Spinach, Tomato, Feta 'n Egg Wrap Attack (Hungry Girl 200 under 200 book, page 12, 168 calories)
Dishes Used: 3
Fire Hazards: 0
Injury Count: +/- 1
Matthew Annoyance Level: 2
This is delicious and I actually ended up making this several times. It's pretty easy. I actually used my little single serving egg pan to make the egg patty at the same time I was chopping and cooking the rest. Big tip that took Kelly and I time to learn is to read ALL the directions. Now, even though I think I do that I obviously don't. It is really important to prepare everything before you begin heating the spinach because it only takes a minute or so for the spinach to start wilting. I gave it the +/- 1 injury report because chopping the spinach is pretty tricky and I came close to cutting a finger. But hey, if you do no one will notice because the blood will blend in with the fire-roasted diced tomatoes. I had to ask Matthew to open the sun-dried tomato jar and in our tiny kitchen I was blocking the dishes while he was trying to make breakfast, but otherwise he was undisturbed. This is a great breakfast OR lunch option.
Cinnamon-Vanilla French Toast Nuggets (200 under 200 book, page 21, 151 calories)
Dishes Used: 2
Fire Hazards: 0
Injury Count: 0
Matthew Annoyance Level: 1
If you are dying for french toast, this recipe will do. I'm still wondering why the hot dog buns, but I did it that way and it tasted fine. Not enough to feel totally fulfilling with one serving. I couldn't find the coffee-mate brand creamer but I found a Ralphs' brand creamer that was the same. I did find the nugget shape and size fun to eat and this would make a great kids recipe (ie. Joey). I do recommend making more of the egg/creamer/cinnamon mixture than needed. You never want to run out of egg mixture before bread. Matthew gets annoyed by hot dog packages that have more dogs than you can buy buns for, so doing this recipe messes up that dog-to-bun ratio, so I bought my own buns and put the rest in the freezer.
-Diana
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Easy Burrito night
Dishes used: 8 dishes
Matthew annoyance factor: Very Low
Fire Alarm count: Zero
Baby injuries: Zero
It's been a while since our last Hungry Girl Night. We have both have had a lot going on in our lives so tonight we decided to get together and make it an easy recipe night.
Since we loved the Holy Moly Guacamole so much, we decided to repeat the recipe. I would have to say that this is one of our favorites. I know I have made it several times on my own and I have even brought to social occasions. Everyone always comments on how great it is.
7 Layer Burrito Blitz: (Hungry Girl original cookbook, Page 116, 277 calories) This recipe was so easy. We bought the ingredients, warmed up the soy crumbles, beans & tortilla then put it all together. However we didn't listen to the directions on how to roll the burrito, we did it the way we always do--tuck in the bottom then the side and roll. This is a good size burrito. We all enjoyed it and we would highly recommend this to anyone who craves a 7 layer bean dip. We even got Matt to eat it.
Gooey Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing: (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Page 36, 126 calories) This was an OK recipe. It doesn't taste like a Cinnabon by any means but it is an acceptable dessert. This is a recipe that we definitely want to try again but we want to do it our way. We followed Lisa's instructions but using a rolling pin on Pillsbury Crescent Rolls was a waste of time. They are extremely elastic and every time we would roll it, it would slide back into the original shape. It did give us the giggles trying to get it to roll out to her specifications but it never stayed. So we followed the rest of the directions but midway through the baking process, the cinnamon filling seeped out the bottom and some completely unrolled. We thought we could try this two different ways. One would be to use a muffin pan so they don't unroll. The other way would be to keep the crescent rolls in their perforated state, spread on the filling and spray butter then roll it like a regular crescent roll. We care more about the taste them how it looks. We'll let you know how they turn out when we try this recipe again.
Overall, it was the easy, tasty food night we were striving for after the last few stressful weeks we have endured.
Matthew annoyance factor: Very Low
Fire Alarm count: Zero
Baby injuries: Zero
It's been a while since our last Hungry Girl Night. We have both have had a lot going on in our lives so tonight we decided to get together and make it an easy recipe night.
Since we loved the Holy Moly Guacamole so much, we decided to repeat the recipe. I would have to say that this is one of our favorites. I know I have made it several times on my own and I have even brought to social occasions. Everyone always comments on how great it is.
7 Layer Burrito Blitz: (Hungry Girl original cookbook, Page 116, 277 calories) This recipe was so easy. We bought the ingredients, warmed up the soy crumbles, beans & tortilla then put it all together. However we didn't listen to the directions on how to roll the burrito, we did it the way we always do--tuck in the bottom then the side and roll. This is a good size burrito. We all enjoyed it and we would highly recommend this to anyone who craves a 7 layer bean dip. We even got Matt to eat it.
Gooey Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing: (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Page 36, 126 calories) This was an OK recipe. It doesn't taste like a Cinnabon by any means but it is an acceptable dessert. This is a recipe that we definitely want to try again but we want to do it our way. We followed Lisa's instructions but using a rolling pin on Pillsbury Crescent Rolls was a waste of time. They are extremely elastic and every time we would roll it, it would slide back into the original shape. It did give us the giggles trying to get it to roll out to her specifications but it never stayed. So we followed the rest of the directions but midway through the baking process, the cinnamon filling seeped out the bottom and some completely unrolled. We thought we could try this two different ways. One would be to use a muffin pan so they don't unroll. The other way would be to keep the crescent rolls in their perforated state, spread on the filling and spray butter then roll it like a regular crescent roll. We care more about the taste them how it looks. We'll let you know how they turn out when we try this recipe again.
Overall, it was the easy, tasty food night we were striving for after the last few stressful weeks we have endured.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Diana: All on her own
Thursday night I (Diana) made the ez tomato-basil chicken (200 under 200, pg. 138, 175 cal). Highly recommend it. Very easy. I actually used a can of crushed tomatoes with italian dressing because I couldn't find the basil kind. It was great. I also tossed some Italian seasoning and basil seasoning on top before baking. You will need to make some side to go along with it for a meal. Matthew thinks it would be better with two big slices of Mozzarella cheese.
First aid, Fire Alarms and Chaos Galore!!!
Dishes used: 21
Fire Alarms: 1
Fingers burnt: 1 thumb
Igniting Stovetop Flames: 1
Matt's Annoyance Level: 4
Well, let's just say it was an interesting Hungry Girl Evening. Once again, we set off the smoke alarm. (Last time we did it while making the Fries). I burned my thumb when attempting to flip hash browns in a skillet. Hash browns don't flip. Diana almost set me on fire when she discovered the flammable properties of cooking spray. And Matthew looked at us in annoyance when he had to once again clear the smoke from the apartment.
Now I am sure you are wondering what recipes could possibly lead to such an eventful evening. We'll tell you: Snazzy Spanish Omelette, Butternut Hash Browns, and Chunky Apple Cinnamon Muffins.
Chunky Apple Cinnamon Muffins: (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 278, 127 calories per serving) This was the only recipe that didn't give us any trouble. Everything worked out according to the directions except we did have enough to make 6 muffins instead of 4. Perhaps if you dice the apples instead of cutting them into cubes like we did, it will make the 4 serving recipe. They were good, nonetheless. We would recommend using foil muffin cups instead of paper cups.
Snazzy Spanish Omelette: (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 60, 191 calories per serving) The sauce is simple to make but we felt we didn't need such a large portion. We would recommend adding some of the veggies to the omelette mixture instead of the sauce. Diana says she wouldn't even bother with the sauce. She would put all of the veggies in the omelette and just put the two tablespoons of salsa on top. So this was a fairly simple recipe. Of course we had an omelette pan that Diana's mother left behind on accident. It might be more difficult if you don't have an omelette pan.
Diana's advice: If you have a gas stove, don't spray the aerosol cooking spray near the open flame. You just might set your best friend on fire or at the very least scare the crap out of her.
We would also like to point out that one serving could actually feed two. This makes for one large omelette.
Butternut Hash Browns: (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 92, 104 calories per serving) This was the most eventful and challenging recipe of the evening. Perhaps, in hindsight, we should have throughly read the recipe before we began. We missed the "tip" on shredding the butternut squash with a cheese grater. We used a vegetable peeler. It didn't affect the taste but it probably would have assisted with the ease in other parts of the recipe. We also discovered that you should attempt to make 3 recipes at a time or 3 servings at a time. You really need to do one serving at a time if you want to the recipe following the directions written in the book. After setting off the smoke alarm and burning my thumb while attempting to flip 3 servings of hash browns in a skillet, we decided to put it all into a pyrex dish and bake it in the oven. Diana set the oven at 350 degrees while I tended to my now blistering thumb. We baked it around 7 minutes--after we had already cooked a portion of it on the stove. So maybe bake it for 5 minutes, flip it, and bake for another 5 minutes.
Even though the recipe made for an interesting evening, it did taste like real hash browns. This is something I personally might try to do again to see if I can perfect it.
Fire Alarms: 1
Fingers burnt: 1 thumb
Igniting Stovetop Flames: 1
Matt's Annoyance Level: 4
Well, let's just say it was an interesting Hungry Girl Evening. Once again, we set off the smoke alarm. (Last time we did it while making the Fries). I burned my thumb when attempting to flip hash browns in a skillet. Hash browns don't flip. Diana almost set me on fire when she discovered the flammable properties of cooking spray. And Matthew looked at us in annoyance when he had to once again clear the smoke from the apartment.
Now I am sure you are wondering what recipes could possibly lead to such an eventful evening. We'll tell you: Snazzy Spanish Omelette, Butternut Hash Browns, and Chunky Apple Cinnamon Muffins.
Chunky Apple Cinnamon Muffins: (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 278, 127 calories per serving) This was the only recipe that didn't give us any trouble. Everything worked out according to the directions except we did have enough to make 6 muffins instead of 4. Perhaps if you dice the apples instead of cutting them into cubes like we did, it will make the 4 serving recipe. They were good, nonetheless. We would recommend using foil muffin cups instead of paper cups.
Snazzy Spanish Omelette: (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 60, 191 calories per serving) The sauce is simple to make but we felt we didn't need such a large portion. We would recommend adding some of the veggies to the omelette mixture instead of the sauce. Diana says she wouldn't even bother with the sauce. She would put all of the veggies in the omelette and just put the two tablespoons of salsa on top. So this was a fairly simple recipe. Of course we had an omelette pan that Diana's mother left behind on accident. It might be more difficult if you don't have an omelette pan.
Diana's advice: If you have a gas stove, don't spray the aerosol cooking spray near the open flame. You just might set your best friend on fire or at the very least scare the crap out of her.
We would also like to point out that one serving could actually feed two. This makes for one large omelette.
Butternut Hash Browns: (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 92, 104 calories per serving) This was the most eventful and challenging recipe of the evening. Perhaps, in hindsight, we should have throughly read the recipe before we began. We missed the "tip" on shredding the butternut squash with a cheese grater. We used a vegetable peeler. It didn't affect the taste but it probably would have assisted with the ease in other parts of the recipe. We also discovered that you should attempt to make 3 recipes at a time or 3 servings at a time. You really need to do one serving at a time if you want to the recipe following the directions written in the book. After setting off the smoke alarm and burning my thumb while attempting to flip 3 servings of hash browns in a skillet, we decided to put it all into a pyrex dish and bake it in the oven. Diana set the oven at 350 degrees while I tended to my now blistering thumb. We baked it around 7 minutes--after we had already cooked a portion of it on the stove. So maybe bake it for 5 minutes, flip it, and bake for another 5 minutes.
Even though the recipe made for an interesting evening, it did taste like real hash browns. This is something I personally might try to do again to see if I can perfect it.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
All By Myself Meals
This past week was a bit of a hell week--Finals week. So as a teacher, I spent many late nights grading finals, projects and binders so I could get all my grades in by the deadline. I also started teaching at the Community College this week so I had very little time to do much of anything besides work. So with little time, I would usually go to Fast Food restaurants for dinner. Since I am trying to lose weight, that was no longer an option for me. Instead I decided to try some Hungry Girl recipes with the ingredients I already had.
Cheesy Beefy Quesadilla - (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 172, 196 calories, 4 weight watchers points) Since Diana and I had previously tried the Cheeseburger Quesadilla, I decided to try this recipe to see how to two compared. The Cheeseburger Quesadilla tasted like it sounds--like a cheeseburger. It didn't have a mexican food flare to it. This recipe does. It tastes like something you could order at Del Taco or Taco Bell. (I actually used my Del Taco Mild seasoning for this one). So if you like Mexican fast food, I highly recommend this recipe. It's fast, easy to make, and filling.
Spicy Tortilla Pizza Mexicali - (Hungry Girl 200 under 200 Pg. 178, 196 calories, 3 weight watchers points) Since I had so many tortillas and Boca Burger patties leftover, this seemed like a viable option. Again, another easy recipe. I made this one in my toaster oven--which is becoming my standard way of baking these recipes. It's not exactly the mexican pizza from taco bell but it is a close second and so much better for you. I highly recommend this if you do like Mexican pizzas. I personally left out the extra spices and used the Del Taco seasoning but you can season it however you like.
Green Tea Creme Swappuccino - (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 194, 75 calories, 2 points) I have already made this drink several times. I used to be a Starbuck regular and every time I would order a Green Tea Latte or Green Tea Frappacino. Now that I know how many calories I used to consume, I stick to the Skinny Lattes. But when I saw this recipe, I jumped for joy--I can have my Green Tea drinks once again. I do recommend this recipe but don't expect it to tast exactly like the Starbucks version. For me, the hardest part about this recipe is finding the Matcha Green Tea powder. I did find it at Whole Foods but it is $34 for a small can. Instead, I bought the liquid concentrate of the Matcha Green Tea at Ralphs. You do have to add more than one tablespoon since you are not working with the powder. The first time I did this, I just used one tablespoon and I barely tasted the Green Tea--it was more like a Vanilla shake. A good vanilla shake but still a vanilla shake nonetheless. So I made it again and added around 4 tablespoons. So much better. It's still not green like the Starbucks version but I don't care about the color, just the taste. If I do eventually find a cheaper matcha green tea powder, I will report back with the results of the comparison between using the powder and the liquid.
Cheesy Beefy Quesadilla - (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 172, 196 calories, 4 weight watchers points) Since Diana and I had previously tried the Cheeseburger Quesadilla, I decided to try this recipe to see how to two compared. The Cheeseburger Quesadilla tasted like it sounds--like a cheeseburger. It didn't have a mexican food flare to it. This recipe does. It tastes like something you could order at Del Taco or Taco Bell. (I actually used my Del Taco Mild seasoning for this one). So if you like Mexican fast food, I highly recommend this recipe. It's fast, easy to make, and filling.
Spicy Tortilla Pizza Mexicali - (Hungry Girl 200 under 200 Pg. 178, 196 calories, 3 weight watchers points) Since I had so many tortillas and Boca Burger patties leftover, this seemed like a viable option. Again, another easy recipe. I made this one in my toaster oven--which is becoming my standard way of baking these recipes. It's not exactly the mexican pizza from taco bell but it is a close second and so much better for you. I highly recommend this if you do like Mexican pizzas. I personally left out the extra spices and used the Del Taco seasoning but you can season it however you like.
Green Tea Creme Swappuccino - (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 194, 75 calories, 2 points) I have already made this drink several times. I used to be a Starbuck regular and every time I would order a Green Tea Latte or Green Tea Frappacino. Now that I know how many calories I used to consume, I stick to the Skinny Lattes. But when I saw this recipe, I jumped for joy--I can have my Green Tea drinks once again. I do recommend this recipe but don't expect it to tast exactly like the Starbucks version. For me, the hardest part about this recipe is finding the Matcha Green Tea powder. I did find it at Whole Foods but it is $34 for a small can. Instead, I bought the liquid concentrate of the Matcha Green Tea at Ralphs. You do have to add more than one tablespoon since you are not working with the powder. The first time I did this, I just used one tablespoon and I barely tasted the Green Tea--it was more like a Vanilla shake. A good vanilla shake but still a vanilla shake nonetheless. So I made it again and added around 4 tablespoons. So much better. It's still not green like the Starbucks version but I don't care about the color, just the taste. If I do eventually find a cheaper matcha green tea powder, I will report back with the results of the comparison between using the powder and the liquid.
Hungry Girl Weekend #3
Tonight, we decided to make it a Manwich night--Hungry Girl style. We picked three recipes - Sloppy Janes, Zesty Italian Pita Chips, and Freezy-cool whoopie pie.
We made our grocery list and set out to get everything we needed. We specifically went to Vons because we needed VitaTops (Muffin Tops) and their website said they carried them. No one there had ever heard of them. So then we went off to Whole Foods--they had never heard of them either. So it looks like we are going to have to order these from the VitaTops website and save the recipe for another time. Thankfully we found everything else that we needed for the other two recipes.
Sloppy Janes (Hungry Girl, Pg. 130, 271 calories) - Diana and I both agreed that we highly recommend this recipe. It is very easy to make. We do suggest that you use the whole can of the no-salt-added tomato sauce. It's weird to just leave a small amount in the can. We didn't want to let it go to waste. We also suggest adding a little chili powder to give it a little more flavor. Overall, it's a great recipe that serves five so you can freeze if you are single like me, or get the whole family to eat it if you share a home with someone besides your cat.
Zesty Italian Pita Chips (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 125, 163 calories, 3 weight watchers points) - This was the perfect subsitute for Potato Chips to go with our Sloppy Janes. Our suggestion would be to make a little more of the spread or dip the pitas in salsa. We dipped them in our leftover tomato sauce and that just didn't do the trick. We agreed, along with Diana's husband, that we should try these with some salsa. This is definitely something that is easy to make and would be good to have at a gathering of sorts.
We made our grocery list and set out to get everything we needed. We specifically went to Vons because we needed VitaTops (Muffin Tops) and their website said they carried them. No one there had ever heard of them. So then we went off to Whole Foods--they had never heard of them either. So it looks like we are going to have to order these from the VitaTops website and save the recipe for another time. Thankfully we found everything else that we needed for the other two recipes.
Sloppy Janes (Hungry Girl, Pg. 130, 271 calories) - Diana and I both agreed that we highly recommend this recipe. It is very easy to make. We do suggest that you use the whole can of the no-salt-added tomato sauce. It's weird to just leave a small amount in the can. We didn't want to let it go to waste. We also suggest adding a little chili powder to give it a little more flavor. Overall, it's a great recipe that serves five so you can freeze if you are single like me, or get the whole family to eat it if you share a home with someone besides your cat.
Zesty Italian Pita Chips (Hungry Girl 200 under 200, Pg. 125, 163 calories, 3 weight watchers points) - This was the perfect subsitute for Potato Chips to go with our Sloppy Janes. Our suggestion would be to make a little more of the spread or dip the pitas in salsa. We dipped them in our leftover tomato sauce and that just didn't do the trick. We agreed, along with Diana's husband, that we should try these with some salsa. This is definitely something that is easy to make and would be good to have at a gathering of sorts.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Embracing my "French" Canadian Heritage
On Friday, I ordered Red Robin takeout with my friends. I never realized before how hard it was to find a meal under 500 calories. I settled for their dinner salad and French Onion Soup. I love their French Onion soup but it was over 500 calories. I only ate half of the soup to keep in line with my diet. So when I was flipping through my Hungry Girl book, looking for new recipes to try, I found the Hungry Girl French Onion soup. I was curious to see how it would measure up to the restaurant version so I heade out to buy all of the ingredients.
Freakishly Good French Onion Soup: (Hungry Girl, Pg. 48) I was surprised how good this was. One serving is 113 calories (as opposed to the 525 calories at Red Robin). I also noticed it was not as salty as the restaurant versions. I'm thinking I am going to make this in bulk in my crock pot, letting it slow cook to perfection. Then I can divide it up into individual servings for quick meals during the week. I highly recommend this recipe if you like French Onion Soup.
Freakishly Good French Onion Soup: (Hungry Girl, Pg. 48) I was surprised how good this was. One serving is 113 calories (as opposed to the 525 calories at Red Robin). I also noticed it was not as salty as the restaurant versions. I'm thinking I am going to make this in bulk in my crock pot, letting it slow cook to perfection. Then I can divide it up into individual servings for quick meals during the week. I highly recommend this recipe if you like French Onion Soup.
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