The Pizzomelet

Cut up left over pizza into small pieces (size of a quarter or so). Spray non-stick spray in a cast iron skillet or any skillet that can be placed in the oven.

Place the pizza in the sprayed skillet then pour eggbeaters (or real eggs, beaten) until just barely covers over the pizza. Bake at 350 degrees until set. PIZZOMELET!

Smoked Chicken Enchildas

Chopped leftover grilled chicken into small pieces (dice)

In a bowl mix the following:
1 can Campbell's southwestern chicken Verde soup
3/4 c sour cream, nonfat
3/4 c Pace Picante (or other brand) sauce
2 t chili powder
1 diced yellow pepper (I had a leftover roasted one, peeled and chopped so I threw it in)
----------------------------------------
Spinach, diced and steamed in microwave, drained well on toweling. Add 2 cups Monterey jack or extra sharp cheddar cheese or mixture

Heat the corn tortillas in a plastic container in the microwave for a minute or so. When pliable, build as follows: 1 tablespoon each chicken, cheese and sauce and a little of the spinach.
R0ll like a cigar and place in sprayed casserole dish. This amount of ingredients made about 8-9 enchiladas with enough cheese left to sprinkle on top.

Cook in 350 degree oven for about 30-45 minutes.

Corn Bread Casserole

Pour all of following into a bowl and mix together.

1 can each corn, drained and cream of corn
1 egg or 1/3 c eggbeaters
1 c sour cream, fat free or 1 cup plain non-fat yogurt
1 corn bread mix (I used Jiffy)
1 c shredded cheddar
1/4 c butter (have used "I can't believe it is not butter" fat free spray with good results)

Mix this all together and pour into a sprayed casserole and bake at the temperature on the cornbread box for a little longer than stated. It stays soft but it shouldn't be wet or super gooey.

This is delicious and a great side for pork. Can be frozen and it reheats nicely.

Peas Dip

An excellent, easy, and inexpensive dip and tastes almost like guacamole.

1 bag of frozen peas(defrosted)
1/4 c of chopped onion
1/4 bunch of cilantro
1 T lime juice

In a blender, blend peas until it is a smooth mixture. Add onions, lime juice, and cilantro. Blend for 1 minute. Add minced jalapeno if desired.

Apricot Pork Tenderloin (or Chicken)

1 pork tenderloin, or 4 chicken breasts (about a pound)
1/2 c apricot preserves
1/2 c Mustard, any type but Dijon is best

Mix the apricot preserves and mustard together well in a bowl large enough to place the chicken. Remove half of sauce and hold to the side. Season tenderloin (chicken) with salt and pepper and place in bowl and cover with mixture. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a roasting pan with non-stick roasting spray, arrange the meat. Bake for 20 minutes, turning once half way through the cooking process. Baste the meat with half of the remaining sauce and broil for 5-6 minutes. Turn again, baste again with sauce and broil an additional 5-6 minutes. Serve some sauce on the side after heating in microwave.

Makes 4 servings.

Mexican Casserole

Cooking spray
1 small white or yellow onion, small dice
½-1 green and/or red pepper, small dice
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 T fat free chicken broth
1 c cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts or cooked boneless skinless chicken thighs, shredded or diced small (Can use canned chicken)
1/4 c fat free chicken broth
3-4 t taco seasoning
1/3 c canned pinto beans or black beans or red beans or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c diced tomatoes, canned with juice
1/2 c frozen corn
1 pkg Jiffy Corn Bread Mix
1/2 c nonfat milk or non-fat milk
1 egg equivalent Eggbeaters or similar product
2 T cheddar cheese (optional) or light cheddar cheese, shredded (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a non-stick skillet, with cooking spray. Add the onions and peppers and cook until soft. Add 1 tablespoon of broth when necessary to moisten.

Add the shredded chicken, chili powder, cumin, and broth and stir until the broth is heated. Now add the tomatoes, corn, beans. Bring the mixture to a simmer and allow to reduce liquid a bit. Transfer to a one-quart casserole.

In a small bowl, prepare the cornbread according to the package. Add the cheese if using. Top the casserole with the cornmeal mixture. Place the casserole on a cookie sheet in case of overflow and place in the oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The cornmeal topping should be puffy and slightly browned.

Serve with any of the following: diced raw onion, jalapeno, shredded non-fat cheddar, picante sauce and non-fat sour cream.

Chicken Salad

This is really great. And so easy as to be ridiculous. I have never bought or used canned chicken before - not sure why - I use tuna. It just never appealed to me but I've changed my tune with this recipe. The bacon is the already made into bits and is like 50% less fat and calories. I bought it at Sam's Club.

1 can of shredded chicken (same size as tuna)
2 T bacon described above
Fat Free Ranch Dressing

Mix all together. Serve with crackers on a bed of lettuce. Very good!

Asparagus Spread

1 c low-free mayonnaise
1 c grated sharp cheddar cheese, low fat
1 large bunch asparagus, cut, microwaved until just tender, and cooled
1 T Parmesan cheese, grated

Place the mayonnaise, cheddar cheese and asparagus in a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Pour mix into a glass pie plate and bake 375 degree for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle the top with the Parmesan cheese. When the bubbling stops, serve with crackers and a butter knife for spreading.

Garlic Butter

Prepare a few heads of garlic at a time. It stores very well in the fridge. You can spread it on bread as is but it is also great for cooking, marinades and anywhere you might want a milder garlic flavor.

In the center of a square of aluminum foil place whole garlic pods, in tack (unpeeled). Spray well with nonstick cooking spray (I like the butter flavored but olive oil works too.)

Wrap and seal and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. The garlic should "smoosh" easily when it is done. Let it cool until you can handle it then squeeze the cloves and collect the soft inside garlic. Can be added to butter, margerine, spray "butter", added to soups, etc.

Tex-Mex Enchiladas

8 corn tortillas
can of Wolf Brand Turkey Chili no beans
can of enchilada sauce
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 c fresh spinach, chopped (you could use frozen thawed and moisture removed)
1/2 c carrot, shredded
olive oil, 2 t
1/2 c each Cheese, cheddar, extra sharp cheddar, mozzarella

Spray the pan with nonstick spray. Add olive oil and cook all the veggies except spinach until tender. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Add 1/2 turkey chili and take off the fire.

Spray rectangle casserole type dish. Mix all the shredded cheeses together (save a bit to sprinkle across the finished enchiladas). Take one tortilla and put 1/8 of the cheese in then top with 1/8 of the chili mixture. Roll up and put seam down in the pan. Make the remaining tortillas.

Mix the rest of the chili with the can of the enchilada sauce then pour over the enchiladas and make sure to cover everything. Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve with fat free sour cream and Mexican brown rice (cook 1 cup rice with 1 can of Rotel style tomatoes and 1 can water).

Healthy Version Buffalo "Wing" Nuggets

Shake and Bake, Extra Crispy Style
Chicken, skinless, boneless, and cut into bite size nuggets
Red Hot or any Cajun hot sauce (Not Tabasco - it isn't vinegary enough)
I can't Believe it's not Butter, SPRAY
Fat Free Blue Cheese Dressing
Blue Cheese crumbles, the light version

Cover the chicken with the hot sauce and marinate. Overnight is hotter than an hour would be. Drain well and pat dry on paper towels. Follow shake and Bake instructions pressing the crumbs in also. Place in fridge for an hour to allow to set.

Cook in the oven according to the instructions but half way through turn the chicken over. Cook until firm.

Sauce: Mix equal parts of butter with hot sauce. You may want to adjust according to your heat/tang sensitivity. You can either cover the chicken in the sauce or serve for dipping on the side along with the blue cheese.

Add 1 tablespoon of the blue cheese crumbles to the dressing to give it more of the blue cheese flavor.

Low-cal Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

1/2 c low-fat mayonnaise
3/4 c low-fat blue cheese (I've only seen it in the already crumbled form)
1/2 c fat free sour cream
1/4 c fat free cream cheese
Garlic, minced very fine
Black Pepper

In a food processor add the cream cheese, sour cream and mayo and garlic and 1/4 c of the blue cheese. Process. Pour into a bowl and fold in the rest of the cheese and add pepper. Refrigerate until served.

Crock Pot Chocolate Brownie Fluff

The recipe makes a lot - a crock pot full. Served with vanilla ice cream it can probably serve as many as 16, served alone about 8-9 helpings of about 1/2 cup servings I would guess.

Crock Pot
Egg White or Egg Beaters equal to 5 eggs
1 pint fat free sour cream
1 chocolate cake mix
1 sugar free/fat free instant pudding mix
1/2 c sugar free apple sauce (one of those little one serving size)
1 c water

Spray the crock pot with nonstick spray. In separate bowl stir all ingredients together. Pour into crock pot, cover with lid and cook on low for 4 hours.

You can add a cup of chocolate chips or pecans or both if you aren't worried about the calories and fat but it is good just like this!

Artichokes

Buy artichokes that are as tightly closed as possible and the darker the green the better too. Like a flower, once the leaves start opening up they aren't as fresh and the leaves get tough. The secret is the boil - this gives the choke the flavor, then you can dip in the "butter" and not miss the fat.

The 'Choke

Just trim the end a little the stalk is actually eatable and very good like the center. If you want to trim the top you can but I usually don't bother.

The Boil

Big pot of water (pot should have a lid). Add the following to boil 4 chokes.

4 bay leaves
1-2 T cracked black pepper
4 gloves unpeeled garlic
1 t sea salt or 1 t crab boil if you want spicy
Sprig Rosemary
1 c chicken stock (non-fat, low sodium)
1 lemon cut in half

You want to boil them until you can very easily pluck a leaf off. It can take 45 minutes if they are big - or only 25 if small. You have to check-but they must be tender!

Parmesan "Toast" Chips or Cheese Cookies

These little Cheesy-Cookies are very simple and are quite lovely on a simple salad as a "crouton" topping.

As always GOOD QUALITY Parmesan grated coarsely, not fine, about 1 cup. To this add freshly ground pepper and 1 tablespoon of flour. Place by tablespoon on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes in the oven at 350.

Top a salad with one cookie and it becomes very special indeed!

New Year's Eve Salad with Goat Cheese

Mixed salad greens
2 t Dijon Mustard
Granny Smith Apple, diced, spray with lemon or dip in lemon-water (so it doesn't brown)
4 oz. Goat Cheese
Sugar Glazed Pecans, chopped roughly (you can just buy these rather than making them but to make them wet the pecans and then shake them in Splenda brand brown sugar and bake until glazed. Store in air tight container.)
Good Quality Basamic Vinegar
Good Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil
About 6-9 Melba Toast rounds, crushed fine in processor)

The goat cheese needs to be divided into 4-1/2 inch pieces that are like a small golf ball that has been squashed. (The normal recipe calls for flouring, dipping it in egg wash, then bread crumbs. I found that crushed melba toasts provided the "crunch" once baked without the added calories and fat.)

Cover cheese in the crumbs - sort of press them in -and cover well. Freeze them before baking so that when you bake them they stay together and don't melt into a puddle. Once frozen, spray with cooking spray and bake at 475 degrees on the top position in the oven for about 10-11 minutes.

While they are cooking, pull together your salad. Place pecans, greens and apple in a big bowl and dress. The dressing is Dijon mustard with oil & vinegar mixed well, pour over salad and toss to coat. When you plate you want the cheese underneath the salad sort of like a surprise!

A hint on the pecans. I chopped them up so that a mere tablespoon in a salad seems like a lot more when you are eating the salad.

Healthy Cheesecake Minis

Filing:
8 oz fat-free cream cheese
2/3 c egg beaters
1 c Splenda for baking
1 T lime juice
pinch salt

Pre-made mini 6 to a package graham cracker crusts.

Place all in food processor and process until smooth. Pour equally into between 6 crusts. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes (firm-not hard-just not jiggly). Once cool refrigerate.