Lasagna Cupcakes

You know the "If you could only eat one type of cuisine for the rest of your life what would it be?" question? Well, I always answer it with Mexican, but Italian is not far behind. I love the combo of pasta, cheese and sauce - in any form it always tickles my fancy! This lasagna recipe is really fun and would make a wonderful potluck dish. Its portion controlled, and light on the carbs as you do not use big sheets of lasagna noodles you use wonton wrappers. These are also really easy to make! I owe credit to Hungry Girl as this is her recipe.

Lasagna Cupcakes

The Stuff:
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup mushrooms
1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes, I use the one with basil and oregano
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon each of dried: oregano, basil and parsley
S&P
1 10oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 1/2 cups of low fat ricotta
1/4 cup fat free egg substitute (I use egg whites)
24 small wonton wrappers (I could not find square ones, but round worked fine)
1 1/2 cups shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese

The How To:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• In a large skillet add turkey and cook until no longer pink, make sure to use a wooden spoon and crumble as you cook, top with S&P to taste
• Add onion and mushrooms and cook until veggies are tender
• Reduce heat to low and add tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic, spices and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• While the turkey mixture is simmering, combine spinach, ricotta, egg, dash of salt, and remaining garlic to a bowl and mix well.
• Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with nonstick spray
• Press a wonton wrapper onto bottom of pan in each cup, evenly distribute the ricotta mixture and smooth with back of a spoon

• Evenly distribute the turkey mixture on top of the ricotta mixture and top with a little mozzarella cheese

• Top with another wonton wrapper, pressing it down on to the cheese but making sure the edges are poking out
• Top with remaining mozzarella cheese

• Bake for about 10 minutes or so or until the edges are browned and cheese is melted

Weight Watcher friends: 1 cupcake is 5 points

Enjoy!

Meyer Lemon Curd

So, remember those yummy scones I posted a couple days ago? Well, I have the PERFECT item to top them with - Meyer Lemon Curd! My, oh my talk about yummy! Curd is an English tradition one would find during high tea paired with biscuits or scones. It is so easy to make its a crime that I've never made it before. Using Meyer lemons was ideal because it cut the amount of sugar out that I had to use.  

Meyer Lemon Curd
Recipe adapted from Epicurious

The Stuff:
4 Meyer Lemons
1/4 cup sugar (add more if you want it sweet, I like the tart lemony flavor so kept the sugar to a minimum)
2 large eggs
1 stick unsalted butter cut in to cubes

The How To:

• Grate lemon zest to measure about a tablespoon

• Squeeze the lemons to get 1/2 cup of juice
• Whisk together the zest, juice, sugar and eggs in a metal bowl
• Add butter

• In a saucepan, simmer water, once brought to a simmer lower heat to low
• Place metal bowl with ingredients on top of saucepan making sure the pan is not so full of water that the water touches the bottom of the bowl - you don't want that
• Whisk ingredients continuously until thick and smooth

• You can run the curd through a sieve, I didn't find it necessary though
• Serve warm, or cover and put in fridge until you are ready to use, I had trouble not eating by the spoon full as soon as it was done cooking - this stuff is GOOD!

Enjoy!

Mini Cinnamon and Buttermilk Scones

I've been sitting on this scone recipe for a couple months but never had the opportunity to make them. Well, Easter changed that. Scones tend to be a little dry naturally, so expect that when you make them. They are perfect for dipping in coffee or tea. These Cinnamon and Buttermilk Scones are wonderful and really easy to make. I put a vanilla glaze on the top to help keep it moist. Store scones for a couple days in an airtight container at room temperature.

Cinnamon and Buttermilk Scones

The Stuff:
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon of cinnamon (you can do less, but I LOVE cinnamon)
3 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoon cold, unsalted butter cut into cubes
zest of 1 Meyer lemon

The How To:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Beat egg, buttermilk and lemon zest together, set aside
• In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together

• Add the butter and using your fingers (you can use a pastry cutter, but whats the fun of that?) to cut butter into flour until you have a pebbly mixture

• Pour the egg and buttermilk mixture into flour mixture
• Stir with a rubber spatula until combined, do not over mix
• Flour a working surface and turn the dough out and pat to quarter inch thick
• Using a sharp knife make triangles with the dough
• Place triangles onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

• Bake for 15-18 minutes or until browned
• Serve with your favorite jam

Enjoy!

Tomatillo, Chicken, and Hominy Soup

This dish is a posole, which is a thick and heart soup perfect for dinner! Never used hominy? It is basically a corn kernel, sold in a can, not much of a taste but adds a nice texture to soups. Tomatillos add a lemony taste - even though the name seems like it should be a tomato I never get much of a tomato taste out of them. They are delish though! This soup is yummy, low points, easy to put together and filling. Top with light sour cream, cilantro and crushed tortillas.

This makes 6 servings

Tomatillo, Chicken & Hominy Soup

The Stuff:

1/2 pound tomatillos, husks and stems discarded
2 shredded chicken breast from this recipe
32 oz low sodium chicken stock
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 small can chopped green chilies
1 large onion chopped
5 garlic cloves chopped
1 jalapeno
1 30oz can hominy drained
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoon cumin
1 cup cilantro

The How To:

Quarter the tomatillos and the jalapeno, remove the jalapeno seeds if you don't like heat

Add 3/4 cup cilantro, the tomatillos and the jalapeno to a food processor or blender, pulse until chopped

Add tomatillo mixture, onions, tomatoes, garlic, chilies to a pot and cook for 10 minutes

Add chicken stock, salt & pepper, and cumin and simmer for 15 minutes until warmed up

Serve up into bowl, top with avocado, remaining cilantro, sour cream, and half chicken breast

Add crushed tortillas and eat up! (you can add all the toppings at once, but I forgot the tortillas so I added them after:))

Weight Watcher Friends: 1 serving is 3 p+, add extra points for your toppings

Enjoy!

Shrimp Salad

We had a potluck at work the other day and since I anticipated their being lots of heavy type foods I wanted to make something a bit lighter. This recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes is a sure winner! I changed some things, but either way would be great. This is crisp, refreshing and filling!

Shrimp Salad

The Stuff:
3/4 pound shrimp, peeled
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 tablespoon red onion (Gina adds less, but I thought more was good)
1 tablespoons olive oil mayonnaise (if you haven't tried this, give it a shot, yum!)
2 tablespoon fat free plain Greek yogurt
Seasoned Salt, Chili powder, dash cumin
30 cucumber slices, about 1 large cucumber
Chopped chives

The How To:

Run a knife through the shrimp once or twice, add to a mixing bowl
Add celery

Add Onion, mayonnaise, yogurt and seasoning

Mix until well combined

Place a heaping tablespoon of shrimp salad on each cucumber slice

This is a small portion of the shrimp salad, you can beef it up

Top with chives and eat up!

Weight Watcher Friends: 1 cucumber slice with 1 tablespoon of shrimp salad is 0pp, 4 are 2pp

Enjoy!

Cheesy Pasta Bake

I love cheese and I love pasta and this dish is a yummy combo of the two. I basically cleaned out the pantry and the fridge and came up with this keeper. You could add all sorts of ingredients so don't be shy to add different veggies. Broccoli or asparagus or even cauliflower would be tasty, I bet sundried tomatoes, or even fresh tomatoes would be good too! The MR really liked this and asked that I add it to the regular rotation - I rarely make the same meal twice, but I will make this one again.

Cheesy Pasta Bake

The Stuff:
16 oz cooked penne pasta
1 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese
1 16oz container fat free cottage cheese
1 10 3/4 oz can 98% fat free creamed chicken soup
1/2 cup fat free milk
3 cups sliced mushrooms
3 cups spinach
1 roasted red bell pepper



 1 cup onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

The How To:

• Preheat oven to 425
• Warm up olive oil in a saute pan, add onions, mushroom and red bell pepper and saute for 4 or 5 minutes

• Add garlic and saute another minute or so
• Add spinach and cook for 3 minutes or until just before spinach is wilted 

• Add cottage cheese to a food processor and pulse until cottage cheese is creamy
• In a bowl mix pasta, spinach mixture, cottage cheese, milk, soup, and 3/4 cup cheddar cheese until well blended



This is before you add the pasta, its a nice creamy base

• Spray  a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray, add the mixture, top with remaining cheese

 Bake for 15-20 minutes until bubbly and golden

Weight Watchers Friend: 3/4 cup is 7 points

Enjoy!

Roasted Acorn Squash

Acorn squash is a favorite of mine. I've stuffed them with a rice mixture and baked them, I've steamed them and I've roasted them - all are great ways to cook them. Roasting them with apple cider vinegar and a little olive oil brings out a sweet quality and almost makes it taste like a dessert.

Roasted Acorn Squash 

The Stuff:
1 acorn squash cut into 1/4 inch size rings, scrape out seeds
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1.5 teaspoons olive oil
salt and pepper

The How To:
Preheat oven to 400
Coat a large cookie sheet with olive oil and apple cider vinegar
Lay out the acorn squash rings in a single layer on the sheet
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Bake for 10 minutes and flip, cook an additional 10-15 minutes, checking every 5 minutes
To eat, remove the rind, it should peel off easily

Weight Watcher Friends: 1/2 the squash equals 1 pt

Enjoy!