Tasty Treats By Michi

Cheesey Italian dishes are another thing that I miss while being on this diet. Whenever I start to REALLY crave something, that seems to be when I make up the best recipes!  This recipe is so delicious and it's really hard to imagine that it is actually low fat and pretty darn healthy.  I have served it to people that are against low fat eating and they actually had no idea that I cut major fattening ingredients and loved it anyway.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients: 

• 2 (28 ounce) jars of Classico Tomato and Basil tomato sauce
• 1 box of rigatoni pasta
• 1 pound of extra lean ground turkey (I like Jenny-O)
• 1 (16 ounce) container of fat free cottage cheese
• 2 packages of Kraft Fat Free Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 3/4 tsp of kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil 

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook rigatoni, drain, set aside.  Do not salt the pasta, there is already enough salt in the dish. 

Using a large skillet with a little bit of olive oil, brown the turkey.  In case you have never cooked with turkey, turkey doesn't really brown.  Instead, it turns white and is no longer pink.  Break up all the pieces of the turkey so that is it the consistency of ground beef. 

Once the turkey is cooked, add the cottage cheese and one package of the Mozzarella cheese. Stir very well until the cheese is completely blended with the turkey.  Then, add the parsley, egg, salt, and pepper.  Stir well again so that all the flavors are incorporated. 

Add one and a half of the jars of tomato sauce to the mixture.  Stir well again. Add the cooked rigatoni and guess what, stir some more! 

Spoon the mixture into a 13x9 baking dish (I like to use my largest corning ware).  Spread the remaining half jar of sauce over the mixture.  Then sprinkle the entire second bag of Mozzarella cheese over the top. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly (fat free cheese doesn't get that bubbly, but it will get soft).

Okay so one of the things I miss most is cream based dishes, like Beef Stroganoff.  Once I craved it so much, that I went on a rampage to the grocery store and decided to make up a diet-friendly recipe myself.  I think I have finally perfected this recipe, but please feel free to tweak it (in non-fattening ways) and leave suggestions! 

Ingredients: 

• 8 ounces uncooked dry egg noodles 
• 1/2 pound beef sirloin with ALL visible fat removed/cut off (lean cut beef sirloin is usually the best and has the least fat)
• 1 tsp olive oil 
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• Onion powder, as needed 
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can Campbell's 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms 
• 1 TSP of dried tarragon 
• 1/2 TSP Worcesteshire sauce or more to taste
• Kosher salt to taste
• Ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup low fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup skim milk 

Directions:

Remove ALL visible fat from the meat with a knife (Do not be surprised if you end up having only half of the meat left).  Cut the remaning meat into thin strips, about 1/3 inch by 2 inches long. 

Cook the egg noodles according to the package directions; drain and return to the pan to keep warm. 

In a large frying pan over medium high head, heat the olive oil.  Add steak strips and saute quickly until browned.  Transfer the cooked pieces onto a plate and cover loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm. 

Reduce heat to low, add onion and garlic, saute until soft and the onions are translucent.  Stir in the mushroom soup, mushrooms, tarragon, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.  Simmer until mushrooms are cooked.  


Remove the pan from the heat (but keep the heat on low) and add the yogurt, and milk and stir until everything is combined well.  Put the pot back on the stove and taste the sauce to see if it needs anything.  Add onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper to taste.  Add a little bit more skim milk if the sauce is too thick. Add the steak strips, stir again to combine and heat up the steak, and serve on a bed of egg noodles. 

Enjoy!

Spaghetti and turkey meatballs is another favorite meal.  The best part is that you can put the meatballs in some bread the next day and have turkey meatball subs - so delish! 

For this recipe, I suggest you use the brands that I specifically recommend in order to have the best tasting results.  Sometimes when you cook low fat meals, you need the absolute best ingredients to make up for it. Also, make sure the ground turkey you buy is Extra Lean, or 99% fat free.  Turkey that isn't lean is pretty much the same as eating full fat ground beef! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 small onion, grated
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 1 large egg
• 3 TBLSP Heinz Ketchup 
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 TSP kosher salt
• 1/4 TSP ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup Ians Italian Style Bread Crumbs 
• 1/2 cup Italian Panko Bread Crumbs
• 1 pound of Jenny-O Extra Lean Ground Turkey
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (I like Caronbell)
• 2 34 ounce jars of Classico Tomato and Basil Sauce
• 1 spaghetti

 Directions: 

To make meatballs, mix the first 7 ingredients in a large bowl to blend.  Stir in the bread crumbs. Fold in the ground turkey using a fork, not your hands (they will be too dense). Shape the meatballs with your hands, they should be about the size of gold balls. 

Heat the olive oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat.  Working in 2-3 batches, add the meatballs and saute until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meatballs to a plate.  Pour off any excess oil and turkey remnants.  Return all the meatballs to the pan.  Add the marinara sauce.  Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens slightly and the flavors blend, about 10 minutes.  Begin cooking the spaghetti in salted boiling water.  One the 10 minutes pass, chick one of the meatballs to make sure its cooked all the way through.  

Add the sauce and meatballs to the spaghetti.  Enjoy this delicious meal!