Garlic Herbed Baby Carrots!

This really couldn't be any easier or cheaper to make! and it's REALLY good for you.

Things you'll need

1 bag baby carrots(I use organic, cause I don't like my carrots soaked in chlorine!)

1/4 cup olive oil or a bit more, your preference.

Liberal amount of dried Thyme (eyeball it)

Salt and pepper, not too much, but enough to flavor, and if you want to add more after it's finished, that's fine, just go easy on the salt. 

6  large garlic cloves minced 

Fresh chives to top, or dill, or whatever fresh herb that you would like to pair it with!

(I use what I grow, right now my chives are growing like crazy!)

*Roast the baby carrots with the fresh minced garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, Thyme, salt and pepper, mix it well with carrots so it's nicely coated, once that's finished,  lay those babies on a baking sheet in a single layer.


*Place in a preheated 350 degree oven-Roast until garlic is browned and carrots are soft, this is one aroma that will make your mouth water and your home smell delicious!

This is a great side dish, or just a snack! 

Light & creamy Lasagna Rollups!

These are my 'Thinny Roll-ups', I was really in the mood for something rich and creamy, but also didn't want to have a 1,000 calorie dinner! These came out great and the whole family loved them, nobody could tell they were a 'Thinny' Recipe! That was the point, flavor without all the bad stuff, but still not tasting like rabbit food! 

Filling 

15 oz low fat ricotta

1 egg

Hand full of chopped Chives

9 lasagna noodles

2 packages of mushrooms(baby ports or white) Sliced.

Salt &Pepper
1-2 minced garlic clove

Fresh herbs from my garden, Oregano and chives!

Step 1
Sauté mushrooms in a little olive oil and salt-set aside and let them cool down.


Step 2
Combine Ricotta cheese, 1 egg, cooled sautéed Mushrooms, chopped chives, minced garlic cloves, blend it well, add a bit of salt and pepper. 

Step 3
*Cook Lasagna noodles in a pot of boiling water till soft. let it cool off before rolling, put a bit of olive oil on a baking sheet,(very shallow layer, just enough so that the noodles don't stick) lay one noodle at a time on the baking sheet that you will be using, and spread the filling evenly over the noodle (not thick, but a nice layer of mushroom filling) Roll it up, loosely; seam side down, repeat until all Noodles are rolled. Cook for about 30 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.  Check on it after 25 minutes, because some ovens cook faster, you don't want the noodles to crisp up, unless that's how you like it! 

Pre oven Roll-Ups

*Right out of the oven*

White sauce

Shallow layer of Olive oil (for the pan)

5 cloves fresh minced garlic

Bunch of Fresh chopped oregano (but dry can be used)
Juice of 1 Lemon

Salt & Pepper
1/2 cup (frozen) cooked peas

1 larget tomato, diced and drained-Or, if you must- italian style diced tomato can drained

1/2 bar Neufchatel cheese, that's 6 Tbsp. cubed (1/3 less fat Philly cream cheese is what I used, if I had organic cheese I would have used that)

*Take your pan and put it on a medium heat with the olive oil, once the oil is hot, throw in minced garlic cloves, the cubed cheese, chopped Oregano, diced tomato and peas- Stirring gently till it's nice and smooth. Adjusting heat accordingly. Once that's warm and smooth, turn the heat off and add the juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper to taste,  stir till well blended, pour 1 rounded Tbsp. of warm sauce on finished rollups! Great Served with a side of roasted Asparagus, and a fresh green salad!

MANGIA!!

Thinny Mozzarella Eggplant

This is a easy, low-fat, healthier version of the traditional Eggplant Parmesan! 

I made this tonight for dinner, because my grandmother was over and it was her 85th Birthday! Her favorite dish is eggplant parm, but she likes to eat healthy and doesn't like things oily, she truly enjoyed this, but she doesn't like the skin! So next time I make this for her, I will peel it! However, the rest of the fam loved it with the skin, so that's your call! We paired this with spaghetti and a green salad! 

Things you'll need
Pre heat oven to 400 degrees
1 Eggplant Sliced, length-wise, (peeled if that is your preference)
BreadCrumbs (italian style, I used progresso) a bowl full, no exact measurement, just enough to coat.
2 eggs-Or 3-6 egg whites
Tomato-Basil sauce (1 jar of victorias, or your preference, or even better homemade!)
Olive oil, enough to coat the baking sheet (with aluminum foil, or parchment)
Low fat - Mozzarella shredded cheese (small fist full of cheese for each sliced eggplant)
Dried oregano
Few sprinkles grated Parmesan cheese to top once done (optional)


*Since it's not herb growing weather in my garden yet, I would have used additional fresh basil, so if you have some, add it! 

Step 1-Preheat the oven, wash your eggplant, slice the head off- Peel, or leave the skin, I like the skin and it's good for you! Take your eggplant and stand it up chopped side down,(the side where you just cut the head off), slice from top to bottom. The end pieces will have a bit to much skin, skim that off, so the breadcrumbs can stick. 

Sliced Eggplant

Step 2-Get your eggs, crack and whisk them in a bowl that is larger then the width and length of the eggplant slices, put your breadcrumbs in a bowl and start coating your eggplant slices by dipping them in the eggs, allow it to drip any excess egg off, coat with bread crumbs!

Pre-Oven! 

Step 3-Pour olive oil onto your baking sheet (with clean hands) spread it around to cover the sheet, *You don't want a puddle of oil, just a shallow layer. Place your slices onto the sheet and add some olive oil sprays or drizzle some more on top, pop them in the oven! Check on them after 15-20 minutes, turning slices over if they look browned on the bottom, then cook for about another 10-15 minutes, or till your desired crunchiness.

Back to the oven so the cheese can melt!


Step 4-Take them out of the oven and top with 2-3 tablespoons sauce (or more), a small fist full of Mozz cheese.  Put it back in the oven until cheese is melted. Once thats done, top with oregano and a little grated parmesan and salt to taste.  If you desire a more garlic flavor, few shakes of granulated garlic will do.

Mangia!

This is great served with an Italian salad, or a 1/2 cup Whole wheat spaghetti and sauce, any side of veggies, or even on a little bit of italian bread if you want a heavier meal! :)

Tip: You will need more then 1 baking sheet if you want them done all at the same time, and of course if you double this recipe. 

*These also make great Vegetarian 'chicken' cutlets,  just omit the sauce and cheese and eat with ketchup, applesauce or whatever else you would normally eat with a cutlet.

Creamy Onion Broccoli Cups!

These little cups are easy and indulgent, you'll never know they're low in fat!

Best shared amongst friends, with a little wine at your next party!

*This makes 6 cups, just double the recipe for 12!

Things you'll need

1 broccoli floret for each cup

2 onions (caramelized)

little oil, for the onions

1/4 can Cream of mushroom soup

6 large sheets of fillo dough

cupcake tin

about 1 ounce (or less) Feta cheese

small hand full Baby spinach

Pepper

Step1 
Slice your onions, I like to slice the onion in half then slice vertically, heat up a little oil in a pan, add onions and let cook on a low heat till caramelized. While that's cooking, prepare your broccoli into florets (or just buy florets) Do not use frozen broccoli for this recipe. 


Step 2
*Preheat oven to 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
Once onions are caramelized, set aside and get your fillo dough out of the fridge, take 6 large sheets (keep them together) and then slice them vertically into 4's, so you will have 4 separate sets of 6 sheets of fillo dough, take three sheets at one time and fold them in halve place in cupcake tin, you will have a little left over dough after all the cups are made...or just make more! :)

Step 3

Take your onions and cream of mushroom soup and combine them in a bowl together, add pepper.

Take about a 1/2 tsp of the mixture and place it in the bottom of the fillo cup, then take a floret of broccoli (head up) and place that on top, spoon a little more mixture on top of the broccoli head, repeat till all cups are filled!

Step 4

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, half way through adjust oven temp to 375...once they are finished cooking, top with a bit of shredded baby spinach and a few crumbles of feta cheese, let these cool down for about 8-10 minutes before serving, sprinkle with pepper!

Right out of the oven!

Ready to serve!

Mangia!

Tips:  When removing the cups from the tin, gently pick them up from the edges that are over lapping onto the outside...lol, OR use cupcake holders, I didn't think about it at the time! Duh!

If my instructions on the prep of the Fillo were confusing, feel free to ask me a question, I promise, I will answer! :)

Thinny Stuffed Mushrooms!

I used the basic method for making stuffed mushrooms, but with no cheese for this protein packed dish,  I used Garbanzo beans for the base of the filling instead, and I think they came out great! These are not only tasty but low in fat, calories and healthy! I used lemon to top it off, Lemon is what really brings the flavors alive!

Things you'll need

2 Packages of Button mushroom
1 lemon
About a 1/4 cup bread crumbs
3 stalks celery diced (including the leaves)
1/2 purple onion diced(or one regular white onion) 
5 garlic cloves minced
1 can garbanzo beans. (chickpeas)
salt, pepper, garlic powder-onion powder which I love! 
Olive oil, or canola oil, ( I used canola oil to fry the onions, celery and stems of the mushrooms)Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. 


Other Items you'll need
Cooking spray, I like to make my own, get a mister bottle, and fill it with olive oil! Healthier then the chemical cooking sprays!
food processor, or blender or you can use a fork(to mash the beans)
baking sheet


Step 1
Pre Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Wash mushrooms and pat dry, pop stems out, be careful not to break the shroom., place stems aside, along with minced celery,onion and garlic cloves.

Step 2

Take 1 can of beans drained and rinsed, and mash them up by any of the above following method, I used a food processor. Put your mashed beans in a bowl and set aside

Step 3
Take all ingredients from step 1, and cook them up in a pan, with your oil, and onion powder, garlic powder salt and pepper, eyeball it, don't hold back on the garlic and onion powder, you can always add more salt and pepper to them once finished. Cook till onions are translucent and celery is soft.

Step 4
Let the mixture cool, about 10-15 minutes, once cooled add it to the bean mash, with your 1/4 cup bread crumbs and with clean hands combine together well, spray baking sheet with mist oil and start filling up your mushrooms,  pop them in the oven for about a 1/2 an hour...once done, let them cool for 4 minutes, and serve with lemon wedges!

PRE-OVEN Shroom

Ready to serve!

Tip 1: This mixture also makes delicious patties, but for them to stick in patty form, I add 3 egg whites, or a vegan substitute! I also added in a bit of thyme and then a little tartar sauce and lemon to top, reminiscent of a 'crab cake'.  See pic below..

Tip 2: If you only have one package of mushrooms, you will have some left over mixture, I made them into small patties, without egg and they were very tasty as well.

Thinny Chips!

These are quick,easy,tasty and very low in calories and fat!

Things you'll need
Cooking spray
Nasoya eggroll wraps
Dried herbs, I used a little thyme and oregano.
Salt And Pepper
Baking pan and a sheet of foil

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 15 minutes

Step 2
Get out your Nasoya wraps and take 3 sheets out (or more depending on how many people are eating) 3 is a serving size for one person, but it's also enough to share between 2 people.

Get a knife or a pizza cutter and cut into triangles so it looks like the photo below, or whatever shape you like.

Step 3
Take your baking pan, line it with foil and spray with cooking spray, sprinkle your dried herbs on the foil,  lay the dough onto the foil give it another spray, and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and a bit more herbs, pop it in the oven and check on it in 10 minutes, if they are browned take them out! Once out of the oven, let them cool and then eat! Or make a lot of them at once and store them, dip in salsa, onion dip, guacamole, whatever you like!

These are also great in salads and soups!

Mangia!

Holistic Gals "Thinny Pizza"

I use the word "Thinny" cause I think skinny is overly-used. Although I don't think thinny is an actual word, but I like it!

Fresh out of the oven!
The other day I was craving a slice of pizza, but didn't want to sacrifice the calories for it, so I ransacked my kitchen and made a fillo dough mushroom pizza! Easy,healthy, and really good!!  I did use 1 cup of low fat mozzarella but that can be easily omitted to make this vegan, and even less calories. This is one of those dishes that really has endless flavor combinations, Next time I make it, I think I will just use oil and garlic and make it a veggie herb type of pie, again, experiment with your favorite toppings, possibilities are endless with this one, just keep in mind if you start adding meat and more cheese the calories will shoot up! What makes this a "Thinny pizza" is the use of fillo dough, these paper thin sheets are very low in calories and fat, if you have never worked with this simple dough before, I find you will be delighted in how yummy and low cal it is! Not hard to work with at all, and inexpensive!

Only 16 Weight Watcher points for the whole pie! (that's on the old point system) thats 2.6 points(rounded to 3 points per slice!) Don't let this pie deceive you, it is filling!

              Ingredients

• 7-10 sheets of fillo dough 
• (don't open till ready to use, and store in the fridge so it's already thawed when needed)
• 1 package of button or baby portebello mushrooms sliced
• 1 large onion (sliced, fried in a tbsp oil)
• 2 garlic cloves(sliced)
• Olive oil in a mister, or cooking spray.
• 5-6 cherry tomatos (quartered)
• oregano,thyme (dry)
• 1 cup low fat shredded mozzarella cheese
• plain tomato sauce, about 8 tbsps.
• 2 Tbsp parmigiano cheese(grated, optional)
• few dashes of salt,(optional)

Start by washing, and slicing your mushrooms Or buy the pre-sliced mushrooms to save time,  slice your onion, and thinly slice your garlic.Heat up a skillet with 1 tbsp of oil, once hot, throw the onions in and cook till browned on the edges, Get your baking sheet, put down one sheet of foil, spray with your mist oil,  and generously sprinkle oregano and thyme on the foil. Start laying your fillo sheets, lay the first one, then spray with the oil mist, continue till you get to the top layer.

Pre-oven
Top layer; add about 8 tbsps of sauce spread evenly, top with sliced garlic, spread them as evenly as you can, then top with the onions, then the mushrooms, then the cheese, add your quartered tomatoes, sprinkle again with oregano and thyme, top with the grated parmesan cheese. then slightly roll the sides to form a "crust", pop it in a preheated 425 degree oven, cook till crispy and cheese is slightly browned....cool, slice and serve with a salad, or enjoy it as is!  (About 40 minutes in the oven) just check on it.

Ready to serve!

Mangia!


*I will post another variation soon*


I would love to hear your variation,  or thoughts on this recipe, please feel free to leave a comment!

Greek Vegetarian "meat" fillo dough pie!

It's Greek cause I used Fillo (phyllo) dough!

Things you'll need;

9 x 13 inch pan

12 fillo dough sheets

1 bag of vegetarian meat crumbles(I used morningstar)

1 small bag of rice(I usually use brown rice, but I used white cause I was out of brown)

1 package of whole white mushrooms

6 garlic cloves

2 onions

1/2 jar of tomato sauce

dried oregano

Olive oil, salt &pepper,paprika,onion and garlic powder, garlic pepper

(if you don't have the onion powder or garlic pepper on hand its not a big deal and won't change the taste much.) 

   

Step 1

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

Step 2

Slice onions, and quarter mushrooms.
pour a bit of olive oil in a pan, and preheat the pan on a medium to high heat, once oil is hot enough throw in the mushrooms and onions stirring often, cook till onions are translucent and mushrooms are nice and soft. Once thats done, add the "meat crumbles" and a little more Olive oil as needed, mix well;  at this time you will also want to mince your garlic directly into the pan while the mixture is cooking, stir well and adjust flame accordingly, (while thats cooking, feel free to throw the rice in a pot of water)

Step 3
Once step 2 is done, add 1/2 jar of  tomato sauce, and a generous amount of Oregano and mix it in good! Once that is all done, the rice should be just about ready, drain, and add it to the mixture and combine it well. taste it, see if its to your liking, at this point if  you think it needs more oregano, add more. Same with the salt and pepper or garlic powder and onion powder. Now that the mixture is put together, put it on the lowest heat and stir, cover for a minute, then taste it again, if its good to you, turn off the pan and let it cool down a bit.

Step 4
While thats cooling,  Get your 9x13 pan out, coat the bottom with olive oil, not a lot, just enough to cover the bottom, Take your thawed fillo dough out of the fridge and, unroll it, and layer one sheet at a time,lightly brushing with olive oil between each sheet, 6 on the bottom, 6 on the top, After the first 6 layers are done, spread the filling evenly covering the the entire dough, then do the same thing you did with the bottom half, to the top half!

Step 5
Once the thats all done,  glaze the top layer of fillo with olive oil, and sprinkle paprika, pepper, and oregano, cut 5 diamond shapes and pop it into a 375 degrees pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes, till its golden brown and crunchy, once its finished, let it cool;

Serve with a potato and a salad for a hearty meal, enjoy!

Moms plate! :)

TIPS;
I like to pour a bit of olive oil in a cup with some herbs, mix it and then brush it onto the layers!


Take your dough out of the freezer the night before and put it into the fridge so it has plenty of time to thaw.


If you don't have a brush you can pour a little oil at a time, and with very clean hands, gently spread it evenly on the sheet.


Peel your garlic before you start the cooking process, it's just easier.


Variations;
Try adding peppers, I didn't have any on hand, if i did I would of used them! I think baby spinach would be good too!


Hope you enjoy this recipe! If you have a twist on this recipe, feel free to post it!