It’s COLD Outside!

It is COLD outside!  An artic front has hit and it is suppose to get down to 15 degrees tonight (with windchill around 0).  For Texas this is COLD!!!!

What’s better for a cold night than a good ol bowl of chili to warm you up!!  And my new friend Hungry Girl (btw – I got 2 of her cookbooks for Christmas) has a wonderful chili recipe!

This is a wonderful vegetable chili.  The best part about this chili is the fact that 1 serving is 120 calories, 1 gram of fat and 6 grams of fiber (that’s 1 ww point people!) It takes about 2 hours to cook so if you are one who works you might want to do this on a Saturday.  But hey – one batch makes 10 servings so you could freeze part of it for a easy meal later!! 

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 1/4 cups canned tomato sauce
• 1 cup canned diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 3/4 cut canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 cup canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup jalapeno slices, chopped
• 1 cup canned sweet corn kernels, drained
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 3/4 cup chopped carrots
• 1 1/2 cups chopped portabello mushrooms
• 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 tsp worscestershire sauce
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• optional: salt

Directions:

1. Place the tomato sauce, tomatoes, jalepenos, chili powder, and cumin in a large pot.  Stir over low heat.  Once mixture is heated, stir in the garlic and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.
2. Add carrots and continue to cook over low heat.  Meanwhile, over medium heat, cook onions, peppers, and mushrooms for 3 to 5 minutes in a large pan with juat 1/2 cup of water (and some salt, if desired).  THe onions and peppers should still be a little crunchy.  Using a slotted spoon to drain any excess water, add the veggies to the chili pot.
3. Add beans, corn, and worcestershire sauce to the pot.  Mix well.  Everything should now be in the pot.
4. Cook over low heat for about 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so.  Chili is done when carrots have lost their crunch.
5. Makes 10 servings

I served this with Hungry Girl’s Cheesy Good Cornbread Muffins and brown rice.  The entire meal (which includes 2 muffins) is only 8 ww points!!!   You can’t beat that!!!

Enjoy!

And, if you are looking at loosing some weight and need some encouragement and motivation please feel free to check out my new blog Let’s Lose Weight Together.

Kellie

Blueberry Muffins

 

For breakfast this morning I thought I would try a new blueberry muffin recipe from my Weight Watchers cookbook!  This was a yummy, healthy recipe.  I will tell you up front that the muffin is not the sweetest of muffins, but with the burst of flavor from the blueberries it worked fine for me.  If you like your muffins sweeter you can try and add a bit more sugar.  Of course it will skew your point value a bit if you are doing the WW points.  When you follow the recipe these muffins are 2 points a muffin!

Berry Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 1 large egg
• 4 tsp unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup fresh blueberries or rasberries

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees; spray a 12-cup muffin tin wi.th nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Gently stir in the berries. In a small bowl, combine the milk, egg, and butter.  Pour over the flour mixture, stirring until just blended (do not overmix).
3. Spoon the batter into the cups, filling each about two-thirds full.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean and the muffins are golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Cool in the pan or on a rack 5 minutes; remove from the pan and serve hot.

(each muffin contains 91 cal and 2 grams of fat and is 2 points)