Low Calorie Spinach and Onion Cheesy Crustless Quiche

My mom used to make some variation of this when I was in high school. I've never been able to relocate the exact recipe, but I've tinkered with it enough to create a close approximation. I like these because they freeze and reheat well for when I need to eat breakfast on the go (which is always, because children).

It's low calorie, low carb, and high protein. It's also simple so it's likely you already have all of the ingredients.

Ingredients

This recipe will yield 12 quiches. 

• 4 eggs
• 3 egg whites
• 4 cups spinach
• 1.5 C mozzarella
• 1/2 C parmesan
• 1/4 of a Vidalia onion diced

You can also add salt, pepper, cayenne, etc. if so desired. I've also swapped out the Vidalia onion for green onions before and switched up the cheeses as well. If you use parmesan, be careful about adding salt. Parm is super salty on its own.

If I don't want it as salty, I decrease the parm by 1/4 of a cup and increase the mozzarella by 1/4 of a cup.

You can add in various other vegetables or ingredients if so desired. My mom used to include sliced mushrooms in hers. 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Dice your onion then mix all ingredients in a large bowl
3. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray then spoon the mixture into each cup in even amounts. 
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes
5. Let cool for 5-10 minutes

Seriously, the easiest breakfast prep ever. I do have to warn you, if you try to make these around toddlers, they will think you are making cupcakes. 

Nutrition Information

The information below applies to 3 muffins. 

Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein	Sodium	Fiber	Sugar
238	14.4	6.7	22.4	523.9	2.2	0.6

Easy Cheeseburger Casserole

Whenever I grow tired of our usual go-to meals, I browse my Pinterest boards. Usually, I try to stick with healthy options; however, every now and then I indulge in cheesy deliciousness. While this is certainly not a healthy meal, it's not the worst thing for you either.

This meal has the added bonus of being a one-pot recipe. I personally think that is the best part. Less mess means faster clean up, which makes for one happy momma.

As always, nutrition info is included. I adapted it from this recipe here.

Ingredients

You will need the following:

• 3/4lb ground beef (90/10)
• 3 cups of pasta shells
• 1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes 
• 1 cup chicken broth (I used one chicken bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup water)
• 1/4 of a large onion
• 2 tbsp Ketchup
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 and 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup of water

Instructions

1. Dice your onion. Brown your ground beef and add the diced onion. Add salt and pepper to taste. 
2. Add your diced tomatoes, chicken broth, ketchup, mustard, pasta shells, and water. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the noodles are cooked (around 15 minutes).
3. Add your cheese and allow it to melt, then stir thoroughly.

You should now be the proud owner of something that looks like this: 

Nutrition Information

This recipe makes approximately 5.25 cups, which makes 3.5 servings at 1.5 cups per serving.

	Calories	Fat	Sat. Fat	Sodium	Carbs	Fiber	Sugar	Protein
Ground beef	600	38	13.5	225	0	0	0	69
Pasta shells	800	4	0	00	164	8	8	28
Petite diced tomatoes	88	0	0	630	14	3.5	10.5	3.5
Chicken broth	5	0	0	840	1	0	0	0
Onion	11	0	0	1	2.6	0.5	1.2	0.3
Ketchup	40	0	0	320	10	0	8	0
Mustard	0	0	0	60	0	0	0	0
Shredded cheddar	412	33.8	18.8	675	3.8	0	0	26.2
Total	1956	75.8	32.3	2751	195.4	12	27.7	127
Total per serving	558.9	21.7	9.2	786	55.8	3.4	7.9	36.3

Like I said before, not the healthiest meal in the world. However, if you compare it to a Whopper, this still comes out on top. A Whopper comes in at 600 calories, 37g of fat, 11g of saturated fat, 910mg of sodium, 50g of carbs, 2g of fiber, 12g of sugar, and only 22g of protein.

So overall, this meal has fewer calories, way less fat, less sodium, and way more protein. If you're craving a burger, this is a pretty solid alternative. Plus, it only takes about 30 minutes—less if your ground beef isn't frozen.

Low-Calorie, Easy-to-Make Goulash

Some days I run out of time, and I find myself scrambling for dinner ideas. I cannot believe I have never made goulash before. It's very simple, very delicious, and it makes a ton so I have leftovers.

You'll need:

• 1 pound of ground beef (I used 90/10)
• 2 cups of pasta shells (dry)
• 1/4 of a large onion (or half a medium sized onion)
• 1 green bell pepper
• 8 ounces of tomato sauce
• 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp garlic powder (or 1 small garlic clove diced)
• 1/2 tsp slap ya mamma (or some kind of cajun spice, I use Black mamba)
• 1/2 tsp season salt
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp pepper

First, dice your onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Put water on to boil in a medium sized pot and start browning the meat in a skillet. Once the water is boiling, add the noodles to the pot. Once the meat is browned, add in the onion, bell pepper and garlic to the skillet. Continue cooking for about five minutes, or until the veggies get soft. Once your pasta shells are cooked, drain the water and set them aside.

Next add your spices, then the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes (do not drain) to the skillet. Stir the mixture until the ground beef is well coated. Then add in your pasta shells. You should have something that looks like this:

And that's it. Easy-peasy. I also chose to add in 1/4 cup of cheddar to my own plate, but it's just as good without the cheese as well.

Now for nutrition. This made about seven cups total, with a serving size of 1.5 cups.

	Cals	Fat	Sodium	Fiber	Sugar	Protein
Beef	720	40	280	0	0	108
Pasta	500	2.5	0	0	5	17.5
Tomatoes	88	0	52.5	3.5	10.5	0
Sauce	70	0	980	3.5	10.5	0
Pepper	20	0	3	2	2.5	1
Onion	15	.1	1.5	.7	1.5	.7
Total	1413	42.6	1317	14.7	26.5	127.2
Total per serving	303	9.1	282.2	3.2	5.7	27.3
Total per serving w/cheese	404	18.1	458.2	3.2	5.7	34.3

Carbohydrate information:
Beef: 0g
Pasta: 100g
Diced Tomatoes: 14g
Sauce: 14g
Pepper: 6g
Onion: 3.5g
Total: 137.5g
Total per serving: 29.46
Total w/cheese: 30.46g

About Samantha Bookwalter

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Samantha Bookwalter is currently Associate Web Content Manager for Health Supplement Wholesalers. She specializes in web editing, copyediting, SEO, HTML, CSS, and other web-related acronyms. Samantha has an affinity for health and fitness; in her free time she enjoys working out with her husband and researching recipes that are not only healthy but delicious too.

Spinach Chicken Cheese Spaghetti Bake

This was a crazy delicious accident. I really wish I had snagged a picture before my husband devoured it.

My husband had duty, so I decided to take him dinner. Otherwise, it would be subway or some other fast food (or nothing at all, what is it with men and not eating?).

Anyway, he requested the avocado chicken pasta I had made him last month (I'll need to write that one up as well), so I figured sure why not...except none of my avocados were ripe yet. And of course I did not make this discovery until after I had already grilled and shredded the chicken as well as boiled the noodles. I was strapped for time, so it was going to be a left-overs kind of solution.

I raided the fridge and came up with mozzarella, Parmesan, spinach (which I steamed), and left over spaghetti sauce.

Thus my Frankenstein spaghetti bake was born. I mixed up the grilled chicken, pasta, sauce, and mozzarella, then baked that sucker for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. I took it out, sprinkled some more moz and parm then broiled it for a minute or two until it was bubbly and browning.

Ingredients:

4 oz. chicken breast (grilled)
2 cups cooked pasta
2 cups spaghetti sauce
1 handful of fresh spinach (wilted or steamed)
1 cup mozzarella
2 TBSP Parmesan 

Nutrition Break Down:

		Cals		Tot Fat		Sat Fat		Trans		Sodium		Protein
4 oz. chicken breast (grilled)		100		0.5		0		0		125		24
2 cups cooked pasta		400		2		0		0		0		14
1.5 cups spaghetti sauce		271.5		12		4.6		0		2500		26.1
1 handful of fresh spinach (wilted or steamed)		5		0		0		0		17		0.64
1 cup mozzarella		320		24		14		0		800		28
2 TBSP Parmesan		40		3		2		0		240		4
Total		1137		41.5		20.6		0		3682		96.74
Per serving (3 total)		378.83		13.83		6.87		0.00		1227.33		32.25

I wish Hunt's made a low sodium tomato sauce :/ They are the only brand of sauce I really like because they sell it plain and simple and I can add the spices myself. At any rate, this is a very high protein meal for those of you looking to add more protein into your diet. Based on my own fitness regimen, I shoot for 100g of protein a day.

If anyone knows a good tomato sauce for spaghetti that does not contain spices already and isn't disgustingly sweet (i.e. Preggo, Ragu <--Bleck), please let me know!