Dijon Scallopped Potatoes

No cheese, no milk, no way... you say!! I'm telling you, these scallopped potatoes are creamy and delicious without the milk and cheese!! I used a food processor to slice my potatoes paper thin... I think it helps get the ultimate creaminess possible!

(paper-thin potatoes)

Ingredients
1 kg potato, with skin, sliced paper thin
1 small onion, sliced
3 tbsp vegetable shortening
3 tsbp all purpose flour
2 cups fat free chicken broth
2 tbsp Old-Fashioned Dijon mustard (grainy) *
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste


Directions
1- Spray a 3 liter dish with some non-stick spray.
2 - Preheat oven to 170 C.
3 - In a saucepan, melt shortnening over low medium heat.
4 - Remove from heat and stir in flour.
5- Stir in broth and other ingredients and return to low heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
6 - If sauce is too thick, add some water to thin it out.
7 - Arrange half of the potatoes in the bottom on the greased dish.
8 - Add all the sliced onions.
9 - Add half of the sauce.
10 - Add remaining potatoes and top with the rest of the sauce.
11 - Bake for 2 hours or until soft.
* if you arent a dijon fan, use 2 tsp instead. It will taste strong in the sauce at first, but will be barely noticeable when the finished dish comes out of the oven!

before heading to the oven

Delicious Yummy Greatness!

Nutritional Data
4 servings
per serving
6 points
293 calories
9.5 g fat (2.3 g sat)
45.8 g carbs
4.7 g fiber
2.6 g sugars
5.9g protein

6 servings
per serving
4 points
195.3 calories
6.4 g fat (1.6g sat)
30.5 g carbs
3.2 g fiber
1.7 g sugars
3.9 g protein

Onion & Carrot Foil Packs

Sorry I've been M.I.A for a month...

We are having summer weather here in Budapest and so we've been doing lots of barbecuing.
Here's a nice little recipe we like to have along side whatever meats we are grillin'. My little critics usually pick out the onions, which I don't mind, since it leaves more for me ;)

It's a nice change from potatoes!


Ingredients
(5 servings)
1 kg garden carrots, peeled and chopped *
2 medium onions (~ 300 gr), chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Herbes de Provences **

Directions
1- Add all ingredients in a large bowl and toss.
2 - Dump the ingredients in the center of a large sheet of aluminum foil (or 2 smaller sheets).
3 - Close up the foil in a way that nothing will drip or fall out when the foil pack is flipped on the grill.
4 - Grill on BBQ until carrots are soft (approx 15-20 mins, but time will depend on the size of the carrot pieces.)

* Garden carrots (the carrots that still have the greens attached) are sweeter then regular carrots) and the sweetness blends really well with the Herbes de Provences.

** If you don't have Herbes de Provences (French herb mix) you can make your own.
Enjoy!

Nutritional Data
1 serving
2 WW points
cal 129.4
fat 3.3 g
carbs 24.5 g
fiber 6.8 g
sugars 9.1 g
protein 2.6 g

African Couscous Salad

I love couscous, especially cold couscous salad. This couscous salad has a nice sweet North-African taste to it, and a little tang from the red wine vinegar. I think that cider vinegar would also taste fantastic! This is best if completely chilled before serving, giving the flavors time to meld ;)
My 3 critics enjoyed it, as did I.... definitely will be making it again. It is quite filling, therefore, I think it would be the perfect packed lunch. It makes a great side dish too!


Ingredients
1 cup whole-wheat couscous (makes 3 cups cooked and fluffed with fork)
1 1/4 cup hot fat-free chicken broth
290 g jar of chickpeas (210 g just chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/2 cup diced celery
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
1/4 cup raisins, not packed!
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped (approx. 25g)
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

*To make it vegetarian, substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.


Directions
- Boil the chicken broth in a small saucepan. Once broth is boiling, remove from heat.
- Add couscous, stir to fully coat couscous and cover.
- While couscous is sitting, prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the remaining ingredients (see note below on optional olive oil).
- Fluff couscous with a fork and let cool. (if you add the hot couscous, it will absord too much of the liquid in the mix... including the water in the vegetables... so it is best to wait till it has cooled).
- Once couscous has cooled to room temperature, add to the salad mix.
- Mix and refrigerate.

Nutritional Data
3 WW points
187.5 cal
1.1 g fat
41 g carbs
4.2 g fiber
3.3 g sugar
6.3 g protein

Add 1 tbsp Olive Oil to the recipe (when you add the vineagar) and the values change too
4 WW points
207.4 cal
3.3 g fat
41 g carbs
4.2 g fiber
3.3 g sugar
6.2 g protein

Corn & Red Pepper Salad

This salad is very refreshing is the perfect side dish for a Tex-Mex meal! It is also delicious with additional veggies added! This gets thumbs up from both little critics, as well as the picky husband! Yay for corn salad!

Ingredients
2 small cans of sweet corn, drained and rinsed ( 285 gr drained each can)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 large red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup green onion (scallion), chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro (whichever you prefer)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
- Mix all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to let flavors blend together.
Nutritional Data
1 cup serving
2 WW points
131.6 cal
1.6 g fat
30.6 g carbs
3.9 g fiber
4.3 g protein

Quick & Easy Chicken Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a favorite in our household. Basically, if you like grilled-cheese sandwhiches, then you'll love the Mexican (or Tex-Mex) variety as well. We enjoy all kinds, even sweet breakfast ones filled with bananas and Nutella! Tonight's quesadillas were whipped up quickly and scarfed down just as fast.

Sorry for the horrible shot.. I wanted to eat it while it was still hot! ;)

Ingredients
4 medium corn tortillas (6 inch)
1 chicken breast (250 gr)
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup low-fat mozzarella, Cheddar, or Colby cheese

Directions
- Cut chicken breast in 2 pieces (so that it cooks faster).
- In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil and add the chicken pieces.
- Boil until cooked (about 10 minutes)
- Remove chicken from water and shred with 2 forks. In a small bowl, mix shredded chicken with the salsa. Split chicken mix into 4 portions.
- Split cheese into 4 portions (1/4 cup).
- Put 1/2 of a portion on 1/2 a tortilla, add chicken mix on the cheese, top with the rest of the cheese portion and fold the tortilla over. Repeat steps for the remaining 3 tortillas.
- Cook in a ungreased heated pan for 1 minute on each side, or until cheese is melted. Be careful not to burn the torilla, keep heat to medium-low.

Serve with salsa and fat-free sour-cream (if desired)... it is very good as is ;)

Tastes delicious with a fresh corn salad!

Nutritional Data
4 WW points
183 cal
3.3 g fat
42.2 g cholesterol
14.2 g carbs
12.2 g fiber
23.2 g protein

Bowtie pasta with Eggplant Sauce

I love eggplant! I don't like calling it eggplant though, it's sounds so much nicer in French (or British English)... aubergine... music to my ears! I love the texture and the taste. I can fit eggplant into practically any dish; I like it that much! A couple of years back, my picky husband who never tries anything, agreed to taste eggplant after lots of nagging and had a "Green Eggs and Ham" moment... "why... I DO like eggplant!" (surprise!).
I have converted 5 people so far... they all swore they hated eggplant, tasted it, and "gasp" they liked it. I think alot of people have never even tried eggplant and simply dislike the name or look of the vegetable. If that person is you: suck it up and try it!!!
My 2 all time favorite eggplant recipes are Eggplant Parmesan and Baingan Ka Bhurta (Indian mashed eggplant). Seeing as I just made some Chicken Parmesan last week, I decided it would be to similar to eat this week. As for making Indian eggplant for the little critics, that would be a no go, as my daughter likes to scream out "it's spicy! It's spicy!" to anything with the tiniest bite (even mild salsa... wuss! She gets that from me.. I'm not so tough!). Once she starts her chanting, then the other little critic decides he also can't eat it. That means we will wait a couple of years before re-introducing Indian food to the critics!

Enough rambling.... I had eggplant in the fridge, and wanted to eat it! This is what I concocted; kids ate it, it passed the test.
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced onion (1 medium onion)
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 garlic clove
300 gr eggplant, peeled and diced (3 cups)*
100 gr zucchini, peeled and diced (1/2 cup)
1 jar (400gr) of tomato-basil sauce
1 can chopped tomatoes (400 gr)
1 cup water
1/2 tsp marjoram
1 tbsp fresh basil, or 1 tsp dried
1/4 tsp sweet hungarian paprika**
salt and pepper to taste
Pam cooking spray

Directions
- Heat oil in medium saucepan.
- Add onion and green pepper and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
- Add garlic, eggplant and mix, cover and cook stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. (Eggplant absorbs oil and liquids! If you find that the eggplant is starting to stick and burn, spary with Pam and mix... I needed to do this twice).
- Add zucchini and cook another 2 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients and cover and let simmer for another 10 minutes until eggplant is soft. (Eggplant is sometimes bitter if not fully cooked!) If sauce is too liquidy, remove cover and simmer until thickened, or if it is too thick add some water until desired consistency.

Serve over whole wheat pasta and top with fresh parmesan cheese.

* I peeled and diced because of the kids ;) Go ahead and chop the eggplant into larger pieces if you wish. As for the zucchini, I would have left the skin on if not for the kids (easier to hide them when they are skinned!). The peel is packed with nutrients! Also, I would prefer larger chunks of zucchini, and for them to be crunchier. If I was making this for zucchini loving people, I would have added the zucchini at the same time as the sauce and cut them in larger chunks so that they still would have a nice crunch... I probably would have doubled the amount as well ;)

** If you do not have sweet paprika, you can use regular paprika, it might just have more of a bite then the sweet paprika.

Nutritional Data
Sauce only (split into 4 servings)
3 WW points
159 cal
6 g fat
19 g carbs
6 g fiber
4 g protein

Sauce only (split into 5 servings)
2 WW points
128 cal
4.7 g fat
15 g carbs
5 g fiber
3 g protein

Carrot Spice Mini Muffins

I recently bought a silicone mini muffin tray and was anxious to try it. I came up with this recipe, with what I had on hand. The muffin tray was so awesome! I highly recommend buying one, the muffins just popped out of the tray with ease, nothing stuck, and I didn' even grease or spray the tray. They aren't as light as regular muffins, they almost have a bread like texture, but they taste really nice. The little critics were full of praise and stuffed their little faces. These make the perfect on the go snack for both mama, papa and little ones!

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup corn flour *
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 banana mashed (1/4 cup) **
1 cup fat-free milk
2 egg whites, beaten
3/4 grated carrot (1 small carrot)
1/4 cup raisins

Directions
- Preheat oven to 200 C
- In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients; flours, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- In a small bowl, combine banana, milk, egg whites, carrot, and raisins.
- Make a hole in the center of the dry mix.
- Fill hole with wet mix.
- Mix with a spoon or fork briefly just to moisten.... do not whisk or over mix.
- Fill muffin tin.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes for mini muffins, or 20-25 minutes for regular sized muffins or until toothpick comes out clean after peircing center of muffin.
- Recipe will make 2 dozen mini muffins or 1 dozen regular muffins.

* I used 1/2 all-purpose flour and half corn flour because I started the recipe and then realized out was out of flour ... duh! Go ahead and make it with just regular flour if you wish, that was my original plan ;)

** I used mashed banana instead of oil to cut down on fat and calories as well as sugar... since the banana adds moisture and sweetness! If you're not watching your calorie or fat intake go ahead and substitute the banana for 1/4 cup vegetable oil and up the sugar to 3/4 cups.

Nutritional Data
makes 24 mini muffins or 12 regular muffins
1 mini muffin
1 WW points
68 cal
0.2 g fat
0.2 cholesterol
14.9 carbs
0.5 g fiber
1.9 g protein

1 regular muffin
3 WW points
135 cal
0.3 g fat
0.4 g cholesterol
29.8 g carbs
1.1 g fiber
3.7 g protein

Turkey Muffinloafs

I made some miniature meatloaves today and they were a huge hit with one little critic. The other critic only ate half, which is usual for her. These were fun for the critics since they could eat them with their hands once they had cooled a little. We devoured ours with some BBQ sauce.... mmmmm.
I did put fresh veggies in it, and assumed they would have time to be fully cooked, but I was wrong. I enjoyed the crunch they gave, but I'm guessing that is why one little critic didn't finish her plate... Therefore, next time I will saute the onions and peppers and let them cool before adding them to the mix.
I am going to freeze the leftovers for a quick and healthy lunch later on. We had this with some sweet & sour coleslaw; the flavors mixed perfectly!
Ingredients

1/2 onion, finely diced (1/2 cup)*
1 small red pepper, finely diced (1 cup)*
1/2 cup shredded carrot (1 small carrot)
3/4 cup shredded zucchini (1 small zucchini)
1 egg
1 tbsp Dijon a l'ancienne (old-fashioned)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
100 ml uncooked whole wheat couscous
1 lb lean ground turkey (white meat)
Pam

Directions
- Preheat oven to 200 C
- *If you do not want crunchy onions and peppers, saute them in a little olive oil for 5 minutes. If you don't mind, skip this step.
- Mix all ingredients well with your hands.
- Spray 8 wholes of a muffin tin.
- Pack with meat mixture.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 75 C.

Note
Seeing as all muffin tins vary in size keep in mind that the nutritional values are based on my muffin tin (12 holes, only 8 used).

Nutritional Data
1 muffin was perfect for the little critics and 2 muffins were good for mama ;)
1 muffinloaf =
3 WW points
154 cal
4.8 g fat
66 g cholesterol
13.6 g carbs
1.6 g fiber
13.8 g protein

Roast it! Rosemary-Thyme Pork Tenderloin with Root Vegetables

I loast pork roasts, especially lean tenderloin! I'm salivating again thinking about it. I had some fresh herbs and decide I should do something with them before they dried out or died on me... My herb plants never seem to survive... I must be doing something wrong!
I bought a 2.5 lb pork tenderloin and cut it half for the recipe, so my cooking time was way different then it should have been with a 1 piece 1 lb tenderloin. This lenghtened cooking time was not welcomed by my youngest little critic who came shouting "I'm hungreeeeeee mooooooooommmmm!!!!"
So I had to take the roast out, slice it up and panfry it to finish it. Still tasted great, but not as juicy as it would have tasted if it would have been finished in the oven.

Rosemary-Thyme Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients
(serves 4)

1 lb pork tenderloin
1 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, 2 sliced and 1 minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


Directions
Preheat oven to 200 C
With a morter and pestle, mash up the thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper.
Stab meat with knife to make pockets about 1/2 inch deep and wide.
Place roast in a small roasting pan.
Stuff the pockets with small amounts of herb mix, keeping about half for later.
Slide a garlic slice in each pocket.
Cover the rest of the roast with remaining herb mix and minced garlic.
Put in oven with the roast vegetables recipe (see below) if you chose to have that side dish.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of roast is 165 F.
Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes and slice into 4 servings (either 4 thick slices or 8 thinner slices).

** I covered my roast with aluminum foil half way through to save the herbs from burning. My oven is out of whack, so yours might survive without the foil

Nutritional Data
5 WW points
199 cal
6.9 g fat
1 g carbs
0.2 g fiber
31.5 g protein


Roasted Root Vegetables

Ingredients
(4 side servings)

1/2 a sweet potato (about 1/2 lb), cut into big cubes
1 medium carrot (150 gr), cut into 1.5 inch peices
1 small parsnip (100gr), cut into small pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small white beet 100 gr, cut into small pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
- Preheat oven to 200C
- Mix all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and toss to evenly coat all veggies.
- Spread veggies in a medium roasting pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Take out and mix and return to oven for another 20 minutes (or until fork tender).

** Make sure the parsnips and beets are much smaller then the carrots and sweet potatoes since they take longer to cook. Sweet potato cooks the fastest out of the bunch, so make that your largest peices.

Nutritional Data
2 WW points
131 cal
7.1 g fat
16.6 g carbs
3.7 g fiber
1.7 g protein

Celeriac Soup

I kept seeing this strange looking root vegetable at the supermarket and decided to buy one. Turns out this strange looking vegetable is Celeriac. They call it celery in Hungary, and call what we know as celery English Celery. Basically, celeriac is celery root. After reading up on it, I found out that it is very popular in Europe, and uncommon and usually hard to find and expensive in North America. It's strange to think of a root vegetable as expensive, especially since 1/2 a Celeriac in Budapest cost me 0.60$. I decided to make soup with it. I love creamy soups more then chunky soups, so I tend to puree all my soups. This way I can often sneak in some good vegetables and pass them to the kids without them knowing... and my little critics think they are so clever... who's clever now?!
I wasn't sure what to expect, but this came out wonderfully. This soup tastes exactly like a cream of celery soup, just 10 times better then the stuff that comes out of a can ;) Hope you enjoy it!


Ingredients
(4 servings)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
300 g celeriac, peeled and cubed(aprox 2 cups cubed)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 medium potato
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
4 celery tops with leaves, whole, not chopped
fresh parsley, 2 tbsp

Directions
- Heat oil in a medium pot. Add onions and cook 3-4 minutes.
- Add celeriac cover and cook 5 minutes to soften
- Add potatoes, broth, bay leaf, parsley, and celery tops
- Bring to a boil, cover and simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes or until celeriac and potatoes are soft.
- Remove celery tops and bay leaf and discard.
- Let soup cool and puree it with a hand mixer.

Nutritional Data
1 Serving
2 WW Points
115 cal
3.5 g fat
18.4 carbs
2.8 g fat
1.9 g protein

Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

I made this soup tonight, and it was delicious. It was approved by the little critics, which is always good. One little critic even attempted to lick the bowl, which made a nice mess on the table and his shirt... but back to the recipe.


Ingredients
(makes 9 cups)

1.5 lbs butternut squash, peeled, cubed*
1 lb fresh baby carrots (or garden carrots, peeled, sliced)
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1.5 tsp thyme
8 cups chicken broth
fresh ground pepper to taste
salt to taste

Directions

- Place all ingredients in a large pot.
- Bring to a boil and boil until veggies are soft.
- Let cool until warm (not hot).
- Puree with a hand mixer.

* To make it easier to peal, place squash in a steamer for approx. 5 mins.

Tips
-For a thicker soup, use 7 cups broth, or vice versa, for a thinner soup, use 9 cups.
-For a creamier soup, add 1/4 cup of fat-free cream cheese before using the hand mixer.(will affect nutritional data).

Nutritional Data
1 cup serving:
2 WW points
125 Cal
2.7 g fat
15.4 g carbs
1.2 g fiber
11.2 g protein