Miyoko's Vegan Mozz - Life-Changing Vegan Cheese!!

I have been on a bit of a hiatus from posting recipes while I have been focusing on my Skinnee B's products - but I just could not resist writing a post about Miyoko's Vegan Mozz. It is absolutely life-changing and I want to shout it from the rooftop!

This cheese melts, bubbles, stretches - and it's even good cold! This is just insane to me - when I first tried it I was so excited that I would not stop telling my boyfriend about it (even though I know that he couldn't care less about cheese, vegan or otherwise..)

So, you can see my dilemma - I had to share this with SOMEBODY. Thus, my return to the blog life.

Also it is cashew-based so it is also Paleo and Soy Free :)

Sadly, I do not have any photos of the first recipe I made with the Vegan Mozz, because I literally inhaled it. The next time I make it I will take pictures and post the exact recipe - but the gist of it is as follows:

Canyon Bakehouse GF Rosemary Focaccia  - cut in half
Fry up some Chicken Italian Sausage and add Red Sauce (I used Gravy's Arrabbiatta Sauce )
Spread Sauce/Sausage on Focaccia pieces, top with Miyoko's Vegan Mozz
Broil until Mozz is melted, bubbly and delicious :)


I have since used the Vegan Mozz in 3 other dishes(I have pictures of 2 of them)

Baked chicken with Arrabbiata Sauce, Broccoli and Vegan Mozz

& Baked Rigatoni with Arrabbiata Sauce and Vegan Mozz :)

And the third(not pictured) was a Caprese Salad with Avocado and Balsamic :)

Enjoy!

238 Calorie Chili

I tried making a skinnier version of my Mom's turkey chili - this was the result - you can customize it to your own preferences for chili ingredients, spice level etc.

This recipe makes at 2-3 large servings - you can freeze any leftovers and re-heat later for chili mac, chili dogs, or whatever else you might use chili for.

This would be great with my 158 Calorie Hearty Jalapeno Cornbread as a side :)

This chili is way better than canned/store-bought and it is gluten and dairy free!

Ingredients:

2 cans tomatoes - 180 cal

1 can chili beans - 315 cal

1 turkey burger - 200 cal

1 small can green chiles - 20 cal

1/2 tsp cumin

2 dashes each of salt, pepper and chili powder if desired                          

= 715 calories total, makes 3 servings, 238 calories each

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot brown and break up the turkey meat
2. Once the turkey is well browned, add in the tomatoes
3. Rinse the canned beans, then add to the pot
4. Add in green chilis and spices to taste
5. Allow to simmer for at least 25 minutes, longer if desired - stir occasionally
6. Remove from heat and serve hot - store leftovers in airtight container in the freezer

158 Calorie Hearty Jalapeno Cornbread

Whole Foods makes amazing jalapeno cornbread - but it isn't gluten free - so I decided to try making my own version - (more variations of gluten and dairy free cornbread coming in the future!)

This makes a single serving - you may want to add more stevia/jalapenos depending on how sweet or spicy you want it to be - I topped mine with some Earth Balance Vegan Butter :)

Recipe:

1/3 cup corn flour - 145 cal

1 tbsp and 1 tsp almond milk - 3 cal

1/2 tsp stevia - 0 cal

2-3 jalapenos - 2 cal

1 tbsp egg whites - 8 cal                      

= 158 cal

1. Preheat over to 450 degrees
2.Mix together the corn flour, almond milk, stevia and egg whites
3. Chop up the jalapenos and stir into the batter
4. Press batter into small greased baking dish
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes - let cool, serve warm with butter if desired

100 Calorie Spicy Italian Salad

As you may already know, I love spicy food. One of my favorite ways to spice up my food is to use hot sauce as salad dressing (like I do at Chipotle) - this salad is a variation of that, using a mixture of Light Italian Dressing and Green Tabasco :)

This really tastes like a spicy italian sub sandwich - but it is only 93 calories! You can add some lunchmeat if you want more protein, or serve this as a side dish - 

This salad is Gluten Free, Dairy Free, and Vegan :)

Recipe:

2.5-3 cup Lettuce - 20 calories

1 small (or half of a large) Heirloom Tomato - 35 calories

4-6 Pepperocini peppers - 15 calories

1 tablespoon Light Italian Dressing - 22 calories

2-3 teaspoons Green Tabasco Sauce                                 

= 93 calories total

1. Wash and chop up the lettuce and tomato(salt and pepper the tomato), and cut up the peppers

2. Before adding the tomato and peppers, add the italian dressing and tabasco sauce to the lettuce and toss well

3. Top with tomato and peppers, toss well again, and enjoy :)

Dining Out: The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory is one of the worst offenders as far as high calorie restaurant entrees - If you choose to eat here while watching your calorie intake you have to be very careful about what you order

I only order off of their new Skinnylicious Menu - I get the Mexican Chicken Lettuce Wrap Tacos, they are 260 calories, and they are gluten free and dairy free(without the crema) - they are basically like a mexican chicken salad in lettuce wrap form

For comparison, my boyfriend orders the Baja Chicken Tacos - these are 1,119 calories! And his entree does not look very different from mine except that his comes with actual tortillas and rice and beans. I would not have thought that his meal would be that high in calories - but leave it to Cheesecake Factory to make even the healthy-looking things high in calories..

Also if you eat here while restricting calories do not order cheesecake! Instead you should make your own low cal version at home - You can do this using 1 container of Chobani or Fage low fat greek yogurt and a tablespoon of Jell-O Sugar Free Cheesecake mix - just stir the two ingredients together well and refrigerate for about 20-30 minutes - you could add PB2 powder or cocoa powder to make a peanut butter/chocolate cheesecake, or top with some fruit preserves for a classic fruit-topped cheesecake treat :)

Spicy Pumpkin Maple Cookies (30 Calories Each!)

If you can't tell by now, I really like spicy food - and my Dad likes it even more than I do. I used to make Molasses Cookies with chili flakes in them that he really liked - so I thought I would try to make a skinny gluten free version of them.

He didn't think these were quite spicy enough - but for normal people I think they will definitely be spicy enough so be careful with the chili flakes!

This recipe only made 5 cookies but you could easily double or triple it!

These cookies are Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, and only 30 calories each! You could eat all five for about the same number of calories as a typical cookie!

Recipe: Makes 5 Cookies

1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree - 40 calories

1/4 cup Sugar Free Maple Syrup - 20 calories

1/4 cup Oat Flour - 90 calories

1 tablespoon Stevia

2 teaspoons Red Chili Flakes (or to taste)        

= 150 calories in whole recipe - makes 5 cookies, 30 calories per cookie

1. Mix together all ingredients
2. Chill the dough in the fridge for 1 hour
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
4. Drop heaping spoonfuls of batter onto parchment paper lined baking sheet - this is a very sticky batter but it doesn't spread much while baking so smooth out the cookies as best you can by hand before baking
5. Bake about 13-15 minutes
6. Allow cookies to cool before removing from parchment paper so they don't fall apart - they are very soft!
7. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container

200 Calorie Sriracha Roasted Cauliflower

I made this Spicy Sriracha Roasted Cauliflower for dinner tonight, it smelled AMAZING while it was roasting in the oven - and I'm only a little embarrassed to admit that I ate then entire thing by myself...

This was really good! I love spicy food so I knew I would like how this turned out - I even used extra sriracha as a dipping sauce :)

I had this as a main dinner dish but you could also have it as a side dish, or serve it with some other heavy sides if you're cooking for more than one person.

This recipe is Gluten Free, Dairy Free, and Vegan - make sure you use a Gluten Free Sriracha if you are gluten intolerant, not all brands are gluten free

Recipe:

1 medium head of Cauliflower - 146 calories

1/4 cup Sriracha - 60 calories

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Powder

1/2 teaspoon Chili Flakes               

=206 calories for the whole head of cauliflower

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Wash Cauliflower and cut off the large stem and leaves

3. Mix together the Sriracha, Garlic Powder, Cayenne Powder, and Chili Flakes

4. Spread the Sauce mixture over the whole head of Cauliflower - Use a spoon or basting brush to do this, or wear gloves so that you don't stain your hands

5. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour - I sprayed some coconut oil on my cauliflower halfway through the cooking time but that probably isn't necessary

6. Remove from oven when tender, slice and add some salt and pepper if desired - enjoy while it's HOT :)