WW Chocolate Applesauce Cake

I tried one other cake recipe this week to take to a dinner party with friends last night and it came from the Weight Watcher's website. It was so moist and had a great texture, everyone there loved it! The portion size was very generous too, I think next time I could cut it up into 12 servings and it would still do quite nicely. 4 points per serving.

Weight Watcher's Chocolate Applesauce Cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup fat-free egg substitute
• 3 Tbsp reduced calorie margarine, melted
• 1 1/3 cups unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup lite whipped topping

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
  
  
• Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and sugar. Beat together egg substitute, margarine and applesauce; blend into dry ingredients.
  
  
• Spoon mixture into pan and smooth top. Bake until cake feels slightly firm in center, about 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into 8 pieces. Top each piece with 1 tablespoon of whipped topping.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
  
  
• Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and sugar. Beat together egg substitute, margarine and applesauce; blend into dry ingredients.
  
  
• Spoon mixture into pan and smooth top. Bake until cake feels slightly firm in center, about 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into 8 pieces. Top each piece with 1 tablespoon of whipped topping.

Guilt-Free Cupcakes

Today is my birthday, Happy Birthday to me! But birthdays mean celebrations, which often mean over-eating and empty calories, but not this year! I have been following Weight Watcher guidelines for just over 2 months now and am on my way to a healthier, skinnier life, and I knew that I still had to have some cake on my birthday, so when I found this recipe for cupcakes, I gave them a try hoping that it would do well enough. But let me tell you, IT WAS SO GOOD! I would eat these cupcakes even if it wasn't my birthday, and even if I wasn't watching my caloric intake! My husband and kids ate them eagerly too, and I'm excited to have another one tomorrow! Each cupcake has only 2 weight watchers points, yeah!


Guilt-Free Cupcakes

• 2 cups moist-style cake mix (1/2 of an 18.25-ounce box), I used cherry chip
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin
• 1/3 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute
• 2 Tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup (I used reduced sugar)
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
  

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Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all cupcake ingredients in a mixing bowl with 1/3 cup of water. Whip with a whisk or fork for 2 minutes until well blended.

Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with baking cups. Evenly spoon batter into muffin cups.

Place pan in the oven and cook for about 12 minutes (until cupcakes have puffed up but still appear a little gooey on top).

Top with low-fat or fat-free whipped topping.

This recipe is adapted from the Hungry Girl website, click here for a link to the original recipe. I had to make a few adjustments to the recipe based on what I had in my pantry, but I'd love to try the original version too. And now that I'm thinking about it, I bet it would also pretty good with a chocolate cake base. Hmm, anyone have a birthday coming up that I can make more cupcakes for?

Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

I came across this recipe on the Betty Crocker website and thought it looked pretty tasty, so I made it up a few nights ago. It was a wonderful, rich, filling soup with a little kick of spice that tasted great on a cool autumn night! I made a batch of cheddar onion bread in my bread maker to top off the meal, yum!

Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

4	skinless chicken thighs
1	large onion, chopped (1 cup)
2	cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 3/4	cups chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
1	teaspoon ground cumin
1	teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2	teaspoon salt
1/4	teaspoon red pepper sauce
2	cans (15 to 16 oz each) great northern beans, drained, rinsed
1	can (11 oz) white shoepeg corn, drained (I just used yellow corn)
3	tablespoons lime juice
2	tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

	Remove excess fat from chicken. In 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix onion, garlic, broth, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper sauce. Add chicken.
	Cover and cook on Low heat setting 4 to 5 hours.
	Remove chicken from slow cooker. Use 2 forks to remove bones and shred chicken into pieces. Discard bones; return chicken to slow cooker. Stir in beans, corn, lime juice and cilantro. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 15 to 20 minutes or until beans and corn are hot.

Weight Watchers points per serving: 4

WW Au Gratin Potatoes

I found this recipe on the Weight Watchers website and I was BLOWN AWAY by how amazing these potatoes are, so yummy!!! By far the BEST au gratin potatoes I have ever made. I served them with these delicious apple and Gouda cheese chicken sausages from Costco. They are pre-cooked so you only have to reheat them. The potatoes are 3 points a serving and the sausage is another 3 points, so 6 points for the whole dinner! Jarom is already asking when we can have that for dinner again!

Weight Watcher's Au Gratin Potatoes (Serves 8)

Ingredients

	1 spray(s) cooking spray
	1 Tbsp butter
	1 medium onion(s), thinly sliced
	2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
	2 cup(s) fat-free skim milk
	2 pound(s) Yukon Gold potato(es), thinly sliced
	1 cup(s) low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
	1 tsp table salt
	1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 2-quart covered baking dish with cooking spray.
  
  
• Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour; add milk slowly, stirring. Add potatoes and stir to mix. Bring to a boil. Stir in 3/4 cup of cheese, salt and pepper.
  
  
• Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and level out surface. Bake for 1 hour, uncovered. Cover and bake until potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 minutes more.
  
  
• Change oven temperature to broil. Sprinkle remaining cheese over potatoes. Broil 6 inches from the heating element until the cheese is golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces.

Smothered Chicken with Brown Rice

I was thumbing through my Kraft Foods magazine this afternoon and saw a recipe that looked pretty tasty, and when I read over the ingredients, I had everything on hand so I thought I would give it a try! Click here for a link to the original recipe.

I really liked the taste of the meal, although it took longer to make than I expected (about an hour). The recipe said it served 4, but I got a good 6 servings out of it! Weight Watchers points: four servings, 8 points, six servings 6 points.


Smothered Chicken with Brown Rice

• 4 slices bacon (I cooked up 7 or 8 because I know my boys like bacon)
• 4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
• 4 large carrots (1 lb.), thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup fat-free chicken broth, divided (I used 2 bouillon cubes dissolved in 1 cup boiling water)
• 2 oz. cream cheese (I used 3 sections of Laughing Cow cheese)
• 3 cups hot cooked brown rice
  

Cook and stir bacon in large nonstick skillet on medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet and drain on paper towel. Discard drippings.

Add chicken to skillet and cook 5 to 6 minutes on each side until golden brown and done to 165 degrees F. Transfer chicken to plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Add carrots and onions to skillet with 1/2 cup of broth. Cover and simmer 10 min. or until vegetables are tender.

Stir in broth and cream cheese. Cook, uncovered, 2 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is thickening, stirring frequently. Return chicken to skillet and cook 2 minutes or until heated through.

Spoon rice onto serving plate and top with chicken, sauce, and bacon.

Pizza Dough

To say my family loves pizza would be a gross understatement. And I am no different! But since we live relatively far from most decent pizza places, and because we rarely go out to eat anyway, I've been making pizza at home for a few months now. I've used a few different recipes for crust (bread maker, bread stick dough,and biscuit dough to name a few), but I saw this recipe over at Real Mom Kitchen and had to give it a try. First attempt, pretty good, but I spaced it and forgot to add salt. (who does that?!?) Second time, too tough. Third time, perfection! I love how fast this dough is to make and it really tastes good! I made a BBQ chicken pizza the night I took the picture, so it works with all kids of pizza toppings.

Fast and Easy Pizza Dough

*3 cups flour, more or less
1 tablespoon honey, heaping
1 tablespoon oil, heaping
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. (If using a pizza stone, let stone heat for at least 30 minutes in the oven before baking pizza.) Mix all pizza dough ingredients together, except the flour. Add flour and knead for a bit then put into pan (or use a pizza peel and pizza stone). Top dough with sauce and toppings. If baking in a sheet pan, bake for about 12 minutes (checking often) until crust is browned and cheese is golden and bubbly. If baking on the preheated pizza stone, slide pizza onto stone and bake for about 8 minutes. Makes 1 large pizza.

*I found that my dough turned out a lot better and much softer by using less flour, more like 2 1/2 cups. And I bake mine on a pizza stone and don't preheat it since I don't have a peel, and it turns out just fine.

Crepes

A few weeks ago, my mom brought me a big box of apricots, so I spent the next few days making three batches of apricot jam! I love apricot jam, it always reminds me of my childhood since my mom would always make some every summer with the fruit on their big apricot tree.With all that yummy jam, I had to make some crepes for lunch because fresh jam and crepes are about as perfect of a match as you could hope to find! I've seen a few crepes recipes out there that are long and complicated, but these ones are easy to make, only have a few ingredients, are super yummy, and very kid-friendly!

Crepes
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup flour

Whisk the milk and flour, then gradually mix in the flour. Stir until smooth.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat for a few minutes until its nice and hot. Spray a little non-stick spray to coat the surface. Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter in the middle of the skillet, then move the skillet around around to spread the batter around the base of the skillet. Cook for a minute or two, or until you see small bubbles covering most of the crepe. It should look very lightly browned, but not dark. Flip and cook on the other side another minute or until you can shake the skillet gently and it no longer sticks. Turn onto a plate and make your next one.

Then take your finished crepe and spread a spoonful of jam around the crepe, then roll up and serve. You can also fill it with fresh fruit and whipped cream, pudding, Nutella and bananas, or whatever your heart desires!

Enjoy!