Mexican Pasta salad

Pasta salad has always been one of those sides that you can easily throw together with what ever you have in your pantry. I always make sure to keep a few boxes of pasta laying around for those last minute sides or party dishes. I had my first ever ladies night at my new place recently and had a tiered buffet server for 5 appetizers. I only had 4 on hand and thought that a pasta salad would be a great fifth addition. 

Ingredients:

1 cup of mayonnaise

2 tablespoons of chipotle ranch (if you cant find this, take 2 tablespoons of regular ranch and add 1 teaspoon of taco seasoning.)

1 box of pasta

1 bunch of green onions

5 eggs

1 tomato

1/2 white onion raw

2 celery sticks

*Feel free to add black beans, corn or other ingredient in this! I was just using what I had on hand

Directions:

In a large sauce pan, fill half way with water and place on high so you get a boil. While your water for your pasta is boiling, begin cooking your hard boiled eggs. There are many techniques for cooking hard boiled eggs. If you do not know how to hard boil eggs, here is a link on how to hard boil eggs. While you are waiting for the water to boil for the pasta, begin chopping your other ingredients to your desired size. Chop the green onion, white onion, tomato and celery and place in a mixing bowl. By now, your water should be boiling so go ahead and add the pasta to the boiling water and stir well. Also keep an eye on your hard boiled eggs. Next, mix together the mayonnaise and the chipolte ranch in a mixing bowl. Cover the chopped vegetables with this mix. Once your eggs are done boiling, chop them up and add to the mix as well. Lastly, when the pasta is finished cooking, drain and add to the mix and stir well. Let this sit in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours covered.The pasta might absorb some of the mayonnaise mixture so if it is too dry, add 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon of the chipotle ranch to coat the mixture. Stir well and serve with a garnish of green onion.

Roasted Veggie Croissants

I made these the other night for a family party and they were delicious! 

Ingredients:

1 onion

1 package of mushrooms

1 zucchini

1 summer squash

1 red pepper

1/2 bunch of asparagus

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

1 tablespoon of EVOO

1 teaspoon of sea salt

1/2 lb of white American cheese sliced from the deli

2 packages of crescent rolls

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400. Ready to chop? Chop all of the vegetables into small small pieces. And I mean SMALL pieces. Make sure you have a radio near by or a friend to help! Once they are all chopped up, mix them together with the EVOO and sea salt in a mixing bowl.

Next, lay out the mixture in a baking dish and place in the oven. 

Once the vegetables are starting to get crispy, take them out of the oven and stir them. Place them back in the oven until they are cooked through and roasted. Remove the dish from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes. Lower the oven heat to 375. Lay out the crescent rolls and cut each triangle in half. Cut the cheese in quarters and place the cheese squares in the middle of the crescent triangle. Spoon 1 spoonful of the vegetable mixture in the center and wrap the dough around so that one of the ends is covered in dough. Repeat for all of the rolls. Place on an un greased cookie sheet and place them in the oven for 9-12 minutes or until crispy brown. Take them out of the oven once they are done cooking and allow them to sit for a few minutes. Serve!

Asian Pasta Salad

My grandmother used to make a dish similar to this and it was one of my favorites! It's a mix between pasta salad and Chinese food - two of my favorites! Feel free to add chicken to this. Sometimes I do but was in the vegetarian mood today!

Ingredients:

- 1 can of diced water chestnuts
- 1 bunch of green onions
- 1 box of bow-tie pasta
- 1 Cup of low fat mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce

Directions:

Cook pasta as per instructions on box and drain. Slice up scallions and water chestnuts and place in a large mixing bowl.

 In a small mixing bowl, combine mayo and soy sauce and mix until smooth.

Combine the pasta, sauce green onion and water chestnuts in a large bowl and mix well. Let sit in refrigerator for 3 hours and serve cold. Easy enough right?

Nutrition Information for 1 serving - This recipe should make about 10 servings at 1 cup each

Calories - 216
Carbs - 31
Fat - 7
Protein - 7
Sodium - 409
Fiber - 3

Crab Meat Stuffed Mushrooms

These are such a hit whenever I make them! Sadly, there are never any leftovers! I think I'm going to start making a double batch and hide some aside for myself! Definitely a comfort food so I used real butter! It happens! This recipe calls for the same stuffing I use to make my Baked Stuffed Shrimp. You could put this stuffing on anything and make it taste delicious! 

Ingredients:

-30 mushrooms

- 1 stick of butter

- 1/4 cup of white onion

- 2 sticks of celery

- 1 can of crab meat

- 2 sleeves of reduced fat ritz crackers (should equal about 64 crackers)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350. Chop up the onion and celery into little pieces and put in mixing bowl. Add butter to the bowl. Microwave until the butter is melted. While the butter is melting in the microwave, take a large baking sheet and spray with non-stick spray. Core out the mushrooms (take off the stems) and place on the pan with the round side facing down and the hole where the stem used to be facing up. Once the butter in the mixing bowl is melted, stir well. Add the crab meat to the mixing bowl. In a large ziplock bag, add all of the ritz crackers and seal tightly. Mash the ritz crackers until they look like small breadcrumbs. Pour the Ritz into the mixing bowl and mix together all of the ingredients until it is a thick stuffing-like texture. Begin making 1 tablespoon sized balls and form with your hands. Place firmly on the mushroom and continue until every mushroom has a stuffing ball on top. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the stuffing is crispy looking and the mushrooms are cooked through.

Nutrition Information for 1 Stuffed Mushroom (this recipe should make 30 stuffed mushrooms)

Calories - 62

Carbs - 5

Fat - 4

Protein - 1

Sodium - 98

Fiber - 0

Not Your Average Wedge Salad

I just love a nice wedge salad! It so refreshing and satisfying!

Ingredients:

1/4 of an iceberg lettuce
1/4 cup of diced tomatoes
1/8 cup of diced purple onion
1 slice of turkey bacon
2 tablespoons of fat free or light blue cheese dressing

Directions:

Cook the turkey bacon as directed on the package. Wash the ice berg lettuce and cut into quarters. Place 1 quarter on a plate. Chop up the tomato and onion. When the turkey bacon is finished cooking, crumble into pieces. Drizzle the blue cheese dressing on the ice berg wedge. Sprinkle and top with the bacon, tomato and onion. Serve with your choice of wine ;)

Nutrition Information - (This recipe makes 1 serving)

Calories - 127

Carbs - 12

Fat - 5

Protein - 10

Sodium - 143

Fiber - 1

Greek Orzo Summer Salad! 259 Calories Per Serving!

I made this recipe for a family get together on the beach. It was so refreshing and delicious! Everyone went back for seconds and some even went back for thirds! You could eat this as with a meal or a side. This was so pleasing that I made it twice in one week!

Ingredients:

- 1 box of orzo pasta
- 1/2 container of red cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 container of yellow cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 purple onion
- fresh basil leafs
- 1 cup of pesto
- 1/2 cup of corn relish (sometimes this is hard to find - check near the regular relish. Stonewall kitchen has their own brand as well.)
- 1 cup of frozen peas (or pigeon peas)
- 6 oz of crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

Cook the orzo pasta as instructed on box. While the pasta is cooking, begin to chop up the tomatoes (yellow and red), onion and basil leafs. Once pasta is finished cooking, drain and place in a mixing bowl. Add the pesto and corn relish and mix well. Add the chopped up tomatoes, onion, basil leafs and frozen peas. Mix well. Let this sit in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Once you are ready to serve, mix up the mixture and garnish with the crumbled feta cheese. Yummmy!

Nutritional Information - (This recipe makes 10 servings. Nutrition information is for 1 cup)

Calories- 259

Carbs -  42

Fat - 5

Protein - 9 

Sodium - 201

Fiber - 4

***If you are making this recpie and adding it to your My Fitness Pal food diary, I have added it to the food database under "lowcalcook Greek Orzo Summer Salad" to make it easier to add!

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

Parmesan Dill French Fries

I've got to admit - they're as good as they sound! Easy too! I was in the mood for something different as a side to my grilled chicken sandwich for tonight, and let's be honest...what is better than french fries? They're a little heavy in the carb range, so I decided to have my chicken sandwich without the bread tonight. 

Ingredients

Red Potatoes (1 serving = 1 potato)

Pinch of sea salt

Dill weed

1/2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Parmesan Herb seasoning by McCormick (pictured below)

Directions

Heat a medium sized frying pan to medium on the stove top and add half of a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Wash the potato(es) and slice width wise. The thinner you slice, the crispier the fries will get. Make sure you slice them all the same with. Slice them again length wise to get a "french fry shape." Place the potato slices in the hot frying pan. Sprinkle dill weed and sea salt and mix well. With the dill weed, use to your discretion. I love the taste of dill, so I used a lot. Flip the french fries so that they brown on both sides. Cook until the french fries are brown on both sides. Once they are finished, (go ahead, try one first :0P ) sprinkle on a few pinches of the parmesan and herb spice. Serve with which ever dipping sauce your prefer... or just plain!

Nutrition Facts (for 1 serving = 1 potato)

Calories - 120

Carbs - 14

Fat - 7

Protein - 2

Sodium - 466

Fiber - 2

All Natural Applesauce

So I went apple-picking this week which is a plus if you live in New England. Born and raised in the hometown of Johnny Appleseed, it's kind of a big deal around here. So I went apple picking and filled a whole peck full....

Once I got home, I thought to myself "what the heck am I going to do with 14 apples?" I've been eating 2 apples a day now and I still have a ton left over! I decided to think up a recipe for homemade apple sauce. Nothing is better than eating warm homemade apple sauce on a cold fall day! I began my recipe search online and realized that most of the recipes called for a cup or more of sugar. Not my idea of a healthy snack. So I created my own little take, using only all natural ingredients. If you live in New England, or somewhere where you can pick your own apples, I highly suggest it!

Ingredients:

- 4-5 large apples (I used fresh picked Cortland)
- 2 tablespoons of a natural sweetener (I used ideal - similar to truvia)
- Ground cinnamon -  about a tablespoon or so

Directions:

Peel all of the apples and chop them up into small cubes. Combine in a baking pot and place on medium. Add a little bit of water. Continue to stir until they are mushy (20-30 minutes). Slowly, add in the cinnamon and natural  sweetener. Continue to stir until it bubbles and looks like this...

From there, turn off the stove top. You can serve this as a side as is to any dinner (preferably a country style dinner) if you would prefer. Place the mixture into a mixing bowl. Using a hand held blender, mix together until it is to your preference of consistency. Serve warm, it tastes better that way!

Nutrition Information for 1 serving (one cup) - this recipe should make around 4 servings

Calories - 85
Carbs - 23
Fat - 0
Protein - 0
Sodium - 1
Fiber - 6

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