Monday, May 24, 2010

Homemade Crescent rolls

Ingredients
4 1/2  tsp active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
 1/2 cup shortening
4 cups bread flour
 1/4 cup butter, softened

Directions
with a bread maker:
Put liquid ingredients in bread maker, then add dry ingredients.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and add yeast, make sure it doesn't come in contact with liquids.  Then put your bread maker on dough cycle.  When that is finished, remove dough from machine.
 Punch down dough. Divide in half. Roll each half into a 12-inch circle. Spread with butter. Cut into 10 to 15 wedge. Roll up the wedges starting with the wide end. Place rolls with point under on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until double (about 1 hour).




Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 12-15 minute or until golden brown. Brush tops with butter when they come out.


or without a bread maker:
Dissolve yeast in warm water.
Stir in sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in remaining flour until smooth. Scrape dough from side of bowl. Knead dough, then cover it and let rise in a warm place until double (about 1-1/2 hours).

Punch down dough. Divide in half. Roll each half into a 12-inch circle. Spread with butter. Cut into 10 to 15 wedge. Roll up the wedges starting with the wide end. Place rolls with point under on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until double (about 1 hour).
Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 12-15 minute or until golden brown. Brush tops with butter when they come out.

I was a bit iffy to try them out but these were super yummy!!  I make mini pigs-in-a-blanket with these rolls and they turned out  yummy.  They are a little thicker than the store bought canned stuff, but I loved them!!  I think these are going to be replacing the ones I usually buy at the store.

The total point value for this recipe is around 68 pts.  When I made mine it made about 24 rolls, I made them smaller.  So each roll is a little under 3 pts. each.

Chicken Stir-Fry

4 chicken breast halves-cut into slices
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp fresh minced ginger
3 tbs. cornstarch
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 pkg frozen stir-fry vegetables (or any veggies you like)
1 tbs. sesame seed oil

Mix cornstarch and 1 cup broth in a bowl and set aside.
Stir-fry chicken strips in oil until done.  Remove from pan.  Mix soy sauce, ginger, 1 cup broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder. Place in skillet.  Add the vegetables and cook until starts to boil.  Add cornstarch mixture and stir until it starts to thicken.  Add chicken.  Serve over rice.

This was pretty good.  I served it over brown rice and thought it was delish!  You can do a lot with this recipe.  It would be great with beef or pork too!  You can add more seasonings if you'd like.  It just depends on how strong a flavor you like.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Black Bean Brownies

I love these (hence the reason half the brownies are gone and I just made them this morning)!!  I had some black bean brownies awhile ago and I wasn't too keen on them, I think it was the person who made tham didn't know how to cook right.  I found this recipe and decided to give it a whirl since I have tons of cans of black beans sitting in my cupboard. 

1 can black beans, drained
3 eggs
3 tbs oil
1/3 c. cocoa + 1 tbs
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 c. sugar + 2 tbs
1 tsp. baking soda
 chocolate chips (optional)

preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease 8-in pan with cooking spray.  Puree the beans in either a food processor or use a potato masher.  combines beans, oil, cocoa, vanilla, sugar, soda until smooth.  gradually mix in eggs. add chocolate chips if desired
pour into pan.  let bake for about 30-40 minutes, until center comes out clean when poked with knife or toothpick. sprinkle chocolate chips over top an dlet melt (if desired)

These have a dark chocolate taste to them so I love it!!  You can't even taste the beans.  Because of the soda they have a cake-like texture.  Plus, since beans are used and not a whole lot of oil these are a much healtheir alternative.  I'm not sure on the point value but I think it is around 1 point per serving, and it has 16 servings.  Enjoy!!!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

I love this one!!  So does my family.  My husband told me it tasted almost like Marie Calendar's.  Huge compliment since he loves those!  I have been toying around with homemade pot pie recipes for awhile now and so far, this is the best one!  I got the recipe from http://www.freezerdinner.com/.

Chicken Pot Pie
Yield: 2 pot pies (6 to 8 servings each)
4 cups cubed cooked chicken (ham, shredded beef or turkey)
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups sliced carrots
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup flour
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tsp pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1½ cups milk
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
pastry for two double-crust 9-inch pies (you can buy the ready made crust or make your own, I make my own, I'll put the recipe at the bottom.

Boil potatoes and carrots in a large stockpot. In another pot, boil cubed chicken for 8 minutes. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer vegetables for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain vegetables and chicken and set aside.
In a large skillet, sauté onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, thyme, and pepper until blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add the chicken, peas, corn, potatoes, and carrots. Remove from heat.

Line two 9-inch pie plates with bottom pastry; trim even with edge of plate. Fill pastry shells with chicken mixture. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pies. Cut slits or decorative cutouts in pastry. Place over filling; trim, seal and style the edges. Bake one pot pie at 425ºF for 35 to 40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.
To serve frozen pie: Cover edges of frozen piecrust with foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 425ºF for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350ºF and bake for 70 to 80 minutes longer, or until crust is golden brown.


For the veggies, you can use a bag of mixed frozen veggies and have whatever kind your family prefers.  Alos, if you simmer the chicken in some chicken broth, it gives it a yummy flavor!




Buttery Pie crust


Yield: four 9-inch pie crusts

5 1/3 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup shortening
1 1/3 cups (2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons) butter, cubed
1 cup ice water

Mix together the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the shortening and cubed butter cut it in until it's flaky. Add the ice-cold water a few tablespoons at a time. Mix until it begins to clump together. Stop and feel the dough; it should be just moist enough that it can clump together. If necessary, add more water by teaspoonfuls. The dough should not form a ball; it should remain flaky.

With floured hands, divide it into 4 wedges. Shape each wedge into a disk shape, wrap each plastic and place all four disks in a large zip-top freezer bag, label it “Pie crust, 400ºF, 35-40 minutes,” and freeze.

To Serve

Remove one (or two, if making a double crust) pie-dough disk from the freezer and warm in the microwave until pliable. (20-30 seconds). Roll dough out using a sheet of plastic wrap on top and bottom to keep it from sticking to the counter or roller. Peel off one layer of the plastic wrap and place the dough in a 9-inch pie pan. Then peal off the top layer of plastic wrap. If you are adding a top crust, place the filling in and add the crust on top. Make 2 or 3 slits in the top and pinch the dough around the edges using your thumb and two fingers (from the other hand) to give it a finished look. Bake on the bottom wrack at 400ºF for 35-40 minutes.

If your recipe calls for a pre-baked crust, preheat the oven to 400ºF and prick the dough all over with a fork. Line the crust with foil and place a cup of dry rice or beans (or use pie weights) in the foil to weigh it down. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove crust from the oven, cool for a few minutes, and carefully remove the foil and rice, beans, or weights. Reduce the heat to 350ºF and cook for an additional 10 minutes, until the crust is golden. Cool completely before filling.

Revamping

I am going to be redoing a few things on my site.  I'm not going to include only Weight Watcher recipes, but all kinds. I am lately getting on a bread making kick and freezer meal kick.  Which I guess are healthy ways too.  Homemade bread doesn't have all the preservatives and whatnot in it.  We just bought a deep freeze so I have been trying to make some meals that I can freeze for later, which will save us some money in the long run.  Freezing your own meals is a healthier alternative to fast food and pizza on the nights you don't feel like cooking.  I also got a big new crock pot for Mother's Day so I'm going to include some yummy crock pot recipes too.  I will try to put the point values on what I can, but not everything will have, but I guarantee that everything I put on here will be yummy!!!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Orange Chicken

I got this yummy recipe from my friend Jen (http://jensyummycreations.blogspot.com/):

(I also got the picture from her website since I forgot to take one.  Mine looked the same except had the different colored peppers)

2 chicken breasts, cubed.
3/4 c. apricot preserves
1/4 c. Catalina dressing (Fat free or light)
1/2 onion soup mix
1 can pineapple tidbits (save 1/2 juice for cooking veggies)
red, yellow, orange, or green peppers, about 1 cup chopped
1/2 med. sweet onion chopped


Directions:

Saute pineapple, onion, and green pepper in juice of pineapple for about 6 minutes. Add onion soup, preserves, and dressing. Mix. Take off heat and mix in chicken. Cook "concoction" in a 9x9 pan at 350 for 30ish minutes, or until chicken is cooked.

Serve over rice and with a side of lo mein (that recipe coming soon as as I can get it the way I want it)

It is about 5 pts. for a 4oz piece of chicken (if SF dressing is used).  My hubby even liked it and he doesn't like "diet" food.  THis is definately something I will make more