Chinese Spaghetti

Not sure what to say about this dish other than it was yummy.. I say a lot of things are yummy though, anyone want to pitch in some descriptive words for tasty dishes?.. I'm all ears. its a nice change from the traditional Italian version... and less calories... because your not dumping tons of sauce on it. (or cheese.. you can't have spaghetti without cheese!) original recipe here.

Chinese Spaghetti (328 calories/5.25 grams fat/4 grams fiber/4 servings)

• 1/2 lb ground beef (93% lean)
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms
• 4 scallions, chopped and divided
• 8 oz spaghetti or angel hair pasta
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• 1 t chili paste w/ garlic ( I left this out for the little ones.. but mama likes it spicy!)
• 1 T reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 T fish sauce ( or oyster)

Cook pasta until almost finished, drain. Brown ground beef. Add mushrooms, half of the scallions, and the bean sprouts, and cook until sprouts are tender, and mushrooms are brown. Stir in soy, chili paste, and fish sauce, and pasta, toss lightly and garnish with fresh scallions.

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

Have you ever ordered a dish of Chicken Alfredo from Olive Garden? Or their Alfredo Pizza? or even just the dipping sauce for the bread sticks? All super yummy! But if you are on a diet.. Alfredo is just plain out of reach.. Because the dipping sauce alone has 380 Calories and 35 grams of fat.. add some pasta and chicken to make it the meal? and you have 1440 Calories and 88 grams of fat.. yeah.. I can feel myself gaining weight just thinking about it.. This sauce hits the spot without hitting your thighs.. It makes quite a bit, I had enough for sauce on a pizza and to cover pasta and broccoli. original recipe here.

Guiltless Alfredo Sauce ( 530 Calories/ 55 grams Fat/2 grams fiber/ no servings.. but it makes tons and you could get many individual meals out of it!)

• 2 Cups almond milk ( or just low fat milk)
• 3 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese,
• 2 T Flour
• 1 t salt
• 1 T butter
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 cup grated parm cheese

Toss milk, salt, flour, and cream cheese into a blender and pulse till smooth. Set aside. Saute butter and garlic until garlic is brown and fragrant. add milk mixture and stir constantly for about 3-4 minutes until it starts simmer, keep cooking a few more minutes until sauce becomes thicker. Stir in cheese until melted. take off heat, cover, and let stand for about 10 minutes.

Turkey Tetrazzini

What happens when you cook a whole turkey? turkey leftovers of course! This meal comes together in minutes.. I like that on days I'm not really in a cooking mood..but at the same time.. my family feels they need to eat everyday.. so I get to do it either way.. lucky me! :) Original recipe here.

Turkey Tetrazzini (240 Calories/11 grams fat/2 grams fiber/4 servings)

• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1.5 cup dry egg noodles, cooked
• 1/2 pound cooked, shredded turkey
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese
• pepper to taste

Spray non stick pan with cooking spray, Saute frozen peas 2-3 minutes until soft. Toss in turkey, stock, and cream cheese..heat until melted through and sauce thickens. Stir in noodles. That quick and easy.

Black Bean Lasagna

My weigh in was not a good one this morning.. so I am choosing to ignore it and claim a do-over.. next week good or bad..I will post my weight.. promise! :)

Anyway.. This lasagna was really good.. I never even missed the meat.. and at 8 grams of fiber per serving it is really filling! Recipe here

Black bean Lasagna (7 points/343 Calories/ 8 servings)

• 9 Rolled flat ready for the oven lasagna noodles
• 2 cans black beans drained, one mashed ,one whole.
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 29 oz can tomato sauce
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 16 oz container low fat cottage cheese
• 8 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese
• 1/4 cup FF sour cream

Mash one can black beans.

Saute onions, garlic and pepper in cooking spray until soft. add cilantro, both cans black beans, and tomato sauce and cook until warm.

In a separate bowl, combine cheeses and sour cream.

Spray baking pan with cooking spray and lay down 3 lasagna noodles, layer on top 1/3 of black bean mixture, then 1/3 of cheese, Repeat this twice. Dallop spoonfuls of the last layer of cheese on top. Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes.

Pasta with Butternut Parmesan Sauce

 Butternut Squash Parmesan Sauce (4 points / 170 cals/4 servings) original recipe here.

1 butternut squash average size

1-2 chopped shallots

1/2 cup Half and Half

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

 1 T fresh parsley

 2 t lemon juice

water as needed to thin sauce ( mine was pretty thick)

Pasta ( whatever kind you like.. not included in cals)

Salt and pepper

cooking spray

Cut Squash in half and lay in baking dish , skin size up, cool for about 10 minutes. Scoop out the squash flesh from the skins and purée with a blender adding water as needed. ( I yielded about 4 cups of puree for this recipe)

Saute chopped up shallots with cooking spray in a non stick pan. add squash and mix. Incorporate H&H into sauce and add parmesan. Salt and pepper to taste.. Stir in water to desired thickness.

Serve over cooked, hot pasta.