Mug Cake

Happy, what is my, Monday everyone. Yesterday, I stayed home from work with a nasty headache and slept all day. Seriously, any time that I was awake, my head was pounding, so staying asleep was the only thing that helped. Today, I am much better and here to share some delicious treats that I made this weekend. I am still going strong on the WW. Down 8 pounds from my start date, 9/3/12!! I am so happy that I have stuck with it, because I feel terrific! My body is looking better, my cravings are tapering off, and following the plan is becoming a habit and not work. It's not all easy though, especially when the weekends hit.

This weekend, the boyfriend and I went to one of our favorite bars for happy hour on Friday, The Pub. There are about 30 beers on draft to choose from, another 100 or so bottled, liquor drinks, and the menu is amazing. This is when saving all my bonus points and working out all week really pays off. We could have easily got the BBQ Cheddar Bacon house chips served with ranch or the fried cheese balls, 3 to an order, that are the size of a tennis ball, but we choose some healthier options, and they were just as good! The Jamaican Shrimp were delicious, though nothing of the Jamaican sort and the Beer Cheese Spread was served with carrots and celery which was nice. Since we went for HH, the portions were smaller and we shared. Paired with two beers, I used about 20 points (guessing, it's probably a bit of an over estimate) which isn't bad at all. One of the things that I do miss are my treats. Stumbling around the internet this weekend, I came across this little delight; a mug cake. The name comes from it actually being cooked in a mug and in the microwave. For those of you that really know me, you know I don't use my microwave for much, but this will be something I make again and again. Only 2 points total, with whipped topping, this is a pretty amazing dessert. Oh, it's also customizable! Winning!

Mug Cake

• 1 box angel food cake
• 1 box any flavor cake you wish, I used lemon
• 1 tbs water

1. Combine the two boxes of cake mix together. I did this in a large ziplock.
2. When ready to use, scoop out 3 tablespoons and put in mug.
3. Mix with one tablespoon water.
4. Microwave for 1 minute.
5. Top with whipped topping if you wish.

Tips and Tricks

• Use any type cake mix you would like, though one of them MUST be angel food cake.
• Microwave for 50 second for a less cooked cake.
• Allow to cool a bit before you top with with whipped topping or it will melt.
• Mix in chocolate chips for an more chocolate treat, though the points won't be 2.

Mozzarella Baked Cheese Bites

Cheese, one of the greatest gifts given to Earth. Melty, chewy, gooey, stringy goodness. It's good on pizzas, enchiladas, nachos, pasta, fries, hamburgers, tacos, you name, I'll put cheese on it. One of my favorite ways to eat it is fried, but boy does that go against my life style change. In my search for all that is healthy AND cheesy, I came across a recipe that was baked, not fried. Was this too good to be true? Could I have my cheese and eat it too? YES, I could!

True to style, I used the recipe as a template to build my own baked cheese goodness. Instead of breadcrumbs, I used panko. Instead of Italian seasoning, I used Parmesan bread dipping mix. Add the best part, Weight Watchers just came out with 1 points plus cheese sticks. This master cheese plan was all coming together. It only took about 5 minutes to prepare, 3 to bake, and in under 10 minutes (minus oven preheating of course,) I was chowing down on glorious nuggets of cheesy bliss. I served them of course with marinara sauce and at 2 points a serving, I enjoyed two. I know I've guaranteed a lot in this blog, but you can bet that you won't miss all that grease one bit! Recipe below for 4 servings.

Mozzarella Baked Cheese Bites

• 4 Weight Watchers (or any brand of your liking) mozzarella cheese sticks
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup panko crumbs
• 2 tbs Parmesan bread dipping mix or Italian seasoning (if using seasoning, add 1 tbs paremesan grated cheese)
• 1/4 cup flour (all of this will not be used and is subtracted from the points total)
• Cooking spray
• Marinara sauce for dipping

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Put flour in one bowl, egg in another, and panko mixed with seasoning in another. You will have 3 separate bowls.
3. Cut cheese sticks into 8 pieces each.
4. Place cheese pieces in flour and shake off excess.
5. Dip floured cheese bites into egg.
6. Shake off excess egg and roll pieces in panko mix to cover.
7. Continue with all cheese bites and put on cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
8. Spray lightly with cooking spray and cook for 3 minutes.

Tips and Tricks

• Use any type of cheese stick you would like
• Use seasoned panko crumbs to save time
• Use egg beaters or just egg whites to cut down on points (though I don't know if this will actually cut points to 1 or not)
• 
  

1. Remove and eat immediately with marinara sauce.
2.  

Beef Enchilada and Veggie Stuffed Red Peppers

Today, at work, we had a baby shower for my good friend Shalom. This is the same girl that I made the food for this past weekend. Damn these baby showers and my new "lifestyle change" of eating better. Let me clarify. The showers have been great, but the food....oh man the delicious, delicious food... Today, we catered Moe's and got an ice cream cake. Moe's was build your own fajitas, so that wasn't too bad. I ate a bit of cereal and fruit before I went so I wouldn't be too hungry, so I just had a small plate of grilled chicken, black beans, and pico. But the cake...layers of red velvet and cake batter ice cream mixed with Oreos with a layer of chocolate fudge, topped with vanilla frosting and sprinkles...it was calling my name. My mouth is watering just describing it. BUT, I am trying very, VERY hard not to eat sugar and have done just that since Labor Day. Supposedly, after two weeks, your body will no longer crave it. We will see if that is true or not soon.

Keeping on my lifestyle change, I made some pretty good stuffed peppers the other night. You know my love of Mexican, so I had to fit that into the meal plan this week. These were suppose to be vegetarian style, but I added extra lean ground beef to the mix. The only thing that I would change next time is to add more enchilada sauce since when you bake the peppers, a lot of water cooks out of them and makes the mixture a bit bland. I made that change in the recipe below. Other than that, they were pretty delicious and a great way to eat veggies. I served mine with a little black beans that were left from the mixture and when I brought the leftovers from lunch, had a piece of corn that was left from the night before. A serving size in one half a pepper, but at 5 points each, you can def have two!

 Beef Enchilada and Veggie Stuffed Red Peppers

• 3 red peppers, cut in half vertical and seeded
• 1/2 pound extra lean ground beef
• 1 cup black beans (I made mine prepared, following this recipe, but you can just add them as is if you like)
• 1/2 large green pepper, diced
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 1 small zucchini , diced
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• 3/4 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar, divided in 1/4 and 1/2

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Brown ground beef half way.
3. Add onions, peppers, black beans and cook for 5 minutes until peppers and onions are tender.
4. Add zucchini and enchilada sauce and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add 1/2 cup cheese and stir until melted.
6. Stuff each pepper and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
7. Put in baking dish and cover with foil. 
8. Bake for 25 minutes.

Tips and Tricks

• If your peppers won't lay flat, cut a small slice off the outside to make flat bottom.
• Feel free to add more veggies or go meatless. Corn and carrots would make good additions.
• For bigger portions, don't cut peppers in half. Cut tops off, remove inside and stuff whole pepper. Bake for 30 minutes.

Buffalo Chicken Celery Boats

This appetizer is mind blowing and I have my amazing boyfriend to thank! While we were eating the Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps, I told him that the chicken was suppose to be shredded, but I didn't feel like shredding a bunch of chicken, so I used ground instead. That lead to us talking about how they would make a good and healthy appetizer come football season, but the lettuce leaves tend to be a bit messy. What to do, what to do? "What if you made the chicken shredded and stuffed it in celery," he says. Mind blown! This seemed like such an obvious idea, yet I have never thought of it (yes, I can't believe that either with all the day dreaming I do about food), nor have I seen it on any cooking show, food magazine, or restaurant menu. Literally, this was genius!!

You still get all the spice and flavor of buffalo chicken, but with no grease and guilt of wings or strips. Plus you get amazing crunch from the celery AND they are mess free. I really don't think there is a better buffalo chicken recipe out there. Since I had a baby shower this past Saturday (can't wait to meet you baby Sophia!) and had some errands to do as well, I just bought a rotisserie chicken from Publix (love those things!), shredded that up, added hot sauce and a ranch packet and BOOM, buffalo chicken in 10 minutes. I also made some low-fat blue cheese dip that I listed below as well. Are you ready for the icing on the cake? These bad boys are only 1 point for 2 celery sticks (1 tbs of meat per stick)! The blue cheese dip is 2 points per 2 tablespoons which goes a long way. Yes, it doesn't get much better than that. All in all, this is my new favorite way to eat buffalo chicken, guilt free, and have my awesome boyfriend to thank!

Buffalo Chicken Celery Boats

• 1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded chicken breast; I use rotisserie, but you can boil or skillet cook chicken and shred
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup Frank's Red Hot hot sauce (depends on how hot you like it)
• 1 packet Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch dressing mix
• 1 to 2 bunches celery; tops and ends cut off. Each stalk makes two good size pieces

1. Heat shredded chicken in skillet over medium heat.
2. Add hot sauce and ranch packet together, then pour over chicken.
3. Cook for 5 minutes until most of the sauce is absorbed in chicken and mixture is hot.
4. Spoon mixture into celery.
5. Serve with low-fat blue cheese dip (recipe follow) or low-fat Ranch dressing.

Blue Cheese Dip

• 1/4 cup blue cheese; crumb a wedge or pre crumbled
• 2 tbs low-fat sour cream
• 2 tbs low-fat mayonaisse
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• pepper to tast
• Milk to thin out, about 1 tbs

1. Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
2. If dip is too thick, thin with some milk.
3. If not blue cheese enough, add more cheese, but this will increase points.

Chicken Marsala

In just over a month, I have my 10 year high school reunion. I'm pretty excited about it, even though I pretty much still know what's going on with everyone thanks to Facebook. It's going to be at the Post Card Inn on St. Pete Beach which is even better. However, that means sporting a bathing suit for the weekend and well, I'm not exactly where I would like to be body wise to be running around in a bikini all weekend. No worries, I got just over a month to really get focused. I know it seems silly or vain to get in shape for a reunion, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't care, but I have been trying to eat well and work out for some time now and this should be enough motivation to not F it up. So far I've been on track for a week, I know, not very long, but you got to start somewhere. WW points have all been tracked and within range, I have worked out everyday, and the hardest part for me, I have not eating out or drank alcohol all week! Trust me, that is HUGE for me.

Chicken marsala is one of my favorite chicken dishes. I love mushrooms and anything with a sauce on it. However, the usual chicken marsala is full of fat and that's just not going to work right now. This recipe uses almost no butter and the flavor is spectacular. I served this with mash potatoes made with a very small amount of Can't Believe It's Not Butter and some milk. I prepared a lot of marinaded grilled chicken in the beginning of the week to use throughout the week and that really gave this dish a lot of flavor. You can always cook yours in a skillet, but I would still marinade your chicken. One piece of chicken with mushroom sauce was just 5 points plus! I gaurentee that you won't miss all the fat of the normal version.

Chicken Marsala

• 1 pound thin cut chicken breast
• 1 packet McCormicks Grillmates in Garlic White Wine, prepared
• 1 cup white or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup marsala wine 
• 1 cup chicken broth plus 2 tbs
• 1 tbs Can't Believe It's Not Butter
• Olive Oil cooking spray
• 1 tbs cornstarch

1. Put chicken in prepared marinade and let marinade for at least one hour. I do mine over night.
2. Grill or skillet cook chicken until done. If done in skillet, remove chicken once cooked.
3. Spray pan with cooking spray and bring to medium-high heat.
4. Put mushrooms in hot skillet making sure that none are touching.
5. Cook for 1-2 minutes and flip. 
6. Cook for another 1-2 minutes until nicely browned.
7. Add marsala wine, broth, and butter.
8. Cook for 5 minutes, letting alcohol cook out of the wine and reducing liquid a bit.
9. Add chicken back to pan and cook for 2 minutes.
10. Add 2 tbs of broth with cornstarch in bowl, mix well until no lumps and add to skillet.
11. Cook 1-2 minutes until thickened.
12. Serve and enjoy.

Tex Mex Greek Dip

OK, so I made the title of this dip up, but let me tell you, this is one that you NEED to make for your next tailgate, party, get together, or whatever. Hell, just make it for no reason at all other than having to have it! I got this recipe while at the beach this Labor Day weekend. (PS, I didn't get too burned this weekend which was good, except for my nose that looks oddly familiar to Rudolf. My dad even made fun of me.) My friend was piratically shoveling it into her mouth with the few tortilla chips that were left. I had to distract her just to try a bite, but I'm so glad that I did. Sweet, salty, almost a bit spicy, with a great texture; my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

The reason for the weird name is the random mix of ingredients. Black beans, corn and green onion make up for the Tex Mex part, and the feta cheese brings in the Greek part. All together, this is a flavor explosion that will be sure to please. One recipe makes a good amount, but if you are going to a party with a lot of people, you might want to make a double recipe. I served mine with tortilla and corn chips, both were very good. Though this isn't necessarily "healthy" due to the sugar, I think you could make it more figure friendly by using Splenda instead of sugar and using a low-fat feta cheese. Serve with veggies or baked chips instead of full fat tortilla chips.

Tex Mex Greek Dip

• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1 can white corn
• 1/4 cup green onions, light green and white part
• 1 6oz container feta cheese
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 sugar
• 1/4 apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbs garlic powder

1. Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

Tips and Tricks

• Use Spenda and low-fat feta for a healthier version
• Top on chicken for a creative dinner
• Mix with pasta for a pasta salad

Blondie Cake Bites

I have a horrible sweet tooth and a new found love of baking. The two combined is a deadly weapon that is reeking havoc on my waistline. I try to bring most of the treats I make into work, but there are some, like these, that I just don't want to share, they are that good. I'm pretty sure I already let it be known that I like anything that comes in bar format. Take that and cover it in a hard chocolate coating, and you may as well smack my momma. Not only are these little dream bites pretty to look at, they are the perfect size for popping for an after dinner treat or when you are in the mood to treat your sweet tooth. Try to eat just one, I dare you!

Blondie Cake Bites

• 1 stick salted butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbs powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup sprinkles
• 6 cubes of vanilla Almond Bark
• Sprinkles to decorate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla.
3. In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and powder sugar together.
4. Slowly add dry ingredents to butter mixture until well combined.
5. Stir in sprinkles.
6. Pour in 8x8 baking dish.
7. Bake for 24 minutes.
8. Let cool, then cut away the edges. *You can still dip and eat the edges, they just don't ball up as well.
9. Scoop out middle into small gumball size pieces and roll until in balls. *Warning! This is a bit messy and your hands will be greasy. There will be little bits of hard pieces in the balls, this is ok.
10. Melt Almond Bark according to directions, then dip each ball in seperatly. 
11. Place on foil lined cookie sheet and decortae with sprinkles right after putting in chocolate while still wet. 
12. Repeat until finished and put in freezer for 2 minutes or until chocolate as set.

Tips and Tricks

• Use chocolate Almond Bark if you would like.
• Experiment with different types of sprinkles and candies.