Lemon Blueberry Cottage Cheese Muffins

I love these muffins. They are moist, tender, and don't feel at all like a diet food. They completely satisfy my craving for comfort carbs but they are still healthy: low in fat and sugar, high in protein and antioxidants, and flavorful. They keep well and reheat well in the microwave and can be frozen.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

finely grated zest from one lemon

juice from that lemon, enough to fill half of a 1/3 cup measure

2% milk (or whole) enough to fill the remainder of that 1/3 cup measure

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup small curd low fat cottage cheese

1 to 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen partially thawed blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400°. Put cupcake liners in 12 muffin tins. NOTE: I use only the brown parchment paper muffin liners on these muffins because they tend to stick to regular liners. If you use regular liners, you may want to spray them with cooking spray. The parchment liners are absolutely the best for all muffins and cupcakes.

In a big bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Finely zest one lemon.

Juice the lemon and use enough to fill half of a 1/3 cup measuring cup.

Fill the remainder of the measuring cup with milk. Allow it to sit for five minutes to thicken into buttermilk.

Melt 1/4 cup butter.

Mix together the cottage cheese, eggs, melted butter, lemon zest, juice, milk, and vanilla either in a small blender like a Magic Bullet or with a stick blender like you see here. Mix it well until the cottage cheese is completely blended into a creamy consistency. If you don't have any blender, push the cottage cheese through a fine strainer then blend the ingredients.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture.

With a spatula, fold gently until almost mixed but some dry ingredients still remain. DO NOT OVERMIX as the muffins will be tough.

Add blueberries and VERY GENTLY fold into the batter so that you don't crush the blueberries and make the batter purple.

There will be a very slight bit of purple like in this photo, which is OK.

Spoon into prepared muffin tins and bake at 400° for 16-20 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and let cool.

Once cool they can be put into zipper bags or leftover containers and can sit on the counter for several days or can be frozen.

For three muffins

The color code breakdown.

Silky Ginger Sweet Potato Soup

This is a modified recipe from Jessica over at howsweeteats.com. I modified it to lower the fat content quite a bit. It makes a very large bowl that is a complete meal for me. You could cut it in half for a side dish with something else. It's very filling as a meal. I love butternut squash soup as well, but this one is so deliciously sweet that it almost seems like a dessert.

Silky Ginger Sweet Potato Soup: 388 Calories for the whole thing.

Ingredients:

1 tsp coconut oil - 39 calories
1/4 c onion, diced - 12 calories
1 clove garlic, minced - 4 calories
1 Tbl fresh ginger, grated - 5 calories
Salt
Pepper
2 cups diced sweet potato (265 g or about
a medium potato) - 231 calories
1-1/2 cups low sodium chicken or veggie broth - 30 calories
1/2 cup lite coconut milk - 68 calories

Directions:

Heat a medium pot and add the coconut oil. Add the onion and cook until golden brown and carmelized, about 15 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in the sweet potato cubes. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, till the potatoes just start to soften. Add broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover pot, reduce heat to low and cook till sweet potatoes are soft. Turn off heat.

Either use an immersion blender to blend the potato mixture or transfer it to a blender and cover the lid with a towel and blend it. Return the mixture to the pot and add the coconut milk. Return to the heat and stir till blended and warmed through. Adjust seasonings. Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg if desired.

Strawberry Chicken Spinach Salad

I've been experimenting with different salads now that the weather is finally getting warm in St. Louis. We're famous for having about three days of Spring before the summer hits here, and summer is brutal. So it's imperative to have a collection of go-to salads that I can make.

Fortunately, the warmth timed itself exactly with the organic strawberry sale at Whole Foods and I had these delicious  strawberries sitting in my fridge. I started out with about 3 cups of baby spinach. Then I layered 1/4 cup of thinly sliced cold chicken breast, 128 g of fresh strawberries, sliced, a 1/4 cup serving of goat cheese crumbles (Feta would work well too,) and a 1/4 cup serving of Great Value Omege 3 trail mix. It was quite possibly the most delicious salad I've ever eaten, and all of this for 358 calories. Score!

Ham, Cabbage, and Potatoes

My heritage is largely Scotch-Irish and growing up we frequently had a concoction called cabbage, ham and potatoes. It was a richly fragrant soup that was wonderful in the hard winter. It's very Noom-friendly so I dug the recipe back out and made it just in time for St. Patty's Day. I know there's a lot of people that don't like cooked cabbage, but this is a very filling and flavorful soup worth a try.

Cabbage, Ham and Potatoes: 383 Calories

2 Cups Imagine Organic low sodium
vegetable broth, 40 calories
1-1/2 oz John Morrell Diced Ham, 105 calories
213 g of small red or yellow potatoes halved
or quartered, 149 calories
2 Cups coarsely chopped cabbage, 45 calories
1 medium onion coarsely chopped, 44 calories
Garlic powder
Salt, pepper, bay leaf

Place potatoes, seasoning, and broth in a medium saucepan. If needed, add water to cover potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer till potatoes are tender. Add ham, onion and cabbage and cook till cabbage and onion are crisp tender. Adjust seasonings.

Spinach Salad

I don't eat spinach salads that often because of the continuing difficulty I have with kidney stones, and dark leafy vegetables need to be limited with stones. I do every once in a while have this salad, though, because it's so colorful and fresh that it gives me visual pleasure as well as a fantastic taste.

Spinach Salad:390 Calories

3 cups spinach leaves, 21 calories
1 small golden beet, spiralized, steamed, and cooled, about 1 cup, 75 calories
1 orange, 69 calories
1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles, 76 calories
1/4 cup Great Value Omega 3 trail mix, 150 cals

Prepare beet. Spiralize raw beet and steam in a steamer till crisp tender. Chill. Cut orange in slices. Set half of the slices aside. Remove peel from remaining slices and cut into sections. Set aside. Coarsely chop trail mix. Place spinach on large 11" dinner plate. Layer with beets, orange, goat cheese crumbles, and trail mix. Arrange remaining orange slices on the side.

Fish Tacos

When we go to Mexican restaurants, fish tacos is usually the last thing I consider ordering. I'm always swayed by the burritos or quesadillas. So in an attempt to add some variety to my menus, I decided to try some fish tacos. They're pretty easy to lighten up and I was pretty happy with the results.

Fish Tacos: 379 Calories

5 La Tiara white corn taco shells, 130 calories
4 oz Full Circle frozen flounder fillets thawed,
    poached lightly till flaky and seasoned, 80 calories
2 cups shredded Romaine lettuce
1/4 cup Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
6 Tbl Kraft 2% shredded Mexican style cheese, 120 calories

Poach fish lightly till flaky then season as desired. Heat shells at 300° for just a couple minutes till warm. Add flaked fish, cheese, lettuce, and yogurt as sour cream.

Mushroom Cheese Omelette

Eggs are one of the best ways to start the day with the Noom food plan. The high protein content really stays with you. I'm a volume eater - I need big meals to feel satisfied - so two eggs sunny side up just don't cut it for me unless there's a couple pieces of toast included. The solution for me is vegetables - lots and lots of vegetables. This omelette is very filling and satisfying, especially if you don't overcook the vegetables and leave them crisp-tender.

Omelette cooking is an art. A well-made omelette will have delicate folds just golden brown. It took me a long time to perfect it, and I have detailed the process in a tutorial, but beware - it's the decidedly un-Noomish version of the recipe. You can find it here: In Search of The Elusive Perfect Omelette

Mushroom Cheese Omelette: 351 Calories

2 eggs, 140 calories
2 oz canned sliced mushrooms, 18 calories
2 Tbl chopped onion, 18 calories
1/4 red pepper chopped, 5 calories
1/4 cup Kraft 2% shredded 4 cheese blend, 80 calories
1 slice Brownberry 100% Whole Wheat Bread, toasted, 100 calories

Spray a small skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Add vegetables and saute quickly till crisp-tender. Set aside in a bowl. Clean skillet and spray with non-stick cooking spray again. Beat eggs in a bowl with a couple teaspoons of water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat skillet over medium heat then add eggs. As edges begin to cook, push them to the center with a spatula, then tilt skillet till uncooked liquid runs to fill the space. Repeat the process, using the spatula to push the last of the uncooked eggs out to the side. Add the vegetables to half of the circle. Top with cheese. Add a Tbl of water to the edge and put a lid on it until the remainder of the eggs cook and the cheese melts. Fold over in half.

Breakfast Parfait

I love mangoes, especially the Autalfo mangoes, the smaller yellow ones. They have a wonderfully sweet and creamy texture and flavor. I paired that sweetness with the mild flavor of Fage 0% Greek yogurt and the spiciness of Medjool dates for this parfait.

Cutting mangoes intimidates some people, but it's really not that difficult. You stand the mango up on its end with the flat sides to each side and the narrow side facing you. Then you slice down close to the middle, just brushing the side of the flat seed with the knife. After you have that section off, you  score it in a grid shape down to the skin but not through it, and then press from the backside of the skin until the little blocks of mango are separated. Then just take your knife and slice them from the skin. Here's a great diagram from The Produce Clerks Handbook, a really great site for learning about produce and getting tips for how to purchase and handle it.













Breakfast Parfait: 390 calories for the whole thing

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Old Fashioned Oats,     95 calories
1 cup Fage 0% Greek Yogurt, 130 calories
2 Medjool Dates, 40 calories
1 tsp Earth Balance Organic Buttery Spread, 40 calories
3/4 cup diced mango 99 calories

Make a granola mixture by melting the Earth Balance in a skillet and adding the oats. Stir over low heat till fragrant and golden. Finely chop the dates and blend in with the oats. Sprinkle cinnamon if desired. Add just enough water for the oat/date mixture to begin to bind together in clumps, about a tablespoon or two at the most. Stir over low heat just till water is absorbed. Set aside.

Dice mango. In glass, spoon about a third of the yogurt. Add about a third of the mango. Sprinkle a bit of the granola mixture. Repeat layers.

Shrimp Fried Rice

I love shrimp, but my husband is allergic to all types of shellfish so it limits how often I can have it and when. Since starting Noom, I've taken to fixing it for lunch frequently so I can watch the cleanup. Shrimp is a delightfully low calorie food so it's finding its way into more of my meals.  This one I made for lunch with a lower calorie count, only using a 1/2 cup of brown rice, but it really wasn't enough rice. I'll make it as a dinner meal next time and use a whole cup of brown rice. I also realized long after I'd eaten the dish that I had forgotten to add the egg in at the end, so it's missing from the photo. It was a pleasant realization, because it left me 70 calories to use on a piece of chocolate that evening...

Shrimp Fried Rice: 361 calories

1 tsp olive oil, 40 calories
1 stalk of celery chopped, 6 calories
1/2 medium carrot, chopped, 13 calories
1/2 cup chopped onion, 32 calories
1/4 cup frozen peas, 31 calories

Stir fry till almost tender then add:

1/2 cup brown rice, cooked and refrigerated, 108 calories
10 medium shrimp diced or small shrimp to equal 50 calories
1 Tbl low sodium soy sauce, 11 calories

Stir fry till heated through then push to the side and add one beaten egg, 70 calories. Scramble egg till cooked and blend into rice.