Chicken Chili

Another recipe from kraftfoods.com. I was a little hesitant because normally the idea of chicken and chili flavors going together just don't hit the right spot for me. But, seeing the low calorie side of life again - I decided to give it a whirl again tonight. As usual, I modified the recipe to our liking so of course - feel free to do the same with our version...

yield: ~6 big bowls

1.5 lbs chicken breasts: uncooked
1 can light red kidney beans: undrained
1 can dark red kidney beans: undrained
1 can tomato sauce, no salt
1/2 pkg of frozen corn
1-1/2 cups salsa
2 Tbsp chili powder (I did one hot and one mild)
1 Tbsp dried onion flakes (or chop up 1 small onion)

1. throw everything into your crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours
2. around 6 hours you'll need to shred the chicken
3. serve with baked scoops for some crunch

My calorie count isn't exact on this one but it'd be about 400 calories per bowl. And that even would include a sprinkling of cheese on top. I was a little bit "naughty" and had mine with tator tots - not sure why but tator tots are a serious weakness of mine. So clearly that would up the calorie count. Anyway, calories aside, Mike said - and I quote - "Wow, Honey. You've really been on quite a roll. This is good. I mean REALLY good." So, there you have it. Once again, the mister is pleasantly filled to his brim and I'm quietly gloating about my recent success's - hehe. I took some pictures but we all know that chili doesn't really photograph well, so take these for what they're worth...pictures of chicken chili.

This rounds out to just under 7 ww pts per serving. And sooooooo satisfying!

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches...

Last night we had some friends over and I was uncertain of what to make. So after thinking about it for a while I had this idea of trying to create a shredded buffalo chicken sandwich. I figured, ehh - if it flops, we'll order pizza... This is a little spicy, so beware.

yield: ~ 8 sandwiches

1 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts: uncooked
1 can of reduced sodium chicken broth
1 can of cream of celery
1/3 cup of franks red hot
2 Tbsp flour
garlic salt to taste
onion powder to taste
pepper to taste
crockpot liner (which I had ran out of, grrr)
village hearth italian buns

1. place everything in crockpot on low for 6-8 hours
2. shred the chicken with two forks around the 4-6 hour mark

We served these on a village hearth bun (80 cals per bun). Mike was thinking it'd be better on a slice of bread...sort of as a hot beef sandwich would be served, I thought maybe on top of pasta. The issue with the bun was that it was so messy we all had to use a fork, but it tasted fantastic. My only complaint would be that I would want more of the franks red hot flavor without more heat...but this was fantastic. A huge success with our guests and us! Oh, I did have ranch out to be used as a condiment for the sandwich if one was interested. The entire sandwich with the bun and no ranch came to 170 calories. Top that. :)

A sandwich on it's own with just the meat and a bun, no cheese or ranch, 3 ww pts per serving.

Chicken and Rice Packets

I stumbled across this recipe a while back for a chicken and rice foil packet. The actual recipe wasn't really our type of "thing" but the idea was good. And then you take my love for a sort of one-dish cooking with the packet...and voila...I threw something together tonight that one could call a "chicken and rice packet". So here is what I made, any other soup or sauce and/or vegetable could be easily swapped out for whatever your preference is. For example, you could do salsa instead of a cream soup and corn instead of green beans and POOF - a santa fe chicken and rice packet.

yield: 2 servings

2 chicken breasts: thawed
1 cup instant brown rice: uncooked
1 cup warm water
1 can fat-free cream of chicken soup
1 can green beans
whatever spices you want for your chicken

1. preheat oven to 400-degrees
2. soak rice in water for 5-10 minutes
3. take two pieces of foil for packets and spray one half of each with non-stick spray
4. once rice has soaked, place rice on foil
5. top with soup and green beans
6. place chicken breast on top
7. sprinkle with preferred seasonings
8. bake 30 minutes

We really enjoyed this, it was filling and tasted like one of those recipes you take from your family cookbook. Definitely a good cold weather recipe. Enjoy!

At 2 servings, this is 9.5 ww pts per serving. But the "one serving" on this recipe really equals two "servings" according to ww guildelines. So if you put it to a 4 servings recipe, that'd be 4.75 ww pts per serving! Yum!

Tiramisu

Okay...so I LOVE LOVE LOVE desserts and with that, I LOVE tiramisu. I found this recipe for a low-cal version and figured I'd give it a whirl at dinner with my parents tonight. I was a little anxious about the verdict because the reviews online were hit and miss. But, the verdict came in with a big thumbs up! Definitely a tasty dish and the one pkg of cream cheese (you'll read about that soon) was just right. So if you really love cream cheese, go for two...if you aren't the biggest fan, settle for one. A couple variation thoughts would be to use a flavored coffee, or even add some baileys or kaluha for a little "umph" and then you could always swap out the sugar for splenda and cut even more calories out. This is a steal for the calories. Enjoy!

yield: 12 servings

2 pkg lady fingers
2 Tbsp coffee (we don't drink coffee so I just made mine from instant)
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup boiling water
2 pkg fat free cream cheese: softened (I don't like cream cheese so I only used one)
1 tub light cool whip: thawed
1 tsp cocoa powder

1. lay one pkg of lady fingers on bottom of 9X13 baking dish
2. mix coffee and 1 Tbsp sugar together, brush (or spoon) half of coffee onto lady fingers in dish
3. beat cream cheese in large bowl until creamy, add 1/2 cup of sugar and mix well
4. stir cool whip into cream cheese mixture
5. spread half of the cream cheese mixture on top of the lady fingers in the dish
6. top with remaining lady fingers, coffee and the rest of the cream cheese mixture
7. sprinkle with cocoa
8. refrigerate at least 4 hours

Each serving is 150 calories, that is with the 2 packages of cream cheese. If you were to use one, it'd be like 125 calories per serving. So not a huge savings as far as calories go.

I ran up a few ww pts "scenarios" on this one...

The way I made it, 4.3 ww pts per serving.

Using Splenda instead of sugar, 3.75 ww pts per serving.

Exactly made per the recipe calls, 4.75 ww pts per serving.

Made using Splenda and fat-free Cool Whip, 3.4 ww pts per serving.

For nearly an entire extra point, I'd go ahead and switch to Spland and the ff Cool Whip next time. Yum!

From chips to shavings...

So I've been inspired to change the name of this food blog... I was reading an article on Yahoo recently about the worst foods and how we're all fat and getting fatter by the day and blah blah blah and I came across these books. I must say, I'm totally intrigued...so, of course...I ordered them. They should be here next week so I'll let you know if they're worth the denairo or not.

Anyway, ta-da...welcome to "from chips to shavings"! And if you're curious what that means...I read that instead of getting chocolate chips/chunks in your cold stone, get chocolate shavings - it cuts out unnecessary calories. See why I ordered the books? Knowing this information could be the secret to my weight loss, hahaha!

Upside-Down Shepherd's Pie

My mom makes the most delicious shepherd's pie in the land. I have attempted to recreate it from time to time and while I can make a delicious one...it still doesn't hold a candle to her's. With that said...neither are terribly low-cal so I decided to give this recipe a shot.

yield: 4 nice sized servings

3/4 lb new potatoes (instead we used 1 pkg of Idahoan instant taters)
1/2 cup of water (and 2 cups of water per tater instructions)
1/4 cup of Kraft Tuscan House Italian Dressing & Marinade
1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 onion: chopped (we used the dried minced ones)
1 cup frozen corn
1 tomato: chopped (we didn't use tomato)
1/3 cup shredded cheese (we did 1/2 cups because we're cheese addicts)

1. preheat oven to 400-degrees
2. pour dressing into skillet and add ground beef and onion to cook
3. while browning the ground beef, prepare your potatoes in the microwave
4. once taters are done, press into the bottom of your baking dish (no need to spray it)
5. once ground beef is cooked through, add corn and cook until corn is warm
6. top taters with meat mixture and cheese
7. cover and bake 20 mins
8. uncover and bake another 5 mins

Our overall reaction on this was good. It had a nice but calm flavor...and Mike, Mr. I Add Spices To Everything I Eat No Matter What Is Already On It...enjoyed it and didn't add anything extra...so that says A LOT! In fact, the dressing with the ground beef would make a tasty loose meat for sandwiches. I'll definitely do this sometime. Probably soon since I have the dressing now, ha! Anyway, after you do all the math with our changes...it came out to just over 420 calories per serving...and like I said, they are nice sized servings so it is worth it. And it is a hearty meal so that is refreshing with a low-cal bill. This is a DEFINITE keeper and totally worth sharing :)



At 4 servings, it is 10 ww pts per serving. You probably could say you get 6 servings on this, but in reality for me...I needed it to be 4 servings to feel satisfied.

Bistro Chicken Pasta Salad

I got this recipe from kraftfoods.com and it is a great recipe for entertaining. The only warning that Mike and I could come up with is that if you don't like feta, this dish is definitely not for you...the feta makes the entire dish so it isn't something you could "do without".

yield: 4 servings

2 cups cooked penne pasta
1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes (I cut up one roma)
1 pkg (4 oz) feta cheese
half a cup of light italian dressing (I used even less...probably more like a quarter cup)
1/3 cup basil leaves: cut into strips (I used a couple dashes of italian seasonings instead)
1/4 cup red onion: chopped
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (I didn't use these)
2 chicken breasts: cooked and cut into slices

1. toss all ingredients
2. serve warm or chilled (we had it warm)

This is an awesome dish for entertaining. It tastes like a lot of work but takes almost none. You could even use the precooked chicken breasts that they sell by the lunch meat if you were in a real hurry. We tossed everything together in a large frying pan so the cheese would melt a little. One of Mike's first comments on this dish was, "I'm going to over eat." It has a lot of flavor and at 290 calories a serving - is shockingly healthy!
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Manwich (a healthy option)

Okay, so don't laugh... I tried manwich last night for the first time at the recommendation of a friend. And while I'd say that overall it isn't really my sort of thing - what a great way to change up a meal! So this isn't really a recipe, persay, but it is an idea if you're working on healthier meals when you are craving something a bit heavier.

yield: 4-6 sandwiches

pkg of village hearth italian buns (80 cals a bun, if you can beat that, let me know)
2% american cheese slices (or go fat-free if you can)
1 lb hamburger: browned
1 can manwich

1. stir the manwich in with the hamburger
2. toast each bun in the toaster (adds a little flair), you could also broil with spray butter and garlic salt for a little more flavor
3. top bun with cheese and manwich
4. pig out

After I added everything up on calorieking.com, I was happy with the results. It comes out to 350 calories per sandwich...and they are filling. The buns are big and 4 ounces of manwich goes a long way. We had our manwiches with a serving of baked chips (90 calories). So for 440 calories, I was feeling pretty full...definitely worth posting about :)

At the 4 servings...if you use the 2% cheese it is 6.5 ww pts, with ff cheese it is 6.25 ww pts.
At the 6 servings...if you use the 2% cheese it is 4.5 ww pts, with ff cheese it is 4.7 ww pts.

In conclusion, just use the 2% cheese if it's cheaper...

Taco Salad

This is sort of one of those "no brainers" but I'm sharing it because it is a staple in our house...ESPECIALLY when we're trying to eat more healthy.

yield: ~4 salads

1 bag of salad (or shredded lettuce, I go for whatever is on sale)
1 can of black beans: drained and rinsed
1/4 cup shredded cheese
salsa
baked doritos (we get the bundle with the lunch size packs so those work perfectly): crushed
jalapenos
salsa
1 lb ground beef: browned (I season with s & p and then some onions)

1. place desired amount of salad/lettuce on plate
2. top with black beans, cheese, doritos, jalapenos
3. throw some beef on there
4. top with salsa
5. ENJOY

We figured that if you did a plate-sized salad like this, it'd be right about 300 calories. Where can you go wrong with a plate full of food for 300 calories?

Got any special taco salad tips that you use?? Make sure to share if you do!

Oh, sometimes - throw a can of corn in with your black beans...and a final "P.S." - if you don't love the salsa you're using, this could ruin the dish. Normally I love it but last night I was out of my normal salsa so I used another kind and while the salad was still tastey, it wasn't all it could be for me.

As this recipe goes, it'd be 10 ww pts per serving. If you switched from ground beef to the precooked Louis Rich chicken breast strips (southwestern flavor is perfect for this), then you drop down to 8.5 ww pts.

Garlic Bread

I would say I'm still playing around with this recipe but only because I like to...homemade garlic bread is a staple in our household (but not for much longer with our diet looming on the horizon). Feel free to play around with this recipe, but the base to it is a keeper!

yield: lots of slices depending on the size of your loaf

one french loaf (sliced or not, doesn't matter)
1 stick of butter: softened
3/4 cup of ricotta cheese (I used the low-fat version)
1/2 cup of shredded italian cheese mix (romano, parmesan & asiago)
~ 1 tsp or so of garlic salt (this is to taste so it'll take some taste testing)
~ 1/2 tsp or so of paprika
1 tsp of dried parsley flakes (moreso for looks than anything)

1. Preheat the oven to 375-degrees.
2. Mix the butter with the cheeses and spices. Taste a little to see if it is salty enough or not and adjust with your garlic salt measurements...trust me, a bland garlic bread is no good. We use salt sense so for a little extra health kick, I'd recommend that.
3. Once it is all good and mixed, set the mixture aside.
4. If your loaf is not sliced, go ahead and either cut in half (like it is a sandwich) or slice.
5. Go ahead and spread the mixture evenly on your bread.
6. Bake about 10 mins, you really need to watch it so it doesn't get overdone and become a crouton.
7. Once your 10 minutes is up, turn your oven to broil on low and broil for an additional 3-5 mins. 8. Let cool 5-10 minutes before serving, enjoy!

We do this with pasta, pizza, steak...you name it and we like garlic bread with it! Perhaps that is why we are going on a diet, ha! Here is the before and after...

My return :)

I am returning to the food blog for 2009...hopefully I'll keep it up and going throughout the year. Mike and I are on a quest for a healthier lifestyle (again, blah blah blah) and we're determined to make it stick this time. We love roller coasters but are sick and tired of looking back at our "thinner days" and wondering what happened. So this is it. Here we go. My intention is to update this food blog weekly (give or take, of course) and hopefully you'll get some healthier recipes from it, similar to what I was originally trying to do...then I found that taco soup recipe and fell off the wagon - haha! So, with all that said - welcome back to our food blog and let's hope this try is a success! Feel free to email me or post comments if you have any questions or suggestions or even if you've changed the recipe up a little differently - PLEASE SHARE :)