Clean Cottage Grilled Cheese

This is one I've contemplated making for awhile. I LOVE grilled cheese, but it's so caloric! That crunchy crusty bread. That gooey creamy cheese. So delicious but so fattening. My best friend & worst enemy all rolled into one. My dietician recently suggested that I add lowfat cream cheese to my diet as an alternative to meat. It's very versatile & adds a lot to many recipes. The best thing about it is that lowfat versions or skim taste very good. I added sharp cheddar cheese to get that satisfying gooeyness, but since the bulk of the cheese is lowfat cottage, the calorie count is still fairly low. 

I only made the recipe for a half sandwich. It's pretty high in protein so a half sandwich is all you need for a snack. Just multiply the ingredients to accommodate the amount that you need. 

1 slice Ezekiel bread 

1/8 cup skim or lowfat cottage cheese

1/2 ounce extra sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Pinch of basil

Dash of salt 

1. Mix together basil, salt, and cottage cheese.

2. Brush the bread with olive oil, and sprinkle with a little bit of salt.

3. Cut the cheddar into a very thin slice. This way it will be spread out over the length of the bread. 

4. Spread cottage cheese over the cheddar. Put in the oven & broil a few minutes on each side.

Enjoy!

165 calories

17 g carbohydrate

3 g fiber

11 g protein

7 g fat

Results... and French Toast

I know it's been many a moon since I've blogged. Life has been crazy. I'd like to say that I've remained true to clean eating this entire time... But that wouldn't be the absolute truth. I would say for the most part I've been trying to eat as healthy as I can. Even doing clean eating 75% of the time! And the results are in. I'm down 11 more pounds :-) 

Here's my before & after shots. The right shows where I was several months ago, complete with muffin top, spare tire, and wearing a pair of pants that had a nice elastic band. On the left I'm wearing the same t-shirt, only this time I'm free of all muffins & tires. Also I'm wearing a pair of size 6 jeans! 

To celebrate I made myself a breakfast of low-fat cottage cheese and a piece of low cholesterol French toast with peaches. 

Low-fat cottage cheese is a great source of protein, and it has a lot less carbohydrate than milk. It's a good vegetarian option for someone looking to reduce cholesterol intake.

Single Serve Low Cholesterol French Toast 

1 slice Ezekiel bread

1 egg white

1/2 tsp pure vanilla

1/8 cup of plain soy milk (can use skim milk if preferred)

Extra virgin olive oil spray

1 tsp - 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Fresh fruit

Whisk together milk, egg white, & vanilla. 

Dredge the bread in the mixture. Let it sit a minute to soak it all up.

Put into a warm skillet over medium heat that has been sprayed with oil.

Since you're using egg whites instead of whole eggs they will brown to a lighter color & won't have that yellow tint you're used to from egg yolks.

I use a lot of vanilla because I love the flavor it makes with the maple syrup. You can always top with fruit - blueberries, strawberries, or peaches. I had a ripe peach so I used that. It tasted great with the syrup & vanilla.

Great way to celebrate reaching a goal.