Baked Spaghetti Carbonara

Weight Watchers version of Carbonara. It wasn't too bad but I would definitely add more spices. Also, I don't have a pie pan so I put it in a square baking dish. I don't think it makes a difference. I served it with a side of roasted peppers. Those were friggin' delicious but I accidently spilled too much rosemary on them so that flavor was a little intense.

Ingredients

8 oz uncooked whole-wheat spaghetti
4 slice(s) uncooked turkey bacon, diced
2 medium leek(s), chopped (white parts only)
3 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly chopped
1 1/4 cup(s) fat-free skim milk
1 cup(s) fat-free egg substitute
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1.Preheat oven to 375ºF.

2.Cook spaghetti according to package directions (without added oil); drain and transfer to a 9-inch, deep-dish pie plate.

3. Meanwhile, cook bacon in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add leeks and garlic; cook 2 minutes. Stir in oregano, salt and pepper; cook 1 minute. Spoon bacon mixture evenly over spaghetti in pie plate.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg substitute, garlic powder and onion powder; pour over spaghetti mixture and sprinkle with cheese.

5. Place pie plate on a baking sheet and bake until filling is set and top is golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly before slicing into 6 pieces.

Serving size: 1 slice - 5 points. Veggies - 1 point - just because of the cooking spray

Baked Turkey Chimichangas

This is part of the Weight Watchers Smart Comfort Food Series. I served it with baked cheese and refried bean nachos. Both Ben and Nick loved them. They had a great taste. I couldn't find the Monterey Jack cheese so I ended up using chedder.

Ingredients

2 spray(s) cooking spray
1/2 pound(s) lean ground turkey
16 oz fat-free canned refried beans
1 3/4 cup(s) salsa
4 1/2 oz canned green chili peppers, mild, drained and diced
1 tsp chili powder
3 tbsp scallion(s), thinly sliced
1 cup(s) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese
8 large burrito-size wheat flour tortilla(s)
1 cup(s) salsa
1/2 cup(s) fat-free sour cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray. Coat a 13- X 9- X 2-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Add turkey to skillet and cook over medium-high heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain any excess liquid from pan and then add beans, 1 3/4 cups of salsa, chili peppers, chili powder and scallions. Cook until heated through, about 3 minutes; stir in cheese.

3. Meanwhile, wrap tortillas in foil; warm in oven for 10 minutes.

4. Assemble chimichangas by spooning about 1/2 cup of turkey mixture onto each tortilla; fold in sides and roll up.

5. Place chimichangas, seam-side down, in prepared baking dish. Bake, uncovered, until tortillas are crisp and browned, about 20 minutes. Serve each topped with 2 tablespoons of salsa and 1 tablespoon of sour cream.

Serving size: 1 chimi - 5 points

Pork Lo Mein and Egg Rolls

This is a Weight Watchers recipe and I personlly thought the points values for the pork were kind of high for what you get. Like I said before, I prefer large volume and low points. The egg rolls, on the other hand, were awesome! 1 point per egg roll!! I had to go to a lot of stores to find egg roll wrappers. Nick finally found spring roll wrappers at an Asian market in Ann Arbor. I don't think they are the same thing but they worked just fine. It also made me start brainstorming that you can use the wrappers and stuff just about anything inside.....spring roll burritos, anyone?? Stay tuned for future posts!

Pork Lo Mein Ingredients
8 oz. lean pork tenderloin - cut into strips
3 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
1 TBSP minced garlic
2 TBSP fresh ginger - peeled and minced
8 oz. uncooked linguini
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 c. carrots - thinly sliced
1 tsp. canola oil
4 oz. buttom or shiitake mushroom caps - sliced
1/2 c. reduced sodium chicken broth
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1/3 c. scallions - sliced

Pork Lo Mein Instructions
1. In a med. bowl, toss pork with 2 TBSP of soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Let stand 20 min.

2. Meanwhile, cook linguini in a large pot of lightly salted water. Add carrots to pot 5 min before linguini will be done. Drain and set aside.

3. Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over med/high heat. Add mushrooms and pork. Increase heat to high and stir fry until mushrooms release their liquid and become lightly browned and pork is cooked through. About 6 min.

4. Add drained linguini and carrots, broth, remaining soy sauce and sesame oil to skillet. Toss over low heat until combined. Remove from heat and stir in scallions. Serve immediately.

Egg R0ll Ingredients
1 head Chinese cabbage - outer leaves removed - shredded
2 med. carrots - peeled and shredded
2 garlic cloves - minced
2 scallions - white and green parts - chopped
1 TBSP fresh ginger - peeled and minced OR 1/2 tsp dried
1 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp. cornstarch
8 average egg roll wrappers - about 1/2 oz. each
4 sprays olive oil cooking spray

Egg Roll Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Place cabbagee in a bowl and cover. Microwave on high until wilted, about 4 min. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Add carrots, garlic, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, cornstarch and oil. Mix well.

3. Arrange egg roll wrappers oon a clean, dry surface. Spoon cabbage mixture diagonally onto each wrapper. Folder over one corner to cover filling. Fold up borth corners. Moisten edges of remaining flap with water and roll up wrapper jellyroll style until sealed. Transfer egg rolls to prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray.

4. Bake until golden brown, about 25 min. Serve hot.

Serving size - pork - 1 1/4 c. - 7 points. Egg Rolls - 1 roll - 1 point

White Turkey Chili - Crock Pot

Weight Watchers Crock Pot chili. This was tasty and easy. I didn't use the full 2 pounds of turkey but it was still good. Nick is pretty much obsessed with cilantro so he was excited to see that this recipe calls for it. In the bottom left corner of the picture is a spoon. It looks a little weird.

Ingredients

1 spray cooking spray

2 lbs uncooked ground turkey breast

1 large onion - chopped

2 garlic cloves - chopped

32 oz. chicken broth

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp chili powder

30 oz. canned white beans - drained and rinsed

3 TBSP fresh lime juice

1/4 c. fresh cilantro - coarsely chopped

Instructions

1. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray. Cook turkey, onion and garlic over med/high heat,stirring occasionally, until turkey is browned - about 10 min. Drain off and fat.

2. Add turkey mixture and remaining ingredients to a crock pot. Cover and cook on low heat for at least 4 hours. Top with extra cilantro before serving.

Serving size - 1 c. - 5 points

Baked Blueberry Peach French Toast

I started making this on Saturday morning and as I was pulling it out of the oven, Nick reminded me that we were meeting his parents for lunch at 11am. It was 10:30. So, into the fridge the dish went and we ate it the next day. I think I would cook it a little longer because it tasted a little mushy to me. Either that or sticking it in the fridge overnight might have messed it up too. FYI - you can make it up until the point that you have to bake it. Cover it and then just cook it when you're ready. Nick and Ben both liked it.

Ingredients

16 slices light whole wheat bread - I don't know what they are talking about here. I only used 12ish and that was cramming them together.

1 c. blueberries - fresh OR frozen - thawed

1 c. peaches - chopped - fresh OR frozen - thawed

2 1/2 cc. fat free skim milk

2 c. fat free egg substitute

2 TBSP sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 TBSP powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Arrange 8 (or in my case, 6) slices of bread in bottom of a 9x13 inch basking dish, squishing slices together to make one layer. Sprinkle blueberries and peaches over top.

3. In a med. bowl, whisk together milk, egg substitute, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Pour half of milk mixture over fruit and top with another layer of bread. Pour remaining milk mixture over bread. Using a spatula, press top layer of bread down to saturate with milk mixture.

4. Cover dish with foil and bake 20 min. Uncover and bake until egg mixture is set and top is golden brown, about 10 min more. Cool slightly before sifting powdered sugar over top. Slice into 8 pieces.

Serving size - 1 piece - 4 points

Baked Mac & Cheese plus Broccoli with Cheese Sauce

Mac and cheese that is waist line friendly!!! I made it while Nick ran to the store and ended up leaving it in the oven for an extra 10 min waiting for him to get home, which soaked up some of the extra cheese. I used some of the cheese sauce from the broccoli and it was still super yummy!! I would definitely recommend this one!! The broccoli was good. I was indifferent to the cheese sauce but added it anyway in an attempt to convince Ben that veggies can be tasty. He said "I didn't mind them". He is too funny. He has started figuring out that I count the points to everything and now he wants to know how many points are in the foods he eats. Interesting twist - he thinks the most points wins! Nick tried telling him it's like golf but I think it got lost in translation.

Mac & Cheese Ingredients

12 oz. uncooked macaroni, elbow type - I used Ronzoni Smart Taste which shaves off a point

1/2 c. fat free sour cream

12 oz. fat free evaporated milk

8 oz. low fat chedder - shredded

1 TBSP. dijon mustard

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 TBSP dried bread crumbs

2 TBSP grated parmesan cheese

Mac & Cheese Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and transfer to a bowl. While pasta is still hot, stir in sour cream and set aside.

3. Heat milk in a small saucepan over med heat until tiny bubbles appear just around the edges. Apparently, this is called scalding. Reduce heat to low, add cheese and simmer until cheese melts, stirring constantly with a wire whisk, about 2 min. Remove from heat and stir in mustard, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

4. Add cheese mixture to pasta and mix well. Transfer to a 3 quart casserole dish.

5. Combine bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over pasta.

6. Bake until top is golden. About 30 min.

Broccoli Ingredients

1 lb. fresh broccoli florets

1 1/2 c. fat free skim milk

2 TBSP flour

3/4 c. low fat shredded chedder

2 tsp. dijon mustard

3/4 tsp salt

Broccoli Instructions

1. Steam broccoli until crisp-tender. I threw it in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap and threw it in the microwave for about 5 min. Drain off excess water once steamed.

2. Meanwhile, in a med saucepan, whisk together milk and flour until blended. Place over med/high heat and bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat to low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 min. Remove from heat. (as I type this I just realized I skipped the whole thickening step...I guess that explains why my sauce was a little runny) Whisk in cheese until melted. Whisk in mustard and salt.

3. Pour sauce over broccoli and toss until coated. FYI - there is a lot of cheese sauce for the amount of broccoli. I served the broccoli and then drizzled cheese sauce over top. Or you can add more broccoli to the recipe.

Serving size - Mac & Cheese - 1 c. - 5 points - 4 points with ronzoni pasta. Broccoli - 1 c. - 2 points

Weight Watchers Cheese Sticks

Weight Watchers did this whole special on remaking comfort food so I printed a lot of the recipes. This was one of them. I am using the stock photo because I kept them in the oven about 30 seconds too long and the cheese melted just a bit too much and they turned into cheese patties instead of cheese sticks. They still tasted fabulous but not so pretty. Anyway, my only recommendation is to pay attention to the time because if you miss the point to take them out you end up with mush. Also, I want to share a grocery store find that I use in this recipe. Aunt Millie's Fiber for Life bread - 2 slices for just 1 point. 1 slice is actually ZERO points.

Ingredients

2 sprays olive oil cooking spray

8 oz. canned tomato sauce

2 tsp. ground oregano

3 slices reduced calorie wheat bread - torn

1 tsp. dried thyme

8 oz. park skim mozzarella cheese - cut into 8 finger-like shapes

2 TBSP. honey mustard

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. In a small saucepan, combine tomato sauce and 1 tsp. of oregano. Set pan over low heat and simmer 10 min.

3. Meanwhile, in a food processor (or blender, in my case - see previous post) combine bread, remaining tsp. oregano and thyme. Process until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Place crumbs in shallow bowl.

4. Coat cheese sticks with honey mustard. Transfer cheese to bread crumb mixture and turn to coat. Arrange cheese on prepared baking sheet and lightly coatt with cooking spray.

5. Bake until golden brown - about 4-5 min. Serve with warmed tomato sauce on the side.

Serving size - 2 sticks and 1/4 c. sauce - 4 points