Grilled Chicken Tenderloins

I found this recipe on Southern Plate's site. It caught my eye because it looked easy and delicious. I was able to make it very Weight Watchers friendly, too. The name of recipe is misleading since there is no grilling involved!

It was so easy to put together. I marinated while I had some quiet time watching tv. I used Kraft Free zesty Italian dressing which really dropped the calories and tasted yummy. It does take awhile to cook down. You want to cook the sauce all the way down.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

1 cup zesty Italian dressing

2 tsp lime juice

3 tsp honey

Place chicken in gallon ziplock bag. Combine all other ingredients and pour over. Seal and marinate for at least an hour.

Pour all ingredients into a large skillet and cook over medium heat until liquid evaporates and remaining marinade becomes thick and caramelized. Coat each piece of chicken in marinade by rubbing it around on the bottom of the pan before removing it.

Weight Watchers points (made with 1 1/2 lb of chicken and fat free dressing): 19 points total:

2 servings - 10

3 servings - 6

4 servings - 5

When the chicken first started cooking.

After it cooked down some.

With the liquid all cooked out.

Butterscotch Pie for My Dad

I am in charge for dessert again for the Thursday night dinner at my parents. It's just going to be me and my parents this time. So, I decided to make my dad's favorite pie - Butterscotch. When we usually make it, it's with the pudding mix. I decided to make it homemade. I went to Paula Deen's website and sure enough, there it was! The only difference I did was use sugar free Cool Whip instead of making my whpped cream, and using a graham cracker crust.

Here is the recipe on Paula's site. She's got lots of yummies!

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

My friend, Michele at Alwayz Bakin' made this and said it was so good. I thought it look delicious. We are both doing Weight Watchers and she found this recipe on a Weight Watchers website, Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes. There are lots of Weight Watcher friendly recipes here.

Tonight, after work and school, my son was to have guitar lesson and Boy Scout meeting. So, I put this together in the morning, so we could eat between events. (I actually had all ingredients in my cabinet/freezer). The guitar lesson was canceled. I made rice to put the chili on. The meal was so delicious! It makes a ton. I put in fridge and we are going to make tacos with it tomorrow night.

For each 10 oz serving, it's only 4 points. The rice added 3 points and the low fat cheese, 2 points. My plate was completely filled and I was stuffed when I was done eating.

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
1 16-oz can black beans
1 16-oz can kidney beans
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
10 oz package frozen corn kernels
2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
24 0z. (3) boneless skinless chicken breasts

chili peppers, chopped (optional) - omitted

chopped fresh cilantro (omitted; don't like

Directions:

Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker.

Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.

Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro.

Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream (extra points)

Diet Coke Cake

I heard about this recipe in Weight Watchers about 2 years ago. I never tried it, though. I saw it on someone's blog (don't remember which one) and I remembered hearing about it. So, I thought I would try it.

I tried making it with Cherry Coke Zero, but couldn't taste the cherry flavor. This can also be made with other cakes and diet soda, like white cake mix and Diet Sprite or Orange.

1/12 of this recipe equals only 3 Weight Watchers points. I added 2 T of sugar free Cool Whip, which adds 0 points. It was so yummy and not a high calorie dessert.

Ingredients:

1 chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Croker chocolate fudge)

12 ounces Diet Coke

Directions:

Preheat oven to temperature on cake box.

Grease 13 x 9 pan

Combine cake mix and Diet Coke in mixing bowl. Mix according to box directions.

Pour into pan. Bake 5 minutes less than recommended amount on box (for example, if box says 23 minutes, bake for 18). Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle of cake comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack.

Top with Cool Whip.

Refrigerate leftovers.

SMS: Mom's Banana Apple Bread

This week's recipe for Sweet Melissa Sundays was chosen by Joy of Hot Oven, Warm Heart. The recipe is Mom's Banana Apple Bread. I was a little skeptical about apples and bananas together so I did what the intro to the recipe said and just made the banana bread part, and added walnuts. While the bread was baking, it smelled so yummy. With the nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon..it reminded me of the holidays!

The recipe was very easy to make and it tasted DELICIOUS!

For the Apples:

2 T unsalted butter

3 T firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp pur vanilla extract

For the banana bread:

2 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg (I didn't use freshly ground)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 c granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 c. fresh orange juice (no oranges; used made orange juice)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 c very ripe mashed bananas (2-3)

I added 3/4 c chopped walnuts

1. Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a 1 1/2 quart loaf pan.

2. Preheat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and brown sugar and heat until bubbling. Add the apples and cinnamon and saute until golden and tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitte with the paddle attachment (I used a hand held mixer with regular beaters), cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

5. In a small bowl, combine the orange juice and vanilla.

6. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the orange juice mixture, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each flour addition. Stir in the mashed bananas (and walnuts, in my case) until well combined. Then stir in the reserved apples.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool further.

Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Weight Watchers Gingersnap Peach Pie

Tonight, my son grilled out burgers. They were delicious! We tried a Weight Watchers spicy french fries recipe. But, we didn't really care for it, so I'm not posting that.

I've been wanting to make this Gingersnap Peach Pie for a few weeks now. So, tonight, along with starting to rearrange my countertops and kinda watch the Dolphins' game, I did. (Dolphins won!)

It was really quite easy to make. I'm glad I made it tonight, since my peaches would not have made it much longer! We tried it before it was completely cooled; it was really good!

Ingredients:

2 lbs peaches

1/3 cup sugar

2 T fresh lemon juice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 T corn starch

2 T butter

4 oz gingersnaps, about 18 cookies

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut peaches in half and remove pits. Cut each peach half into four slices. Combine peaches, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and cornstarch in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Melt butter in microwave or stovetop. Crush gingersnaps into crumbs; place in a small bowl. Pour melted butter into crumbs and combine thoroughly.

4. Pat crumb mixture into bottom of a 9-inch ceramic or glass pie plate; make sure crumbs are evenly distributed.

5. Starting at edge of pie plate; arrange peach slices in concentric circles so that they cover entire surface of pie and form a petal-like pattern. To form center of flower, arrange several peach slices in a small circle. Pour any remaining liquid from peach mixture over top of pie so it is evenly distributed.

6. Bake pie in bottom 1/3 of oven for 20 minutes; reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for 40 minutes more.

7. Remove from oven and cool completely in pie plate on a wire rack (about 2 hours). Slice into 8 pieces just before serving.

3 points per slice.

My Girl Paula: Blackberry Muffins

This week's My Girl, Paula recipe was Blackberry Muffins. These are delicious! They would be great with any fruit. I had one still warm out of the oven....yummy!

Good choice!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter

1/2 cup milk

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 c. all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups fresh blackberries, or frozen blackberries, thawed and drained

4 tsp sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease eighteen 2 1/2 inch muffin tins, or line them with paper or foil liners.

In a bowl, stir together the butter, milk and eggs. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk mixture all at once; stir until blended. The batter will be lumpy; do not overmix. Fold in the berries.

Divide the batter among the prepared cups and sprinkle the remaining 4 teaspoons of sugar over the batter. Bake for about 25 mintues, or until golden.

Yield: 18

Spicy Provolone Cheese PIzza

I was looking through some of my small cookbooks and found this recipe. It's from a 2004 Pillsbury Bake Off Special Edition. I kept flipping back to this page.....so, I had to make it. My son thought it looked yummy, too. And, it was delicious! I omitted the onions as usual since Jimmy does not like them. It was a very easy recipe. I like the red pepper in the recipe; it gave it a little kick.

Ingredients:

1 (13.8 oz) can Pillsbury Refrigerated PIzza Crust

2-4 T olive oil

1 cup finely chopped onions (2 medium)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

1/2 tsp dried basil leaves

1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

8 oz. sliced provolone cheese

1/4 cup sliced ripe olives, drained (I think Iused more than 1/4 cup)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease large cookie sheet or 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan. Unroll dough; place on greased cookie sheet. starting at center, press out dough to form 15 x 10 inch rectangle. Form 1/4 inch rim around edges.

2. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add onions and garlic, cook about 5 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Add spices.

3. Spoon onion mixture evenly over dough. Arrange cheese slices over onions. Sprinkle with olives.

4. Bake for 9-13 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown. Cut into squares. Serve warm.

An Award!

I received this award from Libby at Cooking With Libby. Thank you Libby for the great award! Libby has one of my favorite sites!

The rule is to choose 10 other bloggers and pass it down to them. This will not be easy! All of them are fantastic.


1. Kelly of What's Cooking Kelly


2. Jennifer of Cooking For Comfort


3. Annie of Annie's Eats


4. Sandy of I Love Sweet Treats


5. Susan at Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy

6. Tami at Tami's Kitchen Table Talk

7. Caroline at Daily Blue Plate Special

8. Love at First Bite

9. Ashleigh at Ashleigh's Edibles

10. Bunny's Warm Oven

Weight Watchers Mexican Meatloaf

I found another Weight Watchers recipe to try. This was also found online. This was really good. My son kept telling me how great it was! I didn't have the can of green chili peppers, so I cut up some jalapenos. I made brown rice with hot salsa mixed in. It was a very good meal.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb raw extra lean ground beef

1/2 lb lean ground turkey breast (I just used a pound of beef)

2 large egg whites

2 oz. cornbread stuffing dry mix (about 1 cup)

1 medium onion, chopped (didn't have any)

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp ground cumin

4 oz canned green chili peppers, diced

8 oz canned enchilada sauce, divided

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a broiler pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix beef, turkey, egg whites, stuffing mix, onion, chili powder, cumin, chilies and half of the enchilada sauce. Shape into an oval with yhour hands and place on prepared broiler pan.

Cook for one hour, top with remaining enchilada sauce and bake for 5 minutes more. Slice into 6 pieces and serve.

Yields: 6 servings

Points: 3

Strawberry Banana Muffins

I saw this recipe on My Baking Addiction's site. Banana and strawberries are my two favorite fruits. The recipe only makes 6, but that was good, since it's just my son and I. These were easy to make and taste so delicious!

Jamie's recipe didn't say when to add the banana, so I added after creaming the sugar and butter together.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries

2 T white sugar

1 medium banana; mashed

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup and 2 TBS flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside for 1 hour. Drain, reserving liquid and berries separately.

2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 6 cup muffin tin, or line with paper liners.

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 1/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla and banana. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the juice from the berries. Gently stir in the berries. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups.

4. Bake for 18-20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Weight Watchers Baked Turkey and Jack Cheese Chimichangas

My son and I decided to start watching our weight. I re-joined Weight Watchers almost 2 weeks ago. Of course, getting sick put a damper on the dieting, but I've been doing pretty well. I lost 3.2 pounds my first week! I still plan on cooking, just not so much sweet stuff.

I found this recipe a couple years ago and never made it. I really didn't have high hopes on it being good, but boy was I wrong! Jimmy and I loved it! It was delicious! It's only 5 points for each one, too.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb uncooked ground turkey breast

16 oz fat free canned refried beans

1 3/4 cups salsa

1 tsp chili powder

4.5 oz canned green chilis, diced and drained

1 cup shredded reduced-fat Monterary Jack cheese

8 large burrito size wheat flour tortillas

1 cup salsa

(also called for sour cream and scallions, but I skipped)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat large skillet with cooking spray. Coat a 13x9x2 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Add turkey to skillet and cook over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Drain any excess liquid from pan and then add beans, 1 3/4 cups salsa, chili peppers, chili powder and scallions (3 T). Cook until heated through, about 3 minutes; stir in cheese.

Meanwhile, wrap tortillas in foil; warm in oven for 10 minutes.

Assemble chimichangas by spooning about 1/2 cup of turkey mixture onto each tortilla; fold in sides and roll up.

Place chimichangas in prepared baking dish. Bake uncovered until tortillas are crisp and browned, about 20 minutes. Serve each topped with 2 T of salsa and 1 T of sour cream.

I added a handful of cheese to the top.

Nacho Cheese - Made by Jimmy

Jimmy found this recipe last week on the internet. He LOVES nachos so he called me at work to see if it was okay that he made these. I always encourage him to cook, so... Yes!

He declared these nachos as AWESOME! I tasted the ones he made this afternoon and yes they are delicious.

I must say that I have been proud of my son this week. I have been really sick and he has really chipped in with dishes and cooking.

Ingredients:

2 T butter
2 T flour
1 cup milk
5 slices of American cheese
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:



Melt butter in saucepan. Add one tablespoon of flour to butter along with the milk. Whisk until blended, add other 1 T. Whisk til smooth and sauce is thickened. Once thickened, add cheese and salt. Stir until cheese is melted.



Pour on top of chips.


Jimmy likes to heat his chips first and add jalapenos and hot sauce.