What does 250 calories buy me?

It can buy you a lot! I had a pretty hefty lunch on Wednesday due to being at rehearsal for Lobgesang at Symphony Hall with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It’s always harder to balance your meals and calories when the food is provided for you and you don’t know what has gone into making it.  A lot of restaurants and chains are doing a really good job at making nutritional values available, but it’s still a struggle across the board. I ended up having some chips, sandwich and salad, but they were all full fat. If it were up to me I would have chosen lighter versions, but hey, a girl has to eat. So I made up for it by making a ridiculously health concious dinner. I went back through my files of Weight Watchers recipes that I saved and pulled out one of my favorite baked shrimp recipes that is full of flavor. I’ve been cutting out starches at dinner time so I replaced mashed potatoes with mashed butternut squash and it’s delicious!

One thing you’ll find about my personal recipes is that I don’t have measurements I go upon taste and add up the measurements later for caloric values. I am very generous with calorie free seasonings because I like things spicy and full of flavor. I put all of the ingredients and recipes in cooking order below. Start the squash off first as it takes the longest with the steaming and end with the green beans so they are hot and flavorful and not sitting around getting soggy while you wait for the other items to finish cooking.

LEMON GARLIC BAKED SHRIMP, MASHED BUTTERNUT SQUASH & GREEN BEANS

MASHED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

• 1 1/2 cup cubed raw butternut squash
• ground nutmeg
• calorie free butter spray (Olivia)

Steam 1 1/2 cup of butternut squash for roughly 10-15 minutes until tender. Test with a fork or knife. Once the squash is tender, remove from the heat and put into a bowl with a few sprays of Olivia calorie free butter spray and add nutmeg. I just eyeball this and feel free to add and taste so it gets to your liking. Mash it all together and serve like mashed potatoes.
BAKED SHRIMP IN LEMONY GARLIC SAUCE

• pre-cooked shrimp (20 medium)
• cooking spray
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (1 tbs
• calorie free butter spray (Olivia)
• 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
• 1/4 tsp red pepper
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1/2 tbsp shredded parmesan (fresh)

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Arrange shrimp in a single layer in a  baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine lemon juice and next 5 ingredients; pour over shrimp.

Bake at 425°F for 8 to 10 minutes or until shrimp are done. Sprinkle parsley and shredded parmesan over shrimp ; serve immediately.

GREEN BEANS

• 1/2 cup fresh haricort verts
• calorie free cooking spray
• dried onion
• garlic powder

Heat your pan with calorie free cooking spray, make a single layer of green beans and sprinkle with garlic powder. Once hot, add dried onion and toss. Once the green beans are to your liking (I like mine crisper with a slight burn on one side) remove from the heat and serve.

TOTAL CALORIES: 256 , 4g fat, 5.6g fiber, 30.2g carbs, 28.1g protein

Did you try this recipe? Comment on this post and let me know what you thought? THANKS!