HEALTHY CHICKEN CHOW MEIN RECIPE
Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted on my favvveeee noodles ever. Miracle Noodles! I was inspired to make some healthy Chinese food for lunch today, so this recipe is fresh & piping hot from my wok. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS (for 1 heaping serving):
- 1 pack of Fettucine or Angel Hair Zero Calorie Miracle Noodles
- 1 egg or 3 egg whites – I use liquid egg whites, so stop getting on me for wasting yolk!! :P
- About 7-8 baby carrots, sliced longways
- A small handful of green beans
- 1 chicken breast, boiled, then chopped
- 1 TBS oyster sauce
- 1 tsp of soy sauce
- pinch of salt & pinch of pepper
- little bit of sesame oil or olive oil to stir-fry
Make sure to rinse your noodles thoroughly. Then pat them dry between 2 paper towels.
You can get Oyster Sauce at your local Asian food mart. But I know they sell it in the international section of Wal-Mart and major grocery stores now! It’s about $2-$3.
Make sure your pan is hot with the thin coating of oil before you toss the goodies in! This way you’ll hear the simmering sounds. My fave. And you get some nice color to the chicken. I add in my sauce after I throw everything in. (Oh yeah, but make your eggs separately first.) You can add salt and pepper til you get the desired taste. But that’s it!
And yes, the noodles are really calorie free. They taste kind of chewy and take on the flavor of whatever you throw on them. So my noodles embraced the oyster and soy sauces. It was so good. Enjoy and yes there is such a thing as healthy Chinese food! I’ll probably be doing more Asian inspired dishes with Lunar New Year coming up around the corner!
I just got an email saying that if you use code “2012″ you’ll get 12% off your order. Umm, buy now!!?? Go here. Expires Sunday Jan 8th.
NUTRITION FACTS (with egg whites):
Over 60g of protein! And under 350 cals! NICE!!!!!
Guess what!!! BIG TIME SALE!!! It’s time to get 15% off your zero calorie Miracle Noodles yeahhhh!!!!
Take this survey, grab the code, and then come back and order your calorie free, carb free pasta from their website, click here.
1. Survey Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M7BLRVX
2. Buy your noodles link!!! Miracle Noodle Store
ENJOY!!!!
<3 Cassey
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Shirataki Noodles in Peanut Sauce, Recipe from Flavors in Love
Serves 4 people
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
8 asparagus spears, angle-cut into 2 inch pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 packages of Shirataki noodles (you can substitute with 9 oz of regular pasta)
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
Peanut Sauce, recipe follows
2/3 cup chopped scallions
3 cups shredded purple cabbage
3/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the broccoli and 2 teaspoons of salt. Cook uncovered about 4 minutes, until crisp-tender. Transfer the broccoli with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice water.
Bring the pot of water back to a boil and add the asparagus. Cook 3 minutes until crisp-tender. Add to the bowl of ice water. When the vegetables are cool, drain them and pat dry.
Bring a new pot of water to a boil and follow the cooking instructions on your noodle package. Cook just until al dente. Drain well and toss in a bowl with the sesame oil.
Add the peanut dressing, broccoli, and asparagus to the bowl with the noodles. Toss well. This dish will keep well at room temperature for 1 hour.
Spread the cabbage out on a serving platter and top with the noodles.
Garnish with the scallions, peanuts, and cilantro.
PEANUT SAUCE:
This sauce can be prepared several days in advance, which enhances the flavor.
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2/3 cup tamari or other soy sauce
1/4 cup dark sesame oil
4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
4 teaspoons agave syrup or sugar
4 teaspoons minced ginger
3 minced garlic cloves
1 tablespoon hot sauce
In a food processor or blender, combine all ingredients. Process until smooth.
Healthy Halloween Muffin Recipe! Whole Wheat Pumpkin Banana!
Super simple recipe, super deliciously dense & moist muffins. Mmm…just made these last night and they were spectacular! Only 100 calories a serving!
INGREDIENTS
Oatmeal Crust Toppings:
- 1 cup dried oats (instant or rolled ok)
- 1/2 cup egg whites (you can also use 2 whole eggs)
- 1 TBS ground flax seed
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup water (approximate)
Mexican Pizza Toppings:
- a handful of almond cheese (you can get this in the vegetarian section at Whole Foods)
- 1/2 cup mango salsa
- some Gimmelean vegetarian sausage bits
- 2 roma tomatoes sliced thinly
- purple onion
DIRECTIONS
-Mix crust ingredients in a bowl and let sit for 5 min
-Pour onto a pan on medium heat. Spray with some PAM or olive oil
-Let it harden. If possible, try to flip over
-Then place your mango salsa on top, the cheese, the tomatoes, and then the sausage
-Put the heat on low and cover with a top
-Let sit for a few minutes until cheese melts
-Then slide out of the pan onto a plate or serving tray. Pretty easy.
You’re done! That’s it. I used salsa because I ran out of marina. You also don’t have to use these vegetarian ingredients. I was just trying to use up stuff laying around so that’s what I came up with. I think the crust needs some tweaking but it worked! I wanted it to be harder and crispier, so maybe less water next time? Either way, I had a couple friends over and they thought it tasted good. Or at least that’s what they told me…
(via Experimental Oatmeal Crust Pizza)
I visited my sister over the weekend and she made spaghetti squash for me. Let’s just say, I FELL IN LOVE! Not only have I been wanting to try it for YEARS NOW (not sure why I never got myself to do it), but the nutrition facts are amazing and it is delicious. A cup of spaghetti squash has only 42 calories, 0g fat, 10g carbs, 2g fiber, and 1g protein.
I was surprised at how easy it was to make, here’s what you’ll need.
INGREDIENTS:
- whole spaghetti squash, about $2.99 at Trader Joes (serves 4 people or more)
- marinara sauce
- veggies or meat of your choice
DIRECTIONS:
1. Wash the skin of the squash, cut it in half, length-wise if possible (unlike me). The squash is very hard like a pumpkin so be careful!
2. Place 1/2 of the squash in the microwave on HIGH POWER for 15 min. Yes. 15 min. And you do not need an oven.
3. In the mean time, sautee some veggies. I had some red pepper laying around.
4. Once the squash is done “roasting” in your microwave, take it out (be careful, it’s hot!) and cut length wise. Then scoop the seeds out.
5. Then, using a fork, simply scrape out the squash. It gets all stringy!
6. Place the hot “spaghetti” on a plate, smother with marinara sauce, and top with your sauteed veggies. I’d definitely add basil if I had some.
7. Optional: also smother with sriracha :P THEN DEVOUR!
Eat! Enjoy! I ate a ton and felt super light but full afterwards! Next time, I will add some sort of a protein in there but OH MAN this recipe surpassed my expectations. I am in love with spaghetti squash. It has a semi-sweet taste and is BETTER than noodles. Seriously. I need to try making pad thai with this! And chow mein. And pho. And all sorts of noodle/pasta dishes!!! It wins my food of the month award! Totally Blogilates-approved!
Have you ever tried spaghetti squash before? What are your techniques?
Sunday afternoon was cloudy but I was ready to get off the comp and go outside. I’ve been stuck inside all weekend working on the design of my new blog on wordpress. I hope to debut either end of this week or beginning of next week.
Tumblr peeps no worries!!! I’m gonna blog here still! It’s just that our servers here are SOOOOO unreliable. I don’t know what’s going on but my blog is down half the time. It’s really frustrating.
Ok, so I took some time to go on a light jog around the neighborhood. I decided it’d be funny to actually try these outdoor gym things from the 80s.
Ehhh, wasn’t a fan. I kept running.
Then went home and remembered that I had some purple cauliflower that was just waiting for me to give it some attention!
What to do…then it hit me! How often do I cook with vibrantly purple foods? Umm never, so there was no choice but to MAKE A RAINBOW. An Asian Rainbow. An Asian Fried Rice Rainbow.
Red pepper, carrots, purple cauliflower, corn, and edamame. Steam all veggies except for red pepper. And instead of rice, I used the quinoa I got from Whole Foods last week! 1 part quinoa, 2 parts water in a rice cooker.
Nutty fluffy goodness.
My eggs! So I decided to fry with a bit of EVOO instead of apple sauce…hahaha. I also mixed 2 eggs with a TBS of unsweetened almond milk to make them softer.
Sauteed everything on medium heat and added the cauli’s last. Just wait til you see the next pic.
WHOA!
Added some soy sauce to taste. Time to scoop up and eat!
I topped with thinly sliced green onion. Also, you’ll notice that some cauli’s look violet and some look magenta. It was a total accident but I dropped some lemon juice on my cauli after I steamed it and was AMAZED that there was a chemical reaction! Look!
They should show kids this in school. Great way to introduce healthy foods and chemistry! I wish I had made this rainbow rice when the sun was still out because this yellow is not giving the rice it’s justice. It looked a million times more amazing in real life.
I love the hot pink.
Topped with sriracha at the end because I top everything with sriracha.
Happy Monday!
<3 Cassey
Major experiment. If we can sub applesauce for oil in baking, can we also sub it for oil when frying? I take the challenge.
The contenders await their feat. An egg. A jar of applesauce.
Applesauce heads into the heated pan first. He makes like Pac-Man. I then crack my egg over the glob of apple mush and helplessly await as the clear turns to white.
But will it stick?
Can it flip?
Not bad! The egg didn’t stick too much but maybe that’s because I had a nonstick pan. It gave the egg a subtly sweet taste that I surprisingly enjoyed. I ended topping my 2 eggs with some freshly made mango pico-de-gallo and a brigade of sliced tomatoes.
Can you try this and tell me if it works for you?
I was having a little experiment in the kitchen. My challenge was to make a new protein pancake recipe. Didn’t have bananas and also had a brand new bag of Mila Chia seed in the house. I know a ton of healthy living bloggers are all about chia seed (yes the same as chia pet chia) so it was about time to give it a shot.
Pretty bag huh?
Mila nutrition facts. Mila is basically a blend of Salvia hispanica L. better known as Chia. Chia is becoming popular in the healthy living world because of the Omega 3 fatty acids they provide. Omega-3′s are the good fats that nourish the brain, lower cholesterol, protect against inflammation and ward off heart disease. You can also get this from fish like salmon.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 egg
- 1/2 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
- 1 scoop Mila chia seed (you could also used ground flax seed)
- 1/2 cup of water or 1/3 cup if you like your pancakes a little drier
DIRECTIONS:
Whisk for 1 min until everything is nice and mixed up. Maybe even fluffy. Then place in a pan spray with some PAM. Flip once small bubbles have formed on the surface. Use medium-low heat setting.
I didn’t even expect this to turn out at all. Initially the batter looked too watery…but it worked!!!
Mila Protein Pancake Nutrition Info: 220 cals, 12g fat, 5g fiber, 7g carbs, 21g protein.
A success in the kitchen? Gasp. I’ve definitely had times where I made things that had to be fed to birds. Actually, the birds even rejected it. At least it was compost worthy. So happy this wasn’t one of those times.
I added 1 TBS of melted sugarfree strawberry jam on top. I truly enjoyed this because it wasn’t as sweet as the usual protein pancake I make with mashed bananas. Sometimes that can taste like a dessert. The water and the smaller scoop of protein powder gave the pancake a much subtler taste which I liked. I was surprised that it was able to come out at all! Definitely making again, maybe with egg whites next time!
Will need to look more into chia seed vs. flax seed. They both have that same nutty flavor. Later. This was a recipe experiment. Next time, comparison chart.
Happy Friday!
This past week, I’ve been in Southern CA and ate out at a ton of Vegetarian and Vegan restaurants. When I was an omnivore, I never ordered dessert. But now, I’ve sort of allowed myself to try new vegan sweet treats after my meals. I mean, this is a new world I food I’m entering, so why not!? (For those of you just joining the Blogilates community…I am a 2 month old lacto-ovo vegetarian.)
Vegan desserts aren’t automatically low cal and “healthy”. We still need to make our choices. But my knees get weak when I hear cheesecake. I love cheesecake. And if I were living in Food Heaven I’d eat cheesecake everyday. That and fried ice cream. Unfortunately, we do not live in Food Heaven, but fortunately, there are substitutions!
So after eating the vegan cheesecake at Sipz in San Diego and the raw vegan cheesecake at Cru in Silverlake, I was inspired to make my own. I mean, I can’t be spending $8 everytime for dessert!!! Plus, I need to know what’s in it!!!
I decided on a Tofu-based “cheesecake” and a raw vegan-inspired crust. I was surprised at how easy it was to make. Here were my ingredients:
THE “CHEESE”:
- 14 oz of medium firm tofu (1 block)
- 8 oz Tofutti Cream Cheese (whole container)
- 2/3 cup raw sugar
- 1/4-1/2 cup lemon juice
-2 TBSP cornstarch
THE CRUST:
- 1 1/2 cups walnuts
- 1/2 cup dates pitted
THE STRAWBERRY DRIZZLE SAUCE (optional):
- 1/2 cup strawberries (I used frozen)
- 2 TBSP strawberry jam
- 1/2 TBSP of water
DIRECTIONS:
1. Place the dates and walnuts in a food processor and chop up until crumbly.
2. Spray the bottom of your pan with some PAM cooking spray. Then place the date and walnut mixture on top. Using your hands, press the crumbs down so it forms a thick and dense layer. It’s easier to press if your fingers are slightly wet.
3. In a blender, mix the tofu, Tofutti cream cheese, sugar, corn starch, and lemon juice for about 30 sec or until smooth.
4. Pour this tofu mixture on top of crust.
5. Bake for 35-40 min at 350F.
6. Chill in fridge for about 1 hr.
7. Meanwhile, microwave your strawberry, strawberry jam, and water mixture for about 1 min. Mix up and let cool.
8. Cut up your cheesecake into 8 servings and drizzle the strawberry sauce on top.
9. Serve and IMPRESS!!!! Eat too.
TASTE:
This was my first time EVER making vegan cheesecake and I was IMPRESSSEEEDD!!!! I couldn’t believe it. Neither could the family I was serving this to. You need to try this. Plus it’s so easy. You may just die and go to Food Heaven. It tasted so good and so creamy. I also liked that I didn’t have to use graham crackers in the crust, so that made me extremely happy.
NUTRITION FACTS:
The one thing I was a little disappointed about was the calorie count. Sigh. I will need to tweak this a bit and use Stevia instead of sugar. It may also help to change my nuts to almonds instead of walnuts. We’ll see, there will be a cheesecake evolution.
Cheesecake without crust (1 serving) - whole recipe makes 8 servings:
173.7 cals, 8.5g fat, 24.7g carbs, 16.8g sugar, 7.4g protein
Crust only (1 serving) - whole recipe makes 8 servings:
181.4 cals, 15g fat, 11.4g carbs, 7.6g sugar, 3.7g protein
Creamy Green Avocado Miracle Pasta!!!
Here’s an all natural pasta recipe that’s sure to tantalize your taste buds! I loved that I did not have to use a pre-made sauce or add cream. The avocado is all you need for that succulent fatty taste without the guilt….mmmmm. This is a vegan friendly recipe.
INGREDIENTS (serves 2-3)
Sauce:
- 1 medium avocado
- 1/2 -1 lemon
- 1 cup full of fresh basil leaves
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- paprika or red pepper flakes to taste
Sauteed veggies:
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup frozen and shelled edamame
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 roma tomatoes, chopped
- little bit of extra virgin olive oil to coat pan
- salt and/or stevia to taste (I did not use a sweetener though. You may if it suits your taste buds)
Noodles:
- 1 pack of zero calorie Miracle Noodles per serving or plate
DIRECTIONS
1. Chop up your veggies. Sautee all of the veggies except for the tomatoes with a bit of extra virgin olive oil on a pan on high heat. Once the veggies look cooked and the onions are slightly opaque, add in the tomatoes at the end. Salt and pepper to taste.
2. To make the sauce, add the avocado, lemon juice, and basil into a food processor. Blend for about 10 seconds. Then add the salt, paprika/red pepper flakes, and pepper to taste.
3. Wash your Miracle Noodles thoroughly in warm water. Then pat try on a paper towel. Right before serving, heat them up in the microwave for about 45 seconds to 1 min.
4. Scoop some of your cream sauce onto the heated Miracle Noodles and stir until noodles are all green! They really absorb the flavors of the sauce. Mmmm…
5. Next transfer the green noodles onto a clean plate and top with your sauteed veggies.
6. EAT!!!!!
NOTES
This is absolutely DIVINE for me. It’s one of those dishes where you need to take time to think about eat bite to truly savor the freshness of the basil, the aroma of the onions, and the slight spiciness of the paprika. Of course this is all made “to taste” to experiment 1/4 tsp of things here and there to make it yours. The above recipe is how I ate it and I absolutely loved it!
This is me being surprised at how amazingly good it was!!!
You can get Miracle Noodles here on their website. As you all know, I am a HUGE FAN of feeling full without feeling the unnecessary calories. The nutrition in this meal comes from all of the fresh veggies you used. So good!!!
NUTRITION FACTS
For 3 servings, each serving has 237 calories, 12.8g of fat, 26.3g carbs, 12.1g fiber, and 10.2g protein. (I used sparkrecipes.com to calculate this.)
Reader Recipe: Carrot Cake
INGREDIENTS:
- *400 g of carrots (finely grated)
- *6 eggs (separate egg whites from yolks)
- *200 g sugar
- *1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
- *250 g ground almonds
- *80 g whole wheat flour
- *1 teaspoon baking powder
- *1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- *1 tablespoon rum
- *zest of 1 lemon
DIRECTIONS:
1. Beat the egg-whites until stiff. Then mix in 75 grams of the sugar until the egg-whites are completely stiff and glossy.
2. In another bowl beat the egg yolks with the remaining 125 grams of sugar until creamy. Add the rum, the lemon zest, the cinnamon and 4 tablespoons of hot water and keep beating for about 2-3 minutes.
3. In yet another bowl mix the flour with the almonds and the baking powder.
4. Now gently fold the egg-whites into the yolk-mix, then fold in the carrots and then the flour-mix. Put everything in a big spring form and put it in the pre-heated oven on the hot fan setting at 160 °C (320 F) for about 50 minutes.
5. After letting it completely cool, turn out the cake and decorate with a bit of icing.
“At 12 pieces you end up having about 290 calories per piece. Acceptable (cake-wise) in my opinion. ;)” says Clara.
Need ideas for icing? Here’s a “fitness frosting” recipe for those of you that can’t expend the calories for icing:
- *6 or 8 oz. container of vanilla or plain Greek yogurt
- *½ cup of confectioner’s sugar
- *1 tsp of vanilla extract, almond or rum extract for extra sweetness.
- *Allow to thicken in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes before spreading on cake or cupcakes.
- *Keep frosted cake out of sunlight or heat, as this frosting easily melts.
Thanks Clara Violetta from Germany! She’s a POP Pilates fan and active member of the community on facebook, always posting pics of her lovely meals for us to see. If you want some more scrumptious food and gardening photos, check out Clara’s blog at littlegreenturtle.wordpress.com. Everything’s in German, so just click translate to English (if you have chrome, a button will pop up).
If one of you POPsters are interested in having me share one of your creations, just upload your photos to my facebook fan page with the recipe and nutritional info.
Happy Sunday! What are you baking today?
Blueberry Banana Protein Pancake! (topped with strawberries)
1 egg
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tbs ground flax seed
1 ripened banana
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 tbs organic vanilla soymilk
2 strawberries
Mix it all up! Fry with a tiny bit of EVOO. Then top with pretty strawberries!
Total protein content? Over 27g! 250-300 cals depending on how much fruit you use. I made 4 pancakes, will eat 2 now and save 2 for later. Yumm!
