Shiritaki Tofu Noodles

So there has been a lot of hype about these new shiritaki tofu noodles. They are only 20 calories per serving and are supposedly just as good as pasta. I had to try these out for myself because I absolutely love pasta, but not the extra calories. In the end I can say that they are a little chewier than noodles and not exactly the same, but a good substitute for less calories.

The first thing you should know is that they come in a bag full of liquid. This liquid smells really REALLY bad. Trust me don't take a whiff...it's horrible. Put the noodles in a strainer and rinse them as soon as possible. Rinse them really thoroughly to get rid of the smell. It is so bad. Once you rinse it you can blot it with paper towels. I heard the drier you get it the better. I just got impatient and put it in the pan.

I've heard that these noodles don't do well with marinara sauces, so I wouldn't suggest making a normal spaghetti dish. I tried to make a low cal dish that would be creamy and delicious. I used aloutte cheese squares, a little olive oil, some fat free mozzarella, plain greek yogurt and garlic salt. Just melt it all together and voila! What I have shown is two bags of the pasta so I doubled the recipe. Just make sure everything is melted and then serve it up with some salad! It comes out to be 120 calories for one serving aka the whole bag. I think it's worth a try!

Ingredients
1 package shiritaki noodles
drizzle of olive oil
1 square alouette cheese
2 T fat free mozzarella
1 T plain greek yogurt
garlic salt to taste

Directions
rinse the shiritaki noodles very well! Pat noodles dry with paper towel and put them into a sauce pan. Add the olive oil, cheeses, greek yogurt, and garlic salt. Mix it until all ingredients are combined and melted.

The easiest potato cheese soup EVER!

This is a soup my mom has always made when I was growing up. It has few ingredients and the great thing is you can't really mess it up.  The measurements are different every time, so you just have to see what you like and add more or less.

To start out I added about 1/2 cups of celery and a half an onion. Put it in a stock pot with 1/4 cup of butter. Let it simmer until the onions are translucent

Add in the chunks of potato and the chicken broth and let it boil until the potatoes are tender

Of course I didn't get this next part on camera, but pour half of the soup in the blender with 1/4 cup of velveeta cheese and blend it until it is smooth and creamy. Add more cheese if you like it cheesier. You might want to let it cool down before you put it in the blender.  Pour the creamy soup into a different pot and put the rest of the soup in the blender with more cheese.  Once it is all blended heat it back up and serve it in hollowed bread bowls with bacon bits and shredded cheese. Enjoy :)

It's Pizza Time!

Ok before you continue you must realize that I am a college student and I don't always have time to make my own dough, so don't expect me to teach you how to make the best dough ever.  However, be prepared to use minimal ingredients to make awesome flavors!

Ok so to start out I am going to show you one of my favorite pizza combinations ever.  It's not for everyone, but it's definitely for me.  It is a gorgonzola and caramelized onion pizza. Sounds awesome right!? Well it is.  What is even better is that it only requires a few ingredients.

To start out we are going to caramelize some onions.  Chop up about 1/2 -1 red onion (depending how much you like onions).  Put some olive oil in a frying pan and dump in the onions.  Now you add some brown sugar...a little...a lot....it doesn't matter.  Now watch the magic!

Stir it around and wait until they look like little worms!! Also  you might want to cut the onions a little thinner.  I am not a skilled chopper so try not to judge me.

Now roll out any kind of pizza dough that you want. I prefer thin crust for this particular pizza, but go crazy with whatever you like.  I used the pillsbury thin crust dough and it worked great.  Just roll it out and generously sprinkle it with gorgonzola cheese.

Now put the caramelized onions on top ( i sprinkled more cheese after putting on the onions) and then stick it in the oven.  You probably just have to follow the baking directions for whatever pizza dough you are using, so I am not going to specify temperature and time.

If your pizza looks like this then congrats you succeeded! Now slice it and eat it!

For another variation of pizza I made Buffalo Chicken Pizza. It turned out awesome! This recipe was taken from the Pioneer Woman. If you don't already read her blog do it...really she is awesome.

Ok so the great thing about pizza is you don't need any specific measurements.  For this pizza i took some chicken chunks and covered them in BBQ sauce.

I sprinkled  BBQ sauce on the the dough and generously sprinkled mozarella cheese on top.

Now put the chicken on top of cheese and add some red onions.

Stick in the oven and voila!!!!

I added cilantro on top and it was definitely a good choice.

 and then of course the pepperoni and pineapple pizza. It is pretty self explanatory :)

Pasta Primavera

This recipe is one of those recipes that I think everyone has made at one point in their lives. It is super easy, healthy, and delicious.  My mom taught me how to make this awhile ago and I make it all the time for a quick and easy meal.

To be honest I don't use exact measurements.  I don't think you can really go wrong with these ingredients.  Feel free to add more or less of whatever you'd like!

To start out put some olive oil in a sauce pan.  Add in the onions and start cooking for a few minutes before adding the garlic.  Make sure the onions become a little translucent.

Once the garlic has simmered for about 30-45 seconds add in some basil and let simmer for 5 minutes.  Now all that is left is to add the diced tomatoes and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.  I know it's really hard to wait, but trust me it's worth it.  Make sure to stir it every once in awhile to make sure all the flavors get absorbed. 

When it is finished salt to taste and serve on top of angel hair pasta.  I always add some shredded parmesan to make it extra tastey.

Ingredients
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup fresh basil chopped (or 1-2 tbsp. dried basil)
4 tomatoes diced (or large 29 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes)
salt (to taste)
parmesan (optional)

Macaroni Casserole

So I decided to do one of my own recipes on here, well actually it's my mom's....and with that I'm sure she got it from someone else.  Oh well I have no one to cite for this except my mom.  This was always my favorite meal growing up.  My dad and brother didn't like the cream cheese/sour cream mixture so it was always have the pan just sauce and and cheese and the other half was lathered in the creamy sauce.

So to start it up bring some water to a boil and cook the bow tie pasta.  I'm assuming everyone knows how to make noodles.
Chop up the medium onion and the clove of garlic and put it in a sauce pan with a little oil.  Let it start cooking for a minute before adding in the meat.  I always use ground beef, but turkey tastes really good also.

After the meat has browned pour in the can of tomato sauce and add the oregano. Let it simmer for 20 minutes so all the flavors get absorbed into the sauce.

 Mix the sour cream and cream cheese in a separate bowl until it is creamy.

Now I am assuming the noodles are done.  I usually double this recipe and make it in a cake pan, but it could fit in an 8x8.  Put the noodles on the bottom of the pan and start dropping dollops of the cream cheese/sour cream spread across the pan.  Spread the mixture all over the noodles until it is evenly covered.

Take the meat sauce and pour it evenly over the noodles and do a little spreading to make sure it is even.  Take the cheddar cheese and sprinkle it over the top of the casserole.

Place it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted.

Ingredients
7 oz elbow macaroni
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 1/4 lb ground beef/turkey
1 med chopped onion
1 clove garlic minced
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 tsp oregano
1 cup sour cream
3 oz cream cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

BBQ Bacon Blue Cheese Sliders

Ok honestly everyone needs to check out our best bites. It is my favorite blog ever. So here is another recipe I took from them calle BBQ Bacon Sliders. They are just soo tastey.

Ok so first you need to make some beef pattys.  I don't know anything about barbecueing or making burgers so I just took some ground beef, added some salt and pepper, shaped them into mini pattys and threw them on my George Forman grill.  The rest of the stuff is so good that no one noticed that my burgers weren't super amazing.

 The key is in the this Garlic blue cheese sauce that coats both sides of the bun. Seroiusly so good. Make it...NOW.

1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic minced
1/4 c. crumbled blue cheese

Mix all of this and you are pretty much set.
So after you make these beef pattys go aead and add some BBQ sauce.  I coated both sides, because I like lots of BBQ sauce.

The next step is to make some bacon.  That is a whole different tutorial so I am just going to assume you know how to make  bacon.

Now to assemble the burgers
First lay out some dinner rolls cut in half or find some mini burger buns like I did. Then generously spread some of that lovely garlic blue cheese sauce all over the bun...then add some more.  Add a little piece of lettuce (mine are pretty small).

then goahead and add some bacon right on top

This is what you should look like when preparing the sliders :)

Now you add those delicious beef pattys...and then some homemade onion rings (I'll post a tutorial on those eventually...another our best bites recipe ofcourse)

I only put them in a pan because I had to transport them to a potluck I went to.

Go ahead and slather the top bun with more garlic blue cheese sauce and there you have it! Perfection.

Pizza Rolls

So I found these on one of my favorite food blogs Our Best Bites annnnd they looked way too good to pass up.

First step was taking a pillsbury pizza crust and rolling it out on a lightly floured surface.  It should roll out to 8x16. Then cut the dough into about 24 squares. 

Add your favorite toppings.  I used shredded cheese, but I think chunks would be easier.  I put in in some small pepperonis and cheese. The insides shrink up so try to get as much filling as possible.  These turned out a little airy inside because there wasn't enough filling.

My second attempt I used some pineapple, pepperonis, and cheese. Yum!
Next fold the edges up and seal the filling inside.

Put the balls into a greased 8 inch round pan seam down.

Brush olive oil across the top of the balls and sprinkle with garlic powder, parmesan cheese, and italian seasoning.

Stick it in the oven for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees, or just read the package and follow the directions. Keep an eye on them and take them out when they are golden brown like this...

they will be nice and gooey inside. I ate dipped mine in some marinara sauce and some ranch :)

Turkey Burgers

Alright so my favorite food is definitely a big juicy cheeseburger, however, eating a big patty of ground beef is not exactly the most nutritious meal.  At first I was little iffy about turkey burgers, but after a few trial rounds I have decided that I legitimately like turkey burgers. So my roommate and have become huge turkey burger fans over the past year.  They are super quick to make and super easy.  Now ofcourse with burgers you have to have fries so I decided to mix it up a little bit and make sweet potato fries...which are actually made from yams and not sweet potatos, which is kinda strange, but oh well.

Ok so to start my burgers I got 1 pound of turkey and put into a large mixing bowl.  In the bowl I added about a teaspoon of garlic powder, onion power, red pepper, salt, and pepper.  It is a little hard to season your burgers since you can't really taste them before you cook them.  I usually just wing and put in as much as I feel.  You can't really go wrong unless you really over do the seasoning.  After mixing the seasoning in I take out about 1/2 -1 cup size balls of turkey.  I put the turkey on a cutting board and just molded them into patties.  If you have a mold to make the shape of the burgers that's fine, but I just free hand it and end up with some imperfections. After I form the patty I tend to sprinkle a little more seasoning on the top.

When I cook the burgers I usually use my George Forman grill, which works really well because it cooks the patty on both sides.  When I made these I wasn't at my house so I made them on a frying pan.  I sprayed the pan with some oil, put the patties and let them cook 3-5 minutes on each sides on medium heat.  Make sure you check the center to see it is cooked all the way through.  After the burgers were cooked through I put a slice of mild cheddar cheese on top to melt. I took a sandwich thin toasted it put the patty and melted cheese on top, put some ketchup, lettuce, sliced tomato and avocado on it and it was ready to eat!

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper (I pt a little more than that)
1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2-1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon pepper 
Cooking oil spray
1 avocado
1 tomato
Ketchup
Lettuce
Cheese slices
Wheat Sandwich Thins (you can use regular burger buns, but these are just so good and less carbs!)

The sweet potato fries proved to be a little more difficult...

Ok so I bought two yams washed and peeled them.  After they were peeled I started cutting them into french fry sized pieces.  Well yams are really hard like a carrot...except four times as thick, so it was pretty difficult to cut both yams up. (I read somewhere that you can boil the yams first and then cut them, which sounds a little easier).  After I got all of the yam cut up I put it on a cookie sheet and I just sprayed it with canola oil.  You can put olive oil on it as well, but its important that they don't get completely soaked with the oil because they will become soggy.  I then salted the yams pretty generously.  I preheated the oven to 400 and put the yams in for about 18 minutes before I took them out, salted them, and flipped them over.  I put them in for another fifteen minutes and they were pretty much done.  I found that the thicker slices were a little soggy while the thinner pieces were nice a crispy.  I added a little more salt before I served them.  While they didn't come out perfectly, they were still pretty darn yummy.

Ingredients
2 yams
Olive oil/Canola oil
Salt