Low Cal Dining Out: Panera Bread You Pick Two Combos

I am starting a series of posts detailing low calorie options at some of my favorite spots. I am kicking off with Panera Bread which has a surprising plethora of low-calorie options, starting with their 80-calorie All Natural Low Fat Chicken Noodle or 100-calorie Low-Fat Garden Vegetable with Pesto soups! Flavorful and a perfect side dish to any lunch, choose these low-calorie soups as one of your options in their You Pick Two combos.

Add one of their half-salads (Asian Sesame Chicken salad at 210 calories, Caesar salad at 160 calories, Classic salad at 80 calories, plus any dressing) to complete your low-calorie yet filling lunch. You can also choose a half sandwich: Smoked Turkey Breast on Country (220 Calories), Tuna Salad on Honey Wheat (260 Calories).

If you are there for breakfast, try any of their Power Menu items starting from 170 calories for their Power Breakfast Egg White Bowl with Roasted Turkey.

Low Cal Drive Thru: Del Taco Mini Quesadilla

At only 140 calories per quesadilla, this is a low calorie drive thru option I can happily choose when I have that melted cheese craving. Del Taco's Mini Quesadilla is just the right size to feed a craving!

Now, this is still a quesadilla so expect sodium and saturated fat to still be a problem, but on those late nights, this beats the regular quesadilla which comes in at 460 calories.

Tested Low-Calorie Recipe: Nutella Caramel Sea Salt Clusters

You know what the best thing since sliced bread is? NUTELLA! It is the most amazing mix of buttery, nutty, and chocolate-y flavor and I can eat it on anything. Unfortunately, it's not exactly the lowest calorie toast-topper. So when I can find a way to make it into a low-calorie recipe, I JUMP at the chance. So here we go . . .

I present to you, low-calorie Nutella Caramel Sea Salt Clusters!!! Doesn't the name just scream deliciousness?! I could not believe that when I calculated out the recipe, it comes out to only 91 calories per cluster. I cannot wait to hear what you all think when you try this recipe!

The original recipe, which you can find here is pretty awesome, but when I went to make it, I realized I had no peanut butter in the house. Well, guess what has the same number of calories per tablespoon as peanut butter? NUTELLA! So once again, my limited pantry led to an incredible flavor combination that I hope you enjoy as much as I do.



Low Cal So Cal's Nutella Caramel Sea Salt Clusters

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk
1/2 cup Nutella
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups oats, either quick-cooking or old fashioned

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pour the white sugar, brown sugar, butter and evaporated milk in a saucepan.

2. Cook the mixture on medium-high heat, stirring constantly (especially the butter), until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute.

3. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the Nutella, vanilla and oats. Stir well until evenly mixed and all the oats are covered in the Nutella & caramel sauce.

4. Working quickly, drop the oat mixture by teaspoons-full onto waxed paper (do not use an ice cream scooper, it is too big since the mixture is extremely rich in flavor). Sprinkle sea salt as desired.

5. Cool completely. This recipe makes about 48 clusters. Refrigerate the ones you don't eat immediately. Bon apetit!

NUTRITIONAL INFO (per serving, recipe makes 48 clusters):

Calories: 91
Carbs: 15 g
Fat: 3 g
Protein: 1 g

What is your favorite Nutella recipe?

Tested Low-Calorie Recipe: Honey Sesame Chicken

I came across this post on Pinterest a long time ago and finally had a chance to try it. Unfortunately, I was running late today so I decided that I had to tweak the recipe a little so that it could be done quickly, rather than as a slow-cooker dish. Turns out, this was another example where finding a solution to a problem actually produced better results in the end!

I realized that following the recipe exactly when I planned to stir-fry the chicken actually produced WAY TOO MUCH SAUCE! See picture below:



As you can see, the chicken was basically SWIMMING in sauce. Here is what I scooped out that was excess sauce which filled an entire large bowl:

The good news was this meant I could make a ton more chicken with the same recipe and serve a bunch more people, thus making the recipe a LOT fewer in calories than the original. Below is the recipe I would use if I did it again.



Low Cal So Cal's Honey Sesame Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup honey
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp sesame seeds (or as desired)
1/4 cup water

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium sized bowl combine ketchup, honey, soy sauce, vegetable oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.

2. Cut chicken breast into 1-1.5 inch cubes.

3. Add chicken breast pieces to bowl with marinade and mix together. Refrigerate marinated chicken for at least an hour.

4. Using a slotted spoon, remove and place chicken with as little sauce as possible into a pot or a deep sauce pan (leave room to pour the sauce back into this pot or pan). On medium heat, cook chicken all the way through.

5. Pour the marinade into a separate pot. In a small bowl, mix corn starch and water. Add the corn starch mixture to the pot with the marinade. Heat on high until the sauce reaches a desired consistency. Add more corn starch if necessary.

6. Once chicken is cooked, pour sauce over the chicken. Simmer the chicken in the sauce on medium-low for five minutes. Then sprinkle sesame seeds on the chicken and serve over rice or vegetables! Bon apetit!

NUTRITIONAL INFO (per serving, recipe makes enough chicken for 6 people):

Calories: 390
Carbs: 51 g
Fat: 8 g
Protein: 31 g

I would love to hear how it turns out for you!

Switch It Up: Corner Bakery Pasta vs. Sandwich

I went to lunch with my cousins today to Corner Bakery and I was about to order my usual Chicken Pesto sandwich which is a hearty 680 calories, but only 340 if you eat half that and you can add a low-calorie side dish like a salad. The line was particularly long so I decided to peruse the rest of the menu. I went to the pasta section and of course most of it was 1,000 calories PLUS for an entree, until my eyes landed on the new menu item, the Cavatappi with Marinara.


At only 460 calories for the ENTREE size, I was shocked that it was fewer calories than a full Chicken Pesto sandwich. I guess my thought was cheese PLUS carbs = calorie overload. I happily decided to try this pasta dish. It was hearty, filling and hit the spot. If I wasn't so hungry, I could have probably gone for the cafe sized for fewer calories, but I decided to indulge a little. The garlic bread was an additional 110 calories, but it was worth it :)

Try this out and let me know what you think!

Low Cal Drive Thru: Krispy Kreme Mini Original Glazed Donuts

OMG! Krispy Kreme makes a 90-calorie donut!!!!!

Sorry, maybe I should start from the beginning. I have been having this unbelievable craving for donuts since, well, ever, and I just could not take it anymore. A few days ago, I decided I was going to splurge and go over my calories just so I could have a donut. I went to Ralph's and thought, a donut here must be lower in calories than Krispy Kreme. NOPE! To my disappointment, that little splurge cost me 310 calories! Compare that to the 190 in Krispy Kreme's Original Glazed.

So tonight when I was late at the office and the craving was overpowering me, I decided I had to go to Krispy Kreme for a donut fix. As I scanned the menu, I saw the light, errr, the light behind the sign advertising their MINI donuts! Whoop! I wasn't hungry for food, since I just had dinner, I just needed a donut fix, so this was PERFECT. I was sure it would be less than the 190, but didn't compute that since it was so little, it would be only 90 calories. Triple win!

After a bit of Googling, it seems this has been around for 3 years. Why has nobody told me?! Oh well, probably wouldn't have cared 3 years ago when I wasn't on this low-calorie adventure :)

Now, I would never recommend this as a healthy option AT ALL. It is still a splurge because of all the sugar, and half the calories is pure fat, BUT if you are like me and just cannot take it anymore, this is a great craving fixer. Also, FYI, the mini chocolate iced glazed is 110 calories, and the mini chocolate iced with sprinkles is 130 calories.

What's your favorite Krispy Kreme flavor?

Tested Low-Calorie Recipe: Shrimp & Mango Salad

I needed to quickly put together dinner, so I had to make do with what I had in my refrigerator. I knew I wanted something with shrimp and I'd eaten a mango for lunch, so from there I was able to find a Mango and Shrimp Salad recipe.

I was missing a few ingredients, the dressing didn't taste right and I tried the lettuce cups, which was too messy. Below is my revised recipe and customized for a very large dinner serving (351 calories) that can easily be shared for two (176 calories each). Try it and let me know what you think!

Low Cal So Cal's Shrimp & Mango Salad

INGREDIENTS:

10 jumbo shrimp (about 1/3 to 1/2 pound)
1 medium-sized mango (about 1 cup cubed)
1/2 cup diced tomatoes (about 3 diced strawberry tomatoes)
2 cups of your favorite lettuce (romaine, green leaf or spinach work best)
1 cup water
OPTIONAL: 1 teaspoon of lemon or lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon of salt

For dressing:
1 teaspoon of chili sauce
    I used Srirachi Hot Chili Sauce
3 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a sauce pan, pour one cup of water and turn heat to high. Bring the one cup of water to a boil. Sprinkle in 1/4 teaspoon of salt and add a teaspoon of lemon or lime juice if you want a more flavorful shrimp.

2. Add your uncooked shrimp to the boiling water. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer 3 minutes or until the shrimp are done.

3. Drain shrimp. Set shrimp aside to cool. At this point, you may want to dice your tomatoes and cube your mango. Once shrimp are cooled, peel, de-vein, and remove tails.

4. Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl and stir until evenly mixed. Add salt, chili sauce or sugar to taste.

5. In a salad bowl, place shrimp, mango and tomatoes. Cover them with the mixed dressing and toss until they are evenly coated.

6. Add lettuce and toss until ingredients are well-mixed. Divide into two plates or enjoy the entire salad yourself! Bon apetit!

NUTRITIONAL INFO (per serving, recipe makes 2):

Calories: 176
Carbs: 34 g
Fat: 8 g
Protein: 9 g

This recipe has a nice kick to it, so be prepared for a spicy heat in the aftertaste. However, it is perfect if you like a little sweet and spicy (it's the new salty & sweet!). I think next time I may try it with avocado and maybe less sesame oil.

What's your favorite shrimp recipe?