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

The double BOGO

If you shop at Publix pretty often like I do, then you are probably pretty familiar with the buy one get one free items that they have.  They are on a regular rotation, so typically every 4-6 weeks you will see the same items go BOGO.  Well, usually the BOGO items are convenience packaged foods, and my husband consumes a lot of that stuff- corndogs, chicken patties, frozen pizzas, etc since I work late several nights per week.  I was reading on the internet about how you can buy coupons off of ebay, and I had never thought to check there before.  Lo and behold, I found a lady that was selling 10 coupons for buy one get one free Curly's pulled pork.  I remembered that I had bought it BOGO before from Publix or Winn Dixie (I sometimes shop there for BOGO items.)  Here is where the double BOGO comes in- if the item is already BOGO at the store, and you have a BOGO coupon, then you actually get both items free.  So for 99 cents, I bought 10 of the BOGO Curly's coupons.  I was taking a risk because they expire June 30 and I wasn't sure if the Curly's pulled pork would go on sale during that time.  Luckily, Wednesday came around and I saw that Curly's was BOGO at Winn Dixie.  I got my coupons in the mail Thursday night, went to Winn Dixie Friday morning, and picked up 20 containers of Curly's pulled pork for FREE.  At $5.99 each, it was a significant amount of savings.  I bought a few other BOGO items while I was there just so that my total would be a positive number.  All in all, I spent $17.05 and walked away with $150 worth of groceries.  The pulled pork came in handy for Memorial Day weekend, and I now have tons of meat in the fridge and freezer.  I won't do this often, but if it's a product I could really use and have the storage for it, I think it's a great way to stretch your budget.

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

Fettucini Alfredo with Bacon

This recipe came from Cooking Light, and is definitely less fat and calories than traditional Alfredo sauce.

1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated fresh fettuccine (REALLY important to use fresh! Note: we used fresh tri-color tortellini instead because we had that on hand)
2 slices applewood-smoked bacon, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
2/3 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I left this out)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. While pasta cooks, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 4 minutes or until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings. Add garlic to drippings in pan; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Sprinkle flour over garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly; cook 2 minutes or until bubbly and slightly thick, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low. Gradually add cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in salt and reserved 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Add hot pasta to pan; toss well to combine. Sprinkle with bacon, parsley, and pepper.

Rainbow Cake

I felt like playing with food coloring and this is what I came up with!