CHICKEN AND CHEESE QUESADILLAS

This is one of my son's favorite foods.  I made these as Weight Watcher friendly as possible!  They are a super fast meal.  We made extras and ate them for lunch the next day.  These are NOT spicy.......very bland.  You can add your own seasonings and amp up the heat if you wish.

INGREDIENTS

2 cans of cut-up chicken breast (undrained)
1/4 cup oatmeal
1 Tbsp. onion flakes
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. chili powder
4 Tbsp. taco or enchilada sauce
8 whole wheat tortillas
2 cups Mexican reduced fat cheese blend.

DIRECTIONS

Open chicken and pour it into a large skillet.  Use your fingers to finely shred the chicken.  Add the oats and spices. Turn heat to medium and cook until oats are blended in with the meat.  Place spoonfuls of meat mixture in the center of a tortilla.  Spread with a spoon or knife to cover all but the outer inch of the tortilla.  Sprinkle cheese over the chicken.  Heat another skillet to medium-low.  Spray pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Place the tortilla with chicken into the pan.  Cover with another tortilla.  Cook until warmed through and then flip over to warm other side of quesadilla.  Use spatula to push down on edges of quesadilla to help seal the edge. You need to spray the pan again in-between quesadillas.  Cut into deisred number of servings.  Serve with sour cream, salsa, and such.

SAVORY TURKEY MEATBALLS

I made these for dinner tonight and they were a big hit!!!

INGREDIENTS

Meatballs :

1 lb. lean ground turkey (93/7)
1/3 cup bread crumbs - I use Whole Wheat
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1 Tbsp. minced parsley
1/4 cup egg substitute (or 1 egg)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. Worchestershire sauce
(Salt and pepper may be added if you wish, but I like them without)

Sauce :

1 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. Worchestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. minced onion 
1/4 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish and place in oven while it is heating.  Mix all meatball ingredients together thoroughly.  Use an ice cream scoop to measure meat for the balls.  Roll into ball and place in warm dish - 1 inch apart.  I got 15 meatballs out of this batch.  Push down slightly on center of meatballs.  Mix up the sauce ingredients.  Brush the sauce onto the meatballs - I am really liberal with this!!!  Bake for about 30 minutes, or until meat is done.  Enjoy.

CHEESY CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

I made these last week, but I am obviously behind in my blog entries.  We have been doing a lot of repeat dinners (old favorites), leftovers, grabbing a bite on the go, or everyone pick something quick and easy.  This week is Spring Break for my little ones, so we are eating all 3 meals as a family each day.  Hopefully I can try out some new recipes for them to enjoy!

CHEESY CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

These are so creamy and delicious.  My family told me they were my best ever!!!   I love how fast and simple they are, and they are great for our Weight Watchers diet.  The oats add fiber and help satisfy your hunger.  You won't even know they are there. We make things mild and then add our own toppings and seasonings.  You can easily adapt these to your liking (rotel, green chiles, taco seasoning, etc.).

INGREDIENTS

8 whole wheat tortillas
1 can of chicken breast chunks
2 cups reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese
1 cup fat free sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 Tbsp. onion flakes
1/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. chili powder
2 Tbsp. salsa

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick spray.  Mix together the soup, sour cream, and 1 cup of cheese. Set aside. Pour the canned chicken and liquid in a skillet.  Shred the chicken with your fingers.  Add onion flakes (or real onion), chili powder, garlic powder, and salsa.  Pour oats in the pan and stir. Turn stovetop to medium and cook until liquid is gone and oats blend in with chicken.  Add half of the cheese mixture to the chicken and heat until cheese is melted.  Divide into 8 portions.

 

Spread half of remaining cheese mixture in the bottom of the baking dish.  Spread a portion of the chicken into the center of a tortilla.  Roll tortilla  and place in the dish with  seam on the bottom.  Repeat with the rest of tortillas.  Spread remainder of cheese mixture over the enchiladas.  Top with the rest of shredded cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.

 

SKINNY GROUND TURKEY STRONGANOFF

This is my own version after trying several recipes over the years.  We really like it!  I tried to make it a little healthier.  It is a great dinner when you need something quick and easy.  It is so creamy and is nice and warm in your tummy on those cold winter days.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. lean 93/7 ground turkey
1 can lowfat cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup skim milk
1 cup fat free sour cream
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. onion flakes (or real onion pieces - cooked)
1 Tbsp. parsley
1 lb. whole wheat noodles

DIRECTIONS

Boil the noodles according to package directions. Drain and keep warm. Brownground turkey with onions, parsley, and garlic until cooked. Add the soup and milk. Simmer on Medium-Low till warm and creamy - about 20 min. Stir in sour cream, then serve.
Some versions use mushrooms, but only 1 out of the 4 people in our house likes them, so majority rules!

SWEET AND TANGY CROCKPOT PORK CHOPS

This recipe was very easy and we are having leftovers tonight!  I wanted something quick, so I added baby carrots under the porkchops.  They were so soft and sweet. I was out of potatoes or I would have thrown some of those in too.  I like the 1-pot dinners for those busy nights.  We paired this dish with the leftover Lite Garlic Cheddar biscuits.  This recipe serving is for 8 pork chops, as that is how many were in the package and I wanted leftovers.

 

 

 

Nutritional Information :  



 

INGREDIENTS

8 - 4 or 6 oz. boneless pork chops

1 cup ketchup

1 pkg. dry onion soup mix

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup soy sauce  (We use low sodium)

1/4 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

Place porkchops in crockpot sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Mix up remaining ingredients and pour over porkchops. Since there were 8 I had layers, so I lifted the meat to make sure each piece had some sauce on it.  Cook for 6-8 hours on Low or 4-6 hours on High.  If your meat is frozen, like mine partially was, you need to adjust your cooking time.'  If you add vegetables and you like them soft - like my family - the Low setting for a longer time produces better results.
 

Prepared for cooking.



 

 

 

 

Ready to serve.  It smells wonderful!!!