Lemon Raspberry Bread Pudding

A few weeks ago this Lemon Raspberry Bread Pudding was on the Weight Watchers Weekly that we get at our meetings.  It sounded tasty and I figured I would try it eventually.  Not too long after that meeting Regina made it with blackberrys and said that most of the people there liked it, so I figured I would make it someday.  We were at Costco getting apple slices and I happened to notice a nice sized package of raspberries so I picked it up all excited to be making this bread pudding.  It wasn't until almost a week later and searching 10 different stores that I finally found the Weight Watchers Lemon Cakes that are required for it (and you can now no longer buy), it pretty much became an obsession searching for them.  I finally found them at the Safeway by my WW meeting, I was so excited to see them that I bought both boxes they had.  The bread pudding was incredibly tasty!  Very worth it.  Richard and I didn't think you could taste the lemon all that much (you can taste it, it's just not overwhelming) and the raspberries add a nice punch of flavor.  I will certainly make these again, they were simple and tasty and they come in at only 4 pts which isn't too bad for a homemade dessert, and each serving is a decent size as well.

Last night I made the Pan Fried Tilapia with White Wine and Capers again.  Still incredibly tasty.  This time I used the light butter like it called for.  I still have bigger peices of fish then the recipe is for so I call it three servings instead of four, but that still makes the Tilapia only 6 points, and it is completely worth it for as tasty as it is.  I once again had quinoa and zucchini squash with it.  I do believe this just might be my new favorite meal, and it's not all that time consuming to make.  I just recommend defrosting the frozen fish the day before so you're not scrambling to get it thawed.  You can see my previous blog on this if you want the recipe.

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Lemon Raspberry Bread Pudding
From: Weight Watchers recipes

Ingredients:
2 spray(s) cooking spray
6 cake(s) Weight Watchers Lemon cake with lemon icing, cut into equal small pieces*
1 cup(s) raspberries
3/4 cup(s) fat-free egg substitute
3/4 cup(s) fat-free skim milk
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract, pure variety
1 tsp whole wheat flour

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat each of four 1-cup oven-safe ramekins with cooking spray (I didn't have ramekins so I used a muffin pan with 6- one cup sized spaces, I only used four of the cups).

Divide cake pieces evenly among each ramekin.  Add equal amounts of raspberries to each ramekin by placing them between cake pieces.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg substitute, milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and flour. Pour egg and milk mixture into a glass measuring cup; pour even amount of mixture into each ramekin.

Place ramekins in the oven and bake until egg mixture is set, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. Yields 1 bread pudding per serving.

Chicken Fried Steak

Richard and I have never been HUGE Valentine's Day fans, we generally do something fairly low key, and next to never go out to eat.  This year Richard made dinner, we had Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Country Gravy and steamed zucchini squash.  Yummy!   This isn't the first year we've had this for Valentine's Day, it's one of our favorite meals but we very rarely actually make it.   Probably a good thing it's not exactly low points. 

I'm thinking my canola oil estimation might be to little off since Richard did the cooking and he put quite a bit of oil in the pan. He patted the steaks with paper towels after frying the steak so there was less on it, but I'm honestly not sure the exact amounts. I am pretty sure that these could be made with only 2 Tbsp however so that's what I put in the recipe builder. So maybe my points were off for the day. Who knows.

No matter how you look at it, Chicken Fried Steak is very very tasty!  Thank goodness for a plan that lets me eat it from time to time as long as I plan for it.

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Chicken Fried Steak

1/2 lb cooked trimmed beef cube steak

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup fat-free egg substitute

2 Tbsp Canola oil

Pretty much all you do is take the steak, coat in egg and then flour and then fry it up in the canola oil. 

Mashed Potato Pancakes

My mother in law makes these really yummy potato pancakes, we don't have them all that often because it requires left over mashed potatoes, but we both love them when we get them.  I bought extra potatoes when I made the pot roast the other day so we would have some left over to make these this weekend.  Be careful not to burn them if you make them, I have an amazing knack for that, if you're not quite as worried about calories cooking them in a bit more oil makes it much easier.  I paired the potato pancakes with turkey bacon and an egg.  It amazed me how much turkey bacon really does taste similar to bacon.  I remember having it at a friends house when I was younger and liking it, I'm glad I still do.  Three slices of turkey bacon is 2 pts; 3 slice of regular bacon is 4 pts.  So it's certainly a better alternative.  I know my brunch was lacking fruit/veggies, but I did have a banana for breakfast, so I haven't skipped out on them all together today.

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Mashed Potato Pancakes

1 1/2 cup left over mashed potatoes, chilled

1 egg

1/2 cup flour

1 spray butter flavored cooking spray

dash of seasoning salt

Instructions:

Mix mashed potatoes, egg and about 3/4 of the flour together.  Form them into patties and coat in flour to keep them together.  They should be fairly moist but not so much that you can't form them.  Sprinkle with seasoning salt.  Spray pan with cooking spray and cook until they feel firm.  Enjoy!

Makes 6 pancakes.  If you call it 6 servings, one pancake is 2 pts but two is 4.5 pts and three is 6.5.

Pot Roast With Mushrooms and Savory Gravy

I suppose it's been a cooking kind of week for me.  Here is yet another something I made.  Go me.  I've really been enjoying the cooking, and for me I'm being VERY good about eating the leftovers.  I put it away such that I have enough meat to go on a sandwich in a small tupperware ready to go to work with me tomorrow (and the rest of the steamed vegetables).  The left over mashed potatoes are measured and packed up to make potato pancakes out of one of the mornings this weekend. 

It says to slice the roast but it was falling apart, I tried my best but there was no way the slices were going to look all that much like slices.  It did cook for about 11 hours because of the way work and my meeting tonight went.  So maybe it would be more sliceable if it went a couple hours less?  But either way it was tasty.  Oh and I ended up buying a dry packet of mushroom gravy and mixing it up instead of a jar since I couldn't find it in a jar.  And I bought 8 oz of fresh mushrooms instead of ones out of a jar and sauteed them real quick in the pan I used for the onions, because fresh is better if you ask me.
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Pot Roast With Mushrooms and Savory Gravy
By Diana Rattray, About.com Guide

This pot roast is delicious and so easy to prepare and cook in the slow cooker. Serve this pot roast with mashed potatoes and your favorite vegetables on the side.

Prep Time: 0 hour, 15 minutes
Cook Time: 9 hours, 0 minute

Ingredients:
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
1 pot roast, chuck arm or bottom round, visible fat trimmed, about 3 to 4 pounds
salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 large jar or can sliced mushrooms, 6 to 8 ounces
1 jar (12 ounces) mushroom gravy
3/4 cup dry red wine

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the roast with salt and pepper then dredge with flour. Sear on all sides until nicely browned. Transfer the browned roast to the slow cooker. Add onions to the skillet and cook, stirring, until browned and slightly wilted. Add to the crockpot.

Combine the drained mushrooms with the mushroom gravy and red wine; pour over the roast. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours, or until very tender. Remove the roast to a plate and keep warm. Pour juices into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until reduced by about one-quarter to one-third. Slice the roast and serve with the gravy.

Based on the recipe builder I called this 8 servings and it was 8 pts a serving (I used a 2.5 lb roast so that's what I calculated my points by)

Sweet Apple Pork Chops

I like pork so I picked these up last time I was at the store figuring I could find something to make that didn't have too many points and hopefully Richard would enjoy (he doesn't like pork all that much).  I found a Baked Pork Chop with Apples recipe online and decided to rename it to Sweet Apple Pork Chops (I changed quite a few things so I figured why not switch the name up).  The recipe below is what I actually did, not the recipe I found online.  The recipe made it sound like there would be a bunch of juice, I'm guessing it was lacking the juice because I trimmed most of the fat off the pork chops and used boneless (though there was a bit more juice towards the end).  I added apple sauce to make up for the lack of juices, you could probably add less and maybe cut a point off.

I had this with some leftover quinoa, green giant veggies and a cornbread vitatop.  It was probably a bit to much food for me for dinner, I could have done with either the quinoa or cornbread but really didn't need both.  The pork chop was pretty good, not quite as moist as I was hoping for, but good.  I liked the apple and I thought the apple sauce mixture went well with the quinoa.  I'm not sure I'll make it again, but I thought it was pretty good if you like pork chops.  Richard found it to be okay but still sticks to pork not being his choice if he is choosing dinner.
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Sweet Apple Pork Chops

Ingredients:

1 spray butter flavored cooking spray
2 boneless pork chops, trimmed, about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick
salt and pepper, to taste
1 Fuji apple, halved and cored, unpeeled
2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup apple sauce

Preparation:

Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper and place in a baking dish. Place one apple half, cut side down on each chop, sprinkle with sugar. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes, basting often, until meat is browned. Thicken juices with sour cream and apple sauce before serving.  Spoon sauce over pork chops.

Serves 2.  6 pts per serving.