Sweet Dumpling Squash

You know how excited I get when I find a new-to-me vegetable?

I found another one!

This was just waiting for me at Wal-Mart.

It's a Sweet Dumpling squash.  The interesting thing about this is that it's shaped like an acorn squash but has the coloring of a delicata squash.

Isn't it pretty?!

I made something very similar to a recipe I previously made that you can find here. 

To prepare the squash this time I cut it in half, seeded it and placed it on a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

I baked this at 425 F for 45-50 minutes.  

Quite honestly I wasn't planning on posting the stuffing but it turned out so good I went ahead and put it out there.

The only down side is that I don't have a lot of photos for you.  

Nevertheless, here's the stuffing I made up~

Ingredients

1 lb 93% fat free ground turkey

1 red pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz of sliced mushrooms

1 small, diced tomato

1 cup Jasmine rice, cooked

1 medium zucchini, diced

Taco spice and chili powder to taste

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp cumin

8 oz tomato sauce

Instructions

I browned the ground turkey and then added in the garlic and peppers.  Cook this for 5-7 minutes on medium heat.  

Then I added in spices to taste- taco spice(I'm approximating 2 Tbps), 1/2 tsp or so of onion powder, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 Tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin.

Stir that up and then add in your tomato sauce, tomatoes and mushrooms.  Let this cook for at least ten minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Next add in the zucchini and cook for 5 minutes.  I like my zucchini al dente.  No mushy zucchini for me please.

Finally, throw in the rice and stir to mix.  

Stuff each of your squash halves.  

I set the stuffing to serve 4 which is pretty generous.  

This comes out to 5 pts and let me tell you, the girl who never seems to get full, yours truly, was STUFFED!!!

Word to the wise~ if you are having trouble getting full make this meal!!!

You will be pleasantly full.

And, it tastes wonderful!!!  

It was one of those times that after I made it I said to myself "Why don't I make this more often?".

And, the bottom line on the squash?

It's FANTASTIC!!!!

I really thought is was sweeter and more smooth than the acorn squash.

The flavors blended so well with this stuffing too!

This recipe is a keeper at my house and I hope it will be one in your house too. :)

Happy Cooking!

Weight Watcher's 1-2-3 Chocolate Supreme Mug Cake

I've seen so many people posting this mug cake on CONNECT recently that I knew this was another must try.

It certainly couldn't be easier to make this chocolate mug cake.

You simply pour the pouch of cake mix into an 8 oz mug, add 3 Tsp of water, stir and cook for one minute.

1-2-3 done!

I plopped this out so you could see it better.

I also sprayed my mug with cooking spray first but it still stuck a bit.

So, overall I thought this was okay.

It was a little too dry for me.

I added 2 Tsp of whip cream but that wasn't enough.

Next time I will add 1/2 cup of vanilla Halo Top ice cream.  

I have a feeling that would be really good.

The good news is that it's only 3 points which is lower than some of the homemade mug cakes I've done.

This also comes with three packets so you get three cakes out of the box you buy.

It's worth a try but make sure you have that Halo Top on hand!

A Quick Hello

Today I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my WW buddy Ronay.

With a gentle heart, kind words and fierce determination she is an inspiration.  

I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks and just wanted to say I miss you!

Your WW buddies and I wanted to send along our love.

I hope this note finds you well.  <3 

Carrie & All of your friends at WW  

Dashing Dish's Cheesy Cauliflower Gartin

Well, it seems real life has been a prevalent theme in my posts lately and today is no exception.

I made this up after I got home from church while I was simultaneously bombarded with requests from my son.

So, while I cut up a nectarine and made a grilled cheese sandwich for him I was also trying to make this dish and prep my lunch and snacks for Monday.

It was too much.

This turned out more like mashed potatoes, which wasn't bad, but it wasn't what the recipe was intended to be.

Word to the wise- don't over boil your cauliflower and don't cook while you're distracted!



Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower

2 cups water

1 cup plain Greek yogurt(or low fat sour cream or low fat cottage cheese)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1 tsp dried, minced onion

1/2 tsp prepared mustard

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp sweetener that measures like sugar(I used Truvia)


Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray.  Wash the cauliflower and cut it into bite-size pieces.  Place the cauliflower in a large pot and add the water.

Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 8-10 minutes or until the cauliflower is just starting to get tender, NOT mushy!

Drain the cauliflower in a colander and place in a large bowl.

Mix the yogurt, 1/2 cup Cheddar, 1/4 cup Parmesan, minced onion, mustard, pepper, salt, garlic powder, and sweetener together in a small bowl.  (Or you can use a large one like I did and then throw in the cauliflower to mix it together.)

Add the sauce to the cauliflower and stir until well combined.  Pour into the prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar and the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan over the cauliflower.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the topping is lightly golden brown.

Serve warm.

So, even though mine was more like mashed potatoes instead of distinct florets it still tasted good.

Next time I'll make sure to do one thing at a time.

This recipe serves 8 and comes out to 3 points per serving.  

Happy Cooking!

Dashing Dish's Chicken Parmesan Muffins

This is another recipe from The Dashing Dish Cookbook by Katie Farrell.

Let's just say I checked this out at the library so much I finally broke down and said, clearly I need to buy this one.

I've loved every recipe I've tried out of her cookbook.

The only downside is that the points aren't already figured for you.

It's a small price to pay for really decadent, plan friendly recipes.  Ahhh.....


Ingredients

5 oz fresh spinach(or 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry)

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tsp minced garlic(or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

1 lb lean ground chicken(or extra-lean ground turkey or beef)

1/2 cup liquid egg whites

1 cup canned diced tomatoes drained(She used one with basil, garlic, and oregano.  I didn't)

1/4 cup old-fashioned oats

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese divided(I like using an Asiago & Romano blend from Target)

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/8 tsp salt

Pinch of black pepper

1 cup marinara or spaghetti sauce(I used Classico brand Tomato & Basil)

Fresh or dried parsley for garnish(optional)


Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line a 12-cup muffin tin with foil or silicone liners and spray with cooking spray.(You could also use a loaf pan if you prefer to make this recipe into a meatloaf.).
I used a non-stick muffin tin without any liners.  Man, I hope it doesn't stick! lol

In a small saute pan cook the spinach, onions, and garlic over medium heat until the onions are translucent.  Let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl combine the ground chicken, spinach mixture, egg whites, diced tomatoes, oats, only 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

Don't over-mix this or the meat will be tough.

Divide the mixture among the muffin cups(about 1/4 cup per muffin cup) or put the mixture in a loaf pan.

Top each muffin with 2 Tbsp of the marinara sauce.  Divide the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan among the 12 muffins.

I like this Asiago & Romano Blend

Bake for 35-40 minutes(or 45-55 minutes for a loaf pan), or until each meatloaf reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees and is no longer pink in the middle.

Remove from the oven and allow the meat to rest for 5 minutes before slicing or serving.

Garnish with parsley if desired.

So..... mine was a big mess!  Look!  Marinara everywhere!  I'm not sure what I did wrong.

Her picture shows nice, neat little individual muffins and everything's perfect.

Not mine but I'm okay with that.  Sometimes life in this house is like an old Saturday Night Live skit, "Lower Your Standards!".  lol

Obviously this yields 12 muffins.  These come out to 2 points a piece.

You can decide how many you want to devour. ;)

The good news?  They slid out really easily.  Probably all that liquid!  har har

And, they tasted great!  Sometimes I think these lean, ground chicken recipes can be really dry and bland but this one isn't.

It's delish!

Another great recipe from The Dashing Dish to add to my repertoire.

Even if it's a little bit messy it's definitely worth a try.

Happy Cooking!!!

Hungry Girl's Skillet Swedish Meatball Madness

I am so excited to tell you that Hungry Girl, Lisa Lillien, has a new book out.

It's Hungry Girl Clean & Hungry OBSESSED!

Mine was pre-ordered and arrived last week and I also had our local library purchase this so other members close by could check it out for free.

I've been waiting to find time to try one her her new recipes.

First, a quick word about Hungry Girl.

If you don't already subscribe to her daily newsletter I would highly recommend it!

She shares fantastic recipes, product finds and lifestyle tips.

In addition, she lists all the Smart Points for every recipe on her website.

If you buy the book you'll notice the points aren't listed.  This is for copyright reasons but you can easily find them by going to her website and clicking on the picture of her new book.

This will take you to another page where you'll see the option to click on a link that will list all the points.

This particular recipe is 5 points per serving.  Each serving is 5 meatballs with sauce or 1/4th of the recipe.


Ingredients

Sauce

2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

2 Tbsp whole wheat flour

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup sliced mushrooms

2 Tbsp light/reduced fat cream cheese

2 tsp whipped butter


Meatballs

1 lb raw extra-lean ground beef(I used turkey)

1/4 cup whole-wheat panko

1/4 cup whole-wheat panko breadcrumbs

1/3 cup egg whites(about 3 large eggs worth)

1/2 tsp garlic powder(I used 3/4 tsp)

1/4 tsp each salt and black pepper

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg


Instructions

To make the sauce, in a large bowl, combine broth, flour, mustard, and vinegar.  Whisk until uniform.

Bring an extra-large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat.  Add onion and mushrooms.  Cook and stir until slightly softened, about 4 minutes(I cooked mine about 10 minutes, stirring frequently).

Transfer to the large bowl.

In a second large bowl, thoroughly mix meatball ingredients.  Firmly and evenly form into 20 meatballs.

Clean skillet, if needed.  Re-spray, and return to medium-high heat.  Place meaballs in the skillet.  Cook and rotate until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium low.  Carefully add sauce, coating the meatballs.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked through.

That's the whole recipe however I decided to also roast a spaghetti squash to enjoy with this.

I mean, doesn't this just look like it's supposed to go over pasta?

I also know myself well enough to know that alone will not fill me up.

So, I cut a spaghetti squash in half, seeded it and roasted it face down on a foil lined and sprayed baking sheet.

I baked it at 450 F for one hour.

When it was cool enough to handle I forked out a portion and ladled over my meatballs and sauce.

This was delicious!

Notes about cooking~  to be honest, it was kind of a pain to have to cook the meatballs in the skillet. 

Next time I'm going to try cooking them first in the oven and then add them into the sauce.  Even though I used a nonstick skillet and sprayed it with cooking spray they still seemed to stick and it was tedious to have to stand there and turn them each to brown on all sides.  It took a lot longer than she said it would.  I would also likely use some herbs in the meatball mix next time.  It just seems unnatural not to have herbs in that mix somehow.  :)

Those issues aside this recipe was great and has great potential.

My husband commented on how good it was but also how much food there was when I included the spaghetti squash.

So, give this a try and check out Lisa's new book!  It's sure to be another winner.  

Happy Cooking!

Skinnytaste Turkey Burgers with Zucchini & a Side of Veggies Please!

This whole plate is only 3 pts!

I have heard about these burgers over and over and over on CONNECT.

Apparently everyone loves them so I had to try them for myself.

I'll have to apologize for a less than stellar presentation however.

I didn't realize I didn't have buns for them until I was finished.  It's called run like crazy all day until I pick up my son day!

So, here's a scoop of real life at my house.

Things definitely don't routinely look perfect or put together.

In addition, I decided to roast some 0 point veggies to fill up with.

I found these beautiful Golden beets at Wal-Mart today!

I couldn't wait to try them.  If you think you don't like beets consider trying them fresh roasted.

I hate the ones out of the can but fresh roasted are fantastic!

Also, I have to apologize for my lack of pictures.  This was a spur of the moment thing and I forgot to start taking pictures until I had gotten well into the recipe.

It's incredibly easy though so even if you don't feel confident in the kitchen you're still likely to succeed. ;)


Here we go~

Ingredients

5 oz grated zucchini(4.25 oz if you've already squeezed the liquid out)

1 lb 93% lean ground turkey

1/4 cup seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs

1 clove grated garlic(I used minced roasted garlic because it's what I had on hand)

1 Tbsp grated red onion(I used yellow)

1 tsp kosher salt & fresh ground pepper

Oil spray


Instructions

I decided to use the George Foreman grill my mom gave us.  My husband has used this but I never had and thought it was time to dive in.

I sprayed the grill with olive oil spray and let it warm up.

While the grill was warming I used my hands to gently wring out any liquid from the zucchini.

This is different than what she mentions on the recipe but it works for me and it's kind of the lazy girl's way out.

In a medium to large bowl combine the zucchini with all the remaining ingredients and mix it well with your hands.

Yes, you will get messy hands but you know what they say?  Best tools in the kitchen are your hands!

Don't be afraid to use them!!!

Make this into 5 equal patties.  These are around 4.5 oz each.

If you're using a grill like I am you cook them for 5 minutes total.  If you're using a regular grill it's more like 5 minutes per side, flipping them after the first 5 minutes.

Let me tell you this grill was dummy proof!  I loved this thing!  I also love that you can remove the grill plates for easy cleaning.

And, to think it's just been more or less collecting dust in my cabinet.

I'm not sure I'll be motivated to use the regular grill now.

You're looking at 3 points of yum!

There was a recipe I used to make that was very similar.  It was Jamie Eason's Italian Turkey burgers.

I really compared these to those and I have to tell you, these definitely tasted better and they're a whole lot easier!

Yes!  Another win!

I have to confess, I don't like a lot of extras on my burger.  I'm pretty picky but I know most other people do like lots of condiments and so forth.

This would be great on a Sara Lee 2 pt bun. I could even handle it with dill pickles and some GATES BBQ sauce.  Mmmmm....  

I'll remember that for next time when I'm much more organized.  

For the veggies I just set the oven to 450 F and then chopped up one whole yellow onion, both of my beautiful Golden beets, a head of broccoli, one red bell pepper, 8 oz of mushrooms, and a zucchini.

I tossed them and sprayed them with olive oil and roasted them for one hour until there was a slight char.

These are all FREE!!!!  Woo hoo!  

And, they're beautiful!

Gotta love when that happens.  

Happy Cooking!

Getting CONNECTed

I often get asked who I follow on CONNECT.

You know I didn't even use CONNECT until I'd already made goal?

Now I realize what an incredible resource it really is.

The only thing I would change is that I think they need more of a tutorial for new users.

There is a lot I've learned just by trial and error.

One thing many people don't use is the search function.

The search bar on CONNECT is for more than just searching for other members.

Anytime you see a "#" symbol preceding a phrase, a challenge, etc, you can search for that.

So, I you can search for a popular one like #skinnyforsanta and find everyone who has signed up for that particular challenge.

Another great feature is searching for things like # #traderjoefinds or #simplyfilling.

If you're looking for specific recipe ideas you can search that as well.

This is an incredible resource!!!

Below are a list of the folks I regularly follow on CONNECT.  I've updated this list recently with a couple members who are new to me.

By the way, when  you're trying to respond to someone who has commented a something you posted simply type in the @ symbol prior to their name in the comment box and then type in the response you wish to share.

Who I follow~

@shannonlooby1

@mudhustler

@eastendgirl

@heavens13

@monteking

@spinwitch

@o2bfishn1

@fatdag


The last name listed is a gentleman who also hosts daily podcasts that are great if you're looking for some daily motivation.

I find these to be helpful and insightful.

You can download the app, Whys Advice or visit his website here for more information.

There are many more that I follow but the above listed are folks who post every single day.

Their posts are all about motivation, vulnerability and meal ideas which is key.

I've made a few really good friends via CONNECT who help me stay accountable and keep moving forward.

If you haven't already checked out CONNECT it's time to give it a closer look!

1 Pt Zucchini Bread!

This recipe comes from fellow WW buddy, Jean.  

You can imagine how excited I was to try this when I heard it was only 1 pt!

I do have to tell you in all honesty, however, that I have very limited experience baking.

So, this is a little scary for me although it seems like a relatively easy recipe.  

But, you know what they say?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I'm always up for trying new things!

And mistakes?

That's how we learn!!!!

I call those particularly instructive mistakes, beautiful mistakes.

Sometimes that's how we grow and become our best selves.

On to the recipe!

Ingredients

Wet ingredients

5 egg whites(15 Tbsp liquid egg whites)

1/2 cup Stevia

1 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups grated zucchini

Dry Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 F and spray two bread pans with cooking spray and set aside. 

Combine eggs, Stevia, applesauce, and vanilla in a large bowl. 

Next add in the zucchini and mix well.  Well, that's what the recipe says.  The thing that made this non-baker really nervous is that it did not say whether you should wring out the liquid from the zucchini.

Zucchini has a LOT of moisture and most of the recipes I've made that use grated zucchini do ask that you wring out the liquid so I decided to go ahead and do that.  

I mean look at the picture below.  There is a ton of liquid there and I haven't even wrung it all out yet!!!

Now, in a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients- baking soda, baking powder, flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  

Whisk these together and then slowly add to the wet ingredients.

Place into the oven to cook for one hour or until a toothpick comes out clean and dry.

Points~  Each loaf serves 12 and is 1 pt per slice.

That is fantastic!!!

So, this was a bit dense but other than that the texture was good.  

It wasn't too dry, which is what I was worried about.  I think I would prefer it to be a bit sweeter.

Next time I might go for Truvia which is technically a mix of Stevia and erythritol or just add more Stevia in the Raw.    

Overall it was pretty good!

I am going to ask Jean what she did with the zucchini as I know this makes a difference.

For this baking virgin it's not too bad and who knows, I may just learn to be a baker yet.  

Happy Cooking!