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Cauliflower “Breadsticks”

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Cauliflower "Breadsticks"
Author: 
Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: Italian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6-8 slices
 
You won't believe these are made from cauliflower!
Ingredients
  • 1 cup cooked cauliflower,
  • ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • ½ cup Parmesan cheese
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp crushed garlic
  • ½ tsp garlic salt
  • olive oil
  • For Topping:
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
  • ¼ cup grated mozzarella cheese
  • *Optional Marinara sauce for dipping
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Chop the cauliflower florets into chunks and steam them in a steamer or on the stove until slightly soft for 15 minutes. Place in a ricer or grate until a rice like consistency.
  3. One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.
  4. To Make the Bread:
  5. Prepare your baking stone or sheet by spreading a small amount of olive oil on it and top with parchment paper.
  6. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg, Parmesan and Mozzarella. Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt, stir.
  7. Transfer to the baking stone or sheet, and using your hands, pat out into a large rectangle.
  8. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
  9. Remove from oven.
  10. Spread the minced garlic over baked cauliflower bread and top with Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses.
  11. Place back in the 450 degree oven until all cheese is melted.
  12. Slice and Serve!
Nutrition Information
Adapted from SkinnyMs.com
Servings: 4-8 • Size: heaping 2 breadsticks • Points +: 3 pts • Smart Points: 3
Calories: 195 • Fat: 12.5 g • Carbs: 3.7 • Fiber: 0.6 • Protein: 17.8 g • Sugar: 0.7
Sodium: 428 mg • Cholesterol: 63 mg

 

Cauliflower “Fried Rice”

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No April’s fool joke here, I’ve really never, ever, eaten cauliflower. I smelled it cooking once when I was child visiting my grandmother’s farm in the small town of Wellington, Kansas, and since then I’ve never ever wanted to try anything with the mention of cauliflower in the ingredients.

But last week at my weight loss class at the Y, the girls were talking about different recipes that were made with cauliflower but where you couldn’t tell that was the main ingredient.

There was talk of faux-mashed potatoes, cilantro lime “rice” and some fried “not” rice.

Now I love me some Asian cuisine, a lot, and it’s mostly because of the chicken fried rice. And we all know that chicken fried rice ain’t on any healthy girls diet. At least not us carbs-conscience gals.

So I knew I had to give this dish a try. I searched the web for a detailed recipe and came across one of my most favorites sites for recipes, SkinnyTaste! Gina knows her stuff so I decided to give it a try.
 

Cauliflower-Fried-Rice

 

Save Print
Cauliflower "Fried Rice"
Author: 
Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: Asian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 servings
 
So good and flavorful, you won't even realize it's cauliflower!
Ingredients
  • 1 medium head (about 24 oz) cauliflower, rinsed
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 large egg
  • pinch of salt
  • cooking spray
  • ½ small onion, diced fine
  • ½ cup frozen peas and carrots
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 5 scallions, diced, whites and greens separated
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce, or more to taste (I usd Liquid Aminos)
Instructions
  1. Remove the core and let the cauliflower dry completely.
  2. Coarsely chop into florets, then place half of the cauliflower in a food processor and pulse until the cauliflower is small and has the texture of rice or couscous – don’t over process or it will get mushy. Set aside and repeat with the remaining cauliflower.
  3. Combine egg and egg whites in a small bowl and beat with a fork. Season with salt.
  4. Heat a large saute pan or wok over medium heat and spray with oil. Add the eggs and cook, turning a few times until set; set aside.
  5. Add the sesame oil and saute onions, scallion whites, peas and carrots and garlic about 3 to 4 minutes, or until soft.
  6. Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the cauliflower “rice” to the saute pan along with soy sauce. Mix, cover and cook approximately 5 to 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cauliflower is slightly crispy on the outside but tender on the inside.
  7. Add the egg then remove from heat and mix in scallion greens.
Nutrition Information
Adapted from Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 4 • Size: heaping 1⅓ cups • Points +: 3 pts • Smart Points: 2
Calories: 108 • Fat: 3 g • Carbs: 14 • Fiber: 6 • Protein: 9 g • Sugar: 1
Sodium: 868 mg • Cholesterol: 47 mg

 

Second Week – Weigh-In Night

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So it’s officially been 1 whole week. With great anticipation I showed up to the Y, ready to see what I had done as far as weightloss was concerned. I worked really hard, tracked all my food, and exercised every day. I fully expected at least a 5 pound loss, though I had only put my goal at 2 pounds.

Well, I met my goal. I suppose I should be happy, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit disappointed.

I keep reminding myself, any progress is better than no progress and even a gain wouldn’t be the end of the world since I’ve been working out so hard. I didn’t gain this weight overnight, I can’t expect it to come off in just one week. So for now, on to next week and keep moving forward.

KeepGoing

First Night Of Bootcamp

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So, tonight was the first night of bootcamp. Wow. I can’t feel my arms. Or my legs. And why does my butt hurt?

gregLauren, our lovely personal trainer, started off by getting us up to speed and took our weight and measurements. We then did a brief treadmill test so that she could gauge our current fitness level.

Once the rest of the class showed up, she decided to take a bunch of middle-aged ladies (and one man, kudo’s to my hubby Greg for signing up for this challenge with me) and have them do the YMCA Personal Trainer evaluation. LOL. That was interesting!

gregworkingIf you aren’t familiar, this consists of a series of 1 minute workouts to see how many reps you can do in the allotted time.

For example, the Plank… how long can you plank? Can you go for a whole minute? I went 13 seconds. Greg at least lasted 45 seconds.

How about squats… how many can you do in 60 seconds? Or curls with a 10 pound weight, or rows, or push-ups.

j93fThat’s the kind of torture that I endured for an entire hour. But I admit…. I kind of liked it. 🙂

My body will be hating me for the next couple of days, but man it felt good to really push myself!!

Y.M.C.A…you’ll find it at the Y.M.C.A.

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Today I joined the YMCA. Not just for the gym membership, but I actually enrolled in the weightloss class that they offer. It’s a little pricey, $220 for members (not including the membership) but I need some accountability and a group setting among other people sharing a similar goal sounds right up my alley.

The class meets two nights a week; Monday is class time where we learn about nutrition and healthy food stuff and Wednesday night is Bootcamp. Oorah!!!

In addition, we are expected to keep food diaries, adhere to a limited caloric intake, and exercise 150 minutes per week. Yep. This is EXACTLY what I need!

Tonight’s weigh-in showed what I already knew… I had gone WAY past what I thought I had gained. This past year has been brutal. Losing Mom, not smoking, working from home with a kid doing virtual school. It’s been rough. Too much wine and too much good food and absolutely no accountability.

Time for a change!

Lately I’ve been seeing more friends than I can count on Facebook and Instagram making healthy lifestyle changes and needless to say, it’s definitely influencing me. I’ve signed up for the Color Me Rad 5k on June 25th and the Color Vibe on August 6th. Hopefully I will be able to at least walk a 5k by then, if not jog.