Fudgy Cocoa Brownies

Fudgy Cocoa Brownies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

2 egg whites

3/4 cup walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, allowing the foil to extend over the rim by 2-inches. Spray with non-stick spray. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; set aside. Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan set over low heat. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Whisk in the cocoa and vanilla; let stand 5 minutes. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, and egg whites to the cocoa mixture, whisk until blended. Stir in the flour mixture until blended. Stir in the walnuts. Scrape the batter into the baking pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging, 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a rack. Lift from the pan using the foil as handles; cut into 16 squares.

Tip: For easier cutting, refrigerate the cooled brownies about 1 hour.

Calories: 140, Fat 7g, Fiber 1 or 3 points per serving

From: Best Ever Desserts

Made without walnuts 2 points per serving

Lorie's Verdict: These were so good. They are rich and very chocolatey! So beware. But that's good because it will be easier not to eat all 16 at once! My kids LOVED them! My husband does not like nuts in brownies and that saved me a point!

No-Bake Granola Bars

These were really good. My lids loved them and can't wait until I can make some more! My chocolate chips still melted a little even though I put them in the freezer, but they were still good!
No-Bake Granola Bars

1.5 cups rice krispies cereal

1.5 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup brown sugar (unpacked)

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup reduced fat peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Line a 13x9 pan with wax paper, they're chewy and it's easier to get them out. Put the mini chocolate chips in the freezer while you're working, they won't melt as quickly when you add them later on. Add oats and rice krispies to a very large mixing bowl. Heat brown sugar and honey in a saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Add peanut butter and vanilla and stir until everything is combined. It will be a thick brown sauce. Don't let it boil. Remove from heat and pour over oat/cereal mix. Work quickly and stir to combine everything. Add the mini chocolate chips at the very end. Press into baking pan and chill for about 30 minutes until solid. Cut into 16 bars. (I lifted them right out with the wax paper and cut them on a cutting board)

Makes 16 servings

3 points per serving

Crazy Crust Pizza

This recipe was really good. The reason it's called Crazy Crust is because you put all you toppings except sauce and cheese into the batter . The crust is very thin and more of a batter so don't be scared if that happens. I made mine in a 12 inch round pizza pan and it worked fine. You need a pan that has sides. My pampered chef round stone would not work because it does not have anything to keep the batter in the pan. Some people online recommend using a half sheet pan that is 10x15. You can play around with this pizza and add any toppings you like, just make sure you refigure the points. My kids liked it but thought it was too spicy, so next time I think I will leave out the black pepper in the crust all together. I only added the pepperoni to the kid pizza or they probably would not have eaten it. I also thought that the cooking times were too long, so I recommend watching it until you figure out how long it takes in your oven. My oven was about 5 minutes less for both cooking times. On both pizzas, the sides of the dough came up when the crust cooked and made like an area to put your cheese and sauce in kind of crazy like, maybe another reason it's called crazy. Overall this was good and we will make it again.

Note: In the picture, I took it out of my pizza pan after it cooked and put it on my pampered chef round stone and then took a picture. I cooked it in a 12 inch round pizza pan and only had one so I was cooking the other. So know it was not cooked on that stone, the batter will run off the sides.

Crazy Crust Pizza

Dough:

1 cup(s) all-purpose flour

1 tsp table salt

1 tsp McCormick Oregano leaves

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup(s) Egg Beaters Egg Beaters

2/3 cup(s) fat-free skim milk

Toppings (can substitute)

17 slice(s) Hormel Pillow Pack Turkey Pepperoni

1 cup(s) mushroom(s)

1 cup(s) pizza sauce

1 cup(s) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (I used part-skim pizza cheese on mine)

1/4 cup(s) onion(s), chopped

In a small bowl, combine batter ingredients until smooth. Pour into greased and dusted 14" pizza pan (or sheet pan of similar size). Tilt pan so that batter covers bottom. Arrange toppings and bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle with sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and return to oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce is hot.

Serves 8 at 3 points per piece

Serves 4 at 5 points per piece

Menu Plan Monday- January 25-31

The last week of January! Will be posting several new recipes that I have tried including Crazy Crust Pizza and Low Point Granola Bars. so be sure to visit me this week! Here's my plan for this week:

Dinners
Monday:Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, salad, Low-fat Bread Machine Italian Bread (made into bread sticks
Tuesday: Smothered Buttermilk Chicken and Biscuits
Wednesday: Crockpot Brown Sugar Chili, Jiffy Corn muffins
Thursday: Crispy Chicken Drumsticks, Soup Beans and rolls
Friday: Crazy Crust Pizza, salad
Saturday:Slow Cooker Pizza, salad
Sunday: Soup and Sandwiches

Breakfast
Easy Breakfast Sandwiches
Honey Nut Cheerios with skim milk and fruit
Cinnamon French Toast, fruit, hot herbal tea

Lunch
Bacon, Egg, and Ranch Salad(Salad with those things in it)
Refried Bean Soup
Garden Vegetable Soup
Tomato Basil Soup

Snack and Desserts
Fat Free Rice Krispie Treats
Air popped popcorn
Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Go here to see more plans.

Hungry Girl's Corn MegaMuffins

I tried these last week with my favorite chili. They were HUGE. I could taste a little bit of aftertaste from the Splenda, but it was not bad and these were pretty good. My kids like them, but my husband did not. He's spoiled with the real thing! Make sure you use cupcake liners, I did not and wished I had. I don't know how much I will make these because the greek yogurt is kind of expensive.

Hungry Girl's Corn MegaMuffins

Wendy's No Bake Peanut Butter Bars

I have had this recipe for a long time in my "recipes to try" folder. I am so glad I finally tried it! They are really good. I had a hard time with them sticking together, but if you leave them in the refrigerator for the 1 hour they stick fine, although that will be hard, because you will want to eat them! I made them into squares but you could alo make them more like bars, kind of like a granola bar. Thank goodness I had kids to help me eat these. They are so yummy! This is a treat though since they are 4 points each. I don't know how many points one is but I would guess 2. When you cut them into 24 pieces you still get a pretty nice piece if you decide to only eat one.

Wendy's No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

3/4 cup reduced-fat creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup honey

3 tablespoons light butter, stick

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups crispy rice cereal

2 cups bran buds, I used Kellogg's All Bran

Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Combine the peanut butter, brown sugar, honey, and butter in a large pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until smooth, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Add the cereals and stir well to coat. Spoon the cereal mixture into the baking pan. Cover with wax paper or plastic wrap and gently press to form an even layer. Let cool completely. Refrigerate, covered, until firm (at least 1 hour). Uncover and cut into 24 bars.

Note: I cut mine into 12 bars(4 points each)as pictured above

Serving size: 2 bars per person (24 bars at 4 points per serving)

From: Weight Watchers Magazine July/August 2008

per serving 2 bars ; 210 calories, 8g fat, 7g fiber

Finger Jello

Angie(a friend from Weight Watchers) made these for a Christmas potluck and my kids and I LOVE them! They are low in points, so keep these in your refrigerator when you have a snack attack.
Finger Jello
3 small boxes of sugar free Jello, any flavor
1 box (4 envelopes) Knox's gelatin
4 cups boiling water
Mix jello and gelatin in boiling water until dissolved. Pour into a casserole pan and place in the refrigerator until set. Cut in squares.
Makes 16 squares at 0 points per square
Makes 12 squares at 1 point per square
(Angie said she put these on the Weight Watcher scale and you could eat 4 squares for 0 points, but she did not know how many servings one recipe made and I ran this through the recipe builder on the Weight Watchers site and got the above points.)
I also learned online you can stack these with different colors to make some cool looking finger jello.

Tuesday Meeting Update

I lost 1.6 pounds at Weight Watchers last night. I am quite happy with that! We talked about exercise and getting 30 minutes most days of the week, so this week I need to work on getting more of it in. I hurt the back of my foot and walking at times has become very hard. I think it will heal with time, I need to try to see what I can do on it though. Off to have a great week.

Smothered Buttermilk Chicken and Holiday Buttermilk Biscuits

Last night, I made two new recipes, both of which were great! I got some chicken thighs on sale and most of the other ingredients I had on hand. I have been trying to use up some buttermilk and both these recipes helped. I have not found a light biscuit recipe that my kids and husband would eat. They loved these and so did I!




Smothered Buttermilk Chicken
1 pound boneless chicken thighs (see note, I did that)
3 medium carrots, sliced
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons light margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 bay leaf
1 package chicken gravy mix
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons flour
1 cup frozen peas
In a 4 to 6 quart crock pot, combine chicken, carrots, onion, water, butter, salt, pepper and bay leaf; mix well. Cover; cook on low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high setting for 3 to 4 hours. About 20 minutes before serving, stir gravy mix into crock pot. Remove and discard bay leaf. In a measuring cup, blend buttermilk and flour until smooth. Stir flour mixture and peas into chicken; mix well. Cover, increase heat to high; cover and cook an additional 25-20 minutes or until peas are cooked. Serve with rice or biscuits.
Serves 4 (I served 8 people this meal but added more chicken)
7 points
NOTES: **You can use frozen bone in chicken thighs as well. Just turn up the heat to high for the first hour, then down to low for the remaining 6 hours. Before stirring in gravy mix, remove the skin from the chicken. The chicken will fall apart and meld nicely with the rest of the dish- just be sure to remove the bones before serving.


Holiday Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe
1 cup flour
1/2 cup fat free buttermilk or skim milk
2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise(I used fat free)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 6 cup muffin tin with cooking spray. Stir ingredients together and divide evenly between 6 muffin cups. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Serves:6
1 point for one biscuit, 3 points for 2
Recipe from LaaLosh

If I Lost 1 Pound a Week...

If I Lost 1 Pound a Week....
By Valentine's Day I'd be 7 lbs. lighter! I'm loving it!
By St. Patrick's Day I'd be 11 lbs. lighter!With the lucko-the Irish I'll make my goal.
By Easter I'd be 16 lbs. lighter!I'd be a cuter bunny.
By Memorial Day I'd be 23 lbs. lighter!Won't let it rain on my parade.
By Flag Day I'd be 25 lbs. lighter!Boy, could I wave my flag then.
By Independence Day I'd be 27 lbs. lighter!That's a neat declaration of independence from overeating!
By Labor Day I'd be 36 lbs. lighter!What a wonderful reward for all my hard work.
By Columbus Day I'd be 41 lbs. lighter!What a joy to discover what I can do.
By Halloween I'd be 44 lbs. lighter!I didn't think I had a ghost of a chance.
By Thanksgiving I'd be 47 lbs. lighter!I'd have so much to be thankful for.
By Christmas Eve I'd be 51 lbs. lighter!Talk about being merry.
By New Year's Eve I'd be 52 lbs. lighter!It's not just a new year, it's a new ME

Menu Plan Monday: January 18-24

This week I decided to prep stuff for the week, kind of like Robin Miller does on her Food Network show. I really think it will save time since so many of my recipes use onions and green peppers!

Here's my plan for this week!

Dinner

Monday:Smothered Buttermilk Chicken, Holiday Buttermilk Biscuits (both new), Low Fat Banana Pudding

Tuesday:Crock pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, salad

Wednesday: Easy Enchiladas, corn

Thursday: Mexican Rice Casserole

Friday:Crazy Crust Pizza(new Recipe), salad

Saturday:Soup and sandwiches

Sunday:Corn Dog Casserole, salad

Breakfast

Easy Breakfast Sandwiches, fruit

Lunch

Garden Vegetable Soup

Tomato Basil Soup

Unstuffed Green Pepper Soup

Other stuff I'm making this week

Granola Bars

No Bake Peanut Butter Bars

For more menu's go here.

Friday Favorites-Deep Dish Pizza Casserole

Friday Favorites is when I post my favorite recipes that have previously been posted on this blog. I hope some of you still find some new to you recipes!

Deep Dish Pizza Casserole
1 pound ground round
1 (15 ounce) can chunky Italian-style tomatoes
Cooking spray
1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
6 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1.Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Cook meat in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring until it crumbles. Drain, if necessary, and return to skillet. Add tomatoes, and cook until heated through. 3. While meat cooks, coat a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Unroll pizza crust dough, and press into bottom and halfway up sides of the baking dish. Top the pizza crust with meat mixture.
4. Bake, uncovered, at 425° for 12 minutes. Top with cheese, and bake 5 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese melts. Cool 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 6 servings. Each serving is 6 points. You can add other pizza items, just add those points, if any.
5. Serve with a salad mixed field greens and a fat-free or low-fat vinaigrette.

Note: Please check the ingredients that you use because that could affect the points of this dish.

Pizza-Style Meat Loaf

We had this for dinner and it was okay. It was kind of hard to get the seal to stay on the meatloaf, but my kids liked it! I had a piece of 1/2 point bread and green beans with this meal.

Pizza-Style Meat Loaf

2/3 cup pizza sauce, divided

1 1/2 pounds extra-lean ground round
3/4 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs

1/2 cup onion

1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 large egg white

2 (1 oz) slices part-skim mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine 1/3 cup pizza sauce, meat, and next 8 ingredients (sauce through egg white) in a bowl. Shape meat mixture into an 8 x 12-inch rectangle on wax paper. Arrange cheese slices over meat mixture; sprinkle with red bell pepper, leaving a 1-inch border. Roll meat up jelly-roll fashion starting at short side. Pinch to seal.

Place meat loaf on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until meat registers 160 degrees. Brush 1/3 cup pizza sauce over meat loaf. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until done; let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Makes 6 servings

Calories 291, Fat 12.6g, Fiber 0.9g

Weight Watchers Update

Well I had missed 3 meetings in a row, so not good! I am really trying to get over a huge weight gain that happened since Thanksgiving. I weighed myself before I started last week and I had lost 3 pounds this week, although that will not show because I missed the week before. I have made a commitment this year to get serious. I know I've said that before. One of the things that really helps me is this blog. When I keep it updated, it really helps to keep me motivated so you may see daily posts during the week. Hopefully, you all will benefit with new recipes.

Weight Watchers is doing a new thing this year, they are giving weekly newsletters, these are different from the weekly books, that are supporting the Momentum 20010 Challenge. These are really nice because they have information on the topic for that week, real life stories, recipe ideas, and even coupons. This is a 10 week challenge. Each week we commit to a small challenge. Last week was to Track what you eat. Tracking has been a huge resource for me. It makes losing weight kind of like a fun game to me. This makes Weight Watchers easier for me. It also really helped me understand portion controls. So, I know when I do not track, I gain. I started tracking really well again last week and my efforts showed some results.

Week 2 is all about choosing foods that satisfy you. Weight Watchers calls these filling foods, and like the name says these foods keep you fuller longer. Filling foods are low in energy which means they pack fewer calories for their weight. This makes them make you feel more full with few calories. There is a place on your tracker that allows you to mark filling foods. These foods also help in meeting the Good Health Guidelines, which are part of Weight Watchers. So, look for these foods to help you stay fuller. So, this week I am going to commit to choosing more filling foods for my meals and snacks. We'll see how it goes.

Bean Burrito Casserole

We had this for dinner and it was really good, even the kids ate it! We served it with baked tortilla chips and fat free sour cream. I think this would also be good with corn.
Bean Burrito Casserole
1 medium onion
1 pound lean ground beef
1 packet reduced sodium taco seasoning
3/4 cup water
14 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies
5 oz. tomato paste
15 oz fat free refried beans
2 cups fat free shredded Cheddar cheese
4 cups cooked brown rice
Dice onion and saute in a large skillet with ground beef. Add water and 1/2 packet of taco seasoning. simmer until sauce thickens. Add canned veggies, tomato paste, and beans. Spray casserole dish and fill with mixture. Top with 1 cup of shredded cheese. Cover with cooked brown rice. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top. Bake covered at 350 degrees until heated through for 20 minutes. Remove cover and continue baking until cheese is melty about 5 minutes.
Makes: 8 servings at 8 points each or 9 pts each with 2% cheese

Hungry Girl's Sassy Saucy Ribwich

Did you ever try the McDonald's Rib sandwiches or any rib sandwich for that matter? They are so good, but also very high in points. The McDonald's one is 12 points. Oh my! This one is only 6 points! My family really liked this!

Here's the recipe: Hungry Girl's Sassy Saucy Ribwich

Menu Plan Monday January 11-17

Here's my plan for this week:

Dinners

Monday:Pizza-style Meat Loaf,(new recipe) green beans

Tuesday: Spaghetti Casserole, salad, Low-Fat Bread Machine Italian Bread

Wednesday: Cheesy Ranch Burgers, oven baked fries

Thursday: Deep Dish Pizza Casserole, salad

Friday: Easy Enchiladas, corn

Saturday: Monterey Chicken, Green beans

Sunday: Crockpot Brown Sugar Chili, Hungry Girl's Corning Glory Muffins

Breakfast

Easy Breakfast Sandwiches

Lunch

I plan to pre-make these soups to have available to eat this week

Refried Bean Soup

Tomato Basil Soup

Garden Vegetable Soup

For more menu's go here.

Time and Money Saving Breakfast Sandwiches

So, my husband has to be at work at 7 am (he has a 35 minute communte) and he is always running late and never has time to eat breakfast. He has to end up taking something for breakfast with him to eat at work. He loves the biscuits that you buy for the freezer that already have eggs etc on them. He asked me the other day to buy him some more, but those things are expensive and eat into our grocery budget. They also are not the most healthy breakfast in the world. So, one day I was browsing through Heather's cooking videos and found these Easy Breakfast Sandwiches. These are great because you can be creative and put whatever you like on them. They also save time in the morning because you make them ahead and then just toss them in the microwave for a quick and HOT breakfast. My husband loves them and so do I! So, here is a recipe but you will have to figure out points based on the ingredients you choose and you can find low point ingredients out there so get creative. You must have some type of cheese though because it is like the glue that sticks them together.

Easy Breakfast Sandwiches
1 1/2 cup of Egg Beaters (or a generic brand of them)
1 Weight Watchers Cheese Single (or another cheese even fat free)
6 slices of precooked bacon, cut in two(like Oscar Meyer, comes in box)
6 (100 calorie) English Muffins (like Weight Watchers, Thomas' light, or another 100 calorie one) Spray a skillet with cooking spray. Scramble the eggs in a skillet until done. Separate the eggs into 6 equal parts. Cut the cheese slices and bacon slices in half. Open the English Muffins and place one of the separated scrambled eggs onto the bottom of the muffin. Add half piece of cheese on top of this. Next, place your bacon onto the English Muffin side by side (this will be one piece sliced in half which you have previously done.) Then place the other half of the cheese on top of the bacon going the opposite direction of the first piece of cheese. Place the top of the English muffin on top and wrap tightly in a microwave safe plastic wrap. If freezing make sure you place them in a freezer safe container or freezer safe zip lock bag. Don't forget to label and mark the points on your product. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.
To Reheat: Place wrapped sandwich in microwave on a microwave safe plate. Microwaves will differ in times to cook, but I placed my refrigerator ones in for 20-30 seconds and my freezer ones, I put on 50% power for 2-3 minutes.
Makes 6 servings
Point will vary depending on ingredients used. Using my ingredients this was 3 points.
Note: To change this up, I have used different types of meats. I like the Oscar Meyer fully cooked Canadian bacon and lean ham. Be creative and design your own!

Heather makes these in her video here if you want to go check it out.


Hope you enjoy!

I'm Back!

Well, I'm back after a very long holiday. One I made lots of bad choices during. Now, comes time to get back to work and shed some of those extra pounds I gained during the holidays. I got The Biggest Loser game for my Wii, so I'm hoping to put that to good use!

I also have several new recipes coming soon, so stay posted!