Low fat Meatloaf

At some point in history I had a recipe for meatloaf. Since then, I kind of created my own based on trial and error. I am back on weight watchers (again) so this is very point friendly meal (as long as you don't eat the mashed potatoes, bread, ect with it, ha). Everyone in my house loves this meat loaf, including all 3 picky toddlers. I make it with 2 lbs of beef because my husband loves to make leftover meatloaf sandwhiches to take for lunch, yum.

Ingredients:

1/2 onion

1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 egg

1/2 cup Ketchup

1 tbsp of garlic powder

2lbs lean ground beef (I use the Laura's lean beef 92/8, I dont recommend going leaner than that, yuck)

Okay, so first dice up the onion and saute it until it is nice and translucent (I used a touch of oil for this).  Set the onion aside and let it cool.  Now, have your adorable toddler sized helper add the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.  Watch said toddler "freak out" when you mix it by hand.  But, sorry a spoon just does not cut it for this.  Lastly add the cooled onion. Mix it all up.

Shape into a loaf on a foil line baking sheet (it can ooze deliciousness while cooking).  Next add some Ketchup swirls for extra pizzazz.  Bake at 375 for 50 minutes, depending on how wide you make your loaf it may take longer.  I recommend a meat thermometer until you get an internal temp of 160.

Cook, slice and enjoy.

Faux-caccia Bread

Focaccia Bread

Ug, I love bread.  Eating it and making it.  Problem is it is hard for me to put down. Also, have you ever looked at how many ingrediants go into processeded bread, especailly to keep it fresh.  I would make bread all the time if I well - had the time.  So many yeast bread recipe require long rise cycles, ug.  Anyhow, adapted to the recipe below from a Weight Watchers recipe.  I made a few small changes and in my version you do not need a food processor or a bread machine (but you do need a mixer)  This is a super easy recipe if you are a first time bread maker.


Whole Wheat Focaccia Bread.
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 package of quick rise yeast
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of warm water (105 to115 degrees)
Some of olive oil.
Whatever topping you like.

- Combine the dry ingredients in your mixer.
-add the water and mix on medium speed with your dough hook for about 4 minutes.
- turn your dough out onto a floured surface and knead for a minute or 2 and form a ball
- place ball in an oiled metal bowl
- cover with oiled saran wrap and let rise in a warm place for 40 minutes.
- punch down - gosh I love that part!
- shape into a large cirle and cover agian
-wait 30 minutes
- poke your bread :) make those fun little focciaia dimples
- add toppings, I like to sprinkle with rosemary, onion flakes, and sometimes I even sneek in a little flax seed.
- bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

Once it is cool enough to handle you can cut it.  If you cut it into 12 pieces it is only 2 Weight Wachters Point plus!

Happy Birthday

What a weekend! I can not believe my tiny little babies turned 3!

Microwave caramel wins

Seriously good Sea Salt Caramels that you make in the microwave!

So, the triplets and I made dark chocolate oatmeal cookies on Friday night to take to a Christmas party.  They turned out really well, in fact so well when I looked at them Friday night we only had 8 left.  So, we needed a last minute recipe to make ASAP.  I looked around in the house and we had no chocolate (yikes!).  So, the best I could come up with was making Caramels.  Anyhow, I googled and stumbled across a recipe for microwave caramels.  I was skeptical, and then amazingly surprised at how great they turned out.  Original recipe can be found  here 

Salted Caramels

1/4 cup butter

1 /2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup light Karo syrup

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

First, just dump all the ingredients in a Microwave safe bowl.

Microwave for  a total of  6 minutes (I did 7 b/c our microwave is a bit weird).  Anyhow, stop to stir every two minutes.  It will look like the picture below, please be careful, this stuff is hot like molten lava!

Stir and pour into lightly greased dish, i used a greased parchment lined 8 by 8 pan. At this point I sprinkled with kosher salt (I did not have "sea salt").  My husband did inform me that all salt is technically sea salt, LOL.  Anyhow, Kosher salt worked well if you have that on hand. This is what mined looked like after it hardened after a few hours on the counter and I removed it from the pan.

Cut and enjoy!

Super Easy Enchiladas

Super Easy Gooey Enchiladas.

I guess enchiladas is a term I use "loosely", I don't think any recipe that includes Campbell's soup can be considered authentic Mexican fare.  Anyhow, I took the best parts of a few enchilada recipes I have made and came up with this, pretty yummy!

Ingredients-

6 -10 inch Tortillas (i used whole wheat)

Shredded Cheddar-Jack cheese

1 can cream of Chicken soup

1 cup of milk

1 (4ounce) can of green chilies

half cup of sour cream

2 cups of cubed chicken

Okay, so mix about half the cheese with the chicken and divide between the six tortillas.  Roll up and place each one seam side down across your baking dish.  These should fit snugly and take up most of your dish.  

Now, on the stove-top mix the can of soup and the milk, until warm (do not boil).   Now, take off the heat and stir in the sour cream and can of chilies.  This should be nice and creamy looking.  Now, pour this over your tortillas.  Next, sprinkle with the rest of your cheese.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, and if you like your cheese nice and bubbly, go ahead and stick this under the broiler for a minute or two.