From skinnytaste.com

Skinny Baked Mozzarella Sticks

Part-skim mozzarella sticks coated with crispy seasoned breadcrumbs and baked until hot and golden. Serve them with my quick marinara sauce and you have yourself an appetizer everyone will love.

Hot mozzarella sticks, I can't think of a more popular finger food with both kids and adults alike! I mean, what's not to like? Baking them as opposed to frying and using part skim cheese doesn't effect how good these are. The cheese still melts, see for yourself!

Of course, you'll want to serve them hot right out of the oven, because like any cheese, as they cool they harden.

It actually took me several attempts to get these perfect. I played around with different brands of light string cheese to see which yielded the best results. The winner was Sargento part-skim, low-sodium. Although it's not the cheese with the least amount of fat compared to some other brands, it had the best flavor and wasn't as salty as I found some brands to be.

These are freezer friendly, in fact these MUST be frozen before you bake them or you will have one big cheesy mess in your oven! The good news is you can bread them all ahead of time then place them on tray with wax paper and freeze them until you are ready to bake. Make the marinara sauce a day ahead as well. Happy Superbowl Sunday!!

Skinny Baked Mozzarella Sticks
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 12 • Serving Size: 2 pieces • Old Points: 1 pts • Points+: 2 pts*
Calories: 86.8* • Fat: 4.8 g • Protein: 7.4 g • Carb: 3.5 g • Fiber: 0.2 g • Sugar: 0.2
Sodium: 168.6

Ingredients:

• 12 sticks part-skim, reduced sodium mozzarella string cheese (Sargento)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp flour
• 5 tbsp Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 5 tbsp panko crumbs
• 2 tsp parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• olive oil cooking spray (I used my misto)

Directions:

Cut cheese in half to give you 24 pieces. Place cheese in the freezer until cheese is frozen.

In small bowl, whisk the egg. Place the flour on another small dish. In separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, panko, parmesan cheese and dried parsley. Dip the frozen sticks in flour, shaking off excess, then into the egg, then coat with the crumbs. Repeat this process with the remaining cheese placing them on a tray with wax paper. Place cheese back into the freezer until ready to bake (this is a must or they will melt before the crumbs get golden).

When ready to bake preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with oil.

Place frozen cheese sticks on baking sheet. Spray the tops of the mozzarella sticks with a little more oil and bake in the bottom third of your oven until crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and bake an additional 4 - 5 minutes watching them closely so they don't melt.

Makes 24 pieces.

* There will be extra crumbs and flour after breading, I've deducted them from the nutritional info.

Adapted from Low Carb Crock

Low Carb Beef Stroganofff

Makes 4 servings

1 1/2 pounds of Beef Stewing meat
1/2 cup of beef broth
1/2 teaspoon of marjoram
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
3 cups of fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 Tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce
1 Tablespoon of cider vinegar
2 large cloves of minced garlic

Sour Cream (1/3 of a cup to 1 cup - depending on your tastes)

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients except sour cream in slow cooker and cook on low until the beef is tender  6-8 hours.
Stir in sour cream and serve

May serve over egg noodles or rice, but my preference is over Cauliflower Rice...

1 head Cauliflower
   Grate the cauliflower hand-held grater.

 Microwave it in a tightly covered dish for 1 minute at a time (do not add water)  just until tender but not mushy.
 

 

Sounds great, thanks for posting. I love barley.

 

Diana

This cold weather has me wanting soup! A base of broth and milk make this chowder lighter than some traditional recipes - under 10g fat! Note that pre-shredded cheeses tend to be packed with corn starch or other additives that prevent sticking and clumping, which may result in some separation when added to hot liquids. I recommend shredding your own cheese for this dish.

 

• 4 oz cooked and diced boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 cup yellow corn
• 1.5 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 slices bacon
• 1 small to medium onion,chopped
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 large red potato, diced (about 8 oz)
• 1/2 small red bell pepper, diced
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp fresh minced thyme

Slice bacon into 1 inch pieces and render in heavy bottom sauce pan. When browned, remove to drain on paper towels. Discard all but 1 to 2 tsp fat. Saute onion in bacon fat until translucent. Add carrot, potato, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until vegetables are soft. 

Add milk, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer (but do not boil). Add thyme and bell pepper. Stir in cheese until melted. Sprinkle reserved bacon over soup when served.

Nutritional information (1/6 recipe) - 221 calories, 9.4g fat, 19.5g carbohydrates, 7.1g sugars, 15.7g protein

If linking - please link to the recipe entry on my blog.

From Chatelaine Magazine

Ingredients

• 500 g turkey sausages, about 5, casings removed
• 1  small onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno or poblano pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 900 mL carton low-sodium chicken broth
• 540 mL can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups packed chopped kale
• 1/4 cup lime juice

Instructions

• Heat a large pot over medium. Add sausages. Using a fork to break up meat, cook, stirring often, until no pink remains, 4 to 5 min. Stir in onion, pepper, garlic, chili powder and tomato paste. Coo****il onion starts to soften, 2 to 3 min.
• Add broth and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-high. Add beans and kale. Cook, stirring occasionally. until kale is cooked, about 5 more min. Remove from heat. Stir in lime juice just before serving.

  Substitution Tip:

  Use chicken or Italian sausages instead of turkey.

  Nutrition (per Serving)

  calories 274 

  protein 28 g

  carbohydrates 22 g

  fat 9 g

  fibre 7 g

  sodium 1312 mg

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