Shrinking Sisters

Making quiche like a ninja

I am a total sucker for infomercials. Sometimes on the weekends I like to channel surf and seek them out. This past Saturday I saw one of my favorites, for the Ninja Master Prep food processor.

My son walked in the room and was transfixed by the cheeseburger the presenters were making (the cheese is IN THE BURGER!).

"We should get that!" the cheeseburger fiend said.

I was more interested in the ham and cheese fritatta and the frozen boozy drinks.

Not wanting to pay the shipping and handling and not wanting to wait (I'm that way), I set out in search of a Ninja at brick-n-mortar stores. First stop: The shiny new Kohl's near me. I found a display Ninja but no boxes (those Ninjas are stealthy). Turns out the store was sold out. So on to Target, where I found loads of them for a dollar cheaper than Kohl's.

The fridge was a little empty but we did have Egg Beaters, reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese, low-sodium ham and frozen chopped spinach, so I did a little twist on the infomercial fritatta, and the results were delish and crazy low in calories. It's pretty similar to those South Beach Diet crustless quiches. Here's my creation:

Spinach, Ham & Cheese Crustless Quiche

• 2 cups liquid egg substitute
• 4 slices reduced-fat Monterey Jack or Swiss cheese (60 calories per slice)
• 4 oz. reduced-sodium ham
• 1 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 capful Mrs. Dash seasoning blend, your favorite flavor (I used Tomato-Basil-Garlic)

Thaw spinach and squeeze out excess liquid. Chop ham and cheese. Combine spinach, ham, cheese, egg substitute and Mrs. Dash in food processor until blended. Pour into 8-inch square baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 375 degrees until puffy and golden on edges.

Makes 4 servings

Calories: 155.4; total fat: 4.6 g, cholesterol: 23.8 mg; sodium: 621.2 mg; total carbs: 4.8 g; dietary fiber: 1.7 g; protein: 24.7 g

(BTW, I use Sparkrecipes.com for calculating recipes. It's super easy and best of all, free.)

Shrimp and grits heavy on flavor, light on calories

My version of Whole Foods' shrimp and grits.

A couple months ago, I went grocery shopping with my son, who can make extras seemingly leap into the shopping cart. That week it was instant grits, cheese flavored.

So I made it for breakfast the next morning and the boy was not impressed. Great, what am I going to do with a box of grits?

Then, on a trip to Whole Foods, I found the answer. Right outside the door was a stack of The Whole Deal, the grocery chain's newsletter/coupon treasure trove. (Grab one of these when you go because there are a ton of great coupons, and great recipes.)

This time there was a recipe for Easy Shrimp and Grits With Sweet Peppers. Bing! I found a use for the grits. I followed the recipe pretty much as written but I subbed out the regular grits for the cheese grits and I added more shrimp, to boost the protein. Shrimp is crazy low in calories so a few extra only adds 20 calories per ounce. I also didn't add the salt and used reduced-sodium bacon because I'm a bit obsessed with reducing sodium.

But this recipe has it all -- crunch from bacon, creaminess from grits, sweetness from red peppers, heat and tartness from the hot sauce and lemon juice (I used Frank's Red Hot sauce). And each serving has only 280 calories. Here's the recipe from Whole Foods:

Easy Shrimp and Grits With Sweet Peppers

(Recipe from Whole Foods Markets)

3 slices 365 Everyday Value Uncured Bacon
1 cup white or yellow grits
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 small yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 green or red bell peppers, cored, seeded and sliced
1/3 pound peeled and deveined raw shrimp (fresh or frozen and thawed)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons hot sauce, plus more for serving (optional)

Method

Cook bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium heat, flipping once, until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Pour off and reserve all but one teaspoon bacon fat from skillet. Set aside off heat.

Meanwhile, bring 3 1/2 cups salted water to a boil in a medium pot. Whisk in grits, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until thick and tender, 6 to 8 minutes. (Some grits have different cooking times, so adjust water and cooking time as needed.)

Reheat the one teaspoon bacon fat over medium-high heat; add onions, garlic, peppers, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Move onion mixture to one side of the skillet and add another teaspoon bacon fat. Add shrimp, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Add lemon juice and hot sauce. Toss shrimp and onion mixture together. Spoon hot grits into bowls and top with shrimp mixture. Crumble bacon over the top and serve with additional hot sauce on the side.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 14oz/393g-wt.): 280 calories (80 from fat), 9g total fat, 2.5g saturated fat, 65mg cholesterol, 630mg sodium, 39g total carbohydrate (2g dietary fiber, 3g sugar), 12g protein

Apples, tortillas, cheese and a cold

I'm stuck in the hotel room while my husband and son get to frolic all day. I've had this ridiculous bad cold practically the whole time we've been here and it's not getting any better. So after my second trip to urgent care this morning I sent the guys on their merry way and quarantined myself in the room.

Lunch was a can of Andersen's pea soup I picked up from the drug store where I got my Z-Pack prescription (sinus infection, too!). Dinner was going to be trickier. The hotel fridge is as small as you can get, and there's not much in it. But I managed to come up with a pretty tasty wrap made from a Mission Carb Balance tortilla (high fiber, high protein and 110 calories), 2 slices of Jarlsberg Lite cheese (100 calories and higher in calcium than other cheeses) and a small Fuji apple (around 55 calories and a couple more grams of fiber).

I sliced the apple with a plastic knife I saved from a cutlery pack from last night's baseball game. Then I put the apple on the top half of the tortilla and put the cheese over the apple. I then microwaved everything in the teeny low-power hotel room microwave for 1 minute, rolled it up and voila! Dinner.

Next time, I think I'll try a tarter apple, like a Granny Smith, but overall, it was a pretty good dinner in a pinch -- high in fiber, protein and calcium and only 265 calories.

Weekend recipe: Tomato Chutney with Baked Pita Chips

Found this yummy looking recipe on Health.com for Tomato Chutney with Baked Pita Chips but I bet this chutney would be fantastic over chicken breasts as well.

Tomato Chutney with Baked Pita Chips - Recipes - Health.com

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Health.com photo

A recipe for Earth Day: Mollie Katzen's lentil chili

I have been making the Lentil Chili from Mollie Katzen's book Still Life With Menu for years. Not only is it delicious but it's dirt cheap to make. And since overweight people have a larger carbon footprint (eating more food and using more gasoline to drive instead of walk or bike), I thought this would be a good Earth Day recipe, since eating fewer meat-based meals also cuts down on energy consumption.

Mollie Katzen's Lentil Chili
4 cups dried lentils
6 to 7 cups water (tomato juice can be substituted for about 2 cups water)
One 1-pound can tomatoes, or 3 to 4 large ripe fresh tomatoes (peeling optional), chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme (or about 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or cider vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Crushed red pepper to taste

Optional Toppings:

* Thin slices of sharp cheddar
* Sour cream
* Salsa
* A handful of toasted cashews
* Minced fresh parsley and/or cilantro

Place lentils and 6 cups of water in a large soup pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, partially cover, and lower the heat to a simmer. Leave it this way for about 30 minutes, checking it every now and then to be sure it isn't cooking any faster than a gentle simmer. (You can chop the vegetables during this time.)

Add tomatoes, cumin, paprika, thyme, garlic, and onions. Stir, mostly cover again, and let it cook for another 30 minutes or so. Check the water level as it cooks, and add water or tomato juice in 1/4-cup increments as needed, to prevent dryness. Stir from the bottom every several minutes during the cooking.

Add salt and tomato paste. Stir and continue to simmer slowly, partially covered, until the tomato paste is all blended in... about 10 minutes.

Stir in the vinegar, black pepper, and crushed red pepper, adjusting the seasonings to taste. Serve hot, with some or all of the optional toppings.

From Still Life With Menu, Ten Speed Press, paperback, 1994

Guinness is diet food!

You might think that the dark, syrupy Guinness beer that everyone's quaffing today is much higher in calories than a regular brew.

Ay but you'd be wrong, laddy!

Turns out, 12 ounces of Guinness Draught has 126 calories. In comparison, Miller High Life has 146 calories and Michelob Light has 134 calories.

Another benefit to dark beer: It offers some of the same heart-healthy benefits as chocolate and red wine, according to a 2003 study. A University of Wisconsin scientist says the benefits come from the flavonoids in the beer.

So raise a glass to St. Patrick's Day -- and keep it at one.

If you don't finish all your Guinness, click HERE for a recipe for Guinness Beef Stew from the Australian Weight Watchers site (go figure!).

I also have more Weight Watchers St. Patricks Day recipes over at Examiner.com HERE.

South Beach Quiche Cups an oldie but goodie

I've been drifting back toward the South Beach Diet lately, and the other morning I made some Quiche Cups, little muffin-sized mini quiches, perfect for breakfast or snack time.

Those little suckers are tasty and crazy low in calories. Each serving of two quiches is only 77 calories. Also, they're super easy to make.

South Beach Quiche Cups

• 3/4 cup liquid egg substitute
• 3/4 cup low-fat shredded cheddar
• 1 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and all water squeezed out
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything together and spoon into sprayed muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until set.