Sweet & Sour Turkey Meatballs

This has been my go to recipe for years. It started as one that my mom tried one time. It didn't turn out great but I knew that it had potential. I have tweeked it here and there over the years and I am happy with the outcome. It is one of my husband's favorites and he is always putting in requests for it. I've used it for many a dinner party and take it in to families when I am bringing them dinner after a new baby or a surgery. It is kid friendly; my daughter loves them. It also has enough flavor to set it apart from regular old meatballs.

I usually serve it with brown rice and a salad of some sort. I put a little bit of the sauce over the rice or put the meatballs right a top the rice. It could also be served with a steamed veggie of some sort too.



Sweet and Sour Turkey Meatballs
6 pts - 3 meatballs
Serves 4 - 6

Meatballs

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 c oatmeal
1/2 c onion, diced or minced
1/4 c skim milk
1 t Worchestershire sauce
1/2 salt
dash of pepper

Sauce
1/2 brown sugar or 1/4 c of Splenda brown (It doesn't change the point value.)
1/4 c vinegar
1/4 c bbq sauce
1 t Worchestershire sauce
1 t prepared yellow mustard

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. I put it in the fridge for 1 hr or more so that the oatmeal can absorb some of the liquid. This is not necessary if you are in a hurry though. Form into 18 meatballs. In a hot and lightly oiled skillet, brown the sides of the meatballs to sear in the juices and so they hold their shape in the oven. These will most likely not be perfectly round, but don't worry about it. Be careful not to overcrowd the skillet so the meatballs can get a nice brown color. Put in a 9 x 13 pan that has been coated with nonstick spray once browned.

Combine all ingredients for sauce. Heat through until combined. Pour over browned meatballs. Put in a 350 degree preheated oven for 30 minutes. Serve with with rice and a vegetable. I eat it with 1/2 c of brown rice (2 pts) but the husband needs 1 c (4 pts).

What I'm Working On

I am on a mission to make a great meringue. They are one of my husband's favorites and are fairly expensive and hard to find around here. If you haven't had them before, they are little crunchy and sugary sweet. They have simple ingredients: egg whites, sugar and flavoring. It is just getting them in the right balance and cooking them just right. This is my latest batch, lemon. Coconut has been the best so far but higher in points then the raspberry, chocolate or lemon. The ones without add-ins are around 2 pts for 14 cookies which is amazing. As soon as I get the recipe right I will post it but in the meantime, if you have a recipe that you like for them I would love it if you would pass it on.

Big Bowl Cereal - 4-7 pts

Well, I keep saying how I have a bunch of recipes or ideas to post here and never follow through so today is a the day. I think I am going to post 1 or 2 a day so that some of the first ones I post don't get lost behind the latter posts.

Really, who measures their cereal?

No one unless they are watching calories or points or whatever. From kids on, we crack open the box and poor it into the bowl until it looks like a reasonable amount and will satisfy our hunger. Fast forward. As an adult, we want to shed the pounds and so watch our portions. We break out the measuring scoop and have anywhere for 1/2 cup to 1 1/4 cups depending on the cereal. Well, when you put that in a regular cereal bowl, it sure seems like a puny amount. In thee past I measure out my cup of Cheerios and pour my milk on it and wolf it down in 3 bites or so. I end up feeling totally unsatisfied and I am hungry in 90 minutes or so.

The above reasons is why I started doing this. My Big Bowl Cereal. It is a mixture of different cereals and some fruit if you care for it. You end up with a big soup bowl filled to the brim with cereal and after eating it, you are full all morning.






Big Bowl Cereal
4-7 points
Serves 1

1 serving of cereal, 2 pts for 30 g of cereal (I use Cheerios - 1 c or Kix 1 1/4 c.)
1 serving Fiber One Original, 0 pts for 30 g
1 serving of Puffed Wheat, 1 pt for 15 g
1 pt serving of fruit (I use 1/2 banana or a couple of strawberries cup up.)

Mix together.

Pour 1 c milk over top of cereal. (see options below)

1 c skim milk, 2 points
1 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 pt (If I use this I usually add a package of Splenda to it and sometimes skip the fruit because it has a nice flavor to it already.)

I usually have 15 g Kix, 15 g Cheerios, 30 g Fiber One, 15 g puffed wheat, and 1 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk with a package of Splenda. This is 4 pts, the same as 1 c Cheerios and 1 c skim milk, with lots of fiber to keep you full all morning.

Baja Fish Taco - 6 pts

Every year Costco puts out a recipe book around Christmas time using some of their products. One of the recipes for for fish tacos using some fish sticks that I had bought on coupon previously. I tried the recipe. It was OK, but just OK. The sauce was a bit much and it needed more of a creamy texture. I was looking for something more like the fish tacos at Baja Fresh. After fiddling with the recipe over the past year, this is how we make fish tacos.

Fish Tacos
6 pts for 2 Tacos
Serves 2

4 fish sticks
1/2 -1 c shredded cabbage
2 T taco sauce
1/4 c fat free sour cream
1/4 c fresh tomatoes, diced
2 oz prepared guacamole
4 corn tortillas
1 lime, cut into wedges.

Cook fish according to package directions. Warm corn tortillas and layer fish, cabbage, taco sauce, sour cream, tomatoes, and guacamole, divided evenly between all 4 corn tortillas. Squeeze the juice of a wedge of lime over each taco.

Serve with 1/2 c of mexican brown rice (2pts) and 1/2 c fat-free refried beans (2 pts).

Skinny Chicken Cordon Bleu - 5 pts

Chicken Cordon Bleu is one of my favorites. I never was brave enough to make it and would just the the ones in the freezer section. They come in at 10 pts for one piece of chicken and expensive on top of that. Yikes and totally unnecessary. I set out to make my own version while praying that my husband wouldn't notice too much of a difference.

I used boneless skinless chicken breasts, laughing cow light original Swiss, lean deli lunch meat, egg whites, fiber one and panko bread crumbs. They turned out absolutely amazing! They looked almost identical to the ones you buy frozen but tasted so much better. My husband was disappointed that I only made two. He practically was begging for me to make them again. That was between the constant Mmmmm's and raving about the taste. Next time, he wants me to cook up some extras and freeze them for his lunches.

These were so beautiful and would be a great dish for a dinner party. I will definitely be making these when my parent come in town this spring. I really wished I would have taken pictures to share. That is something that I need to remember to do in the future.

Skinny 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
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.

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too?

OK, I know that cake is not the best option but it is nice to have a bit healthier recipe for birthday sor other special occasions. One of my favorite websites is http://www.everydayfoodstorage.net/. In a couple of recent posts, she has been exploring using bean puree as a substitute for oil in cookies, brownies and cake. I have been wanting to try it but have been skeptical about trying it.

I was taking dinner to a friend who just had a baby last night and needed a dessert to bring along. The night before I had cooked up a pot of white beans so that I could use them in a soup and a new mac n' cheese recipe. (I will post this later because it was delicious too.) I pureed the beans and substituted a half cup of bean puree for the half cup of oil that the recipe called for. I reserve a bit of batter and baked it alongside of the big cake so we could taste test it before we gave it away. Don't worry, I don't experiment blindly on friends.

Well, as for the taste...
It was wonderfully moist, chocolately and you couldn't tell the difference at all. Who would have thought this could be done. Well whoever came up with it is a genius. I fell just a little bit better about eating cake knowing that there isn't any oil in it. Try it!!!

I think that I might try it on a low sugar cake mix in the future. I really only plan on making cake for birthdays because there is no reason that we should have it laying around here. My little girl's birthday is right around the corner and I plan on using this substitution for her party cake.

Tortilla Pizza - 3.5 pts

made this last night. homemade pizza is a weekly meal in our house. to be honest in the past the topping pretty much consisted of ham and pineapple or pepperoni and olives. i have a great garlic pizza dough recipe but really adds to the points because it has quite a bit of oil in it. i can swing the points if i only eat 1 peice. that was not the case last night.


i decided to dig through the veggie drawer in the fridge and pull out a bunch of veggies that i could top the pizza with. i came up with peppers, onions, olives, mushrooms, and zucchini. for the rest of the family, i made regular pizza with all the veggies. last night, because i was really hungry, so i threw my toppings on two mission carb balance whole wheat tortillas instead and made a regular pizza. i got this idea from the world according to eggface and have done it a few times before. Here are the pizzas pre-oven. i was so anxious to dig in there were no pictures of the finished project. (seeing this picture make me realize how bad i need a better camera) remember, both pizzas are only 8 pts.


Tortilla Pizza
3.5 pts
1 pizza = 1 serving

1 tortilla (Mission Carb Balance)
2 T spaghetti sauce (Ragu Traditional)
1/2 oz finely shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 oz lean ham, cubed
3 olives
assorted 0 pt veggies

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put tortillas on a baking sheet and toast 5 minutes. Remove from oven.

2. Spread spaghetti sauce over the top of the tortilla. Top with meat and veggies. Sprinkle cheese to cover sauce and toppings.

3. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is completely melted. Makes 1 serving.