Watching What We Eat Wednesday

This week, there isn't a theme, so I'm just gonna post the first recipe that pops into my head! Hmmmm, it's after midnight, so it's not coming as easily as I thought it would. . . Ah ha! Here's one!

Enjoy!

Pierogies with Creamy Mushroom and Sherry Sauce

Points for WW = 5 

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1 onion, sliced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

2 tablespoons dry sherry (I just used the some more chicken broth here)

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2/3 cup low fat (1%) milk

1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth

1 (1 pound) package of frozen low fat potato pierogies, THAWED

to thaw frozen pierogies quickly, cook them uncovered in boiling water 3 to 5 minutes, then drain before proceeding with recipe!!!!

 2 tablespoons light sour cream

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the mushrooms, onion, salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly browned, about 4 minutes

 

Stir in the sherry and cook until it evaporates.  Sprinkle the flour over the mushroom mixture, stirring to combine.  Stir in the milk, broth, and pierogies; bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream

 

THAT'S IT!  Really easy.  You can add some chicken breast pieces or turkey or whatever to make the meal more filling or just leave as is. 

 

per serving (about 1 1/2 cups) 249 calories, 5 grams of fat   

 

Hope you like it!

Watching What We Eat Wednesday

CROCKPOT EDITION!!

Well, I have made the recipe below TONS of times and it's easy and delicious! I did, however, get this exact recipe off of DWLZ.com. I'm too lazy to run upstairs and grab mine when I can just copy and paste this one. Did I mention it's yummy and easy? I can't wait to get some more crockpot recipes. It's a method I love to cook with, but don't know too many crockpot recipes that are low in points! Bring em' on! :)

Chicken Stroganoff - Crockpot Method

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 pound frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can fat free cream of mushroom soup
16 oz. carton fat free sour cream
1 envelope dry onion soup mix

Put frozen chicken in bottom of crockpot. Mix soup, sour cream, 
onion soup mix and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 7 hours. 
Makes 6 servings. (serve it over rice or noodles, but be sure to add those points)

POINTS:  4

Watching What We Eat Wednesday #5

So, this week's recipe is one of my favorites! Generally speaking, I'm NOT a bran muffin fan, but these muffins are DELICIOUS and only 2 pts each! My friend Kathleen came up with this recipe. She's an AMAZING cook and has lost 100lbs with WW! Anyways, I LOVE THESE MUFFINS! LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM! I need to make me a batch now! Hope everyone's week is going fabulous! :)

Kathleen’s Bran Muffins  (2 points) 

½ cup Hot Water     

½ cup “All Bran” Cereal 

¾ cup Unsweetened Applesauce  

1 cup Splenda

½ cup Egg Substitute    

1 cup Buttermilk

1 cup Bran Flakes     

1 ¼ cup Flour     

1 ½ cup Oats

1 tsp. Salt     

2 tsp. Baking Soda

2 tsp. Baking Powder   

 4 tsp. Cinnamon 

2 Tbl. Molasses   

 1 tsp. Vanilla 

Preheat the oven to 400° 

Mix the hot water and All Bran cereal and set aside.  Mix in a bowl for 4 minutes the applesauce, Splenda, egg substitute, buttermilk, and bran flakes. Mix the molasses and vanilla into the applesauce mixture.  In another bowl mix the flour, oats, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.  Add the dry ingredients to this mixture just until combined.  Spoon the mixture immediately into a 12-count muffin tin.  The tins will be full.  Bake for 13-15 minutes. 

recipe by: Kathleen Wilson

Watching What We Eat Wednesday #4

I have family in town, so this is short and sweet. Hopefully you all like this recipe. It seems to be a perfect treat to sit and munch on outside while on a picnic. It's really simple and so refreshing. The best part is it's guilt free! 

Banana Pops (2 WW pts)

2 medium bananas, peeled and halved crosswise

1/4 cup crisp rice cereal

1 tablespoon toasted chopped coconut

1 tablespoon finely chopped peanuts

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, or apple pie spice

2 teaspoons maple-flavored syrup

-Insert a wooden stick *into the cut end of each banana half. Place on a baking sheet. Freeze 1 hour or till bananas are firm.

-Meanwhile, in a shallow dish mix cereal, coconut, peanuts, and nutmeg. Brush frozen bananas with syrup, then roll in cereal mixture to coat.

-Wrap each pop individually in plastic wrap; return to freezer. Freeze 2 hours more or till completely frozen.  

-Serves 4.

*NOTE- If desired, substitute plastic forks or knives for the wooden sticks :)

Nutrition Information- 93 calories, 1 g protein, 19 g carbs, 2 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 23 mg sodium, 266 mg potassium.

ENJOY!

Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday #3

click badge above for more WWWEW recipes!

The recipe I'm posting this week is SUPER easy and really really good. I didn't think my hubby would like it as he's not a onion fan, but he really really thinks these are delicious! YAY for me as I LOVE onions. Anyways, these are so good! You'll feel like you are cheating!! Enjoy! I'm excited to come around and see everyone else's recipes for this week :)

Twice-Baked Potatoes (2 WW points)

4 small baking potatoes (5 to 6 ounces each)

2 ounces reduced-calorie cream cheese, cubed and softened

2 tablespoons snipped chives (I just use finely chopped green onions here as I have that on hand more often than chives)

1/4 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

1/8 teaspoon salt

dash of pepper

3 to 4 tablespoons skim milk

Paprika

*Prick potatoes with a fork. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes or til tender. Cool slightly. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Gently scoop out each potato half, leaving a thin shell. Set shells aside.

*Put pulp into a small mixer bowl. Add cream cheese, chives (or green onions), basil, salt, and pepper; beat until smooth. Add milk, a tablespoon at a time, beating until potato mixture is fluffy and smooth.

*Pipe or spoon potato mixture into shells.  Sprinkle with paprika. Place on a baking sheet. Cover loosely with foil.

*Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes. Uncover potatoes and bake 10 minutes more or til heated through. 

Nutrional Information per serving: 98 calories, 3 grams protein, 18 grams carbs, 2 grams fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 70 mg sodium, 318 mg potassium.  Not exactly sure what the fiber count is for you doing WW, but an average sized potato has 3 grams of fiber, but that DOES include eating the skin of course. That's where most the fiber is located :) ANYWAYS, I just count this recipe as 2 WW points as I usually don't eat the skin anyways and even if I did, the the point value is right on the border b/w 1 and 2 points, so I always round up :)

There is also Microwaveable directions. I've never tried them this way, but here are the directions in case anyone is interesting :)

Microwave Directions: Micro-cook pricked potatoes at 100% power (high) for 10-12 minutes or til tender. Halve potatoes and prepare filling as above. Place filled potato shells on a 12 inch microwave-safe platter. Cover with venter clear plastic wrap. Cook on high for 1 to 2 minutes or til heated through.

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Dieter's Cook Book

ENJOY!

Check out more WWWEW recipes HERE!

Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday #2

I decided to do a slightly different take on what I think people may come up with when they think of fruit for this week's theme.  This recipe may/may not sound like the most appetizing dish, but let me tell you, it's delicious! I love it! 

Mandarin Orange Slow Cooker Chicken (4 servings at 5 pts each)

4 boneless skinless chicken halves

1 medium onion, sliced

1/4 cup orange juice concentrate

1 tsp. poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp. salt

11 ounce can of mandarin oranges, be sure to save 3 T of the juice as well.

2 T flour

Put chicken strips in slow cooker that has been sprayed with Pam cooking spray.

Combine onion, orange juice concentrate, poultry season and salt.

Pour mixture over chicken in the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours.

Remove chicken and keep warm.

Reserve chicken juices.

In a saucepan, combine the 3 T of reserved mandarin juice and the 2 T of flour. 

Stir until smooth. 

Stir in the chicken juices. 

Bring to a boil.

Cook for 2 minutes.

Stir in mandarin oranges.

Pour over chicken.

DELICIOUS!

With the ingredients I used, this recipe had 240 calories, 3.5 grams of fat and 1 gram of fiber. That is 5 WW points. Please be sure and tally your points according to what you use :)

This is really delicious served over some brown rice. Be sure to add points accordingly :)

Click HERE for more WWWEW participants! :)

Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday!

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I've posted this recipe before, but never for Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday. I have family in town, so I'm limited on my time to post, so hopefully you all will enjoy! :) It's delicious!!

I made this again last night and it was a HIT with not only my family, but the extended family we have visiting! Plus, there were leftovers and these re-heat really well!

Chicken Enchiladas (sorry, forgot to take a picture)

10 Mission Carb Balance Soft Taco Size flour Tortillas.  (these are only 110 calories each with 11 grams of FIBER!) According to the WW slider, these are 1 pt. If you do the points calculator  found online, the points come to zero. The reason for this is WW puts a cap on fiber at 4 grams. So, do as you wish. I calculated them as 1 "small ;)" point  each. I LOVE that they have SO MUCH FIBER and they taste awesome. SO MUCH LIKE THE REAL thing, it's scary! ha ha. Oh and Mission has Carb Balance tortillas in all sorts of sizes. Some of them are brown instead of white, but they taste just as good! I went with the white ones since they "look" more  like the real thing, thus fooling my family even more ;)

 1 20 oz. can of Enchilada sauce. - I used Rosarita Mild Enchilada Red Sauce. (it's our favorite) and it's 20 calories per serving and has 1 gram of fiber in that. 

1 lb of chicken

2 cups of shredded cheese- I used the 2% milk Kraft Mexican Style shredded cheese. Now in this step, you obviously could use more cheese than I have here by using a fat free version or the WW cheese. I didn't have either of those on hand, so I used what I had. Just calculate your points accordingly.

OPTIONAL- 

-chop and sauté  a cup of onions and add them to the enchilada sauce before putting the dish together.

-add some white rice or spanish rice into each of the tortillas as you make them. (BE SURE TO ADD THE POINTS ACCORDINGLY!)

-you can add black olives

-it's yummy to add salsa on the top of these when done and that doesn't add any points!

-you can also add salsa in with the chicken to give it some extra flavor and will help out if you reduce the amount of cheese you may need or if you use a lower fat/calorie cheese.

-you can add a dollop of sour cream on top of your enchiladas when done cooking. Fat free wouldn't even add any points if you kept it to 1-2 tablespoons of the fat free sour cream. Or add 1 pt if you use light sour cream. :)

Directions-

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees

-Cook the chicken until cooked through and chop/shred. I boil mine and then put in a food processor to chop it up. (so much quicker that way and you don't have to wait for it to cool down so you don't burn your fingers trying to shred it).

-Get out a 9X13 dish and spread a small amount of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the dish, just to cover the bottom. 

-Poor some enchilada sauce on a plate for dipping the tortillas.

-Dip the tortilla in enchilada sauce and set in the dish. put about 1/4 cup chopped chicken (just evenly distribute it among the 10 or however many tortillas you have) in the tortilla. Add about 1/8 cup of the cheese (again just evenly distribute it allowing some leftover for the top of the enchiladas when done)

-Roll up the tortilla and continue this process with the remaining tortillas. Poor remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the dish (helps give flavor and keep them from getting too dried out while cooking). 

-Sprinkle any remaining chicken on the top and then top with remaining shredded cheese. 

-Cook in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubble and heated through. 

ENJOY! :)

Using these ingredients, I calculated each enchilada to be 4 ptsand these are big! YUM! Obviously BE SURE to add any points for any of the optional things you choose to add, unless it's salsa or onions or small amount of fat free sour cream :)

Do KNOW that you NEED to calculate your own points if you use different brands of ingredients, etc.