Reuben Sandwich

This is such a yummy little gourmet type corned beef sandwich.  The perfect quick lunch at home.  The dressing is delicious!  Sauerkraut…dill pickles…swiss cheese…it’s all good.  I used Russian Rye for the bread.

I nabbed this recipe from Cooking Light

Ingredients

• Dressing:
• 1/4 cup canola mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon chili sauce
• 2 teaspoons finely minced dill pickle
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon grated onion
• Sandwiches:
• 8 (3/4-ounce) slices rye bread
• 3 ounces Swiss cheese, shaved (about 3/4 cup)
• 4 ounces lower-sodium corned beef, thinly sliced (such as Boar’s Head corned beef, top round, cap-off)
• 1 cup organic sauerkraut, drained well

Preparation

1. 1. Preheat broiler to high.
2. 2. To prepare dressing, combine the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well.
3. 3. To prepare sandwiches, place bread slices in a single layer on a heavy baking sheet. Broil bread 1 1/2 minutes or until toasted. Turn bread over; broil for 1 minute or until lightly toasted. Remove 4 slices. Divide cheese evenly among remaining 4 slices, sprinkling it over lightly toasted sides. Broil 1 minute or until cheese melts. Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons dressing over the cheese-coated side of each bread slice; top each serving with 1 ounce corned beef, 1/4 cup sauerkraut, and remaining bread slices. Serve immediately.

Julianna Grimes, Cooking Light
MAY 2012

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 336
• Fat: 19.9g
• Saturated fat: 5.6g
• Monounsaturated fat: 8.1g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 3.6g
• Protein: 14.7g
• Carbohydrate: 24.2g
• Fiber: 3.4g
• Cholesterol: 40mg
• Iron: 1.9mg
• Sodium: 790mg
• Calcium: 212mg

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Broccoli and Cheddar Cheese Soup

I try to get all my green and red vegetables in my diet every week but what I rarely eat is broccoli.  I’m just not a fan of this vegetable at all and yet it is consider the healthiest and most beneficial of them all, so I read.   This is a fantastic broccoli recipe and what better way to eat it than in a soup.  I rarely eat soup but I have taken several attempts at them in the passed.  This is Cooking Light’s recipe, however I did cheat as I’m not a fan of Velvetta processed Cheese so I used in replacement New York Cheddar instead and this came out so good- just add on about 100 calories or so to this dish if you go with regular cheddar.  I really enjoyed this and it will definitely be a repeat for cold days.

If you want to try some other ideas of soups I tried check these out- Clam Chowder, Minestrone, Posole, Chicken Tortilla- for this recipe I add less broth in order to get more of the spiciness to it so do so if you like spice, Chili-Spiced chicken soup and Udon Noodle Soup.  

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (16-ounce) package broccoli florets
• 2 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 ounces light processed cheese, cubed (such as Velveeta Light)

Preparation

1. Heat a large nonstick saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes or until tender. Add broth and broccoli. Bring broccoli mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cook 10 minutes.
2. Combine milk and flour, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add milk mixture to broccoli mixture. Cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Stir in pepper. Remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until cheese melts.
3. Place one-third of the soup in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Return pureed soup mixture to pan.

Cooking Light
JANUARY 2002

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 203
• Calories from fat: 28%
• Fat: 6.3g
• Saturated fat: 4g
• Monounsaturated fat: 1.8g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 0.4g
• Protein: 15.6g
• Carbohydrate: 21.7g
• Fiber: 2.9g
• Cholesterol: 24mg
• Iron: 1.2mg
• Sodium: 897mg
• Calcium: 385mg

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Quinoa Salad with Blueberries, Strawberries and Watermelon

I love berry season….the ideas on what to use them for are limitless.   Biting into a nice hard tasty blueberry reminds me how close we are to summer. Maybe I’m just over the teasing that Spring likes to do to us Southern California residents with a nice warm 90 degree day one day and a really cold rainy day the next.  Stop it already, I’m done with you Spring!  I just  like the way Summer heats me up…..  ;)

I found this fantastic recipe from food blogger Gluten Free Goddess, found it through Pinterest. I made some slight changes to it, I used Baby Arugula for my greens and I drizzled the top of this salad with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Honey to off set the taste of the arugula as the taste of this green is strong for me.  Now Quinoa is incredibly good for you loaded with nutrients click on the link to see its nutritional value and I’ve been trying to find ways to work this very bland tasting grain in my diet.  This recipe adds flavor and depth to this grain.  It’s the perfect snack or light Brunch idea.

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Egg White Omelette with Bell Peppers and Mushrooms

This is a low calorie, healthy yet filling breakfast/brunch omelette and it’s so easy and quick to make too. You can substitute the veggies of your liking too- or add in some spinach for more greens in your diet.

To make 1 Omelette

All you do is finely chop up a sweet onion- half of a small or 1/4 of a large, 1 Jalapeño, 1/2 of a Red Bell Pepper, about 4-5 Large Mushrooms of your choice.  Sauté in Olive Oil Cooking spray on a non-stick pan.  Combine 2 Egg White and 1 Full egg in a bowl with 2 tbls of whole milk, two dashes of Dill Weed, pinch of salt and pepper- Mix.  To make it spicy add in some hot salsa to the mixture for an even more tastier version. Once the veggies are soft in texture remove from pan.  Add another addition of Olive Oil Spray to the pan and pour in Egg Mixture let that cook until it is almost dry on top.  Once it is almost cooked through add the veggies and fold over.  Simple, tasty and filling.  You can cut your portion size doown to just two egg whites too.

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Orange-Walnut French Toast Casserole

I tackled yet another fabulous recipe from my Recipes to Try Pinboard- this is one of Cooking Light’s recipes and if your having a sweet tooth craving this is the dish!  Loaded with sweetness and nutty flavor.  I started making this yesterday and let it sit over night in the refrigerator per instructions and when I pulled it out this morning I tossed it over like it said to do and it didn’t look pretty after that.   I placed it in the oven, baked it and tried to plate it for a nice photography shot but it’s just not as pretty as Cooking Light’s picture but if you could taste this thing!  I can actually taste the sweet orange juice in it through the brown sugar which is crazy good the combination of flavors from the two.  Lots of eggs in this dish, 3 egg whites and 2 eggs.  It is Cooking Light though- so save your heavy calorie grocery bought junk food for another time and make this instead for a lower calorie sweet tooth option.  I substituted Walnuts for Pecans as I didn’t have any on hand.  Yummy  (Click on the Picture for an up close tasty view.

I want you to look pretty for the camera…..this is the best I could do.

Ingredients

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons light-colored corn syrup
• Cooking spray
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind
• 1 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup fat-free milk
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large egg whites
• 2 large eggs
• 12 (1-inch-thick) slices French bread (about 1 pound)

Preparation

1. Combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup; pour into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle chopped pecans evenly over sugar mixture.
2. Combine rind and next 7 ingredients (rind through eggs); stir with a whisk. Arrange bread slices over pecans in dish; pour egg mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or up to overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350°.
4. Carefully turn bread slices over to absorb excess egg mixture. Let stand at room temperature 20 minutes. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until lightly browned.

Holly Clegg, Cooking Light
JUNE 2004

Nutritional Information

Amount per serving

• Calories: 293
• Calories from fat: 29%
• Fat: 9.5g
• Saturated fat: 3.9g
• Monounsaturated fat: 3.6g
• Polyunsaturated fat: 1.3g
• Protein: 6.1g
• Carbohydrate: 43.6g
• Fiber: 1.6g
• Cholesterol: 49mg
• Iron: 1.6mg
• Sodium: 323mg
• Calcium: 69mg

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