Roasted Brussels Sprout with Bacon in Mustard Cream Sauce

This was amazing.  Seriously.  I cant believe it's so low in calories.  I ate this for dinner all of last week & found myself wanting to remake it for several weeks in a row.  This is definitely on the repeat list.

Recipe slightly adapted from Closet Cooking
Yields 4 servings
250 calories per serving

INGREDIENTS
1.5lbs brussels sprouts, trimmed & quartered
1 tbsp olive oil
4 strips turkey bacon, cut into 1in pieces
2 tbsp margarine
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp flour
1 c light cream
2 tbsp grainy mustard
1/2 c parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss brussels sprouts in olive oil, salt, & pepper.
Place in a baking dish & and roast for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a pan, cook the bacon.  Drain & set aside.

In the same pan, add margarine & let melt and bubble.
Add the onion & cook until tender.
Add garlic; cook until fragrant.
Mix in flour and let cook for another minute or two.
Mix in the bacon, cream, mustard, & parmesan.
Stir until thick.

Pour mustard mixture over brussels sprouts & toss to coat.

Ham & Pasta Salad

This is actually my lunch from last week.  This week's lunch is super close to something Ive made and posted already on this blog.  No need for repeats.  Every time last week that I ate this at my desk, I had someone comment on how amazing it smelled.  And it does -- tastes as good, too.

Recipe from BHG dot com
Yields 8 servings
175 calories per serving

INGREDIENTS

1 c whole wheat rotini

2 c frozen peas & carrots

16 oz cooked ham, cubed

8 scallions, sliced

1 c plain lowfat yogurt

4 tbsp lowfat honey mustard dressing

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 green pepper, sliced

DIRECTIONS

Cook pasta with peas, according to pasta box directions.

Rinse with cold water & place in a large bowl.

Add ham & green onions & mix.

In a seperate bowl, mix together yogurt & honey mustard.

Pour the yogurt mixture into the pasta & toss to coat.

Cover & chill for 4 hours.

Serve with peppers & tomotoes.

Breakfast Stuffed Peppers

Honestly, Ive never been a huge fan of stuffed peppers but, this seemed interesting so I had to try it out.  Obviously, Ive been missing out because these were amazing!  I think that bell peppers and morning time go hand and hand.  These are basically an omelette held by a pepper.  So delicious!

Recipe from The Skinny Fork
Yields 4 servings
117 calories per serving

INGREDIENTS

2 green peppers, halved

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1/2 c onion, chopped

2 large eggs

4 egg whites

1/2 c lowfat cheddar cheese

salt & pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375.

Line a pan with aluminum foil.

Place pepper halves on baking sheet & set aside.

Place chopped pepper, onion, eggs, egg whites, & 1/4 cup of cheese in a large bowl & whisk.

Season with salt & pepper.

Pour egg mixture into pepper halves.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Remove peppers from oven & sprinkle with cheese.

Spinach & Artichoke Wonderpot

I told you guys that I was big into spinach last week.  And this was so super tasty.  I did make some alterations from the original recipe to bring the calorie count down but, nothing major.  I think that Ill top this with a little bit of feta next time I make it.  It was really super tasty without but, I think that it wouldve made it that much more amazing.

Recipe slightly adapted from Budget Bytes
Yields 6 huge servings
196 calories per serving

INGREDIENTS

8 oz sliced mushrooms

14oz can artichoke hearts, drained & chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced 

1 medium yellow onion, diced

5 cups veggie broth

2 tbsp olive oil

12 oz whole wheat spaghetti

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp thyme

Cracked black pepper

4 oz frozen cut spinach (not thawed!)

DIRECTIONS

Place veggie broth, olive oil, mushrooms, artichoke, onions, & garlic in a large pot.

Break the spaghetti in half & add it to the pot along with oregano, thyme, & black pepper.

Push ingredients under the broth as much as possible.

Place a lid on the pot & bring it to a boil.

As soon as the pot reaches a boil, stir to evenly distribute ingredients.

Turn the heat down to low, replace the lid, & let simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir the pot every few minutes to prevent pasta from sticking.

Once the pasta is cooked through, turn off the heat, add the frozen spinach, replace the lid & allow the heat from the pasta mixture to thaw the spinach.

Serve hot.

The smells that came from my kitchen while this was cooking were AMAZING.  I still have some of this leftover from last week & Im going to gobble it up from lunch today.