Zucchini & Cheese Mini Breakfast/Snack Cakes

Tried a new recipe last night! Altered the ingredients a little bit so I'll just tell you what I did instead of linking back to it. Oh, and they're only 65 calories each!

Zucchini Mini Cakes!

What you'll Need:

Muffin Pan

Mixing Bowl

Kitchen Towel

Cheese Grater

Pam Spray

Ingredients:

2 Small Zucchini's (or one large)

1/3 Cup Bread Crumbs (I used Italian)

1/3 Cup Shredded Reduced Fat Cheese

2 Eggs (only one shown in picture, added another later)

1/4 Cup yellow onion

Salt, Pepper, Spices to taste

Preheat your oven to 400*. 

Start off by grating the Zucchini onto a clean towel. You will need to wrap up the Zucchini in the towel to squeeze out the excess water. Do it over the sink, theres a lot.

Combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl.

Spoon mixture into muffin tin. My mixture filled 8 spots.

Bake at 400* for about 20 minutes, turning around in the oven half way through. Keep checking on them though, once the tops are brown they should be good to go!

They reminded me of mini breakfast quiche, so I ate mine with ketchup! They tasted awesome! I may add a little bit more cheese next time, but these were great. Also perfect to throw in todays bento box!

What is ALWAYS on my shopping list?

A few people have asked what foods I always have in stock at the house. These are the foods that will always show up on my food shopping list each week:

Fruits & Veggies:

Bananas
Oranges or Clemintines

Avocados

Carrots

Tomatoes

Green Beans

Sweet Potatoes

Cucumber

Onion

Garlic (chopped in a jar, or fresh)

Packs of Frozen veggies (for when youre in a bind)

Pickles (at virtually no calories, they're perfect with a sandwich or as a snack)

Breads:

English Muffins (my weakness..)

Low Calorie Bread (any kind, 40 cal a slice or less)

Grains/Pasta: 

Oatmeal (I eat it EVERY morning for breakfast)

Rice (I always have white and brown in the house)

Quick Cook Rotini (fast and easy to make)

Drinks:

Diet Pepsi (for my soda cravings)

Meat & Cheese:

 Chicken

(I ALWAYS have chicken in the house, I rarely eat red meat because of my stomach, so Chicken is my go to protein and meat for the week)

Deli Turkey

(Kreshmar or Boars Head, Yes I know its sodium packed, but nothing tastes better than turkey with avocado on a size of low cal bread)

Tuna (in water)

(I always have tuna on hand, another versatile food that you can throw in a salad or make a sandwich with really quick)

Spreadable Laughing Cow Cheese

Baby Bell Lite Cheese 

Condiments, Spices, Dips, and Add-ons:

Kens Light Options Olive Oil & Vinegar Dressing

Mustard

 Hummus

Reduced Sugar Grape Jelly

Peanut Butter

(contrary to popular, and my own, belief, Regular peanut butter is actually a LOT healthier than reduced fat. Reduced fat peanut butter actually has more sugar in it, but less fat, yet the SAME amount of calories. And the fat content difference isn't drastic.)

There are a TON of breakfast, lunch, and dinner combinations that can be made with just these foods. I sometimes fall into the "same lunch 3 days in a row" issue, but that's more so because I'm shelf life paranoid, and do not like to waste the foods I have open by letting them go past their prime dates.

Whats on your shopping list?

First Tzatziki Sauce attempt? Came out awesome!

I've been looking for alternates to guacamole and hummus to dip my carrots in each day (I'll get off this carrot kick eventually and move on to another veggie, I swear..). I thought of a few ideas, and was given a few ideas from friends.  Tzatziki sauce was one that stood out that I HAD to try to make. Heres my first attempt:

It came out great! Heres how I did it:

(keep in mind it was a quick attempt so measurements arent exact, and I only made a small portion)

One small container of low fat Plain Greek Yogurt (100 calories)

About a teaspoon or so of dried Dill Weed

Half of a seedless cucumber

Chopped Garlic (either fresh or jarred, I used Organic Jarred, I used about a tablespoon)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Use a cheese grater and grate down the cucumber (skin and all) and either place on a paper towel to soak up some of the water, or push down in a strainer, get it pretty dry. 

Mix yogurt, cucumber, dill, chopped garlic in a bowl. Add Salt & Pepper to taste. 

I know some people say to add lemon juice to this, but seeing I'm a greek yogurt newbie, this was tart enough for me without the lemon.

Again, SO EASY!!

..and tastes so great with my carrots, that I didn't have any left over for todays lunch.. oops :)

Ooooh the possibilities..

So this year is going to bring some super mega changes to our home. One of the biggest things I want to start is a vegetable garden. I grew up helping my grandfather with his, and let me tell you, those are some of my greatest memories. Homegrown tomato sandwiches always taste 1000x better shared around a table with family during the summer.

I'm thinking about growing Tomatoes (of course), zucchini, green beans, peas, eggplant, squash, and maybe carrots and soybeans. I'm just going to have to re-learn the seasons and planting styles, seeing I'm used to New York soil, not North Carolina clay. My lovely amazing Husband has offered to box out an area in the back yard to fill with soil and gravel, and my wonderful Mother has offered to help me get it up and going. I'm crazy excited! I definitely can't wait to start this!

Another thing we're doing, starting this weekend, is painting the living room and foyer! We're also looking into getting new couches for the living room. What does this all mean? I GET TO PAINT! I'm not talking about the walls, I'll help paint those too. I mean I get to break out my acrylic set and break in my brand new table top easel and go to town on some unsuspecting canvases. I'm too excited! I've decided to do a 4 canvas mural for the front foyer area! Now if we could just pick out the wall color.. 

More to come this summer? A bigger sitting area in the back, be it building a low deck, or extending out the cement area. Also, possibly lining the entire back fence with sunflowers. 

I have soo many things to look forward to! I love this feeling!

What does this have to do with diet and food and exercise? Not a thing, except the gard. But it makes me smile, which makes me happy, and keeps me motivated. Also, I warned you all I may go off topic sometimes :)

Last nights quick and easy dinner!

I was looking in the fridge to try to figure out dinner, for last night. Turns out, I had baby portabellas, red peppers, and onions, and a bottle of Low Calorie Sesame/Ginger salad dressing. First thought.. quick vegetable stirfry! I chopped up all the veggies and poured some dressing over them, and let them sit in the dressing for a little bit. My little man is sick, so I didn't want to spend the time setting up my wok, which is what I would normally use for this. So I grabbed a pan and started cooking. Just pour the dressing and veggies into the pan and saute until the vegetables are cooked to your liking. I tend to keep mine a little bit crispy. 

After the veggies are done, you can do just about anything with them. I was running low on calories for the day, so I just put the veggies themselves over some brown rice (which surprisingly enough, my son LOVED). In the past I've put them over chicken as well, or even cut up some cooked chicken and mix it in with the vegetables at the end. If I were to have brought a lunch with me today, this would have been a perfect leftover to use!

The calorie count for this will vary depending on what vegetables and dressing you use. Another way I cook vegetables in the summer is on a grill wok. I marinate chopped vegetables overnight in teriyaki marinade, and then toss them on the grill in the grill wok. This goes great paired with grilled chicken, burgers, steak, you name it!

Bento Lunch - Day 2

Yay! Another bento! For this one I used some left over chicken as the main protein in it. This is such an awesome way to reuse leftovers. 

Here is the breakdown of this Bento:
Chicken: 62 Calories (2 oz.)
Mini Pita: 80 Calories
Cheese Cubes: 120 Calories
Laughing Cow Wedge: 35 Calories
Hummus: 60 Calories (2 tbs.)
Baby Carrots: 20 Calories (14 pieces)
Cherry Tomatos: 18 Calories (6 pieces)

Total: 395 Healthy Calories!!

So I'm still under my 400 calorie meal marker, and not only is this lunch but also a snack! I already ate the veggies and hummus earlier as an early afternoon snack, and I'll be eating the chicken soon with the pitas and cheese. Much better than just trying to find random things that are quick during a foodstore run. Definitely better than looking at all the junk food around my office that would rack up calories and not be as healthy.

Low Calorie Quick Chickpea & Olive Salad

I mentioned a chick pea and olive salad in an earlier post. I've been eating this a lot just because of how quick and easy it is. Its a great little snack, and under 150 calories a serving! I made it again last night so I figured I would post up the recipe.

Quick & Easy Chick pea and Olive Salad

Makes 4 servings - 142 Calories per serving

What you will need:

One large can of chickpeas

One small can sliced black olives

One jar green olives with pimentos

2 Tbs Kens Oil and Vinegar Light Options Dressing (or an equivalent low calorie dressing)

Garlic Powder to taste

Next Combine all ingredients into a bowl:

 

Now Mix! Add whatever spices you like into it as well to taste. I prefer to use just a bit of garlic powder, because come on, everythings better with garlic.

It is too easy! and tastes great!

You can also vary this by adding other vegetables, such as scallions or onion. Fresh tomato would taste pretty good in this as well!

Enjoy!