Category: blog posts

Meal Planning 101: Week 5

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A day late, but as promised, a weekly meal plan! 
You know I love my lists and organization. I have this fear that when I run out of my days of the week notepad, I won’t be able to find a new one. So far, I’ve been lucky. I’ve been able to find them (in different forms) for several years. However, if you happen upon days of the week notepads, I wouldn’t hate it if you bought one for me. I also love when you get the the last page of a notepad and get to open a new one! Today I got to open the lovely lemon grocery list pad complete with categorized sections. 
Proof that I do cook healthy most days (in case the whoopie pies tricked you). Greek turkey burgers, sweet potato & beet hash, melon salad. 

Monday:
Greek Turkey Burgers, Sweet Potato & Beet Hash and Watermelon & Cantaloupe Salad (didn’t get to this last week)

Tuesday:
Grilled Tilapia with Jalapeno Sauce, Roasted Squash and Spicy Pea Salad

Wednesday:
Leftover Tilapia

Thursday:
Crock Pot Salsa Chicken Tacos and Mexican Brown Rice Casserole (sort of – making it without spinach or corn)

Friday:
Leftover Chicken Tacos

Saturday:
Chicken Taco Salad in Baked Taco Shells (Round 2 Recipe)

Sunday:
Ground Beef Stroganoff Casserole and Roasted Snow Peas & Carrots

I’ll also be making some Chocolate Banana Bread. I got a big bag of bananas at Wal-mart for $1! They were beginning to brown so I guess they were trying to get rid of them.

My apology bribe for being a day late? A sneak peak of the healthy Pineapple Right Side Up Cupcakes I will post soon. Did you know last Friday was Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day? Well it was, and I partook. 
What’s on your menu this week? 

Perfectionism & Oatmeal Whoopie Pies

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I have a confession…
I’m not perfect.
I’m just not. I try to be, even though I shouldn’t try to be and in no way can I ever be. I struggle with perfectionism. It’s true. 
I just want to say out loud that I’m not perfect. I also want to say that I’m not always okay with not being perfect, but I’m trying to be.
In case you didn’t know, not every thing I cook comes out so well. It just doesn’t. One time I tried to make a homemade angel food cake and it looked far more like a flat frisbee than a fluffy angel cloud. 
Sometimes I drink coffee in the afternoon and stay up too late (like right now as I write this at 1AM). Sometimes I forget to put an item in my budget and it messes up my money plans. I’m really bad at calling friends. I’m even worse at sending letters. I freak out a little when plans change. I leave shoes on the floor. I lock my keys in my car. I rarely iron my clothes. 
So I just want you to know, even though I probably come across as trying to look like I have it all together with my meal plans, color coded Google calendars, documents, labels and folders, hair accessories and organized cabinets and refrigerator, I don’t. Fact – it’s hard for me to admit that! 
I know you don’t expect me to be perfect. But the beasts called perfectionism and the enemy tell me that you do, society does, the world does, Christians do, and the church does. I need to say that I know you’ll still like me despite being not perfect and not having it all together. 
I know that I’m far more disappointed that I didn’t post my meal plan on Sunday as promised than you are. However, I do promise it’s coming. The meals are planned and tomorrow morning (probably when you will read this) I will make my grocery list and shop. I have no good reason other than lack of motivation for writing for not posting. 
Sometimes motivation is so free flowing. Other times it’s just not. And sometimes it hits at random times in the wee hours of the morning. I’m encouraged. I’m reading a devotion book recommended by a dear friend called It’s a Wonderful (Imperfect) Life. Tonight I read, 
“God isn’t the one who pressures us. He wants us to delight in our life and work – whatever it is at this season. Satisfaction and enjoyment are God’s gift to us.”
Through church and this book God is tugging at my heart. Tugging for me to surrender, to yield, to release, to trust, and to allow him to change things in me. I’m not perfect. It won’t happen overnight. But I’m encouraged and this burst of encouragement again reminded me of the gifts and desires God has given me. Cooking, baking, writing, and blogging to name a few. And thus… inspiration. 🙂 Confessional inspiration? 
Of course, I can’t leave you empty handed. I probably should post an imperfect recipe to go along with this post, but I’m not gonna lie. This recipe is pretty darn great. Can we call it imperfect because it could be healthier? We’ll go with that. 
I really do cook healthy most days. I promise I do. Even when feeding small groups of people or people who I feed all the time, I do make “healthy” desserts and they never complain (like the healthy pineapple upside down cupcakes I’ll post soon). But… every once in a while for a special event (or because I had a bad day or just because), I make a non-altered (or minimally altered) recipe. 
Monday night my apartment hosted a Dips & Dessert night for my current RAs and new RAs for next year. The current girls brought either a dip or a dessert. I made both. The dip was my go to, no biggie. The dessert however, total biggie. As in deal. Not size. They were actually quite small little bite sized pieces of heaven. 
Oatmeal Whoppie Pies
Recipe adapted from Pioneer Woman. 
Ingredients: 
For cookies: 
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softended
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup egg beaters
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 tablespoons boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups quick oats
For filling:
  • Marshmallow cream 
Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream brown sugar, butter, and shortening. Add eggs and egg beaters. Mix. Add salt, cinnamon, and baking powder and mix. Mix baking soda and boiling water. (I’ve never done this before, but the Pioneer Woman said to, so I did. I didn’t notice a difference, but the cookies were good.) Add baking soda and water mixture to the bowl and mix. Add flours and oatmeal and mix well.
Scoop dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets in rounded heaping teaspoons. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, transfer to a cooling rack, and let the cookies cool completely. 

Okay let’s talk about filling. Do as she did and not as I did unless you want to be sticky and get an arm workout! She used pre-made marshmallow cream, which would have been MUCH easier. I had a bag of marshmallows I wanted to use, so I made a marshmallow cream by melting down the marshmallows and corn syrup over a double boiler. One of my coworker friends, Christine, said she liked it better that normal marshmallow cream, which she normally doesn’t like. If you want to do it my way it’s 1 bag of marshmallow to 6 tablespoons of light corn syrup. When I make these again, I’ll probably actually make real homemade marshmallow cream from egg whites. 

If you use the pre-made stuff, just scoop on careful teaspoons full (I always type teaspoon fulls first – without fail). I tried scooping and ended up wearing far more of the filling than the cookies. I messily filled a gallon ziplock with the homemade marshmallow cream and piped a dollop on the cookies. 
Step Almost Done – Sandwich the cookies and the messy stuff. The End – EAT & ENJOY! And probably share. I lost count of how many this made, but over 30. 

Roasted Sesame Cabbage Wedges

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I have to quickly share these, just because they were probably my favorite recipe from last week!

I love cabbage. Love love it in most forms. However, this is probably my new favorite and best way to love cabbage. I found the original recipe and idea on Pinterest. I adapted it to make it a zero point side and to fit with the theme of my meal. It was an Asian(ish) night, so I added sesame and soy to the recipe. I liked it so much I think I’d probably keep the sesame and soy even if it wasn’t an Asian night.

Roasted Sesame Cabbage Wedges
Inspired by Martha Stewart’s roasted cabbage wedges recipe.
Bad after daylight picture, but I had to share this recipe!

Ingredients:

  • 1 head of cabbage
  • olive oil cooking spray
  • Tony Chachere’s Seasoning Salt (or salt & pepper)
  • sesame seeds
  • soy sauce
Directions: 
Preheat oven to 400. Rinse cabbage and slice cabbage into 1 inch thick rounds. I cut of the end and sliced it in half and then sliced each half into rounds. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. 
Season each wedge LIGHTLY on both sides with Tony’s (or salt & pepper). Lightly spray cooking spray over the wedges (just the top, the bottoms will get the cooking spray from the pan). Sprinkle with sesame seeds and roast for 40-45 minutes, or until cabbage is tender and edges are browning. 
When mine came out of the oven, I splashed them with just a tad of soy sauce. I didn’t plug them into the recipe builder, but sometimes when you cook with veggies or fruits it makes them be points. But all the ingredients I used were zero points and under the appropriate serving to be zero points, so I’m calling them zero points for me! 

I served mine with perfect (finally!) brown rice and teriyaki meatballs (I used this meatball recipe, but used teriyaki sauce instead of bbq sauce).

Meal Planning 101: Week 4

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Last week was such a great meal week. This week has it’s work cut out for it to compete! Highlights: breakfast burritos, crock pot ranch ribs (I used a bottle of Light Kraft BBQ sauce instead of making homemade), nutella fudge pops, asparagus brown butter penne, roasted cabbage wedges, and finally perfecting the cooking of brown rice.

Some of my favs from last week – roasted cabbage wedges, crockpot country ribs, asparagus brown butter penne. 
Even if the week isn’t AS good, it will still be a good one. I’m pretty excited about my meals and some of the extras. I am hosting two parties in my apartment this week. I love party food and am super excited about the things I’ll be making for them, particularly the oatmeal whoopie pies! 

Sunday:

Shrimp Boil at friend Brittany’s (I brought the sweet tea.)
Monday:
Dinner Out with Aunt Sandy & Uncle Jeff

Hosting a Dip & Dessert night at 9 o’clock for my current RAs and next year RAs. My offerings will be Chicken Ranch Dip* & Oatmeal Whoopie Pies.

Tuesday:

Crock Pot Caesar Chicken on English Muffins & Caesar Salad (Didn’t get to this one last week because of free meals at other places.)
Wednesday:
Leftovers

Hosting a bridal shower at 8 o’clock for one of my RAs. My offerings will be another batch of Chicken Ranch Dip (it’s just so easy) & Nutella Dip with strawberries. 

Thursday:
Baked Tilapia, Roasted Squash & English Chick Pea Salad*

Friday: 
Leftovers

Saturday: 

Grilled Turkey Burgers on English Muffins & Sweet Potato Beet Hash*
Sunday:
Grocery Day! (Which probably means I’ll grab something quick or eat leftovers.)

I ran out of daylight which means… bad picture! Apologies. 
Notes:
*Chicken Ranch Dip – Also know as chicken ranch cheese ball, just deconstructed. It’s can chicken, cream cheese, and dry ranch mixed together. Super simple and easy, but a crowd pleaser. 
*English Chick Pea Salad – I giggled when I came up with a name for this and pictured Adele, you know, English Chick. It’s a totally made up take on an English pea salad based on me looking in the cabinets, fridge, and freezer and trying to come up with sides I didn’t have to buy stuff for. Chick peas + English peas + onion and some other things. I’ll let you know how it goes. 
*Sweet Potato Beet Hash – Watching the Food Network pays off again! I saw one of the chefs make a version of this, and decided I’d try my own version since I recently discovered I actually do like beets. 
What are you making for dinner this week? 

Nutella Fudge Pops

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I’m not a huge fan of ice cream unless it’s my Papaw’s homemade ice cream. I have, however, always had a soft spot for popsicles. My favorite by far has always been the fudgesicle. It’s such a creamy, sweet Spring/Summer treat. When I saw this super easy and mostly healthy recipe for homemade ones, I knew I had to try it. Thanks Chocolate Covered Katie! 
Nutella Fudge Pops
(recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie – I only used different Nutella)

Ingredients:
  • 3 frozen bananas
  • 1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (I used 1/4 cup creamy & 1/4 cup crunchy of the Kroger brand)
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
Directions: 
I froze my bananas with the peel on. It was a tiny bit hard to peel them, but not impossible if you cut them in half down the middle and then sliced them long ways in half. The peel came off pretty easy that way. Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse, pulse pulse, blend, blend, blend for a long time until all ingredients are combined and smooth.
You can eat it straight out of the food processor as a yummy, creamy ice cream, or you can freeze them for fudgesicles! I used paper mouth wash cups to refreeze mine in. They were quite large servings to me, but I don’t know of any smaller cups to freeze in. 
Yields 5 servings. If you count the bananas in the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder they are 6 points each, if you don’t, they are 4. 

Roasted Asparagus Penne with Balsamic Butter

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I highly, highly recommend this meal! I am a meat eater. I love it. I love meat. However, I do try to incorporate vegetarian meals in my planning every other week. It seems like a healthy and right thing to do. 
A dish must be pretty fantastic and noteworthy for me to not really miss the meat. I can fake it, but usually, I am quite aware it isn’t there. This dish definitely made me forget about meat. 
I lightened it quite a bit by using a whole wheat penne, yogurt butter, olive oil spray, and reduced fat Parmesan. Oh my, it’s good! Asparagus was on sale in my neck of the woods too. You could also do roasted broccoli if you don’t like asparagus or it’s not in season.

Roasted Asparagus Penne with Balsamic Butter

(recipe inspired by a less healthier version found on Pinterest)

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb asparagus
  • olive oil cooking spray (I use Great Value)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp fresh-ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 lb whole wheat penne (I use Great Value)
  • 1/2 cup Brummel & Brown yogurt butter
  • 1/3 cup reduced fat Parmesan cheese
Directions: 
Preheat oven to 400. Wash the asparagus and snap the hard ends off. (Tip: Softly bend the asparagus spears towards the bottom, there will be a natural give against where the good part and the hard end meet and it will easily break off.) Cut the spears into 1-inch pieces and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Spray with olive oil cooking spray about 5 times. Toss in spray and 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 10-15 minutes.

While that cooks, put the vinegar in a small saucepan. Simmer and reduce until 3 tablespoons remain. Stir in the brown sugar and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Remove from heat. At the same time your pasta can be cooking. Cook the penne in a large pot of boiling, salted water until just done, about 11-13 minutes. Drain the pasta and return to pot. 
Toss the pasta with the butter, vinegar mixture, roasted asparagus, Parmesan, and remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons of salt. Top with the chopped green onion tops and additional Parmesan. 
Yields 7 servings of 1 1/4 cup portions. Each serving is 8 points. Serve with salad. I made a quick chopped salad with diced pears, sliced strawberries, romaine, and a light sesame salad dressing.

Meal Prep Monday

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This week had another one of my favorite parts, Monday off! Although, it kind of doesn’t count. Being Easter weekend, everyone here had Monday off. This means I should also get Friday off, don’t you think? 
Well wait… If I have Friday off, I’ll sleep in, and then I will jump right to lunch and skip breakfast. And then… I’ll have to miss out on eating one of these amazing Breakfast Burritos. Okay, I’ll work on Friday. 
This week for Meal Prep Monday Off I made some lovely make ahead Breakfast Burritos. I also cut up a lot of veggies, prepped tomorrow’s crock pot meal, AND made Nutella Fudge Pops. Don’t worry, the recipe is coming tomorrow(ish). 
You should definitely make these burritos. They are only 5 points each on Weight Watchers, so good, so easy, and very filling. (And yes, your calculations are correct. There hasn’t been a morning since I made them, which does mean I had one for a meal snack.)
Breakfast Burritos
My recipe was inspired by Recipe Diaries (another healthy version using turkey sausage, 7-9 points) who was inspired by Pioneer Woman (a not so healthy version that looks amazing if you aren’t counting points).

Makes 8 servings. 5 Points Plus per serving.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups Egg Beaters
  • 3 tbsp of liquid egg whites (or 2 egg whites)
  • 1/4 cup skim milk
  • 20 slices of thinly sliced deli ham (I use Land O’ Frost brand), chopped
  • 4 slices Oscar Mayer Fully Cooked Bacon, chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1 tbsp Brummel & Brown butter
  • 1/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheese (I used fiesta blend)
  • 1 green onion, chopped (optional)
  • 8 Mission Low Carb Tortillas
  • 2 tbsp dried chives
  • Tony Chachere’s Seasoning (or any all purpose seasoning salt)
  • salt & pepper
Directions: 
In a large bowl combine Egg Beaters, egg whites, and milk. Whisk until combined. Add cheese and chives. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir until combined. In a large skillet heat butter over medium heat. Saute onions in butter until they begin to turn translucent. Add chopped ham and bacon. Season to taste with seasoning salt.

When the edged of the ham start to brown, turn the stove down to medium low heat and slowly add in the egg mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, until eggs are cooked and no liquid remains. In the very last few minutes add in the chopped green onion, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and let the egg mixture cool slightly, and then you can begin rolling.

If you’ve rolled burritos before, you know how to do it and can skip this part. If not, I’ll give a few tips. I lay out a piece of wax paper next to the stove so my work surface and burrito stuffing are close. I used a 1/2 cup measuring scoop and added a heaping 1/2 cup of the mixture to each tortilla. 
Add the mixture towards the bottom of the tortilla because it will move a bit when you roll. Fold in the left and right sides. Grab the bottom end of the tortilla and start rolling. Fold it over the mixture and then over again, tucking in the mixture completely. Continue rolling until all of the tortilla is rolled. 
These are easy to freeze and have available any time. I intend to eat one for breakfast every day this week, so I didn’t freeze mine. If you want to freeze them wrap them in tin foil and lay them on a baking sheet in the freezer. After several hours, they can be transferred from the sheet to a ziplock bag (or to roam free in your freezer if you aren’t as OCD about organization as I am). To heat from frozen state, remove from tinfoil and microwave for 2 minutes. 
If you aren’t going to freeze them, plastic wrap will do the trick. I used the tortilla bag to store my plastic wrapped yummy burritos in. To reheat microwave for 45 seconds – 1 minute. Serve with fruit for a 5 point filling breakfast. 
What’s your favorite breakfast food? 

Meal Planning 101: Week 3

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Can I hire a cute boy to make me fresh squeezed orange juice every morning? I’m certain mornings would be much better if I could. 
I didn’t squeeze these oranges for drinkable glass of fresh orange juice sadly. Their destiny was to saturate some angel food cake for a Strawberry Shortcake Trifle that I took to the Easter Celebration # 2. 
I also made an Orange Jello Pretzel Salad. My aunt made it for our family Easter celebration and I loved it so much I had to make it too. I absolutely adore fruity desserts and desserts with a sweet and salty combo. I love this! The crust is salty buttery pretzels, the middle is cream cheese, sugar, and cool whip, and the top is orange jello with crushed pineapple and mandarin oranges. I piped on cute little cool whip dollops. 
It’s a good thing I like it because I have a lot left! Apparently everyone else doesn’t like weird combos as much as me. However, if you do you should try it! I didn’t calculate the points for this because I don’t count on holidays. I did use some low calorie and fat ingredients though. I used reduced fat cream cheese, fat free cool whip, and Splenda sweetened mandarin oranges and crushed pineapple. If I make it again (and not for a potluck), I’d use yogurt butter instead of the real stuff and sugar free jello. I was serving it to mixed company, including one of my dear pregnant friends, and didn’t want to serve anything with artificial sweeteners. 
Now to the real reason for this post! It’s Sunday which means time for me to share my weekly OCD meal plan. The written and planned meal plan has a meal on the agenda for tomorrow, BUT I have so many leftovers I may end up shifting everything over a day. 

I “decorated” with my two favorite Easter candies. 
Monday:
Crock Pot BBQ Ranch Ribs, Skinny Red Potato Salad & Corn on the Cob
Tuesday: 
Leftovers

Wednesday:

Penne with Roasted Asparagus & Balsamic Butter* & Salad
Thursday: 
Leftovers

Friday:

Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs*, Brown Rice* & Roasted Cabbage Wedges
Saturday:

Leftovers

Sunday:

Crock Pot Caesar Chicken on Buns & Caesar Salad
I’ll also be making a batch of Skinny Breakfast Burritos (without the potatoes) to have for easy breakfast for the week and Nutella Fudge Pops (from frozen bananas and Nutella)! 
Notes: 
-I will “skinny” the pasta dish with yogurt butter and whole wheat penne.
-I’m using the meatball recipe as a base, but changing the flavors up a bit by using teriyaki sauce. 
-Ginna at Skinny Taste posted a “perfect” brown rice recipe last week. I’ve never made brown rice I actually liked because of the texture, so let’s keep our fingers crossed for her recipe! 
What are you making for dinner this week? 

Easter Goodness

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This year for Easter my family (due to schedules) decided to have Easter Dinner on Saturday instead of Sunday. Thus, I get to go to two celebrations! My coworkers are getting together tomorrow night and I’ll get to attend since I already spent time with family. Which also means… getting to make more goodies! Today my family did potluck style. I brought Skinny Potato Casserole, Skinny Deviled Eggs, and Coconut Macaroons. Tomorrow is more of an assigned food type thing. I have been asked to bring dessert. I’m bringing more of the Coconut Macaroons, Strawberry Shortcake Trifle, and Orange Pretzel Salad. I am also required to bring Sweet Tea to any event with them. I’ll post those offerings tomorrow. 🙂

Coconut Macaroons
exact recipe from skinnytaste.com
I saw Gina at Skinny Taste post these a couple weeks ago and instantly had to make them. I didn’t even take the time to pin the recipe to make later. I literally went to my kitchen and made them. I love coconut. Today I doubled the recipe to have enough to take to both events. However, the recipe below is for a single batch. I also displayed them a top some pretty green Easter basket grass. The first time I used real egg whites, the second I used liquid. I really couldn’t tell a different and felt less guilty about wasting yolks with the liquid. 
Ingredients: 
  • 10 oz sweetened coconut flakes
  • 3/4 cup egg white (or 5 large egg whites)
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract 
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
Directions: 
Preheat oven to 300. In a saucepan combine the coconut and sugar over medium low heat. Slowly stir in egg whites until combined. Note: DO NOT turn the stove eye higher. DO NOT pour the eggs in first. You will end up with coconut scrambled egg whites. Trust me. I almost did. Stir until completely combined and not soupy. About 7-12 minutes. It will still be sticky and wet. Place pan in the refrigerator on a plate or towel and let cool for 30 minutes. If you double the recipe, it will take longer. I ended up putting mine in the freezer. Spoon packed tablespoons full on a parchment lined baking sheet. You can put the cookies close together because they don’t spread. Bake for about 30 minutes. Bottoms will be golden and look like toasted coconut. The tops will start to brown just slightly. 
They are 3 points on Weight Watchers for 2 cookies. 

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Skinny Cheesy Potato Casserole
recipe from EmilyBites.com
I used her recipe exactly, I just put in extra onion (I love onion). 
Ingredients: 
  • 32 oz bag of frozen cubed potatoes, defrosted
  • 1 medium chopped onion (she said 1/4 cup)
  • 1 cup fat free sour cream
  • 1 can of 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
  • 1 cup 2% sharp shredded cheddar cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup corn flakes, slightly crushed
Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl except corn flakes until well combined. Don’t forget to add salt and pepper. Spread evenly into a lightly sprayed 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with corn flakes and bake for 1 hour.
For 8 servings it’s 5 points per serving. However, at a potluck no one is eating 1/8th of the casserole so it’s probably less. 1/8th is a hearty portion for a side. 
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Skinny Deviled Eggs
recipe from RecipeDiaries.com

I used her recipe exactly, even the egg cooking method! The only thing I did differently was double the recipe and use 1/2 green onions and 1/2 chives. The recipe below is for a single batch. 
Ingredients: 
  • 12 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled
  • 1/3 cup fat free cottage cheese
  • 1/4 cup low-fat mayo
  • 3 tbsp chopped green onion tops or fresh chives (or 2 tbsp dried chives)
  • 1 tbsp sweet pickle relish
  • 2 tsp yellow mustard
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • paprika, for garnish
Directions: 

Okay. I know this may sound crazy. It did to me at first too, but when I realized it was Alton Brown’s method for hard-cooked eggs, I decided to give it a try. These “boiled” eggs weren’t boiled at all! I preheated the oven to 325,  sat the eggs straight on the oven rack, and baked them for 30 minutes. Put a sheet pan under it just in case one cracks. One of mine did indeed crack, but I let it cook anyway. I was so excited to break it open and see that it actually worked!

The little guy who didn’t quite make it. 



Immerse the eggs in an ice bath and let them cool down for about 30 minutes. If you want to do the tried and true boiling way, you can too! But these made the creamiest yolks, perfect for deviled eggs. Once your hard cooked eggs of choice are cooked and peeled, cut them in half and discard the yolks of 4 of the eggs. Add the remaining 8 egg yolks (16 halves) in a food processor. Add all other ingredients except egg white halves. Process until smooth and creamy. Spoon mixture into a ziplock bag. Arrange egg white halves on a plate in a pretty fashion. Cut the tip off the ziplock bag and pipe the mixture into each half. Sprinkle with paprika for garnish. 


They are 1 point on Weight Watchers per egg half. These were so good! Everyone in my family loved them, no one could tell they were lighter at all, and no one could guess the secret ingredient (cottage cheese) either! 


Enjoy your Easter celebrations. The meaning of this holiday truly is one of my favorites and the greatest. He is risen and we are forgiven. What are you cooking for your celebrations? 



My Perfect Iced Coffee [& Monkey Bread]

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We established during our BLT discussion that my brain and taste buds have their own strange set of odd rules (no soup and grilled cheese unless it’s cold outside, BLTs and melons are only for Spring and Summer, etc.). I discovered two new ones. Apparently I don’t feel like crafting unless it’s Fall/Winter. I’ve totally failed at keeping DIY Club going this Spring. I also made up a rule somewhere along the way that I’m not allowed to wear red on Easter Sunday.

I have this really cute wrap dress I’d like to wear as my Easter dress this year, but I’ve been having this internal battle that I can’t wear it because it’s in the red family. It’s one of the Spring pop colors apparently, the tomato tangerine red orange color, and I love it! Where the heck did I get this concept from?! I have a feeling it’s somehow to be blamed on my Southern roots and upbringing. Maybe I just associated the numerous pastel Easter dresses I had growing up with being the opposite of red.  Who knows. Regardless, I’m forcing my brain to get over it and wearing the dress. I might even try to make a soup between now and September.

However, there is one weird quirk I’m not willing to let go of and fully embrace. I can’t drink hot beverages from mid February to mid September (which is pretty much the Mississippi version of Summer). However, I love and must have coffee! Financially, I can not rely on my Starbucks Batista to provide my coffee for me every day. I’ve experimented with making my own iced coffee for several years. A fellow food blogging friend led me to a great way to make coffee concentrate for iced coffee last year. I liked that a lot, but it does take some effort and time. I also experimented with low cal frappes using instant coffee last summer. But I finally concocted the perfect (for me) iced coffee.

It uses Starbucks Via Iced Coffee packets. Depending on where you get them, they can be on the pricey side. They are more expensive at Starbucks, but you can get them at Kroger and Walmart as well. I happened upon them at Sam’s for a really great deal! Normally one box of five packets is close to $5. Last summer at Sam’s they sold them in two box packs (10 packets) for $2.81! I loaded up! I’m still using my stash from last summer. Unfortunately they aren’t selling them at Sam’s right now (I called), but sometimes things are seasonal there so I’m hoping they will bring them back for the summer. I like using these because they dissolve in cold water. Regular instant coffee has to be dissolved in hot water first.

Easy Iced Coffee

  • Servings: 5
  • Difficulty: EASY
  • Print

I was inspired by Pioneer Woman‘s Perfect Iced Coffee Recipe. However, I wanted a easier and more Weight Watchers friendly version. It’s 3 points for a good sized (16 oz) serving! (Which is less than any flavored specialty beverage that my favorite barista can make.) 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 packs of instant Starbucks Via Iced Coffee
  • 2 cups of skim milk (I use Great Value organic because it has a longer shelf life)
  • 4 cups of cold water
  • 1/4 cup of Bailey’s Fat Free French Vanilla Coffee Creamer (or any of your favorite liquid coffee creamers)
  • 3 tbsp fat free sweet condensed milk (I use Great Value)

DIRECTIONS:

I use my cute little 2 quart jug from Target. You could use any container you have. Pour the Via packets in your container of choice. Add creamer and 1 cup of milk. Shake shake shake. Shake until the Via dissolves or almost is completely dissolved. Add remaining milk. Add water one cup at a time. Via is strong just like Starbucks brewed coffee. I’m not a fan of uber strong coffee. So this combination is perfect for me. Each packet calls for 16 oz of liquid. I double that amount and it’s a perfect strength and taste for me. Tastes similar to the strength of McDonald’s iced coffee or has a similar strength of a Starbucks frappuccino vs. the brew. Once you get all the liquid in, you may be able to shake it a little, but I advise stirring.

And then… I made something unhealthy(ish), but I highly recommend that you make this one a day when you are having a cheat day. The pictures are awful! It was dark, daylight pictures are better. Some day soon (very soon) I’ll be making these again, making them healthier, calculating the points, and taking better pictures. I lightened up the original recipe a little, but one of my RAs assisted me and brought out the real butter. I used fat free sweet condensed milk instead of regular. There’s no turning back when that happens. I made biscuit dough from Heart Healthy Bisquick instead of using regular canned biscuits. Next time I’ll also use Brummel and Brown yogurt butter.

Monkey Bread Muffins

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: easy
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Inspired by Pioneer Woman’s recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 cups Heart Healthy Bisquick
  • 1 cup of skim milk
  • butter (can substitute yogurt butter)
  • cinnamon
  • sugar
  • fat free sweet condensed milk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375. Mix Bisquick and milk until combined. Place dough on a floured surface and knead, folding over and over about 10 times. Spray your muffin tin. Add a little pad of butter, about 1/2 tsp, in each muffin cup. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top of each. Pull walnut sized balls of dough off and roll in the palms of your hands. Place three dough balls in each muffin cup. Add another little pad of butter, about 1/2 tsp, on top of each. Sprinkle each with cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately drizzle LOTS of condensed milk on top. Let soak in for 1 minute. Spoon out and enjoy!