Taco Casserole WW & GF

Ingredients

1 lb ground skinless chicken breast
1/2 c onions, chopped
1/2 c bell peppers, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
8 ozs taco sauce
1 c fat-free sour cream
1 c fat-free cottage cheese
1 c low-fat tortilla chips, whole or broken up
1 c low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
3/4 c salsa

Directions:

Heat oven to 400. Spray cooking spray on bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish; set aside. In a skillet, cook chicken, onion, peppers, and garlic clove until tender. Add seasoning mix and taco sauce; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese; set aside. 

Place half the broken chips in the bottom of casserole dish. Add meat mixture to cover the chips, then cover the meat with sour cream mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and remaining crushed chips. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until cheese has melted. Top with 3/4 cup salsa if desired.

Makes 8 (1 Cup Servings)  Points plus = 7 per serving

Pico de Gallo Salsa Recipe - WW 0 pts.

Pico de gallo is a condiment like a salsa that is made with fresh chopped tomatoes, onions and chilies. It can be used just like a salsa for dipping tortilla chips into or as a side dish or a condiment. One advantage that it has over salsas is that there is less liquid and that makes it a perfect filling for tacos and burritos etc.
I just love Pico and put lots on all my foods, just can't get enough.  For those of you who don't like hot  spicy foods just leave off the chile peppers, it will still be really good.


Ingredients:

- 4 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped

- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

- 2 chile peppers, mild or hot, seeded and finely chopped (I used jalapeno)

- 2 tbsp chopped bell pepper

- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves (no stems)

- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice

- salt and pepper, to taste



Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, combine all ingredients.


Entire recipe makes 4 servings, Serving size is approx 1/2 cup, each serving = 0 point value

Source: Closet Cooking

WW Brownies 1 pt.

Ingredients

1 box duncan hines brownie mix

1 15.5 oz can of black beans

Instructions


Puree beans in blender or processor then add them to dry mix and blend well. Pour batter into pan and bake for 26-28 minutes on 350 degrees...don't add anything but the beans to the dry mix. Cut into 24 pieces for one point each.  

If you make them in mini muffin tins and make 48 they will be 1/2 pt. each.  These are good and my grandkids even like them.  Also any brownie mix will work.  This works best if you rinse the beans in the can and fill the can up with water before you grind them up.

Source: Weight watchers.com

Irish Stew - WW 7pts.

Yield: 6 Servings
Main Ingredient: Lamb or Beef





Ingredients
1 tb Vegetable oil
15 oz Small onions, peeled
1 lb 6 oz lean boneless lamb, cut
1 c Irish ale or beer
1 md Onion, chopped
1 ts Salt
3 c Low sodium chicken broth
2 tb Cornstarch
1/2 ts Dried thyme, crumbled
Chopped parsley
1 Bay leaf 6 1 oz sliced Italian bread
6 5 oz whole new red potatoes (optional)

Instructions
1. In a large heavy saucepan, heat 1/2 of the oil. Add 1/2 of the lamb or beef and cook until well browned on one side, 5-7 min. Stir and cook 1 minute longer; remove meat and set aside. Add the remaining oil the lamb (or beef) and the chopped onion to the pan and cook until browned, about 8-10 min. Return the first batch of meat to the pan.

2. Add broth and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add thyme and bay leaf; lower heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour.

3. Add potatoes, onions, ale and salt. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, 30-40 minutes.

4. To thicken stew, add cornstarch to 1/4 cup cold water in a small bowl; stir until smooth. Add to simmering stew; stir gently until thickened. Garnish with parsley; serve with bread. Serving (with 1 slice of bread) provides: 1/2 Fat, 1 Vegetable, 3 proteins, 2 breads, 37 calories (if served without bread, subtract 1 bread).

Per serving: With bread: 409 calories, 29 g protein, 9 grams fat, 644 mg sodium.

Without bread: 332 calories, 27 gr protein,8 gm fat, 478 mg sodium. This is great and very filling! Good for a cold winter night!

Source: Weight Watchers Magazine,

Hamburger Pie- ww 5pt recipe

Ingredients:
1 Cup low-fat baking mix + 2 Tbsp
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 lb ground extra-lean beef (7%fat or less)
1 finely chopped onion
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 cup fat-free egg substitute (or 4 egg whites)
1/2 cup low fat shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 9 inch pie plate with nonstick spray.
To make crust: Mix first 2 ingredients in medium bowl until soft dough forms. Transfer to lightly floured surface and knead 5 times. Roll out dough to 6 inch round and ease into pie plate, pressing evenly against bottom and side of plate.

Spray large skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add ground beef, onion, Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Cook until browned. Stir in 2 Tbsp low-fat baking mix. Remove skillet from heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, mix fat-free egg substitute, cheddar cheese and Parmesan cheese in small bowl. Spoon beef mixture evenly over crust; top evenly with cheese mixture. Bake until filling is set and crust is golden, 25-30 mins. Let cool 10 minutes. Makes 6 servings.
NI per serving: 234calories/7g fat/1g fiber Points value 5


This is very good, it could use some veggies and more seasoning though. I put ketsup on my serving and it gave it more flavor. Others have suggested taco seasoning and peas and carrots. It's a great basic recipe just adjust as needed but don't forget to recalculate the points for added ingredients. :)
Recipe found in the current Weight Watcher's magazine

Chocolate Covered Strawberries -1pt

Servings: 12 • Size: 1 strawberry • Calories: 49 • Points: 1 ww pts


4 oz dark semi-sweet chocolate
12 strawberries
Rinse and completely dry the strawberries.

In a medium microwave safe bowl, microwave chocolate on HIGH for 30 seconds. Stir and repeat until all the chocolate is melted. (Do not overheat or the chocolate will become chunky and separated)

Dip strawberries and place on waxed paper to cool. You can eat right away refrigerate to give it a hard chocolate coating.

This was taken from Gina's WW recipes.


I just realized I didn't do as bad as I thought for Valentine's Day. My homemade chocolate covered strawberries were only 1 pts! Whoo Hoo!

I did not use the microwave it changes the molecular structure of food and therefore less nutrient values so I used a double boiler. I try to not use the microwave as much as possible.

Lasagna recipe - 7 pts.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 lb. extra lean ground beef
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 jar spaghetti sauce (26oz)
1 large tomato
9 lasagna noodles
1 container low fat cottage cheese (16oz)
2 cups 2% milk shredded, reduced fat mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
1) Cook the lasagna noodles per the direction on your package. Chop the tomato into 1/2 inch pieces.

2) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a medium to large skillet, brown the meat along with the garlic and oregano seasonings. When browned, drain if necessary, then add the spaghetti sauce and mix it all up. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Turn the burner off and mix in the chopped tomato pieces.

3) In a 13x9 baking dish, layer the ingredients as follows:

1/2 cup meat sauce
3 noodles
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup meat sauce
**Repeat the layers**
Top off with the remaining noodles and sauce mixture.

Cover the baking dish with foil

4) Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and top with the last cup of mozzarella cheese. Return the uncovered dish to the oven and continue to cook for an additional 5-6 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing

Recipe taken from eHow.com

Great recipe and no flavor lost in this yummy dish but less calories or points.

Oriental Pepper Steak (4 Points)

Servings: 6 Servings

Ingredients
1 teaspoon Canola Oil
1 pound Flank Steak trimmed & cut into strips
1 Onion sliced
1 Green pepper sliced
1/2 Yellow bell pepper sliced
1/2 Orange bell pepper sliced
2 tablespoons Reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons Cornstarch
1 3/4 cups Beef broth


Preparation
1. Heat a large nonstick skillet or wok over high heat until a drop of water sizzles. Add the oil, swirl to coat the pan, then add the steak. Stir-fry until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

2. Add the onion and bell peppers to the skillet. Reduce the heat and cook, covered, until the vegetables are softened, about 6 minutes. Uncover and stir-fry until the vegetables are browned, about 4 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together the soy sauce and cornstarch in a medium bowl until smooth; whisk in the broth. return the steak to the skillet, along with the soy sauce mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce boils and thickens, about 3 minutes. Taken from Big Oven.com


I added 1 chopped tomato for extra flavor and vegetables. This is very tasty. I served it with brown rice. Of course you must add more points for the amount of rice to add to your meal.

Pineapple Angel Food Cake-Weight Watchers

1 20 oz. can pineapple in it's own juice

1 1-step angel food cake mix



Mix together just these two items with a mixer for time on box. Pour into a 9x12" UNGREASED pan and bake at 350º for 30-35 min. or until golden brown. Be sure to let it get a nice dark brown or it will fall out of the pan. Turn upside down with a can under each corner until cool. 1/12 of cake = 3pts. with cool whip = 4pts.

Peach Angel-food Cake

Also can substitute 1 cup of peach puree (puree a can of peaches in light syrup, the Del Monte raspberry peaches are wonderful!) for the can of crushed pineapple. Since you only use 1 cup of the puree, I use the remaining as a sauce to pour over top. The points are still the same!

Servings: 12

Crockpot Picante Chicken

Weight Watchers Recipe

2 Points Per Serving

12 ounces skinless boneless chicken breast

1 jar picante sauce -- small


Put in crock pot and simmer all day (approx 8 hours).

Serving Size : 4

Serving Ideas : Serve with rice