Witch Hat Calzones

In honor of Halloween we had these for dinner tonight.  They were super easy and really tasty!

Ingredients:

2 packages of crescent rolls
pizza sauce
pepperoni
cheese
egg, beaten
Italian seasoning
Parmesan cheese

Open one of the packages of crescent rolls, separate the rolls, and lay them on a cookie sheet.  Spread sauce on rolls, leaving a little room around the edges.  Sprinkle cheese and pepperoni (I chopped the pepperoni into small pieces) on top.  Brush a little of the beaten egg around the edges and top with the other package of crescent rolls.  Press around the edges to seal and roll up the bottom to form the bottom of the hat.

Brush beaten egg on top and sprinkle with Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.  You can decorate with chopped pieces of pepperoni.  Bake at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

I've seen this recipe in a few different places, but I think I got this particular one from Yvonne's blog.  Yum, yum, yum!  I love sweet pork and this really does taste like the Cafe Rio version.  It's great with cheese, avocado, and tomatoes or whatever you have on hand!  I had a 3 lb roast, so I halved it and it worked great.

Ingredients:

6 lb pork roast
2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cans Coke (or 20 oz bottle)
16 oz Pace Picante sauce (I didn't have any but I did have a jar of La Victoria salsa so I used that and it was really good)

Trim fat from roast and cook in crockpot full of water on low for 6 hours or until tender.  Remove roast and shred and remove any fat leftover.  Dump water out of crockpot and replace the shredded pork.  Pour coke, brown sugar and picante sauce over the pork and mix in.  Slow cook for 3-4 hours.

Beef and Bean Chile Verde

I've had chile verde made with pork before, but never with beef and beans.  This was really good.  Unfortunately I didn't have 93% lean ground beef, so it wasn't quite as low calorie/fat as it could have been.  It think I got it on Food Network.  Their nutrition facts state: 307 calories, 8 g fat, 27 g protein, 6 g fiber.  Of course if you put it in a tortilla with cheese, you add more calories.

Ingredients:

1 lb 93% lean ground beef
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped (I never use a whole onion.  I maybe used half, and it was plenty.)
6 cloves garlic, chopped (I used 4 or 5)
1 T chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I used Texas Champagne, which is a cayenne pepper sauce)
1 16-oz jar green salsa, green enchilada sauce or taco sauce (I used green salsa)
1/4 cup water
1 15-oz can pinto or kidney beans

Cook beef, bell pepper and onion in a large saucepan over medium heat, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon, until meat is browned, 8-10 minutes.  Add garlic, chili powder, cumin and cayenne; cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.  Stir in salsa and water; bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.  Stir in beans and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

Skinny Enchilada Soup

I got this from Amy's recipe blog.  I was going to make it meatless, but decided to add chicken to it at the last minute because we needed to take dinner to someone and I wanted to make it go a little further.  I've never had chicken in taco/enchilada soup (except at Chili's of course!), usually we have ground beef.  I really liked it with the chicken though and it definitely made it less greasy!

Ingredients:

1 can refried beans
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (I used kidney beans and forgot to drain them, but it was still good)
1 cup veggie broth (I only had chicken broth so I used that)
1 cup frozen corn
3/4 cup salsa
1/2 cup water
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken (about 2 chicken breasts worth)
dash or two of cumin
dash of chili powder
2 cups cheddar cheese, divided
Tortilla chips or Fritos
sour cream (optional)

In a nice sized pot (or crockpot if you want to let it cook for a few hours) combine all ingredients except cheese, sour cream and chips and bring it to a boil.  Add 1 cup of cheese and stir over low heat until melted.  Serve topped with cheese, sour cream and chips.

Chicken Parmesan

This recipe also came from Food Network.  It's really good and didn't really need too many adjustments to make it healthy.  According to the website, each serving has 435 calories, 14 g fat, 44 g protein, and 4 g fiber.

Ingredients:

Tomato sauce:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, preferably organic
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Chicken:

• Cooking spray
• 4 thin chicken cutlets (about 1 1/4 pounds total)
• Salt to taste
• 2 large egg whites
• 6 tablespoons dry Italian bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 to 5 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese

Tomato Sauce: Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, salt, and red pepper flakes; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the flavors are blended and the sauce begins to thicken slightly, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in the basil.

Chicken: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Sprinkle the cutlets with the salt. Lightly beat the egg whites in a medium bowl. Combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan on a sheet of waxed paper. Spread the flour on another sheet of waxed paper. Working with 1 piece of chicken at a time, dip both sides into the flour, shaking off excess. Dip each piece into the egg whites, shaking off excess, and then press both sides into the breading to coat.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken (in batches, if necessary) and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken, in 1 layer, to the baking dish. Spoon the sauce over the chicken then sprinkle with the cheese. Bake, covered loosely with a tent of foil, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Whole Wheat Tortillas

I'd love to have wheat tortillas on hand all the time, but they're a little more expensive than I would like, so I tried making them today.  I found the recipe...somewhere.  I can't remember!  I would give credit if I could, but since I can't, I'll just give you the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 T oil
1/2 cup warm tap water

Combine dry ingredients.  Add oil and stir until well combined.  Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until dough can be gathered into a ball.  Add more water if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time (I ended up adding a little more than 1/2 cup and it still seemed too dry to me).

Knead on floured surface 15-20 times.  Let dough rest for 15 minutes.

Divide the dough into 10 portions and shape into balls.  On floured surface, roll out ball from the center into a circle.  Cook on ungreased skillet on medium-high heat for about 30 seconds on each side or until puffy.

Black Bean Croquettes with Fresh Salsa

I keep trying to plug my memory card into the computer, but it's not working, so this picture is from the Food Network website.

Another healthy recipe from Food Network.  The recipe said that a serving size was 2 croquettes, but I only ended up eating one.  And because I only ate one I might have had a few Sour Patch Kids a couple hours later.  Anyways, they had a great flavor, but I had a hard time eating just beans (it probably would have been better with rice or something), so I put it in a tortilla with a little cheese and it was great!  Also, since I (and my husband) only ate one and this recipe makes 8, I will probably halve it next time.

Ingredients:

2 15-oz cans black beans, rinsed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup plain dry breadcrumbs, divided
2 cups finely chopped tomatoes
2 scallions, sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp chili powder, divided
1/4 tsp salt
1 T olive oil
1 avocado, diced

Preheat oven to 425.  Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Mash black beans and cumin with a fork (I used a potato masher) in a large bowl until no whole beans remain.  Stir in corn and 1/4 cup breadcrumbs.  Combine tomatoes, scallions, cilantro, 1/2 tsp chili powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir 1 cup of the tomato mixture into the bean mixture.

Mix the remaining 1/3 cup breadcrumbs, oil and the remaining 1/2 tsp chili powder in a small bowl until the breadcrumbs are coated with oil.  Divide the bean mixture into 8 scant 1/2-cup balls.  Lightly press each bean ball in the breadcrumb mixture, turning to coat.  Place on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the croquettes until heated through and the breadcrumbs are golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.  Stir avocado into the remaining tomato mixture.  Serve with the croquettes.

No-Bake Macaroni & Cheese

So my sister is doing a Healthy Contest within our family.  We get points for eating healthy, exercising, and losing weight.  So I looked for some healthy, but still good recipes and found this one on Food Network.  It was actually really good.  Next time I might add some chicken to make it even better.

Ingredients:

8 oz whole wheat elbow noodles (2 cups; I used rotini noodles)
1 10-oz pkg frozen chopped broccoli
1 3/4 cups low-fat milk, divided
3 T flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder (I minced 1 clove of garlic)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
3/4 cup shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tsp Dijon mustard (I only had regular mustard so I used that)

Another change I made was the cheese.  All I had on hand was a combo of Colby Jack and Monterey.  It was still good, but I think it would have been better with extra-sharp Cheddar.  And of course the Parmesan.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Cook pasta for 4 minutes.  Add frozen broccoli and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the pasta and broccoli are just tender, 4 to 5 minutes more.

Meanwhile, heat 1 1/2 cups milk in another pot over medium-high heat until just simmering.  Whisk the remaining 1/4 cup milk, flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl until combined.  Add the flour mixture to the simmering milk; return to a simmer and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and whisk in cheeses and mustard until the cheese is melted.

Drain the pasta and broccoli and add to the cheese sauce.  Return to the heat and cook, stirring, over medium-low heat until heated through, about 1 minute.