Max4pup's Smoothie

1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup peaches
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 strawberry/banana (frozen)
flaxseed

Put ingredients in blender and blend.

Fiber Muffins

2 c. Fiber One Cereal (or All Bran) (I use Perky's flax cereal instead)
1 c. flour, whole grain (I use oat flour)
1 egg white
1/4 c. honey
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
1 cup of blueberries or any berry you want



Directions
Mix together the All Bran, egg, and milk and let sit for a few minutes then add in all the other ingredients.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake in a greased muffin tin for 25 minutes.

Number of Servings: 12

Number of Servings: 12

Lebanese Cream Cheese

Lebanese Cream Cheese (60% Fewer Calories!)

Posted on 03/16/2011 by McKayMachinaon myfitnesspal.com

This is how I make cream cheese. It's called Labneh and it is GLORIOUS. This is one of my favorite pre-healthy recipes. Just, turns out, it's actually better for you! :D Tastes like heaven. I am a cream cheese FREAK but I will take Labneh any day over cream cheese. It really is that good.

You may see other spellings like Lebni, Labni, Labna, etc.

Regular cream cheese has 100 calories per ounce. Labneh is only 40 cals/oz.! It's so easy to make overnight in the fridge. Check it out!

Ingredients

• 32 oz. Greek Yogurt

• 1 tsp. salt (I'm going to omit)
  

Stir 1 tsp. of salt into 32 oz. greek yogurt. Pour yogurt into (brand new) doubled-over pantyhose. You can use tripled-over cheesecloth if you want but pantyhose are perfect! Tie tight. Hang from a wooden spoon over a tall pitcher at least 2-3" off the bottom. Refrigerate overnight so all the whey drips off. Pull out the pantyhose, cut open, roll labeh out onto a dish. Smooth with the back of a spoon.

Garnish with any combination of the following:

• Your favorite dried herbs. Some good ones I've found are dill, mint, chives and parsley.

• Za'atar. Make your own or buy it. Usually includes oregano, basil, thyme, savory and other dried herbs.

• Olive oil

• Kalamata olives

• Smoked paprika. My favorite!

• Sun-dried Tomatoes, chopped

• Roasted Red Pepper

• Garlic, chopped and sauteed

• Honey

• Berries

• Whatever sounds yummy!

Serve with pita bread or your favorite veggies.

I like to mix plain labneh in with my pastas for creamy sauce, with my eggs for creamy omelets and spread it on sandwiches and wraps in place of condiments.

Again, only 40 cals/oz.

Bonus: You can use the left over whey to make fresh ricotta. :)

Souch Beach Mediterranean Veggie Pitas

Mediterranean Vegetable Sandwiches (Phase 2)

Description
The bright colors and flavors of this overstuffed sandwich reflect the sunny region it’s named for. Soaking the onions in ice water tames the bite; try this technique for salads too. If you’re on Phase 1, skip the pita and eat the filling as a salad.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Makes 4 (1/2-pita) servings

Ingredients
1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced
1 (15.5-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups baby spinach
3 ounces reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbled (generous 1/3 cup)
1 medium cucumber, halved crosswise and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
2 roasted red peppers (from a jar), rinsed and cut into 1/4" slices
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped ( I omitted to lower the sodium)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
Cayenne
2 (6") whole-grain pita breads, halved

Instructions
Place onion in a small bowl and cover with ice water, let sit for 10 minutes.

Drain onion, pat dry, and place in a medium bowl. Add chickpeas, spinach, feta, cucumber, tomato, peppers, olives, oil, vinegar, and cumin; stir gently to combine. Season with cayenne to taste.

Fill pita halves with vegetable mixture and serve.

Nutritional information
Per serving with pita:
290 calories
9 g fat (2.5 g sat)
44 g carbohydrate
13 g protein
8 g fiber
770 mg sodium

Kale Chips

I tried making Kale Chips a couple months ago and they came out tasting like burnt paper. But I tried again last week and tweaked the temp and cooking time. Now I'm addicted to them and look forward to having them as a snack everyday!

Ingredients:
Bunch of Kale rinsed and dried
Fat Free Olive Oil cooking spray
Johnny's Seasoning/ Sea Salt

Spray a cookie sheet, tear the kale into bite size pieces, discard the stems. Arrange on the cookie sheet and spray again with the cooking spray, lightly (and I mean lightly, Kale seems to already have a salty flavor, you can always salt more after cooking) salt and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes until slightly crispy, they tend to crisp up more as they cool and it's easy to over cook, you have to watch carefully until you know how your oven will cook. They are an awesome savory snack with out the guilt!


1 Cup Serving
Calories 15 Sodium 175 mg
Total Fat 0 g Potassium 0 mg
Saturated 0 g Total Carbs 3 g
Polyunsaturated 0 g Dietary Fiber 1 g
Monounsaturated 0 g Sugars 0 g
Trans 0 g Protein 1 g
Cholesterol 0 mg

Spinach and Swiss stuffed Turkey Burgers

Spinach and Swiss stuffed Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

8 oz Lean Ground Turkey
1- 1 1/2 cup Baby Spinach
1 small onion
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp whatever fat you prefer, I used EVOO
2 slices low-fat swiss.

Chop onion and garlic and saute in evoo until translucent. Rinse and add baby spinach. Saute until spinach is wilted. Doesn't take very long. Remove from pan.

Season meat however you prefer. I actually didn't season it at all. The garlic and onion mixed in with the spinach flavored it pretty good. Separate into four equal portions and shape into patties. Place slice of cheese on two of the portions. Half spinach mixture and place on top of cheese. Add the other portion of turkey to top and seal the edges. Cook in same pan you used for spinach mixture. I didn't need to add extra oil and it didn't stick.

When it was done I ate it on a ww bagel thin. Any bread will do. Honestly it would be good without bread lol.

Hope you enjoy.

Ends up being right around 250 calories for just the burger.

Edited by tmbowman on Fri 03/04/11 05:42 PM