Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 15 oz. can pure pumpkin (make sure you don't get pumpkin pie filling)

2 large egg whites (or 6 tbls. egg white substitute)

3/4 c. water

1/4 c. mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin tins with non stick baking spray. Combine all ingredients and fill 24 cups . Bake 18-22 minutes.

For you WW's out there, these are 2 pts. each. :)

Mozzarella Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf

Mozzarella Stuffed Turkey Meatloaf

7 WW Points

6 Servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs. of lean ground turkey

10 oz frozen chopped spinach

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 cup part skim mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup minced onions

2 egg whites

2 TBSP ketchup

1 TBSP worcestershire sauce

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375. Thaw and drain spinach. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a greased loaf pan pack mixture into shape. Bake for 60 minutes, or until top gets golden brown. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes after baking. Cut into 6 even pieces.

Fat lip and C25K update

Oh my, what a day! I started it by working out. I completed Week 3, Day 1 of Couch to 5K! This is the week they start to turn up the heat. You have to run 3 minutes straight twice! Do you know how long it's been since I ran for 3 minutes straight?! It very well could have been junior high track practice! That was a LONG time ago! Anyway...I survived it and was so glad once again that I made myself go!

The afternoon was a tad bit traumatic. We went to a first birthday party for a friend's adorable little girl. That part was great! When we got home, it was time for a nap. We all went up to Sutton's room, she immediately crawled for her basket of books. Before she got sidetracked with them, I went to pick her up. She continued forward as I was trying to get her and sure enough...she smacked her lip on the night stand. I immediately scooped her up, knowing it sounded terrible. Daddy was trying to tell her she was just fine. Of course, Mommy was upset and yelling at Daddy to look at her lip. I heard, Uh, there's a little blood. The next thing I know, I looked down and there was a trail of blood coming from her lip. I was freaking out trying to check her teeth and lips. Daddy calmly went and got a wash cloth and took her away. By the time I got to the other room, Daddy had put The Wonder Pets on and she wasn't even crying anymore. She's one tough little cookie! Thank you, Sean, for being so calm! Daddy was a rock when I needed him to be! We love you, Daddy!

Bubble Up Chicken

Wow! This is what we had for dinner tonight! Yummy! I wouldn't change a thing. :)

Bubble Up Chicken

3 c cubed cooked chicken .

1 (10 3/4 oz) can 98% fat free condensed cream of chicken soup .

1 (12 oz) can reduced fat refrigerated buttermilk biscuits .

1 lb frozen mixed vegetables, thawed .

1 c cooked new potatoes (unpeeled, cut into chunks) .

1/2 c reduced fat 2% extra sharp shredded cheddar cheese .

1 1/3 c skim milk .

1 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions

Heat oven to 375*F. Spray 13 X 9 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl mix soup, milk & Italian seasoning.

Stir in potatoes, chicken & thawed vegetables.

Seperate biscuit dough into 10 biscuits.

Cut each into quarters & add to the potato mixture, stirring carefully to mix well.

Spoon into prepared baking dish.

Bake uncovered, 35 to 40 mins or until top is deep golden brown & biscuits are no longer doughy inside.

Sprinkle top with cheese.Bake 4 to 6 mins longer or until cheese is melted.

8 servings = 6 WW pts. each

6 servings = 9 pts. each

Week 2, Day 2 & 3 C25K

Woohoo! I am done with Week 2! Can you believe it? I actually drug my lazy booty to the gym two days in a row. This week was a little crazy with Sean traveling and Sutton not enjoying her time in the nursery at the gym. However, I found a way to make it there three times even when I thought it wasn't possible. Thanks to my friend, Maureen, for a little extra motivation yesterday. She said she was going to the gym before taking her daughter to Gymboree. I thought to myself, I should do the same thing. Sure enough, I did and we survived! I didn't look the greatest at Gymboree class, but who cares. I would probably be impressed with a mom that showed up sweaty because she just worked out! Don't get me wrong...I love to look cute and well rested most of the time, but have resolved to the fact that sometimes I may have to show up sweaty and unattractive. Get over it and get fit instead! Happy running! :)

Week 2, Day 1 C25K

Well, let me tell you, I almost skipped today. For those of you that are my age or slightly older, you know it gets harder to stay up late the older you get especially if you have kiddos to take care of! We went to a 1st birthday party last night (Saturday) that turned into an adult party afterward. I allowed myself to have a few adult beverages as well as "party" until 11:30 pm! Woohoo! This is a pretty rare event for a 40 year SAHM of a 13 month old! I was feeling a bit rough and thought about skipping the trip to the gym. Luckily I was faced with the fact that Sean has to go out of town this week Monday-Wednesday. That could make getting to the gym those days a little trickier with Sutton's love of the child care there. ;) So, I went. And, you know what? It felt great! I ran off a few calories and felt the satisfaction that I didn't give in to myself!

At week 2, the intervals change to 90 seconds of running and 2 minutes of walking. So far, it's just easing me into this running (in my case jogging) thing. I am enjoying it thus far. FYI...if you want to know what I set the treadmill on, I do 3.0 for walking and 4.5 for running at a 1.5 incline. I have no idea if this is good or not, but it seems to work well for me! Let me hear your story if you are doing this plan or anything else that is working! Happy running!

Week 1, Day 3 C25K

Well, I made it through Day 3 of the Couch to 5K program! The worst part was that Sutton hated the nursery at Matt Ross Community Center. This is not a new thing. We took her when she was a little younger and she hated it then, too. Poor thing, I walked in to get her and she was just sitting be herself crying. As a mommy, I was a bit upset no one was trying to console her. :( I guess I just have to get used to these things. Someday she'll enjoy going places like that hopefully!

Deep Dish Pizza Casserole

I've had this recipe for awhile and finally just made it. I did a version with ham and pineapple, though since I had a lot of ham to use up. I ran it through the WW recipe builder and it, too, was 6 points per serving. I have been imagining all of the different variations you could make. Taco, chicken & spinach, sausage (turkey), etc! So many fun things to do. You could add lots of veggies and/or beans to make it healthier, as well. It was so good! The crust wasn't soggy which was quite surprising.

Deep-Dish Pizza Casserole

Servings | 6 Estimated POINTS® value per serving | 6 Course | Main Meals

Ingredients

1 pound ground round
1 (15oz) can chunky Italian-style tomatoes
Cooking Spray
1 (10 oz) can Refrigerated pizza crust dough
1 1/2 cups (6oz) Preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Instructions

1.Preheat oven to 425*
2.Cook meat in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat until browned. Drain if necessary. Add tomato sauce and cook until heated.
3. While meat cooks, coat 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Unroll pizza crust dough, and press into bottom and halfway up sides of baking dish. Top bottom of crust with meat mixture.
4. Bake, uncovered, at 425* for 12 minutes. Top with cheese, and bake 5 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese is melted. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Special Notes

This is an excellent recipe from the "Weight Watchers 5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook". My family LOVES this recipe! (Also, I add fresh mushrooms to the meat mixture while still in skillet! YUM!) You could add any of the 0-POINT veggies for a wonderful main meal!

Ham & Pineapple version

3/4 lb. ham

1/2 of 15 oz. can of pineapple tidbits

10 spinach leaves (these can easily be left out)

3 scallions, chopped

1 15 oz. can chopped tomatoes

Prepare the same way as above and enjoy! :)

C25K Week1, Day2

I survived the second day of the Couch to 5K program! So far, so good! I was a little sore yesterday, but not anything bad at all! I am really encouraged thus far that I can do this. I will keep you updated with my progress. Let me know if you are doing it as well, or at least thinking about it. As I said before, I had absolutely NO interest in running. I do best when I have a plan of what to do. Hence, the reason I follow Weight Watchers. I need a plan, plain and simple! :) If you want to check out the program yourself, go to www.c25k.com! Happy running! :)

Corn Dog Casserole

Believe it or not, this was pretty darn tasty! It was even kiddo approved by Sutton! :) I would think if you have a thing against hot dogs, you could use some low fat sausage in it's place. This wouldn't be something I would make every week, but good for a fun dinner once in awhile. 

Corn Dog Casserole (7 WW points)

o 1 cups finely minced celery

o ¼ c diced sweet onion

o 14 oz Oscar Mayer turkey dogs 

o 14 oz Hormel turkey chili, no beans

o 1 8.5 oz Jiffy corn muffin mix

o 1 egg white

o ½ c. skim milk

o ¼ c. water

o 1/4 tsp black pepper

o 4 oz shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese

Spray skillet with butter flavor cooking spray. Sauté celery and onion for 5 minutes. Slice hot dogs into thin discs and add to skillet. Cook over med-hi heat for 5-7 minutes. Add turkey chili and heat through. Spray 11x7 pan with cooking spray. Pour skillet contents into pan. Top with cheese. Combine muffin mix, egg white, milk, water, and pepper; pour over hot dog mixture. Bake uncovered 400* for 25 minutes.

Yield: 6 servings= 349 Calories; 11g Fat (27.5% calories from fat); 22g Protein; 41g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 58mg Cholesterol; 1523mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch) ; 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat.

Couch to 5K

Ok, here it goes! My attempt at the Couch to 5K program started this morning. I had heard about this program the first time I was on Weight Watchers before I had Sutton. I had absolutely no interest in running! I thought to myself, you go people who want to do this. Well, fast forward 3 years later and here I am attempting it myself. I did the first workout this morning and so far so good! Who knew those treadmills at the gym had a speed interval setting on them that you can set for the program? (Thanks, Traci!) There are even podcasts and applications you can download to your I-pod, touch or I-phone. It can't get much easier for lazy people like myself!

We'll see how I feel tomorrow. :) I figured if I wrote about it, you all could help keep me accountable. I will keep you updated on my progress! If you are interested in checking out the program, you can find it at www.c25k.com. Happy running!

Cheesy Ham & Potato Soup

I have to admit, once I get something stuck in my head that sounds good for dinner, I HAVE to make it. I thought that I had a package of chopped ham in the freezer to make this. It turns out I didn't. However, I did have that ham that I got at Hy-Vee when they had the buy a ham, get the turkey for free coupon. So, in keeping with cleaning out the freezer, I cooked the whole ham so that I could make this soup. Killed two birds with one stone, as my mom used to say!

This was pretty tasty but a little runny for my taste. I should note that I didn't have the ff evaporated milk, but did have some half and half so I used that. I also just substituted chicken broth for the water and bouillon cubes. I think if I make this again I would cut down to 4 cups instead of 6 cups of broth. 

Cheesy Ham & Potato Soup

Serves 8

6 md Potatoes Raw Peeled,diced

1 c Ham Extra Lean,Cubed

1 c carrots,sliced

1 c Celery,chopped

1/2 c onion,Chopped

6 c water

4 t bouillon Chicken,Or 4 Cubes

parsley flakes to taste

12 oz Milk Evaporated,Fat Free

6 oz Velveeta 2% Milk Fat,Cut

In Crockpot, combine diced potatoes, ham, sliced carrots, chopped

celery and

onion, water, chicken bouillon, and parsley flakes.

Cook 6 1/2 to 9 hours on LOW or 3 to 4 hours on high.

30 to 40 minutes before soup is done (20 minutes if cooking on HIGH),

add evaporated milk and velveeta cheese.

Serving: 189 Cal (14% from Fat, 26% from Protein, 59% from Carb); 3 g

Tot Fat; 3 g Fiber

Chicken Pasta Bake

Ok, so the meal planning didn't go as well as expected this week. However, we did eat at home pretty much all week, I just made different things. Thursday was Sean's birthday, so he got to pick what he wanted me to make for dinner since it was way too cold to take Sutton out! He wanted something Italian with chicken, so this is what I made. You can definitely lighten it up with lower fat cheeses and use whole wheat or high fiber pasta. I unfortunately didn't have any spinach, so I had to leave that out. It was delicious, but I think it would be even better with the spinach, not to mention the health benefits of adding it! Enjoy!

Chicken Pasta Bake

• 8 oz. penne pasta
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 3 oz. package cream cheese (I used Neufchatel, a lower fat cream cheese)
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach, washed and patted dry with a paper towel
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (use 2% if wanting to cut some fat)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions for "al dente." Drain. Pour into prepared baking dish.
3. Heat oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium-high heat. While oil is heating, cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces.
4. Brown chicken in oil. Add Italian seasoning, half of the spaghetti sauce and the drained tomatoes. Let simmer 2-3 minutes.
5. Cut cream cheese into small chunks. Add to chicken and tomato sauce mixture. Simmer until cream cheese is melted.
6. Stir in spinach. Cook another minute, until spinach wilts slightly.
7. Pour chicken mixture over pasta. Top with one cup of the shredded mozzarella. Top with the remaining spaghetti sauce, remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
8. Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes, or until bubbly.

Pork Chops Yum Yum & Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes

This is what we had for dinner tonight. Two new recipes that were pretty good and healthy! :) Pork Chops Yum Yum 1 pound lean pork loin 1/4 cup fat-free chicken broth 1/8 cup honey 1/8 cup soy sauce 1 Tbsp ketchup 1 Tbsp ground ginger 1 Tbsp minced garlic Brown chops on both sides. Place in casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Mix all remaining ingredients and pour over pork chops. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 45 minutes-1 hour. Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes (Ellie Krieger) 2 lbs. sweet potatoes 2 tbsp. olive oil 2 tbsp. honey 1 tsp. lemon juice 1/2 tsp. salt Preheat oven to 350. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into 1-inch pieces and put in a 9 by 13 baking dish. In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, honey and lemon juice. Pour mixture over potatoes and toss to coat. Sprinkle with the salt, and bake, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour, until potatoes are tender.

Beef and Potato Nacho Casserole

I must admit this was more points than I usually eat for dinner, but had already planned to make it before I ran it through the WW recipe builder. It came out to 10 points per serving, but it was really good. I guess once I get into the swing of earning activity points again, I can have it more often! There's a bit of motivation! :)

SERVINGS: 8

CATEGORY: Main Dish

METHOD: Baked

TIME: Prep: 20 min. Bake: 1-1/4 hours + standing

Ingredients:

* 2 pounds lean ground beef

* 3/4 cup chopped onion, divided

* 1 envelope taco seasoning

* 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

* 3/4 cup water

* 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies, drained

* 1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained

* 1 package (24 ounces) frozen O'Brien potatoes, thawed

* 1 can (11 ounces) nacho cheese soup, undiluted

* 1/2 cup milk

* 1/4 cup chopped green pepper

* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

* 1/4 teaspoon sugar

* Paprika

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook beef and 1/2 cup onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the taco seasoning, tomato sauce and water. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 1 minute.

Spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Top with the green chilies, beans and potatoes. In large bowl, combine the soup, milk, green pepper, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and remaining onions; pour over potatoes. Sprinkle with paprika.

Cover and bake at 350° for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Yield: 8 servings

Meal Planning

In an attempt to clean out my pantry and freezer, as well as try some new recipes, I am going to try more meal planning this month. It is so much easier and stress free to cook dinner when you have a plan. It also makes counting points on Weight Watchers much easier as well. One of my favorite places to get recipes is the Weight Watcher Recipe Review message board. You would be surprised at all of the great recipes I've gotten from there that definitely don't taste like diet food! They are all family friendly yummy things. I have become somewhat of a casserole queen. They wonderful way to satisfy the whole family. With Sutton starting to eat what we eat this is very important. I refuse to be a short order cook and have her only eat "kid food". I will keep you posted on how that goes. :)

So far on the list this week:

   Beef and Potato Nacho Casserole
   Bubble Up Chicken
   Crazy Crust or Deep Dish Pizza
   Corn Dog Casserole

I will post the recipes as I try them. They are all new, so stay tuned!