Recipe: Bleu Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Here's what I made for dinner tonight


It was ever so yummy - and very easy!

Adventures in Cooking - Part 3

Continuing with my cooking-fest, I've had this recipe for a while. A friend made it for a Christmas party I went to last December, and I've been itching to try it. So this past Sunday was rainy and oh-so-cold, and seemed a perfect time for some comfort food.

The recipe is for "Apricot-Glazed Pork Loin," and it was incredibly easy and good. You just put a rub on the pork, let it marinade for a while, then put it in a baking bag and roast for a while. I did make a few adaptations - I used a 1 1/2 pound tenderloin; I baked it for an extra 20 minutes to get it to the correct internal temperature.

The results? An easy, delicious entree - elegant, too, so it would be perfect for company.



And looking forward to a nice sandwich for lunch tomorrow!

Adventures in Cooking - Part 2

One of my favorite cooking gurus is the Hungry Girl. Lisa Lillien runs a great site, full of tips for low-Points cooking, portion control, and just what to eat at various restaurants. For Valentine's Day, I decided to try her recipe for "Best of My Lava Chocolate Cake." It's basically a molten chocolate cake - one of those cakes that oozes out melted chocolate when you stick your fork in it. I'd watched "The Worst Cooks in America" tackle a recipe for it, with various degrees of success. I thought, if they could do it, so could I! The results:




You be the judge! (YUMMY!! and oh, so easy!)

Wonton Soup

One of my cooking idols is the "Hungry Girl." Her daily email newsletter always has some great ideas for cutting the fat and calories in recipes, uncovering new products and exposing restaurant food with mega-Points. Her mailing yesterday had a neat looking recipe for Wonton Soup. Well, I've been craving some Chinese food and this intrigued me so I tried it last night. YUM! It was fairly easy - the hardest part was making the wontons and that was not hard at all. I used all low-sodium ingredients, so that really helped keep the sodium level down. I'll be interested to see how it reheats - but here's the recipe: (reprinted without permission but copyrighted by the Hungry Girl)

Wowowow! Wonton Soup

PER SERVING (1 cup with 2 wontons): 115 calories, 3g fat, 541mg sodium,
12g carbs, 1.5g fiber, 1g sugars, 9.5g protein -- POINTS® value 2*


Ingredients:

For Wontons
9 oz. raw lean ground turkey

2 tsp. reduced-sodium/lite soy sauce

2 tsp. dried minced onion

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. black pepper

16 small square wonton wrappers (often stocked near the tofu in the fridge
section of the market)

For Soup
6 cups fat-free chicken broth

2 cups dry broccoli cole slaw

1/3 cup canned bamboo shoots, drained

1/2 cup canned straw mushrooms, drained and roughly chopped

1 tsp. chopped fresh ginger

1 tsp. chopped garlic

1/2 cup chopped scallions

Directions:
To make the wonton filling, combine all wonton ingredients except the
wrappers in a medium bowl. Mix by hand until evenly combined. Set aside
(and, duh, wash your hands).

In a large pot, combine all soup ingredients except scallions. Bring to a boil
on the stove. Reduce heat to low and allow soup to simmer for 10 minutes.

Lay three wonton wrappers flat on a clean, dry surface. Scoop a spoonful
(about 2 tsp.) of filling into the center of each wrapper. Moisten all wrapper
edges by dabbing with water. Fold the bottom left corner of each wrapper to
meet the top right corner, forming a triangle and enclosing the filling. Press
firmly on the edges to seal. Set aside, and repeat with remaining wrappers
and filling.

Stir scallions into the simmering soup. One at a time, carefully add wontons.
Make sure they're submerged, but don't stir. Simmer for 5 minutes, adjusting
temperature if soup begins to boil, until wonton centers are firm. (Don't
worry if the wontons fall apart a little. They'll still taste delicious!)

Carefully serve up wontons and broth. Slurp 'n chew, people!

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Recipe: Boeuf Bourguignon

I shared this recipe on my Facebook page, but for those of you who aren't on FB....

This was in the New York Times this week - and it's really terrific. After seeing Julie & Julia the other week, I had a real hankering for BB. But the recipe in my Julia cookbook looked long and somewhat complicated. I had decided to wait until the cold weather, on a weekend day when I felt like spending time in the kitchen, and then I saw this recipe. It appears in a cookbook that the Times refers to as "the French Joy of Cooking," and has only 5 steps. It was yummy!

Boeuf Bourguignon

Adapted from “I Know How to Cook” by Ginette Mathiot

Time: About 3 hours

1 tablespoon oil

3 ounces onions or shallots, chopped

3 1/2 ounces thick-cut bacon, diced

1 1/2 pounds stewing beef, cut into 1 1/2 -inch pieces, patted dry

Scant 1/4 cup flour

1 1/4 cups any type of stock, hot

1 1/4 cups red wine

1 bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, 3 sprigs fresh thyme and 3 sprigs parsley, tied together)

Black pepper

3 1/2 ounces mushrooms, diced

Salt.

1. In a heavy pan over medium heat, heat oil. Add onions and bacon and cook, stirring, until browned. Remove them and set aside; leave fat in pan.

2. Add beef and brown on all sides (work in two batches if needed to avoid crowding).

3. Sprinkle browned beef with flour, stir until browned and add stock. Stir, scraping bottom of pan, then add reserved bacon and onions, the wine and bouquet garni. Season with pepper.

4. Simmer very gently for 2 hours.

5. Add mushrooms and cook 30 minutes more. Season with salt and serve. Or, even better, reheat and serve the next day.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

WW Points: 8 if only 4 servings; 6 for 6 servings

**6 servings would be very tiny ones. I opted for the 4, and served it with noodles. I also used the listed spices rather than making the bouquet garni.

Quick Corn on the Cob

I got this cooking suggestion from one of my Weight Watchers members, and it's a great and easy way to prepare corn on the cob (which is oh-so-good and fresh right now). After you've husked the corn, give it a quick spritz of "spray butter." Put the ear in a Ziplock steamer bag (I love them!), and microwave for 3 minutes. Let it sit for a minute - then enjoy!

The corn is tender, and you don't need to add additional butter! Yum!

Recipe: Chocolate Passion Bowl

This is really yummy, looks very elegant, and is WW friendly!

Chocolate Passion Bowl

1 pkg. No Pudge Brownies

3 cups skim milk

2 pkgs (4 servings each) chocolate flavored fat-free, sugar-free pudding mix

1 tub fat-free Cool Whip

2 cups raspberries or strawberries

Make brownies as directed. Cool, and cut into 1-inch pieces

Pour milk into a large bowl. Add dry pudding mix, and beat with a wire whisk for 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in 1 cup of Cool Whip.

Place half of brownie cubes in a 2-quart serving bowl. Top with layers of half of each of the pudding mixture, the remaining Cool Whip, and berries. Repeat all layers, ending with berries on top.

Refrigerate 1 hour at least before serving. Store in refrigerator.

Serving size = 2/3 cup

WW points: 3

Recipe: Monte Cristo Strata

I made this for Easter brunch. I made a few changes from the original recipe to lower the Points value! Very yummy! And perfect for those mornings when you'd rather listen to the Red Sox play in Japan than prepare breakfast.

Monte Cristo Strata

Serves: 12
6 WW Points according to Recipe Builder
Prep time: 15 minutes (plus overnight)
Cooking time: 40-45 minutes
Level of difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 8 eggs
• 2 cups fat-free skim milk
• 6 shakes Tobasco sauce
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 loaf reduced-calorie bread
• 8 oz deli-sliced turkey
• 8 oz sliced ham, lean
  
• 3 cups lite swiss cheese, shredded

Instructions

Spray a 9x13 inch pan with vegetable oil spray. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, Tobasco and mustard until blended.

Arrange as much of the bread as you can in a single layer in the prepared pan. Top, in layers, with the turkey, ham and half the cheese. Top with the remaining bread, and pour on the egg mixture, tilting the pan to make sure the bread is coated. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Let the strata sit at room temperature while you preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake until puffed and golden, 40 to 45 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes.

Source: Adapted from “Perfect Party Food” by Diane Phillips (via Chattanooga TFP, 3/19/08)

No-Pudge Brownies

I haven't made a batch of these in a long time. Today, cleaning out cabinets in the kitchen, I found a box of mix, and decided to make them up. You use a box of mix plus one container of vanilla no-fat yogurt (2/3 cup)

They are awesome. Dense, chocolatey....Yum! And only 2-points per serving. You can cut them so there are 16 or 12 - but both come out to 2 WW points each. So, why scrimp?! Cut them into 12 portions and enjoy!

Recipe: Butterscotch Apple Salad

A great recipe from one of my WW members:

5-6 Granny Smith apples
15-oz can Crushed Pineapple (natural juice)
1 sm box sugar-free Butterscotch instant pudding mix
8 oz fat-free cool whip

Chop apples with peels left on. Dissolve pudding nix with pineapple; stir. Mix crushed pineapple mixture with the chopped apples. Mix in cool whip.

1/2 cup = 1 point

Recipe: Amaretto-Cranberry Kiss

As you sweat out the "hot stove," here's a nice way to pass some time. This was in Bon Appetit this month - it is very good! I made 1/4 of a recipe, and omitted the o.j. and orange slices as garnish.

Amaretto-Cranberry Kiss
makes 8 cocktails

2 cups cranberry juice cocktail
1 cup vodka
1/2 cup amaretto
3 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
Ice cubes
Clementines, peeled and separated into segments

Mix cranberry juice, vodka amaretto, and orange juice in pitcher, Cover and chill until ready to serve. (Can be prepared up to 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated)
To make 2 drinks, fill cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Pour in scant 1 cup of vodka mixture. Cover and shake vigorously. Strain into 2 martini glasses. Garnish with orange section, if desired. Repeat 3 times with ice cubes, remaining vodka mixture and orange sections.

Recipe: Garlic Fries

I made these last night - and they were yummmmy! Okay, not quite as good as the memorable ones at Safeco Field, but these might be an acceptable substitute!

3 pounds peeled baking potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons butter
8 garlic cloves, minced (about 5 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag, tossing to coat.

Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 50 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning after 20 minutes.

Place butter and garlic in a large nonstick skillet; cook over low heat 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add potatoes, parsley, and cheese to pan; toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

CALORIES 256 (27% from fat); FAT 7.7g (sat 3.3g,mono 2g,poly 2g); PROTEIN 5.9g; CHOLESTEROL 12mg; CALCIUM 55mg; SODIUM 386mg; FIBER 3.5g; IRON 1.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 42.3g

Cooking Light, APRIL 2002

Recipe: Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

I co-hosted a bridal shower today, for the daughter of a long-time friend and colleague. I had to prepare a dessert item, and I made these bars. I found the recipe via the Cooking Light message boards, and they were an HUGE hit! They're incredibly rich, sweet, decadent - and YUMMY! Thumbs up! Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars Copyright 2005, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (recommended: Skippy) 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam 2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined. Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares. Note: You can easily half the recipe, and put in an 8 inch pan.

Recipe: Gob Cake

I got this recipe from my WW Area manager - it's delish!

Gob Cake
15 servings @ 1 Point each

1 pkg. (18 1/4 oz) Devil's Food cake mix
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
4 oz. apple sauce
1 small can Mandarin oranges
Use juice and water to = 1 1/4 cup liquid
8 oz. FF Cool Whip for frosting

Smash up oranges. Mix in rest of wet ingedients. Add cake mix and beat at low speed 1 - 2 minutes. Pout into 13x9 inch pan sprayed with FF Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cool and frost with FF Cool Whip.