Pineapple Pie

Pineapple Pie with a Pecan Crumb topping.

A lite easy to make pie.
 

 1 20 oz. crushed pineapple with juice..

2 4oz tidbits. 

3/4 cup Apriva no calorie sugar. 

3 Tbl cornstarch. 

 1 Tbl lemon juice

1 pastry pie shell.

Topping....

1/2 cup Bisquick.

1/4 cup Swerve, brown sugar replacement. 0 calories

2 Tbl light margarine. 

1/2 cup Pecan pieces.

Mix together until clumpy. 

Preheat over to 425.

In a saucepan combine sugar, cornstarch, pineapple with juice, tidbits, drained, and lemon juice.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened, then allow to boil 1 minute. 

Cool slightly and pour into pastry lined pie pan.

Either cover with top pastry, or use crumb topping.

Place in preheated oven and bake 45 minutes. 

Serve chilled or room temp.

Skinny Breakfast Casserole

Skinny Breakfast Bake
A delicious breakfast!

1 20 0z sweet Italian turkey Sausage.
1 medium bell pepper, chopped.
1 medium onion, chopped.
1 box frozen spinach, thawed.
2 cups shredded hash brown potatoes.
2 cups shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese.
1 cup Bisquick.
2 cups 1% milk.
1/2 teaspoon salt.
1/4 teaspoon pepper.
6 eggs.

Heat oven to 400.
Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
In a 10 inch skillet, cook sausage, bell pepper, and onion over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sausage is no longer pink. Drain.
Stir together sausage mixture, potatoes, spinach and 1 cup of cheese in baking dish.
In medium, bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk, salt, pepper, and eggs until blended.
Pour into baking dish.
Bake uncovered 34-40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake 1-4 minutes longer, or until cheese is melted.
Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
8-10 servings. Approx. 220-320 calories per serving as made.

I must say, we've tried other breakfast casseroles, but this one is really good!

Zucchini Salad

Zucchini Salad.
I tasty alternative to lettuce salads.    :-)

Ingredients.
2 medium zucchini, spiralized or cut into noodles.
1/2 of a hot house cucumber sliced into half moons.
2 medium tomatoes cut into small wedges.
1/4 medium red onion sliced thinly into half moons.
2 1/2 ounces of feta cheese.
15 olives halved.

Dressing.
1/4 cup Greek yogurt.
1/4 teaspoon minced garlic.
1 tablespoon feta cheese.
1 tablespoon lemon juice.
1 tablespoon olive oil.
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce.
1/2 teaspoon honey.

Cut Zucchini into fine long 'noodles'. I use a spiral slicer.

Add zucchini noodles, cucumber, tomato, red onion,feta cheese and olives to a large bowl.
Toss with 2/3 of the dressing. Add more dressing if needed.
Enjoy right away, or store in fridge up to a day.

Tasty!

Cucumber, onion and tomato salad

Cucumber, onion and tomato salad.
This is one tasty dish!  Simple and delish!

Ingredients.....
2 med cucumbers peeled and sliced 1/4 inch.
1 med onion sliced, cut rings in half and separate.
3 med tomatoes cut into wedges.
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Combine veggies in one bowl and all other ingredients in another. Mix liquids well and add to veggies and stir until well coated. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
Enjoy!

Slow-Cooker Spicy Cheddar Chicken Cornbread

 Slow-Cooker Spicy Cheddar Chicken Cornbread

yummy!



Chicken Mixture
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (8 oz)
1 can (10 1/2 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1 package (1 oz) Old El Paso original taco seasoning mix
3 green onions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
2 jalapeño chiles, seeded and finely chopped (1/3 cup)
Cornbread Topping
1 pouch (6.5 oz) Betty Crocker cornbread & muffin mix
1 can (14.75 oz) cream style sweet corn
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted



    1.   Spray 5-quart oval slow cooker with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix chicken, cheese, soup, milk and taco seasoning mix. Stir in green onion whites and jalapeño chiles. Pour into slow cooker; spread evenly.
    2.   In medium bowl, mix cornbread & muffin mix, corn and egg. Stir in melted butter. Pour evenly over chicken mixture. Place folded, clean dish towel under cover of cooker. This will prevent condensation from dripping down onto cornbread.
    3.  Cover; cook on Low heat setting 3 to 4 hours or until instant-read thermometer inserted in center of mixture reads at least 165°F and toothpick inserted in center of cornbread comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Top with green onion greens.
Now of course, we used 2% cheese and fat free milk and skipped the chiles. And still delicious!

taco cups

A very tasty twist to regular tacos!

Servings: 12 taco cups

1 pound lean ground beef
1 envelope (3 tablespoons) taco seasoning
6 ounces diced tomatoes
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
6 large flour tortillas
PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 375º F.
2. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and drain any remaining fat. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Add taco seasoning, tomatoes and green chiles to the ground beef and stir to combine.
4. Cut flour tortillas into a square shape and cut each into 4 smaller equally sized square pieces.
5. Generously coat a standard size muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
6. Line each cup of prepared muffin tin with a tortilla sheet.
7. Add 1.5 tablespoons taco mixture. Top with 1 tablespoon of cheese. Press down and add another layer of tortilla sheet, taco mixture, and a final layer of cheese.
8. Lightly brush the top edges of the tortilla with cooking oil.
9. Bake 18-20 minutes until cups are heated through and edges are golden brown.
10. Enjoy!

French Onion Pork Chop Skillet

French Onion Pork Chop Skillet
This is an easy, one pan meal!

6 boneless pork chops, 1/2 inch thick.
2 onions, thinly sliced.
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce.
1 pkg. (6oz.) stove top stuffing mix.
1 1/2 cups hot water.
1 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese.

 

 Cook chops and onions in a large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 8 min.,  turning chops and stirring onions after 4 min. Remove chops from skillet. (chops will not be done)

Cook onions additional 5 min. or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Stir in Worcestershire sauce. Return chops to skillet: spoon onion mixture over chops.

Combine stuffing mix and water; spoon around edge of skillet. Top chops and stuffing with cheese; cover. Cook 5 min. or until cheese is melted and chops are done. Remove from heat. Let stand 3 min. before serving.

Serve with sides of your choice.

Crock-pot pork chops

Crock-pot pork chops

This has got to be the simplest, tastiest recipe!
1 pkg pork cutlets, bonless.
1 can cream of chicken soup.
1 pkg ranch style dressing mix, dry.

Layer pork in bottom of crockpot.
Add cream of chicken soup.
Sprinkle with ranch dressing.
Cover and cook on low 6 hrs or high 4 hours.
Remaining sauce is great for gravy on mashed potatoes!

Cheesy Chicken Casserole

Cheesy Chicken Casserole
This was one really tasty meal!

Ingredients:
2 packages of thin chicken breasts.
a few slices of prosciutto.
a half bag of fresh spinach.
an 8oz. package of mushrooms.
1 envelope Lipton Recipe Secrets Savory Herb and Garlic.
 1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup olive oil.
8 oz. shredded Swiss or mozzarella.

Preheat oven to 375.
spray a 13x9 pan with Pam. Craig used a 11x11.

Layer chicken breasts in pan. Craig diced his chicken.

Cover with prosciutto, spinach and mushrooms.
Whisk together olive oil, wine and savory herb envelope, then pour over everything.

Lightly cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove foil, top with cheese and bake 5 minute more.
Now when Craig took the foil off, there was so much liquid, he drained it off before adding cheese. I think next time he'll saute the mushrooms first to eliminate a lot of the water.

Pared with roasted asparagus for a delicious meal!

We even had enough for leftovers!

Brat and Tot bake

This recipe came from Taste of Home magazine. As usual, Craig modified it a bit to get it a lot less fat.

Ingredients

• 1 pound uncooked Hot Italian Turkey Sausage, casings removed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1 package (32 ounces) frozen Tater Tots
• 2 cups (16 ounces) light sour cream
• 2 cups (8 ounces) 2% shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

• Crumble sausage into a large skillet; add onion. Cook over medium
• heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the soup.
• Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Top with Tater Tots
• and sour cream. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350°
• for 35-40 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. Let
• stand for 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 6 servings.
• 
  

We served it with steamed broccoli. It was good!

Honey-Sriracha Chicken Foil Packet

A quick and easy dinner!

Ingredients

1/2 cup uncooked instant brown rice 

1/2 cup water

1 box (7 oz) Green Giant™ healthy weight frozen vegetables (sliced carrots, sugar snap peas, black beans and edamame lightly tossed with butter sauce), thawed.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (from 20-oz package)

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

11/2 tablespoon Sriracha sauce 

Directions

• 1. Heat oven to 350°F. In small bowl, mix rice and water. Soak 5 minutes; drain. Stir in thawed vegetables.
• 2. Cut 4 (10x12-inch) sheets of heavy-duty foil. Spray center of one side of each with cooking spray. Spoon one-fourth of the rice mixture on center of each sheet. Top each with 1 chicken breast.
• 3. In small bowl, mix honey, lime juice and Sriracha sauce. Spoon evenly over chicken.
• 4. Bring up 2 sides of foil so edges meet. Seal edges, making tight 1/2-inch fold; fold again, allowing space for heat circulation and expansion. Fold other sides to seal. Place packets on ungreased cookie sheet with sides.
• 5. Bake about 30 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (at least 165°F). Let stand 5 minutes.

Okay, first off, one box of frozen veggies is no where enough for 4 servings. We used 2 boxes and could have used 3. We like veggies.
Second, we upped the rice to 3/4 cup and the water to 3/4 cup.
Every thing else we followed.
Easy and tasty!

Kale chips

Tried a new thing. Kale chips. And they were yummy!
I was skeptical, as how could  dried leaves taste like anything. But I was wrong!

Start with a bunch of Kale.

Cut out the center vein.

Cut into roughly 2 in pieces.

Discard the veins.

Rinse well to remove any grit, and lightly dry on paper towels.

Lightly toss with a tablespoon of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt.

Bake at 290 for about 15-30 minutes, watching closely until they become dry and crisp.

Don't over cook, or you'll end up with burnt chips. Use a spatula to loosen them from the pan and slide them into a bowl.
And I must say, they are as addicting as potato chips, only way better for you.  :-)

Mexican Pizza

Yummy! Mexican pizza!

Got this recipie off the internet, and it was a hit!  Very tasty!
Now of course, Craig 'modified' it, as he tends to do.   :-)
1/2 pound of lean ground beef.
1/2 can refried beans.
1 medium onion, diced.
4 9in flour tortillas.
1/2 cup salsa.
2 cups lite 3 cheese blend.
2 green onions, chopped.
2 roma tomatoes, diced.
1/4 cup black pitted olives.


Preheat oven to 350.
Place meat, and onion in a skillet over medium heat. Cook until beef is evenly browned. Drain off grease. Add taco seasoning.
Coat 2 pie plates with non-stick cooking spray.
Place one tortilla in each pie plate and cover with a layer of re-fried beans. Spread half of the seasoned meat mixture over each tortilla and cover with second tortilla.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.
Spread half of the salsa over the top tortillas. Top each with half of the cheese, tomatoes,green onions, and olives. Return to oven , bake until cheese is melted, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. slice each pizza into 4 pieces and serve.

Easy homemade coleslaw

Easy homemade coleslaw.
Super easy! Super quick! Super tasty!
And a low calorie and low sugar substitute.

1 package coleslaw mix. Or shred your own cabbage and carrots.
4 oz. fat free Greek yogurt.
4 oz. light miracle whip.
1 Tbl cider vinegar.
2 tsp sugar substitute.
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard.
   
Mix last 5 ingredients together and add to coleslaw mix. Stir well, and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

open faced chicken meatball sandwich

Chicken meatball open faced sandwich.
We used Chicken meatballs for this recipe. You could also use turkey meatballs or beef if you like.
 These were a bit expensive, but a much better diet choice. :-)

This is a simple recipe, and oh so good!

1 package meatballs.

1 jar marinara sauce.

 2 sub buns, cut in half.

2% shredded mozzarella cheese.

      In a sauce pan, heat sauce and meatballs until hot and bubbly.

Spread some of the  sauce on buns.

Cut meatballs in half, and place along bun.

Top with more sauce.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Place in a pre-heated oven, (350) until cheese is melted.

Serve warm.
We had this with our home made coleslaw.

Grilled Zucchini, Onion, and Red Peppers with grilled Pork Cutlets and grill baked Potatoes

If you love grilling, and who doesn't! You're going to LOVE this!

4 zucchini
2 red peppers
1 large onion
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/8 cup chopped basil
1/8 cup chopped oregano

Trim the ends of the zucchini. cut in long 1/4 inch slabs.
Trim, core and stem the red peppers. Cut length-wise into 1-2 inch slabs.
Peel onion and lay on its side. Cut 1/4 -1/2 inch slab circles.
Place veggies on a baking sheet. Combine all other ingredients and drizzle over veggies.
Place veggies on a hot grill. I used a grill tray to keep from losing veggies through the grill racks.
Cook on both sides until tender and slightly blackened. Brush with remaining oil/vinegar mix when you turn them.

We pared them with grilled pork cutlets, and grill baked potatoes for a scrumptious meal!

Marinated Chicken wings

Marinated Chicken wings

 These wings were also boiled first to remove extra fat.
This recipe makes for a glazed wing, that dries nicely as it cooks.
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ginger
2-4 lbs chicken wings
Combine all ingredients in a zip-lock bag, marinate wings 24-48 hrs, turning bag several times. Place wings skin side up on lightly greased cookie sheet, or on a grill rack to drain excess marinade. Bake at 350 for 1-1 1/2 hrs

tasty, boiled and baked chicken wings

Here's a healthier way to enjoy crispy chicken wings.
The secret is to boil them first to remove fat so they crisp better in the oven.
I bought a 4lb bag of frozen plain wings.
Fill a large pot 3/4 full of water.
Bring to a boil.
Add wings.
Bring back to boil, partial cover, and boil for 15 minutes.
Scoop out wings into a colander to drain and cool.

Look at all the fat that boiled out of the wings!
While the wings are boiling, fill a resealable bag with.....
!/2 cup flour and any seasonings you want.
I used 3 Tablespoons of garlic powder and 3 Tbl Cajun seasoning.
 Add drained and cooled wings to bag, seal and toss to coat.
Important! Place pan in fridge for 45 minutes up to an hour to  give flour time to meld to the wings.
preheat oven to 450.
Pull pan out of fridge.

For this batch, I left half of the wings floured, the other half I put in a bag with barbecue sauce and re coated them.
Spray floured wings with a butter cooking spray to help brown while cooking.
Cook wings for 40 minutes, turning once.

Believe me. They were as tasty as they look!
The barbecue wings burned a bit, but were still good. I think next time, I'll turn the temp down to 425.

Smokey Cauliflower

A tasty twist on cauliflower.
Roasting veggies gives them an entirely different flavor.
 1 large head of cauliflower, broken onto 1-in. florets.
 2 Tbsp olive oil.
 1 tsp smoked paprika.
 3/4 tsp. salt.
 2 garlic cloves, minced. Or 2 tsp. minced garlic
 2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley.
 1. Place cauliflower in a bowl. Mix oil, paprika, garlic and salt. Drizzle over cauliflower; toss to coat.

 

 Transfer to a 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake, uncovered at 450 for 20-25 minutes or until cauliflower is tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with parsley. 

 

Apricot-Onion pork

Apricot-Onion Pork Cutlets

Ingredients...
4 pork cutlets.
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme.
1/2 teaspoon salt.
2 tablespoons olive oil.
1 tablespoon butter. (or butter cooking spray)
1 onion thinly sliced.
1/2 cup canned low sodium chicken broth.
2 tablespoons Apricot jam.
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard.

Preparation...

Sprinkle both sides of pork with thyme and salt.
Warm oil over medium-high heat in a large heavy skillet.
Cook pork, turning once, until well browned on both sides, about 3 minutes total.
Transfer to a plate.
Add butter to pan and melt. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add broth, jam and mustard and bring to a boil, stirring. Cover, lower heat and simmer until onion is very soft, about 5 minutes.
Return pork to pan, cover with sauce and serve immediately.

And I forgot to get a pic when we served it, so this is a pic of the leftover with asparagus and steamed carrots we'll have in a couple of days.  :-)