Taco Spaghetti

INGREDIENTS

• 12 ounces uncooked spaghetti
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained
• 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided
• 2/3 cup salsa

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Break spaghetti into thirds; cook according to package directions for al dente.
   
2. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink, breaking into crumbles; drain. Stir in taco seasoning and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in beans, tomatoes, 1 cup cheese and salsa. Drain spaghetti; add to beef mixture and toss to combine.
4. Transfer to a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Bake, covered, 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, 3-5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

MY CHANGES

• I didn't deal with the dutch oven cooking of my beef.  When I buy ground beef, I cook up several pounds at once in a pot on the stove with chopped up onions in it.  Then bag up the cooked meat for the freezer.  So, I just pulled out a pound of meat for step #2.
• I used Italian herb flavored diced tomatoes because I didn't have any green chiles.

 FAMILY OPINION

• They ALL loved it - all 6 kids (ages 5 - 15), husband and myself.
• The only thing that was odd to me was the black beans with the spaghetti noodles.  It may have been the texture differences or the fact that I've never had those two things together.
• DEFINITELY making this one again.  So simple and so easy.
  

Chicken & Black Bean Casserole

Tried this recipe for dinner tonight....SUCCESS!!

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 (16 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (8 ounce) package black beans, cooked and drained

• 2 ounces green chile peppers, diced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
  
  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 

This is where the original recipe was found (shared with me by a friend):

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-and-Black-Bean-Casserole/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=chicken+rice+black+bean&e8=Quick+Search&event10=1&e7=Home+Page&soid=sr_results_p1i5


I didn't have cilantro so I just did without.  As an adult, it would have been a nice addition but no one noticed it missing.

I used left over chicken that was already cooked, so I just did the onions in the pan and then added them both to the casserole dish without reheating the chicken.

I drained a can of black beans and poured those in instead of cooking up dry beans.  Quick and easy.

I didn't think about adding corn to it until it was too late, so I cooked some up and we had it on the side.  I think it could easily be added frozen or from a can.

The recipe doesn't say this, but I recommend covering your casserole pan so it doesn't dry out too much.  It was on the verge of being a bit dry so you could add a little more water if you want to.  But, it didn't taste bad the way it was.

We sprinkled a bit of cheese on the top after putting it on our plates, it melted right away because it was still hot when we served it up.  Then we ate this either on corn tortillas or with tortilla chips.

Husband wasn't home but I know he would like it.  I put some in the freezer for him to eat on another day.
I liked it and plan to use left overs on my lunch time salad tomorrow.
4 boys (ages 1 - 7) - Success!  They all liked it and gave me a thumbs up on the new recipe.

I will definitely be making this one again!

No Bake Granola Bars

A friend of mine posted a website on her facebook page on how to make your own chewy granola bars....I've always wanted to know how to do that so I gave it a try.  Since we enjoyed them, I didn't want to lose the recipe and decided to just post it here for others to try as well.

Here is the website:


http://happymoneysaver.com/no-bake-homemade-chewy-granola-bars/

RECIPE:

1/2 cup sugar or brown sugar (I did brown sugar)
1 1/4 cups honey (original recipe called for 1 1/2 but less works better for me)
1/4 cup coconut oil (original recipe called for 1/3 but less works better for me)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups crisp rice cereal
2 2/3 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 cup ground flax seed
1/2 - 1 cup mini chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine your oats, crispy rice cereal, and ground flax seed. Stir with a large spoon until well combined. Set aside.

Measure out sugar, honey, coconut oil, and sea salt and place in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring it to a boil.  Stirring the whole time, boil for exactly 1 minute so mixture combines and sugars dissolve.

Take pan off the heat and add in the crunchy peanut butter and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.

Pour this Peanut buttery honey deliciousness over your bowl of oat/crispy rice cereal mixture.  Stir until well combined.

Let this mixture sit and cool for about 5-8 minutes. Meanwhile, grab a large cookie sheet or jelly roll pan (mine is sized at 12½ x 17½ by 1 inch), and some parchment paper. Place cookie sheet on a large piece of parchment paper and trace around the outside of it. Cut it out and place this on the inside of your cookie sheet. It should fit perfectly. This will help later to keep the granola bars in one piece before cutting up. Believe me on this. I tried greasing the pan and it didn’t work.

After the mixture has cooled enough that the mini chocolate chips wont melt upon contact, pour the granola mixture out onto the large cookie sheet.  Spread mixture out evenly.

Next, tear off another large piece of parchment paper and place this over your granola mixture. Take another jelly roll pan or cookie sheet the same size and place it on top of the parchment. Press down. This will help to compact the granola so that the bars will stay together and not fall apart. Little helpers love to do this part.

Remove cookie sheet and parchment, sprinkle mini chocolate chips evenly over the top and repeat the process above, taking the parchment paper and extra cookie sheet and pressing the two together so that the chocolate chips get pressed into the bars.

Remove parchment paper and cookie sheet. If you have fridge space, place cookie sheet in the fridge to finish cooling. If not, it can finish cooling on the counter just as well. Once the bars have cooled completely, slide solidified mixture out of your pan.

Cut the bars into the size of your choosing.  (I cut them into 35 pieces - 7 x 5)

NOTES:

Is parchment paper the same thing as wax paper?  Whether it is or not, that's what I used.

The only flax seed I found was in individual pouches inside a bigger box, I think it came out to about 12 pouches.  I used 11 when I made the recipe because the box I had came with 21 pouches and I wanted to save the rest for the next time I made them.

Without thinking about it, after putting the chocolate chips onto the smashed granola, I used the same pan to smash them down with.....it had warmed up from pushing down the granola the first time so it melted my chocolate chips all over the place.  I recommend using another pan to smash them down with the second time if you can or just only pushing for a few seconds.

Wrap them individually with Saran Wrap.  They stay very soft and chewy if you don't keep them in the fridge and I mean very soft and easily fall apart for children.  If you keep them in the fridge, they hold their form better and are still very chewy.  They can also be frozen if you put them in a freezer bag.....then it can go straight into a lunch box that morning.

When I was explaining this recipe to my husband and told him I used rice cereal, he thought I was talking about baby food - haha.

OPINIONS:

EVERYONE loves them. They are so yummy and I will definitely be making them over and over and over again.

Weight Watchers = 5 points plus value

WW Italian Soup

I created this recipe with a few guidelines from the Weight Watchers booklet on the Simple Start plan.  I created this soup with all Simply Filling foods and if you're doing that plan, this soup is 0 POINTS PLUS VALUE.  AWESOME!!!

MY RECIPE CREATION:

1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp garlic
1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

Saute all together for a few minutes.

4-6 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped

Saute for about 5 minutes to spread those yummy flavors.

6 cups water
3 boullion cubes
1 can Italian stewed tomatoes (not drained - but I did cut them up a little bit more)
2 cups whole wheat noodles

Cook until noodles are done (vegetables should be done by this time as well).

OPINIONS:

Husband - likes it with a lot of noodles.
Kids - Not their favorite, but they ate it because that's what was for dinner.  I may have encouraged a dessert to follow if they ate it all (Yes, I bribe my kids with desserts some times).  I didn't expect it to become a favorite for them, but mostly made it for myself.
 Me - LOVED IT!  I made it again on another day and didn't serve it for dinner so that I could eat it as left overs for my lunches.  And, on the Simply Filling WW Plan, I can eat it all I want without feeling bad about it.  I do have to track the Saltine crackers I ate with it, but one point of crackers can go a long way with such a delicious soup.

Definitely making this again - even if it's just for myself.

WW - Taco Soup

Original Recipe:

1lb ground turkey or lean beef
1 large onion chopped
1 (1oz) pk Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
1 (1oz) pack Taco Seasoning mix
1 (16oz) can pinto beans
1 (16oz) can chili beans
1 (16oz) can whole kernel corn
1 (8oz) can Mexican style tomatoes
1 (8oz) can diced tomatoes

Brown mean and onions and drain. Mix Ranch and Taco Seasoning into meat. Add remainder ingredients (un-drained) to meat mixture. Simmer for an hour. 2 Weight Watchers Points Plus per cup. You can also serve this with fat free or low fat tortilla chips. It is super yummy.

My Version:

1 lb ground beef (already cooked and frozen by with onions already in it)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 pk Ranch Dressing Mix
1/4 cup Taco Seasoning mix (I buy this in the bulk container)
1 can red beans
1 can black beans
1 can white beans
1 can corn
1 can Italian style tomatoes (not as spicy as the Mexican style)
1 can diced tomatoes

Poured everything into the crockpot and cooked it on high for 2 hours.  I didn't measure how many cups it made, and I added an extra can of beans.  My guess was about 12 cups and that gives my version 4 WW Points Plus Value.  I didn't realize that white beans were 3 more points per can than the other kinds of beans.  Something to think about.

Opinion:

Sorry, no picture this time.  My family likes Taco Soup.  It was SO EASY!!!  And, I was able to make it a couple hours before dinner when I had a few minutes....literally, a few minutes.  We like to sprinkle a little bit of cheese on it or melt a dab of cream cheese in our soup and eat with tortilla chips.  If you're watching your WW points, make sure you add points for those little extras.  Enjoy!

Chicken Vegetable Soup

Original Recipe:
Slow-Cooker Cookbook by Debbie Harman

2 lb boneless chicken parts
4 cups chicken broth
1 16-oz bag frozen vegetables
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
2 cups small shell pasta

Combine all ingredients except pasta in slow-cooker. Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours or low 7-8 hours. Remove chicken. Cut into bite-size chunks. Cook shell pasta according to package directions. Put chicken and cooked noodles in slow-cooker. Heat through.

My Changes:

--1 1/2 lb chicken instead of 2 lb (I think this book just calls for too much meat in all the recipes)
--1/2 tsp paprika instead of 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning - didn't have poultry seasoning. So, why did I use paprika? Well, I didn't know what was in poultry seasoning, so I looked at the following recipe in the book for chicken noodle soup and saw paprika in it, so that's what I used :-).
--added about 4 chopped ribs of celery because I've never had a chicken noodle soup without carrots and celery and since there were already carrots in the frozen vegetables, I decided I would add celery.

Opinion:

Still too much chicken. I should have cut it down to one pound instead. But, when dealing with a new recipe, I don't want to change it too much the first time around. And, too many noodles. I think it would have been just fine with one cup of noodles (dry before cooking them). There just wasn't enough soup/broth to make it a soup with that many ingredients.

Husband and me ate it and enjoyed it. It didn't seem as flavorful as some of my usual chicken noodle soups, but it was still okay. The kids didn't say it was gross, so that's good. They must have had too many snacks after lunch because they weren't really in the mood for an early dinner, maybe they'll finish it within the hour since they can't have any cake until they finish their soup :-).

Weight Watchers points plus value: 1 cup = 5 ppv
If you lessen the chicken to one pound and the noodles to one cup = 3 ppv

Sunday Dinner Roast with Vegetables

This is my very first roast in the slow cooker! I have done roasts in the oven before, but no one ever showed me what to do with the slow cooker version. I guess I just pushed it off as I do other new things unless someone shows me how to do it first. Well, no one showed me this time and since I found this simple recipe in my cookbook, I decided to take a chance.

Original Recipe:
Slow-Cooker Cookbook by Debbie G. Harman

1 lb baby carrots
1 onion, chopped
8 potatoes, peeled and chopped
Salt & Pepper
3-4 lb boneless beef roast
2 tsp beef bouillon

Place vegetables in slow-cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pout 1/2 cup water around sides. Place roast on vegetables. Rub bouillon on roast. Cook on high 4-5 hours or low 7-8 hours. Remove roast. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Slice roast. Serve with vegetables.

My Changes:

Carrots - didn't have baby carrots, so I chopped up about one pound of regular peeled carrots
Onion - only used 1/2 of one medium onion
Bouillon - I only had the cubed bouillon, so I chopped two up small and rubbed that around

Opinion:

Good. Husband and I both agreed that there needed to be some more flavor rubbed into the meat, possibly some pepper. Husband thinks I should have just browned the outside of the meat before putting it in the slow-cooker. That's what I usually do when I cook it in the oven because it helps hold in the flavor to the meat. Also, be careful not to do too many potatoes - they really do need to be UNDER the roast. If you have a few lingering on the sides around the roast, then they won't be within the juices at the bottom of the pot and they will be a little tougher and have a slight gray tint to them from sitting in the "air" too long before cooking.

I will probably try this one again with my few needed changes because it was simple.

Weight Watchers points plus value - just depends on how much you eat of each item. You will need to count the roast, carrots and potatoes separately for your portion sizes.

"Kimberlie's" Chili

I call this one Kimberlie's Chili so that I can distinguish it from the other chili recipes I use. I had a co-worker named Kimberlie who gave me this recipe and I alter it to whatever I have each time, but this is the gist of how the recipe goes....

5 cans of beans - today I used: 2 red, 1 black, 1 white, 1 pinto
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (you can use ground turkey, my family likes beef)
3 tomatoes, diced (I like me some tomatoes)
1 quart bottled tomatoes (I sliced these up a little more for the chili. You can use canned tomatoes but I already have the bottled ones from my garden - my suggestion would be about 2-15 oz cans or one big one)
1 onion, diced
2 Tbsp salt
1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp Chili Powder (I use 1 1/2 because of my kids)
1 Tbsp Black Pepper
1 Large bottle of V8 Juice (64 oz - I use the generic brand of vegetable juice)
1 can corn
1 green pepper, chopped

Kimberlie's recipe also said you could add the following optional items: jalapeno, cilantro, sour cream or cream cheese.

Directions: Brown meat on medium heat. Add seasoning. In a separate pan, simmer V8, tomatoes and onion. Add meat to juice, cover and simmer on low for 2 hours.

Weight Watchers for my version of the recipe: 4 points plus value

Opinion: We all love it. I've made this recipe several times and it always makes PLENTY of left overs for my family. I usually end up freezing it in Ziploc Quart bags and warming it up on nights that I don't want to cook or a night that we are having baked potatoes. It's a little runnier than canned chili, but it tastes SO MUCH BETTER!!!

Sorry, no picture at this time because it's still simmering on the stove and we're having it for dinner tonight. I just figured out the WW points plus value and wanted to share while it was fresh in my mind. But, you should just make it yourself and share your opinion with me.

Christmas - Chocolate Dipped Spoons

My boys & I did a VERY SIMPLE Christmas treat for our friends: Chocolate Dipped Spoons. We bought a box of 100 plastic spoons, 1 bag of milk chocolate chip, 1 bag of white chocolate chips and we already had red and green sprinkles.

1 - Melt the milk chocolate chips (I just did this in the microwave). I also did it in a mug because I wanted the chocolate to be easy to dip into rather than needing to scoop it from a bowl.
2 - Dip a spoon in the chocolate, shake off the excess and set it on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.
3 - Dip and dip and dip some more spoons until the cookie sheet is covered with milk chocolate spoons.
4 - Put that tray in the freezer while you cover another tray.
5 - When the milk chocolate is hard enough, which it was for me when I was done with the second tray. Melt the white chocolate chips.
6 - Dip the milk choc. spoon part way into the white chocolate - you don't want to completely cover the brown chocolate.
7 - Set it on the wax paper again to dry. Quickly sprinkle it with red sprinkles and green sprinkles. Since the milk chocolate is already cold, you can only do 2-3 spoons (if you're fast) at a time before you need to use the sprinkles otherwise they won't stick to the hardened white chocolate.

One batch did about 45 spoons. Then we gave one spoon and one hot chocolate packet for each person within a family so they can stir their hot chocolate with a chocolate spoon. Or, they can just eat the chocolate off the spoon if they don't like hot chocolate.

It was a great treat for our many friends this year and I think it might become the traditional treat. So easy and yet very festive!

Hamburger Soup

YUMMY for us grown ups anyway....Smells delicious when you come home to this cooking when you haven't eaten all day! Sorry, no picture this time. I forgot.

Original Recipe:
Slow-Cooker Cookbook by Debbie G. Harman

2 lb ground beef
3 potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 celery ribs, sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tsp celery salt
2 tsp beef bouillon
8 cups water
1 16-oz can corn
Salt & Pepper

Brown ground beef with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Drain fat. Combine meat and remaining ingredients in slow-cooker. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours.

My version:

1 lb ground beef (already had it cooked and in the freezer)
5 small potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
3 celery ribs, slice
1/2 onion, chopped (already had an onion chopped and in the freezer - just added half the bag)
2 cubes beef bouillon
7 cups water (because my slow-cooker was already full)
1 16-oz can corn
salt and pepper

Didn't have Celery Salt, so I just skipped that ingredient. Also, I don't and also don't think that my family needs that much meat, so I cut it down from 2 lbs to 1 lb. 1 pound was PLENTY/Just Right. I made up for it with more vegetables :-) which I do like and believe my family can't ever have enough of.

Opinions:
Me & My husband really enjoyed it. I didn't seem to put in enough salt for this size of a soup, but we added some and ate it with saltines and we were good.

My boys didn't care for it. I'm assuming it's because when I usually make soup/stew it's with chicken or beef chunks and this was just regular hamburger. Plus, I didn't thicken the juices at all with any corn starch or flour, so it may have been runnier for their taste. I was surprised they didn't just gobble it up like they do my other soups. My one year old is also teething right now and hasn't been eating well for the past two weeks anyway.

I plan to try this one again at another time - even if I end up eating all the left overs myself. I'm okay with that because I really enjoyed it.

Weight Watchers = 2 points plus value for 1 cup (4 points for 1 1/2 cups)

Quick Ham Fried Rice

I wanted to try this because I had never made Fried Rice before and thought a "quick" version would be good for my first try. Well, the first try didn't work, but my second try did :-).

Actual Recipe:
Family Dinner Cookbook by Debby G. Harman

2 cups cooked rice (day old)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup ham, diced
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots
1/2 tsp chicken bouillon
2 tsp soy sauce

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet. Scramble eggs. Remove eggs from skillet and heat remaining oil. Stir-fry ham and rice (day-old rice works best because it is drier than fresh-cooked rice) until ham starts to brown. Add green onions, peas and carrots, and stir-fry until vegetables are cooked through. Sprinkle with bouillon and soy sauce. Return scrambled eggs to skillet and mix well.

My Version:
I use Canola Oil instead of Vegetable Oil. Canola oil is considered a "healthy oil" with Weight Watchers but Vegetable Oil is not. So, I switched and have never noticed a difference in any recipe.

My first attempt was with day old BROWN rice. That didn't work. While I was cooking the rice forever in order for the ham to brown up, the rice just turned harder and harder. We ended up just throwing that batch out.

My second attempt went much better. I used white rice this time and browned the ham just a little bit before throwing in the rice. That way the rice didn't have to cook as long as the ham. Worked much better.

Opinion:
I plan to use this recipe again but I had one problem with it....It had meat, rice and vegetables in it, so WHAT DO YOU EAT WITH IT?

When I do try it again, I am going to brown the meat up plenty and try brown rice again with just enough cooking to warm it up. We usually cook with brown rice in our home.

Weight Watchers = 5 points plus value per 1/2 cup (estimate)

WW - Pumpkin Bread

I got this recipe a long time ago from my Weight Watchers class and I finally used it yesterday. I had to bring a "healthy" appetizer and struggled to figure out something to bring until I found this recipe. (Sorry for not having a picture this time, but it looked like a normal loaf of pumpkin bread).

Actual Recipe

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 c pumpkin
1/2 c apple or orange juice

Mix together all ingredients. Put into a sprayed loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

My Version

I used orange juice. And, I doubled it so that I would have a loaf to take to the activity and another one for everyone at home.

Opinions

Husband - He could taste the wheat flour but said it tasted good.
Me - I have a cold and could barely taste the pumpkin, but other than that it tasted very good. Anxious to taste it without having a cold.
My boys - Liked it and ate a few pieces.

The old WW points value was one point per slice (16 slices per loaf). But, I don't know what the new Points Plus Value is.

Best-Ever Hash Browns

That's what they're called - Best-Ever Hash Browns. And they were good. This was just a quick variation to my regular country style hash browns. That's what I have always called them anyway - the kind that are cubed baked potato pieces rather than shredded.

Actual Recipe:
Family Dinner Cookbook (by Debbie G. Harman)

4-6 leftover baked potatoes
3-4 Tbsp butter
Salt & Pepper

Peel skins from potatoes. Chop or grate potatoes into a large bowl. Melt butter in skillet or on griddle. Saute potatoes in butter until they become golden and crispy. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If desired, you can leave the skins on the potatoes for this recipe. Combine bacon bits with hash browns for country-fried hash browns.

My Version:

5 leftover baked potatoes
2 Tbsp canola oil
forgot the salt and pepper
sprinkled bacon bits on them just to try it out but didn't measure the amount

What I learned:

I needed to use a little bit more oil than I had used in the past and to keep it on a high heat the entire time. I always used to use a low heat thinking they needed the time to cook through but then they would be falling apart and it took longer. Couldn't figure it out. This time it worked out better. My stove goes from a 1 to 10 and I cooked these on a 7 the entire time. Worked great.

Opinion:

We all liked it. The bacon bits did add a little bit of flavor to the hash browns and the boys didn't seem to notice the change at all. I will probably do this again because I have bacon bits that someone gave us that never get used :-).

I rarely cook with butter, so this was an easy exchange from butter to a healthy oil.

Sorry, no pictures this time.

Taco Soup

I was given this recipe through a friend on facebook. I've always wanted to make taco soup but then I end up making chili instead. The only main difference is the flavoring. YUM!

Original Recipe:

1 lb chopped chicken, already cooked
1 can corn
1 can black beans
2 cans pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chilies
1 onion, chopped
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 envelope ranch dressing mix
add water to reach desired consistency (about 2 cans)

Picture of my first version where I accidentally put in an extra can of water (oops).

My version:

I've made this twice already and tweaked it both times. So, I will just tell you variations from both of them. Mostly went with what I had at the time.

I think I used red beans rather than pinto beans. Really, you can use any kinds of chili type beans - just use about 3 cans.

Didn't have a can of diced tomatoes w/ green chilies. One time I used Mexican style tomatoes and this made the soup way too spicy for the kids. I also love tomatoes, so I added a few extra chopped tomatoes :-).

In the same pot of soup that I used the Mexican style tomatoes, I also used a Ranch Dip mix rather than a dressing mix. I think it had a little bit more spice to it adding to the heat for my kids.

And, the first time I made this, I wasn't paying attention and I added 3 cans of water rather than 2. Made it a bit runnier than desired, so I thickened it up with some corn starch. It helped and was just thicker than the second time I made it.

After I thickened up the first version with some corn starch. Still good.

Opinion:

EASY!!! As long as these are regular ingredients for your house, which most of them are for us, then it's a throw it all together and simmer. Just keep in mind the heat when you're feeding little ones. Add some cheese and some tortilla chips and it's a great dinner for your family. We had PLENTY of left overs for my family for another meal.

If any taco soup or chili ends up too spicy for your taste - here's a tip: add a bit of cream cheese to melt in your bowl. It thickens it up a little and also calms some of the spicy flavor.

Fresh Strawberry Crepes - WW

YUMMY for my first attempt at making crepes. I got this recipe from my Weight Watchers class on Saturday mornings. We get new recipes all the time and there have only been a few that I have tried. This one looked good and do-able with the normal ingredients that I keep in my home. I don't like getting recipes from all over the place to find out that I have to buy all these different ingredients that I either have never heard of before, don't know what to do with them, or would probably never use again. So, here's one that was easy and I had all the ingredients (almost).

My first crepe

RECIPE:

5 large egg whites
1/8 tsp table salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 cup fat-free milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
8 sprays cooking spray
1 lb strawberries, hulled and sliced very thin (about 3 cups)
1/4 cup powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg whites, salt, vanilla extract, melted butter, milk and flour until just combined.

Coat an 8-9 inch skillet with cooking spray; set over medium heat. When pan is hot, add 1/4 cup of batter and tilt skillet to cover entire bottom of pan with a thin layer of batter. Cook for 2 minutes; flip over. Top with about 1/3 cup strawberries; cook for 2 minutes more. Fold crepe over and slide onto serving plate; cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining ingredients; sprinkle with sugar.

My first crepe with fruit in it

1 crepe = 3 Points Plus value (Weight Watchers)

Our Version:

We didn't have strawberries, so I opened up a can of peaches and sliced them thin. I didn't measure them when I put them on.

1 recipe = 8 crepes/servings

Our Opinion:

I liked it a lot. I've never made crepes before in my life. I have had them just 2-3 times before. I plan to do this again.

Husband - liked them but thought they were a little thick. I probably just needed to use a bigger pan or maybe it was because it was just egg whites and they were a little fluffier rather than heavy with yolk.

Kids - liked the fruit inside the most and the sugar on top. They weren't too sure about the crepes. I didn't get anything else made for dinner that night and I think that would have helped. Just a crepe with fruit didn't seem to cut it.

Vegetable Stir Fry (w/ chicken)

When we have wanted to eat stir fry in the past, we have poured the mixed stir fry vegetables out of the bag we bought at Costco, added some frozen chopped up chicken and then when it was half cooked, then we would add some Citrus Soy Sauce for flavor. I liked it because it wasn't covered in too much sauce and had some good flavor. I like to taste my vegetables. But, I've been curious for another flavor lately and thought I would give this one a try - especially since it was for fresh veggies rather than the frozen ones out of a bag. We've got a plethora of veggies from our garden right now. Yes, we could have used fresh veggies in the past, but we were usually going for the quick meal and would keep it on hand.

Doesn't that already look good?
And it's just barely started cooking.

Actual Recipe:
(Family Dinner Cookbook by Debbie G. Harman)

3-4 cups fresh vegetables of your choice: chopped onions, peeled and chopped carrots, broccoli florets, sliced zucchini, chopped bell peppers (any color), bean sprouts, mushrooms.

Stir Fry Sauce:
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 tsp chicken bouillon

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in large skillet. Stir-fry vegetables of choice until slightly tender but still crisp. Combine all ingredients for sauce, pour over vegetables, and stir over medium heat until thickened and vegetables are well coated. Serve over Hot Cooked Rice.

DONE!!! Perfect!!!
Just the right amount of sauce for the amount of vegetables.

My Variation and Opinion:

I used 4 cups of vegetables and once it was mostly cooked and I had just added the sauce, I decided it needed a little bit more broccoli. I thought it worked well. I chopped up a very small onion, 2 carrots, some celery sticks that I had left over in a bag, forgot the zucchini but meant to put it in and it would have been great, some chopped green bell pepper that I had in a bag as well and some chopped mushrooms.

Just before starting to chop and cook everything up, I put on some brown rice to cook in another pot on the stove. Since brown rice (not the instant kind) takes about 45-50 minutes to cook, it actually worked out perfectly. It finished cooking about 5 minutes early and my dinner was done by then. Perfect timing and not a long time to make dinner. I had originally planned on chopping everything up earlier in the day so that dinner would be really quick but that didn't happen. Just keep that in mind if you want to do this recipe - you can easily prep for it early if you have more time while the kids are at school or taking naps.

I really enjoyed this recipe and plan to use it again. I did have to buy some hoisin sauce as I didn't know what is was and didn't have any on my shelf. But, now I can do a really quick stir fry from scratch - and it will be FRESH. I love FRESH!

My husband's addition to this meal was the chicken. I had planned on doing it as a "Vegetable" stir fry as that is how the recipe is written. But, just before it was done, husband stirred it for me and asked "Can I add some chicken to this?" So, I kindly said yes. He's a man and he likes meat. Me, I could care less most of the time if there is meat at the meal, but it's usually a nice addition.

My opinion: Delicious! Will do this recipe again.
Husband: Very good. Had two servings.
4 yr old: At first he had the rice on one side of his plate and the stir fry on the other. He ate up his rice and didn't care for the stir fry. Too strong of flavor. But, when we convinced him to stir in some rice, he actually really enjoyed it.
2 yr old: He's picky and we had to force him to eat some. He would eat it when we served it to him with a lot of rice, but he wouldn't serve it to himself.
1 yr old: Liked it and didn't throw it on the floor.

Cabbage Rolls

I was given this recipe from a friend who found it on a friend of a friend's site. We both thought it looked really healthy and delicious....So, I gave it a try.

Actual Recipe:
1 head of cabbage
1 egg
1-8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1-envelope onion soup mix
1 lb lean ground turkey
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 cups regular V8 juice (see note in directions)

Directions:
-Core your cabbage and save it for the guinea pigs
-Very carefully, peel off large cabbage leaves (8-12) and wash them. You need to lightly steam the cabbage leaves to wilt them enough to handle. You can put the leaves in a covered casserole dish and microwave on high for 2 minutes.
-In a mixing bowl, combine the turkey meat, raw rice, egg, onion soup mix, cheese and the can of tomato sauce. Mix well - the mixture will be like very gloppy meatloaf.
-Using a spoon, scoop about 1/3 cup mixture into each cabbage leaf and roll or fold. Put the stuffed cabbage leaves into the bottom of your crock-pot, seam side down.
-If you cabbage has a bunch of nice leaves, use them all. I (the person we got the recipe from) was stuck with only 8 good ones and got frustrated and fed the rest of the cabbage to the guinea pigs.
-It's okay to stack the rolls on top of each other in the crock-pot.
-Top with 2 cups of V8 juice. I used 2 cups of juice because I made 8 rolls. If you are using more rolls, use another cup of juice. The original recipe called for an entire 46 oz bottle of V8 which is an awful lot. I didn't want to use that much and did not fully submerge my cabbage rolls. They steamed and cooked fine in less juice. Cover crock-pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Ours cooked for exactly 6 hours and the meat was cooked the the rice was tender. That's what you're looking for.

Ready to cook.

Done.

My Version & Opinion:
-I was able to get 10 usable cabbage leaves, so I ended up using 3 cups of V8 juice. I'm thinking I should have at least used 4 cups to submerge them because the bottom ones turned out better cooked than the top ones.
-I didn't realize until I was making the recipe that I didn't have shredded cheese. So, I used just under a 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. I wonder how differently it would have been if I had been able to use the right kind.
-I think my family is done using ground turkey. I used to be into it and didn't mind substituting it for ground beef every once in a while. But, we've had some bad ground turkey in the past and I've had a few too many recipes that didn't taste good with it that I think I'm done using it. I think we did some of those recipes while I was pregnant and it really created a bad flavor. It just doesn't taste good to me anymore. So, my suggestion is that if you do want to try this recipe and are on the fence about ground turkey - go ahead and try the ground beef with it. It would more than likely taste better to you.
-The rice was not cooked as well and the recipe said it would be. I cooked my batch for 8 hours and the rice still wasn't done. I was afraid it was going to be mushy but I was not home and had to let it cook that long. Maybe more V8 juice would have helped this.

We ate it with mashed potatoes and green beans.
I mixed every bite together to get through it all.

Well, it's not a recipe I am going to be using again. Not even one I want to play with because it put such a poor taste in my mouth. Blah! You win some, you lose some. You got to experiment to find out what works for your family and with this one, I found out what doesn't work. Good luck to the rest of you if you want to try it out.

Vegetarian Chili - WW

Weight Watchers - Points Plus value - 1 cup is 3 points.

I got this recipe at a Weight Watchers meeting a long time ago when they were still doing the old plan. I just made it this week and was happy to see they updated the points value on the recipe to the Points Plus plan when I went to my meeting this morning. It is delicious!

Actual Recipe:

1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can Great Northern white beans, drained
1 - 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 diced onion
1 diced green pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp sugar, optional
chopped carrots and zucchini, optional

Stir Together, simmer 30 minutes

Doesn't that look good?.....Yes, Yes it does!

My Version - Doubled:

2 cans black beans
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans white beans
1 can diced tomatoes & 3 large tomatoes chopped & 1 can stewed tomatoes
in the past I've used 2 quart bottles of home bottled tomatoes, but I didn't have any this time)
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 diced onion (don't want it too strong for the kids)
1 diced green pepper (I like them but my husband doesn't care for them, so I compromise)
4 cloves minced garlic
2 Tbsp chili powder (don't want it too strong for my kids)
2 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp sugar (husband said it was a little sweet, so I might leave this out next time)
3 large carrots, chopped
1 large zucchini, chopped

Since this was a doubled recipe, I simmered it for 45 minutes rather than the 30 minutes like the single recipe.

Opinion:

We like to add corn to our chili, but I didn't do it this time. I think if you do add 1-2 cans of corn, then you should add a point to your WW amount because corn does count towards your tracking efforts. We like this stuff, that's why I made a double batch. I like to keep home made chili in the freezer for when we either want chili for dinner or when we have baked potatoes. Left overs are just as good with this recipe. My 15 year old picky eater niece was over for dinner that night and she ate it all up. That was a nice compliment to my healthy eating styles. My husband likes it too (of course, like any man, he wouldn't mind if there was meat in it, but he's okay with this recipe because there is so many other things in it that he doesn't complain).

Easy to prep, easy to cook and SO DELICIOUS!!!
Very few points for so much flavor! 1 cup = 3 points plus value.

Lasagna - Macey's Ad

In the Macey's grocery store food ads I cut out the Crock Pot Lasagna recipe and tried it out. This is one that I tried to play with a little bit and wish I didn't. It was still good but would have been better if I had followed all the ingredients as directed. Doesn't really matter on what brand you use, but the amounts would have made a difference.

Actual Recipe:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 - 29 oz Western Family Tomato Sauce
1 - 6 oz Western Family Tomato Paste
1 - 16 oz Western Family Cottage Cheese
1 - 5 oz BelGioioso Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 - 8 oz Western Family Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 - 16 oz American Beauty Lasagna Noodles (uncooked)

Directions:

-Brown ground beef, chopped onion and smashed garlic in frying pan
-Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp dried oregano
-Cook until meat sauce is warm
-Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the crock pot
-Add a double layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break to fit) and top with a layer of the cheeses
-Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up
-Add 1/2 cup water around the outside edge of the lasagna
-Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours
-Serves 6

Ready to cook.

Done.

My Changes:

-I used a package of frozen beef I had in the freezer which I had already cooked up with minced onions, so I didn't worry about the garlic
-I didn't have a 29 oz can of tomato sauce so I used 4-6oz cans which equals 24 oz - I now wish I had a 29 oz can or at least one more 6 oz can to use...It needed a little more sauce.
-I was planning on just creating 3 combo layers but ended up with a few extra noodles, so I tried to spread the sauce out at the end to create one more layer - I should have just been more generous with them in the beginning or just left them out. They weren't quite done on the top because there weren't enough toppings on them.
-I used 1/4 cup of water around the edges instead of 1/2 cup. I shouldn't have adjusted this. The noodles needed the extra moisture, especially since I didn't have enough sauce. I was just worried about adding too much water because of a previous recipe that I had done that had a pool of water at the end.
-I thought it would be good with chopped up mushrooms - and I was right about that change. It was delicious and I wish I had chopped up and added a lot more than I did.

Opinion:

Don't play with this recipe too much if you can avoid it. Doesn't matter what brand of items you use, I just copied the recipe as it was written. Keep in mind that it will serve at least 6 people. It created a lot of left overs for my family of 5 (3 of which are under 5). But, it was delicious and the next time I do this, it will be done correctly.

Just Chicken

We like to buy chicken when we can get it on sale, cook it up, chop it up and keep it in the freezer in 2 cup or 2 breast amounts. Then, whatever I'm making that includes chicken, I don't have to worry about cooking the chicken first or pulling out the canned stuff. Works great in casseroles, soups, tacos, etc.... We also like to do this with hamburger in the one pound amounts in Ziploc Freezer bags. Anyway, I usually end up putting 3-4 chicken breasts in a lid covered pan and slaving over the stove or constantly checking it or setting the timer to remind me I have chicken cooking on the stove. Then I have to start it all again to finish cooking the rest of the chicken that I have. This is a slow cooker recipe - put the chicken in, cook for 3-4 hours on high and then turn it off. Cut up the chicken and all done. My husband did this for me on a day that I had to work, but at least it "tastes like chicken."

Recipe:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp chicken bouillon
Salt and pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 cup water

Layer chicken breasts in slow-cooker, sprinkling bouillon, salt, pepper, and paprika over each layer. Pour water around edges. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 hours. Remove chicken. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Slice chicken into 1/2-inch slices.

Ready to cook.

Done.

Then, do whatever you want with the chicken. Put it in some gravy and serve over rice for dinner, package it up for the freezer like I do, put it in your favorite recipe....whatever. Easy!