The Cowboy Sandwich

serves 8 ( 6 points + ) add additional points for bun of your choice

• 8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, (4 oz. each)
• 8 slices Oscar Mayer fully cooked bacon (microwaved for one minute)
• 4 slices Sargento reduced fat Colby cheese
• 1 c. BBQ sauce
• 1 T. French's French fried onions
• salt and pepper to taste

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Grill until juices run clear. Brush each piece with 1 T. BBQ sauce. Top each with ½ piece of cheese; melt. Serve on buns with 1 slice bacon, remaining BBQ sauce and 1 T. French fried onions.

Grilled Potato and Onion Slices

Before placing on the grill

after coming off the grill

Here is a great way to make a bunch of potatoes at once.

serves 4 ( 4 potato slices = 3 points +)

2 medium potatoes, sliced about ⅛" thick

4 tsp. light tub butter

onion, thinly sliced

salt, pepper and parsley flakes to taste

Place sliced potatoes on top of a sheet of foil. Top each potato with onion and ¼ tsp. light tub butter.

Sprinkle with salt, pepper and parsley. Wrap. Place on grill and cook until tender, flipping foil package once. ( about 10 minutes)

Red, White and Blue Parfaits

First break up one graham cracker square

Top with ¼ c. pudding mixture and blueberries

Repeat with graham crackers and pudding mixture. Then top with strawberries

While thinking of a way to use up my remaining strawberries, and while wanting to make something red, white and blue since the fourth of July is just around the corner, I came up with this cute, little, parfait dessert. The strawberries in this picture are really this red. They are so good!

Serves 6 ( 5 points + )

• 12 graham cracker squares ( 6 full sheets)
• 1 box sugar-free instant vanilla pudding
• 1-½ c. skim milk
• 8 oz. Cool Whip Free
• blueberries
• strawberries

Whisk pudding and milk together until thickened. Fold in Cool Whip. Break one square of graham cracker into 4 pieces. Place in the bottom of a parfait glass. Repeat with remaining parfait glasses.

Top graham crackers with ¼ c. pudding mixture. Top with blueberries. Repeat with remaining graham crackers and pudding mixture. Place strawberries on top. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Fruit Pizza

I have not made this recipe in years! I was thinking of a way to use up more of my freshly picked strawberries, when I remembered this recipe. I have lightened it by using low-fat cream cheese and light butter in the icing. You can use whatever fruit you like too.


serves 16 ( 5 points +)

• 1 roll Pillsbury sugar cookie dough
• fruit of your choice

Icing:

• 3 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
• 2 T. light stick butter
• 1-½ c. powdered sugar
• dash of salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 T. skim milk

Roll sugar cookie dough onto a large pizza pan coated with cooking spray. Do not roll completely to the edge or it may overflow. Bake at 350 until golden. Do not over-bake. Cool completely.


For icing, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and milk. Beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cookie and top with fruit. Serve immediately.

Garlic, Cheddar and Bacon Mashed Potatoes

These hearty potatoes are a great dish to go with pork. They are probably one of my all-time favorite potato recipes. I served them with Roast Pork with Plum BBQ Sauce.

serves 16 ( ½ c. = 4 points +)

• 5 lbs. red potatoes, unpeeled and quartered
• ¼ c. fat free sour cream
• ¼ c. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray
• 1 c. reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 c. skim milk
• 8 slices Oscar Mayer fully cooked bacon ( microwaved for 1 minute)
• garlic powder and salt to taste

Boil potatoes until tender; drain.
Add sour cream, butter spray, and milk; mash until creamy. Stir in bacon, cheese, salt and garlic powder.
If not serving immediately, heat in microwave for 1 minute before serving.

Roast Pork With Plum BBQ Sauce

Pork cut open to check for doneness

A full platter

The Sauce

Ready to Eat!

Tonight we tried this pork roast (recipe adapted from "Cooking Light". It was moist, juicy, and full of flavor.

serves 12 ( 5 points +)

Sauce:

• 1T. canola oil
• 1 c. onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ c. packed brown sugar
• ¼ c. rice wine vinegar
• ¼ c. ketchup
• 2 T. low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• ⅛ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1-½ lbs. black plums, sliced and pitted

Pork:

• 4 lbs. pork tenderloin
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 T. canola oil. Add onion and garlic. Cook for five minutes, stirring frequently. Add remaining sauce ingredients. Partially cover, reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes or until plums break down and sauce thickens, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 450.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper; brown on all sides. Place pork on a jelly roll pan lined with foil. Spoon ¼ c. sauce on top of pork. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn and spoon ¼ c. sauce on other side of pork. Bake until meat thermometer registers between 140-150 (about 20 minutes). Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing thinly.

Fresh Strawberry Muffins

Strawberry season has finally arrived in Wisconsin! We picked fresh berries yesterday. Although I have several strawberry recipes on this site, I wanted to try something new. I hope you like these!

Makes 18 ( 4 points + )

• 2-½ c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• ⅔ c. sugar
• ¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1-½ c. fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 c. low-fat buttermilk
• ⅓ c. light stick butter, melted
• 1-¼ tsp. vanilla
• 1-½ T. sugar

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add strawberries and stir. Make a well in the center. Combine the egg and next 4 ingredients ( through vanilla); add to flour mixture, stirring until just moist. Spoon into muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
Remove from pans immediately to cool.

Keema Samosas

The chicken filling

before going in the oven

they turned out crispy!

This is only half of what was made!

Samosas are little pastries stuffed with ground meat, chicken (Keema), vegetables or a combination. They are a specialty of roadside vendors in India. Although traditionally made with pastry dough and fried, this low-fat version uses wonton wrappers and bakes them in a hot oven, resulting in a crisp texture. Try them with your favorite dipping sauce if you like. These little cuties would be great for an appetizer at a party since they make so many. You can even make them up and then freeze for up to two months. Bake when you are ready to eat them ( thaw for 15 minutes, first). The recipe says that they make 34, but I made over 40 and still had more filling to go. I used round wonton wrappers, but you can use square as well.
Try these along with Tandoori Chicken  or Dal with spiced tomatoes and potatoes for an Indian themed meal.

Makes 34-44 ( 1 point+)

• 2 T. canola oil
• ½ c. finely chopped onion
• 1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tsp. garam masala ( Indian spice blend)
• ¾ tsp. curry powder
• ¼ tsp. ground tumeric
• 1 lb. skinless ground chicken breast
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 3 T. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 T. fresh lime juice
• 34-44 wonton wrappers ( 3")

To make filling, heat a nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add oil, then onion, jalepeno and garlic, Cook until onion begins to soften. Stir in garam masala, curry and tumeric. Add chicken and salt, breaking up chicken into small pieces and cooking until no longer pink. Remove from heat. Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Cool 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.

Arrange 6 wonton wrappers at a time on your counter. Place one scant tablespoon of chicken mixture in the center of each. Wet edges with water. Fold in half and press to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

Place samosas on baking sheet. Spray with nonstick spray. Bake, turning once, until crisp and golden
(11-14 minutes)

from "Weight Watcher's Take-Out" cookbook

Grilled Sirloin with Tomato Jam

The tomato jam with this recipe is both sweet and spicy. It reminds me of a sweeter version of pico de gallo. Make sure you leave yourself time to marinate the steak. You can make the jam up to two days ahead.

serves 8 ( steak with ¼ c. tomato jam = 7 points + )

Jam:

• 6 large ripe tomatoes, cored and cut in half crosswise
• ⅓ c. sugar
• ⅓ c. grated onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 jalepeno peppers, seeded and minced
• ¼ c. fresh cilantro
• 3 T. lime juice
• ¼ tsp. salt

Steak:

• 1 T. grated lime rind
• ⅓ c. lime juice
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 lbs. sirloin, trimmed
• ½ tsp. salt

To prepare jam, grate tomatoes over a large bowl, flesh side down. Discard skins. Combine pulp, sugar, grated onion, garlic and jalepenos in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened and most liquid is dissolved. Drain any remaining liquid. Cool jam to room temperature. Stir in lime juice, salt and cilantro. Refrigerate until serving.

To prepare steak, combine lime rind, lime juice, olive oil and garlic in a large ziplock bag. Add steak, seal and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Remove steak from marinade. Sprinkle with salt and grill to desired doneness. Slice thin and top with jam.

adapted from "Cooking Light"

Creamy Rice

This is an old family recipe. I usually make this with chicken as a main dish, but tonight I just made this as a side dish to accompany Grilled Sirloin Steak with Tomato Jam.

serves 8 ( 5 points +)

2 c. uncooked rice ( you can use Minute Rice if you like)
1 can Campbell's Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup, undiluted
1 can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup, undiluted
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2-3 c. water

Spray an 11 x 7" baking dish with cooking spray. Stir together all ingredients. Bake at 375 until rice is tender and most of the liquid is dissolved ( about 45 minutes to 1 hour)

Spinach and Parmesan Souffle's

This recipe was adapted from "Cooking Light" and is a little bit of AWESOME. I served this with the 
Chicken with Prosciutto and Provolone. I hope you like it! Make sure you serve immediately, because the souffle's will start to deflate pretty quickly. I actually got 7 souffle's out of this recipe.

serves 6 ( 4 points + )

• 1-½ T. dry bread crumbs
• 1 ( 10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 c. skim milk
• 3 T. flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• ¾ c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 egg yolks
• 6 egg whites
• ½ tsp. cream of tartar

Place a baking sheet in an oven. Preheat to 425 degrees.
Coat 6 ( or 7) 6 oz. ramekins with cooking spray. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and turn to coat bottom and sides.


Combine milk, flour, salt and pepper in a saucepan. Cook over med-high heat, stirring constantly with a whisk until thickened ( about 2 minutes). Spoon mixture into a large bowl and let stand for 10 minutes.
Stir in the spinach, cheese and egg yolks.


Combine egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Beat on high speed until medium peaks form ( do not overbeat). 
Gently stir in ¼ of egg whites into spinach mixture, then gently fold in remaining egg whites.


Carefully spoon spinach mixture into ramekins. Sharply tap dishes 2 or 3 times on a counter to level. Place dishes on preheated baking sheet; immediately reduce oven temperature to 350; bake souffles for 21 minutes or until puffy and golden. Serve immediately.

Chicken with Prosciutto and Provolone

This recipe was easy to make and low in points. I served it with Spinach Parmesan Souffles and a nice salad. I am including a picture of the salad so you can see how colorful and pretty it was.

Chicken with Prosciutto and Provolone: serves 6 ( 5 points + )

• 6 ( 4 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 T. fat-free Italian dressing
• 2 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto
• 3 slices Sargento reduced fat Provolone slices, halved
• fresh basil leaves

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. Add the Italian dressing. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Cook chicken in dressing until juices run clear. Remove chicken from pan and place on a baking sheet. Top with basil, prosciutto and ½ slice of Provolone cheese. Bake or broil until cheese melts.


Here is the salad:

Strawberry Cake

Serves 16 ( 8 points + )

• 1 pkg. white cake mix
• 1 pkg. ( .3 oz) sugar-free strawberry jello
• 4 egg whites
• ⅓ c. canola oil
• 1 c. frozen strawberries, thawed
• ½ c. water

Icing:

• ⅓ c. butter, softened
• 2-⅓ c. powdered sugar
• 3 T. strawberry juice ( from mashed berries)

Line two 9-inch round cake pans with wax paper. Spray with nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, beat cake mix, jello, egg whites and canola oil. 
Mash strawberries and reserve 3 T. for icing.
Add remaining mashed strawberries and water and mix well. Pour into prepared cake pans and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.


For icing, beat powdered sugar, butter and strawberry juice. Frost cake.


from "Healthy Cooking"

Cheesecake

This recipe was adapted from a recipe my mother-in-law makes. This is my husband's favorite cheesecake.


Serves 12 ( 7 points + )


Crust:

• 24 whole reduced fat graham crackers, crushed or processed in a food processor
• ¼ c. light stick, butter, melted

Filling:

• 1 lb. reduced fat cream cheese
• ½ c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:

• 1 pint fat-free sour cream ( Breakstone's is a good brand)
• 5 T. sugar
• 1 lb. frozen strawberries, mashed
• 1 T. sugar

Mix graham crackers with melted butter. Press into the bottom of an 8" square pan.
Beat cream cheese, ½ c. sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Pour over graham cracker crust. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until middle is almost set. Cool for 15 minutes.


Beat sour cream with 5 T. sugar for 2 minutes. Pour over cream cheese layer. Bake at 450 for 5 minutes. 
Cool completely. Cover with foil and refrigerate several hours.


Mash frozen strawberries with 1 T. sugar. Spoon over the top of cheesecake.

Pork Burritos

This was a nice meal to make on a hot day, because you can make it all in a crock pot.
serves 14 ( 1 burrito = 8 points + ) add points for additional toppings

• 1 boneless pork sirloin roast ( 3 lbs.)
• ¼ c. fat free chicken broth
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 1 can fat-free refried beans ( 16 oz.)
• 1 can ( 4 oz) diced green chilies
• 14 flour tortillas ( 8 " ) warmed

Place pork roast, taco seasoning and chicken broth in a crock pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until very tender. Shred with a fork. Add refried beans and diced green chilies. Stir to heat through. Spoon ½ c. pork mixture down the center of each tortilla. Fold in sides and roll. Serve with additional toppings if desired.

adapted from "Healthy Cooking"

Rich Chocolate Pudding Pie

This is a whole lot of chocolatey goodness!

serves 10 ( 8 points + )

Crust:

• 30 chocolate wafers such as Nabisco Famous Wafers
• 3 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted
• 1 T. canola oil

Filling:

• ¾ c. sugar
• ¼ c. cornstarch
• ¼ c. unsweetened cocoa
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1-¾ c. skim milk, divided
• 2 large egg yolks
• 4 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• fresh strawberries
• 10 T. Cool Whip Free

To prepare crust, place wafers in a food processor and process until fine crumbs form. Add melted chocolate and canola oil. Process until blended. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate. Freeze for 15 minutes.
To prepare filling, combine sugar, cornstarch, cocoa and salt in a saucepan; stir with a whisk. Add half of milk and 2 egg yolks; stir with a whisk until smooth, Stir in remaining milk. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add 4 oz. chocolate; stir until melted. Pour filling into prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap; chill 4 hours or until set. Serve with strawberries and Cool Whip.

adapted from "Cooking Light"

Grilled Pepper Jack BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Another awesome sandwich that just says, "Summer"!

serves 4 ( 8 points +)  (without bun  6 points + )

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
4 reduced fat center cut bacon strips, cooked
2 slices Sargento Pepper Jack cheese
4 T. BBQ sauce
lettuce
tomato
red onion
4 light buns such as "Healthy Life"

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Grill until juices run clear. Top with BBQ sauce, cooked bacon strips, and cheese. Let cheese melt. Serve on buns with lettuce, tomato and onion.

Summer Peach and Tomato Salad

You may think it strange to combine peaches and tomatoes in a salad, but the flavor is amazing! I hope you like it!

serves 8 ( 1 c. = 2 points + )

• ⅓ c. thinly sliced vertical onion
• 3 ripe peaches, pitted and cut into wedges
• ½ lb. beefsteak tomatoes, cut into wedges
• ½ lb. grape or pear tomatoes, halved
• 2 T. sherry or white wine vinegar
• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 tsp. honey
• ½ tsp. salt
• ⅛ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• ½ c. crumbled feta cheese
• ¼ c. basil leaves, torn

Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl. Combine vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and honey. Drizzle over peach mixture. Sprinkle with feta and basil.

from "Cooking Light"

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Berries and Cream

This cake was awesome!

serves 16 ( 6 points + for cake with berries and 2 T. Cool Whip) ( 5 points + w/o Cool Whip)

1 package sugar free chocolate instant pudding
1 Devil's Food cake mix
1-¾ c. skim milk
2 eggs
1 c. chocolate chips
berries of your choice
2 c. Cool Whip Free

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.
With an electric mixer, beat the first four ingredients together for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Transfer to pan and bake for 50 minutes or until done. Cool in pan. Invert pan onto a serving dish. Top each slice with berries and Cool Whip