Chicken Tortellini Soup

This soup is so yummy!  I love tortellini anyway, and I had a craving for chicken noodle soup one night, so I made up this recipe using egg noodles but then the next time I used tortellini, and my family loved it.  It is also surprisingly low in calories and high in protein.  I have been making it once a week for about 3 weeks now and we aren't tired of it yet.  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

1 onion, diced

3 celery stalks, chopped

4 medium carrots, chopped

4 Tbsp butter

8 cups chicken broth

24oz raw chicken breasts, chopped

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tsp salt or to taste

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

2 bay leaves

19oz bag frozen cheese tortellini

2 cups milk

1/4 cup cream

1/4 cup cornstarch

Directions

Melt butter over medium high heat.  Add onion, celery and carrots and saute for about 5 minutes.  Add chicken broth, chicken, pepper, salt, basil, oregano, and bay leaves.  Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for about 15 minutes.  Whisk together the milk, cream, and cornstarch in a bowl.  Add frozen tortellini and milk mixture to soup and stir.  Bring to a boil and then lower heat to medium and cook for about 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally.  Enjoy!

Nutrition: 1 cup = 170 calories, 6.1g fat, 15.2g carbs, .5g fiber, 13.2g protein

Variation:  Instead of tortellini, use 4 cups of medium size egg noodles instead.  Creamy chicken noodle soup.  Yummy!

If you want this gluten/wheat free, use 4 cups brown rice noodles.

Apple Craisin Salad

When I had my very first baby, Craig, one of the meals that was brought to us included this delicious apple salad.  I had to have the recipe.  Unfortunately she doesn't write down the amounts so I had to do it by taste.  I usually make this with walnuts as well, but it's delicious without them too.  You can add more sugar or less lemon juice to make it sweeter if you like, but I wanted to keep this lighter and with the sweet apples and craisins, it balances out well.  This recipe is for a single serving, but I have made it for a large group and everyone loves it.  You could use different apples as well.

Ingredients
1 apple (I like gala)
3 Tbsp craisins
1 -2 Tbsp walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup Kraft mayo made with Olive Oil (or another mayo if you prefer)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cloves

Directions
Cut up your apple into small chunks and put in a bowl.  Add craisins and walnuts.  In a jar or small bowl, mix together mayo, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and cloves.  Pour 1 Tbsp of mixture over apple salad and put the rest in the fridge.

WW points/Calories:  3 points for the whole salad or 174 calories (without walnuts)

Light Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing

I set out to find a delicious light dressing.  I love my Nana's poppy seed dressing, but it is not really diet friendly.  I am doing Weight Watchers and needed to find a yummy dressing.  This is more than I could have hoped for.  I am not a huge salad person.  I like a good salad, but I'm not one to go order one at a restaurant usually or anything.  I LOVE this dressing!  I will eat this on a diet or not!  I have been eating it almost every day on a salad, sometimes twice a day.  My favorite combo so far is romaine, sunflower seeds, and craisins with this dressing.  I actually went to the store and bought 2 other light dressings that I found a website had rated as some of the top best light dressing.  I do not even want to touch those now due to this dressing.  It is a sweet and creamy, delicious dressing!  I know this would be wonderful on a spinach and strawberry salad.  I've also put grilled chicken on my salad and it's yummy that way too!  It is also super easy to make!

Ingredients
1/2 cup light mayo (I like to use the Kraft one made with Olive Oil)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk (1% or fat free)
2 Tbsp white vinegar
1 Tbsp poppy seeds

Directions
Combine all in a small jar, put on lid, shake vigorously until combined.  Store in fridge.

Weight Watcher Points/Calories: 2 Tbsp is only 1 point or 61 calories!

Delicious Broccoli Cheese Soup

So I've been playing around with my Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup, and I modified it a little bit to come up with this recipe, and it is absolutely delicious!  Best of all, it is only 1 Weight Watcher Point per cup and it doesn't taste like diet food.  My friend and her mom absolutely loved this soup and wanted the recipe.

Ingredients
6 cups chicken broth
2 lb frozen bags of broccoli florets or about 10 cups
cooking spray
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
8oz reduced fat velvetta cheese, cubed
1/4 cup cornstarch (leave out for low carb)
6 Tbsp light sour cream
1 cup water

Directions
Spray large stock pot with cooking spray.  Sautee onion on medium heat until tender.  Add chicken broth, broccoli, garlic powder, and salt to pot.  Bring a boil and then cook on medium, covered, 15-20 minutes. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch, 1 cup water, and sour cream until completely blended. Add corn starch and sour cream mix and cubed cheese to soup. Bring to a low boil and then reduce immediately to a simmer. Stir constantly until all cheese is melted and soup thickens.  Makes about 12-14 cups.

Weight Watcher Points: 1 point per cup or about 99 calories

Zucchini Bread

So I had never had zucchini bread before, but I am totally addicted now.  Now wait before you freak out after hearing "zucchini."  If you've never had zucchini bread, it's not what you might think.  No one in my family likes zucchini except me.  But, everyone loves this bread!  I honestly do not even taste the zucchini in it, as zucchini.  It's very similar to a friendship bread or banana bread type of taste.  I found the original recipe as one of the top recipes on allrecipes, but I modified a few things to make it healthier.  I reduced 1 cup of oil down to 2 Tbsp and replaced the rest with unsweetened applesauce.  I tried totally eliminating the oil once, and it was still delicious, but I feel the little bit of oil helps it be more moist.  I reduced the sugar by a little bit.  I add in 2 medium zucchinis, instead of just 2 cups, which is about 3-4 cups.  I also reduced the walnuts from 1 cup down to 2/3 cup, mainly to reduce the calorie content some.  I made these in bundt pans the first few times I made it (yes, I've had to make it a few times already), but I made them into muffins last night.  I honestly don't know if I would make this in loaf pans, only because with me adding all the zucchini in, it might overflow in loaf pans.  Two of my children like this without nuts, but the rest of us like it with nuts.

Ingredients
3 eggs***
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp canola oil***
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 medium zucchinis, grated
2/3 cup walnuts (leave out for nut free or children who don't like nuts)

Directions
Spray either 2 bundt pans (I only have one, so I used an angel food cake pan for my 2nd one) or spray muffin tins.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Beat eggs, applesauce, oil, sugar, and vanilla together in large bowl.  Mix together flour, salt, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together and then add to wet ingredients and mix well.  Stir in zucchini and nuts and combine well.  Pour into prepared pans.  If using bundt pans, bake for 1 hour.  If making muffins, bake for 22 minutes.  Makes 2 loaves or 36 muffins.

Weight Watcher points: only 2 points or 99 calories per muffin!  (without nuts)

***OR.....  I played around with the recipe and made it even lower in points, calories, and fat
sub 3 eggs for 1 egg and 3 egg whites
sub 2 Tbsp oil for 2 Tbsp melted light smart balance or Olivio
makes the muffins only 1.5 points per muffin or 90 calories per muffin! (this also cuts the fat by over half!)

Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix Clone

We love Jiffy cornbread muffin mix around here, but it's got some ingredients in it that I wanted to avoid, so I decided to make my own, and I found this recipe online and it tastes just like Jiffy.  I don't think I will ever buy Jiffy again.  It's cheaper too.  I already read that you can combine all the dry ingredients and save them in baggies for later and just add oil, egg, and milk later.  On a side note...  I have been researching how to photograph food, so I'm hoping to start improving my photos and replacing some of the old photos I don't like as much.  This was my first "new" photo I took.  This recipe also works great with Mexican Corn Cake. (just leave out egg and milk for corn muffin mix)

Ingredients
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp canola oil

1/3 cup milk
1 egg

Directions
Combine first 5 ingredients with a whisk.  Whisk in oil until smooth and all lumps are gone. 

To make corn muffins, preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Add milk and egg to corn muffin mix.  Fill sprayed muffin tins half full.  Bake 15 minutes.  Makes 6-8 muffins.  Or, pour into a small casserole dish and bake 15-20 minutes.

Egg free: I've made jiffy corn bread in the past without eggs by using my flax seed substitute seen on the right side of the page.

Calories/WW points: 4 weight watcher points, 170 calories, .9g fiber, 6g fat, 25.7g carbs, 3.7g protein

Low fat baked Ziti with Spinach

I got this off of the Skinny Taste blog.  It is absolutely delicious!  I served it on a Sunday afternoon to my family and my in laws, and we loved it.  I will definitely be making it again.

Ingredients
1 lb high fiber ziti, penne, or bow tie (I used Barilla whole grain penne and bow tie) (for Gluten Free - use brown rice pasta and cook 5 minutes less than directions say)
28oz crushed tomatoes
1 tsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
10oz fresh spinach, chopped (she used frozen, I prefer fresh)
1 tsp oregano
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil or I used 2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
8oz low fat cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 pan.  In a large pot of salted water, cook your pasta until al dente, drain, and return to pot.  Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan, add olive oil and saute garlic and spinach.  Add salt, pepper, crushed tomatoes, oregano, and basil.  Add sauce to the pasta and combine.  Add half the mozzarella, cottage cheese, and parmesan.  Mix well and add to 9x13.  Spread pasta evenly and then top with other half of mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes.  This is a great dish to prepare ahead of time and refrigerate.  Either let come to room temp for 30 minutes before baking or just bake for additional 10-15 minutes.

WW points: 1/8th of the casserole = 6 points or 9 points+ or 332 calories

Low-Yolk Egg Salad

So I usually avoid eating egg salad while on Weight Watchers because whole eggs plus mayo adds up really fast.  Well, I found this recipe on Skinny Taste, and it is delicious!  I thought I would really miss all the yolks in the eggs, but I didn't.  I also now love the discovery of light mayo!  It's only 1 point for 4 tsp vs 1 point per 1 tsp!  I honestly can't tell the difference, but I know many people don't like light mayo.  I bought Hellmann's because it was on sale, but I've heard different brands taste different.

Ingredients
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled
4 tsp Hellmann's Light Mayonnaise
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp chopped green onions or chives
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Separate the yolk from the egg whites and discard 3 of the yolks.  Chop up eggs and combine with the rest of the ingredients.  I like to use my potato masher to chop up my eggs.  I think it makes it a lot easier than the back of a fork.

WW points: 1/2 of the salad = 2 points!  or 81.2 calories

Makeover Spinach Salad Dressing

I was looking for a light, sweet dressing I could put on my spinach salad I made the other day. I modifed this dressing a little bit by using dried onion instead of fresh due to what I had on hand. I also ended up adding splenda to it because I felt it wasn't sweet enough. The end result was very yummy. I made my salad with baby spinach, sliced strawberries and blueberries, and it is delicious!

Ingredients
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup splenda
1 small onion, finely chopped OR 4 Tbsp dried minced onion
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp canola oil
4 tsp mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Store dressing in refrigerator.

WW points/Calories: 2 Tbsp is only 1 WW point or 56 calories

Crockpot Santa Fe Chicken

I found this on Gina's Skinny Taste website, a Weight Watcher food friendly blog. I really enjoyed this. Serve over rice and top it with cheese and sour cream, chopped green onions, or cilantro. I felt it had too much liquid when I was done, so next time I could cut back on the chicken broth. I also cut the cayenne pepper in half and it still had quite a bite to it.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs chicken breast
1 can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
1 can black beans, drained
8oz frozen corn, or 1 can drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (and more if you want to top it)
1 can chicken broth (I would cut back on this next time or leave it out)
3 scallions, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
salt to taste

Directions
Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt in the crockpot. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top. Cook on low for 10 hours or high for 6 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return to slow cooker and stir in.

WW points: 1 cup is 3 points, 190 calories, 1.5g fat, 5.6g fiber, 23.1g carbs, 21g protein

Amish White Bread

We absolutely LOVE my ricotta rolls, and so does everyone else I've ever made them for, but I don't always have ricotta on hand, so I wanted to try to find another yummy recipe, and I found this one, and it certainly comes in a very close second to my ricotta rolls. These are so soft and sweet and delicious! The first time I made them (because I've made them a few times since), all I did was literally stand there and butter them and hand them out and my family ate every single one straight from the pan. :-) I got the recipe from allrecipes originally.

Ingredients
1 cup hot water
1/3 cup sugar
1 packet of active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
3/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp canola/coconut/Olive oil
3- 3 1/2 cups bread flour

Directions
Put all ingredients, ending with water, in stand mixer. Turn mixer on low until blended and then alternate between high and medium until it forms a smooth ball of dough. Divide dough up, roll into balls and flatten some, and place onto a cookie sheet. Makes about 14-16 rolls. Keep about 1-2 inches apart, so they have room to rise. Cover with clean, dry towel, and allow to sit for 1-2 hours to rise. Bake at 350 degrees 13-15 minutes or just until lightly browned on top. You can also make these in your bread maker by making the dough in the bread maker and then rolling into balls.

Nutrition: (if you make 15 rolls) Calories: 120, fat 1.9g, carbs: 21.9g, protein: 3.2g, fiber: .8g

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I love this soup! It's only 1 point per cup for Weight Watchers and 110 calories per cup. This helps me so much on my diet, and I eat it almost every day for lunch and don't get sick of it. I also love how I get more green veggies in my diet, something I struggle to do more of. It is a bit spicy, and even with the mild can of diced tomatoes with chilies, it still has a bite to it, but if you don't mind a bit of a kick to your food, it's delicious! Oh yes, I did find this online, so I can't take credit for it being my own recipe, but I still wanted to share.

Ingredients
-3 cans of chicken broth (or 6 cups)
-10oz reduced fat 2% milk Velvetta cheese
-2 - 1lb bags of frozen broccoli (I highly recommend using florets)
-1 can diced tomatoes with chilies (usually I use the smaller size can, but they had this larger can at Aldi and it turned out fine either way)Directions
Mix chicken broth, broccoli, and can of tomatoes and chilies together in a large pot. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 25 minutes. Cube cheese and mix into soup. Simmer just until the cheese is melted. This soup stays in the fridge or freezer well.

Weight watchers/Calories: 1 point or 110 calories per cup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I originally got this recipe from the Weight Watcher's website a long time ago. It called it a 0 point soup without the chicken. My husband and his family love this soup! Yesterday I used a lot of ingredients I had on hand. You can modify this soup to the way you want it. You don't have to use exact measurements for your vegetables and/or chicken. You can make it on the stove top or in the crockpot. This is a great soup if you are on a diet... or even if you're not! :-)

Ingredients
*1 cup onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
2 small 12oz or 1 large 28oz can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup salsa (or more if you like)
*1/2 red pepper, chopped
*1/2 green pepper, chopped
3-4 celery stalks, chopped
1/3 cup fresh cilantro (I used 1 Tbsp dry because I had it on hand)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp basil (I used 1/2 Tbsp fresh out of my garden)
1/4 cup fat free sour cream (I used regular b/c I had it on hand or omit for dairy-free)
1/4 cup flour to thicken (leave out for gluten/wheat free or low carb)
1/2 - 1 pound chicken breasts, chopped (omit for vegetarian option)
*I used a bag of frozen onions and peppers instead of the fresh onion and bell peppers because I had it in my freezer and needed to use it.Directions
Simmer onions, garlic, & green onions in a very large pot until tender. Put all other ingredients in the pot, bring to boil, and then reduce to simmer for an hour or until veggies are tender and chicken is cooked through.

Or...... throw everything in your crockpot all at once and cook on high 4-6 hours or on low 7-10 hours.

Serve by itself or serve with corn chips... just remember to count if you are dieting.

Weight Watcher Points/Calories: 0 points per cup if you omit the chicken or 1 point per cup with chicken. With the bag of frozen vegetables and about 10oz chicken breasts = 75 calories per cup.
I took another picture of the soup after I put it in the blender for a little while. We don't prefer big chunks of pepper and onions... so either you can put it all in a blender after cooking it, but the easier and less messy way is..... chop your onions, celery, bell peppers, & cilantro, not too much at a time, in your food processor, not too long or you will have liquid, and add to your pot. You can also do this with the tomatoes if you don't like chunks of tomatoes. We like it better this way, but it's your preference.

Pumpkin Muffins

These are so easy with only 2 ingredients, and so moist and yummy! I got the recipe from my Mom, and my boys gobble them up! I think they ate about 4 each for breakfast yesterday. :-) The top picture is made with carrot cake mix and the bottom are made with spice cake mix. We love both!

Ingredients
1 box carrot cake or spice cake (both are delicious!) (do not add the oil, eggs, water and such, just use the mix itself)
15oz can pumpkinDirections
Mix the cake mix and pumpkin together well. Sometimes you have to work at it to get all the lumps out (I just used my stand mixer, and let it do it for me). The batter will be thick. Fill muffin pan, each well about 2/3rds full (I learned after doing most of them that you don't have to spray your pan if it's nonstick). Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or according to the box instructions. I cooked them about 18 minutes. Makes 18-24 muffins (depending how full you fill them).

Tip: Use a large ice cream scoop with the release feature to fill your muffin wells evenly.


Another idea is to make these into pumpkin muffin "cookies." Use a medium ice cream scoop and distribute them onto a cookie sheet. Bake about 15-18 minutes. I really like this option because they are smaller portions and my kids tend to gobble them up so fast, so this way they last a little longer, but only just a little. :-) What kid doesn't go for cookies? This also is an easier option for me since I have 2 cookie sheets and only 1 muffin pan, and my cookie sheets clean easier. :-)
WW Points/Calories: 2 points per muffin (for 20 carrot cake muffins or 24 spice cake muffins) or 108 calories for 20 carrot cake muffins & 115 for 20 spice cake muffins. "Cookies" are even less points: about 1 1/2.

If you like these or the idea of these, you should try my Banana Spice Muffins made with only 2 ingredients as well.

Peanut Butter Pie

This is my mom's recipe, and one of my absolute favorite desserts! If you like peanut butter and chocolate, I think you will love this pie! It's amazingly wonderful!

1 graham cracker crust
1 pkg. 8oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 cup chocolate chips, divided (optional)In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in your whipped whipping cream and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Gently pour and smooth into your crust. Top with remaining chocolate chips. Refrigerate overnight or at least 4-6 hours.

Ricotta Rolls

I am so excited! This is my first blog on my "Cooking Mommy" website.

Do not be fooled by the name of this recipe. You do not even know it has ricotta cheese in the bread. I have served these to over a dozen people, and none of them detect the ricotta and all of them love it, even people who do not like ricotta at all. I think it just makes these rolls extremely soft and delicious! I got this recipe from The Bread Machine Cookbook by Donna Rathmell German, and I put in some of my own modifications. These are my and my hubby's favorite!

Ingredients

1/3 cup milk
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp. canola oil (or margarine/butter, I use canola oil because it's healthier)
1 egg (see bottom for egg-free version)
2 1/2 Tbsp. honey (or sugar, again I use honey for health reasons)
1 tsp. salt
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp. yeast

Directions

Put all of the ingredients into your bread maker and mix it on the dough setting. I only wait until it's completely kneaded it before taking it out. You could let it rise on the dough setting, but it's not necessary. You could also try mixing it with a stand or hand mixer, but I've honestly never tried it that way. 7/16/09: I made this the night and I put all of the ingredients into my stand mixer to try it for all of you out there who don't have a bread machine. I put in all the dry ingredients first. Then I turned it on low to start with and as it gathered the dough, I turned it up a little faster. It gathered the whole thing together in a big ball of dough. I took it all out and hand kneaded it (without adding any additional flour) for about 5-10 minutes. Then I followed the next instructions without the bread machine....

Take the dough out of the bread machine. Divide it into twelve parts and roll each part into a ball and flatten them some. Place them on a cookie sheet, cover with a dish towel, and let rise for at least 1-2 hours.

This is the dough before rising. I only used half of the dough and put the other half in the freezer. The rolls don't rise a whole lot like you might expect, so don't worry.

Here is the dough after rising for 2 hours.

Bake rolls in the oven 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Yummy!

Variation: If you'd like to make this into a loaf in your bread maker instead of rolls, use 2 1/4 cups of bread flour instead of 3. It makes a medium size loaf.

Tips: We could but should NOT eat 12 rolls as a family, so I divide the dough in half and only make 6 at a time. I could make it all at once and save them, but they are so much better fresh out of the oven. I put half the dough in a freezer quart ziplock bag and freeze it. Even if I'm making them the next day, I still do this. For some reason it changes flavor if you try to put it in the fridge. I take the dough out that morning or early afternoon and let it thaw out. This takes about an hour. Then proceed with rolling it into balls. Make sure you allow yourself enough time to let them rise. When I say these freeze well, I mean in dough form.

Another tip is to put the rising dough outside when it's warm or on your warm (not hot) stove top or even clothes dryer to help them rise faster.

WW points/calories: 3 per roll (180 calories per roll if you use skim ricotta cheese and fat free milk)

egg-free version: get unflavored gelatin and dissolve one package into 1 cup boiling water. Use 3 1/2 tbsp of this in place of 1 egg. Store in fridge and reheat to liquid form when you need to use in the future.... or use 3 tbsp water and 1 tbsp ground flax seed in place of one egg (very healthy and my preferred substitution)