Stuffed Peppers

One of my favorite dishes growing up was my mom's stuffed peppers. For me the best part is the stuffing- dirty rice! I LOVE dirty rice. Seriously. I'm gonna marry it. Anyway, This recipe is pretty simple and REALLY yummy. And it's only about 6 points+ for one stuffed pepper.
Serves 4; Some rice will be left over (YUM!)
Here's What You'll Need
For the Dirty Rice:
1 Lb ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
1 or 2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small bell pepper chopped (save 4 peppers to stuff)
1 cup of rice, cooked separately
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped parsley (optional)
For the Peppers:
4 small- medium green peppers
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large skillet, brown meat and onion in oil. Add chopped celery and bell pepper and cook until tender- about 15 minutes. Add cooked rice, salt, and pepper. After adding rice, check to be sure there's enough liquid to keep it from burning. If necessary, add a tiny bit of water- maybe a tablespoon or 2. Stir well until everything is blended. Cover and cook over low heat 15-20 minutes. Add parsley and stir again. Let sit, covered, for a few minutes before serving.

For the peppers, cut and empty each pepper. To make them stand easier, slice the bottom very slightly to make it flat. While the dirty rice is cooking boil the peppers until tender. Spoon dirty rice into bell peppers. Stand them in a baking dish and add bread crumbs on top. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes- until the bread crumbs are brown.
ENJOY!
I hope you like this as much as I do. They really are delicious!! And no worries if you forget to boil the peppers, it doesn't change the taste at all- They're just a little harder to cut. I forgot the first time lol. Let me know what you think!!

Almost 20 pounds gone!!

Chicken Caesar Salad

This past week I got to see my best friend in New Orleans for the first time in over a month, and she was gracious enough to make me dinner. This isn't my recipe but it's super easy and delicious, and I will definitely make it soon! She gave me permission to post it, so here it is!!

It's 8 Weight Watcher Points+, and it is really filling!
What You'll Need for One Serving
3 oz piece of chicken breast (1-2 chicken tenders)
Cajun seasoning (Tony's is what I use)
Garlic powder
Romaine Lettuce
~2 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese
a few grape tomatoes
a few texas toast Caesar croutons (1 serving)
2 Tbsp Light Caesar Dressing

Lay chicken on a plate and season both sides with cajun seasoning and garlic powder. On a George Foreman grill- grill chicken for about 5 minutes, or until fully cooked. Toss together lettuce, cheese, croutons, and tomatoes. Add chicken and dressing and ENJOY!!
I love this dish, and I'm not a huge salad fan. It's really good, and it's quick and easy- which is great for someone like me with a very busy schedule!
I hope you like it!

Baked Chicken Fries

Ok, time to switch it up a bit. Along with tilapia, chicken is a big part of my diet. I eat chicken all the time, so I get bored when it's always the same. I remember getting chicken fries in the cafeteria in grade school and they were sooooo good! But, trying to lose weight does not exactly permit for frequent indulgence in fried foods (too bad, huh?). Thankfully, I found a recipe for BAKED chicken fries that are just as delicious!! They're still not the healthiest thing in the world but they are MUCH better than the real fried stuff.

They're 8 Weight Watchers PointsPlus for 4 ounces of chicken.
Here's what you'll need
Chicken breast cut into long thin strips (I use tenderloins and just cut them up)
EVOO
chicken/poultry seasoning
1-2 eggs depending on the amount of chicken (I've used egg beaters which still work fine, but fresh eggs work much better)
Breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium sized bowl add in sliced chicken strips. Mix in EVOO, seasonings, salt and pepper- mix well. Break eggs in a small bowl and beat well. Spread breadcrumbs on a plate. Dip strips in egg then coat generously in breadcrumbs. Place on foil-covered baking sheet (I use nonstick reynolds wrap). Bake 15-20 minutes or until fully cooked and brown.
ENJOY!
I usually eat these by themselves, but they're also good with some simple mac and cheese (unfortunately not so great for us dieters) or some buttery broccoli (I used green giant broccoli steam packets).

Thanks for visiting! I'd love to hear how you liked it!!

Almost 18 pounds gone! I should be more than halfway to my goal by May!!!

More Tilapia!

As a broke college student, I am on a very tight budget. Some weeks are easier than others- none of them are terribly hard, though (thanks to my WONDERFUL mother!) However, this week I was on a bit of a tighter budget than usual to make sure I could afford my drive to New Orleans and my valentine's things for Will. So, since I had a lot of frozen tilapia left in my freezer I decided to make it again for dinner to avoid spending money unnecessarily on groceries.

I'm a southern girl, and that means I love fried food. Unfortunately, fried food doesn't exactly like me back. The baked tilapia I made last week was delicious! But, I needed to switch it up a bit. Although this is not a Weight Watchers recipe, it is a healthy one that is diet friendly! I got the recipe from the SparkRecipes App on my iPhone (from Sparkpeople.com). It's delicious and only 5 points for a big filet! This Delicious Dish Tuesday (as brought to you by Full Time Mama) is Crunchy Oven "Fried" Tilapia!

Makes 4 servings
What you'll need:
4 four ounce tilapia filets (1lb)
3 egg whites (I used egg beaters this time. It worked fine, but regular eggs work better in my opinion)
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp cajun seasoning (Tony's is by FAR my favorite)
1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
Fat Free Butter Spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In one bowl, whip egg whites until somewhat frothy. In another bowl, combine breadcrumbs, cheese, and seasonings. Dip each filet first in the egg whites and then coat evenly with crumbs. Spray a cookie sheet with butter spray (or use reynold's non-stick foil), then spritz the top of the fish as well. Bake 8-10 minutes on 400 until fish flakes easily with fork.
Than, Viola! Crispy like the fried stuff without all of the fat and calories!

I served this with a simple side of pasta- with just a little bit of butter, olive oil, seasoning and sprinkles of breadcrumbs- and it was delicious! I will definitely be making this regularly!

Weight is falling off slowly but surely! Thanks for all the support!
Let me know how you like it! ;)

Weight Watchers Baked Tilapia

This is so easy and delicious! And best of all it's only 3 Weight Watchers PointsPlus for 2 filets (or whatever equals 1/4 of a pound)!! So here it is:
Makes 2 Servings
You'll Need: 1/2 pound tilapia filets; 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice; 1/4 teaspoon yellow mustard; 1 Tablespoon light mayo; 1/4 teaspoon sugar; 1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; 1/8 teaspoon onion powder; 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder; dash of cayenne; paprika

Preheat oven at 500 degrees
1. Place filets in sprayed baking dish, and coat filets with non-stick spray.
2. Combine remaining ingredients (EXCEPT paprika) and spread over filets.
3. Marinate 30 minutes
4. Sprinkle filets with paprika and bake 10-15 minutes or until flaky

Also, I had to add a good bit of salt. Even though the salt does not affect the points value of the meal, the WW recipes never include enough (if any). So, just salt to taste.

It's really good and nice and easy- especially if, like me, you're just cooking for one person.
Let me know how you like it!

ENJOY!
P.S. weight watchers works! I'm down 15 pounds since I started my weight loss journey. Still plenty to go but I'm taking it a week at a time.

Delicious Dish Tuesday Recipe Link-up from Mama Chocolate

NUTELLA S'MORES!

Okay, seriously these are better than regular s'mores...

I was really craving s'mores (because they're delicious!) but I didn't have chocolate bars, or a fire, or huge marshmallows. WELL! PROBLEM SOLVED! I spread some nutella on one half of my graham crackers, put 4 mini marshmallows on the other half, stuck the one with marshmallows in the microwave for 15 seconds (which is pretty cool to look at because they get huge lol) and BAM! awesome s'mores :D

The only thing that is missing is the delicious burnt/roasted marshmallow taste. But, the nutella is the perfect taste of chocolate because it's not so overbearing that you need a gallon of water afterwards.

As you can imagine I am a pretty happy camper (haha no pun intended). I will be making these regularly! They are just so good it's unbelievable and I just had to tell you about them.

EAT UP! and enjoy...

Cream Cheese Queso

So, every week at bible study someone makes some goodies. This past week on of the girls made this AMAZING cream cheese queso. She so graciously gave us all the recipe and I made it the next day... It's officially my favorite kind of queso. It's so good there are no words. And, it's really filling- which is good because if it weren't I would eat all of it haha. So, I thought I would share this deliciousness with y'all too!

Ingredients:

2 8oz philadelphia cream cheese
1 whole jar of pace picante, i used medium
1 package of shredded mexican or cheddar cheese.

Put the cream cheese in a bowl and into the microwave for about 3-4 minutes on 50 - 60% power to avoid burning the cheese or making it gross.

Once it starts melting put the salsa and cheese in for around 1minute and 20seconds at full power

Stir and enjoy!!

Let me know what you think! I'm pretty sure you'll love it :)

Taco Ring

I love food.. and usually I love cooking, the only problem being that I live alone. However, I was really craving a Taco Ring so I made one anyway. These things are delicious. I love them! And, they are so easy to make it's crazy! Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef shopping list
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 cup (4 oz) cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp water
2 8 oz refrigerated crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 375
Brown ground beef and drain grease.

Stir in taco seasoning, water and cheese.

Unroll crescent rolls and separate. Arrange triangles in a circle on a round baking stone (i used a regular baking sheet and it worked just as well) with wide ends overlapping in center and points toward the outside. There should be about a 5 inch diameter in the center.

Scoop meat mixture evenly onto widest ends of dough at center of ring. Bring points in and over and tuck underneath the wide end.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
You can garnish with bell pepper, lettuce, salsa, tomatoes, onion, sour cream, olives, etc.

ENJOY!! If you try it tell me what you think! :)

Cookies and Cream Cookies

I volunteered to make some goodies for my Bible study this week and I was so excited because I always see so many recipes on pinterest that I want to try but cannot eat by myself.

The one I chose to make I found on pinterest via the Six Sisters' Blog: Six Sisters' Stuff: Cookies and Cream Cookies

I love everything cookies and cream so I thought this would be perfect, and when I told one of the girls from Bible study about she said "Omgosh you have to make that!" This recipe is really simple and really yummy! Okay, it's more than "really yummy" THEY ARE FLIPPING AMAZING! lol these are officially my new favorite cookies.

So, here's how ya do it:

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 (4.2 ounce) package Cookies 'n Creme pudding mix
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups white chocolate chips
15 Oreo cookies, very coarsly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars, add pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda with a whisk then add it to the butter mixture.

3. Stir in the chocolate chips and Oreo cookies (coarsely chopped- or crushed in a bag is fine too). Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Tip: Reynold's non-stick foil works great too!

4.Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven until cookies tops barely have a touch of brown. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

They are soooooo good and the pudding makes them sinfully moist. They are amazing, and if you don't believe me make them for yourself and see!!!

Best Chicken Salad EVER

Hello, fellow bloggers!

Sorry I have been gone way too long. I feel like I haven't posted in forever. School has been so crazy that I don't have time to write anything. **Sorry for using an old post!!**

This recipe is easy, simple, and DELICIOUS! Definitely a favorite of mine, especially when I have left over rotisserie chicken.

Ingredients:
2 cups diced chicken
1/3-1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 cup grapes, sliced
1 green onion- sliced thin
1 rib celery- sliced thin
1.4 tsp salt
dash pepper
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp honey (I use a tablespoon, tho)

Combine all ingredients except honey until mixed well, adding mayo if needed. Mix in honey to taste.


I think the honey makes it so good so I use a lot more honey than the original recipe calls for. I love this chicken salad tho.. If you try it let me know what you think! :)

Nutella Cookies

I love to bake. I'm on a diet so it's not very often that I actually do. I was really bored though and this recipe looked really good so I decided to try it.
A Busy Nest posted this recipe that someone pinned on pinterest for 4 ingredient Nutella cookies:
1 cup Nutella
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingedients together well. Form into 1-inch balls. Place on cookie sheet. Press down firmly with bottom of floured glass. Bake 7-8 minutes or until set. Cool.

After I finished mixing

Rolled into balls

Going into the oven

Here they are after they finished baking

They did not turn out at all like they were supposed to (LOL). I added a little more nutella and even some peanut butter to try to make them more moist but they still were dry and clumpy. They tasted pretty good but they weren't great. I think if I make it again I'm going to have to tweek it and maybe make the recipe a little smaller... If you try them and have better success let me know! They're tasty but the recipe can be a hit or miss...