champagne toasts: January 2014

Monday 13 January 2014

Healthy Recipe Roundup!

My new years resolutions are never to eat more healthy....hit the gym more...lose 10 pounds. I should already be doing all these things everyday, it's should be part of my everyday lifestyle! So, I thought I would share some of my FAVORITE health conscious recipes that I have been trying and loving over the past few months, for those of you that are thinking of making changes to your life style this year! All these recipes are a healthy variation of foods that traditionally are not low in calories such as Mac and Cheese, Lasagna, Pizza and so on! Food I LOVE but feel so guilty indulging in! A lot of my favorites can be found on Skinny Taste, a website I have grown to LOVE and obsessively check weekly for amazing ideas! Enjoy!*

Kale and Mushroom Lasagna Rolls

Ingredients:

10 lasagna noodles, cooked
2 /12 cups marinara sauce
2 eggs, beaten
5 cups of kale, stems removed, finely chopped
8 oz mushrooms, finely chopped
½ white onion, finely chopped
1 clove crushed garlic
1 container of low fat ricotta cheese
3 oz partly-skimmed mozzarella cheese (grated)
2 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onions sauté until golden, about a minute. Add kale, salt and pepper and sauté about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms to the pan, cook until soft. Add Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine cooked kale, mushrooms, ricotta, Parmesan cheese, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

Take 1/3 cup of mushroom kale mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.

Ladle 1 cup of sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, until cheese melts.

Servings: 10 • Serving Size: 1 roll • Calories: 258.5 • Fat: 8.4 g • Fiber: 3 g • Protein: 11.5 g • Carbs: 30.5 • Sugar: 2 g Sodium: 208 g

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Bake

Ingredients:

2 small spaghetti squash
2 tsp olive oil
½ white onion, chopped
1 clove crushed garlic
1 pound of lean ground meat (turkey, chicken, beef)
3 oz partly-skimmed mozzarella cheese
1 jar of marinara sauce
salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Cut spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Season lightly with olive oil, salt and black pepper; bake about 1 hour flesh side down, or longer if needed on a baking sheet. Once cooked, use a fork to scrape the strands out into a bowl, salt and pepper to taste.

Place empty squash shells to the side.

In a medium sauce pan heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic cook for about a minute. Add the lean ground meat of your choice, salt and pepper to season. Once the meat is fully cooked add the marinara sauce to the pan and simmer on low for about 10 – 15 minutes.

Re-fill the squash shells with the cooked spaghetti squash, ladle about a cup of your meat and sauce mixture onto the spaghetti squash, top with cheese and bake uncovered for 15 – 20 minutes, or once everything is heated through and the cheese in melted.

Servings: 4 • Size: 1 boat • Calories: 246 • Fat: 13 g • Protein: 17 g • Carb: 17 g • Fiber: 2 g • Sugar: 7 g Sodium: 701 mg • Cholesterol: 71 mg

Spinach Parmesan Quinoa Bites

Ingredients:

1 small bag of frozen spinach (de-frost according to package)

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 clove of crushed garlic

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1 cup un-cooked quinoa (rinsed)

2 eggs, beaten

cooking spray

salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook the rinsed quinoa in 2 cups of water, once boiling let simmer on medium-low heat until all the water is absorbed. Set aside and let cool.

Combine the spinach, cheese, garlic, onion and cooled quinoa in a medium sized mixing bowl, season to taste. Add the beaten eggs and mix.

Spray a non-stick mini muffin tin with cooking spray and fill with spinach and quinoa mixture, bake for 15-20 minutes or until slightly crispy on the top. Set aside and let cool.

Recipe makes approx. 15 bites!

Serving size • 4 Bites Calories • 206.6 Fat • 13.8 g Carbs • 15.2 g Protein • 7.1 g

Friday 3 January 2014

hello 2014!

Now that the total craziness of the holidays is over I think I can now try to focus on blogging more frequently! The holidays are such a crazy time for EVERYONE! Your eating, drinking and driving {not at the same time} all over the place to see people you love and miss! I hope everyone had an amazing and {hopefully} relaxing holiday and that Santa was good to you! I had a solid 9 days off from work which was amazing! I didn't feel like I had to rush rush rush and I could take my time getting places and wrapping presents! It was nice to be able to spend the holiday's back in Ontario for the first time in 2 years! I missed getting together with my girlies and maybe having a bit too much wine...or waking up on Christmas Morning in my parents house.... so weird! Here are some snap shots of the past few weeks! I'm planning on doing a holiday gift round up a bit later! Happy 2014! Here's to new beginnings and happy changes!*

the ladies at our Holiday Craft Party!

we crafted wine glasses and champagne flutes! The goal was to resemble these Bubbly Gold Flutes sold at Chapters!

The Griswold's never get old...!

Just call me Martha! A little holiday spread for some festivities!

I made marinated bocconcini {recipe}, sea salt & vinegar sweet potato chips {recipe}
and chocolate stuffed frozen raspberries {here}! I also made frozen fruit skewers for the wine and sugar dusted rosemary for an eggnog garnish!