Featured Food Blog - November 2015

Kristen is a food lover, writer, and founder of Slender Kitchen—a food blog that believes healthy eating and meal planning should be delicious, fun, and stress free.

After struggling with her own weight loss and inaptitude in the kitchen, Kristen finally found the key to her own success was learning to prepare healthy, delicious, easy recipes at home and creating weekly meal plans.  Today on Slender Kitchen, she shares these good-for-you recipes and meal plans so anyone can be a star in the kitchen and reach their health and weight loss goals.



{Zucchini and Ground Turkey Pizza Boats}
“I have a deep love of turning any vegetable I can into pizza. It’s hard for anything to taste bad with marinara and cheese in my opinion. So when you combine zucchini (which I already love), protein packed ground turkey, marinara, spices, and some melted cheese—you end up with the perfect low carb and low calorie lunch.” -Kristen

4 Zucchini
1 tsp Olive oil
½ lb. 99% Lean ground turkey
1 cup Mushrooms, diced
2 Garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp Oregano
½ tsp Basil
1 cup Marinara sauce
4 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
8 Tbsp Part skim shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the turkey, mushrooms and garlic. Cook until turkey is fully browned, about 6-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the oregano, basil, and marinara sauce.

Meanwhile cut the zucchini in half and scoop out some of the center using a spoon or melon baller to create the “boat.” Place in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Fill the boats with the turkey and mushroom mixture. Top each with 1 Tbsp of shredded cheese and ½ Tbsp Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 15-18 minutes until cheese is bubbling and zucchini is tender.

Serving Size: 2 zucchini boats
228 Calories  |  17 Carbs  |  8g Fat  |  24g Protein  |  6 Weight Watchers® Points Plus®

COOKING TIP:
Don’t be afraid of spices!
It’s one of the best ways to add flavor without adding extra fat and calories.

SLENDER KITCHEN BELIEFS:
• To lose weight and eat healthy long term, you need to have a plan. Benjamin Franklin got it right when he said, “By failing to plan, you are planning to fail.”
• Eating is one of the great joys of life and that shouldn’t stop when you start a diet.
• Families should be able to eat together and eat the same thing—no more plate envy or cooking multiple meals
• Mealtime shouldn’t be stressful.
• Healthy food doesn’t need to be boring or bland—it needs to taste delicious and be packed with flavor.
• People change diets often for lots of reasons—your plan should easily adjust with your changing needs.
• Everyone is busy and everyone could use a little extra help in the kitchen.

{Polenta Berry Pancakes}
Pancakes are the perfect way to spend weekend mornings. Preferably still in bed with a strong cup of coffee or lounging outside in pajamas with a pretty view. Packed with polenta and fresh berries, these stacks make a hearty and delicious twist on a traditional pancake. Imagine if a pancake and a corn muffin had a beautiful baby.

¾ cup Polenta (corn meal)
¾ cup Whole wheat flour
2 tsp Sugar
¾ tsp Baking powder
¼ tsp Baking soda
1/16 tsp Salt
¾ cup Buttermilk
1 Egg
1 Egg white
3 Tbsp Nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp Vegetable oil
1 cup Blueberries

Mix together the polenta, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, yogurt, and oil. Gently add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing until just mixed without any big lumps. Fold in the berries.

Preheat a nonstick griddle over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray. Add the pancake batter, ¼ cup per pancake, and cook until the bubbles begin to burst. Flip over and finish cooking.

Serving Size: 3 pancakes  |  247 Calories  |  47.3g Carbs  |  3.1g Fat  |  8.1g Protein
6 Weight Watchers® Points Plus®

More than just recipes:
Slender Kitchen also offers an interactive meal planning service. Each week they create delicious and healthy meal plans for you. Then you download the ready to use plan, customize it using an interactive meal planner or even build your own. Their membership includes: healthy, vegetarian and low carb complete meal plans, access to an interactive meal planner, a complete categorized shopping list, nutritional info, Weight Watchers® PointsPlus® and unlimited access to all meal plans and meal planning tools.