Broccoli-Stuffed Chicken

INGREDIENTS
2 chicken breast halves, butterflied
1 egg
2 tsp water
3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 cup broccoli floret, cooked, chopped small
2 slices cheese
salt
spray oil
toothpicks

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a small bowl, combine egg, water and a little salt. Beat with a fork to make an egg wash. Set aside. Fill a second bowl with breadcrumbs.

2. Place a slice of cheese in the center of the chicken and top with a little broccoli. Wrap chicken around to completely cover cheese, using toothpicks to secure. Season with a little salt.

2. Dip chicken into egg wash, then breadcrumbs. Spray cookie sheet with oil and place chicken on cookie sheet. Lightly spray chicken with oil and bake about 25 minutes, until cooked.

Hails from Gina's Weight Watcher recipes

Baked Ziti w/ Italian Sausage

I made this several years ago and just thought about making it again. It's easy and very good. Not exactly low-calorie, but hey- you gotta live sometime right?

This recipe is modified from Allrecipes.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
1 diced onion
1 diced red bell pepper
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, one drained, and one with liquid
3 (3 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound dry ziti pasta
Handful of fresh mushrooms, coursely chopped
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. In a skillet over medium heat, cook sausage with bell pepper and onion until sausage is evenly browned, about 5 to 10 minutes. Drain excess grease. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic powder, salt, and oregano. Simmer while preparing pasta.

3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a 3 quart baking dish, layer ziti and sauce mixture.

5. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove and sprinkle top with cheeses. Return to the oven for five minutes.

French Dip Sandwiches

So I've been trying to find good crockpot recipes to break in our slow cooker. I told the hubs that I had found a french dip recipe using chuck roast. (He orders a French dip sandwich every time there's one on the menu!) He said why not just use deli roast beef. Who was I to complain about him making my job 100x easier???

This was so easy, quick, and very tasty. It's a good after-work meal.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 pkg deli-sliced roast beef
2 bolillo bread rolls (or any other deli bread roll)
1 can French onion soup
1 can beef broth
2 slices provolone cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Stir together broth and soup in a small pot. Heat over medium heat until piping hot.

2. Halve the bread rolls. Using tongs, dip the roast beef into the soup mixture, then place on bread. Top w/ provolone.

3. Put the sandwiches, open face, into a toaster oven and toast until the cheese is nice and melty

Crockpot Mu Shu Chicken

The husband LOVES mu shu chicken. This was really tasty. We haven't found the perfect bottled hoisin sauce yet, but the chicken this recipe makes was outrageously tender and juicy. The recipe is from a Better Homes and Gardens slow cooker cookbook called Better Than Mom's.

INGREDIENTS
3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, skinned
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
8 taco-sized flour tortillas
1/2 cup bottled hoisin sauce
2 cups prepackaged cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage & carrot)

DIRECTIONS
1. Put chicken in a 3.5-4 quart slow cooker and season w/ salt and pepper. In a small bowl, mix water, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Pour over chicken.

2. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 3-3.5 hours

3. Remove chicken w/ a slotted spoon. Skin and debone. Shred chicken meat with two forks and return to the cooker. Heat on low until heated through.

4. Serve by spreading tortillas w/ 1 tbs hoisin sauce. Top w/ chicken and cole slaw mix. Roll up and enjoy!

Shrimp Creole

In honor of my Cajun heritage, I dug up a shrimp creole recipe. It was delicious. The hubs doesn't like tomatoes, but he loved this dish. You can tweak the spices to your liking. This is Louisiana Shrimp Creole II from Allrecipes.

I added quite a bit of cayenne and Cajun seasoning.

INGRENDIENTS
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1 pound medium shrimp - peeled and deveined

DIRECTIONS
1. In a 2 quart saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Add onion, green pepper, celery, and garlic; cook until tender.

2. Mix in cornstarch. Stir in stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, and red pepper sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Stir in shrimp, and cook for 5 minutes.

Lemon Garlic Tilapia

This was a tasty, light meal, scaled down from Allrecipes.

INGREDIENTS
2 tilapia fillets
3 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tbs butter, melted
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease a glass baking dish.

2. In a small bowl, mix together lemon juice, butter and garlic. Place tilapia fillets in baking dish and drizzle with lemon juice mixture. Sprinkle with spices. Bake 30 minutes.

Chicken Parmesan

Chicken parm is one of our favorite om-noms. This recipe hails from my beloved Allrecipes.com.

On my last trip to the grocery store, I found some Italian bread crumbs that were SERIOUSLY good. If they're available where you are, check out Vigo brand.

INGREDIENTS
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to uniform thickness
2 eggs, beaten
Heap of Italian bread crumbs
Jar of pasta sauce
Shredded parmesan cheese
2 slices of mozzarella

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Bread chicken by dipping in egg, then breadcrumbs. Make a trip around a skillet with olive oil. Heat oil over medium high until shimmering. Add chicken and cook until mostly done, about 3 minutes per side.
3. Place chicken in a glass baking dish. Cover with as much (or as little!) pasta sauce as you wish. Pop it in the oven for 20 minutes. Take it out, then top with parmesan and mozzarella. Pop it back in for another 5 minutes.

The Perfect Boiled Egg/Egg Salad

For the perfect boiled egg, stick your egg in a pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Then just cover the pot, turn off the heat, and let it sit for 12 minutes. It's good eatin' there.

For a quick lunch, I like to boil up 3 eggs, discard two of the yolks, chop them up finely, then add a little mayo, mustard, seasoned salt, and dill. Then I make a sandwich out of it.

Poached Chicken

This is a good recipe when you have a recipe that calls for cooked chicken and you need it quickly. I've made the mistake many times before of boiling the hell out of chicken just because a recipe calls for it. That just leads to a tough, stringy mess. Here's my new method.

First, you need either 2 cubes of chicken bouillon or a can of chicken broth. Put either in a pot big enough to hold your chicken. Add your boneless, skinless chicken and add water until the chicken is just covered. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer. Check the temperature after 12 minues. (Seriously, I have boiled chicken for 45 minutes before and decided to check the temp after 15 yesterday and it was already at 190.)

The chicken was tender and juicy- great for chicken salad sandwiches!

Cheesy Poofs! I mean sauce!

What good's steamed broccoli without a heapin' helpin' of ooey gooey melty cheese?! This is based on the Cheese Sauce and Cauliflower recipe on Allrecipes. In my typical fashion, I've altered the recipe to pare down on calories.

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Seasoned salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Melt butter over medium-high heat. Add flour and quickly mix.
2. Add milk a little at a time. Bring to boiling.
3. Reduce heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Season to taste.

Steamed Broccoli

I don't know why I've never given steaming a shot before. Whilst perusing the wares at our local Big Lots, I found a steamer basket. Now, I'm not going to admit to you whether I bought the thing because I was interested in steaming vegetables or because I was enchanted with the nifty way the thing folds out. *Averts eyes* Whatever the reason, I'll tell you- the thing cooks some DAMN good broccoli.

INGREDIENTS
Bunch of broccoli, cut into florets
1 tbsp sugar
1 inch of water in a pot

DIRECTIONS
1. Expand nifty thingamajigger. Fill with broccoli. Put inside pot w/ water. Bring water to boiling. Cover. Steam broccoli 6-8 minutes.

Baked Bananas with Honey-Brown Sugar Glaze

These baked bananas are amazing!  They taste so rich and indulgent, and you aren't left with a week's worth of calorie-dense dessert laying around.  (I know how dangerous that can be!)

An Ommy Noms Original

INGREDIENTS

2 bananas, each cut into 4 sections
2 tbs butter, melted
2 tsp honey
Splash of lemon juice
Brown sugar to top

DIRECTIONS.

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine butter, honey, and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Add banana sections and stir to coat. Place banana pieces in a glass baking dish.  Drizzle with remaining glaze.  Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Bake for 12 minutes. Serve with whipped cream.

Homeade 'Niller Ice Cream

Aka frozen sunshine.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups half-and-half
1 14-oz can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
2 tbs vanilla

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix well. Refrigerate 1-2 hours. 2. Freeze in an ice cream freezer according to manufacturer directions.

Crab Rangoon Cups

I love food. I love Asian food. And I l-o-v-e crab rangoons.

But there's something about deep-fried, cream-cheese-filled numminess that tells me it's probably not the greatest thing for my thighs. Hence, here is a tried-and-true recipe for non-fried, cream-cheese-filled numminess!

Inspired by Food.com

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg wonton wrappers
1 8 oz pkg light cream cheese (See? It's practically diet food!)
1 can crabmeat, DRAINED
2 bunches green onions, thinly sliced
Seasoned salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix cream cheese, crabmeat, green onions, and seasonings (to taste) in a small bowl.

3. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Put wonton wrappers in muffin depressions so that they form a little cup.

4. Place a heaping spoonful of crab mixture into each cup. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Edges of the cups should be light brown in color.

(5. Say "you're welcome" to your thighs, which should be thanking you by now.)

White Trash Din-Din

Before we get started, let me just throw this out there- you may NOT pass judgement on me based on what follows. This was (is?) one of my favorite things to chow down on when I was but a wee lass. Now, I haven't yet worked up the cojones to try it out on my husband yet, but it is GOOOOOD.

INGREDIENTS

Hot dog weiners, sliced into 1/4 inch sections
Macaroni
Diced onion
Spaghetti sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. You haven't judged me yet, right?

2. Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain, and set aside. Sautee onion in a smidge of oil until starting to lose crunchiness. Add hot dog pieces. Stir around until onion is done.

3. Pour in spaghetti sauce and continue to stir until sauce is hot. Combine all ingredients.