Cajun Dirty Rice

I hadn't made this in while, and I forgot how much I love it. I included the recipe for the creole seasoning, but you can also purchase it at the store.

 Ingredients:

1 pound  93/7 lean ground beef
1/2 cup finely diced bell pepper (green or red)
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning
4 cups long grain rice, cooked and drained
1/4 cup water (more as needed)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper


Directions:

In fry pan stir ground beef and bell pepper. Cook over medium high heat until beef loses its pink color and bell pepper is soft. Remove excess grease. Turn temperature down to medium or medium low. Add remaining ingredients; stir and cook together until ground beef is completely cooked and liquid is gone - about 25 to 35 minutes. More Creole seasoning may be added for taste.

Creole seasoning

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried leaf thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight container. Makes about 2/3 cup.

Each one cup serving is 6 weight watchers points.

Caramel Pecan Sticky Rolls

This is my first time making this recipe. We're having breakfast in Sunday school on Easter morning, so I thought I'd give these a try! I doubled the recipe and also tweaked it to make "mini" rolls :-) This did make a mess in the muffin tins. I'm soaking them right now, so just be prepared to scrub!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fat-free caramel-flavored sundae syrup

cooking spray

1 8 ounce can refrigerated reduced-fat crescent roll

1/4 cup brown sugar -- firmly packed

2 tablespoons pecans -- finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons syrup into each of 8 muffin cups coated with cooking spray; set aside. Unroll crescent roll dough, and separate into rectangles. Combine brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over each rectangle, pressing gently into dough. Beginning at 1 long edge, roll up jelly-roll fashion. Pinch ends of dough to seal. Cut each roll into 6 slices. Place 3 slices, cut sides down, (in a clover type shape) in prepared muffin cups. Bake at 375 for 14 minutes. Run a knife around edges of cups; invert onto a platter. To make mini rolls: Add on 1/2 tsp of caramel to each muffin cup. Prepare the same, but add only one slice per muffin tin instead of three. Watch closely. They will bake much faster!

This recipe makes 8 large rolls at 4 weight watcher points a piece or 48 mini rolls at one point a piece.

Garlic & Dill New Potatoes (similar to Boston Market's)

Ingredients

 8 medium red potatoes

 2 tablespoons Brummel & Brown spread, melted

 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 2 cloves)

 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cut the potatoes in bite-sized pieces.  Steam the sliced potatoes on a steamer rack over boiling water in a large, covered saucepan for 10 minutes, or until the tip of a knife encounters just a little resistance when stuck into the potatoes. The potatoes will cook a bit more after they come off the heat, so you want to be sure not to overcook them. Combine the melted butter, dill, garlic, and salt in a small bowl. When the potatoes are cooked, dump them into a medium bowl.  Pour the garlic butter over the potatoes and then gently toss the potatoes until they are well-coated.  Be careful not to toss the potatoes too much or they may start to fall apart, and you don't want mashed potatoes.

This recipe makes 4 servings at 2 weight watchers points per serving.

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I haven't made this in a while, and I forgot how much I LOVE it! I served the stuffed chicken breasts with garlic new potatoes (I'll post that recipe tomorrow) and petite green beans.

Ingredients:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 Tbs of crumbled feta per chicken breast
1/2 cup fresh baby leaf spinach

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim chicken of all fat.  Pound chicken to make it thinner or butterfly it if it is a large chicken breast. Place chicken in a cooking dish.  Sprinkle one Tbs of feta over each chicken breast and top with 5-6 spinach leaves.  Roll chicken from small to large end; secure with a toothpick if necessary. Bake chicken seam side down until it is cooked through and juices are no longer pink.

Weight watcher points depend on the size of the chicken breast.  Add one point for each ounce of chicken plus one point for the feta cheese.

Ground Beef & Potato Stew

Well, I'm still getting used to my new crock pot, and I definitely over cooked this. It was a little on the mushy side as you can see in the picture, but I felt that it still deserved posting.  It had a really good flavor, and it was very filling.

Ingredients:

2 small sweet potatoes with skin
5 medium sized red potatoes with skin
1 lbs 93/7 lean ground beef
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 1/2 cups reduced sodium tomato juice
2 beef bullion cubes
1 cup water
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cloves of  garlic minced

Directions:

Brown ground beef on the stove top and add to crock pot. Scrub and cut potatoes into bite size chunks; add to crock pot.  Add all remaining ingredients.  Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or until potatoes are tender.

This yields six servings at 6 weight watcher points per serving.

The Cadillac of Crock Pots

I just purchased the Cadillac of crock pots! No joke! It does everything but eat the food for you. This weekend  a cook book fell off the top of the fridge and broke my previous crock pot. I was bummed at first, but then I realized that I would get to pick out a new one. My husband deserves props for not fainting when I told him how much I wanted to spend! He was actually very supportive about it. We rely on the crock pot at least 4 days out of the week because of our work schedules. I have dinner cooking in it right now, so tonight we will see if  it works as well I'm hoping!

Crock Pot Breakfast Casserole

I came up with the recipe last night, and I was pretty happy with how it came out.  I still feel like it could use a little more flavor.  I think next time I might substitute lean diced ham for the bacon! I also added salsa to mine because I love eggs with salsa, but you could also serve with Tabasco sauce or ketchup.

Ingredients:

10 slices turkey bacon
1 small bag (1 lb 4 oz.) refrigerated hash browns (if you use frozen, thaw first)
12 egg whites
1 1/2 cups 2% shredded cheddar
salt & pepper to taste
salsa (optional)

Directions:

Cook bacon slices in a skillet until crisp; crumble and set aside.  Spray the bottom of the crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Layer 1/2 of the hash browns in the bottom of the crock pot; top with 1/2 of the cheese and 1/2 of the bacon.  Repeat layers one more time.  Add eggs, salt and pepper (to taste) in a bowl and mix.  Pour eggs over hash brown layers in the crock pot. Cook on low 3-5 hours or until eggs are cooked and firm.  Cut into slices and serve with salsa.

This makes six servings at 5.5 weight watchers points per serving.