Sweet Corn Cakes with Roasted Vegetable Salsa

This amazing dish is courtesy of SkinnyMs. I halved the recipe below, because Will is out of town and I didn't think I needed to eat 18 corn cakes. It was SO HARD to not eat the entire recipe - these are amazing, y'all. I mean really, really, really tasty. You can have 3 tasty pancakes with 3/4 c veg salsa for only about 350 cal. Yes.

The recipe calls for goat cheese - I didn't have any, so I used a bit of light sour cream. I guess I like to put a little sour cream on all veg cakes, fritters, etc.

The recipe below will make about 18 (3-4 inch) corn cakes.

Roasted Vegetable Salsa:
1 zucchini, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 ttbsp olive oil
1 c halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 c fresh corn kernels
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lime

Corn Cakes:
1 1/2 c corn flour (I used this, but you can also grind corn meal into a flour using your blender)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 c low-fat milk
1 tbsp honey
2 eggs
2 c corn kernels
1 tsp olive oil

For serving:
1/2 c crumbled goat cheese (I used a couple tbsp light sour cream instead)




Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Toss the zucchini and onion with the seasonings and olive oil and lay on the sheet pan. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until tender.

Combine the tomatoes, corn kernels, cilantro, garlic, and lime juice in a large bowl. When the vegetables are done roasting, toss them with the tomato mixture.

To make the corn cakes, combine the corn flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Add the butter, milk, and honey and stir. Beat the eggs until light yellow and add to the mix. Stir and fold in the corn.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Drop the batter onto the pan to form 3-or-4 inch pancakes and cook until bubbly. Flip and cook until browned on both sides.

To serve, top the corn cakes with the salsa and the goat cheese (or sour cream!).

Original recipe found here.

Made them again the next week for Will. :)

Lighter Chocolate Soufflé

Never made souffles before! But these are easy, decadent, delicious, and a little bit lighter than your typical soufflé. A great treat! Apparently only 3 Weight Watchers points... I don't do WW, and I'm not sure of the exact calorie count, but I'll calculate the calories next time. Update - each souffle is only 130 calories!

cooking spray
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 tbsp granulated sugar, divided
3 tbsp low-fat chocolate milk
1 large egg white
½ tsp powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat two 6 oz. ramekins with cooking spray.

In a small saucepan, whisk together cocoa, flour and 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar; set over medium heat. Add milk; cook until smooth, stirring constantly, approximately 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cool for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk egg white until soft peaks start to form. Slowly add remaining tablespoon of granulated sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Fold cooled chocolate mixture into egg whites, a little at a time, until no white streaks appear.

Pour batter into prepared ramekins; baked until set and tops look dry, about 16 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar; serve warm. 

* Do not open oven until the souffles are done. Cold air can cause them to sink. This recipe can easily be doubled or triples for larger gatherings.

Original recipe found here.

Zucchini & Squash Oven Chips

I actually thought I posted this recipe a looong time ago when I first made it. As it turns out, I do have another zucchini/squash oven chip recipe... but it's not the same one. Those are kind of breaded with Parmesan and Panko, and they are delicious... but..... these aren't breaded at all and practically zero calories! So anyway, I added the word "breaded" to the other recipe, and I'm just calling this one Zucchini & Squash Oven Chips.

squash/zucchini (however much you want to make)

Generally, you'll need 1 baking sheet per zucchini/squash.

Cut your zucchini/squash very thin. You can use a mandolin blade, but I find I can actually slice them thinner than that myself. So whatever works for you.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil. Lay chips flat on sheet touching each other - they'll shrink when baking. Spray olive oil over the top and sprinkle with a little salt & pepper. Bake 20-30 min.

You will really need to stand there and watch for the last 10 min or so. Since I sliced mine by hand, they weren't all the exact same thickness, so they finished at different times. I started pulling the thinnest off the sheet at about 20 min, and left some on until the 30 min mark, even 35 min. Pull them off the sheet and let them cool right as they start to brown and get crisp.

Quinoa & Black Bean Protein Wraps

We loved these, and they also made for delicious leftovers for lunch the next day. These wraps get nice and crisp in the oven, they're super tasty, and full of protein! Can't go wrong.

2 c cooked Mexican Style Quinoa (click here for recipe)
1 c black beans, rinsed and drained
1 c (reduced-fat) grated Mexican style cheese
1/2 c salsa
8 (8-inch) whole grain wraps or tortillas (I couldn't find the 60 cal ones I like, so I had to go with some 100 cal whole wheat)

There are two methods to prepare our Quinoa & Bean Burrito Wrap recipe.

Method 1: (This is the Flauta method, crunchy and yummy!) ** This is the way I did it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add the first 4 ingredients to a mixing bowl, toss to combine. Evenly divide mixture along the edge of each tortilla. Roll snugly and cut each burrito in half. Lightly spray each side with non-stick cooking spray or brush with olive oil. Place seam side down on a parchment lined cookie sheet or non-stick baking sheet. Don't allow wraps to touch so that they get crispy on all sides.

Bake approximately 16 to 20 minutes, or until wraps are lightly golden and crispy. Turn over after 10 minutes of cooking time. If desired, serve with either fat-free Greek yogurt or reduced-fat sour cream, and additional salsa. Serve immediately.

Method 2: (Burrito method)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Stack tortillas, wrap in foil, place on a cookie sheet and warm 15 minutes while quinoa & beans are heating up. In the meantime, combine in a skillet the cooked quinoa, black beans, and salsa. Heat over medium-low heat until hot.

Evenly divide quinoa & bean mixture over the edge of each tortilla. Evenly distribute the cheese over the quinoa mixture. Snugly roll each tortilla then cut in half. If desired, serve with fat-free Greek yogurt or reduced-fat sour cream, and additional salsa.

Original recipe found here.

Mexcian Cabbage Rolls

Y'all, these are basically enchiladas made with cabbage leaves instead of tortillas. The lean ground beef is mixed with lots of veggie to help lighten it up as well. The tomato sauce is tasty and creamy, the mixture is delicious, and the gooey cheese tops it off. I'm not saying it replaces real enchiladas made with tortillas, but it is a delicious lower carb alternative!!

1 head of cabbage

1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, divided, minced
2 tbsp flour, divided
1 c skim milk
1 – 14.5 oz can tomato sauce 

2 tbsp chili powder, divided 

4 tsp ground cumin, divided 

1 lb extra lean ground beef (I used 96/4)
1/2 yellow sweet onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced 

1 small yellow squash, diced 

2 jalapeños, seeded and minced 

2 tbsp water 

3/4 c 2% shredded Mexican cheese blend

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cut a small circle around the core of the cabbage head and remove. Once the water is boiling, drop the cabbage head in. In a few minutes, the outside leaf will come lose. Using tongs, pull it out and lay to to dry. A minute or so later another leaf will come off. Repeat this until you have 10-12 leaves. There will probably be a couple you can't use anyway. Set leaves aside to cool.

In a sauce pan, heat 1tbsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of the minced garlic over medium heat until the garlic is fragrant. Add 1 tbsp of flour and whisk, cooking the flour for a minute. Add the cup of milk, and whisk to combine with the flour mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the tomato sauce, 1tbsp of chili powder, and 2 tsp of ground cumin. Stir to combine, and simmer while preparing the filling.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x11" baking dish with cooking spray. Brown the beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, yellow squash, remaining 2 tsp garlic, and jalapeños. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of flour, remaining 1 tbsp of chili powder, and remaining 2 tsp of ground cumin. Add the 2 tbsp of water, and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Ladle some of the tomato sauce into the baking dish, coating the entire bottom of the dish. Spoon some of the beef mixture into the center of each cooked cabbage leaf. Roll the cabbage leaf, tucking in the sides, similar to wrapping a burrito. Place each cabbage roll seam side down in the baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the cabbage rolls. Sprinkle with the shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Let stand for 10-15 minutes prior to serving.

Original recipe found here.