Super Simple Beef Stew

Prep: 30 minutes
Cook time: 8 to 9 hours (low) or 4 to 41/2 hours high;plus 30 minutes

Ingredients:
2 Pds boneless beef chuck roast
12 Oz tiny new potatoes, quartered
4 medium carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup lower sodium beef broth
1 tsp dried marjoram or died thyme, crushed
2 cups loose pack frozen green beans (9 oz)

1. Trim the fat from beef; cut beef into 1 inch cubes. Coat an unheated large skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat over medium-high heat. Add half of the beef cubes. Cood and stir until browned; remove from skillet. Add remaining beef cubes; cook and stir until browned. Drain fat off of beef.

2. Place beef in a 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker. Add potatoes, carrots, onions, cream of mushroom soup, beef broth, and marjoram. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 9 hours or on high heat setting for 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

3. If using low heat setting, turn to high heat setting. Stir in green beans. Cover and cook about 30 minutes more or just until green beans are tender. Makes about 6 (1 1/3 cup) servings.

Nutrition facts:
Calories - 317
Fat - 9g
Cholesterol - 92 mg
Protein - 35g
Carb. - 22g
fiber - 4g
Sodium - 396 mg

Note: I didn't have any beef broth and used 1 Cup of water instead. It was much more "watery" than I liked at the end of cooking, so when I added the green beans for the last half an hour, I also added a 2nd can of cream of mushroom soup. It made it a lot creamier. Also, I'm sure added a lot more calories! But 1 can of soup, spread out over 6 servings, isn't that bad. Anyway, next time I will be sure to have beef broth on hand! The entire family loved this!!!

Fruit Crumble

Who doesn't like pie for breakfast??  This is pretty darn close to eating pie.  I stole the Crumble Topping recipe from EatingWell.com.  It's the same one I use on the Blueberry Crumble I love to make!  I made this one with Apples, but a Pear, or better yet an Asia Pear would be awesome too!

Serves 2

1 Huge HoneyCrisp Apple, chopped
1 tbs Honey
2 tbs WW Flour
2 ts Butter
1 tbs chopped Almonds
2 tbs Raisins (or Craisins)
1/4c Cider or Apple Juice (or a glob of concentrate)
Apple Pie Spice
1/2 c Crumble Topping

Throw it in a sauce pan (minus the crumble) and cook it for a bit till the apples are fork tender.  Then sprinkle the crumble topping on top and bake at 350 till the top is golden.

Cals 366, Fat 16g, Protein 4g, Carbs 58g

I served this with Vanilla Yogurt for breakfast.  This would also go great with ice cream, or as a dessert.  Nothing in this recipe is exact, I just threw it together and loved the results.  Play with it and make it your own.  This works great with berries too.

Homemade Pita Chips

I love making pita chips! They taste so much better than the store bought ones and it makes me feel like I am still eating chips! I like using Greek Style Pita's. They're thicker and so they have more calories, but they are just so darn good. I use whole wheat ones for the healthiest version. The pita you choose will be the determining factor for calorie intake since they vary so widely.

Greek 100% Whole Wheat Pita

Spray Oil (or Cooking Spray)

Coarse Kosher Salt

Herbs & Spices

Spray one side of the pita with oil or cooking spray. Sprinkle, very sparsely, the kosher salt all over the pita. Then sprinkle the pita with your desired herb or spice. Turn it over and repeat (if you want, I like the taste better when its on both sides). Cut the pita into "chips" or use a cookie cutter for fun shapes. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 6-7 minutes on each side (depending on how crispy you want them). Keep an eye on them the second half as they can burn fast.

I have also butterflied the pita. Cutting the pita thickness in half. These make very light, fragile chips. Keep the pita whole for heartier dipping chips. If you butterfly the pita you don't need to cook them as long.

I like flavor combo's like Salt and Garlic Powder, Salt, Salt and Dill, Cinnamon and Sugar, Cajun, Salt and Lime (instead of cooking spread, rub with a lime wedge and then sprinkle with salt or cumin), Pizza (salt, garlic, Italian seasoning). I'd love to hear your flavor combo's. I heard about dry ranch mix too!

Baked Chicken Fingers

** Since my girls would normally whine about "weird foods" as a breading on thier nugs, I first crushed the almonds and the oats. That made them blend in well with the bread crumbs.

Ingredients:

Olive Oil Spray (or your choice)
1 1/2 pds chicken breast (I used 2 breasts for my girls)
1/2 C Skim milk
1tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4C Sliced Almonds
1/4 C Rolled Oats
1/2 C bread crumbs
1 Tbsp Dried Parsley flakes
1/4 tsp black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a baking sheet with olive oil.Trim any fat from chicken and cut into strips (approx. 6-8 per breast).

Stir milk and mustard together in a bowl. In a separate container mix together almonds, oats, bread crumbs, parsley, and black pepper. One at a time, dip chicken into milk mixture then dredge them in oatmeal mixture, making sure each piece is evenly coated.

Arrange on baking sheet and bake for 14 to 16 minutes, turning once, or until chicken is cooked through and coating is golden brown. Nutritional Information: Calories: 250, Fat: 8 g., Carbs: 7 g., Protein: 37 g.

Clean Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is something I found online, and baked this past weekend. They were really good for a weird cookie! :) I didn't find "sucanat" sugar while I was out, so I just used my organic cane sugar. I also didn't order $6.00 grain chocolate chips online (can you believe that?!?) So I guess my chocolate chips weren't up to snuff. ;) But I still felt these were pretty healthy considering!

Also, they have 115 calories each

Ingredients:

1 cup spelt flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup Sucanat
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips
1/3 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350*

In a large bowl combine spelt flour, baking powder, baking soda, Sucanat and salt. In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, molasses, vanilla extract and canola oil until well combined. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix JUST until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Place teaspoonfuls of batter on cookie sheets and bake for 10-11 minutes.

Makes 12 cookies

*I found they were better chewy! Don't overbake!

Corncakes with Maple-Yogurt Topping

Picture credit goes to Heather! :)

From EatingWell.com
See the original recipe here.

Made from stone-ground cornmeal, these pancakes are light and crunchy. Make the pancakes immediately; this batter does not hold.

6 servings, 2 pancakes each
Active Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
3/4 cup stone-ground cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups nonfat milk
1/4 cup low-fat or nonfat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons canola or corn oil
4 large egg whites

Topping
8 ounces (1 cup) low-fat or nonfat plain yogurt
1/4-1/2 cup maple syrup


Preparation
1.To make corncakes: Combine cornmeal, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Mix together milk, 1/4 cup yogurt and oil in a medium bowl and stir into the dry ingredients mixture until blended. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks and fold gently into batter.

2.Fry pancakes in a lightly oiled pan over medium heat until brown and puffed, about 5 minutes on each side.

3.To make topping: Combine 8 ounces yogurt and maple syrup in a small bowl and spoon over pancakes.


Nutrition
Per serving : 272 Calories; 6 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 4 mg Cholesterol; 45 g Carbohydrates; 11 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 384 mg Sodium; 311 mg Potassium;
3 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 other carbohydrate, 1 fat

Notes: I prefer using Vanilla Yogurt in the cakes and in the sauce. I also prefer adding a touch more sugar to the cakes, though they are delicious with out. Topping with fruit is a wonderful addition. I also use this sauce (3 parts yogurt to 2 parts syrup) on all of my pancakes and waffles these days. I feel like this sauce is far superior to plain syrup and I may never go back!

Ham and Turkey Rollups

These are awesome! Tastes like your eating at a deli!

The recipe comes from Weight Watcher's 5 ingredient, 15 minute recipe book.

1/2 cup chopped bottled roasted red bell pepper
1 - (4 oz) tub light garlic and herbs spreadable cheese (such as Alouette)
6 - 8 inch tortillas
3 cups baby spinach leaves
6 oz thinly sliced ham
6 oz thinly sliced turkey

1. Pat peppers dry with paper towels
2. Combine peppers and cheese in a small bowl, stirring until blended.
3. Spread cheese mixture evenly over tortillas. Arrange 1/2 cup spinach on each tortilla. Top each with ham and turkey. Roll up wraps, cut in half.

Yield: 6 servings (2 halves each)

Note: wrap in parchment paper to keep together!

Cals: 256, fat 7, protien 17, carb 29, fiber .3, chol 35, iron 2.5