Lemon Pepper Zucchini

I love zucchini. It's an all time fave! I love it cooked on the grill, but I live in an apartment with a small balcony, so I must compromise lol.

• 2 lbs zucchini, chopped thick


• 1 lemon


• 2 tablespoons lemon pepper (I used Mrs. Dash lemon pepper)


• salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place thick chopped zucchini on a foil lined baking sheet. Cut lemon in half and squirt the whole lemon over zucchini. Sprinkle with salt and lots of lemon pepper. Bake for 25 minutes. These are so good

Stuffed Mushroom Caps

Tonight is my and my husbands 6 year anniversary (of when we started dating, not marriage anniversary.) I wanted to do something special, so I decided to make a delicious dinner, with an appetizer, which I never make. We love mushrooms. So here it is:

• 2 large portabello mushroom caps, stems removed



• 5-6 smaller portabello mushrooms, diced fine



• 4oz (half a package) imitation crab or lobster meat, diced fine (I used lobster)



• 2 strips pre cooked turkey bacon



• 1 teaspoon minced garlic



• 4 oz low fat cream cheese



• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley (or a teaspoon dried)



• parm or cheddar cheese



• paprika



• salt and pepper



• cooking spray

Place caps stem side up on a baking dish, but make sure stems are removed. In a large, sprayed skillet add mushrooms and lobster meat and sautee for about 2 minutes at medium heat, add in salt and pepper. Then add in chopped bacon and garlic and sautee for 2 more minutes. Turn down heat to low then add in parsley and cream cheese. Cook til cream cheese is soft and everything is mixed together well. Place mixture in caps and top with parm or cheddar cheese (I used parm) and sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes. So good.

Crock Pot Green Chicken Chili

This is soo awesome. I LOVE this dish, and so does my whole family. I invented this one night when I had some odd ingredients in my house. The inspiration was from chicken chimichungas I used to eat pre-op that were amazing.

• 1lb thin sliced, boneless, skinless chicken breast, or tender pieces



• 1-2 jars salsa Verde (green tomaillo salsa) (depends on how liquidy you want it)



• 1 can canellini beans, drained



• 1 box frozen corn



• 1 teaspoon chili powder



• 1 teaspoon garlic powder



• a few sprigs fresh cilantro (optional)



• cheddar and sour cream for garnish



• salt and pepper

In a large skillet brown salted and peppered chicken until cooked through. Cut into bite sized pieces and add to crock pot set on low. Add in the salsa, beans, corn chili and garlic powder and cilantro. Cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 3. This is amazing. A good fresh summer dish that requires little cooking.

Chocolate Silk Pie

This looks and tastes sinful... but it's not. No one will EVER believe this is a low fat, low sugar, healthy dessert. I made this for a funeral lunch a week ago. No one even believed it was made with tofu!!!

• 1 block silken tofu



• 1 bag sugar free chocolate chips (I used Hershey, although I sometimes use regular semi sweet choco chips)



• 1 teaspoon cinnamon



• 1 teaspoon honey



• 1 teaspoon vanilla



• 1 prepared graham cracker crust



• cocoa powder for garnish

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time until they are all melted. Drain tofu for a few minutes in the sink on a paper towel. Add tofu block, melted chocolate, cinnamon, honey and vanilla in a blender and blend until smooth. Add to crust. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours, then sprinkle some cocoa powder on top before serving. This is amazing and I had about 10 people asking for the recipe.

Garlic Pork Loin with Garlic Asparagus

The easiest things in the supermarket to cook are those pre seasoned pork roasts. I buy mine at Aldi food store for 3.99 a lb. Cooked properly they are sooo moist and good for us.

• 1lb pork loin, preseasoned (I used peppercorn flavored)





• 10 cloves peeled garlic

Remove pork from package and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Peel the garlic, and make 8-10 cuts in the pork, and add a clove in each cut. Bake on 350 for 20-25 minutes a lb. Just a hint, it is OK now to cook pork a little pink. I eat mine a tiny bit pink, it's so much moister that way. Just make sure the internal temp is 160.

I made this with roasted garlic asparagus. Get a whole bundle of asparagus. Wash. Trim the ends, and place on a foil lined baking dish. drizzle with olive oil, salt and cracked black pepper. Cut up 3 cloves of garlic and place on top of asparagus. Mix until all the asparagus is well coated. Bake on 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Crock Pot Taco Soup

Even though summer is coming, this soup is good for all seasons! It's so easy, especially in the summer when you don't feel like cooking in a hot kitchen. I didn' t invent this recipe, I have seen several different recipes for this soup, but I like this one the best. It is full of protein.

• 1 lb ground beef, turkey or chicken. (I used chicken today but usually use turkey)



• 1 envelope of your favorite taco seasoning



• 1 envelope of dry ranch seasoning (I used McCormick)



• 1 teaspoon chili powder



• 1 teaspoon ground cumin



• 2 cans corn, undrained



• 2 can diced tomatoes, undrained



• 1 can rotel, undrained



• 1 can kidney beans, drained



• 1 can pinto beans, drained



• 1/2 cup water (optional, if the soup is not liquidy enough for you)



• sour cream and cheddar cheese for garnish (optional)

Brown meat in a large skillet. Drain fat. Add to crock pot. Add taco seasoning, ranch reasoning, chili powder and cumin to meat and stir. Add the rest of the ingredients (except cheese and sour cream) to the pot. Make sure you ONLY drain the beans, all the other cans go in with the liquid. Stir well. Cook on low for 8-9 hours, on high for about 4-5.

Super Sloppy Turkey Joes

So I never really liked sloppy joes all too much. My mom used to make them with the manwich sauce (ew). But suddenly I got a craving for a tangy,yummy sloppy joe, but I did not want to use the canned sauce. So I took a few ingredients from some sloppy joe recipes online, and added my own ingredients, modified some and we have some super delicious sloppy joes for the crock pot!

• 2 lbs ground turkey


• 1 medium onion (chopped)


• 1 teaspoon garlic powder


• 1 1/4 cup ketchup


• 1 bell pepper, any color (chopped)


• 5 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce


• 1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar


• 3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar


• 3 Tablespoons yellow mustard


• 2 teaspoons chili powder


• ground black pepper


• wheat buns, wheat tortillas or whole wheat bread (to put them on) Or the meat is truly good enough by itself.

Usually a crock pot recipe will tell you to brown the meat before adding so you can drain the fat, but turkey has barley any excess fat. And I am lazy. I put the turkey in raw, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Then add all the ingredients, except the buns of course, and mix up thoroughly. Cook on high for 4-5 hours, on low for 6-8 hours. I stirred mine every couple of hours, but you don't have to. These are soooo good.

And yes I am aware I was eating my sloppy joe on a regular bun. Don't tar and feather me, I barley everrrr eat bread, but occasionally I let myself.