Beef Pho for Under 200 Calories!

Well hello, we meet again. It has been quite some time since I've published a blog post. My absence is due to many reasons, one of the main ones being that I recently published a book! That's right, I wrote a book using iBooksAuthor and my book is now published to the iTunes store. If you have an iPad you can download it for $1.99, it's called "Healthy and Homemade Recipes" ^_^ 

Pancakes (because there can never be enough recipes)

Please excuse the poor lighting, photo quality, and paper plate. I whipped these up after a hike, I needed some extra calories and something a little sweet. This recipe just makes three pancakes, so I wasn't intending to blog it. However, I'd have to say these are my favorite pancakes so far!

Lighten it Up: Club Sandwich Under 300 Calories

Hello there! Long time no blog, hopefully a handful of you are still reading. Life as of late has been sandwiches and salads. The summer months are definitely when I stop cooking for the most part. Hopefully soon I will have a lot of toaster oven and slow cooker recipes to share.

Sweet Balsamic Blueberry Grilled Chicken Salad

Spring produce is fantastic, I love seeing low prices on fresh fruits and vegetables. I picked up a huge carton of fresh blueberries for a couple of bucks the other day, but I knew I wasn't going to use them up fast enough by just stirring them into Greek yogurt once a day. I've decided this salad is my new favorite meal, and plan to eat it twice a day! And for 156 calories a serving, I don't think you can blame me.

150 Calorie Gluten-Free Tuna Melt

When I think of a traditional tuna melt, I remember the crisp buttered bread, ooey gooey cheese, and tuna that is sopping wet with mayo. I lightened up this sandwich and made it a little more diet friendly. Using the ingredients I had on hand, this open-faced sandwich turned out to be 150 calories, 11 carbs, 17 grams protein, and 4 grams of fat.

DIY: How to Hide a Thermostat

Normally thermostats aren't a big concern, in our apartment the thermostat was awkwardly placed off center to the middle of the wall. To top it off, it's crooked. We only have a gas heater, no air conditioning, which means we only use the heat a few months out of the year. The rest of the year we have a crooked off white thermostat in the middle of the couch distracting from any art. Originally I had hung this poster from Ikea off center of the couch because I couldn't hang it over the thermostat.

Low Carb Shrimp Scampi w/ Miracle Noodles

This is a super low carb/low fat version of one of my personal favorites. Lemon and garlic work so well with the shrimp you don't need butter or oil to make it taste great!

Garlic, Lemon, and Parsley Chicken

  A very simple dish that incorporates the same ingredients and flavors from this shrimp recipe. Most likely you have these ingredients on hand, but if you don't they're very cheap and easy to find! I love garlic and lemon paired with chicken, and fresh parsley really is a match made in heaven with canned tomatoes. The no salt added canned tomatoes tend to be a little low on flavor, but adding fresh parsley and course ground black pepper really livens up this dish! 

Baked Shrimp

Oh my goodness, who knew eating "diet" food could be this enjoyable?! This is by far one of the best dishes I've had, and I'm really excited to share it with you!