Baked Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan is one of those dishes that is a comfort food for me. I would go to a restaurant everyday and eat it if I could. (Ok, maybe not every day but close.) When I ran across this recipe on Skinnytaste I was a little nervous about making it myself, but hey it is baked so how hard could it be? I am so happy that I tried it because it has become a staple in our meals. Plus even though it is a recipe that fits into a Weight Watchers plan you would never know it. I did change one thing that extends the cooking time by 5 minutes but I think it was worth it.

Nutritional Information (calculated on myfitnesspal.com): 8 servings, 6 weight watchers points plus. 251 calories, 14g carbs, 9.5g fat, 31.5g protein

Ingredients:

• 8 Chicken Breast Halves
• 3/4 c Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs
• 1/4 c Grated Parmesan Cheese

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Avocado and Black Bean Salad

"Cooking for people is an enormously significant expression of generosity and soulfulness, and entertaining is a way to be both generous and creative. You're sharing your life with people. Of course, it's also an expression of your own need for approval and applause. Nothing wrong with that." - Ted Allen

Looking for an alternative to the standard side dishes or dips? Look no further. I found this recipe on Skinny Taste and made it for the Super Bowl Party we attended. The freshness of the lime paired perfectly with the creaminess of the avocado and the crunch of the cucumber. Some people ate this as a side salad, I liked it with tortilla or pretzel chips. No matter how you eat it the flavors and textures meld together extremely well.

Nutritional Information (calculated on myfitnesspal.com): 10 servings, 3 weight watchers points plus. 103 calories, 14g carbs, 5g fat, 4g protein

Ingredients:

• 2 Avocados, Diced
• 3 Roma Tomatoes, Diced
• 1 Seedless Cucumber, Peeled and Diced
• 15.5 oz can Black Beans, Drained and Rinsed
• 3 T Red Onion, Diced

Slow Cooker Greek Chicken

"I don't like food that's too carefully arranged; it makes me think that the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I'd buy a painting." - Andy Rooney 

I had my parents over for dinner on Saturday night and adapted a recipe I found on Slender Kitchen. The flavors melded together perfectly to create this amazing dish.

Nutritional Information (calculated on myfitnesspal.com): 6 servings, 6 weight watchers points plus. 244 calories, 6g carbs, 9g fat, 37g protein.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs Chicken Breast
• 3 T Roasted Red Peppers, Chopped
• 1/4 c Sliced Black Olives
• 1.5 c Artichoke Hearts, Cut in Half
• 1/4 c Capers
• 6 oz Fat Free Feta
• 1.5 t Dried Oregano
• 1 t Garlic Powder
• 2 C Fat Free Chicken Stock
• Salt and Pepper, to Taste

Instructions:

1. Combine Red Peppers, Black Olives, Artichokes, Capers, Oregano and Garlic Powder in a bowl.
2. Place half of the mixture on the bottom of a slow cooker.
3. Top with Half of the Fat Free Feta.
4. Season Chicken with Salt and Pepper and place on top of the mixture in the crock pot.
5. Add Remaining Fat Free Feta.
6. Top with remaining mixture.
7. Pour Chicken Broth over the chicken.
8. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours until chicken is cooked through.
9. Serve with 1 chicken breast and 1/6 of the mixture.
10. Enjoy!

After adding 1st layer, Chicken and Feta

Ready to cook

Giuliana waited patiently for it to finish cooking.

Water Chestnuts and Bacon

“...no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.” 

― Julia Child, My Life in France

I made this appetizer for our friends Super Bowl Party and it may have created more conversation that the absolutely horrible football game. Their is just something supremely satisfying about the saltiness of the bacon combined with the crunch of the water chestnut and the sweetness of the brown sugar glaze that just makes me want to eat the entire batch and make a second for everyone else. I procrastinated making this dish that I found on Emily Bites because for some reason I was intimidated by the entire process. Michelle and Kevin have been my testers many times so I thought their house would be a safe place to experiment. Now that I have made them, I will never be intimidate by them again because it was soooooo easy! For having bacon they are not as many points as I thought they would be.

Nutritional Information (calculated on myfitnesspal.com): 12 servings, 2 weight watchers points plus. 67 calories, 12g carbs, 1g fat, 2g protein

These did not last long!

Ingredients:

• 2 (8 oz) canned Sliced Water Chestnuts, Drained
• 12 Strips Center Cut Bacon, Regular Thickness
• 1/3 c Ketchup
• 1/3 c packed Brown Sugar
• 1.5 t Fat Free Yogurt (The recipe calls for plain but my store did not have plain so I used Apple Cinnamon.)
• 1/2 t Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 t Hot Sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)
• 36 Toothpicks

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Baked Sweet Potato Cornmeal Fries

I found this recipe on Laaloosh and HAD to try them, I was not disappointed. I served this along side Harissa Eggs In Purgatory for dinner one night and it was fantastic. Plus, the dinner was only 5 points plus total!

Nutritional Information (calculated on myfitnesspal.com): 4 servings, 3 weight watchers points plus. 129 calories, 24g carbs, 2.5g fat, 2.5g protein

Who loves Sweet Potato Fries?!

Ingredients:

• 2 large Sweet Potatoes, sliced into 1/2" thick sticks (I used my Professional Multi Chopper from Williams Sonoma.)
• 1/4 c Cornmeal
• 2 t Olive Oil
• 1 T Garlic Powder
• 1 T Onion Powder
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Once the Sweet Potatoes are sliced, Put them in a bowl of cold water stir for a minute and let sit for 10 minutes.

Harissa Eggs in Purgatory

This is a great breakfast meal or even better a breakfast for dinner meal! I found Harissa at Whole Foods and Mariano's (you can also find it online) it gives this dish a slight kick. If you want more of a kick you can purchase it in spicy but I have not done that yet. This is such an easy dish that I found on skinnytaste that it can be made for a weeknight meal or for a weekend breakfast when everyone wakes up at the same time. Eggs In Purgatory is a dish that the eggs are poached in tomato sauce instead of water so there is no waste! This can be served over a crusty bread, rice, quinoa or my favorite hummus. I made a garlic hummus that paired perfectly with this once I make it again I will post that as well I have also served this with Sweet Potato Fries which I am posting on Wednesday. Each serving contains one poached egg and one fourth of the sauce.

Nutritional Information (calculated on myfitnesspal.com): 4 servings, 2 weight watchers points plus. 103 calories, 5g carbs, 5g fat, 7g protein

Ready to serve!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 t Olive Oil
• 2T Minced Red Onion
• 14.5 oz Can Diced Tomatoes
• 2 T Harissa
• 4 Eggs
• Salt and Pepper to Taste
• 1 t Fresh Chopped Parsley and/or Chives (optional)

Directions:

1. Saute Onions in heated Olive Oil until they start to turn golden brown. It should be about 2 minutes.

Salsa Verde Chicken Southwestern Stuffed Baked Potato

Potatoes are so versatile, you can create just about any type of meal you want from the. This one is a meal by itself or a half can be paired with a salad or another side dish. I found a recipe on Laaloosh and combined it with a recipe on SkinnyTaste and made it a few weeks ago.

Nutritional Information (calculated on myfitnesspal.com): 4 servings, 10 weight watchers points plus. 415 calories, 54g carbs, 6g fat, 37g protein

It is much more filling than it looks

Ingredients:

• Salsa Verde Chicken
• 1 1/2 lbs raw boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• 1/8 t oregano
• 1/8 t ground cumin
• 16 oz salsa verde
• Potato
• 4 Medium Russet Potatoes
• 1/2 c Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Shredded

60 Garlic Chicken

I have seen quite a few different 40 garlic chicken recipes but they never seem to feed more than 4 people. So I adapted a recipe from SlenderKitchen to create 60 Garlic Chicken!!!! (Their recipe states 6 servings but only includes two thirds of a chicken breast and dividing them up is not easy so this recipe serves 6 people with 6 chicken breasts. If you are planning on making this recipe I would recommend having a Garlic Peeler or purchasing Peeled Garlic. I did this by hand the first time and it was not fun. The dish was still worth it though. Many of my chicken dishes you can start with frozen chicken in the crock pot this is NOT one of them.

*Note: We make this dish the day before and reheat it in the oven and the flavors are even better!

Nutritional Information (calculated on myfitnesspal.com): 6 servings,  7 weight watchers points plus. 251 calories, 21g carbs, 4g fat, 38g protein

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs chicken Breasts (6 breasts, I user Perdue frozen, Boneless Skinless)
• 1.5 c Fat Free Chicken Stock
• 1 Chopped Onion, Divided
• 3 Chopped Leeks
• 3 t Paprika
• 60 cloves of Garlic
• 3 t salt
• 3 t black pepper
• 1/3 c Chopped Italian Parsley
• 1 Bay Leaf

Instructions:

1. Saute Leeks in cooking spray until they begin to soften. Remove from the pan and set aside.