Skinny Scalloped Potatoes

 If you read my Easter post, I mentioned all the food I was making for Easter. So that menu was a spur of the moment menu since we were not planning on doing Easter dinner/supper at all. It all started with the free turkey from Shoprite! =o) But it was all delicious!

I wanted to make scalloped potatoes, but I know they can be very high in fat and calories and DELICIOUS, so I was going to make roasted root vegetables instead. I figured I'd search around for some scalloped potato recipes just to take a look at what they were. (I've never made them before so I was curious.) 

Luckily I found this AWESOME recipe from Ellie Kreiger on the foodnetwork. I know I can always turn to her recipes if I want something healthier and low in calories. Sometimes her recipes can be kind of bland and really taste like low-calorie food, but this is the EXCEPTION!!=o) It was so tasty and creamy and delicious that you didn't even notice that it was skim milk instead of whole milk! =o)

On a side note: Usually I stay away from these recipes as well because I feel that if your going to eat something Delicious and fatty, it might as well be less of it but the real thing.

Recipe Adapted from Ellie Kreiger: Foodnetwork

Here's a video of her making it as well: Click Here

 ** To Cut the potatoes, I used my food processor attachment. I do not own a mandolin. The only thing was that the food processor cut the potatoes thinner than 1/4-inch, they were about 1/8-inch, so I just cooked the potatoes for about 4-6 minutes instead.

* I used skim and whole milk mixed together because that was what I had in my fridge. The original recipe called for 3 cups of 1 percent low-fat milk.

Ingredients

Olive oil spray
3 pounds yellow potatoes, like Yukon gold, unpeeled, sliced into 1/4-inch slices
2 1/2 cups cold milk (Skim milk)

1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large or 2 small sprigs thyme
1 3/4 cups grated Gruyere cheese (6 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 2 quart, shallow baking dish with olive oil spray.

Put the potatoes into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are just tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool somewhat.

Put the milk and flour into a large saucepan and whisk until the flour is dissolved. Add the garlic and thyme and heat over a medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and is thickened, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard the thyme sprig, and stir in the salt. Add 1 cup of the cheese and stir until melted.

Arrange half of the potatoes in the baking dish. Pour over half of the cheese sauce. Add the remaining potatoes and top with rest of the sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake for 25 minutes, until bubbling. Put under the broiler and broil on high until the top is browned, about 2 minutes. Serve hot.

Serving size: about 1 cup
Per Serving:

Calories 280; Total Fat 9 g; (Sat Fat 5 g, Mono Fat 2.6 g, Poly Fat .5 g) ; Protein 14 g; Carb 38 g; Fiber 4 g; Cholesterol 30 mg; Sodium 570 mg

Tomato Soup and Caprese Panini

Soup is my go to food when it's cold outside. It's so warm and comforting. =o)
On Monday it was nice, but a bit cold outside, I felt like having soup and a sandwich. And my go to soup is always homemade tomato soup and a caprese panini.

When I was younger, growing up in an Asian home, I did not eat tomato soup as you can assume. =o) But I also never was curious about it. I thought it was really gross that people would eat tomatoes as a soup. So I never missed it. But who knew it was SO delicious!!!!
The first time I had it was in college, Rutgers, at the Busch dining hall. I know what your thinking, oh boy, she didn't like it. WRONG! It was ssssooooooo delicious!!!! I have been trying to find some place that made it that good ever since. After searching for a while, I decided to try and make my own. I had no idea what to expect, but all I had was a dream and my appetite. =o)
I pretty much found the recipe on the first try!! Yay me!

It is the EASIEST soup to make I think. =o)
So here it is! (With some changes of course. =o)

Creamy Tomato Soup
Adapted from Chow.com

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 medium sweet onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, finely diced
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes in their juices, preferably San Marzano
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes and the juices
• 3/4 to 1 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp heavy cream
   

Directions:

1. Heat oil and butter in a medium to large sized pot over medium heat. Once butter foams, add onion and a big pinch of salt. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is completely soft and just beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.
2. Add tomatoes and juices to the pan and stir to crush up tomatoes. Add broth or water and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Simmer until tomatoes begin to fall apart, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat, discard bay leaves, and allow soup to cool slightly. Carefully purée soup in a blender until smooth (you may have to do this in batches). Return soup to the stove over low heat and stir in cream. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.

  Now onto the PANINI!

The panini recipe is pretty much a basic caprese recipe. I didn't use one that I found since this panini is pretty simple, but also very versatile. 
Here is what I used. 
Mozzarella Caprese Panini

• 2 slices nice crusty bread (1/2 inch thick)
• olive oil (brushing)
• 2 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
• 3 slices slicing tomato
• salt
• black pepper 
• fresh basil leaves (Chopped, use as much or as little as you like)

Directions:
1) Brush inside of the slices of bread with olive oil.
2) Layer the mozzarella on on side. Then layer the tomatoes. Add some salt and pepper. And then layer the basil on top.  

3) Close the sandwich and drizzle olive oil on one side. Turn the flame on the grill pan to medium-medium high. Place the oiled side down on the grill pan. (You can use a panini maker obviously, but I don't have one. I feel that it takes up too much room and I can make do with my grill pan, cast iron skillet, and some cans. =o))
4) Drizzle the other side with olive oil and place the skillet on top. Balance the skillet with cans. (This will press the panini down and give it nice grill marks.)
5)  After about 3-4 minutes, take the skillet and cans off and flip the panini. Place the skillet and cans back on top. (See the picture to the above of my make-shift panini maker.)
6)  Wait 3-4 minutes and then your panini should be done! Yum!

I would recommend making at least two sandwiches at a time if you are choosing my grill pan cast iron skillet method. The skillet tends to be off balance and a little too heavy for just one sandwich. I made only one once, and it squished it pretty flat. =o) It was delicious still, but flat. 
***You can add some grilled chicken in this, or some spinach, or whatever you'd like. As I said before it's pretty versatile. ***

 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!!! =o)

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

I am always looking for new vegetables to try. I have tried spagehtti squash when I was younger, my dad is a vegan so we were ALWAYS trying new (and weird) foods. It was not enjoyable at all. I'm not sure if it was the texture or the way my dad cooked it, or what not, but I did not like it. So I was turned off from it for a very long time. 
When I saw this recipe, I began to think, okay, maybe it's not THAT bad. And plus, this has cheese, it CAN'T be bad. =o)
This was ssssssssooooo YUMMY! Not only is there ONE veggie, but TWO, with the spinach. 
I don't like using reduced fat anything because I feel it compromises the integrity of the flavor. So I just use the real stuff and use less of it. 
Since I felt this was more of a side dish, I added some rotisserie chicken on the side to make it a little more substantial. 
This had so much flavor and with the chicken, it satisfied my tummy. 
I hope you all will enjoy it as much as my family did! =o)
    
Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese with Chicken

Adapted from: Skinnytaste.com

 










Servings: 7  • Serving Size: 1 cup
 

Ingredients:

• 5 1/2 cups cooked spaghetti squash (from about 2 small or 1 large)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/4 cup flour (use 2 tbsp corn starch for gf)
• 2 cups skim milk
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth (vegetable broth for vegetarian)
• 6 oz Sargento sharp cheddar
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 cups (about 4 oz) baby spinach
• 1/8 cup grated parmesan

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

1) Cut the squash in half lengthwise; remove and discard seeds. Place squash on a baking sheet. Bake until tender, about 1 hour. Separate the strands of squash with a fork and place in a medium bowl; discard shells. Maintain the oven temperature.

2) Heat butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook about 2 minutes. Stir in flour. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring continually 3 - 4 minutes.

3) Add milk and chicken broth and continue whisking, raising heat to medium-high until it comes to a boil and becomes smooth and thick, about 2 minutes stirring; season with salt and pepper. 

4) Once it becomes thick, remove from heat, add cheddar cheese and mix well until cheese is melted. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, add cooked spaghetti squash and baby spinach, pour into a baking dish and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Bake until bubbly and golden 25 to 30 minutes.

Turkey Meatball Soup with Barley and Kale

 

One week I was not feeling so well and I was lucky enough to have this recipe on hand. Courtesy of my co-teacher. This soup was so filling and delicious and definitely made me feel much better. This soup lasted my husband and I a good three days. Of course by the end of it, we were tired of it.

Luckily my co-teacher was the guinea pig and made it the day before and was telling me that the barley made the soup really thick. I really don't like this type of soup to be too thick so it was a nice warning for me to change it up.

As you can see from the picture of the recipe, my co-teacher found it from a magazine.

  

I, of course, did not follow the exact ingredients, so here is my revised version. 

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 medium carrots, peels and diced

2 ribs of celery, diced (I try to get the inner most ones with the leaves. I think the leaves have so much flavor! =o)

1 cup diced onions

3-4 cloves of garlic, finely diced

6 cups of chicken broth (I used Rachel Ray's low sodium chicken stock)

3/4 cup of barley (I used a quick cooking version. I think this would be good with pearled barley as well. I just didn't  have the time to wait for it to cook.)

1 lb of ground turkey (I like Perdue)

3/4 (or more) cup shredded Parmesan Cheese, plus more to garnish

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp pepper (to taste)

1 can (15.5 oz) small white beans. (These are a little smaller than cannellini beans which I like better in this soup)

8 cups roughly chopped kale. (I couldn't find escarole the first time I made this, but when I made this soup for the second time, I decided that I liked the kale better.)

As for the directions, I pretty much followed the directions on the original recipe. 

 

ENJOY!!!