Monday Motivational Meal—Turkey Veggie Meatballs

 

We have many family favorite recipes we have discovered and claimed over the years. One such recipe from Cooking Light includes a homemade Marinara Sauce and the delicious Turkey-Veggie Meatballs to go with it. I haven’t found a kid yet who doesn’t love a meatball. The wonderful thing about the Turkey-Veggie Meatballs is that they are packed full of delicious veggies yet are so tasty no one, including kids, realizes how healthy they are for you. I also like the fact that they are not greasy like classic meatballs with beef can be. Make your own sauce or use your preferred store bought…whatever works! We served this delectable meal up on Vivente.

Get the recipe here. 

 

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Monday Motivational Meal - Overnight Vegetarian Lasagna

Looking for a healthy, easy, make-ahead meal for your family? Here is a recipe that kids and dads can make too! This Overnight Vegetable Lasagna, from Cooking Light, is ideal for families with busy schedules and for days when it makes sense to prep a day ahead! This low calorie, low carb, easy-to-make family favorite is served up on Halsa!

Try this recipe here.

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Product Review--Zone PastaRX™--Protein Packed Pasta

Enjoying Meeting Dr. Sears at the Obesity Medicine Conference

My husband and I recently attended the American Society of Bariatric Physicians Obesity Medicine 2015 conference. It was our first time to attend this conference. One of our booth neighbors was Dr. Sears with his Zone Labs products. Every day during the conference he served up lunch from his booth. He graciously offered us lunch too. I was curious and thought I would try some.

The amazing thing about the Zone PastaRX™ is that it is packed full of protein. 20 grams of it per serving, to be precise.  Regular, store bought pasta has about 7 grams. This is an incredible difference. With that much protein in the product it keeps you fuller for longer. Zone Labs makes the claim that it will keep you full for 5 hours.

Zone PastaRX™ has an amazing amount of protein in it--20 grams!

What did I experience? I did feel full after I ate the pasta. Really full. And that was just with the pasta and some veggies in a marinara sauce. No meat added. The pasta was attractive fusilli and looked just like any other pasta. With so much protein in the pasta, it is easy to go vegetarian which I find an added benefit as we strive to eat more and more meatless meals.

My bowl of Zone PastaRX™ Fusilli with Vegetables in a light Marinara Sauce

The calories for the Zone Labs pasta are a little higher than the standard store bought pasta. For a ½ cup serving of a standard pasta there are 210 calories. The same sized serving of Zone PastaRX™ is 240. It is not much of a difference for a whole lot more protein. And if you do not add meat to the pasta sauce and choose a light version, you can have a meal under 300 calories. Add a few tasty veggies and you can still hit that mark or close to it.

On the surface of it, the pasta seems expensive. One bag of pasta is $12.76. If you buy 4 bags at once it is a little less expensive at $47.96. When you do the math, however, which I did, the cost per serving at the $47.96 price is only $1.50. Looked at in this way, it is an affordable food. I also saw on the website that they are currently offering a $10 discount with a promo code on the orzo which makes it an even better deal.

It may not be organic or gluten free but it meets the mark for a healthier food when you still want to enjoy a pasta meal that helps you live a healthier lifestyle. I consider it a new find worthy of sharing.

Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!

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No Fuss Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna

No Fuss Crockpot Lasagna (photo by LivligaHome)

After the holidays I am "done" with complicated meals and all the cooking! And then the New Year rolls around and I am motivated to exercize more and eat right. How to make it all work? I turn to my crockpot. It is easy, no fuss, and by getting it done all at once it frees up more time for me to fit in my exercize.

A family favorite is a Cooking Light Slow Cooker recipe from a cookbook I have had for years. Goods news is I found it on myrecipes.com so I can easily share it with you. It is called Pesto Lasagna with Spinach and Mushrooms. It is packed full of good, healthy ingredients like fresh spinach and sliced mushrooms. It also has four cheeses in it-- mozarella, provolone, ricotta and parmesan. It is rich and delicious and only 398 calories per serving.

To make it a meal I added a tossed green salad with some fruit and my light vinaigrette (30 cal per 2 Tbs) and a whole wheat roll (110 cal/Alexia) for a total calorie count of 538. This is a great family meal but can also be a great weekend meal with friends. And since it is vegetarian you can serve it to a broad range of people. They will all love your for it!

Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!

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Mediterranean Diet- Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

Mediterranean Diet- Roasted Vegetable Lasagna@livligahome

You can't beat a hearty lasagna as a welcome meal. Finding a vegetarian version that is hearty, tasty and satisfying is a great discovery. This newly found Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable version fits the bill. It does take a bit to prepare but it is worth it. It is also "company worthy" for a weekend meal.  I used whole wheat "no boil" noodles which worked well with this recipe. I couldn't find the recipe on line so I have provided the ingredients and directions below. Here are the ingredients:

Now here are the instructions:

This is a recipe I got from 400 Calorie Fix by Liz Vaccariello. It is a great resource.

In order to make it a meal we added a Greek salad (61/cal) for a total calorie count of 391. If you are having company over you could add a slice of Italian bread and still meet your 500 calorie or less goal for the meal. It was a hit and a definite repeat.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna with Salad@livligahome

Enjoy! And Live Vibrant!

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Mediterranean Diet-- Greek-Style Scampi

Greek-Style Scampi

So, as you will see in the coming weeks, I am on a new "kick". I have decided to try out the "Mediterranean Diet". All the studies show that this is the diet for the healthiest lifestyle. It is all fresh food, great flavors and spices...not much meat, lots of whole grains, olive oil instead of butter and really no sweets. What is not to like?

As one of our first meals I made Greek-Style Scampi. As you can see it was a very visually appealing dish. I discovered the pairing of feta with shrimp is delicious. Going all out, I used green pepper, which I normally never do becasue of its bitter after taste. It made the dish look pretty but I have got to say we all had horrible gas afterwards! I don't know what it is about the green peppers but they can have that effect! Ugh. Next time I am going for yellow peppers in this recipe! Each serving was 379 calories. To make it a meal I added a spinach salad with thinly sliced red onion and mushrooms with a light Mediterranean-style vinaigrette for 50 calories. Total calories for the dinner were 429. It was a hit and is a definite repeat.

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Mediterranean Pasta with Fresh Heirloom Tomatoes

I have been revisiting old favorites recently. When you have been cooking for a family as long as I have there are many of them! Along with the fresh beets we have been delighting in from the Farmer's Market, we have also been indulging in fresh heirloom tomatoes. Ever since I read the article about how store bought tomatoes have had the taste bred out of them I have been hunting down heirloom tomatoes. It is like Christmas everyday for me. Now instead of searching for a tomato that doesn't turn my tongue into a pickle and tastes like something, I am now reveling in discovering all the different tastes a tomato can have! This means I often come home from the market with a bunch of heirloom tomatoes that I need to make sure I make good use of in our menus for the coming week.

One such recipe I tracked down from the past is a Mediterranean Pasta from my Cooking Light Five Star Recipes cookbook on page 100. I couldn't find it on line so here it is below:

4 cups chopped tomato
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups angel hair pasta (cooked without salt or fat)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled feta cheese

This is a quick & easy recipe to make. So fresh you feel like you just grew the ingredients! It is also a great light recipe that is most enjoyable in the heat of the summer when it is impossible to imagine cooking much over a hot stove!

To complete the meal I added a slice of store bought garlic toast (found in the freezer section pre-sliced for 140 calories) and a tossed green salad with 2 tablespoons of creamy cucumber dressing (see my previous blog; for 24 calories). Calories for the meal were 450. A hit with the family and a definite repeat.

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Family Favorite—Turkey Veggie Meatballs

This Family Favorite Pasta has been Served Up on Livliga's Vivente dinnerware

It is good to know, when I look back on feeding my children as they were growing up, that some of the food I fixed them, and that they liked, was also healthy and nurturing. One such favorite was Turkey-Veggie Meatballs (228 calories) that we served with spaghetti (129 calories for 3/4 Cup) and marinara sauce. The kids even liked to help make them, when they had time. If I was in too much of a hurry I just used a store bought sauce but truthfully, my kids loved the homemade version better— Rhu's Marinara Sauce (102 calories). Both came from a Cooking Light cookbook. Amazingly, even though they came from a long-ago published cookbook, I found them both online! If you are looking for a yummy, healthier version of a family staple, I recommend these recipes. Your kids will like it and you will know they are getting a better rendition. To complete the meal I add a tossed green salad (45 calories) and a slice of whole-grain Italian Bread (81 calories).  Total calories for the meal is 585. If it is the weekend, why not add a glass of Chianti (100 calories) for you—red wine is good for our health too!

Cooking Light's Rhu's Marinara Sauce simmering on top of the stove

Happy Healthy-Eating!

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