Tomato Basil Chicken

(sorry – I forgot to get a picture)

I have been saying that I was going to try this Hungry Girl recipe for quite some time now…and just keep forgetting about it.  Well I finally tried it this week and LOVED it!!  I can’t believe it took me so long to try it because it is so incredibly easy!  It will probably be a new family favorite around our house!

Each serving is only 175 calories, 1.5 grams of fat and 2 grams of fiber – which calculates to be 3 ww points!!  Serve it up with some steamed green beans and my garlic toast recipe for a nice low point meal!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 lb. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast tenders
Half a 28-oz. can (about 1 1/2 cups) crushed tomatoes with basil
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While you wait for the oven to preheat, cook onions over high heat in a pan sprayed with nonstick spray, just until they begin to brown (about 3 minutes). Pour half of the tomatoes (1/4th of the can) into a medium baking pan. Lay chicken in the pan, and then top with onions. Pour the rest of the tomatoes (another quarter of the can) evenly over the chicken and onions. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes (until chicken is cooked through). Allow chicken to cool and sauce to thicken slightly before serving. Tada!
MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Pulled Chicken BBQ

Well – I tried another Hungry Girl recipe tonight and fell in love with it, as usual!!  This was for a pulled chicken bbq that is very very tasty!!!  It is done in the crock pot and is super easy!  And the best part is the nutritionals – each 1/2 cup serving is only 149 calories and 1 gram of fat.  That comes out to only 3 WW points!  YUMMY!!  Serve it on those yummy Orowheat sandwich thins for a low point bbq sandwich!!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breasts, halved
1 cup canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. brown sugar (not packed)
2 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. cider vinegar
2 tsp. garlic powder
Optional: red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions:
Place all ingredients except the chicken in the crock pot. Stir until mixed. Add chicken and coat well with the sauce.
Cover and cook on high for 3 - 4 hours OR on low for 7 - 8 hours, until chicken is fully cooked.
Remove all the chicken and place it in a bowl. Shred each piece using two forks -- one to hold the chicken in place and the other to scrape across the meat and shred it. Return the shredded chicken to the crock pot, and mix well with the sauce.
If you're serving a group, keep the crock pot on its lowest setting, so the chicken stays warm. If you like, season to taste with red pepper flakes. Eat up!
MAKES 7 SERVINGS

Sweet and Sour Chicken

 

This is a yummy recipe that I found at http://www.kraftrecipes.com.  It is very tasty and I pretty much stuck with their recipe…only a couple of minor changes.  The recipe below has the changes I made.  It makes 4 servings and each serving has approximately 375 calories, 4 grams of fat, and 4 grams of fiber (that would be 7 ww points!)

what you need

fat free cooking spray
1 lb.  boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
16 oz pkg frozen stir-fry vegetables
1 can  (8 oz.) pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
1/2 cup KRAFT Sweet 'N Sour Sauce
1 cup  water
2 cups instant brown rice, uncooked

Make It

HEAT large skillet on medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add chicken; cook and stir 4 minutes or until cooked through.
ADD vegetables, pineapple with juice and sweet and sour sauce; mix well. Stir in water. Bring to boil.
STIR in rice; cover. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes or until almost all of the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

Chicken Pot Pie

Before I get to the recipe I just want to say something.  I got on the scales this morning and I am down 32 pounds now!!  WOW!!  I have lost 32 pounds in 4 months!!  If you would have told me 6 months ago that I would be cutting out practically all sugar, as much fat as possible, using ground turkey instead of ground meat, using whole wheat flour, eating whole wheat and high fiber bread, etc…I would have told you were crazy!!!  I have never been real health nut when it comes to food…but I am quickly changing my mind!  I used to think healthy food had no flavor but I was so wrong!!

Not only am I losing weight I feel better than I have in a long time!!  Now all I need to do is add some exercise to this living and I will really be doing well!

I am not on a diet – I have made a LIFEFSTYLE CHANGE!  This is the way I plan on eating from now on!!  I refuse to yo-yo with my weight the rest of my life.  I am determined to keep this weight off!

I hope I didn’t bore you with that story…now to a yummy recipe!!

I love chicken pot pie!!  It is one of my all time favorite comfort foods!!  I decided to give hungry girl’s recipe a try…it is actually very close to the recipe that I have always done.    I made a slight change to the recipe but you still get 1 serving for about 230 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 2 1/2 grams of fiber (that is 4.7 ww points people!!).

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb (8 oz.) raw boneless skinless chicken breast; cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 cups frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 can (10.75 oz.) Campbell's Condensed Soup, 98% Fat Free Cream of Celery
• 4 servings  (1/2 can) Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls (unprepared)
• season salt (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute chicken pieces for several minutes in a pan spritzed with nonstick cooking spray, until chicken is light brown/cooked but still tender; set aside.
2. Heat frozen veggies in microwave (I place mine in a covered dish with a couple of tbsp of water).
3. Mix chicken, vegetables and soup together and put in a 9" pie plate sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. (I added a few dashes of season salt to the mixture…I think it adds good flavor…but it is completely optional). Place dish in oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
4. While dish is cooking, unroll 4 crescent rolls. Hungry girl’s recipe states to take the dough (and she only uses 3 crescent rolls) and combine into a ball and then roll out with a rolling pin.  I thought of something much easier.  Since the dish is to make 4 servings and the crescent rolls are already triangle shaped I decided to just place them on top of the filling in the pie plate.  I had to fold and manipulate the triangles a bit to get it to fit right but it worked out well and this way each serving gets a whole crecent roll! 
5. Put back in the oven and cook for an additional 15 - 20 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serves 4.

Southern Oven Fried Chicken

 

Not too long ago someone told me that the only bad thing about healthy cooking is the fact that you can’t cook the yummy southern dishes that a lot of us grew up on!  Well – this recipe will prove them wrong!!  I have made this recipe twice now and it is so very good!!  Believe me when I say the chicken tastes like it has been fried!!  It is so crunchy and so full of flavor!  But at about 5 points a serving – it is ok for your diet :-)

I paired it with some mashed potatoes (went simple this time – just mashed them with a little bit of buttermilk, a small dab of light margarine, salt, pepper, and a dash of garlic powder) and some fried okra (if you be good and mind your portions…it is only about 3 to 4 points a serving!). 

Here is the recipe for the chicken!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup fat free buttermilk (or 1/2 cup skim milk mixed with 1 tsp vinegar)
• 1/2 cup cornflakes crushed
• 3 tbsp flour
• salt
• pepper
• 2 lbs chicken parts-skinned (I have used both cut up chicken breasts and thighs (I deboned the thighs))
• 4 tsp canola oil

Directions:

1. In one bowl pour in the buttermilk.  In another bowl combine the cornflakes, flour, salt and pepper (if you would like a little heat in your chicken you could either add a few drops of hot sauce to the buttermilk or a bit of cayenne pepper to the flour mixture).
2. Dip chicken in buttermilk. Dredge chicken in cornflakes, flour, salt and pepper mixture, making sure chicken is coated well.  Place on a baking sheet that is sprayed with cooking spray.
3. Drizzle the chicken pieces with oil. Bake at 400°F for 30 minutes. Turn chicken and bake 15-20 min more.  Makes 4 servings.

Chicken Taquitos

We love us some Mexican food at our house!!  And these taquitos were so good that Seth had 3 helpings!!!  These were from the hungry-girl recipe for chicken taquitos.

The taquitos are about 2 points each!  I heated up a can of refried beans (a serving is only 1/2 of a point!) and made some mexican rice (my recipe below – 3 points a serving)!  So for the plate serving you see in the picture is 10 points!!! The red is salsa used to dip the tequitos in – which is 1/2 point for 4 tbsp!!!)

Note: The hungry girl recipe used 98% fat-free chunk white chicken canned in water.  I am not a big canned chicken fan (even though it does work in a pinch sometimes).  I used chicken breasts that I cooked in the microwave. My recipe is below.  You can always use the canned chicken…but for the number of servings that I have altered the recipe for you will need 1 1/2 cans of the chicken.

Chicken Taquitos

Ingredients:

• 12  yellow corn tortillas
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped up
• 3/4 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
• 1/2 tsp. dry taco seasoning mix
• Optional: red enchilada sauce, additional salsa, fat-free sour cream, for dipping

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken and salsa, and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3. Remove chicken mixture from the fridge, and drain any excess liquid. Add cheese and taco seasoning, and mix to combine. This is your filling. Set aside.
4. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying with nonstick spray, and set it aside.
5. Dampen two paper towels, and place tortillas between them. Microwave for about 1 minute, until tortillas are warm and pliable.
6. Take one tortilla (keep the rest between the paper towels), spray both sides lightly with nonstick spray, and lay it flat on a clean dry surface. Spoon about 2 heaping tbsp. of filling onto the tortilla. Spread it evenly across the entire surface, and roll tortilla up tightly, so that you have a cigar-shaped tube. Secure with toothpicks and place seam-side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.
7. Bake for 14 - 16 minutes, until crispy. Allow taquitos to cool for 5 minutes. If you like, dunk in enchilada sauce, salsa, or sour cream! Makes 4 servings of 3 tequitos (6 ww points per serving)

Mexican Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grain white rice
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup salsa

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over med high heat. 
2. Once the water is boiling put lid on saucepan and decrease heat.  Simmer for 15 minutes. 
3. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.  Add salt to taste.  Serves 4.  3 ww points per serving.

Santa Fe Chicken and Chocolate Chimichangas

You really can’t get any easier than a crock pot meal and this one was a definite winner!!  Since it is so easy to prepare I was able to take the time to prepare a YUMMY new dessert!!!!

Santa Fe Chicken

• 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast
• (2) 10 oz cans rotel diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
• 15 oz can black beans
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
• 14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
• salt to taste
• 8 servings cooked rice

Directions:

1. Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top.
2. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.
3. About 30 minutes or so before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning.
4. Serve over rice.  Serves 8.  7 points per serving!

Chocolate Mousse Crepes, aka Chocolate Chimichangas

(sorry – my picture didn’t turn out…didn’t realize until way after that one of the boys had messed with the settings on my camera and that is why I couldn’t get the picture to turn out right!!)

This dessert was AWESOME!! I got this recipe off of  the Hungry Girl website! (great website by the way!  You have to try it out! )  Her recipe called for ready to use 9 inch crepes or any 50-calorie dessert crepes.  I didn’t have any ready made crepes so I made my own.

I changed the name to Chocolate Chimichangas because they look like little chimichangas.  Plus, changing the name made them go well with my Mexican supper :-)

• 8 crepes (click here for recipe) or any 9 inch 50 calorie ready to use crepes
• 4 Jell-O Sugar Free Reduced Calorie Pudding Snack;  Chocolate Vanilla
• 2 cups Cool Whip Free

Directions:

1. Fold Cool Whip into pudding and stir until blended.  Into the center of each crepe , spoon 1/8 of pudding mixture.  Fold crepes envelope-style, ensuring that there is nowhere for mixture to seep out.  Place crepes in freezer for at least 1 hour.  (note: I did this the day before)
2. Spray a skillet with nonstick spray and set on medium heat.  Beginning with the thinner crepe side down, heat for 1 minute.  Carefully turn crepe and heat for an additional minute or two.  Crepes will be slightly browned ‘n toasty on outside but cool ‘n creamy on the inside!  Makes 8 Servings.  Each crepe is about 110 calories making it only 2 points!!!  (the Hungry Girl recipes said for you to half each crepe therefore giving you a 1 point serving…but I figured, hey what’s 1 more point!!)

Chicken Quesadillas with Corn Salad

Daniel has a dinner meeting tonight so I thought I would do lunch for us to eat as a family!  This was a super easy lunch!!  We all felt like we had gone to a restaurant for lunch!!  And we got full but have nothing to feel guilty about!

Ingredients for Quesadillas

• 2 chicken breasts cooked and diced
• 3/4 cup thick-and-chunky salsa
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, Shredded
• 8 (8-inch) flour tortillas

Ingredients for corn Salad

• 1 cup thawed frozen corn kernals
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 roma tomato, seeded and diced
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• optional: 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

1. In a medium bowl, combine the salad ingredients; set aside.
2. Mix chicken and the salsa in a bowl.  Divide the chicken mixture among 4 of the tortillas.  Sprinkle with the cheese; top with the remaining 4 tortillas
3. Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray.  Cook the quesadillas until lightly browned, about 3 minutes on each side; turn carefully with a wide spatula.
4. Cut the quesadillas into quarters and arrange on plate.  Top with the corn salad and a dollop of fat free sour cream.
   WW POINTS per serving: 8