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.

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!

Halloween Recipes

Here are a few more fun Halloween recipes I just found on a WW message board. Cute ideas! :)

Creepy-Creature Cake
Ingredients
• 1 box (18.25 ounces) devil's-food cake mix
• 1 can (16 ounces) chocolate frosting
• 2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
• Red decorating icing
• Gummy worms, candy bugs, candy body parts, and mini marshmallows
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan. Prepare cake according to package directions and bake. Cool 15 minutes and invert cake onto wire rack; let cool completely.
2. Frost cake and cover with cookie crumbs. Pipe red icing to look like dripping blood. Place worms and candy bugs and body parts around cake.
Make bloody hand: Fill a rubber glove with mini marshmallows, close the wrist with a rubber band, then use red markers for blood and black markers for fingernails. Place hand inside center of cake and cover wrist with crumbs .

Forked Eyeballs

These scary-good Halloween treats, prepared and eaten on the same fork, begin with a doughnut hole dunked in white chocolate.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:

2 (11-ounce) bags white chocolate chips

12 doughnut holes

Semisweet chocolate chips

Tube of red decorator frosting
1. To coat a dozen doughnut holes, melt the white chocolate chips over low heat (and keep the chocolate warm while you work). With a fork, spear each doughnut hole and submerge it in the melted chocolate to coat it, then gently tap off any excess.

2. Stick a semisweet chocolate chip with its point cut off onto each doughnut hole, cut end first. Place the forks (handle side down) in a mug and allow the chocolate coating to harden.

3. Use a tube of red decorator frosting to add squiggly veins radiating out from the pupils.

Jack O'Lantern Stew

Prep Time:25 minInactive Prep Time:15 minCook Time:1 hr 15 minLevel:
EasyServes:
6 to 8 servings. Ingredients
•1 (9 to 12-inch) pumpkin
•1 large onion, chopped
•1 green pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
•1 red pepper, cored, seeded, and diced
•4 carrots, thinly sliced into rounds
•3 celery sticks, thinly sliced
•2 cloves garlic, crushed
•1 pound lean ground beef
•1 pound ground chicken or turkey
•2 cups cooked rice (instant is okay)
•1 large can diced tomatoes
•1 large can tomato soup
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Cut the top off the pumpkin and scoop out the insides. Rinse well. Carve a spooky face onto the pumpkin, without going all the way through the flesh. Rinse well, oil outside of pumpkin. Bake the pumpkin shell for 30 minutes.

While shell is baking: saute the onion, green and red peppers, carrots, celery, and garlic until the vegetables begin to soften, about 8 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Brown ground beef and chicken. Add the veggies and cooked rice and cook over low heat, stirring often, for 10 to 15 minutes to let the flavors meld.

Remove pumpkin from oven and let stand 15 minutes. Stir the tomatoes and soup into the meat mixture. Place meat mixture into pumpkin. Put back in oven for 20 minutes. Serve on a platter with cheesy biscuits.

Sausage & Hash Brown Casserole

I am happy to report that dinner was back to normal tonight. Last minute creation that came out great! :) Someday I will remember to take pictures of my food. Until then, just use your imagination.

Sausage & Hash Brown Casserole

30 oz. pkg. frozen hash browns

1 can reduced fat cream of potato soup

1 can reduced fat cream of chicken soup

3 tbls. skim milk

14 oz. smoked turkey sausage

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 c. reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

paprika

black pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Mix first 6 ingredients together in pan. Sprinkle with paprika and pepper to taste. Bake for 30 minutes. Top with cheese bake for 15 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

The cream of soups are all pretty interchangeable. Use whatever types you like.

6 servings = 7 pts. each

8 servings = 5 pts. each