Raspberry Almond Bars

These bars are super easy to make and taste delcious!  The raspberry preserves helps you save time instead of making a raspberry sauce from scratch.  You could easily substitute in another fruit preserve instead if you prefer something else - strawberry, blueberry, blackberry etc!

Servings: 16

Size:  1 bar

Points Plus: 4pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Bake Time:  25-30 minutes

Rating: 5 stars – Excellent

Ingredient List:

1 cup flour

¾ cup oats

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter

½ tsp. almond extract

½ cup red raspberry preserves

1/3 cup almonds, sliced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly grease an 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan.  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oats and sugar.  Add in the butter and cut with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in the almond extract and mix well.  Reserve about 1 cup of the oat mixture.  Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan, pressing down firmly to bind the crumbs together.  Spread the raspberry preserves over the top to about ½ inch from the edges of the pan.  Mix the sliced almonds with the reserved oat mixture and sprinkle on top of the preserves; press down gently.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Tip:

Not everyone owns a pastry blender!  That’s okay, this recipe can still be made without one.  Use a fork instead to cut the butter into the oat/flour/sugar mixture.  You have to keep working at it, but eventually the mixture will turn into crumbs!

XOXO Megan

Roasted Veggies + Arugula

Confession! This recipe was supposed to be a different recipe, however I forgot 3 key ingredients at the grocery store. So, here is an adapted easy weeknight dinner that can also help you clean out your fridge.  Salad topped with flavorful roasted veggies topped with fried egg (or poached if you arn't lazy like I am).  I accidently ate 18pp for lunch yesterday, so had to think up a very low pp dinner to compensate.  This was filling and tasty! Keep a lookout on the blog for the REAL recipe I was trying to post in a few weeks.

Servings: 2
Serving Size: 2 cups salad + 1 1/2 cup veggie mizture + 1 fried egg
Points Plus: 6pp
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Rating: 3 stars - Good

Ingredients:
4 oz raw mushrooms, chopped
15 brussel sprouts, cleaned and cut in half
1 cup cherry tomatos, cut in half
1 t. olive oili
2 slices of turkey bacon, cut into small peices
1 T. fresh sage, chopped
2 eggs
4 cups arugula
Salt + Pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Put your mushrooms, sprouts ad cherry tomatos in a baking pan and toss with 1 t. olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minues. While veggies are roasting sautee turkey bacon and sage until cooked through, set aside. Heat a non-stick pan on your stove and fry two eggs.  To assemble (pretty simple), split your arugula between two bowls.  Top with roasted veggies and a fried egg.  add some hot sauce if you would like!

Tip:
As mentioned above, you can modify a recipe similar to this by using what is in your fridge! Let us know what veggies you try in it!

XOXO Katie

Black Bean and Cheese Baked Quesadillas

Let’s face it, quesadillas are delicious!  This recipe is for a healthier, baked version.  Baking your quesadillas instead of frying is a great way to lighten up the traditional restaurant version.  These make for a quick and easy weeknight dinner too!

Servings:  2

Size:  2 quesadillas

Points Plus: 8pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time:  10 minutes

Rating: 3 stars – Good

 

Ingredient List:

8 corn tortillas

1 can (15 oz) black beans

½ cup onion, diced

4 oz. cheddar cheese, reduced-fat, shredded

Fresh cilantro, chopped

Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°. In a skillet, combine the black beans and onion and sauté for a few minutes over medium heat. With cooking spray, coat one side of 4 corn tortillas and place the coated side face down on a large cookie sheet.  Divide the black bean/onion mixture evenly amongst the 4 quesadillas; top each one with 1 oz. of cheddar cheese. Place the 2^nd corn tortilla on top and press down firmly.  Finish by coating the top tortilla with cooking spray. Bake the quesadillas in the oven for about 10 minutes or until they begin to brown.  Slice into wedges and serve with a garnish of chopped fresh cilantro.

Tip:

You can also serve these with some fresh salsa too without adding to the pp value of your meal!

XOXO Megan

Veggie Lasagna

Who says veggie lasagna has to be boring! This is one of my FAV go to dinners, and it is so tasty, you will never miss the meat. This hearty meal is great reheated and can be thrown in the freezer and warmed up for a quick weeknight dinner!

Servings: 8
Serving Size: 1 piece or about 1 cup
Points Plus: 8pp
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes + 15 minutes of 'stand' time

Rating: 4 Stars - Very Good

Ingredients:

8 lasagna noodles, no cook

1 lb. mushrooms, chopped

3/4 cup green pepper, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 cups pasta sauce

1 t. dried basil
1 cup part skim ricotta
1 cup 1% cottage cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup parm
2 cups part skim mozzarella
Cooking spray

Directions: 
Preheat your oven to 350! Spray a dutch oven with cooking spray Add mushrooms, green pepper and garlic. Sautee for about five minutes. Add pasta sauce and warm. In a separate bowl mix basil, ricotta, cottage cheese, eggs and parm. Scoop a small amount of sauce mixture into the bottom of an 8 by 11 inch pan. Top sauce with 4 noodles. top noodles with 1/2 of the egg and cheese mixture, the 1/2 of the pasta sauce mixture. Repeat with noodles, cheese mixture and sauce mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese. Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes and enjoy!

Tip:
I can think of a TON more types of veggies that would work well in here.  Experiment!

Kale Salad with Avocado, Almonds & Apricots

After a weekend full of LOTS of food, what is better than a nice healthy salad??  We made this for dinner on Saturday night after lots of rich and indulgent foods over Thanksgiving.  This was the perfect thing to get back on track with!  Kale is a hearty green that is packed with flavor.  This recipe calls for kind of an odd pairing of ingredients, but all the flavors really come together!

Servings:  2

Size:  Main course salad

Points Plus: 7pp

Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time:  n/a

Rating: 3 stars – Good

Ingredient List:

A large bunch of kale
10 dried apricots, diced
¼ cup almonds, sliced
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, flakes
½ avocado, diced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Directions:

Wash and chop the kale into small, bite-sized pieces; add to a large bowl.  Dice the apricots and add to bowl along with almonds and parmesan cheese.  Add salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.  In a small Pyrex measuring cup, whisk together the olive oil and red wine vinegar; pour over the salad and mix well.  Just before serving, dice the avocado and add to the top of each serving.

Tip:

It's really important to get yourself back on track after a holiday weekend!  Eat lightly and pack in a lot of salad, broth-based soups and other low pp value meals early in your week.  Take advantage of zero pp fruits and veggies for snacks too!

XOXO Megan

21 Cray Cray TURKEY Leftovers Ideas!

Happy Day AFTER Thanksgiving!  You survived?  How did you do?  Now it is time to deal with Thanksgiving leftovers while getting back on track!  Please check out the pp friendly leftover TURKEY recipes below. Most are Eat Me favs, just sub the meat for TURKEY! Let us know if you have any questions!!

Crock Pot TURKEY Stock
TURKEY Dumpling Soup
No Bean TURKEY & Sweet Potato Chili
Asian Lettuce Wraps with TURKEY
Good Earth TURKEY Sandwiches
TURKEY Lettuce and Tomato Sandwiches LT's
TURKEY Cranberry Quesadilla
TURKEY Cuban Sandwich
Brie TURKEY Wrap 
TURKEY, Apple & Blue Cheese Wrap
TURKEY & Feta Stuffed Peppers
Buffalo TURKEY Salad
Salsa Verde TURKEY Enchiladas 
Mini Pepper TURKEY Nachos
BBQ'ed TURKEY Pizza
Jerk TURKEY Salad w. Grilled Pineapple
Buffalo TURKEY Salad
TURKEY Pot Pie
TURKEY & Egg Frittata
TURKEY Eggs Benny
Sweet & Sour TURKEY Meatballs

Xoxo - Katie

Maple-Pumpkin Pie with Salted-Pecan Brittle

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope that you had a wonderful day of family, and that you were able to follow at least a FEW of the suggestions from yesterday's post! Here is a pie I made today that was hard, really really hard! I like a challenge but jeez is making candy hard. I had to redo the brittle at least twice, yikes! Anyways, the end result was great, once I actually read the direction. I am having some technical issues to follow this link from Better Homes & Gardens for this delish twist on pumpkin! Enjoy this indulgent sweet treat, because remember, staying on track with eating healthy means you can and should indulge sometime! Xoxo - Katie