Friday Food Find- Mrs. Dash

Today is more of a Friday Flavor Find instead of a food find. As many over-weight people often do, I've been treated for high blood pressure on and off over the years. At the age of 30, that is scary! It seems it runs in the family a little. With my last trip to the grocery store, I decided to get as much low sodium, no salt added stuff as possible. My mom had mentioned once before about Mrs. Dash seasonings. I remembered that from when I was little. Back then there was only one! Now, according to their website, Mrs. Dash has 14 salt free seasoning blends and 6 salt free marinades! So I got a couple to try.

Earlier this week I went way over normal for breakfast points, so had to think light for lunch. I did this Red Pepper Egg-In-A-Whole from skinnytaste.com. I skipped the bread. Then I decided to saute some garlic, onion, mushrooms and halved cherry tomatoes to go with it. I used 1 tsp of olive oil (1 point). When they were just about done, I remembered I had this Tomato Basil Garlic Mrs. Dash in the cupboard! I sprinkled some on, added 1/2 oz of Fat Free Tomato Basil Feta Cheese (0 points) and gave it a quick stir to heat the cheese through. It was delicious!!! With a handful of grapes on the side, it was a wonderful lunch, for only 3 points! I will be trying some of the other salt free seasoning blends from Mrs. Dash for sure! (in fact, we are using the steak seasoning in tonight's sloppy joes recipe, also from the Skinny Taste website!)

~Rebecca

A Great Family Dinner Recipe

I am always looking for great dinner recipes my family will enjoy.  My husband and daughter both have very different eating styles from me.  This recipe was printed in the Weight Watchers Weekly, which is handed out at each meeting.  The recipe was from January 2010 and I tried it at that time and it was a winner.  I made it for dinner again tonight, and again, A WINNER!!  It is 6 PointsPlus points.  That is great for a dinner, and a very filling dinner too!

OLD FASHIONED CHICKEN POT PIE

Ingredients

2 serving(s) butter-flavour cooking spray
1 tsp butter
1 small onion(s), chopped
2 cup(s) mushroom(s), sliced
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1/2 tsp table salt, or more to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 cup(s) frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup(s) canned chicken broth
3 cup(s) (chopped) roasted chicken breast, chopped
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup(s) fat-free evaporated milk, divided
4 roll(s) reduced-fat crescent roll dough, unrolled

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Coat a 10-inch round shallow baking dish with cooking spray.

Coat a large pot with cooking spray. Add butter and melt over medium heat. Add onion and mushrooms and cook, until tender, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Stir in paprika, thyme, salt and pepper. Add vegetables, broth and chicken. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

In a small cup, combine flour and 1/4 cup of evaporated milk; stir into chicken mixture. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup of evaporated milk and cook until mixture is slightly thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes more.

Spoon chicken mixture into prepared baking dish. Unroll crescent rolls and arrange dough around inside edge of baking dish to form a border (there will be a hole in the middle). Bake until rolls are golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 15 minutes. Cut into 6 pieces and serve.

Notes:
Make this recipe to your family's taste with different frozen vegetable blends such as an Asian mix or bell pepper and onion strips.

~Marsha

Friday Food Finds

My sister, Rebecca, is attending an awesome leadership training today and is not able to post. 

I thought I would share an awesome list of slow cooker recipes I came across recently.  The document can be downloaded from Leading the Weigh.  There are some great recipes here.  They do have the old WW points on them.  Even if you don't care about WW, they are healthy and tasty!

My New Favorite Website for WW Friendly Recipes!!!

My life just got 100x better when I came across this website last week: Skinny Taste

WOW! She has some amazing recipes and I can't wait to try lots of them!  For Thanksgiving I am making her Pumpkin Butter to go with small pieces of bread for a snack tray!  She has the WW Points with her recipes too, which makes it even better!   As I try some of her recipes I will let you know that is where they come from. 

Creamy Salsa Chicken

This is a great slow cooker recipe I found early in my Weight Watchers journey on the WW website.  It is so easy and so yummy. 

1lb Chicken Breasts
1 Jar of Salsa
1 Can of Black Beans
1 block of neufchatel cheese

You put in the chicken breasts while frozen, pour the salsa and black beans on top.  Cook on high for 4 or 5 hours or on low for 9-10 hours.  For the last 30 minutes cut up the cheese and put on top.  After done mix the cheese in and shred the chicken.

We have tried this three different ways.  First few times we just ate it with the spoon out of the bowl.  Once we tried it in wraps, but it was a bit too runny.  Tonight we tried it with tortilla chips and my oh my, it was awesome!!!   Loved it!  My daughter loves it too!  Tonight I doubled the salsa and black beans, so have two containers in the freezer! This is great thawed for lunch!

Homemade Chow Mein with mix of fresh Veggies!

My daughter's school became a community drop-off location for Full Circle Farms.  We get a box every other week and split it with my mom.  I have been trying to make up some fun recipes to ensure we use all the veggies and don't let them go to waste.  Last night I made some sort of Chow Mein, atleast that was my goal!  I must say, it turned out pretty good! 

I used carrots, celery, leeks, bok choy, chicken, and linguini.  Add in some olive oil and soy sauce, and you got yourself a decent dinner for two!  And, I have left overs for lunch tomorrow!  I love playing around with the veggies and finding new things to prepare!  One night we had an interesting red linquine with beets cooked in it (hence the red!).  The spinach has been great in omlettes or a side salad with lunch.  The fruit, we have no problem inhaling!

What is your favorite recipe with fresh veggies? 

Black Bean Soup

Recently I have started using my crockpot a lot! I have found some great soups, etc. I often use it on the weekend, then have a couple tupperware containers to freeze, and one for lunch the next day! This is my favorite right now: Black Bean Soup I found it on this great blog, A Year of Crockpotting It was GREAT!!! My husband and my daughter (3.5) enjoyed it! I had some for lunch today and it was very satisifying!

Stove-Top Macaroni and Cheese with Roasted Tomatoes

Another great recipe! I got this from Cookinglight.com (through myrecipes). I made it last night and even my three year old loved it! I used store bought bread crumbs instead of making them and did not put the red pepper flakes in.


In Step 4, the macaroni mixture is cooked over medium-low heat so the cheese won't become stringy and the sauce, grainy.

Yield
8 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Ingredients
3 cups halved cherry tomatoes
Cooking spray
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 ounces sourdough bread, torn into pieces
1 teaspoon butter, melted
12 ounces large elbow macaroni
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated low-fat milk

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°. Place tomatoes in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with black pepper. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally.

While tomatoes cook, place bread in a food processor; pulse 2 times or until crumbly. Toss crumbs with melted butter. Sprinkle the crumbs on a baking sheet, and bake at 375° for 12 minutes or until golden, stirring frequently.

Cook macaroni in boiling water 7 minutes; drain. Return macaroni to pan; place over medium-low heat. Add cheese and remaining ingredients; cook 4 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring constantly. Stir in tomatoes. Sprinkle each serving with about 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 357 (29% from fat)
Fat: 11.4g (sat 6.6g,mono 3.1g,poly 0.8g)
Protein: 18.1g
Carbohydrate: 45.2g
Fiber: 2g
Cholesterol: 33mg
Iron: 2.7mg
Sodium: 669mg
Calcium: 350mg

HUNGRY GIRL!!

I love this book!! I pre-ordered it and received it on April 29. You can find it at Amazon

I get a newsletter from Hungry Girl daily and I read it all the way through. She has some great recipe ideas and food finds! I have the link to the website on the sidebar of this blog.

This book is awesome! The WW points are not printed in the book, but are available on the Hungry Girl website. I haven't tried anything from the book yet, but plan to maybe make one of the soups to freeze servings of! And I never thought Fiber One cereal could be used for so much!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Another great recipe! I fixed this last night for my sister and Jason. We all liked it! It does take awhile to prep it and get it ready to put in the stove.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/Recipes/Recipe.aspx?recipeId=44701

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into thin bite-size strips
1/2 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (18.5 oz) Progresso® Light Southwestern-style vegetable soup
1/4 cup uncooked instant brown rice
1 oz fat-free cream cheese, cut into cubes
3 tablespoons Old El Paso® fat-free refried beans (from 16-oz can)
4 corn tortillas (6 inch)
1/3 cup shredded reduced-fat mild Cheddar cheese

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook chicken and bell pepper over medium-high heat 4 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until chicken begins to brown and bell pepper is crisp-tender. Sprinkle with cumin.

2. Stir in soup. Heat to boiling. Stir in rice; reduce heat to low. Cover; cook 10 minutes or until rice is tender.

3. Stir cream cheese into chicken mixture until well blended. Spread 1 tablespoon of the refried beans on 1 tortilla; place, beans side up, in bottom of ungreased 1-quart casserole. Top with 1 cup chicken mixture; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the cheese. Repeat 2 times. Top with remaining tortilla; sprinkle with remaining cheese.

4. Cover; bake 20 to 25 minutes or until mixture is hot and cheese is melted.

Nutrition Information
1 Serving: Calories 250 (Calories from Fat 35); Total Fat 3 1/2g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 30mg; Sodium 880mg; Total Carbohydrate 35g (Dietary Fiber 6g, Sugars 4g); Protein 19g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 35%; Vitamin C 30%; Calcium 15%; Iron 10% Exchanges: 2 Starch; 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 2 Very Lean Meat Carbohydrate Choices: 2 *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

POINTS® value of 4.

Do-Ahead
Make the casserole up to 24 hours ahead of baking, and store covered in the refrigerator. Since you'll be baking a cold casserole, expect the bake time to be a few minutes longer.

Chicken Taco Chili

This recipe is so awesome!! It was posted at my WW meeting and I tried it on Sunday. Trinity was not thrilled with it, and Jason had to add pepper (it was spicy enough for me!), but he inhaled it! And, it is great for leftovers, as I am currently eating it for lunch!!

1 can Kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can Pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can Black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 package taco seasoning (I used Chicken taco seasoning, was an accident, but very tasty!)
1 chicken breast (I used three small ones)

Mix it together in crock pot, and cook for 4 hours (on high).
Shred chicken before serving (pull apart with a fork).

Serve! It was awesome! I added onions and garlic to it. Probably could add a lot more!