Squash and Paulina's School Wrap Up

The farmer's market was the perfect place to start Paulina's Cooking School. Everything looks so fresh, colorful and inviting at the market. Check out these beautiful purple, red, and green bell peppers. I had no idea they made purple bell peppers!

The red tomato above on the left is an heirloom tomato. Apparently, all tomatoes used to have this unique shape, but consumers preferred a more uniform shape and we no longer have heirloom tomatoes in mass. On the right above is a pattypan squash. It had such great color and shape as well!

Using our squash and some zucchini, we chopped them into bite size pieces and placed them in a skillet with a little butter and oil. You want a single layer of veggies in the skillet so that they cook evenly on medium-high heat. Add a little sea salt and stir until they have an even golden brown color. Yum!

Everything I learned at cooking school is posted. I hope you all learned a new way to cook veggies this summer. We plan to do cooking school again in the fall and are already talking about sweet potatoes, butternut squash soup, brussel sprouts and hearts of palm. 

Any vegetables you want me to add to cooking school 2.0?

Grilled Fruit a la Paulina

When Paulina and I were at the Farmer's market the morning of cooking school, we bought the most delicious white peaches from a vendor. I told Paulina that I had a friend that would grill peaches for dessert and that I'd love to know how. So, our cooking school dessert was planned.

I had no idea how easy it was. Cut your peaches in half to remove the pits. Brush a little high heat oil on each side. Grill for 3-4 minutes with the cut side down. Turn over, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and cook on an indirect heat source (like the top shelf on the grill) for about 10 minutes. 

We at ours warm with a dollop of greek yogurt and honey on top. Seriously, so stinkin' good!

While outside grilling, Paulina showed me her neighbor's fig tree. I'll admit I have never had a fresh fig. I have had my share of fig newtons, but that is as close to figs as I ever get. So, we ventured under the tree for a little lesson. The fig on the left is an almost ripe fig. Texas figs aren't dark purple like most, but rather a green to purple shade. This tree has hundreds of them! 

Fresh figs from her tree where yummy (like the one pictured at the top). We also tried grilling them. TO grill fresh figs, just place them on your hot grill for a few minutes. When they darken and shrivel, they are ready. These blistered a little which is a sign we were talking too much :).

I love finding a unique way to serve dessert with dinner and in the summer, love that it doesn't involve the oven!

Eggplant Hummus

Our first installment of Paulina's cooking school (click here to learn more) is eggplant. When we arrived at the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning, there was a large eggplant in her CSA (the box of veggies they prepick for her each week). She traded it in for Japanese Eggplant. This form of eggplant is shaped more like a cucumber and cooks quicker than the larger gourd shaped eggplant. It is low in calories and super high in fiber and minerals.

We began with 3 or 4 japanese eggplant and after washing them, sliced them lengthwise. With the cut side up, we drizzled them with olive oil, sea salt and fresh pepper on a foil lined cookie sheet.

We then turned them over and did a little more oil.

After roasting them on 350 for about 25 mins, they began to look like sausage. They are done when the skin can easily be pinched off from the meat of the eggplant.

Using a spoon, separate the meat from the skin and place the meat into your food processor. It worked best to wedge the spoon at one end between the meat and skin and run it down the length of the eggplant.

Once in the food processor, add 1 clove garlic, a little olive oil and some salt. 

Blend away until it is the consistency you like. Taste it and add more seasonings if needed. If I were serving this at a party, I think it would be fun to add a little food coloring to make it more purple.

Serve with fresh tortilla chips and you'll have a healthy way to eat eggplant!

 Up next, the amazing world of kale!

Corn, Bacon and Potato Chowder

We live on soups during the winter and I tried a new one recently that we loved! To make matters better, it is from Weight Watchers! I found it on a blog of a blog and didn't make note of how many points it is. Sorry- bad blogger!

Isn't it pretty- such great color!

Sweet Corn, Bacon and Potato Chowder

1 medium uncooked yukon gold potato

Cooking Spray (or a little butter!)

1/2 cup uncooked celery, chopped

1/4 cup chopped, uncooked onion

4 pieces corn on the cob, removed from the "cob" or frozen sweet corn precooked in the microwave

1 cup sweet red peppers, diced

4 oz. uncooked Canadian style bacon, diced

2 cups fat free skim milk

1/2 t salt

1/4 t black pepper

1/8 (or more!) t hot pepper sauce (i.e. Tabasco)

Pierce potato in several places with a fork, microwave on high power until tender, turning over once, about 8 minutes. Allow to cool, peel and mash. (I used baby gold potatoes, boiled them, and kept the skins on)

Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray (or butter). Add celery, onion, corn and red pepper. Saute over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.

Stir bacon and milk into saucepan. Stir in mashed potato and mix well. Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Cover and simmer on low for 10 minutes. Make sure it doesn't boil. 

You can add in more vegetables if you'd like- they recommend asparagus or broccoli. Enjoy!

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World Famous Tortilla Soup

I love soup season and am always looking for new and easy recipes. Soup is so good for you- most are low in fat and contain a good source of meat, veggies and cheese!A few weeks ago, I had Tortilla Soup from the Marriott Rivercenter and they proclaim it to be World Famous. It was really really good. They shared the recipe with me and it is really really easy which is just as important in my book. Here is the recipe for you!

1 Large Diced White Onion ( I used frozen chopped onion)
3 large diced tomatoes (you could use canned easily)
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups picante sauce (I used Pace and my husband thought I had used my Dad's homemade salsa)
3 chicken breasts (I used 2 cans of chicken)
Salt, Pepper and Cumin to Taste
Cilantro, Cheese and Tortilla Chips as you wish

In a large pot, mix the following: chicken broth, tomato, onion, picante, salt, pepper and cumin. Summer for 10-15 minutes. Cook chicken breasts and set chop up. Or, just open your canned chicken :) Add to soup and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Place in bowls and add cilantro, chips and cheese to taste. You could easily add avocado or sour cream to soup as well. It tastes like it has simmered all day!

Would You Like A Piece?

Does this not look heavenly? All that ooey gooey creme filling! What if I told you it is super easy to make and it is low fat. Now that I have your attention...
meet my new best friend- Chocolate Eclair Cake.
Combine 2 small fat free boxes of vanillas pudding with 2 2/3 cups of fat free milk and 1 container fat free cool whip.

Pull out your 13x9 pan and grease it up. Put one layer of low fat honey graham crackers on the pan. Pour over it 1/2 of the pudding mix you made. Layer with graham crackers again. Pour the remaining pudding mix on. Generously ice the final layer of graham crackers with chocolate icing.

Cover and refrigerate. The longer is stays in the cold refridgerator the softer the graham crackers will be and thus the better the cake. If you can leave it in the fridge for 24 hours before touching it, I'd be so proud. We left it 1 full hour and enjoyed.

Super Low Fat Bean Burritos

Bean Burritos

FF flour tortillas
FF refried beans
Tostitos Queso Dip- sold in the jar on the chips aisle
Salsa- I used a higher end roasted tomato salsa
Canned Enchilada Sauce

Inside tortillas, spread beans, 1 T cheese and 1 T salsa down strip in the middle. Fold into casserole dish. Repeat for each burrito. Pour can of enchilada sauce on top and 1 T of cheese and salsa per burrito. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

They were super tasty- like frozen burritos which I love! You could easily add meat and still keep them lowfat! This version is only 5 Weight Watchers points for 2 filling burritos.

Meat Cupcakes

Yea, the name threw me off a little, too! But I quickly got over it when I ate these delicious cupcakes that I found on another blog last night for dinner. They are really easy and were made completely by my husband in the time that I fed our daughter. Yummy!

Meat Cupcakes

3/4 lb. lean ground beef

1/2 c ketchup

1T mustard

2 T brown sugar

1 can (10) biscuits

1/4 c shredded cheddar

PReheat ocen to 400. Brown meat. Mix ketchup, mustard and brown sugar together. Drain meat, add sauce. Fill muffin tins with biscuits and press down to form cups. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Top with cheese and enjoy!

PS- If you are watching what you eat, these came out to 4 Weight Watchers points each. Two cupcakes with vegetables were filling.

Easy Sides Dishes

My husband and I are watching what we eat in hopes that my baby weight comes off before the end of the year when she turns one. I am close, but the scale isn't moving anymore and let's face it, we had weight to lose before she came. I shouldn't blame it all on her!

I have the hardest time devoting time to making more than one dish. If we make a casserole, we typically only have that for dinner. We really only have a well rounded meal when we grill lean meat and then we add a veggie to it.

I looked in the frozen meal section for lunches this past weekend and realized how easy and wonderful these standard frozen lunches can be for a side dish. It is cheap, low fat and you just pop it in the mircowave. One serving can easily be divded among 2 adults for a great side item. Plus, lots of options!

Last night we had Santa Fe Style Rice and Beans with our Mexican Chicken casserole.How yummy would roasted potatoes with broccoli and cheese be with a hamburger or BBQ chicken?
We tried the macaroni and cheese with turkey tenderloin earlier this week? It is so much less fat than traditional mac and cheese from Kraft.
Check out the full collection in your grocer's freezer!

Pistachio Dream Cake

This is a wonderful light refreshing summer cake. It is also a Weight Watchers recipe, so you can feel good about eating it in your bikini.The ingredients are simple and the cake does not include oil!
Here is the finished product complete with the whipped topping!

Pistachio Dream Cake

1 pkg. white cake mix

2 pkg. sugar free Pistachio pudding

8 oz. vanilla non-fat yogurt

3 egg WHITES

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup diet 7-Up (cherry 7-Up works too!)

1 1/2 cups cold skim milk

1 container fat free whipped topping (aka Cool Whip)

Mix together cake mix, 1 pudding, yogurt, egg whites, vanilla and beat on low for 1 minute. Slowly beat in 7-Up. Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Mix together milk, 1 pudding and cool whip. Spread over cooled cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!