One Ingredient Ice Cream

I have seen many blogs recently feature this simple yet delectable treat and I knew I had to try it.  I have an ice cream maker attachment for my kitchen aid mixer, but it takes several days and multiple steps to complete that task.  Sugar, cream, vanilla, eggs, and about 72 hours later, you get to enjoy it.  Needless to say, I don't often make homemade ice cream. 

How could it be that just ONE ingredient could create creamy, soft, sweet and delicious ice cream?  I was so curious to see what that could be, and I bet you are too.

It's bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

All you have to do is freeze a few bananas (cut them into small chunks first so your blender doesn't die) and then blend those bad boys up for a few seconds.   I was so surprised that it tasted exactly like soft-serve ice cream, with banana flavoring of course.  I thought for sure that frozen bananas would be icy, flaky, and bitter.  Something about the little bit of fat that a banana has allows it to blend into a super creamy treat.  Make sure your bananas aren't green or too mushy.  A few brown spots makes them perfect!  Add in some chocolate syrup, or peanut butter, or honey... just experiment and enjoy!

The best part is, only 2 WW points per banana.  I would use at least 3 so that the blender has enough material to work with.  3 bananas would definitely serve 2-3 people.  Yum!

Chimichurri Sauce

I have an obsession with the chimichurri sauce at Los Ranchos and I love eating there just for the chimichurri.  This was an attempt to make my own.  Although it tasted good, it definitely doesn't compare.  I guess we will have to continue to eat there.  Oh well!  I served it tonight with pan fried chicken tenders, using PAM olive oil spray for less calories. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh parsley or cilantro, or combo of both
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon pepper sauce (hot sauce)

Directions

1. Place the parsley, olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, cumin, salt, garlic and hot pepper sauce into the container of a blender or food processor. Blend for about 10 seconds on medium speed, or until ingredients are evenly blended.

Nutritional Information

3 WW points per serving, makes 12 servings

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 133 | Total Fat: 14.2g

With chicken, 5 WW points

Orange Cilantro Rice

My husband thought this was a bit to sweet for his liking, so next time I will use half the amount of OJ and more chicken broth.  I paired it with with chicken and chimichurri sauce (recipe in next post!)

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• salt to taste
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in onion, and cook until tender. Mix in rice, and season with cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, cayenne pepper, and salt. Cook and stir until rice is golden brown. Pour in orange juice and broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
2. Remove cooked rice from heat, and gently mix in cilantro to serve.

Nutritional Information

3 points per serving, makes 6 servings

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 172 | Total Fat: 2g

Buttery Lemon Spinach

Ingredients

• 2 (10 ounce) bags pre-washed fresh spinach
• 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

Rinse the spinach and place the leaves into a microwavable serving dish. Add the butter, garlic and lemon juice. Cover with plastic wrap. Steam in the microwave until the butter is melted and spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and toss to distribute seasoning before serving.

3 weight watchers points per serving, makes 6 servings

Southwestern Turkey Burgers

I came across this recipe on the back of the Jenny-O Turkey Burgers box.  It's simple, tasty, and low in fat!

Grill the turkey burgers according to the package directions.  Toast the burger buns (or throw them on the Foreman grill like I did for 3 minutes.)  Mix together 1/2 cup of lite sour cream and also 1 teaspoon of taco mix to make a spread for the buns.  Top the burgers with a slice of cheese, 2 tablespoons of your favorite salsa (we love mango salsa) and build the burger!

8 points per burger (includes low fat cheese and bun)

Coconut Cream Pops

Coconut Cream Pops

Servings: 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Calories: 93
Points: 2 ww points

• 1 can fat free evaporated milk
• 1 14 oz can lite coconut milk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp coconut extract
• cinnamon to taste
• 1/2 cup of shredded sweetened coconut

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Pour into freezer molds.
Freeze and Enjoy!!

Turkey Meatloaf

Another one of Gina's fabulous recipes... I finally ordered the mini loaf pan to make the most adorable mini loaves!

Servings: 4 mini loaves Serving Size: 1 loaf • Time: 45 minutes • Points: 4.5 ww points

• 1/2 small onion, minced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1.3 lb 99% lean ground turkey
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1/4 cup ketchup + 2 tbsp
• 2 tsp wosterchire sauce
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp marjoram
• salt

Preheat the oven to 350°. Saute olive oil and onion on low until translucent.
In a medium bowl mix turkey, onion, breadcrumbs, egg, ketchup, salt and marjoram. Divide into four equal loafs and place each loaf into a non stick mini loaf pan or shape into small loafs on an un-greased nonstick baking pan.

In a small cup mix remaining 2 tbsp ketchup with wosterchire sauce and brush onto each loaf to give it a nice glaze.

Bake uncovered for about 40 minutes at 350°. After baking let it sit for 5 minutes serving.

Lemon Herb Chicken in the crockpot

I did something different with this recipe. I decided to try out plastic liners for slow cookers. I haven't used them before because they are pretty expensive for what they are, but the large crockpot can be quite a hassle to clean, plus when you make a whole chicken there is usually some fat and bones left over and we could just toss it out.

This chicken did not come out as flavorful as Stephanie said hers came out on her blog. She raved about the flavor and I couldn't say the same. Next time I will dump on the seasoning. It looks like she used more lemon slices, although the recipe calls for 2 lemons which is also what I used. We ate this chicken for days on end, about 3 meals each and then I used the last of it to make a chicken pot pie which we ate for another 2 meals each, so 10 meals total.

Ingredients:
One thawed and skinned whole chicken
A head of garlic
2 lemons (next time I will use 3 or 4)
salt and pepper
fresh rosemary (i used dried, maybe it makes a difference)

Directions
Place skinned chicken in crockpot, rub down with salt and pepper, place garlic inside the cavity and around the outside, cover with lemon slices and top with rosemary. Cook on low about 7-8 hours or more. Super simple!

This is also WW friendly, serves about 8 at 3 points per person (depends on size of the chicken)

Woot, I also completed task 48 on the 101 list, recording everything I ate for the month of January. The result was losing about 7 pounds this month, not terrible considering I didn't work out really. Another $10 to savings!

Lighter Chicken Francese

Yum. Absolutely or favorite low fat recipe so far and doesn't taste healthy at all. Gina and her amazing blog did it again! This dish could have come out of the kitchen of a 5 star Italian restaurant. We loved it and the sauce would be excellent served over pasta, which is how we will eat it in the future.

Ingredients:

• 4 (38 0z) (2.4 lbs) chicken breast halves, thinly sliced (I used 3 breast halves and butterflied them to make 6 pieces)
  
• 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup egg whites, beaten
• 1 lemon, juice of
• 1/2 lemon sliced thin
  
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1 can fat free chicken broth
• Pam cooking spray
• salt and fresh pepper
• 3 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp butter

Directions:
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place the flour in a bowl, and the beaten egg whites in another bowl.

Heat a very large non stick pan over medium heat. When hot spray with Pam to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.

Lightly flour chicken, then dip in eggs and add to the hot pan a few at a time. Saute chicken 2-3 minutes on each side. When cooked, transfer onto a plate. Spray the pan again and repeat until all chicken has been cooked.

Once all chicken is cooked, place the chicken broth in the bowl with the remaining flour and whisk. Add to the pan along with the juice of the lemon, white wine, lemon slices, parsley and butter and simmer on low heat for about 2 minutes so it reduces slightly and thickens. Turn off heat. Return chicken to the pan to combine with the sauce. Serve immediately with a nice big salad.

Makes 6 servings, 8 points each

Diet Coke Cupcakes

The idea behind this creation is genius and the outcome is delicious. If you have ever done weight watchers, then you know about baking with diet coke. It results in a low calorie, very moist and tasty treat!

Ingredients:
Box of cake mix
Can of diet soda
Container of lite cool whip
Sprinkles if desired


Directions:
Combine any flavor cake mix (I used fudge) with a can of diet soda (I used diet coke). Mix well, and pour into 24 cupcake liners. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. You can also make a cake instead, just use the time according to the pan size. Top each cupcake with a heaping tbsp of cool whip and decorate with sprinkles.

Serves 24, 3 points each (2 without any topping on the cake)

Coleslaw, a lost favorite

Coleslaw is a new favorite of mine. I used to despise it all my life actually. I am thinking it's because I never had any of the the good fattening kind like you get at BBQ restaurants. I would say maybe in the past 6 months I have taken an interest in it. Well I looked over a few recipes and I figured I could cut out a lot of fat and calories so here is a recipe I came up with and it is my absolute favorite new thing, I could eat it for dessert because of the sweet tangy flavor.

Ingredients
16 oz. bag fresh coleslaw mix (I used Publix brand but Dole is great, too.)
3/4 cup Light Miracle Whip
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp poppy seeds

Directions
1. Mix everything together. That is really pretty much it. To be more organized, I made the dressing first which was everything except the coleslaw mix and I whisked it around for a bit, then tossed in the coleslaw mix.

Makes 8 servings, 2 Points per serving

Chocolate Banana Soufflés

These didn't photograph too well but they were definitely a yummy treat. Also another great recipe from Gina's blog. The key to making these look pretty is using the right size ramekins.

Ingredients
2 mashed bananas, the riper the better
2 tsp constarch
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg whites
3 tbsp sugar
Pam spray


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray ramekins. Place on baking sheet or pan.
2. Mash bananas with vanilla in large bowl. Add cornstarch and cocoa and blend well.
3. In another bowl, beat egg whites and sugar until soft peaks form. Add 1/3 of the mixture to the banana mixture. Fold in the rest of the egg whites.
4. Pour into ramekins. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Serve immediately or they will fall (we served ours with lite cool whip on top.)

4 servings , 2.5 Weight Watchers points per serving

Crockpot Santa Fe Chicken

Another one of Gina's fabulous recipes which I made some changes to. A hot thick dish like this was perfect for the 40 degree weather we have been having. Quite chilly for a South Florida winter, I believe it's the coldest winter on record so far. It also gave me a different way to enjoy chicken, since I am not eating beef or pork till April. Anyway, here's what we had for dinner:



Ingredients for Crockpot Santa Fe Chicken:

1.5 lbs chicken breast
1 can of Rotel, drained
1 can of black beans, drained
8 oz frozen corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I used a tsp of the cilantro in the spice jar)
2 cups chicken broth (use one can or make it with bullion like I did)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1-2 tsp chili powder (your preference)
salt to taste

Combine all but the chicken in the crockpot. Lay the chicken breasts on top and season with salt. Cook on low 10 hours or high 6 hours. Before serving, remove chicken and shred with a fork, then return to the crockpot (I didn't do this, I serve the large chicken chunks because I was lazy.) Serve over rice (count the extra points though.)

Serves 8, 4 Weight Watchers Points

Cauliflower Soup

I spent a long time on Ginas' blog about Weight Watchers recipes, and I will be trying tons of them out. This soup is very rich, flavorful, and best of all, only 1 point per serving!



Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower, broken into pieces
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tsp flour
1 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan, and then add the flour. Stir until it becomes a roux.
2. Add the broth, boil.
3. Throw in onions and cauliflower, boil about 10 minutes until soft.
4. Blend in immersion blender. Salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4 servings, 1 point each.

Avena- healthy oatmeal drink

I have been drinking this for breakfast on the way to work in the mornings and I love it. I got this recipe from Gina's blog which I only skimmed through for a few minutes, but I know I will be spending lots of time on there in the future because her weight watchers recipes look awesome and she has tons of them.

Avena Ingredients
1/2 old fashioned or quick cooking oatmeal
1 cup 1% milk
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups water

1. Prepare oatmeal according to package. Typically I microwave 1/2 cup oats and 1 cup of water for 5 minutes.
2. Blend the prepared oatmeal and all other ingredients in blender.
3. Chill for a few hours or blend with ice.

Makes 4 services, 2 Weight Watchers Points each

The Green Monster

This is the ultimate health drink to me. You get a serving of dairy, veggies, fruit, and healthy fat all in one shake. And it was delicious and filling. The best thing about the Green Monster shake is you can swap ingredients to fit your likes, and I may play around with what I like, but this is the one I made today.

A handful of spinach
1 frozen banana
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 cup 1% milk
1 tbsp honey

Blend it all together, sip and repeat! 7 Weight Watchers points for the whole recipe.

Zesty Chicken Meatloaf

I am working on Goal 43 for my bucket list, I am pretty sure I can find way more than 52 new recipes this year, more like 80 or so. We shall see! I am also working on #47, which is no red meat or pork for the next 90 days. Look out for tons of chicken and turkey recipes for the next little bit, hehe. Also working on #45 simultaneously.

So here we go with my latest creation (adapted from allrecipes.com)



Zesty Chicken Meatloaf

Ingredients:
1 pound ground chicken
2 eggs
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 packet meatloaf seasoning (taco seasoning is probably also yummy)
3 tbsp salsa
2 tbsp ranch dressing
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Preheat the oven at 350. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, knead with hands and then shape into a loaf form and put in a loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes. Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream if desired.

Makes 8 servings
5 Weight Watchers Points (sour cream extra)

We ate this with steamed rice, corn, and a slice of lime, definitely a mexican vibe to this dish. Hubby loved it and thought it was made with ground beef!