Tuna Noodle Casserole

Source: Skinnytaste.com, with a few modifications
Serves: 6 large servings, 8 smaller servings

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1.5 c. chicken broth
• 1.5 c. skim milk
• 1.5 c. frozen peas
• 1 pkg baby bella mushrooms, chopped
• 2 can of tuna, packed in water, drained
• 1 tbsp dry mustard
• salt & lots of black pepper
• 1.5 c. shredded old cheddar (the older and sharper the better!)
• 4 c. whole wheat yolkless egg noodles
• Toppings: 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese, paprika, bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Boil the egg noodles until around 2 mins from done.
2. In a dutch oven or large sauce pan, melt butter and cook onion until softened.
3. Add the flour and coat onions, stiring continuously for about 1 min.
4. Add the chicken broth and whisk in. Add the milk. Boil for 3 mins.
5. Add the peas and mushrooms. Simmer for 7 mins until sauce starts to thicken slightly.
6. Add the tuna, salt and pepper and dry mustard. Cook for 1 min, to heat tuna.
7. Sprinkle in the shredded cheese 1/4 c. at a time, stirring continuously to melt cheese into the sauce.
8. Stir in the egg noodles.
9. Pour into a greased rectangular baking dish, like a lasagna pan. Top with parmesan cheese, paprika and bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 20-30 mins.

Comments:

I served this with a side of asparagus, sauteed in evoo, s&p and garlic. We really enjoyed it as a nice, comfortable meal. It didn't have crazy ground-breaking flavors or anything, but it was a light version of an old favorite. Definitely beat boxed tuna helper!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Source: skinnytaste.com (a new favorite!)
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 potatoes
• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. skim milk
• 1/2 c. fat free or low-fat sour cream
• 1/4 c. green onion or chives (+ a little extra for garnish)
• Fresh ground black pepper and salt
• Shredded cheddar
• Bacon bits

Instructions:

1. Bake potatoes in either the microwave or the oven. Peel.
2. Break the cauliflower into flourets. In a large pot, steam the cauliflower.
3. Once the cauliflower is steamed, discard the water and add the peeled potato, chicken broth and milk. Boil for 3-5 mins.
4. With an immersion blender, blend until smoth.
5. Stir in sour cream, chives/green onion and salt and pepper.
6. Simmer on low for about 10 minutes.
7. Serve topped with shredded cheddar, bacon bits and additional chives or green onions.

Comments:

This was sooooo easy and made for a really tasty lunch! You can taste the cauliflower a little bit, but I love mashed cauliflower, so it didn't bother me at all. Without the cheese and bacon garnish, this would be a little bland, so make sure you have those on hand to spice this soup up.

Chicken "Fried" Rice

CHICKEN FRIED RICE
Servings: 4
Source: Me, melding together a variety of recipes from the internet

Ingredients:

• 2 c. cooked brown rice
• 4 oz cooked chicken, diced
• 4 oz cooked pork, diced (you can use all chicken, if you like)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. egg whites
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
• 1 small/medium carrot, finely chopped
• 1 c. mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1 c. frozen peas
• 2 tbsp soy sauce (or to taste)
• Garnish: Chopped green onion, sweet chili sauce or plain :)

Instructions:

1. I used leftover chicken and pork that I had at home already. If you don't have leftover's, grab a rotisserie chicken and use 8 oz off of that. You can use any combination of chicken or pork.
2. Cook the brown rice. You can complete most of the steps with the vegetables while the rice is cooking.
3. In a large skillet, heat the sesame oil. Add the veggies (except the peas) and sautée until they are soft.
4. Beat the egg and egg whites together. Move the veggies to the side of the skillet and scramble the egg and egg white.
5. Add the peas and meat. Mix everything together, cook until the peas and meat are heated.
6. Add the brown rice and soy sauce. Mix everything together and sautée until all of the rice is covered in soy sauce and heated through.
7. Serve, garnished with green onion. I topped mine with some Taste of Thai sweet chili sauce too!

Comments:

This was so simple and a great way to use up some leftovers! It tasted just as good, if not better, then the restaurant version. I really think the key to getting the right flavour is the sesame oil! The portion size for a meal is very large, or you can have a smaller portion and enjoy it as a side.

Caramelized Onion, Pear and Bleu Cheese Pizza

CARAMELIZED ONION, PEAR AND BLEU CHEESE PIZZA
Source: Me, inspired by a local restaurant
Makes: 4 individual pizzas

Ingredients:

• 4 Mother Nature's whole wheat pita's (or other crust)
• 1 chicken breast, cooked and diced
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
• 2 c. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 pear, sliced
• 4 tsp olive oil, divided in 4
• 4 tsp minced garlic, divided in 4
• Bleu cheese, to taste
• 1/2 c. shredded mozza cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 F.
2. Brush each pita with olive oil. Sprinkle with minced garlic.
3. In a sautee pan, heat 1 tsp of olive oil. Add onion and sautee, stiring continuously until it starts to brown and is soft and translucent. Add balsamic vinegar and continue cooking and stiring until the vinegar any extra liquid is cooked off. Divide equally between the pizzas.
4. In the same sautee pan, cook the mushrooms in 1 tsp of oil until the release their liquid and brown a little. Divine equally between the pizzas.
5. In the same sautee pan, cook the pear slices in 1 tsp of olive oil until they soften and brown slightly. Divide equally between the pizzas.
6. Crumbled the bleu cheese onto the pizzas. Top with the mozza.
7. Bake at 450 F for 5-7 minutes (if your crust is pre-cooked).
8. Optional: drizzle with reduced balsamic vinegar.

Comments:

This is my favorite pizza at a local restaurant and I have been dying to recreate it. This was delicious! The combination of flavours is amazing and you don't even miss traditional pizza sauce. I paired this with a spinach salad.

Another favorite pizza is carmelized onion in balsamic, turkey sausage, sliced apple and mushrooms, topped with cheddar.

Amazing Grilled Chicken Wraps

Amazing Grilled Chicken Wraps

Source: Modified substantially from a Kraft recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts, grilled or baked and diced
• 1.5 c. shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
• 1/2 c. red pepper, chopped
• 1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 c. green onion, chopped
• 1/2-1 c. shredded low fat cheddar
• 1/3 c. fat free ranch salad dressing
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion salt
• 8 tortillas (I used weight watchers whole wheat tortillas)
• Salsa

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.* Grease a large rectangular baking dish (like a lasagna pan).
2. Combine all of the ingredients up to the tortillas.
3. Put 1/8th of the chicken mixture down the centre of each tortilla. Roll up and place in baking dish. When tortillas are all rolled, spray the top with a little cooking spray or brush with EVOO.
4. Bake* for 15 minutes. Serve with salsa.

*You can grill these, but need to tuck the ends in to make a pouch.

Comments:

These sounded SO strange to me, like some sort of demented enchilada. I had a hard time grasping the concept of the cabbage and the combination of ranch with the seasoning. I was wrong to question, because these things are DELICIOUS! They are also a dieters dream at about 200 cals and 4 grams of fat per stuffed tortilla! (nutrional info varies, depending on brand of tortilla and cheese) They are definitely going into the regular rotation.