Pineapple Chicken (Burger)

I found these great chicken patties at Sam's club (wish I could remember the name of the brand, but it was a green package). One patty has 140kcal; they are individually frozen and great for burgers, as protein or for any dishes like pasta sauces or in baked pasta. This is a wonderful combination: chicken, asian ginger mango grilling sauce, and fresh pineapple.

1 frozen chicken patty
2 slices of fresh pinapple, cut (core removed)
1 TB Asian Ginger Mango grilling sauce (bottle)
chili flakes
water

In a non-stick skillet, heat the (frozen) chicken burger until slightly browned on both sides on medium-high heat (5 min each side). Add the ginger mango sauce, a 1/4 cp water and the chilli flakes and stir. Once heated, add the pinapple, and heat through on medium high heat for another 5 min, until water is slightly reduced. Serve with brown rice for a dinner entree or salad for lunch!

1 lunch (protein+carb)

Grilled Vegetables

Grilled vegetables, a great addition for meals in the summer. Grilled on the bbq, they are versatile for sandwiches (with some goat cheese), as sides, as salad with a balsamic vinaigrette, on burgers, and on pizza.

Grilled vegetables:

bell pepper
zucchini
summer squash
red and white onions
tomatoes
eggplant
corn on the cob

brushed with some olive oil, and sprinkled with salt, pepper and fresh herbs.

Cleaning House

Sometimes, you just feel like it: cleaning house, getting rid of toxins, clutter, and rejuvenate. Go for a walk in clean air, drink only water for a day, go the sauna, relax and eat only fresh vegetables and fruit. This is a great (and for a change tasty) fresh pressed juice to start the day.


3-4 carrots, cut in large chunks
2 apples, quartered
1 scoop probiotics greens (like ProGreens)

Juice the carrots and apples in a juice, and mix with the probiotic powder. It is sweet from the carrots, tangy from the apples and a bit bitter from the probiotics.

Grilled Vegetable Sourdough Pizza (using NS Pizza)

1 NS sourdough pizza (including tomato sauce and cheese)
1 summer squash, cut in rounds
1/2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise
2 slice aubergine
1/3 green bell pepper, sliced
salt, pepper, mrs dash garlic and herbs

On a grill pan, grill summer squash rounds, zucchini slices, aubergine and green bell pepper with salt, pepper and mrs dash until grill marks appear and vegetables are almost cook. Preheat toaster oven to 450F. Cover a small baking sheet with foil, place pizza on baking sheet, cover with tomato sauce, half of the grilled vegetables, and top with cheese. Bake for 5-7min or until cheese is melted and browned. Serve with remaining vegetables.

1 dinner + 2 vegetable servings.

Halibut with Bourbon Peach and Greens

Fresh halibut from the Farmer's Market again this year, grilled with a fresh peach and Honey Bourbon grilling sauce, and fresh salad greens from the garden.

6 oz halibut
1 small peach, sliced
PAM spray
salt, pepper
1 TB Bourbon grill sauce
2 TB chicken stock

Heat a grill pan on really high heat, spray with pam, and grill the halibut from both sides, 3 min each. Place halibut on the serving plate. Add the peach slices, the Bourbon grill sauce, and and the chicken stock to the pan, and heat up for 1-2 min. Pour over halibut, and serve immediately.

Stats: 6oz halibut raw, 187kcal, 1 small peach: 50 kcal

Fettucini with Vegetarian Marinara

Again, it is Fiber Gourmet pasta night, like almost every night because the pasta is truly light: high fiber, 40% less calories and tastes just like regular pasta, and, because of thehigh fiber content, it keeps me full for hours.

2 oz Fiber Gourmet long fettucini

Vegetarian Marinara:
1 ts extra virgin olive oil
1/3 red onion, diced
2 TB Morning star breakfast starters (ground beef, vegetarian)
1/2 can of salt-free diced stewed tomatoes
splash of olive juice (from a jar of green olives)
salt, pepper, Mrs Dash garlic & herbs
1 TB ketchup
1 ts liquid chicken stock extract
1 small branch of fresh rosemary
a few basil leaves
a splash of liquid sweetener

Cook pasta according to instructions (12 min in boiling water, don't rise, just drain). In a skillet, heat the olive oil and brown the onion and the Morning star vegetarian beef. Then, add all the other ingredients, and simmer until the pasta is cooked al dente. Drain pasta, and serve on plate with sauce. Enjoy!

Cumin Sour Cream Haddock Sandwich

This is a tasty and light choices for a lunch sandwich: haddock baked with a sour cream and cumin topping and served on light oat bread with fresh salad.

4 oz fresh haddock (1ookcal)
1 TB ff sour cream (15 kcal, free food)
1 ts cumin
salt, pepper, Mrs Dash garlic and herbs

2 sl light oat bread (35kcal a slice), toasted
1/2 TB dijon/ff mayo mix
salad leaves

Place haddock filet on a baking sheet covered with foil (for easy clean up). Add salt, pepper, Mrs Dash and then add a layer of sour cream and sprinkle with cumin. Bake in the (toaster) oven at 400F for 20 min. Let cool to room temperature.

Assemble sandwich by toasting the bread, add the djion mayo mix, some salad leaves and the haddock. Enjoy!

1 lunch entree (ca. 195kcal)

Broccoli, from the garden

Today, I cut some of the broccoli that I have been growing in my garden this season. It does not quite look like the broccoli from 'the store', but it started to look more like a flower than a vegetable. So, a very special lunch today, my home-grown broccoli.

Swiss Roesti with Kalamata Olives

Roesti is a traditional Swiss potato dish, made from grated potatoes that have been cooked or steamed before. Traditionally, they are fried in clarified butter until crisp on both sides, and served with a fried egg or a meat dish. I updated my version, and mixed in some bacon, a bit of parmesan cheese, and kalamata olives. It was delicious, flavorful and quite skinny! However, no way to get around the clarified butter in this dish!

Single-serving:
1 Yukon gold potatoes (ca. 100g)
1 ts bacon bits
1 ts low-fat parmesan cheese
salt, pepper to taste
5-6 kalamata olives, sliced
1 ts clarified butter (ghee).

On the day before, steam or cook the potato until half cooked (they should still half raw, so that they keep some texture when grated. They will finish cooking when fried), ca. 10 min. Cool and set aside.

Peel the cooled potato, and grate on a coarse grater. Handle gently. Add the bacon bits, salt, pepper, parmesan and kalamata olives. In a skillet, heat the clarified butter, and distributed over the bottom of the pan with a brush. Add the roesti mix to the skillet and form them into a patty shape. Fry for several minutes, and then break up the patty and mix the potatoes again so that some of the brown bits are inside the roesti, too. Then, press into a patty again, and finish frying. If you are skillful, you can turn the roesti around and fry it from the other side, too (I can't!). Serve!

This is one lunch entree. (160kcal).

Grilled Chicken and Peach Garden Salad

How convenient it is to grow your own lettuce in the garden. No worries about freshness, just going outside in the garden with scissors and a bowl, and there is lunch.

mixed garden green (romaine, arugula, lettuce, etc)
4 oz leftover grilled chicken, cut in stripes or cubes
1 peach, sliced
1/4 red onion, diced
1/2 TB pine nuts, toasted
1 TB Galeos dressing
pepper to taste


Clean the salad, chop coarsely. Arrange with grilled chicken, sliced peach and the remaining ingredients.

1 complete lunch (230kcal)

Greek Strawberry Cheese Cake

No, it is not a 'greek cheese cake'. I am not even sure there is such a thing, but since the Greek claim to be the originator of Western culture, there likely is one. This is a cheese cake that uses Greek yogurt for the cheese layer, and in my case a low-carb biscuit mix (carbquik) for the base layer, and fresh strawberries in the middle. So, skinny, low-carb, low-calorie, you name it. But it all does not matter then this cheese cake is delicious !

Base layer:
2 TB carbquik (or any low-cal/low-fat biscuit mix)
1/2 TB any whey
2 TB non-fat butter milk
1 Tbsp egg beaters
¼ ts almond extract
¼ ts baking soda

Cheese cake filling:
1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt (I used Fage)
1/2 ts vanilla
1 TB eggbeaters
1 TB splenda
1/2 TB Big train pancake mix (or any other low-cal/fat/sugar pancake mix)

Strawberry layer:
1 cup frozen strawberries, fresh, sliced
1/2 ts vanilla
1 TB splenda

Make the batter and the fillings in separate bowls. For the cheese cake filling, mix greek yogurt and other ingredients until it is a really smooth, creamy texture. Mix the strawberries with the vanilla and splenda.

Fill batter in a small, sprayed spring form, and bake at 400F for 5 min. Take out of oven, pour strawberries over solid surface of the cake base, and pour cheese filling on top of strawberries. Bake for another 20-25 min at 400F. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

entire cheese cake: 1 breakfast + 1 fruit (190kcal)

Note: as you can see in the photos below, I used fresh sliced strawberries, which I had frozen for a few days and then thawed. Beautiful juice, but not so great for the cheese cake because the cake layer gets too soggy. Next time, I use fresh strawberries.