Finding a Weigh Out of Fat, Volume III

Some of you guys really came through with your recipes! Thank you. You came through so well, in fact, that rather than try to post them all in one day, I think I'll try to break it down to maybe 3 to 5 a post because, wow! my typing skills may not be up to doing it all at one time. lol

This first recipe came from Mary @ Bookfan-Mary. I actually tried to make this myself and it was my own poor planning that prevented it from coming out as intended. I'll explain more on that after the recipe:


Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

4 svgs 8pts/svg

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 pkg reduced sodium taco seasoning
1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream


Add chicken to slow cooker (sprayed with PAM)
Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken
Pour salsa and soup over chicken
Cook on low 6-8 hrs
Remove from heat and stir in sour cream
Serve with rice or baked potato (add pts for this)

Notes:I don't use the whole pkg of taco seasoning
Soup is right from can, not mixed with anything
I use it with brown rice
You could use fat free ingredients and that might lower the pts value/svg


When I went to try this recipe, I knew that I didn't have the taco seasoning or the salsa so I made a special trip to the store to get those things. By the time I made it home, it was too late to put it all in the crockpot so I decided I'd just cook it in the oven, instead. So, a few hours later, I start dinner and realize that, despite my firm belief to the contrary, I had no cream of anything soup in my pantry and my reduced fat sour cream was woefully out of date. Great. Now what??? Well seeing as how it was so late in the day and I couldn't handle another trip to the store (once in a day is quite enough for me, thank you) I went ahead and made the recipe without those things. I sprayed the dish and lightly sprayed the chicken with Olive Oil spray, I lightly sprinkled the taco seasoning on the chicken, I put about 1/2 the contents of the salsa jar (approximately 11 oz) on top and poured about 3 ounces of vegetable broth in the bottom of the Pyrex dish. Slapped it in the oven for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees and hoped for the best. And wouldn't you know it? The boys and I thought it was fantabulous! Randey liked it quite a bit, but would have liked it more if I hadn't used such a spicy salsa (he's never been one for the jalapenos, etc.). I can just imagine how good it'll be if I manage to follow the recipe correctly. LOL (FYI for those of you doing WW, my Kari, the Bad Recipe Follower version came out to 6 points per serving).

Next we have Teriyaki Burgers from Joan @ Joan's Journey's:


Teriyaki Burgers

4 servings 5 points per serving


1 pound 93% lean ground beef (or turkey or turkey/lean beef mixture)
2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
4 English muffins
1/4 cup ketchup
4 lettuce leaves
1 large beefsteak tomato
1 red onion


In a large bowl, combine beef (and/or turkey) and teriyaki sauce. Mix together and shape into 4 patties. Grill or broil until cooked through. Arrange lettuce on the bottom half of an English muffin. Top with burger, ketchup, tomato, onion and top half of muffin.


I can't wait to try this one. I've never been a huge fan of homemade burgers, but I can't afford the points for eating them out anymore (ha!) so these should be a good alternative for me.

Here's a recipe from Jodie @ Mommy of a Princess.


LEMON CHICKEN PASTA TOSS
Prep:20 mins Cook:20 mins Makes: 4 servings

2 cups dried multigrain penne
12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped shallot (3)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons capers, drained
3 tablespoons snipped fresh Italian parsley
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Return pasta to hot saucepan;cover and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, in a bowl toss together chicken and flour until chicken is lightly coated. In a large skillet cook and stir chicken in 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from pan; set aside.

3. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining oil to skillet. Add garlic and shallot; cook and stir about 1 minute or until tender. Carefully stir in broth, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Cook, uncovered, for 2 to 3 minutes or until reduced to about 2/3 cup. Stir in chicken, capers, and parsley; heat through.

4. Toss pasta with chicken mixture. If desired, add parmesan cheese.

Per 1 1/2 cups: 339 calories, 9 g total fat (1 g saturated fat), 50 mg chol., 589 mg sodium, 36 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 29 g protein.

I'll have to do this one soon, but first of all, could someone tell me what capers taste like? lol The whole recipe sounds delicious, but I'm a little leery of those caper thingys...Also, I haven't run this through my Weight Watchers Recipe Builder yet so I can't say how many points per serving. The calorie count per serving looks pretty good, though.


Now we have a soup recipe from Lynne over at Lynne's Little Corner of the World:


TACO SOUP

(makes around 15 cups, 1 point/cup)

1 large onion chopped (I use frozen chopped onions, about a cup)
1 package taco seasoning mix (low sodium)
2 cups frozen corn
1 can chicken broth, fat-free
1 can black beans, undrained
1 can white beans, undrained
1 can refried beans, fat free
1 can Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained


Put all ingredients into a big pot, stir well, simmer about an hour.


I was able to run this recipe through my Weight Watchers Recipe Builder and, using the ingredients (brand names, etc.) I had on hand, this came out to 2 points per 1 cup serving instead of 1. Which brings up what I think is an important point. Not all foods are created equal! Long Grain Brown Rice, for example.The calorie total for one serving of Uncle Ben's rice is 170, but the calorie total for one serving of Mahatma is 150. The fat and fiber contents also differ from brand to brand. It's important to read your labels and chose the product which offers the best nutritional balance. By the way, this recipe would be great to serve with the Salsa Chicken for a Mexican food themed night. Add in a tossed salad and those of you on Weight Watchers can have a great meal for around 7 to 10 points (depending on your ingredients and how badly you can screw up a recipe - I'm referring to my "version" of the Salsa chicken, of course. lol).


Finally, here's a chicken recipe that Randey practically begs for whenever he sees that I've gotten chicken out for supper. Which is often. Why you ask? Because chicken is good for you! And so is fish, but I don't eat seafood, therefore, I don't cook it either. 'Cause YUCK! I know that some of you may be thinking that you just can't eat chicken every single night (and really, who could, besides me? ha!) but if you cook it enough different ways, it doesn't seem to get old. It's all about the flavors! And this recipe I'm going to give you has some of the best flavor out there. Trust me on this!


Honey Balsamic Glazed Chicken Breast
4 servings 7 points per serving (and worth every one!)


4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp olive oil
4 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar


Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle thyme, salt and pepper over chicken. Add chicken to skillet, cook 7 to 8 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. (You can also cube the chicken prior to cooking, which is what we've been doing). Transfer chicken to plate, cover with foil to keep warm. Reduce heat to medium-low, add vinegar and honey to pan. Simmer 1 minute or until glaze thickens; stir constantly. Pour glaze over chicken (do this quickly and, if your chicken is cubed, stir the glaze around on it a bit because the glaze will "set up" - and you most certainly want it "set up" on the chicken and not the plate!).
I told my friend Susan about this recipe and she said she didn't think she'd like it because she doesn't like balsamic vinegar. Like I told her, though, you don't taste the balsamic. The combination of it and the honey gives the chicken an almost oriental sort of flavor, but very light. It's so darn good. I feel like a gourmet every time I make it. Also, the original recipe called for 1 1/2 tsps of thyme, but I reduced that amount because thyme is such a strong spice to me. Feel free to add more, if you'd like to, however.

Okay, that's enough recipes for one post, I think. Stayed tuned, though, as I'll try to post more throughout the week.
I had good news at my Weight Watchers meeting this afternoon. I lost another 2.4 lbs. for a total of 31.8. I can't tell you how much it boggles my mind to think that I've actually been able to lose that sort of weight. I'm thrilled silly and just knowing what I've accomplished thus far has empowered me to believe I can continue on this path and lose even more. How about you guys? - tell us some of your successes. I've found that hearing about others weight loses is a huge inspiration for me! It tells me that all of us are capable of doing this...and we're capable of helping those who are struggling with it, too. And speaking of helping, how about giving us your best snack tips. This was a suggested topic for next week's post and I think it's a GREAT ONE! Tell us what you eat to tide you over between meals or for those times when you feel like you'll eat anything that doesn't move fast enough - what are you eating instead of the potato chips or ice cream or whatever? Here's one of my favorite snacks: frozen grapes. Ohhhhhh, they are soooooo good. And since they're frozen, it takes longer to eat them so I end up not eating as many. lol You just pop one in your mouth and it sort of melts just a bit and then it's like eating an awesomely flavored bite of fruit Popsicle. Give 'em a try if you haven't already discovered these. And then share with the class your favorite snacks. This is a great way to help each other out. I look forward to reading what you've got to say!