Grilled Chicken Sausage Sub

Ingredients:
1 Italian-style chicken sausage link (I used Al Fresco brand)
1 hot dog bun or hoagie roll(I used Aunt Millie's Old World French Rolls)
1/2 slice onion, cut into rings
1 T Heinz 57 sauce
1 T French's honey dijon mustard
1 slice Kraft extra thin swiss cheese

Directions:
Warm bread in the microwave. Grill sausage and onion. Place cheese slice (in two halves) on the warm bread, and top with sausage, onions, sauce and mustard.
Makes 1 serving.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 477
Fat: 13g
Saturated: 5g
Carbs: 56g
Fiber: 2.5g
Protein: 27g

Rating:
Dave: 4

*The original recipe called for just bread, chicken sausage, and pizza sauce. Dave did not like it with the pizza sauce- he gave it a 2 (earlier this week). He made another one today and topped it this way. He liked it much better!!

Burger-Dilla

This is a Hungry Girl recipe. I made some changes. Here's the original recipe. It's a swap for a similar Chili's recipe.

Ingredients:
1 T dairy free ranch dressing
1 tsp taco sauce
1 Boca burger
2 small flour tortillas
1 T salsa
1/3 avocado, sliced
1/4 cup shredded lettuce

Directions:
1. To make the sauce, combine ranch dressing with taco sauce in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside.
2. Prepare burger patty on the stove in a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray. (Refer to package instructions for exact temperature and time.) Set aside and allow skillet to cool.
3. Lay one tortilla flat on a dry surface and spread with sauce. Top with avocado, salsa, lettuce, and cooked patty. Top with other tortilla.
4. Re-spray skillet and gently place quesadilla burger in it. Bring to medium-high heat on the stove. Cook until outsides are lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side, flipping carefully (yeah, there is no way to do this neatly!!) and pressing down with a spatula.
Makes 1 serving.

*Note: For Dave's, I used 1 T ranch dressing, 1 tsp taco sauce, a 4 oz burger (extra lean), 2 small flour tortillas, 2 T salsa (he doesn't like avocado), 1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese, 1/4 c shredded lettuce, and a few bacos.

Nutritional Information:
(Kristen  --------------------     Dave)
Calories: 335                           512
Fat: 13g                                   25g
Saturated: 2g                           8.5g
Carbs: 40g                              33.5g
Fiber: 7.5g                               2.5g
Protein: 18.5g                          37g

Forks:
Kristen: 4
Dave: 4

Curried Chickpea Cakes

I found a vegan blog I like a lot called go vegan meow! I got this recipe there. Here is the original recipe. I changed it a little based on what I had. Also I only made half of the recipe I'm posting.

Ingredients:

15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

onion powder

1/3 c unsweeted soy milk

2 tsp sugar

2/3 c breadcrumbs

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cumin

2/3 c cooked rice

1/2 tsp salt

4 T grapeseed oil (or any oil) for pan searing

 

Directions:

In a food processor, combine the chickpeas and onion powder. Pulse until combined. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Add the milk, sugar, breadcrumbs, curry powder, nutmeg and cumin. Stir together with a wooden spoon until well combined. Stir in the rice and salt. Mold into 12 mini patties.

In a saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chickpea cakes to the pan in batches and saute until there's a nice golden sear on the bottom. Flip and sear on the other side as well. Continue with the remaining cakes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

Makes 6 servings (2 cakes each).

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 200

Fat: 6.5g

Saturated: 0.5g

Carbs: 30g

Fiber: 3.5g

Protein: 6g

Serving Suggestion:

Serve in a warmed flour tortilla with lettuce, diced cucumber and salsa.

I used Mission Flour Tortillas, 1/2 leaf of lettuce, 1/8 of a cucumber, and 1T salsa 

for each serving.

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 349

Fat: 9.5g

Saturated: 1.5g

Carbs: 55.5g

Fiber: 5g

Protein: 10.5g

Pita Pockets

This recipe came with my bread machine. It's very simple and very good!

Ingredients:
1-1/3 c warm water
2 T + 2 tsp olive oil
1 T + 1 tsp sugar
1-1/4 tsp salt
2 c bread flour
1-1/2 c whole wheat flour
1-3/4 tsp bread machine yeast (or Red Star Quick Rise yeast, or 2-1/2 tsp Red Star active dry yeast)

Directions:
Put all ingredients in bread machine on dough program. When finished (mine takes 1:20), place on a lightly floured surface. Divide into 10 pieces and shape each piece into a smooth ball.
Place 5 balls on a large baking sheet. Place the remaining 5 balls on another baking sheet. Let rise 20 minutes. With fingertips, flatten each ball into a 6" circle.
Bake at 500F for 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown.
Makes 10 pita rounds.

Nutritional Information: (one whole pocket)
Calories: 140
Fat: 4g
Saturated: 0.5g
Polyunsaturated: 0.5g
Monounsaturated: 2.5g
Carbs: 24g
Fiber: 2.5g
Protein: 4g

Tu-Nut Sandwiches

This is supposed to be a vegan version of a tuna sandwich. It's not supposed to TASTE like tuna, but have the same texture. I have NEVER liked tuna sandwiches, but this is good. Original recipe is here.

Ingredients*:
1 c raw unsalted almonds
1/4-1/2 c reserved water
1/2 c marinated artichoke hearts, drained
1 T liquid from marinated artichoke container
1 T grape seed oil
3/4 T maple syrup (or agave)
Season as you wish: I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, and parsley
1/4-1/2 c celery bits


Directions:
Soak your almonds overnight - at least 6 hours. Add a few pinches of salt to the soaking water.
When you are ready to process the almonds, add 1 cups of the soaked nuts to a food processor. Add about 1/4 cup of the soaking water as well. Next add the maple syrup, grape seed oil, garlic powder and a pinch of the salt and pepper.
Blend on medium/high until the mixture becomes blended into fine flaked scraps. Add more water if too dry. You do not want to over-process the nuts for this recipe because you want them to resemble a flaky tuna-inspired texture.
Next, add in the artichokes and artichoke marinade liquid. 
Blend the almond/artichoke mixture until you are happy with the texture. Pulsing is a good food processor setting to use. Do a taste test and adjust salt/pepper/sweetness/spices/water to your taste buds.
Serve in pita pockets.
Makes about 2 cups.

Nutritional Information: (per 1/2 c serving)
Calories: 256
Fat: 21.5g
Saturated: 1.5g
Polyunsaturated: 7g
Monounsaturated: 12g
Carbs: 12g
Fiber: 5g
Protein: 8g


*The original recipe called for marinated mushrooms, but my store didn't have any. The artichokes were good and mushrooms would be equally good.
The mixture was a little sweet for my liking. Next time I make it I will omit the maple syrup.
You could use any type of oil in place of the grape seed oil- olive/sunflower/canola oil would be fine. Peanut oil might also be really good.
That said, it was very good!