Hey y'all!  Shall we resort to bullets on a Tuesday?  Yes we shall.

• My parents came for a visit this weekend!  Although they're leaving today *tear* we've had a grand time.  Natalie has been enjoying walks with Grandma where they stop to pick flowers together.  It's precious.  And according to my mom, Natalie can now say 'Grandpa.'  Not sure if it's true or not, seeing as the last time she was with just my mom, Natalie said 'cup' which she has yet to say since.  Time will tell!

• Oh, and guess what happened last week?  My sweet girl was able to wear her hair in a single pony!

How is she possibly this big?  Sorry for the crappy photo.  Girl is always on the move and this is the least blurry one I could snap.

• Also, I made a cake for a friend this weekend for a 1st birthday.  It was Paris themed!  Such a gorgeous idea.   

 

• We had a beautiful weekend with Daddy until he left us again for the week in NY.  We're secretly hoping his case will settle so he'll be home with us soon.

• I made these enchiladas over the weekend and they were fantastic!  Annie's website is definitely one of my go to blogs for yummy food.  It was a little involved seeing as you make your own enchilada sauce...but totally doable for a weekend meal.  

The Yummiest Chicken Cordon Bleu...Eva!

I'm about to admit to you that I watch PBS. 

And not for Sesame Street or something else legitimate.

My husband and I are a wee bit obsessed with these two cooking shows...America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country.  

Have you seen them?  They make some really interesting, yummy recipes.  And they explain things like the chemistry behind why you should use one cut of meat over the other.  And charts that show where exactly the meat is coming from.  Charts!  And step by step instructions and tips on how and why a recipe works.

It's really a novel of a concept compared to something you would find on Food Network.  Now I love me some Food Network, but these shows actually test dozens upon dozens of recipes before they come up with the best one.  And I believe them.

Last night I made their Chicken Cordon Bleu.  It was to die for!  It had a Ritz cracker crust (delicious!) along with yummy slices of ham and Swiss cheese which combined to make a fantastic flavor.  And it could not have been easier.

Now I'm not much for stuffing chicken breasts.  You usually have to flatten them out with a meat mallet and then roll them up.  Which in my experience usually creates more of a mess than a masterpiece.  But these, these little bundles are genius!  All you have to do it a cut a slit in the chicken and insert the rolled up pieces of ham/cheese and you're done.  Easy peasy! 

I must share!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

25 Ritz crackers

4 slices of hearty white bread (I used Italian)

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

8 thin slices deli ham 

2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs. total)

3 large eggs

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 cup all purpose flour

Instructions:

1.  Make Crumbs:  Adjust oven racks to lowest and middle positions and heat oven to 450 degrees.  Pulse crackers and bread in a food processor until coarsely ground.  Drizzle in butter; pulse to incorporate.  Bake crumbs on rimmed baking sheet on middle rack, stirring occasionally, until light brown, 3-5 minuets.  Transfer to shallow dish.

2.  Stuff Chicken:  Top each ham slice with 1/4 cup cheese and roll tightly; set aside.  Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Cut pocket in thickest part of chicken and stuff each breast with 2 ham-and-cheese rolls.  Transfer chicken to plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 20 minutes.  (Apparently this is so the chicken time to seal up a bit on itself.  This helps keep the ham and cheese inside the chicken and not oozing out on your baking sheet when you bake it)

3.  Coat and Bake:  Beat eggs and mustard in a second shallow dish.  Place flour in third shallow dish.  One at a time, coat stuffed chicken lightly with flour, dip into egg mixture, and dredge in crumbs, pressing to adhere.  Transfer chicken to a clean baking sheet.  Bake on lowest rack until bottom of chicken is golden brown, about 10 minutes, and then move baking sheet to middle rack and reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees.  Bake until golden brown and chicken registers 160 degrees, 20-25 minutes.  Transfer to cutting board, tent with foil, and let rest 5 minutes.  Serve.

Y'all.  Make this.  Trust me.  Delicious!

I will say that the amount of flour/Ritz mixture I threw away was crazy.  It doesn't use nearly as much as it calls for.  I know it's easier to coat with more mixture there...but I think next time I would make 1/2 of what it calls for.  It hurt my hear to throw away that many Ritz crackers.

Fave Recipes of the Week

In lieu of a formal Menu Monday post, I thought I would instead share with you some of the recipes I have made over the last few weeks.  Be sure to stick around.  There's dessert!

Probably the best meal I made was this 3 Meat Pizza Casserole.  I fixed it when my sister was here and it's a good thing.  Matt and I would've never finished it by ourselves.  Well, maybe if we ate it all week.  Which come to think of it would not have been a bad thing.

It says to use a 9 X 13 dish, which is what I did, and it was practically overflowing.  In fact, when I came down from putting Natalie to bed I thought I smelled something burning in the oven and sure enough it had leaked all over the place.  As an aside, hello family members that were sitting right there the whole time?  Get with it!  My house is practically catching on fire and you're just sitting there watching T.V.?

I did make a few changes to the recipe.  I left out the ham because I'm more of a pepperoni and sausage only kind of girl.  So technically I made a 2 Meat Pizza Casserole.  Also, the recipe called for 1/2-1 lb. of pepperoni.  I had an 8 oz. bag and didn't have nearly enough room to use all of it.  The recipe instructed you to only put it on the top of the casserole.  Next time I would use it all but also include more within the actual dish.

But y'all.  This was fantastic.  Not good for you by any means.  Not at all.  But if you're looking for a dish to feed to a hungry crowd, this would definitely do the trick.  It could feed at least 8 no problem.


Next up, Bubble Up Enchiladas.  These were also quite delicious.  I have no idea why they are called enchiladas when they're made with biscuits and not tortillas...but hey...I didn't name the recipe so I just went with it.  Fantastic.  It's supposed to be all healthy but I didn't go that route.  I used regular biscuits and ground beef.  Oh yes I did.

I made some cupcakes for a former co-worker and decided on Annie's Cookies and Cream Cupcakes.  I did sneak one before I gave them away and I'm so glad I did.  The cream cheese icing was to die for.  And the cake was so moist and yummy.  Totally worth the 11 points.  Yes.  You read that right.  I wasted 11 points on a freaking cupcake.  It was that good.

Another main dish we tried was Chili & Cheese Macaroni.  It was pretty good.  Nothing blew me away about the dish...but worth a shot.  I'm not sure I'd make it again but it was alright.  Have I sold you on it yet?

Moving on...

When my sister was here I felt the urge to bake.  Perhaps it was the bottle of champagne we were drinking?  Or the wine we had later?  Not sure.  But I was taking requests.  My BIL wanted something red velvet and cream filled.  Hm.  Strange combo I thought.  But I remembered these beauties and whipped them right up.

These Red Velvet Whoopie Pies were fantastic.  They were also 11 points but I think I made them too big.  You definitely could make them smaller for less of a diet buster.  Next time I think I will add some milk to the icing though.  It was way too think to use in a pastry bag and pipe on to make it look pretty.  But this wasn't a "let's make something that looks pretty" occasion.  It was more of a "let's make something that tastes delicious and sugary" occasion.  Done.


Lastly, I threw together some Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies the other day for a friend.  We were finally able to get over to see her beautiful baby girl and I didn't want to show up empty handed.  I decided on these as my darling husband gave me zero notice (as in maybe 3 hours beforehand) and it was the only recipe I could find where I had all of the ingredients.  I thought they were super yummy and I would definitely make them again.  In fact, I'm wishing I would've saved myself some.  Hm.  Fail.

Menu Monday

Monday:  Orange Chicken

This was that straight up out of a box frozen meal from Costco that has been on repeat for months.  It comes with two packages so this was package number 2.  It's yummy, easy, but very high in points and not something I'm into every week.  It makes the day seem so long when I've used the rest of my points up by 11:30 and have to wait until 7:30 to eat this.  Bring on the fruit.

WW Points:  19 points (1 3/4 cups) + 4 points for a serving of brown rice


Tuesday:  Velveeta Italian Sausage Bake

New meal this week using the feature of plugging your ingredients into the search boxes and seeing what comes up.  Mine?  Sausage and penne pasta.  This meal was super delicious!  If you're into Velveeta of course.  The thought of Velveeta kinda grosses me out, but in finished dishes I cannot deny its awesomeness.

I omitted the zucchini in this recipe so it probably could've used a little more pasta in my version, but if you follow the recipe the amount should be adequate. 

WW Points:  17 points/serving
4 servings


Wednesday:  Leftovers


Thursday:  Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Up

For some reason I picked two meals with Velveeta this week.  Not really on purpose but it worked out well because I already had some in the fridge.  This meal kind of reminds me of this yummy cheese dip my mom makes but all rolled up into a pizza dough.  It's good, but I feel as if the dough is a little thick for my taste and leaves me wanting more meat.  That's what she said.  But nonetheless, yums.

Next time I would cook the bacon separately and then add it in later.  I don't feel like it gets crispy cooking it with the beef and I'm a crispy bacon kind of girl.

WW Points:  17 points/serving
4 servings


Friday:  B-Spot & Leftovers

It was Girls' Night Out Friday at B-Spot, a new restaurant in town by Michael Symon.  I ended up getting a salad because I saved the rest of my points for wine.  Yep.  That's how I roll.  Matt ate up the leftovers from the previous evening.


Saturday:  Hamburgers & Grilled Corn

This was a last minute throw together meal as my plans for the evening fell through at the last minute.  Matt was in charge as I do not grill so I just kind of made up the points for this one.  AKA: a night of not caring.  Followed by ice cream.  With peanut butter smeared on top.



Sunday:  Steak and Chicken Kabobs, Potato Casserole, Caramel Brownies

We had a cookout at a friend's house and I was of course in charge of bringing dessert.  The brownies were so yummy, but they were incredibly rich and very gooey.  Practically impossible to get out of the pan.  They were so gooey you had to eat them with a fork.  I'm not sure I would make them again because of the messiness factor but they were soooo good. 


Clearly I lost no weight this week because of my weekend crazies.  But some weeks, maintaining is succeeding my my book.  And so is sending the leftover brownies to work with your husband.

Menu Monday

Monday:  Leftovers

These Cheesy BBQ Sloppy Joes are just as delicious the second time around.  I do wait until right before we are ready to eat to make the bread each time, though.  Reheated bread = sucktastic.


Tuesday:  Chicken Tortilla Casserole

I LOVE this dish.  I did a lot of prep work throughout the day so it wouldn't take as long to prepare that evening (chopping the veggies, prepping the chicken, crushing the tortilla chips) and it was super delicious.  Matt thinks it's only okay as he's not much of a tomato eater and the chopped tomatoes are not hidden in the slightest.  His plate was full of picked out tomatoes bits.  But I'm not a tomato fan myself and I think the other flavors masked it quite well.  Well enough for me to eat them without spitting them out.

I used red onion instead of a shallot as I had some leftover.  Also, I used 1 Tbsp. of the chipolte peppers in adobo sauce and that was plenty.  Perhaps even too much.  It was very spicy.  Matt and I are both lovers of the heat but these peppers are my nemesis for sure.  So be careful.  Also, I used 5 oz. of tortillas chips and about 26 oz. of chicken.  The points reflect these amounts.  Oh, and no cilantro.  Matt thinks it tastes like soap.  I know.  He's a strange, strange man.

WW Points:  14 points/serving
4 servings


Wednesday:  Leftovers


Thursday:  Burritos

Nothing fancy here folks.  I browned 12 oz. of lean ground beef, threw in some taco seasoning...and ta da!  Done.  We're more of a burrito family rather than a taco family so I served the meat up in soft shells.  Easy peasy!

WW Points: 8 points for 6 oz. taco meat, 3 points for 1/3 cup Mexican cheese, 6 points for 2 tortilla shells
Total meal:  17 points


Friday-Sunday

We were out of town for the weekend so no cooking for this mama!

Hope y'all are having a great Monday!!

Menu Monday

Monday:  Three Cheese Chicken and Pasta Skillet

This was a new recipe for the week and boy was it good!  I had to use up some leftover rotisserie chicken and this fit the bill.  It came together very quickly for a weeknight meal (a necessity in our house) and was quite reasonable points wise.  I left out the Kraft Singles because they are disgusting and a sorry excuse for cheese.  In my opinion of course :)  The points reflect this.

I wasn't super impressed with this dish as a leftover meal, but Matt thought it was quite good both days.  Take that for what you will.

WW Points:  10 points/serving
5 servings

Tuesday:  Leftovers

Wednesday:  Lasagna Soup

Dude.  I mean, DUDE.  This soup is G.O.O.D.  I insist you make this immediately.  Perhaps it would be more appropriate for a cold winter month but I'm not one to get caught up in all of that garbage.  Good food is good every month of the year.  And this, boy is it good.  I mean, the topping is called "cheesy yum."  Enough said, yes?

I used chicken broth instead of stock as I already had that.  I didn't notice any loss in flavor because of this substitution.  I also used the leftover rotini from Monday evening as I couldn't find either of the suggested pastas at the store.  I also didn't use as much basil as mine withered to grossness a little quicker than expected.

WW Points: 16 points/serving
6 servings

This could definitely be an 8 serving dish.  The amount I ate was quite a large bowl but I didn't mind as it was incredibly delicious.  But it made a ton.  Judging by the fact I forced Matt to have two days of leftovers.  But unlike the earlier dish, the taste was of the same high quality as the first night.


Thursday:  Leftovers

Friday:  Leftovers

Saturday:  Pizza

Menu plan fail.  Do you ever have nights where you just need to have pizza?  I mean, deep down in your soul need it?  Well, I do.  And it was Saturday.   It was also too many points to count.  Ahem.


Sunday:  Cheesy BBQ Sloppy Joes

This is a repeat dish for us.  We LOVE it.  I mean, whenever a recipe calls for Texas toast we are all over it.  I could not recommend making this dish more.  Easy, tasty, Texas toasty.  Yum.  Just do it.

WW Points: 21 points/serving
4 servings

FYI it's major high in points.  You could totally make this into an 8 serving meal and only eat one piece of Texas toast.  But you know me by now, right.  That ain't my style.

Menu Monday

Monday:  BBQ Chicken Pizza

This pizza is really, really good.  It's super easy to throw together on a weeknight and it completely holds up to my high standards of what I consider an awesome pizza.  And that means a lot considering I exclusively eat sausage and cheese.

I did decide to use a 'just add water' pizza crust for this pizza instead of making my own crust.  Forgive me.  It was a Monday.  And also, I only had two slices of bacon leftover from our Sunday breakfast.  A travesty in my book.  So the points include my changes. 

I personally ate half the pizza.  But a normal person could perhaps eat less.  So please take the high point value of this recipe with that in mind.

WW Points:  25 points/half of pizza


Tuesday:  Pasta Alla Vodka

I had this meal out at a restaurant a few months ago for the first time and have been craving it ever since.  Finally, I had a chance to attempt a recreation.  I thought this pasta was pretty good, but a little involved.  I'm not a fan of recipes that involve me using a blender, the stove, and a ton of other dishes.  I also didn't feel like there was enough sauce when the meal was ready.  But it did have a nice kick to it which I appreciate.  In conclusion, I think I'm still on the lookout for the perfect Pasta Alla Vodka recipe.  Have any suggestions?

WW Points:  14 points/serving
5 servings
We served it with a side of Texas Toast (5 points for Cheese variety)


Wednesday:  Leftovers
This wasn't super fab leftover.  The sauce soaked up even more into the pasta so it had even less than the day before.  Not such a fan.


Thursday:  Cheeseburger Pie

This dish was really tasty...and super easy to make.  At first it was a little weird to be eating puff pastry as a crust but the taste trumped the difficulty in getting a perfect bite.  We left off all the toppings as we're not super big veggie people and thought the dressing would be a weird addition so my points reflect that.

The serving size in the recipe is 4 and I think that would've been perfectly acceptable.  I, however, ate half.  Obvs.

WW Points: 28 points/half of pie


Friday:  Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells

I was a little weirded out by the fact there was no sauce with this dish, but OMG this was fantastic!!  Probably the best meal we've had in a long time.  The cheesiness was all that was needed with each shell.  And talk about easy to make.  Cook the pasta, stuff them, bake them...good to go!  We will definitely be making it again.

I used 16 jumbo shells so we each got 4 shells per meal.  I thought this serving size was sufficient.  We did have Texas toast with it one night...but ran out the next night and I was no where near starving with just eating the shells.

WW Points:  13 points/serving
4 servings


Saturday:  Leftovers


Sunday:  Orange Chicken

Don't get too excited friends.  This was out of a box.  I had grand plans to make this super awesome sounding Lasagna Soup but we didn't have time to get to the store.  Next week! 

We bought it frozen from Costco and it was really good...and quite yummy.  Not so great for you on the points side of things so I only had a wee little bit.  I've pretty much been stuffing myself full of watermelon lately that I wasn't even really hungry for dinner.  I guess there are worse things to stuff yourself with than watermelon, huh?

WW Points:  11 points/serving
5 servings
If I would've been my normal self, I would've eaten more than this.  Half of the package would've been almost 30 points though...so I doubt I would've done all that.  Perhaps two servings at 22 points would've been perfect.

Menu Monday

Monday:  Deep Dish Pizza

Matt invented this dish.  Well, I'm sure he didn't invent deep dish pizza, but it was something he made regularly before I was around.  My mom always made homemade thin crust pizza so this was all new to me.  I think it's really good, but I think I still prefer my mom's way.  I feel like I get more pizza when I get to eat 6 slices instead of 2 even though it's the same amount of food.

We used Walmart brand pizza crust.  You just add water to the packet, mix it up, let it sit for 5 minutes...and you're good to go.  We're an all sausage/half pineapple kind of family (fruit on pizza is a sin in my opinion) so that's what I used.  Top it with some mozz, pop it in the oven for 25 minutes at 425 degrees and you're good to go!

Recipe specifics for entire pizza:
8 oz. of sausage
1 cup pizza sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese

WW points:  22 points/serving
2 servings


Tuesday:  Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

I got this recipe from DAR, one of my very favorite bloggers who has since left the blogging world.  Insert tear here.  She actually got it from one of my other bloggy besties, Jenn.  For some reason I can't link to your blog, Jenn, so here's your official shout out!  Hey Jenn!  Thanks for the yummy recipe!

I changed it up a little bit so I'll post exactly what I did here:

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts (2 lbs. 8 oz.)
1 bottle of wing sauce (I used Frank's Sweet BBQ)
1 packet ranch dressing mix
3 Tbsp. butter
Hamburger buns

Put the chicken, wing sauce, and ranch packet into the crock pot.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours.  Shred chicken with a fork.  Add back to the crock pot, add the butter and stir.  Let the flavors meld for an hour or two and then serve it up on hamburger buns.

These were so yummy!  I do prefer the pulled BBQ chicken, but if you're in the mood for something a little spicy...this is definitely for you.  I really don't see the point of the added butter, so next time I would skip that for sure.

WW points:  8 points/serving
6 servings
2 hamburger buns used = 8 points
Total meal: 16 points


Wednesday:  Leftovers


Thursday:  Bow Tie Lasagna

This meal came together very quickly which is perfect for us during the week.  The sour cream in the sauce made it super creamy which was a nice treat, especially coming from two people who despise sour cream.  I cut the serving size down a little so I could have more and the amount was perfect.

WW points:  11 points/serving
5 servings
Texas Toast:  5 points
Total Meal:  16 points


Friday:  Leftovers


Saturday:  Cookout!

We had a few of our friends over for a cookout and had such a lovely time.  I really don't know why we don't do this more often.  We're totally the couple (I mean family of three!) that goes to their friends' houses way more than we have people over.  But I had such a lovely time being in my own home!  Especially with Natalie.  She had all of her toys right here, not to mention her crib when bedtime rolled around!

Here was the menu:

Appetizer:  Mexican Cheese Ball with Tortilla Chips

When I say this dip was awesome, I am SO not joking.  One of our friends lovingly referred to it as a mushed up taco.  In a good way.  If you can take it as that.  It went perfectly with the tortilla chips...and the toasted pecans on the outside...to die for.  I will say that the recipe said to form the cheese into a ball, roll it in the pecans, and put it in the fridge.  Um, the cheese was definitely not rollable.  At all.  It was not firm and was very much more of a dip than a cheese ball.  So I just sprinkled the pecans on top.  Worked out just fine!


Main Dish:  Smoked BBQ Ribs

Matt did the smoking so all I can say is oh.my.goodness.was.this.ever.outstanding.  Enough said.

Side Dishes:  Potato Casserole, Watermelon, Corn on the Cob

I didn't make the potato casserole but it was one of those casseroles that was creamy, potatoey goodness with corn flakes on top.  Oh yeah.


Dessert:  Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

I had such high hopes for these cupcakes...but they were just okay.  They were extremely tart and just super sweet.  I usually don't have a problem with this but even for me it was a little too much.  Plus, the cake was pretty dense and dry.  They looked super pretty though!

Notice I didn't include points for this day.  Yeah.  So did my ass.


Sunday:  Leftovers

Menu Monday

Monday:  Spicy Tangerine Beef with Brown Rice

I'm not sure I can still call this recipe by it's original name since I actually used an orange instead of a tangerine.  Can you believe the grocery store didn't have one?  I thought that was weird.  Anyways, this recipe was super delicious.  And really easy to make.  It says it serves 4-6 which I find to be a total lie.  I would say 3 at the most.  Matt and I each ate a fourth of it on Monday and we both commented that there could've been more meat with the amount of rice we made.  (But honestly, when could you ever NOT say, "I could use a little bit more meat."?)

WW Points:  9 points/servings
Servings:  4

I also made these Sea Salted Caramels to take over to our neighbors for watering our plants when we were out of town.  The recipe was incredibly easy...make some caramel, put it in a pan, let cool, melt some chocolate, pour it over the layer of caramel, good to go.  Um, no.  When I went to cut the caramels into pieces my chocolate layer completely separated from my caramel layer.  AND the caramel layer was impossible to cut.  It got so hard.  Like the only way I was going to be able to break it into pieces was to throw it on the ground.  Needless to say I did not end up taking these over to our neighbors.  I did, however, eat the chocolate layer myself and send the huge block of caramel with Matt to work.  Dessert = Fail.


Tuesday:  Leftovers

(I finished these up myself as Matt was gone so I ate two servings of beef with one serving of rice and it was perfect)


Wednesday:

Matt got home late again and he was supposed to pick up some booze as an ingredient for the recipe I was going to make...so I pushed it back until Thursday.  I ended up eating nachos.  And ice cream.  Yep.  Not so great of a WW day for Jenny.




Thursday:  Bubba's Creamy Spicy Seafood Pasta

1.  This recipe says it serves 4.  Um, no.  It serves at least 6.  Probably more like 8.
2.  There is so not enough seafood in this dish for the amount of pasta.  If I were to make this again, I would definitely scale down the pasta to at least 12 oz. instead of a pound.
3.  Despite the above issues, it was really tasty!  The sauce had a real kick to it.  I just wish it had more seafood.

WW Points:  14 points/servings
Servings: 6


Friday: Menu Planning Fail


We were invited to a last minute cook out so we brought over hamburgers, hot dogs, and ears of corn.  Not a bad WW day, but it's always hard to calculate points when you're at someone else's house.  I mean, who really has the balls to say, "Hey, before you put that hamburger on the grill, could you please weigh that?  And could you get lite buns?"  Not me.




Saturday:  Cook Out...Again!

This one was actually planned.  Our neighbors invited us over.  Turns our neighbor is BFF with a guy Matt went to law school with in Virginia.  Totally random, right?  So he was coming up for a visit and we stopped over to say hey. 

I provided the Oreo Truffles and S'more Cookie Bars.  As always, the truffles were the hit of the party.  For something so incredibly easy to make, these things really get attention.  I get kind of sick of making them for everything though and I'm always looking to try something new.  Enter cookie bars.  They were AWESOME.  I do think they needed more chocolate so I will definitely add another candy bar if I make then again.  Seriously yum! They were, however, 7 points/bar.  With 16 servings.  Not so fab...but doable for one day.  Unfortunately, there are still some in my house.

Sunday:  Leftovers

Sorry for the lack of recipes this week friends.  But we all have those crazy weeks where nothing seems to go as planned, right?

Menu Monday...Vacation Style

Not so much of a menu for last week.  And don't even ask me about WW points.  We were in Panama City Beach on vacation so if you'd like photos of Twizzlers, Skittles, or cupcakes for dinner...I could share those?? 

Wait.  You don't eat like that on vacation?  Just me?

Sunday my BIL made homemade ravioli which was quite delicious.  We had a night of burritos on Monday and then my dad made his famous homemade lasagna on Tuesday.  I posted the recipe for it quite a while ago but I can't seem to find it now.  It will definitely have to be shared.  No other lasagna compares in my book.  Wednesday evening everyone went out to a late dinner whilst Matt and I stayed home with a sleeping Natty Poo.  My sister did bring me some fish and chips home which was incredibly tasty.  My mom stayed home with Natalie on Thursday so us kiddos could go out to dinner.  I had chicken and sausage jambalaya.  Seriously yum.  It was my (Matt's) turn to cook on Friday and we made Cheesy BBQ Sloppy Joes.  Anything with Texas toast in it is a winner for me and this did not disappoint.

I'll definitely be back to posting legit recipes next week.  Lord knows my thighs need it...

Menu Monday with a Twist!

Monday:  Leftovers from the weekend

Don't you just love a Monday of leftovers?  For some reason, I really dislike cooking on Mondays.  Perhaps I'm just not ready for the week to begin?  Not sure.  But the potato soup and pulled chicken from the weekend sure did hit the spot.

Tuesday:  Chicken Croquettes with Creole Sauce

This recipe is from Paula Deen.  Enough said, yes?  I thought it was super yummy.  It was basically a crab cake using chicken instead of crab.  Matt didn't eat any of the sauce that I made with it as it was mostly mayo and sour cream of which he is not a fan.  He chose to use BBQ sauce.  Personally, I thought the sauce was perfect with the meal.

Notes:
I made 12 croquettes instead of 10 and thought they were plenty big
I used green pepper instead of red as we had some leftover...I also left out the onion because I thought we had some and then I couldn't find it (aka:  what happens when your husband cooks a night)
4 servings (3 croquettes each) with 1/4 of sauce
15 points/serving

Wednesday:  Leftovers

Thursday:  Baked Shells with Pesto, Mozzarella, and Meat Sauce

Pesto?  Mozzarella?  Meat?  Who could go wrong, right?  Although I thought this dish was really yummy, I think the pesto was completely hidden within the tomato sauce.  Which is sad because I could basically eat pesto right out of the jar.  It's one of my favorite things and to put it in a dish and not be able to tell is a complete travesty in my book.  Plus, it is a hellified amount of points due to the oil so I felt like it was a complete waste.

But other than that, it was quite delicious.  And got two thumbs up from the hubs which is always a plus. 


Notes:
I left out the onion because, again, we ran out.  Since I didn't need to cook the onion, I also left out the oil. 
I changed the recipe to 5 servings instead of 4 because I wanted to have a piece of Texas Toast with my meal.  Upon further investigation, the servings could be dialed up to at least 6.  I mean, the meal completely filled up a 9 X 13 pan.  It was a lot of pasta.
5 servings
17 points/serving


Friday:  Leftovers

Saturday:  Find Your Own


Do you ever have days like this at your house?  A day where you don't have anything to cook or don't have any time to cook and you just say, "Honey...have whatever you can find?"  My mom used to do this and she called it "find your own."  So that's what we're doing tonight.  We're leaving on vacation in the morning so I want no leftovers in the house.  Enter "find your own."



Sunday:  WE'RE LEAVING FOR FLORIDA!

Enjoy your Fourth of July friends!

Menu Monday with a Twist!

Welcome to another edition of Menu Monday!  Here what happened last week in the food department.

Monday:  Buttermilk Pecan Chicken

There's not much on in the TV department during the day for this SAHM, so when Natalie's eating you can usually find me watching the Food Network.  Except from 11-2 when I am watching reruns of 90210 and Days of our Lives, obviously.  This recipe came from the show 5 Ingredient Fix.  I'm not such a fan of the host, but the whole idea of five ingredients in a meal intrigues me.  Especially during the week.  I prepped this meal in the morning and fried it up when Matt got home and it was delicious.  I did have to cook the chicken for a few minutes longer than the recipe said...which I always find to be the case.


Notes:
This recipe was a little hard to calculate at the beginning as it calls for ingredients to coat the chicken and oil to shallow fry it.  I actually calculated the points out of what the recipe called for and then reduced it by the amount that I actually used.  I ended up only using about 1/2 of the pecans and bread crumbs for coating as well as 1/2 the oil.
2 servings
17 points/serving


Tuesday: Barbecue Beef-Filled Biscuits

Another newbie from Kraft.  Super simple.  Super yummy.

Notes:
4 servings (2 biscuits each)
10 points/serving
I will say that the serving size for this was a little small.  I could've definitely eaten 3 of these babies :)  Also, our peppers were fairly large so we just used one red pepper instead of two small ones.


Wednesday:  Leftovers


Thursday:  Chili Topped Potatoes

This meal used to make a fairly regular appearance in our house but has since fallen off the radar.  I actually am not sure I have made it in this house!  I told Matt to pick a meal that he hadn't had in a while and loved...and this is what we ended up with.  It's always an easy, yummy, weeknight staple.

Notes:
Our potatoes were just over 9 oz. a piece
1/3 cup of Mexican Cheese used on top of each potato
2 servings
13 points/serving

This evening was also treated to a dessert.  I was our 8 year anniversary of when we started dating so I thought I would make something special for Matt.  His favorite cookies are Oatmeal Scotchies so I ran with the butterscotch theme.  I made Oatmeal Cream Cheese Butterscotch Bars.  Can I just say that these are dangerously good?  I mean, seriously dangerous.  Why I torture myself when I am on a diet I will never know.  I cut these into practically bite size pieces (48 servings) leaving them 4 points/bar.  Make these if you dare.

Friday:  Pulled BBQ Chicken

I told you I would make this every week if Matt let me!  I thought it would be a good idea to schedule an easy meal today as Matt's parents are coming into town for the weekend.  I have no idea when they are arriving (par for the course...don't get me started) so this is a perfect crock pot meal that can be done at any time.  Thanks again, ILYMTC!

Notes:
6 servings
11 points/serving
4 point honey hamburger buns makes this meal 19 points for two sandwiches


Saturday:  Fully Loaded Cheesy Potato Soup with Cheddar and Herb Biscuits

Both these recipes are courtesy of Gina and Pat Neely on the Food Network.  Again, not so much a fan on them but their food always looks and sounds so delicious.  And these did not disappoint.  Oh, the soup was probably the best potato soup I have ever had.  And we make several different recipes.  The biscuits weren't as fabulous as I expected them to be for the amount of butter I put on top but pretty good nonetheless.

Notes:
The recipe said the soup served 4-6 so I took 1/4 of the soup.  It was WAY too much.  I would definitely stick to 6 servings.  I used chicken broth instead of stock as that was all I had.  I also went with 2% milk instead of whole.  Who really has whole milk in the house?
4 servings
11 points/serving

Biscuits:
12 servings
4 points/serving (7 points for two)


Sunday:  Menu Fail

Matt's parents stayed home with Natalie so Matt and I could go out to dinner.  I will not mention the fact that Natalie woke up after we left and cried for her Mommy.  I will also not mention my breaking heart.

Menu Monday with a Twist!

I've decided to go ahead and jump right on board the "Menu Monday" bandwagon.  I'm big into the meal planning around these parts and I personally enjoy scouring blogs for recipes...so I thought I would create a segment of my own!  Not sure who came up with this whole "Menu Monday" idea...since it's on quite a few blogs that I read, so if it was you, let me know and I'll give you some cred.

But for a twist, I think I will include the WW points for each meal and update you on our meals from the past week.  That way I can include pictures.  I'll start that next week.

And just so you know upfront, I get a crazy amount of WW points.  Reasons include:  1.  I'm huge.  2.  I'm a nursing mom.  I currently have 49 points for the day so sometimes my points for dinner are seemingly high.  But right now, I need to eat more calories for my little girl so I'm obliging :)  Feel free to scale down for yourselves as necessary as the portions I eat now are larger than I have eaten in the past.  I'm also using higher point ingredients so I am able to hit my point value for the day.  This, unfortunately, will not last.

Here are some highlights from last week:

Monday:  Pulled BBQ Chicken

I found this recipe from I Love You More Than Carrots a while back.  Honestly, it's my new favorite meal.  It is ridiculously easy, super yummy, and I would make it every week if Matt let me.  Plus, you do it in the crock pot so my house smells delicious all day long.  We serve it on hamburger buns, but I was recently thinking it would be awesome with tortillas and cheese.  Yum!

Notes:
33.5 oz. chicken breast used
6 servings
11 points/serving
3 point wheat hamburger buns makes this meal 17 points for two sandwiches

Tuesday:  Leftovers

Wednesday:  Pizza Calzones

This is a go to recipe for us around here.  It's very simple and comes together quickly for a yummy meal during the week.

Notes:
This recipe makes 4 calzones.  Matt and I each eat two, but I could definitely just have one and call it a meal.  I don't, but I could.
9 points/calzone

Thursday:  Beef Casserole

This is a new recipe for us this week.  I really enjoy Southern Living recipes, as does Matt, so it's a site I frequent to search for yummy new meals to try.  It ended up being a super yummy dish!  I will say, the recipe instructed me to roll out some crescent roll dough, cut it into strips, and form a lattice on top of my casserole.  Um, that did not happen.  I did roll it out, cut it into strips, and then proceeded to just lay them all over the top.  I found there to be too many strips and I sure as heck was not going to throw away pieces of crescent roll dough.  No way!

Notes:
Lean ground beef used
Points do not include toppings which I chose not to use
6 servings
15 points/serving

Friday:  Leftovers

As a side note, the leftover beef casserole was just so so in my book.  Crescent rolls reheated are just never the same.

Saturday:  Chicken Skewers w/ Brown Rice

We ended up having a little bit of a change of plans Saturday.  We met our friends at a festival in town and they invited us over for dinner.  We did bring these skewers over for appetizers, but we also had steak for the boys, turkey dogs for us dieting girls.  And no rice.  Matt marinated the chicken in soy sauce, pineapple juice, brown sugar, and a few spices and it was really good on the grill.  Doesn't grilling something just make it taste so much better?

Notes:
3/4 lb. chicken tenders used
2 servings
8 points/serving (this includes using all of the sauce...which we intended to boil and use over rice)

Sunday:  Pepper Seared Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish Cream Sauce; Crab Legs

I went a little fancy today to celebrate Father's Day.  I let Matt chose the meal.  He also got Peach Cobbler for dessert.  I cannot vouch for how that turned out as cooked fruit is something I am not super fond of...so this dessert was special for Daddy.

The steak was so good!  But my favorite part of the meal was the sauce.  I will say that it made way more sauce than necessary so I bet the points were considerably less as I didn't even come close to using it all.  But hey.  Better under points for the day than over, am I right?

Notes:
I halved the recipe but used 1 lb. of meat.  The more meat the better in our house.
2 servings
19 points/serving
3 oz. of crab meat= 2 points + 3 points for the necessary tablespoon of butter used for dipping

Hope you enjoyed the first installment of Menu Monday a la Jenny!

A Visit and Tons of Yummy Recipes!

Happy Monday friends!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!  I got to enjoy some much needed time with my parents in Cleveland this weekend (only their third visit to this fine city!) and it was just great!

They arrived Friday evening and we had some delicious jambalaya with bacon onion cheddar biscuits.  Oh my goodness were these good.  Click here for the recipe.  You will NOT be disappointed!  We finished off the meal with Oreo cheesecake bars.  Yum! 

Saturday I was up bright and early to head over to the lab for my glucose screening.  And guess what?  I didn't throw up!!  Woot, woot!  I was home before 9 and was able to enjoy some homemade cinnamon rolls from Pioneer Woman.  I thought I'd better wait to eat all that butter and sugar until after my glucose screening.  My mama didn't raise no dummy.

We spent the day watching football and doing a little shopping.  I introduced my mom and grandma to Costco and I think I created a monster!  You know those people who just stand there and wait for the samples to come out?  That was them.  I know.  I can't take them anywhere! 

We also enjoyed a few rousing games of bowling on the Wii and played a little Guitar Hero per my dad's request.  He enjoyed the tunes :) 

We ended up getting a late lunch of pizza (yum!) and were so full from that we didn't even have dinner :)  Ha!  I did make some of Shaina's delicious brownies which were so yummy warmed up it is hard to describe.  A must try!

Sunday I made cinnamon baked french toast for breakfast.  It was a hit! (I'm just realizing that when people visit...I always center around food.  Hm.  I think I have an issue.)  My family left around noon so Matt and I spent the rest of the day lounging around and catching up on some much needed sleep.  We also ordered most of the furniture for the nursery!!  I cannot wait to see it all set up :)

We don't get to rest too much though because my in-laws are coming this weekend!   Eek!

How was your weekend????

Sweet Treats!

Yesterday after I got home from work I decided that I didn't want to just nap my afternoon away as usual.  I wanted to be productive!

So what did I do, you ask?

Pack?

Ha.  No.  I did anything and everything to keep myself too busy to pack of course.

I baked these!

Pecan Pie Muffins!  Oh my.  Warm, goodness with a little bit of butter right out of the oven.  Heaven.  Breakfast...down!

Next I made these!

Snickerdoodle Blondies!  Wow.  Clearly I didn't take a picture before we got into these.  Imagine the moistest snickerdoodle you have ever had, but in a bar form.  I personally had mine with some vanilla ice cream on top.  Yum!  Dessert...done!

Finally, I prepped a pasta dish that was ready to put into the oven right when Matt got home from work.  AND, cleaned up my entire mess in the kitchen.  Basically it looked like I hadn't done anything, but it smelled like I had done something amazing!

It felt good to do something productive after work, especially with such yummy results :)  What shall I do today I wonder??  Hm.

I'll probably nap.

Baking takes it out of me!

Don't forget to check out my giveaway going on RIGHT NOW!!  It's stationery people.  And it's awesome!

PW's Sloppy Joes...A La Jenny

As I said the other day, I recently moseyed my way over to Pioneer Woman's website (or "that Pilgrim blog friend of yours" as my husband so lovingly referred to her...like she's really my friend...yeah right) to check out what all the fuss was about.  What I found was incredibly detailed recipes with yummy ingredients so I thought I would take this week to give some of them a try.  And lucky for you, I'm sharing!

Tonight was Sloppy Joes!  And the day after I just talked to Shaina about cutting back on red meat.  Ah well.  Maybe tomorrow?  I've linked directly to Pioneer Woman's recipe so head on over there if you want the real thing.  But I'll give you my own step by step instructions and a few things I changed up...so stick around.  Trust me.  I used butter.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. Butter

1 1/4 lbs. Ground Beef

1/2 Large Onion, Diced

1/2 Green Bell Pepper, Diced

5 cloves Garlic, Minced

3/4 cup Ketchup

1/2 cup Water

1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Chili Powder

1/2 tsp. Dry Mustard

1/4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

Worcestershire Sauce

Tabasco Sauce

Salt and Pepper

Hamburger Buns

Garlic and Herb Butter

 

Prep:

 Add butter to a large skillet over medium high heat. PW suggests a dutch oven, however I halved her recipe so I went with the large skillet instead.  Plus, that darn dutch oven weighs approximately 35 lbs. without food in it...so the more I can avoiding lugging out that thing the better.  Even though it is quite pretty...

 

I must admit, I was a little skeptical using the butter.  I have never used butter to cook my meat, but PW is really smart.  So I listened.  And you should too.

Add ground beef and cook until brown. 

Drain the fat and discard.

 

 I drained all of the fat, going against PW's advice.  That was perhaps a mistake.  I should've known.  When cooking the veggies, I was left with no fat which made the process take a little longer...and I am certain I lost some yumminess down the drain...but my booty will probably thank me.  Someday.

Add onions, green pepper, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes or until vegetables begin to get soft.  I cooked them for approximately 6 minutes, but remember, I had no fat to work with.  Just keep testing the tenderness of the veggies to be sure when to move on.  I should also mention I used way more garlic than was originally called for, but that's just how we roll.  Go with it.

 

Add ketchup, brown sugar, chili pepper, dry mustard, red pepper flakes, and water.

 

Stir to combine.  Here I also added several shakes of Worcestershire and Tabasco.  Don't be scared.  Just do it.  Oh.  And salt and pepper.  

Also, I just noticed I was supposed to simmer this for 15 minutes here.  Oops.  I missed that part.  Clearly it was not necessary...but do what you wish!

Now, to toast the buns or not to toast the buns?  Hm.  Is dirtying another pan worth it?  Answer = yes.  I used a griddle and buttered up the buns with this little beauty I found as Costco.  DELICIOUS!

Oh yeah.

Spoon meat mixture over the buns.

This recipe serves 4 and is a perfect meal for the two of us with a day of leftovers tomorrow.  And it was just delicious.  Totally better than Manwich, which is what I usually use when "making" Sloppy Joes.  I didn't find it spicy at all, even with the red pepper flakes, chili power, and Tabasco.  In fact, I tasted mostly Worcestershire.  Maybe next time I would increase the heat just a touch, but we are a family of spicy eaters...so taste before you increase!

Hope everyone enjoys!

Baby Shower Bonanza!

Biggest Loser Fridays? How about we just gloss over that this week, K?

Onto better news!

All week I have been working on baby shower treats for a co-worker. Here is my first attempt at a royal icing flooded cookie:




I think they turned out so cute!! I just love the contrast of pink and the little girl's initials! I used info from here and here to create these onesies.


I also baked brownies.



See that pink??


It's peppermint icing. And it's delicious.


And these weren't half bad either...


And the big show stopper....my truffle tree!


Approximately 150 chocolate covered Oreo truffles swirled with pink royal icing. I just love the way it turned out! Bringing it to work in the car with me this morning...I did not love. Picture me holding onto this swaying mess of truffles towering up from the floor of my passenger seat for dear life...all the while attempting to keep my car between the center lines...for 35 minutes. Never do that.

But I think it was worth it!


Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! I have Junior League training for three hours Saturday morning. Why did I want to join this again? Sometimes I have trouble remembering...

Chicken Tortilla Casserole...Sign Me Up!

I made this amazing meal on Saturday and just had to share it with you ladies. It was called Chicken Tortilla Casserole and I found the recipe here at Annie's Eats.

Annie has fantastic recipes that I use quite often. I usually have to make a few changes to make them a little more health conscious...but they are delicious! I plan on making her chocolate waffles for dinner next week! (Hey. I didn't say I was health conscious all the time okay? I use skim milk...)

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied into halves (4 halves total)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
1 shallot, minced (I used red onion...that's all I had)
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used three...the more garlic the better in our house!)
1-2 tbsp. minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I used 3 peppers minced...FYI...way too many. We like things very spicy and our mouths were on fire! I recommend 1 tbsp. at the most)
1¾ cups chicken broth
5 cups tortilla chips, broken into large pieces (I used about 4 1/2 oz. I measured them in the measuring cups before I crushed them so I wouldn't use as many)
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (reduced fat my friends)
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro (omitted...Matt thinks cilantro tastes like soap. Whatever. He's weird)

Directions:
Pat the chicken breast halves dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a 10-12 inch oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and cook until golden brown on both sides (chicken does not need to be fully cooked at this point.) Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add the remaining oil, shallot, garlic, chipotle, and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth, scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and bring to a simmer.

Stir in half of the tortilla chips. Nestle the chicken into the broth and cook over medium-low heat until cooked through (reading 160° F on an instant-read thermometer), about 10 minutes. Note: I turned the chicken over and cooked mine a little longer because it was still a little pink. Pay attention! Transfer the cooked chicken pieces to a cutting board and shred into bite-sized pieces when it is cool enough to handle.

Return the shredded chicken to the skillet with the tomatoes, ½ cup of the shredded cheddar cheese, and 1 tablespoon of the cilantro. Stir in the other half of the tortilla chips until they are incorporated and moistened.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and place the pan under the broiler until the cheese is melted and browning, about 2-3 minutes. Top with remaining cilantro and serve, allowing the casserole to cool 5 minutes before serving.

I'm telling you ladies, this was GOOD! I ate about 6 points worth and it was a perfect amount for me. And the leftovers were just a yummy. Had the rest for lunch today in fact. Yum, yum!

Enjoy!