Monday ~ On my menu

I have a couple of new recipes again this week that I am super excited about. The first one I made last night (Tuna Noodle Casserole) seemed like it was never gonna happen in my house. To be honest, I am “wingin it” today because I left my meal plan at home and I can’t remember what I had down for the whole week and I really was suppose to cook meat loaf yesterday but time was not on my side so I opted for the Tuna casserole and I’m really glad I did!
This is what I plan for the rest of the week.
Sunday ~ Tuna Noodle Casserole ~ 5pts
Monday ~ Quesadillas ~ 5pts
Tuesday ~ Chicken Cordon Blue with Baked Asparagus w/ Balsamic butter sauce ~ 2pts
Wednesday ~ Jerk Chicken Pasta ~ 5pts
Thursday ~ Beef Fajita Nachos ( I didn’t make this last week so we will try this week) ~ Points unknown :)
Friday ~ Pizza Night ~ 4pts for thin cheese slice
Saturday ~ Baked Steelhead Fish with veggies (Hubby’s addition and if you need a good fish, this one is great!) ~ hoping 0pts but unsure on veggie
I have pictures of the Tuna Noodle Casserole experience and my shopping trip that I will post tomorrow.
Have a great week y’all!

~ Sour Cream Enchiladas ~ Vegetarian?

One of my new recipes to try this week was Sour Cream Enchiladas. I have to be completely honest and say that I went back and forth all day about whether I should make these or  not. I just wasn’t sure about making something witthout meat. I just couldn’t grasp the concept of not having anything to chew lol.
I tried it.
My brain was confused with every bite! Er, where’s the beef?
My son gave it a 1 on a scale of 1-10 but yet he scrapped the plate clean?!?
Hubby and I gave it a 7 saying that with a little meat in the mix it would be around a 9. So not half bad but I won’t be rushing to add it to the weekly menu any time soon.
If you use it as a dip though, the inside was a-a-amazing!
Here is what you start with:
**The pictures were taken with my hubby’s Android phone and I thought they would turn out better and they did but not after you email them to yourself so sorry for the bad focus :( ~ I guess that means I just need to buy my own new Android phone or what about a new fancy camera, huh? Anyway here we go:
This is the ingredients: Green onions, FF sour cream, Corn tortillas, RF sharp cheddar cheese, enchilada sauce, Cumin and Cyanne pepper

After chopping the onions and mixing it with the cheese, sour cream and seasonings ~ this is your stuffing

What? That’s not appealing to you?
After you soft fry your tortillas and douse them in enchilada sauce you stuff them and layer them with cheese!

When they came out of the oven, they were bubbly and ready to eat. I served them with Mexican rice and FF refried beans.

If you are thinking of trying this recipe click here. It came from Pioneer Woman’s website, I just substituted with FF sour cream and reduced fat cheddar cheese.

~Wednesday Blog Hop Day~

Woohoo its that time of the week again! Blog Hopping Wednesday. If you are here for the first time, thank you for stopping by. If you are a regular, I hope you are enjoying the recipes :-)!!
If you would like to join in on the blog hopping or just want to learn what it is, click on the picture and it will take you straight there!
Have a great day all!

Bow Tie Lasagna

Sunday night I made a new recipe for dinner and it was brilliant! I love lasagna but I don’t love the mess or the fat so I generally skip having something that is titled lasagna! This was the easiest pasta recipe and I made it “healthy style” so it was really low in points. It was only 5pts for the lasagna and a small side salad with a vegetable.
For the sauce you could use any flavor pasta sauce, spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce. Since Publix had Bertolli sauces BOGO, I chose a Fire Roasted Tomato pasta sauce and man was it flavorful.

I did use regular bow tie pasta, which was also on sale BOGO and because well, I just don’t like wheat pasta and really if I’m gonna eat pasta I’d rather have the regular stuff.

I probably could have added some shredded cheese to the top or maybe some parmesan but I think it turned out good just the way it was.
To Make this You will need:
1lb Lean ground beef
5 cups of bow tie noodles
3 cups pasta sauce ( I used a fire roasted sauce, mmm)
1 TBS Olive oil
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Italian Seasonings (or add more to your liking)
1/2 cup Fat Free Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup Fat Free Sour Cream
Directions:
1. Brown the ground beef.
2. Add seasonings and pasta sauce and let simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Boil pasta according to directions.
4. When pasta is finished drain and toss in olive oil. Mix in the pasta and meat sauce.
5. Add your cheese and sour cream and fold over and stir until all is melted and combined.
Serve with Salad and a vegetable. Enjoy!
For the original version of this recipe click here.

My attempt at No Bake Cheesecake

Well this was interesting for sure. After my son bothered me nonstop to make a dessert, he was no where to be found when it came time to make this. Instead I attempted it all on my own. Now, by no means do I claim to be a good dessert maker, because well, I’m not.
So continue at your own risk.
I will say that it did taste very very good and that part I was truly pleased about. Whoever said food has to look good to taste good, right?
Ok, so here are the ingredients you start with.

After you combine and whip the above ingredients
and let it chill for about 2 hours,
this is what it really turns out to look like.

Of course, I couldn’t wait the two hours for it to chill
and I probably should have turned the picture around
so you couldn’t see the evidence
but I never claimed to be an excellent photographer either lol.

Maybe I will put these things on my list of “learn how to”
and maybe one day I will get around to learning how to do a lot of things
but until then I’ll have my piece of non-photogenic pie!
To get the recipe for your try at this pie, click here.
Have a great day y’all

Monday ~ on my menu

I am excited about this week’s menu. I have a few new recipes that I am trying and so far and I am 1 for 1! As you will see, I made the Bow tie Lasagna for dinner last night and it was so yummy and the guys loved it. I also made the No Bake cheese cake and ooo my gawash, it tastes just like cheese cake without the fat or the thick cheesecake texture. I will post pictures of both of these tonight. In the meantime, this what I plan on having the rest of the week:
Sunday ~ Bow tie Lasagna with salad ~ 5pts (for 1 cup cooked pasta, everything else was FREE)
Monday ~ Shrimp Fajitas ~ 2pts (for 2 flour tortillas)
Tuesday ~ Chicken wraps ~ 3pts (for the larger size tortilla and cheese)
Wednesday ~ Sour cream burritos ~ 4pts (I’m guessing because I don’t know how much cheese I will eat and I will use ff sour cream)
Thursday ~ Tuna casserole (I still haven’t made this yet)
Friday ~ Pizza night ~ 4pts for thin crust cheese slice
Saturday ~ Fajita Nachos (and I’m not sure if this is it yet so stay tuned)
Have a great week everyone!
It will be so nice here in Florida this week.
I wish you all could enjoy it because I know I sure will :0)!

$111 saved in less than 30 minutes!

I did my weekend shopping at Publix and got quite a bit. I have been under the weather this weekend so I’m trying to maximize all of my time so that I can try to get back to normal before I go back to work. So because of this I wanted to get in and out of Publix as fast as I could. I waited until later in the evening to go. This way I didn’t have to fight with the crowds, even though my Publix really is never really crowded.
Here is a snapshot of my total purchase:

It includes:
Water and drinks
Milk, eggs and cheese
Pasta and sauce
Soups and broth
Vegetables and beans
Clorox wipes, dove soap, paper towels and more!
In all I spent $19 and saved a whopping $111!
If you are interested in learning how to do this email me or head on over to http://www.centralfloridacouponers.com/!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

These guys were so yummy this time. Now, I did add the beans this time and unfortunately I was the only one at my table that liked them but man it added so much more to them.
To get the recipe click here.
We still plan on making the cheese cake today after church so I will post about that experience either today or tomorrow.
Have a wonderful day y’all!

Cheesecake without the guilt

My son drives me bazonkers on a daily basis to make desserts!
Doesn’t he realize those are damaging to my thighs
probably not because he has no thighs
nor does he need to worry about his thighs
and it would be a bit strange if he worried about mine!?@!
So I gave in and decided that I would give a dessert recipe a whirl from Skinny Taste. It’s a no bake cheese cake.
I haven’t made it yet but it seems easy enough and its no bake so how could that go wrong, right?!
I plan on letting him make it this weekend so I will post pictures as soon as we have it done. Until then here is the recipe and it seems fairly simple.
This picture is from Skinny Taste and Gina makes it look oh so heavenly! I hope mine turns our this pretty!

No-Bake Cheesecake

• 8 oz Cool Whip Free
• 8 oz 1/3 less fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 9 inch reduced fat Graham Cracker Crust
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice

In a large bowl, whip cream cheese, lemon and sugar for a few minutes until fluffy. Add Cool Whip and whip until smooth. Spoon mixture into pie crust and chill for a few hours, until firm.

Wonderful Wednesday ~ Blog hop day

Welcome to Wednesday Blog Hop Day! If you are here for the first time, thanks for stopping by and joining. If you are a regular, Thank You!
If you are interested in joining the blog hop click here or on the picture above.
Have a wonderful day!

Slow cooker “Baked” Potatoes??

YES! This is a miracle in aluminum foil! The easiest mindless way to make perfect baked potatoes every time!
Seriously this is all you do:
Wash off 3-4 Baking potatoes.
Dry them good.
Prick them with a fork and wrap them in aluminum foil.
Cook them for 8 hours on low. Man oh man they are perfecto!
Last night we had a very relaxing Valentine’s Day dinner. We grilled steaks and a few shrimp skewers, “baked” potatoes, salad and cute valentine cookies. 
My lovely valentine and I celebrated the special day last Friday with a night out to Kobe’s Japanese Steak House. If you’ve never been, well what are you waiting for? If you have one in your area you should try it out. Its fun and entertaining with great great food.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s day y’all! Make sure to tell the ones you love that you love them! Not just today but everyday. Oh and by the way, I LOVE Y’ALL ;0) for reading my blog day after day after day!!!

Menu Mondays

If you read my post yesterday you saw that I was a bit undecided about dinner. Well we had the grilled stuffed burgers and they were oh so good. So here is what I plan for the rest of the week.
Sunday – Grilled Stuffed burgers with chips – 6pts when you eat baked chips
Monday – Grilled steaks and crock pot baked potatoes (Valentine day dinner, mmm) – 0pts when you “load” your potato with ff cheese, ff sour  cream and ff butter
Tuesday – Creamy chicken enchiladas – 3 pts (flour tortillas and low fat cheese)
Wednesday – 16 minute beef and bean burritos – 3pts (2 flour tortillas and low fat cheese)
Thursday – Chicken, rice, and black bean tacos with cilantro lime rice – 4pts (2 corn tortillas and 1/2 cup of rice)
Friday – Pizza Night – 4pts for one thin, crispy cheese slice
Saturday – Balsamic chicken with roasted vegetables - 0pts
Have a great week everyone!

The round table

Today on our way home from church, I took a poll to decide what to do for dinner. Yes, I have a weekly menu but ~ I have an extra teenager this weekend and I have overextended my time on other things so I had to break from the norm. Plus I couldn’t remember what was on the menu for tonight lol! So here were the votes:

2 votes Ribs
3 votes Grilled stuffed Burgers
1 vote Lasagna
3 votes Fish
And the winner is……….undecided!
I’m really leaning more towards the grilled stuffed burgers but that would involve me getting in my car now that I’m home and making a trip to the store for the meat. It may end up being grilled ribs just because I have some in the freezer (BOG2 free at Publix :0)! and that also means my hubby will do most of the cooking!

Another amazing slow cooker recipe ~ Savory Herb Chicken ~

 
Yesterday before I left for work, I started dinner in my slow cooker. Savory Herb Chicken is about the easiest meal in a slow cooker (well, really they are all easy). All you do is throw in the chicken, cut up red bell peppers, 1 chopped onion, 1/2 cup of water and 2 packets of Savory Herb Lipton soup mix. Set the slow cooker for 8 hours on low and voile! When you get home the chicken is done and the house smells delightful!

I also cooked onion roasted potatoes with it, making this a complete meal worth 0 points when you use olive oil and boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts!

A fabulous recipe for nights when you don’t feel like standing over the stove or waiting on the oven for hours.
Click here for the chicken recipe and click here for the potato recipe.

Wednesday~Blog hopping day

Welcome to Blog Hop Wednesday. Honestly I almost forgot today was blog hop day. My morning was thrown off by a sick kiddo who is now doing much better and I was late coming to work. My whole day is off!
Anyway, if you are here for the first time, thank you for stopping by and if you are coming back for seconds, Thank you very much!
If you want to join in on the blog hopping, click on the picture above or click here.
Have an awesome HUMP DAY!!

Easy as pie Cheese Ball

I don’t know where this recipe originated from but I borrowed it from an old coworker. She used to make 2 for every event, 1 for me and 1 for everyone else (I was special :0)! It soon became my staple thing to bring to any event I went to. Everyone raved about this cheese ball and it is so quick and easy.

As uncrafty as I am, I decided for some strange reason that I should shape these things in odd shapes and that became the normal thing too! Here is just a few portraits of the displays.

~For a Baby Shower~

~For a Christmas Party~

~For Game Day~

It became so popular that my friend made her own for a Christmas Party

The next time you are having a party try this recipe!

To make your own you will need:

2 – 4oz blocks of low fat cream cheese

1 – jar of dried beef

1- bunch of Green onions chopped

2 TBS of Milk (I use 1%)

1/2 tsp of dill weed

Directions:

Have the cream cheese at room temperature so it can be mixed with the other ingredients. 

Put everything in a bowl and mix it all together. 

Form into the size balls or shape that  you want and refrigerate.

Serve with crackers.

Slow cooker chili

I know the Superbowl is over but more than half of the country is snowed in and looks like its not even close to being over. Well, living in Florida really doesn’t give me a lot of opportunities to make a big pot of chili for cold nights but I did make some Sunday. I know there are tons of recipes out there for chili but when I tell you this is the easiest, most flavorful chili recipe you better believe it. It has a slight kick in the hmm hmm but its not to overbearing. I cooked it in my slow cooker Sunday and when I came home from church it was ready to devour.
To keep this a 0 points meal, skip the crackers and chips. Just add fat free sour cream, fat free cheese (I opt for full fat cheese though) and maybe some red onions.
Ingredients:
1lb lean ground beef
1 can mild chili beans (or pinto or kidney beans depending on your preference. I like chili beans because it gives it a little something extra)
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
1/2 bell pepper – chopped
1 small onion – diced
1tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Black pepper (to taste)
Salt (to taste)
Directions:
1. Brown ground beef
2. Put all remaining ingredients into slow cooker and add ground beef.
3. Stir it all together and simmer 3-4 hours on low.
Enjoy with crackers, chips, sour cream, and cheese. Or just by itself is good too!

Super Savings ~ Spent $24 saved $123!

I had another large shopping trip to do at Publix this weekend. They had some great bogo deals on things I needed to stock up on.

Things on my list included:

Drinks ~ bogo

Fat free sour cream ~ bogo

Olive oil ~ bogo

Rotel – bogo

crackers ~ bogo

Fat free mayo ~ bogo

Hot dogs (for the boys) ~ bogo

Lots of produce on sale

Cookies ~ bogo (yes cookies because a girl has to have something to look forward to on a Friday night!)

And many more things…..

Head on over to Central Florida Couponers if you are interested in learning more about saving money on groceries!

Monday ~ Meal Day

This week will be a lot less hectic than last week so  I plan on trying another new recipe with some old favorites.
Sunday – Super bowl Sunday woohoo (hope your team won. I am a college football fan (GO HOGS!), so I just enjoyed the festivities of the night!) Homemade Chili, Buffalo chicken dip, wings, Quesadillas, black bean salsa, guacamole, sandwiches and the list goes on and on. (Sorry no points counted this night, :-), it was a freebie!)
Monday – Taco night ~ 3pts (After my slow cooker being on overdrive this weekend, I needed something quick and easy to come home to!)
Tuesday – Savory Herb chicken and roasted potatoes ~ Use boneless skinless chicken thighs and it is  0pts!
Wednesday – Tuna Casserole ~ 7pts (new one for the week and I’m guessing 7pts)
Thursday – Leftovers
Friday – Pizza Night! ~ 4pts for one thin, crispy cheese slice
Saturday – Grilled Stuffed burgers and oven fries ~ 5pts

A lot of the recipes for Superbowl Sunday as well as the tuna casserole came from skinnytaste. The others are from my brain, lol, or other places. Click on the links to try them yourself!

Chicken sabroso with asparagus

Last night I made pollo sabroso with asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. The chicken I’ve had many times before and it is delicious every time I make it so there was no surprised there. I was surprised by the asparagus recipe. I’ve never really cooked asparagus before so I was a little nervous but wow did it turn out good.

I am borrowing this picture from the actual post because well, a. I just didn’t have time to download my pictures last night (sn – I need a camera with automatic downloadable features! do they even make those??) and b. my picture will by no means do this recipe justice. I had to search high and low for the recipe on the internet though because I’d forgotten where I found it but eventually it came to me.
Click here or on the picture if you would like to try this recipe out for yourself.  I will tell you that because I was baking already in the oven that I decided to let mine simmer on the stove instead and big surprise to me, that is the only adjustment I had to make!

Blog Hop Day!

Today is one of my favorite days! If you are new to my blog, welcome. If you are coming back again and again, thank you for sticking with me :-)!
If you want to join in on the fun of a blog hop or you’ve never participated, its a great way to gain new followers and find really cool blogs! Click on the picture above to join and and I’ll see you there!
Have an awesome day!

Shrimp Fajitas~~Shrimp Fajitas!

Tonight for dinner, my menu said I was suppose to make shrimp fajitas. To be honest, I was a little nervous about making and eating them. I was so wrong! They were almost disturbingly good. I have to say that I was completely surprised by the hidden flavor of shrimp fajitas.

If you are looking for a good recipe for dinner this week, try it out. A meal for only 2 points when you eat two of them! Click here to get the recipe.