An overdue holiday baking post (and an unofficial tribute to nutella)

I made a lot of baked goods toward the end of 2009 that were delicious and worthy of sharing (even though I'm a couple of months late!) The two that I'll feaure now had nutella on the ingredients list, which means I was SOLD as soon as I saw them in Cooking Light.

The only downfall was, while these recipes came from Cooking Light, I discovered they are not actually "light" by my own definitions, but really just an example of a "responsible portion" of a full-fat food. Some people would practice the "everything in moderation" mantra when eating sweets, but I just can't have a 1 inch square of baklava for 300 calories and call it a day....

Generally if I know I can't have just one of something, I try not to set myself up for disaster, but in this case, I did not follow my own advice. These recipes were pretty high calorie for the serving size, so, please know that while they were super delicious, these recipes are NOT your best bet for a conservative calroic alternative.

Chocolate Baklava from December 2009 issue Cooking Light

This baklava probably ranks among one of my favorite kinds of desserts, because it has all of my weaknesses. Delicious nuts like almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios that give it texture and crunch, with buttery flaky phyllo dough... and nutella!!!

As I mentioned, I have an unhealthy love for Nutella. Ben looked over into the kitchen at one point in my baking process, and saw me elbow-deep in nutella and gladfully licking it off of every finger. Not my finest moment...

The whole process was a little frustrating the day I made it. First off - the grocery stores in the area were working against me, and it took me forever to buy everything I needed. I even had to buy a glass baking dish, since Ben's apartment is not quite as stocked for baking as mine...

Then , of course we all know how difficult it can be to work with phyllo, but once I finally got everything assembled, I accidentally poured the honey solution over the dish BEFORE baking (what was I thinking?!!). Fortunately, the consistency was still spot on, except for pieces in the middle of the dish which were a little too gooey.

All in all, this recipe was completely delicious, but I'll have to wait awhile before making it again, since I'll be inclined to eat 1/3 of the pan in a sitting...


Yield: 24 servings (serving size: 1 piece = 238 calories)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
• 1 cup hazelnut-chocolate spread (such as Nutella)
• 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup roasted pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup blanched toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped (I subbed the walnuts, which I'm allergic to, for more almonds))
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray
• 24 (14 x 9–inch) sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Preparation

1. Combine the first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan over low heat; stir until honey dissolves. Increase heat to medium; cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 230° (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat; keep warm. Discard cinnamon stick.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. Place hazelnut-chocolate spread in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave at HIGH for 30 seconds or until melted. Combine hazelnuts and next 5 ingredients (through salt). Lightly coat a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Working with 1 phyllo sheet at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), place 1 phyllo sheet lengthwise in bottom of prepared pan, allowing ends of sheet to extend over edges of dish; lightly brush with butter. Repeat procedure with 5 phyllo sheets and butter. Drizzle about 1/3 cup melted hazelnut -chocolate spread over phyllo. Sprinkle evenly with one-third of nut mixture (about 1/2 cup). Repeat procedure twice with phyllo, butter, hazelnut-chocolate spread, and nut mixture. Top last layer of nut mixture with remaining 6 sheets phyllo, each lightly brushed with butter. Press gently into pan.
4. Make 3 lengthwise cuts and 5 crosswise cuts to form 24 portions using a sharp knife. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until phyllo is golden. Remove from oven. Drizzle honey mixture over baklava. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cover; store at room temperature.

Next up....

Chocolate-Hazelnut Thumbprints f rom December 2009 issue of Cooking Light

Truthfully, I was sick as a dog when I made these, but I was determined to do some holiday baking, and wanted to bring these for a Christmas party with close friends from college. They were a delight to make, although I found that this was a particularly cakey dough, so it wasn't as easy as I had thought to roll the cookies in chopped hazelnuts.

Aaaaand just like the baklava above, I truly could not resist snacking on the nutella straight from thejar, and sneaking bits of dough while I was cooking. So if I am being honest, this was really a healthy cooking FAIL.

Yield: 28 cookies (serving size: 1 cookie = 104 calories)

Ingredients

• 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
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• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup finely chopped hazelnuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup hazelnut-chocolate spread (such as Nutella)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, and salt; stir with a whisk. Place butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Stir egg yolks with a whisk, adding espresso, if desired. Add the yolk mixture and vanilla to butter; beat well. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; beat at low speed just until combined.
3. Turn dough out onto a sheet of wax paper; knead 6 times or until smooth and shiny. Shape dough into 28 (1-inch) balls. Roll sides of balls in nuts, pressing gently. Arrange balls 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Press thumb into center of each cookie, leaving an indentation. Bake, 1 batch at a time, at 350° for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks. Spoon a scant 1/2 teaspoon hazelnut-chocolate spread into center of each cookie.

Low Fat Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

I was excited to make these low fat chicken enchiladas that I had found through MyRecipes.com, since I'm always looking for guy-friendly meals.

These were a delicious change of pace, and about 8 Weight Watchers points a piece (454 calories). Both Ben and my roomate's boyfriend liked them a lot, which begs the question: if these pass the "not-so-diet-conscious-guy" taste test, why would you make them with full-fat ingredients?

(I also just noticed the Cooking Light picture has these in a green casserole dish as well!)

These call for normal flour tortillas (medium sized), but I was wondering how they would be with low-carb flour tortillas? Maybe it would compromise the taste. I may experiment at report back. Normally I'm a sucker for cutting out the calories of normal flour tortillas since they can be so "expensive" calorically.

A serving is one enchilada, and this makes 8. Here's the recipe from Cooking Light below. Enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas, Cooking Light May 2009

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
• 2 cups (8 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese
• 1 2/3 cups plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup (such as Healthy Request), undiluted
• 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• 8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) finely shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine first 9 ingredients in a large bowl. Remove 1 cup chicken mixture; set mixture aside.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working with 1 tortilla at a time, brush oil over both sides of tortilla. Add tortilla to pan; cook 5 seconds on each side or until toasted and soft. Remove from pan; arrange 1/2 cup chicken mixture down center of tortilla. Roll jelly-roll style; place filled tortilla, seam side down, in a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining 7 tortillas, remaining oil, and remaining chicken mixture. Spread reserved 1 cup chicken mixture evenly over enchiladas. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle evenly with cheddar cheese and green onions; bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 454

Fat: 20.3g (sat 10.4g,mono 6.7g,poly 1.5g)

Protein: 30.8g

Carbohydrate: 36.6g

Fiber: 2.2g

Cholesterol: 73mg

Iron: 2.3mg

Sodium: 757mg

Back in the Saddle Again...

It's time to dust off ye old blog. I can't believe it's been two months. (I'm sorry Lindsey and Erin! Healthie Foodie is back!)

I realized, when I started this blog I was at the peak of my diet and it was a great way to stay motivated. Also, at the time I lived alone and didn't have a lot going on... My roomie was already living in Atlanta, and I was only surrounded by friends who were also dieting. (It's pretty easy to stay on track when you're not tempted during the week, and to indulge, you and your friends make low fat brownies and eat sushi!)

I was living in a healthy (unrealistic) bubble world...

I've struggled a lot with temptation since moving to Atlanta: new restaurants to try, and more friends to go try them with. Most importantly, a certain food-devouring boyfriend that I love to cook for is also around more often now that I'm closer. Turns out I am not 6'4" and should probably not be eating the same quantities and snacks he does...

But despite some serious slip-ups, I have been doing a couple of things right:

• Cooking Light is still a great inspiration for finding a way to scratch the cooking itch, without quite as much guilt. This came in really handy when friends would want to cook out over the summer! Back in July, I went to my friend Libby's to grill with friends, and Ben and I brought our own scallops to grill along with this roasted red pepper butter sauce.. I'll have to write a separate post on this one! All in all, I think the scallops were around 2-3 weigh watchers points, so I was really proud.)

• I quickly bounced back from some bad eating habits in a new work environment by finding snacks that work for me. For me, new environments mean new urges to reach for food as a mental break. This meant I had to get very strategic about lunch packing again. I had to find foods that would keep me full, because Lord knows if I was the slightest bit hungry I would reach for something carb-loaded and covered in sugar. I'll be writing soon about my new snack favorites and old stand-by's that have been really helpful lately!

• Making time to work out (or trying to). Nothing will ever replace working out and burning calories. Nothing. Because about 50% of the time, I won't end up eating the way I should have that day, and burning what I eat is my only saving grace. That said, this has still been a struggle for me. Working late, being back around good friends and with Ben closer, it's hard to carve out the time. But I joined a gym, and I've been trying to find ways to go work out with people (Ben is always up for coming with me, and I'm finding more and more friends who are willing to go on a walk around the neighborhood to catch up instead of going to dinner or drinks.)

So, there's lots to catch up on. I'm sorry I haven't posted much (err... .at all), but I really have been cooking and trying to stay on track, so there's more to come, I promise!

Potato and Greens Torta from Cooking Light

I tried this recipe a while back, so it's really about time I posted it here for everyone else to enjoy. The April issue of Cooking Light where this little gem came from was filled with tons of great springtime recipes and ideas for having Easter brunch that just made me want to cook. I jotted down a lot of recipes from here that I want to come back and try, like Spring Asparagus Risotto, Goat Cheese Grits, and Linguine with Arugula Pesto, and if you remember the Italian tomato tart that I raved about came from this issue too. You won't quite have the springtime setting like the pictures in this issue, but I promise if you make it now, this torta will be just as tasty!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds small Yukon gold potatoes
• 3 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt, divided
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 cups torn romaine lettuce
• 2 cups packed fresh spinach leaves
• 2 cups packed arugula leaves
• 1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded fontina cheese
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Cooking spray
• 3 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Place potatoes and 1 tablespoon salt in a large saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes or until tender. Drain; cool slightly. Peel potatoes; discard peels. Press cooked potatoes through a ricer into a large bowl.
• Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in romaine, spinach, and arugula; cook 1 minute or until greens wilt, tossing frequently. Remove greens from pan; finely chopped
• Add greens, milk, fontina, eggs, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt to potatoes; stir well to combine. Coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray; dust with breadcrumbs. Add potato mixture to prepared dish. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Remove from oven; sprinkle with pecorino. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

This makes 6 servings, that are 4 weight watchers points each (214 calories / 9.1 grams fat / 3.2 grams fiber). Personally, I think I would divide the the dish into fourths, and make it roughly a 6-point meal instead, although this smaller portion could be great as a small meal / snack.

Here are a few things I noted / recommend:

• If you have a "ricer" at home, I salute you. I did not know what this was, but of course my mom knew and she said it wasn't a big deal to just find a way to grate up the potatoes myself. It turns out it looks kinda like a big garlic press. If you want one, check out this one from OXO on Amazon. I have yet to personally invest the money in one, because while it took some serious elbow grease, a good-sized cheese grater ended up doing the trick for getting the potatoes to the right consistency. Also, let's be honest - there's not much keeping you from slicing up the potatoes to make it more like a gratin and it will be just as delicious! Or how about whipping the potatoes... a little shepherd's pie twist? I'll let you be the judge.
  
• Personally, I think I would divide the the dish into fourths, and make it roughly a 6-point meal instead, although this smaller portion could be great as a small meal / snack.
• I loved the greens in it, but I noticed that the bagged romaine lettuce I used had some "stalky" pieces that messed up the texture for me. I think I will use a less crisp alternative, like a spring mix, a bibb lettuce, or more of the spinach and arugula the next time I make it. Also, I used a pair of vegetable / herb scissors to chop up the greens and it made it a lot easier!
  
• Don't skimp on the 2% milk, the folks at Cooking Light seem to know what they're doing. So, while I am usually tempted to shave off calories and fat with items like skim milk, I trust that they put the 2% in for a reason, and that the original recipe will end up being more satisfying if I just leave it alone!
  

Happy Belated Cinco de Mayo!

I was craving Mexican food when I came home from work on Friday (perhaps as a belated Cinco de Mayo craving), and decided to whip up a variation of those goat cheese and roasted corn quesadillas from the March 2009 Cooking Light.

I mentioned these quesadillas briefly in my other post because they were delicious, and have inspired me to looks at quesadillas in a new (healthier) way using smaller corn tortillas and goat cheese. I used the Cooking Light recipe, but added some black beans I had left over from another recipe. After roasting the corn in the pan, I removed it from the heat and added the beans till they just warmed through before setting the mixture aside to add to my quesadillas.

I quickly found that roasted corn is DELICIOUS with black beans as a side and nothing but a little salt. I munched on this in a bowl for a while until my quesadilla was done!

My Not-So-Cinco de Mayo celebration was a total success: a roasted corn and black bean quesadilla, with a dab of light sour cream and salsa verde on the side (oh and another helping of the leftover corn and beans!). It was a totally satisfying meal. The quesadilla was about 4-5 WW points, and another 4 points came from the additional corn and beans....

When was the last time you had a super filling mexi-feast for about 8 points? I'm still craving the corn and bean mixture, and plan to make it again to take to work as a small meal.

Italian Tomato Tart

This recipe is divine. I just got done eating a piece of this for dinner, and it was so mouth-watering to me that I had to start writing this post just to keep myself from going back for seconds... or thirds.... Clearly I'm excited about this, and if you love quiche or a good Tortilla Española, you'll love this Italian Tomato Tart from the April 2009 issue of Cooking Light

What makes this recipe both incredibly healthy - and tasty - is the crust. Unlike a normal buttery crust in a traditional quiche, the brilliant folks at Cooking Light suggest a crust using a mixture of brown rice (that's right), pesto, parmesan, and egg. The pesto in the crust adds an incredible amount of f lavor, too.

What I appreciate the most about this recipe is that a serving is ONE FOURTH of the pie plate. That is so refreshing... Afterall, if it's going to be my dinner, I'd like more than 3 bites, right? And this generous portion is 6 Weight Watchers points (279 calories / 13.9 g. fat / 1.8 g. fiber).

The issue of Cooking Light that I got this from had a lot of great quiche-like recipes, including a potato and greens torta that I'll be posting about soon. It was another favorite that I would recommend to anyone!

Italian Tomato Tart from Cooking Light

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen long-grain brown rice (such as Birds Eye Steamfresh - I actually couldn't find frozen broaw rice that day, and just roughly measured out 10 oz. of minute rice and prepared it according to the box.)
• 2 tablespoons commercial pesto
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1 large egg
• Cooking spray

Filling:

• 1/2 cup fat-free milk
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of ground red pepper
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1 ounce prosciutto, cut into thin strips (about 1/4 cup - you can get it siced and pre-packaged at Trader Joe's, or really any grocery store. I found it at Harris Teater by the deli counter)
• 3 small plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare crust, cook the brown rice according to package directions. Combine cooked rice, pesto, Parmesan cheese, and 1 egg; firmly press mixture into the bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. Remove dish from oven.
3. Increase oven temperature to 400°.
4. To prepare filling, combine milk and next 5 ingredients (through 1 egg) in a bowl; stir with a whisk.
5. Sprinkle half of mozzarella and half of prosciutto into bottom of prepared crust. Top with half of tomato slices. Repeat procedure with remaining mozzarella, prosciutto, and tomatoes. Pour milk mixture over tomatoes; bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325° (do not remove tart from oven); bake an additional 35 minutes or until set. Cool 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with basil. Cut into wedges.

The finished product...

Time to catch up on all of my cooking...

Ok, so I have a lot to post, and I've done a terrible job of updating. BUT... here is my defense:

Boyfriend was in town for a week, my aunt passed away, business trip, and lastly, the boyfriend came back into town for my birthday: an event that was the culmination of a series of bad eating habits that left me uninspired for "healthie" posts. Including a friend's birthday, which FORCED me to be a not-so-healthie-foodie by making three different kinds of cupcakes with 5 different kinds of buttercream frosting. Alright, well no one really twisted my arm, but they were delicious. Let's all take a moment to reflect on those:

Yellow cake with chocolate frosting, chocolate cake with coconut cream, yellow cake with mint chocolate frosting.... yum. And not Weight Watchers friendly in the least! (I got these buttercream recipes out of the March 2009 Southern Living: start with the vanilla buttercream and add variations from there!)

Anyway, I can honestly say I've done a lot of cooking lately and I can't wait to ell everyone about some great recipes. I think I've actually been doing so much cooking in fact, that I hadn' been taking the time to actually crank out the posts.. So, bare with me while I catch up and post about these individually, but here are a few posts you can look forward too:

1. Rachel Ray's Honey Lime Salmon with Warm Corn and Black Bean Salad
2. How I used the left over corn and black bean mixture as a filler for some yummy veggie quesadillas with corn tortillas and goat cheese (4 or 5 weight watchers points, but sooo delish)
   
3. Butterschotch bars out of Cooking Light - 140 calories a piece, but I'll tell you why they're not worth it to me.
4. A potato and greens torta that was delicious. If you love quiche, you'll want this all the time. (from Cooking Light, naturally.)
   
5. Variations on a tangy strawberry salad with farmer's cheese from Southern Living.
6. Prosciutto and melon salad with canteloupe vinaigrette (I actually busted out the food processor at 10:30 one night to make this. I don't know.)
7. Some not particularly healthy pasta courtesy of Giada de Laurentis that I made for the boyfriend. It did have spinach in it though, so maybe I get some points for nutrients?
8. My new favorite fruit salad and snack: pears, strawberries and blackberries - and it's so pretty too!
9. Totally satisfying strawberry shortcake that's only 3 Weight Watchers points per serving. Screw the butterschotch bars...
   
10. Italian Tomato Tart from Cooking Light (I read a lot of Southern Living and Cooking Light while on the road last month...) but again - this rocks if you love quiche or a good tortilla espanola.
    
11. How I recreated a delicious Hoppin John that I had at Restaurant 3 last weekend in Clarendon.
    
12. Some general thoughts and tips on snacking; a few pitfalls I'm learning to avoid.
    
13. Oh and speaking of pitfalls, some thoughts on the day to end all diets: a terrifying confrontation with so many birthday treats in a short period of time, that I was positive I would go into a diabetic coma. Turns out I was fine, I just gained a pound or two...

So that's it - lots of good recipes to come, guys! Sorry it's taken so long to get back on the bandwagon....

My Variations For a Receipe from Cooking Light

I've mentioned that I adore Cooking Light - especially after my beloved roommate gave me a subscription for Christmas. It's more stimulating than a cookbook, and they give you the nutrition facts at the end of each recipe so you can easily work them in to any diet plan.

In this month's issue, they have a recipe for seared scallops over spinach with canellini beans. I wanted to try this recipe because I love wilted spinach, and scallops are ridiculously healthy for you. 2 oz of scallops (either 10 small or 4 large) are only 1 Weigh Watchers point. So here's the original (which I plan to make when my boyfriend comes to town in a week), but I've followed the recipe up with a few, lower-maintenance ideas for using the same ingredients that you might have on had.

The Original: Seared Scallops with Warm Tucan Beans

I think this recipe looks amazing, and quickly earmarked the page I saw it on when I got my March 2009 issue of Cooking Light. I liked that you add beans to the wilted spinach, and the delicious broth you make to simmer the beans in with onion and garlic. They also give a great suggestion for making some grilled bread to soak up all the extra liquid too!

I had gotten home on time from work one day and was ready to try the recipe just for fun; I even had all of the ingredients, including the scallops which I had bought frozen from Trader Joes. After realizing that it takes a LONG time to thaw scallops (apparently you can't just defrost them in the microwave... what do I know about scallops?), I decided to go ahead and make the rest of the dish leaving out the scallops, and saving them for another time.

(Photo from Cooking Light)

An Easier Twist: Simple side dish of spinach and white beans Yeah, so this "low maintenance" twist is now not near as exciting I know, but the spinach and beans... ahem.... warm Tuscan beans... were still delish, and I love veggie dishes that I can bring towork as a low-calorie snack during the day. You can definitely taste the white wine in the broth, but it's a refreshing flavor to cut the taste of the spinach on it's own. Without the flavor of the scallops in this solo act, you might want to kick up the amount of garlic. Plus, I just love garlic.

Wilting the spinach.....

Fabulous photography I know. Fortunately my stove top is the only place with good lighting in my entire apartment. Please don't compare my photos to the beautiful one from Cooking Light above.

Using Leftovers: Pasta with spinach, beans, mushrooms and feta
I was craving pasta one night (shocker) and since I had some of the spinach mixture leftover, I thought it would be great over linguine, particularly since the mixture still had a lot of liquid to it. I also had some mushrooms in the the fridge that, admittedly I just threw in because I needed to use them before they went bad. It was easy enough to saute the mushrooms with a little bit of low-fat butter while I boiled the pasta.


I reheated the spinach leftovers in the microwave, and added it to the drained pasta and stirred in the mushrooms. I also had some crumbled fat-free feta on hand and tossed it in for a different flavor and for a little protein.

Overall I was pretty pleased with my impromptu dish! It was pretty tasty, and he beans and veggies added more to the bowl without increasing the amount of pasta. Also, I was proud I could take advantage of what was in the fridge last minute. This recessionista is trying not to waste food, ya know.The only tweak I would make for next time would be to ease up on the amount of mushrooms - I put it a pretty big carton since I was trying to use them all up, which was robably overkill.