Sassy Sexy Shapely

 I was so excited back in March when I discovered Mexican Shrimp Cocktail.  It was such a thrill to stumble across a clean-eating, low-calorie fast food that I really enjoyed.  Well, it got even better this weekend when I tried my first Mexican Mixed Seafood Cocktail.

My BF and I were on our way back to town after a fun day of off-roading when we grabbed lunch at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican place en route.  Imagine my delight when I saw this exotic seafood blend on the menu!

The ‘Campechana’, described in English as “cocktail mixed”, was made with shrimp, octopus, abalone and oysters with chopped red onions, tomatoes, cilantro, cucumbers, avocado and cocktail juice.  It was delicious!  It was a refreshing and filling meal, perfect after a hot day on the dusty trail, and it was totally in keeping with my diet plan, providing lots of quality protein and other nutrients while still satisfying my tastebuds.  Exciting!

 Ross is one of my favorite stores.  They carry clothing, shoes, handbags, small furniture and other household items.  They also carry food, but I don’t usually buy foodstuffs when I’m there.  Tonight, though, while looking for a gift for a colleague, I stumbled on a Lemon Poppy Scone & Muffin Mix with no preservatives or artificial flavors.  The ingredients looked good; the calories were reasonable; each serving offered a decent amount of fiber and was low sodium.  The package called for one up of water, but I decided to go with unsweetened vanilla almond milk.  I enjoyed my warm muffin with a spritz or two of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray.  Delish!  Sometimes simple - and pre-packaged - is really quite good.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 package Country Gourmet Lemon Poppy Scone & Muffin Mix
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and mist a muffin pan with non-stick spray.
• Place mix in bowl, add almond milk and stir until just blended.
• Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin.
• Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden.

Makes 8 servings.

Per muffin: 155 calories, 1.5g fat, 4g fiber, 3g protein

 I love all things cheesy.  To me, anything with warm cheese equals comfort food.  So, I “healthify” cheesy classics or develop new faves whenever I can.  I just found this flatbread at the Walmart Neighborhood Market, and it’s now a permanent addition to my grocery list.  I came up with this dish while heating soup for my BF, whose stomach has been bothering him.  Prep-to-table took no time at all, so we were able to eat together.  This wrap satisfies my craving for ooey gooey cheesy goodness and fills me up with lots of tummy-taming fiber.

Cheesy Chicken & Veggie Flatbread Wrap

Ingredients

• 1 Italian Herb Light Flat Out Wrap
• 1 package Green Giant HEALTHY VISION frozen vegetables
• 1 2-oz. package of diced chicken from a South Beach Wrap kit (or 2 ounces of pre-cooked diced chicken breast)
• 4 slices Kraft Singles Sharp Cheddar Fat Free Slices

Directions

This makes a very full wrap.  Don’t worry if some of the filling falls out.  Just scoop it up and ladle it over the top!

Serves 1

Approximately 390 calories and 13g fiber

 For some reason, I got a bit crazy one day at the grocery store and filled the fridge with fat-free ricotta cheese.  Even though the cheese doesn’t expire until July, it seemed like a good time to whip up something delish with a couple of the containers.  I had some ginger preserves left over from my PB&J party, and voila… a subtly sweet, delicately flavored - yet healthy - dessert was born!

Low-Fat Ginger Ricotta Pie

Ingredients

• 2 15-ounce containers Fat-Free Ricotta Cheese
• 1/2 cup Egg Beaters (equivalent to 2 eggs)
• 9 tablespoons Splenda Granulated
• 3/4 cup Ginger Preserves
• 1 Refrigerated Pie Crust

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Roll out crust into 9-inch pie plate.
• In a large bowl, blend ricotta, Egg Beaters, Splenda and preserves.
• Pour into pie crust.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes, depending on oven temperature.
• Let cool and, if desired, garnish with thinned ginger preserves and ginger snap halves.
• Cut into 16 thin slices.

 Inspired by the kitschy recipes in my Mini Mart a la Carte cookbook, I made a healthier version of Cheese Dogs for my BF the other night.  Pair ‘em with diet cherry cola, and you’ve got a perfect meal for noshing in front of the TV, watching “Family Guy”.

Cheesy Crescent Dogs

Ingredients

• 1 can of Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls (8 count)
• 4 slices Kraft Singles Sharp Cheddar Fat Free Slices
• 4 97% Hebrew National Fat Free Beef Franks

Directions

Makes 8 servings.

On a recent overnight business trip to the north, I decided to break of out of the dinner-with-a-colleague rut and instead explore the city a little bit on my own.  After finishing up for the day, I had a great time walking up and down the quaint main street, snapping pics of flowers, ironwork and the colorful restaurant signs.

   In my travels, I happened on a delightful coffee shop, filled with an eclectic mix of overstuffed furniture, decoupaged tabletops and vibrantly illustrated menus.  It even had its own resident cat!  This was a place I could hang out in, and I simply *had* to sample one of their offerings.  After reviewing my choices, I decided on the Mary Jean Praline.

  Wow!  Talk about delish!  This sweet coffee confection was a super palate pleaser.  I didn’t eat the cookies.  They just looked like they needed to be photographed along with the coffee.  And, I ended up only drinking half of it, tossing the rest as I continued my explorations.  It was a freeing experience, though.  There was nothing diet about it, and I drank all that I wanted, thoroughly enjoying every sip and stopping when I’d had enough.

Want to make your own MaryJean Praline?  I was able to wheedle the rough ingredients out of the barista.  Here they are.

• Coffee
• 1/2 shot praline
• 1/2 shot creme brulee
• Whipped cream
• Caramel swirl

I woke up one morning a couple of weeks ago with another recipe in my head.  Nutty!  The Sassy Chef is in a particularly creative cooking mode lately!  It’s weird but welcome.  This recipe came out extra yummy and was surprisingly filling.  Cut into quarters, it was one of my entrees at the PB&J party.

 Clean Eating Naan Pizza with Chicken & Veggies

Ingredients

• 1 Whole Foods Market 365 Whole Wheat Tandoori Naan bread
• 1 package Green Giant HEALTHY VISION frozen vegetables
• 1 2-oz. package of diced chicken from a South Beach Wrap kit (or 2 ounces of pre-cooked diced chicken breast)
• 2 T Smart Balance Omega Natural Peanut Butter, super-duper chunky
• 2 T sugar-free Apricot Preserves

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and mist a pizza pan with olive oil cooking spray.
• Heat veggies in microwave for 4 1/2 minutes, following package instructions, and empty into dish.
• Mix diced chicken with veggies and microwave for 30 seconds.  Stir to blend.
• Pour butter sauce from veggies into separate microwavable bowl and mix peanut butter into it.  Microwave for 15 seconds and stir to blend fully.
• Thin apricot preserves with water and warm for 15 seconds in the microwave.
• Spoon peanut butter sauce on Naan.
• Spoon veggies and chicken on peanut butter-topped Naan.
• Drizzle thinned apricot preserves over veggies.
• Bake for 15 minutes.

Serves 1 | Approximately 490 calories with over 7g fiber for entire pizza

When I calculated the nutrition stats for my Whole Wheat Soy Blend Peanut Butter Cookies, I mistakenly did my calculations based on 15 servings instead of 30.  No wonder they were coming out at 340 calories per cookie!  They are actually a MUCH more reasonable 170 per cookie.  Whew!  I was horrified that the calories were so high.  I am still working on the next version of these babies, though.  I want to get them as low calorically as I can while still keeping them yum-o-licious… and clean, of course.

I have some enhancements in mind.  So, tomorrow night, it’s back to the drawing board.  Maybe the 15th time will be the charm? 

 Whole Wheat Soy Blend Peanut Butter Cookies, v1

• 1 cup Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread
• 1 jar (approx. 2 cups) Smart Balance Omega Peanut Butter, creamy or chunky
• ½ cup egg whites (equivalent to 2 eggs)
• 1 cup Splenda Granular
• 1 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup soy flour

Directions

• Mix together the buttery spread, peanut butter and egg whites in a large bowl. When well blended and creamy, add the Splenda and brown sugar blend. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and salt, and mix again. Finally measure in the baking soda, baking powder and flours. Stir until well blended.
• Shape the dough into balls about an inch in diameter. Arrange them on a cookie sheet. Spray the bottom of a glass with non-stick pray and press to flatten each cookie. Then, use the tines of a fork to create the classic cross-hatch pattern.
• Bake the cookies, on a cookie sheet coated with non-stick spray, at 375° for about 10 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from the sheet pan. Makes about 30 fairly large cookies.

Adapted from a recipe on the Hillbilly Housewife’s website.

After weeks of planning and much anticipation, the day finally arrived.  I had the PB&J party for my adopted fam this weekend.  I had a bad case of the jitters the night before, but everything went fine.  The recipes came out great, especially my third attempt at a PB&J cake.  I received lots of compliments on my place and on the food.  Many were surprised at the way the peanut butter and jelly were used in a dish.

Here’s the final menu.  I will post pics and recipes shortly.

Appetizers

• Celery Sticks with Spicy Peanut Butter Mango Dip
• Apple Slices with Peanut Butter Ginger Dip
• BBQ Beef Crescents with Apricot Glaze

Entrees

• Naan Chicken & Veggie Pizza
• Peanutty Steakhouse Chili with Buttery Jalapeno Biscuits

Desserts

• PB&J Cake
• Blackberry Nutter Butters

It was a wonderful day… but exhausting!  I was beat by the time Sunday morning rolled around.  That’s why I didn’t go through my photos and other material as quickly as I’d hoped.  Check back soon!

In the meantime, I’m so glad that it went well, and I’m looking forward to planning my next funky theme party.