That is one fine nut!

This was quick and GOOD! This was inspired by a salad that I had on vacation a while back minus the cranberries. This one was just bagged salad mix, The Well Dressed Nut Spiced Up Pecans and some Athenos Feta Cheese. I then topped it with just a splash of olive oil. It worked out amazingly well because it sat for a while because life interrupted my meal time. The best part of the salad was by far the pecans. I was stealing them off the top and ended up replacing them with more and then had some more later on! I met my nut quota for the day—that is for sure! The nuts were the best mix of sweet and spicy, no doubt why they are the best seller. These nuts are truly a gourmet food experience—the nuts are jumbo sized (not pieces but full nuts), all-natural, top quality ingredients and no preservatives—I have to mention how stylish these nuts are too! If you see in my pic I also have some Maple Glazed Pecans with Cranberries. I love Maple and I love cranberries so I can not wait to see how great these are. I read on their website ways to enjoy these and the suggested them mixed into oatmeal or yogurt—two of my favorite foods.

Pasta Recipe – Easy Weeknight Dinner

I have been on a spinach kick AND was really craving pasta—they go absolutely perfect together. Here is what I did: Took a serving of Mrs. Leepers Spaghetti and boiled it until al dente. In the meantime, I put a dash of Sciabica’s Basil Flavored Olive Oil* in my pan and added a huge amount of spinach. I let the spinach wilt while the noodles were cooking. Then all there was to it was draining the pasta and mixing with the spinach/ olive oil mixture. When I had it on my plate I topped with some Chevrai Goat’s Cheese from Woolwich Dairy.

*This olive oil made the dish—it was perfectly seasoned and produced by crushing fresh olives with fresh basil. It is an all natural cold pressed olive oil that is perfect for pasta for instant pesto flavor; salads with balsamic vinegar; sandwich spread; bread dipping.

Bunless Mushroom Swiss Burger

Sautee mushrooms until done in Pam, set aside. In the same pan heat up a boca burger patty flipping until heated all the way through and slightly browned. Take 1/2 a laughing cow light swiss wedge and set on top of the burger patty. Put a cover on and let it melt on top. Take off heat and dump the mushrooms on top. I generally eat this with a fork but you could wrap it in lettuce leaves, a low carb tortilla wrap, Ezekial bun or Whole Wheat english muffin.

Manicotti Inspired Dish

These are so yummy! Here is what you will need:
1/2 package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
5 egg whites
1/2 cup cottage cheese
sprinkle of italian herb blend (if desired I like Mrs Dash)
No-salt added tomato sauce or stewed tomatoes for sauce (Hunts is good)

Crack each egg and dump the yolk. Pour each white onto pre-heated griddle and cook like a mini pancake. While each white is cooking mix the spinach, cottage cheese and herbs together to make a filling. Flip the whites and cook throughly. Heat the oven to 400 and put some sauce at the bottom. Take each cooked white and put a spoonful of the mixture in the center. Roll up and flatten, place into pan with sauce. Do this for each and bake for 15 mintues. Inside will be gooey and cheesy. Kinda like manicotti!

New Food Find-- GG Bran Crispbreads

I discovered GG Bran Crispbreads. WOW! They are great. Each large cracker only 12 calories per slice, lots of fiber and a great taste. It doesnt get much better. So far I have spread them with natural peanut butter and that is my favorite. Some other great things to do with this versatile bread: spread a layer of cottage cheese then top with a tomato and sprinkle some pepper, lightly spread a laughing cow wedge and some spinach leaves, a light layer of sugar free caramel dip and some apples, protein frosting... Here is how to make a protein frosting:

1/2 scoop of protein powder (All the Whey cupcake batter is awesome for this)
1-2 packets of sweetner (depending how sweet you like it!)
couple drops of milk or water

MIX and eat. This works great for protein brownies, these crackers or just about anything to add some yummy flavor.

Ice Cream!

I have seen so many variations on this. We all have our own formula. Play around with it to suit your tastes but I swear its excellent!

1 cup Deans No Salt Added Cottage Cheese
Water
Ice
Flavorings: use SF/FF Jello Pudding Mixes, Waldens Farms Syrups, Extracts, Fruit-- Just about anything!

Blend on high until totally mixed and there are no lumps. You will swear off fatty ice cream. (Great pre-bed)

Faux Alfredo

This entire recipe has about 150 calories!

1 bag Tofu Shiraki Noodles (boiled and pat dry)
1 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge
1 Serving of your favorite veggie (I use either spinach or broc florets for this)

Combine and microwave. Stir really well. Its excellent, filling and low-calorie.