Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

I spent a lot of time in the hospital this week with family. I’ve read a total of 45 magazines (mostly quality ones like US Weekly or People) and watched more hours than I can count of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”. I finally got hold of the clicker and turned to it Food Network. Rachael Ray of 30 Minute Meals was on making Brinner: breakfast for dinner. Most of what she made I tried to tune out due to the ratio of butter, sugar and cream. She did however make the above Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes which were just too good to pass up.

When we got home I found the recipe on the Food Network website and I tweaked it a little to make it Weight Watchers friendly. You can make one HUGE pancake for 7 points (6 if you don’t add Flax).

Click “read more” for the recipe and more pictures!

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes
Adapted from Rachael Ray

INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup Old fashioned oats
¼ cup Fiber 1 cereal, finely ground in a Food processor
¼ cup Heart Smart Bisquick
2 tsp Brown Sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup Non-fat vanilla yogurt
¼ cup Skim milk
¼ cup Egg beaters
¼ teaspoon Vanilla extract
½ small really ripe banana, mashed up
20g Raisins
1 tsp Flax seeds, ground
Sugar free Syrup

DIRECTIONS:
Mix together ingredients to combine. Do not over mix. Spray non-stick pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-low heat. Makes one 9″ pancake.

Servings: 1
WWP: 7 (6 without Flax seeds)

Click here for a printable version of Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes!

Without further ado, the recipe…
Homemade Corn Dogs

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

3. In a shallow pan, combine the Bisquick, cornmeal, Splenda, and milk.

5. Place the flour on a plate.

The bowl was too small, so I transfered the corn mixture to a plate

6. Insert a Popsicle stick, or wooden skewer into each hotdog.

This felt dirty for some reason

7. Roll each hotdog into the flour, then the batter to coat.

8. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Coat each hot-dog with butter flavored nonstick cooking spray.

9. Bake for 5 minutes, and then turn the hotdogs over carefully with a spatula. Coat each one with nonstick cooking spray again, and bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown.

Corn Dogs with Leftover Mac N’ Cheesey
Yes, yes I am getting sick of eating Macaroni & Cheese. As good as it is, I’m so done. Luckily, we finished off the pan tonight. On to better things.

WWP: 2 per Corn Dog

Serves: 8

I hymned and hawd all week about what to make for tonight’s Good Friday Potluck at church. I was going to make chicken stuffed with spinach, but chicken is really expensive right now, so I opted not to do that. Then I thought “maybe I’ll make chili”, but its annoying to carry a plate and a bowl through the buffet line, so I opted not to do that either. Finally, I decided to make an old standby with a twist: Macaroni with four cheeses. Sounds naughty doesn’t it?

Not this recipe!

Macaroni and 4 Cheeses
by: Ellie Krieger

INGREDIENTS:
Cooking spray
1 pound elbow macaroni
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen pureed winter squash
2 cups 1 percent lowfat milk
4 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (about 1 1/3 cups)
2 ounces Monterrey jack cheese, grated (about 2/3 cup)
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons unseasoned bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Coat a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook until tender but firm, about 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

4. Meanwhile, place the frozen squash and milk into a large saucepan and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally and breaking up the squash with a spoon until it is defrosted. Turn the heat up to medium and cook until the mixture is almost simmering, stirring occasionally.

5. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the Cheddar, jack cheese, ricotta cheese, salt, mustard and cayenne pepper. Pour cheese mixture over the macaroni and stir to combine.

Shredded cheese

6. Transfer the macaroni and cheese to the baking dish.

7. Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and oil in a small bowl.

8. Sprinkle over the top of the macaroni and cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, then broil for 3 minutes so the top is crisp and nicely browned.

Serving size: 2 cups (recipe serves 8 total)

Calories: 392
Fat: 11
Fiber: 3.5
WWP: 8

You remember the SNL skit back in, oh ‘94 (!) when Adam Sandler and the late Chris Farley performed “Lunch Lady Land” don’t you? The chorus of the song goes something like this:

Sloppy joe.
Slop, sloppy joe.
Sloppy joe.
Slop, sloppy joe.
Come on.
Sloppy joe.
Slop, sloppy joe.
Yeah.
Sloppy joe.

I’ve been singing it all night while making that —>

Click on more for the recipe and lots of pictures!

Sloppy Joes
adapted from Ellie Krieger

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound extra-lean ground beef (I used 97%)
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (really, really small!)
1 red pepper, diced
1 can small red beans or pinto beans, preferably low sodium drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 whole-wheat burger buns

DIRECTIONS:

1. Brown the meat and the onion in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.breaking up the meat into crumbles as it cooks. Pour the drippings out of the pan and discard.

2. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and red pepper and cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Insanely important to chop the jalapeno peppers REALLY small

3. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes more.

4. Spray buns with spray butter and lightly toast.

5. Place a half-cup scoop of the mixture onto each bun and serve.

1/2 c. Sloppy Joe mixtures = 4 points

1 Whole Wheat Bun (Weight Watchers) = 2 points

Since The Mister is flying somewhere over Nebraska right now, on his way to sunny (read: not cold and snowy) California, I have decided to declare this week Chick Food week. I started with tonight’s dinner: Whole-Wheat Pasta Salad with Walnuts and Feta Cheese. Yup, no meat in sight. To add insult-to-injury I served it with a side of steamed broccoli and a pumpkin muffin with no butter. Boy would this meal have him in a tither. “Luckily” he is enjoying delicious re-hydrated plane food. That should hit the spot.

Whole-Wheat Pasta Salad with Walnuts and Feta Cheese
Another Recipe by Ellie Krieger

INGREDIENTS:

1/2lb whole-wheat pasta (I used fusilli)
1/2c walnut pieces
1/2c feta cheese (I used reduced fat, but whatever your into)
1/4c diced red onion (chopped finely, no one wants a big hunk of onion)
1 1/2c baby spinach, shredded
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste

1. Measure out 1/2 lb of pasta

1/2 lb or 8oz. Weird is that Rachael Ray in the background? It is! She has her own stocks now! I found her beef stock at the grocery store last Thursday. It has nothing to do with this recipe, but I just like her. Now where were we?

2. Cook the pasta according to package directions (ie. boil water)

3. In a small dry skillet toast walnuts for 3-5 minutes or until fragrant. Set aside to cool.

4. Chop onion (finely), feta and walnuts. Shred spinach.

5. In a small bowl whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic and mustard

Yeah, that’s right I buy store brand.

6. It looks like this until you whisk it:

before

after

7. Pour dressing over the pasta and toss ingredients to combine. Season with salt and pepper. This salad will keep in the fridge for about a day.

Chick Food: Day 1

Serve with a side of steamed broccoli

Serves 4

Serving size: 2 cups=9 points

Diet Food? Um, Sorta.

It was a looooooong day at work today so I planned to come home and make some cookies for dessert.   I was craving chocolate and Andy has been begging me to make something that didn’t have flax seed or spinach in it.  So I purposely saved enough points throughout the day to indulge just a little while still staying on track.  My plans were deterred however when a friend called who was having a really, really bad day.  We ended up taking her and her daughter to dinner and accompanied them to worship night at church.  We didn’t get home until after 8pm.  Usually the time I turn into a pumpkin (these early morning workouts are killing me).

I succumbed to my husbands desperate stares and ended up making them tonight.  And I’m glad I did!  They are the most delicious 2pt cookie I’ve had!  Small.  Tiny even, but delicious! 

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/4c.  all purpose flour
• 1c. regular oats
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 granulated sugar
• 1/2c. brown sugar, packed
• 1/3c. butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg white
• 1/4c. chopped pecans
• 1/4 c. mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix together first 4 ingredients in seperate bowl.
3. Add remaining ingredients (minus the pecans and chocolate chips) in another bowl and mix until smooth.
4. Slowly add dry ingredients.  Mix until well incorporated.

Add in 1/4c. chocolate chips (I didn’t have any mini)

Chop nuts and add to mixture.

I remember one time when I watching Rachel Ray she said ” Now remember GUYS, keep your NUTS in the freezer when your done with them’.  Ha ha.  Crass, yes!  But so funny!

It should look like this.  Resist the temptation to eat the raw dough!

In order to ensure correct points value per cookie.  I measure the dough and then divide it into three equal balls.

Because the recipe makes 36 cookies, I roll the three equal balls into logs and cut them into 12 equal portion cookies.

12 equal portions

Place on greased cookie sheets and bake for 10 minutes.

Now go buy a lock for the cookie jar. 

Recipe yields 36 cookies.  Each cookie is 81 Calories, 3gm of Fat, .5gm Fiber, 2 points each.

It’s leap year, so technically today is an extra day! I celebrated by trying out a recipe I’ve always wanted to try: Spicy Black Bean and Zucchini over at Green Light Bites. Honestly, I really wasn’t prepared for it to knock my socks off because I thought I hated zucchini … well, I was wrong! It’s ridiculously good. You must try it. Right now. Go.

The Spicy Black Bean and Zucchini mixture also turns into great appetizers by using wonton wrappers! Click here for the full recipe!