Your Request: BOOZE! (Specifically, Lightened-Up Mojitos!)

You requested it, and I aim to please…. Did you know a typical mojito is somewhere between 150-250 calories? It can really range, although I’m guessing many go a little higher, depending on how sweet you like them. I lightened it up a bit and have gotten it down to 89 calories. You can’t go completely crazy with them, but you can have one (or two) without feeling the least bit guilty. 🙂

 

Start with some rum, fresh mint, a lime, frozen lemonade concentrate, and…. something I recently came across at the store — MetroMint water. It is fantastic!!! When drinks have a lot of ingredients, I generally take that to mean they’re probably not very healthy. Vitamin Water is hyped up as a healthy drink, but have you seen the ingredient list? MetroMint has purified water and mint essence. That’s all. SOLD! (P.S. They also have a chocolate mint water. It might sound a little weird, but it tastes like a drink version of Andes Mints. I’m in love.)

Mix all of your ingredients and you get this… It might not be beautiful, but it’s a tasty and healthier version of one of my favorites!

Lightened Up Mojitos

Ingredients:

• 2 T fresh mint
• 1 generously-sized lime wedges
• 1 oz rum
• 1/2 tablespoon frozen lemonade concentrate
• 12 oz MetroMint water

Instructions:

1. Muddle your mint in your glass. This is much easier if you have a mortar and pestle or whatever they’re called…. My version is a big spoon in a pretty sturdy glass. 
2. Squeeze as much of the lime juice out as you can. Really get your fingers in there and squish it around.
3. Stir in an ounce of rum. I smoosh the mint around a bit more during this part.
4. Stir in half a tablespoon of lemonade concentrate. You can add more if you like your drinks sweeter, but keep in mind that each 1/2 tablespoon equals about 18 calories. It sounds small, but it’s pretty easy to get up to the 150 calorie mark if you’re not careful.
5. Pour in 12 oz of mint water and mix well.
6. Add some ice.
7. Kick back and enjoy!

Here’s where I should insert a photo of myself totally boozing it up just for you. For your sake. For your health (ha!). Because I make sacrifices like drinking mojitos on a Monday night just for you. Because I care.

Cheers!

 

Your Pick: Mexican!!!

You like Mexican food. For real. Well, unless you were lying on the sign-up sheets for some reason. Who knows? Maybe that’s how you get your kicks. That’s okay. I understand. Whatever it takes to make you happy. But I’m going to post a lightened up Mexican recipe anyway.

Today’s recipe comes from Laaloosh. You’ll have to go there for the full recipe because I don’t want to post it and get the online community super angry at me. Anyway, for a 5 Weight Watchers point recipe, this is pretty tasty!

Baked Taquitos

Here the main players in this tasty dish. You’re supposed to use light sour cream, but I had a bunch of the regular stuff sitting around… and so… well….. pretend it says light.

I got your stuffin’ right here! (This is what goes inside the taquitos.)

All rolled up and ready to be smothered with a creamy, delicious sauce.

Ready to pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes. I did 20 and then broiled it on low for about 3. I am not sure about the rules regarding glass dishes and broilers… so I was a little cautious.

The finished product. Mmmm…. toasted cheese….

 

Plated up and ready to go. It has green onions and cilantro sprinkled on top. My husband commented, “So, didn’t feel like chopping any of it?” The cilantro IS cut up… just not much. 🙂 By the way, my husband LOVED this dish. Also, it was really very filling. The serving size says 1 taquito. If you’re looking at one tortilla filled with a bit of the chicken mixture, you might not think it’ll be very filling, but it IS. Trust me. Well worth 5 points!

Your Pick: Mini Banana Oat Goodness

Well, no one specifically requested mini banana oat muffins, BUT, several of you did say you like sweets. So, here’s a baked good that will not break the calorie bank!

I found this recipe at Eighty Twenty. The bananas and oats give you some nutrition, the raw sugar isn’t *quite* as bad for you as regular old white sugar. The dark chocolate chips add that extra deliciousness and hey, dark chocolate has antioxidants, right?

For this batch of goodness, you’re going to need to bust out your mini muffin tins!

Start with some lovely raw sugar. It’s kinda trendy right now, so you can find it in most grocery stores.

Bananas, sugar, egg, olive oil.

Flour, whole wheat flour, oats, baking powder….

Mix it all up, add some milk, stir in the dark chocolate chips….

And you get these delightful bites after a few minutes in the oven.

Maybe after baking the first tray, you start to wonder what cocoa powder would do for this recipe… Sigh. Delicious. And really very little impact to the calorie count.

   

My Choice: Egg Breakfast Cups!

HungryGirl.com posts a lot of egg cup recipes, but the recipes from that site are usually pretty much only Egg Beaters and a few ingredients added in for flavor. I’ve found several online using English muffins, which add a tasty layer of flavor. I like to use Thomas’s Light Whole Grain muffins, which are lower in calorie and higher in fiber. I’m not very good about measuring, so…. just google some recipes if you want actual amounts. 🙂

Start with some Greek yogurt, eggs, English muffins, and shredded cheese. It’s going to end up being *about* 1 egg per cup, 1/2 English muffin, probably a tablespoon of Greek yogurt, and 1/8 cup of shredded cheese per muffin cup.

 

Place half of an English muffin in the bottom of a microwave-safe mug.

Whip your eggs, yogurt, and seasonings of choice together. I chose season salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.

Pour the mixture over the English muffin and top with a little bit of cheese.

Microwave for about 2 minutes. It comes out all gorgeous and gooey… like this.

Or, if you add pieces of spinach and overcook it a bit, it ends up like this…. Don’t be sad about the overcooking — the darker cheesy spots were delicious!

And here’s how it turns out when it’s in a tall mug (the first two were in bowls).

    

 

Your Choice: Low-Calorie, Easy Cookies!

Would you be skeptical if I told you you could make a healthy cookie with only three ingredients and that those same healthy cookies would only have about 46 calories per (small) cookie? Well, if not, then you are FAR more trusting than I am.

Anyway, Gina at SkinnyTaste recently posted a fantastic recipe for three-ingredient healthy cookies. I tried them. They are super good. My little sister loved them. My 8-year-old loved them. My 4-year-old didn’t think they were gross (this is major, folks).

You’ll have to click HERE for the full recipe, nutritional info, and waaaaayyyy better photos than mine (I was going to upload them, but first of all, they’re not that great, and second of all, I’m feeling really lazy), but here’s the gist:

Ingredients:

• Bananas
• Walnuts
• Oatmeal

Mix it. Bake it. That’s it!

My Pick: Lentils and Spinach

Lentils are delicious. If you haven’t experienced lentils, then you need to fix that. Immediately. They’re easy and difficult to mess up, which I greatly appreciate.

For this dish, start with some diced carrot and onion.

Then rinse some lentils and throw them in. I just used the whole bag. Because I’m like that. Lazy.

Stir it all together in the pan for a while.I believe simmering gently is the traditional cooking method for lentils, but I was just curious to see how frying it would work. (Calm down, not deep frying or anything. I had used a TINY bit of oil for the onions and carrots, so there was still enough moisture to “fry” the lentils. Sheesh.)

Mix it all up. Take a few green onions and chop them up.

 

Mix them in with the onions, carrots, and lentils. Season it as you like. I added garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Then work a bag of spinach in. Spinach wilts like crazy so it might initially seem like way too much, but it will fit. Trust me.

 

Getting there…

 

 

And ta-dah!!!! It’s truly delicious!

 

If you love sesame… well, first off, we could probably be best friends, because I love sesame and food preferences are probably the number one factor in friend compatibility. Or not. Actually, I’m guessing that’s not true at all.

But, if you love sesame, you should try this. I drizzled sesame oil over mine and added toasted sesame seeds. It was SO INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC.

 

I am having trouble finding accurate nutritional info for lentils (the ranges are all over the place!). Just know that this is a low-fat, high protein, and pretty darn good for you meal.