HG's Turkey Reuben Sandwich

(Entire recipe: 250 calories, 6g fat, 1,455mg sodium, 32.5g carbs, 5g fiber, 5.5g sugars, 18g protein = 5 Points) Who needs corned beef anyway?!

Ingredients:
2 slices light (reduced calorie) rye bread (like the ones by Beefsteak and Oroweat)
4 slices thinly sliced lean deli turkey (such as the ones by Healthy Choice, Oscar Mayer and Butterball)
4 tbsp. well-drained sauerkraut
1 slice Galaxy Foods Veggie Slices, Swiss Flavor (or another low-cal, low-fat Swiss cheese product*)
4 tsp. fat-free Thousand Island dressing
20 sprays I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray

Directions: Evenly spritz butter spray on 1 side of each slice of bread, using 10 sprays per slice. Spread non-buttered sides evenly with the dressing. Place one slice, buttered side down, in a small cold skillet sprayed with nonstick spray. On top of that slice place sauerkraut, cheese slice, turkey and finally the remaining slice of bread (buttered side facing up). Cook in skillet over medium-low heat and grill the sandwich slowly, pressing down on it a couple times with a spatula. Grill until the bread is browned and crisp; then flip the sandwich over. Grill other side until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Crockpot Pizza

I am reposting this with the adjustments that I made. Turned out great and makes a lot. We use ground turkey in most of our recipes, and the turkey sausage makes a nice substitution for pepperoni. I add the carrots to boost the veggie impact, or you can use pureed sweet potatoes instead. Feel free to use whatever pizza toppings you like!



Crockpot Pizza
1 lb ground turkey, browned and drained
1 bag whole wheat egg noodles, cooked al dente (not quite done)
2+ cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup finely chopped or pureed carrots
1 cup smoked turkey sausage, sliced
1 extra large jar spaghetti sauce (3lb size) or two regular-sized jars
1 T minced garlic
Italian seasoning to taste
And other pizza toppings if available: chopped onions, peppers, mushrooms, etc.

Brown the ground turkey (w/ onions, peppers, and garlic, if using). Add carrots for last 3 mintues of cooking time, then add half the sauce in with the meat. Layer meat/sauce, noodles, cheese, turkey sausage, and repeat layers until crockpot is full, ending with a layer of sauce & the Italian seasoning. Cook on low all day. Shortly before serving, add more cheese to the top and allow it to melt.

Pizza Scramble

DeeDee at It Coulda Been Worse is hosting Saturday Stirrings. I love pizza, and I love breakfast for dinner. This is from Parenting.com which has good ideas for healthy, kid-friendly cooking.

If you are here visiting for Saturday Stirrings, please visit my main blog Not a DIY Life.

Pizza Scramble
By Rosemary Black, Parenting

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Bake time: 15 minutes

Yield: 6 Servings

1 refrigerated pizza crust

1 each small red, yellow, and green pepper, seeded, cored, and diced

2 Tbs olive oil

1⁄2 tsp salt, or to taste

Pinch of black pepper

8 eggs

1⁄4 cup low-fat milk

1 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Unroll pizza crust onto a nonstick baking sheet and press out into a rectangle. Bake for 7 minutes.

2. In a large skillet, sauté vegetables in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for about 5 minutes, then add salt and pepper. Transfer vegetables to a bowl. Wipe skillet clean with a paper towel.

3. In a large bowl, beat eggs with milk. Pour the remaining olive oil in the skillet, and cook eggs on medium heat, stirring, until firm but still moist. Remove from heat.

4. Sprinkle half the cheese onto the pizza crust. Top with scrambled eggs, then vegetable mixture, and then remaining cheese.

5. Bake 7 to 8 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and crust is completely baked. Cut into wedges.

How kids can help: Unroll pizza crust and press into pan; crack and beat the eggs; measure ingredients

Per Serving: 328 calories, 16 g fat (5 g saturated), 688 mg sodium, 295 mg cholesterol

Choco Monkey Oatmeal

Time for more Random Recipes hosted by Pam at Random Thoughts. Today's theme is breakfast. If you have not yet discovered http://www.hungry-girl.com/, a lot of my healthier recipes come from this site. Hungry Girl adapts a lot of faves into slimmed down versions so we can still enjoy our indulgences!

Choco Monkey Oatmeal

PER SERVING (entire recipe): 185 calories, 2g fat, 137mg sodium, 37g carbs, 5g fiber, 11g sugars, 6.5g protein -- POINTS® value 3*

Ingredients:

1/3 cup regular oats (not instant)

1 25-calorie packet diet hot cocoa mix

1/2 medium-sized banana; mashed

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1 no-calorie sweetener packet (like Splenda)

dash salt

Directions: Pour cocoa mix into a glass with cinnamon, sweetener and salt. Add 1/4 cup of hot water, and stir thoroughly. Once cocoa mix has dissolved, add 1/4 cup of cold water and stir. Place mixture in the fridge to chill. (Make sure it is cold, or oatmeal may bubble over when cooking!) When ready, combine with mashed banana and oats in a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, and mix well. Microwave dish for 2 1/2 - 3 minutes (depending on how thick you like your oatmeal). Give it a stir, and then allow oatmeal to cool and thicken. Enjoy!

MAKES 1 SERVING

HG's Top Banana Bread

Another awesome recipe from http://www.hungry-girl.com/

I made this today and it turned out great!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)

1/2 cup fat-free egg substitute (like Egg Beaters)

1/2 cup no-sugar-added applesauce

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

Optional Toppings:

no-calorie spray butter,

Cool Whip Free

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine both types of flour, Splenda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon (in other words, all dry ingredients). In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, egg substitute, applesauce, and vanilla extract (all the wet ingredients). Add this mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir until just blended. Spoon batter into a large loaf pan (about 9" X 5") sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly, and then cut into 8 slices. If you like, spritz with some spray butter or spread on some Cool Whip Free. MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 1 (thick!) slice

Calories: 140

Fat: 0.5g

Sodium: 267mg

Carbs: 31g

Fiber: 3.75g

Sugars: 7g

Protein: 5g

POINTS® value 2*

Vegetable Chicken Crock Pot Lasagna

6-8 servings


oven ready lasagna noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 (10 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
3 cups milk
1 Tbs garlic powder
salt
pepper
2 Tbs poultry seasoning or sage
16 oz bag of frozen broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots
shredded monterey jack cheese
shredded cheddar cheese


In a large soup pot, oil the pan with the olive oil and add the chicken pieces and cook for about 7-10 minutes or until no longer pink. Add the canned soups and the milk, being measured in the soup cans. You may need to add some more milk if the sauce becomes too thick. Season the sauce well with the garlic, salt and pepper, and the poultry seasoning. You can add other herbs for your taste. Add the frozen vegetables to the sauce and cook it for about 5 minutes or so.

To prepare the lasagna, using a 1 Cup measuring cup, Pour about 1 Cup of the sauce to the bottom of your crock pot. Layer the noodles in an even layer, breaking noodles to size as needed. Top the noodles with about 4 Cups of Sauce and sprinkle some shredded cheese, about 1 & 1/2 Cups worth for each layer. Continue to layer the noodles, sauce, and cheese in two more layers.

Cook on low setting for 6-8 hours, or high setting for 4-5 hours, depending on your slow cooker.

Biscuit Taco Casserole

See my notes below recipe for changes that I made. This is highly adaptable, depending on what ingredients you have on hand. You could even use pizza ingredients and make this a pizza casserole!





BISCUIT TACO CASSEROLE


1 (16-oz.) jar Taco Sauce
1 (12-oz.) can Refrigerated Buttermilk Biscuits
4 to 6 oz. (1 to 1 1/2 cups) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
4 to 6 oz. (1 to 1 1/2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (2.25-oz.) can sliced ripe olives, drained
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper, if desired
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper, if desired
1 (4-oz.) can Mushroom Pieces and Stems, drained, if desired

Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 13x9-inch (3-quart) baking dish.

Spread taco sauce evenly over bottom of greased dish.
Separate dough into 10 biscuits; cut each biscuit into 4 pieces.
Place biscuit pieces in taco sauce; turn to coat.

Sprinkle biscuits with 1/2 to 1 cup of the Cheddar cheese, 1/2 to 1 cup
of the mozzarella cheese and the olives; mix gently.

Bake at 400°F. for 15 to 18 minutes or until bubbly.

Meanwhile, in large skillet, combine ground beef, bell peppers
and mushrooms. Cook until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain.

Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup
mozzarella cheese over mixture in casserole; top with ground
beef mixture. Bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until mixture
bubbles vigorously around edges.

NOTES:

1. I didn't have any taco sauce, but I did have a packet of taco seasoning. I mixed it with 1 cup of water.

2. I also didn't have any refrigerated biscuits. So I mixed 3 cups of baking mix (like Bisquik) and 1 cup of milk. Then dropped the dough by spoonfuls into the taco sauce.

3. We usually use lean ground turkey for most of our recipes.

4. For the veggies, use what you have on hand and the family likes. I used a can of tomatoes with chilis, and some frozen veggie mix (corn, green beans, peas, and carrots), adding them to the skillet after the ground turkey was browned.

HG's Swirls Gone Wild Cheesecake Brownies

from http://www.hungry-girl.com/
I think Hubby is getting these for Valentine's Day!



Ingredients:
One box Pillsbury Moist Supreme Reduced Sugar Cake Mix, Devil's Food
One 15-oz. can pure pumpkin
6 oz. fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
1 tsp. Coffee-mate Fat Free or Sugar Free French Vanilla powdered creamer, dissolved in 2 tbsp. warm water
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix and pumpkin. Stir until completely blended (the mixture will remain very thick). Spread batter into a large baking pan (about 9" X 13") sprayed with nonstick spray, and set aside.

Combine softened cream cheese with Splenda, Coffee-mate mixture, and vanilla extract. Using a whisk, mix vigorously until completely blended, smooth and lump-free. Spoon cheesecake mixture over the brownie batter, and use a knife to swirl it in. (Don't worry if your swirl isn't perfect -- your brownies will taste delicious no matter what!) Place pan in the oven, and bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Allow to cool, and then cut into 16 pieces. MAKES 16 SERVINGS


Serving Size: 1 brownie Calories: 133 Fat: 2g Sodium: 312mg Carbs: 29g Fiber: 1.5g Sugars: 8g Protein: 3g POINTS® value 3*

Crock Pot Pork Loin with Apples

Pam at Random Thoughts is hosting Random Recipes. Today is slow cooker/crock pot recipes. This is in my crock pot as I type this! UPDATE** It turned out so yummy!! I like more cinnamon, so next time I'll add more.

Crock Pot Pork Loin with Apples

6 servings

1 pork loin/roast
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 medium apples
juice from one lemon (or 3 Tbs. lemon juice)
1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon


Brown the pork loin in a pan on the stove.

Cut apples into 8ths and place in bottom of slow cooker.

Squeeze lemon juice over apples.

Nestle pork loin on top of apples.

Pour chicken broth over apples, then sprinkle apples with cinnamon.

Cook on low 6-7 hours (add 2 hours if starting with a frozen roast).

To serve, remove roast from slow cooker, place on platter, tented with aluminum foil. Let rest for 15 minutes. Carve and serve with apples.