Prosciutto-Mozza Pizza.

In case I haven't made it clear, I REALLY LIKE PIZZA. It should come as no surprise that I'm always looking for healthy options to satisfy my cravings. I have seen about 100 low-calorie pizzas in Cooking Light, so after a little encouragement from my boyfriend, I decided it was finally time to give one a try - we decided on the Prosciutto-Mozza Pizza from the June issue. This recipe makes 6 servings; each serving is 331 calories and 11.4g of fat.

What you need...

• 1 pound refrigerated fresh pizza dough


• 1 tablespoon cornmeal


• 2/3 cup light marinara sauce


• 6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced


• 2 teaspoons olive oil


• 2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into pieces


• 1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves

Sidebar: When cooking healthy, people often make the mistake of not properly measuring their ingredients. I know I used to guestimate how much of ingredient X would equal Y ounces and I'm sure this caused me to consume extra, unwanted calories. If you don't have a digital food scale, I definitely suggest investing in one. I just did, and I use my scale for EVERYTHING.

How to make it...

Let the dough stand at room temperature, covered, for 30 minutes (the following picture...is the most exciting picture I've ever taken). Place a heavy baking sheet (or if you're cool enough, a pizza stone) in the oven and preheat oven to 500° (keep baking sheet/pizza stone in the oven as it preheats). While the dough and the oven are doing their thing, you should prepare the rest of the ingredients: shred the prosciutto; slice the mozzarella; and measure out the corn meal, marinara, oregano, and olive oil. Once the dough is done hanging out, roll it into a circle on a lightly floured surface. If you don't have a rolling pin, just use the jar of marinara! (I'm always getting creative in the kitchen.) Then pierce the entire surface of your perfect circle liberally with a fork. Remove the baking sheet from oven (with your bare hands, clearly) and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place dough on baking sheet...ta-dah! Spread sauce over dough, leaving a border for the crust. Or if you hate crust, get real cray and don't leave a boarder at all - not my pizza, not my problem! You can totally make an uncrustable pizza!! Remember Uncrustables? Same basic idea, no curst. ANYWAY, crust or no crust, top with cheese. Brush outer crust with olive oil. If you don't have a fancy pastry brush, just use a napkin. (Um, apparently I wasn't supposed to do this until after the pizza baked? But why? I don't want an oily crust...that just SOUNDS disgusting. Oily crust. No thanks. So I'm going to go ahead and say do to it before you bake it...turned out just fine for me!) Bake at 500° for 14 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is lightly browned. At this point....the eater gets anxious.... Remove from oven....NOMZ. Arrange prosciutto over pizza then top with oregano. Cut into 6 large slices. Now comes the hard part....DON'T EAT THE WHOLE PIZZA. Instead, limit your enjoyment to one or two slices and you can kill your pizza craving without killing your diet! K, byeeee.

Chili Mac & Cheese.

Holy crap this was good. My boyfriend said it tasted like a really fancy hamburger helper - I say it tasted like heaven. I'm really not sure why, but mine didn't end up looking much like the picture in Cooking Light - but I swear I followed the recipe! And I still can't believe this wasn't a million calories.

What you need...

• 1 teaspoon canola oil


• 3/4 pound light ground beef (or turkey)


• 1 teaspoon garlic powder


• 1 teaspoon ground coriander


• 1 teaspoon ground cumin


• 2 teaspoons chili powder


• 2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium beef broth


• 1 cup water


• 1 (10-ounce) can mild diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained


• 8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni


• 1/2 cup fat-free milk


• 4 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese


• 4 1/2 ounces finely shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

How to make it....

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. What is a dutch oven, you ask? I have no idea - just use a big pot! Don't have a big pot? Yeah, I can't find mine either. So just use a medium-sized pot and hope it doesn't boil over...works like a charm (errr...kind of). Add oil to your non-dutch oven. Add beef and next 4 ingredients; cook until browned.



Add broth, water, and tomatoes then bring to a boil.



Stir in macaroni and cover - this is where things get sketchy if you're using a medium-sized pot...but just go with it.



Cook  for 10 minutes or until macaroni is done and all the juices have been absorbed.



Heat milk and cream cheese in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the cheese melts, stirring frequently.



Remove cheesy mixture from the heat and stir in cheddar.



Add cheese sauce to macaroni mixture.



Stir until coated evenly.



All joking aside, if these pictures aren't making your mouth water then I think you need to go see a doctor....because I don't think you're a human.



This heavenly creation serves six. Each serving size is 1 cup, containing only 342 calories and 12.3g of fat! Seriously, go make this immediately...if not before. K, byeeee!

Pan-Grilled Flank Steak with Soy-Mustard Sauce.

Pan-Grilled Flank Steak with Soy-Mustard Sauce...yepp, its as delicious as it sounds. The recipe is from Cooking Light and it didn't require as much effort as you would think!

What you need...

• 1 pound flank steak, trimmed


• 3/8 teaspoon kosher salt


• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


• Cooking spray


• 1 teaspoon canola oil


• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic


• 2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce


• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard


• 3/4 teaspoon sugar


• 1 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream


• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided

Heat a grill or grill pan over high heat. Sprinkle steak evenly with salt and pepper. Lightly coat the steak with cooking spray. (Ewwww, raw meat is gross.)



Add steak to pan (or grill); grill for 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 3 minutes.


Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add garlic; cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add soy sauce, mustard, and sugar; cook 1 minute or until bubbly. Remove pan from heat. Stir in cream and 1 tablespoon cilantro.



Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon cilantro. Serve sauce with steak. One serving  (about 3 ounces steak and about 1 tablespoon sauce) is 220 calories.

I served the steak with Garlicky Asparagus for a total of 277 calories. It was by far one of my favorite meals I've ever cooked. I mean, just look at it!!!

Writing this post made me want to make it again...and I'm sure my boyfriend wouldn't hate that. Seriously, make this, you won't be sorry!!! K, byeeee.