A Little Piece of Heaven!

Pretty much anyone who knows me well knows about my addiction to the Hungry Girl website. I love their recipes and their product finds and their hints and tips and well . . . just about everything about it! Their cookbook is basically my Bible. My brownie sundae as well as the Smore sundae that always seem to find their way onto my daily menus came from the website. As well as the idea of what to do with the brownie mix you have left over from the brownie sundae:

HG Tip! Wondering what to do with the rest of your brownie mix? Make single-serving brownies by thoroughly mixing 2 tbsp. brownie mix with 1 tsp. fat-free liquid egg substitute and 1 tsp. water in a small dish and then microwaving for 1 minute. Let sit for 5 minutes, and then consume immediately! Your treat will contain around 106 calories, 2g fat, 22g carbs, and 1g fiber (POINTS® value 2*).

**I only microwaved for 30 seconds and mine was heated thoroughly. Then I made it a little piece of heaven - I added a teaspoon of sugar free caramel to the top. Mmmm! Heavenly! I wouldn't want to live in a world without caramel -- that's one of those foods that just instantly makes everything better.

I am asked a lot by OD and CM people who read this blog where I find the recipes for the foods that make up my daily menus. I'm also asked from time to time about different products I use, where I find them, all that good stuff. Soooo I thought I would use this entry to share some of them!

Most of my recipes either come from the Hungry Girl website or cookbook or Aimee's Adventures. I stumbled on that website one day when I was clicking through different weight loss blogs and WOWZA . . . everything she makes is stuff that my family LOVES. Tonight we tried the BBQ Pork and it was so good. Definitely one to add to the "repeat and repeat often" file. We've also tried her turkey meatballs, corndogs (I messed this one up -- I thought I had cornmeal but it ended up I had cornstarch. So we basically had pigs in a blanket on a stick!), chicken fried steak, creamy chicken mignon, cinnamon rolls, and easy rolls. Honestly, the only recipe I've tried of hers that I wasn't totally taken with was the cheesy chicken. I'll make it again, though, and when I do make it I'll season the chicken before I put it in the crock pot.

A couple other recipe websites I've found are Dottie's Weight Loss Zone and That's My Home.

I also have recipes of my own, things I have made in the past with new, healthier versions. Here are a couple of them:

Stuffed Chicken Parmesan:

4 - 4-oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 low fat mozerella cheese sticks (I use Sargento brand)
1 packet chicken flavored shake and bake (you can nix a point if you don't add this)
1 cup pre-made spaghetti sauce
Low fat mozerella cheese (I use WW brand)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking dish my spraying with non-stick spray. Spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce on bottom of the pan. Pound the chicken breasts and season as you like (I use garlic salt and oregano). Halve the cheese sticks and place one half in each chicken breast. Roll the chicken around the cheese stick. Be sure to "tuck" the ends to keep all the cheese from melting out. Coat each chicken in shake and bake and place in the pan. Cover each breast with 1/8 cup of spaghetti sauce and a small dusting of mozerella cheese. Cover and bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. **You can also stuff with turkey pepperoni for extra points**

Laughing Cow Chicken Cordon Bleu -- I have no idea who to attribute this to, but it has become a favorite around my house!

4 4-oz chicken breasts
8 slices low fat ham
4 slices of laughing cow swiss cheese (you can actually just use two and half them -- it's plenty of cheese and that shizz is kinda pricey!)
1 packet chicken flavored shake and bake

Preheat oven to 375. Pound chicken flat. Add two slices of ham and one wedge (or half wedge) of laughing cow cheese to each chicken breast. Fold over and secure with toothpicks. Dip each chicken in the shake and bake and place in greased baking dish. Cover and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Mexican Pizza -- this is one of my favorites!

2 white corn tortillas
1/8 cup fat free refried beans
1/3 cup Morning Star crumblers
1 tsp taco seasoning
1/2 packet of 2-pt WW cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon taco sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brown each corn tortilla in a skillet. I usually spray both sides of the tortilla with non-stick spray and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Heat refried beans until warm. Heat MS crumbles with taco seasoning and enough water to make it the right consistency. You can also add chili powder for an extra kick. Place on corn tortilla on a greased cookie sheet. Top with refried beans, crumbles, and a small bit of cheese. Add other tortilla. Top that tortilla with taco seasoning and remainder of cheese. Bake at 400 until cheese is melted.

Chicken Nachoes -- I love, love, love the chicken nachoes at Moe's Southwest Grill. We don't even have one in this area that I know of, but if we did - watch out! My own version doesn't even begin to equal the Moe's version but it takes care of my nacho tooth (ya know, like a sweet tooth . . . )

3 corn tortillas
1.5 oz chicken fajita meat
1 tsp taco seasoning
1/4 cup black beans
1/2 packet WW shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon taco sauce
jalapenos, chopped

Spray both sides of each corn tortilla with non stick spray and sprinkle with salt. Cut them into quarters using a pizza cutter and bake at 375 until each side is golden brown. Heat black beans. Heat chicken with taco seasoning and just enough water to make it the right consistency. Place corn tortilla chips on a plate and top with black beans. Place chicken on top of beans and top with cheese. Add taco sauce and jalapenos. Yum!

This one isn't so much a recipe as a way to jazz up instant mashed potatoes. Yeah, we eat lots of tators in this house but making them from scratch takes too much time and energy -- two things we don't have a lot of around this place! You can easily make 1-pt instant mashed potatoes by subsituting chicken broth for your skim milk. Instead of using regular butter, use spray butter (I use Parkay -- it's cheaper than I Can't Believe It's Not Butter). Something else I do occassionally, is drop a beef buillon cube in just as the water is starting to boil. Before it has completely dissolved, I'll add the potato flakes. This gives it more of a "it's got gravy in it" sort of taste.

As far as different products go . . .

I use the Ronzoni Healthy Harvest pasta noodles. I've only tried the penne noodles, but my whole family loved them. Hubs didn't even know they were wheat noodles! That's always a good sign, in my book. =)

The Hershey's Sticks I always have on my menu are little 60-calorie chocolate bars. They're very skinny (like I'm trynna be!!) but they totally take the edge off any chocolate craving. They have five or so different flavors but due to my love of caramel, well, um, I haven't tried any of the other flavors just yet! I always pick them up in the candy section of my local Walmart.

I think that about covers it! A lot of times I'll find a recipe on a website and tweak it to meet my and my family's needs. If you haven't noticed, I'm not a real big veggie eater. That's another thing I'm trying to work on -- and thanks to my BFF, I now have the Sneaky Chef book that teaches you to puree veggies and hide them in different recipes. Now maybe I'll be able to at least get much closer to getting those 8 servings (gulp!) a day.

Daily Menu for Monday

Breakfast
2 Cinnamon Rolls
Total Points: 4

Lunch
HG Pizza
Craisins
Total Points: 6

Snack
Rice Cake
Pudding
Total Points: 2

Dinner
Chicken Quesadilla
Chili Relleno Bake
Chips and salsa
Total Points: 9

Snack:
Hersheys Stick
Total Points: 1

Total Daily Points: 22