Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I did not have to cook the whole meal so I made:

2 Weight Watchers Recipes

Green Beans with Mushrooms and Crisp Onion Crumbs - 2 points

Sweet-Orange Roasted Baby Carrots (Kid-Friendly) - 1 point

They got RAVE reviews!

I also made our family dip:
1 - 16 oz containe of reduce fat sour cream
About 1/2 - 1T of Beau Monde seasoning
About 1/2-1T of Spaghetti Sauce seasoning (recipe by Spice Islands)
Blend together to taste.

What's for Dinner?

Another unplanned night...

I was hoping to make Lake Erie perch but I didn't make the marinade sooo...

We had salmon burgers on the grill and I re-heated some green beans we had last week that had lemon juice, garlic, and pepper on them.

Quick horsdoevres were multigrain tostitos chips with salsa.

What's for Dinner ... at the last minute?

Heated up some Progresso Italian Vegetable soup, the Weight Watchers 0 point kind.

Grilled cheese sandwiches, use 2 slices of fat free american cheese and it's creamy and tasty!

Just right for a late supper.

Tastefully Simple Open House

I went to my sister's open house for her products.

She made

-stuffed mushrooms that had a italian cheeseball mix as the stuffing
-bourbon glazed carrots
-lasagna soup
-creamy wild rice soup
-butterscotch dessert cheese ball
-warm artichoke and spinach dip
-roasted chicken with herbed seasoning

It was all very tasty and I couldn't put down those mushrooms!

Check them out at www.tastefullysimple.com

Friday night feast!

We had the most tasty dinner!

* filet steaks marinated in Tastefully Simple Merlot sauce
* shrimp (already cooked) in a foil packet to warm on the grill with Smart Balance butter and minced garlic
* sliced potatoes drizzles with the seasoned marinade that my fresh mozzarella cheese was in and put into a foil packet on the grill
* a nice Merlot

DELICIOUS!!!! It was just mouthwatering... put some reduced fat sour cream on the potatoes and they were tasty.

Ruined dinner?

Nope! We forgot to turn the crockpot on to cook a pork tenderloin in italian dressing. So I turned it on high when I got home and it cooked in there about an hour and then we grilled it!

Served with the Italian dressing heated and some white rice.

What's for Dinner?

Tonight it was quick!

Salmon burgers (from the freezer)
Sugar snap peas in a foil pouch with about 1Tbl of butter and some butter spray and cooked on the grill
Rice pilaf from a box

It all turned out tasty and filling. I put my burger on a bun with some light mayonnaise, slice of tomato and some pickle slices.

A tasty salad!

For Dinner tonight we kind of had a quick hodge podge of things I wanted to use in the fridge.

SALAD

Mixed salad greens
6-10 small fresh marinated mozzarella balls, with oil
tomato slices
Drizzle some balsamic vinegar to cut the oil from the mozzarella
Salt and Pepper

Toss it all together for a tasty salad!

The mozzarella balls I got fresh at BJs in the refrigerated cheese section, they are marinated in an herbed oil. Very tasty right out of the container or on salads.

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Marinated Flank Steak

Coat with Tastefully Simple's Merlot sauce and marinate 24 hours in the refrigerator
Grill with sauce on it to doneness, we like it medium rare

Let stand a few minutes and slice with the grain.

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Roasted red potatoes

Spray nonstick spray on foil
Put potatoes on foil
Drizzle with olive oil
Sprinkle with fresh italian parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

Fold up foil and shake
Put on grill for about 30 minutes until potatoes are fork tender

Serve and cut up, drizzle any excess oil on them and salt and pepper

Beef Stew with Peppers Slow cooker style...

Put it all in the crockpot and turn on low... no prepping such as sauteing or browning of meat. Cook for 8 hours on Low.

1.5 pounds stew meat
2T vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic (I used minced garlic, 3 T)
1 can of diced tomatoes drained
3 red bell papers cored seeded and cut in 1" strips (I used 2 HUGE ones)
dried oregano to taste
2T soy sauce
2T instant tapioca
2T capers (top at the end if desired) I did not use these.

Cook it all on low for 8 hours....

This wasn't a thick stew but served over baked potato with some butter spray it was filling and delicious!

Adapted from All You Magazine

Slow Cooker White Bean and Chicken Chili

YUM!

I just put it all in the crockpot and turned it on for about 8 hours.

1-15oz cans white beans rinsed and drained
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1T vegetable oil
2 chicken breasts (about 3 pounds) [I used 4 boneless, skiness chicken breasts]
2 onions, chopped
2 -4oz cans roasted green chilies, drained
1 T ground cumin

Dump it all in the slow cooker and cook on low for aobut 7-8 hours!

Serve with a tasty salad!

Slow Cooker Lasagna

Well it turned out pretty good, a tad burnt because I got home later than anticipated.

I mixed a jar of spaghetti sauce with meat with 1 chopped onion, minced garlic, and about 1 tsp of oregano and stirred and heated through.

Mix 12 oz of low fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
and 16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Put some sauce on the bottom of the crock pot
Layer uncooked noodles to fit in the pan, break if needed.
Spoon some (about 1/3) of cheese mixture on noodles
Top with some sauce
Layer again, noodles, cheese mix, sauce
then noodles, cheese mix, sauce and top with extra mozzarella

Cook on low for about 7-8 hours.

We had with some merlot and some texas toast garlic bread with it.

YUMMY!!!


Tomorrow night: Chicken and white bean chili from All You magazine

Trying a new recipe....

Tomorrow is my first day at work so I am trying a new crockpot (slow cooker) recipe.

Lasagna in the crockpot!

I'll be using it a lot since I drive 2 hours a day. We did put a light timer on the crockpot so I can get it ready the night before and set it to turn on at a "normal" time of the morning since I'll be leaving around 6:15am and returning around the same time. 12 hours is too long to be cooking:-)

Check back for recipe and review!