Buffalo Chicken Chili {5 WW+ Dinner}

When I saw this recipe it reminded me so much of the buffalo chicken dip I made for a friend's girls night in and I had to try it. Now as soon as I put it on my menu for the week I knew that my husband wouldn't like it. But there are quite a few recipes that I pass on because my husband won't like it. So while doing this challenge I figured why not try a recipe I wanted to eat. Something just for me. And this definitely was that recipe.

I was right. The hubs decided to order a pizza instead of trying a bite of this chili but I enjoyed a huge bowl. It was spicy, flavorful and creamy. I added greek yogurt and frozen corn kernels instead of the original recipe's creamed corn, and I also included some mozzerella cheese to the mix at the end for some added creaminess. I think I might try this again and add more chicken and some cream cheese to the mix . But I'll wait till I have my girlfriends over so my husband won't have to order another pizza.

Inspiration: Taste & See

Buffalo Chicken Chili

• 2 frozen chicken breasts
• 1/2 bottle Franks red hot sauce
• 1 cup corn
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 cans tomato sauce
• 1 can beans of your choice (I used pinto)
• 1 can diced green chilies 
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• 1 cup shredded light mozzarella cheese

Add all ingredients except yogurt and cheese to the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours. Take chicken out and shred, add back in and include greek yogurt and cheese to the chili. Stir well and let cook another 15-30 minutes.

Serve with celery, a nice baguette, tortilla chips or anything else you might have on hand. I enjoyed using my celery as a spoon to eat my bowl. Kept me away from the extra carbs...

Serves 6 | 5 WW+ Points

Crock Pot 3 Bean Chili {5 WW+ Points Dinner}

I needed a good recipe for tonight's super bowl dinner and knew the perfect place to go would be to Gina's Skinny Recipes. I always see such great meals posted on her blog and knew this would be a perfect meal for after the game.

Since I only had ground beef on hand instead of ground turkey I made due with what I had. I also added a few more spices to it to make it my own. Next time I plan on adding a few more veggies as well. Some squash maybe. And I don't know about you but I LOVE chili over broccoli. Sooo good!

And I had to add that my husband changed the first ingredient to read "buffalo" when I left the computer so now I know to ALWAY double check the ingredients in my recipes in case he's made any changes to anything. He thinks he's so sly...

Inspiration: Gina's Skinny Recipes

Crock Pot 3 Bean Chili 

• 1 lb ground beef, extra lean
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 16 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 4.5 ounce can chopped chilies, drained
• 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, undrained
• 1 15.5 ounce can pinto beans, undrained
• 1 15.5 ounce can kidney beans, undrained
• 1 tablelspoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoons ranch dressing mix
• 1 teaspoon red cayenne pepper

Brown beef, bell pepper and onion in a medium skillet over medium high heat until cooked through. Sprinkle with seasonings as they are cooking.

Drain any fat remaining and transfer to crock pot. Add the beans, chilies, chickpeas, tomatoes & tomato sauce. Mix well. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook on low 8-10 hours.

Garnish with your favorite chili toppings and enjoy! I personally prefer some low-fat cheddar. YUM!

Serves 12 | 5 WW+ Points

Chili in Another Direction

After trying this recipe it will now be my go-to recipe when I'm craving chili. It definitely hit the spot and tasted WONDERFUL! I couldn't get over how great it tasted. It also kept me pretty full for quite a while. And the left overs taste even better. I had this for lunch almost every day of the week last week! And I hope to make a batch for the Superbowl.

If you're looking for a new/different chili recipe this one's for you!



Taco Soup

• 9oz ground turkey
• 3oz lean ground beef
• 2 zucchini, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 cup corn
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes
• 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch
• 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 3.5 cups tomato sauce
• 1.5 cups water

Saute onions, zucchini & garlic until soft. Set aside mixture. Cook turkey & beef until browned. Drain all the canned goods really well. Mix all ingredients together in a large pot. Simmer over medium to medium low heat for 30 minutes.

Top with 1/4 cup light shredded cheese, 2 tablespoons light sour cream and 1-3 tablespoons salsa and serve with homemade tortilla chips for a low point meal.

Serves 12
2 points per serving of soup (toppings extra)

Happiness in a Bowl of Cheese

It was a bit rainy to say the least last week in Sunny So Cal so I added some soup to the mix that would be filling and warm us up. This recipe sure did both. With the heartiness of the potatoes and the fiber filled broccoli one bowl of this soup kept me full all night. Add that with the creaminess of cheese and you have yourself a bowl full of comfort perfect for a rainy night.

I served this with some rosemary garlic focaccia bread from Trader Joes that was super tasty. I toasted it up, rubbed it with garlic and dipped it right into the soup. It's great heated up the next day too!



Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup onions, minced
• 16 ounces frozen chopped broccoli
• 29 ounces canned chicken broth
• 4 ounces Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes, or similar product
• 1/2 cup fat-free skim milk
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 8 dutch potatoes (the small ones at Trader Joes), diced
• 1/2 cup light shredded cheddar

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook 3 minutes, until soft. Add broccoli, potatoes and broth and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer 3 minutes, until broccoli is tender.

Reduce heat to low, add cheese and stir until cheese melts; stir in milk, garlic powder, oregano and onion powder.

Whisk together water and cornstarch. Add mixture to pan and simmer 2 minutes, until thick. Serve hot and top with shredded cheddar.

Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving, 4 servings.
7 WW points per serving, omit potatoes and extra cheese to make the soup 4 WW points per serving

Warming Up

With the cool weather that has finally hit I decided to make something warm and comforting for dinner. I had to be smart and had to use what ingredients I had in the house. That's pretty hard right now since we're remodeling our kitchen and I've all but used up the contents in the freezer (saved a lot of money over the past two months not having to go shopping as often). So I knew we had potatoes, cream and cheese on hand. What better than a potato cheese soup?

We are limited to just a few cooking options at our house right now. So it was either the BBQ, rice cooker or slow cooker. I chose the latter. I searched my GR for some inspiration and found a cheddar, potato steak soup on Carrie's Cooking Adventures. With a few tweaks due to the ingredients I had on hand I came up with this...

Source: Carrie's Cooking Adventures



Potato & Cheese Soup

• 2 russet potatoes, peeled & diced (or cut into thin strips)
• 1 box chicken broth
• 1/2 box water (used chicken broth box to measure)
• Spices (I used s&p, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb and some Tony's Original Creole Seasoning)
• 1/4 pound of marble jack cheese

Peel potatoes. Dice, or thinly slice and than cut into strips, potatoes and put them in the slow cooker. Pour in broth and add enough water to cover the potatoes. Throw in the spices (I didn't measure... just literally threw in a bit of everything).

Cook for 6-8 hours (I cooked for 7 hours) on low.

Add cheese to top of soup and cook on high for 1/2 an hour longer. Stir soup and taste to see if any more seasoning is needed. If not, scoop into a bowl or cup, top with more cheese if you'd like and enjoy!

Update: I just tried the soup heated up today for a quick snack and added some bacon... MMMM! (I used the microwavable bacon from Costco).

Hot and Spicy

We finally had some fall weather this weekend so I decided to make some soup. I was going to try a tortilla soup but didn't have the energy to make tortillas and didn't have the gas to go to the store... seriously. I was already on fumes and was too lazy to go to the gas station AND the store :)

This turned out great. It was super spicy because I might have left about 1/2 of the seeds from the jalepeno in the soup but it was super tasty. Too hot for Joseph though because he didn't add sour cream. The sour cream makes it very creamy and the cheese... well... you know how good melted cheese is.



Spicy Chicken Soup

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 anaheim peppers (ribbed, seeded & diced)
• 1 jalepeno (ribbed & diced... keep a few seeds for heat)
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 1 chicken breast
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup corn kernels (I used frozen)
• 1/2 can tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions, garlic and diced peppers in a dutch oven and coat with oil. Add tomatoes, corn, tomato paste, cumin, & bay leaf and saute for 10 minutes. Add chicken broth and chicken breast and bring to a boil and than reduce to a simmer. Simmer over low heat for 20-25 minutes. Remove chicken from soup and shred.

Season soup to taste if necessary. Remove bay leaf and pulse in a blender (I did two batches). Add chopped chicken back to soup and garnish with with choice of toppings.

Bones are good!

It's been quite a while since I've cooked a whole ham and had an extra ham bone handy. Well we finally had one so I knew I had to make some ham bone soup. Boy was the wait worth it! This was so good and filling. I couldn't believe how clean the ham bone came out too. Definitely a great winter meal.

Source: My mom



Ham Bone Soup

• 1 pound navy beans (soaked overnight)
• 1 ham bone
• 1 can diced tomatoes (or two-three fresh diced tomatoes)
• 3 carrots, cut into coins
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

I threw all of the ingredients in the crock pot let it go on low all night and all day today. I didn't add the salt and pepper until the end. I prepared some grilled cheese sandwiches on this great rosemary and olive oil bread to dip in the soup and some garlic toast for Joseph :)

Craving Comfort

I have been craving something warm and delicious for a few weeks now. I know what you're thinking... aren't most dinners warm and delicious? But it was a different kind of warm... a comforting, make you feel better type of warm. So I went in search of recipes I've yet to try out and found one that I had tried before but forgot to blog about!

This Chicken Tortilla Soup is one of the best soups I've had in a long time. It cleared my sinuses, filled me up and comforted me for days to come (can you say left overs!). Best of all... I got to use my blender again! Lucky me!

Source: Elly Says Opa



Chicken Tortilla Soup

• 2 Tbsp. vegetable, canola or corn oil
• 1 large chicken breast
• 2 corn tortillas, cut into 1" squares (I used whole wheat tortillas)
  
• 2 large anaheim chili peppers, diced
• 1 large poblano pepper, diced
• 1 jalepeno, diced
• 1 cup corn (cut from the cob or frozen/thawed)
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tomatoes, cored, seeded and chopped
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 qts. chicken stock or broth
• salt and pepper

In a stockpot, heat the oil. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and then cook it in the oil, just to brown on both sides. Add the tortilla squares and cook over low heat until they are slightly crisp. Add the peppers, onions and corn and stir until they are coated by the oil. Add the tomatoes, cumin, bay leaf and tomato paste and simmer for 10 minutes to combine the flavors and cook the vegetables.

Add the chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer over low heat for about 20-25 minutes, until the flavors have developed and the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the soup and slice or chop.

Season the soup to taste, if necessary. Remove the bay leaf and pulse process the soup in your food processor or blender (in batches, if necessary). Add the chopped chicken back into the soup, and garnish with your favorite toppings.

WW points - I know that this was low in points I just don't have access to my recipe right now... will update soon!

Just what the doctor ordered...

Joseph came home from a business trip to Denver with a fever of 100 degrees. He felt so bad that he called in sick to work the next day. Joseph doesn't call in sick... ever. So when he does you know it's serious. As I was driving home I was thinking of what I could make for dinner and remembered the chicken breast meat left over from the whole chicken I roasted earlier in the week. I hadn't yet made homemade chicken noodle soup so I decided to give it a whirl.

I started searching my recipe books for the perfect recipe and came across an old issue of Cooking Light that was handed down to me. I thought that it was perfect because it killed two birds with one stone. It would soothe my hubby and would fit with my WW lifestyle. I made my own home made egg noodles to go with it and everything was so great!

I grilled Joseph for changes, critiques and comments about the dish. It passed with flying colors! He didn't have anything to change and even enjoyed my addition of red cayenne pepper for extra heat (it opens up the sinuses too!). After really prodding for more feedback the only thing he could suggest would be to make the noodles thinner.

Source: Cooking Light October 2006 Issue



Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 6 cups low-salt chicken broth (I used 3)
• 4 cups diced peeled baking potato (I omitted)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups diced leftover roasted chicken
• 1 cup evaporated skim milk (I omitted)
• 4 ounces (2 cups) uncooked wide egg noodles (I used fresh... see below for recipe)
• Fresh thyme (optional)

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chopped onion, carrots, celery, and garlic clove; sauté 5 minutes.



Sprinkle flour, oregano, thyme, and poultry seasoning over vegetables, and cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, potato, and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, 25 minutes or until potato is tender.



Add roasted chicken, milk, and noodles, and cook 10 minutes or until noodles are tender. Garnish with fresh thyme, if desired.

Makes 2 1/2 quarts or 10 cups (serving size: 1 cup)

Nutritional Information for Original Recipe: CALORIES 215(19% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 0.9g,mono 1.6g,poly 0.8g); PROTEIN 14.9g; CHOLESTEROL 37mg; CALCIUM 101mg; SODIUM 355mg; FIBER 2.6g; IRON 2.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 28.6g

WW points for soup w/o noodles = 1 point per cup

Egg Noodles
Source: Allrecipes.com

• 2 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 eggs, beaten (I used Egg Beaters)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon butter

In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Add the beaten egg, milk, and butter. Knead dough until smooth, about 5 minutes. Let rest in a covered bowl for 10 minutes.

On a floured surface, roll out to 1/8 or 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired lengths and shapes.

Allow to air dry before cooking.

To cook fresh pasta, in a large pot with boiling salted water cook until al dente. (I just added directly to the soup about 10 minutes before the soup was ready)

3 WW points per serving (10 servings when included with soup)

Delicious Screw Ups

While Joseph was away for business I decided to make a few recipes I know he wouldn't try in a million gazillion years. One of those recipes was for Quinoa Corn Chowder. I got the original recipe from the Foodie Fashionista but modified it a bit because I can't read directions so save me.

Reading Red Peppers as Red Pepper Flakes was a mistake... but a delicious one. This chowder had a spicy zing that cleared my sinuses and left me wanting another bowl, and another, and another! Despite the brown coloring it still tasted amazing (note to self... don't cook onions too long in a dutch oven or else your chowder/soup/stew will not be a creamy white).

Source: The Foodie Fashionista

Quinoa Corn Chowder

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small Onion, finely chopped
• 1 large garlic clove; crushed and minced
• 1 lg Potato; peeled and cubed
• 1 1/2 cups corn kernels
• 3/8 cups uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups fat-free, low sodium chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup diced red pepper (I omitted)
• 1 tsp dried dill
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• Salt and pepper; to taste
• *added 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes*

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add the corn and potato, cook for another 5 minutes. Add stock, bay leaf and quinoa; stir well. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add milk, dill, thyme and crushed red pepper flakes. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves; add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with dill to serve.

Yields 4 servings
3 WW points per serving

Soups a plenty!

I gotta start off by saying that I love soup. I've been on this Weight Watchers thing for a while now (ok... a whole 8 weeks) and am falling in love with soup all over again. What best to start my new soup fix than some homemade hearty soup! As I mentioned previously, I heart Foodie Fashionista's recipes. Tonight is night two of trying out her recipes.

This soup turned out fabulously. It was just enough hearty and just enough soupy to make me full for the night. And the breadsticks I paired them with turned out great too! YUM! I used my crock pot instead of following Foodie Fashionista's instructions.

Source: Foodie Fashionista (for the soup) and Healthdiscovery.net (for the bread sticks)

Zuppa Toscana ala Weight Watchers (with a few more veggies)
My changes in Italics

48 ounces fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth
1 large baking potato, peeled and diced
8 ounces sweet Italian chicken sausage (2 or 3 links depending on the size of each link)
I used 6 3/4 ounces (2 links)
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teapsoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced (I used the white mushrooms that were already cleaned and cut)
2 cups fresh spinach leaves (don't add until right before you're going to eat)
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1/2 medium white onion
1/4 cup fat free half and half

Place all ingredients, except spinach, in crock pot and set on low for 6 hours. Keep sausage links whole. Once you're ready to add the spinach (15 min before eating) take out the whole sausages and cut in slices at an angle and than in half. Add the sausage back into the soup and add the spinach leaves. Let stand for a few minutes until spinach is slightly wilted. Serve a heaping scoop per bowl.

2 WW points for 1 heaping cup (makes 6-8 cups)

Pizza Bread Sticks

• 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 oz yeast
• 3/4 cup water, warmed (105-115 degrees)
• 1 oz Weight Watchers Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup bell pepper(s), red
• 1 clove garlic (I used the minced jarred garlic)
  
• 1/2 tsp ground basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and coat baking sheet with cooking spray

Place yeast in warm water and stir until dissolved. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Place all ingredients except oil in food processor. Blend until well mixed. Slowly add olive oil and yeast mixture. Mix until a ball is formed. Take out of processor and place on lightly floured surface. Knead for 1 minute. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Roll out to an 8 x 14 inch rectangle and cut into 1/2 inch rows. Twist and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with 1 tsp garlic salt. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until light brown.

2 WW points for 1 breadstick (makes 14)