June/July Recipe Exchange: Summer Favorites

First of all... I apologize for being a day late. I fell asleep early last night and didn't get a lot done! Sorry!!!

Now onto the good stuff. This recipe was perfect for the three-day weekend. It was so simple and tasty. We had a crazy busy weekend but on Sunday I knew that dinner would be a breeze because I planned on making the shrimp and some pasta or rice. We got home from the beach at about 5:30 and were starving. By 6 we were eating dinner!

I served the shrimp with some angel hair pasta so that it would soak up any extra sauce. This was the perfect meal after a busy day.



Tequila Lime Shrimp (Adapted from All Recipes)

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp - peeled and deveined
• 4 tablespoons tequila
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic; cook and stir for about 30 seconds. Add shrimp; cook until they start to turn pink, about 3 minutes.

Pour in the tequila and lime juice and season with salt and chili powder. Simmer until the liquid has evaporated, about 3 more minutes.

Arrange shrimp on a plate and garnish with cilantro. Serve with lime wedges. I like to serve it with mexcian rice and black beans. I also make maragitas with the remaining tequila. :) (I served with angel hair pasta and had no margaritas :( )

WC April/May Recipe Exchange - Family Recipes

I checked my email when I got home and found that my recipe was sent to me. I was sooo happy to see what my recipe was because a. I didn't want to make anything on my menu for this week and b. I had two chicken breasts in the fridge ready to go so I did something I never do. I didn't procrastinate and made my recipe the same day I got it!

The result? A 5 ingredient recipe (not including s&p) that was simple and tasty! Joseph enjoyed it and asked me to make it again. He suggested making chicken strips next time... and also suggested I make them for lunch this weekend :) Enjoy!

Baked (not Fried) Chicken

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 egg (I used egg beaters)
• 1/4 tsp chipotle chile powder
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used Panko)

Preheat oven to 350

Place egg in bowl and beat slightly. Add spices. Dip chicken in egg and coat in breadcrumbs

Bake for 25-30 minutes

Serves 4 (1/2 breast per serving)

4 WW points

WC March/April Recipe Exchange - Regional Recipes

This recipe exchange was an interesting one. I have never made cheesecake and have never eaten (or made) pecan pie. I am currently on WW so I couldn't enjoy this as much as I wanted to but the little nibble I allowed myself was more than enough to tell me that it was a good combination of flavors.

I served the cheesecake to my girlfriends and they ate the whole thing :) I think I'll try this recipe again but next time I want to make my own pecan pie as a bit of a challenge. What do you think?

Source: Unknown from the South - all will be revealed soon :)

Pecan Pie Cheesecake

• 1 (2-pound, 4-ounce) package frozen Southern Pecan Pie
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 2 (8-ounce) packages Cream Cheese, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup Confectioners Sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 19 pecan halves
  

Preheat oven to 325°. Thaw pecan pie according to package directions. Cut evenly into 20 thin slices, keeping wedges intact, and set aside.

Stir together graham cracker crumbs and next 3 ingredients; press mixture onto bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a 10-inch spring-form pan.

Arrange 10 pecan pie wedges in a spoke design in prepared pan, placing 1 cut side of each wedge on crust with narrow end towards center of pan. Reserve remaining pecan pie wedges for another use.

Beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add sour cream, half-and-half, and vanilla; beat until blended. Fold in confectioners sugar and flour.

Carefully pour cream cheese mixture evenly over pecan pie wedges in pan, making sure wedges remain in place. Arrange pecan halves evenly around edge and center.

Bake at 325° for 50 minutes. Turn off oven, and let cheesecake stand in oven 1 hour. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Chill at least 8 hours or overnight before serving.

Makes 16 servings

WC Jan/Feb Recipe Exchange - Light Dishes

Let me start off by saying how excited I was to have a healthy option for our exchange!! I started WW in November and our Christmas Exchange left me wanting to eat the whole cake I made! Joseph loved this meal partially because he loves anything with honey and soy sauce in it :) It was tasty and I'd definitely make it again.

Source: December issue of Every Day Foods

Lighter Sesame Chicken

• 3/4 cup brown rice
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed with a garlic press
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch chunks
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 pounds broccoli, cut into large florets, stems peeled and thinly sliced

Place a steamer basket in a large saucepan, and fill with 1 inch water; set aside for broccoli. Cook rice according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, make sauce: In a small bowl, combine honey, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and garlic; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites and cornstarch. Add chicken; season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add half the chicken; cook, turning occasionally, until golden and opaque throughout, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining tablespoon oil and chicken. Return all the chicken to skillet; add reserved sauce and scallions, and toss to coat.

Meanwhile, place saucepan with steamer basket over high heat; bring water to a boil. Add broccoli, and cook until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Serve sesame chicken with broccoli and rice.

Serves 4
Chicken is 6 WW points
Rice is 3 WW points

WC Nov/Dec Recipe Exchange - Holiday Goodies

I was very excited to participate in this year's recipe exchange. I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to have someone choose what I make instead of me pouring over baking books for something good for the holidays.

I received a recipe for Carrot Cake and it was AMAZING! The cake was moist and not too sweet. All of my co-workers loved it. There wasn't one crumb left! And I got to use my bundt pan for the first time! I got a Williams Sonoma Anniversary bundt pan for our wedding and it worked wonderfully!

I did put the cake in my Weight Watchers recipe builder to see how many points it was and *gasp* 7 points per serving (one serving is 1/24th of the cake). I was able to tweak the recipe a little to get it down to 3 points with the same flavor.

Carrot Cake

• 2 cups sifted flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup grated zucchini
• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ cups canola oil
• 1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl and set aside. In blender, blend 1 cup carrots/zucchini with an egg and a half cup oil. Repeat twice adding nuts and extra egg during last blending. Combine with dry ingredients, mixing well. Pour into greased 10 in. tube pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Cool and frost.

Frosting (I didn't make the frosting because I forgot to buy powdered sugar!)

• ½ cup butter at room temperature
• 1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 (16oz) box powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Tips: I use the grater attachment on the food processor to grate the carrots and zucchini. Much easier! You can also make these as cupcakes, shortening the baking time accordingly.

Now for the Weight Watchers version:

• 1 cup Egg Beaters Egg Beaters
• 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp table salt
• 1 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 cup carrot(s), shredded
• 1 cup zucchini, shredded
• 1 cup walnut halves
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cup sugar
• 2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

Follow the same instructions as below. I didn't calculate the points for the frosting and would omit it if making it again for myself. If I made it again for the office I'd drizzle it lightly over the top.