Vacuum Seal Meat Labeling

Usually we buy a good chunk of meat when it's on sale, then use a vacuum sealer to prevent freezer burn.  When we remember, the bags get labeled with a sharpie, which eventually ends up disappearing somewhere in the freezer. Like socks from a dryer......... POOF just gone. Then finally lightening struck! Just tear off the label from the original packaging and stick it in the bag with the meat. Instant label!! It includes much more information too: how many pounds, date it was bought, and details cut info.

Apple Spice Glazed Scone - Low Calorie

This morning I was craving a sweet breakfast and needed  something quick and yummy. I started browsing one of my favorite blogs, skinnytaste.com. I found this wonderful scone recipe. I didn't have all the ingredients but I had enough and what I didn't have, I could substitute. After figuring out the calorie count, it ended up being only 186 calories per scone! So enjoy two, and enjoy feeding your sweet craving!


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cold 1% milk
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• cooking spray 
• 2 cups all purpose flour  
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp chilled butter (must be cold) cut into small pieces
• 2 cups diced apples, peeled (I used Granny Smith and Red Delicious)

For the glaze: 

• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch nutmeg
• 2 tbsp cold fat free milk (plus 1/2 tbsp if needed)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375.

Mix the milk, applesauce, sugar, vanilla and egg in a large bowl.  Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to a food processor. Pulse until mixed. Add butter and and pulse until the mixture is grainy. Add the flour mixture and the apples to the milk mixture and stir until combine. 

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead just until it's not sticky, adding flour if needed. 

Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray. Lay dough on the cookie sheet and flatten until it's round and about half an inch thick. Cut the circle into 12 even wedges.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the edges are just turning brown.

Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes.

While the scones are cooling, mix all the ingredients for the glaze. Dip the top of each slice in the glaze and return to cooling rack. (Make sure the rack is over a cookie sheet to catch the drips). 

Let glaze set, then enjoy!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

It's that time of year again. Time for everything pumpkin. These soft pumpkin cookies sandwich a light and fluffy cream cheese filling. They are delicious. The original recipe is for mini whoopie pies but in order to maintain a consistent size, I used the ice cream scoop I already had. These came  out to be good sized cookies. I used a piping bag to easily add the filling to the back of half the cookies. If the filling is too soft, just refrigerate the cookies for about 20 minutes to firm it up. Recipe from cooks.com.

COOKIES:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Lightly grease or line four baking sheets with parchment paper.COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined. Drop by heaping measuring teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. (A total of 72 cookies are needed for the recipe.)

BAKE for 10 to 13 minutes or until springy to the touch. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

BEAT cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy.SPREAD a heaping teaspoon of filling onto flat side of one cookie; top with flat side of second cookie to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Store in covered container in refrigerator.

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

I found the recipe for this bread here during a recent pinterest browse. It was mid afternoon and I had already been planning to make Italian for dinner, this fit perfectly. I didn't have all the ingredients in the original recipe but subbed for what I had and it turned out wonderfully! Very simple and quick. Warm right out of the oven with butter - delicious!!

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

INGREDIENTS
1 cup warm water (100-110 F)
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped (or 2 tsp. dried)
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning (or pinch of each ground garlic, dried oregano, and dried basil)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. High quality extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups AP flour 
1/2 cup bread flour + extra for kneading
1 egg, whisked + 1 Tbsp. water, for egg wash
dried rosemary, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, combine the warm water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit 10 minutes to proof.

2. Stir in the salt, rosemary, seasonings, olive oil, and whole wheat flour. Add the bread flour and stir until the dough forms a ball. Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, adding more flour as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth.

3. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl; cover; and let rise until doubled in size, about1 hour.

4. Punch down the dough and form it into a round loaf. Place it on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or parchment paper; cover; and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, preheat oven (and pizza stone) to 400 F. Once the dough has risen, gently brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with dried rosemary.

6. Bake on preheated stone for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

Makes 1 round loaf.

Skinny Brownies

Yup. Skinny.Brownies. Fudgy moist sweet 103 calorie brownies. I don't know how Gina at skinnytaste.com does it but YUM

Brownie Bites

Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes 
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 1/8th • Old Points: 2 pt • Points+: 3 pt

Calories: 103.9 • Fat: 4.3 g • Protein: 1.3 g • Carb: 15.6 g • Fiber: 0.6 g 

• 2 tbsp margarine
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
• nonstick cooking spray
• 1 tsp powdered sugar

In a small saucepan melt margarine, remove from heat. Stir in sugar, vanilla and water. Stir in flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Mix well. Stir in chopped nuts.

Spray the bottom of a 8x4x2 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray coating. Pour batter into pan.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool thoroughly. Remove from pan. Cut into 8 bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Low Calorie Swedish Meatballs

Another recipe from skinnytaste.com! Did I tell you these were good recipes or what. Swedish Meatballs for only 213 calories for 5 big meatballs. Flavorful and tender your may not go back to the fat filled ones!

Swedish Meatballs
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes 
Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 5 meatballs • Old Points: 4 pt • Points+: 5 pt
Calories: 213.5 • Fat: 10 g • Protein: 25.1 g • Carb: 8.5 g • Fiber: 1 g • Sugar: 2 g
Sodium without adding salt: 346 mg  

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 celery stalk, minced
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1 lb 93% lean beef
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 2 cups reduced sodium beef stock
• 2 oz light cream cheese

In a large deep saute pan, heat oil on medium heat, add onions and garlic; sauté until onions are translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add celery and parsley and cook until soft, about 3-4 more minutes. Let cool a few minutes.

In a large bowl combine beef, egg, onion mixture, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and allspice. Mix well and form meatballs with your hands 1/8 cup each (fill 1/4 cup then divide the meat in half).

Add beef stock to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and slowlydrop meatballs into the broth. Cover and cook about 20 minutes. Remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon and set aside in a serving dish. Strain the stock, add to blender with cream cheese and pulse until smooth. Return to pan and simmer a few minutes to thicken, then pour over meatballs. Garnish with parsley and serve over noodles or with toothpicks if you want to set these out as an appetizer.

This makes 22 meatballs, nutritional info is based on 5 meatballs with gravy.

Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup

Less than 300 calories a serving! There is broccoli and cheese and potato in this wonderful soup. It is so delicious no one would guess it is low calories. I made up a huge batch and froze up servings for a quick lunch or dinner. I got this recipe from skinnytaste.com. My new favorite recipe site. Since trying to cut back calories I had no intention of cutting back on tasty foods. This site is my go to place for dinner and ever incredible desserts!

I like my broccoli soup a little chunky but if you prefer yours smoother, feel free to use a stick blender to smooth it out even more than I did.

And not that you really need to but because this soup was so good, sometimes I wanted more than one serving.  So in my original big batch to freeze, I left out the cheese. Then when I heated it up, I sprinkles some on the top, let it melt then stirred it in.

Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes  
Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1-1/4 cups • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 281.6 • Fat: 8.0 g • Carb: 33.0 g • Fiber: 5.0 g • Protein: 20.4 g 

Ingredients: 
 

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
• 1 cup fat free milk
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small
• salt and fresh pepper
• 4 cups (about 2 heads) broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces
• 1-1/2 cups 2% shredded sharp cheddar
• 2 slices 2% American cheese
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese

Directions:

Chop onion, carrot, celery, garlic in a chopper or mini food processor.

In a large soup pot, melt butter.  Add chopped vegetables and sauté on low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add flour, salt and pepper to the pot and stir until smooth.

Add chicken broth, milk and potatoes and set heat to high until it comes to a boil, thencover and cook on low until potatoes are soft, about 10-15 minutes.

Add broccoli florets, parmesan cheese, and stir well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.Cook uncovered until broccoli is cooked, about 5 minutes. Add cheddar and American cheese, stir well and remove from heat.

Using an immersion blender, quickly blend part of the soup for a quick second or two. If you don't have an immersion blender, remove about 1-2 cups of potatoes and broccoli, place it in your chopper, then add it back to the soup. This helps thicken it a bit.