Oh Honey! Walnut Shrimp

Per Serving (1/2 recipe, about 8 shrimp): 5 Points+
208 calories, 4g fat, 658mg sodium, 18.5g carbs, 1g fiber, 10g sugars, 24g protein 

The recipe: http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/show/2160

This recipe was featured in an email not too long ago, and it reminded me of a chinese food dish my husband loves.  Since I'm always trying to convince him that low calorie food CAN taste good, I thought this would be a good recipe to make.  Unfortunately, he came home late and had gotten fast food on the way home.  Definitely not healthy!  So, I got to eat this dish on my own.

While I am not as big a fan of the Honey Walnut Shrimp dish my husband loves, I did think it was pretty tasty.  This recipe, however, was definitely not as good.  And I don't think it was just because it was made to be lowfat.  The sauce on the shrimp was a little to mayonnaise-y for my taste.  I did taste honey a little, but the mayo overpowered the other flavors.  It ended up having a creamy taste to it, but not in a good way.  I added a little soy sauce to the dish, which helped with the overall flavor. 

Unfortunately, the HG email states that this dish does not refrigerate well, and to consume immediately.  Since I was the only one eating this dinner, there were some leftovers.  With soy sauce, though, the leftovers tasted just about as good as the original meal.  The breading was just a little bit soggy. 

Overall, I was not a big fan of this dish.  I would skip it and try one of the other HG Chinese food recipes instead.  There was even a new HG email out this week for an orange chicken recipe that I might try out in the future.

The Morning Waffle Dip

Per Serving (entire recipe): 8 Points+
299 calories, 5g fat, 1,075mg sodium, 43.5g carbs, 3g fiber, 5g sugars, 23.5g protein 

The Recipe: "300 under 300", page 78

On the weekends, I like to deviate from my usual breakfast of oatmeal and a banana, and try something different.  This recipe called out to me because it has both sweet and savory ingredients - one of my favorite combinations.  The idea of using waffles as the bread in a breakfast sandwich sounded like a fun idea as well.

This sandwich was very easy to make, and I was eating my breakfast in no time.  All you need is some Egg Beaters, turkey bacon, fat free cheese, and, of course, low fat waffles.  After you put that together in an already yummy sandwich, you then get to dip it in sugar free syrup.  So good!  And compared to the usual calorie amounts in a restaurant meal that includes waffles, eggs, bacon, and cheese, you can't beat only 299 calories.  Try this and enjoy!

Outside-In Cheeseburger Patty

Per Serving (entire recipe): 4 Points+
179 calories, 6.5g fat, 502mg sodium, 1.5g carbs, 0g fiber, 1g sugars, 26.5g protein 

The recipe: "Hungry Girl 1-2-3", page 15
or http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1251

This is one of the rare Hungry Girl recipes that actually calls for ground beef.  Usually, HG seems to use lean or extra-lean ground turkey in her recipes.  Since I don't eat red meat, I made these patties with lean ground turkey, which has similar stats to the extra lean ground beef (just a tad more calories and fat).  The main reason I picked this recipe is because my husband loves mushrooms and cheese.  What could be better than a cheese and mushroom-filled burger? 

To save time, and from having to flip the burger patty, I cooked mine on my George Foreman Grill.  I had quadrupled the recipe, and actually made four patties.  Although the cheese didn't necessarily ooze out of the burgers, you can visibly see the cheese trying to escape out of the patty in the picture above.  I tried my best to completely enclose the cheese into the meat, but it was just a little difficult to do. 

The good thing, though, was that there was a fairly large amount of cheese.  A whole laughing cow cheese wedge in the middle of a burger patty is a good amount to make it nice and cheesy.  The mushrooms and other seasonings made this burger have a yummy flavor.  Everyone in my family enjoyed these, and I would consider making them again.  Maybe next time I can perfect the art of completely enclosing the cheese in the middle!

Scoopable Creamsicle Crush Pie

PER SERVING (1/8th of dessert, about 2/3 cup): 3 Points+
112 calories, 0.5g fat, 284mg sodium, 25g carbs, 0.5g fiber, 15.5g sugars, 3g protein
 
The recipe: "Hungry Girl 1-2-3", pages 236 - 237
or http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1323

As usual, I was in the mood for dessert the other night, so I picked out this recipe to make.  I liked it because it didn't require any baking, and was easy enough so that my three-year old could help me make it.  His favorite part was crushing up the Nilla wafers.

I love the flavor of orange creamsicle, so I was excited to try this dessert.  The only drawback was having to wait an hour for it to set.  Yes, I am impatient when it comes to my dessert!  This turned out really good.  Everyone in the family liked it, and it was even better the next day.  I think the best bet is to let this sit for several hours before serving it so the flavors get a chance to set.

What I liked most about this is that it is only 112 calories per serving.  What a calorie bargain for a delicious dessert!  It was creamy, tangy, and sweet.  I definitely recommend giving this a try if you like the flavor of orange creamsicle.

Cheesy Broc Star Soup

Per Serving (entire recipe): 3 Points+125 calories, 5.75g fat, 796mg sodium, 11.5g carbs, 2g fiber, 4.5g sugars, 7g protein

The recipe: http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1102

It definitely feels good to be back writing my blog again.  I have so many recipes to review and notes to go through, that I should be busy for a while!  This soup I actually whipped up for dinner last night.  My husband is sick, so I was in the need of something quick and easy that I knew the kids would like.  Cream of broccoli soup has always been a favorite, so when I saw this email a while back, I made sure to print it up and set it aside. 

Usually, I make a cream of broccoli soup with reduced-fat Velveeta, milk, fat-free cheese, and of course, broccoli - but it is still not as low in calories as I would like it to be.  This recipe is only 125 calories for a bowl - a definite bargain!  While my three-year-old was intent on having cereal and a banana for dinner, I made myself a bowl of soup to share with my one-year-old.  I let the three-year old try a bite, and he then proceeded to tell me that he needed his own bowl.  The nice thing about this recipe is that it takes very little time to make, so I quickly made him another bowl.  And since you blend the broccoli-cheese mixture with cold soy milk (at least mine was cold), it cools it down to a kid-friendly temperature.  No need to wait forever for the soup to cool after blending it.  Just eliminate the final step of microwaving it to get it hot again and it will be a nice warm temperature for little ones.

I ended up blending the soup for about 15 seconds or so, until there were only a few little chunks left.  If I were making it strickly for myself, I might add even more broccoli to it and leave it chunkier.  This soup was a hit with the kids.  The three-year old ate his entire bowl, and the one-year old ate the majority of my bowl.  I ended up having to make myself a veggie burger later because I had hardly eaten any of the soup myself! 

I will definitely be making this again.  It has only three ingredients, take less than 5 minutes to make, and is cheesy and delicious.  A win, win, win situation!

Sorry to have disappeared on you like that, but...

Wow, have I missed everyone!!!  I have been thinking about my blog on a daily basis, and it is killing me that I have been unable to write anything.  I wanted to stop in and let everyone know that I am fine, but that my life suddenly got so busy that I have hardly had time to think.  I've alluded to the fact that my husband has been in and out of unemployment over the past three years.  Mostly, it has been great.  He is a wonderful stay-at-home Dad, and I actually enjoy having him home with the kids instead of working all the time. 

However, the financial reality of him being out of work for so long is finally hitting us hard.  As a result, I have had to take an additional night-school teaching position at my work, as well as teach classes on Saturday mornings.  Because I now have a 55 hour work week, that leaves little time for anything other than a few precious hours of family time during the week.  Along with trying to squeeze in the occasional treadmill run at 9pm, and maybe some relaxation time (what's that?!), it has been nearly impossible to write my blog.

Never fear, though!  I am still cooking Hungry Girl recipes, and have several that I will soon be posting reviews for.  My goal is to start posting again next week.  Things are calming down at work now that I am getting settled in, and I should start to have some free time to post reviews again.  I also have a lot of catching up to do with everyone else's blogs!

Although it is challenging being so busy with work, I do have to take a step back and realize how fortunate I am.  Not many people even have the option of taking on extra hours at work.  Most people are lucky to just have a full-time job.  Even though my husband is still out of work, I am thankful I have the job I do, and that the kids do not have to be in daycare right now. 

So, I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine of blogging again.  See you next week!