Sleevey's Mac and Cheese Version 2.0

Well, like I mentioned the last time I made mac and cheese, I'm messing with the recipe to try to make it better. Meaning, of course, more protein. I'm not that worried about the calories, to be honest. And actually, the last time I blogged about mac and cheese wasn't the last time I made it. I had a disastrous attempt at making crab mac and cheese a couple weeks ago. But we won't talk about that - gag!

So, I went back to my original good recipe and made a few changes. I added two grams of protein per serving and only 9 calories!

Sleevey's Mac and Cheese Version 2.0
1 c. uncooked macaroni noodles
2 c. frozen cauliflower, prepared as directed on the package and grated
1 T butter
1 T flour
2 c. skim milk
salt and pepper to taste
a few drops of Tabasco
1 c. 2% shredded cheddar
2 c. regular shredded cheddar, divided
3 T sour cream (next time, I think I'll leave this out)
1/4 c egg beaters

Prepare the macaroni al dente (a minute or two less than it says on the package). Rinse with cold water and allow to drain. Mix with cauliflower in a large bowl and set aside. Make a roux with the butter and flour (melt butter, whisk in the flour until it's smooth) and slowly add the milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly. Whisk in salt, pepper, and Tabasco. Add 2% cheddar and 1 c. shredded cheddar, whisking until smooth. Pour cheese mixture over noodle mixture and gently combine. Spread into prepared baking dish and sprinkle remaining cup of cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges are browned.

Whole recipe = 2050 cals, 128 fat, 136 carbs, 127 protein.
Makes 18 sleeve-friendly servings: 114 cal, 7 fat, 7.5 carbs, 7 protein

Asian Chicken Coleslaw

I've made this before with bottled dressing, but this time I made my own. Full of healthy fats and a fair amount of protein (ok, and some junk. I love me some top ramen!). YUM!

Asian Chicken Coleslaw
2 T natural peanut butter
1/2 c. dark sesame oil
1/4 c rice vinegar (+ more to taste)
1/4 c soy sauce (+ more to taste)
1/2 seasoning packet from top ramen
pinch of sugar to taste
8 cups coleslaw mix (a 16 oz bag)
1 c. bean sprouts
12 oz grilled chicken breast (I used the premade ones from Tyson)
2 packages ramen noodles (yes, a calorie splurge - you could leave them out to save 38 calories of pure junk per serving)

Crush the ramen noodles and toast them in a saucepan. In the meantime, whisk together peanut butter, oil, vinegar, soy sauce and 1/2 seasoning packet. Add more vinegar, soy sauce, or sugar to taste.

Toss veggies, chicken, toasted ramen noodles and dressing together (personally, I like my coleslaw soggy so I mix it all at once. You could also mix together individual servings as you eat them, if you prefer).

Makes 20 - 1/2 cup servings, with 94 calories, 4 g of fat, 7 g of carbs, and 5.5 g of protein.

Cheesy Cauliflower Delights

Today, I went a little crazy with cauliflower. I found this recipe for low-carb cauliflower pizza dough awhile back and have been meaning to try it ever since. Well, today was the day and let me tell you, it was DELISH!! I know, sounds weird, right? I thought so too, but I thought, hey, I'll give it a shot. Somehow the "dough" (1 c cauliflower, 1 c shredded mozzarella, and 1 egg) turns into something resembling a crust in the oven! It must be the egg. It's the weirdest damn thing. Anyway, here's the recipe:

Sleevey's Pizza 

Crust:
1 c. frozen cauliflower, prepared as directed on package and grated
1 c. part skim mozzarella
1 egg
Toppings:
2 c. part skim mozz
1/2 c marinara sauce
17 sl. Hormel turkey pepperoni
1/2 c sl. black olives
(you could of course use more or different toppings...just adjust the nutrition counts as necessary!)

Preheat oven to 400, and prepare a cookie sheet by spraying with Pam. Mix crust ingredients and press them evenly onto the cookie sheet (it won't take up the whole sheet, just form it into a circle or rectangle or octagon or whatever floats your boat). Bake for 12-15 min. Remove from oven and allow to cool a little - 15 min or so. Spread 1/2 c marinara sauce over the pizza (or pizza sauce, if you prefer - marinara is what I had on hand). Layer w/ 1 c. of mozzarella, then pepperoni and olives, then the rest of the cheese. Bake or broil (I guess the crust stays crisper if you broil) until cheese is melted and slightly browned. REVEL IN CHEESY PIZZA GOODNESS!

Whole recipe = 1005 cals, 69 fat, 26 carbs, 103 protein
Makes 10 sleeve-friendly servings: 100 cals, 7 fat, 2.6 carbs, 10 protein
Pizza crust alone = 455 cal, 28.5 fat, 6 carbs, 40 protein

So, what to do with the rest of the cauliflower, I asked myself? After all, a 20 oz bag of frozen cauliflower actually yields 3 cups grated and I've only used one. Then I thought, some people make mac and cheese with cauliflower, right? And I have been jonesing for homemade mac and cheese ever since I saw Paula Deen make it on tv a few days ago...so I looked up some recipes (yes, including Paula's) and created my very own sleeve-friendly mac and cheese. Just a warning, if you hate cauliflower, you will hate this. The cauliflower flavor is not totally disguised like it is in the pizza crust. But I happen to like cauliflower, and I think it blends in remarkably well. Also, no, this is not the healthiest food ever. But it is better than regular mac and cheese! This is the decadent version. Next time I may try 2% cheddar (saving 320 cals for the whole batch) and maybe add some lean ham or LF turkey hot dogs for protein. I bet you could also use skim milk and it would make very little difference, flavor-wise.

Sleevey's Mac and Cheese
1 c. uncooked macaroni noodles
2 c. frozen cauliflower, prepared as directed on the package and grated
2 T butter
2 T flour (I used whole wheat, but I doubt it actually matters
2 c. milk (I used 2%)
salt and pepper to taste
a few drops of Tabasco
2 c. shredded cheddar, divided

Heat oven to 350 and prepare a baking dish by spraying it with Pam. Prepare the macaroni al dente (a minute or two less than it says on the package). Rinse with cold water and allow to drain. Mix with cauliflower in a large bowl and set aside. Make a roux with the butter and flour (melt butter, whisk in the flour until it's smooth) and slowly add the milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly. Whisk in salt, pepper, and Tabasco. Add 1 c. shredded cheddar, whisking until smooth. Pour cheese mixture over noodle mixture and gently combine. Spread into prepared baking dish and sprinkle remaining cup of cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges are browned.

Whole recipe = 1910 cals, 114 fat, 131 carbs, 91 protein.
Makes 18 sleeve-friendly servings: 105 cal, 6.3 fat, 7.3 carbs, 5 protein

UPDATE: I made another batch of Sleevey's pizza - this time a pesto chicken version! Yum! I used 1 recipe of the pizza crust + another 3 cups part skim mozzarella, a little more than 1/2 cup homemade pesto, 6 oz grilled chicken breast (I used the Tyson precooked kind) and a chopped tomato. It made 10 servings, with 232 calories, 15.75 g fat (lots of healthy fat, though, from the pesto!), 1.4 carbs, and 20 protein.

Crab Cakes Recipe

I think I'm going to tinker with this recipe some more. I started with a recipe from Cooking Light. It didn't seem to need many changes! It definitely needed more egg as binder, so I used 2 whole eggs rather than 2 whites. I also used regular mayo because I like it better, added a few drops of Tabasco for a kick, and used pre-made breadcrumbs rather than making my own because I'm lazy. And I hate green onions so I left them out. Those changes added 20 calories per crab cake.

Upon eating them, however, I realize they are a little dry for Sleevey. Edible, but could be better. I think next time I will use less breadcrumbs (maybe 1 cup), which would allow me to go back to the original 2 egg whites, plus add some shredded parmesan (prob. also 1 cup), turning these into super-protein-y parmesan crab cakes (with approx 200 cals and 22 g protein). I'll keep you posted. 


1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
2 T chopped fresh dill
dash salt and pepper
2 large eggs
2 T mayo
A few drops of Tabasco
1 lb crab
1 T canola or olive oil
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400, and prepare a cookie sheet by spraying w/ cooking spray. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Beat eggs in a small bowl and mix in mayo and Tabasco. Add to dry ingredients and mix well. Gently fold in crab. Form into 6 equal patties (here, you could refrigerate for a couple hours to make them more firm, freeze for storage, or cook immediately). Brown patties on both sides in a skillet with the canola oil (if they fall apart in the skillet, just press them back together. They'll bind in the oven). Place on prepared cookie sheet, bake in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Delish with cocktail sauce or aioli (try a lemon-dill aioli: mix 3/4 c mayo, 4 t lemon juice, 3 cloves minced garlic,  and 1 T fresh minced dill. Be sure to refrigerate for at least a couple hours to allow the flavors to blend!).
1 crab cake (no sauce) has 160 cals, 6 g. fat, 8 g. carbs, and 16 g. protein.

UPDATE 1/18/10: I tried my parmesan crab cakes idea and am sorry to say I have not yet reached crab cake nirvana. Fortunately, I only made a half batch this time...I'm learning!!

Shrimp Scampi with Asparagus

This recipe is loosely based on Cooking Light's Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi. I used it as kind of a jumping off point.

Ingredients:
2 T butter
~1 T minced garlic (or more if you like)
1 lb large shrimp, uncooked, deveined/peeled
1 bunch asparagus (about 1 lb), cut up
Splash each of white wine and lemon juice
~2 T capers
Kosher salt to taste

Directions:
Melt butter in a large skillet. Add garlic and saute for about 30 sec.
While butter is melting, steam asparagus until not-quite-done.
Add shrimp to skillet and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add wine and lemon juice, saute until shrimp are cooked through.
Add asparagus and capers; salt to taste. Saute until asparagus is tender-crisp.

Makes 4 sleeve-friendly servings, each with 195 cal, 7.5 fat, 5 carbs, 25 protein

Fish Parmesan recipe

 Ingredients:
1 lb cod (uncooked) (400 cal, 80 protein, 4 fat, 0 carbs)
6 T Best Foods light mayo (270 cal, 0 protein, 30 fat, 6 carbs)
1.5 oz grated parmesan cheese (180 cal, 16 protein, 12 fat, 1.5 carbs)
fresh dill
1 lemon - cut in half (or lemon juice is ok)
Tabasco - to taste
Cooking spray

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Place cod in a baking dish prepped with cooking spray. Squeeze 1/2 lemon over the fish. Mix together other ingredients (including juice from the other 1/2 of the lemon). Spread mayo mixture over the fish and bake for about 30 minutes; then broil for 2 minutes.

Makes approx. 6 (sleeve-friendly) servings. Each serving has 140 cal, 16 protein, 8 fat, 1 carb.

Mom's Tortilla Soup

 Mom's Tortilla Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups onion, chopped
8-12 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8-12 guajillo peppers (available at Mexican specialty markets)
16 cups chicken broth, divided
salt
Corn tortillas
Canola oil
Cheese (cojito, jack, or cheddar)
Sour cream
Avocado, sliced

In a large pot, boil the peppers in 4 cups of chicken broth until they're soft (about 20-30 min). Remove peppers from the broth; add the remaining broth to the pot and simmer.
Remove the seeds and veins from the peppers, scrape the fleshy part off of the skin (you end up with a paste) and put it back into the broth.
Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until tender. Add them to the broth. Add salt to taste and blenderize until smooth (we use a stick blender). Simmer for at least one hour.
While the soup is simmering, cut the tortillas into small strips and fry in canola oil until crispy.
Makes about 16 x 1-cup servings of soup (50 cal). Serve with fried tortilla strips, cheese, sour cream, and avocado if desired.

I've been kind of obsessed with my mom's tortilla soup recently. It is so spicy and delicious, and she's got it down to only 50 calories per cup. I usually eat it with a little shredded cheese (usually cheddar) melted into it and a tbsp or so of sour cream, and sometimes some avocado for some healthy fat. I pretty much always skip the fried tortilla strips, although it is really delicious with them if you don't mind the extra carbolicious calories! 
I think it makes a really great wintertime, post-sleeve meal because it goes down well and feels good in my tummy, yet keeps me pretty full because of the protein in the cheese. I've never made it before myself, but I think I'm going to give it a go with some homemade chicken stock after the holiday.