Mini baked mostacolli

Sometimes its hard to lose weight when no one else in your family needs to.  I still get requests to make dishes that may not fit into my healthy eating plan.  One request I got from my oldest son for one of his favorites:  Baked Mostacolli!  Now, its not that I make it too unhealthy, sometimes I make my own sauce, or use a jar of sauce from the store and I may add ground beef, or sausage and I won’t skimp on the cheese.  The bad thing about making baked mosticolli is that its hard for me to stop at one serving!  So I got an idea, and decided to make my own mini baked mostacolli in an individual ramekin dish.  Here’s how I assembled mine: 

• 1 cup whole wheat rotini pasta
• 1/2 ounce mozzarella cheese
• 6 slices of pepperoni
• 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce

I placed the pasta in the bottom, added the sauce and stirred until all the noodles were coated with the sauce.  On top I placed the pepperoni (I only had regular pepperoni, or you could use Hormel Brand Turkey Pepperoni) and then the cheese.  I baked it for about 12 minutes at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  I said to myself, this is your serving, no going back to the other casserole dish I made for my family, and you know what?  It worked!  I ate mine, was completely satisfied and I knew exactly how many calories I consumed. 

• 350 calories
• 8 grams of fat
• 8 grams of fiber

If I had used the turkey pepperoni, I could have had 17 slices of pepperoni, instead of just 6!  Either way, it was a great meal!