Lasagna

I love Lasagna, but was very sad because I couldn't have it because of the noodles. But Spinach is a GREAT alternative. I really liked the flavor and it was better than regular lasagna... :)

Lasagna
1/2 lb. Ground Beef

1 bottle Speghetti Sauce (your favorite)

1 small Onion (chopped)

1 Egg

1 small Ricotta Cheese

1 cup Parmesan Cheese

2 tsp. Italian Seasonings

1 cup Shredded Cheese

Fresh Spinach Leaves

Cook the ground beef and add the onion. Cook until the onion starts to be translucent. Remove from heat and stir in the speghetti sauce.

In another bowl, mix the ricotta and parmesan cheese with the egg and seasonings.

Spray a cake pan with cooking spray and spread 1/2 of the hamburger mixture. Cover with a thick layer of spinach leaves. Spread the cheese mixture on top of the spinach leaves and then cover with another thick layer of spinach. Pour the rest of the sauce over that and cover with the shredded Cheese. If you would like you can make more layers of the spinach and cheese mixture. Bake @ 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.

Flourless Crepes

Crepes - Cream Cheese Filling & Peaches

So mostly these were FLOPS... :(

I figured them out with the LAST bit of batter. Most of them were scrambled crepes. But the kids ate them and told me they were good. :)

Flourless Crepes
1 Egg
1/4 cup Ricotta
1 Splenda Packet
Dash Cinnamon
Blend all ingredients together in a small food processor. Spay a small frying pan with cooking spray and place on medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter in pan and swirl the pan around until the batter covers the bottom of the pan. Cover and cook on LOW for a couple of minutes. I cooked mine longer because they kept sticking. Flip and cook for another minute or 2. The longer they cook on the first side, the easier they are to flip.

Crepe Filling
1/4 pkg. Fat Free Cream Cheese
1/4 cup Ricotta
1 Splenda Packet
1 tsp. Lemon Juice
Mix all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Spread on crepe and add your favorite fruit diced up. Roll up and enjoy.

Picnic Lunch

On my way out to my first LapBand Adjustment, we stopped to have a picnic lunch. This is what I packed: Yogurt, Vinegar cucumbers, and Chicken Salad wrapped in a red lettuce leaf.

Chicken Pecan Salad
1 Chicken Breast
1 Apple
10 Grapes
1/4 cup Pecans
2 tbsp Light Mayonaise
1/2 tsp Seasoning Salt

Boil the chicken for about 30 minutes, (until it is done), seasoned with some seasoning salt and chop into small chunks. Chop up the apple and pecans. Cut the grapes in half. Mix all ingredients together and spoon about 1/2 cup on to a lettuce leaf, wrap it up and enjoy.

Vinegar Cucumbers
1 Cucumber
1/4 cup Water
1/2 cup Vinegar
2 tsp Salt

Slice the cucumber and place in ziploc baggy. Pour water, vinegar and salt over cucumbers. Shake the bag, open and taste the yummy crispness and PUCKER. You can add less vinegar if it is too strong.

Clam Chowder

This is Tyler's, (my 11 year olds), Favorite Soup. So of course we had to make a low fat version of it.

Low Fat Clam Chowder
1 can Baby Clams
1 bottle Clam Juice
1 Celery Stalk (chopped)
1 Carrot (chopped)
1 small Onion (chopped)
1-2 clove Garlic (chopped)
1 tsp. Red Wine Vinegar
1 tsp. Seasoning Salt
1/2 tsp. Dill Weed
1 tbsp. Light Margarine
2 -3 tbsp. Flour
2 cups Skim Milk

Drain the juice from the clams into a stew pot. Add clam juice, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, vinegar, seasoning salt, and dill to the pot. Add a cup or 2 of water to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil and simmer 20 minutes. (I added a few chopped potatoes in my kids pot). In a different pan, melt the margarine and add flour. Make a rue. Stir in the milk and simmer until thick. Combine with the vegetables and add the clams at this time, (cooking the the clams to long with make them rubbery). Serve with a few Oyster Crackers.

Pizza For Dinner??

I absolutly LOVE Pizza, but now I can't have the crust because of the bread. So I ran across an Idea for the crust... Cauliflower (again).



Pizza
For the crust:
1 cup shedded Cauliflower
1 cup shredded Skim Mozzerella Cheese
1 Egg
1/4 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 tbsp. Protein Powder (optional)

Mix all ingredients and spread on a pizza pan that was sprayed with cooking spray. Bake @ 450 for 15 to 20 minutes. Add your favorite toppings and bake again until the cheese is melty and starting to brown. This make 1 small pizza crust or to personal pan sized ones.

The shredded cauliflower and cheese was too lumpy in my first batch, so I put them both in my food processor to make them finer. And the crust was a little too soft for me, so I pried it off the pan and cooked it on my electric griddle for a little while longer. But is was YuMmY!!!

Breakfast . . .

Protein Pancakes!!!

I love pancakes, but again.. :( No bread. So here is a pancake loaded with protein. Plus I like peanut butter on my pancakes, even more protein. And a half piece of turkey bacon.


Protein Pancakes
1/4 cup Oatmeal
1/2 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1 Egg
2 tbsp. Fat Free Cottage Cheese

Add oatmeal, protein powder, and soda in a food processor and blend until it resembles flour. Add the egg and cottage cheese until well blended. Pour onto hot griddle that has been sprayed with cooking spray. When it starts to look formed and making bubbles around the edges, flip the pancake. Cook for a few more minutes.
I like mine with reduced fat peanut butter and a jelly syrup.

Jelly Syrup
1/2 cup sugar Free (any flavor) Jelly
1/2 cup Sugar Free Syrup

Mix together both ingredients and pour over your pancakes. You can also use some fresh fruit if you want to.

Chicken Wings & Twice Baked Potatoes

This is what I had for Dinner tonight.
Chicken Wings & Twice Baked Potatoes...

of course they are not really Potatoes... Faux Potatoes! ! !
I will start out with the Potatoe Recipe . . .

Faux Twice Baked Potatoes
For the Skins:
1 cup shredded Cauliflower
1 cup shredded Cheese
1 Egg
1/2 tsp. Seasoning Salt
1 tbsp. Oat Flour

I put my cauliflower in my mini food processor to make it even smaller. (Oat flour is Oatmeal that is processed until it is fine.) Mix all the ingredients together and press into muffin tins. Make sure you spray your muffin tins with some kind of oil. Bake at 450 for about 5 minutes. The eggs will start to puff up, so take them out now, and with a spoon, smash them back down and up around the sides again. Bake another 10 to 15 minutes, or when they are looking kind for toasty. Remove from tins and allow them to cool, upside down.

For the Stuffing:
1 cup chopped Cauliflower
1/2 cup shredded Cheese
2 slices Turkey Bacon (chopped)
2 chopped Green Onions

Put the cauliflower in a ziploc bag with a little bit of water, and steam in the microwave for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Mix all of the ingredients together. Press the stuffing into your faux potatoe skins. Bake at 350 for 5 to 10 minutes. They are done when the cheese is all melty. Serve with a very small dalup of fat free sour cream.

Chicken Wings
12 Chicken Wing sections
1 cup Fat Free Sour Cream
1 Egg
1/4 cup Buffalo Sauce
10 Saltine Crackers
15 to 20 Hot & Spicy Cheez-It

In a large ziploc, mix sour cream, egg and buffalo sauce. Add chicken to the bag and place in your refridgerator for 8 to 12 hours. (I do this part the night before). In a food processor, make your crackers into fine crumbs. Shake off the excess sauce from each wing and roll around in cracker crumbs. Place on a tinfoil lined baking sheet, (I spray my tinfoil also, so they won't stick). Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve with more Buffalo sauce, some chopped celery, and ranch dip mix, using fat free sour cream.

Welcome

Hello... I am Jennifer... This blog is going to be my journal through my weight loss journey. It will have pictures of my progress, my successes and my fails. Also some of my Creative, (as my mom describes it), Recipes... Some of my recipes are going to be successes and a lot of fails, but always creative.

I had Lab Band surgery on May 17, 2011. So my diet is very limited. I can not have bread, potatos, pasta or rice. So my recipes have been very creative. Some of the recipes I have got from sites and I have tweeked, so not all are original, but usually have my own twist on them. I hope they will help anyone who is in search of ideas for What's for dinner.