Slimmed-Down Buffalo Chicken

Buffalo chicken and I have a pretty awesome relationship. But once you add in the ranch and cheese, you're piling on quite a bit of calories for a sandwich, or even a wrap! I was really feeling the need for buffalo chicken this week, so I figured I better hurry up and figure out an alternative before I totally broke the calorie bank. I've already blogged about my husband's awesome discovery of the low-cal lavash bread, and here's a new application for it. Enjoy, buffalo chicken lovers! :)

Buffalo Chicken Wraps - serves 4

4 wedges, Laughing Cow light swiss cheese
4 Tbsp light Ranch dressing
1/8 cup hot sauce (I use Frank's Red Hot)
1 can chunk chicken breast
2 sheets lavash bread
1 cup broccoli slaw **

Start by shredding the can of chicken chunks. Heat in a skillet with the hot sauce over medium heat, until warm and mixed. Soften the cheese wedges in the microwave with the Ranch dressing - careful, only a few seconds are needed to warm it up! Cut the lavash sheets in half horizontally to make 4 rectangles. Mix the cheese and Ranch together and divide equally among the 4 rectangles. Spread onto 1/3 of each rectangle on one end. Layer 1/4 of the chicken mixture on each wrap on top of the cheese mixture. Top each one with 1/4 cup of broccoli slaw and roll it up! Enjoy warm, or you could chill it if you prefer it to be cold - both are tasty!

** I really like broccoli slaw, but if that's not something you have on hand, you could use chopped celery, regular slaw, or your favorite lettuce. Just something green to add veggies, volume and get some crunch!

Deceptively Delicious

Who doesn't love a good smoothie? And they're so good for you, right? Most of the time, yes. However, if you're trying to lose weight like I am, you may want to know that even the most nutritious of smoothies can add up significantly on the calorie count. Yogurt, milk, protein powder - all add up to calories, even though they're good ones. Don't get me wrong - I'm not knocking the good proteins in smoothies! But when I'm looking for is a quick snack... those types of smoothies aren't the best choice for me. My other dilemma? I really hate skim milk. I don't mind 1% ... but something about that last little percentage means a lot to my taste buds. :) Solution? Light vanilla soymilk! It makes an awesome base for my afternoon smoothie craving, and at 80 cals per cup, it's also a great choice for my waistline. Here are two recipes I've made this week that have been big winners. But feel free to use whatever fruits you love! The great thing about smoothies is that you can mix and match with the flavors that suit you from day to day. Have fun with it!

Cranberry-Pineapple-Mango

1/4 cup Just Cranberry juice (50 cals per cup)
1/2 cup Trop50 pineapple mango juice (50 cals per cup)
1 cup light vanilla soymilk (80 cals per cup)
1 teaspoon stevia sweetener

Blend until frothy and enjoy! No blender available? No problem. A spoon with work just fine on this one.

Cherry-Mango (Courtesy of my brilliant husband!)

1/4 cup cherries, frozen
1/4 cup mangoes, frozen
1 cup light vanilla soymilk

Blend in blender until smooth and enjoy! Add a splash of the Trop 50 pinapple-mango juice for an extra kick.

Smoothie tip: A very popular smoothie fruit is the banana - be careful with this one! Tasty? Yes. But very high in sugar. This can drive up your smoothie calorie count by 100 calories if you use a whole banana. I'm not knocking bananas, but if you're watching your calories, it's best to skip the banana for a less sweet fruit, and add a little stevia or Splenda instead.

Happy Blending!

Breakfast of Champions - Maple Cranberry Oatmeal

Breakfast. *sigh* Breakfast and I have a love-hate relationship. I love the sugary, syrupy, high-calorie breakfasts of loaded pancakes and bacon. However, my diet doesn't come close to accommodating that kind of splurge, so here's my semi-sweet alternative. Low-cal enough to enjoy every day if you like.


Maple-Cranberry Oatmeal

1/4 cup quick oats
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 Tbsp Smart Balance Light butter spread
1/8 cup lite pancake syrup

Mix the oats and water and microwave for 1.5-2 minutes depending on your microwave strength. Mix in the remaining ingredients and enjoy! Makes 1 serving, 165 calories.

** Need some variety? Switch up the fruit! Apples or raisins would be great choices too!

Mashed Potato Lovers, this one's for you!

It's no secret in my family that my sister and I LOVE mashed potatoes. Well... potatoes in any form, really. I knew that if I was going to succeed in this diet thing, I was going to have to come up with some alternatives for my favorite things, and this was a big one. I had heard of this cauliflower mash alternative, but I confess I'd been just too wary to give it a fair shake. But one day, my desire for the real thing outweighed my concern about the possible failure of this alternative. I'm pleased to announce - I thought it was awesome, and my husband enjoyed some too! We all know that's the real test - if the husband will eat it, it can't be all bad. ;)

So here it is - enjoy!

Cauliflower Mash

1 head cauliflower (approx. 6 cups florets)
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
2 T. butter or margarine (I used Smart Balance)
1/4 teaspoon onion salt
salt to taste

Steam the cauliflower until soft. Don't boil it! This will change the consistency and also change the ratio of ingredients needed! Let cauliflower cool enough to handle, and place in a food processor with the sour cream, butter and onion salt. Blend until smooth and add salt to taste. It doesn't need much, so be careful.

Serve along with any meal where you'd normally enjoy mashed potatoes, or even just by itself as a meal!

Important Note: Keep an eye on the amount of cauliflower in the head you've got - they can vary quite a bit. Be sure to adjust the other ingredients accordingly.

New Direction

I realize I've severely neglected my recipe/food blog, but I promise I have a great reason - her name is Ellia Paige. :) With a 6.5 month old daughter, I am really starting to try to lose this baby weight. Soooo in that interest, I'm going to change the direction of this blog, at least temporarily. My goal is to post about either a recipe or even a single ingredient that has made my new healthy/weight loss lifestyle easier and/or tastier!

I wanted to start with a very versatile ingredient that my husband actually found for me. It's called Lavash (pronounced la-VOSH) - heard of it? I hadn't, and it's really good for you, if you get the right kind. It's a flatbread, the thickness of a tortilla, except it's square-shaped and comes in long sheets. Half of a sheet = 1 serving = 50 calories. Awesome functions:

• It makes a great alternative to bread for making your sandwiches into healthier wraps.
• If you cut them up into 1.5-inch pieces and bake them for 5 minutes (literally 5 minutes, keep your eye on them!), it turns into a great crispy chip-like snack! Sprinkle some garlic or onion salt before baking to give them a little kick of flavor.
• It makes a great taco alternative - say good bye to the tortillas that can be triple the calories (yes, it's true - check the labels!).
• It makes a great crispy pizza crust, and since it's already cooked, it's both healthy and FAST.
• They're great served with hummus, salsa, cottage cheese (seriously, I eat this combo almost every day), yogurt...

Lavash is a great canvas that you can use toward MANY different dishes, and it's got great things in it like flax and oat bran for dietary fiber. This one tops my list of awesome weight loss finds! Way to go, husband! :)

Southern Comfort - in the form of Chocolate Pie

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile. I've been so busy with the holidays and our news of expecting a little one, I've neglected posting for awhile. But here's a good one that should make up for it! For Christmas I got an iron skillet - why? Because no good southern girl would be right without one! And here's one of the main reasons why I wanted one:

Cast Iron Skillet Chocolate Pie
2 Rounded Tbsp flour
2 Rounded Tbsp cocoa
2 Rounded Tbsp butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
Melt butter in iron skillet. Mix together flour, cocoa and sugar. Pour into the pan and mix into the butter with wooden spoon. Work butter into the sugar mixture until all dry ingredients are just slightly moist - it might take a few minutes. Beat together milk and eggs. Pour slowly into the pan, stirring constantly, in small intervals of a few tablespoons at a time. Whisk constantly over medium heat until thickened, like a like pudding. Pour into baked pie shell, cool and top with whipped cream.

I know it's a lot of stirring, but hang in there! This is why the ladies in the good ol' days had such great arm tone! Well that and the laundry by hand... :) Trust me, it's worth it, and you'll burn off a few of the calories that you'll be eating when you taste the final product.

Fried Apples

This is an old favorite of mine. Every time we went to visit my Grandma, we would wake up the next morning to the smell of these apples cooking in the kitchen for breakfast. They are great to eat by themselves or better yet - on a nice flaky biscuit, but they also make a great topping for pancakes, waffles or ice cream. The great thing about this recipe is, if you like them a little softer, just cook them a little longer, and vice versa. Enjoy!

Fried Apples - yield 3-4 servings

6 medium apples
3 T. brown sugar
4 T. butter/margarine

Peel and slice the apples. Melt the butter in a large skillet, add the apples and mix to combine with the butter. Cover and cook apples, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle the brown sugar in and mix together. Cover again and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are golden brown and soft (about 20 minutes). Serve while still warm.