Garlic Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters

Garlic Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters

This recipe was a little different for us in our house. We almost always cook with chicken breast because the white meat is lower in points than the dark meat is (although my personal preference is dark meat...love me some fried chicken legs!) However, when I was shopping at Aldi one week, I saw this huge package of chicken leg quarters that were marked down to like $2 or $3 because they were almost to their "sell by" date, so I just couldn't pass it up. I'm always looking for ways to save money, and I am so not above buying marked down meat. (Just make sure to stick it in the freezer when you get home unless you are cooking it that night!) So once I had the meat, I went searching for a recipe and found this one. It was soooooo delicious! We had my in-laws over for supper and they loved it too! Yes, this is definitely one of those higher point meals, but as long as you plan your day so that you know what you'll be eating, you should be good to go!

Ingredients:

4 cloves diced garlic

1 tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. cumin

Dash of pepper

2 T extra virgin olive oil

4 chicken leg quarters

½ c. chicken broth 

Directions:

1.   Heat oven to 425

2.   Combine garlic, oregano, salt, chili powder, cumin and black pepper. Add olive oil and mix well. Mash it up with a fork

3.   Rinse chicken leg quarters and pat dry. Snip off any excess skin. Arrange chicken in a shallow baking pan. (I used a jelly roll pan). Pat the garlic mixture over the leg quarters.

4. Pour chicken broth in the pan to keep chicken moist while baking.   

5. Bake 40-50 minutes or until juices run clear.  

Yields 4 pieces – WWP+ 9 per leg quarter 

Shown here with a 1 point salad: lettuce, mushrooms, cucumbers and 2 T. fat free Caesar Italian dressing.

Recipe from www.southernfood.about.com

Easy Baked Chicken

Easy Baked Chicken

I debated even writing up and posting this dinner because it's so basic that it seems completely unnecessary to post. It's a seasoned piece of chicken breast, and that's it. However, I realized that in the 2.5 months that we have been doing this, I have been so caught up in making these incredibly yummy and fun dinners that are all weight watchers pointed out that I have not once just cooked some regular chicken. So I figured if I needed the reminder, maybe someone else did too. I actually put the baked chicken on the menu at the request of the hubs. It's been frustrating for him, and me as well, these last few weeks because his weight has been coming off much slower than it has in the past. He has been doing everything right (except maybe not exercising as much as he should, he just has a busy schedule this time of year) but the weight has just been slow to come off. The only thing he could think of that was different from the last time he did Weight Watchers and dropped so much, so fast, was that we ate a lot more plain meats and less fancied up recipes. While I explained to him that I would loose my mind and my motivation if I had to go back to eating nothing but chicken breast all the time again, however, I would be happy to implement more non-fancied up proteins for meals once or twice a week, so that's what I did! I was also having a major craving for mashed potatoes, so I fixed a small pan of instant mashed potatoes, which was 3 points for 1/2 c. and 5 points for a whole cup. We still had our big salad and also served it with broccoli. As for making the actual chicken, I get these really big chicken breasts that I then butterfly so they are thinner and cook faster and much more evenly. You can use whatever seasonings you want, I used what I had on hand and what sounded good to me. The chicken broth in the pan really does help keep the chicken from drying out. And point value-wise, for the most part, unless you get up to 9-10 cooked ounces in one chicken breast, we just weighed them after they were cooked and they are one point per ounce. This meal was nothing fancy, and certainly anything that anyone could do and has done a million times before, but sometimes going back to the basics is a refreshing change of pace.

Ingredients:

4 (4-6oz) thinly sliced chicken breasts

½ c. chicken broth
Onion powder
Garlic salt
Basil
Freshly ground pepper
(or any seasoning of your choice)

Directions:

      1.   Heat oven to 350.

2.   Place chicken breasts in a 9x13 baking dish.

3.   Top with seasonings of your choice, I used onion powder, garlic salt, black pepper and dried basil.

4.   Very carefully add about ½ c. of chicken broth to the bottom of baking dish (try not to pour it right on seasoned chicken so to wash off the seasonings).

5.   Bake about 20 minutes or until chicken is done. 

Yields 4 pieces – WWP+ 4-6 per piece (1 point per ounce of cooked chicken)

Shown here with a 1 point salad: lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers and 2 T. fat free Caesar Italian dressing and 3 points of instant mashed potatoes (1/2 c. serving)

Hawaiian BBQ Cupcakes

Hawaiian BBQ Cupcakes

I keep saying it, over and over, but we have yet to try a cupcake recipe that we don't love! This one was no exception AND it was super easy and fast to put together. There was only 3 layers (then repeated) and was just a quick and easy and yummy dinner to put together! I will say, they didn't hold up as well when I reheated them the next day for lunch as other cupcakes have, and I'm not entirely sure why, tasted just as good, just didn't hold shape quite as well reheated. But if that's my biggest complaint, then I think we're doing pretty good!

Ingredients:

1 2/3 c. cooked chicken breast, chopped or shredded

½ c. chopped fresh pineapple (if you have to use canned, drain, and don’t buy any in syrup)

4 T. BBQ sauce

1 T. chopped scallions

16 wonton wrappers

4 oz. (about 1 cup) 2% shredded cheddar cheese 

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 375, spray 8 cups in a muffin tin.

2.   In a bowl, combine the chicken, pineapple, BBQ sauce and scallions. Stir well to combine.

3.   Put a wonton wrapper in the bottom of each of the 8 muffin cups. Using half of the chicken mixture, divide evenly among the muffin cups. Then using half of the shredded cheese, divide evenly among the muffin cups. Repeat layering with remaining ingredients: wonton wrapper, chicken mixture, shredded cheese.

4.   Bake 18-20 minutes, then let sit about 5 minutes before serving.  

Yields 8 servings – WWP+ 4 per serving. 

(Pictured above with a 1 point salad – lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms and 2 T of fat free Caesar dressing) 

Recipe from Emily Bites

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Sorry! No picture! I took one, I swear, but it has disappered from my phone!

 

I don't know what happened to my picture, I swear I took one, but it is missing from my phone. The next time I make it (which will probably be soon considering how delicious this was!!!) I will be sure to take another picture to post with the recipe. This casserole was super easy to put together and it really did taste like chicken parmesan. We had my parents over for dinner the night we made this and they both loved it too! The only downside is that it is an 8 point dish, which is getting to be a higher point dinner for me now that I'm losing more and more weight, because as the weight goes down, so do the points they allow you for the day, but it was worth it to eat a light lunch to enjoy this dinner!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ c. fresh basil, finely chopped

2 c. marinara/pasta sauce

6 oz. part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated

3.5 oz. garlic croutons, roughly crushed (leave some bigger chunks) 

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

2.   Spread the cubed chicken in the single layer across the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle the minced garlic and fresh basil over top of it. Spread marinara sauce over the chicken next.

3.   Divide the two cheeses into halves, sprinkle half the mozzarella then half the parmesan. Sprinkle all the croutons on top of the cheeses. Then sprinkle the remainder of the mozzarella and parmesan on top of the croutons.

4.   Bake for 40-45 minutes.  

Yields 8 servings – WWP+ 8 points  

Recipe adapted from Emily Bites

Chicken Parmesan Muffins

Chicken Parmesan Muffins

The first time I made these, I did it one night when we had my parents over for dinner. My dad is a bit of a picky eater, so I thought these would be a safe bet and they were amazing! And bonus...the recipe made 12 muffins (instead of the typical 8 that comes with many of the muffin/cupcake recipes) so even with company, we had leftovers. They were so good and they looked really fancy! We're serving them again this Sunday when friends come over for an Oscar party...I know they'll be incredible once again!

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds raw ground chicken breast

1 egg

1 egg white

6 T dried breadcrumbs

¾ tsp. dried basil

¾ tsp. dried thyme

¾ tsp. oregano

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ a small onion, chopped finely

¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper

¾ c. parmesan cheese

¾ c. pasta sauce

¾ c. 2% mozzarella cheese, shredded 

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 350 and spray a muffin tin with cooking spray

2.   In a bowl, combine ground chicken, egg, egg white, bread crumbs, basil, thyme, oregano, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Mix until combined.

3.   Fill all 12 cups of the muffin tin evenly with the meat mixture, it fills each one almost to the top. Press down with a spoon to make sure all the space is filled up. Evenly divide pasta sauce over the 12 muffins. Bake 22-24 minutes or until cooked through.

4.   Remove from oven and evenly divide mozzarella over the 12 muffins. Return to the oven 2-3 more minutes until cheese is melted and slightly browned.

 

Yields 12 servings – WWP+ 4 points for 1, and 7 P+ for 2.

(Pictured above with a 2 point salad – lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, 2 T of low fat shredded cheese and 2 T of fat free Caesar dressing and 1 point garlic toast – slice of Healthy Life 100% whole wheat bread toasted, then sprayed with spray butter and sprinkled with garlic salt) 

***adapted from www.emilybites.com***

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

This yummy pizza was our Sunday lunch this week! It was super easy and fast to put together and tasted like a really fancy kind of pizza! It was delicious! I had intended to make a few days prior, but we accidentally used up all of our fresh spinach in the house in salads, so I had to wait until I could get to the store and grab some more. Tessa wouldn't eat it, unfortunately, I think she would have loved it, she just wouldn't even try it because there was green on it. Coming from my girl who will eat three servings of broccoli...she won't even try a pizza with a little green on it. Go figure!

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh chopped spinach

1 clove garlic, minced

½ c. light Alfredo sauce (I like Classico)

½ c. chicken breast, chopped or shredded

¾ c. part-skim mozzarella cheese

1 ½ tsp. grated parmesan cheese

Boboli 12” whole wheat thin pizza crust 

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 450

2.   Lightly spray a skillet with cooking spray. Add garlic and chopped spinach and cook for a few minutes (stirring occasionally) until spinach is wilted and garlic is fragrant.

3.   Spread the ½ c. alfredo sauce over the pizza crust. Add the garlic and spinach and spread evenly throughout. Sprinkle the shredded chicken on top of the sauce. Top with shredded mozzarella and parmesan.

4.   Bake on a foil covered baking sheet or pizza stone for 8-10 minutes. 

Yields 6 slices – WWP+ 5 per slice

Shown here with a 1 point salad: lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers and 2 T. fat free Caesar Italian dressing.

Recipe from Emily Bites

Spinach Artichoke Chicken

Spinach Artichoke Chicken

Anyone who enjoys a good spinach artichoke dip will LOVE this dinner! It tastes so amazingly good that I have remind myself that it's okay for me to eat! Low fat cream cheese with greek yogurt makes up the creamy base and with some chopped artichoke hearts and spinach, it is just amazing! This one, I always prep for when I get home from the grocery store by cutting up my chicken breasts to the weight that they need to be before I stick them in the fridge or freezer. These are supposed to be 4 oz. chicken breasts. I typically buy my chicken in a big package at Walmart because I can get it for the best price per pound and they are pretty uniform in shape which makes cooking with them easier. However, most of them are 11-12oz. chicken breasts alone, so even butterflying them still makes them a little too big for this recipe (and I always want to make sure my point values are spot on!) So I usually take my big chicken breasts, butterfly them, weigh them, then trim off any extra bits until they are 4 oz each, and with all the extra bits, I throw them in some boiling water, cook them up, and use them as chopped or shredded chicken in other recipes during the week. Waste nothing!

Ingredients:

8 (4oz) chicken breasts (I took large chicken breasts, trimmed off the fat, then butterflied them, and they came very close to 4 oz. each…use a scale to weigh if you can).

Salt and pepper to taste
4 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
½ c. fat free plain Greek yogurt
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ c. chopped onion

14 oz. can artichoke hearts, in water, chopped (while they were chopped in the can, I chopped them even further on my cutting board)

10 oz. pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

½ c. parmesan cheese

½ c. shredded 2% mozzarella cheese

 

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 375, spray 9x13 in baking dish.

2.   Lay chicken breasts out in the baking dish, season with salt & pepper and bake 15 minutes.

3.   While chicken bakes, combine yogurt and cream cheese and stir until well blended. Add all remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.

4.   Remove chicken from the oven (will not be done!), drain off any excess juice produced in the baking dish. Using a spoon, spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the chicken breasts. Bake another 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken, or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.  

Yields 8 servings – WWP+ 6 per serving.

 (Pictured above with a 2 point salad – lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, 2 T of low fat shredded cheese and 2 T of fat free Caesar dressing)

 
Recipe from Emily Bites

Teriyaki Chicken Cupcakes

Teriyaki Chicken Cupcakes

These little beauties were my own invention and they were a hit in my house! My husband loved them and said they were maybe his favorite of the "cupcakes" that I've made so far! Granted, the inspiration of the cupcake idea comes from the Emily Bites website which I love and has given me most of my incredible recipes. The other day I was really craving a teriyaki chicken burger from Red Robin, my favorite sandwich there, so I was trying to think of what I could use those flavors in a more low cal (less carbs) kind of way. Now these cupcakes didn't have quite the same creamy texture as some of the others, but they were very good...gave a little nod to Asian style with the flavors and the wontons! You can find pre-shredded swiss cheese to put on these, but I bought a block of swiss and shredded it myself (which is something I'm doing more of lately, freshly shredded...you can even buy 2% cheddar in a block to shred yourself!)

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken breast, chopped

½ c. teriyaki sauce

16 wonton wrappers

½ c. finely diced pineapple

¾ c. shredded swiss cheese 

Directions:

1.   If possible, combine 2 c. chicken with the ½ c. teriyaki sauce in a Ziploc baggie and put in the fridge for an hour or two before dinner (just to soak in the flavor…I didn’t and they turned out fine, but if you want a little extra teriyaki flavor, wouldn’t be a bad idea)

2.   Preheat oven to 375. Lightly spray 8 cups of a muffin tin with cooking spray.

3.   Finely dice your pineapple. I used canned chunk pineapple, then diced them down even further. Add your pineapple to the chicken and teriyaki sauce.

4.   Line each of 8 muffin cups with a wonton wrapper. Using half the chicken mixture, evenly fill 8 cups. Then using half the shredded cheese, sprinkle evenly among them. Repeat layering with remaining ingredients: wonton wrapper, chicken mixture, shredded cheese.

5.   Bake 17-19 minutes or until tips of wontons are browned. 

 

Yields 8 servings – WWP+ 4 per serving

 Served with a 2 point salad – lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, 2 T. of low fat cheese and 2 T. fat free French dressing

Recipe from: Yum to the Tum original!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I decided to get a jump on it and post my Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe since I put it on the menu for this week, just incase anyone else was hoping to serve it for a yummy dish at a Super Bowl party tomorrow like I am! This is one of my favorite soups that I've ever made, and not just weight watchers, it is sooooo yummy and creamy and delicious and just the right amount of spicy (if you use the Rotel tomatoes and chilis, which I'll be leaving out tomorrow as some of my family isn't exactly as keen on spicy.) The to top it with a few tortilla strips and it just looks fancy too. Definitely something that I am proud to serve to guests!

 

Ingredients:

6 oz cooked chicken breast (shredded or chopped)

1 cup water

1 (15oz.) can fat free chicken broth

1 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup

1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup

1 can 98% fat free cream of celery soup

1 can Campbell’s cheddar cheese soup

½ can of Rotel Tomatoes & green chilis (I sometimes use just regular diced tomatoes if I’m not in the mood for spicy)

½ cup chunky salsa (whichever spiciness you prefer)

½ onion, chopped

¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

12 T of tortilla strips (found near croutons and salad toppings at the store)

Directions:

1.   In a large pot, combine all ingredients except the tortilla strips and stir until mixed. Bring to a boil and then simmer covered for one hour.

2.   When serving, sprinkle 1.5 T of tortilla strips over each cup of soup

 Yields 8 (1 cup) servings – WWP+ 4 per serving

 (Pictured above with a 2 point salad – lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, 2 T of low fat shredded cheese and 2 T of fat free Caesar dressing)

Recipe from Emily Bites

Chicken 'n Biscuits

Chicken ‘n Biscuits

This is one of those homestyle recipes that just warms your heart and soul. A bit of a lighter version of some of the ultra creamy and high fat versions that I have made in the past, but still a yummy comfort food. I made this one night at my parents house, and even my relatively picky eater dad gobbled it up and asked for seconds, I was pleasantly surprised. This is my plan for lunch tomorrow, and it will be so yummy!

Ingredients:

1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
¾ c. fat free sour cream (divided)
2 c. cooked chicken (chopped or shredded)
1 – 16oz. pkg frozen mixed vegetables
1 c. reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
1 c. Bisquick Heart Smart baking mix
3 T skim milk

Directions:

1.   Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.   Combine the soup and ½ c of the sour cream in an 8” or 9” in square baking dish. Add chicken, cheese and vegetables and mix until well combined.

3.   Mix Bisquick with the remaining ¼ c sour cream and 3 T milk. Stir until dough becomes stiff.

4.   Drop 6 even mounds of biscuit dough over the chicken mixture. Bake for 35 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.  

Yields 6 servings – WWP+ 6 per serving 

(Pictured above with a 2 point salad – lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, 2 T of low fat shredded cheese and 2 T of fat free Caesar dressing)

Recipe from Emily Bites