Low Fat No Bake Fiber One Cookies

This is a Weight Watchers recipe that are kind of like haystack cookies. I make them to get a little extra fiber into my 3 year old's diet. He could be the poster child for the dairy association! These are really great to give your sweet tooth a little fix, but are good for you and low point. If you make 24 of them they are only 1 point a piece. Not to be crude, but don't eat TOO many of these or else you'll spend all of your time in the bathroom!!!

Ingredients

1 pouch of Fiber One cereal (there are two pouches in a box)

1 ten oz. package of your favorite chips (chocolate, peanut butter, raspberry, milk chocolate, etc.)

Melt the chips in a large, microwave safe bowl in the microwave. I usually heat them for a minute and stir and then heat for an additional 15 and stir ... repeating until it the chips are melted. Empty a pouch of Fiber One into the bowl and stir until the cereal is coated well. Use your cookie scoop, and scoop them out onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Pop them in the refrigerator until set.

Herb Crusted Pork Tenderloin

This is a Paula Deen recipe, so you can't ever go wrong with that. It was VERY easy, but takes an hour and 45 minutes total time ... so plan for that when you make it. I was out of one of the ingredients and substituted something else. It was great, but I will definitely be making it again with all of the ingredients called for. I got the $18 pork tenderloin on sale yesterday for only $9 so that was a great find! We had a TON left over. I made sandwiches from it for Brian and the boys today and then we'll have it for dinner tomorrow night, too. I may disguise it in something else. Anyway, here's the recipe. It would be very impressive served for guests.

Ingredients

1 (4 pound) boneless pork loin, with the fat left on
1 tablespoon of salt (this was a little salty ... I'll probably use just a little less, but I think the salt helps with the juiciness ... this was the most tender, juicy pork I've ever eaten)
2 Tbsp of olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp of dried thyme or 2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves (I used dried because that's what I had)
1 tsp of dried basil or 2 tsp fresh basil leaves (I was out of basil so I substituted dried cilantro)
1 tsp dried rosemary or 2 tsp fresh rosemary (I used dried once again)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees

Place the pork loin fat side up on a rack in a roasting pan. (I had a roasting pan but no rack so I used the rack out of my toaster oven and it worked great.) Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. With your fingers, massage the mixture onto the pork loin, covering all of the meat and fat. Make sure it ends up fat side up.

Roast the pork for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 425 degrees and roast for an additional hour. (I had trouble getting my old oven to the 425, so I cooked it only about an additional 45 minutes). Test for doneness using an instant-read thermometer. (I used one with the rotary face so it wasn't instant but I just stuck it half way through the roast in the middle.) When the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees, remove the roast from the oven. Allow to sit for about 20 minutes before carving. It will continue to cook while it rests (and will be cool enough to serve to guests).

Sloppy Chicken Enchilades, Version II

I got this recipe from Jill's recipe blog: Simple Daily Recipes Blog

She came up with the recipe when she was short for time and could only use what she had on hand. I used it last Thursday when I was in the same situation. Because I could only use what I had on hand, mine is different from hers, but based on the same principle. :o) To try her recipe, go to her blog. Here is my version of Jill's recipe.
Ingredients

2 cans of canned chicken breasts (the size that you can get 5 to a pack at Sam's)
1 tsp. of onion powder, or to taste
1 can of 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of light sour cream
1 and 1/2 tsp of chili powder (less if you want it less spicy)
1 and 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
1 can (4 oz.) green chilis
1 can of drained rotel tomatoes (use mild if you want it to be less spicy)
8 corn tortillas
2 cups of 2% Mexican blend cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Drain the canned chicken, and mix it with the soup, sour cream, onion powder, chili powder and cumin in a large bowl. I used my kitchen shears to cut the tortillas into strips (bite sized pieces). Add the tortillas strips, green chilis, and drained rotels. Mix just until the tortillas are coated with soup mixture. Empty the mixture into a sprayed 9x13 casserole dish and cover with cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly on top.

TIP: I didn't do this, but if you were going to serve it to people other than your kids :o), after it comes out of the oven, you could plate it and top it with shredded lettuce (I love buying the bags of this in the produce section for sandwiches, tacos, salads, etc.); seeded, diced tomatoes; a dollop of sour cream; sliced black olives and/or a dollop of guacamole.

Chewy Drizzled Cinnamon Cookies

Per your request, this one is for you, Tracey & Doug! These used to be your favorites before I made the Lemon Cheese Bars. These cookies are not some of the things I made with what I had on hand the other day, but I talked to Tracey this weekend, and she requested these. I got the original recipe from my sister-in-law, Terry. A big thanks to her! I make these throughout the year, but I always make a few batches around the holidays to give to people and for my family.

Ingredients

3/4 C. (one and a half sticks) butter, softened (this can be softened in the microwave for about 20 seconds or so on 50% power)
1 C. packed light brown sugar
1/4 C. of light corn syrup
1 egg
1 2/3 C (10 oz. pkg) Hershey's cinnamon chips, divided into 1 C. and 2/3 C. (these can be hard to find. In BCS I've only been able to regularly find them at Albertstons. Every now and then I think you can find them at HEB ... Kroger doesn't carry them even when several people have asked for them)
2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. shortening
1 cookie scoop (a must for this recipe ... you can find these in the kitchen gadget section in your grocery store or at a Walmart type store and of course a kitchen specialty store)
parchment paper (you can find this with the foil and plastic wrap in your grocery store)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat softened butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Add corn syrup and egg. Mix well. Place 1 cup of cinnamon chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute, then stir. (it will look like it didn't melt but if you stir it, the rest of the chips will melt) If necessary, microwave an extra 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating just until chips are melted when stirred. Stir melted chips into butter mixture. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Tip: I always use a whisk to stir together flour mixtures even when it calls for sifting the flour ... it works great for this. Add the flour mixture to the cinnamon butter mixture and beat just until blended. Use a cookie scoop to scoop out cookies onto the parchment paper paper topped cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden around the edges. Cool completely. While cookies are cooling, make the cinnamon drizzle by putting the other 2/3 c. of cinnamon chips and 1 1/2 tsp. of shortening (NOT butter, margarine or oil) in a small microwave safe bowl. Microwave it on high for about 1 minute and stir until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Drizzle this mixture on top of the cooled cookies. You can use a fork or spoon to do this or you can put it in a quart freezer bag and cut the corner off. I usually just use a fork or spoon to drizzle it on the cookies. Makes about 3 dozen cookies depending on the size of the scoop.

Lemon Cheese Bars

Yesterday I had to bake a couple of desserts and make a salad for a ladies' church function, AND I had to fix a dinner for my family because I wasn't going to be here for dinner because I was going to be at that function. AND, thanks to tropical storm Erin, it was raining which meant I was NOT under any circumstances leaving the house with the kids to go to the store. So, I had to use what I had on hand. I'll be sharing those recipes over the next couple of days.

Anyway, here is one of the desserts I made. The original recipe came from The Cake Mix Bible. I didn't like the way the cheese part tasted, so I added a little extra. Here's my version of this recipe. As a tip, always keep cake mix on hand (I always pick up several different flavors when they are on sale for $1 a piece). You can make cookies and desserts like this when you are in a bind. Also, always keep some cream cheese on hand. I was glad I had picked up a couple of packages last time ... the expiration date is usually way out so I always pick up a couple when they are on sale (1/3 fat of course).

Ingredients

1 box of yellow cake mix with pudding in it
2 eggs
1/3 C. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 eight oz. package of 1/3 fat cream cheese (use full fat if you want)
3/4 C. sugar (less if you want it less sweet)
2 Tbsp. of lemon juice (more or less to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cake mix, ONE egg and oil in a large bowl; stir until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of crumb mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture into ungreased 13x9 pan. (This will look like it is not enough, but it is ...just keep pressing it until it is all connected ... it will be a thin layer) Bake 15 minutes until golden brown. Combine remaining egg, cream cheese (I put it in the microwave for about 20 second to soften it), sugar, lemon juice, vanilla in a medium bowl and beat until smooth and well blended. Spread over baked layer. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake another 15 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack; cut into bars. I made 24 bars out of this, but the original recipe said 18 (those would be really big bars).

Cool Lemon Pie

Because it has been so darn hot in Texas the past couple of days, I offer this cool, refreshing dessert. It is one of my favorite pies ever. It is also super easy and no baking is required ... meaning you don't have to turn the oven on and heat up the house when it is 105 degrees outside! It comes from Weight Watchers Quick, Light and Healthy cookbook, and if you are counting points, it is 5 points for 1/10 of the pie ... not a lot of pie, but yummy.

NOTE: Serve this pie right out of the freezer. If you let is set out before you serve it, it will be too soft ... still delicious but it doesn't look as pretty glopped on the plate instead of nice and firm in a perfect pie triangle.

Ingredients

1 (14oz) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk

1 (6oz) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed and undiluted (I can't find 6 oz. cans here, so I just get the bigger can and use have and freeze the other half for later)

1 1/2 cups frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed

1 (6oz) reduced-fat graham cracker crust

Combine Sweetened condensed milk and lemonade concentrate; fold in whipped topping. Pour mixture into crust. Cover and freeze 8 hours or overnight. Cut pie into 10 equal slices.

Yields: 10 servings

Also, be sure to check out Shannon's recipe blog! She is a dear friend who is one of the best cooks I know! Her desserts are her specialty I think ... or maybe I just really like sweets. Anyway, be sure to check it out. Here's the link: A Dash of This and a Pinch of That

Cranberry Chicken

This is an old recipe, but this is my version. I made it last night for dinner, because it is one of the few things that BOTH my older boys love (for the moment ... you never know from meal to meal with preschoolers). I didn't have exactly everything the original recipe called for, and I added a little something extra. This version turned out much better than the original version, I think. I'll make it like this from now on.

Ingredients

6 to 8 chicken breast halves (can be boneless skinless ... that's what I used, or bone in like thighs, leg quarters, breasts etc. The chicken with the bone in it will take longer to cook and if the skin is on, it won't be low fat. :o)
1 bottle of Catalina dressing (I used the store brand Russian and it was GREAT)
1 package of onion soup mix (I didn't use a whole one ... probably 2/3 of one ... it was too strong and saltly using a whole package last time I made this)
1 can of jellied cranberry sauce
1 Tbsp (or to taste) of General Tso's Chicken Seasoning Mix (this gives it a little spicy kick - the original recipe called for dry mustard and that sounded boring and I'm not a big fan of that flavor) - I used Sun Bird brand General Tso's Seasoning.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the chicken in a sprayed 9x13 dish. Mix the dressing, soup mix, cranberry sauce, and General Tso's together and pour it over the chicken. Put it in the oven uncovered for about 30 to 45 minutes until the chicken is done. I served this over brown rice with plenty of sauce ladled over the chicken and rice. I also served it with some WONDERFUL green beans based on a Paula Deen recipe ... but that's a different recipe for another time.

The boys loved this chicken. I thought I would have plenty for dinner the next night, too ... but they each ate three helpings ... probably a whole half breast each! This will definitely become a family staple.