Poppin' Mac and Cheese plus free Popchips!

This recipe is super easy and super cheesey. I love a little crunch on my mac and cheese, so when I got some free bags of the new Popchips flavors, I knew I had to try this. You can make your own version of mac and cheese instead of using the Fiber Gourmet. However, I will say that folks who tried my Fiber Gourmet version couldn't tell the difference between it and the higher calorie stuff. I personally felt it was a little less cheesey, which is why the Cheddar Popchips were a perfect addition!

1 eight ounce bag of NEW Cheddar Popchips
1 box of Fiber Gourmet Macaroni and Cheese
1/2 cup fat free milk

Make macaroni and cheese according to package instructions (mine called for the milk). Pour into casserole dish and top with crumbled Cheddar Popchips. Bake for a couple minutes at 350 (or broil depending on your patience) until chips start to brown. Remove from oven and serve!

Makes six servings at 112 calories, 1.2 grams of fat, 9 grams of fiber, 5 grams of protein

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I have two coupons for a free bag of Popchips up for grabs for two lucky readers!

To enter, comment on this post with what you would say if you won the free bag of Popchips.

For an extra entry, link back to your blog! Post that link here!

And for one more entry, become a follower! Comment here to let me know you follow Uncovering Food!

Final entry? Tweet about this giveaway! Link @UncoveringFood to your tweet for credit!

Contest ends Sunday, July 18 at 11:59pm PST. Good luck!

May Mystery Box Results & June's Ingredients!

This month must have been crazy for everyone! When my students picked out cheese, chocolate and chilies as the three ingredients, I had dozens of ideas flash through my mind. When it came down to crunch time, I ended up making a delicious (and super easy) popcorn snack! I will get to it in one moment, but first to announce the only entry (I know she scared everyone off with her fabulousness!).

Lauren over at Healthy Delicious made Mexican Cannolis with Homemade Ricotta! Her recipe included some tequila to boot! I am dying to try them :-)

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Spicy, Sweet, and Salty Popcorn

Make some air popped popcorn (or your favorite method), and drizzle unfiltered olive oil. Grate your favorite chocolate and hard cheese. Sprinkle chili powder and sea salt. Enjoy! (I told you it was easy!)

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For June, I hit up my friends! For those of you who had random g-chat messages asking for your favorite fruit in season, the first protein you could think of, or a specific carb... if you didn't respond fast enough, sorry!

The ingredients this month (courtesy of Pam, Erica and Emily): Strawberries, Filet Mignon, Egg Noodles

Yes they are an unusual combination. But for those of you who follow Chopped, what did you expect? For those who want to participate but do not eat filet mignon, tempeh will be the accepted substitute.

I invite you all to join me on this monthly adventure. Each month I will post the mystery box of ingredients. Your job is to create a dish that utilizes all of these ingredients and document the preparation and final product as well as a review of how it turned out. Post a link to your documentation in the comment section of the mystery box post. At the end of the month, all eligible entries will be entered to win a fabulous prize! The contest closes the last day of the month at midnight. While you can use other ingredients from your pantry, the dish must include the mystery ingredients.

The random winner for June will receive a travel snack pack with healthy nutrition bars, homemade blended teas, and an on-the-go beverage container.

Reminders:

1. All of the mystery ingredients must be used in one dish.

2. You may use other ingredients to complete the dish.

3. Post the link to your blog in the comments section of THIS post in order to be counted for the contest by June 30th at midnight.

4. Your entry should have the Mystery Box logo and a link back to this post in order to be eligible.

Good luck and get cooking!!!!

Caramelized Leek Penne and a review of Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta

From chicken penne bakes to fettuccini alfredo, pasta is a carb lovers dream come true! However for the calorie and health conscious individual, your average box of pasta lacks the nutritional value of so many other edible options. Which is why I jumped at the opportunity to try out a low-calorie, high-fiber pasta!

Fiber Gourmet, a Florida based company, offers a variety of "light" pastas including penne, fettuccine, rotini, flavored fettuccine, as well as macaroni and cheese. Each of these pastas are lower in calories than their grocery store counterparts. How do they get the calories so low? According to Fiber Gourmet's web site, "By adding lots of insoluble fiber. Because your body can't digest it, each gram of insoluble fiber has 0 calories, as opposed to 4-9 calories for protein, carbohydrates, or fat. So as the proportion of insoluble fiber in the food goes up, the calories go down."

But how does it taste? I recently got a couple of organic, locally grown leeks in my produce delivery. I decided I would make some Caramelized Leek Pasta and try this new penne out!

Caramelized Leek Pasta

1 tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
2 large leeks
1 tbsp brown sugar (do not pack)
4 oz (1/2 box) Fiber Gourmet Light Penne
parsley, salt and pepper to taste

Slice leek bulbs into strands, include the green part of the bulb.

In a pan, warm one tablespoon of olive oil at medium-high heat. Add leeks and stir to coat. Continue to cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle brown sugar over the leeks and toss. Continue cooking for another 10 to 15 minutes.

While leeks are cooking, cook Fiber Gourmet pasta according to box directions. Drain but do not rinse. Toss with leeks and one teaspoon of olive oil. Serve with a sprinkle of parsley and season to taste.

Makes two servings at 281 calories, 10 grams of fat, 21 grams of fiber, 10 grams of protein


The pasta tasted like normal pasta! It was a little tough, but I think cooking it towards the longer end of the time would prevent that. Mixed with the sweetness of the caramelized leeks and a sprinkle of sea salt and I can't tell it is light! I was a bit suprised how similar it tasted to regular pasta but at fourty percent fewer calories.

Fiber Gourmet can be ordered online or found at these stores. If you are ordering online, I would recommend order a substancial amount because of the flat shipping fee. Pasta can keep for up to two years on the shelf which allows you to save on shipping and stock up on this low calorie pasta.

2 oz of Fiber Gourmet Penne is only 130 calories, 1 gram of fat, 18 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein

Arugula and Pasta Salad with Blue Cheese and Walnuts

2 tbsp coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
6 oz uncooked bow-tie pasta
a couple of handfuls of baby arugula (the recipe said 2 cups... I ma have put in more)
2 tbsp dried chives (if you can find fresh, let me know how it tastes)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (the recipe said grape tomatoes)
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar (the recipe said white wine vinegar)
1 tbsp unfiltered olive oil (the recipe said extra virgin)
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
3 tbsp crumbled blue cheese

Toast the walnuts in a heavy skillet over medium high heat for 1-2 minutes and set aside.

Cook pasta in lightly salted water. Set aside 1 tbsp of water before draining the pasta. Toss pasta with arugula and leave in a covered bowl until arugula wilts (five minutes or so). Meanwhile, mix pasta water with vinegar and oil as well as pepper and salt to create a dressing. Toss in tomatoes and chives. Add dressing and walnuts. Sprinkle with blue cheese (I mixed the cheese in while the pasta was still slightly warm which allowed it to melt a little and spread more flavor).

This recipe is modified from the week one Weight Watcher Momentum Plan book which is why I included the original recipe in (). According to the book, it should make four servings at approximately 1.25 cups per serving. I will edit to report back if it indeed makes that many :-)

5 points per serving.

Cheesey Spinach Pasta

1 recipe of the Cheesey Heirloom Tomato Sauce
1 2oz ball mozarella (on top of the one in the sauce)
1 pt worth of reduced fat parm cheese
1 cup chopped onions
1 lb of fresh spinach
6 oz whole wheat pasta
garlic salt (to taste)
additional seasonings you can play with: italian seasoning, pepper, mrs. dash

I happened to freeze a bunch of chopped onions and a batch of sauce before I left for a recent work trip. I got home from the airport tonight and was craving veggies and carbs and cheese... so this turned out really well and I wanted to remember it!

Cook pasta, set aside. Cook onions until they start to brown. Add sauce and any additional seasonings you want to play with. Add spinach and cook down. Add pasta and toss. Finally add additional mozzarella and parm cheese to make this an extra cheesey dish!

4 servings at 5 points each. FABULOUS!

Cheesey Heirloom Tomato Sauce

2 large heirloom tomatoes
1 2-oz fresh mozzarella ball
handful of fresh basil
1 tsp olive oil
Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb spices, to taste


Blend all ingredients together. 2 servings at 2 pts each. You could add fresh garlic to amp up the flavor (I just didn't have any left).

Make Your Own Frozen Dinner: Spaghetti

Ingredients:
12 oz whole wheat pasta, cooked
1/2 onion, diced
4 small zucchini, chopped
9 soy meatballs (5/6 points of ground Italian seasoned soy crumbles works too)
1 lb heirloom tomatoes, chopped
Mrs. Dash table blend, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
1 can Amy's Chunk Tomato Bisque

Spray a saucepan with your choice of cooking spray. Cook onions and zucchini at medium-high with spices until onions soften. Add vegetarian meatballs and cook until meatballs start to crumble. Add tomato chunks and cook an additional minute or so. Lower heat to low and add soup. Let simmer for 10 minutes or so.

Add sauce to pasta and stir to blend. Let pasta soak up the additional juices and then separate into 6 containers (I vacuum seal my frozen dinners). These can be kept frozen and reheat well in the microwave. You can also eat them fresh :-)

6 points per gianormous serving!

Vegetarian Lasagna Rolls

Ingredients
12 oz Golden Grain Mission Reduced Carb Lasagna Noodles, cooked
15 oz Low Fat Ricotta Cheese
20 oz (or so) tomato sauce
14 oz Gimme Lean Ground Beef Style Meat Substitute
5 oz Part Skim Shredded Mozerella
Italian Seasonings, to taste
Primavera Frozen Veggies, to taste

Instructions
Cook meat substitute with tomato sauce and italian seasonings with as much frozen veggies as you want... you need at least 15 oz of tomato sauce but you can add more if you like more sauce (and want to spread some on top.

Take each cooked noodle and individually lay them flat, spread about a tablespoon of ricotta on a noodle and then about a tablespoon of sauce. Then you roll it and put it in the pan, fold side down. You should be able to make 16 to 18 rolls... pour any remaining sauce or ricotta cheese over the top I added extra sauce to make sure it would cover the noodles. Then sprinkle the mozerella on top. Bake until golden brown (I followed directions on the lasagna box, about 15 to 20 minutes at 350)


Special Notes
The sauce amount can vary... I made the rolls and then had some sauce left over, using a 15 ou can... so I added some more tomato sauce to the batch and some more italian seasonings in order to cover the whole pan.... yummy goodness!!!

Points are 2 if you use these ingredients and make 16 rolls... depending on your noodles and other ingredients it will vary.

Modified Mac and Cheese

1/2 lb elbow macaroni (2 cups)
2 1/4 cups skim milk
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 cup reduced fat shredded cheese (your favorite kind)
3 tbsp grated parm

1- Cook macaroni according to package directions.
2- To make the sauce, combine milk and cornstarch in a large skillet, beating with a wisk til smooth. Bring to a boil over med high heat, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer, stir until thickened (about 1 min). Remove skillet from heat, add in the cheeses. Stir until smooth.
3- Add the macaroni to the sauce, stir until combined. Serve hot.

1/2 cup is 3 pts