Healthy "Creamy" Tomato Soup

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Fall! The weather is just perfect to lounge around in sweats with a nice warm bowl of soup...a heatlhy one of course! ;-) Thank you to Jamie O. for her fabulous recipe!

Live, Love, Laugh & EAT,
 Sarah


Need: 
Blender
Any veggies you like!
3-4 celery stalks
1 large zucchinni
2 small-medium yellow squash
2 red bell peppers
1 red onion
1 pkg of mushrooms any kind I used baby bella mushrooms
1-2 jalapenos
4 fresh tomatoes and I used 2 cans of NO SALT roasted tomatoes (Hy-Vee Health Food Market)
1 can butternut squash puree (Open Harvest) or pumpkin puree (I used pumpkin @ Hy-Vee Health Food Market)

p.s. if you like basil you can add in fresh basil or dried basil too

Directions:

 Wash & Dice/Chop up all of your veggies it doesn't matter how because you are going to boil them until they're soft! I recommend boiling them in half water and half chicken stock or veggie stock (low sodium) that way it will give it a boost of flavor and if you don't want to use any stock that's fine just season your water with Mrs.Dash such as tomato basil, onion and herbs and salt is optional but i try to cut out as much salt as possible!

When veggies are soft scoop veggies and puree in a blender, put it back in a pot and then mix in your pumpkin or butternut squash puree and season again if needed and ENJOY!!! (you can toast up whole wheat pita bread as well or make a flatbread using whole wheat flour and water adding your favorite seasonings flattening it with your hands cooking it on a griddle, brush with a little olive oil and herbs and toast under a broiler)

1 cup is about 70ish calories, and for your "creamy" add 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup of fage greek yogurt to 2 cups of soup! 2 cups of soup with 1/2 cup of fage = 200 calories

GYRO

Okay...so my favorite after hours food to eat would have to be gyros and I know quite a few people who could agree too! : ) Might I also add the after hours price is ridiculous so why not save a few bucks and make your own and of course a healthy one!

Live, Love, Laugh & EAT,
 Sarah
p.s. pictures can be enlarged simply by clicking on them : )

Start by making your marinade first, in a small-medium mixing bowl add then whisk:

¼ cup lemon juice

2 tbs olive oil

1 tbs prepared mustard (not a fan of mustard just use ½ tbs and add 1 tsp of the next 2 ingredients instead of ½)
½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp onion powder

1 garlic clove minced

Next take your choice of meat I used flank steak, cut the excess fat off and cut your meat ½ inch strips in the direction of the grain, and once you are done with that place your meat in a resealable bag along with the marinade and mix it around/shake it. Let it marinade for about 15 minutes if you're anxious to eat, but if not one hour is good.

While your meat is marinating you can make the yogurt sauce that goes along with it you'll need:

1 small container of 0% Fage Greek Yogurt or Plain Non-Fat Yogurt will do!

1 cucumber peeled and diced

¼ tsp dried dill (optional I can't stand dill so i went without!)

¼ paprika

¼ dried oregano

* if you like it spicy you can add Chipotle Tabasco sauce to your liking or what I used was ½ tbsp of Siriacha, you can get it now at any grocery store in the "Asian" aisle*

In a bowl add yogurt, and spices & hot sauce if desired mix well and then add your diced cucumbers to your liking, for one small container of the yogurt I added ½ a cup of diced cucumbers I just like that extra crunch in every bite

Now when you're ready to cook your meat, you can either grill, bake or pan sear it. While that is cooking you can toast your pita pocket/Ezekiel tortilla or in a pan flipping it on each side for 2 minutes each. Then once everything is done stuff your pita pocket/Ezekiel tortilla with your meat, lettuce, tomatoes, sliced onions and whatever veggies you like, (i added alfalfa sprouts) and top it off with your yogurt sauce and ENJOY!

 

 



T.L.T's

Someone came up to me and asked how on earth do you make B.L.T's healthy? My reponse...EASY switch your white bread to whole wheat or eziekiel bread, sub your regular bacon for TURKEY bacon, keep the lettuce and tomotoes, add extra sprouts even, but what about the mayo? Problem solved! My mock mayo for 3 ounces coming close to 50 calories with 5 grams of protein! You really can't tell the difference and it's quick, easy and cheap too!

Let's start off with the mayo (you'll need a blender)

Ingredients-
1 pkg of soft tofu (you can buy this at any grocery store at $2.50)
¼ cup of olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp of prepared mustard or mustard powder (you could use honey mustard too)
2 tsp of apple cider vinegar
½ tsp of salt

Directions-
 In a blender combine all ingredients until smooth and creamy, for the tofu it comes in a block pretty much so you would want to cut it up in cubes then add into blender once done taste a bit to see if you need to add more vinegar or mustard to your liking.  You can make different flavors of mayo if you like it spicy you can add chipotle tabasco your options are endless!

As for the turkey bacon I just purchased Jennie-O's extra lean bacon and followed the cooking directions I personally like mine crispy so I broiled the bacon flipping it every 2 minutes while that is cooking I prepared my vegetables. I'm so glad I LOVE vegetables you can keep your sandwich simple with just lettuce and tomatoes, (also remember don't use iceberg there's basically zero nutrients in that type go with a romaine, the darker the better!) but I added sliced avacados and alfalfa sprouts! Alfalfa sprouts? It's like baby bean sprout it doesn't have the crunch to bean sprout but it is full of sweet flavor. There are no rules when assembling your sandwich just go for it, and ENJOY! : )

Live, Love, Laugh & EAT,
 Sarah