Sunday, February 21, 2010

Banana Pancakes

Made these for breakfast this morning, were pretty tasty! I didn't use the rum sauce or the nuts, but thought I'd include in case someone felt like including it. I instead sprinkled cinnamon sugar on them while in the griddle :) and used regular syrup. I also only ate 2 pancakes and had an aidell's chicken & apple sausage link with it. Yum.

Banana Pancakes

Pancakes:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups bananas -- chopped
3 tablespoons pecans -- chopped and toasted

Cinnamon-Rum Syrup:
3/4 cup corn syrup -- light-colored
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons rum
or
1 teaspoon rum extract -- * see note
1 teaspoon lemon juice

To prepare pancakes, combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well. Combine buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and egg in a small bowl; stir well. Add to flour mixture, stirring until smooth. Fold in banana. Spoon about 1/3 cup batter for each pancake onto a hot nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet. Turn pancakes when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. To prepare Cinnamon-Rum Syrup, place corn syrup in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat until thoroughly heated. Add remaining ingredients; stir well. Serve warm over pancakes.

Yield: 9 pancakes (serving size: 3 pancakes, 1 tablespoon pecans, and 4 teaspoons syrup).

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Chicken Asparagus Gratin

Had this for dinner the other night, not the most amazing thing ever but I saw fresh asparagus at the store and thought it would freeze well in casserole form for my grandparents. If you aren't a big asparagus fan I think you could do cream of broccoli and broccoli as substitutes.

Chicken Asparagus Gratin
7 points / 5 servings

10 3/4 oz Campbells cream of asparagus
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
3 cups cooked whole wheat pasta
2 cups cooked, diced chicken breast
2 cups cooked, diced asparagus
1 cup reduced fat cheddar shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 400
Combine soup, milk, onion powder, and pepper.
Stir in pasta, chicken, asparagus, and cheese. Pour into 2 quart casserole.
Bake @ 400 for 25 minutes, or until hot.

I also sprinkled a little paprika over it before baking. Was kind of bland, but ok with some garlic pepper added :)

Moterrey chicken & Spanish Rice

I originally got the chicken recipe off of a website called www.aimeesadventures.com, not sure if its still active or not. Think I got this one back in 2005 on my first run of WW.

I like this chicken recipe because you can scale it to the number of chicken breasts you have. Like tonight I only have 3 so I will just 3/4 cup cheese and 3 Tbsp of BBQ and bacon bits (1/4c = 4 Tbsp for those of you who forget) :)

Monterrey Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup bbq sauce
1/4 cup real bacon bits
1 cup colby blend shredded cheese
1 can rotel (diced tomatoes & chiles), drained.*
sliced green onions (optional)
ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pound out the chicken to flatten. Season each with a little pepper. Cook the chicken in a skillet over medium-low until cooked thru (no longer pink). Place each breast on a coated (with cooking spray) jelly roll (cookie sheet with sides) or large brownie pan and top each breast with 1 Tbsp BBQ sauce, 1/4 cup cheese, 1/4 cup rotel, green onions, and 1 Tbsp bacon bits.
Bake until cheese has melted (about 5 minutes).

* Recipe calls for 14oz but my can is 10oz and will be fine for 3 breasts.


Spanish Rice
6 servings / 3 points

1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes (I've also used diced ok)
1 cup uncooked longrain rice
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic salt

In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Bubble Up pizza casserole

People have raved about this on the WW boards for years, tonight I'm finally trying it. Fat/Cal will vary based on how you prepare.

Basic Ingredients:
1 1/2 servings turkey pepperonis, cut into quarters - I am actually using 6oz of the diced ham cubes. Outta pepperoni.
One can of the smaller biscuits (10 biscuits per can)
15 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp Italian seasoning
I also added 1/2 tsp minced onion
1 1/4 cups reduced fat cheese

You can put whatever you'd want in it, veggies, different meat (people on the boards seemed to like turkey italian sausage and ground beef as well). Some people also say it works well with the Pillsbury canned Italian loaf diced up.

Preheat oven to 350.
In a bowl place whatever meats you use, seasonings, and sauce. Add biscuits and stir gently until covered in sauce. Pour into a treated 9x13 pan.
Bake 25 minutes.
Top with cheese, and bake 10 minutes or until the biscuits are done. Allow to sit 5 minutes before serving.

Variation posted: Use leftover taco meat, refried beans, salsa instead of pizza sauce, low fat mexican cheese, chopped tomatoes, then shredded lettuce and a little sour cream once the whole pizza is cooked. yum!

Cook like Julia without all the fat

This is another yanked off the WW boards, will probably be deleted soon since its apparently in the WW cookbook this month.

BOEUF BOURGUIGNON
Prep: 25 minutes Cook: 1 hr 45 min
Serves 6

*2 lbs bottom round roast, trimmed and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
*1/4 cup AP flour
*1 TBS olive oil
*1 14.5 ounce can low sodium beef broth
*1 cup red wine
*1 16 ounce pkg frozen pearl onions
*10 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered
*2 TBS tomato paste
*4 cloves garlic, chopped
*1 TBS fresh thyme, chopped
*1 bay leaf
*1/2 tsp salt
*1/4 tsp pepper
*1 lb carrots, thickly sliced
*2 TBS chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1. Toss beef cubes and flour in a bowl til evenly coated. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over med-hi heat. Add beef, in batches if necessary, and cook until browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon.

2. Add broth, wine, onions, mushrooms, tomato paste, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper; bring to a boil, scraping up any bits from bottom of the pan. Stir in beef and reduce heat. Cover and simmer 1 hour.

3. Stir in carrots. Cover and simmer again for 30 minutes. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Per serving (1 1/3 cups) 381 calories, 9g fat, 376 mg sodium, 24 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 49 g protein

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Meatloaf muffins

I've been thinking of trying these a long time, if you couldn't tell I'm hungry today... think these would be a good size to freeze for my grandparents too.

Stove Top Meatloaf Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

1 lb extra lean ground beef or turkey
1 box Stove Top stuffing mix
1 cup water
2 egg whites
Ketchup or BBQ sauce

Mix together and divide into 12 muffin cups that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Top each with Ketchup. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

You can use this recipe but substitute V8 instead of water. It gives it a little extra flavor.

I have my doubts, but I didn't name it.

Borrowed from the recipe review board on WW again.

Better Than Sex Cake
(Diet Coke Cake)

Yields: 24 servings |
Ingredients:
· 1 box (8oz) Devil's Food Cake mix
· 10-oz Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi
· 1 egg white
· 6-oz fat-free caramel ice cream topping *
· 7-oz fat-free sweetened condensed milk
· 1 cup Skor Bar or Heath Bar bits (found by the choc. chips)
· 1 (8-oz) container fat-free cool whip

*Note that it might not say "fat-free" on the front of the label, but check the nutritional info on the back. I bet it's fat-free. :-)
Directions:

Mix cake mix, egg white and diet soda. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out smooth in a greased 9x13 pan. During the last few minutes of baking, put caramel and condensed milk in a sauce pan and stir on medium low heat until smooth. Take cake out of oven, and poke holes all over the top. Pour caramel mixture over warm cake, filling in the holes. Sprinkle Heath bits over the top, reserving some for the top. Cool completely. Cover with container of fat-free cool whip and sprinkle with remaining heath bits. Put in fridge until ready to serve.

Yields: 24 servings
Nutritional Info: (per serving) 193 Calories, 5.25 g. fat, 1 g. fiber

Chicken Tamale Casserole

Since I began watching what I ate again, one thing I really missed is mexican food. I love the stuff, can't get enough. So when this recipe came up on the recipe review board on WW online, I was quite excited. I'm trying it for the first time tonight, hope its good :)

Chicken Tamale Casserole

Yield: 8 servings (I am making it 6, I know I'll want to eat a lot and I'll take the extra few points.)

Ingredients
1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (i.e. martha white or jiffy)
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
Cooking spray
1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (I'm doing a pound of chicken diced)
1/2 cup sour cream (I like RF)

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. (Original poster notes: It took way longer to set for me, like 30 min at least) Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

Monday, February 1, 2010

New pork recipe

Have I mentioned I love the Pork Board's website? Because I do. It's got a lot of great recipes. I got one of our favorite grilled recipes on there too. Think I already posted it here.

Anyways, here's tonight's pork dinner: Mustard-Herb crusted pork loin - I used the whole grain dijon mustard :) I'm having a sweet potato and Dad/Chris get some redskins tossed with EVOO and garlic/onion/season salt wrapped in foil and baked.

edited: YUM. This was good, different from the normal "shake some seasonings on and throw it in the oven". Will make again. I used 2 Tbsp of egg beaters insted of the yolks it called for and used the whole grain mustard.

And sometime this summer, since I finally got a citrus zester & manual (by hand) juicer I am going to try this one for my Margarita loving husband. Margarita pork roast.

Also a big step for me today: I ate oatmeal and didn't gag. I bought some of the Quaker low sugar variety pack since my hubby loves the maple/brown sugar kind. I tried the apple cinnamon and it okay made with milk. I think it'd be nasty made with water. They have a blueberry muffin one I want to try next. Oatmeal is only 2 points made with water and 3 made with 1/2 cup skim. Think I'll eat the point to not have it be funny. ;)

A not so low fat recipe

But one I've wanted forever...
Elly Says Opa's Baklava!

Mmmmm. Baklava. *drooooool* I'm not a huge walnut fan so I'll probably use pistachios for at least part of it as I've often had it that way. Now to find a reason to make yummy baklava. So I don't eat the whole pan. Because I could.