Three Layer Baked Spaghetti

Three Layer Baked Spaghetti

So this started out as an experiment inspired by a full-fat-full-everything Pinterest recipe, and ended up being one of my favorite Skinny Recipes so far.  On most any diet, baked spaghetti is thought of as a big no no. Saturated fats from the red meat, carbs from the spaghetti, loads of fat from all the cheeses...well luckily, there are alternatives!

Disclaimer: If you are against carbs, this might not be the place for you. After months of a no-carb "ketogenic" diet that ended in the worst stomach pain and hypoglycemia I've ever had, bread and pasta has become my best friend. Another disclaimer: I've lost more weight and had more energy on this wholesome diet than any carb-restricting diet I've ever done (and there's been quite a few).  If you care to hear more about my history with diets, check out The Skinny Cafe Story page!

Back to the spaghetti. This dish made my pasta-loving, cheese-loving, and healthy-loving heart jump for joy. After doing some research, I found out that most store-bought baked spaghetti or baked spaghetti recipes are somewhere between 490 and 570 calories per serving, and between 17 and 19 Weight Watchers SmartPoints. Thee dishes are typically made with full fat cheeses and ground beef. How does my recipe match up?

One serving of my Three Layer Baked Spaghetti is roughly 295 calories, or 11 Weight Watchers SmartPoints. That's about 60% of the original recipe's calories all thanks to a few ingredient substitutes. Here is what you'll need for 10 servings:

• Dreamfield's Spaghetti Noodles (16 oz)
• 90% Lean Ground Turkey (1 lb)
• Low Fat Ricotta Cheese (2 cups)
• Blue Bonnet Light Vegetable Oil Spread (5 tbs)
• Kraft Natural Fat Free Shredded Mozzarella (2 cups)
• Kraft Natural Fat Free Shredded Cheddar (1 cup)
• Reduced Fat Grated Parmesan  (1/3 cup)
• Ragu Old World Style Sauce, Flavored with Meat (1 jar)
• Egg Beaters (or any egg whites) (1/2 cup)
• Medium Sized Onion (optional, 1 onion)
• Italian Seasonings (1 tsp)
• Steak Seasoning (optional)

Dreamfield's Pasta is a brand of pasta that you can find at almost any store including Walmart. It is typically 2 SmartPoints less than other brands such as Barilla and Great Value, and its considered a "Carb Smart" pasta for those of you who try to cut back at least a bit on carbs.  The cheeses listed above can all be found at Walmart, but the fat free cheeses you have a hard time finding outside of Walmart. For any recipe that normally calls for ground beef, I try to do ground turkey instead. If you're not used to this or are turned off by the idea of turkey, a super lean pound of ground beef will do just fine! Here's how its done:

1. Cook the spaghetti as usual in boiling water. Meanwhile,  cook the ground meat and onion (optional) in a skillet over medium-high heat until done. (Optional: add steak seasoning to flavor meat)
2. When the meat is nearing perfection, add the spaghetti sauce and any additional seasonings into the same skillet and stir. 
3. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, butter, and Parmesan cheese. When the spaghetti has been drained, add the noodles to the egg mixture and toss to coat.
4. In a greased baking dish, place half of the spaghetti mixture and top with half of the ricotta cheese, half of the skillet spaghetti sauce, and half of the shredded cheese. Repeat these layers once more.
5. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted.
6. Voila! Delicious guilt-free baked spaghetti for 10. 

As usual, you don't have to make the recipe as "skinny" as I did.  2% cheese , other brands of pasta, spaghetti sauce, and light butter, whole eggs, and various other substitutes can be made as well to suit your taste-buds and dietary preferences!

Thanks for reading! I'm always open to suggestions, requests, or comments.  Feel free to comment or email me!

Skinny French Toast

Skinny French Toast

Here's something I never thought I would see again until a cheat day came around. Delicious, fluffy, buttery and sweet french toast. Okay, so the diet alarms are going off. Bad idea, right? Well, not with the right ingredients.

Let's put things into perspective. The average calorie count for "regular" French Toast (with butter) is 357 calories for two slices. That's roughly 11 Weight Watchers SmartPoints (probably even more once you counted all the saturated fat and sugar).  This would be using most of the typical ingredients: egg, regular bread, maple syrup, sugar, cinnamon, milk... all of which adds up extremely quickly.

So, how does my french toast compare? Two slices of my Skinny French Toast is roughly 160 calories, and only 3 Weight Watchers SmartPoints!

How can this be? It's all about your choice of ingredients. Here's what I used for a two slice serving:

• Nature's Own 40 Calorie Honey Wheat Bread (2 slices)
• Egg Beaters (or generic egg whites) (1/4 cup)
• Mrs. Butterworth's Sugar Free Maple Syrup (2 tbs)
• Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (optional, 1/8 cup)
• Blue Bonnet Light 31% Vegetable Oil Spread (1 tbs)
• Ground Cinnamon (1 tsp)
• Splenda (or any sugar substitute) 
• Imitation Vanilla Extract (optional, 1/4 tsp)

I always use Nature's Own 40 Calorie Honey Wheat Bread for all of my bread needs. It's the lowest calorie bread I can find that is also wholesome and doesn't lack in taste or quality. Also, for those of you who are on WW, it's 1 SmartPoint per slice! Same exact thing goes for Blue Bonnet Light 31% Vegetable Oil Spread, which is 1 SmartPoint per tablespoon. The other ingredients you see above amount to technically 0 SmartPoints for not only their negligibly low calorie, fat, and sugar content, but also their high protein content.  In my opinion, all of these amazing ingredient substitutes are must-haves!

Now that all of that is out of the way, let's get down to business (a.k.a. the recipe itself).

1. Heat a skillet or griddle to medium-high heat and grease with 1 tbs of light butter.
2. In a bowl, combine the egg, almond milk, vanilla extract, and a small amount of cinnamon and whisk the ingredients together. 
3. Briefly soak each slice of bread in the egg mixture, coating both sides of each slice. This will only take a few seconds for each side.
4. Lay the soaked bread slices in the skillet and cook until your desired toastiness.
5. When done, drizzle the sugar free syrup over the toast along with your desired amounts of cinnamon and sugar substitute. 
6. Indulge!

Of course, you don't have to make the recipe as "skinny" as I did. Skim milk, other brands of light bread and butter, whole eggs, and various other substitutes can be made as well to suit your taste-buds and dietary preferences!

Thanks for reading, and I hope yours turns out well! I'm always open to suggestions, requests, or comments.  I hope you enjoyed the very first Skinny Cafe original recipe!