Coconut Shrimp and Yummy Noodles!

Okay...let me just give a YUMMY shout out for this one!  I love me some coconut fried shrimp, but this one was BAKED and very healthy and low cal/low fat/low everything!  And I did not change a THING from her original recipe!!!   Delicious and I served it with the Fettucine Alfredo from her cookbook that I have made in the past.  Along with some edamame! 

	HG's Sweet Coconut Crunch Shrimp
	Bigtime Shrimp!
	Once you start popping these sweet-n-crispy shrimp, you're not gonna be able to stop. Good thing they're guilt-free... Ingredients: 1/4 cup Fiber One bran cereal (original) 1/3 cup shredded sweetened coconut 3 tbsp. panko breadcrumbs 1/4 tsp. chili powder 1/8 tsp. garlic powder 1/8 tsp. black pepper Dash salt 12 oz. (about 20) raw large shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed 3 tbsp. fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original) HG Tip! If your coconut shreds are somewhat long, give 'em a rough chop! Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place cereal in a sealable plastic bag and, removing as much air as possible, seal. Using a meat mallet or heavy can, carefully crush cereal through the bag. Add sweetened coconut, panko breadcrumbs, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt to the bag; seal and shake to mix. Transfer mixture to a large plate and set aside. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick spray and set aside. Pat shrimp with paper towels to ensure they are completely dry. Combine shrimp with egg substitute in a bowl and toss lightly to coat. One at a time, shake excess egg from shrimp and transfer to the coconut-crumb mixture, gently patting and flipping to coat. Evenly place coated shrimp on the baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes, until outsides are crispy and lightly browned and insides are cooked through. Serve and enjoy! MAKES 4 SERVINGS
	Serving Size: 1/4th of recipe, about 5 shrimp Calories: 164 Fat: 4.5g Sodium: 266mg Carbs: 12g Fiber: 2g Sugars: 3.5g Protein: 19.5g PointsPlus® value 4*

Fettuccine Alfredo with a PointsPlus® value of 2*!!! Fettuccine Hungry Girlfredo! (81 Calories, 3g Fat, 242mg Sodium, 9g Carbs, 4g Fiber, <1g Sugars, 4g Protein = PointsPlus® value 2*) This recipe will rock your world.  Share it with everyone you know...ASAP!

Ingredients: 1 Package Tofu Shirataki Fettuccine Shaped Tofu Noodles 1/2 Wedge The Laughing Cow Light Cheese 1 teaspoon Fat Free Sour Cream 2 teaspoons Kraft Reduced Fat Parmesan Cheese Salt & Pepper (if desired) Rinse fettuccine noodles VERY well.  Microwave them for one minute, then drain them and pat dry. Add cheeses and sour cream.  Mix thoroughly.  Microwave to help melt cheese further, and mix some more.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy.  Serves 1. My pics: I made a dipping sauce with horseradish sauce and orange marmalade - still LOW in calories and everything else! Love me some edamame!!! For whatever reason, my noodles picture won't come through, so just look at hers and admire.  It is SUCH a great way to eat pasta without any guilt!!! Went on an 8 mile walk tonight and made yet ANOTHER HG recipe - some delicous bacon wrapped chicken.  Will post that tomorrow b/c it was deemed another home run!!!

Home Run - "Pasta-Less" Three-Cheese Chicken Cannelloni

I was about to ask a question again that I posed last night, and then I got smart!  I was about to re-ask:  "Can I get in trouble for posting a recipe that is not online?"  And then I realized how long the recipe was in the cookbook and saw I would have to retype it.  Which motivated me to GOOGLE it and voila - you can find just about ANYTHING on the world wide web!  But if you can't, as long as you give the creator credit, is it okay???  I know - I'm a rule follower, and don't want to break any kind of blogging code!

Anyways, I have provided links below, and this is from page 236 of "300 Under 300" by Lisa Lillien.

Let me digress a moment.  Can you even believe how far we have come since we entered the .com age?  I mean seriously - back in the day, think of how old school we were compared to now.  And not only that, most folks get their world wide web on their PHONES nowadays!  Seriously - communication has come such a long way, and I have mentioned to a few friends how interesting it would be to  write a thesis on specifically how social media has impacted our society.  Who knows where we will be in another ten years or so, but I will simply enjoy the ability to find out information with a couple of clicks.

So...as I mentioned, this is the Hungry Girl experiment.  I did my research, tried to find some recipes with ingredients that could be "re-used", made a "playbook" and have been having SO much fun in the kitchen again.  I was excited about an Italian dish that did not include pasta.  Although of course, I did include pasta as a side dish, but used portion control :)

Here is where I found the recipe - again, another delicious main dish from Hungry Girl, aka, Lisa Lillien.  Another low calorie, low fat, low carb and HIGH protein dish.  She has certainly used her smartness to pad the meal with vegetables and make you NOT hungry...hmmm...do you sense a connection with her name now?  :)

And of course...you know me by now.  I have included my "changes" from her original recipe.  Not many, but a few that I have noted below and those were captured in a bold, blue font :)  All I can say is thank goodness I won't develop supreme carpal tunnel syndrome by not having to type out the whole wonderful recipe below!

I doubled all ingredients except for the chicken.  And then, I was able to get 6 chicken pieces with the filling instead of 4, and I must say, just eating ONE was truly filling and delicious! 

Three-Cheese Chicken Cannelloni
PER SERVING (1 stuffed cutlet, 1/2 of recipe): 274 calories, 3.5g fat, 647mg sodium, 12g carbs, 2g fiber, 6g sugars, 43g protein -- PointsPlus® value 6*

Pasta is passé (and starchy!). We like our cheesy filling rolled up in CHICKEN! And we know you will too.






Ingredients:

1/4 cup frozen chopped spinach (I used a full bag of fresh spinach and sauteed it - see below)1/4 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1/3 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
2 tsp. reduced-fat Parmesan-style grated topping
1 tsp. chopped garlic, divided
Dash nutmeg
Dash each salt and black pepper, or more to taste
Two 5-oz. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast cutlets
3/4 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. dried minced onion
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 stick light string cheese (I used a soy mozzarella cheese slice.  For next round, I may check out the calories in low fat shredded mozzarella cheese and if comparable, go with that.  Just a lot of work to shred cheese slices or sticks)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*Changed from her original recipe.  Instead of:  "Place spinach and mushrooms in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, until softened."  I used cooking spray and sauteed the fresh spinach and mushrooms.  I will say be SURE to do the blotting she mentions below, because after the first round of cooking, I had a layer of water in my pan!

Blot thoroughly, removing excess liquid. Add ricotta cheese, Parm-style topping, 1/2 tsp. garlic, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Place one chicken cutlet in a large sealable plastic bag and, removing as much air as possible, seal bag. Carefully pound chicken through the bag with a meat mallet or heavy can, until uniformly about 1/3-inch thick. Repeat with second cutlet.  (I did use think chicken cutlets already but did pound them a bit, being careful not to tear them)

Lay cutlets flat and spread evenly with veggie-cheese mixture. Starting with a longer side, roll up one cutlet (not too tightly or the filling will ooze!),   YES - this is true!!!  and secure with toothpicks - don't use colored ones - we had little circles of color!  Place in a baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Repeat with second cutlet. Cover pan with foil.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, Italian seasoning, and remaining 1/2 tsp. garlic. Mix well and set aside.   I actually decided to sautee this combination so the flavors could blend!

Break string cheese into thirds and place in a food processor or blender -- blend at high speed until cheese takes on a shredded or grated consistency. (Or just tear string cheese into pieces and roughly chop.) Set aside.  I used scissors to cut the slices of mozzarella into strips and then cubed them.  As I said above, I think I may check out the difference between regular shredded low-fat mozzarella.  Maybe I'm lazy?

Remove pan from the oven, and carefully remove foil. Spoon seasoned tomatoes equally over chicken, and sprinkle shredded/grated string cheese evenly over tomatoes. 

And this one is without mushrooms and without tomatoes for Miss Picky!




Some with mushrooms and some without



Return to the oven (uncovered) and bake for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and cheese on top has melted. Remove toothpicks and enjoy!

Finished product with mushrooms and without!





The one without mushrooms OR tomatoes!





MAKES 2 SERVINGS

One of the "tweaks" that I made as well was to sautee the mushrooms separately from the spinach.  I just happen to have a non-mushroom loving family.  So I "customized" the recipe...even to the point where mine had EVERYTHING, my hubby's had everything but the 'shrooms and Lil' J had no mushrooms and even didn't want the tomatoes on top!

So...I paired it with some "bad for you" pasta (at least it was fresh and I just added in some spray butter, reduced fat parmesan cheese and parsley.

And some steamed vegetables...

It is just SO FUN to be back here again and I can't believe I am about to reach 1000 page hits!  I am quite international by now as well - so HELLO to all you countries who have popped in to say hi! 

Later, taters!

I'm Back! And Happy to Be Here :) And YUMMY Fish Tacos!

It's amazing that I let another 10 days go by...but we FINALLY got the fifth fridge part installed last Thursday so I scoured some recipe books over the weekend, did a huge grocery store run on Saturday and I am back in the saddle again!

When we last left our she-ra (that would be me!), I mentioned wanting to try some recipes from Hungry Girl.  I did take Michele's advice about watching out for processed food - and found enough items that appealed to me so that I can fix Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (trivia night is Wednesday!).

I'll give some scoop on today's breakfast and lunch in another post, but the focus for today is on our DELICIOUS dinner tonight - see recipe below including some tweaks I made.  If you want the original, click on the link below.  I also incorporated some items from my friend Mary's fish taco recipe that she just shared with me!  Lastly, I doubled it b/c I was feeding a family of 3 - and we have leftovers! 

This got a two thumbs up from the hubby and a "this is really good Mom" from my 15 year old daughter!  Paired it with brown rice and ruby red grapefruit segments.  I only had one taco and it was very filling!  Perhaps because I was still relatively full from our awesome lunch (see next post)...though we also went for a fabulous 90 minute walk.  The air is cooling off with the arrival of fall, and even though the temps are still warm, the slight breeze helps to keep us cooler.

Grilled Go Fish! Soft Tacos
PER SERVING (2 tacos, 1/2 of recipe): 273 calories, 5.75g fat, 330mg sodium, 30g carbs, 5g fiber, 5g sugars, 27g protein -- PointsPlus® value 7*







Ingredients:
For Tacos
4 tbsp. lime juice
2  tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Four 4-oz. raw tilapia fillets (or other flaky white fish)
Eight 6-inch corn tortillas
For Avocado Coleslaw 
4 tbsp. mashed avocado
4 tbsp. fat-free sour cream
2 tbsp. low fat mayonnaise
Chopped cilantro
1 tsp. lime juice
Chopped red onion
Dash garlic powder, or more to taste
Dash salt, or more to taste
2 cups shredded cabbage or dry coleslaw mix
Optional
1/2 cup chopped tomato
Directions:

Combine lime juice and spices for the tacos in a large bowl, and mix well. Add fillets and evenly cover both sides of each with seasoned lime juice. If it's a little "limey", add some more of the garlic powder.  Let marinate in the fridge for at least 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for avocado coleslaw in a small bowl and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.  I didn't feel like grilling, so I baked the fish instead,  It probably took a good 15-20 minutes total at 350 degrees.  Once it was fully cooked, I broke it into pieces and put in a warming oven.

Spray sautee pan with olive oil cooking spray and heat tortillas until warm and just slightly toasted, about 1 minute per side.  Be careful that they don't get crispy or they won't fold!

Plate and spread the tortilla evenly with avocado coleslaw. Divide fish evenly divide among tortillas. Top with chopped tomatoes;  fold and enjoy!

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

I cheated and used some "boil in a bag" brown rice (love that extra fiber!) and a jar of "fresh" ruby red grapefruit segments as side items.

Melissa D'Arabians Shrimp Recipe and Tofu Shirataki Fettucine Alfredo!

Wow.  Do you ever have one of those days when you feel like you completely hit the nail on the head with a meal, and it is also healthy?  That was tonight - DELICIOUS!  Thank you Melissa D'Arabian for an AMAZING shrimp recipe tonight!  I paired it with a brand new endeavour using Tofu Shirataki Fettucine noodles...and when you can eat Fettucine Alfredo with no guilt, it makes it just better and better!  A simple side salad, and here was my delicious and healthy plate for the evening!

I am still learning how to take these pictures so that they look more inviting, but let's just say that Melissa's shrimp over this HEALTHY fettucine alfredo with a side salad was just DELISH.

Let me post her shrimp recipe first.  The ONLY thing I would have changed would have been to use 2 tbsp instead of one of the pesto mixture when stirring in the shrimp b/c it would give it more of a crispy sear with the delicious elements it included.  But it was super delicious as is!  Here are the ingredients, minus the pecans because I accidentally left them off my grocery list so sweet hubby was at the store buying them.

I did want to share a "trick" when you are peeling and deveining the shrimp to save on extra plates etc.  I kept the peeled shrimp in the middle of the white paper it came on.  I then did the peeling and put those parts to the right of the shrimp, and put the peeled shrimp to the left.  Once complete, I could take the peeled shrimp off and do any deveining needed.  And just simply roll up the white paper with the shells and put in the plastic bag it came in so that it won't stink up your garbage can!  Just a tip :)

Ingredients

Pesto:

• 1 lime
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cilantro leaves (I used about a cup to make sure it wasn't too overpowering)
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons toasted chopped pecans
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Shrimp:

• 3/4 pound raw medium-size shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt

Directions

Pesto: Grate 1 teaspoon zest from the lime and juice the entire lime for about 2 tablespoons of juice. (P.S.  go ahead and zest the whole lime so that you will have 1-2 tsp of zest for future!  Just set it aside in a separate container.)  Combine the zest and juice with the cilantro, green onions, chopped pecans, chopped garlic, sugar, vegetable oil, and extra-virgin olive oil in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the mixture until well-combined, but still slightly chunky. Season the pesto with salt, and pepper, to taste.

Shrimp: In a bowl, toss the shrimp with 1 tablespoon of the pesto. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the shrimp until just opaque and pink, about 3 minutes. Put a generous spoonful of pesto into a serving bowl. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Serve the remaining pesto on the side or freeze for another use.

I have decided that Melissa must be my long lost sister.  Her choice of ingredients is SO similar to mine and I feel lucky to use her as a base and make teeny tiny adjustments.

Fettucine Alfredo Using Tofu Shirataki Fettucine Noodles

My sister and niece had told me about these during their recent visit.  Okay - who doesn't LOVE pasta?  But who hates the carbs and calories that come with them?  For an 8 oz package of these beauties, there are 40 calories total with .5 grams of fat and 3 carbs, although there are 2 grams of fiber, so basically that's 1 net carb.  NO sugar and 1 gram of protein with a few trace vitamins.  I was doubtful until I made the recipe on the bag which is from Hungry Girl - I have to go check out her site b/c this was seriously rock star!

HG's Tofu Shirataki Fettucine Alfredo

1 package of the noodles
2 tbsp fat free cream cheese (okay - ours was low fat)
2 tsp reduced fat Parmesan grated topping
1 tsp fat free sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Drain and rinse the Tofu noodles thoroughly.  Parboil for 2-3 minutes, then dry very well.  Add cream cheese, parmesan and sour cream.   Mix well.  Microwave for 1 additional minute and then mix again.  Add salt and pepper. 

This recipe is approximately 95 calories with 2 grams of fat for the whole thing!  Hubby and I split it so b/c my Parmesan was not reduced fat and cream cheese was low fat (not fat free) I would guesstimate that total was maybe 180 calories - so that is 90 calories a piece!!! 

I definitely had my doubts - but no longer!  It is much more expensive than regular pasta, but if you like your carbs like we do, it is SO worth it so enjoy it without the guilt!

Paired it all with a side salad

and the meal was filling, healthy and if I had to guesstimate calorie wise, less than 500 calories!

For those who are following my fitness journey, I had an AWESOME walk on the treadmill at 4 mph with incline between 4 and 6.  At times, my calves and shin splints were a little mega sore, so I went back and forth.  Burned 540 calories and felt GREAT! 

Tomorrow we get to SLEEP in as late as we want!!!  We plan on taking a nice long walk in our hilly neighborhood and get some much needed Vitamin D.

Thanks again Sue and Sarah for the turn on to the noodles!  Will definitely be playing around with those quite a bit in the near future!!!  Not gonna even tell Julia of the substitution!!!

Leftovers Last Night...and My Fitness Pal, My New Best Friend

Just to at least get a picture on here to make it pretty, here was my plate of leftovers from last night. 

Notice the HEAPING pile of green beans, the fist sized chicken parm, a small portion of noodles (still trying to find the refrigerated kind in multigrain) and one piece of bread.  This all leads me to my "step it up" goal, motivated by my sister and niece when they were here.

All in all, I have always been pretty good about eating healthy, exercising and drinking water.  But once I turned 40, it feels like you have to really work at it and thankfully, this past weekend, I got just the extra inspiration and tool that I needed.

My niece introduced me to an app on my phone called My Fitness Pal.  You basically enter your starting weight (don't worry - no one sees it!) and your goal weight.  It calculates the calories you should consume each day.  You can add in food and water, and it is even smart enough to be able to scan a barcode on packaged food.  You also log any exercise you do, so obviously, those exercise minutes give you a greater allowance of food options.

It is the simplest thing I have ever used to track, and one of the bonuses of it is that you can have "fitness buddies."  So for example, if I see that my niece worked out for an hour, I can comment something like "way to go".  Because I am really focused now, I would like to invite anyone who is interested to download the app on your smartphone (it's free) and send me a friend request.  My user name is mariccarroll and this will be a fun way to have new virtual workout buddies who have common goals.  This will help me be more accountable and I'm excited about the prospect!!!

Don't be shy - if you are working on your fitness, let's do it together.  The more the merrier, and I can't wait for my first weigh in next Monday when I hope I can actually show a loss.  We are in such a great electronic age where we have access to tools that can improve our lives, so I'm ready to take advantage of it for sure!

Hope to have some new workout friends the next time I post!  And I will truly try to focus on healthy meals - well balanced and tasty!

To all - drink your water, eat healthy, exercise and take your vitamins!  I started taking my vitamins with dinner b/c they would nauseate me so much in the morning - it made a huge difference and I have actually taken them 2 days in a row.  I want to be around as long as I can for my wonderful family!

So thanks again Sue and Sarah for really jump starting me.  We can all do this!!!