Kale Chips

My mom gave me this recipe, and since I'm basically roasting every vegetable imaginable right now, I figured it wouldn't hurt to give this one a try. I have never eaten kale before (and if it's in my chinese food, I normally pick it out/around it).


But the kale was inexpensive, this required no additional ingredients to be bought and she claimed it would be like kettle potato chips.  She was wrong. : )  However, I still loved it! Chloe wouldn't touch it and after much protesting Allison finally tried it and claimed that it wasn't so bad, "but it's a leaf."

No this does not taste like a potato chip. But it does have the crunch of potato chips so I don't mind pretending. You can't eat this at work though because it is a little messy (who wants little green chip crumbs stuck in their teeth at work??)

Kale (Just the leaves. Cut around the stemmy veins too)
Olive Oil (I used about 1 tsp)
Sea salt

Wash the kale and pat dry w/a paper towel. Mix with olive oil and toss to coat. Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 5 minutes, the flip the leaves (ahem, kale) over. Bake about another 5 minutes, but keep an eye on these so they don't burn.  Remove from pan, and sprinkle with sea salt.

Carrot-Pineapple Smoothie

If you don't subscribe to Real Simple Magazine, you really should consider it! It is one of my favorite magazines to read. This month, there were 10 new smoothie recipes (many of which I would love to try!) and since fruits and vegetables are 0 pts. on weight watchers, this is a recipe I hope to eat on a more regular basis.


I was a little afraid of drinking carrots. But I have to admit, I really liked this smoothie!! I'm going to have to run to Sam's Club this week to stock up on pineapple and bananas!!

3/4 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1/2 cup ice (I omitted since my pineapple was frozen)
1/3 cup fresh orange juice (I actually squeezed my own!)
1/4 cup chopped carrot (I microwaved in a little water first so it would soften them up)
1/2 banana

1.Place the pineapple, ice, orange juice, carrot, and banana in a blender.
2. Blend until smooth and frothy.

Snap Pea Salad

My favorite way to eat vegetables right now is to roast them with a little olive oil. But sometimes I just want a new way of eating them. I LOVE snap peas (especially roasted!), so when I came across this recipe in my family circle magazine, I ripped it out and saved it...for today!


Warning: Do not eat this while watching tv and sitting on your couch! The juice from the snap peas squirt all over!! :) This was yummy. The combo of mustard and vinegar is quite refreshing.

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar (I was out of balsamic so I used rice wine vinegar)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano (I used dried)
1 1/2 pounds sugar snap peas, strings removed
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
8 ounces bocconcini (small mozzarella nuggets), drained (I omitted)
1 cup slivered baby carrots
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped (I omitted)
1/3 cup cup slivered red onion (I sauteed mine first)

1. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Drizzle in olive oil, whisking constantly. Stir in oregano. Cover and set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add snap peas and simmer 4 minutes, until crisp-tender. Drain and rinse under cold water.
3. Place snap peas in a large bowl. Add tomatoes, bocconcini, carrots, olives and red onion. Toss with 1/3 cup of the dressing.

Baked Macaroni & Cheese; WW version

Shredded Beef Sandwiches; Super Delish and Super Easy!

5 points from Curt!

3-4 pound chuck roast

1 packet of Good Seasons Italian seasoning mix

1 packet of McCormick au jus

Mix both packets of seasonings into two cups of water.

Pour over meat in slow cooker.

Cook on high 6-8 hours or I did on low for 11 hours.

Shred with a fork.

3 oz = 6 WW+ points

Yum Yum Brownie Muffins

Yum Yum describes this PERFECTLY!!
I came across it on a random person's personal blog who found it here.

www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/367

10 stars; 5 from each of us!

And get this Curt couldn't tell how healthy it was!

1 Box of devil's food cake mix

1 can of pumpkin (15 oz)

Mix the two ingredients together; don't add any eggs, water, milk, etc to the mixture.

It will be super thick but that's okay.

Bake in sprayed or lined muffin tins.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

1 muffin = 5 WW+ points

P.S. Tracy--Brian will never know there's pumpkin in here!!!

Build Your Own Nachos; Thanks for the idea Melisa!

5 stars for me...I felt like I was at Taco Bell and loving it!

So mine were 21 points but you could totally lower the points depending on how much you use of the different toppings. I had points to use and I went for it!

Actually I would eat a little during the day to have this again in bulk!

Baked Tostitos; 3 pts for 13 chips

taco meat; 4oz=4pts

fat free refried beans; 1/2 c= 2 pts

light sour cream; 2TBSP=1 pt

reduced fat shredded cheese; 1/4 c=2 pts

lettuce

salsa

tomatoes

And this girl ate them! She never eats anything! She probably has the correct portion too; at least compared to mine! LOL!

Cheeseburger Pasta

Thought of you Tracy when I came across this one :)

1 & 1/2 cups uncooked whole wheat penne pasta
3/4 lb ground turkey meat

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 can no salt added diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons dill pickle relish

2 tablespoons mustard

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 teaspoon steak seasoning
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

3/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

chopped green onions optional

--Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook meat and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain meat. Drain noodles and combine with meat mixture in pan.

--Stir in tomatoes, relish, mustard, ketchup, steak seasoning, and seasoned salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

--Sprinkle with cheese. Remove from heat; cover and let stand until cheese is melted. Top with green onions if desired.

Makes 4 servings; WW+ points is 11 pts.

2 stars from each of us. Not yummy at all. I didn't give it a 1 because I didn't gag on it but I did not enjoy it nor did Curt. I did use sweet relish and the whole time I ate it I was thinking this is too tangy; not sure if a dill relish would work better or to lessen the amount as well as the amount of ketchup. The website gave it 4.5 stars so I'm suprised Curt and I are so way off from that. Try it and tell me what you think...

www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/family-favorite-cheeseburger-pasta

BBQ Glazed Meatloaf

Attention meatloaf fans: MAKE THIS! We LOVED this one! This is definitely going on next month's menu...at least once. LOVED IT! See how nice and crispy the bottom and the edges got? Mmmm....and no, I didn't share the ends!


I made this on my freezer cooking day, formed into the meatloaf shape, and then froze it in my silicone loaf pan. When it was frozen, I popped it out and bagged it up. This time, I let it defrost in the fridge for 2 days before making it, next time I'm going to try making it still frozen. It is supposed to cook for 6-8 hours on low, but we are gone for about 9 1/2 hours so this cooked a little longer than it should.
I found this recipe on weightwatchers.com. It was extremely quick and easy to prepare and low in points.

1 1/4 pound(s) uncooked ground turkey breast
1/3 cup(s) dried bread crumbs, seasoned
1/4 cup(s) low-fat shredded cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup(s) onion(s), minced
1 large egg(s), lightly beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
2 Tbsp ketchup
2 tsp packed light brown sugar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Heinz Spicy Brown Mustard, or other brand (I used yellow mustard)

Fold a 24-inch length of foil in half lengthwise. Fit into the bottom and up the sides of a 5–6-quart slow cooker insert. (Forget all that math...just pull off 1 or 2 medium sized pieces, ball them up and place the meatloaf on top!)

Put the turkey, bread crumbs, cheese, onion, egg, oregano, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl; mix with hands until well combined. Shape the mixture into a loaf and place on the foil in the slow cooker. Cover the slow cooker and cook until the meatloaf juices run clear or an instant read thermometer inserted in the center of the meatloaf registers 165°F, 3–4 hours on high or 6–8 hours on low.

Combine the ketchup, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard in a small bowl. Spoon the mixture over the meatloaf, spreading it smooth. Cover the slow cooker and cook until the glaze is heated through, about 30 minutes longer. (I added the sauce when I put it in the crockpot and let it cook w/the meatloaf all day. Then when I came home, I whipped together a little more and added it on top of that. I just let it cook until everything else was ready. Who has 30 more minutes to wait??).

With the help of the foil, lift the meatloaf from the slow cooker and transfer to a platter. Discard foil and cut the meatloaf into 6 slices. Yields 1 slice meatloaf per serving.

1/6 of the meatloaf = 4 ww+ pts.

Healthy Chicken Fiesta Soup

Must be winter because a lot of the posts have been soups in the past couple months.

Here's another and I quite enjoyed it even though I forgot have of the seasonings! I give this a 4; Curt's sick (and he got both babes sick as well!) so he can't taste anything.

1 lb ground chicken meat, browned

1 (14.5 oz) can of Great Northern beans; rinsed and drained
1 (16 oz) can chicken broth

2 garlic cloves; minced

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

1 Tbsp lime juice

1 bay leaf

1 (4 oz) can diced, green chiles

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

2 cups frozen corn

Add chicken, beans, broth, garlic, salt, lime juice, bay leaf, chilies, and tomatoes to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Add in oregano, ground red pepper, and corn and stir. Cover and cook for another half hour. Ladle into bowls and serve with cilantro, cheese, and sour cream if desired.

1 cup = 4 WW+ points

(without cheese or sour cream)

**In green are the seasonings that I forgot to add or didn't have on hand.**