Cauliflower with Cheese and Bread Crumbs

Monday, the day I happened to do my grocery shopping, I also happened to be having an extreme vegetable craving. So, now I have a fridge full of fresh produce, and I'm looking for creative, new ways to cook them. I stumbled across this recipe for cauliflower and decided to give it a try. It was pretty good. Like most things, it would be better with extra cheese! :-)

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese
non-stick cook spray
garlic salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cut cauliflower into florets and cook in a steamer basket until tender.  Add bread crumbs, garlic salt and pepper to a skillet sprayed with cooking spray.  Cook until bread crumbs are browned.  When cauliflower is tender add it to the skillet with bread crumbs; stir to mix.  Sprinkle cheese over top and allow to melt.

Recipe makes 4 serving.  Each serving is one weight watcher point.

Basic Vegetable Soup

I love this soup because it's so adaptable! I rarely make it the same way twice. Once you've made the broth, you can add just about any veggies you like. It's a perfect cold-weather meal and a great way to use up leftover veggies.

Ingredients:
(Basic Broth)
1 large can V8 vegetable juice (48 oz)
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, sliced thin
3 cups of water
6 beef or vegetable bouillon cubes
black pepper to taste
(vegetables/add in ideas)
you can use fresh, frozen or canned veggies.
mixed veggies
carrots
potatoes
corn
green beans
spinach
any kind of beans (kidney, lima, etc.)
diced tomatoes
zucchini & squash
broccoli & cauliflower
any variety of pasta
and the list could go on and on....

Directions:
add all ingredients except pasta to the crock pot and cook on low for at least 6 hours. Frozen and fresh vegetables may require longer cooking times. If you are adding pasta to the soup, I suggest cooking your pasta separately and adding it to the soup just before serving. If you cook the pasta in the crock pot it tends to absorbs too much of the broth. I like to serve this soup with oyster crackers and grilled cheese sandwiches.

The basic broth for this soup is zero weight watcher points. The addition of pasta and starchy vegetables will add points.

Creamy Chicken & Broccoli Over Rice

Can I just say that I LOVE the crock pot. I am seriously sick today....like finding it hard to move....possibly might die sick! :-) But of course, dinner still must get made. So I quickly came up with this recipe, tossed in the ingredients and let the crock pot do the rest. It was that simple and surprisingly good!

Ingredients:
8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 cans 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup Kraft fat free parmesan cheese
1 bag frozen brocoli
1/2 TBS garlic salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
rice

Directions:
Put chicken in crock pot and cover with soup. Sprinkle spices and parmesan cheese over top and cook on low for 6 hours.About a half an hour before serving add broccoli to a  pot of water and cook on the stove over high heat until broccoli is tender. Shred chicken with a fork and return to crock pot. Drain broccoli and add to chicken mixture. Serve over hot rice.

The chicken mixture is 4 points if divided into 4 servings. White rice is 2 points for a 1/2 cup or 4 points for cup.

Fruit Dip

I made this the other day for a party, but I forgot to take a picture. So the picture above is not mine; it was just an image I found on the internet. Anyway, this recipe is so easy, inexepensive and yummy!

Ingredients:
1 8 oz. tub fat free cool whip (thawed)
1 small box vanilla instant pudding

Directions:
Combine cool whip and dry pudding mix. Stir with an electric mixer until completely blended.(about 2-3 minutes) If you don't mix thoroughly, the pudding will not dissolve and taste grainy. Refrigerate for at least an hour and serve with a variety of fresh fruits.

If you divide the dip into six servings, each serving is 3 points. Be sure to add additional points for fruit.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Ingredients:
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders
1/4 cup reduced fat, grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbs olive oil

Directions:
Mix cheese, garlic salt and pepper together in a small bowl.  Rub parmesan cheese mixture into both sides of chicken breasts.  Heat oil over medium low heat.  Add chicken breasts and cook for 7 minutes on each side. (depends upon the size and thickness of chicken)

Each serving is around 4 weight watcher points if this is divided into 4 servings..

Dijon Herbed Chicken

Just tried this today, and it was great! It was so easy!

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp. light Italian salad dressing
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 lb total)

Preparation:

Combine mustard and salad dressing in shallow dish. Mix bread crumbs, parsley, thyme, and basil in another dish. Spread mustard mixture on both sides of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, then pat crumb mixture onto both sides, pressing firmly. Bake at 400 degrees for 19-24 minutes until chicken registers 160 degrees F on an instant-read meat thermometer. 

 

Serves 4.  Each serving is 6 weight watcher points.

Spinach and Cheese Manicotti

This was delicious, but... I'm not going to lie to you....it wasn't a quick, throw-together meal. And it was kind of messy to make. :-) I felt the results were worth it, but you could make it simpler by using jumbo shells which are easier to fill than manicotti noodles. You could also layer the filling in between lasagna noodles. Filling the manicotti was the hardest part.

Ingredients:
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
14 manicotti shells
3 cups low-fat cottage cheese
1 jar pasta sauce
1/4 cup Kraft reduced-fat parmesan cheese
1 cup Italian blend shredded cheese (I found this at Aldi - it was a mix of parmesan, mozz. and ramano)
1 egg white
1 TBS orgegano
1 TBS basil
1/2 TBS garlic salt
black pepper to taste

Directions:
dd pasta to boiling water and cook for about 9 minutes; drain and set aside to cool.  In a large bowl mix cottage cheese, parmesan, shredded cheese and egg white.  Add spices and 3 TBS of pasta sauce to the cheese mixture; stir well.  Fold in spinach.  Cover the bottom of a baking dish with a thin layer of pasta sauce. Add cheese mixture to a large zip-loc bag and snip off one corner of bag.  Squeeze cheese mixture into each manicotti noodle.  Line filled noddles in the baking dish.  Pour remaining pasta sauce over the filled manicotti. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

2 manicotti are 7 weight watcher points.