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.

Sausage Crescent Puffs

Football season is upon us and that means appetizers and Go Bulls and Roll Tide! I tend to get a bit carried away with making appetizers for the boyfriend and I. He always wants Velveeta and Rotel (literally, I ask what do you want and he says Velveeta and Rotel. Every. Single. Time.) However, I like to have some variety. I always make too much for just the two of us and this weekend was no exception. I made a few new items that will definitely be added to my appetizers library and this was one of them.

I have had a craving for breakfast sausage for about 2 weeks now. I was trying to put it off because its not the healthiest, but figured kick off weekend was the time to be bad a bit. I used it in the Stuffed Jalapenos I made, as well as these little beauties. I have to say, these were pretty amazing and were great, both hot out of the oven, as well as at room temperature. One can of crescent dough made 24 mini cupcake size portions which was more than enough for boyfriend and I, but if you need more, just double the recipe.

Sausage Crescent Puffs

• 1 can crescent dough
• 1/3 of sausage roll, cooked
• 1/2 brick cream cheese
• 1/4 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup green pepper, diced
• 3 tbs ranch salad dressing

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray mini cupcake tin with baking spray.
3. Take crescent dough and roll to combine into large ball.
4. Cut off a small piece, about the size of a gumball. Roll into ball.
5. Use rolling pin to flatten and and put in mini cupcake tin to make crust.
6. Repeat until all cups are lined.
7. Combined sausage, cream cheese, cheese, peppers, and ranch until well combined.
8. Add small amount to each cup, filling to the top.
9. Bake for 12 minutes.

Gooey Butter Bars

It's Friday, hell yes! Not that it has been a bad week or anything, but who doesn't like Fridays? Nothing too big planned for the weekend, which is fine with me. A nice, relaxing weekend sounds perfect. Tropical Storm/Hurricane Isaac is out and about and said to be heading our way. Though it has shifted more to the west, we will probably still get a lot of rain and wind. Maybe, just maybe, we will have to close work Monday (cross your fingers), but as of right now we are still on. I don't want it to hit us by any means, but a day off due to hurricane doesn't sound half bad.

Last week we made our deadline at work due to everyone working their asses off. I was such a proud manager and wanted to do something to say thanks. I'm not wealthy enough to give them anything too cool, but I can cook/bake, so I made these amazingly delicious, extremely unhealthy, dessert bars. Everyone really enjoyed them and I have to admit that I stashed some at home for the boyfriend and myself. They were quick and easy to make and something I will definitely be making again soon.

Gooey Butter Bars

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 stick butter, melted slightly, but still mostly in bar form
• 3 eggs
• 1 block cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 4 cups powder sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the cake mix, butter, and one egg.
3. Press into the bottom on a 9x13 baking dish to make crust.
4. Cream 2 eggs, cream cheese, and vanilla together with electric beater until smooth.
5. Add powder sugar one cup at a time, mixing until smooth between each cup.
6. Pour mixture over crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Top should be cracking.
7. Cool completely before cutting.

Tips and Tricks

• Though I haven't tried this, using lemon cake mix and adding lemon extract, juice, and/or zest to cream cheese mixture might be a wonderful adaption to the recipe.
• Use a sharp knife, dipped in hot water when cutting.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

I have been on a casserole kick lately. They are just so easy to make and leftovers are usually even better than it was the first night. This recipe came about because my mom was hosting her Bunko party this month. For those of you that aren't familiar with what Bunko is, it is a dice game, kinda of like Yahtzee, where you try to roll sixes. I really think that is the only object of the game, lol. The more sixes you get, the better off you are. My dad thinks it's just a reason for women to get around, "gab" and drink wine, which he is probably right about, lol. I told my mom that I would be happy to cater since I am trying to get my name out there and more traffic to the blog. She quickly took me up on the offer since she has to work and drive 45 minutes home. By that time, Bunko was in an hour and that would just stress her out. I made everything a day before and took it took it to work so my dad could take it home (we work together). All mom had to do is pop it in the oven and serve it.

Seeing that I had never made this recipe, only saw a version on Pinterest, I felt it was appropriate I try it out before I serve it for my mom and all her friends. Plus, it was an excuse to make it and go a bit against my WW points, lol. However, once I calculated the points, it came out to 8 points a serving!! So not only was it delicious, it was WW appropriate and made tons of left overs. I would definitily make this again.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

• 1 1/2 pound chicken, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 package diced ham; about 1 1/4 cups
• 6 oz or 6 slices swiss cheese
• 1 box chicken or herb stuffing, perpared according to package
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (use fat free if doing for WW)
• 1 tbs dijon mustard
• 2 tbs white wine
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 to 2 tbs chicken seasoning (this is NOT poultry seasoning, rather a blend of seasonings such as garlic, onion, tarragon, salt, pepper, parsley. If you can't find, just use a pinch of each of those ingredients.)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bring white wine and broth up to a boil in a large skillet.
3. Season chicken with chicken seasoning.
4. Broil chicken is white wine and broth, covered, for 7 minutes, or until done.
5. Drain and set aside.
6. Prepare stuffing according to package and set aside.
7. Mix cream of chicken and mustard together.
8. Add chicken and ham to soup mixture.
9. Layer on bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
10. Top chicken mixture with cheese.
11. Top cheese with stuffing.
12. Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered.

Tips and Tricks

• You can boil the chicken in just water or broth if you could like. I find adding the wine and seasoning add to the flavor.
• If you can't find pre-cut ham cubes, buy dinner ham and cut into small cubes.
• Use rotisserie chicken for faster prep.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

With the Olympics over, the blog should get back on track. Sorry for the lack of regular posting, but I seriously could not pull myself away from watching the games. At work Friday, we were watching goofs and f'ups...they were hilarious. Of course I feel awful for the athletes. They practice for years for minutes of completion, sometimes only seconds, so when you see them bust ass or trip over their feet, you feel for them. However, that doesn't mean that I didn't laugh and laugh, and watch it again and again...in slow motion at times. This clip isn't from this years Olympics, but someone at work found it while we were watching other bloopers. Warning, make sure you aren't eating and/or drinking, unless you are trying to get food or drink everywhere. Again, I do feel for these athletes; I know this has to be the worst feeling in the world, but I'm sure in years to come, they will look back and laugh a bit...maybe.

Well, on to the recipe, which was not a flop at all. Seeing how my craving for anything buffalo has been pretty strong lately, I decided to whip up a healthier version of buffalo chicken. I make a similar recipe as this, but inspired by Asian lettuce wraps similar to those you find at P.F. Changs. I have to say, they came out great and the filling would also make a great appetizer served in the little canal of celery or baked in dough cups. Great for people that are trying to eat lo-carb or just something spicy, but not as filling as traditional wings. I also make my own blue cheese dressing because I find the ones at the store to be lacking something, don't quite know what, but I just don't like them. I served these with tater tots, classy, but that's what I had on hand.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

• 1 pound ground chicken breast
• 1 packet Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch seasoning
• 1/3 cup Franks hot sauce
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 package Boston bib lettuce
• Carrots, green onion, and blue cheese to serve

1. In a large skillet, cook chicken until half done.
2. Add celery and onion and cook until chicken no longer pink.
3. Add spicy ranch seasoning and hot sauce.
4. Cook until thinkened a bit, about 5 minutes.
5. Place small amount in lettuce left and top as desired.

Blue Cheese Dressing

• 2 tbs blue cheese crumbles
• 3 tbs light sour cream
• 3 tbs low-fat mayonnaise
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper
• Milk, to thin if necessary

1. Place all ingredents in blender and blend until smooth.
2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add a bit of milk to thin out if needed.

Tips and Tricks

• Use ground turkey if you can't find ground chicken, or if that is what you have on hand.
• Use whatever toppings you like. Ranch dressing, carrots, celery, onions, green onions, additional hot sauce, etc.

Cookies and Cream Pudding Cookies

I don't know why I make stuff like this. I can't be trusted to keep them in the house without eating a few a day, and that really does nothing for my weight loss goals, but push them rather away. I made these since we were having people come over before we went to the beer festival. Of course, only 2 of them were eaten, leaving over 2 dozen for me to stare at and have a battle in my head over good and evil. It didn't help either that when we got home, a bit tipsy, that cookies sounded amazing and I practically turned into the Cookie Monster. Needless to say, I brought them to work as fast as I could Monday morning where they were gone in 3 minutes. I even brought in the rest of the Oreos that were left after making these...like I said, I can't be trusted with sweets.

Not only were these easy to put together, the final outcome was amazing! It was the perfect mix between chocolate and cream, and the centers were still a bit chewy. I made these larger then they were suppose to be because I thought they looked better, also like those huge cookies you get at Disney World. There is nothing that I would change about this recipe and would definitely make them again...but only if I was immediately taking them somewhere else. In all, it made just over 2 dozen cookies, but could make more if you cut down on the size of each cookie. I like to bake mine a single sheet at a time to ensure even cooking. I don't even want to guess what the WW PP+ is for these bad boys, so I'm not going to look it up, LOL. Enjoy!

Cookies and Cream Pudding Cookies

• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 package Oreo pudding mix
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 15 double stuffed Oreos, crushed, but still with good size pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugars, butter, and pudding.
4. Add eggs and vanilla, mix until combined.
5. Stir in flour mixture, then mix with electric mixer until combined.
6. Fold in chips and cookies.
7. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray, then drop cookies just bigger than a golf ball, evenly spread out.
8. Bake for 10-11 minutes.

Tips and Tricks

• You can use single stuffed Oreos if you don't like an much cream filling.
• To make the dough go further, make each only a tbsp big, and bake for 9 minutes.
• Put Oreo cookies in a large zip lock bag and crush with rolling pin.

Buffalo Chicken Casserole

As promised, last nights recipe! Speaking of last night, did anyone watch the woman's gymnastics team competition? It was absolutely amazing! The dedication that those girls have at such a young age is inspiring. When my alarm went off this morning for my morning workout, I thought "If a 13 year old has the dedication to make it to the Olympics, then I can get out of bed to workout for 30 minutes." Phelps also won his 19th Olympic metal!! I don't even know where to start with that. Some people dream and work their entire lives just to make it to the games, but this mofo has gone to 3 different games AND won 19 metals...and he still has more events left! Truly amazing!! What's not amazing are the selfish pricks on Facebook that think it's funny to post the results before most of us can watch. I had a "friend" do this yesterday with the gym results and literally wanted to kick his ass. You know he was that little bastard child in 2nd grade telling all his classmates that Santa isn't real. You would think he would have grown out of it, or gotten his ass kicked, but some people just don't grow up. In any event, I've blocked his post for the rest of the Olympics and maybe permanently.

This recipe deserves at least a bronze. It was good points wise, filled my urge for chicken wings, and made enough for leftovers. The only thing that I would change is adding more hot sauce to the sauce, it needed a bit more spice in our opinion. The veggies were perfect and would be a great way for parents trying to get their kids to eat them. I got the recipe from a Cooking Light magazine and stayed fairly true to the recipe. The only changes I made were adding a packet of spicy ranch seasoning, cut down on the amount of pasta (saving points!), added more hot sauce, and added a bit of low fat cheddar cheese to the sauce. The boyfriend liked it but though it needed some more spice as well. All in all, it was a great meal that I will definitely make again WW P+ 9 points per serving, 8 servings in total.

 Buffalo Chicken Casserole

• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 1/2 box or 5 oz high fiber elbow macaroni
• 3 carrots, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 packet Hidden Valley spicy ranch
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 cups 1% milk
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup Frank's hot sauce
• 1/2 cup low-fat cheddar, shredded
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 oz blue cheese crumbles
• Green onion for topping

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cook macaroni for 2 minutes less then box time. Set aside.
3. Saute carrots, celery, and onions in olive oil over medium for 10 minutes.
4. Add shredded chicken, spicy ranch, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn to low to keep warm while sauce is made.
5. While that is cooking, mix milk and cornstarch together until there are no lumps.
6. Cook over medium heat, stirring often. Don't leave this alone, it will burn.
7. Once the sauce has thickened (coats back of a spoon), remove from heat and add hot sauce, salt, and shredded cheddar.
8. Mix sauce with chicken mixture.
9. In a 9x13 or deep casserole dish, add half the pasta on bottom layer.
10. Add half the chicken mixture to next layer.
11. Add half blue cheese.
12. Repeat steps 8 through 10 ending with layer of blue cheese.
13. Place casserole dish on cookie sheet, and bake for 30 minutes.
14. Top with green onions if desired.

Tips and Tricks

• Shredded chicken is made by boiling chicken breast for 10-12 minutes, then shredding with two forks. Make extra for chicken salad or enchiladas.
• Add extra hot sauce to sauce if you like it more spicy.
• Add additional hot sauce to chicken mixture for even more of a kick. 
• Add full box of pasta if you would like a larger casserole. I cut it by half of the original recipe to save points.

Cornbread Mexican Casserole

I feel like there has been a common theme with my post lately...sorry for not posting as regularly as I would like. The past month or two of weekends have been pretty busy, so the weekdays are really the best time for me to post. Between softball, short vacations, softball again, and other events, it's been hard to get off the couch during the free time and into the kitchen. Baking has taken somewhat of a back seat, though I am going to post about a Banana Pudding Cake, which turned out really good, and was even "healthified!" Softball is coming to an end (can't say I'm not somewhat happy about this), so I will be able to do more baking on Sundays. We don't have any softball this weekend, so I'm planning to do something Sunday since people at work have been asking why I haven't brought something in for the last couple of weeks (they don't seem to remember the Banana Pudding Cake or the meatballs, both brought it mid-week. I guess they like it Monday...perhaps a nice way to start the week.) However, we are going to a HUGE beer fest on Saturday night...so we will see how I feel on Sunday. The Olympics are also causing me a distraction, but damn if I don't love watching them! It is truly one of my favorite things to watch. Go USA!

This week I made a commitment to cook dinner every night this week. I wrote up my shopping list (full of new recipes! )and headed to the store last night. I tried a new store to see how the prices were, but after the first 6 items in my cart were at least 50 cents more (some as much as $2 more!), I decided to stop and go to Wal-Mart. Yes, Wal-Mart is a zoo, there are some "interesting" people there, but their prices really can't be beat. I'm glad I decided to go, and not stay at the first place just because I was there. I found this recipe on Pinterest, where else, and put my own spin on it. Instead of plain black beans, I made them how I usually do (gave it much more flavor), added a can of Rotel, cooked the onions with the beef mixture (not with the sour cream mixture), and used sweet cornbread in place of regular. The balance between the spicy beef and the sweet bread was awesome! Though the boyfriend thought there was too much cornbread, I really enjoyed it. You could easily make this with ground turkey or broiled chicken as well, but we were in the beef mood. Left overs were great and it stayed within my points range, only 9 points for a pretty big slice; in whole the recipe made 6 servings.

 Cornbread Mexican Casserole

• 1 packet cornbread mix; 7 oz
• 1/2 to 1/3 milk; depending on package directions
• 1 egg
• 1 pound extra lean ground beef
• 1 can Rotel; I used original
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 can black beans
• 1/8 cup water
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1 packet Sason seasoning
• 1 cube chicken bullion
• 1 cup light sour cream
• 1 cup low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup green onion
• Sour cream, salsa, lettuce, and additional green onions to top; optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare the cornbread mix following the package directions. 
3. Pour cornbread in a greased 8x8 glass baking dish.
4. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. While that is baking, make the black beans. Bring water to a boil in pot with Sason, chicken bullion, and 1/4 cup onions. 
6. When it reaches a boil, add beans and cook for 10 minutes.
7. While the beans are cooking, brown the ground beef until half done.
8. Add the onions and finish browning.
9. Add Rotal, taco seasoning, and beans. Turn to low until cornbread is done.
10. In a mixing bowl, add sour cream, 1/2 cup cheese, and green onions.
11. When cornbread is done, top with beef mixture, then with sour cream mixture.
12. Bake for 20 minutes.
13. Serve with lettuce, salsa, extra cheese, and green onions.  

Tips and Tricks

• To save time (but I can't be certain about flavor since I LOVE my black bean recipe), use seasoned black beans or Bush's Grillin Beans in Black Bean Fiesta.
• If Rotel is too spicy for you, add regular petite diced tomatoes.
• For a thinner cornbread layer, only use half the mixture and cook for 10 minutes.
• If you would like the sour cream cold, and not baked, omit prior to baking and top once out of the oven.

Thai Green Curry

Happy Friday everyone! I couldn't be more ready for the weekend. Not that I have huge plans, unless you count going to Sebring for a softball tourney big, but because this work week has seemed to drag on all week. Monday was a short day since I went to the allergist to get allergy testing. This sucked. I was told, by many, including my loving boyfriend, that it was a prick test, similar to people that test for diabetes. This was a LIE (and rightfully so since I would probably not have gone if I knew the truth!) 47 syringes later and nearly passing out (I think I got in my head about the 47 shots), I am allergic to cats (I have 2), dogs, dust mites (one of the most disgusting things I have learned about to recent memory), and a couple of weeds that I will probably never come in contact with. I also have two dime size welts on my arm that itch like crazy and look rather unappealing (red circles with small bumps, similar to ring worm.) I called the doctor and they told me this was some of the molds that were tested (GROSS!) and this is a common occurrence; a bit of Cortisone cream should heal them right up. The icing on the cake is that my allergies have been next to non existent for the past 3 weeks...I could have saved $50, hours of my day, pain and personal torment, and a couple of nasty welts since I already knew that cats and dust caused me to sneeze. Thanks doc!

Anyways, enough bitching and on to the recipe. This week, the boyfriend requested that I attempt my hand at green curry. Not being much of a coconut milk lover, I can say I made this out of love and not because it seemed that intriguing to me. Since I have never ate curry, let alone cooked it, I had to do some research. Surprise, green curry has about 186,462,173 different recipes online, so which one to pick? Well, for starters, I looked up the restaurant that boyfriend and I went where he had curry to see what theirs had in it. After that, I searched through many recipes until I found one that seemed easy to make, used a paste, not a homemade curry, and had great reviews. 30 minutes later, we were eating homemade green curry and to my surprise I LIKED IT! The coconut milk did not overwhelm the dish and the veggies and chicken were cooked perfectly. The only thing that I would do different next time is add a bit of soy or fish sauce to kick up the salt. All in all, it was a tasty dish that I would be happy to make again.

Thai Green Curry

• 1 pound chicken breast, cubed
• 1 small red pepper, large diced
• 1 small green pepper, large diced
• 1 small onion, large diced
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts 
• 5 tbs green curry paste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 tbs oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbs cornstarch
• Cilantro, green onion, and lime for garnish

1. Heat large skillet to medium high heat and add oil.
2. Add curry paste and stir for one minute. I learned that this is called Blooming.
3. Add 1/4 the can of coconut milk. Cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add the rest of the can and cook for additional 3 minutes.
5. Add chicken and cook for 4 minutes.
6. Add vegetables and cover. Cook for 10 minutes.
7. Add a bit of the sauce to a small cup. Stir in cornstarch and mix to remove lumps. 
8. Add cornstarch mix back to skillet and add soy sauce.
9. Stir until thickened. 
10. Serve with or over jasmine rice with cilantro, green onion and lime.

Tips and Tricks

• If you like your curry a bit more spicy, add red chilis or jalapenos.
• Use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Many recipes I saw used carrots, baby corn, basil, and a leafy green.
• Use tofu to make vegetarian.

Grilled Chicken Tostada

Tonight I am going to see one of my favorite bands of all time, 311. I'm really glad that I got on Facebook today and saw that the show was tonight, because I thought it was tomorrow, and that would have sucked. My boyfriend has never got to experience a 311 show or ME at a 311 show, and while he is fully aware of how crazy I am, he is in for a treat. I'm hoping that my sister and her boyfriend can go, but they need to find arrangements for little man, something about an 8 month old at a show just doesn't jive well lol. I have read a couple of their set list and happy to see they are playing their old stuff. Their last album was majorly disappointing to say the least. I am ready to jam hard tonight!

This recipe came about because I had a bunch of leftover Mexican ingredients from a recipe I made the night before. The cool thing about tostadas is you can put whatever you want on them. I happened to have had some pico, black beans, and cilantro lime slaw already made. I always have cheese and sour cream on hand, and I had an extra chicken breast left over from making the Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken, so all I had to get were the tostada shells. I made the black beans re-fried style by taking the emulation blender to them, but they could have stayed the way they were and been just as good. All in all, this was a healthy dinner. Two shells were 4 points, the chicken was 2 per shell. Sour cream, cheese, and beans were 4 total, but I could have used less to cut down the points. One of these bad boys were enough.

 Grilled Chicken Tostada

• 2 chicken breast, marinaded in your favorite marinade, grilled, and diced; I like Garlic Herb and White Wine from McCormics
• 6 tostadas
• 1 cup black beans; recipe here 
• 1/2 cup pico de gallo; recipe to follow
• 1/2 cup Cilantro Lime Slaw; recipe here
• Garnish; cheddar cheese, sour cream, green onions, and cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Put the beans in a blender or use an emulation blender, and blend until smooth.
3. Bake tostada shells for 5 minutes until crisp.
4. Put a layer of black beans on the tostada.
5. Top with chicken,
6. Then top with garnish; slaw, pico, cheese, green onion, cilantro, and sour cream.

Pico De Gallo

• 3 plum tomatoes; seeded and diced
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 1 tsp jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 2 tbs cilantro; minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tsp salt; more if needed to taste
• 1/2 tsp black pepper 

1. Mix all ingredients in a small mixing bowl and let mingle for an hour before serving. 

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken with Brown "Fried" Rice

My struggle to stay on the WW continues. I only want to lose 8 to 10 pounds, but dammit if I can't stick with the plan. My struggle really comes down to two things; my love for food and the damn weekend. The boyfriend and I like to drink and go out to eat (that part is more me than him). We aren't alcoholics or anything, but going to the bar Friday for Happy Hour and/or having a Sunday Funday are common things for us. At 4 points a drink, they add up fast. Of course when you drink, you like to eat and that means more points. I usually save my weekly bonus points for the weekend, which is a big help, but finding delicious but WW appropriate recipes during the week can be somewhat challenging.


Pinterest is a good site to find all sorts of things, good and bad (trying to find a healthy recipe when your friend pinned 100 dessert recipes is not helpful.) I don't think my boyfriend fully understand the appeal until an amazing dish is created that I found off the site. This would be one of those recipes. Weekly, I ask for ideas for dinner. This week, he wanted something Asian and I had the perfect idea. I pinned this recipe months ago but never made it. I saw on Facebook that a friend made it a couple weekends ago and raved about it, so I knew it was something we needed to try. And guess what, it really was amazing!! I made a healthy "fried" brown rice to go along with it and everything was simply amazing. Not only was it filling and satisfied our Asian craving, it was with my point allowance for the day. Next time, I'm going to add some other flavors to the sauce and try to make a General Tao style version, I'll post that when I do. Chicken is 10 points for 4th of chicken and 3 points for 1/2 cup rice.

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken with Brown "Fried" Rice

Chicken

• 1 pound chicken breast; cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup corn starch
• 3 eggs; beaten
• 1/4 cup oil
• Salt and pepper

Sauce

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbs ketchup
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Heat oil in large skillet to medium-high heat. 
3. Salt and pepper chicken to liking.  
4. Place cornstarch in a medium mixing bowl.
5. Place eggs in another medium mixing bowl.
6. Take a third of the chicken and toss in cornstarch to cover, then dip in egg, then place in skillet where each piece is not touching.
7. Cook til brown, then flip. The chicken will not be fully cooked.
8. Continue in batches until all chicken is browned.
9. Mix all sauce ingredients up.
10. Place chicken in a 9x13 baking dish and pour sauce over chicken.
11. Bake for 50 minutes, turning chicken every minute minutes or so.

Brown "Fried" Rice

• 1 bag Uncle Ben's Ready Made Brown Rice
• 1 egg; beaten
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1/4 cup carrot, diced
• 1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/8 cup green onion
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• Pam or spray oil

1. Spray Pam or oil in large fry pan and heat to high. 
2. Add egg to pan, cook for one minute, then turn. Then chop up in to little pieces. Remove and set aside.
3. Add onions, carrots, and peas to pan and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Add rice and soy sauce, cook for 3 more minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Remove from heat and mix in green onions and egg. 

Tips and Tricks

• If you would like some sauce to pour over chicken or rice, once chicken is cooked, remove from dish and a 1 to 2 tbs of water to sauce to thin out sauce.
• You can use any rice you have on hand, just measure out to 2 cups rice.
• Add any vegetables you have on hand to rice. Peppers, mushrooms, edamame, and brocolli would all make good additions. 
• If you would like to use cut more calories, you spray oil instead of oil when cooking chicken. 

Lechon Asado (Cuban Roast Pork)

Sorry to be M.I.A. lately, I was in North Carolina this past weekend visiting my grandfather, or DaddyMac as we refer to him (his name is Mac.) Though he is in an assisted living home and some days are not as good as others, he still has a great sense of humor and cracked us up on several occasions. My favorite was when he told me he was proud of me for being a half mommy, in reference to Dylan, my sister's 8 month old. I liked that term a lot. Though I love the term "aunt", I felt very honored to be thought of as a mommy to him. I will never come close to being the mommy he already has, she is beyond amazing with him, but it was still a thoughtful gesture. It was nice to be able to help out my sister while we were there. She was able to take a bath or two at the hotel, able to get ready without having to check on him every few minutes (he plays in his Pack n' Play while she gets ready, usually does well with that, but sometimes doesn't want be alone), and I even changed a couple diapers (just the pee ones, mommy can deal with the poo.) All in all, it was a really great trip and I was happy I got to spend time with all my family.

I made this recipe a couple days before I left. The game plan was to make it last for two separate recipes, which it would have had I found plablano peppers which seemed to be a hot item that week at the store. The first night we just ate it with some black beans and yellow rice, as pictured. The second recipe was going to be pork enchiladas with plablano sauce (still drooling over that idea), but that didn't go as planned. After a hard day at work and going to 3 separate grocery stores, I gave up and we ended up going out for Mexican. There is a new place down the street that is really good, and the beers are huge...just what I needed. Anyhow, I made this in the oven, cooking it on low heat for many hours, however, a crock pot could work just as easily (see Tips and Tricks for preparation). The flavors were amazing, and there was definitely enough for left overs and other recipes. Though the ingredients list is small, this isn't a quick recipe, but easy to make and I promise you won't be disappointed in the final dish.

Lechon Asado (Cuban Roast Pork)

• 3 pound pork shoulder
• 2 large oranges, juiced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

1. Mix together the orange, lime, and lemon juice with the garlic, salt and pepper in a large non-metal bowl.
2. Stab some holes into the pork with a knife and place in bowl with marinade.
3. Let marinade for 24 hours.
4. Remove from fridge and bring to about room temperature. This will ensure your meat will cook evenly. 
5. Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
6. Place in 9x13 baking dish, with marinade and cook for 8 to 9 hours, basting hourly with marinade.
7. Remove and reserve the juices. Shred pork with fork and pour juices over.
8. Serve and enjoy.

Tips and Tricks

• If you would like to use a crock pot, follow steps 1 through 4, then put in crock pot with marinade and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove and cook in over on 400 for 15 minutes until a crust has formed. Remove and follow step 7.
• Fresh oranges, limes, and lemons are a must. The flavor cannot be matched with bottled juices.
• If you are using a larger pork shoulder, double the amount of oranges, limes, lemons, garlic, salt and pepper.
• If you like your pork a bit more firm and not shredded, remove from the oven after 4 hours.

Jamaican Jerk Pizza

To whom this may concern, I am at work right now....typing this out...not working. You have stressed me out. You held a meeting (that did not deal AT ALL with work related issues) that took most the people I need to complete their tasks so we can move things along within the process. You have made me want ice cream, Taco Bell, sushi, and a plethora of other bad for my WW diet. Tomorrow, we have a deadline. It is on our heals like Jason, from Friday the 13th, (which happens to be tomorrow ironically enough) and we can't seem to run fast enough. Though he is gaining speed, we will prevail! We will not be slashed, diced up, and left for dead. We will meet our deadline, then throw it in your face, but right now, I am taking a mental time out to post about the awesome, yet WW worthy, pizza I made the other night.

OK, woosaaa. I feel better. Anywho, the other night, the boyfriend suggested pizza for dinner. I love making homemade pizzas; there are so many things that you can do. BBQ chicken is one that I make the most often, but I suggested making a jerk pizza. He loves California Pizza Kitchen's jerk pizza, so I thought I would try my hardest to one up it. In the end, CPK still won, but not by much. They do have a wood-fire oven, which I do not, and they have been doing it for much longer, BUT this thing was pretty f'ing awesome. I warn you, this is spicy. You can cut down on the spice by not using as much jerk sauce or not adding habanero jelly to the mix, but I really like it spicy. Fresh dough is the way to go, but if you can't find it (I buy mine in the bakery section of our local grocery store) or don't want to make it, you can always use the stuff in a can. I really enjoyed this pizza, and now wish I had more as my stomach is growling at me. WW points equal 7 per slice.

Jamaican Jerk Pizza

• 1 ball or can pizza dough
• 1 1/4 cup chicken; I used a rotisserie chicken, but you can use whatever you have. Grilled chicken cut into strips would be perfect
• 3/4 red pepper, sliced into thin strips
• 3/4 yellow pepper, slicked into thin strips
• 1/2 red onion, sliced into thin strips
• 3/4 to 1 cup jerk sauce; I used a bottle jerk sauce from the grocery. My boyfriend likes a lot of sauce, so I used a cup.
• 2 tbs* habanero jelly; you can leave this out if can't find or don't like it really hot
• 1 cup provolone cheese, shredded or cut into strips; divide into 1/2 cup portions
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs green onion, diced

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees; or whatever your dough instructions say.
2. Work dough to fit a circle pizza pan. Use flour as needed.
3. Cook pizza dough for 10 minutes. 
4. While dough is cooking, saute peppers and onions for 5 minutes over medium until slightly softened. Remove and set aside.
5. Mix together jerk sauce with jelly, if using.
6. Add chicken to skillet used for peppers and onions, add 2 tbs of jerk sauce, and cook over med-low to heat and cover with sauce. Remove and set aside.
7. When pizza crust is done, cover with jerk sauce, chicken, layer of cheese, veggies, and top with remaining cheese.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.
9. Remove and top with green onions.

Tips and Tricks

• It was cheaper to buy the small sweet peppers than large whole peppers. They worked perfectly. Cut about 8 of them if using.
• I only had provolone sandwiches slices on hand, so I used 6 slices cut into thin strips.
• Feel free to use whatever jerk sauce you have on hand or make your own!

Tomato Sauce Two Ways

In our house, there is a great debate over what makes a good tomato sauce. My boyfriend prefers a sauce that has a lot of texture due to vegetables and cooks for awhile, making the sauce a sweet and giving it a thick consistency. I like more of a marinara style sauce, that only has onions (sometimes), large chunks of tomatoes, and has a slightly acidic taste due to not cooking the sauce for as long. Due our differences, and the fact that I wanted to convince him a bit that my preference was the best, I decided to make two sauces. We served them with the Italian Meatballs I made this past weekend. Both were very good (still like mine a bit better), however, one was much more simple to make than the other.

The first sauce recipe below took a good portion of the day to cook. I have to say, I felt quite Italian doing this. I imagined myself as an old Italian woman, preparing Sunday dinner for her family of 30. I'm gonna be as up front and honest with you as I can about this sauce. It isn't the recipe to make if you are short on time, want instant results or think that the more you stir it, watch it, or turn the heat up, the faster it will cook...that will not happen. What will happen is A. your sauce will taste like a pot full of different flavors and very acidic B. you will have a sore arm from stirring so much or C. you will burn the sauce and no one is going to eat burnt sauce. If you don't think you have the time, about 5 hours, or the patients, skip on down to the second recipe. Like I said before, both are great recipes that are sure to please, how much time you have and what result you want will be the deciding factors.

Tomato Sauce Two Way


Hearty and Slow Cooked Version

• 2 28 oz. can of canned tomatoes; San Marzano if you can find them, they will make all the difference
• 1 12 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 stick of celery, diced
• 1 stick unsalted butter, divided in 2 tbs and 6 tbs
• 2 tbs salt
• 1 tbs black pepper

1. Heat olive oil and 2 tbs of butter in large pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Add onions and cook until the onions are translucent. Do not brown them.
3. Add celery, carrot, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes until carrots are softened, but not falling apart.
4. Add canned tomatoes, with juice, can of crusted tomatoes, butter, salt and pepper. 
5. Cook on medium to medium high until small bubbles appear and pop.
6. Cover and turn down to a simmer, and cook for 4 to 5 hours, stirring periodically and tasting, adding salt and pepper as needed. 

Tomato Heavy, Marinara Style, Quick Sauce

(Picture coming soon, sorry!)

• 1 28oz cans of tomatoes; San Marzano if you can find them, they will make all the difference
• 1 large onion, cut into two large pieces
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 tbs salt
• 1/2 tbs black pepper
• 1/2 garlic powder

1.  In a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat, add the tomatoes, onion, and butter.
2. Cook until small bubbles appear and pop.
3. Cover and turn down to a simmer and cook for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring occasionally to break down large pieces of tomato.
4. Remove onion, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
5. Cook for 15 minutes, test, and season accordingly.

Italian Meatballs

This past weekend, the boyfriend and I went to Disney World. The heat was ridiculous. There are still days that you just don't get use to it, though I have lived here for 20 years, hot is hot! Then add all the people and the strollers at Magic Kingdom, the crazy amount of strollers, driven by people that you would think they just learned how to walk, let alone stroll the damn things, and the heat becomes unbearable. Don't get me wrong, I love children and understand the need for the stroller at the park, but damn, pay attention people! I like my heals, my shins bruise easily, and my toes can't take one more over grown kid in a stroller rolling over them. The next day we went to Animal Kingdom and Epcot. It was much better. There weren't nearly as many people, and definitely not close to as many strollers; plus there is alcohol and a cold beer can really make things much better. It was a great weekend all in all, but Sunday we came home and it was time for me to cook!

I have been wanting Italian for the last week or so. While Epcot has a delicious Italian restaurant, eating there and trying to walk around the park just doesn't work. So, when we got home I decided to make some real Italian meatballs. I have never made meatballs, but enjoy them with I have them, so I thought, what the hell, I'll give them a try. I have to admit, it was hard to get them flavored well, but after about five rounds of add seasoning and testing small portions, I finally got them seasoned how I wanted to. Because of this, the portions below are as close as I could get them, but make sure you cook up small test size portions before you decided to roll them all up and cook them all. I also made homemade tomato sauce. Now, that was pretty damn good if I do say so, but will post that tomorrow in another post. Cabs are heya! Sorry, I couldn't resist, I don't even watch the show, but damn that line is catchy.

Italian Meatballs

• 1 pound ground beef, 85/15
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 large onion, small dice
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp red chill flakes
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup finely shredded Romano cheese
• 1 1/2 cups stale white bread
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tbs Italian parsley
• 2 tbs Italian seasoning
• 1 tbs garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tbs salt
• 1 tbs black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil, for pan frying

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil in large skillet over medium heat, then add onions and cook for 5 minutes until translucent.
3. Add garlic and red chili flakes and cook for 2 minutes, making sure not to brown the garlic.
4. Remove and let cool.
5. In a large mixing bowl, mix ground beef and ground pork together until combined.
6. Add onions and garlic mixture, eggs, cheese, bread, and parsley. Mix well until combined.
7. Add Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and mix until well combined.
8. Heat a small amount of oil in pan over medium high heat and cook a small test sample. Taste and add more seasonings as needed. 
9. Roll into balls, a bit larger than a golf ball. 
10. Eat half of the olive oil in a pan, add meatballs so they don't touch, and cook on all sides until browned. They will not be cooked all the way through.
11. Put on cooking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
12. Continue steps 9 through 11 until all meatballs are made.
13. Serve with Tomato Sauce and pasta.

Tips and Tricks

• Getting these things seasoned can be tricky. Just keep adding Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper and testing small portions until you get the right flavor. Everyone has a different pallet.
• Serve on toasted hoogie rolls with provolone cheese and tomato sauce for a meatball sub.
• You can bake them without browning them on the stove to be a bit healthier. Cook for 25 minutes.
• Veal would be a great addition to the meat used, if you can find it, use equal portions of each.
• 
  

No Bake Peanut Butter Pie

Happy Forth of July to everyone!! I hope everyone's day was spent with friends, family, a cold one, some fireworks and of course, remembering what today is really about. In my case, I was at work, but because I chose to take Friday off instead so I could have a three day weekend. We didn't have any plans for today, so instead, made plans to go to Disney for the weekend. The boyfriend and I have yearly passes, so we like to go whenever we can. The weather is typical of Florida tonight; rainy and overcast, so fireworks might not happen. Even better that we are going to Disney, because their fireworks are amazing.

Seeing that I didn't get to participate in any BBQs today, I decided to make hotdogs tonight for dinner. Since a hotdog really isn't 't the most amazing recipe (though, I did have some sample hotdogs made all up at Publix tonight that I might just have to make and post about...very outside of the box and delicious), I decided that a good dessert was in order. I had a tube of Cool Whip in the fridge that I hadn't used and peanut butter sounded delicious. I've seen several recipes on the net about no bake peanut butter pies, so I decided to take a "slice" at it. The cool thing about this recipe is you can either go full fat or you can go Weight Watchers and healthy. Since I had more full fat ingredients on hand, that's the way that I went (I try to use what I have before I go shopping and already killed my WW for the week going out to eat for a friends going away and with Disney is this weekend...let's just say, there's always next week.) I used an Oreo crust to add a bit of chocolate and topped with with a few chocolate chips for looks. I have both recipes below. If made with lighter or fat free ingredients, 4 points a slice.

No Bake Peanut Butter Pie

• 5 oz cream cheese, softened or low-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/3 heaping cup peanut butter or low-fat peanut butter
• 1 tub whipped topping or low-fat or fat-free whipped topping
• 1 Oreo pie crust or low-fat gram cracker crust

1. With an electric mixer on high, mix cream cheese and powdered sugar until well blended.
2. Add peanut butter and mix until well blended. 
3. Fold in whipped topping. Make sure you fold and don't mix or the whipped topping will loose its volume and turn to liquid.
4. Pour topping into pie crust.
5. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Tips and Tricks

• Fold in broken up peanut butter cups or peanuts for extra texture.
• For a fun twist, use Nutella instead of peanut butter.
• Top with hot fudge or chocolate sauce for a bit more chocolate.
• Make a crust of crushed Nutter Butters for an extra peanut butter blast of flavor!

Sausage Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Man, I was lazy when it came to cooking this past weekend. Well, actually, that is not a fair statement. Saturday, the boyfriend had another softball tourney, so we were at the fields all day. Though they didn't win, it was nice to hang out with sister and baby and read my new book; Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain...though it's the last in a 3 part series, I read it because it was on sale ($3, what what!) and glad I did. It was so good and now going back and reading the first two. Not the usual way I would do it, but hey, I needed something new to read. I recommend to anyone that likes murder thrillers and can stand some gruesome stuff (like eyeballs and spleens, just to name a few.) Sunday, we took it easy in the morning, finished my book, then went out to have some drinks, followed by more drinks at home and played the Wii. I totally killed it in bowling, but golf...not so much. Weird thing is, I can actual play golf pretty decent in real life, but suck at bowling. Whatever, it was fun and even more fun with some drinks, lol.

Now to the recipe. This is actually from a couple of weeks ago. Going through my phone, I realized that I never posted on it and really enjoyed them and due to being lazy, had nothing new from the weekend to post on. Stuffed mushrooms are a great way to use up the extra mushrooms you might have from a recipe and can be done a million different ways depending on the ingredients you have (if you come up with a good variation, let me know!) In my case, I had extra sausage left from making Sausage Gravy and always have cream cheese on hand. These beauties were done in about 25 minutes, from start to finish and tasted much fancier then they were to make (something this good you would think took tons of time and expensive ingredients.) The amount is to stuff 8 mini portabellas, but depending on size, you might be more or less.

 Sausage Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

• 8 small portabella mushroom caps, steams removed
• 3 oz cream cheese
• 3 oz breakfast sausage
• 3 tbs Parmesan cheese
• 1 glove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 tbs butter, melted
• 1/4 cup white wine (cooking wine is fine or chicken broth)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook sausage in skillet until down.
3. Add sausage, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix well until combined.
4. Stuff mixture in mushrooms evenly until all used.
5. Combined melted butter with panko crumbs.
6. Top each mushroom with panko crumbs.
7. Put mushrooms in baking dish and pour white wine in bottom of dish. 
8. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.
9. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and enjoy!

Tips and Tricks

• Use whatever ingredients you have handy. Crab meat mixed with cream cheese, red peppers, onions and parsley would be delicious!
• The wine is what helps steam the mushroom and makes for a consistent texture. You can use chicken or vegetable broth if you dont have or would not like to use wine.
• If you like them cheesy, add more cheese :) Mozzarella or Italian blend would work very well.
• If you would like to make a meal of these, use full size portabellas!

Hawaiian Glazed Grilled Chicken

I have to be honest, this was not a recipe from this weeks dinner, however it's healthy, so I kept my promise of only posting healthy recipes this week. Last night I was in the taco mood (I know this is very surprising for you, I never eat Mexican), so I made the Grilled Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw and BBQ Grilled Onions. I really can't get enough of the flavors in those. Boyfriend decide to go tortilla-less for one of his and mix the chicken, slaw, onions, sour cream, and black beans all together. I think he is on to sometime, because it was extremely good; plus I could eat even more of that since I wasn't eating the points on the tortilla, double awesome. Have you heard that if you drink a full glass of water before each meal, you will not eat as much? Well, I tried that little trick out this week and it's true! I have read that often time you are thirsty, but misconstrue that and think you are hungry. I will keep working on drinking more water, especially before I eat.

I know I told you guys about finishing the Hunger Games, but boyfriend just finished as well, so we have had some discussion on how they were. I won't give anything away, but good to know that he feels the same way about the whole thing. I looked up who they are considering for the role of Finnick and have to say that I was surprised. Mainly because I don't really know one of the actors (he is in the new Battleship movie and I think too old looking), one (who's named Armie Hammer...really?!) is the guy that played the twins in the Social Network movie and in my opinion is again, too old looking, and the other is the kid from the Tron movie and I think, is the best fit based on looks alone. It will be interesting to see who they go with. Well, I guess I should talk a bit about this recipe. I was looking for a good marinade for chicken when I came across a version of what is below. I liked the idea of soy sauce and honey, sweet and salty, but decided to kick it up with red chili flakes and add cilantro to mine at the end which really made it fresh and lively. Of course, as with all marinades, the long you can let it sit and party, the better. We enjoyed this will grilled corn on the cob and grilled zucchini. WW points for chicken, 4 points for one breast worth.

Hawaiian Glazed Grilled Chicken

• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 3 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs honey
• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp chili flakes

1. Mix all ingredients besides chicken in a bowl and combine. 
2. Add chicken to marinade and let it party for at least 4 hours if not overnight. 
3. Screwier on kabobs and grill.

 Tips and Tricks

• If you don't have honey, use brown sugar.
• Omit the chili flakes if you don't like heat.
• Spray the grill with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
• Screwier with veggies to make a complete meal.

Turkey Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

I didn't post last night for two reasons. One, the dinner I made was not my best which was disappointing, I don't like not cooking amazing meals, especially for my man! Boyfriend got me a Weight Watchers cookbook for Christmas (no this wasn't a slam, but something that I thought was very thoughtful since he knows I've been trying hard to keep with the WW). It is packed full of delicious sounding recipes, and the few that I have tried so far were good...but this one didn't make the cut. It was Middle Eastern Beef Kabobs and the picture and ingredients made it look like a winner. However, the taste was flat and bland, and that was after 24 hours of marinading. Going against my better judgement, I followed the recipe exactly...so not like me and look where it got me. IF I choose to make it again, I will def put my own twist on it. The second reason I didn't post was because I wanted to finish the third book in the Hunger Games series....AND I DID! I thought it was really good, even drew a few tears to my eye. Now I can finally start reading the stories I see in magazines at the checkout and not do some weird eye dance where the cashier thinks I'm either A) giving them the "Hey sexy baby" eyes or B) have some unexplainable eye and head twitch. I can also see who they are thinking of to play the characters from the second and third book and see how well I think they did. Since I already knew who was playing Katniss, Peeta, and Gale in the first one, it was hard for me to think of anyone else. Same thing happened with Harry Potter, what do you mean Danial Ratcliff isn't THE Harry Potter!

Well, due to all that, I decided to find a picture on my phone (since that is the camera I use for all my food. I really should use my "real" camera, but it's just easier to edit and send from the iPhone.) and post it in place of the sad kabobs. A friend from work was sad that I had not blogged about the Turkey Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells I brought her to work one day, so this one's for you! This is a good twist on the average cheese shells. The turkey sausage adds a meatiness that keeps you full, and the spinach give it nice texture and a good way to sneak in your green veggies! You can use whatever your favorite tomato sauce is to complete this meal. Two of these bad boys are 10 WW points.

Turkey Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

• 1/2 box big pasta shells (about 12)
• 3 links turkey sausage, casings removed
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and water removed
• 1 1/4 cup low fat ricotta cheese
• 1 1/4 cup reduce fat mozzarella cheese, divided 3/4 and 1/2
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 jar tomato sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil a large pot of water for the shells. When water comes to a boil, cook for 9 minutes, then rinse under cold water. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil to medium high heat. 
4. Add sausage and cook until browned.
5. Add onions and cook for 4 minutes until onions are translucent.
6. Add garlic, spinach and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until tomatoes have broken down a bit.
7. Remove from heat and add ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, and salt. Stir until well incorportated.
8. Stuff shells evenly with mixture. Top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella.
9. Put shells in 9x13 glass baking dish, cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes.
10. While shells are baking, heat sauce in pot over medium heat.
11. Once shells are done, remove from oven, serve and top with tomato sauce.

Tips and Tricks

• If you rather use full fat sausage, knock yourself out! However, the WW points will not be the same. 
• If you like some heat, add a 1/2 tbs red chili flakes while the sausage is cooking.
• You can add the tomato sauce over the shells before you bake them, but I find that the sauce gets absorbed in the pasta and you don't have enough sauce when you eat them. I LOVE SAUCE!

Chili Dusted Shrimp with Warm Corn Salad and Black Beans

As I promised, the first healthy recipe of the week! I love a good meal that you don't feel guilty eating, yet feel extremely satisfied afterwards and having seconds is OK. That was this meal, and believe me, you will want seconds! Today, I knew that I wanted something that was going to be healthy, after all, that was the promise I made to both you and myself. I texted the boyfriend while at work and asked what he was in the mood for. I always follow that by either what type of meat would you like or what type of cuisine, such as Mexican, Asian, Italian, etc. in hopes that I don't get a "whatever you want babe" reply. Today he said Southwestern which isn't a huge leap from our standard Mexican, but I was determined to not make the usual taco or enchilada. After some Googling, I came across a chili rub for shrimp paired with a warm corn salad. Of course, I put my own spin on the recipe and paired it with, SURPRISE, black beans. Since this is the fourth or so recipe with black beans, I decided that I would post my recipe below as well.

I know I have already mentioned this, but this meal kicked some serious ass. The shrimp were spicy, but not so much that you had to drink water ever other bite. And the corn salad and black beans were the perfect accessories for the shrimp. Yes, accessory, like shoes for clothes. Like any good outfit, the accessories are what make the outfit, or sometimes leave you wondering if the person got dressed in the dark, with their eyes clothes, in someone else's closet. A bit harsh, but I know you have seen someone, lets say a woman for argument sake, wearing an amazing dress, but then you look down and she is wearing shoes that look like she is going on a run or to her local Wal...well, I won't get into details. Or maybe its an evening gown and the hair is in a sloppy ponytail. I feel like Joan Rivers on Fashion Police right now, lol. I love that show! Seriously, your accompaniment can really make or break your meal. In this case, the corn had just the right amount of sweetness to counter the heat of the shrimp and the black beans were like the perfect purse that tied it all together. Simply divine. I should get on with the recipe in hopes that it distracts my overwhelming desire to want to shop now. WW points 9 for 7 shrimp, 3/4 cup corn salad, and 1/2 cup beans.

 Chili Dusted Shrimp with Warm Corn Salad and Black Beans

Chili Dusted Shrimp

• 1 pound large shrimp, cleaned
• 4 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbs olive oil

1. Make sure the shrimp are clean of any shell and have been de-vained.
2. Mix the chili powders, sugar, and salt together in a ziplock bag.
3. Add half the shrimp to the bag, and shake to cover. Remove shrimp.
4. Add the second half of shrimp and shake to cover.
5. Heat olive oil in a large skillet to medium high heat.
6. Carefully place shrimp in skillet so none are touching and cook for 3 minutes.
7. Turn over and cook for 2 minutes or until shrimp are no longer pink.
8. Remove and enjoy! 

Warm Corn Salad

• 1/2 cup red onion, diced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 2 tsp ginger, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 10 oz corn kernals
• 2 tbs cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup green onion, diced
• 1 tbs olive oil

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.
2. Add onions, peppers, garlic, and ginger and cook for 4 minutes until onions are translucent.
3. Add corn and salt and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add vinegar and cook for 1 minute.
5. Remove from heat and stir in green onion.
6. Serve warm.

Black Beans

• 1 can black beans, 15.5 oz DON'T RINSE!
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1 packet Sazon (found in your Spanish section)
• 1 cube chicken flavored boullion
• 1/2 cup water

1. Combine water, boullion, Sazon, and onions in a medium pot. Bring to boil.
2. Add black beans and lower to a simmer.
3. Cook for 20 minutes until liquid has reduced and onions are soft.

Special Sauce

• 2 tbs fat free mayonaisse
• 2 tbs light sour cream
• 1 tbs ketschup
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Put in ziplock and cut off the corner.
3. Squirt over shrimp. (This doesn't have to be done, but I believe in presentation)

Tips and Tricks

• Keep an eye on your shrimp. Over cooked shrimp are rubbery, chewy, and just no fun.
• Sazon is a Spanish season blend that can be found in the Spanish section of your supermarket. It can be omitted if you can't find it.
• To keep cleaning to a minimum, make the corn salad first, then put in bowl and use the same pan for the shrimp.
• Do not rinse your beans. The starch from the beans will help thicken the "sauce".