Cheeseburger Soup - 194 Calories a serving!

I found a new healthy addiction: Cheeseburger Soup. Cheeseburgers are one of the things that I crave most on this diet... or "lifestyle change." Since they are pretty much terrible for you and so high in calories, I absolutely had to find an alternative. This soup is awesome, and even better the next day! This recipe makes 12 servings and will last all week... if you don't eat it all on the first night that is!

Ingredients: 

- 8oz Block of Kraft Velveta Cheese (cut into cubes)
- 1 lb of ground hamburg
- 1 white onion
- 1 stalk of celery
- 1 cup of carrots
- 1 can of Campbell's cheddar cheese soup
- 1 can of Campbell's 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
- 2 tablespoons of low fat sour cream
- 1.5 cups of skim milk
- 2 tablespoons of light butter (I used smart balance)
- 3 cups of water

Directions:

In a medium sized frying pan, add the hamburg. Cook on medium heat until there is no more red. Put aside. While the meat is cooking, chop up the onion, celery and carrots to desired size. Add the chopped up vegetables and 2 tablespoons of butter to another medium sized frying pan on medium heat. Cook until the onions are transparent. Chop up the Velveta cheese into small cubes.Once the vegetables are cooked, combine in a large sized pot with the cooked hamburg, cubed Velveta, both cans of soup, sour cream, milk and water. Stir well and place on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Continue to let this cook until it starts to bubble. All done :) Yummmm!

Nutrition Facts (for 1 cup. This recipe should make 12 servings.)

Calories - 194
Carbs - 11
Fat - 9
Protein - 17
Sodium - 568
Fiber - 1

Harvestland Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs

I literally just finished eating a serving of these and was so impressed that I had to write a blog post about them ASAP. I crave salty / Chinese type food on a daily basis. These are full of flavor and surprisingly filling. I just ate 4 of them as a snack and am full. If you were eating this as a meal, I would suggest stir-frying up some veggies (like in the picture) and maybe adding some white rice. Yum. Be careful about eating more than 1 serving though, because 1 serving has 600 grams of sodium. 

Nutrition Facts (For 1 serving. 1 serving = 4 meatballs)

Calories - 140

Carbs - 7

Fat - 7

Protein - 12

Sodium - 600

Fiber - 0

Vegetable & Shrimp Fried Rice

Trader Joe's helped me out with this dish. It is great if you are in a rush and don't have a lot of time to cook dinner. Warning: the rice is addictive, so just make what you can eat! Left overs can be tempting!

Ingredients:

- Trader Joe's vegetable fried rice (1 cup per serving - pictured below)
- 4 oz shrimp (I used shrimp cocktail since it cooks faster)
- .5 tablespoon of EVOO

Directions:

In a medium frying pan, add the EVOO and 1 cup of rice and place on medium heat. Cook until the rice is fully cooked (about 5 minutes). Push the rice to the side of the frying pan. Chop up the shrimp into bite sized pieces. Add the shrimp the the frying pan and cook for about 1 minute. Since I used shrimp cocktail, it is already pre-cooked and doesn't take long to warm up. Mix the shrimp and rice together and serve!

Nutrition Facts (for 1 cup of rice and 4 oz of shrimp)

Calories - 255
Carbs - 35
Fat - 9
Protein - 6
Sodium - 688
Fiber - 1

Caprese Salad

As simple as it is, there are probably over 100 different ways to make and present a caprese salad. I figured I'd make a blog post for one of my never forgotten favorite Low Calorie Italian foods. Made as a lower calorie version with all natural ingredients, you can't go wrong!


Ingredients

- 8 Cherry tomatoes
- 1 oz fresh mozzarella cheese
- 1 basil leaf
- 1 tablespoon of balsamic dressing (I used Newman's Own Light Roasted Garlic Balsamic)

Directions

Slice up the tomatoes into quarters. Dice up the mozzarella into even small cubes. Shred the basil leaf into small pieces. Add the 1 tablespoon of dressing. Mix all of the ingredients together and serve! What an easy lunch!

Nutrition Facts (For 1 serving - This recipe makes 1 serving)

Calories - 160
Carbs - 8
Fat - 7
Protein - 6
Sodium - 255
Fiber - 2