Chicken Tortilla Soup

Wow! It's been awhile since I last posted on here! It has been a whirlwind of a month and we haven't really been cooking much blog-worthy meals. I am excited that with the WC Nestie Recipe exchange and being a new member of Daring Bakers, it will pick up more! I am also sad to report that my camera has been on the fritzo lately. For some reason it thinks it needs NEW batteries every single time I use it. Because of this, I do not have pics for several of the recipes I am going to post tonight. No worries though! I will be making these recipes again and uploading photos as soon as I can. This soup is delicious and easy. I have never had much luck with soups....they either turn out too thick, too thin or just no flavor. This was not the case with the Chicken Tortilla Soup from the Buon Appetito blog that I visit.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
(source: Buon Appetito)

Ingredients

2 skinned and boneless chicken breasts, cubed
1 10 oz package frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 14 oz cans chicken broth
1 10 ½ oz can tomato puree
1 10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chiles
¾ tsp salt
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 bay leaf

Directions
Combine all in crockpot. Cover and cook on High 6 hours. Remove and discard bay leaf.
Serve with sour cream, tortilla chips and garnish with fresh cilantro.


This averaged out to about 3 points per good sized bowl (about a cup and a half).

Skinny Chimis

Another great creation from Take Out Tonight! :o) We both liked this recipe, me more so than my husband but I think that with a little extra spice, it would be perfect! Spraying the tortillas with a little Pam made them perfectly crunchy, it was just as if we fried them. Definitely give this one a try if you are looking for a POINT friendly Mexican dish, just add a little more spice to it (chili powder or green chiles). My changes in listed in green.



Skinny Chimis
(source: Take Out Tonight)

1/2 lb lean ground turkey I used 1lb of lean ground beef
2 tbsp diced green chiles I'd add a little more
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder I would add a little more
8 oz tomato sauce
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup low fat cheddar cheese I used Mexican blend
1 garlic clove, minced
4 fat free tortillas
Pam

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook turkey (or hamburger) in skillet that is lightly sprayed with Pam. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, chiles, tomato sauce and oregano and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens a bit.

On a Pam sprayed cookie sheet, fill each tortilla with a good scoop of goo (I had extra since I used extra meat but try to keep it as even as possible). Roll the tortilla up, pushing in the sides then rolling it. They will be thick and that is ok! Spray the tops of the tortillas so they glisten and bake about 20 minutes or until crisp.

These will be like little saunas inside, very very HOT! They are oh so good though! I served this with fat free refried beans topped with a little cheese. So tastey!

POINTS for Original Recipe with Turkey: 4 POINTS per Chimi
POINTS for My Recipe: 6 POINTS per Chimi

Taco Dip = Lotsa Happy People

My mom used to be the salad department manager at a fancy local restauarnt. It was connected to a Holiday Inn and she would design all salads and dips for the restaurant and hotel catering parties. Once she left the restaurant, she took a lot of what she made at the restaurant with her. Luckily one of these dips is the Taco Dip. I know this is no secret recipe, as I have heard others talk about it before on the WC board. However, only my mom would worry about having the right amount of different colors on the dip! I was told I needed a little red, green, orange and black and in a certain order of course! She cracks me up but she does make a great presentation (so good in fact that she did the food for our wedding). This Taco Dip is a favorite among my ILs. They had never seen or heard of this dip before I arrived at their family Christmas eight long years ago (god, was it really that long ago!). This is requested every year and every year my mom calls to make sure I "have enough color" on my dip.

This year, I made it more WW friendly, which was easy to do with this dip! I used FF sour cream, FF refried beans, FF cheddar cheese and low sodium taco seasoning. I was skeptical at first when my mom let me know what I could substitute (she made the same thing for a dinner party last weekend with these substitutions) but I of course listened to my catering knowledge of a mother and made it using all fat free ingredients. You could of course make it with all regular ingredients, no fat free, as I have in the past.



Taco Dip
(Source: My Mama)

2 cans fat free refried beans (the small cans)
8 oz fat free sour cream
1/2 packet of taco seasoning
fat free cheddar cheese, diced scallions, sliced black olives, seeded/diced tomatoes to garnish with

Spread beans in an 8x8 dish. I always use one of those metal disposable pans so I can just toss it when we go to a party.
Mix the taco seasoning with the sour cream. You may use more or less taco seasoning depending on your tastes. Add a little at a time because it's hard to take out too much seasoning than needing to add more. Trust me, I know this from experience. If your sour cream is bright orange, it has too much taco seasoning in your sour cream and your guests will need some water!! :o) Spread the sour cream over the beans.


Here are the steps my mom stresses for garnishing:
sprinkle cheese over the dip mixture
sprinkle drained black olives next
sprinkle diced tomatoes over next (de seed them so they don't make the dip soggy)
diced scallions last



Of course I won't tell if you go out of order or gasp! add more toppings or decide you don't want to use all of these garnishes. LOL! :o) My mom just really cares abouthow people receive her dishes, and I think that is great! I hope that I make her proud most of the time (please don't tell her I posted pics with paper plates though! LOL!)

I serve this with Tostitos scoops but I also bring celery and carrots too. That keeps points down and gives me my "crunch."

Serving size: a good scoop!
Points Per Serving: 1-2 POINTS per scoop (depending on scoop size of course)

Don't forget to add points for tositos (try baked!)


Oh and while I am thinking about my mom and her food style, here are some pics from our wedding. This is our food table that my mom put together. We loved it! It was perfect.

Here are our salads, watermelon/fruit basket and note the taco dip? :o)

Here is the cheese and meat tray.

Sugar Cookies!!!

Sugar Cookies from the BHG cookbook (the Betty Book as my mom has always called it) is a definite Christmas tradition we've done for as long as I can remember. My dad would make the dough for my mom and I to bake while he worked nights as a restaurant manager. My mom and I would then choose the colors to the frosting carefully (one of them was always the favorite color of the year. You should have seen my mom trying so hard to make the correct shade of purple!). We then would carefully decorate the first 10 or so. Making the snowman have tophats, buttons, and a scarf. It was after the 10th cookie or so that my mom and I would get tired of decorating and the glopping would begin. We didn't make them look trashy, but instead just wouldn't decorate with such detail as the first 10. After decorating, I would always choose one of those fancy 10 to leave out for my dad to eat when he got home from work and of course Santa's cookies were also carefully selected. Sugar cookies definitely played a big part of my Christmas' growing up. I have tried to pass this tradition of sugar cookie baking down to my husband but he gets bored quickly. I hope to keep the tradition going when we have kids of our own too. While these aren't the best pictures, my fancy 10 are in the tin somewhere! Enjoy and I hope you all have fun with your holiday traditions too!

**I should mention that I always make a double or triple batch of this dough. I makes about 50 cookies with my favorite cookie cutters. The recipe below is the non-doubled recipe. The recipe below is the original, my WW modifications are in italics. You would never know I subbed anything, they are just as buttery and perfect as they always have been, even with eggbeaters and light butter!**



Sugar Cookies
(Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup butter, softened I used light butter
  
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Dash salt
• 1 egg I used 1/4 cup eggbeaters
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon skim milk

1. Beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping bowl. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill dough for 3 hours or until easy to handle. I always chill overnight.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll half at a time to 1/8 inch thickness. Keep the remaining dough in the fridge until you are ready for it. Using a 2-1/2 inch cookie or biscuit cutter, cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree F oven 7 to 8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool on a rack. Makes about 36 cookies.

POINTS per Cookie: 2, 3 with frosting (recipe below)

Now we always make chocolate frosting, just the frosting that is on the back of the Hershey cocoa can. It's delicious, but this year I had no cocoa for the frosting, so it was just plain frosting for us this year. The frosting we always make I think is from the powdered sugar container. It's very simple.

2-3 tbsp butter (go by taste, I always use 3 tbsp)

2-3 cups powdered sugar

a couple tsp milk to add moisture to frosting.

2 tsp vanilla

Beat butter (must be very soft) and vanilla with a mixer. Add powdered sugar and then add milk. Go by what the frosting looks like, it's easy to add more milk, not so easy to take it out. I divide this frosting up into 3 bowls and add food coloring to the desired color. This does add more liquid to your frosting, so you may need to add a little more powdered sugar to thicken it up but try not to add too much or your frosting tastes like pure sugar which is not so good. Trust me, I have done this many times! LOL!

A Christmas Classic...Peanut Butter Blossoms

I seem to only make these at Christmas time and I haven't a clue why! I should make these more often but then I suppose they wouldn't be so special.....right? My husband loves these cookies and he gets so excited when he sees me unwrapping the bag of kisses. I do this instead of buying the pre-unwrapped ones because I am cheap. :o) Today though I got busy in the kitchen before Peter crawled out of bed so he wasn't able to get excited with the unwrapping of the kisses, instead he was greeted with fresh from the oven cookies! What a great breakfast! I did alter the recipe to fit our needs (ie: more WW friendly).




Peanut Butter Blossoms
(Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup eggbeaters
• 2 tablespoons skim milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Milk chocolate kisses or stars

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl beat shortening and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour.

2. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in the 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate kiss into each cookie's center. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Makes 54.

3. To store: Place in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

POINTS Per Cookie: 2 POINTS

Monster Bars Times 2

I have made Monster bars two times since last Sunday. They were a hit at one family's Christmas and so I made them again for my IL's Christmas. I made them exactly the same except I had a little white chocolate chips left over from something else and so I through them in too. I figured these to be about 4 POINTS each, but they maybe a little more/little less depending on the size and what all you throw in there. These are wonderful!




MONSTER Bars!
(source: WW Magazine December 2007)

2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
5 tbsp light butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup M&Ms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 pan. Combine oats, flour, baking powder in medium bowl and set aside. Beat butter and sugar in with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg white, vanilla and beat until well blended. Add the peanut butter and beat for about 1 minute. Mix in the oat mixture on low until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and M&Ms until mixed throughout.

Spread into pan. Bake until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Cool completely, cut into 24 bars.

POINTS per Bar: 4

Allota Noodles - Lasagna!

Ok, so maybe not so much a WW friendly meal, but I figured the points anyway...It wasn't too bad since I used lowfat/fat free ingredients. We haven't made this forever, and with it so yucky out, it really sounded good! The whole house smelled like an Italian restuarant! And yes, in case you haven't noticed, we are a proud user of paper plates for most nights. Sometimes when there aren't a lot of dishes for supper, I break out the real plates...sometimes!



Lasanga
(source: Barilla Noodles Package)

1 box no boil lasagna noodles
1 lb lean hamburger
1/2 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz crushed tomatoes, with 2 tsp basil mixed in
12 oz 1% cottage cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 cups fat free mozzarella

Preheat oven to 375. Brown hamburger, onions and garlic. Drain. Mix cottage cheese, parm cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese and eggs in a small bowl. Spoon in 1 cup tomatoes in bottom of 13x9 dish. Layer as followed:

4 noodles, 1/3 of cheese mixture, 1/2 meat mixure, 1 cup sauce
4 noodles, 1/3 cheese mixture, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, 1 cup sauce
4 noodles, 1/2 meat mixture, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
4 noodles, rest of xheese mixture, 1 cup sauce, remaining mozzarella cheese (spray with PAM to melt FF cheese)

Bake, covered tightly with foil for 55-60 minutes. Uncover and cook 5 more minutes to melt/brown cheese. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.

POINTS per serving (serves 8): 9

A Taste of Home for Hubby

My MIL didn't cook much when my husband was young. He grew up on canned soups, stews, veggies, TV dinners and KFC. A lot of KFC, oh, and Taco John's six pack and a pound. When there was a home cooked meal (excluding holidays), it was actually made by his father. I honestly cannot picture Andy cooking, let alone it being edible, but apparently he did!

Andy's (my FIL) family is from Poland. My husband actually addressed his grandma as Bobsha, which he *thinks* means grandma in Polish. My FIL and his mother would converse in Polish when together and although my husband knows no Polish what-so-ever, he does remember the stew my FIL used to cook. Well, finally my MIL gave us the recipe and so we made it together over the weekend.

It was acutally a lot of fun. My husband peeled the potatoes and carrots while I diced everything. He stirred while I added ingredients. He dried the dishes after I washed them. It was very nice. We haven't worked together in the kitchen for a long time. I hope this is a tradition with this soup we can keep. It was delicious! I wasn't too worried about points for this but when I figured this, it wasn't too bad. Definitely not an every week item but it was very tasty!




Polish Stew
(source: MIL)

1 lb Beef Polish sausage, sliced and boiled before adding to stew
2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups celery, diced
3 cups potatoes, diced
2 cups carrots, diced
1/2 tsp thyme
dash of salt
2 tbsp vinegar
5 cubes beef bouillon
5 cups water
4 cups shredded cabbage

Boil sliced sausage in about 3 inches boiling water for about 10-13 minutes. In large stockpot, melt butter over low heat. Add sausage, onions and celery and simmer until onions are clear, stirring occaisionally.

Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots and potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

The recipe states it serves up to 12, but we have appetites so we figured it to be 8 servings.

POINTS per serving: 8

A Little Treat for Me!

Let Peter have his delicious white cake and brownies, while I eat my 100 calorie packs and WW ice cream. Now I can have my elaborate desserts too! I found the perfect way to satisfy my sweet tooth. These little Keebler pie crusts are perfect for portion control! If you have 3 points to spare, you can enjoy a little parfait!



Pudding Pie Parfaits
(source: me!)

1 Keebler Mini Graham Cracker Crust
1 pkg sugar free pudding (any flavor but I was craving chocolate!)
FF Readi - Whip (or FF cool whip would work too)
1 tsp mini chocolate chips
skim milk according to pudding package

Make pudding according to package directions. Fill pie crusts to just below rim. Allow to set in the fridge for a couple of hours. Top with 1 tbsp readi-whip and chocolate chips.

I made the entire package of Keebler crusts because I had the pudding ready and wanted the crusts to be ready to go when I was craving one. I kept all of the filled crusts in an airlock container in the fridge without the whipped cream. As I wanted to eat one, I put the whipped cream and chocolate chips on top at the time of the dessert. The crusts stayed in the fridge nice and crisp for about 5 days before it started getting mushy.

POINTS per 1 pie: 3

Easy Go To Meal - Pizza

Tuesday nights are hectic. I always stay a little late at work to work in my classroom and my husband has bowling with the guys from work. Since sometimes he stays and has a few drinks after bowling, I never really know when to expect him home (which is fine, I don't mind that!) and so I always have something that can be thrown together in 15 minutes or less. This has been a regular go to meal lately and it satisfies my pizza cravings!



Canadian Bacon and Veggie Pizza
(source: me)

1 thin premade crust (I used a generic brand from the grocery store)
4 oz tomato sauce with a little Italian seasoning mixed in
1 pkg Canadian Bacon
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
1 cup ff mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray pizza pan with PAM. Spread tomato sauce on crust, top with fixin's and mozzarella cheese. Spray with PAM (helps the cheese melt). Bake for about 11-14 minutes.

One half of the pizza is 9 points.

White Chicken Chili

This got mixed reviews. I LOVED it, DH hated it. Oh well, can't win them all! I will definitely be making this to take with me to lunch sometime. It was such a nice change from regular chili. I got this chili recipe from a few places. I combined several recipes to suit my needs but I am sorry I didn't bookmark the originals. It really hit the spot though. This was also my first time making white chili, but I think it turned out alright!



White Chicken Chili
(source: not sure!)

2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp hot pepper sauce (I added a lot more!)
3 cloves garlic
1 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup flour
chopped chicken breast
6 cup chicken broth
2 cans white beans
4 oz diced chilis
1 1/2 tsp cumin (I didn't have any but it was still good)

Heat oil in pot. Add onion and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes. Add all other ingredients, stirring occaisionally. Thicken with more flour if needed. Simmer on medium low for as long as you need it to! I topped mine with a little reduced fat cheese.

6 servings
POINTS per serving w/o cheese: 4

Chocolate Cake - Happy Birthday Dad!

Friday was my dad's 45th birthday. He is doing WW as well so I wanted to make him something that he didn't feel totally guilty about but still was special. I found on the WW etools site a recipe for a chocolate layer cake and it had "Dad" written all over it! Despite a frosting mishap and the use of an old reliable friend (Mr. Pillsbury Milk Chocolate Frosting of course!) the cake turned out great! Now it's not completely sin-free at 6 points a slice but compared to a store bought cake, the guilt wasn't as bad. Especially not for us since we left the cake there! :)




Chocolate Layer Cake
(source: WW etools)

6 tbsp fat free margarine
3 large egg whites
6 tbsp fat free milk
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup water boiling
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 oz chocolate chips
1 3/4 cup flour
1 3/4 cup light brown sugar
16 oz powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two 9 in round pans with Pam.

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, and salt in bowl. Use fork to break up brown sugar.

Melt 4 tbsp butter in microwave. Combine butter milk, egg whites, melted margarine, and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and mix on low speed until blended. Gradually beat in boiling water and then dry mixture. Beat on low speed until blended.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake about 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

FROSTING: (this is where I flubbed)

Melt 2 tbsp butter in saucepan over medium low heat. Add milk and chocolate chips. Stir constantly and cook until smooth, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to larger bowl. Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla, cover and cool in fridge about 15 minutes. Using mixer, mix in powdered sugar and mix until blended.

To assemble, level cakes and spread 1/2 cup frosting on first cake. Top with 2nd cake and frost remainder of the cake. Cut into 16 pieces.

Now, my frosting did not look right. It looked like light brown poo. That is putting it nicely. Maybe I am a chocolate frosting snob but it didn't look right and it tasted...ok. I could only taste the powdered sugar and no chocolate. So after a few tastes from the bowl and my husband pleading with me not to make him taste any more, I tossed it. Luckily I had a faithful standby, Pillsbury Milk Chocolate frosting and there was PLENTY to frost these cakes. I garnished with a few leftover chocolate chips. The great thing, it didn't change the POINTS value at all. Sweet!

Servings: 16 small ass pieces but worth every bite
POINTS per serving: 6

Garlicky Chicken - Emeril Style

I was watching the Food Network one night and Emeril Live was on. In case you haven't heard, they are pulling the plug on his show. I like it most of the time and this night there was something he called Lucious Garlic Legs. It looked delicious! So I figured the points and gave it a whirl. It was good, but not great... It could use some tweaking, which is why I am posting it. Below is my adapted recipe but you could follow link above for the original...



Garlic Chicken
(Source: Emeril Lagasse)

6 chicken boneless chicken thighs
3/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
40 garlic cloves, peeled
1 large onion, sliced
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tbsp flour
2 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp lemon zest

Directions:

Rinse the chicken leg quarters under cool running water and pat dry with paper towels. Season all over with 3/4 teaspoon of the salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the black pepper.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet and, when hot, add the chicken leg quarters and cook until browned on both sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the onions and garlic to the skillet and season with 1/4 teaspoon of the remaining salt and a pinch of the black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions have wilted and are lightly golden and the garlic cloves are caramelized slightly, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the flour and stir to combine.

Cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and lemon juice to the skillet and season with the remaining salt and pepper. Return the chicken to the skillet and bring to a boil. Sprinkle the chicken with lemon zest. Cover the skillet and transfer to the oven. Cook for 30 minutes, or until chicken legs are cooked through and tender. Serve immediately, with some of the pan juices ladled over all. Serve with brown rice.

POINTS per serving: 5

POINTS per serving with 1/2 cup brown rice: 7

Turkey Tett...Tettra..Noodles

I have never been able to correctly spell tettrazini (is that right? I have no idea!). I got this recipe about a year ago from someone on the What's Cooking board on the Nest. After adapting it to our needs, is one of our favorites. The original recipe calls for heavy cream but I have always used Fat Free Half and Half (even before WW) and the sauce is very good and gets nice and thick. Last winter we ate this probably once every two weeks but then as warmer weather came and went, we didn't make it so much. I had about a half pound of ground turkey to use up and so I thought I would make this dish. I usually make it with diced chicken but it was equally tasty with ground turkey. Next time I would add a little extra meat though for my husband because he was "fishing" for meat out of the baking dish! I thought it was fine as is. If you do add a bit more ground meat, make sure you adjust points if you are counting. This time I added some bread crumbs for a little crunch on top and it was so good! I will definitely make that a regular addition. You could also add extra veggies to this dish. We've added peppers or broccoli before for extra nutrition, but we didn't have any on hand tonight.



Tettra...Noodles - Ground Turkey style
(source: inspired from someone on the Nest)

1/2 lb ground turkey
2 cloves garlic
PAM
1 (8oz) whole wheat pasta (I used rotini but any would work)
1/4 cup of light margarine
1/4 cup all purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup fat free half and half (I use Land of Lakes)
2 tbsp. water I used the water from the noodles
1/8 cup part skim mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tsp light margarine

Heat Oven to 350. Begin to cook noodles. Brown turkey (chicken, beef whatever you want to use) with 2 diced garlic cloves. Set aside in strainer or additional bowl. While spaghetti is cooking, melt butter in same pan as browned turkey (which is now sitting safely somewhere else) over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, & pepper. Cook, stirring until mixture is smooth & bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth & half and half. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly with a whisk to break up flour. This step takes a bit of time, don't crank the heat because the flour will burn. Once it boils, stir continue to cook for one minute. Drain noodles and stir the noodles, water, & turkey, and mozzarella cheese into sauce. Pour noodle mixture into ungreased casserole dish. Sprinkle w/ cheese and breadcrumbs. Drop little bits of the 1 tsp of margarine over breadcrumbs to help brown. Bake 30 mins. or until bubbly in center.

Yields 6 servings about 1 1/2 cup each

POINTS per Serving: 7

Mini Meatloafs=Heaven

I am all about portion sizes since joining WW in July. Anytime I can buy or make something in serving sizes I am all over it! My husband however isn't thrilled with this new found love of serving sizes. He likes to have oversized portions and he can get away with it...me, not so much! Whenever I have made meatloaf before I know my portion was ginormous. Well, to solve this problem, I decided to make Meatloaf Muffins a la Rachael Ray (gasp I know but sometimes she has good ideas...). We had some leftover, as this made 8 muffins. I figured the points for 2 muffins per person, which I was stuffed about half way through the second muffin. My husband was able to take some for lunch the next day so it worked out great!

I took this recipe from a post on Bakespace. I love this community. Everyone that participates on Bakespace is very sweet and has a common love of food and cooking/baking. I have won a KitchenAid mixer and food processor through a contest this summer, which was awesome and both have been a huge help in the kitchen. I continue to use the site and have found many delicious recipes through my membership (which is free!). I highly suggest checking the site out!



Mini Meatloaf Muffins
(source: adapted from a recipe on Bakespace click link for original recipe)

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. Lean Ground Beef
1/4 cup eggbeaters
1 small onion diced
1/2 green pepper finely diced
2/3 C. Bread Crumbs
1/2 Tbsp. Worchersire Sauce
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. BBQ Sauce
1 8 oz. Can Tomato Sauce which I actually omitted by accident

DIRECTIONS:

1.) Mix all ingredients except for tomato sauce.

2.) Put into a lightly greased muffin pan.

3.) Bake for about 30 minutes at 350

4.) Remove from oven and spread tomato sauce evenly over meatloaf.

5.) Bake an additional 5 minutes. I omitted steps 4 and 5 and they were very tasty.


Yields 8 muffins, 2 muffins per serving

POINTS per Serving: 5

Tis the Season! Pumpkin!

One thing I miss since being on WW is the seasonal goodies. For example, we didn't raid the candy aisle after Halloween, I haven't had one Pumpkin Pie Spice Latte from Caribou (it's not offered in sugar free) and I didn't have one pumpkin bar or apple crisp! Well, the lack of seasonal goodies is going to end right NOW! I got this recipe from Recipezaar.com, where I have found several WW friendly recipes since joining in July. It is delicious! I added a little cinnamon to the mix also. The house smelled so good after baking! I did make a cream cheese glaze frosting because pumpkin bars are not the same without a cream cheese frosting in my opinion! In one good sized piece I only had to sacrifice 3 points! Yay!



Pumpkin Spice Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
(source: Recipezaar and me for frosting)

1 pkg spice cake mix (I heart Duncan Hines)
15 oz can pumpkin
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup eggbeaters
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together. Spray 11x17x3 1/4 jelly roll pan with cooking spray and spread dough in evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes until done.

Cream Cheese Glaze

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
8 oz light cream cheese
a dash of cinnamon (about a tsp)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp skim milk

Mix all together for about 2 minutes with electric mixer. It isn't real thick but is an awesome glaze! Spread evenly over cooled bars. Keep bars refrigerated.

POINTS per bar with frosting: 3
POINTS per bar without frosting: 2

Easy and Cheesy...

How could that be bad, right?! Tonight for supper we had something ultra fancy for us and it only took about 30 minutes to make! This would be great with other cheeses too, like goat cheese (which I still haven't tried yet!). I got this recipe from my WW leader, and it was a success. I did alter it a little but adding some seasoning and it was perfect. My changes are in blue. I had a baked potato with a dollop of sour cream and spray butter and my husband had some baked potatoes (gotta love Country Crock microwaveable dishes!) Here is the recipe:



Italian Stuffed Chicken Breasts
(source: Kara @ WW)

4 – 4 oz. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

1/8 tsp. Salt

3/4 tsp. Dried Basil – divided - I used about 2 tsp total

1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper

1/4 cup Minced Green Bell Pepper I omitted

4 (3/4 oz) Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

2 Tbsp. Fat-Free Italian Dressing

1/8 tsp. Paprika - I used 1 tsp

1/4 cup Dry Breadcrumbs

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp oregano

Cooking Spray

Pound chicken to 1/4” thickness; sprinkle with salt, 1/4 tsp basil (I didn't really measure), and crushed red pepper, and garlic powder. Sprinkle each breast with 1 Tbsp. minced bell pepper. Place 1 cheese stick lengthwise down the center; roll up jelly roll fashion. Brush rolls evenly with Italian dressing. Combine paprika and breadcrumbs, and a dash of oregano and basil; dredge chicken breasts rolls in mixture, turn to coat. Place on a baking sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray – seam side down. Lightly coat with non-stick spray; sprinkle with remaining basil. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until done (mine took about 22 minutes). Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

4 servings = 5 POINTS each

Deep Dish Pizza...Casserole?

I got this recipe from my WW leader. She emailed me a file of WW recipes that helped her lose 65+ pounds five years ago. She swears by this one and we thought it was...eh. First of all, it was huge. Which is great for a night that I haven't eaten much during the day, but today was not a great on plan day. Not a terrible day but not fantastic either. We liked this but maybe we just weren't in the pizza kinda mood (if that is possible!). One slice though (1/6th of the pizza) is definitely a good sized portion. :) Oh and please excuse the aluminum pan...I didn't want to do another dish. Hee hee!

Deep-Dish Pizza Casserole

(source: WW leader)

1 pound 95% Lean Ground Beef

1/2 cup Green Peppers, chopped

1/2 cup Onion, chopped

1 small can Mushrooms, drained (I omitted)

1 – 15 oz. can Chunky Italian-Style Tomato Sauce

Cooking Spray

1 – 10 oz. can refrigerated Pizza Crust Dough

1-1/2 cup (6 oz) 2% Shredded Mozzarella

Cook meat and vegetables in a non-stick skillet until browned, stirring until it crumbles. Drain and return to skillet. Add tomato sauce, and cook until heated through.

Coat a 9x13-inch-baking dish with cooking spray. Unroll pizza crust dough, and press into bottom and halfway up sides of baking dish. Top with meat mixture. Bake, uncovered at 425 for 12 minutes. Top with cheese and bake 5 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese is melted.

Cool 5 minutes before serving.

6 Servings – 6 POINTS each

Finger Food! Empanadas!!

We have been frequent diners at On The Border because my husband ADORES their empanadas. Well, as I am sure many of you on WW have realized...mexican cuisine is not the healthiest and it can be (not always) difficult to eat on plan there...but boy is it good!

I found this recipe in the December issue of the WW magazine, and altered it to our liking. If you haven't gotten this one yet, you should. It has over 60 (?) recipes for holidays not to mention regular recipes for everyday. These little finger foods were delicious! It was hard to just eat 9 of them (sounds like a lot but not really!), however after I ate my servings I was seriously full. For every three empanadas, it is only 2 points. Not bad huh?!

Yummy Empanadas
(Source: WW magazine December 2007)

30 wonton wrappers
1 egg, beaten
1/2 lb extra lean hamburger
1/8 cup low fat cheddar cheese
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp taco seasoning
1/2 small onion, diced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with PAM. Brown hamburger and onions, drain. Add tomato paste and taco seasoning; then add cheese. Lay out wontons and fill with about 1 tbsp of filling per wonton. Wet the edges of the wonton with the egg and fold. Repeat! Bake about 8 minutes. (You will want to flip them over 1/2 way through so both sides are crispy. I forgot to do this)

Serving size: 3 empanadas = 2 POINTS

Scones!

Again, my Desserts recipe book has not failed me yet! These are SOO tasty! I have been on a baking kick on the weekends lately. I like having an afterschool snack after I get home from work. Some things never will change I guess. My only requirement is that it is under 3 points , which usualy I can manage. These are very light and moist, with the perfect combination of chocolate and cake, with a hint of orange. The recipe calls for 24 but my cookie cutter wasn't cooperating so I just picked of bunches of dough with my hands then patted them down to be a "cutout" shape. I got 20 out of this batch, I have listed both POINTS values below.




Chocolate Chip Orange Scones
(Source: Best Ever Desserts)

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp cold margarine, cut into pieces
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup low fat buttermilk I used 1 tbsp vinegar and enough skim milk to equal 1 cup
1 large egg
1 tbsp orange zest
4 tsp orange juice
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray.

Whisk together dry ingredients. With two knives or pastry blender, cut butter into mixture until resembles fine crumbs with some small pieces of butter still remaining. Stir in chocolate chips. Whisk together buttermilk, egg, and orange zest in a small bowl. Add to flour mixture until a dough just forms, don't overmix.

Gather dough into a ball and place on lightly floured surface. Lightly knead 2 times. With a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into 3/4 in thickness. With a 1 1/2 in round cookie cutter (mine was a little bigger then it didn't work well, so I just formed my own shapes), cut out shapes. Place scones on sheet about 1 in apart. Reroll and cut out more from scraps for a total of 24 scones. Bake until golden brown, about 10-12 min. Let cool on rack about 10 minutes.

Stir together the powdered sugar and orange juice until smooth. Dip the tops of the scones in the glaze and the allow to set about 1 hour. Enjoy!

The picture is when they were still glistening from the glaze. :)

POINTS for recipe of 24: 2 per scone
POINTS for recipe of 20: 3 per scone