Vegan Project: Mushroom CheeseFake Sandwiches

I love cheesesteak. What's not the love with the ooey-gooey cheese and thin slices of beef. Well, for a vegan, that description is probably just gross. So, I wanted to see if I could make a mock version of this classic using beautiful portabella mushroom caps as my meat substitute.



Ingredients:
2 large portabella mushrooms caps (about 9 oz. each)
2.5 oz sliced bell peppers
2.5 oz sliced onion
1 oz Daiya mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp vegenaise
4 slices low calorie bread (I used Sara Lee multigrain)
1/4 tsp steak seasonin
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:
Thinly slice the mushrooms.

Coat a pan with cooking spray. Heat over medium heat, and add mushrooms. Stir mushrooms and cover.

Cook over medium heat until mushrooms have released their liquid (about 7-10 minutes).

Push mushrooms to one side of the pan. Add the onions and peppers and cook until tender (3-5 minutes). Combine with mushrooms. Add mozzarella cheese to top of the mushroom mixture. Heat until melted.

Spread a slice of bread with 1 tbsp vegenaise. Top with cheesy-mushroom mixture. Close sandwich with other slice of bread. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Serves 2

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Calories - 353

Calories from Fat - 231

Total Fat - 25.7g

Saturated Fat - 2.6g

Cholesterol - 0mg

Sodium - 805mg
Potassium - 1360mg

Total Carbohydrates - 43.6g

Dietary Fiber - 11.3g

Sugar - 9.1g

Protein - 14.1g

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Vitamin A - 3%

Vitamin C - 56%

Calcium - 5%

Iron - 45%

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Clean Eating: Cheesesteak Pasta

Pasta is so good. It's one of my favorite dishes, which probably explains why it makes an appearance on my blog 3 out of 5 times. It's just that it's so easy. All you have to do is perfectly boil some noodles and then add it to a delicious sauce. It's a quick and easy meal that I don't have to put a whole lot of thought into. And when it turns out to be delicious...well, that's just a bonus.

Today, I pay tribute to pasta. But I also have to lend a little respect to ground buffalo. It is definitely one of my favorite meats and is a good substitute for beef. If you find yourself with these ingredients on hand, you should definitely give this a try.

Ingredients:
8 oz ground buffalo
1.5 cup frozen pepper stir-fry (I used Bird's Eye brand)
2.8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
3 oz dry quinoa pasta elbows
4 tbsp light cream cheese
1 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flake
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder


Directions:
Fill medium pot with water. Bring to a boil. Add salt to taste and add pasta. Return to boil. Cook for 9 minutes.

Meanwhile, spray a large saute pan with cooking spray. Heat over medium-high heat. Add frozen peppers and mushrooms. Cook until veggies are tender. Remove to bowl lined with paper towel.

Add ground buffalo to pan. Brown meat, breaking up with wooden spoon. Add a little water to help break up the meat. Sprinkle flour over browned meat. Stir until flour is cooked.

Add vegetables, cream cheese and milk to pan. Stir until cream cheese is melted and sauce is thickened.

Add cooked pasta to pan and stir for 3 minutes until pasta is evenly coated in sauce.

Good enough to eat on its own, or enjoy it with a fresh salad.

Nutrition Facts
Serves 2
Serving Size 421.4g
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Calories - 476
Calories from Fat - 142
Total Fat - 15.8 g
Saturated Fat - 7g
Trans Fat - 0g
Cholesterol - 70mg
Sodium - 723mg
Total Carbohydrates - 46.2g
Dietary Fiber - 5.3g
Sugar - 5.1g
Protein - 32.3g
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Vitamin A - 16%
Vitamin C - 17%
Calcium - 33%
Iron - 100%

Clean Eating: Spinach-Mushroom Macaroni with Chicken Meatballs

I love pasta. There is something so comforting about eating a big old bowl of carbs. However, eating a lot of pasta isn't so friendly for the waistline, so I always try to figure out ways to have my pasta but not go too overboard on the calories. One of the ways to cut calories is to have a healthy sauce instead of one saturated in fattening cheese or dripping with fatty beef sauce. So, today's recipe is my version of pesto spaghetti and meatballs (except with elbows instead of spaghetti, chicken instead of beef and spinach instead of basil). And what I like most about this dish is that the noodles are quinoa noodles instead of the normal semolina. You won't even notice the difference.

Chicken Meatball Ingredients:
1 lb. ground chicken breast
1/4 cup egg whites
1 tbsp. wheat germ
1 oz. favorite cheese (I'll confess that I used a non clean cheese for this; use something around 70 cals.)
2 tsp. crushed red pepper flake
2 tsp. dried onion
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.

Put ground chicken breast in a large bowl. Add seasonings, cheese, egg whites and wheat germ. Mix well with hands. Form into ping-pong sized balls (makes 16 meatballs).

Place a baking rack on top of a cookie sheet. Spray with cooking spray. Place meatballs on baking rack.

Bake for 20 minutes until cooks through.

Nutrition Facts
Serves 4
Serving Size 4 meatballs (141.8g)
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Calories - 142
Calories from Fat - 18
Total Fat - 2.0g
Saturated Fat - 0.8g
Cholesterol - 70mg
Sodium - 379mg
Total Carbohydrates - 4.2g
Dietary Fiber - 0.8g
Sugar - 1.7g
Protein - 27.3g
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Vitamin A - 2%
Vitamin C - 2%
Calcium - 2%
Iron - 7%


Spinach-Mushroom Macaroni Ingredients:
4 oz. dry quinoa pasta elbows
8 oz. frozen spinach
6 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp. whole wheat flour
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flake

Directions:
Bring a medium pot of water to boil and add 1/4 tsp. salt (use more for taste if you like). Add elbow pasta to salted water, and cook for 9 minutes.

Meanwhile, add olive oil to a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and spinach, and saute until mushrooms have browned. Sprinkle flour around pan and stir to cook with mushrooms and spinach. Add chicken broth, seasonings and garlic to pan, and stir until thickened, reducing heat to medium-low. Before draining pasta, add a ladle full of pasta water to saute pan.

Drain pasta and add to spinach-mushroom sauce. Stir for 3 minutes and remove from heat.

Nutrition Facts
Serves 4
Serving Size 191.2g
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Calories - 174
Calories from Fat - 42
Total Fat - 4.7g
Saturated Fat - 0.6g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 300mg
Total Carbohydrates - 29.3g
Dietary Fiber - 4.8g
Sugar - 1.3g
Protein - 6.7g
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Vitamin A - 137%
Vitamin C - 4%
Calcium - 9%
Iron - 18%


Serve one-quarter of the pan of pasta topped with 4 chicken meatballs. Enjoy!

Clean Eating: Low Carb Pizza

Drat! I knew I was going to blog this meal, and I was so excited about making it, I forgot to take pictures of the process. So, I'm blogging this anyway, and hopefully, I'll remember to take some pictures when I make this next time. In the meantime, here is a picture of the finished product, and it was delicious.

Ingredients:
For crust:
1 eggplant, peeled
1 egg
1 oz. pork rinds
2 oz. mozzarella cheese

For toppings:
2 medium tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh basil
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 clove garlic
1/2 lb turkey sausage (make your own)
2 bell peppers
1 onion
8 oz. mushrooms
2 oz. mozzarella cheese


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.

To make crust, grate peeled eggplant using the large grate option. Dry grated eggplant on paper towels. Place in a large bowl. Grind pork rinds in a food processor until consistency of bread crumbs. Add to eggplant. Grate mozzarella cheese and add to eggplant mixture. Add egg and stir to combine.

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. Add eggplant mixture to pan, and press to make an even layer. Cook until edges start to brown. Turn eggplant patty over on a plate and slide back into the pan to cook the other side. Do not fully brown other side of patty as it will continue to cook in the oven. Remove from heat.

Wash tomatoes and cut off top stemmed area. Cut an X in the bottom of the tomato. Add to a pot with water. Place over high heat and bring to boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and place in ice bath to cool tomatoes. Once cool enough to handle, peel tomatoes and place in food processor. Add basil, garlic, sea salt and pepper. Pulse grind until it becomes a sauce.

Coat a medium pan with cooking spray. Cook onions, bell pepper and mushrooms until softened. Remove from pan. Using the same pan, cook turkey sausage (prepped from this link) until browned, breaking until chunks while it cooks.

Add tomato sauce to top of eggplant patty. Top with sauteed veggies and turkey sausage. Grate mozzarella cheese on top. Bake in oven for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and starting to brown.


Nutrition Facts
Serves 4
Serving Size 308.8g
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Calories - 267
Calories from Fat - 115
Total Fat - 12.8g
Saturated Fat - 6.1g
Cholesterol - 107mg
Sodium - 805mg
Total Carbohydrates - 14.1g
Dietary Fiber - 5.6g
Sugar - 4.6g
Protein - 28.2g
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Vitamin A - 14%
Vitamin C - 33%
Calcium - 26%
Iron - 12%