Hummus Veggie Wrap

This wrap is a favorite of mine in the summer and during the school year when I have to pack a lunch because it's quick and easy to make as well as being tasty, satisfying and healthy!

1 La Tortilla Factory 100 calorie tortilla (whole wheat or white)

3 T hummus (homemade or store bought)

A selection of your favorite veggies-For this version, I went with spinach, grape tomatoes, seedless cucumber, kalamata olives and pepperocinis

1. Spread hummus down the center of the tortilla. Top with veggies. Roll up. It's that easy!

1 serving=1 wrap

6 WW Points+





Rockwell's Chopped Chicken Salad Copycat Recipe

Anyone who knows us well knows that we spend a lot of time at Rockwell's Neighborhood Grill. It's just 2 blocks from us, has delicious food, fun specials, a great beer and cocktail selection, and is affordable. On the last day of school Patrick and I headed to lunch to celebrate and we were both in the mood for salads. I chose their taco salad, Patrick chose their Chopped Chicken Salad. A week later, we were both home for lunch again and decided to replicate the salad for a healthy, satisfying lunch at home. It was delicious and lower in Points+ than I anticipated!

1 romaine heart and red lettuce leaves, chopped and rinsed

1 tomato, chopped

2 slices of bacon, cooked

2 oz. monterey jack cheese, shredded

2 oz. cooked chicken, chopped

1/4 of an avocado, chopped

balsamic vinegrette (we used Open Nature by Safeway Balsamic Vinegrette, which is 2 Points+ for 2 T)

1. Add lettuce to bowls. Top each salad with tomato, one slice of bacon chopped, 1 oz. of cheese, 1 oz. of chicken, and 1/8 of avocado. Top with dressing.

Serves 2.

4 Points+ per serving plus the Points+ amount for your dressing



Pad Thai-Lightened up!

We love Thai food, so when I got the email from Skinnytaste for this recipe (I'm a follower of course), I intended to make it! It was very easy and incredibly good! In fact, it was so good, that we decided to make it in the coming weekend to use up the leftover tofu and other ingredients.

3 oz. packaged rice noodles

2 t oil

1 clove garlic, minced

6 oz medium shrimp, shelled and deveined

2 oz firm tofu, cubed

1 large egg

1 large egg white

5 oz. bean sprouts

1 oz. Chinese chives or scallions, cut into 2 inch lengths (I went with scallions and ended up chopping them)

1 T crushed peanuts (I left them out this time but in the future would include them)

lime wedges (optional)

For the seasonings:

1 1/2 T fish sauce

1 T sugar

2 T water

1 T rice wine vinegar

1/2 t chili powder

1. Follow the package directions for the rice noodles. They should be soft (but still chewy and not mushy) when finished. Rinse with cold water.

2. While the noodles are cooking, get everything prepped, it's easiest to have everything ready. Combine seasonings in a small bowl.

3. Heat a large skillet and add the oil. Saute the garlic until fragrant and then add the shrimp and tofu. Once the shrimp are pink, add the noodles. Saute about 30 seconds, stirring continuously.

4. Push the noodles to one side and add the eggs. Break the yolk of the whole egg and cook both for about 30 seconds.

5. Combine the noodles and the eggs. Add the seasonings and stir to combine.

6. Add the bean sprouts and chives. Stir to combine and heat all ingredients. Add the peanuts and serve with the lime wedges.

Serves 2.

1 serving= Half of the Pad Thai

11 Points+

Garlic Dijon Herb Salmon and Asparagus Bundles

This dinner is amazing and very easy. We eat fish about once a week and most of the time it's salmon, so when I found these recipes this spring on Skinnytaste, I was excited to try both. Gina has you grill the salmon, but we don't have a grill, and cooking it in my trusty cast iron skillet proved to be a huge mess, so the second time I made it I baked mine, which always works for me. The flavors are like those of a great restaurant and both recipes are simple enough to make any night during the week.

To start:

1 bundle of fresh asparagus, trimmed of ends

olive oil spray (I used my Misto)

pepper

2 slices of prociutto

4 (6 oz) salmon filets
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray a baking sheet with oil spray. Put asparagus onto sheet, spray with oil and add pepper. Toss to coat and add more of each if needed.

2. Lay out prociutto on another surface. Lay 1 bundle onto prociutto and roll to wrap. Do this for remaining bundles.

3. Put bundles onto baking sheet.

4. Salt and pepper the salmon and add to the other half of the baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes.

5. While both bake prep the topping for the salmon.

Topping:
4 garlic cloves
1 t Herbs de Provance (or other herb blend, I used Penzey's Bouquet Garni)
1 t red wine vinegar
1 t olive oil
2 T dijon mustard

1. Add all ingredients to a mini prep chopper or a mortor and pestle. Chop or grind into a paste.
2. After 14-16 minutes, top the salmon with the topping and bake for 2 more minutes. Serve and enjoy with the asaparagus.

Serves 2.
1 serving=1 salmon filet and 1 bundle
6 Points+ for the salmon & 2 Points+ for the asparagas

Broiled Buffalo Wings with Blue Cheese Dip

I meant to post these wings back in February when we actually tried them, but alas, they never made it. It seems that every year for the Superbowl I'm always looking for a new way to make buffalo wings with less fat that also satisfy the craving for cruchy, spicy wings. This year I found this recipe on Pinterest and it is a winner! The recipe comes from Ellie Krieger, a nutritionist famous for creating and lightening up recipes.

For the wings:
2 lbs. chicken wings, split at the joint with tips discarded
1/4 c. Frank's Red Hot
1 T. fresh lemon juice
3 T. low sodium chicken broth

For the blue cheese dip:
1/4 c. plain Greek yogurt
2 T. light mayo
1 t. white wine vinegar
1/3 c. crumbled blue cheese

1. Preheat the broiler. Place the wings in a large pot and cover with water by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes.
2. Combine the ingredients for the blue cheese dip. Refridgerate.
3. In a small bowl, combine Frank's, lemon juice and chicken broth.
4. Drain the wings and add to a broiler pan. Broil about 5 minutes. Turn and broil another 5 minutes.
5. Add the wings and sauce to a large bowl and toss to coat the wings. Serve with the blue cheese dip.

Serves 8.
1 serving=4 wing sections & 2 T. blue cheese dip
8 Points+

Wings alone are 7 Points +

Summer Salad with Green Goddess Dressing

I am always looking for great salad and homemade dressing recipes to add to my lunch repertoire. When I found this Green Goddess dressing recipe on Skinnytaste, all I had to do was add a few of my favorite salad ingredients to make this delicious salad one that will definitely be in the lunch rotation. I think what got me most excited about it was that it's a creamy dressing that's low in calories and is really delicious. It would be fantastic on a dinner side salad or on a big lunch salad full of your favorite veggies!

For the salad, add to your liking:

romaine and red leaf lettuce, chopped

tomatoes (I used red and yellow Heirlooms, and they were delish!)

Israli or salad cucumbers (both are smaller and have great flavor)

artichoke hearts

1/4 c. garbanzo beans

1/8 of an avocado, chopped

Makes a salad for 1.

2 Points+

For the dressing:

1/2 c. light mayo

1/2 c. chopped scallions

1/2 c. chopped fresh basil

1/8 c. fresh lemon juice

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

1 tsp. anchovy paste (this adds great flavor)

1/2 c. light sour cream

1. Add all of the dressing ingredients into a blender or mini prep and blend until smooth.

2. Create your salad and top with dressing. For my big salad, I added 3 tablespoons of dressing.

Makes 16 servings. 

1 serving=2 T

1 Point+

Lightened Up Buffalo Chicken Tacos with Blue Cheese Sauce

This recipe was a Pinterest find that I knew I could make lighter. It comes from another food blog, Mrs. Regueiro's Plate. I lessened the amount of flour and corn starch as well as the amount of oil. I also thought the blue cheese dressing that I put on my iceberg wedges would be great on the tacos, so I made a batch of that as well. I have also eaten these tacos with light ranch on a day I just wasn't in the mood to buy all of the ingredients for the blue cheese sauce, and either dressing is really good on these! Patrick is a huge fan of Frank's Red Hot and puts it on everything, so of course this will need to be in circulation in our house!

1 lb. bonless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch. pieces
2 T flour
1 T cornstarch
1/2 t garlic powder
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1 t canola oil
1/2 c. Frank's Red Hot or your favorite wing sauce
8 Mission Carb Balance small tortillas

Toppings:
butter lettuce
chopped tomatoes

For the blue cheese sauce:
1/2 c. lowfat buttermilk
2 T reduced fat sour cream
3 T crumbled blue cheese
salt and pepper

1. Add buttermilk, sour cream, blue cheese and salt and pepper to a bowl. Stir to combine and set aside.
2. Add flour, cornstarch, garlic powder and cayenne to a bowl. Season chicken with salt and pepper, add to bowl, and toss to coat.
3. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Add chicken and saute until cooked though.
4. Remove chicken into a bowl and add the wing sauce. Stir to coat. Add to tortillas. Top with lettuce, tomato and the blue cheese sauce or ranch dressing.

Serves 4.
1 serving=2 tacos and 1 T of sauce on each
9 WW Points+ per serving