Dr Oz, Manicotti Makeover Recipe, Low Calorie

Dr Oz Manicotti Makover - Less Than Half The Calories As Traditional Versions!

Oh, Italian food is my weakness, and Manicotti just may be my favorite Italian dish!  My problem with Italian food is that my pants always become too tight a day or two after eating Italian.   Too many carbs?  Do I get bloated?  Probably a little bit of both I reckon.  Listed below is the Manicotti Makeover recipe that was shared on Dr Oz.

Check this out...  A TRADITIONAL Manicotti recipe contains 904 calories!  No wonder, why my pants always felt tighter a day or two after Manicotti (or Italian food in general).  Heck, I probably always had two servings worth too, so would that up that number to around 1,800? Whoa!  Well, this recipe shared by Lynette on today's Dr Oz only has 404 calories!  Huge difference.  Lynette said that one of her secrets to this recipe is swapping in traditional pasta for whole grain pasta.  Also check out the calorie cutting lean bean enchilada recipe, and the calorie cutting chicken fried steak recipe shared on the same Dr Oz episode.

Manicotti Makeover Recipe Share by Lynette on the Dr Oz Show

Ingredients :

15 oz part-skim ricotta
4 oz part-skim mozzarella
1 egg
3 Tbsp parmesan
6 oz low-fat Greek yogurt (gives creamy texture for less calories and fat)
½ tsp black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder ( I may up this ratio a bit because I love garlic!!)
½ C Italian parsley
2 red peppers
2 zucchini
1 large eggplant
1 C chopped spinach

Manicotti Preparation and Directions

Combine Greek yogurt and part skim Mozzarella cheese.
Combine rest of the ingredients
Roll and fill the noodles
Use whole wheat lasagna noodles rather than traditional pasta noodles
Put filling into a plastic bag and squeeze the cheese mixture into the whole wheat lasagna noodles
Roll up the whole wheat lasagna noodles and place into a baking dish
Add jar sauce to top

I am really looking forward to trying this recipe.  To think that I can enjoy Manicotti with less than half the calories of traditional recipes really has me excited.  Here I was beginning to think that I was going to have to ban all Italian food out of my life before I blew up like a blimp and floated away!  Not to mention I can't afford to by a whole new wardrobe of clothes.  I have plenty of clothes in my wardrobe that I can fit into if I lose weight!  It would be like a getting brand new clothes actually since it has been so long since I have fit into them!