Beef Stroganoff

Quick, easy and delicious!  Even little miss picky pants had 3 servings!

Beef Stroganoff

1 lb ground beef

12 oz Ronzoni Smart Taste Egg Noodles

2 cans Campbell's Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom soup

1 can water

1 c light sour cream

1 packet of brown gravy

1 c sliced mushrooms

1 c chopped onions

Cook noodles according to package directions. Brown ground beef until crumbled and no longer pink.  Drain in collander in the sink and rinse with hot water, return to pan.  Add onions and mushrooms, cook until veggies are tender.  When noodles are done, drain water and return to pot.  Add meat mixture, add soup, water and packet of gravy.  Right before serving, stir in sour cream.

Makes 8 servings of 1-1/2 cups 

Calories 278

fat 6

carbs 38

fiber 4.4

protein 21

Weight Watchers points plus 7

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Fried Rice

This dinner whipped up so easy, and it tasted great!   Everyone loved it!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

2 lbs chicken breast, cubed
2 c mixed bell peppers
1 c chopped onion
1 can pineapple  tidbits in juice, drained
1 bottle Kikkoman Sweet & Sour sauce

Quickly saute chicken over high heat, when almost done, add peppers and onion.  Cook until veggies are tender, add pineapple and sauce.  Simmer until everything is thickened and bubbly.

serves 8

calories 232
fat 2.5
carbs 28.3
fiber 1
sugars 25.4
protein 24.5

WW points 6

Fried Rice with Veggies

2-1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 egg
1 bag frozen stir fry veggies
1 c sliced mushrooms
6T Yoshida's Sauce

Stir fry in a big pan on high heat, add egg and mix well, then add sauce.  Heat until hot and bubbly.

Serves 5

calories 80
fat 0
carbs 15.8
fiber 2.3
protein 2

WW points  2

Cheesy Taco Rolls

This was a quick, easy dinner that everyone loved.  These are great to grab and go, as a snack, or serve for dinner with a salad, fruit, or beans and rice if you wanted.  They are great with sour cream, guacamole and/or salsa.

Cheesy Taco Rolls

1 lb ground beef, crumbled, cooked, drained and rinsed.

6 oz grated cheddar cheese

13 Egg Roll wrappers

Taco seasoning

Minced onions

After ground beef is cooked, drained and rinsed, add taco seasoning and minced onions.  Put a little (Serving spoon full) beef mixture and cheese on egg roll wrapper, roll and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Nutrition info per roll

Calories 114
Fat  2.1
Carbs 13
Fiber 0
Protein  10.6

Weight Watchers Plus Points  3

BBQ Chicken Pizza Bake

We tried this for the first time tonight.  It was okay, but I have to say, not my favorite.  Mostly because I'm not a big Bisquick fan.  The crust was kind of dry and much too thick, but I'm not sure how I could have made it thinner.  Other than that, a serving is 1/4 of a 9x9 pan, so  it's plenty filling and satisfying.

BBQ Chicken Pizza Bake
Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1 1/3 c Heart Smart Bisquick
1 egg
2/3 cup spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
12 oz chicken
1 c chopped red onion
1 c chopped bell pepper
1/2 c pineapple tidbits
1 c part skim mozzarella

Mix Bisquick, egg, and water 1 tbs at a time until dough reaches desired consistency.  Spread dough in 9 x 9 pan sprayed with nonstick spray.  Mix spaghetti sauce and 1/4 c bbq sauce, then spread onto dough.  Top with chicken and remaining bbq sauce, onions, peppers, pineapple and cheese.  Bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.  Serves 4

343 calories
5.5 fat
48.3 carbs
1.8 fiber
26.9 protein

WW points plus 9

Turkey Enchilada Casserole

This was so yummy!  Everyone loved it, Even Miss Picky Pants!  I did think it was a little bit on the spicy side, hubby thought it was ok though.

Ingredients
20 oz extra lean ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
1/2 t garlic
1 t chili powder
1/2 t cumin
15 oz can black beans, drained
10 oz can Rotel
1 can tomato sauce
1 c reduced fat sour cream
1 cup yellow corn
1/2 c low fat cottage cheese
4- 9" Low carb, high fiber tortillas
10 oz can red enchilada sauce
1 cup shredded cheese  ( I used regular cheese, you could use reduced fat for less fat and calories)

Instructions
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
coat 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray
In a large nonstick pan, cook the turkey, onions, garlic, chili powder and cumin over medium high heat until turkey is no longer pink.
Add beans and rotel and tomato sauce, mix well.
In medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, sour cream and corn.
Place 2 tortillas on the bottom of the pan, I tore them into smaller pieces for easier serving
Top with half the meat, half the sour cream, and half the enchilada sauce, repeat layers
Bake for 30-35 minutes until hot and bubbly, add cheese to the top and let cook until cheese is melted.
Remove from oven and let sit about 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8
Calories 321
Fat 10.2
Carbs 29.1
Fiber 6.1
Protein 27.6
Sugars 4.9

Weight Watchers Points Plus 8

I served it with a tossed salad and green beans.  Very filling and satisfying!

Fajitas, Not as Healthy as I Thought.....

 

 

I thought I was making a good choice tonight, doesn't it look delicious??  It was!  I guess when you don't figure things out first, you end up making mistakes. However, I did have a protein (pf) from this afternoon, so maybe it wasn't too bad.  I probably will only have one instead of two next time.

 

 

These are the tortillas I used, I liked them better than the 80 calorie La Tortilla  ones even though they are smaller.  They have more of a tortilla texture and flavor.

 



Steak and Shrimp Fajitas

I don't have a real recipe for this, but here is what I did.  I used a pre-packaged mix from the butcher, it was the skirt steak (really lean) and veggies.  I added shrimp and mushrooms to the mix.

I measured out 4 oz of meat for me (a mix of steak and shrimp), then loaded on the veggies.  I had 1/4 cup of ff shredded cheese, 2 T ff sour cream and 2 T wholly guacamole and a bit of salsa.

Because I didn't measure the steak and shrimp separately, the calorie count may be off some. 

Calories 484
Fat 20.4 ( I find this hard to believe, the steak was super lean)
Carb 31.8
Fiber 5
Protein 41.5

WW points  12

Obviously, one fajita would be half of everything, and again, I could be wrong, but I really don't think there was that much fat involved. 

Live and learn, and the take away is figure things out BEFORE eating them!!

Make it a great day everyone!

Cheesecake Factory Style Chicken Madeira

 
 This is what I always order at Cheesecake Factory, so of course I had to figure out how to make it at home.

 

 

I was happy with how this turned out, it was pretty tasty!

 

Chicken Madeira

 

48 oz chicken breasts, I use the Costco ones and cut them in half, that made them about 6 oz each, pound until flattened.

 

1 T olive oil

24 oz sliced mushrooms

2 t butter

14.5 oz can reduced sodium beef broth

3 1/4 cups Madeira wine

1 1/3 c part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

 

Brown chicken on both sides in olive oil, about 5 minutes each side.  Remove from pan and cover to keep warm.  Add butter and sauté mushrooms.  Add broth and wine.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the sauce thickens (about 20 minutes), I usually add some sure gel to thicken it more because I like thick sauces.  Return chicken to pan to re-heat, basting with sauce.  Serve with asparagus.

 

serves 8

 

Calories 222

Fat 11 g

Carbs 2 g

Fiber 0

Protein 11

 

WW points 4

 

The restaurant serves this with garlic cheese mashed potatoes, but I made this creamy noodle dish instead.

 

Creamy Garlic Noodles

12 oz Smart Taste Egg noodles

8 oz fat free cream cheese

1 T horseradish

1 t garlic

 

Cook noodles according to package directions.  Drain, add rest of ingredients.  Cover and allow cream cheese to melt, stir well. 

 

Serves 12

 

Calories 110

Fat .3

Carbs 23

Fiber 3.5

Protein 6.2

 

Weight Watchers points  3

 

I counted this as a dinner entrée plus veggies.

 

 

 



 

 

Chocolate Eclair Dessert

For Father's Day I decided to make this delicious dessert.  I altered it a little to make it more NS friendly, and it came out great!  I thought about subbing egg whites for the whole eggs, but I didn't want to re-do the whole thing if it didn't work, so maybe another time.

Chocolate Éclair Dessert

1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 t salt
1 c water
4 eggs
4 small packages Jell-O fat-free, sugar free vanilla pudding
3 cups skim milk
2 cups fat free half and half
8 oz fat free cream cheese

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Bring the water, butter and salt to boil until butter is melted.  Dump in all of the flour, remove from heat and mix until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball.  Add one egg at a time, mixing well after each one until batter is completely smooth.  Spread into 10 x 15 inch pan.  Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Crust will puff up while baking.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Beat pudding, milk, half and half, and cream cheese until well blended and slightly thickened.  Pour and smooth over crust.  Serve with desired toppings, I used strawberries, chocolate syrup and cool whip.  Not included in nutrition information.

24 servings

138 calories
5.2 g fat
12 g carb
.2 fiber
4.7 protein

Weight Watchers Points Plus:  3

Fettuccine Alfredo on a Diet??

 Alfredo is one of our favorites, but it's not usually very diet friendly.  This recipe however is delicious and skinny to boot! 

Pasta Alfredo

18 oz whole wheat pasta, I used Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne
1 c fat free half and half
1 c skim milk
8 oz fat free cream cheese
2 T margarine
8 T grated parmesan
1 tsp garlic

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Heat the rest of the ingredients over low-medium heat until all is melted.  Stir with whisk until well blended and thickened.  Stir often so it won't scorch.  I was afraid it wouldn't thicken, but it did after sitting a bit.  Pour over noodles and mix well.

Serving size is 1/2 cup noodles with sauce, so this makes 16 servings.  If I didn't have such hungry boys in my family, I would prepare much less.

152 calories
2.8 g fat
27 g carb
3.4 g fiber
7.3 g protein

Weight Watchers points plus 4

I counted this as a smart carb plus one extra.  Serve with 4 oz. grilled chicken and veggies of your choice for a complete dinner.

I like the Smart Taste pasta because it doesn't taste like whole wheat but most of the benefits, plus it's not an unappetizing brown.  This really didn't taste like a low fat dinner, it was delicious!

Jambalaya!!

 
 Dinner is by far the hardest meal for me to do on my own.  DH is a big meat and potatoes kind of guy.  He loves lots of pastas, potatoes and cheesy dishes.  Not exactly healthy fare.  On NS  (1200 calorie plan) dinner consists of 2 powerfuels, 1 smart carb and vegetables to make your daily total at least 4 low gi veggies.  Calories should range from 130-300 with 1.5-10 g fat, 14-51 g carb and 8-26 g protein.  This Jambalaya fits the bill.  It may be a little on the low end for protein, so you could add a little more meat to pump it up if you wanted, sometimes I'll add chicken breast to mine, but of course that would change all of the values.  This recipe makes a ton!!  I have a big family with teenage boys and physical men so we eat a lot, this would be easy to half though or cut it down even more.

Jambalaya

Ingredients:

• Rice, Success Boil-in-Bag Whole Grain Brown Rice, 4 cup (one box with 4 bags, 4c dry)
• Shrimp, cooked, 12 oz
• Hillshire Farm Turkey Polska Kielbasa, 6 serving 
• *Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, wedges in tomato juice, 2 cup
• Bush’s, Black Beans, 3.5 cup 
• Tomato Sauce, 3 cup
• Zucchini, 5 cup, sliced 

Cook the rice as package directs.  In large skillet, sauté the zucchini, add all the other ingredients.  Stir to mix well, season with Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning to taste.  It's best to add a little at a time, it can get too hot pretty quickly.

 

This makes 15 cups and I counted a serving size as 1 cup just to make it easy.

 

Nutrition Facts Serving size is 1 cup 181.8 calories 2.9 g fat 28.5 g carbs 4.9 g fiber 13.6 g protein
		13.6 g

 

WW points plus: 5

 

Everyone loved it, miss picky pants pulled out the zucchini but stirred in her broccoli, so... it was a wash.  I think next time I will shred or puree the zucchini so she won't even know it's there!  This is an easy throw together dinner that I'm sure will get eaten every time. 

Parmesan Pizza Bites

 
 I have been on the Nutrisystem diet plan since the end of January.  I have lost 30 lbs so far, and have at least 30 more to go.  I was getting tired of my food choices and have decided to take a break for a while.  If this is to be a life change and not a diet, I need to learn to cook more healthy all the time.  Thus the change in focus to this blog.  I still love food, and love to eat, but I am making a conscious effort to make my favorite foods more healthy as well as try some new ones.

Parmesan Pizza Bites
38 oz. lean ground turkey (you could sub turkey pepperoni or beef)
24 oz. Hunts No sugar added pasta sauce
9 oz fat free cheddar
22 Nasoya Egg Roll wrappers

Brown and drain meat, add sauce and seasonings to taste.  Place one big spoonful of meat in each wrapper, add a bit of cheese and roll up.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.

Serving size is 2 rolls.
310 cal.
9.1 g fat
26 carb
1.3 g fiber
30 g protein

For NS you could count this as your dinner entrée (2 pf's and 1 sc) or for lunch, your entrée plus a pf from mid-morning.  It is at the higher end for calories, but within the limits.  Serve with veggies and a salad.  WW points 8

The family liked it, even miss picky pants!  Definitely a keeper.

Chicken Enchiladas

Meat from 1 chicken or 1-1/2 lbs chicken breasts, cooked
16 oz sour cream
4 oz can diced green chiles
1 lb grated cheese
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
chopped green onions
1 can mild green enchilada sauce
12 soft flour tortillas
sweet rice (recipe follows)

Put meat, sour cream, chiles, one can soup, and onions in mixer.  Mix until chicken is shredded and everything is mixed.  If you don't want to use your mixer, you can shred chicken yourself and mix in a bowl, I just like to take the easy way.

On tortilla, layer sweet rice, chicken mixture and cheese.  Roll tortilla and place seam side down in greased 9x13 pan.  After pan is filled, pour enchilada sauce over all, cover with second can of soup, and top with cheese.  Bake at 350 for 50 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Sweet Rice

One can chicken broth
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups instant rice

Bring all to a boil, cook over low until liquid is absorbed.

Everyone loves this, even picky pants dd will eat it!

6/17/20014
To make this more diet friendly, sub fat free sour cream, fat free cheese and healthy request cream of mushroom soup.  I also use La Tortilla Factory Low Carb Whole Wheat tortillas. 

Nutrition info for one enchilada without rice
253 cal
6.6 g fat
31.7 g carb
12.8 g fiber
29 g protein

I would count this as your dinner entrée for NS

Weight Watchers Points = 7

The sweetened condensed milk makes the rice add about 200 calories, so I would just skip that, but it depends on your allowance for the day I suppose.  I haven't looked for low fat sweetened condensed milk to even see if it existed.  This is super good even without the rice though

Creamy, Vanilla Buttermilk Syrup

Tonight was breakfast for dinner.  Pancakes and eggs, but the highlight is the syrup.  I do not claim that this is Magelbey's syrup recipe, but it sure tastes like it.  My family won't use any other syrup any more, this is so rich and creamy.

1 stick butter
1 c sugar
1 c buttermilk
1/4 c corn syrup

Mix in a medium size sauce pan, mixture will expand to fill the pan.  Bring to a full boil, let boil 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat, add 1/2 t baking soda, 1 T vanilla, stir well.  Let cool slightly, serve over pancakes, French toast, wherever you like your syrup.  Enjoy!

Ultimate Chocolate Cake

This is the best chocolate cake I have ever had, and I am admittedly a chocolate snob.  It is rich, but not so rich you can't eat it.  It is moist and flavorful.  I could honestly eat the whole cake, it's that good!  I kind of fool myself into thinking it's sort of healthy because there's no oil, but it is still cake!

1 package devils food cake mix
1 large package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 c sour cream
1/2 c water
1 c chocolate chips
1/2 c applesauce
4 eggs

Combine all ingredients, pour into greased bundt pan.  Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.  Cool 10 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Spider Chicken Sandwiches

We call these Spider Sandwiches, because we eat them around Halloween, and also because the shredded chicken looks like spider legs.

1/2 onion
1/2 bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 cup ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
2 dashes worchestershire sauce
1 cup water

Mix all in blender until liquefied.  Great way to disguise the green stuff!  Pour into large sauce pan, add shredded meat from one chicken, I use a rotisserie chicken.  At 4.99 from Costco, they are a staple at our house.  Mix and let simmer until sauce thickens (2-3 hrs, or thicken with ultra gel if you are impatient like me!), adding water if necessary.  Serve on hard rolls.

Southwest Chicken Chowder

This soup has been a family favorite for years.  With the exception of my 17 yo ds, and 8 yo dd, who won't even try it, everyone else loves it.  Credit goes to my dear friend, Jenny Budd.  At our house, it's called Jenny's chicken soup.

3 c frozen corn
1/2 t garlic
1-1/2 c chicken broth
1-1/2 c cream
2-4 oz cans diced green chiles
32 oz velveeta, cubed
meat from one chicken

Mix everything together over medium heat. Stir frequently to melt cheese and prevent scorching.  Serve with crumbled tortilla chips.

Baked Fried Chicken

This was a hit!!  Even Miss Picky Pants liked it!  Almost right on the KFC similarity.  I made a few changes, they are in blue.

Saw this on facebook, might have to try this one!  I love fried chicken but hate the mess.  I think I'll try buttermilk instead of plain though.  I do like the skin, but I only have breasts to try tonight, and I've tried other KFC "secret recipes" before that haven't measured up.  Maybe this one will, I'll let you know and post pics after dinner! 

{Baked Fried Chicken}
I am pretty sure someone has discovered the KFC secret recipe! It is DEAD ON! It is also baked...not fried and there isn't any skin! So you get to enjoy the taste of the seasoning, instead of pulling it off because of the slimy skin!

This is super easy and you are TOTALLY going to love it!

Place thawed chicken breast tenderloin strips in a bowl of milk. Let soak for 20-30 min.  I used 3 lbs boneless, skinless breasts, cut into strips, and soaked in buttermilk

Mix in a Gallon Size Ziploc or Large Bowl: 
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 T Season All  I didn't have Season All, so I omitted the salt and used 2T Season Salt
3/4 tsp Pepper  I left out the pepper, not a big fan
1 c. Flour  I used 2 cups, and it was just right
2 tsp. Paprika  Because I increased everything else, I used 2 Tbs.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut 1/2 stick of butter into a few pieces and place in a 9x13 pan. Melt butter in pre-heated oven.  I used a full stick of butter, it really helps with the 'fried' chicken taste

Spread melted butter around the bottom of the pan. Lightly spray the pan, if needed, to make sure that there are no dry spots.

Shake excess milk off of chicken and completely coat each piece with the seasoning mix. You can either shake the chicken in the bag, until coated, or dip each piece in the bowl until coated.
Place each piece of chicken in the pan.

Cook for 20 min. Turn each piece of chicken and continue cooking for 20 more minutes, or until cooked through.
 It came out crispy, juicy and tender.  Just right!

Beth's Chicken Pasta Salad

     We had a luncheon at work today, and I made a pasta salad.  I had a few people who wanted the recipe, so here it is.  Quick and easy, just throw everything together and adjust for taste.

1 lb deli chicken salad
1 lb any pasta, cooked according to directions
1 bottle Hidden Valley Coleslaw Dressing
2 c grated cheese
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 can pineapple tidbits, drained
1-2 c mayo or miracle whip, to bring to desired consistency
Green onions, chopped if the chicken salad doesn't already have some.

Refrigerate until well chilled to let the flavors mix.

In all honesty, this is a grown-up dish.  My picky eaters won't touch it, but I've found most adults love it.  Enjoy!

Creamy Coconut Shrimp

     This is one of my picky eater's favorites, even dd, there are never any leftovers of this dish!  It's quick and easy to put together in a hurry.

2 pounds shrimp (you can use any kind, my tribe prefers it crunchy, so I use popcorn shrimp, baked according to the package directions)

1 can coconut milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
1 t. coconut extract
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. almond extract

Add milk, cream and sugar to pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer (stirring occasionally) until the sauce is reduced by half (about 10 minutes).  Add extracts and shrimp, stir until well coated.  If using cold shrimp, let simmer for another 2 minutes to warm through.  Serve over herbed angel hair pasta.  Serves 8

Tucano's Brazilian Cheese Bread

One of our favorite restaurants is Tucano's, a Brazilian Churrasco.  Although the meat is the main draw, one of our favorite things are these yummy cheese bread balls.  I had never seen anything like them before, and just had to learn how to make them myself.  Turns out they are pretty simple, and oh, so delicious!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/3 c oil
2/3 c milk
1-1/2 c tapioca flour (try the gluten free aisle)
1/2 c grated cheese (any kind will do, my favorite is queso fresco, but cheddar and mozzarella are good too)
1 t salt

Mix everything in your blender until smooth.  Pour into a mini muffin pan.  One batch makes 24, perfect for one muffin pan.  Bake 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden.