Chili and Cornbread

Nothing says 'Fall' quite like chili and cornbread! I took a few recipes I had and put my own healthy twist on them and they came out pretty darn good! We made a vegetarian chili and cornbread using whole wheat flour instead of white, applesauce instead of oil, eggbeaters to eliminate cholesterol, and skim milk to cut down on calories. This version of cornbread is a little dense but is perfect for dipping (which in my opinion is its sole purpose!). To give the chili the taste as if it was cooked over a fire, I added worstershire sauce and liquid dash. The chili definitely had a kick to it, so if you want to cut down on the spicyness, simply substitute the Rotel tomatoes with green chilis for regular diced tomatoes. Happy Fall!

*The chili came out to being 75 calories for a 1/2 cup and the cornbread was 135 calories for 1 piece (when cut into 9 pieces).

Vegetarian Chili

1 large chopped yellow onion
3 Tbsp minced garlic
2 can fulls of water
2 tablespoons Stevia (sugar substitute
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chilis, undrained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can Great Northern White Beans, rinsed and drained
Couple dashes of liquid smoke

Combine everything in a crockpot and cook all day on low.

Wheat Cornbread

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2  cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup Stevia (sugar substitute)
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup skim milk
3/4 cup eggbeaters

Preheat oven to 375 and place 8"x8" dish in oven to heat up.

Mix together all ingredients until there are no lumps.

Take dish out of oven, spray with non-stick spray, and pour in batter.

Cook for 25-35 minutes

Stuffed Zucchini

We eat zucchini constantly! Literally, probably at least 4 times a week. I was trying to find some new variations to it since we usually just sautee it and I ran across this recipe from grouprecipes.com. The only change I made was that I added sautee'd mushrooms and it was super yummy! You don't just eat the inside 'stuffing' part, you eat the whole thing and I can definitely say I'll be making this more often. Each stuffed zucchini came out to being only about 100 calories and they're pretty big! I definitely recommend this recipe to anyone who likes any kind of "stuffing" and is trying to watch their calories.

Stuffed Zucchini

4 medium zucchini halved lengthwise
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup finely minced onions
3 Tbsp minced garlic
3/4 cup eggbeater (or 3 eggs)
1/2 cup diced tomato
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped parsley (optional)
2-3 tablespoon fresh chopped basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon italian bread crumbs

1. Scoop out inside of zucchini.

2. Chop scooped zucchini into bits and cook in oil with onions and garlic until onions are soft.

3. Combine sautéed ingredients with tomatoes cheese, herbs, eggs, salt and pepper.

4. Fill each zucchini with mixture and dust with breadcrumbs and some extra cheese.

5. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes in a lightly oiled glass baking dish.

Spaghetti Squash

This post isn't really a recipe, it's basically just giving an overview of spaghetti squash and how you can use it in place of noodles. All you do is take the spaghetti squash, a sharp knife, and make several slits all over it. Place it on a baking sheet and bake it in the over on 375 for 1 hour. After it comes out slice it down the middle (lengthwise) and scoop out the pulp/seeds. Take a fork and scrap the sides, this is going to be your "noodles." I served ours with organic spaghetti sauce and it was pretty good. The noodles almost have a slight crunch to them, but they're a good alternative if you're trying to watch the calories or the carbs.

After coming out of the oven

After scooping out the pulp but before scraping the sides

The "noodles"