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Chicken and Broccoli Mac and Cheese

6 Dec

I found a different variation of this on http://www.skinnytaste.com, however I made a few adjustments, and this was REALLY good. I’m not usually a big “casserole” fan, but I will definitely be making this again- often. My kids LOVED it. I’m thinking about trying it with a couple cans of Tuna next time for a tuna casserole.

Ingredients:
– 3/4 lb of boneless chicken breasts
– 12 oz pasta (elbow macaroni, shells or rotini)
– 1/2 an onion, chopped
– 1 tablespoon butter
– 1/4 cup flour (see my note below)
– 1 cup 1% milk
– 1 Can chicken broth
– 2 heads worth or 1 bag of fresh broccoli florets
– 2 tbsp. shredded parmesan cheese
– 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
– 1/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Dice Chicken, and sauté in a skillet, or boil it, or bake it… just make sure it’s seasoned with salt and pepper, however you choose to cook it.

2. Meanwhile, start boiling the water for your noodles and broccoli. Be sure to add salt to the water for flavor. Cook the noodles and broccoli together In the pot until noodles are al dente and then drain them well.

3. Melt Butter in a heavy skillet. Cook onions in butter for 2-3 minutes, until translucent. Add flour, and mix well. This won’t be enough fat to create a true “roux” so once you get the flour mixed in well, you’ll need to be ready to add the chicken broth pretty soon.

4. When flour is all mixed in, begin slowly adding chicken broth, stirring until smooth along the way. I added in about 1/2 cup increments (about 4 equal portions, stirring until smooth in between each one).

5. Once Chicken broth is all incorporated, it should begin to thicken. Once all lumps are gone, add milk and continue to stir. Once the sauce has thickened, stir in parmesan cheese, then cheddar. Stir until smooth.

6. Mix Chicken, pasta and broccoli, and sauce all together. Once blended, pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Sprinkle bread crumbs evenly across top and cover with foil. Bake 20 min at 375.

7. Remove foil, and continue cooking 10 min. If crumbs do not brown, feel free to broil for a couple of minutes, until golden brown.

6 Servings= 330 Calories per serving

Note: On the flour, I used a seasoned flour rom the old mill in Gatlinburg. It has some unnamed spices in it to add flavor, and I think this really makes a difference. If I used plain flour, i’d probably add salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder.

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Weight Watchers Mexican Chicken

27 Nov

This is so easy, I was sure it wasn’t going to be good. Seems like it would be salty and overpowering, but it was really yummy. I really liked it with Spanish rice and a southwest slaw.

Ingredients:
– 1 1/3 lbs boneless chicken breast, cut into chunks
– 1 envelope taco seasoning*
– 1 cup salsa or picante sauce

Directions:

1. Place chicken chunks into a large ziplock baggie with taco seasoning. Shake until chicken is well coated.

2. Place chicken into a pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. I just used a small oval pan. I wouldn’t recommend anything larger than 9×9.

3. Bake at 375 for about 20 min. Pour Salsa over chicken and continue baking 10 more minutes.

As is: 4 servings= 247 Calories per serving

Approximately 6 weight watchers points plus per serving.

 

I think this is best If you top each serving with either 2 tablespoons shredded cheddar, or 2 tablespoons reduced fat sour cream or plain greek yogurt. DELICIOUS.

Editors note:  Shave off 20 calories per serving by using our homemade taco seasoning, instead of storebought!

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Easy, Yummy 3 Ingredient Potato Soup

26 Nov

Ingredients
– 2 cans of chicken stock
– 1 bag of frozen O’Brien style potatoes (with onions and peppers)
– 1 envelope of pioneer White Gravy Mix
– 1 cup water

Directions:
1. Heat Chicken Stock in a large pan.
2. Add frozen potatoes. Cook until thawed and warm.
3. In a separate container, mix water with gravy mix packet.
4. Stir Gravy slurry into chicken stock and potatoes.
5. Cook on low for 20 min or so.

I served this with 1 tablespoon of bacon bits, 2 tablespoons reduced fat sour cream, and 2 tbsp. shredded low fat cheddar, and it was YUMMY!!!

VF: Replace Chicken Stock with Veggie Stock to make this Vegetarian Friendly!

5 Servings= 196 Calories per serving

with bacon, cheese, and sour cream= 325 Calories per serving

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Lasagna Roll Ups

21 Nov

I’ve seen some version of this recipe on many different sites. I love to make lasagna, but I don’t do it often, so I thought this version might shave some time off the very time consuming process of making a full lasagna. It did, and it’s a healthy, delicious version. Freezes well too. Great leftovers.

Ingredients:
– 8 lasagna noodles
– 1 jar of Prego “light smart” traditional sauce
(or click here to make my easy, homemade marinara)
– 16 oz of low fat ricotta cheese
– 2 tbsp. parmesan cheese
– 1 box of frozen spinach
– 1 egg
– 1 tsp garlic powder
– 1 tsp oregano
– 1 cup shredded, reduced fat mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Boil noodles in salted water until soft and flexible.

2. While noodles cook: Place frozen spinach in a colander and run under hot water until thawed. Use a paper towel to press all water out of the spinach (by smooshing it into the bottom of the colander). It’s important that you remove as much liquid as possible from the spinach.

3. In a medium sized bowl, Mix ricotta, parmesan, spinach, egg, garlic, and oregano together.

4. Open Spaghetti sauce and pour about 1/4 of the jar into the bottom of a baking pan, coated in non stick spray.

5. Place a row of paper towels flat on the counter, long enough to accommodate all your noodles, and about 3 or 4 towels tall. Remove noodles and lie them each flat on the paper towel. Use additional paper towel to pat excess water from the top of the noodles. It’s important that the noodles are dry.

6. Spread Ricotta mixture evenly across each noodle (a little less than 1/3 cup per noodle) using all of the mix.

7. Roll each noodle up, and place it seam down in the pan.

8. Cover all rolls with remaining sauce and top with mozzarella cheese.

9. Cover pan with foil and bake on 400 for 25 min.

10. Remove foil and continue baking 5-10 min longer (until cheese reaches desired color and texture).

Makes 4 Servings= 460 Calories per serving

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Beef Stew- Crockpot

19 Nov

Ingredients:
– 1 lb stew meat
– 1 onion, quartered
– 30 baby carrots (about 2/3 of a bag)
– 3 stalks of celery, chopped about 1 inch wide
– 1 large russet potato, chopped into roughly 1×1 inch chunks
– McCormick Beef Stew seasoning packet (1)
– 2 cups of water
– 1 tsp salt
– 3 bay leaves
– pepper to taste
– 1 tbsp. corn starch

Directions:

1. Place beef and all veggies into crockpot. Add salt, pepper, and bay leaves.
2. Mix water and Beef Stew seasoning together until mostly dissolved. Pour mixture into crockpot, over beef and veggies.
3. Stir ingredients together. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
4. 15-30 min before serving, remove about 3 tbsp. of juice, and mix in a separate cup with 1 tbsp. corn starch until smooth.
5. Add corn starch slurry back into stew. Mix, and cook on high with no lid until ready to serve. This will thicken the sauce.
6. Remove Bay leaves before eating.

Note: I like my beef stew with rice, as seen in the photo. I served with 3/4 cup of jasmine rice, which made my meal exactly 600 calories.

4 Servings= 447 Calories per Serving

beef stew

Tuscan White Bean Soup

17 Nov

I made this today, and it was delicious! It’s not a traditional, country bean soup. It’s really a lot like a minestrone without noodles. However, My Kentucky roots being what they are, I decided to serve this with cornbread. And, I’m glad I did 🙂

Ingredients:
– 1 can of cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)
– 1 can of navy beans (Drained and rinsed)
– 1 Can of petite diced tomatoes
– 1 can of rotel
– 1 can of Chicken stock
– about 20 baby carrots, chopped
– 1 medium onion, chopped
– 2 bay leaves
– 3 tbsp. minced garlic
– 2 tsp dried thyme
– 1 box of frozen spinach
– salt and pepper to taste

VF: Replace Chicken Stock with Veggie Stock to make this vegetarian friendly!

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients except for spinach in a crockpot. Mix well.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. 30 min before serving, add spinach, stirring periodically.

Makes 9 (1 cup) servings. 1 cup = 123 Calories

Note: I was in a hurry the first time I made this, so I tried 3 hours on high. No dice. The veggies weren’t soft. So I added about 1 1/2 cups of water and put it in my pressure cooker to finish the job. It came out WONDERFUL. I really enjoyed this soup.

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Chili

10 Nov

Note: Decent Chili takes a long time to make. Several hours. You could mix this all together, heat it up, and eat it…but it wouldn’t do the recipe or your tastebuds justice. In our house, Chili is always a Saturday night meal, for this reason. So hang onto this one until you’ve got some time to give 🙂

Ingredients:

– 1 lb lean beef (I used 96% lean)
– 1 onion, chopped
– 1 green pepper, chopped (optional)
– 1 can of petite diced tomatoes
– 1 can of regular diced tomatoes
– 1 can of “chili hot” (or mild) beans
– 1 can of dark red kidney beans
– Tomato Juice (i buy a large can, and sometimes i use it all)
– 1 Tbsp brown sugar
– 1 tbsp chili powder
– 1 packet of “Chili-O” seasoning
– 1 tiny, tiny sprinkle of cinnamon (seriously, be VERY careful here.. you just want a tad. I just barely tap the container once)

Directions:

1. Brown beef and chopped onions (peppers if you got ’em) in a bottom of a large pan. Drain beef before adding seasoning packet.
2. Add seasoning packet, brown sugar, chili powder, and cinnamon and tomatoes, and stir.
3. Stir in all remaining ingredients, except tomato juice.
4. Stir in about 1/2 the can of juice, and cook on medium, stirring regularly for about 10 min.
5. Turn heat down to a simmer. Leave chili to simmer, stirring occassionally for the next 2 hours. Keep extra juice handy, the longer your chili cooks, the more you’ll want to add.
6. As juice progressively cooks down, add more tomato juice, a little at a time. You don’t want this to end up like a soup… so only add what will have time to cook down before you eat it.
7. Continue simmering chili until you’re ready to eat and consistency is good. My chili typically simmers for a good 4 hours or more, and the longer it cooks, the better it tastes.

Enjoy 🙂

*Note, i like to top with plain greek yogurt (instead of sour cream) crackers, shredded cheese. Sometimes i add noodles. Sometimes i put fritos in there. these are all yummy options, but none of these toppings are accounted for in the calorie count below, so track those separately. I also rarely eat only 1 cup of Chili. The serving size is really just a measurement to figure the calories for however much you eat.

Calories= 1 cup of chili, 215 Calories


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Grilled Chicken,Cranberry, and Goat Cheese Salad

15 Oct

Ingredients:
– 3 cups mixed greens or romaine hearts
– 1 1/2 tablespoons honey roasted slivered almonds
– 1/3 of an apple, chopped or sliced
– 3 Tbsp goat cheese
– 2 tbsp. craisins
– Sliced Red onion
– 3 oz grilled chicken breast (seasoned with salt, pepper, etc)
– 4 TBSP raspberry Vinaigrette

Directions:
1. Arrange Lettuce, almonds, apples, cheese, craisins and red onions on a plate. Top with Chicken and vinaigrette.

Salad= 415 Calories

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Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup

8 Oct

Ingredients:
-1 1/4 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast
– 1 can Rotel tomatoes with chiles
– 1 Can black beans
– 1 can chicken broth
– 1 can Red Enchilada sauce
– 1 Cup frozen Corn
– 1 can of diced green chiles
– 1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
– 1/2 tbsp. salt
– 1 tsp ground cumin

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours.
2. remove chicken, shred, and return to pot.
3. Serve with garnish of: Greek yogurt (or sour cream), Shredded cheese, tortilla strips, jalapenos, black olives, green onion, etc.

Makes 8 (1 cup) servings: 211 Calories per Cup
with 2 tbsp. greek yogurt, 2 tbsp. 2% shredded cheddar, and 2 tbsp. tortilla strips: 315 Calories

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Chicken Enchiladas

5 Oct

Of all the many, many things I’ve cooked (some healthy, some not-so-healthy) over the years, this is my husband’s favorite meal. If I had time to make this once a week, he would not complain. It is pretty darn yummy, and makes great left overs too.

Ingredients:
-1.25 lbs chicken breast (boneless)
– 1 8 oz block fat free cream cheese
– 1/2 can of 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
– can of chopped green chiles
– 8 flour tortillas, fajita size (the size that’s about 90 cal each)
– 1 cup 2% shredded cheddar cheese- reduced fat
– 1 can red enchilada sauce
– salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Cook chicken and shred it (I leave it in the crockpot for about 7 hours and it shreds easily)
2. Mix chicken with cream cheese, soup, green chiles, and salt and pepper.
3. wrap 4 tortillas in a napkin and microwave for 20 seconds to warm and soften. Remove them and repeat with remaining 4 tortillas.
4. Divide chicken mixture evenly between the 8 tortilla shells. About 1/3 cup filling per tortilla.
5. Fold tortilla over filling and tightly roll tortilla around filling. Do not fold in edges.
6. Spray a pyrex baking pan with nonstick spray, and line enchiladas side by side across pan.
7. Pour enchilada sauce evenly over enchiladas, and top with shredded cheese.
8. Bake at 350 for 20-25 min.
9. Serve with reduced fat sour cream or plain greek yogurt! yum.

8 servings= 265 Calories per serving

enchilada 1

enchilada 2

enchilada 3

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