Low-fat Chocolate Cherry Brownies

Holy sweet gooey mess Batman! These were..... interesting. At first I thought I liked them but as time went on I realized I really was not enjoying the texture of these bad boys. Jeff took one bite and refused to eat anymore.

Low Fat Chocolate Cherry Brownies
Serves 18

1 package low-fat fudge brownie mix
1/2C plain whole milk yogurt
1 egg lightly beaten
1C cherry preserves

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13X9in pan.
Mix together all but the preserves and pour into prepared baking dish.
Using a spoon, drop cherry jam onto brownie batter. Using a dull knife to cut jam through batter.  Bake for 25 minutes or according to package directions.
Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a plate to cool completely.

My notes
Alright so I didn't use full fat yogurt and I only had strawberry preserves so there's that.
However, IF I were to make these again I would not put a whole cup of preserves in there. Maybe just 1/2C. I didn't see the point of buying one container of full fat yogurt just for brownies. Plus what is the point of buying low-fat brownie mix and then using full fat yogurt? I used fat free greek yogurt. My main complaint is that the preserves really messed with the texture of these brownies. Maybe I didn't 'cut' the jam in enough... idk. But I think I will stick to my regular brownies... the ones that Jeff makes. Ha!

Chicken Spaghetti Pioneer Woman Style

I found this recipe on Pioneer Woman's website. I thought it sounded pretty good so why not give it a try. However, Jeff did not really enjoy this and neither did I. The kid thought it was great. I think it needs some more flavor and possibly something with crunch.

Chicken Spaghetti

Added by Ree on September 5, 2009 in Main Courses, Pasta

Ingredients

2 cups Cooked Chicken

3 cups Dry Spaghetti, Broken Into Two Inch Pieces

2 cans Cream Of Mushroom Soup

2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

¼ cups Finely Diced Green Pepper

¼ cups Finely Diced Onion

1 jar (4 Ounce) Diced Pimentos, Drained

2 cups Reserved Chicken Broth From Pot

1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt

⅛ teaspoons (to 1/4 Teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper

Salt And Pepper, to taste

1 cup Additional Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Cook 1 cut up fryer and pick out the meat to make two cups. Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar.

Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Cover and freeze up to six months, cover and refrigerate up to two days, or bake immediately: 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly. (If the cheese on top starts to get too cooked, cover with foil).

 My Notes

I really didn't deviate from the recipe, except for I only used 2C of cheese total and no seasoned salt. I already had cooked chicken from my stock making earlier in the week. I think it could benefit from some mushrooms, celery, carrot, etc. But that's just me. Bad news for Jeff, I made a double batch of this bad boy and there's a whole other casserole in the deep freeze....


8 pts on WW Points Plus

*Update - I slathered mine in sriracha sauce. It made it better.

Creamy Avocado Pasta

We are leaving for Disney World this week, so we will be eating mostly left overs as I don't want to fill the fridge full of food and then leave. But I'll be back middle of next week.

I really really thought this recipe sounded good. I had an avocado, tomatoes, and pasta, I was excited. Bust. I really hate to say this but we didn't like it. I'm going so far as to say not Nichole approved. This is a first.

Creamy Avocado Pasta Sauce
makes 4 servings
recipe adapted from Oh She Glows

prep time: 10 minutes
cook time:1 hour 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS
10 - 12 small Campari tomatoes, quartered
3 - 4 tbsp olive oil
4 servings of fettuccine noodles
2 ripe avocados, seed and skin removed
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup pine nuts
grated fresh Parmesan cheese
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 300 ºF.

2. Wash and quarter the tomatoes. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with 1 - 2 tbsp olive oil, just enough to make the tomatoes glisten. Bake for 1 hour in the oven.

3. Ten minutes before tomatoes are finished, fill a large pot with water and a sprinkle of salt. Bring to a rapid boil. Add the dry fettuccine to the water and cook until al dente.

4. While the pasta is boiling, add 2 tbsp olive oil, avocado, garlic, salt and lemon juice to a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are smooth and creamy.

5. Strain the pasta, and combine with the sauce in a large bowl, until all the pasta has been covered.

6. Add the roasted tomatoes, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and pine nuts. Add some salt and black pepper to taste.

note: add some grilled prawns or chicken for protein. 

My Notes

I don't really have any, this was like guacamole on pasta... which in theory sounds good. But the more Jeff and I ate the more we disliked it. Bummer.

Avocado Egg Salad

Pinterest strikes again! Avocado egg salad, why didn't I think of that? I'm glad that skinnytaste.com did. I'm not doing weight watchers anymore but this recipe included points for WW which is cool b/c it gives me an idea of how not-bad this is for me :)

I know this will not be kid-approved. Only because it's green. My kid is prejudice against green food, sadly my efforts to change this have not worked. But that won't stop me, I'll keep trying.
Jeff hates hard-boiled eggs, so this is definitely not Jeff-approved I don't even bother to get him to try them anymore. The last time I made egg-salad he tossed it in the trash the next day on 'accident'. Uh huh. Suuuuure.


Avocado Egg Salad
by Skinnytaste.com

Servings: 6 • Size: 1/2 cup • Old Points: 3 pt • Points+: 4 pt (w/ light Flatout 7 pts)
Calories: 154.7 • Fat: 11.7 g • Protein: 9.3 g • Carb: 4.6 g • Fiber: 3 g • Sugar: 0.5 g
Sodium: 132 mg (without salt)

Ingredients:

• 4 large hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 4 hard boiled egg whites, chopped (discard the rest)
• 1 medium hass avocado, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp fat free plain yogurt
• 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped chives
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• pinch freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Combine the egg yolks with the avocado, light mayo, yogurt, chives, vinegar, salt and pepper. Mash with a fork. Combine with egg whites and adjust salt as needed.

My notes:

This was tasty! I added about a tsp of yellow mustard to this, mainly because I like mustard in my egg salad. Also, I had fat free greet yogurt so I used that instead of just the plain yogurt. I think next time I make this I might add some carrot or celery, I like a little crunch to my egg salad. This could be pretty easily converted to a 'guacamole' style egg salad. Throw some cilantro (leave out the chives), tomato, onion, maybe a little jalapeno and voila! I think that's worth exploring.

My lunch

Creamy White Chicken and Artichoke Lasagna

This is another recipe courtesy of Pinterest. I personally enjoyed this lasagna.... I was the only one which is unfortunate because it was tasty. We will chalk this up to a momentary lapse in memory. I forgot that someone does not like artichokes, except in spinach artichoke dip. Which makes no sense to me. But I am taking the entire pan (minus the 2.5 servings that were eaten) over to my parents house tonight so they can enjoy it.

Creamy White Chicken & Artichoke Lasagna 

by: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com

Ingredients
2 cups boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts, chopped
1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese with a Touch of PHILADELPHIA, divided
1/2 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup basil, chopped
12 lasagna noodles, cooked

Directions
Heat oven to 350°F. Combine chicken, artichokes, tomatoes, 1 cup mozzarella and Parmesan. Beat cream cheese, milk, and garlic powder with mixer until well blended; stir in 2 Tbsp. basil. Mix half with the chicken mixture. Spread half of the remaining cream cheese sauce onto bottom of 13×9-inch baking dish; cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of noodles and chicken mixture twice. Top with remaining cheese sauce and mozzarella; cover. Bake 25 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining basil.

My notes

I was a little hesitant about this whole cream cheese milk thing as the sauce but it turned out good. I added ricotta to the cream cheese, milk mixture mainly because I had it on hand and I love ricotta. I added fresh garlic and dried basil rather than powder and fresh respectively. Unfortunately my basil plant is not producing enough leaves for me to harvest without hindering further production. I also used a tad more mozzarella in the lasagna because I was afraid the chicken layer would be dry.... I was right (it needs something maybe put the ricotta in that mixture rather than the cream cheese). On that note, I also sauteed onions and mushrooms together and added them to the chicken mixture as well. I'd like to play with this recipe but since it was not well received I don't really see the point. If anyone does play with it let me know how it turns out!