Slow Cooking in December

Last night, Jon and I made Skinny Taste’s Baked Potato Soup. The soup is currently cooking in the Crock Pot and will be ready for us to eat when we get home later tonight!

As we were cooking last night I was reminded of two things that I love! First, I love cooking with my Jon. To be honest he is a better cook than I am. Jon helped me make this soup according to the recipe. When we had almost finished it, I told him that it was now his turn to add whatever kinds of spices he felt would make it taste even better. He added salt, black pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning, and more. If it was not for him all of our food would be bland and boring, at least according to Jon’s standards.

I first used this picture with my Crockpot Maple Ham recipe review.

Second, I love my Crock Pot! I am so thankful that we received our Crock Pot as a wedding present almost 5 years ago! Here in Texas, it is finally starting to feel like Fall and Winter, so now is that time of year when I pull out my Crock Pot and let it do most of my cooking for me!

My two favorite Crock Pot recipes are Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti and Crockpot Maple Ham (which I will be making for Christmas). To see my collection of Crock Pot recipes click here and scroll down to the slow cooker section.

Do you enjoy Crock Pot cooking? What are some of you favorite Crock Pot recipes?

Recipe Review: Gooey Pork Chops

I just want to start by saying that I have been so blessed with the most incredible husband!! Earlier this week Jon offered to make dinner for us. He was going to get home before me, which rarely happens, and he wanted to help out. How sweet!!

I emailed Jon several recipes options for him to choose from based on what we had at home. I also told him that I was planning to do a recipe review on Gooey Pork Chops, so if he choose that recipe I really needed him to take pictures as he made the recipe. I was so excited that he chose Gooey Pork Chops!!

To be completely honest, my husband is the chef in our family. I am good at following a recipe, however my husband has a knack for knowing what will taste good. He is not afraid to change the recipe in order to add flavor. He helps me to make Weight Watchers friendly foods taste good and still keeps the pointsplus values low.

Ingredients

Combine garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper together. Use as rub to one side of each chop. Jon felt like 1 tsp was not enough flavor so he added 1 TBSP of each spice.

Place chops in baking dish (may be a tight fit). Coat chops with worcestershire sauce.

Cover chops with Cream of Mushroom soup.

Sprinkle Dry onion soup mix over dish.

Cover with another piece of heavy duty foil, rolling edges of both pieces of foil together to seal chops totally.

After an hour in the oven they are finally done!!

We ate our pork chops with rice and green beans. They were incredible!! We are going to start having this dish more often.

Thanks honey for making sure I had a great recipe review for the week!!

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Gooey Pork Chops
Source: NESHULK

Ingredients
6 trimmed Bone-In Pork Chops (can substitute boneless)
1 tsp Ground black pepper
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Onion powder
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 10 oz. cans Campbell's Healthy Request Cream Mushroom Soup
1 packet Lipton dry onion soup mix

Instructions
Bake at 350 for 1 hour.Line 9x13 baking dish with heavy duty foil leaving 3 inches overhang on each end of dish.

Combine garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper together. Use as rub to one side of each chop.

Place chops in baking dish (may be a tight fit).

Coat chops with Worcestershire sauce.

Cover chops with Cream of Mushroom soup.

Sprinkle Dry onion soup mix over dish.

Cover with another piece of heavy duty foil, rolling edges of both pieces of foil together to seal chops totally.

Serves: 6; 5 pointsplus+

*** Notes:
May substitute boneless chops. I use trimmed chops and retrim at home. May also substitute chops with Pot Roast or Chicken.

Depending on how thick you want the gravy, may want to use 2 cans of soup (I do).

May place foil packet in crockpot rather than oven and adjust cook time to 8 hours on low. ***

Recipe Review: Sweet Barbacoa Pork

I am a HUGE fan of Gina's Weight Watchers recipes. Gina's website is called, www.skinnytaste.com. She has awesome recipe ideas that are Weight Watchers friendly. I eat a lot of her recipes throughout the month. I am happy to say that several of these recipes have become staples in our home!

I am so excited to do a recipe review for this recipe!!

Marinade ingredients

Mix ingredients together and let sit for a few hours or overnight. I let mine sit overnight.

Ingredients for the sauce "step 2".

I used more than 8 oz of Coke Zero, I used about 12 oz.

Add tomato sauce

Add 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce

Add the rest of your spices

and brown sugar

Stir together. I made this sauce the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

I work all day and would not be able to follow the recipe instructions that Gina gives below. So, before work, I added the sauce to the marinade.

I let everything cook together for about 13 hours on low, while I was at work and Weight Watchers.

When I got home, Jon shred the pork for me.

I measured out 3 oz of pork just for me!

The pork turned out so great! We made tacos the first night. However, we have a lot of leftovers. For the next few nights we will have pork sandwiches and pork over rice with black beans.

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Slow Cooked Sweet Barbacoa Pork
Source: Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes

Ingredients
Marinade:
2.5 lbs pork loin roast, all fat trimmed
salt and pepper
garlic powder
6 oz Coke zero
1/4 cup brown sugar (unpacked)
1/4 cup water

Step 2
8 oz Coke zero
6 oz can sliced green chilies
8 oz tomato sauce
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder (to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup brown sugar (unpacked)

Instructions
Season pork with salt, pepper and garlic powder and place in the crock pot. Add 6 oz of coke and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Marinate refrigerated for a few hours or overnight turning meat at least once while marinating.

Remove crock from refrigerator, add water, and cook on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily). Remove pork from crock pot and discard any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork with two forks.

Step two: In the crock pot, combine 8 oz coke, green chilies, tomato sauce, chipotle chile, garlic powder, cumin, chipotle chili powder and remaining brown sugar.

Put shredded pork back in the crock pot and combine with sauce. Adjust salt and pepper to taste, cover and cook on high 1-1/2 hours more.

Servings: about 10 • Serving Size: 3 oz • Old Points: 4.5 pts • Points+: 5 pts • Calories: 202.5 • Fat: 6.3 g • Protein: 26.2 g • Carb: 11.5 g • Fiber: 0.6 g

Recipe Review: Bajito Chicken

A while back several of my close friends decided to join Weight Watchers. At first I thought nothing of it and was excited for them. But I have found that I really like that we all have Weight Watchers in common. It is nice to have people who understand me when I talk about PointsPlus values. The best part about having friends on Weight Watchers is the encouragement that they provide me! I no longer feel like I am on this journey alone!

Another bonus that comes with having friends who are on Weight Watchers is that we are all on the look out for new recipes, foods, and snacks that are PointsPlus friendly. Whenever we find and try something that is good we let each other know. By myself I would not have been able to find half of the things that I have learned from my friends.

So, here is a recipe review for a recipe that one of these friends shared with me! This Bajito Chicken is made in the Crock Pot. It is so delicious! The chicken ends up being really juicy and not dry. This is a family favorite and my husband could not tell it was a healthy recipe the first time I made it!

The Ingredients

First, put the chicken in your slow cooker. Next, add green chilies and salsa.

Then add your Splenda brown sugar.

Next, add the cumin.

Finally, add the Sprite zero or any kind of diet lemon-lime soda.

Stir everything up and let it cook until it is finished.

I completely forgot to take a picture of the final product. However, when the chicken is fully cooked, shred it with a fork and serve. We eat this in tortillas with some cheese on top.

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Bajito Chicken
Source: Elise Mason

Ingredients
6oz Sprite (diet)
¼ cup Splenda Brown Sugar
½ cup salsa
1 can green chilies
Cumin (1 Tbsp, optional)
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breast

Instructions
Put in crock pot, cook 5-6 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. Shred and serve on tortillas.

Servings varies; 3 PP+ for 3oz of chicken

Recipe Review: Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

I've been looking forward to doing a recipe review on Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti for a long time. Every time I made this recipe I forgot to take pictures for my blog. However, you all are in luck, because I finally remembered!!

This is one of my very favorite dinners! I found this recipe at Half My Size. I had never eaten Chicken Spaghetti until we moved to Texas. It is one of the many things I have fallen in love with since moving to the South.

The ingredients

First, I mix together the soups, rotel, and canned chicken. My recipe calls for canned chicken, but feel free to use fresh cooked chicken breasts if that is what you prefer.

Don't forget to cook your pasta. We did not use spaghetti, because this was all I had.

Jon is very talented with a knife, however I am not. This is why Jon bought me this chopper from Pampered Chef. It's so easy to chop things now!

I chop my Velveeta in small squares so it melts better.

The last thing you want to add in are the cook noodles.

I put this in the fridge overnight, to cook to next day while I was at work.

This really is one of my favorite dinners!

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Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti
Source: Half My Size

Ingredients
1 pound Kraft Velveeta Light Reduced-Fat Pasteurized Processed Cheese Product
12 1/2 oz canned chicken, drained & flaked
10 3/4 oz Campbell's 98% Fat-Free Cream Of Chicken Soup, undiluted
10 3/4 oz Campbell's 98% Fat-Free Cream Of Mushroom Soup, undiluted
10 oz canned tomatoes with green chilies, Rotel
4 oz canned mushrooms, stems and pieces, drained
1/2 cup water
1 small onion, diced
1 medium green pepper, diced
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
14 1/2 oz cooked whole-wheat spaghetti

Instructions
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and stir to mix well.
Cook on LOW for 2-3 hours. Stir again just before serving.

Serves 8 (1 cup each); 7 pointsplus+

Cream Cheese Chicken

Cream Cheese Chicken
Source: Amanda R.

Ingredients
1 lb. boneless chicken breast
1 packet original good seasons Italian dressing
1 TBS unsalted butter
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic minced
1 10.5 ounce 98% fat free cream of chicken condensed soup
8 oz. low fat cream cheese
1 cup hot water with 2 tsp sodium free chicken bouillon
2 cups California mixed vegetables (or any of your favorite vegetables ~ carrots, celery, etc)
1/2 cup frozen peas

Instructions
1. Spray Crockpot with non stick spray, add breasts, sprinkle with entire packet of Good Seasons on each side, cook in crock on high for 2 hours (or you can add everything at once but it tastes a smidge better this way).

2. After chicken is cooked through, sauté diced onion and garlic in 1TBS unsalted butter, when translucent, add soup, cream cheese and broth mix until creamy, add veggies, dice the chicken in the Crockpot, add cream cheese mixture to chicken in Crockpot, stir to combine, cook another 2 hours or so on medium or low.

3. Enjoy as is or served up over brown rice.

Makes Eight 3/4 cup servings, PointsPlus® Value: 4

Bajito Chicken

Bajito Chicken
Source: Elise M.

Ingredients
6oz Sprite (diet)
¼ cup Splenda Brown Sugar
½ cup salsa
1 can green chilies
Cumin (1 Tbsp, optional)
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breast

Instructions
Put in crockpot, cook 5-6 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high. Shred & serve on tortillas.

Servings varies; 3 pointsplus+ for 3oz of chicken

For Recipe Review, click here.

Flashback Friday: Recipe Swap

Last year was the first time I participated in the Weight Watchers Holiday Recipe Exchange. In November 2009, I found this event advertised on the Weight Watchers message boards. This sounded like so much fun! This is the perfect event for someone like me, who is also on the hunt for great recipes. So, I quickly submitted my name and mailing address.

A Weight Watchers member collects all the addresses and divides them into groups of twelve. After everyone had submitted their information, I received an email, before Thanksgiving, with the complete list of names and addresses. I located my group.

After I found my group the instructions said that I was supposed to mail a Christmas cards with and recipe to each person in my group. All of the other people in my group would do the same thing and we would all have at least eleven new recipes before Christmas. I worked to find just the right recipes and mailed them to the appropriate people in my group.

Slowly, I began to receive all of my Christmas cards with new recipes. Some ladies put five or six new recipes in each envelope! By the time Christmas was over I had a stack of new recipes.

Last year was such a success and I got a ton of great recipes, so I knew that I had to do it again this year. I cannot wait for my new recipes to start coming this year. This really is a great idea! Who knows maybe we can do our own kind of recipe exchange next year.

Here are the recipes that I am going to share this year with the people in my group. I choose one recipes that was Weight Watchers Friendly and the other is a Family Favorite.

Holiday Recipes

Weight Watchers Friendly

Taco Junk

From: Just-Rhonda

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef, browned & drained

1 can pinto beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can corn

1 can diced tomatoes

1 package taco seasoning

1 package ranch dressing

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in the Crockpot. Cook on low for 4-8 hours.

Serves 14 (1/2 cup); 2 points

For Recipe Review, click here.

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Family Favorite

DeBlaeij Cookies

From: Cindy McMartin

Ingredients

1 cup margarine

½ cup sugar

½ packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup jam, more if needed

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

½ tsp almond extract

2 tsp water

Instructions

Mix all ingredients. Refrigerate the dough if necessary for easy handling. Roll dough into balls; place on ungreased sheets; make an indent in center of ball and flatten some; put a dab of jam in indent. Bake 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Make Glaze. Drizzle glaze over baked cookies in a crisscross pattern.

For Recipe Review, click here.

Recipe Review: Taco Junk

I was sick most of last week. As a result of my sickness, I had no energy to make dinner. My husband was incredible to pick up the slack where I had dropped the ball. He made dinner and took care of me, I really did marry an amazing man. Friday night, I took two NyQuil and slept for over eleven hours and when I woke up I felt so much better!

One of the first things I wanted to do was cook!! It worked out well that I was feeling better on Saturday, because I was able to clean the house and do our laundry. I was not up to cooking anything really fancy, so I chose a very easy Crock Pot dinner that I had found on the Weight Watchers message boards.

Here is the complete recipe for Taco Junk.

Like I said, this is an easy recipe. Can't you see the line up of ingredients? They are all in cans or packages.

Cooking the ground beef. I buy the leanest ground beef available at the grocery store. This helped to make this recipe very low in points. If you do not use a really lean meat you will need to recalculate the points.

Mix all the canned and packaged ingredients together. This was the easiest part. I drained each canned items except for the diced tomatoes. That provided the liquid necessary, so that it did not burn or dry out while cooking.

Then drain the cooked ground beef and add it to the Crock Pot. Remember to let the meat cool if you are adding it to a cold Crock Pot, you don't want it to crack and break.

All done. I ate 1/2 cup which was only 2 points! Jon ate the mixture in a tortilla and I ate mine with tortilla chips and salsa. This was so yummy. We had a lot of leftovers. This is the perfect dish to make for Fall.

All the Things I Love About Fall

September and October are my two favorite months in the entire year, why? Because I love Fall!! I realize that the first day of Autumn isn't until September 23, but I think it is okay to jump the gun a little on this one. You see I spent a good portion of my childhood living in Connecticut and I believe that has a lot to do with why I love fall so much.

My Top 5 Things I Love About Fall

5. School

I love school, learning, going to class, carrying a backpack, packing my lunch, working on homework, reading, writing, and anything else that goes with school. I love when you walk into a store and they have just put up the school supplies for that year. I shop through that section every time I go to the store until they take it down. It's probably weird, but I do not care.

4. The Colors

I think this picture says it all. The colors are breathtaking and beautiful!!

3. Crockpot Cooking

I first introduced you to me Crockpot in my Recipe Review: Maple Ham blog post. This time of year is when I use my crockpot most. I am always on the lookout for good slow cooker recipes. I just love coming home from work, to the smell of dinner already cooked. If you find any good recipes this fall please send them my way.

2. Football!!

I grew up in a family that loves and enjoys sports of all kinds. My parents were athletes and we all have the love of sports in common. As a little girl I would cheer for my Dad's team, which in football was the New York Giants.

When I got married things changed. I could not longer just cheer for my Dad's team, but I wanted to cheer for Jon's team...Denver Broncos. So now I cheer for both!

1. Leaves



The sound that leaves make as they crunch under your feet or as the wind blows through the trees is what tells me that Fall has arrived. Like I said before I love fall colors and I think it is so neat how leaves change colors during this time of year. In the past I have collected Fall leaves and I still think I have some. I never want to forget the beauty of God's creation around me.

Do you love fall like I do? What are some of your reasons why you love fall?