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 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.

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!

Mini stuffed sweet Peppers!

   Fun colorful party food!

Almost gone! Had a ravenous crowd! 

Things you'll need;

• 24 mini sweet peppers
• 
  
• 8 ounce of regular cream cheese, or the choice of your preference,I used a light version. If you have a vegan melting cheese, go for it!
• 
  
• 1/4 cup shredded sharp chedder cheese or regular
• 
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 
  
• 8-10 Baby Portobello mushrooms(or white)
• 
  
• 1 large elephant garlic clove(or 2-3 regular cloves)
• 
  
• 1/4 purple onion
• 
  
• couple of shakes garlic powder
• couple of shakes onion powder
• 
  
• salt & pepper to taste

Baking pan

*You can make it vegan, just sub the cheese with your favorite vegan brand!

Easy Directions;

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Take the cream cheese out of the packet and let it soften, shred the chedder or (buy shredded chedder) and set aside.
• Now, you want to take your peppers and chop the top of their heads off! Make sure to get all the seeds out, (there shouldn't be too many) once done set aside.
• Now, take your mushrooms and mince them. Take your onion and garlic, and mince that too! Put a little bit of vegetable oil in a skillet, about 1-2 tablespoons. Preheat the skillet on a medium to high heat, when that's hot enough add the mushrooms,onion and garlic mixture and cook till moisture is gone. Add a few dashes of salt while cooking. 
• Once that's done, put the mushroom mixture in a bowl and let it cool (10-15 minutes) Once that that has cooled, add the mix to your bowl of cheese and the rest of the ingredients and mix well. 
• Take a plastic ziplock bag put your mixture in it to make a piping tool, snip a little piece at the corner of the bag off and start stuffing your Peppers!! Once Peppers are stuffed, sprinkle with paprika. and put those babies in the oven for around 30-35 minutes! Once done, let sit for 3 minutes so the inside isn't scolding hot- and serve!

Tips;

*If you dont want to make the piping bag-I do NOT suggest using a little spoon to stuff these with because they are narrow and that will be messy, however, you can make a little slit lenghtwise and stuff them like that!-and in the summer months, you can grill these too! *If you have company,-and have some chives on hand chop those up and serve sprinkled on top.


*I think another nice addition to the mix, would be diced celery!