Seasoned Baked Potato Wedges

Baked Potato Wedges is something that I have been trying to get right for a long time, proabably several years. For some reason or another they don't turn out quite right. Too thick so they don't cook all the way through, too thin so parts burn easily, slimey because too much water in the potato, etc. I have been in search of a potato wedge that is soft and fluffy in the center but has a little crisp on the outside.

I gave up for a while, feeling that the search was hopeless and started buying bagged french fries to bake. I know, not the best option for me or my family but I felt broken and I needed a replacement. After all, the husband really like fries with any sort of sandwich on a bun that I serve. Plus, they are so so easy.

This past month, I have really buckled down on our grocery bill and tried to make do with what we have and the staples that I regularly buy. Potatoes are one of those things. I decided to parboil the potatoes before baking them and they turned out fabulous! The best yet. I have made them a few times since, just to make sure that it wasn't a fluke that they turned out so delicious. They turned out just as good then too. So here is how I made them. Not an exact science when it comes to seasoning, depends what you like.

Seasoned Baked Potato Wedges
3 pts
Serving Size - 8 Wedges

1 potato for each person
Non-stick spray or oil spritzer
Adobo seasoning (or seasoning salt)
Paprika
Dried Parsley

Bring a salted pot of water to boiling. Clean potatoes and remove any parts that look less than savory Sometimes there are a few gnarley eyes that I dig out. These were in pretty good shape. Cut each potato into eighths. Carefully drop potatoes in boiling water and boil 4-5 minutes. The potatoes should not be easily pierced but not as firm as when raw. They should hold their shape and not easily be broken or heaven forbid fall apart on you. If they do, you are having mashed potatoes for dinner instead.




Once potatoes have been parboiled. Drain and set out on a clean kitchen towel. The towel will absorb extra water and the potatoes will have steam coing from them that will help dry the inside.

The seasonings listed are the ones that I use but the potatoes can be seasoned with anything. I think that thyme is nice when serving with chicken. I also use the oil sprizer instead of non-stick spray because it is easier on my pans and bakeware. I use a Pampered Chef Stoneware Large Bar Pan for these wedges. I think it does the job well but any baking sheet is fine. My stone is non-stick from years of use but if you are using a regualr baking sheet I would give it a spray. Lay the potato wedges skin side down and spaced evenly. Make sure they had enough room between them so they can crisp up. Spray the potato wedges and season to your liking. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes. Remember this is the time it take on my stoneware so if you are using something different, I would start checking them at 30 minutes. Removed from oven and serve hot.



I usually eat mine with ketchup and sometimes a little mustard but I have some good ideas for some dipping sauces that I will have to try soon. Hope you like them as much as we do.

Homemade Garlic Hummus

I have always bought hummus in the store, that is until today. It is quite expensice to buy in the store, $3 to $4 for 8 to 12 oz. I have been trying to cut back our grocery bill and store bought hummus was one of the first things to be chopped. I traded in the $4 tub for a $0.59 can of chickpeas. Everything else I had on hand. I looked up a bunch of different hummus recipes and realized that for basic hummus it is pretty simple: tahini, lemon juice and chickpeas. I usually buy roasted garlic flavor and love love love garlic. I am not found of the smell of sesame oil, so I substituted olive oil for the tahini and doubled the oil so that I could count a serving of hummus as a healthy oil for the day. I also put in LOTS of garlic. Mine is strong but you could use a smaller amount or roast the garlic if you like a milder flavor.

Here is how I made it. I thought it turned out great, although a little tweek here and there would probably not do any harm.

Homemade Garlic Hummus
2 pts
Serves 6 (About 3 T)

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 c lemon juice
2 T olive oil
1 t to 1 T garlic, minced (add to taste)



Puree beans with lemon juice in a food processor. Add olive oil and process until combined and smooth. Add garlic to taste, puree until very smooth.



Store in a airtight container in fridge. Use within a couple of days. Hummus is great with pita, tortillas, as a spread on sandwiches & with veggies or crackers. Most often, I do baby carrots. today, I cut up a flat out wrap into triangles to dip. These triangles could also be crisped in the oven to be eaten like a chip, but I prefer them soft.



Next time I am going to try making it from dry beans. I will probably cook up a whole bag of beans and freeze them in 2 c bags so that I can have them on hand for a quick snack.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Revisited and Almond Onion Rice

Since making this Chicken Cordon Bleu a few weeks ago, my husband has been begging (literally) me to make this again and to make several of them so he can take them to work for lunches. I finally picked up some more ham this past week so I set out to make a bunch of them on Monday night. We had them for dinner that night and I paired it with some almond onion rice (recipe below) and a green salad topped with craisins, dried apples and raspberry vinegrette. It turned out as good as the first try and the experimental rice turned out amazing! Last time I had a request for pictures so here is the recipe again with pictures. The rice recipe is posted too.

Chicken Cordon Bleu
5 pts
2 servings

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 large deli slices of ham
2 wedges of Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss
1 egg white (mixed with a splash of water)
1/4 c panko style bread crumbs
1/2 c Fiber One cereal, pulsed in food processor or blender until fine crumbs

Thaw chicken. Place between two pieces of plastic wrap. Pound to about 1/4 inch thick with meat mallet or rolling pin. Remove plastic.


Place a slice of deli ham over each piece of chicken. Spread a wedge of cheese on half of each piece of chicken/ham. Roll like a burrito starting with the cheese side first so that it is in the middle of the roll. Secure with toothpicks if necessary.



Put egg white in a bowl. Combine panko bread crumbs and fiber one crumbs in another bowl. Dip the chicken in egg white and then roll in bread crumbs, coating entire chicken roll. Place on a cooking sheet that has been spray with nonstick spray. Repeat with second piece of chicken. sprinkle remaining bread crumbs on top of chicken.



Bake 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving because cheese inside will be very hot.



If freezing these, cook before freezing. Can be reheated in the oven or thawed in the fridge and them reheated in the microwave.



Brown rice takes forever to cook. I sometimes cheat and use instant brown rice on days that I forget to set the rice cooker early. I have heard that rice freezes well and have been meaning to try it so when I made fried rice on Sunday night, I cooke 2 extra cups of brown rice to freezer for quick meals during the week.

While the chicken cordon bleu is absolutely amazing, it is a little time consuming. I recommend making a bunch at one time like I did and freezing them for later meals. After preparing the chicken, I realized that I had forgot to throw on some rice. I had planned on making fresh rice because I wanted to season it with chicken stock and the rice I had cooked earlier in the week was plain. With only 25 minutes till dinner, I needed to figure out something fast. Rather than breaking out the instant rice, I pulled out the precooked rice from the night before and this is what I came up with. By the way, it was delicious!

Almond Onion Rice
1/2 c = 2 pts or 1 c = 5 pts
Serves 2-4

2 c cooked brown rice
1/4 c water
1 T chicken base
1/2 t mined garlic
1 green onion, sliced
canola oil spray
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray

If frozen, break rice into smaller chunks to fit in a microwave safe bowl. Ad water, minced garlic and chicken base. Cover with plastic wrap. Microwave 3 minutes or until warmed through. Uncover and stir. If water still remains in the rice microwave at 30 second intervals until water is evaporated or absorbed.




In a dry nonstick skillet (I used cast iron.), toast almonds until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside. Spray pan with canola oil spray and return to medium heat. (I have a oil sprayer from Pampered Chef that I love. Nonstick spray is not very good for your pans.) Add sliced onion and saute lightly.



Spray 10 sprays of butter spray to pan. Add rice and base mixture and mix until combined. Let rice cook 2-3 minutes without stirring. This will give the rice more of a "fried" flavor. Stir lightly and let cook another 1-2 minutes without stirring. Mix in toasted almonds. Serve and Enjoy!
(I think that 1/2 c of rice is the perfect serving but my husband always want at least 1 c.)

Candied Yams - 4 pts

Every year for Thanksgiving, each family always brings the same thing, the thing they are "famous" for. My mom brings the spinach salad, one aunt the desserts and one aunt the cranberry waldorf. Well, my Aunt Marla has two things that she always brings to Thanksgiving. The apricot jello salad and the candied yams. I love her cadied yams and have made them for my own Thanksgivings since moving away from home. Short version of her recipe: a slice of a yam, a huge slab of butter, a scooping tablespoon of brown sugar and melt in oven. Not figure friendly but oh so delicious.

Right after the holidays, Costco was clearing out their yams for $3 for a huge box. I couldn't pass on the deal so I have been searching for ways to incoporate them into our menu. They havebeen baked, mashed, and cut into fries. This, however, is our favorite way to eat them:

Candied Yams
3 pts
Serves 4 (2 slices)

2 large yams or sweet potatoes
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray
4 t Splend brown sugar blend

Wash and boil unpeeled yams until cooked through and easily pierced with a fork. Remove from water and let cool just until you are able to handle them. Slice each yam lengthwise into 4 slices. Remove peel on all slices. Lay flat on stoneware or baking sheet.



Spray each slice 6 to 8 times with the butter spray.



Put 1/2 t of Splenda brown sugar blend on the top of each slice. Spread sugar evenly over each slice with fingers or a butter knife. Splenda brown is 2 times as concentrated as regular brown sugar so a little goes a long way.



Put in hot oven (450 degrees) and let sugar start to melt and bubble on the top of each yam slice. Remove from oven when sugar crystals have melted.



Serve immediately. These cool quickly and are best when hot. 1 serving is 2 slices of yam. These are some of the meals that I have served these yamns with recently.

Ham, Yams & Garden Salad


Pork Ribs, Yams & Spiced Apples

Apple Crisp Oatmeal - 4.5 pts & Spiced Apples - 1 pt

I think I am on a breakfast kick! I promise I have other recipes and ideas for dinners waiting in the wings. Now that I am photo tracking, I am trying to get the recipes up here that correspond with my daily menu. We'll see how well that works out, but for the time being I'm trying.

After loving the Strawberries & Cream Oatmeal so much, I decided that I needed to experiment putting more fresh fruit in my oatmeal. In the past, I have cut up an apple and tossed it in but there was nothing amazing about how it turned out. For Valentine's day, we had pork ribs and I thought that it would be delicious to serve it with some spiced apples, like you get at the restaurants. These are the spiced apples that I came up with. It is a really chunky applesauce with lots of flavor. I loved how they turned out and thought that they would be delicious on oatmeal too. This is what I came up with.

Apple Crisp Oatmeal
4.5 pts
Serves 1

1/2 c oatmeal
1 c water
2 packets Splenda
dash of salt
1/2 t almond extract
1 serving Spiced Apples (recipe below)
2 T Microwave Granola

Place oatmeal, water, Splenda, salt & almond extract in a micowave safe bowl. Allow extra room in the bowl for the oatmeal to bubble during cooking or you will have a mess in your microwave. Microwave on high 3 minutes.

Top with Spice Apples. Sprinkle Microwave Granola over the top. Enjoy hot!

Spiced Apples
1 pt
Serves 3

Peel and cube 4 small or 3 medium apples. Put in a small saucepan.



Add 1/4 c water and 1 t lemon juice. Stir. Them at 3 T Splenda for Baking, 1/4 t cinnamon and 1/8 t nutmeg. Stir to coat apples evenly. Cover and place over medium heat.


Cook until apples are tender but not mushy. Mash lighly with a fork or potato masher. Divide into 3 servings. Stores well in fridge for a few days. Can be used as a topping or a side dish or just enjoyed pure.

Here is the original go at the spiced apples. They were delicious served with the ribs and sweet potatoes. The candied yams recipe is coming soon! By the way, pork ribs, not WW friendly at all! They were a Valentine's treat for the husband.

Breakfast Sundae with Microwave Granola - 3 pts

This is a simple breakfast sundae. You could add more fruit to it or serve it as a parfait but it was absolutely delicious just like this. The microwave granola recipe below is very easy and fast. It is a great breakfast or even a quick homemade gift for a friend.

Breakfast Sundae
3 pts
Serves 1

1 pt worth of fruit
1 pt yogurt cup (This is Fiber One Strawberry.)
2 T microwave granola

Cut up fruit and place in bowl. Top with yogurt. Sprinkle on microwave granola.

Microwave Granola
4 pts
Serving Size 1/2 c
About 12 Servings

1/3 c sliced almonds
1/4 c walnut halves
2 1/2 c uncooked oatmeal
1/8 c Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
1/4 cup(s) honey

Place the nuts in a 13 by 9 inch glass baking dish. Cook on high for 2 minutes to lightly toast the nuts. (The time may vary with your microwave so watch them carefully.)

Stir in oats, and Splenda brown sugar blend until well mixed. Stir in honey, making sure to coat the mixture well.

Cook on high in microwave for 3 minutes. Stir well. Cook 1 minute longer. Cool slightly. Stir in raisins and/or dried cranberries (optional, but will may change pts). Store in airtight container.

Strawberries & Cream Oatmeal - 3 pts

This recipe was a Valentine's Day invention. I was up early and wanted to make something special for the holiday. My husband loves those fruit n cream instant oatmeal packets from Quacker but they are loaded with sugar plus expensive for the amount of oatmeal that it makes up. This is so simple and easy but quite delicious.

Strawberries & Cream Oatmeal
3 pts
Serves 1

1/2 uncooked whole grain oatmeal
1 c water
1 t powdered fat free coffee creamer
dash salt
6 strawberries
3 packets Splenda
1/4 - 1/2 t orange zest (optional)

Combine oats, water, creamer, salt and orange zest in microwave safe bowl. Make sure there is plenty of extra room because the mixture will bubble up while cooking and may overflow. (see picture below) Cook in the microwave on high for 3 minutes. Set aside.



If using frozen strawberries, microwave until slightly thawed. Aren't they beautiful frozen.



Put in a food processor or blender with Splenda and puree. You could squeeze a small amount of orange juice in here too if you wanted to but I didn't think of that at the time. Maybe I will try that next time.



I poured a little over half of the sauce on the bottom of a fresh bowl, topped with oatmeal and then put more on top. You could save the dish and just pour the sauce on top but as you can see by the first picture, I really needed a new bowl and it was Valentines and wanted to surprise the little girl with a heart. I wouldn't mix it all together though. It was nice to taste the diffence between the oatmeal and the sauce.



You could do this with any fruit/berry and lemon zest would be really nice with blueberries. I will have to try that soon. It is a nice change to my normaml plain oatmeal with a bit of sugar free syrup on top.