I have been cooking....

So it's been a few weeks since I posted. But I have been cooking. These are some of the recipes that I have made...

Breakfast Stratta: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/12/make-over-breakfast-sausage-and.html

Baked Cinnamon-Vanila French Toast- It came from my weight watchers book. I am going to scan the recipe in and post it seperate. But if you google the name you can find some variation of it. I used the version that used for Challa bread.

Chicken and Mushrooms in a Garlic White Wine Sauce-http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/03/chicken-and-mushrooms-in-garlic-white.html

and

Best Low-fat Chicolate Chip Cookies Ever-http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/08/best-low-fat-chocolate-chip-cookies.html


I have posted the links where I got the recipes from so you can go take a gander at them. I haven't been the greatest blogger these past few weeks because my aunt, who incidentally is the inspiration behind this blog because she loves to cook has been very ill and could be spending what is her last days on this earth in a hospital. So I have been cooking up so much trying to keep my mind off things but didn't take pictures of the steps or the finish product.

I do have 2 sunday dinners that I did take pictures of the process at least and so I have pictures of those and will be blogging about them soon. So I hope this little ditty can tied you over until I can get in the write frame of mind to blog about cooking again.

In closing, cooking is this most amazing thing, which I never really though I was any good at. But EVERYONE who has eatten anything that I have made has said that they can tell that I take the time and want the food to taste good. I guess that means that i am putting my heart and soul into my food and that I think is the most important thing when cooking. Sure it may NEVER look like the picture, but in the end it comes out tasting just as good if not better than the picture because of the LOVE behind it :)

XOXO

Soups on....

So. I have wanted to learn how to make soup. One of the issues with my body is that if I eat to much salt or sodium, I WILL retain water. And when my lady friend visits, its even WORSE. So I figured that I should start learning how to make soup so I can have it when I want and not have to worry about buying the condensed kind that has TONS of sodium in it. Because, low sodium canned soup is NASTY-TOWN.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Clam Chowder. But that wasn't the first soup I thought of making. One because I thought it was going to be UBER complicated ( I have since found a recipe on SkinnyTaste for it and will be making it soon. But I also found out that I LOVE Chicken Corn Chowder, after someone at work brought some in that her mother made. So I decided to find a low fat option and make it myself at home.

So here we go....

Low-fat Chicken Corn Chowder
Servings Per Recipe: 6 Serving Size: 1 (326 g) Amount Per Serving Calories 264.6 Calories from Fat 22
Total Fat 2.5 g Saturated Fat 0.5 g Cholesterol 54.6 mg Sodium 269.9 mg Total Carbohydrate 34.6 g
Dietary Fiber 2.7 g Sugars 3.1 g Protein 27.1 g The following items or measurements are not included: low-fat condensed cream of chicken soup amdlow-fat chicken broth
Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/low-fat-chicken-corn-chowder-201140#ixzz1b0lchdVU
The points plus values for this dish were 7poins per serving. I entered the recipe into the recipe maker :)

Ingredients

1 medium onions, chopped
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans low-fat chicken broth
1 (16 ounce) packages frozen white corn
2 (10 ounce) cans white meat chicken, drained
1 (10 3/4 ounce) low-fat condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup orzo pasta, uncooked
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Step one: In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, sauté onion in a small amount of the chicken broth over medium heat 5 minutes, or until onion is tender- I used a stock pot which proved interesting to brown the onion in the broth. I think next time I will brown the oinons first in a pan and then add them to the pot. It should look a little something like this.

Step two: You will want to add the remaining chicken broth, corn, chicken, cream of chicken soup, orzo, rosemary, basil, sugar, salt, and pepper. Now here is my twist on this. I HATE canned chicken, so I used chicken breast tenders and just seasoned, browned and cut them up before puting them in the pot.

 I also used low sodium cream of chicken soup. Another tip be careful of the rosemary, don't add to much.  When you are done adding everything it should look like this. 

Step Three: Bring to a boil and turn heat to low; Simmer for 10 minute or until orzo is tender. You HAVE to watch this soup!! It will start to stick to the bottom very quickly. While you are watchin you can do the next step.

Step Four:  You wanan mix the milk and flour together in a small bowl.

Once the 10 minutes is up, you will wanna add this mixture to the soup and let it simmer for about 5 more minutes. Like so...

So, after your 10 minutes you soup should be done. Like I said WATCH the Rosemarry. Mine had a little to much, but I like rosemary, so it was fine for me. We served it with a salad and a french roll. I will be blogging about the salad soon. 

I will have to say that learning how to make soup has been fun. I am very excited to make the clam chowder I found on SkinnyTaste.  And learning how to make different kinds of soup :)

Finish product with the Salad and a roll :)

XOXO, I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did making it.

Pumpkin Pumpkin

Last Sunday, I cooked dinner for my wonderful friends Lynnett, Tyra and Brandon.  They always let me try new stuff out on them. For the main dish I made the Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili, but for dessert I made this:

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Yogurt Cupcakes

www.skinnytaste.com

Servings: 12 • Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 2 pts • Points+: 3 pts
Calories: 114.1 • Fat: 4.6 g • Carb: 13.8 g • Fiber: 1.5 g • Protein: 3.8 g • Sugar: 6.5
Sodium: 56.8

Ingredients:

·                     12 reduced fat vanilla wafers

·                     8 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

·                     1/4 cup sugar

·                     1 tsp vanilla

·                     6 oz fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt (I used Chobani)

·                     2 large egg whites

·                     1 tbsp all purpose flour

·                     3/4 cup pumpkin butter or pumpkin pie filling

So you are gonna wanna Heat oven to 350°.  I have found that this is a VERY important step when making anything in the over. That way you don’t over cook  or under cook stuff.  I also gathered all the ingredients and put them in one place, as shown by this picture.

Then you are gonna wanna line cupcake tin with liners and place a vanilla wafer at the bottom of each liner. (Tyra helped me with this ) Now her question was do you put them in face down or face up. I think at the end of the day it doesn’t matter cause they kinda get soaked into the mixer anyway. When you are done the it should look like this…

The next step is rather complicated and because it was SOOOO freaking messy I didn’t take a picture of the actual process. But you are going to want to gently beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth using an electric mixer. Then gradually beat in fat-free yogurt, egg whites and flour. Do not over beat. 

I don’t know if it was because the cream cheese wasn’t room temp or what but I had cream cheese all over my hands and then it was a BITCH to get it off the beaters. Once I added the yogurt, egg whites and flour it got a bit easier, but damm.  I guess this is WHY I am doing this so I can get better at things like this.

Now here comes the fun part.  Top each with 1 tbsp of the pumpkin butter. Using a toothpick, swirl the pumpkin butter into the cream cheese mixture for a marbling effect. Let me first say that I had a VERY LARGE can of pumpkin. I used the canned pumpkin pie filling, not the butter as I couldn’t find it. Since pumpkin pie filling is something you can freeze, I just froze what I didn’t use.  I used a tbsp to put it in there and then a fork to swirl it cause I didn’t have any toothpick. When you are finish is should sorta look like this.

Bake 25 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool to room temperature. Chill a few hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Now we LOVED them so much that I kinda forgot to take a picture of them when they were done. So I send you to  Pumking Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes To view the finish product.

I am glad that I tried to do this. My whole WLJ has been about doing things that I never thought I would do.  And who knew I could bake. Everyone who had one said that they were delicious  and they were only 3 points J

XOXO

Are you ready for some.....

Sundays. The Lords day for some, but for others its the ONLY day to watch FOOTBALL. And what goes with FOOTBALL...CHILI!!!!  Yes that right CHILLI, thanks to Skinny Taste again I found a awesome and filling new crock pot recipe to taste and share with you all. So be prepared to be dazzled!!

No I just want to let you all know that I was NEVER a big fan of chili. Mostly, because it gave me heart burn. I would feel like there was fire radiating from my chest every time I would eat it. So up until about a year ago I wouldn't eat it. Then for some strange reason I started to crave it and I have been searching for something I could make and boy did I find it.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili
 Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 10 • Size: 1 1/4 cups • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 203.7 • Fat: 1.4 g • Carb: 33.3 g • Fiber: 10.0 g  • Protein: 16.9 g

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 16-oz can black beans
• 1 16-oz can kidney beans
• 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
• 10 oz package frozen corn kernels
• 2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 24 oz (3-4) boneless skinless chicken breasts
• chili peppers, chopped (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro. Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream (extra points).

Now, ya'll know I have to do stuff my own way. I didn't change to much. First I left out the chili peppers. One because I knew it was gonna be hot as SHIT already with the chilies from the tomatoes and the chili powder was going to kick it up more anyways, So NO CHILLIES here!! I also served it with Jasmine Rice which is about 6 to 8 points for a cup prepared. Sour cream is 0 if you get fat free and I used 2 point weight watchers shredded four blend cheese. Tyra ate hers on a whole wheat tortilla shell and the ones I have are 3 points. So you have options. You could make this a dip if you wanted. Strain off the juice and put it in a bowl with some queso cheese and multi grain chips, AWESOME!! But we ate it like chili. So I will get on with the preparing. 

Everything you need. Minus my bread and bread maker. :)

So it's pretty simple. I cheated and got already chopped onions. So you pretty much mix everything in a bowl (i didn't use a bowl, but I should have) minus the chicken. Also, you may wanna drain the water off one of the beans, and maybe even both. If you use fresh beans, cause you are adventurous and savvy, then you are going to have to add water. I have a small crock pot, so it overflowed a couple of times cause once its gets a cooking its gonna make its own juice. So when you get done it should look a little like this...

The mixture and my chicken, I seasoned it with some Mrs. Dash.

Just like with the Chicken Santa Fe, you pop the chicken right on top and put the lid on it....

Looks kinda gross, but oh just wait!!!

Then you let it cook about 6 hours on high, 10 hours on low. Perfect for a cold winter's Monday night, put it on before you go to work and presto you will have a complete meal with veggies too :)  Don't forget about 30 mins before its done to take the chicken out and shred it up. 

Now, the food was SOO good that we kinda for got to take pictures of it. I send you Skinnytaste  to see her pictures, which are awesome. When I make my burrito at work this week I will update the blog so you can see what it looks like. I just want you all to know that it is very hearty. I only ate like 1 cup of it. Full to the max. In my next blog I will tell you about the awesome dessert we had with it. This was a very good and hearty meal for someone who loves a spicy chili but who wants it to be kind. :) I hope you all enjoy!! 

XOXO

Do you know the way.....

2 weeks ago, I made Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken. I hadn't hung out with my sister in a while and thought it was her turn to taste some of my adventurous cooking. They say food can bring you together with your family and considering that she loved my chimmy's so much I thought this would be a cool way to get her to eat veggies. I will admit that I was a little nervous to make this, I had never shredded chicken before and had NO CLUE as to how to do it. So with the help of http://www.skinnytaste.com/ I got to work on my very first attempt at using my own crock pot!

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

Skinnytaste Recipe

From: Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 servings • Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 190 • Fat: 1.5 g • Fiber: 5.6 g • Carbs: 23.1 g • Protein: 21 g

24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast
14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
15 oz can black beans
8 oz frozen corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
3 scallions, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)

salt to taste

Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning. Serve over rice (extra pts).

So I got everything out as you can see by the pictures. I used the spices that are stated in the recipe except the salt. It is probably best to use whole chicken breast because they will be easier to shred in the long run. And you just really wanna follow the recipe, which is quite simple. I would season the chicken first while you are putting everything else in the pot. That way some of the seasoning can be soaked up into the chicken before you put it on top. Once you get everything prepared, it should look like this.

Yummy right? Well maybe not right when you put it in the pot but it will get there. The next step is pretty easy. Just take the seasoned chicken breast and put them right on top like so.








So, here comes the hard part. The directions say 6 hours on high and 10 hours on low. Since I was a lazy butt and didn't get it ready till the day I wanted to eat it, I did the 6 hours on high. So I kept myself busy with football and watched the Packers beat up someone very badly. My sister came over about 5pm which was about an hour before it was suppose to be ready and we watched the rest of the game and had sister time :) She also had to finish watching Madea's Big Happy Family so that last hour went pretty quick.

SN: One of the things I love about the crock pot is that you can basically put anything in it mix it up and then just leave it. You don't have to watch it at all. And everything cooks so evenly.


So at about the 5 and a half hour mark you are suppose to take the chicken off the top and shred it. I had never shredded chicken before and the recipe doesn't really tell you how to do it. So I am going to insert the video that taught me how to for a helpful hint.
http://www.ehow.com/video_2339565_shred-chicken-pulled-chicken-enchiladas.html
SN: I used two forks so I didn't have to touch the chicken and it was A LOT easier!





That is me shredding up chicken. Whoot!






After you shred the chicken you will want to mix it in like this.




Then you will want to cook it for another 30 minutes. Let the chicken get all yummy and full of flavor. During this time you can make your rice. My sister likes white rice, so that is what we had. When it was all said and done, this is what it looked like on the plate.






To say that it was delicious was a understatement. It has so much fiber and the rice only make the whole dish 9 points. You probably could have brown rice with it or noodles if you want. But my sister like it even tho it was SPICY. I would say that I will make this again :)