Chocolate Chip Cookies (for those of us dieting folks)!

Mini Chocolate-Chip CookiesI'm excited to make these for a special treat today and see how they are! 

Course: desserts PointsPlus™ Value:    1 Servings:  48 Preparation Time:  10 min Cooking Time:  20 min Level of Difficulty:  Easy

Go ahead and grab a few of these bite-size cookies. They might be little, but they pack a big chocolate punch.

Ingredients 2 Tbsp butter, softened    2 tsp canola oil    1/2 cup(s) packed brown sugar, dark-variety    1 tsp vanilla extract    1/8 tsp table salt      1 large egg white(s)    3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour    1/4 tsp baking soda    3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 1/2 cup    Instructions Preheat oven to 375ºF. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add vanilla, salt and egg white; mix thoroughly to combine. In a small bowl, mix together flour and baking soda; stir into batter. Add chocolate chips to batter; stir to distribute evenly throughout. Drop 48 half-teaspoons of dough onto one or two large nonstick baking sheets, leaving a small amount of space between each cookie. Bake cookies until golden around edges, about 4 to 6 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Yields 1 cookie per serving.

Salsa Chicken

I hesitate to let this one out of the bag because it's my emergency guests coming over gotta make a meal recipe, but here it goes...

1 Jar Pineapple/Peach Salsa-sounds crazy, but it's awesome!
3-4 frozen or fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Crockpot

Place chicken in crockpot pour salsa on top. Cover and let cook on high for 5-6 hours (if frozen), 3-4 hours on low (fresh).

Serving Suggestions:
We love to make tostadas or tacos with the chicken. Lettuce, shredded cheese, avocado/guacamole, sour cream (Phil would say this should not be included) and you've got the yummiest MexiCali meal you've eaten!

Dinner Tonight With Homemade Pizzas

I made this soup and it was DELISH! I was able to eat it for several days later and it was great! I used fat free milk and got my broccoli from Trader Joe's already ready to go! :) I will definitely make this again!

Best Cream Of Broccoli Soup

Rated:	Prep Time: 10 Minutes	Ready In: 35 Minutes
Submitted By: Jessie A.	Cook Time: 25 Minutes	Servings: 6

"Onions, celery and broccoli cooked in chicken broth are pureed with milk in this roux-thickened soup."

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons butter 1 onion, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped 3 cups chicken broth 8 cups broccoli florets

3 tablespoons butter 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups milk ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Melt 2 tablespoons butter in medium sized stock pot, and saute onion and celery until tender. Add broccoli and broth, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
2.	Pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot.
3.	In small saucepan, over medium-heat melt 3 tablespoons butter, stir in flour and add milk. Stir until thick and bubbly, and add to soup. Season with pepper and serve.

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Printed from Allrecipes.com 12/22/2010

Roast Beef

I keep stealing recipes from the net, but that's usually how I find ones that I like and use in the future. I started WW online today, so we'll see how many new, healthy recipes I submit for the future! :) I'll update tonight after I try this recipe, but I know I won't be letting it get to room temp first or we won't be having this tonight! 

Roast Beef

Posted by Elise on Dec 22, 2005

My mom knows a lot about cooking beef. She knows all of the cuts and what to do with them. This must have something to do with growing up at a time where people went to their local butchers for meat instead of a supermarket. We typically use a rump roast when making roast beef. You can also use a round roast or a sirloin tip with these instructions. This slow roasting method at low heat is good for tougher cuts of beef; the lower heat prevents any gristle from getting too tough. This method should not be used with choice or prime grades of beef, or the more tender cuts, as slow cooking more delicate cuts will make them mushy.

Roast beef made this way is easy, relatively inexpensive, and you get great leftovers for roast beef sandwiches.

Roast Beef Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 3 to 3 1/2 lbs of Boneless Rump Roast (pick a end cut with a lot of fat marbling)
• Olive oil
• 8 slivers of garlic
• Salt and pepper

You will need a meat thermometer

For the gravy:

• Red wine, water, and or beef stock
• corn starch

METHOD

1 Start with the roast at room temperature (remove from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking - keep it wrapped). Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2 With a sharp knife make 8 small incisions around the roast. Place a sliver of garlic into each incision. Take a tablespoon or so of olive oil and spread all around the roast. Sprinkle around the roast with salt and pepper. Place the roast directly on an oven rack, fatty side up, with a drip pan on a rack beneath the roasting rack. This arrangement creates convection in the oven so that you do not need to turn the roast. The roast is placed fat side up so that as the fat melts it will bathe the entire roast in its juices.

3 Brown the roast at 375°F for half an hour. Lower the heat to 225°F. The roast should take somewhere from 2 to 3 hours additionally to cook. When the roast just starts to drip its juices and it is brown on the outside, check the temperature with a meat thermometer. Pull the roast from the oven when the inside temperature of the roast is 135° to 140°F. Let the roast rest for at least 15 minutes, tented in aluminum foil to keep warm, before carving to serve.

Serves 4-6.

To make the gravy:
Remove the dripping pan from the oven and place on the stove top at medium heat. Note that if you are pulling the roast out early, for rare or a medium rare level of doneness, you may not have a lot of drippings. Hopefully you will have some. If not, you may want to leave the roast in a little longer at even lower heat, 175°F, to ease some more drippings out of it. Add some water, red wine, or beef stock to the drippings to deglaze (loosen the drippings from the pan). Dissolve a tablespoon of cornstarch in a little water and add to the drip pan. Stir quickly while the gravy thickens to avoid lumping. You can add a little butter if there is not a lot of fat in the drippings. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mom adds some fresh thyme too if she has some. (See also How to Make Gravy.)

I'm Making These!

I love having a place to put all the recipes I want to try and have tried and love. I'm pretty sure this will be one that I love, especially since I have homemade pepper jelly! :)

Brie Kisses

• 1/2 to 2/3 lbs Brie cheese (wedges are fine)
• 1 (17.3 oz) box frozen puff pastry
• Hot pepper jelly

Cut the brie into 1/2-inch squares (leave the rind on if you like). Place on a dinner plate and put the cheese in the freezer while you thaw the puff pastry for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Unfold the thawed pastry, press together seams and roll lightly with a rolling pin to smooth it out. Cut each sheet into fourths, then cut each fourth in half. Cut the halves in half to make 16 squares per sheet.

Lightly spray a mini-muffin pan with nonstick spray. Fit a piece of dough into each cup, pushing into the cup but leaving the edges sticking up. Place a dab of pepper jelly in each cup, then top with a piece of cheese.

Bake at 400°F for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Serve warm. (Can be prepared ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake, or you can bake them and re-warm about 10 minutes at 350°F before serving.)

Servings:

 

32 Notes:  I made then with Phyllo dough, trying to be tricky and they were a MESS! I twas much better with the Puff Pastry Dough!

Something for the Summer...

I want to make this this summer. I hope it's good guess I'll have to wait until our backyard is no longer a dirt mound before I find out! :) I'll also have to hide the fourth ingredient from the hubby who isn't such a fan of mustard (and many other things for that matter :P).

Chicken Fruit Packets

Just five ingredients combine on the grill for a super quick and easy main dish.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 firm pears, cored and sliced
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced
• 1/2 cup honey mustard salad dressing
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:

Cut chicken into 1" pieces. Heat coals on grill or prepare gas grill. Divide chicken, pears and apple among four 18x12 inch sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil. Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with garlic and thyme. Fold foil over chicken and fruit. Fold edges over 1/2" and repeat. (If you are preparing this in the morning, brush the pears and apple with a little lemon juice so they don't turn brown). Make sure you allow space on sides of the packet for circulation and expansion during cooking. Place packets on grill and cover.

Grill 4-5 inches from medium heat 10-15 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked and no longer pink when cut in center. Place packets on plates, cut large X across top, and fold back foil to serve. Serves 4

Chicken Pastina Soup

This is hands down every one of my kids' favorite soup (and we grown-up kids love it too)! I grew up eating a version of this whenever I was sick and so the tradition continues...

Picture is worse than ever since I had to use phone because the camera was dead!

1 Medium yellow onion chopped fine
2 Stalks celery chopped
2 Carrots chopped
1 Carrot grated/shredded
1-2 Chicken breast(s)
2-3 Cups Pastina (round bebe like pasta)
4 Quarts chicken broth (I use bullion paste and water to make mine)
Salt/Pepper to taste

Put 1 Tbls olive oil in large pot. Add chicken breast and cook until chicken is almost done (in a pinch I've been known to throw frozen breast in the pan and it works just fine). Add onion and celery and saute until translucent. Add chopped carrots (we have a lot of carrots in the soup because I LOVE carrots-don't use as many if you're not such a fan) and saute for about 3-4 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for about 20 minutes. Add Pastina (or another small pasta noodle) and shredded carrots and cook over medium heat for about 12-15 minutes or until the pasta is tender. The Pastina soaks up A LOT of liquid and a little goes a long way (again, my kids love the pasta part so I add a bit more than I normally would), especially if you cook slowly and all the starches are released. I usually add a couple cups of broth at the end to increase the amount of liquid. Serve with warm bread OR yummy ham and cheese melts! Enjoy!

Notes:
When we were first married I would heat the leftover soup and add dumplings to the top. Delish! (This was when I had a lot more broth and not as much Pastina, oh well.)