Buffalo Chicken Pasta

This dish came about after reading a review of the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Dip tubs on one of my favorite junk food review websites. (Now you see how I spend my time.) So once again that special combo of impulse buy + sale was achieved and I found myself with tubs of the Buffalo Style and the Southwest dips. (Oh hai Ragin’ Cajun Creamy Chicken N Shrimp Pasta!) Now after I put them in the fridge, I immediately forgot about them as I wasn’t sure what would be my vessel of choice for dip. And because my friend Sumit makes an AMAZING buffalo chicken dip, I certainly can’t just eat this tub dip when I’m used to hot chicken filled crock pot dip. And the Philadelphia website barely acknowledges that their dip line exists, so that source provided no guidance. Thankfully, I also had some buffalo chicken sausage in the freezer, I love pasta, and the other pasta worked out so well, and here we are! And right in time for the end of March Madness! I’m very shocked by how well this came out, and I’m wondering if cream cheese should just be the base of all non-Italian pasta sauces.

Ingredients

• 4oz rigatoni*
• 10oz can of fire roasted dice tomatoes and green chiles
• 10oz tub Philadelphia Buffalo Style with Celery Cream Cheese Dip
• 10oz Thin n Trim Buffalo chicken sauage links, sliced
• 6oz fresh baby spinach
• 2oz reduced-fat blue cheese crumbles
• hot sauce for drizzling

Directions

1. Prepare pasta according to directions on box. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water.
2. In a large skillet, over medium heat, add the Philadelphia Buffalo Style with Celery Cream Cheese Dip and fired roasted tomatoes. Stir until combined and smooth.**
3. Add sausage links and mix until heated.
4. Lower heat and add the baby spinach. Continue to cook and stir occasionally until the baby spinach has wilted.
5. Turn off the heat and toss in the pasta.
6. Add reserved pasta water until the desired sauce consistency is reached.***
7. When ready to serve, top with crumbled blue cheese, drizzle with hot sauce and enjoy!

*Penne or medium shells would also work great here.
**This might happen instantly. My dip had previously been frozen and cream cheese is not as pretty once it defrosts.
***I only wound up using about a tablespoon, but to each his own.

Macros!
Calories: 375
Carbs: 29
Fat: 16
Protein: 26
Fiber: 3

Serves 4

Prosciutto, Provolone and Fig Grilled Cheese

Prosciutto, provolone, and pilsners! All the Ps. The sandwich brought to you by the leftover prosciutto in my fridge.

Ingredients

• 2 slices Fiber One multigrain bread
• 4 slices (54g) prosciutto
• 2 slices reduced-fat provolone
• 1/2 cup (14g) arugula
• 1 Tbsp fig jam

Directions

1. In a skillet over medium heat, add prosciutto. Cook until warm and fat starts to render.
2. Once the fat has rendered, remove prosciutto from the skillet. Dip one side of each slice of the bread into the skillet to soak up some fat.
3. Add the arugula to the skillet. Cook until it starts to wilt and turns bright green. Remove arugula from the skillet and place on top of a slice of bread.
4. Continue assembling the sandwich (making sure the sides of the bread with prosciutto fat are on the outside) layering the arugula with cheese, prosciutto and fig jam. Return the sandwich to the skillet and cook until toasted. About 2-3 minutes per side.
5. Enjoy with a refreshing beer!

Macros!
Calories: 383
Carbs: 38
Fat: 16
Protein: 28
Fiber: 7

Serves 1

Blueberry Bran Muffins

There’s nothing I love more than a good sale and the promise of being health AF. Which is how I wound up with a bag full of beautifully packaged Bob’s wheat bran and no plan on how to use it. I was happy to let it sit in the cabinet, but then one day, I found myself looking for oatmeal (probably to make cookies) and discovered A. I had no oatmeal, B. I owned oat bran and, C. My kitchen cabinet clean-out wasn’t as successful as I thought. (It turns out I do have oatmeal, it was just hidden somewhere else. Thankfully it was discovered before buying more.) Anyways, the pressure was on to find a way to use this oat bran. And ironically, despite wanting oatmeal, I did just make it like oatmeal. Instead, I decided on muffins because now I can have muffins that are undeniably not cake like. Most of the recipes I found online only called for about 1/4 a cup of bran. But that’s not gonna help me power through the bag and it’s also barely a bran muffin at that point. The barefoot contessa of all people gave me the base for my recipe.

I did these because of the texture. They are chewy and remind me of a warm cereal (duh) especially when warmed.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
• ½ cup of light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2.5 cups wheat bran
• 1 cup AP flour
• 1.5 cups of blueberries
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Whisk the eggs, applesauce, yogurt, sugar and vanilla extract until blended.
3. Add in the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, wheat bran and flour.
4. Stir until combined.
5. Gently fold in blueberries.
6. Spoon into muffin tins and bake 25-30 minutes. The muffins will be done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean

Macros!
Calories: 142
Carbs: 26
Fat: 3
Protein: 6
Fiber: 3

Makes 18 muffins

*Inspired by https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/blueberry-bran-muffins

Sparkling Winter Salad with Turkey

Sparkling Pomegranate Winter Salad with Turkey

A bit of a ridiculous name I know, BUT I am really impressed by pretty this salad looks. Especially considering it uses deli meat! I mean, deli meat is not pretty, but this salad is pretty. Or maybe just sprinkling pom arils on anything gives it a little sparkle.

Ingredients

• 5 oz (198g) arugula
• 1 oz (28g) fat-free feta
• 1 medium pear, sliced
• 7-8 oz deli sliced oven roasted turkey*
• 85g pomegranate seeds
• 2 Tbsp Fat-Free Apple Cider Vinaigrette**

Directions

1. Divide arugula amongst three plates/bowls/etc***
2. Beautifully arrange pears and turkey
3. Sprinkle on the feta
4. Drizzle apple cider vinaigrette
5. Toss pom arils and enjoy all the verbs in the English language
6. Serve!

Macros!

Calories: 254
Carbs: 39
Fat: 2
Protein: 21
Fiber: 8

Serves 3

* To make the turkey look nice a fork friendly, layer and fold 3-4 slices of turkey 2-3 times (if you got pre-package deli meat and it came layered and folded, just take that). Slice horizontally into 3rds.
** Another awesome Aldi find! Stock up on this stuff.
*** I’m just assuming everyone is meal prepping because I am. Feel free to just toss everything in a bowl.

Inspired by https://cookieandkate.com/2018/pomegranate-pear-green-salad-with-ginger-dressing/#tasty-recipes-31957

Ragin’ Cajun Creamy Chicken n Shrimp Pasta

 

Ragin Cajun Chicken and Shrimp Pasta

 

I’d been thinking of making some sort of Cajun pasta for a while, but I could never find a recipe that looked good and saucy AND didn’t have 800 calories per serving. The idea was all but forgotten until I was at the grocery store and saw cajun chicken sausage on super sale. I, of course, bought a couple of packs along with some Andouille flavored sausages as well. My cabinet is crammed with recently purchased cans of Jalapeno Diced Tomatoes for a chili. (Side note: I don’t know why more stores don’t carry these. We have plain diced tomatoes and 3 variations of Italian seasoning based tomatoes, but NOTHING with any spice. Walmart.com to the rescue.) I am checking out the fridge and my light bulb says yes! It’s spicy cajun pasta time!! I have the cajun sausage. I have the pasta. I have the spicy diced tomatoes. I have heavy cream! I have… wait, a large container of heavy cream. If I use a little bit for the pasta, then what am I going to do with the rest???* Then, my impulse shopping comes to the rescue. After reading a review on one of the junk food blogs I follow, and coming across a sale, I bought some Philadelphia Jalapeno Cheddar Dip. I was so excited, but the day after buying it, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it since eating it on a cracker did not sound appealing. And the Philadelphia website had zero thoughts on the matter. So, in the alignment of mishaps, it seemed that this would be the ingredient to throw in the pasta to make it creamy, cheesy(ish) and add even more spice.

 

*Side note: Am I the only one who hates having leftover heavy cream and feels compelled to use it all ASAP? Same with canned pumpkin. I hate when a recipe calls for 1 cup or less. My can is 15oz! Canned pumpkin does not last long in the fridge once opened!

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 lb shrimp
• 12 oz package of Cajun style Chicken Sausage, sliced*
• 1 14.5 oz can  Petite Cut Diced® Tomatoes with Zesty Jalapeños
• 4 servings (8 Tbsp) Philadelphia Jalapeno Cheddar Dip
• 4 servings (approx 3 cups) of whole grain penne pasta**
• 1 Tbsp of cajun seasoning
• 5oz fresh spinach
• your favorite cooking spray

 

Directions

1. Prepare the pasta.
2. While the pasta is going, spray a skillet with cooking spray. Add the shrimp and cook until Very light pink. Add the chicken sausage and cook until warm.
3. Pour in the can of diced tomatoes. Still in the cream cheese dip until blended. Add Cajun seasoning.
4. Stir in in pasta.
5. Add spinach and cook until wilted.
6. Plate and serve!

 

*I used Nature’s Promise Cajun style Chicken Sausage

** you know, the high fiber stuff

*** I actually forgot to add in my spinach until after I had finished the pasta and started plating. I used the same skillet, a little more cooking spray and cooked the spinach until it became bright green and then added it to the dish. I prefer this if only because you get a prettier picture later.

 

Macros!

Calories: 422

Carbs: 49

Fat: 11

Protein: 40

Fiber: 8

 

Serves 4

Pumpkin Chipotle Chicken Tortellini

Pumpkin Chipotle Chicken Tortellini

I can’t believe my poor blog has been neglected for an entire year. This is what happens when I don’t make blogging a new year’s resolution. Or when I don’t bother making any resolutions at all. Anyways, lately, I’ve been spending more time browsing the local Aldi. I keep reading articles about how Aldi is this nice Trader Joe’s alternative with award-winning, low priced whiskey, but the one in my area is not like that at all. It’s truly a dump. It looks like where grocery store leftovers have gone to die. And, some of the customers seem to be preparing for the end of their days on Earth as well. On the upside, it’s perfect for a post gym stop. I never feel self-conscious about how I am dressed, smell, or what my hair is doing. You can go from one judgment-free zone to another. Initially, your instincts will have you question whether or not you should even eat there. Then you figure, the dry food is okay. Warm up to the produce and some of the dairy. I have worked my way up to chicken sausage, but not full on fresh raw meat.

On a recent visit, I spied jars of pumpkin chipotle pasta sauce. Being a mil, I googled it to see what people thought and the verdict was it’s good, smoky, and not spicy. So inspired by someone’s rave reddit review, I bring you pumpkin chicken tortellini pasta. Made exclusively* with Aldi’s ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1/2 24oz jar Aldi’s Pumpkin Chipotle pasta sauce
• 1 9oz package Aldi’s Priano Three Cheese Tortellini
• 3.5 servings Aldi Garlic and Herb Frozen Chicken Breasts**
• 1T habanero seasoning***

Directions

1. Cook chicken according to instructions.
2. Cook pasta according to instructions.
3. Once the chicken is done and has cooled slightly, cut into bite-sized pieces.
4. Warm the sauce, stir in the habanero seasoning.
5. Add the chicken and pasta to the sauce and eat!

* Well, the habanero seasoning salt I purchased somewhere else. But it’s a spice and it’s super generic, so that counts as basically being 100% Aldi right? I’m sure they sell spicy spices.
** That’s the goal. Sometimes the breasts stick together, and I didn’t want to break them apart. When I made this, it wound up being about 2 chicken breasts.
*** I find this adds a pleasant amount of spice. You could definitely get away with adding more.
**** You can top this with some Parmesan cheese too. The first time I made this, I did it and it was good. The second time I made it, I forgot all about it and to be honest, I didn’t miss it. Of course, I also eat the store brand grated Parmesan cheese from the tube which we now know has more wood pulp in it than cheese, so maybe that’s why?

Macros!

Calories: 454
Carbs: 45
Fat: 14
Protein: 38
Fiber:49

Serves 3

Cranberry Cornbread Greek Yogurt Skillet Cake

This recipe is based on my Roasted Cranberry Greek Yogurt loaf cake. Only this has the awesomeness of sweet cornbread flavor and the cool factor of being made in a cast iron skillet.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 12 oz fresh cranberries
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup Dannon Oikos Triple Zero Vanilla Greek yogurt*
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• .5 cups yellow corn meal
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions

Cranberries

1. Heat oven to 400F.
2. Over medium-low heat, melt the coconut oil in a cast iron skillet.
3. Once the oil has melted, add the cranberries and 1 Tbsp of sugar and stir to coat the cranberries.
4. Place the cranberries and the skillet into the oven and roast for approximately 15 minutes. You’ll know they’re ready when they soften and your kitchen starts to have an amazing cranberry smell. While they roast, move on to the cake!
5. Remove the cranberries from the oven and lower the temperature to 350F.

Cake

1. In a bowl, beat the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar and butter together.
2. Add eggs, Greek yogurt and vanilla extract and blend.
3. In another bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.
4. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet. Mix until just blended.
5. From the skillet, remove some of the roasted cranberries and stir them into the cake batter. Leave enough in the skillet so that you still have a nice cranberry layer on top.
6. Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. Let the cake cool, then flip it out of the skillet onto a plate.
8. Slice and serve!

Notes
* I used Dannon Oikos Triple Zero yogurt. It has fiber and is much sweeter than regular fat-free greek yogurt. If you didn’t use this, I recommend using a full cup of sugar and tasting the batter to make sure it’s sweet enough. And you’re welcome for giving you a legitimate reason to eat cake batter.

Macros!
Calories: 282
Carbs: 45
Fat: 8
Protein: 8
Fiber: 5

Serves 8

Fall Fig and Pumpkin Pizza

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Guys, fresh fig season. Why are you so short? Why are my usual New England grocery stores so slow to replace the stock?

I almost called this something like “Fabulous Fall Fig Salad”. Thankfully, I realized that was lame. At least for me. These can totally be meal prepped. I basically kept everything separate and then assembled the day of, keeping the cheese on the block. Freshly shredded cheese is everything!

This recipe gets bonus points for using the entire can of pumpkin. There’s nothing worse than making something that needs 1 cup of puree. The rest of the can goes into the fridge and chills there unused until it goes bad.

This recipe has a few parts. I listed the directions in order of approximately how long each piece takes. I actually made my caramelized onions last because I thought it would take about 5 minutes. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

Ingredients

• 30oz Rotisserie Flavor Turkey Breast Tenderloins*
• 1 15oz can of pumpkin puree
• 1 Tbsp EVOO
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1.5 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 onion, sliced
• .5 Tbsp butter
• fresh sage
• salt
• pepper

Directions

Turkey and Figs

1. Pre-heat oven to 325F.
2. Bake turkey tenderloins for 50-60 min, or until the internal temperature is 165F.
3. While the turkey cooks, slice the figs into quarters.
4. After about 30 minutes have passed, put the figs in the oven along with the turkey and bake them until they are soft and start to caramelize.
5. When the turkey is done, remove and slice into small pieces.

Caramelized Onions

1. Slice the onion into skinny rings.
2. Heat a skillet over low heat and add the butter. Once the butter melts, add the onions
3. Stir the onions every few minutes until they caramelize.**

Prep the pumpkin sauce!

1. Mince (or chop) a few leaves of sage.
2. Combine the pumpkin, EVOO, honey and fish sauce in a pot over medium heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Cook until evenly heated.
4. Stir in your fresh sage.

Assemble the Pizza!

1. Crank the oven up to 425. If using, put a pizza stone in the oven while it heats up.
2. Once the oven is hot, add pizza crusts and cook 5-6 minutes until they start to get crispy.
3. Remove the crusts.
4. Assemble the pizzas: sauce, turkey, figs, and caramelized onions. Top with cheese and place back into the oven for another 5 minutes until the cheese melts.
5. Remove the pizzas from the oven and garnish with some more fresh sage.

Enjoy!

Notes

*Shout out to Shady Brook Farms for selling turkey tenderloins all year long
** This takes forever! Like at least half an hour. If you must, you can increase the heat a tad towards the end, but monitor the onions carefully. Increasing the heat too much will burn them.

Macros!

Calories: 550
Carbs: 59
Fat: 17
Protein: 43
Fiber: 9

Serves 5

Chocolate Fig Protein Pancakes

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Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup fat-free Greek yogurt
• 1 ounce water
• 100g figs
• 1/4 cup sugar-free maple syrup

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375F.
2. Slice figs and lay on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
3. Bake figs until juices start to release.
4. Heat a skillet over medium heat.
5. Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
6. Add in the egg and Greek yogurt. Mix until combined, then add in water. The batter should be slightly runny.
7. Once the skillet is warm, spray with a non-stick cooking spray.
8. Add about 2 spoonfuls of batter to the skillet.
9. Let cook until the edges solidify and bubble.* This should take at least two minutes.
10. Continue going with the pancakes until the batter is done.**
11. Remove figs from the oven if you haven’t already.***
12. Stack pancakes and layer a few fig slices and some syrup between them.
13. Top the stack with a pile of figs and drizzle the remaining syrup on top.

Notes
* I inevitably don’t do this for the first pancake. Between not waiting long enough for the skillet to warm up and being super anxious about the pancake burning, my first pancake gets flipped too soon. And then I don’t let the other side cook long enough and my first pancake is kinda runny.
**If this is going slowly and the pancakes are cooling down too much while you cook, turn the oven down to 200F and place the pancakes in there. Perhaps your first under cooked pancake can finish up. If you haven’t eaten it already that is.
***If you did already remove the figs, I highly recommend chopping a few slices and stirrring them into the batter.

Macros!
Calories: 514
Carbs: 68
Fat: 5
Protein: 51
Fiber: 5

Serves 1

Pretty Fabulous Fresh Fig Salad

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Fresh figs are one of my favorite things. It’s a shame the season is so short and they have almost no shelf life. They are basically the gold fish of produce. One of my favorite things about this salad is how pretty it is. And it’s easy to make it look pretty. I wouldn’t make this as a meal prep salad jar salad, but fortunately, it’s pretty quick to throw together. (Although I did prep one in a tupperware as a lunch side, and it was pretty tasty once it warmed up to room temperature.)

Ingredients

• 1 cup (42.5g) arugula/wild rocket salad
• 50g blackberries (about 8)
• 100g sliced fresh figs
• 1/2oz (14g) goat cheese with honey
• 1T (15G) honey mustard yogurt salad dressing*

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350F.
2. Slice each fig into fours and bake in the oven 7-10 minutes.
3. While the figs bake, spread arugula over a plate.
4. Place blackberries and schmears of goat cheese on top of the leaves.
5. Drizzle dressing over the salad.
6. Remove figs from the oven and arrange on the plate.
7. Serve, impress and eat!

*A Dijon mustard vinaigrette would also work here. I just happened to have the Bolthouse Farms honey mustard dressing at home.

Macros!
Calories: 169
Carbs: 31
Fat: 4
Protein: 7
Fiber: 7

Serves 1