Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Last night's dinner only added fuel to the fire of my new obsession with spaghetti squash! I have yet to try anything that I don't love with spaghetti squash and it only makes it all the better that using it really fills me up and keeps the point values low!! This really tasted like a real lasagna, I couldn't believe it! I think next time, I will probably try sauteing in some mushrooms and garlic with it as well. I admit, I did give it a sprinkle of garlic powder at the last minute when I realized there was no garlic in this recipe. I will say, buy the biggest spaghetti squash you can find. This one asks for 5-6 cups, I bought the biggest one that Woodman's had and it barely gave me 5 cups. I bought an extra smaller one just incase I needed more, but decided at the last minute to just fix the one and it gave me just enough. And I love that this recipe gives me 12 servings, the hubs had 2 pieces, and I had 1, so even though he took a couple for lunch today, we'll still have plenty of leftovers!!!

Ingredients:

1 (10oz) pkg. frozen chopped spinach

1 c. onion, finely chopped

1 lb. extra lean ground turkey

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 ½ c. pasta sauce

1 ½ c. fat free cottage cheese

½ c. grated parmesan cheese

2 large egg whites

1 large spaghetti squash (5-6 cups cooked)

½ c. part skim shredded mozzarella

 

Directions:

1.   Heat oven to 375. Cut squash in half length-wise and using a spoon, scoop out the seeds. Place halves face down on baking sheet and cook for 45-50 minutes. When done, using two forks, scrape out the insides and put all spaghetti squash in a separate bowl. Then turn oven temp up to 425. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

2.   While spaghetti squash is roasting, begin preparing the other layers to the lasagna. In a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray, sauté the onions and spinach (best if it’s not totally frozen, but can be). Cook until onion is translucent and spinach is not frozen. Remove from pan and put in a bowl.

3.   In the same skillet, cook ground turkey. Drain off any excess grease. Add basil and oregano and pasta sauce. Cook until heated then add to the onions and spinach and stir well.

4.   In a separate bowl, whisk together the cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and egg whites.

5.   Begin layering the lasagna. Using half of the spaghetti squash, spread it out on the bottom of the baking dish. Then using half of the cheese mixture, spread on top of spaghetti squash. Third, using half of the meat mixture, spread over the cheese mixture. Repeat layering with remaining ingredients: spaghetti squash, cheese mixture, meat mixture. Then sprinkle the ½ c. mozzarella on the very top.

6.   Bake for 35-40 minutes.

7.   Let it sit about 10 minutes before cutting into 12 even pieces.  

Yields 12 piece – WWP+ 4 per slice

Shown here with a 1 point salad: lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers and 2 T. fat free Caesar Italian dressing.

 Adapted from Dashing Dish

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Sorry! No picture! I took one, I swear, but it has disappered from my phone!

 

I don't know what happened to my picture, I swear I took one, but it is missing from my phone. The next time I make it (which will probably be soon considering how delicious this was!!!) I will be sure to take another picture to post with the recipe. This casserole was super easy to put together and it really did taste like chicken parmesan. We had my parents over for dinner the night we made this and they both loved it too! The only downside is that it is an 8 point dish, which is getting to be a higher point dinner for me now that I'm losing more and more weight, because as the weight goes down, so do the points they allow you for the day, but it was worth it to eat a light lunch to enjoy this dinner!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ c. fresh basil, finely chopped

2 c. marinara/pasta sauce

6 oz. part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated

3.5 oz. garlic croutons, roughly crushed (leave some bigger chunks) 

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

2.   Spread the cubed chicken in the single layer across the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle the minced garlic and fresh basil over top of it. Spread marinara sauce over the chicken next.

3.   Divide the two cheeses into halves, sprinkle half the mozzarella then half the parmesan. Sprinkle all the croutons on top of the cheeses. Then sprinkle the remainder of the mozzarella and parmesan on top of the croutons.

4.   Bake for 40-45 minutes.  

Yields 8 servings – WWP+ 8 points  

Recipe adapted from Emily Bites

Chicken Parmesan Muffins

Chicken Parmesan Muffins

The first time I made these, I did it one night when we had my parents over for dinner. My dad is a bit of a picky eater, so I thought these would be a safe bet and they were amazing! And bonus...the recipe made 12 muffins (instead of the typical 8 that comes with many of the muffin/cupcake recipes) so even with company, we had leftovers. They were so good and they looked really fancy! We're serving them again this Sunday when friends come over for an Oscar party...I know they'll be incredible once again!

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds raw ground chicken breast

1 egg

1 egg white

6 T dried breadcrumbs

¾ tsp. dried basil

¾ tsp. dried thyme

¾ tsp. oregano

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ a small onion, chopped finely

¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper

¾ c. parmesan cheese

¾ c. pasta sauce

¾ c. 2% mozzarella cheese, shredded 

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 350 and spray a muffin tin with cooking spray

2.   In a bowl, combine ground chicken, egg, egg white, bread crumbs, basil, thyme, oregano, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Mix until combined.

3.   Fill all 12 cups of the muffin tin evenly with the meat mixture, it fills each one almost to the top. Press down with a spoon to make sure all the space is filled up. Evenly divide pasta sauce over the 12 muffins. Bake 22-24 minutes or until cooked through.

4.   Remove from oven and evenly divide mozzarella over the 12 muffins. Return to the oven 2-3 more minutes until cheese is melted and slightly browned.

 

Yields 12 servings – WWP+ 4 points for 1, and 7 P+ for 2.

(Pictured above with a 2 point salad – lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, 2 T of low fat shredded cheese and 2 T of fat free Caesar dressing and 1 point garlic toast – slice of Healthy Life 100% whole wheat bread toasted, then sprayed with spray butter and sprinkled with garlic salt) 

***adapted from www.emilybites.com***

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

This yummy pizza was our Sunday lunch this week! It was super easy and fast to put together and tasted like a really fancy kind of pizza! It was delicious! I had intended to make a few days prior, but we accidentally used up all of our fresh spinach in the house in salads, so I had to wait until I could get to the store and grab some more. Tessa wouldn't eat it, unfortunately, I think she would have loved it, she just wouldn't even try it because there was green on it. Coming from my girl who will eat three servings of broccoli...she won't even try a pizza with a little green on it. Go figure!

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh chopped spinach

1 clove garlic, minced

½ c. light Alfredo sauce (I like Classico)

½ c. chicken breast, chopped or shredded

¾ c. part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 ½ tsp. grated parmesan cheese

Boboli 12” whole wheat thin pizza crust 

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 450

2.   Lightly spray a skillet with cooking spray. Add garlic and chopped spinach and cook for a few minutes (stirring occasionally) until spinach is wilted and garlic is fragrant.

3.   Spread the ½ c. alfredo sauce over the pizza crust. Add the garlic and spinach and spread evenly throughout. Sprinkle the shredded chicken on top of the sauce. Top with shredded mozzarella and parmesan.

4.   Bake on a foil covered baking sheet or pizza stone for 8-10 minutes. 

Yields 6 slices – WWP+ 5 per slice

Shown here with a 1 point salad: lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers and 2 T. fat free Caesar Italian dressing.

Recipe from Emily Bites

Lasagna Cupcakes

Lasagna Cupcakes

I have yet to try one of these cupcake recipes that I don't love! They are so easy to make and are SO yummy and make really great leftovers AND are really easy portion control! The lasagna cupcakes last night were no exception. They took a little more work than some just because there were several layers to it, but what good lasagna doesn't have several layers? Come on! We served them with a salad and a little bit of garlic toast and it was a very tasty Valetine's Day dinner at home with my family!

 

Ingredients:

½ lb. extra lean ground beef

1 ½ tsp. Italian seasoning

5 oz. chopped mushrooms

16 wonton wrappers

1/3 c. part-skim ricotta cheese

1 oz. parmesan cheese

1 c. pasta sauce

3 oz. part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese

 

Directions:

1.   Preheat the oven to 375 and spray 8 cups of a muffin tin with cooking spray.

2.   In a skillet, brown the ground beef and Italian seasoning. When cooked, add the chopped mushrooms and cook a few minutes more until mushrooms are browned.

3.   Push one wonton wrapper into the bottom of each of the 8 muffin cups. Using half of the ricotta cheese, evenly divide among the cups. Using half of the meat mixture, evenly divide that among the 8 cups. Use ½ c. of the pasta sauce and layer on top of meat. Sprinkle about half of the mozzarella then half of the parmesan next. Repeat layering steps with remaining ingredients: wonton wrapper, ricotta cheese, meat mixture, pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese (evenly dividing all among the 8 cups).

4.   Bake 18-20 minutes and allow a few minutes to cool and set before serving.

 

Yields 8 servings – WWP+ 4 for one cupcake, 9 points for two.

Pictured with a 1 point salad – lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and 2 T. fat free French dressing. We also served it with garlic toast – 1 point bread sprayed with spray butter and sprinkled with garlic salt.

Recipe adapted from Emily Bites

Spaghetti & Meatball Cups

Spaghetti & Meatball Cups

These little individual servings of spaghetti & meatballs are so tasty! And...not to mention, they look really cool and fancy! Pasta is yummy, I love it, but it's really hard to portion out and make sure that you're not overeating it, which is why I love this recipe. Now, I'll admit, of the recipes I've made, this one was a little more time consuming than some of the others, but it's totally worth it! It was such a delicious dinner and we had leftovers which we used for lunches for several days because it makes a full dozen of these! I would suggest making these on a night when you aren't in a huge rush!

Ingredients:

1 lb extra lean ground beef

¼ c. seasoned bread crumbs

1 egg

1 T skim milk

8 oz. whole wheat spaghetti (broken up into thirds or fourths)

3 egg whites

1 oz. parmesan cheese

¼ c. 2% shredded mozzarella cheese

1 ½ c. + 3 T marinara sauce (divided) 

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

2.   In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, egg & skim milk and stir until mixed. Add the ground beef and stir very well. Divide meat into 12 equal balls and line on baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes at 350.

3.   Boil water and cook pasta according to directions on the box. Drain noodles and set aside to cool.

4.   When meatballs are done, remove from the oven and put in a saucepan with 1 ½ c. of marinara sauce. Keep warm over low heat, stir occasionally. Turn oven up to 400.

5.   In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites and add the pasta to it. Stir to combine then add the Parmesan, mozzarella and 3 T of marinara sauce. Mix together well.

6.   Spray all 12 cups of a muffin tin with cooking spray. Put about 1/3 c of spaghetti mixture into each cup. Using your fingers, press down in the center and up the sides, forming little cups. Bake for 15 minutes at 400.

7.   When cups are done, cool a few minutes, then remove from tin, top with 1 meatball and 1 T of marinara sauce from the pan.

(when storing leftovers, store spaghetti cups and meatballs separately)

Yields 12 servings – WWP+ 4 per serving for 1, and 8 points for 2

(pictured with a 2 point salad – lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, 2 T low fat cheese & 2 T fat free Caesar dressing and 1 point garlic toast)

Recipe from Emily Bites

Portobello Mushroom Pizzas

Portobello Mushroom Pizzas

Our portobello mushroom pizzas tonight really were delicious! My apologies though, they aren't supposed to look like that! I will definitely update with a new picture the next time I make them. I mistakenly forgot to add my 1 c. of shredded mozzarella cheese to my grocery list and I didn't happen to have any at home. Yikes! So I ended up using one of my 2% shredded cheddars, which they don't melt so well when just used as a topping. Use the mozzarella when you make it, and I promise, they'll look much nicer! Despite the wrong cheese, they were still quite yummy and with mushroom as the crust, the points were much lower! We also had a nice salad and some steamed broccoli with it as well. I promise...a new picture the next time I make them!

Ingredients:

1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

¾ c. canned whole tomatoes

1 T tomato paste

1 T fresh basil, sliced thin

¼ tsp. oregano

¼ tsp. sugar

1 small bay leaf

Salt & pepper to taste

4 portobello mushroom caps

1 c. part skim shredded mozzarella cheese

¼ lb. uncooked turkey sausage (mine came to one link of the Jennie-O sweet Italian turkey sausages)

1 can sliced black olives

 

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 450

2.   In a small saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and add garlic. Cook until fragrant. Combine the canned tomatoes and paste in a blender or chopper and blend. Add the tomato sauce, sliced basil, oregano, sugar, bay leaf, salt and pepper to the saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, about 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Then remove the bay leaf.

3.   While sauce is simmering, remove casings from turkey sausage and cook over medium heat until no longer pink. Then drain grease from the pan.

4.   Line baking sheet with foil. Prepare mushroom caps by removing the stems and wipe outsides with a damp paper towel, if necessary to remove any dirt. Place mushroom caps on baking sheet. Drain can of olives and evenly divide among the four mushrooms. Evenly divide cooked sausage among mushrooms. Lastly, top each with ¼ c. of shredded cheese.

5.   Cook on top rack for 12-14 minutes, or until cheese melts & mushroom is tender. 

Yields 4 pizzas – WWP+ 4 points each

Margherita Pizza

Margherita Pizza

Last night we had a truly rare occurance, s quiet house. My parents came and picked up Tessa to take her to their house for the evening, so David and I had dinner just the two of us. Then he left for class and I had the house to myself. What a weird feeling! So for dinner, I made this margherita pizza, it's the second time that I have made it and it was just as good as the first time. I never had tried to make pizza sauce from scratch before (except the one time I mixed ranch with garlic in attempts to make Papa Murhphy's garlic cream sauce). I just wanted to hold my head over the skillet while the sauce was cooking, it smelled SO good. This time I made a double batch of sauce, used half on the pizza and stuck the other half in the fridge as I'm planning to make portabello mushroom cap pizzas next week, and I wanted to get the most use out of the ingredients I had. Turns out, I think I would have had enough to make a triple batch. I do that whenever I can to maximize waste with the ingredients that I buy!

Ingredients:
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. garlic, minced

¾ c. canned whole tomatoes

1 T tomato paste

1 T fresh basil, sliced thin

¼ tsp. oregano

¼ tsp. sugar

1 small bay leaf

Salt & pepper to taste

Boboli 12” whole wheat thin pizza crust

4 oz. fresh part skim mozzarella, sliced thin

8-10 fresh basil leaves

½ tsp. Italian seasoning 

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 450

2.   In a small saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and add garlic. Cook until fragrant. Combine the canned tomatoes and paste in a blender or chopper and blend. Add the tomato sauce, sliced basil, oregano, sugar, bay leaf, salt and pepper to the saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, about 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened.

3.   Remove the bay leaf (you should have about ½ c. of sauce) and spread sauce on pizza crust. Lay mozzarella slices on top of sauce. Spread basil leave on top of mozzarella (if they are big leaves, I sometimes cut them in half before spreading them). Sprinkle the Italian seasoning on top.

4.   Put pizza on foil covered baking sheet or preheated pizza stone (what I do) and bake 8-10 minutes.

 
Yields 6 slices – WWP+ 5 per slice

recipe from Emily Bites