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There’s a little cafe in town where my friend and I enjoy having lunch. But honestly, I’m not sure I’ve tried more than one thing on the menu. I love this one particular salad so much that I order it every time we go there. One day it occurred to me that I could probably make this salad at home.

So as usual, I wrote down what was in it, and ran it through the recipe analyzer. Even using conservative amounts of the ingredients, it's about 400 calories per serving. It's so delicious that it is worth it for a special treat once in a while. And honestly, my at-home version is probably half the calories of the restaurant version. The key ingredients are: chopped dates, apples, bacon crumbles, pecans, and blue cheese on baby greens with poppyseed dressing.

The day after Christmas I made plans to get back on the straight and narrow. This included making some of my favorite very low-calorie foods to have on hand. So I took my leftover turkey pieces out of the freezer, and I made another batch of my low-cal apple cranberry sauce. For my New Year’s dinner, I made one of my favorite salads. It's actually the basic ingredients of a turkey sandwich, just without the bread and served on a bed of lettuce– 2 ounces of turkey, 1/4 cup apple cranberry sauce, 1 wedge of laughing cow lite cheese, and 1/4 avocado. This salad comes in at about 225 calories, and it is a completely satisfying dinner for me.

Click here for Debby's salad recipes.

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While here in Northern California we are enjoying an unusually early spring, other parts of our country are still experiencing unbelievably cold weather. What is better in cold weather than a bowl of delicious chili? I recently had this recipe, and it is my favorite chili ever. When I checked the stats on it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the calorie count was quite reasonable. Of course, that's the thing about chili--its all the fixin's that can make it a more "luxurious" entree calorie-wise. Start with an extra lean cut of beef. Sometimes you can find "extra lean stew beef" already cut into bite-sized pieces for you.  Enjoy a steaming bowl of chili, guilt free. Then get back to your quilting! (P.S. This recipe is still delicious in our California spring weather!)

Here's a link to the recipe.

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There’s a little cafe in town where my friend and I enjoy having lunch. But honestly, I’m not sure I’ve tried more than one thing on the menu. I love this one particular salad so much that I order it every time we go there. One day it occurred to me that I could probably make this salad at home.

So as usual, I wrote down what was in it, and ran it through the recipe analyzer. Even using conservative amounts of the ingredients, it's about 400 calories per serving. It's so delicious that it is worth it for a special treat once in a while. And honestly, my at-home version is probably half the calories of the restaurant version. The key ingredients are: chopped dates, apples, bacon crumbles, pecans, and blue cheese on baby greens with poppyseed dressing. I actually made this salad for Christmas dinner!

The day after Christmas I made plans to get back on the straight and narrow. This included making some of my favorite very low-calorie foods to have on hand. So I took my leftover turkey pieces out of the freezer, and I made another batch of my low-cal apple cranberry sauce. For my New Year’s dinner, I made one of my favorite salads. It's actually the basic ingredients of a turkey sandwich, just without the bread and served on a bed of lettuce– 2 ounces of turkey, 1/4 cup apple cranberry sauce, 1 wedge of laughing cow lite cheese, and 1/4 avocado. This salad comes in at about 225 calories, and it is a completely satisfying dinner for me.

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Yesterday I tried a new recipe that had caught my interest--these muffins just looked yummy!  They called for an ingredient that I wanted to try out; a while ago, I bought a bag of cashew meal at Trader Joe’s. This recipe was a “paleo” recipe ( Paleo Pumpkin and Carrot Muffins,) so it called for almond flour as its main ingredient. I knew I could substitute the cashew meal. I ran them through the recipe calculator, and they came out to 260 calories each (I made 6 large muffins.) That's a bit higher than I like for my breakfast, but it's not out of range. The weird thing was, they were “paleo” but they only had 7 grams of protein, and 33 grams of carbs! Fats were 13 grams and fiber came in at 3.5 grams.

It was a moist, tasty muffin.

Then I thought about my recipe for “Very Light Banana Muffins.” Honestly, I like it better. I knew they were 135 calories each, but I didn’t know the stats, so I ran that recipe through the recipe calculator; they have 7.8 grams of protein and only 18 grams of carbs. Fats are 4 grams, and there are 2.4 grams of fiber.

This kind of thing is just interesting to me. I know other people would prefer the first muffin, probably because of the higher fat content. But over the years, my tastes have changed, at least a little bit. And as I learned so long ago at Weight Watchers, even the little changes make a difference.

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This is one of the most simple recipes I know of. Only five ingredients, and those five go (almost) straight from the grocery store into your crock-pot. The beauty of a recipe like this is that you don't have to spend a lot of time to prepare it, and once it's done, you have home-cooked meals ready to go for several nights. It makes at least 8 good-sized servings.

Once it's ready, it can be dressed up or dressed down as you like! It can also be converted to a taco soup!

Here's the basic recipe:

2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders, frozen

1 can black beans

8 ounces (canned or frozen) corn

16 ounces (one deli container) fresh salsa of choice (as hot or as mild as you like!)

4 wedges of Laughing Cow lite cheese

Drain and rinse the beans. Place the chicken in the crock-pot, and add the other four ingredients on top. If you are home, stir the ingredients every few hours. (I was gone all day and it turned out fine.) Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir to shred the chicken. 

I have eaten this straight from the bowl, on a bed of shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes in the summer, over a baked potato on a cold day, and wrapped in a low-cal tortilla. Friends I know serve it over brown rice. Any which way, this is a tasty, filling, low-calorie dinner treat!

Click here for more of Debby's recipes.

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Some of you might know that I have been going through an extensive home renovation project for the past couple of months. This has made cooking more than a bit difficult. It just wasn't fun anymore, without a good space to work in, or even running water in the house. As time has gone on, I have sometimes gotten a bit grumpy about not being able to experiment with my healthy recipes in the kitchen. And then I remembered the crock pot! Oh boy, I could cook again! It was funny how just putting together some simple ingredients in a crockpot cheered me right up. 

And for the busy quilter, or busy working woman or mother, the crockpot is just perfect. I will be sharing several of my favorite crockpot recipes over the next few weeks. So get those crockpots dusted off and get ready for some really tasty healthy homemade dishes that are just right for this nice fall weather we are having. 

First up is my favorite. If you can believe it, I have never eaten or made baked apples my whole entire life! I know, where was I raised? Anyway, I found this recipe through one of my blogger buddies. I adjusted it a bit for my own purposes, and have already made it twice. And, for me the measure of success is when I share it with a "non-dieter" and they proclaim it delicious! These crockpot baked apples are as delicious and satisfying as apple pie!

Crockpot Baked Apples

Ingredients:

3 medium apples (I used Fuji or Honeycrisp)

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp splenda granulated

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 Tbsp dried cranberries or raisins

 2 Tbsp chopped walnuts or pecans

3 tsp butter (or butter substitute of choice)

1/2 cup water

Directions: Cut the core out of the three apples without cutting all the way through the bottom. Place the apples in the crockpot. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, splenda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cranberries, and chopped nuts. Carefully spoon the dry mixture into the empty core of each apple. Top each with a teaspoon of butter. Carefully pour the water in the bottom of the crockpot. Put the lid on, and cook on low for 4-5 hours. 

Each apple will be approximately 180 calories. 

Click here for more of Debby's recipes.

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I am currently in the middle of a kitchen renovation/addition project. It will be so nice when it is all done, but for right now I have no kitchen (no running water, no stove) in my house. So I am all about the simple easy no-cook (but still delicious) recipe. Even if you are not renovating your home, there are probably plenty of days that you are in the midst of The Next Great Quilt Project, and you need a quick fix for dinner or lunch.

I was delighted when I found these three recipes on my own blog--I had forgotten all about them! I had pre-cooked chicken breasts and frozen them in individual servings before the stove moved out. So I have all the ingredients ready to assemble these salads.

Here is my recipe for a single serve Chicken Apple Salad:

Ingredients:

Baby lettuce, or spring mix, or 50/50 spinach/baby lettuce,  3 big handfuls

1 ounce roast chicken, chopped

1 ounce goat cheese, crumbled (I used goat cheese that was coated with cranberries)

1/2 apple chopped

1 carrot grated

Dressing:  1 tsp each balsamic vinegar, mustard, olive oil, maple syrup.

Directions:  Mix the dressing in the bottom of the bowl and add the greens.  Toss to coat.  Dump the other stuff on top and eat it!

Click here for a very low cal Chicken Waldorf Salad or here for a Very SIMPLE Asian Chicken Salad (only five ingredients!)

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It's still very warm out here in sunny California, but the cooler nights have made me start dreaming about fall. And with fall comes pumpkin! Pumpkin is naturally low calorie and nutritious. But the best part is, you know...it makes pumpkin pie!

If it is still warm where you are, here is a delicious way to begin to enjoy the taste of pumpkin pie--a frosty protein pumpkin smoothie!

1/3 cup pumpkin (3 frozen pumpkin cubes)*

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze

1/4 cup egg beaters

1/4-1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/8 tsp salt

sweetener of choice 

1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. I have an inexpensive Farberware single serving rocket blender that works great for smoothies like this.

Approximately 17 grams of protein and 170 calories.

*When I open a can of pumpkin, there is always a lot left over. I put this pumpkin in an ice cube tray, and then it is ready to use whenever the urge for pumpkin strikes!

If you'd like to explore more healthy, low-cal pumpkin recipes, click here!

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What does a busy quilter need in the middle of summer? She needs a quick and easy (but delicious) dinner recipe that she can prepare ahead of time that won't heat up the kitchen. That about sums it up, right? 

This recipe for my version of Shrimp Ceviche is going to be my favorite of the summer, I'm pretty sure. Fresh tomatoes and corn, some avocado, and just enough shrimp to add some texture and protein--what more could a girl want? I like it so much, I just eat a bowl of it by itself. But if you wanted to, you could make yourself some tortilla chips to go with.

Here's all the ingredients you need to gather:

And here is the finished product, ready to be consumed!

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It's that time of year again–everybody who has a little space is growing a few zucchini and tomato plants, right? Or you might be like I usually am, and hope that your friends and neighbors will share their bounty with you. Anyway, if you like those two vegetables, this is a wonderful no-fail recipe (in my humble opinion : ) ) I was a little surprised at how the baking dish was filled to the brim, but decided to trust my own recipe, and sure enough, it did not boil over. I just love the flavor combo in this recipe, and I love that you can have a great big serving for 200 calories, and I love that you still get a little treat of cheese and pasta every few bites!

(Zucchini Marinara Bake, pictured before baking)

A serving of this with a side of chicken or fish makes a fantastic dinner.

Recipe Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds zucchini, cut in strips or diced

2 oz pasta of choice, cooked according to package directions

2 1/2 ox. mozzarella cheese, shredded or cut in small slices

2 tomatoes, diced

About 6 oz. ‘baby bello’ mushrooms, sliced

1 1/2 cups low-fat marinara sauce (60 calories per 1/2 cup, Trader Joe's is my favorite)

2 tsp olive oil

Spray 8X8 pan with Pam or other vegetable spray.  Layer all ingredients twice, and put extra squash, mushrooms tomatoes and sauce on top.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  

4 servings, 210 calories each.  

For more tasty, healthy, and low calorie recipes,

Debby's recipe site.