Tortilla Pinwheels

These are a quick and easy holiday appetizer that will definitely be popular at your holiday party!  A good way to make these look more festive is to use spinach or tomato tortillas instead of plain ones - they you can serve a variety of red and green pinwheels!  My picture below shows plain tortillas, I couldn't find the other varieties at the store.

Servings:  25

Size:  2 pinwheels

Points Plus: 3pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 15 minutes (Refrigerate overnight or for a few hours before serving)

Cook Time: n/a

Rating:  4 stars – Very Good

Ingredient List:

8 oz. cream cheese, 1/3 less fat (softened)

8 oz. sour cream, light

1 can (4 oz.) green chilies, chopped and drained

1 can (4 oz.) black olives, chopped and drained

1 cup reduced-fat cheddar cheese, shredded

½ cup green onions, chopped

Garlic powder to taste

5 flour tortillas (10 inch)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, chilies, olives, cheddar cheese, garlic powder and stir until well combined – make sure the cream cheese is softened before you start this as it makes it much easier to mix in.  Spread a light coating of the filling mixture onto the tortilla.  Beginning on one side, begin to tightly roll the tortilla into a pinwheel, trying to make it as tight as possible.  This can be a little tricky, but you’ll get the hang of it after a few.  Wrap each tortilla in plastic wrap and refrigerate ideally overnight or a good 2-3 hours should be enough time.  Just before serving, remove the pinwheels from the fridge and slice on a cutting board.  Make sure to cut off the ends (these will be only partially filled anyways).  Use a knife to cut each tortilla into ½ inch pinwheel slices and arrange on a serving tray or platter.  A sharp knife works best since it allows you to cut without smashing the pinwheels too much.

Tip:

Only spread the filling mixture over two-thirds of the tortilla.  As you roll up the tortilla, the filling will overflow to fill the remaining one-third section.  Practice makes perfect!  Your first tortilla might not be your best. :)

XOXO Megan

Polenta Pepperoni Pizza

Hello everyone!  As you know it is that busy time of year, where food and drinks are the focus and you are too busy to do anything, let alone meal planning!  I don’t know about you but I ate way too many holiday goodies this past weekend (including more pieces of homemade fudge than I care to admit – recipe coming next week)! Are you hosting any holiday get-togethers?  Megan and I thought it would be fun to feature some easy and healthy holiday inspired appetizer ideas this week to make your party planning a breeze.  One of the most popular posts on EAT ME is for our mini polenta pizzas.  I thought I would do a twist on these by making them Christmas colored (red, green and white!) and adding meat.  They turned out really tasty – enjoy!  Also they are extremely easy.  Make these for your holiday party – people will be impressed people!

Servings: 12

Serving Size: 2 polenta pizzas

Points Plus: 3pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Rating: 5 stars - Excellent

Ingredient List

1 log of polenta

12 pieces turkey pepperoni

1 cup marinara sauce

¼ cup fat free feta

1 cup arugula, chopped

Italian seasoning

Cooking spray

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut polenta log into 12 equal rounds. Lay the rounds on a baking tray and spray them with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove tray from oven, flip rounds, and layer with toppings, starting with about 1 T. of sauce, then 1 turkey pepperoni, about 1 T. of raw arugula, about 1 t. of feta and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning.  Return the tray to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Tip

Of course you could make these polenta rounds into any type of pizza your little heart desires! I chose these toppings because they were holiday-esk, but experiment! (and let us know what you do)

XOXO - Katie

Raspberry Almond Bars

These bars are super easy to make and taste delcious!  The raspberry preserves helps you save time instead of making a raspberry sauce from scratch.  You could easily substitute in another fruit preserve instead if you prefer something else - strawberry, blueberry, blackberry etc!

Servings: 16

Size:  1 bar

Points Plus: 4pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Bake Time:  25-30 minutes

Rating: 5 stars – Excellent

Ingredient List:

1 cup flour

¾ cup oats

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter

½ tsp. almond extract

½ cup red raspberry preserves

1/3 cup almonds, sliced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly grease an 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan.  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oats and sugar.  Add in the butter and cut with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in the almond extract and mix well.  Reserve about 1 cup of the oat mixture.  Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan, pressing down firmly to bind the crumbs together.  Spread the raspberry preserves over the top to about ½ inch from the edges of the pan.  Mix the sliced almonds with the reserved oat mixture and sprinkle on top of the preserves; press down gently.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Tip:

Not everyone owns a pastry blender!  That’s okay, this recipe can still be made without one.  Use a fork instead to cut the butter into the oat/flour/sugar mixture.  You have to keep working at it, but eventually the mixture will turn into crumbs!

XOXO Megan

Roasted Veggies + Argula

Confession! This recipe was supposed to be a different recipe, however I forgot 3 key ingredients at the grocery store. So, here is an adapted easy weeknight dinner that can also help you clean out your fridge.  Salad topped with flavorful roasted veggies topped with fried egg (or poached if you arn't lazy like I am).  I accidently ate 18pp for lunch yesterday, so had to think up a very low pp dinner to compensate.  This was filling and tasty! Keep a lookout on the blog for the REAL recipe I was trying to post in a few weeks.

Servings: 2

Serving Size: 2 cups salad + 1 1/2 cup veggie mizture + 1 fried egg

Points Plus: 6pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Rating: 3 stars - Good

Ingredients:

4 oz raw mushrooms, chopped

15 brussel sprouts, cleaned and cut in half

1 cup cherry tomatos, cut in half

1 t. olive oili

2 slices of turkey bacon, cut into small peices

1 T. fresh sage, chopped

2 eggs

4 cups arugula

Salt + Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Put your mushrooms, sprouts ad cherry tomatos in a baking pan and toss with 1 t. olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minues. While veggies are roasting sautee turkey bacon and sage until cooked through, set aside. Heat a non-stick pan on your stove and fry two eggs.  To assemble (pretty simple), split your arugula between two bowls.  Top with roasted veggies and a fried egg.  add some hot sauce if you would like!

Tip:

As mentioned above, you can modify a recipe similar to this by using what is in your fridge! Let us know what veggies you try in it!

XOXO Katie

Black Bean and Cheese Baked Quesadillas

Let’s face it, quesadillas are delicious!  This recipe is for a healthier, baked version.  Baking your quesadillas instead of frying is a great way to lighten up the traditional restaurant version.  These make for a quick and easy weeknight dinner too!

Servings:  2

Size:  2 quesadillas

Points Plus: 8pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time:  10 minutes

Rating: 3 stars – Good

 

Ingredient List:

8 corn tortillas

1 can (15 oz) black beans

½ cup onion, diced

4 oz. cheddar cheese, reduced-fat, shredded

Fresh cilantro, chopped

Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°. In a skillet, combine the black beans and onion and sauté for a few minutes over medium heat. With cooking spray, coat one side of 4 corn tortillas and place the coated side face down on a large cookie sheet.  Divide the black bean/onion mixture evenly amongst the 4 quesadillas; top each one with 1 oz. of cheddar cheese. Place the 2^nd corn tortilla on top and press down firmly.  Finish by coating the top tortilla with cooking spray. Bake the quesadillas in the oven for about 10 minutes or until they begin to brown.  Slice into wedges and serve with a garnish of chopped fresh cilantro.

Tip:

You can also serve these with some fresh salsa too without adding to the pp value of your meal!

XOXO Megan

Veggie Lasagna

Who says veggie lasagna has to be boring! This is one of my FAV go to dinners, and it is so tasty, you will never miss the meat. This hearty meal is great reheated and can be thrown in the freezer and warmed up for a quick weeknight dinner!

Servings: 8

Serving Size: 1 piece or about 1 cup

Points Plus: 8pp

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes + 15 minutes of 'stand' time

Rating: 4 Stars - Very Good

Ingredients:

8 lasagna noodles, no cook

1 lb. mushrooms, chopped

3/4 cup green pepper, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 cups pasta sauce

1 t. dried basil

1 cup part skim ricotta

1 cup 1% cottage cheese

2 eggs

1/2 cup parm

2 cups part skim mozzarella

Cooking spray

Directions: 

Preheat your oven to 350! Spray a dutch oven with cooking spray Add mushrooms, green pepper and garlic. Sautee for about five minutes. Add pasta sauce and warm. In a separate bowl mix basil, ricotta, cottage cheese, eggs and parm. Scoop a small amount of sauce mixture into the bottom of an 8 by 11 inch pan. Top sauce with 4 noodles. top noodles with 1/2 of the egg and cheese mixture, the 1/2 of the pasta sauce mixture. Repeat with noodles, cheese mixture and sauce mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese. Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes and enjoy!

Tip:

I can think of a TON more types of veggies that would work well in here.  Experiment!

XOXO Katie

Kale Salad with Avocado, Almonds & Apricots

After a weekend full of LOTS of food, what is better than a nice healthy salad??  We made this for dinner on Saturday night after lots of rich and indulgent foods over Thanksgiving.  This was the perfect thing to get back on track with!  Kale is a hearty green that is packed with flavor.  This recipe calls for kind of an odd pairing of ingredients, but all the flavors really come together!

Servings:  2

Size:  Main course salad

Points Plus: 7pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time:  n/a

Rating: 3 stars – Good

Ingredient List:

A large bunch of kale

10 dried apricots, diced

¼ cup almonds, sliced

¼ cup Parmesan cheese, flakes

½ avocado, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Directions:

Wash and chop the kale into small, bite-sized pieces; add to a large bowl.  Dice the apricots and add to bowl along with almonds and parmesan cheese.  Add salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.  In a small Pyrex measuring cup, whisk together the olive oil and red wine vinegar; pour over the salad and mix well.  Just before serving, dice the avocado and add to the top of each serving.

Tip:

It's really important to get yourself back on track after a holiday weekend!  Eat lightly and pack in a lot of salad, broth-based soups and other low pp value meals early in your week.  Take advantage of zero pp fruits and veggies for snacks too!

XOXO Megan