Light Lasagna

 Cooler weather and busy days, I wanna make my meals healthy feel good food!  I came up with this lasagna because my family loves a filling full meat lasagna, but I just can't get over the calories! This lasagna is so good, it'll make you and your family happy!!  Guaranteed or I'll kiss my husbands toes! (BLECH) But truthfully, pair it with whole wheat french bread and you'll be asking yourself if this isn't the best feel good meal you've had in a long time!! I know I do!

 

Ingredients

16 oz or .5 kg Ground turkey
16 oz or .5 kg extra lean ground beef
1 onion chopped small
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 796 ml can diced tomatoes with herbs and spices
1 can tomato paste
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 box lasagna noodles
4 cups part skim mozzarella
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
1 tsp Italian Herbs and Spices
salt and pepper

Tips

for a sneaky trick, add finely grated zucchini or carrots or both. The kids will never know!

Directions

chop onion small and begin cooking over medium heat. Add ground meats and cook until almost done and add garlic and Italian herbs and spices. Add tomato's and tomato paste. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add Brown Sugar and balsamic vinegar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Put cottage cheese and 1.2 cup mozzarella in chopper, chop fine, add egg to chopper and chop to mix. Set aside. Layer lasagna, first a small amount of meat sauce on bottom, noodles, sauce, noodles, cottage cheese mix (all of it), noodles, sauce, noodles, remaining sauce and cheese. Sometimes I put a little cheese on each noodle layer cause my son loves it, but just remember, you have 4 cups of cheese! Bake at 350 for 30 minutes with tin foil on, then broil 5 minutes with tin foil off. Serve and enjoy!

Serving Size: 12 1 cup servings

Number of Servings: 12

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 12
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 387.9

• Total Fat: 15.1 g
• Cholesterol: 86.0 mg
• Sodium: 518.7 mg
• Total Carbs: 33.9 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2.5 g
• Protein: 29.1 g

Turkey Quesadilla with the Fixings

If you're like me you still have so much Turkey leftover, and what to do with it?  How long before you OD on turkey sandwiches?  Well...lets shake it up! This for me, is like a little bit of heaven!!



Ingredients


2 Ancient Grains Tortilla's (large)
1/2 cup chopped Turkey meat
1/3 cup light shredded cheese
1 tbsp green onion
2 tbsp light sour cream
2 tbsp salsa
2 tbsp quacamole

Nutritional Info

	Fat: 20.3g Carbohydrates: 59.9g Calories:633.7 Protein: 43.0g

put the turkey, onion and cheese on one tortilla, cover with the other tortilla on a baking pan. Bake in the oven 350C for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted and is brown. Serve with the salsa, sour cream and quacamole!

Now I made my own quacamole...1/2 an avocado with a tsp of lemon juice.  So mine's very stripped down, but that's the way I like it, and you could add so much to this...black beans, corn, peppers, etc!  get wild...go crazy!! ENJOY!!!!!!!

Leftover Pot Pie

Who doesn't love Thanksgiving??  All that delicious food.....but what to do the next day??  Well, I make Leftover pot pie, which is my take on a crustless pot pie made with all the leftovers from your Thanksgiving dinner...or even after a big chicken dinner.  I pretty much take all the leftovers, carrots, stuffing, gravy, turkey and whatever else was there, shove it in my crock pot and let it meld into a thick, delicious stoup (stew and soup combined)!  Then put them in bakeware, cover with leftover mashed potatoes and a little cheese and bake in the over till brown and bubbly..then enjoy!  Here is my recipe based on my leftovers!



Ingredients


1 1/2 cup stuffing
3 cups shredded turkey
1 cup carrots
1 cup turkey gravy
2 cups mashed potatoes
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 cup water




Put everything but mashed potatoes and cheese in crockpot on low for about 2-3 hours.  Put into bakeware, top with mashed potatoes and cheese.  Bake at 350C for about 20 minutes and serve.  Makes 6 servings in roughly 1.5 cup sizes!
(you can add anything into this...brussel sprouts, broccoli, yams...whatever leftovers you have!)
Nutritional Info

Fat: 7.2g Carbohydrates:26.7g Calories:310.9 Protein: 27.6g

Sweet Chili

	What says Fall like a steaming bowl of Chili?!?! I made this a while ago and froze servings...pulled out a serving for lunch today and it was just as good the second time around!  You could substitute ground turkey, chicken or pork if you wanted, especially with all these beef recalls but I had made this before all that dirty business! You can hide a lot in this! The sweet potato is loaded with vitamins and hidden in the chili, it just brings a hint of sweetness that my kids love! Trust me, this stick to your ribs meal is worth every bite, and it is a great base if you'd like to add some of your own treasures! (Grated carrots, mushrooms, etc) I didn't add any chili seasonings or anything, as there was enough for us in the chili stewed tomatoes, but if you want some kick, just add chili powder or cayenne.  Your call!  Hope you like it! :)
	Ingredients 1 lb extra lean ground beef 1 onion chopped 2 tsp garlic minced 1 sweet potato shredded 1 can pork and beans ( I used Maple pork and bean) 1 cup garlic and olive oil tomatoes 1 cup chili stewed tomatoes 1.5 cups red kidney beans Nutritional Info Fat: 14.0g Carbohydrates: 31.8g Calories:332.2 Protein: 21.3g cook beef in a pot with onions. Add garlic and sweet potato. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce hear and let simmer for 1 hour. serve. You can simmer it longer so the flavors concentrate more, or serve after 1 hour! Serving Size: 1 - 1.5 cup portions

Spicy Chicken Lettuce Cups

My lunch menu is usually so bland, I decided to amp it up a bit by making these super low carb bundles of deliciousness!

Spicy Chicken Lettuce Cups

1 lb ground chicken (or turkey)
1 red pepper chopped
1 tbsp chopped green onion
18 butter lettuce leaves
2 tbsp Sweet Thai Chili Sauce (could use hoisin but I was out)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp mild curry powder
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp coriander
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chicken stock

So start by browning the chicken and using the stock to keep it moist, add sesame oil, garlic, onion and pepper. Cook for a little while, then add all your spices.  Allow to cook for 5 minutes, if it is dry, add more stock.  Remove from heat and prepare butter lettuce leaves by washing and drying them lightly.  Put about 1-2 tbsp meat mix in each lettuce cup, depending on size of leaves, etc, but meat mixture should be split 3 ways, and each person gets 6 leaves. Roll up gently and drizzle with a small amount of chili sauce.  Enjoy! These are spicy and very flavourful!  They are amazing and just the thing to kick your afternoon into high gear!
Calories : 346.8
Total Fat: 16.2 g
Cholesterol: 127.0 mg
Sodium: 232.8 mg
Total Carbs: 15.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 7.1 g
Protein: 34.7 g

Pecan Crusted Chicken Nuggets

Now I love me some chicken nuggets, but they aren't liking my waistline as much as I would like, so I created these delicious little nuggets to eat as a dinner or add into salads and wraps.  Not only are they delicious but they have healthy fats which is a bonus!

6 skinless, boneless Chicken Thighs
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
1/4 Cup eggbeaters or 1.5 egg (1 whole egg and 1 egg white)
salt and pepper to taste

To start, chop you chicken into bite size chunks.
Mix pecans, bread crumbs, paprika, thyme and however much salt and pepper you like. (I don't add any as bread crumbs are salty and wanna keep my sodium down! :) )
Put eggbeaters in a separate bowl or whip egg and egg white in a separate bowl...this is your medium to stick the crust to your chicken!
Dip chicken chunks in egg wash, then into pecan crust mix and place on a baking sheet that is lightly sprayed with non-stick spray!
Bake at 350C for about 30 minutes, or until Chicken is cooked through and has a nice brown crust.
Serves 3 or in my family...2 adults and 2 kids! Enjoy!

These are a hit! My kids love them and well...so do I!! Try them and see what you think!
*warning..contain nuts!!! :)

Per serving (2 thighs)
Calories:322.7  Total Fat 13.8g  Cholesterol 114.7mg  Sodium 509.3mg  Total Carbs 16.1g  Dietary Fiber 2.4g  Protein 33g