Skinny Pizza Logs (Emily Bites Recipe)

I had to share a new favorite of the boys! Super simple and easy to make for dinner that the boys have now requested the last two weeks! Emily Bites is one of the best Weight Watcher Recipe sites I've come across, she posted these Pizza Logs.

Ingredients:

• 8 egg roll wrappers (larger than wonton wrappers)
• 8 teaspoons store-bought pizza sauce
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 24 turkey pepperoni slice (I used Hormel)
• 4 light Mozzarella string cheese sticks, each cut in half horizontally to make two shorter stick

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425. Lightly mist a large baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Pour some water into a small dish and set aside. On a flat surface, place an egg roll wrapper, corner facing toward you (like a diamond) and spread a teaspoon of pizza sauce horizontally across the center of the wrapper, leaving ½ inch or so of space on each side. Sprinkle a pinch of Italian seasoning across the sauce and add a row of 3 pepperoni slices over the sauce. Place half a cheese stick on top of the pepperoni. Fold the bottom corner closest to you up over the ingredients and give it a 90 degree roll. Fold the side corners in and tuck them as you give the filled section another 90 degree roll. Dip your finger in the dish or reserved water and lightly wet the edges of the remaining top corner of the wrapper. Finish rolling the filled pizza log over the wet corner so that it adheres. Place wrapped pizza log onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
3. When all of the pizza logs are wrapped and on the baking sheets, mist the tops with cooking spray. Bake for 10-14 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until the wrappers are golden brown.

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Ham & Cheese Tater Tot Casserole

My oldest asked for Tater Tot Casserole last week and I went on a little crazy themed week and found several different versions to try. The tried and true version was the winner but I liked this one. I tried to make this as healthy as I could. I found this recipe on This Mama Loves.

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used Red Fat Cheese)
8 oz. package diced ham
32 oz. bag of tater tots (I use crowns they are half the size and bake nicer)
1 cup sour cream (I used Red Fat)
1-10.75 oz. can of cream of chicken soup (I used red fat)
3 tsp. yellow mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt 
(I added in Corn)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease a 9×13 pan with butter.
3. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, stirring until well mixed and everything is evenly distributed.
4. Place mixture in prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until heated through and top is golden brown.
5. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes before serving. 

  
I know I'm late save for next year .. lol

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

We went to a BBQ for our exchange student and I wanted to bring something fun. I went to the cupboard and thought why not Peanut Butter cupcakes then I had some Jelly left and thought what a perfect combo for a cupcake. I did a Google Search and found PopSugar posted Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes. The only thing I would change was blend the jelly or use a jam so it didn't have big clumps of strawberries (was a little hard to pipe onto the cupcake).

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
For the frosting:
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
1 cup grape or strawberry jam

Directions

1. To make cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350ºF and place mini baking liners in mini muffin tins.
2. In a large bowl, beat together cake mix, water, peanut butter, vegetable oil, and eggs until combined. Divide batter into mini cupcake wells, filling each well about 2/3 full. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.
3. To make frosting: Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer, whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form.
4. In another large bowl, beat together cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, salt, peanut butter, and vanilla on medium speed, until combined. Then carefully fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter icing until smooth and fluffy.
5. To assemble cupcakes: Fit a piping bag with a pipping tip, then fill the bag with jam. Inject the tip into the center of each cupcake and squeeze to fill the center of the cupcake with jam, just until it swells but does not overflow.
6. Into a second piping bag, fill jam on one side and peanut butter frosting on the other side. Pipe frosting into a swirl on each cupcake. Let cupcakes set in the fridge for about 15 minutes before serving.

ALEXIS NOTES: I made regular size cupcakes, easy to travel with since I have cupcake holders I use for my charity cupcakes. I used my cupcake center tool to take out the centers to inject the jelly.

Enjoy!

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Valentine Cookies Made ... Lips

I couldn't resist making lips to match the Valentine Kiss card I made for Caden's class. Now I know homemade cookies are usually no no's BUT I bake as a side job SOOO I'm a business on the side and I hired myself to make cookies .. yup my story and I'm sticking too it! 

What you Need:

Lip Cookie Cutter (I found a Valentine 3 pack w/ the lips at Hobby Lobby)

Red Food Gel Color

Sugar Cookies

Royal Icing (Recipe at the bottom of post)

 

I made sugar cookies using my favorite sugar cookie recipe. After they cooled I frosted them with red royal icing (using AmeriColor food color gel). I'm working on my piping skills, but I must say I was happy with how they turned out.

See my Amazon Prime Shopping comes in handy!

GREAT boxes to send to school!

For Royal Icing:

Royal Icing what you need:

2 lbs Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

5 Large Egg Whites (or equivalent) 

Flavor to Taste

Gel Icing Color

Mix powder sugar and cream of tartar in your mixer, just to make sure it is incorporated in. Slowly add egg whites, then whip start of slow then go to very high speed. She says around 2 minutes, my friend had an older mixer so it took almost 10 minutes. You want stiff peaks that hold on and won't fall off the spoon. Add in your flavor, I would suggest you use a clear flavoring.  This would be the glue texture great for ginger bread houses etc.

Take 1 cup of royal icing in a smaller bowl then add your coloring, lightly mix so you don't get air into the the icing. I'm like her and like the gel coloring. 

For Top Coating - Add 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tsp Water (This is if you don't want to outline and flood)

For Outlining - Add 1/2 to 3/4 tsp Water

For Flooding  - Add 2 to 3 tsp Water

WATCH her video on How to Top-Coat, Outline, and Flood Cookies. YES it is around 7 minutes BUT if you have never done this technique it's a MUST she explains it perfectly.

Pizza Meatloaf with Ranch Roasted Red Potatoes

Next was a requested meal of meatloaf and potatoes. Over the years I've done SEVERAL different versions of meatloaf. This past week I found an amazing recipe on .... YES you called it Drizzle Me Skinny for Pizza Meatloaf. My husband actually liked it so much he has asked that we do it again soon. To go with the meatloaf I found a skinny Ranch Roasted  Red Potatoes on Laaloosh that was really tasty also.

Pizza Meatloaf:

Ingredients

• 1.5lbs raw extra lean ground beef
• ½ cup diced peppers
• ½ cup diced onion
• ½ cup panko bread crumbs
• ⅓ cup reduced fat shredded mozzarella
• ⅓ cup pizza sauce
• 2 tsp italian seasoning
• 20 pepperoni slices, cut into small pieces (56g)
• Topping
• 2 Tbsp pizza sauce
• ¼ cup reduced fat shredded mozzarella
• 15 pepperoni slices (42g)
• Sprinkle of italian seasoning

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper (use a baking sheet with raised edges as there will be grease from your beef as it's cooking)
2. Cut your 20 slices of pepperoni up into small pieces.
3. In a large bowl mix all of your ingredients together using your hands (except topping ingredients)
4. Form into a log shape, approx 10 inches long.
5. Bake in oven for 55 minutes, remove from oven and spoon your 2T pizza sauce on top. Add cheese and top with pepperoni slices and seasoning. Return back to oven for 15-20 minutes.
6. Let cool for 5 minutes then cut into 8 slices. Each slice is 4sp or 4pp
7. *Note, you can cut slices thinner for more of a yield, there is 34 smart points in total in recipe based of my ingredients, so if you cut into 10 slices you can do the math.. Feel free to add extra 0 point toppings such as mushrooms..
8. * I added pictures of the nutritional info for both my pepperoni and my cheese so you can compare with a similar brand.

ALEXIS NOTES: I used Turkey pepperoni.

Ranch Roasted Red Potatoes:

Ingredients

• 12 oz red potatoes, washed and quartered
• 1 packet Ranch Dressing Dry Mix
• Non fat, olive oil cooking spray
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large bowl add potatoes and spray lightly with the cooking spray. Then, add in the Ranch mix and salt, and toss well to coat each potato piece evenly.
3. Spray a baking sheet with non stick cooking spray and spread out potatoes evenly on sheet.
4. Bake in oven until potatoes are cooked through, and edges start to turn very dark brown, approximately 20-25 minutes.

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Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta Bake (Drizzle Me Skinny)

Another Hit meal that I prepped a head of time and put in the oven right before I went to sit in the sauna to kick this sinus infection.  Now my turkey bacon got a little darker then I wanted but I will eat bacon any way .. lol.

Another great recipe from my new favorite site for meal planning, Drizzle Me Skinny! She posted this Chicken Bacon Alfredo Pasta Bake and I knew I had to make it! I was in heaven and even slipped in some broccoli and no one cared!

Ingredients

• 2 cups (uncooked) 100% whole wheat high fiber pasta (see picture below for the kind I use)
• 10 oz cooked shredded chicken breast
• 1 cup reduced fat alredo sauce
• ¼ cup light ranch dressing
• ¼ cup almond milk
• ⅔ cups light shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 slices Oscar Mayer center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled (as an alternative you can use bacon crumbs or turkey bacon)

Instructions

1. Boil your pasta on the stove.
2. Preheat oven to 350F, spray a 9x13 casserole dish.
3. In a large bowl mix your pasta, cooked chicken, alfredo sauce, ranch and milk together.
4. *Optional, feel free to add in vegetables, I just choose not to. It will not increase the point values
5. Pour out into your casserole dish and top with cheese and then your bacon.
6. Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Cut into 6 servings.. 6pp and 7sp per serving

Alexis Notes: I used turkey bacon (which got a little darker then needed) and I added broccoli. I also cheated and threw this all into the casserole dish and baked it in the oven at 350 for 50 min. The noodles went in uncooked and the juices and etc cooked them. I also added in 1/2 cup of broth (which will throw off your numbers, I'm not doing WW just like healthy meal options).

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Skinny Easy Taco Pie (Drizzle Me Skinny)

As some of you may have seen on facebook I'm fighting a sinus infection. That with work being off the chain busy, I'm behind on my post. I'm writing this right now sitting in my sauna at home hoping to sweat this crud out!

Since I've been under the weather I've been trying out some new meals that aren't too time consuming. I have come across this amazing site Drizzle Me Skinny! I'm in love with her recipes AND she actually will comment back to me on Instagram! OK this may seem silly but it really impresses me when ppl comment back.  She posted a top 10 recipes family favorite meals and this Taco Pie was on it. I must say I could have ate the whole pie myself!

Ingredients

• 1 pack of Pillsbury reduced fat crescent rolls
• 1lb lean ground beef
• ⅔ cup of salsa
• 1 package of taco seasoning
• ⅔ cup light grated cheese
• *Optional to top with lettuce, tomatoes and onions etc

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Heat up your ground beef in a frying pan on stove, once cooked drain fat. Add salsa and taco seasoning, I only use half the pack of seasoning so it is not to strong tasting. Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Place your crescent rolls into a 9 inch pie dish, making sure to cover all areas. This may require breaking up some of the rolls to fill in spaces. Pre-bake crust for 5 minutes to avoid the middle not cooking through..
4. Place your meat mixture into the pie dish and spread evenly, sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake in oven for approx. 10-12 minutes, checking often. Serves 6 at 8sp or 7pp per slice.

Alexis notes: I used a thin crust pizza dough instead of crescent rolls (it was a little less calories etc and easier to work with). I did add a little salsa and non fat sour cream on the boys meals.

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Slow Cooker White Bean Chili (WW 7 Plus Points)

Sadly we have had some sick people here at the house, husband with his teeth and my youngest with a flu bug. So it's soft foods and comfort foods at what better says that then a chili! I found this recipe on Slender Kitchen of Slow Cooker White Bean Chili. It was an easy recipe that everyone loved.

Ingredients

1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast

20 oz canned white beans, drained

1 onion, minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno (seeded for less heat), diced

2 poblano peppers (seeded for less heat), diced

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

4 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 Salt and pepper

1 lime

Directions

1	Option 1: Add everything to the slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Add back in and serve.
2	Option 2: Add the onions, garlic, jalapeno, poblanos, cilantro, cumin, oregano, and 2 cups broth to a blender. Blend until smooth. Add this salsa, the chicken, beans, and remaining broth to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 4 hours and shred chicken when finished.

ALEXIS NOTES: I did the slower cooker version. I also like a thicker chili so I added a little cornstarch mixed with water to thicken it up. I also did some green chilies instead of poblano peppers.

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Skinny Mini Deep Dish Meat Lovers Pizza

Sorry gang I haven't been around a lot this past two weeks. I'm just slammed with an event we are hosting at work and my husband is having tooth problems and ended up in ER (he thankfully is doing better but it's slow). SO I don't have time for fancy meals or to do up a post like I would like!

Cole did have a buddy spend the night so I wanted to find an easy meal but also something that they would enjoy. I found Mini deep dish meat lovers pizza recipe on Drizzle Me Skinny, this has become a new favorite website for skinny and weight watcher meals. NOW I don't do WW but I try to do light meals and since their meals have all the calories etc figured out for me it makes it easy when I'm watching calorie intake.

NOW mine got left in the oven a little too long ... YUP I got a little busy but they were still tasty!

Ingredients

• 1 package of pillsbury pizza dough
• ¼ cup pizza sauce
• ⅓ cup light shredded cheese
• 36 slices of pepperoni
• 4 oz cooked lean ground beef
• 4 slices cooked low point bacon
• 1 chicken sausage, cooked

Instructions

1. Cook your ground beef, sausage and bacon, drain and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 400F, spray a 12 hole regular size muffin tin.
3. Roll out your pizza dough and cut into 12 even pieces, stuff into each muffin cup trying to pull dough up the sides. Pre-bake dough for 6 minutes, remove from oven. Turn oven down to 375F. Now you can shape the dough a little better, careful it will be hot but try to shape each into a muffin cup.
4. Dice up your chicken sausage and add to your ground beef, chop up your cooked bacon and mix into your meat mixture.
5. Spoon about 1 tsp of pizza sauce into the bottom of all 12 cups. Divide your cheese into the bottom of your 12 pizzas.
6. Divide your meat mixture up and then top with 3 slices of pepperoni onto each.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Serve immediately. Makes 12 mini pizzas at 4sp or 4pp each.

ALEXIS NOTES: I used Turkey Bacon and Turkey Pepperoni.

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