Bacon, Ranch & Chicken Mac and Cheese

So my youngest son had a sleepover for the first time in months the other day.  These two kids get together maybe once a month right now but we and the other family don't really go out and about so that we don't have to worry about the virus so much and they maintain their distance fairly well when finally together.  They sit on separate couches to play their video games and they are outside a LOT shooting hoops or swimming, etc. 

I needed to find something that they would want to eat that I could as well while my husband worked overtime and wouldn't be home until midnight or so having already eaten so I scrapped my initial plan for a fancier meal that included veggies and sides and tried out this bacon, ranch and chicken mac and cheese recipe.  They liked it, as did I and I only wound up eating half of a serving for 249 calories!  A whole serving is about 2 cups for 497 calories and is actually A LOT!

Be honest, I have to feed teenage boys SOMETHING when they are hanging out together and they won't go anywhere near "diet-friendly" food.  As long as I know this is not something to make on the regular and it is a once in a while dish only, I'm good!  It is an easy option for these occasions and even serves as a good passing dish!

** I had made bacon for BLT sandwiches the previous day so did not have "drippings in the pan" in which to cook the chicken as this recipe says you should.  I just added a tsp of olive oil to my pan to fry up the chicken in a nonstick skillet.  (okay, so I also cheated and used 3 pieces of bacon total but added calories and adjusted my log! It was so worth it!)

Ingredients:

8 oz uncooked elbow macaroni
1 slice applewood-smoked bacon
8 oz skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs all-purpose flour
1-1/2 c fat-free milk
1/3 c condensed 45% reduced sodium 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup
3/4 c (3 oz) shredded 6-cheese Italian blend cheese
12 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chopped fresh dill
1/2 tsp salt
Cooking spray
1/2 c (2 oz) shredded Colby-Jack cheese

Instructions:

Cook pasta according to package directions leaving out salt and fat.  Drain.

** (see my note above).  Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings in pan.  Finely chop bacon; set aside.  Increase heat to medium-high.  Add chicken to drippings in pan and saute 6 minutes or until done.

Combine the milk and soup stirring with a whisk and set aside. 

Melt butter in a large saucepan (and I mean large! Large enough to hold this whole recipe!) and sprinkle in the flour whisking until thick and bubbly.  Now slowly whisk the soup and milk mixture into the butter-flour mixture in the sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Cook another two minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat and let stand until it cools down to about 155 degrees.

Add Italian cheese to the sauce pan stirring until the cheese melts.  Now stir in the pasta and the chicken and toss to coat. 

Preheat your broiler.

Spoon the contents of your sauce pan into a casserole dish that is coated with cooking spray first.  Sprinkle the top Colby Jack cheese shreds and the crumbled/chopped bacon pieces. 

Broil for about 3 minutes or until the cheese melts and to your broiled cheese doneness preference!

YIELDS:  4 servings
SERVING SIZE:  About 2 cups

Nutritional Information:  Calories 497, Fat 17 g (saturated 9.2 g, mono 4.7 g, poly 1.4 g), Protein 33.3 g, Carb 51.7 g, Fiber 2 g, Chol 74 mg, Iron 2.4 mg, Sodium 767 mg, Calcium 368 mg

Chicken Carne Asada Tacos

In the past I've always made these tacos by sets of 2 for 413 calories, but this time because I found these super cute teeny street taco shells, I went with 3 teeny tacos for 300 calories!  This saves you 113 calories!!  Two of the regular size corn tortilla shells is 100 calories and you add more of everything into each compared for even more calories, but there are only 90 calories for three corn tortilla shells into which you fill less as well!

Instead of assembling in the below-listed quantities/measurements, I put 1 oz of chicken in each tiny shell, divided up a Tbsp of the Cotija cheese between all 3, and put in one thin slice of avocado in each as well, which didn't even amount to a whole ounce of avocado overall.

Ingredients:

Marinade:

1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1 tsp sugar 1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium red onion thinly vertically sliced

Meat:

1-1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into thin strips
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray

Fixings:

8 (6") corn tortillas (or do the 3 small street taco size as mentioned above)
1 cup diced peeled avocado
1/2 cup (2 oz) crumbled Cotija cheese

Instructions: 

Marinade: Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl stirring until sugar dissolves. Place onion in a small saucepan; cover with water. Shock the onions by bringing to a boil, then drain and plunge into ice water to quickly cool and stop the "cooking" process. Drain onion and add to juice mixture. Chill until ready to serve.

Meat: Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Sprinkle chicken with oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned and done, stirring occasionally.

Tortillas: Heat tortillas according to package directions. I heat using nonstick spray in a skillet and browning both sides.

Assembly for 2 tacos: Divide chicken evenly among tortillas. Drain onion and divide evenly among tortillas. Top each tortilla with 2 tablespoons avocado and 1 tablespoon cheese and fold.

 ***Assembly for 3 street tacos: 1 oz of chicken per taco, 1 oz avocado thinly sliced and divided between all 3 tacos, 2 tsp of Cotija cheese divided between all 3 tacos and a couple of pickled onions per each taco. 294 calories here!

Yields: 4 servings
Serving Size: 2 Tacos

Nutrition Info (2-Taco version): 413 Calories; 17.1 g  Fat (sat 5.2 g, mono 7.1 g, poly 2.7 g); 33.4 g Protein; 33.6 g Carb; 4.9 g Fiber; 123 mg Cholesterol; 3.2 mg Iron; 825 mg Sodium; 237 mg Calcium

Chocolate-Chocolate-Chip Avocado Cookies for 2 Points Each!

Seriously, if you need a chocolate Fix, this is a good one. Especially Fresh out of the oven with the ooey gooey chocolate and even warned in a microwave for a few seconds afterward.

Yes, it's dairy free and gluten free (if you use gluten-free flour, which I do), and even vegan too. It's so easy to make and the whole Family gobbles them up completely unaware they're made with avocado!

I've tried this recipe with different types of flour, regular all-purpose, whole wheat flour, gluten-free versions, and I've settled on Cup-4-Cup gluten-free as my favorite in this recipe.

I've also tried this recipe with different chocolate chips--milk chocolate, dark chocolate, semi-sweet, etc. and I've settled on semi-sweet chips as my favorite, but feel free to pick your poison here.


INGREDIENTS:

parchment paper
1/2 cup mashed avocado
1/2 cup turbinado sugar (method to making sugar-big rough, crystal-like granules)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 c gluten-free flour
100 grams of chocolate chips of your choice


INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your cookie sheet with parchment paper.

While the oven is preheating give your avocado and turbinado sugar a good whirl in a food processor or blender.

Add vanilla and apple cider vinegar and give another quick whirl until blended well/incorporated.

Mix the cocoa powder, the flour, the baking soda, and the cinnamon in a separate bowl with a whisk and add half at a time to moist mixture and blend after each addition.

Mix in chocolate chips by hand.

Spoon about a tablespoon of cookie dough onto your parchment-lined cookie sheet and use the backside of your spoon to flatten and shape the cookies somewhat, as they don't expand and shape much on their own.  Try to make sure there are no thin spots on the outer edges as they will cook/burn quickly and affect the taste of your first bites.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Raspberry-Chocolate Floats for 2 Weight Watchers Winning Points

This is such a yummy treat for ONLY 2 Weight Watchers Winning Points!  The whole Family loved it.  I need to keep searching for a sparking water brand that does not have artificial sweetener in it because I don't like that taste, but other than that, this was good!  Granted, it could get expensive with the price of raspberries these days, but I have my own raspberry patch in my own backyard and it's raspberry season! So when I managed to pick 3 whole cups of raspberries today, this was on the menu this evening! I used black raspberry-flavored sparkling water and used low-fat chocolate frozen yogurt.

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/2 c. fresh raspberries
4 tsp sugar
2 c. raspberry-flavored or plain sparkling water, chilled
1 c. chocolate low-fat ice cream (total, as only 1/4 c per serving)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place raspberries in a food processor and process 15 seconds or until smooth.  Now for the annoying part, strain out the seeds in a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and toss out those pesky seeds.  Add the sugar into the puree and stir well.  Set aside until sugar is well incorporated and no longer gritty.

Combine 2 tablespoons raspberry puree and 1/2 cup sparkling water in each of 4 glasses and stir gently.  Add 1/4 cup ice cream to each glass. Serve immediately.

YIELDS: 4 servings

POINTS: 2 points per serving

Nutritional Information:  94 calories (17% from fat); 1.9g protein; 1.8g fat (0.8mg sat); 18.5g carb; 0g fiber; 5mg cholesterol; 0.3mg iron; 0 mg sodium; 60mg calcium

Mixed Berries and Maple Cream Dessert Recipe for 7 to 9 Weight Watchers Points

This Fruit-based dessert is a Family-Favorite in our household.  The points can vary as little or as much as you would like by the number of total servings you divide it into.  The original recipe indicates it serves Four, but since there are Five of us in our house, it serves Five.  The entire recipe came out to 36 points, so when divided into Four servings you get 9 points per serving, but when divided into Five servings, you get 7 points per serving. You can probably lessen the powdered sugar in the whipping cream and and leave out the nuts to trim it out a little Further as well.

Because it makes me Feel like I have come a long way in my domestic diva journey, I want to brag a little. The blueberries come from a Friend's Farm, and the maple syrup and raspberries from my own back yard. I Freeze the raspberries each Fall and use throughout the remainder of the year and make Freezer jam with them as well. This is my second year making homemade maple syrup from my own maple tree, and it is delicious! Toot toot! ;) 


Fruit Layer Ingredients:

1 (6 oz.) container fresh blackberries (about 1-1/2 cups) (I frequently used raspberries instead)
1-1/3 cups fresh blueberries
1-1/3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
2 Tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. grated orange peel

Maple Cream Layer Ingredients:

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup or honey (I use maple syrup)
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, whole shelled pistachios, toasted sliced almonds (I use almonds)

Directions:

In a medium bowl combine all the berries, sugar, and orange peel and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

In a small bowl stir together sour cream and maple syrup and set aside.  In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer beat the whipping cream just until slightly thickened and add in the powdered sugar and continue mixing until stiff peaks form.  Then fold in the sour cream/maple syrup mixture.

In each dessert cup layer even amounts of the berry mixture, the maple cream, and if desired 1 Tbs. nuts. Come back in with the berry mixture, the nuts, and top off with some more cream. Serve immediately.

Servings: 4 or 5
Points: 9 for each of 4 servings or 7 for each of 5 servings

Per Serving: 375 calories, 23 g fat, 14 g saturated fat, 85 mg cholesterol, 50 mg sodium, 42 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, and 4 g protein.