Apple Slicer... Corer

So this didn't require any cooking, but it is a new gadget I got from Pampered Chef recently.  I highly recommend that everyone who eats apples own one of these things, they make eating apples so insanely easy.  You just push the little metal thing down and it becomes 10 slices and a core, just like that!

Loaded Baked Potato Chowder

I suppose I should start by saying that this is what we made at my pampered chef party so that is why I chose it.  There is quite a bit of microwaving involved and it killed my microwave during the show.  Oops!    It was very good though and I had bought enough stuff to make the recipe twice over, so I made it again about a week later after we bought a new microwave. 

I tried adding all the different optional toppings, I much preferred the bacon (I used turkey bacon) and sour cream version, but the broccoli is certainly more filling. 

Everyone at the show seemed to enjoy the chowder, even though the potatoes were not quite as cooked as they should have been, I can only imagine how much more then would like it if they had been cooked as well as they should have been.  Yummy!

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Loaded Baked Potato Chowder

Pampered Chef Recipe

Ingredients:

3 large baking potatoes (about 2½ lbs/1.1 kg)

3½ cups (875 mL) milk, divided

4 oz (125 g) cream cheese, softened

2 tbsp (30 mL) butter
2-3 green onions with tops
(¼ cup/50 mL sliced)
4 oz (125 g) sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1½ tsp (7 mL) salt
½ tsp (2 mL) coarsely ground black pepper
Optional toppings such as chopped cooked bacon, sour cream or steamed broccoli florets

Slice potatoes in half lengthwise with Santoku Knife; place in Deep Covered Baker. Pour ½ cup (125 mL) of the milk over potatoes. Microwave, covered, on HIGH 11 minutes. Remove baker from microwave. Move center potatoes to ends of baker and outer potatoes to center. Cover; microwave on HIGH 8-11 minutes or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Remove baker from microwave. Coarsely mash potatoes with Mix ‘N Chop.

Meanwhile, whisk cream cheese until smooth in Classic Batter Bowl. Slowly add remaining 3 cups (750 mL) milk, whisking until smooth. Add cream cheese mixture and butter to baker. Microwave, covered, on HIGH 3-5 minutes or until mixture is hot. Slice green onions with Chef’s Knife.

Carefully remove baker from microwave. Grate cheddar cheese over chowder using Rotary Grater; add green onions, salt and black pepper, and mix using Small Mix ‘N Scraper® until cheese is melted. Serve with toppings, if desired.

Yield: 6 servings (8 cups/2 L)

Cook’s Tip: For a lighter version, omit butter. Substitute fat-free (skim) milk, reduced-fat (Neufchâtel) cheese and light cheddar for the 2% milk and full-fat cheeses.

Apple and Carrot Salad (with Salmon from the Costco Deli)

We often go to Costco and pick up this salmon, it comes prepared and all you have to do is put it in the oven and cook it until a thermometer says it's done.  It has butter and some herbs on top and is very very yummy.  I put the salmon over the Trader Joe's microwaveable rice and then we normally put some mixed vegetables with it.  This time I decided to try something a little different and made the Apple and Carrot Salad that came from the weight watchers website.

I loved the salad, I left out the pepper as always and forgot the chives the second time I made it.  I think I prefer it with no chives.  Neither Richard or my mom liked the feta in the salad so the second time I made it I left the feta out and just sprinkled a little on after dishing it onto my plate.  It was quick and easy and I would recommend it for a nice light salad.

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Apple and Carrot Salad

From: Weight Watchers Website

Ingredients:

2 large apple, 1 red and 1 green, cored, thinly sliced, cut into matchsticks

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice or less to taste

3 cups carrots, cut into matchsticks (many stores sell these pre cut)

1/4 cup chives, chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp table salt

1/4 tsp black pepper or more to taste

2 oz feta cheese, french-variety suggested, crumbled

Instructions

Place apples in a large bowl and toss with lemon juice.  Add carrots, chives, oil, sugar, salt, pepper and cheese; toss to mix thoroughly.  8 servings; yields about 3/4 cup per serving

 

Lemon Lush Pie

I must start by saying that I did NOT take this picture, it is from familyoven.com and was posted by Marg.  It looks exactly like what I made (because it is pretty much what I made) and I forgot to take a picture so here ya go.

I love this dessert, it is so light and fluffy and incredibly tasty.  The recipe calls for instant pudding but I made it with the cook kind because I bought the wrong stuff.  It takes far longer if you do it that way but I do think the lemon is more flavorful when it's the cooking kind.  I used more cool whip then most of the recipes call for because that is what the recipe I was given called for, though as I reread it if you actually go by the cup and a half and not 12 oz description it would be what the recipes online said.  I think it would be better with a little less cool whip then I did in the bottom layer so the cream cheese flavor can stand out a little more.  The recipe below is actually for a chocolate pudding because that is what I was making the first time I made this, just sub out the lemon pudding where the chocolate goes.  If you use the cook lemon pudding you will need to have eggs and a few other things as well (check the box), and you'll have to wait for the pudding to cool before placing it on the cream cheese layer.  It was really good so I would say it's completely worth the wait. 

This recipe will be remade for certain!  Though I'm thinking we might leave out some of the nuts next time we make it as Richard wasn't a huge fan of having them in the crust.

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Chocolate Pudding Dessert
From Julie Jewell

Crust Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chopped nuts

Filling Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cups cool whip (12 oz size)
1 cup powdered sugar

Topping Ingredients:

1 (5 oz) package of chocolate pudding
1 (8 ounce) container cool whip
2 1/2 cup cups milk

Directions:

For Crust:  Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt margarine and then mix well with the margarine and nuts. Press into a 9 x 13 inch pan and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

In the meantime, for the filling, cream together the cream cheese, cool whip and powdered sugar and then pour over cooled crust.

Then make the chocolate pudding according to package directions, but use only 2 1/2 cups of milk. Spread the pudding over the filling layer.

Spread a layer of cool whip on top of that. Sprinkle with nuts and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Barbecue Beef Cups

I found this recipe online awhile ago and it looked so yummy I just HAD to try it.  Turns out they really are as tasty as they sound.  We had them with grilled corn, they go together quite well!  I ate two of the BBQ Beef cups, it's a good thing I didn't eat lunch (I had a really late breakfast) otherwise I would have gone way over on points today!  These were great and we both think we'll have to have them again sometime.  We ate them with a fork, but as you can see with the second picture they really would be easy to eat by hand.

I didn't quite read the recipe all the way through so I ended up mixing the 3/4 cup cheese into the meat for cooking, but then I put another 1/4 cup on top between the 6 cups to get all melty on top.  This makes 6 servings at 5 points a cup; I used 93/7 ground beef, 2% shredded cheddar (1 cup instead of the called for 3/4), the lower fat biscuits and Bull's Eye original BBQ sauce when I calculated the points, they could change based on what you use. 
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Barbecue Beef Cups

From: Everyday with Rachel Ray: Take 5

Ingredients:

3/4 pound ground beef
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
One 16.3-ounce can refrigerated biscuits
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a skillet, brown the beef over medium heat; drain off excess fat. Remove from the heat and stir in the barbecue sauce and brown sugar. Grease a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan and place a piece of biscuit dough in each cup, stretching the dough up the sides. Divide the beef mixture among the biscuit cups, sprinkle each with cheese and bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

Mediterranean Sole

So I started making this when I got home from work and as I filled the baking pan I realized just how big a serving was (and I ended up using two pans).  So I invited my parents over for some fish on a nice hot summer night. We ate out on the back porch and had a lovely dinner! This was very good!

When I make this again I will probably cook the potatoes for just a little bit before adding the fish to the dish.  The potatoes were still firm after 15 minutes and the fish ended up a tiny bit dry.  It wasn't so dry that it was really a problem or anything. I think the sole that we had was thinner then what they used in the recipe because I had a little less fish then called for and 7 peices of fish.  The picture is actually of Richard's plate (his fish looked better for picture taking), I had half a fish less and more zucchini on my plate.  The mixture of flavors was wonderful!  Richard added a little lemon herb to his and really enjoyed that as well.

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Mediterranean Sole
From WW Website
POINTS® Value: 6
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 15 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Fish was the original "fast food"—this tasty, low-fat dish takes only minutes to make (a food processor slicing attachment cuts the potatoes to the perfect width).

Ingredients:

2 large potato(es), peeled
1 tsp table salt, divided
1 1/3 pound(s) sole
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground oregano
1/2 cup(s) feta cheese, crumbled
5 medium olive(s), jumbo black pitted, chopped

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a 9 X 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Slice potatoes into 1/4-inch thin rounds then place them on the bottom of the pan. Coat the potatoes with spray, then sprinkle them with 1/2 tsp of salt.

Place sole over potatoes. Sprinkle with lemon juice, remaining salt and oregano. Top with feta cheese and black olives. Bake until sole flakes easily with a fork, about 15 minutes.

Lemon flavored Orange Roughy

So this was pretty much the same as the Baked Tilapia recipe on weight watchers.  The only real difference I did was I used lemon herb instead of garlic herb seasoning, orange roughy instead of tilapia and concentrated lemon instead of the fresh juice.  I had all this stuff at the house and I've been trying to use up the stuff that we have around the house.  We had it with quinoa and the mixed vegetables from costco.  A very tasty dinner and it was nice and warm outside for eating out on the deck!  I just love summer!
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Baked Tilapia

main meals
POINTS® Value: 3
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 8 min
Cooking Time: 5 min

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Works with Simply Filling

Use this recipe with other types of fish such as halibut, flounder, sole and even shellfish. Lime juice instead of lemon juice is another good substitution.

Ingredients

1 spray(s) cooking spray
20 oz raw tilapia, four 5 oz fillets
1/2 tsp table salt, or less to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp garlic herb seasoning

Instructions

Preheat broiler. Coat a shallow roasting pan with cooking spray.

Season both sides of fish with salt and pepper.

Transfer fish to prepared pan and drizzle with lemon juice; sprinkle garlic herb seasoning over top.

Broil until fish is fork-tender, about 5 minutes. Yields 1 fillet per serving.