Veggie Lasagna Alfredo

Basically, follow my last lasagna recipe, but use whole wheat lasagna, add basil and spinach (put through food processor along with some zucchini and squash) to the ricotta, and substitute the tomato sauce for my butter bean alfredo sauce, adding in some halved cherry tomatoes.

Pretty damn good.  Check it out!

Butter Bean Fettuccine Alfredo

If you have a food processor or blender, then this is really easy (and a much healthier version of what might be one of your favorites).

Ingredients:

• 1/3 box of fettuccine (I used garden delights variety to get more veggies in)
• 1/2 C nonfat half and half
• Splash of skim milk as needed
• 1-2 T pureed garlic 
• Sea salt/pepper to taste
• 2-3 T parmesan cheese (more or less as you prefer)
• 1-2 T margarine 
• 1/4 small white onion, chopped
• 1/2 can butter beans (can also use white beans, either way)

Directions:

• In a pot, boil the fettucinne for about 7-8 minutes, then drain and set aside
• Puree the butter beans in a food processor with a splash of milk
• In a sauce pan, saute the onions and garlic on low heat for about 1-2 minutes with the margarine 
• Add in half and half, salt/pepper, and parmesan cheese, and bring to a low boil, stirring every few minutes
• Add in the butter beans, stir, and continue the low boil until desired consistency is met
• Combine all ingredients and serve

Lite Pot Pie Spins

Looking for lite and/or creative spins on traditional pot pie?  See below

Ingredients: 

• About 6 fingerling potatoes, diced
• About 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• Handful of chopped scallion
• About 8 baby carrots, chopped
• About 1/2 can sweet corn
• 2 chicken (or vegetable) bullion cubes
• 1-2 T reduced fat margarine (of some variety, I think I used smart balance)
• 1/3 C or so of fat free half and half
• Splash or two of skim milk
• 1-2 T dry chicken gravy mix (truly optional)
• 1/4 package of wonton wrappers (yes, wonton wrappers! only 15 cal each...although if you're too "chicken" to test it out, there are reduced fat pilsbury biscuits as another option)
• 2-3 T whole wheat flour (also optional)
• Salt/pepper to taste

General Directions:

• Preheat oven to about 350
• In a pot, saute the onions with some nonfat cooking spray (not sure how even the butter flavor variety has absolutely no calories, but it does the substitute trick) and salt/pepper to taste
• Add in the carrots and potatoes with some margarine
• Add in the nonfat half and half as well as skim milk, and bring to a boil; cook for about 5 minutes
• Add in the scallions (and whole wheat flour and 1-2 T dry chicken gravy mix) as well as the sweet corn, and cook for another 5 minutes or until desired consistency is reached
• Add salt/pepper, etc. to taste

Pick Your Own Adventure Directions:

If you want mini pot pies...

• Spray a mini muffin tray with nonfat cooking spray (I forgot to do this; you're welcome for the reminder)
• Fill each compartment of a mini-muffin tray with one wonton wrapper, then spoon pot pie mixture into each
• Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes

If you want pot pie lasagna...

• Put a layer of the pot pie mixture into a shallow baking pan
• Put down a layer of wonton wrappers on top
• Repeat until you top with wonton wrappers, then spray that layer with some nonfat cooking spray
• Bake in oven for about 15 minutes

*Note: If you really want to put the chicken in, go for it.  But honestly?  I didn't miss it a bit!

Lite Cheese Lasagna

Lasagna's pretty good, but it's often made in ways that aren't that good for you.  Want a lite alternative?  Try this:

Ricotta:

• Half container of low fat ricotta cheese
• Half container of nonfat ricotta cheese
• 2-3 T of nonfat half and half
• 1/4 C egg beaters
• Sprinkles of garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, pepper, and rosemary leaves

Sauce:

• 1 can whole peeled plum tomatoes (crush up by hand, include the juice)
• 1/2 can tomato paste
• Handful of fresh basil leaves
• About 1/4th an onion, diced
• 1-2 T pureed garlic 

Noodles:

• About 1/4th a box of lasagna noodles

Veggies:

• Sliced zucchini
• Sliced yellow squash
• Diced onion
• Diced carrots
• Nonfat cooking spray
• Salt/pepper/garlic to taste

How To:

• In a bowl, combine the two types of ricotta, nonfat half and half, spices, and egg beaters; mix well
• Separately, in a sauce pan, begin to saute the onions and garlic with some nonfat cooking spray, salt, and pepper for about 1 minute
• Add the tomato paste, and continue to cook on low heat for about 3 minutes
• Add the plum tomatoes and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes, then add in basil and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes 
• Separately, boil the lasagna noodles for about 8 minutes (you want them al dente, slightly undercooked, since they'll cook more when you bake the whole thing in the oven), then drain and set aside
• Pre-heat the oven to about 350
• Separately, in a frying pan, begin to saute onions on low heat with nonfat cooking spray for about 1 minute.  Add in the carrots next and saute for about 7 minutes, then add the zucchini and squash along with salt/pepper/garlic to taste.  When finished, add to the tomato sauce
• In a baking pan (since I did a small batch, I used a bread/loaf pan), put a layer of your sauce
• Add a layer of the noodles
• Add a layer of sauce/veggies
• Add a layer of ricotta mixture
• Repeat until you're about 1-2 inches away from the top of the pan, then add a layer of sauce and top with some light, part skim mozzarella cheese
• Bake for about 20-30 minutes until bubbly and the cheese is melted
• If you'd like, sprinkle with some parmesan cheese and add some fresh basil to the top

Move Over, Chobani

Want to make your own low cal versions of your favorite yogurts and/or want good tasting/good for you greek yogurt for cheap?

Yea, I did too.  It's real easy, and goes like this:

• Get a tub of fat free store brand plain greek yogurt
• Put about 5 T into a bowl
• Add a LITTLE sugar/honey/sweet and low; whatever your preferred sweetener is 
• Add a little vanilla extract if you want
• Add some fruit (I put some strawberries and bananas into you food processor for like 10 seconds)
• Mix it all up
• Call it a day.

*Note: I also crumbled a bit of graham cracker and mixed that in.  For one of my batches, I put it in the freezer.  If you stir "vigorously" about every 45 minutes about 3 times, you have yourself some killer fro-yo!