Grilled Potatoes

Guilt-free crispy grilled "fries" made right outside on the grill!

When the weather gets hot in New York, I like to take the cooking outside. Grilling is usually my husband's job, but lately I've been having fun exploring the many things you can make outside on the grill all on my own, it's really not that hard!

Take these fries, who says you can't make fries outside on the grill? They turn out crispy and delicious without deep frying or heating up the kitchen and you can even grill your turkey burgers along side them.

Yes, you can have your carbs, just have them in moderation. Serve them with some homemade ketchup and enjoy!!

PS- You can find the crinkle cutter on Amazon!

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Homemade Ketchup

Making your own ketchup is so EASY to make at home and making it yourself allows you to control what goes into it.

Ketchup is as American as apple pie, that sweet-sour combination on french fries are irresistible and who doesn't love it on their burgers! But have you ever checked the label of your favorite brand of ketchup? High Fructose Corn Syrup is used to sweeten most brands of ketchup although I did find organic Heinz ketchup in my health food store that does not contain HFCS's, but it was half the size at a higher price.

So I thought it would be fun to try making my own and tested and played around with a few recipes until I found one that I loved with some slight changes using honey as my sweetener and cutting back on the sugar and tested it out on some grilled fries (recipe coming!) and the results were delicious...

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Angel Hair with Zucchini and Tomatoes

Angel hair tossed with summer zucchini and tomatoes fresh from the garden. The perfect meatless meal you'll be craving again and again. Serve this with plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano!

Hope everyone had a great weekend, I was away in Seattle for a few days for the Blogher Food Convention so I thought I would share one of my older recipes I love from the archives, perfect for this time of year.  This is easy to make and ready in under 30 minutes.

For those on gluten-free diets, use brown rice pasta instead. Enjoy!

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Shrimp Pad Thai on the Lighter Side

I've been a huge fan of Rasa Malaysia for many years and recently Bee and I have become friends. Bee spent a few months traveling Thailand and when she returned I asked if she could guest post making a Skinnier version of a Thai Classic. Pad Thai is probably my most requested makeover, so who better than to have Bee give us her authentic version with a lighter touch! Vegetarians, leave out the shrimp and add more tofu or add more veggies!

Hi there, I’m Bee from Rasa Malaysia, a website about easy Asian cooking. I’m also the cookbook author of Easy Chinese Recipes (Tuttle, September 2011) — one of the best-selling Chinese cookery books on Amazon. First of all, I wanted to thank Gina for giving me the opportunity to guest post on Skinnytaste and share my Pad Thai recipe with you. I’m very honored—and thrilled—to grace this space, and I hope you like what I have to share with you here.

I love Thai food so there is no surprise that I’m a big fan of Pad Thai, or Thai stir-fried rice noodles. If you have dined at Thai restaurants, I’m sure you have had Pad Thai. Pad Thai is quite possibly the most famous dish outside of Thailand.

Thai cuisine is prized for its perfect balance of the four main tastes: hot, sour, salty, and sweet. Pad Thai is no exception. The spiciness of this noodle dish comes from the use of chili powder while the tartness comes from tamarind. The saltiness of most Thai food comes from fish sauce, or nam pla, while palm sugar lends the sweetness to the overall dish. For this recipe, I opted to use vinegar in lieu of tamarind juice, as it’s commonly used by the street vendors in Thailand. Palm sugar is not a common ingredient for many people, so I substituted it with sugar. The recipe is very versatile as you can make it healthier by adding more bean sprouts and reduce the rice noodles. Other than shrimp, you can also use chicken breast. The fried firm tofu is a key ingredient in authentic Pad Thai but you can’t find it at your local stores, feel free to opt it out.

I love eating my Pad Thai with a generous squirt (or two) of lime juice. It’s a delightful dish to make at home and a complete meal on its own. I hope you enjoy the recipe. If you have any questions, do leave me a comment! Again, thanks Gina for having me.

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Mango Coconut Chia Pudding

I'm addicted to coconut, when I was pregnant it was all I craved! Combine that with mango and I'm in heaven!

...and using chia seeds to make an easy, healthy form of pudding which requires no cooking? Genius!

Chia pudding has a sort of tapioca texture, you simply combine all the ingredients and refrigerate overnight. The little tiny chia seeds when soaked in liquid expand to more than 4 times their size!

They don't really have much of a taste, the texture is similar to passion fruit if you've ever eaten one. And in case you're wondering, yes it's the same chia seed used to make Chia Pets. Chia is an excellent source of omega fatty acids and full of minerals, vitamins and fiber. Aside from making pudding, you can add them to smoothies, muffins, and my favorite, I throw them in my bowl of cereal.

Tested this pudding out on my pickiest family member, my teenage daughter Karina and she LOVED it to my surprise, she usually puts her nose up at some of my healthy creations.

What do you do with your chia? Would love to hear!

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Spicy Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayonnaise

One bite of this spicy black bean burger with spicy chipotle mayo and creamy avocado and you won't miss the meat! Yes, these were good enough to please even the adult carnivore's in my home (a bit too spicy for my kids).

Make no mistake, I love meat, but I also think it's good to give it up at least once a week, so why give Meatless Mondays a shot? Pretty inexpensive to make and really not hard to make. The hardest part is forming them into patties, and even that isn't so bad.

These cook best if frozen so plan to make them ahead and cook as needed. You can even double the batch to keep them on hand whenever you need them.

To store them in your freezer, freeze them on wax paper until they set, about 2 hours, then transfer them into containers. I keep all my homemade burgers labeled in Glad Freezerware containers which can withstand extreme temperatures without cracking. Labeling them keeps them organized so when I have backyard BBQs, I have something to please every palate. Also perfect for once a month cooking!

Vegetarian, High in Fiber, and Gluten Free if using GF oats (excluding the bun). I highly recommend making them exactly as written, don't change a thing!


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Skinny Chocolate Chip Fro-Yo Sandwiches

Skinny chocolate chip cookies made with absolutely no butter or oil sandwiched together with fat-free frozen yogurt and colored sprinkles. If this doesn't say summer, I don't know what does!

Don't you love happy mistakes?

Last week someone tweeted me and told me they made my Best Low Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever but accidentally left out the butter and they came out great. So naturally I had to see for myself, and I couldn't believe it, they were great! For this recipe I also reduced the sugar a bit since I am adding sprinkles, they worked out great.

Since then I've been obsessing on turning them into ice cream sandwiches. I mentioned the other day on my Very Berry Banana Fro-Yo Shake how much I love Stonyfield's frozen vanilla yogurt so I put it to the test. Fourth of July will be here in no time so I made them red, white and blue. Colored sprinkles would be pretty too!

These are a little messy to make, but fun to make with the kids. You don't have to make the whole batch, you can make as little as one sandwich as needed or make them all. The only advice I have is make sure the frozen yogurt is really cold, and after you dip them into the sprinkles place them back in the freezer until they set. Keep them frozen until you are ready to eat, enjoy!

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