Cheese Enchiladas 03/04/2013

Tonight I made Cheese Enchiladas from the 300 calorie cookbook.
Corn Tortillas, Green Onions, Tomato, Chili powder, Shredded Cheese, Cottage Cheese and enchilada sauce.
I made a double batch so I could have some for tomorrow night's dinner.  I am very glad that I did.

It is quite messy looking, but it tasted so good.  2 enchiladas were 250 calories and then I made spanish rice at 200 calories for 1 cup.  This plate is 450 calories. Yes, I am serious.  

I would made this over and over again.  I give this a 9.  Only not a 10 because I can always improve something.

I'm not sure what I will be making next.  I am not getting through the cookbook very quickly.  I may have to make this a 2 year goal. :)

Recipe 3: Chicken and avacado with sweet pepper sauce 02/05/2013

Chicken with avocado with sweet pepper sauce.

I know I haven't made many items out of the cookbook yet - but this is one that will be in my FOR SURE to make again file.

300 calories per portion.

This came out of Chapter 10 - Cooking for Two.  I only made two portions per the recipe.

Simple but really delicious - Chicken Breast, reduced sodium chicken broth, garlic powder, pepper, bell pepper - any color (I used green), simply fruit apricot spread and 1/4 avacado.

Poached chicken is my favorite, so I looked forward to making this recipe.
The sweet pepper sauce I was apprehensive about. 

After poaching the chicken in the broth, garlic powder, pepper and bell pepper, you take the broth mixture and put it in a blender with the apricot spread and blend.
Cutting slices in the chicken you put a few slices of avocado on top of the chicken and then pour the sweet pepper sauce on top.

I made steamed broccoli to go with the chicken.(not shown in picture) 
I gave this a 9.  My husband was at a soccer game, so he had it re-heated and although he enjoyed it, he felt he didn't get the full experience.   So - we will just go with my rating on this one.

Stay tuned this week - I have scheduled to make Cheese Enchiladas, Pork Chips and Apples and Mini Meat Loaves

Recipe 2 - Rustic Potato Soup 1/29/2013

Sorry, I have been crazy with midterms and haven't had time to update the blog.  I made Rustic
Potato Soup for recipe #2.  It is in Chapter 10 Cooking for Two.
I again doubled this recipe, so we could eat off of it twice.

Calorie Count for one serving according to the recipe was 290 calories.
I used Almond-Coconut Milk in place of the Fat-Free (Skim) Milk. 
1 cup of Almond-Coconut Milk is 45 calories and one cup of fat-free skim milk is 86 calories.
So, I called it - 250 calories per serving for the portion that I had for dinner.

This is a simple recipe and it was really delicious. 
Potatoes, Water, Milk, butter, salt, pepper, green onion and reduced fat cheddar cheese.

I would give this recipe an 8.  My husband gave it a 7.  He is a meat guy, so I wasn't surprised that it only got a 7 from him.  If I had put a little bacon in it - I think he would have given it a 9.  Mind you, he did eat a serving the night I made it and one the next night while I was out.
So - I think he secretly liked it more than a 7.  I would make this again for sure.

Day 1: 01/27/2013 - Italian Pizza Bake

Day 1: Italian Pizza Bake

I was really excited about this recipe.
This is in Chapter 10: Cooking for Two Chapter. Ingredients included:  Pre-cooked Chicken (I poached my chicken while dicing and cutting my ingredients,) onions, green bell pepper, italian diced tomatoes, italian seasoning, garlic powder and bisquick, (It calls for Heart Smart, I used Gluten Free Bisquick) and egg whites.

1 portion is 200 calories.

I made a side of steamed broccoli. I measured out 1 cup, which is 30 calories.

This dinner was 230 calories total and I drank water with my dinner.

Now for my review:  I didn't care for the "crust" at the bottom.   I like the topping, I think it was flavorful and not disappointing.  I ended up scraping my toppings off and not eating the crust at all and I added a few red pepper flakes and it did bring a little something more to the flavor.

I was full after eating my portion, even after not eating the crust and he didn't go for a 2nd portion.

Overall rating for this dish:  5 on a scale of 1-10

What would I do different?  Come up with a different type of crust.  We discussed making a thin style pizza crust and determining the calories for that instead.

We have 299 more recipes to go, so we won't be trying that out just yet.

What's in store for tomorrow?  Chicken and avocado with sweet pepper sauce

So, stay tuned....

Read First

I am not a writer.  I am not a chef.  I am a simple girl that made a goal to make every recipe from a cookbook within a year.  Yes, I got the idea from the movie Julia & Julia.  With that said, I am also trying to eat healthier and lose some weight.  A friend of mine suggested that I try Betty Crocker The 300 Calorie Cookbook.  This has 300 tasty meals in the cookbook.

Well, I have to tell you all about my crazy food allergies.  I have a severe allergy to shellfish and peanuts, anaphylactic shock allergic.  Then, I have a gluten allergic - which includes all kinds of things that "normal" people cook with.  This allergy isn't going to put my in the ER the same day, but causes all kinds of digestive issues and it just isn't pleasant.  Then there is the milk allergy.  I get a rash - not a big thing, but still I try to use milk products in moderation.

So, as I stated, the cookbook has 300 recipes.  I will make all recipes in the book, but I will be modifying for my allergies.  I will make sure to mention any deviation from the original recipe.  Of course, I won't be listing the recipe on this blog, as you can buy the book yourself.  I am not here to give the recipes to anyone for free.  So, I will post photos of my creations and give you my opinion and probably my husband's opinion as well.  I am sure I will have guest tasters along the way and I will make sure to ask them for their input as well.

I hope you enjoy reading this. I know this is a great way to keep me accountable for eating a healthy dinner and meet one of my goals.