Tag Archives: tomato sauce

Breakfast Sausage Stew

I love breakfast sausage and here’s a clever way to enjoy it at dinner time. This recipe is easy and quick to make for those busy days. I found this meal is extremely filling mostly because1.2 cups equals 5 weight watcher points.

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 – 1tsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 6oz Liliydale Daystarters Breakfast Turkey Sausage
  • 8oz White Mushrooms sliced
  • 1 Medium Zucchini halved and sliced
  • 14oz Can of Red Kidney Beans rinsed
  • 14oz Can of Diced Tomatoes
  • 8oz Can of Tomato Sauce
  • 1tsp of Miss Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning
  • 2 cups of Baby Spinach
Directions:
  1. Pre cook the breakfast sausage and set aside.
  2. Add oil to a large pan on high heat.
  3. Add the cooked sausage, mushrooms, and zucchini and cook for about 5 mins.
  4. Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil
  5. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 mins.
  6. Add the spinach and stir until it wilts.
  7. Once spinach is wilted serve and enjoy

 

 

Orzo Vegetarian Pasta

I love pasta and I try to keep it light since it’s a starch and higher in points then other foods.  What I like best about this recipe is it’s made will all fresh ingredients. A natural, super easy and fast recipe for those busy days. From start to finish it’s total cooking time is 30 mins. One serving is 5 weight watcher points and its completely vegetarian friendly.

Ingredients:
  • 1.5 cups of Orzo Pasta
  • 1 can of low sodium tomato sauce
  • 2 cups of random vegetables. I used red and yellow peppers, onions and brocoli
  • A dash of Miss Dash Garlic and Herb spice mix
  • A tsp or so of hot sauce
Directions:
  1. In a pot cook pasta according to package and drain when pasta has finished cooking.
  2. In a pan add 1/4 cup of water with the vegetables and steam for 5-7 mins.
  3. In a smaller pot add the tomatoe sauce, miss dash, hot sauce, steamed vegetables and heat.
  4. Serving Size – Place 1 & 1/4 cups of pasta in a bowl and top with 3/4 of tomato vegetable sauce. Enjoy :)

 

Another Meatloaf Recipe

I know here we go again with yet one more meatloaf recipe. This one is spicy and made to serve, no cutting required. I use an 8 individual mini loaf pan so I don’t have to cut the meat loaf. It saves time and all that mess. Plus it is great for portion control. The best part is that 2 individual loaves are 5 weight watcher points. Serve this with a side of salad and you have a great cozy home cooked meal.

Ingredients:
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1 Cup finely chopped mushrooms
  • 1 celery stalked finely chopped
  • 1 large carrot finely chopped
  • 1 medium onion finely chopped
  • 1 pound extra lean ground beef
  • 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon of worcestershire sauce
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 teaspoon of rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon of savoury
  • 1 teaspoon of thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon of hot sauce
  • approximately 1/4 cup of tomato sauce (careful not to get the sauce on the sides of the pan, as you can see I got some sauce on the pan and it darkened a bit.)
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Spray a mini 8 piece loaf pan.
  3. In a large pan add the water, and all the finely chopped vegetables and cook for 5 mins.
  4. Drain the water from the vegetables.
  5. In a large bowl add the vegetables with all remaining ingredients except for the tomato sauce.
  6. Mix ingredients and add even amounts to the 8 individual loaf pan
  7. Place in oven and cook for 30 mins.
  8. Remove from oven and distribute the tomato sauce on top of the individual loafs. About 1 – 1.5 teaspoons and spread so the tops are covered.
  9. Replace loaf pan in the oven and cook for another 30 mins.
  10. Remove from oven and serve.

Vegetarian Chilli

Here’s another modified Hungry Girl recipe. I find the original recipe is not very filling and in a few short hours I am starving again. My secret is when I pour my self a serving (1.5 cups of chilli) I then add 1/3 cup of heated Soy Crumbles to my bowl. This provides the filler I need with out all those added points. For the entire serving with the soy it’s 4 weight watcher points. It’s 3 weight watcher points with out the extra soy. I also tweaked the amount of everything in the pot, I don’t like wasting food and 3/4 of a can of beans will leave me with 1/4 left over. What will I do with 1/4 cup of beans???? I hope you enjoy this modification as much as I do.

Ingredients:
  • 4 3/4 cups canned tomato sauce
  • 1 can of canned diced tomatoes with green chiles
  • 1 small can of  chopped jalapeno’s. Easy to find in the Mexican aisle
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp crushed garlic
  • 2 cups peeled and chopped carrots
  • 2 cups chopped onions
  • 2 cups chopped mushrooms
  • 2 large bell peppers chopped and seeded (does not matter what color)
  • 1 cup frozen corn or mixed veggies. I have used both
  • 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
  • 1 can red kidney beans rinsed drained
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • .5 tsp of Chile flakes for some added heat
  • 1/3 cup of Soy Crumble to be added after served in your bowl.
Directions:
  1. In a large pot over low heat on the stove, combine tomato sauce, diced tomatoes with green chiles, jalapeños, chili powder, cumin and stir.
  2. Add garlic and carrots.
  3. Stir and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.
  4. On the side bring a large pan to medium heat and add onions, mushrooms, peppers, 1/2 cup water and cook for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
  5. Drain access water from cooked veggies and transfer to the large pot of sauce.
  6. Add Frozen veggis, beans, and Worcestershire sauce to the pot and mix.
  7. Cook over low heat for 2 hours, stirring every so often.
  8. Once cooked place about 1.5 cups in a bowl and add 1/3 cup of heated soy crumbles and dig in.

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells

I have never tried a stuffed pasta shells before and for some reason I just really felt like making some. I found a recipe online and of course made some changes to make them healthier. These are super yummy and husband approved. For 1 Weight Watcher Point per shell you can’t go wrong.

Ingredients:

  • 10 jumbo pasta shells
  • 5 cups spinach leaves
  • 1 small zucchini (chopped)
  • ½ cup nonfat cottage cheese
  • 1 egg white
  • .5 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon low fat parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup low sodium tomato sauce
  • pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Bring water to a boil and add pasta shells. Make sure they are a little under cooked and drain them. (They will finish cooking in the oven.)
  3. In a bowl add spinach and zucchini and wilt by heating in the microwave for 1 – 1.5 minutes.
  4. In a small bowl mix garlic powder, low fat parmesan cheese and egg white.
  5. Add the cottage cheese and parmasan mixture to the spinach mixture.
  6. Pour 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce in a baking pan.
  7. Stuff the shells and put in baking pan.
  8. Cover with rest of the tomato sauce.
  9. Bake for 20 minutes.

Chicken Meatballs

Today was a crazy day, I woke up to the craving of meatballs. I haven’t had a meatball in quite sometime. I thought to myself how can I make a healthy meatball to satisfy this darn craving? Well instead of using beef, I used lean ground chicken instead (half a pound), a half a cup of fine bread crumbs, one large egg white. For the spices I added half a tablespoon of minced garlic, a pinch of ground pepper, rosemary, oregano, and thyme. I used a tablespoon to scoop up the meat and form the balls and cooked them for 20 mins at 360 in the oven. I was able to make about 9 meatballs for 1 point each. Serve with you choice of pasta, rice, or couscous. Make a nice low fat sauce from low sodium tomato sauce, or low fat cream soup and enjoy. Just make sure to account for the points on the startch you choose to pair the meatballs with.

Please see my Tips and Secrets page for a listing of Generic Weight Watcher Points for the point value of the starches.

Vegetarian Lasagna

Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna

Vegetarian Lasagna made with firm tofu, silk tofu, fresh basil, garlic, and tomato sauce. No traditional baked cheese because it adds unnecessary calories. Only 5 WW points and husband approved. This recipe is a slow cooker recipe however I baked it in the over about 60 mins. First 30 minutes the pan was covered with foil, the last 30 mins I removed the foil to let the top bake.

Recipe can be found here: Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna