Easy Enchilada Pie

I've had a few Weight Watcher's recipes stashed away and have tried a few this week. One of which is their Turkey Enchilada Pie. While this was an easy dinner to throw together (one of those 30 minute meals), it lacked flavor. Next time I will definitely be loading in the spices and herbs. Joseph suggested adding enchilada sauce (doh! it's in the name!). But it was low points (4 per serving!) so I could have two servings.

Source: Weight Watchers

Turkey Enchilada Pie

• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 medium onion(s), chopped
• 3 cup tomato(es), chopped
• 4 oz canned jalapeno peppers, drained and chopped
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 10 Tbsp low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 sprays cooking spray
• 3/4 pound uncooked ground turkey breast
• 1 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 2 medium whole wheat tortilla(s)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray. Heat skillet over medium heat. Place turkey, onion and chili powder in skillet and cook until turkey is browned, stirring occasionally to crumble meat, about 8 minutes. Remove turkey mixture from skillet and set aside.

Place skillet over medium-high heat and add flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat; stir in turkey mixture, jalapeños and cumin.

Wrap tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave on HIGH until softened, about 15 seconds. Place 1 tortilla in bottom of a 9-inch pie plate. Spread 1/2 of turkey mixture over tortilla. Spoon 1 cup of tomato on top and sprinkle with 5 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of cheese. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients ending up with 5 tablespoons of cheese on top.

Cover pie plate with aluminum foil and cook until cheese melts, about 15 minutes. Let stand, covered, 2 minutes before cutting into 6 wedges.

6 Servings
4 WW Points per Serving

Terrific Tetrazzini

When I was looking for recipes this week I wanted quick and easy AND I wanted to use up the meat we already have in the house. So since I roasted a chicken last week I needed to put some of the meat to good use. Why not Chicken Tetrazzini?? I love chicken and I love pasta so lets throw them together with a creamy sauce and vegetables! I divided the recipe in half and have placed my changes in italics. This dish was good but needed more flavor. Perhaps next time I will use more spices/herbs.

Source: Weight Watchers

Chicken Tetrazzini

• 12 oz uncooked whole-wheat egg noodles
• 1 sprays cooking spray
• 2 Tbsp fat-free margarine, divided (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light)
  
• 3 Tbsp vinegar, tarragon-flavored (balsamic vinegar... how do you make tarragon-flavored?)
  
• 1 pound mushroom(s), sliced (about 6 cups) (baby bellas)
  
• 1 1/2 cup fat-free chicken broth
• 1 cup fat-free skim milk (1% milk)
  
• 4 tsp arrowroot powder (1 1/2 tsp cornstarch to 1 tsp arrowroot powder)
  
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried tarragon
• 1/2 tsp table salt, or more to taste
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, or more to taste
• 1/4 cup fat-free sour cream (light sour cream)
  
• 3 cup cooked chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed
• 3 Tbsp SoyaKaas Grated Parmesan Style Soy Cheese, or similar product (real parmesan cheese)
  

Cook noodles according to package directions with added salt; drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 9 X 13-inch pan with cooking spray. (I used an 8x8)

Heat 1 tablespoon of margarine and vinegar together in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms; cook until soft, stirring, about 5 minutes. Remove mushrooms and set aside.

Whisk broth, milk and arrowroot together in a medium-size saucepan until smooth. Stir in remaining tablespoon of margarine; set over medium heat. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until thickened and boiling, about 8 minutes. Stir in thyme, tarragon, salt and pepper. Remove sauce from heat; stir in sour cream.

Combine cooked noodles, chicken, mushrooms, peas and carrots, and sauce together in a large bowl. Pour into prepared pan; sprinkle with grated topping. Bake until bubbling and hot, and top is starting to brown, about 20 minutes. Slice into 8 pieces and serve. (mine served 4)

Original Recipe = 6 WW points, 8 servings
My Recipe = 7 WW points, 4 servings (halving all ingredients)

Steamy, Smothered Scallops

Smothered... yep, that's right, smothered. In I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light, not real butter :) But amazingly yum anyway. I adapted a recipe from Joelen's Culinary Adventures and added a few things to make this delicious and filling meal. It wasn't "light" per se in a WW friendly form. At 8 points it ate up the reserve I save for dessert but was well worth it.

Source: Joelen's Cooking Adventures

Lemon Butter Scallops with Spaghetti

8 sea scallops (1/2 pound)
salt & pepper to taste
3 tablespoons I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light
1/2 tablespoon lemon pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons fat free half and half
1/4 cup chicken stock
6 oz whole wheat spaghetti (or any choice pasta)

In a large pot boil water and cook spaghetti until al dente (about 7-8 minutes).

Wait until water is boiling and spaghetti starts to cook before starting next steps.

In a saute pan, melt butter.Season scallops with salt & pepper. Sear scallops in melted butter until a crust forms on both sides. Remove from pan. Add seasoning, lemon juice, half and half and chicken stock. Stir until thickened.

Add spaghetti to sauce and toss. Add scallops and serve.

Serves 2

8 WW points per serving

Sweet and Savory Steak

I received a Word document from a kind poster at the Weight Watchers message boards that contained many different slow cooker recipes with Weight Watcher points calculated. I have been dying to try this recipe for a while because Teriyaki Steak is one of Joseph's favorite meals. I think I chose a perfect day. It was rainy all day and having the slow cooker cooking the steak made the house warm and smelling delicious. The end result was great. I don't think I'd use as much corn starch next time (probably 1 tbsp less) but was impressed none-the-less.

Source: Weight Watchers posters (if you want the Word doc just leave a message with your email address)

Teriyaki Steak

1.5 pounds flank steak
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup pineapple chunks in juice - drained, 1/4 cup juice reserved
1 Tsp. ginger root - grated (I used ground ginger)
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. oil (I used olive oil)
2 cloves garlic - crushed
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 Tbsp. water

Cut meat into 1/8 inch slices and place in a slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, reserved pineapple juice, ginger root (or powder), sugar, oil and garlic. Pour sauce mixture over meat. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours (I cooked the meat for 6 hours). Turn control to high. Stir in pineapple. Combine corn starch and water in a small bowl and add to cooker. Cook, stiring until slightly thickened. Serve over rice.

6 WW points if 6 servings
8 WW points if 4 servings

A break from cooking...

Well, not really but I didn't take a picture of dinner and already blogged dessert (turkey burgers for dinner and berry muffins in the oven right now for the office). I wanted to share my new cookbook with everyone. I know that there was some controversy behind this book because "someone already did this before" but I think it's a great idea.

I went out with a few of my girlfriends this weekend to see 27 Dresses and hit the bookstore before hand. While looking at all the "healthy" food books/cook books that were on sale I stumbled upon one that I'd been eying forever... Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious.

I cannot wait to use this book. I am going to start steaming and pureeing veggies this weekend. Perhaps a few of my recipes next week will include some purees :)

Veggie Pasta Yum

As I stated last week I wanted to try 5 of Foodie Fashionista's recipes from her blog. I flaked and didn't make dinner a few nights last week so a few of the meals spilled over to this week. OMG! This meal is by far one of the best ones I've tried AND my husband ate the whole bowl of pasta I served him. That means he ate 5 different vegetables tonight. Any dish that gets that many veggies into my husband is the dish for us. I did not alter anything in this recipe. That's how good it was!

Source: Foodie Fashionista

Baked Pasta with Vegetables

2 1/2 cups uncooked penne or ziti (regular or whole wheat)
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1 cup red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper chopped
1/2 cup orange pepper chopped
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped
1 cup crimini mushrooms, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out
1 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1/2 cup fat-free shredded mozzarella cheese
non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onions and peppers and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini, mushrooms, and garlic. Continue to cook another 5-7 minutes. Stir in basil, oregano, pepper, tomatoes, marinara sauce and spinach. Bring to a boil and then turn heat down to simmer. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir cooked pasta and half the ricotta cheese into the sauce. Transfer the pasta mixture into a 9x13 glass baking dish. Dollop the remaining ricotta cheese on top of the pasta and cover. Bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese oand spry lightly with cooking spray. Return to oven and cook until the cheese has melted.

Yields 6 servings

5 WW points per serving

Chicken... Again!

Let me start out by saying that I have wanted to try this recipe for so long! I've had it in my list of to-do recipes for about a month now. I finally had the ingredients and nothing else planned (I know, it's amazing!) so I jumped right in. I have to say that this is one tasty meal. I was blown away by how fast and simple yet juicy and satisfying it was. It could definitely make it into Rachel Ray's 30-Minute Meals.

Source: One Tiny Pink Kitchen

Italian Stuffed Chicken Breasts

• 2 7 oz. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1/8 tsp. Salt
• 3/4 tsp. Dried Basil
• 1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper
• 2 (3/4 oz) Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
• 10 sprays Wishbone Balsamic Spray Dressing (5 each)
  
• 1/8 tsp. Paprika - I used 1 tsp
• 1/8 cup Dry Breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• Olive Oil Cooking Spray

Pound chicken to 1/4” thickness. Sprinkle with salt, 1/4 tsp basil, 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.

Spray rolls with Balsamic Dressing. Combine paprika and breadcrumbs, and a dash of oregano and basil; sprinkle chicken with mixture, coating all the way around.

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 20 minutes or until done. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

7 WW points (less if you use less meat but I was hungry!)

Juicy Roast

Costco had a great coupon that expired yesterday. Buy one double pack of whole chickens and get one free! So I had to buy them. Now I have four whole chickens that I need to use. Not at once of course but why not start early? I decided to roast one for the first time since the last time I cooked a whole chicken I used the crock pot.

So when I have an idea and don't have a recipe where do I go? The What's Cooking board of course! There were two suggestions for roasting the chicken. Elly Says Opa had a very yummy roasted chicken and a fellow nestie recommended Giada's Garlic and Citrus Chicken. So I decided to make Elly's then and try Giada's next weekend.

Source: Elly Says Opa

Roasted Chicken

• 1 whole (5 lb.) chicken
• 1 onion, quartered
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp dried thyme, plus 1 tsp. additional dried thyme
• 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
• a few sage leaves (I omitted)
• 2 Tbsp. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light
• olive oil spray
• baby yukon gold potatoes halved (I also included a sweet potato and red potatoes)
• zucchini, cut into 1" chunks
• salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 and place your rack in the lower third of the oven (so that the chicken will basically be cooking in the center of the oven).

Clean/scrub the potatoes. Add them to the roasting pan with the zucchini and spray with olive oil spray. Add just a little bit of salt and pepper. Toss together. Nestle the roasting rack into the pan.

Remove the giblets/neck from the cavity of the chicken. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Sprinkle the cavity with salt and pepper, and then stuff it with the thyme, lemon juice, onion, garlic, and rosemary.

Mix the tsp. of dried thyme with the softened butter. Carefully pull the skin of the chicken away from the meat and rub the herb butter in between the skin and the meat (you can just put a few globs of the butter in front of the breast and then massage the butter back; be sure to also add a little to the drumsticks/thighs). Spray the skin with just a little bit of olive oil spray and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

Place the chicken on the roasting rack (or on the vegetables) and roast until the internal temperature reaches 170 (check at the thickest part of the thigh). Place the chicken under a foil tent for 10 minutes before serving.

Chicken - 6 WW points for 5 ounces
Veggies - 1.5 WW points for 1 cup potatoes and veggies

Marvelous Muffins

Move over 500 calorie muffin! You have competition. When browsing the blogs I have in my google reader I alway stumble upon certain healthy recipes and go... no, they can't taste that good! They don't have a gazillion calories. Well folks, this little muffin is so darn good (and low cal) that I have eaten one for breakfast every day since Wednesday. I sometimes sneak one in as dessert if I have a few points left over!

Source: Elly Says Opa!



Raspberry Muffins
My changes are in italics

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 1/4 cup Egg Beaters
• 1/2 cup Splenda for Baking
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce
• 2/3 cup buttermilk (I used 2/3 cup 2% and added a bit of lemon juice)
  
• 1 cup raspberries

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a muffin tin.
In a medium bowl, sift together the whole wheat and all purpose flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a second bowl, beat the egg with the sugar until smooth. Mix in the vanilla, oil, zest, applesauce and buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Fold the berries into the mixture. Don't overmix the batter. Your muffins could become tough and the batter may start turning colors from overworking the batter.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin and bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes 12 servings/2 WW points each

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)