Chicken Enchiladas - 3 pts each

Like most people who are struggling with their weight, I have tried a million different things in the past to lose weight. One that I have done several times in the past is Body for Life. It is a program by Bill Phillips. I have to say that it really works and is a awesome combination of exercise, food and mind. I did it at my highest and lost A LOT of weight on it. You may wonder why I am not doing it now. Reason is that it is very restrictive and takes a lot of dedication. There is a list of foods you eat from & do certain exercises 6 days a week. Right now that is way too much structure with 2 small children and other commitments I have.

So instead I am doing WW. I know that it works and I feel like it fits with my lifestyle and allows me the flexibility I need. I can eat what is available if I count the points and if I miss exercising, no big deal. I also feel like long term it is a better choice for me.

The purpose of all of this is that this recipe I got from a Body for Life cookbook called Eating for Life. It is still one of my favorite cookbooks. All the recipes are very healthy. They all have full color pictures of the ingredients and the final dish. All the recipes are very easy. Here is one of my favorites. Again, I have changed it over the years. I don't really know they exact recipe anymore.



Chicken Enchildas
3 pts
Serves 4-6

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 green onions
12 corn tortillas
1 can green enchilada sauce (10-12 oz)
2 oz reduced fat cheddar cheese, finely shredded

Boil chicken breasts. Cool until easily handled and shred. Slice green onions and add to shredded chicken. Pour about 1/2 c of enchilada sauce into the chicken mixture and mix together.

Spray the botton of a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray. Warm tortillas one at a time in a dry skillet. After each tortilla is heated, add a scoop of chicken mixture and roll. Place seam side down in the pan. When all tortillas are rolled with chicken mixture, pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top of all the enchiladas. Top with cheese.

Bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Serve with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, olive and/or guacamole. (These are not included in the listed points.)

Breakfast Hash

I am always looking for something new and different from my usual breakfasts: cereal, oatmeal or a fried egg. The other night we had baked potatoes for dinner and there was a half of one left that I bound and determined to put to good use. I stuffed it in the fridge without a plan. The next morning I pulled it out and started thinking that it would be great as hashbrowns. I almost stredded it, but settled on peeling and cubing it instead. I wanted a breakfast hash like one of those that you get at a diner with a little bit of everything in it. This is what I found in my fridge:



I know, not much but enough to make do. I really wish I would have had some mushrooms at the time because I definately would have thrown those in.

This is what I came up with:

Breakfast Hash
Serves 1
4 Points

1 whole egg
2 egg whites
1/2 baked potato
1/2 oz reduced fat cheddar
1 green onion
1 slice canadian bacon
various 0 pt veggies, diced (optional)

For the eggs, I just crack 3 whole eggs into a bowl and pull out 2 of the yolks with my hands. I know that you can save points by just eating the whites, but in my opinnion, the yolk gives it too much flavor to leave it out. After all, it is only 1. Mix whites and yolks together with a fork and set aside.

Spray a pan with non-stick spray or an oil spritzer. Heat to medium heat. While pan is heating, peel and cube 1/2 potato. Add potatoes to the pan and brown. Add green onions once potatoes start to brown. If you are using veggies now is the time to add them to the mix. Like I said, I thnk that mushrooms would be awesome in this. Saute until tender. When veggies are almost done, add diced canadian bacon.



Push mixture to the side and add eggs to the empty side of the pan. If your pan is prone to sticking, give it a light spray. Scramble eggs. When about half cooked, incorporate the potato mixture.



Once eggs are cooked through, sprinkle with cheese while eggs are hot so that it starts to melt.



Serve it with a fruit and toast. Like you see from the first picture, I ate it with tangerines and a light english muffin with sugar free jam. Yum! Oh and don't forget a tall glass of water. The whole meal was only 6 pts.

Seasoned Popcorn

Sorry that the posts have slowed down the past few days. I have been under the weather and having a hard time getting into the kitchen and my camera was acting up and I had to exchange it. (Thank you Costco for having an awesome return policy.) I have a bunch of pictures for posts saved up that I have been meaning to post, but I just haven't gotten around to yet. Here is one of those posts.

While this is not necessarily an official recipe, I wanted to share it with you. I think that I first found our about the Kernel Season's Popcorn Seasoning from a WW magazine a few years ago. They often have a coupon for it in the magazine. I tried a few of the flavors and was very pleased with the outcome. They are very light on calories and really add a nice flavor. I think that I originally would put it over light microwave popcorn but I have since switched to air-popped. They also have their own spray to help the seasoning, stick but I use Pam or my oil-spritzer. These are the flavors that are in my cupboard right now. I love the ranch and my husband's favorite is the kettle corn. By the way, they are also great on steamed veggies and you can find them by the popcorn at the supermarket.



We have been making this more often since my husband started counting points. When he get home from work, he loves to snack but it not ready to have dinner yet. He used to eat a whole sleeve of ritz. Go figure the points on that and you will be sick. He eats about 5 points worth of the popcorn, but that is a huge bowl and it fills him up and keeps him from overeating at dinner.

Seasoned Popcorn
1 pts
Serving Size - 3 cups

Pop poporn with air popper. Lightly spray popcorn with non-stick spray, tossing so it is coated evenly. Shake seasoning over popcorn, tossing gently so that seasoning is distributed to all the popcorn. Serve.

I usually have a large cereal bowl (about 3 cups) for a serving and I have figured it at 1 pt.

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