Crockpot Santa Fe Chicken

Crockpot Santa Fe Chicken from skinnytaste.com

Really easy to make and good flavor. I used frozen chicken and it was ready in 6 hours. I had it as a taco and over rice. I preferred the rice. Avocado would have made a wonderful addition to it. We layered the chicken over rice and topped it with cheese, lettuce, sour cream and salsa. 1 cup is a serving, so I reserved my one cup and was able to make two or three "helpings" out of it for a total of 726 calories with all the fixings (1 cup rice, 1.5 TB sour cream, 1 c lettuce, 1/2 c cheddar cheese, salsa and one taco shell. We also had Chili's tortilla chips. That was bad. Blew my fat count way out of the ballpark!!)

Zucchini 'n' Potato Pie

Zucchini 'n' Potato Pie 3 pts in 8 servings

Ingredients
3 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 egg
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt

FILLING:
2-1/2 cups thinly sliced zucchini
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon Crisco® Light Olive Oil or Canola Oil
4 egg whites
2 eggs
3/4 cup shredded reduced-fat Swiss cheese
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the hash browns, egg, onion, Parmesan and salt. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9-in. pie plate. Bake 400° for 20 minutes.

In a large nonstick skillet, saute zucchini and garlic in oil until crisp-tender. Cool for 5 minutes. Spoon into potato crust. Combine the remaining ingredients. Pour over zucchini mixture. Reduce oven temperature to 350°; bake zucchini pie for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: One piece equals 212 calories, 14 g fat (6 g saturated fat), 119 mg cholesterol, 398 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 14 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 2 lean meat, 1 starch, 1/2 fat.

*******
Made April 18th. The only adaption that I made to the recipe was not using the oil to saute the garlic and zucchini. I simply sprayed the pan with nonstick spray and added a TB of water.

I enjoyed the dish.

Summer Fruit N Pasta Salad

Summer Fruit n Pasta Salad 3 pts for 1 cup

Ingredients
8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni
3/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt
3/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
4 teaspoons snipped fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash hot pepper sauce
2 medium tart green apples, chopped
2 medium red apples, chopped
1-1/2 cups seedless grapes
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
1 can (15 ounces) mandarin oranges, drained
2 medium firm bananas, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse with cold water and drain. In a bowl, combine the yogurt, mayonnaise, dill, salt and hot pepper sauce.

In a large serving bowl, combine the pasta, apples, grapes, celery and mandarin oranges. Gently stir in 1 cup yogurt mixture.

Cover and refrigerate salad and remaining yogurt mixture for 2-3 hours. Just before serving, stir in bananas, walnuts and remaining yogurt mixture. Yield: 14 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1 cup) equals 199 calories, 8 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 160 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 4 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 fruit, 1 fat.

******
Made April 16th. I didn't get to chill the salad for the full 2- 3 hours. I'm not sure how much of a difference it would have made, but the flavors might have blended a little bit better. When we ate it as leftovers the next day the dill wasn't quite so strong. The salad was a brown kind of color after sitting in the fridge overnight. I think it was from the bananas oxidizing. The color certainly didn't take away from the flavor though. It was still really yummy! I did feel like tuna would have gone well in it.

Jared LOVED this salad, and Aaron liked that it had grapes.

Chocolate Strawberry Delight

Chocolate Strawberry Delight, 3 points

Ingredients:

5 Ritz Whole Wheat Crackers
1/2 c. chocolate pudding (low-fat)
2 or 3 medium strawberries, sliced
2 TB Reddi-Whip Topping

Directions:
Layer the crackers in a bowl forming a crust, then layer pudding, strawberries and topping. Savor!

Yield: 1 serving

*****

Made March 29th. I came up with this beauty. YUM! YUM! YUM!! I wish I had a better picture, but the battery died in my camera right after I snapped this one.

BLT Bow Tie Pasta Salad

BLT Bow Tie Pasta Salad 3 pts

Ingredients
2-1/2 cups uncooked bow tie pasta
6 cups torn romaine
1-1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1 medium tomato, diced
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/3 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water. In a large serving bowl, combine the pasta, romaine, chicken, tomato and bacon.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, water, barbecue sauce, vinegar and pepper. Pour over pasta mixture; toss to coat evenly. Serve immediately. Yield: 11 servings.

*****
Made March 24th. One word: YUM!! This is a quick and easy recipe to put together. I used the Tyson Teriyaki breast fillets that we had in the freezer and that worked out just fine. The dressing wasn't over-powering or too heavy. I probably should have added more romaine because by the time we got to the bottom of the bowl it was mostly pasta and 'condiments'.

I served it with this Strawberry Soup.

Asian Quinoa

Asian-Flavored Quinoa Allrecipes.com, 2 points as written, 3 points as I made

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 clove garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped

Directions

1.Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in quinoa and allow to toast for 2 to 3 minutes, then add chicken broth, soy sauce, ginger and garlic. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until all liquid has been absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes. Fluff quinoa with fork and top with green onions before serving.

My Variation:
Add to Ingredients:

3 medium carrots, chopped/diced
1/2 c. frozen peas
1/4 bag of frozen snap peas
3 oz ham chopped (or could use other meat)

If I'd planned and prepared well ahead of time, all these would have gone in at the same time as the chicken broth, but I didn't. The carrots were added in with the quinoa and the peas were prepared according to the package directions. The quinoa was actually done before the peas, so I added the ham straight into it and warmed through, then added the peas. I also added leftover glaze from my Mango-Glazed Ham (which is the ham that I used. The flavors blended really well).

Yield: 8- 1/2 c. servings or 4- 1 c. servings

*******
Made March 11th. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. The recipe by itself is sound, but I figured if I was going to have an Asian flavor, I might as well make it an Asian dish. But as written, the recipe is 2 points. My final dish was 3 points.

This is my first experience using quinoa, and it went pretty well. The actual grain looks a lot like sesame seed, but as it cooks it sprouts. Pretty neat. On several sites it was highly recommended to rinse the quinoa before toasting it. I started it off in a 2qt saucepan but soon realized that was too small. I warmed up the dutch oven and moved the quinoa to it to be toasted.

I'd say this was a pretty successful dish. Aaron had a full 1 cup serving!! MIRACLE! Jared ate a full cup too, but the green onions were too strong for him. Once we added more of the mango glaze he didn't have any problem finishing it. Matthew liked the flavor but not the texture. I liked every bit of it :D

Southwestern Chicken Soup

Southwestern Chicken Soup LT02, 262, 3 pts before chips & cheese

Made on Feb 2nd. YUM!! Once you add the chips and cheese, this soup tastes very similar to Houlihan's Chicken Tortilla Soup. The cayenne pepper creates too much bite for my boys, so next time I'd probably cut it.