Easy Risotto

1/3 cup thinly sliced onion(can use 3 green onions)
butter flavored cooking spray
2/3 cup arborio or long grain rice
2 cups water
1 teaspoon chicken boullion granules
dash pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Traditional method: Spray medium saucepan well and cook onion until tender but not brown. Spray again and add uncooked rice. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Carefully stir in water, boullion, and pepper. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer 20 minutes without lifting cover. Remove from heat, let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Rice should be tender, but slightly firm, and the mixture should be creamy. If necessary, stir in extra water to make it creamy. Stir in Parmesan. 2.5 points per 1/2 cup.

I have a food and rice steamer and this is another method....Steamer method: place 1 cup rice to 2 cups water in rice bowl. Add boullion and pepper. Place rice bowl in steamer basket and steam for 50 minutes. When time is up, check to make sure it has the right consistency, adding water if necessary, and add Parmesan. Sorry, no picture yet...

Pumpkin Muffins

I have requests to post pictures of these, so here we are again...

One cake mix(I love carrot, but you can use any kind!)
1/2 cup water
1 small can pumpkin(pure, not pie mix)

Mix ingredients together and place in muffin tins. Bake about 10 minutes longer than the box instuctions.

Makes 24 small muffins for 1 point each, or you can make 12 LARGE muffins at 2 points each. They can be served at room temperature, or while still warm with a dollop of fat free whipped cream and taste just like warm pumpkin pie! They freeze well, I like to make two batches at once with a large can of pumpkin(just split the can in half if you are making two different flavors)and freeze them for later. Picture is one chocolate and one made with yellow cake mix.

"Breaded" Chicken

nonstick spray

4 chicken breast fillets

spray butter

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp garlic salt

2 tsp parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425 and spray baking dish with nonstick spray. Mix together spices and parmesan with bread crumbs. Place chicken breast pieces in dish and spray with spray butter. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture on top, then spray with spray butter again. Bake for 45 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink inside.

3 points per breast. The breadcrumbs and Parmesan add 50 calories to the whole recipe, about 12.5 cal per breast, but it still counts as a 3, (my chicken breast fillets are 120 cal each.

Garlic Butter Fish

3 fillets of any kind of fish(I used whiting in the picture below with the roasted potatoes)
spray butter
1/8 teaspoon parsley
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a baking pan and place fillets in pan. Spray with 5 sprays of the spray butter, then sprinkle parsley and garlic salt on top. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the fish is all white and flakes easily with a fork.

3 ounces of whiting is 2 points.

A Note about Fish

I did NOT grow up liking fish. Not real fish, occasionally we had fish sticks, but never the real thing. Then when I was pregnant for the second time, I really wanted to eat fish, no other meat settled well in my stomach. So I forced myself to learn how to cook it and learned that you can buy fillets with no skin or bones(Hallelujah!!!) and now our entire family loves it! So try something new, make sure you kids see you enjoying it, maybe they will like it too!

Roasted Potatoes

These are my son's favorite "tomatoes!" He can never get tomatoes and potatoes straight! He does not like any other type of potatoes(except french fries, which totally don't count,) but asks for these almost every night! Totally kid-friendly and diet friendly, too!


6 lg potatoes, any kind
olive oil flavored cooking spray(or whatever you have)
1 Tablespoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons cumin
3 teaspoons paprika

Preheat oven to 400. Spray an 11x7" or roasting pan really well with the cooking spray. Mix together the 3 spices, set aside. Scrub the potatoes really well, (don't peel) and cut into about 1" cubes. Parboil them(this means boil them for 8 minutes or so until they are partially cooked, be careful not to boil them much longer than 8 minutes or they will be too soft.) Then drain and shake around in the strainer a bit(bang them about just a little.) Place potatoes into pan, then spray the tops of the potatoes with the cooking spray. Sprinkle half of the spice mixture over the potatoes. Stir the potatoes around, spray them again and sprinkle the rest of the spice mixture. Put in oven for about 20 minutes, then remove, spray the potatoes again and turn them over. Bake another 15 minutes or so until they are crispy. If you have a broiler and would like them done a little quicker, you can broil them at this point for 15 minutes or so to get that crispiness.

Crispy, but not hard, is the point. Be generous with the spray and respray every time you turn the potatoes, this is important. These are incredible hits with everyone I have ever made them for, however, they do not reheat well. 3 points for one cup of these. Serve with ketchup for the kiddos :) And one more tip: I know they are getting done soon when they start to make a high pitched noise and the surfaces are sizzling!

(Pictured with steamed zucchini and garlic butter fish.)

Tasting food

I have decided to blog not just recipes to share, but my little tidbits of healthy epiphany I get from time to time so that I can refer to them when I need a bit of clarity, so here is today's:

Do you ever feel like when you are hungry you eat your meal, get to the end of it, and not even have tasted it because you ate so fast? I do not like to eat cold food, so sometimes I find myself eating more quickly because I don't want it to get cold if one of the kids needs something, which they always do!

Or here is my favorite example. Have you ever gone out to eat with someone and what they ordered looks SOOO much better than what you ordered? So they offer you a bite, and you close your eyes and eat that one bite so slowly, because then you have to go back to your not-so appetizing meal.

I want to eat my food like that all the time. If I give myself a smaller portion, I will have the time to savor each bite because there's not as much to eat before it gets cold. I will take the time to take each bite slowly. And if the food is not good enough to savor slowly, I am not going to take bite #2 or 3. French fries are a good example. How many times that you order fries are they hot and fresh, crispy with just the right amount of salt? 1 out of 10 maybe? So why do we eat the nasty limp fries the other 9 times? Because they're there?

On the other hand, if what is in front of me is the best I have ever tasted, I can have a small portion and feel good afterwards, or I can scarf down too much and end up with a stomachache and a whole lotta guilt afterwards. (Sound like the last 10 thanksgivings, J?)

So this is my promise to myself this holiday season. Take a small portion of my favorites, and if something is not as good as I remember, that first bite will be the only bite. If it is just the best thing I ever tasted, I am going to appreciate that small portion and walk away from the table with my belt still buckled, so to speak.

Vegetable stew

4-6 cups beef broth
1/2 pound carrots
4 med zucchini
1/2 head cabbage

1 teaspoon dried Parsley

2 teaspoons garlic salt

1 can Ro-tel(diced tomatoes and green chiles)
1 package frozen winter squash

Start with 4 cups beef broth in a very large pot, over high heat. Wash and slice carrots into 1/2" slices, put in pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-high. Let carrots cook about 20 minutes while you wash and slice zucchini into 1/4" slices, put in pot. Wash and coarsely chop cabbage, put in pot. Add parsley and garlic salt. If you feel you need more liquid at this time, you can add 2 more cups of broth to give more of a soup texture, we prefer more of a chunky stew texture. When carrots and zucchini are cooked through(about 1/2 hour) add Rotel and winter squash. Bring back just to a boil until winter squash is heated through, then serve.

The winter squash is 1 point for a cup and the carrots are 1 point per cup when they are cooked, however, you don't get a full cup of either in a cup of soup. I estimate this soup to be 1 point per cup, I believe this to be a generous estimate because all of the other ingredients are 0 points.

Measurements

I must tell(warn) you that most of my measurements are approximations. I do not measure unless I am making a new recipe someone has given me. Please feel free to adjust measurements of spices, especially, to your particular tastes.

Incredibly easy zucchini

2 medium zucchini
1 Tablespoon Cumin
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 teaspoons salt-free seasoning(such as Mrs. Dash)(optional)
cooking spray

Wash and slice zucchini into 1/4" slices, arrange in single layer on baking sheet and spray. Mix together spices and sprinkle on top. Bake at 500 for about 20 minutes or until you can cut it easily with a fork. We love to top with a bit of spray butter. 0 points per serving, this serves about 4 people.

My favorite spices

In case you were wondering after my rant, here is a list of some of the spices I have discovered to spice up healthy food(you may notice them repeated often in my recipes:)

Cumin(ground, you can usually find it with the "cheap" spices) is fantastic in any chili or Mexican food. I pair it with chili powder for Mexican food, paprika for my potatoes.
Paprika(you can also usually find it with the "cheap" spices) is a spicier alternative to chili powder for certain recipes, not as hot as cayenne.
Curry powder(can be a bit more expensive, I would recommend watching for it on sale)
Cayenne pepper( pairs really well with curry powder, gives a big kick with just a little bit.)
Basil(goes great on chicken)
Parsley(I love it in soups)

I use many more, but these are my new favorites, spices are 0 points for weight watchers, by the way...

Healthy Eating, A Rant

BEWARE, what follows is a piece of my mind(Yikes!) Anyone could make anything taste good by adding a ton of butter and/or cheese, or sugar! In the old days I would probably have eaten cardboard if it had enough butter and cheese on it! Ok, maybe not, but doesn't it always seem like when you eat a taco or enchiladas, it didn't have enough cheese on it? Or you melt a bunch of butter over your veggies and it all sinks to the bottom? And that oatmeal could have used just a bit more sugar? At least it did for me...

Get to the point, you say? Here it is...when your taste buds are used to that sugar and fat, you just want more and more. If you start to season your food and experiment with different spices, you don't even notice that you didn't put any cheese on you enchiladas or tacos(honest!)

I know some people are not a fan of artificial sweeteners, but if that is the case there is an all-natural sweetener called Stevia you can try. I personally am a huge fan of sucralose(Splenda is the name brand.) I even feed it to my kids, shocker, I know. I have been warned in the past to avoid aspartame because it can irritate my epilepsy and I can have more seizures, but seeing as though there have been no studies(yet!) to say that Splenda is bad for anyone, I don't mind my kids having it. They do not even notice the sugar missing.

As for butter, we use the butter sprinkles(such as Molly McButter) and there are now two brands of spray butter that have 0 calories for 5 sprays(I Can't believe it's not Butter and Parkay.) So this is my challenge to you...try these substitutes and you will be amazed!

Split Pea Soup

1 T Extra virgin Olive oil
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 or 2 tsp curry powder
1 pound dry split peas, rinsed
8 cups chicken broth
1 tsp salt
Heat olive oil. Saute carrot, onion celery and curry powder for 5 min. Add broth, peas and salt. Simmer 1 hour or until very thick. 3 points per cup.

Lentil Tacos

1 pound dry lentils, rinsed
8 cups beef broth
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp minced onion
2 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp garlic salt
Put lentils and broth in pot and simmer for 45-60 min. Add spices and simmer until thick. 1 point for 1/2 cup. We found some taco shells that are 1 point each. Put 1/4 cup lentils in 1 shell. Top with salsa and lettuce. So 2 tacos are 3 ww points. The kids love these!

White Chili

Olive Oil flavored Pam
1 onion, chopped
1 can green chile
3 Tbsp Flour
2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper(or 1T chili powder)
2 cans Great Northern beans(white beans)
2 cups(or 1 can) chicken broth
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
salsa(optional)
Spray skillet with Pam and cook onion until transparent. Add green chile, flour and spices. Cook and stir 2 minutes. Add beans and broth, simmer 10 minutes or until thick. Add chicken, cook until hot.Top with salsa. Can make in Crock pot. You can also use dry beans if you prefer. 3 points per cup.

Curry Chicken

nonstick cooking spray
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 medium onion, coarsely diced
1 lb boneless skinless chicken
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup chicken broth
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, to taste
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
1. Cut chicken into 1" pieces, set aside. 2. Heat large skillet to medium and spray generously with cooking spray. Add curry powder and stir around a bit, then add onion. Saute onions about 5 minutes, being careful not to burn them, then add chicken. Sprinkle garlic salt over chicken, then brown all sides. Add chicken broth and cayenne pepper. Turn heat down to low and simmer 20 minutes covered. After 20 minutes, remove cover. Stir 1 Tablespoon cornstarch into 1/4 cup COLD water until dissolved, then add to skillet with chicken. Stir and simmer 2 more minutes or until sauce thickens, then serve over rice.Enjoy! Let me know if you try this and like it! Adding only 1/8 tsp of cayenne makes it a bit less spicy and more kid friendly, 1/4 tsp for a spicier crowd! 3 points per serving, 7 if you add a cup of rice.

WW Waffles

3 cups flour(all purpose, or whole wheat if you like)
1 1/3 cups powdered milk
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 T granulated Splenda(you can substitute 1T sugar)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups warm water(more or less, depends on how thick you like it)
Mix ingredients together and make into waffles(or pancakes.) 1/4 cup of batter is 1 ww point, if you're counting. It takes 1/2 cup to make a waffle in my machine, so 1 waffle is 2 points. This recipe makes a ton of waffles, I freeze the extras for quick breakfasts for the kids. You can also add chopped fresh fruit to batter, such as bananas, apples, strawberries, etc.

My healthy recipes

I created this new blog for my recipes. Some I have gotten for other people, others I made up entirely, and some I have modified. When I post a recipe on my main blog, I will also post a copy here so they are easier to find rather than digging through all the other recipe-less posts. Enjoy!