Salmon BLT

I am always looking for quick, simple, and yummy recipes. I have a magazine/cookbook called "Cooking Light: 5 Ingredient 15 minute recipes". The Salmon BLT came from this cookbook, but, as usual, I changed it around to accommodate what I already had on hand.

This was my lunch today. I just got done eating it about an hour ago and it was fabulous. It's great for lunch or dinner. If having for dinner, you might want to add a side dish. The BLT was a very filling lunch.

3 slices precooked bacon
1 salmon fillet (about 4oz) - I used a frozen fillet.
1/2 Tbs light mayonnaise
1 6 inch Sub Roll  (I cut mine into 3/4 to make it  bit smaller)
Lettuce (any kind - I used Spinach)
Tomato (diced or sliced)
1 slice Provolone Cheese (optional - I added this ingredient because I love cheese!)

Directions:

Helpful Tip: Keep disposable broil pans on hand. They are cheap and come in handy!

Preheat Broiler.

Microwave bacon according to package and set aside.
 
Place Salmon on broiling pan coated with cooking spray and broil 10-15 minutes (or until fish is cooked. When the fish is done, take it out and put it aside.

If using Provolone Cheese (or any cheese of your choice) place it on the bottom of the sub roll and toast in the oven until roll is slightly brown and cheese is melted or gooey.

Time to assemble your Salmon BLT...place lettuce on bottom of sub, then tomato, Salmon, bacon, spread mayo on top of toasted sub and eat.

I think the Provolone cheese had 8 grams of fat in it. I could afford it because I did not eat breakfast this morning...OOPS! Without the cheese this BLT would be a lot less fattening.

Nutritional Content for 1 Salmon BLT: 19 grams fat/404 calories.

Shrimp Egg Rolls

This is probably the most amazing snack or addition to a side dish ever. Only 34 calories and .5 grams of fat per egg roll! Two of them will satisfy you for a snack. But you can really eat as many as you want since they are so low fat and low cal! You can omit the shrimp or add your own choice of meat...but the nutritional content will change.

1 package of egg roll wraps
1 package of frozen stir fry vegetables (with sauce included)
Frozen shrimp (12 small ones fit perfectly into 4-5 egg rolls)

Directions:

Defrost and cook the shrimp according to the package.

Cook the stir fry vegetables and when they are about done, add in the cooked shrimp. I cut any large pieces of vegetables and the shrimp in half while they were cooking in the pan.

Put the veggies and shrimp in the egg roll and roll them up. The egg roll package will have instructions for how to do so. It's not hard and they don't have to look professional.

Place egg rolls on greased baking sheet and spray or brush tops of rolls with olive oil. Bake according to package...mine were for 12 minutes @ 400 degrees. Once the tops have browned...flip over the egg rolls and bake for an additional 5 minutes to give the bottom side a crunch.

Teriyaki Beef With Noodles (Cooking For 2)

The original recipe I found on http://www.eatbetteramerica.com... but I did not have all the ingredients to make the Orange Beef Teriayki Beef with Noodles...so I omitted the orange part and made a few altercations and still made a really good Sunday night dinner. If you want the recipe I attempted to follow, bust go to the website and search for "Orange Beef Teriyaki". I served my dish with homemade egg rolls (recipe is on blog) and it was perfect!

 Prep/Cook time: 25 minutes

1 beef boneless sirloin (thin) cut into strips
1 cup beef broth
2 Tbs Teryaki stir fry sauce (I actually did not have any of this so I used Honey Teryaki Marinade that I had in the pantry instead. I'm sure either would work fine).
1/2 bag Frozen Vegetables (your choice) or 1 box of frozen sugar snap peas (that's what the original recipe called for). I used half a bag of frozen broccoli.
2 cups uncooked Egg Noodles
A dash of Cayenne pepper

Directions:

You will need a good sized skillet for this...all ingredients get cooked in it :-)

Heat nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook beef in skillet, until no longer pink. Remove beef from skillet; keep warm.

Add broth, stir fry sauce, and cayenne to skillet. Heat to boiling. Stir in frozen vegetables of your choice and uncooked noodles.; reduce heat to medium. Cover; cook about 5 minutes or until noodles are tender.

Stir in beef. Cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened.

Note: If you want to serve with egg rolls...prepare the egg rolls before you start the main dish and then put them in the oven to bake while everything else is cooking.

Nutritional Information (per serving....2 servings): 380 calories, 10 grams fat, 36 grams Protein

Flour 101

I recently just started cooking. So far I am doing great, but I'm not so great at baking. I think the reason a lot of my recipes did not turn out as planned is because I did not understand the difference between certain types of flours. A lot of times I used the wrong type of flour, which ruined my recipe. Here is a helpful explanation of the different type of flours for those of you that are struggling with baking :-)

All-Purpose Flour
All-purpose flour is the finely ground endosperm of the wheat kernel separated from the bran and germ during the milling process. All-purpose flour is made from hard wheats or a combination of soft and hard wheats from which the home baker can make a complete range of acceptable baked products --- yeast breads, cakes, cookies and pastries.

• Enriched all-purpose flour has iron and 4 major B-vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin and folic acid) added in amounts equal to or exceeding that in whole wheat flour. Actually, all enriched flour has twice the folic acid as does whole wheat flour. All but about 5 percent of white flour in the United States is enriched.
  
  
• Bleached all-purpose flour is exposed to chlorine gas or benzoyl peroxide to whiten and brighten flour color. Chlorine also affects baking quality by "maturing" or oxidizing the flour, which is beneficial for cake and cookie baking. The bleaching agents react and do not leave harmful residues or destroy nutrients.
  
  
• Unbleached all-purpose flour is bleached by oxygen in the air during an aging process and is off-white in color. Nutritionally, bleached and unbleached flours are equivalent. But bleached flour is beneficial for cake and cookie baking.

Bread Flour
Bread flour, ground from the endosperm of the hard red spring wheat kernel, is milled primarily for commercial bakers, but is available bleached or unbleached at most grocery stores. It is usually enriched. Although similar to all-purpose flour, it has greater gluten strength and is generally used for yeast breads.

Self-Rising Flour
Self-rising flour is an all-purpose flour with salt and leavening added. One cup of self-rising flour contains 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Self-rising can be substituted for all-purpose flour in a recipe by reducing salt and baking powder according to these proportions.

Cake Flour
Cake flour, milled from soft wheat, is especially suitable for cakes, cookies, crackers and pastries. It is low in protein and low in gluten.

Pastry Flour
Pastry flour has comparable protein, but less starch than cake flour. It is milled from a soft, low gluten wheat and is used for pastries.

Gluten Flour
Gluten flour, processed from high protein wheat, contains a much higher protein content than bread flour. It is used by bakers in combination with low protein or non-wheat flours. The gluten flour improves baking quality and produces yeast breads of high protein content.

Vital Wheat Gluten
Vital wheat gluten is derived from wheat flour and is the texture of flour; it is concentrated dried gluten protein with very little starch remaining.

Semolina
Semolina is the coarsely ground endosperm of durum wheat. High in protein, it is used by American and Italian manufacturers to make high quality pasta products such as macaroni and spaghetti. It is also used for couscous in Africa and Latin America.

Durum Flour
Durum flour is a by-product in the production of semolina and is used for American noodles, some types of pasta and occasionally in specialty breads.

Whole Wheat Flour
Whole wheat flour is a coarse-textured flour containing the bran, germ and endosperm. The presence of bran reduces the gluten development, therefore, baked products made from whole wheat flour tend to be heavier and denser than those made from white flour.

Whole wheat flour is rich in B-vitamins, vitamin E and protein, and contains more trace minerals and dietary fiber than white flour. It also contains about five percent fat. In most recipes, whole wheat flour can be mixed half and half with white flour. Graham flour is another term for whole wheat flour.

Farina
Farina is the coarsely ground endosperm of hard wheats. It is the prime ingredient in many hot breakfast cereals. It can also be used for pasta.

3 Course Meal: Tomato-Goat Cheese Bruschetta, Chicken Parmesan, Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

Last night I cooked my first three course meal...an appetizer, dinner, and dessert. I wanted to try out my new found culinary skills on my dad, so I invited him over to my place for (what a hoped) a great meal. Not everything on the menu was healthy. The Tomato-Goat Cheese Bruschetta was not healthy...but if you only have one or two then you won't do much damage. The chicken Parmesan was healthy! There are so many versions to healthy chicken parm...and this one is by far the BEST! And dessert was "healthified" chocolate mini cheesecakes. You can serve this meal and not feel bad about eating it. Just watch your portions. If cooking for others, you can easily make your chicken Parmesan even more healthy by cutting back on the cheese and not serving it over pasta. I found all of the recipes on the Internet and followed them step by step. Instead of copying and pasting everything...I will provide a link to the recipe under each photo. Nutritional content is listed with each recipe. If you are having a dinner party, or wanting to cook a special meal...this is a PERFECT idea!

Tomato-Goat Cheese Bruschetta
Tomato-Goat Cheese Bruschetta
Note: I did not use the olives this recipe calls for because I hate olives. When toasting the baguette slices...spray it with olive oil. Oh, and you don't have to get the specific brand of diced tomatoes listed. I also added some Italian season and oregano.

Cornflake Chicken Parmesan (TO DIE FOR!!!)
Chicken Parmesan
I used HUGE chicken breasts for my dish. I think the recipe calls for breast tenderloins...you can do it either way. If you don't want to serve it with pasta, I recommend going with the larger chicken breast.

"Healthified" Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes
Chocolate Cheesecake
I love desserts that are already portioned out for you. It makes it so much easier to watch what you eat. I could've eaten the whole plate of these cheesecakes!

Amazing...100 calorie Pancake!

Hello readers! This morning's breakfast was great. A 100 calorie pancake topped with fresh fruit and a drizzle of syrup. This recipe was super easy to make and really good. I should mention that the pancake batter makes 8 pancakes. I only had one so there was A LOT left over. If you have kids or are feeding more than one make the recipe as is. If you are cooking for yourself, scale back the ingredients, or you can just but the left over batter in the fridge and save it for later because I know that I will probably have this again as a snack.

In order to make sure you are only getting 100 calories in your pancake...1 pancake = 1/3 cup. If you top the pancake with some fruit then it is quite filling. I have sliced 1/2 a banana and put a few fresh raspberries on top of my pancake.

Just the Pancake is 100 calories and .4 grams of fat!!!

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Flour, 1.25 cup
Baking Soda, 1 tsp
Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, 2 tbsp (1 packet)
Skim Milk, 1 cup
Eggbeaters, .5 cup
Vanilla extract, 1 tbsp
Cinnamon, 2 tbsp

Directions

Mix flour, baking soda, and splenda in bowl. Mix milk, eggs, and vanilla in another bowl. Beat into dry mix roughly, so as to add more air to mix. Stir in cinnamon last. Serving size is 1/3 cup mix. Use PAM on skillet when cooking and sweeten with sugar free syrup and/or fruit!

Serving size is one pancake. If you use less than 1/3 of a cup batter (like 1/4, or 1/6) you can have two for 100 calories! Smaller, but more! :)

Number of Servings: 8

Santa Fe Foldover (with Pork)

I have seen this recipe on almost every healthy food website and have been DYING to try it. I was not impressed. Apparently this recipe won some contest for best recipe using Bisquick Healthy Heart Biscuit Mix??? Since I was cooking for my boyfriend and myself I had to add meat (for him). I chose pork..it was a lean, almost fat free, and cut into cubes. The problem with this recipe was that it was really bland. There is A LOT of potential for it to be good. With the right spices this dish could be great. My boyfriend, on the other hand, did not hate this recipe. Probably because he got to melt more cheese over his portion. I'm posting this recipe because I made it and ate it and it was edible. I strongly recommend adding some type of meat and spices to give it some flavor. If you do that, then it could potentially be very good. Let me know if you try this and what you did to make it better. I'm just copying and pasting the ingredients and directions. I followed them exactly - the part about folding the dough was confusing, so I'm not even sure if I made the recipe correctly lol. At least it looks pretty in the pictures.

Prep Time:15 min Start to Finish:45 min makes:3 servings 1 cup Bisquick Heart Smart® mix 2 tablespoons cornmeal 1/4 cup very hot water 1 cup canned no-salt-added black beans, drained, rinsed 1/3 cup Old El Paso® Thick 'n Chunky salsa 2 tablespoons sliced green onions (2 medium) 1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat Colby-Monterey Jack cheese blend (1 oz) - I used 2% cheddar cheese 1/2 cup shredded lettuce 1/3 cup chopped tomato 3 tablespoons fat-free sour cream 1. Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 12-inch pizza pan with cooking spray. 2. In small bowl, stir Bisquick® mix, cornmeal and very hot water until soft dough forms. Place on surface sprinkled with Bisquick mix, gently rolling to coat. Shape into ball; knead about 5 times or until smooth. Roll dough into 10-inch circle; fold into fourths. Unfold on pizza pan. In small bowl, stir together beans and salsa; spread over dough to within 2 inches of edge. Sprinkle with onions. Fold edge over. Sprinkle cheese over beans.
3.Bake 25 to 28 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted. Top with remaining ingredients.
GOOD LUCK!!!!