Mexican Rice

For each cup of dry rice:

1 can of tomatoes (diced- if your store has a can of RoTel with tomatoes and green chiles in either mild or medium (whichever you prefer) you can substitute these cans for most of the tomatoes and green chiles. I would have one extra can of just the tomatoes just in case)

1 sm can of green chiles (mild if you don’t want it to be spicy)

lots of cumin

some cilantro (fresh is great)

lime juice (optional)

salt to taste

Option 1: Most of the time I cook the rice- as directed and then mix in everything. I just empty One can of tomatoes and green chiles at a time and generously sprinkle some cumin on top. Then mix. Then continue adding tomatoes and green chiles and more cumin. I keep going until all the rice looks tomato-ey (not white). Then add chopped cilantro and a dash or squeeze or two of lime juice, mix one more time and taste for salt or serve with salt on the table.

Option 2: Empty 1 can of tomatoes and 1 can of green chiles for every cup of dry rice into the pot with the dry rice. Cook the rice with the tomatoes and green chiles and cumin (sometimes I’ll add the lime juice or if I have dried cilantro). IMPORTANT: Add less water for the rice (because the tomatoes have juice and if you added the lime juice). You can just estimate. When it’s cooked just stir and add the fresh cilantro if you didn’t use dried.

Zucchini Parmesan

Sliced zucchini
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese (shredded)

1. Put a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Fry up zucchini.
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese.

Asiago sage butternut squash

Butternut squash,sliced
Shredded Asiago cheese
Melted Butter (we love brummel and browns yogurt butter-great for weight watchers)
Chopped fresh sage.

Lay butternut squash on cookie sheet. Brush or spoon over butter. Sprinkle on Asiago cheese and sage and cook at 350 for 10 minutes or until browned

Autumn fish

Pumpkin butter
White fish  (tilapia or cod preferred)
Marjoram

fry fish with minimal salt and sprinkle marjoram generously on both sides (as you're cooking). Spoon pumpkin butter over the top and serve.

If you don't have marjoram, open pumpkin butter and smell with any spices you have. If the combination smells good to you, they should work well together.
Serve with rice and veggies or butternut squash.

Mummy pork

Pork loin (about a pound)
Spicy brown mustard
Crumbled bacon (optional)
Philo (phyllo?) dough (9x14 sheets)
Butter (melted)
Apple (Optional)

This was really good and festive for Halloween.
1. optional: Marinade pork loin (not sliced but a roll of it) in spicy brown mustard (optional: crumbled bacon).
2. Broil pork 6 inches away from heat for 6 minutes (with our without marinade). Remove from oven and cool slightly. Change oven to 400.
3. Lay out one layer of Philo dough, brush with butter, then lay another sheet of Philo dough on top. Repeat. You want about 4 layers. You will wrap the pork, with the marinade, in the phyllo dough. Then take another sheet of phyllo dough, brush with butter, lay a sheet of phyllo dough on top. Repeat like before. Cut into strips and wrap like a mummy. If you want a head, peel the apple and wrap in sheets of phyllo dough.
4. Cook uncovered for 15-20 minutes or till an internal temperature of 160. Let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting.

Easy pork ideas

So, this is the quickest meal I know, but it takes a little advance preparation. I buy pork loins in bulk from Costco/Sam's Club. I cut them in half, and since there's two of us-Jon and i, I put two in each bag (so do however many you'd need each time). Then I pick 3-4 marinades. Pork chops work well with fruit side dishes or sweet flavors. Some marinades I've tried and liked:

1. Maple syrup and walnuts
2. A sun dried tomato Tuscan salad dressing (were trying panera's balsamic salad dressing this time)
3. Apple pie filling (a can of peaches sounds good right now but I haven't tried it)
4. Raspberry Wasabi dip (it's like a specialty mustard sauce we found here in Indiana, but a mustard would work)

Anyways, freeze in any serving size you like with a brief description of the marinade and the date. Then the day before or the day of, take it out of the freezer to thaw.

To cook, turn a pan on high heat and you'll sear the pork on each side (leave extra marinade in the bag-syrup and some dressings don't cook as well). This doesn't take very long. Pour the extra marinade on top after seared to heat it up and for extra flavor. To make a healthy meal of it, throw together a salad, frozen mixed veggies in the microwave (usually what we do, we buy frozen veggies in bulk from Sam's) and rice. Our you can open up a can of fruit or applesauce. Another option we've tried for pork is searing pork that wasn't in a marinade and putting a little salt and pepper on it and then serve with applesauce on top.

We started using pork with weight watchers dinners (the maple syrup one we got from weight watchers). We've found it to be easy and tasty when we sear it, which is also the gayest way to cook it. Thawed pork can be ready to eat in under 10 minutes. (Possibly in about 5 minutes).

Easy Pork Lo Mein

Ingredients:
pork, chopped
4 cups water
2 packages of top ramen
1 pack frozen mixed vegetables (we used a frozen pack)
2 T flour (or cornstarch)

1. Boil frozen mixed vegetable in water and seasoning (from top ramen).
2. Sear the pork while waiting for the water to boil. Add when pork is done to water mixture.
3. Add top ramen noodles when water is boiling. Cook for 3 minutes.
4. Mix 2 T flour in 1 c water. Get all the lumps out. Stir into noodle mixture after 3 minutes are up and cook for additional minute on high.
5. Cool and serve.

Blueberry French Toast

One container of blueberry yogurt
2 eggs
some milk
bread

Mix eggs and yogurt together. Add milk only if needed to thin it out just a little. Dip bread in and cook each side.

Marsala Lasagna

Sauce:
3 T olive oil
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 T garlic, chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 T flour
1 cup Marsala wine
1 cup beef stock
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Add olive oil to heavy hot saucepan. Add onions, garlic, mushrooms, saute until mushrooms are tender. Add flour and cook about 1 minute then deglaze pan with Marsala wine. Add beef stock and cook until thick and flavors are blended.

Ingredients:
Sauce
2-15 oz containers Ricotta Cheese
2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 t dried basil
1 lb ground Italian Sausage, cooked and drained
12 oz package Oven Ready Lasagna

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a medium bowl, combine Ricotta cheese, 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, eggs, and basil; mix well.
3. In a 9 x 13 x 3 pan, spread some sauce to coat the bottom of the pan. Line bottom of the pan with lasagna noodles (DO NOT BOIL). Spread cheese mixture, then meat and then spoon sauce over. Repeat layers: noodles, cheese, meat then sauce. Last layer should be noodles and then sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
4. Wrap the lasagna tightly with a double layer of foil. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the Lasagna is fork tender.

1. 5. Let stand for 10 minutes sealed in foil before cutting and serving.

Creamy Poblano Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:
2 T butter
1/2-1 onion, chopped
1 small red pepper, chopped (optional)
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 can of diced tomatoes or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
garlic powder
salt and black pepper
2 10.75 oz cans Campbells Condensed Creamy Poblano and Queso Soup
1.5 cups milk
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 lb bag of elbow macaroni (cooked and drained)
4 hot dogs, sliced
2 T chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Cook macaroni noodles
2. Heat the butter over medium high heat. Add the onion and bell peppers and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the tomato and garlic (sprinkle in) and cook and stir for 1 minute. Season with salt and black pepper
4. Stir in the soup, hot dogs and milk and heat to a boil. Remove the saucepan from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Stir in the macaroni. Sprinkle with cilantro if desired.

Chicken rolls

Makes 6

Ingredients:
One 8 Oz package cream cheese
Chicken (we used thigh but I got the idea from someone who used chicken breasts)
Onions
Celery
1/2 green bell pepper
Green onions
One can mushroom soup
Uncooked bread (I tried both pillsbury crescent roll dough- 3 packages and frozen rolls for a smaller serving)
Butter
Italian bread crumbs

Directions:
1. Boil chicken. I did 6 tenderloin thighs, or 2-4 chicken breasts depending on size. Chop when finished (will end up in between chopped and shredded)
2. Chop onions. Saute onions in a little oil (maybe 1 T- just enough to coat the bottom of the pan). Chop and add in celery and then the chopped green pepper and continue to saute. Go until onions are ready. Turn stove off.
3. Add in sliced green onions and cream cheese and can of mushroom soup and chicken.
4. Use 2 crescent roll triangles and press seams together to make a square. Spoon filling onto dough and then pull up the sides of the dough, pressing sides together to seal shut. Flip over so that the seam side is down. For the roll option, I flattened the risen dough and spooned mixture in and sealed this as well. The first option gives bigger squares and the second, round rolls.
5. Melt butter and brush onto rolls and then sprinkle on Italian bread crumbs.
6. Cook rolls at designated temperature for the roll of your choice (should say on package) until golden brown.

Donut bacon cheeseburgers

Ingredients:
Glazed donuts (sliced)
Hamburger patties
Slices of cheese
2 slices of bacon per hamburger
Lawrys seasoning or salt, pepper and onion powder

Directions:
1. Cook bacon slices.
2. Cook hamburger patties. Season each side with lawrys or salt, pepper and onion powder. Place bacon on top of pattie and melt cheese slice on top.
3. After you get the hamburgers cooking, place the donuts on a pan, glaze side up, and toast the inside of the donuts.
4. Assemble cheeseburgers, glazed part facing in

Mexican pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients:
Pasta noodles (we used rotini because that's what we had)
Ground beef enough for one seasoning packet (I think they usually say 1/2 lb)
One taco seasoning pack
Cumin
2 Cans of stewed tomatoes
One can of tomatoes with green Chiles  (make sure the jar says mild if you don't want it spicy)
Cheddar cheese
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Start boiling water to make pasta noodles normally.
2. Cook ground beef and follow directions on taco seasoning packet
3. Add one can of stewed tomatoes and can of tomatoes with green Chiles. Add other can of stewed tomatoes until you have enough for the sauce. Mix and smash stewed tomatoes. Add cumin to taste.
4. Mix in cooked pasta noodles. Here you have a few options. You can save this mixture now (the leftovers are actually better because the flavors settle in more) or melt the cheddar cheese on top- you can do this in the pan or in the bowl. If you save it for later you can melt it as you warm it up. We melted one slice on top of pasta in each bowl (shredded cheese also works great). Sprinkle Parmesan cheese to taste.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I made the tortillas from scratch using Masa or Maseca and followed the directions for about 12 tortillas, then I split the dough in half and rolled them both out (one in the casserole dish I wanted to use) and one on a cookie sheet to about the same size.  Then I baked them for about 5-10 minutes at 350.  If you want to use pre-made tortillas, then skip this step.

Ingredients:
Masa or corn tortillas (enough to cover the bottom of the pan twice). 
One large can of enchilada sauce
One can of tomatoes with green chiles in it
About 1/2 lb block of cheddar cheese (shredded)
Chicken (breasts or thighs, or whatever you like)- I do 6-10 pieces depending on how many people I'm feeding and how filling I want it to be.
Cumin
Cilantro (I've used dried and a frozen cube of cilantro before, but whatever you have)

Directions:
1. Clean chicken and cut into pieces.  Throw in a saucepan and start to cook on med-low.
2. Add cilantro and cumin- sprinkle over the whole pan.  Then add tomatoes to saucepan. and about half the cheese and stir.
3. Lay half the tortillas in the bottom of the casserole dish you want to use (9x13?).  Then pour in the chicken, tomato and cheese mixture. (NOTE: chicken should not be completely cooked, that was just to give it a head start to ensure that it is fully cooked when the cheese melts in the oven.)  And then pour in most of the enchilada sauce.
4. Layer the remaining tortillas on top and pour remaining enchilada sauce on and remaining cheese on top.
5. Bake at 350 for 20-35 minutes (til the cheese is melted and a little brown)

Raspberry Rice

White rice
Glazed walnuts
Raisins
Raspberry Vinaigrette

Make white rice as directed.  Then fry up with lots of raspberry vinaigrette and glazed walnut and raisins. 

Turkey Parmesan

turkey steaks
mozzarella cheese
eggs
Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
Italian Recipe Stewed Tomatoes
Asiago Cheese

1. Take the turkey steaks, dip in egg batter (egg mixture, egg whites or whole egg), then dip in Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs.  Grill/fry the turkeys
2. Once cooked, take out, put in a casserole dish, cover with some mozzarella cheese, then the stewed tomatoes.  Then cover with more mozzarella cheese and a little bit of asiago cheese.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

Ginger-Caramelized Pineapple

PointsPlus: 3 pts for 2 pineapple spears and 1 teaspoon of syrup
Prep: 2 minutes  Cook: 9 minutes

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 (1 1/4 pound) cored fresh pineapple, cut vertically into 12 spears (for a really good pineapple look for a really good golden pineapple- the less green the better. Or see if you can pick out a leaf easily from the top)
2 tablespoons light butter, cut into pieces (I used yogurt butter)
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon finely chopped crystallized ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat a large skillet over high heat..  Coat pan with cooking spray; add pineapple.  Add butter pieces, and quickly tilt pan in all directions so butter covers pan with a thin film.
2. Cook pineapple 8 minutes or until browned, turning once. 
3. Add vanilla.  Add honey, ginger, and salt; cook 1 minute, tossing to coat with honey. 
YIELD: 6 servings

French Toast- Low Points WW

So, we were craving breakfast for dinner.  Sara Lee has some low calorie bread that comes at 2 Points Plus for TWO slices.  Then we have some egg substitute (from Costco which I believe is just the egg whites) and a little bit of vanilla.  The egg substitute was 1 points plus for 1/4 cup, so we estimated 3 points for every 2 slices.  Another great find was yogurt butter, and a low calorie syrup- depending on how much you like you can easily have great tasting french toast for 4 points.

We also added a scrambled eggs dish on the side.  We mixed in celery and onions and allowed those with extra points to sprinkle on some reduced fat Feta cheese for one point more.  So the eggs (for 1/4 cup) was one point, and then with cheese- 2.

Pair with fruit (free) and bacon if you wish.  We used turkey bacon tonight (which was 1 point per slice) but we've used some center-cut bacon that was thin but tasted good that I believe was 1 point for three (it could've been two points for three).  Either way, it was a great "breakfast".

Points Plus Totals:
2 pieces of French Toast: 3
with yogurt butter or syrup: 1 more

Scrambled eggs (add in any 0 points vegetables that you have or that sound good to you): 1
with reduced fat Feta cheese: 1 more
Fruit: 0
Turkey Bacon: 1 point per slice

Thai Pumpkin Soup

It's not spicy, we loved it, and it's LOW in points, so great for a base for other things.
2 Points Plus on Weight Watchers for 3/4 cup serving
Prep: 6 minutes Cook: 8 minutes

So, what you need:
2 Tablespoons Red Curry Paste
1 (13.5) can light coconut milk (we couldn't find light milk, but we found some without anything added and we figured that was just as good)
1 cup water
1 (15 ounce) can unsweetened pumpkin
2 Tablespoons fish sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
lime wedges (optional)

The recipe strongly suggests using the cilantro and lime wedges and we loved them also.  We added the cilantro while cooking the rest of the stuff though

1. Place curry paste in a medium saucepan.  Add coconut milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth.  Stir in 1 cup water and pumpkin (we add cilantro here); cook over medium heat 8 minutes or until thoroughly heated.  Remove from heat; stir in fish sauce.
2. Ladle soup into bowls.  Top with chopped cilantro, and serve with lime wedges.  Yields: 6 servings

We had this as soup the other night, but tonight we did it more like a curry base.  We cooked up some beef for some meat, and added more vegetables for the curry mixture (anything from broccoli, carrots, onions, celery... whatever sounds good to you that has no points- or just count for them).  And then we cooked up some white rice (3 points for 1/2 cup or 5 points for 1 cup).  So we served white rice and poured the soup and veggies and beef on top.

Artichoke Dip

by Norma Smith

1 C Sour Cream

1 C Mayonnaise

1 C Parmesan Cheese

1 small can diced green chiles

1 small can artichokes cut in smaller pieces

(Not marinated artichokes)

Mix together. Bake at 350 deg. for 30 minutes.  Serve with crackers.

Roast Pumpkin Seeds

by Lisa Lang

2 cups pumpkin seeds

1 teasp Worcestershire Sauce

3 tablespoons butter or melted margarine

1 teaspoon salt

dash of cabane pepper

Wash seeds.

Combine other ingredients

Bake 225 deg. For 1-2 hrs.

Stir

Makes 2 cups.

7 Layer Mexican Chip Dip

(1) Spicy refired beans - Frito Bean Dip

(2) Guacamole or Avocado Dip

(3) Sour Cream

(4) Chopped olives

(5) Green chilies

(6) Chopped tomatoes

(7) Cheese

Eggy H=orderves

by Lissa LeFevre

2 cup butter                                                8 oz. Diced green chilies

10 eggs                                                       1 pint cottage cheese

2 cup flour                                        1 lb shredded jack cheese

1tsp baking powder

Melt butter. Beat eggs lightly. Add flour, baking powder dash salt; blend. Add melted butter, chilies, cottage and jack cheese. Mix till blended. Pour into 13x9 inch pan Cook at 400 degrees for 15 min reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook for 35-40 min Cut into 1 inch squares Makes approx. 96 squares