Asian Turkey Meatballs

This recipe from Skinny Taste is for turkey meatballs with asian flavor and a sesame lime dipping sauce. I made this for an appetizer since you can make the meatballs whatever size you like (with toothpicks for easy maneuvering). These turned out so well and were so delicious that I had to put them away because we were filling up on these instead of dinner!

I also tried this same recipe without the Panko to make it more low carb.... it was still tasty, but there was definitely something missing.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup panko crumbs
1-1/4 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
1 egg
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
3 scallions, chopped
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil

Dipping Sauce
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp chopped scallion

Directions:

1. Mix ground turkey, panko, egg, salt, scallions, ginger, cilantro, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 2 tsp oil into a mixing bowl. Mix with your hands until combined well.

2. Shape meat mixture into a ball to desired size and transfer to a baking dish until all of the mixture is used.

3. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

4. For the dipping sauce: mix together lime juice, water, soy sauce, and remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a bowl. Add scallions.

5. Transfer meatballs to a serving dish. Stir sauce, then drizzle meatballs with 1 tablespoon sauce.

6. Serve meatballs with remaining sauce.

Enjoy!

Skinny Shredded Buffalo Chicken

Putting my crock pot to use again, I made shredded buffalo chicken from skinnytaste.com.

This recipe is definitely a keeper! The original recipe provides details to make a buffalo lettuce wrap, however I just ate it plain as a snack (I couldn't help but pick at in my fridge!) or over lettuce. Surprisingly, it didn't taste too spicy but had a nice kick. If you are worried about the kick, it did seem to mellow the next day. The author of skinny taste recommended Frank's for the brand of hot sauce. It was fantastic - I definitely found a new favorite that has now made it's way to my eggs rather than the usual tabasco.

Ingredients:

24 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
1 celery stalk
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic (I just did a little of fresh diced garlic)
16 oz fat free low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup hot cayenne pepper sauce (Frank's was delicious! - though I definitely used more than the recipe called for).

Directions:

1. In a crock pot, combine chicken, onions, celery stalk, garlic and broth (enough to cover chicken, you can use water if the broth isn't enough). I cut the celery - oops!

2. Cover and cook on high 4 hours.
3. Remove the chicken from pot, reserve 1/2 - 1 cup broth and discard the rest.
4. Shred the chicken.

5. Return to the slow cooker with the 1/2 cup broth and the hot sauce and set to on high for an additional 30 minutes.

Served over salad with light bleu cheese dressing....

Snack: Skinny Baked Parmesan Kale Chips

I am always looking for new ways to introduce veggies into my diet. I came across these veggie snacks that are low fat, low calorie and low carb on Skinny Taste.

I have to admit that I had never tried Kale prior to this, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Ingredients:
1 bunch kale (~12 oz stems removed)
Olive Oil Spray
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
A sprinkle of sea salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray two large baking sheets with oil.

Wash and thoroughly dry kale. Remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite sized pieces.
Place on baking sheets, spray with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Bake about 10-12 minutes, turning and moving them around as they shrink to make sure they evenly crisp up.
Top with shredded parmesan cheese, keeping a close eye on them, bake an additional 5 to 6 minutes until the edges are crisp but not burnt. Time will vary depending on your oven.


Verdict.... it was an adventure. For my tastes, Kale tastes too much like seaweed. I also found that the Kale didn't keep well and was soggy when I went to eat it the next day. Glad I tried it, but won't be making it again.

Crock Pot Shredded Chicken

Shredded chicken is easy to make in a crock pot and should be made ahead of any recipes requiring this ingredient.
Crock pot shredded chicken takes about 4 hours to make, so I may make it the day before I plan on needing it. This is also good to have around for salad toppings. The original recipe can be found here on Skinny bits.

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
Water
Chicken Broth

Directions:
Place chicken breasts in crock pot.
Cover chicken breasts with water or chicken broth (I used chicken broth).
Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

When it is finished, place the chicken on a plate and shredd with a fork. It comes apart incredibly easily.
I do have to say the chicken is a bit dry when it comes out and I haven't yet figured out how to avoid this.

Skinny Buffalo Quesadilla

In the mood to try something a little different, I decided to make the Buffalo Burger Quesadillas from Skinny Taste.

Overall it was a nice change, but I think if I made it again I would stick to chicken.

Ingredients:

1 lb 100% lean grass-fed ground buffalo
1 cup pico de gallo (I didn't have this)
1 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar jack cheese
8 small whole wheat flour tortillas, cut smaller if desired (La Banderita)
spray olive oil (Pam)
salt and fresh pepper

Directions:

Form 4 thin burger patties. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a pan to medium-high heat; when hot, lightly spray the pan with oil and add the burgers.
Cook burgers about 2 minutes on each side. Set aside.

In another pan, heat on medium heat. Lightly spray with oil and place the tortillas on the pan (I used a small pan, so I had to do it one at a time). Place 2 tbsp cheese on each tortilla. (This is where I realize I do a horrible job at measuring - I have no idea how much cheese I used).

Place buffalo burger onto tortilla with cheese and add 2 tbsp of cheese on each. Place the other tortilla on top; flip and cook until the cheese melts.

It will look like this...

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

I have never made pulled pork before and when I found this recipe on Skinny Taste I decided to try it.
I used store bought sauce, which made it amazing but definitely less skinny.

Ingredients:

2.5 lb boneless pork loin roast (center cut, trimmed of all fat)
2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp Hickory liquid smoke
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup BBQ Sauce (I like sauce.... I used the whole bottle in my version)

Directions:

Place pork in the crock pot and season with salt, vinegar, garlic powder and liquid smoke. Cover and set to high 6 hours.
Remove pork and place on large dish; reserve all the liquid into a cup and set aside.

Shred the pork with two forks and put it back into the crock pot along with about 3/4 cup of the reserved liquid and the BBQ sauce (Recommendation from site: for every 3 oz cooked pork, I used 2 tbsp BBQ sauce).

Cook on high one more hour.

This was delicious! So delicious in fact - that I shouldn't make it again... I couldn't stop eating it!

Split Pea Soup

I have made this recipe from Skinny Taste twice. It is relatively easy to make and turns out completely yummy!
The author of Skinny Taste writes that 1/6th of the recipe of 4+ points... I am not sure how much that is... but definitely a healthy recipe in the right portion.

Ingredients:
16 oz bag of dried split peas
1 medium chopped onion
1 garlic clove (I used minced garlic)
8 cups fat-free chicken broth
2 tsp of olive oil
2 large carrots - chopped (I used baby carrots and just cut up what I thought would be good)
salt and pepper
1 ham hock

Directions:
Wash peas and drain them.
In a pot, saute onions and garlic in about 2 tsp of oil.

Add peas, carrots, ham hock and chicken broth. Cover the pot and let it come to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Once it boils, reduce heat and cook for about two hours. The beans become soft and dissolve into the green color you see.

Remove ham hock and serve. I put the soup in individual portions in mason jars and placed a lot of the left overs in the freezer so that on busy nights I would always have something to grab to eat.

Baked Sweet Potato Fries... Almost

I tried yet another recipe from Skinny Taste. This is a great site if you are looking for healthy recipes.

Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries
Servings: 2 • Serving Size: 1/2 • Points+: 3 pts

1 sweet potato, (about 5" long) peeled and cut into 1/4" fries
2 tsp olive oil
sea salt
ground chipotle chile (I chose to add this afterward and did half spicy and half plain)
garlic powder

Preheat oven to 425°.

In a medium bowl, toss sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt, garlic powder and chipotle chile powder (optional).

Spread sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Spread out to avoid crowding so potatoes get crisp. The original recipe says to bake 15 minutes and then to turn and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.

As you can see there is only a before picture..... lesson learned was that even though the directions say to bake for 10-15, I think in my oven I should only bake for 10. I neglected to pay attention to the part that says cooking times may vary.
Perhaps I need to check to them more frequently. I burned most of them to a crisp! However, the ones that weren't burnt were delicious and I plan on trying this recipe again. Luckily since this was the first time I was attempting anything like this. I purchased frozen store bought back up, just in case....

Does mean my glass is also half empty.. or that I am always prepared?