Joel's parents will be here sometime today (not sure what time) and staying through Sunday. I have an all day scrapbooking crop to go to tomorrow so I'm cooking dinner tonight, but they are on their own tomorrow. I figured Joel will probably take them out for dinner. Tonight we are having:
Butter Roasted Chicken
3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 c chicken broth
1/3 c lemon juice
4 t butter
4 t paprika
1 1/2 t salt
4 t brown sugar
2/3 t pepper
2/3 t dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t cayenne pepper
Place chicken in un-greased 9x13 baking dish. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan; bring to boil. Remove from heat and pour over chicken. Cover and bake at 325 for 1-1/4 hours, basting occasionally. The ENTIRE dish equals 42 PointsPlus so just divide it by how much you eat. I usually eat one small-ish breast and it is 4 PointsPlus.
Favorite Corn Bake
1 c all-purpose flour
1 c cornmeal
3 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 egg
1 c reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c butter, melted
15 oz can whole kernel corn, undrained
15 oz can cream-style corn
In a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, sour cream, applesauce and butter. Stir in corn. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Transfer to 9x13 baking dish coated with Pam.
Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
Yield: 12 servings at 6 PointsPlus each. Yes, kinda high for a side dish, but definitely worth it!
Note: When I bought the corn for this last week, the whole kernel corn was in a 15 1/4 oz can and the cream-style corn was in a 14 3/4 oz can. Not sure why the change, but wanted to point out that you might not be able to find the exact size cans listed.
Broccoli & Cheese Casserole
1 can reduced-fat Cream of Celery Soup
1/2 c skim milk
2 t yellow mustard
16 oz frozen broccoli, thawed
1 c shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
1/3 c dry breadcrumbs
2 t butter, melted
Stir soup, milk, mustard, broccoli and cheese in 9x13 casserole dish sprayed with Pam.
Mix breadcrumbs with butter in bowl and sprinkle over broccoli mixture.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Yield: 6 servings at 3 PointsPlus.
Note: I found this recipe in a magazine. It had all "full fat" ingredients AND it used Cream of Mushroom soup. My kids don't like mushrooms so I changed that to Cream of Celery and I changed the soup, milk and cheese to reduced/non-fat versions.
I also wanted to point out that since I only have one oven, I am baking these all at the same time using 350 as the setting. Since the Corn Bake recipe involves "baking" and needing to "rise", I didn't want to change it's temperature. The chicken will do fine with just a 25 degree change, but I'll have to watch for the time and check the temp of the chicken before taking it out.
Another thing I wanted to mention is my "cookbook". I subscribe to Weight Watchers Monthly, Healthy Cooking by Taste of Home (formerly named "Light & Tasty") as well as Better Homes & Gardens, Women's Day, etc. I also find recipes in the newspaper, online, etc. When I find a recipe I want to try, I cut it out and put it in my "cookbook". It's a Mead Composition Book (not the spiral kind, but the one with the black and white "marble" cover). I use a glue stick to attach it to the page, along with a photo if there is one and I immediately calculate the PointsPlus. If after trying the recipe, I don't like it or for whatever reason decide I won't make it again (too much work, too expensive ingredients, etc.), then I just peel it off the page. You can usually see that there was a recipe there, but it's quickly covered by another recipe I find.
When I do my menu before shopping, I look through my "cookbook". I pick a recipe, I write down all the ingredients I need on my grocery list then I also write down the page number on my menu so I'll be able to find it again when it's time to make it. I long ago realized that it was a lost cause to try to keep these recipes organized since they are constantly changing so this works for me. Weight Watchers changed their plan recently. The PointsPlus values are different than the "old points" so every few days I re-calculate some more recipes.
Okay, I'm going to make my first attempt at posting a picture.
Not sure if it's gonna post... It looks like it might be at the top of this entry, but we'll see when I hit "publish"! LOL Yes, that is a shadow of my cell phone, but I'm not "technically inclined" and that's the only way I could think of to get a picture here. In the picture you can see 3 recipes. When I stick them on a page, it's kinda like doing a puzzle so I can fit more than one per page. When I change things, I make notes right on the page. This works better for me than an actual recipe box or anything else I've tried.
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