Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie, 7 points/8 servings
Spaghetti Pie published in Light & Tasty February/March 2006, p31

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup canned Hunt’s® Original Diced Tomatoes, undrained
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 ounces spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup (8 ounces) fat-free cottage cheese
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions

In a nonstick skillet, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, salt, garlic powder, sugar and pepper; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the spaghetti, butter, egg whites and Parmesan cheese. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate coated with cooking spray. Top with cottage cheese and beef mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and filling is heated through. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 1 piece equals 348 calories, 10 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 52 mg cholesterol, 690 mg sodium, 33 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 29 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 2 vegetable, 1-1/2 starch, 1 fat.

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Made Feb 25, 2011. This was a pretty quick and easy dish to put together. Everyone really enjoyed it - even Aaron. Matthew said he wasn't too sure about it when he came home and smelled it (probably the bell peppers), but really liked it in the end.

I substituted ground turkey for the beef, put only a TB of bell peppers, and added basil to the seasoning mix. I didn't put the cottage cheese or meat all the way to the end of the "crust", so the exposed spaghetti was hard. I didn't mind it, but someone who would care should make sure to spread the topping over all the spaghetti instead of leaving it like a pizza crust.

This ia a hefty meal at 7 points for 8 pie slices.

Fruited Chicken Salad

Fruited Chicken Salad 7 pts for 1 cup

Made April 26th. We really enjoyed this recipe!! I was really surprised when I inputted the recipe to see it total 7 points. The nutritional info as written is only 4 points. I'm not sure where the 3 extra points came from, but my guess is that it is because I used 5 of the Tyson teriyaki chicken filets. The other change I made to the recipe was using 1 c. of raisins instead of 1/2 cup of raisins and 1/2 cup of dates. Whatever the cause, it was worth the 7 points!!

This salad was really good on a bed of lettuce (like a lettuce wrap), as an open face sandwich, and also in a pita. In fact, I went to the store today just to buy pita bread to finish off the leftovers!

Aaron refused to eat it last night, but he tried my pita sandwich and liked it. He asked for his own and suprised me when he was able to pick out all the ingredients, well all the fruit ingredients at least. While I went to take a nap, Aaron made his own snack size version of his sandwich:

Rotini Chicken Casserole

Rotini Chicken Casserole, LT03, 7 points

Ingredients

2-3/4 cups uncooked tricolor rotini or spiral pasta
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon Crisco® Pure Olive Oil
3 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) reduced-fat reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1-1/2 cups fat-free milk
1 package (16 ounces) frozen Italian-blend vegetables
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1-1/4 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup crushed cornflakes

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a nonstick skillet, saute onion, celery and garlic in oil until tender. Drain pasta; place in a bowl, Add the onion mixture, chicken, soup, milk, frozen vegetables, cheese, parsley, thyme and salt.

Pour into a shallow 3-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with cornflakes; spritz with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, 10-15 minutes longer or until heated through. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1-1/3 cups) equals 341 calories, 7 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 56 mg cholesterol, 698 mg sodium, 40 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 28 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 2 starch, 1 vegetable.

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Made on March 5th (kinda). I had planned on serving this on Wed, but dinner changed to pizza for the kids and Houlihan's for us (yay What What Wednesday!). I was being good and had already started preparing dinner when the plans changed. So, I just put it all together and stored it in a bowl until it was time to make it. This worked out really well. The only kink was in which dish to actually prepare it in. My guess is that a 3 qt dish would be about a 9x13 pan, but since mine have all gone MIA that wasn't really an option. My 11x14 or whatever the next size up is would have been fine to use for it, but it was being used to deliver dinner to another family. I tried to use a 7x10? but that was too small. This recipe makes a LOT. I then settled on two 8x8 pans. I filled one 8x8 and realized there was still enough in the 7x10 that I might as well not dirty another pan.

This recipe is pretty simple to prepare. The hardest part was finding Italian blend vegetables. I finally had to google it to figure out what vegetables were in it to find it that way. As it turns out, Italian is no longer the chic word. It's Mediterranean. So, look for Mediterranean blend vegetables instead of Italian blend.

Raspberry Thyme Chicken

Raspberry Thyme Chicken LT03, 129, 7 points

Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

In a nonstick skillet, saute onion in oil until tender. Meanwhile, sprinkle thyme and 1/4 teaspoon salt over chicken; add to skillet. Cook for 5 minutes on each side or until chicken juices run clear. Remove to a serving plate and keep warm.

In the same skillet, add the preserves, vinegar, pepper and remaining salt. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until preserves are melted and sauce is heated through. Serve with chicken. Yield: 4 servings.


Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1 chicken breast half with 2 tablespoons sauce) equals 227 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 66 mg cholesterol, 383 mg sodium, 21 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 27 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 meat, 1 starch.

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Made today, March 1st. This is another of those WW point discrepencies. According to the nutritional info, it should be 5 points. But, mine came out to 7 points.

I used the flash frozen breast fillets and didn't give them enough time to thaw before I started cooking them, so it took longer than the 5 minutes per side. Since your supposed to cook the chicken and then the sauce, I put the chicken in the oven to keep warm and make sure it was done while the sauce was cooking. After the sauce was finished, I added it to the dish and put it all back in the oven until the rest of dinner was ready. The extra heat caused the rapberries to go brown so it lost some of that color appeal. But, it didn't detract from the taste. I used homemade strawberry jam instead of the seedless raspberry preserves it called for too.

I am curious how well this recipe would do in the crockpot. I make a cranberry chicken that is just chicken breasts and a can of cranberries that turns out really well. I think this would be return a very similar result. Maybe one day I'll be adventurous. If I'd had the 3 hours for the crockpot I would have done it tonight.

This was really yummy. Jared gave me a big thumbs up for the first couple of bites, but then had a hard time finishing it. Aaron ate a few pieces, but he was more interested in the brown rice I served with it than the actual chicken.

Tasty Lentil Tacos

Tasty Lentil Tacos LT02, 179, 1 pt (for the taco filling in one taco)

Made Feb 1st. The nutritional info on the recipe gives me 7 points, so that is how I'm going to label them.

I made these once before when the '02 cookbook was new to me, but they didn't turn out very well. My lentils were old and never softened up. I decided to give them another try and bought a brand new bag of lentils in hopes that they'd turn out better this time. The lentils did soften up a bit more, but I've decided I just haven't had enough liquid in the pan for them to absorb and soften. These are ok, would work in a pinch, but they are not a favorite method of preparing tacos.

Turkey Sausage with Root Vegetables

Turkey Sausage with Root Vegetables LT03, 134, 7 pts

Made Feb 5th. There is a 3 point difference between the published nutritional info and my final product. I used John Morrel's polish sausage for my sausage and well, that's just full of points!

I wasn't too sure about this dish. I chose it because we had the sausage in the freezer. However, Matthew and I ended up really liking it. The boys on the other hand, did not.

Spicy French Dip Sandwiches (Crockpot)

Spicy French Dip LT03, 116, 7 pts

Made on Feb 17th. This is one of those rare recipes where the published nutritional info and my final product actually match point values. The meat part is only 3 points, but once you add the bread product it makes 7 points. I used whole wheat bolillos as our breading.

I really liked these. It was so simple to put together and the meat was really juicy and flavorful. I did not add the can of jalepenos because we don't do spicy too well. I had a 24 oz pork roast on hand, so that it was I used even though the recipe calls for beef sirloin tip roast.

Ranch Ham n Cheese Pasta

Ranch Ham 'N' Cheese Pasta LT04, 185, 7 pts

Made on Feb 3rd. I really liked this recipe! I could have eaten the whole entire bowl of it. The boys seemed to like it too, but the penne seemed too cumbersome for them. I thought the flavor was comparable to a boxed ranch flavor pasta, but so much better. I would definitely make this again!

Lemon Blueberry Pancakes

Lemon Blueberry Pancakes LT04, 98, 7 pts for 2 pancakes

Made on Feb 14th along with Ham and Cheese Strudel (LT02, 102, 8 pts). Normally I make smaller pancakes because the batter goes farther, but this time I decided to do the full 1/4 cup pancake and ended up with the exact number the recipe gives - 8. Amazingly, these were actually filling! I'm sure it was because they were thick and hearty. We liked the yogurt and berry topping too.

I'm sure one could change the flavors up by substituting another flavor yogurt and fruit, such as peaches or raspberries.

Black Bean Chicken Salad

Black Bean Chicken Salad LT04, 64, 7 pts

Made on Feb 21st paired with the Sweet Potato Lentil Soup (LT04, 183, 5 pts). Matthew and I really liked the salad. It's the first time I've really given red onions a chance and discovered I actually like them!

I used Tyson Teriyaki Chicken fillets for the chicken which worked really well. I'm disappointed that the point level is so high, but between the chicken and dressing it is reasonable. A full serving is 2 cups, but 1 cup (3.5 points) with another low point item makes a decent meal without a lot of points.