Zucchini Lasanga

So, on the hunt for low carb food, aaand still have a massive amount of zucchini to get rid of. Pinterest has been amazing, and I've found many recipes that substitute pasta for zucchini! So tonight I made zucchini lasagna.. and to my AMAZEMENT it was only 3 Points+ a serving. 3!!! Insane! Now as you'll see in the recipe, there isn't much cheese. I'm really not a cheese-lover as I'm lactose intolerant.. so I don't miss it much. However you can add more, just mind, it will be more points! I had my bff over tonight and we both had one serving thinking we'd be back for more, but we were stuffed! Granted we also served it with some garlic bread that I made using light low-fat English muffins, which ended up being 4 points+ each, which was well worth it!

Now, I used a mandolin to slice my zucchini. Also the zucchini that I have are HUGE.. and I feel like the centers are way too soft and seedy - I just don't like that texture. So I scooped them out and sliced only  the hard fleshy parts. Also you'll notice I did half and half on the cheese. Really, that's all the cheese I had in the house... haha! I'm not sure if it would have been less point value to use all fat free, but it was good regardless.. and I mean.. it's 3 points! COME ON! When you make it, it doesn't seem 'wet' enough. But salting the zucchini help it to release it's water content and creates more liquid while cooking.

Zucchini Lasagna
12 Servings  3 Points+ each

 

• 1 Large Zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1lb ground turkey
• 4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 TB minced garlic
• 1/2 cup pasta sauce
• 1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup fat free mozzarella cheese
• 3 TB graded Parmesan Cheese
• 2 tsp Italian seasonings
• Salt and Pepper

Brown turkey meat in large skillet. Once browned, add tomatoes, garlic and Italian seasonings. Allow to cook until tomatoes are cooked down. Add pasta sauce and take off of heat. Lay down first layer of zucchini in a casserole dish and lightly salt and pepper. Add 1/3 of the meat/sauce mixture. Top with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheeses, and sprinkle with 1TB of Parmesan cheese. Add next layer of zucchini, and season with salt and pepper. Repeat layer. Add last layer of zucchini and repeat the process. Bake, covered with aluminum foil, at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15. Let cool a bit before cutting and serving.

Chinese Fix..

I love Chinese food. I could eat it every single day. Garlic Chicken, Sesame Chicken, Fried Rice, Crab Ragoons.. I love them ALL. Well we all know how unhealthy take-out it! I've been looking up some recipes and experimenting on my own. Tonight I made some pretty tasty Orange Chicken. The original recipe said it was only 4 points+ a recipe, but mine didn't go quite that low. The recipe called for cornstarch, but I was out and subbed flour. If you have cornstarch, use that instead! Makes a much glossier and better textured sauce. I also added zucchini and green onions which seemed to increase the point value, which I'm okay with! I served with brown rice. I also promise to start taking better food pictures.. haha!

Skinny Orange Chicken

Serves 5 - 6 WW Points+ per serving

 

• 1.5lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small pieces
• 2 cups zucchini, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of orange juice (I use Trop50)
• 2TB honey
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 4 TB flour (or 3TB cornstarch)
• 1 TB orange zest
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 2 mandarin oranges

    Saute chicken in a non-stick pan, stirring occasionally. Once chicken is browned, add zucchini and place lid on pan to allow to steam. Continue stirring occasionally. Mix rest of ingredients besides onions and oranges in a pot. Place on medium heat and allow to thicken, stirring occasionally. Once sauce is thickened add to the chicken and zucchini. Add onions and oranges. Serve with brown rice. 

 

 

Healthy Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

    And now for something sweet! Well, sort of. I took a recipe from Paula Dean and made some modifications. Paula's recipe was 8 Points+ a serving, and I brought this down to 4! This is also the first time I've ever made, or eaten, zucchini bread. This isn't very sweet, as I lowered the amount of sugar in the recipe, so I'm not sure if there's not enough sugar in the recipe, or if zucchini bread is not usually inherently sweet.. But none-the-less I liked it! I subbed the oil in the recipe for a mashed banana, but could also use 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce, for the same point value. Thinking getting some whole wheat flour to start doing more baking with, and see if that helps to bring down the point values as well!

Chocolate-chip Zucchini Bread

serves 24. 4 WW Points+ each

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 3 beaten eggs
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

 Sift the the dry ingredients and set aside. Mix everything else besides the chocolate chips in a separate bowl. Stir until well combined. Mix wet ingredients into the dry. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Ashley's Zucchini Casserole

     I've recently come into the possession of a LARGE amount of LARGE zucchini.. So starting to try to come up with some healthy things to make! Tonight I literally threw together some random things I had lying around that I thought sounded good and went with it. The results were DELICIOUS! And filling! And its THREE Weight watchers points a serving. THREE!! The whole casserole was 11 but I was full after only eating a quarter of it.

Ashley's Zucchini Casserole

Serves 4. 3 WW Points+ per serving

• 1 large zucchini, thinly sliced
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 4oz cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, shredded
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese
• seasoning salt

       


 Layer zucchini at the bottom of a small casserole dish. Sprinkle with seasoning salt. top with a third of the tomatoes, a third of the chicken, and a third of the cheese. Add second layer of zucchini and repeat the process. Top with the last layer of zucchini, tomatoes, chicken and cheese. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.