Monthly Archives: December 2011

Dec 31 2011
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7P+, Beef, Mexican Inspired

Taco Stuffed Shells

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I love beef. And a good steak.

These things do not love me.

But every now and again, I make a sacrifice – for myself, and my dad and brother who eat my daily cooking. I skip the ground turkey, and cook with ground beef. I skip the chicken breast, and cook a steak. They’ve come to tolerate like my overuse of chicken and turkey, but I think it’s only fair that I include some beef for them every now and again.

In my kitchen, beef can usually be found in the form of something “Mexican.” I say “Mexican,” because I’m not quite sure that a girl of Irish/Italian/German heritage can truly cook Mexican. I try.

So, for this, the last Saturday of 2011, I bring you Taco Stuffed Shells.

I wish you much happiness, love, and peace in 2012. I wish you the drive to be successful in whatever it is you wish to accomplish in 2012.

And of course, the foodie in me wishes you much, much more deliciousness.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

xoxo

Kelly

Well, hello my little friends. I shall call you "dinner."

Taco Stuffed Shells

Adapted from Blogchef.net

Ingredients:

  • ¾ cup Nature’s Promise Medium Organic Salsa (your desired hotness, of course)
  • 10 items uncooked jumbo shells
  • ¾ pound uncooked 90% lean ground beef
  • 1 (14.05oz) can Mexican style stewed tomatoes (DO NOT DRAIN!)
  • ¾ cup Ortega Taco Sauce (your desired hotness, I used medium)
  • 2 tbsp Ortega Reduced Sodium Taco Seasoning (from packet)
  • ¾ cup Kraft 2% Mexican Style Four Cheese
  • 3 green onions, chopped (for garnish)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with foil, and pour salsa in the bottom of the dish. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet combine ground beef, onion, stewed tomatoes and their juice,  and taco seasoning. Cook until tomato juice has been absorbed.

3. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Meanwhile, cook the pasta shells, drain, and set in prepared dish for stuffing.

4.  Stuff each shell with 2 rounded tablespoons of meat mixture. Place the stuffed shells in the prepared baking dish and cover the tops of the shells with 1 tablespoon of taco sauce.

5. Sprinkle the top of each shell with 1 tbsp cheese.

6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then, remove cover and bake 10 more minutes.

7. Garnish with your favorite taco toppings – remember to count additional P+ for your toppings!

I ate half of my serving before I could share it with you!

Nutritional Information Per Serving (7P+ per serving, makes 5 servings of 2 shells each):
Calories: 343
Carbs: 38
Fat: 10
Protein: 21
Fiber: 2
Sodium: 1377 (Holy sodium, batman! Worth it, though…)
Nutritional Information from myfitnesspal.com
Dec 25 2011
2 Comments
6P+, Chicken, Main Course, Spicy

Buffalo Chicken and Potato Casserole

A haiku for hot sauce:

hot sauce in my fridge

gives spicy flavor I want

just when I want it

(Excuse my lousy attempt at poetry.)

I don’t know when I was introduced to “Buffalo” as a flavor. I can only guess that it happened some time in college: late bar nights that yielded orders of Domino’s chicken wings and cheesy bread, shared amongst sorority sisters.

Oh, and don’t forget the Sheetz Nachos. I used to eat a whole order of those with sour cream and cheese piled on. Without sharing. But those weren’t buffalo. What was I saying?

What I do know is that from the moment I was introduced to “Buffalo” anything, I had to have “Buffalo” everything. Hot sauce is my condiment of choice. I don’t eat fast food anymore, but when I did, I put Buffalo sauce on everything: the chicken, the burgers, the fries, the onion rings, the pizza crust. There was no “wrong place” for Buffalo sauce. I even order my calamari tossed in Buffalo sauce when I’m out to eat. (Try it, you can thank me later.)

So naturally, any opportunity I get to bring Buffalo flavor into my meal plan in a waistline-friendly kind of way, I take it. With gusto.

I know I tend to be all-fancy with my meals lately, so for Christmas, I give you: a one-bowl, one-dish casserole! Tada!

Oh, and Buffalo flavor.

And a partridge in a pear tree.

Layer of uncooked chicken strips and hot sauce

Prepped, and pre-baking

Buffalo Chicken and Potato Casserole

Adapted from Holy Cannoli Recipes

Ingredients:

  • 1 ¼ lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch strips
  • 1/3 cup hot sauce or buffalo sauce (I used Stop and Shop brand hot sauce)
  • 1 cup chopped celery (about 2 longs stalks)
  • 6 cups (thawed) frozen hash brown potatoes (Stop and Shop, or another no-sodium brand)
  • 1 c 2% milk
  • ½ cup reduced fat (2%) cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
  • 1 can (10 oz) Campbell’s Healthy Request Condensed Cream of Celery
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • ½ cup panko

Directions:

1. Spray a 13×9-inch baking dish with cooking spray or Misto. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place the chicken strips in the prepared baking dish in a single layer. Top with hot sauce.

3. In a large bowl, mix together celery, potatoes, milk, cheese, onion, and soup until well combined. Spread mixture over chicken.

4. Sprinkle panko evenly over the top. Cover with foil.

5. Bake for 30 minutes; then uncover and bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender and juice of chicken is no longer pink. Let set for 5 minutes and cut into 8 equal portions.

Nutritional Information Per Serving (6P+ per serving, makes 8 servings):
Calories: 304
Carbs: 34
Fat: 8
Protein: 34
Fiber: 3
Sodium: 706
Nutritional Information from myfitnesspal.com
(PS – If someone can find me a place to get low sodium or no sodium hot sauce, I would be indebted to you forever.)
Dec 19 2011
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8P+, Main Course, Mushrooms, Pasta, Spinach

Creamy Gnocchi Alfredo with Spinach and Mushroom

I think I have mentioned before that I have an unhealthy relationship with cheese. What I didn’t mention was that when I was looking for a blog name, I was going to choose “Cheese Fetish” and only blog recipes that had cheese in them.

Two things derailed this idea:

  1. I really enjoy baking, and felt that I would need to incorporate that into my blog.
  2. I Googled “Cheese Fetish” to make sure the name wasn’t taken. My search results made my tummy feel weird.
I made some Gnocchi Mac and Cheese a few weeks ago, and had a lightbulb moment: alfredo! I headed back out to the market and purchased some mini-gnocchi. If you can’t find exactly what I used, 2 (17.5) oz packages of fresh gnocchi would suffice. It shouldn’t change the serving size too much, your gnocchi will just be bigger and plumper.

Anyhow, this recipe contains cheese, is cooked on the stove top, and is incredibly decadent.

WIN.

Creamy Gnocchi Alfredo with Spinach and Mushroom

Stovetop method adapted from whiteonrice couple

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 12 oz pre-rinsed, pre sliced mushrooms
  • 1 (6oz) bag baby spinach, rinsed and drained
  • ½ cup sweet onion finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 (17.5 oz) packages Rienzi mini gnocchi, fresh, not frozen
  • 2 ¼  cup reduced fat milk (2%)
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a medium skillet sauté mushrooms. When mushrooms become soft, add spinach and remove from heat. Cover, allowing spinach to wilt while the gnocchi cooks. Set aside, covered.

2. Rinse raw gnocchi in a colander and let drain.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, warm 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion,cook  2-3 minutes until fragrant.

4. Add gnocchi and milk to the saucepan with garlic and onion. Slowly bring the milk/gnocchi mixture to a simmer, stirring frequently. Once the mixture comes to a simmer, immediately turn down the heat to low. Gnocchi will cook in the milk. Plan to stand at the stove, if this mixture boils over it will be VERY messy!

5. Cook and stir for about 5-7 minutes or until milk has been fully absorbed.  When milk has thickened, stir in cheese, until melted. Remove from heat.

6. Stir mushrooms and spinach into gnocchi.

7. Place a lid on top of pan and cover for about 5 minutes. This rest period will allow gnocchi to plump up and absorb any excess milk.

Nutritional Information Per Serving* (8P+ per 1 cup per serving, makes 8 servings):
Calories: 475
Carbs: 45
Fat: 6
Protein: 14
Fiber: 3
Sodium: 954
Nutritional Information from myfitnesspal.com
*NI may seem high for this particular item. Myfitnesspal did not have the exact gnocchi listed, so I estimated with a heavy hand. :)
Dec 04 2011
4 Comments
1P+, Appetizer, Create your own serving size, Turkey

Turkey Sausage Cheddar Balls

Hey guys, I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but, this one time, I lived in North Carolina.

Ok, so I lived there for two years. I guess that doesn’t qualify as “one time.”

I loved North Carolina. It had warm winter weather, Chick-Fil-A, beautiful landscapes, kind strangers, affordable real estate, and sprawling dog parks for Rowdy.

I dare you to tell me he's not cute.

There were some things that North Carolina didn’t have: NY Pizza, NY Bagels, my mom, my dad, my brother, familiarity, and my childhood friends. So I returned to Long Island.

I didn’t leave North Carolina without any remorse. I left some great friends there who I definitely do not get to talk to enough. And I also left Chick-Fil-A and Zaxby’s. However, that is a story for another day.

One friend, whose name is Christy….

…well…

…what would I have done without Christy? She really stood by me when things got tough, and I just couldn’t get enough of her brand of matter-of-fact sass, her sweet little girl, and her love of Harry Potter.

Or her delicious treats. One Christmas Break, during my ten-hour-drive home to Long Island, with Rowdy snoozing in the back of my Jeep, I ate an embarrassing amount of Peanut Butter Balls and Sausage Balls. Not at the same time.

When I saw this recipe on MarthaStewart.com (how the HECK did I get there? I am SO anti-Martha) I had an out-of-body experience: suddenly I was back in the Jeep, popping sausage balls and stressing about how I was going to ration them in order to have popped the last one in my mouth as I traversed the Verrazano Bridge.

This recipe is not quite Christy’s Sausage Ball, but it’s very P+ friendly, and a great holiday-party appetizer. Yum.

So, I guess this one’s for you, Christy. Miss you.

Turkey Sausage Cheddar Balls

Recipe adapted from MarthaStewart.com

Ingredients

  •        cooking spray
  •        1 ¼  cups all-purpose flour
  •        ¼  teaspoon ground pepper
  •        ½  teaspoon cayenne pepper
  •        1 ½  teaspoons baking powder
  •        2 cups reduced fat sharp grated cheddar
  •        1.25 pound sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed (I used Shady Brook Farms)
  •        3/4 c finely chopped sweet onion (I used my food processor)
  •        3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, pepper, cayenne pepper, and baking powder. Add cheddar cheese and toss to coat.
  3. Add sausage, onion, and butter.
  4. With your hands, mix until well combined and roll mixture into balls. You WILL get messy! (I used 1 round tbsp per ball.)
  5. Place balls about ½ inch apart on cookie sheet.
  6. Bake on high until balls are golden and cooked through, about 35 minutes. Makes 45 sausage balls.

I need to buy myself some nice, white plates and stop shooting on paper!

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1P+ per sausage ball, choose your own serving size):
Calories: 55
Carbs: 3
Fat: 3
Protein: 4
Fiber: 0
Sodium: 139
Nutritional Information from myfitnesspal.com