Pasta for One: Linguine with Roasted Red Peppers

A couple of weeks ago I decided to join Weight Watcher's Online.  I've been trying to do the whole weight loss thing on my own for a while now and I just haven't had any luck.  Well, really, I haven't had any will-power.  I'd be "good" for a day, then screw up for another couple of weeks before trying again.

Now that I am following a new weight loss plan, it's time to try out some new recipes!  I'm not only looking for meals that are healthy for me, but also ones that are full of flavor and variety to keep me from getting bored and reverting to my bad eating habits.

Last week, I was wanting pasta.  We didn't have lean ground beef in the freezer and I really didn't want pasta with just plain sauce.  Since Joe isn't counting calories and tracking points, nor is he watching his weight (no need to!), I made him a pot of meat sauce to enjoy on his own.  Then I decided to try something new with my pasta.  Since then, I've eaten this meal 3 times!

While this dish is filling, it's also super-delicious!  Like, I could eat several servings at once because it's so good!  To be safe, I only make this recipe in a single serve portion!

Take a look at the bowl in the photo.  This bowl is what I normally use when I eat pasta.  In the past, I would pile that dish overflowing with pasta and meat sauce, just for myself!  Look at what a normal pasta portion looks like in that dish.  Easily 1/4 of what I was eating before!  No need to wonder why I am over weight!

Pasta For One:  Linguine with Roasted Red Peppers 

Ingredients:  

• 2 oz. dry whole grain linguine 
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• Italian Seasoning, to taste
• crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• 2-3 fresh basil leaves, chopped 
• 1 tsp. olive oil

Directions: 

• Cook pasta according to package directions.  Break in half if desired.  
• While pasta is cooking, heat a couple tablespoons of water in a small pan or skillet.  
• To water, add the roasted red peppers and minced garlic.  Stir while cooking until heated.  
• Add the Italian Seasoning, red pepper flakes and basil leaves and the olive oil.  
• Cook until heated through.  
• Serve over the hot pasta.  

Notes:  

• This is such a quick meal!  So easy and delicious!  
• Using water at the start of the sauce helps reduce the need for extra oil.  I add oil at the end to help me get in my daily healthy oil requirement, but I like that this isn't an overly oily sauce.  
• You could skip cooking the pepper sauce and serve over cold pasta as a pasta salad-like dish.  
• Add more veggies for a fuller meal, I also like this with onions and zucchini added.  
• You could easily double the pasta and divide the sauce into two servings.  

I'm linking this recipe to the following blog carnivals and linky parties: 

• Tasty Tuesday
• Making a Home ~ Homemaking Linky
• Show and Tell Friday
• Weekend Bloggy Reading Link Up

Giveaway: Arnold® and Oroweat® Sandwich Thins® Rolls, Pocket Thins® Flatbread, Thomas'® Bagel Thins® Bagels

Now that the snow is almost all melted -I can see more than half of my lawn- it's time that I start thinking about shedding some layers of clothing.  Soon, there will be no need for sweatshirts over long sleeves over undershirts.  Soon, it will be time to pack away the long pants.  Soon, the weather will be warm enough for short sleeves, capri pants, maybe even shorts.  And for the brave, bathing suits!  Gasp!  

For some of us...ahem, me...shedding of the layers will also mean working on shedding some pounds.  I really took to comfort eating during our colder-than-usual winter, and will need all the help I can get in losing the weight in order to feel confident in my warm weather clothing!  

When I am dieting, I'm never content with a baggie of celery sticks for lunch.  For me, that's the quickest way to send me off the wagon right into a bag of chips or other junk food!  When I'm dieting, I like to find low-calorie options for the foods I love.  Finding other alternatives for the food I enjoy, helps keep me from feeling deprived.  Helps keep me on the right track to achieve my weight loss goals.  

Arnold and Oroweat, along with Thomas' offer some great low-calorie bread options that are Weight Watchers approved!  

Arnold® and Oroweat® Products

All Arnold® and Oroweat® Sandwich Thins^® Rolls are cholesterol-free foods, containing zero grams of Trans Fat and no high fructose corn syrup.

Arnold® and Oroweat® Sandwich Thins® Rolls

Weight Watchers®: 3 PointsPlus Value®

Flavors: 100% Whole Wheat, Healthy Multi-grain, Honey Wheat, Flax & Fiber

Arnold® and Oroweat® Pocket Thins® Flatbread

Weight Watchers : 3 PointsPlus Value®

Flavors: 100% Whole Wheat, Healthy Multi-grain

Thomas'® Bagel Thins® Bagels

All Bagel Thins® are 110 calories, cholesterol-free, low in fat and contain zero grams of Trans Fat

Weight Watchers®: 3 PointsPlus Value®

Flavors: Plain, 100% Whole Wheat, Cinnamon Raisin and Everything   

I had the opportunity to try three of the breads from the product lines listed above.  For my review, I picked the Healthy Multi-grain Sandwich Thins Rolls, Italian Herb Pocket Thins Flatbread, and the Plain Thomas' Bagel Thins Bagels.

Our usual sandwich bread checks in at 80 calories a slice!  I don't know about you, but for me, one slice of bread isn't enough to make a filling sandwich!  I love that I can create a hearty sandwich with these great products, only using a small portion of my daily calories for bread!  Saving 50 to 60 calories on the bread alone!  This allows me to create a guilt-free lunch, when using other calorie friendly fillings!

Using the Sandwich Thins, I made delicious Low-Calorie Chipotle Turkey Sandwich for under 217 calories! While I enjoyed this sandwich in the comfort of my own home, this would be great for on the go!

For breakfast, I made some yummy Salsa Verde Sausage and Egg breakfast sandwiches with the Bagel Thins.  At 371 calories, the calorie count on this was a bit higher, but still way under the count for similar sandwiches from the convenience store!

My favorite was the Vegetable Stuffed Flatbread with hummus using the Pocket Thins (recipe link to post soon).  For 213 calories, including the carrots I ate on the side, I ate a crunchy, vegetable sandwich that was so satisfying and delicious.  This is definitely a lighter meal, so if you are really hungry, pair this with a small cup of soup for a more filling meal. *note: the photo above is two servings.

For additional recipe ideas, check out the following links:

• Sandwich Thins Recipes from Weight Watchers 
• Bagel Thins Recipes

To learn more about the products offered by Arnold and Oroweat as well as Thomas' check out the links below: 

• Arnold and Oroweat Official Page
• Thomas' Official Page

In addition to providing me the coupons for the products above as well as a $25 gift card to purchase my recipe ingredients, Arnold and Oroweat  and Thomas' is allowing me to give the same prize to one lucky reader!  Entering is easy using the Rafflecopter Form below:    

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  Although, I received coupons for free product to facilitate my review, in addition to a gift card to purchase additional recipe ingredients, all opinions are honest and my own.  Additional coupons and gift card are also provided for the giveaway.

Low-Calorie Chipotle Turkey Sandwich

Check out my giveaway for free product coupons and a $25 gift card!  

Low-Calorie doesn't mean it needs to be boring!  I love finding new ways to cut calories while enjoying the foods I love.  In this case, a few simple changes saved me a ton of calories without skimping on the flavor!  

For this sandwich, I swapped out my usual mayo for some Chipotle Hummus.  That swap alone saved me 60 calories!  Using a sandwich thin, in place of traditional sandwich bread eliminated another 60 calories!  I enjoyed my sandwich with a side of carrots instead of chips.  The crunchy, chip-like shape of the carrots helped me to feel as if I was snacking on chips as I ate my sandwich.  

Low-Calorie Chipotle & Turkey Sandwich (serves 2) 

Ingredients: 

• 1 Arnold Sandwich Thins, Healthy Multi-grain
• 1 Tbs. Spicy Chipotle Hummus 
• 4 thin cucumber slices
• 2 oz. shaved deli meat turkey
• 1 leaf romaine lettuce
• sliced carrots 

Directions: 

• Spread chipotle hummus on one half of the Arnold Sandwich Thins, Healthy Multi-grain roll.  
• Place cucumbers on top of the hummus, this helps hold the cucumbers on the sandwich as you eat it. 
• Finish building the sandwich by layering the turkey, lettuce and top of the bun.  
• Serve with sliced carrots in place of chips.  

Notes:  

• A slice of cheese would be delicious with this sandwich, but I was wanting to keep the calories low so I skipped the cheese.  
• Any flavor hummus would work well with this sandwich, I love the smokey chipotle flavor with my turkey.

Total Calories:  

217 calories, including the carrot chips served on the side!  

*Calorie count is approximate and may not be accurate.

Salsa Verde Sausage and Egg Bagel

Check out my giveaway for free product coupons and a $25 gift card!  

During this long and brutal winter, I've really been packing on the pounds starting with the holidays and all of the sweets, then comfort food during all of the bitter snow storms.  Now, it is March and hopefully warmer days are in the near future.  In fact, we "spring ahead" this weekend, which means Spring is on it's way...then summer!  I will no longer be able to hide my weight gain under bulky sweaters and baggy sweat pants. Which means, I really need to get back on track and eat healthy meals and cut out the junk food.  

Instead of raiding the cookie jar for breakfast this week, I've actually been starting my day with a healthy meal. Here is an example of a low-calorie breakfast that I've been enjoying the past few days:  

Salsa Verde Sausage and Egg Bagel  (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 4 Thomas' Bagel Thins, Original  
• 2 Tbs. olive oil 
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup Jimmy Dean Sausage Crumbles, Original 
• 6 extra large eggs
• 2 Tbs. skim milk 
• ground black pepper
• 4 Tbs. Salsa Verde 

Directions: 

• Cook peppers in hot oil until almost tender. 
• Stir in pre-cooked sausage crumbles.  Allow to cook until peppers are done.  
• Scramble eggs in a bowl with milk. 
• Pour eggs into the pan with the sausage and peppers, stirring and scraping bottom of pan. 
• Season with pepper.  
• Divide the sausage and egg mixture between 4 of the bagels, toasted if desired. 
• Top each with a tablespoon of Salsa Verde.  

Total Calories: 1,480 calories*

4 servings @ 371* Calories per serving

(*calories are approximate and may not be accurate.)

371 calories may not seem very low, but considering that a similar sandwich runs close to 500 calories at a local convenience store, I think 371 is pretty good!


I've linked this recipe to the following blog carnivals and linky parties:

• Lovely Little Link Party

Sugar-Free Chocolate Coconut Pudding Pops

A friend of mine gave me a smoothie recipe a couple of weeks ago.  The recipe called for coconut milk, so in one of my daily texts to Joe, I asked him to pick up a carton on his way home.  It was good timing, too, since it was on sale for $1.00 off that week.

I have a bad track record when it comes to milk.  It doesn't matter if it's soy milk, coconut milk or my usual skim milk, I have a habit of forgetting about it until it has passed the expiration date.  Resulting in pouring the spoiled milk down the drain.  So, after seeing the high price of the coconut milk, Joe told me if I didn't use every last drop, he would not buy it again!

When I realized we had a half gallon of the stuff and the recipe only called for 1/4 cup, I was sure there was no way I'd finish it all before it expired.  I tried it in my cereal and was not a fan at all.

I then decided to make some pudding using a box of sugar free Jell-o pudding mix and the coconut milk.  I measured out the coconut milk, added it to the pudding, mixed it well and put in the fridge to set.

It didn't set.

I checked the box thinking maybe I used too much milk.  Nope.  I measured correctly.  I just failed to see the note at the bottom stating that the pudding would not set when using soy milk.  Apparently, it won't set when using coconut milk either.

Sigh.  I really didn't want to waste both the 2 cups of the coconut milk AND a box of pudding mix, but I really didn't want to drink the pudding either.

After chilling it overnight in hopes that it would eventually thicken (it didn't), I remembered that I've been wanting to try to make my own pudding pops.  Those oh-so-yummy frozen treats I enjoyed when I was a kid.  No better time then right then!  I pulled a chair up to the cabinet that's above my refrigerator and dug out my popsicle mold.  Cleaned it up, filled it with pudding and popped it into the freezer.  And waited.

The result?  A perfectly simple, oh-so-tasty low calorie snack!  Mmmmm!  So good!

Sugar Free Chocolate Coconut Pudding Pops

Ingredients:

• Silk Coconut Milk 
• Sugar Free Instant Pudding Mix 

Directions:  

• Mix the pudding mix with the required amount of coconut milk as direction on the pudding box.  
• I chilled the pudding/milk mixture overnight before eventually pouring into the mold, but I'm sure you could just pour into your popsicle mold at this point and freeze.  

I'll be making these again once the weather warms up a bit!  I'll have fun trying a bunch of different flavor combinations, too!  

I am linking up and sharing this post with the following blog carnivals and linky parties:

• Saturday Show & Tell #52

Vegetable Stir Fry

I've been saying for a while that I want to add more vegetables to my diet.  Not just for weight loss, but in general.  Too often, I'm only getting one, two at most, vegetable servings per day. That's not good.

Since I've been dieting (2 weeks now), I've been trying to really pay attention to what I'm eating.  Keeping an online food journal has helped.  While helping me count calories, I'm also more aware of what I am eating throughout the day.  No more mindless eating...well, for the most part.  Old habits are hard to break!

I realize that a lot of my problem with getting in enough veggies servings is boredom.  I'm sick of just eating the same old vegetables day in and day out.

Another problem is the cost of fresh produce.  As with everything, the prices have gone up in the produce section of the grocery store.  We tend to just stick to a few of the basic fresh produce items that we know we can finish before spoiling (peppers, onions, celery, carrots, potatoes) and supplement with frozen vegetables (mainly peas and corn).  Even then, since Grace will only eat peas and corn, it's a challenge to use up all of those others before they spoil.  (Yes, I know that produce can be chopped and frozen for later use. I just never seem to get around to it.)

When I decided to make Polish Cabbage Noodles, I asked Joe to pick up a head of cabbage while he was picking up some milk and other necessities.  I used half of the cabbage and was really concerned that I wouldn't use up that other half before it made a puddle in the vegetable crisper.

Then I decided to make Cabbage Chicken Stir Fry to finish up that other portion of cabbage.  It was wonderful!  I loved the flavor and texture that the cabbage brought to the dish and since both meals yielded leftovers, I was very impressed with how far that one head of cabbage stretched!  Definitely budget-friendly!

I added a head of cabbage to our next shopping list and made this meatless stir fry for myself for dinner one night while Joe ate something with higher calories.

I was really hungry, as you might be able to tell from the photo!  I just dumped the whole wok of stir fry into my bowl not caring how it would look for the picture!  See that carrot dangling off the side of the dish?  Told you I was hungry!

Since I was so hungry, I was worried about not being satisfied with just vegetables.  Not a problem!  I was so full and the great flavors helped keep me from feeling deprived!




Veggie Stir Fry 

Ingredients:

• 1Tbs. Olive Oil
• 1/4 head cabbage, sliced
• 1/2 cup carrots, sliced
• 1/2 large onion
• few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 Tbs. La Choy  Original Stir Fry Sauce
• 85grams frozen broccoli*
• 2-4 Tbs. water

Directions: 

• In a hot pan or wok, heat oil.  
• Add cabbage, carrots and onion.  
• Cook until vegetables are tender, stirring often. 
• Stir in a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes.  (more or less depending on if you like some heat added to your stir fry)
• When vegetables are just about tender, add stir fry sauce. Stir to combine. 
• Add broccoli and water, stirring to scrape browned bits from bottom/sides of wok.  
• Cook until broccoli is heated through.  

Notes:  

• Since I'm counting calories, I weighed the broccoli before adding it to my stir fry.  The bag stated that one serving of broccoli was 4 florets (85 grams) but the size of the florets in the bag varied, so I weighed it to be more accurate.  If you're not counting calories, just add as much as you want.  
• The first time I made this, I ate the entire pan full as a single serving!  I was really hungry!!!  This works well as 2 smaller portions.    
• I liked keeping the cabbage in longer slices rather than chopping.  Since I wasn't planning on serving over rice or noodles, the slices of cabbage made me feel like I was eating noodles.  
• When I made this a second time, I added some peas that were leftover from a previous meal.  About a 1/4 cup (34 additional calories).  Yum!  
• Be sure to add calories if serving over rice or noodles or adding additional vegetables.  

Total calories:  326* 

Calories if divided into 2 servings:  163* 

This post has been linked to the following blog carnivals and linky parties:

• Open Call Tuesday #9 hosted by Salt Tree

Cabbage Chicken Stir Fry

Last week, after typing up and posting my menu plan for the month, I realized that I had chicken breast and 1/2 a head of cabbage in the fridge that I didn't figure into our plan.  Actually, I was reminded that I had cabbage in the veggie bin when I read Lisa's menu plan.  She had a wonderful Chicken and Vegetable Lo Mein listed in her menu plan that she was going to prepare for her family.  It looked so wonderfully delicious!  I knew I didn't have all of the ingredients though. 

Talking to Lisa via online chat session, (we're longtime friends...first met in the second grade!) she inspired me to go ahead and create something similar using ingredients I had on hand.  I'm sure glad she convinced me, because this was fabulous! 

Cabbage Chicken Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless, chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 Tbs. Olive Oil
• 1/2 head cabbage, sliced in strips
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 cup stir fry sauce
• 4 cups frozen broccoli florets
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup water (optional)

Directions:

• Cook chicken in hot olive oil until no longer pink, remove from pan.
• Add cabbage and onion to pan.  Sautee until tender. 
• Deglaze pan with water if you wish, before adding the stir fry sauce.
• Add chicken back to pan along with frozen broccoli. 
• Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through and broccoli is tender.
• Serve over rice, noodles or just by itself.**

Notes:

• You could definitely get away with using less chicken.  Probably 1/2 lb. would work.  I used the whole lb., because I needed to use it up. 
• I used store-bought stir fry sauce.  I would have preferred to just use soy sauce, but we were all out. 
• I really enjoyed this....a lot!  Low-calorie and delicious!  Can't beat that combo! 
• This meal reminded me how much we love cabbage, so I plan to add cabbage to our shopping list each week. 

Total calories: 1,212*
4 servings @ 303* calories per serving. 

(*calories are approximate and may not always be accurate)
**Be sure to add extra calories for rice or pasta.

This recipe has been linked to the following blog carnivals and linky parties:

• Delicious Dishes hosted by It's a Blog Party! 
• Your Cozy Home Party #23 hosted by Cozy Home Scenes
• Open Call Tuesdays #8 hosted by Salt Tree 
• Food On Fridays hosted by Ann Kroeker
• Shine On Friday hosted by Happy Go Lucky
• Gallery of Favorites hosted by Premeditated Leftovers and The 21st Century Housewife