Pumpkin Pie Yogurt

Another pumpkin recipe- are you surprised?  This is a quickie... and I'm currently enjoying it on my lunch break, so I thought I'd share it with you.  I made another batch of the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies yesterday, and since they only call for a small amount of pumpkin, I have quite a bit leftover.  I whipped this up last night to bring in my lunch today, and it's delicious. 

You will need:

• 1- 6 oz. container of your favorite fat-free vanilla yogurt
• approximately 1/2 cup pumpkin
• a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice

Mix all three ingredients together.  Taste and add more pumpkin and/or pumpkin pie spice if it needs it. 

That's it!  I promise you, if you can get past the fact that it looks like baby food, this is a delicious,  guilt-free treat that tastes a whole lot like pumpkin pie.  

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm on a pumpkin kick lately.  For breakfast this morning I made pumpkin pancakes, and ate them alongside my pumpkin spice coffee with pumpkin spice creamer.  Overkill?  Nah.  'Tis the season, right? 

I made these cookies a few weeks ago, and they were delicious.  They stayed nice and soft for several days when stored in an airtight container.  They're also fairly light, so I didn't feel quite so guilty eating so many of them!  I found the orignal recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Skinny Taste.  If you haven't checked out this blog, go there immediately.  Gina has so many fantastic low-fat recipes and is where I get over half of the recipes I use on a regular basis.  Anyway, I made a few changes to the original and doubled the recipe.  I ended up with about 40 cookies. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Skinny Taste)

You will need:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 4 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 egg whites
• 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. and spray baking sheets with cooking spray. 

Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice in a large bowl.  In another bowl, mix sugars, butter, egg whites, pumpkin, and vanilla together with a whisk until well combined and fluffy (I used my stand mixer with the whisk attachment). 

Whisk the flour mixture into the wet ingredients in two additions until well combined.  Stir in chocolate chips. 

Drop spoonfuls of batter onto baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch in between each. 
Bake 9-11 minutes.  Remove from oven, let them stand for about 5 minutes, then remove cookies from pan to wire racks to cool completely. 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

I found this recipe in a Kroger ad (one of our local grocery stores here in Nashville).  I've made it twice in the past 3 weeks- it's a keeper!  I've lightened it up a bit and changed some things based on our taste. 

You will need:

• 1 cup low fat (or fat free) sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups instant rice, uncooked (I used instant brown rice which worked fine)
• 20 oz. cooked, diced chicken breast (I used the pre-cooked frozen kind, but that is rather expensive.  You can certainly cook your own chicken for this recipe.)
• 4 1/2 oz. thin sliced deli ham, cut into small pieces
• 6 oz. reduced fat sliced swiss cheese, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup corn flakes, crushed
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk together sour cream, chicken broth, and pepper in a large bowl until smooth.

Add rice, chicken, ham, and swiss cheese; stir until combined.

Pour mixture into a 13x9 baking dish and spread evenly.

Mix together crushed corn flakes, parmesan cheese, and melted butter in a small bowl.  Sprinkle evenly over top of casserole. 

Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes until heated through and topping is golden brown. 

Welcome to the new blog!

If you've made it here, you've figured out that I've moved all of my cooking posts to this new blog.  I wanted to have a place to post recipes separately from other posts.  I've gone back and edited a few of my older posts, but for the most part, everything that was on the old blog is here in its original form.  Thanks for stopping by! 

Chicken Tortilla Pie

I found this recipe, along with the previous recipe (Chicken and Cheesy Rice) on the Cabot Cheese website.  This recipe uses the extra chicken and rice from the other recipe to make a super easy second meal.  I put this together the night I made the Chicken and Cheesy Rice, then put it in the fridge covered with foil, and baked it two nights later.  If you don't want to make the Chicken and Cheesy Rice recipe, you'll just need to cook some chicken and some basmati rice for this recipe. 

You will need:

• Shredded or chopped cooked chicken
• 1 10-oz. can Rotel
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 4 8-inch whole wheat tortillas
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups leftover cooked brown basmati rice
• 1 cup 2% shredded sharp cheddar, plus additional 1/2 cup to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray 9-inch pie plate or round casserole dish with cooking spray.

Stir together chicken, Rotel, cumin, and oregano.

Place one tortilla in bottom of pie plate.  Top with about 1/3 of your chicken mixture, then 1/3 of  your rice and 1/3 cup cheese.  Repeat this process 2 more times (tortilla, chicken, rice, cheese).  Put the final tortilla on top.

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes or until heated through (this will likely take longer if you have made this ahead of time and have had it in the fridge- mine did). 

Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese, and bake for about 5 more minutes until cheese is melted.  Cut into wedges to serve. 

Chicken and Cheesy Rice

I found this recipe on the Cabot Cheese website, and adapted it to fit our tastes and to lighten it up a bit.  You should note that the recipe calls for making double the chicken and double the rice, to use in another recipe (Chicken Tortilla Pie) which I will post next. 

You will need:

• 1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice
• 1 tbsp plus 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 1/4 cups water
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 cup 2% shredded sharp cheddar
• 1/2 cup light sour cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place raw rice in 8-inch square baking dish and set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add onion and cook, stirring, about 3 minutes until onion is tender.  Add water and salt and bring to a boil.

Stir to dissolve salt and pour over rice.  Cover tightly with foil, and place in oven on middle rack.  Bake for 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, place chicken breasts on a baking sheet.  Brush each piece lightly with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and thyme.  When rice has cooked for 30 minutes, place chicken in oven on top rack. 

After you've put the chicken in, give the rice about another 10-15 minutes or so in the oven, then check to see if it is tender.  Mine was ready to go at this point, but that may depend on your oven to some extent.  If the rice is tender, take it out of the oven and spoon half of the rice into a bowl to save for the Chicken Tortilla Pie.  Stir cheddar and sour cream into the remaining rice in the baking dish.  Recover loosely with foil and return the rice to the oven.

Bake the chicken and rice another 10-15 minutes until the rice is heated through and the chicken is lightly browned and cooked through.  Set half of the chicken pieces aside for Chicken Tortilla Pie.

Serve the chicken over the cheesy rice.  I served this with steamed broccoli mixed into the rice. 

Orzo Skillet Meal

This recipe was inspired by one in my Comfort Foods Diet Cookbook.  I adapted it to fit our tastes and made it for the second time last night- it was a hit! 

You will need:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
• 1 lb. frozen broccoli, thawed
• 1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup uncooked orzo
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tsp. olive oil, divided
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Italian seasoning

Cook orzo according to package directions.  Drain and set aside when done.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a non-stick skillet sprayed with cooking spray.  Cook chicken over medium heat until cooked through.  Remove from skillet and cover to keep warm. 

Heat remaining 1 tsp. olive oil in skillet and cook garlic 1-2 minutes until fragrant.  Add crushed tomatoes, italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat. 

Stir in broccoli and cooked chicken and simmer, covered, for approximately 5 minutes, or until broccoli is cooked to your liking. 

Remove from heat and stir in cooked orzo.  Serve with grated parmesan cheese. 

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Pasta

Wow!  That's a long name for a recipe, but I couldn't figure out what else to call it!  This was a recipe I tried tonight from a new cookbook I just got called Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook.  It was easy and delicious.  I'll include WW points at the end of the recipe.

You will need:

• 4 cups uncooked whole wheat rotini
• 1/2 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch pieces (I couldn't find fresh green beans this week, so I used frozen instead)
• 3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 jar (7 oz.) roasted sweet red peppers, drained
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup fat-free evaporated milk
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil or 4 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 4 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to pasta directions, adding green beans during the last 2 minutes (4 minutes if you are using frozen green beans).  Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, saute chicken in 2 tsp. oil until no longer pink.  Remove chicken from pan and keep warm.  In the same pan, saute red peppers and garlic for 1 minute.

Stir in the chicken broth, 1/2 cup evaporated milk, basil, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Remove from the heat; cool slightly.  Transfer mixture to a blender; cover and process until smooth.  Return to the pan.

Add chicken to the pepper mixture.  Combine cornstarch and remaining milk until smooth; gradually stir into the chicken mixture.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. 

Drain pasta mixture; toss with the sauce.  Sprinkle each serving with 1 tbsp. cheese.

Yield: 4 servings, 9 WWplus points

Spinach Artichoke Dip

It's been a long time since I've posted... for many reasons, one of which is that we've been doing Weight Watchers since January. And while I have found many great WW friendly recipes, I'm just not as inspired to share them as I usually am. However, I've made this yummy Spinach Artichoke Dip twice in the past few weeks and it's definitely share-worthy!

One time I used all low-fat versions of the cream cheese, sour cream, and cheddar; one time I used fat free cream cheese and sour cream, and low-fat cheddar. Of course, you can use the full-fat versions of all of these items, which would make it even more delectable, but the healthier versions are still 100% delicious and 90% guilt-free, especially served with Baked Tostitos.

You will need:

• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 block cream cheese
• 1 cup frozen spinach, cooked, drained and chopped
• 1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (I use my mini-chopper, which allows me to chop them up pretty small- almost to a puree consistency... but that's just our personal preference, you can keep them in bigger chunks if you prefer that)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• Salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cream cheese, stirring constantly until cream cheese is melted. Add in spinach, artichokes, sour cream, and cheddar. Stir until well combined and heated through. Add salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes to taste.

Spread in baking dish (I use an 8x8 Pyrex dish, but you can use whatever size or shape dish you'd like). Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until bubbly and hot.