 48 cupcakes.  FYI - that is a ton of batter!  Also, when adding sprinkles to frosting put them on right before serving so they don't bleed.  Also, feel free to read through the reviews on the website.  People have gotten very creative with this recipe, including adding a caramel to the middle and using a dusting of powdered sugar instead of frosting. 

Exhibit ONE - simmering beer + butter

Exhibit TWO - Delish cake!

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes

If you are looking for a quick dessert, that isn’t overly indulgent here is a great recipe for you to make.  Every time I’ve made this dessert, people seem to be really impressed by it.  It’s also great since it takes minimal effort to make.

Servings:  16

Size:  1 mini cheesecake

Points Plus: 3 pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time:  15 minutes

Rating: 4 stars – Very good

Ingredient List:

Nilla wafers, reduced fat

2 8 oz. packages of reduced fat cream cheese

¾ cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

¾ cup cherry pie filling

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line a regular muffin tin with paper or tin liners. Crush the vanilla wafers in a large zip lock bag and place a small amount of the crushed wafers at the bottom of each liner (if you want to save some time you can just place one whole wafer at the bottom of each liner instead of the crushed mixture). With a mixer, cream together the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Fill each muffin liner with the cheesecake mixture, about ¾ full.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  Top each mini cheesecake with cherry pie filling and chill before serving.

Tip:

This is a great recipe to bring to a dinner party.  It’s really versatile… substitute the cherry pie filling for blueberry or whatever other fruit you prefer to mix it up a bit.  Another option to try, make these in mini muffin pans for an even smaller bite-sized version!

XOXO Megan

Taco Pizza

You may not know it, but pizza can be healthy! I like to make all kinds of combos, but just recently, when craving Doritos, I had the idea to make taco pizza.  Sub re-fried beans for pizza sauce, and top with your taco toppings.  This recipe is pretty basic, but the possibilities are endless!

Servings: 4
Size: 2 pieces, 1/4 of pizza
Points Plus: 8pp
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10-15 minutes
Rating: 3 stars - Good

Looks Better in Person!

Ingredient List:

1 whole wheat Boboli pizza crust

1 cup fat free re-fried beans

1 cup lettuce, chopped 

1 tomato, cubed

1 cup low-fat shredded cheddar

1 cup raw onion, any kind

1 cup jalapenos

9 Doritos, nacho cheese, crushed

Toppings (optional but calculated into Points Plus)

8 Tbsp reduced-fat sour cream

Salsa!

 

Directions: Preheat oven to package directions. Open pizza crust and smear on beans until evenly covered.  Add lettuce, tomatoes, onion, cheese, jalapenos and crushed Doritos. Put on pizza stone and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked to desired crispness. Top with sour cream and salsa!

Tip:

When making home made pizza it is easy to get carried away on toppings and overload your pie causing it to be soggy and limp.  Err (had to look up the spelling of that!) on the light side so you can enjoy a crispy crust!

XOXO - Katie

Buffalo Turkey Burgers with Blue Cheese Slaw

Ground turkey, although healthy, can sometimes be a little blah. Not the case with this recipe!  These buffalo turkey burgers come together quickly and taste GREAT!  The buffalo seasoning is just enough to add flavor, but it doesn’t completely overwhelm your burgers.

Servings:  6

Size:  1 burger + bun; ¼ cup slaw

Points Plus: 9 pts

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time:  15-20 minutes

Rating: 4 stars – Very good

*Recipe is originally from Skinnytaste with some slight adaptations.

Ingredient List:

Coleslaw –

1 ½  cups broccoli slaw

¼ cup light blue cheese dressing (I used Wishbone variety)

Turkey Burgers –

1.25 lbs. ground turkey

2/3 cup grated carrots

¼ cup breadcrumbs

1/8 cup red onion, grated

¼ cup Frank’s hot sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking spray

6 slices of reduced fat cheddar

6 whole wheat hamburger buns

Directions:

Combine the broccoli slaw and light blue cheese dressing in a medium bowl.  Chill in the fridge until you are ready to serve the burgers.  In a larger bowl, combine the ground turkey, carrots, breadcrumbs, red onion, hot sauce and salt and pepper.  Mix well and shape into 6 patties.  Place the patties on wax pepper.  Lightly coat a grill pan with cooking spray.  Add the burgers and cook over medium heat, each side should take about 4-5 minutes.  Once you have flipped the burgers and are cooking the final side, add a slice of cheese for the last minute of cook time.  While you are cooking the burgers, toast the hamburger buns.  Place burgers on the toasted bun and top with broccoli slaw.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

Tip:

The original recipe from Skinnytaste has a link to a recipe for a skinny homemade blue cheese dressing – I saved time by buying a store-bought light version instead.  Also, these burgers were delicious from a grill pan on top of the stove, but we think they would be even better on an outdoor grill.  Try it and let us know what you think!

XOXO - Megan

Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta

Ina Garten is one of my favorite chefs. Although her recipes are usually far from healthy, they are usually pretty easy to ‘lighten up’.  Limiting excessive oil and other fats is an easy way to cut down on pts without sacrificing flavor.  This recipe was also a good excuse to use my mini food processor for the first time!  It brought the feta to a very creamy consistency and helped bring this recipe together fast!

Servings: 8

Size: 4 pieces

Course: Appetizer

Points Plus: 4pp

Level of Difficulty: Moderate

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes
Rating:  4 – Very good

Ingredient List:

3.5 ounces reduced fat feta, crumbled
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/8 cup good olive oil
2 Tbps. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. minched shallots (2 shallots)
2 tsp. fresh minced garlice (2 cloves)
2 Tbsp. good red wine vinegar
2 lbs. ripe heirloom or cherry tomatoes, 1/2 inch, diced
3 Tbsp. julienned fresh basil leaves, plus extra for serving
25 (1/4 inch thick) diagonally cut baguette slices, toasted

Directions:
For the whipped feta - Place the feta and cream cheese in athe bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Pulse until the cheeses are well mixed.  Add 1/8 cup of olive oil, lemon juice, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp pepper; process until smooth.

For the tomatoes - Up to an hour before you're serving, combine the shallots, garlic and vinegar in a medium bowl.  Set aside for 5 minutes.  Add 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.  Add the tomatoes, stir gently andn set aside for 10 minutes.  Stir in the basil and taste for seasonings.

To assemble the crostini, spread each slice of bread with a generous amount of whipped feta.  With a slotted spoon, place the tomatoes on top.  Put the crostini under broiler until tomato mixture is warmed.  Sprinkle with extra basil and serve immediately.

Tip:

Canned, pre-cut garlic can come in handy when you are in a pinch, but I  would always recommend using fresh garlic when possible.  This is especially important when the garlic is not going to be cooked.  Uncooked canned garlic can overpower your dish and leave a weird flavor.  Also, buy a food processor if you don't have one - there are so many uses for this kitchen tool!

XOXO - Katie

Toasted Almond, Orange and Pea Pod Salad

This is a salad I threw together a few weeks ago.  Given it is spring (despite the still winter-like weather here in MN); I was craving some spring flavors.  I made this salad again this week and it was just as good as the first time.  My fiancé claims I ‘hit it out of the park’ with this salad – pretty good for a made up recipe! 

Servings:  2

Size:  Main course salad
Points Plus: 7pp (this includes 3pp for the mustard vinaigrette dressing)
Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time:  5 minutes

Rating: 3 – Good

Ingredient List:

Mixed greens

1 orange

1 c. snap pea pods

½  c. sliced almonds

Homemade Vinaigrette 

Directions:

Toast the sliced almonds in a small pan over the stove; about 5 minutes or until browned.  Wash your mixed greens and plate out two healthy servings. Peel and section the orange; split between the two servings.  Wash the pea pods and add to each salad. Your almonds should be toasted by now; add to the salad and serve immediately.

Tip:

Serve with the homemade mustard vinaigrette featured earlier this week on our blog!  Or you can choose your favorite Asian inspired salad dressing.  I really like the low-fat Sesame-Ginger from Newman’s Own as another option that goes well with this salad.

XOXO - Megan