Skinny Garden Guacamole – Yes Peas!

Are you an avocadotarian? Could you eat an avocado every day? I could, and have – and maybe more than one! skinny garden guacamole

Even though avocados are considered a “healthy” superfood, the good-for-you fats and calories can start to add up when overindulging on this rich, creamy fruit. Sometimes you still want to eat the whole bowl of guac, but don’t want that heavy stuffed feeling — say yay for my lighter Skinny Garden Guacamole. Continue reading

Beef, Egg and Potato Bake + Make Ahead Meals for Busy Days

Check out Double Batch Weekend Cooking

by The Fit Fork at Foodie.com

  Welcome! If you are stopping by via Taste of Home Feb / March 2015 Issue or my cooking segment on the Home & Family lifestyle show (Hallmark Channel), the Beef Egg and Bake recipe is featured below. I invite you to take a look around my blog, I have lots of other family-friendly recipes and meal solutions that will make your life easier and healthier! In fact, I’ve rounded up a collection of “Double Batch Weekend Cooking” recipes that are ideal for stockpiling during weekend, freezing and  thawing out for quick meal on those days when your to-do list just keeps growing.

Jennifer Fisher TheFitFork.com on Home & Family Hallmark Channel

 

This is the video link to the cooking segment if you have 7 minutes to spare 🙂 

Beef Egg Potato Bake Breakfast Casserole - TheFitFork.com

Back to the Beef, Egg and Potato Bake — this down-home, country-inspired breakfast casserole has been lightened for today’s hungry yet health-conscious go-getter. What tastes like sausage is actually super-lean ground beef that has been specially seasoned — but that’s not where the health swaps stop! Added dairy products are reduced in fat and nutrient-rich veggies are incorporated to round out your morning meal.

 

breakfast egg and beef casserole I originally made this breakfast casserole recipe as a way way to incorporate more protein into breakfast — and ended up demonstrating it all over the state of Texas at the American Heart Associations “Go Red for Women” events last year. I never had a scrap of samples left, so I think it was a hit!  When making this at home, you can save precious time my preparing it the night before and baking in the morning. Leftovers may be frozen in single-serve portions and reheated in microwave for the busiest of busy mornings. If you need to eat it while walking out the door, just wrap it in a whole grain tortilla!

Double Batch Weekend Cooking Recipes - TheFitFork.comThis post is sponsored by Foodie.com — however, all commentary and opinions are my own.

Beef, Egg and Potato Bake
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
50 mins
Total Time
1 hr 15 mins
 
To keep my family going all morning, I start with lean ground beef and spices, then sneak some spinach into this protein-packed breakfast dish.
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean or leaner)
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt divided
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
  • 1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
  • 4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
  • 14 large eggs
  • 1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
  • 1/3 cup fat-free milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 3/4 cup hredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese
  • 11/3 cups grape tomatoes halved lengthwise
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet, cook beef with onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, garlic powder, sage and pepper flakes over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink, breaking up beef into 3/4-inch crumbles; drain. Stir in spinach. Remove from heat.
  2. Spread potatoes in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish; top with beef mixture.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, ricotta cheese, milk, pepper and remaining salt; pour over top. Sprinkle with cheese. Top with tomatoes.
  4. Bake, uncovered, 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes

Lightened Yet Still Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe

There’s nothing more soul-satisfying on a cold winter night than a nourishing bowl of soup for supper. And for those who know me even just a little bit, will confirm that I’m that always-freezing chick who is bundled up in long johns and ready to slurp soup anytime the thermometer plunges below 70 F degrees.  Soup is a beautiful thing. Not only is soup easy to whip up and low-mess (it’s a one-pot meal), the leftovers are often better the next day. For dinner tonight I made Lightened Yet Still Loaded Baked Potato Soup, a recipe I tweaked and adapted from a 10-year old recipe in Cooking Light magazine (9/2007).

Don’t worry about sabotaging your diet with this make-over recipe; it’s relatively low in calories and fat compared to the naughty restaurant equivalents. For example, 12-ounces of Baked Potato Soup at Outback Steakhouse has an impressive 514 calories and 53 grams of fat (24 saturated) compared to this lightened version that has just 346 calories and less 11.7 grams of fat (7.3 saturated). Calorie-counters could always skip the bacon, but that wouldn’t be any fun.

By the way, if you’re already drooling over the tantalizing photo, you can thank my dear mom and dad for helping get your appetite worked up – they gifted me with a brand new camera for my food photography! Kisses!

 

Lightened Yet Still Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe

  • 2 ½ lbs Russet potatoes
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 6 cups 1% reduced-fat milk
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup (8-ounces) light sour cream
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onions
  • 6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Wash potatoes and pat dry. Pierce potatoes with a fork and microwave together for 15 – 20 minutes (turning every 5 minutes) until tender. Cool to handle under cold water.  Peel potatoes; coarsely mash in large bowl.

Place flour in a large Dutch oven or stock pot; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly, approximately 8 – 10 minutes. Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated taking care not to let soup  boil. Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoon onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon.