Cauliflower Mashed Potatos

This is what my dinner looked like tonight:

And let me tell you...it was AMAZING!

What you see is a 6oz steak seasoned with Montreal Steak seasoning. Then there is about 1-2 cups of broccoli topped with "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray". And last, those "mashed potatoes" aren't even potatoes at all. Did you know that cauliflower is an amazing substitute for things like rice and potatoes?

I didn't until recently, but I'm so excited that I found out.

Now, they didn't taste exactly like mashed potatoes. They weren't nearly as creamy, but for the health benefit, they were pretty dang good. Plus, most directions said to put them into food processor, which I don't have. Or do mix them with sour cream. I did neither, which may be why they weren't very creamy.

Even so, they were delicious and something I plan on having lots of in the future.

Here's how I cooked mine:

Cut desired amount of cauliflower into florets put in pot. Instead of boiling mine in water, I boiled them in chicken broth. Then I added some minced garlic. Let it boil until it is super soft (12-18 minutes). From here, most instructions say to put in food processor. I don't have one, so I just put the cooked cauliflower in a bowl, added the tiniest amount of skim milk, then mashed them with a wisk.

And that's it! Simple and very tasty.
And this entire meal (which was a ton of food) was less than 450 calories!

Buffalo Chicken

I made this recipe for dinner on Sunday and boy was it good! I love it because it is SO simple. It only has 3 ingredients and requires hardly any work. That's my kind of meal! Did I also mention that it is low calorie?

Buffalo Chicken
-4 chicken breasts (I used about 20 oz of chicken)
-2/3 bottle Buffalo marinade (I used KC Masterpiece Hot Buffalo marinade)
-One packet of dry ranch mix (I used Kroger Fat Free Party Ranch Dip)

Put the chicken in the bottom of the crock pot. Pour 2/3 of the buffalo sauce over the chicken, then add the packet of dry ranch mix. Mix it together. Cook on low for about 5-6 hours. Shred the chicken with a fork. Then cook for an additional hour.

Nutritional Facts:
-Calories: 191 per serving
-Carbs: 10g per serving
-Fats: 3g per serving
-Protein: 30g per serving

These nutritional facts are based on the recipe making 4 servings. But I found afterwards, that those are HUGE servings. I made 2 mini roll sandwiches and only used half a serving.

And that's it! Another of my favorite things about this dish is that I think it's so versatile. For Sunday, we used dinner rolls to make little sandwiches with them.The next day, Lance decided to make some rice and put the chicken over rice. I bet it would also be good in a wrap or burrito. Or you could simply add a little cheese. So many possibilities.

To give you an idea of what my dinner looked like tonight:

I made a sandwich using about 2/3 of a serving of the buffalo chicken and put it on a Kroger Sandwich Thin. And I had a large salad to go with it. Lately, my absolute favorite thing in a salad is frozen peas. So my salad consists of romaine lettuce, 1/3 cup peas, and 2 tablespoons ranch dressing.

An important piece of this meal is the bread. An average slice of bread is around 100 calories. So if you wanted to make a sandwich, that would be at least 200 calories for just the bread alone. So I found these great bread replacements and I love them. Sandwich Thins. Basically two really thin pieces of bread. The reason they are awesome? For the whole bun (2 pieces) it's only 90 calories! I use these for everything. I use them for deli sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a bun for my turkey burgers, etc. They are a must.

The most important thing is probably the Ranch Dressing. I found this dressing a few weeks ago and I am in LOVE! Normal ranch dressing has about 150 calories for a 2 TBSP serving. That is ridiculous! So for the past few months, I've been using fat free ranch, which has about 50-60 calories per serving. But it tastes terrible! I've learned to somehow tolerate it though. Until I found this amazing dressing. This dressing is only 45 calories per serving AND IT TASTES GREAT!!! Wahoo! Now I can pile on the ranch and not have to worry about adding 1000 calories.

This entire meal....for the sandwich and the salad....was only 336 calories!

Definitely one we'll be making again.

Turkey Dinner

For dinner tonight, we had one of these Jennio-O Turkey and Gravy's. They are a family favorite around here so we make sure to have them every once in a while.

To me, it tastes a little bit different from regular turkey because it isn't as dry, but it's way good.  Plus it's really easy and doesn't really require much. Just stick it in the oven for 2 1/2 hours and it's good to go. We served it with some mashed potatoes and I had a large salad with it. If you keep your portions under control and not over-do it on the potatoes, it can be a very filling meal for very few calories.

For two thin slices of turkey, gravy, a small scoop of mashed potatoes, and a large salad with peas it was around 320 calories.