EASY TURKEY PANINI

On the weekends my husband and I enjoy these Turkey Panini’s. They are low in fat and oh so easy to make! Of course, you can put as little or as much on your sandwich as you desire. Here are the ingredients that I used for my Panini…

EASY TURKEY PANINI
POINTS Value: 7
Preparation Time: 2 minutes
Cooking Time: 2-3 minutes (depends on the Panini press that you use)
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 1

Ingredients:
2 slices of Oroweat Double Fiber Bread
1 oz of Deli Pepper Turkey Breast
1 slice of Sargentos Pepper Jack cheese
1 handful of baby spinach
Land O’ Lakes light butter spread
Deli sliced banana peppers
Yellow mustard

Instructions:
1. Heat up Panini press. While the press is heating, butter one side of each piece of bread.
2. Place the cheese, turkey, spinach, banana peppers and mustard on the sandwich.
3. Place the entire sandwich on the Panini press with the buttered side out. Let it cook.

Ingredients…


Before the Panini press…


On the press…


Final product…


Like I said…very simple but very good. On my husband’s sandwich I will but mayonnaise and no peppers, but he is getting a bit more adventurous. I highly recommend the Oroweat bread; it is 1 point per slice…so those of you that are bread lovers you don’t have to sacrifice to get a large sandwich.

GRILLED WHOLE CHICKEN WITH GARLIC & HERBS

I am a big fan of baked whole chicken, so when I saw them on sale at Sam’s Club I picked them up and decided to try out this recipe. I have never made a whole chicken before, I’ve just seen my Mom make them and they are always so tasty…so I thought, why not let’s give it a shot. This recipe was easy to follow and it left the chicken moist and tender. Good stuff. Here is the recipe that I used.

Grilled Whole Chicken with Garlic & Herbs
Points Value: 5
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage & 3 sage leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 (3 1/2 – 4 pound) chicken, giblets discarded
1 medium onion, halved
1 lemon, cut into quarters

Instructions:
1. Spray the grill rack with nonstick spray; preheat the grill to medium or prepare a medium fire using the indirect method (see special notes section).

2. Combine the garlic, oil, lemon zest, chopped sage, salt and pepper in a small bowl. With your fingers, loosen the skin on the chicken breasts, legs and thighs. Rub the garlic mixture into the meat under the skin. Place the onion, lemon and sage leaves inside the cavity of the chicken. Tie the legs together with kitchen string.

3. Place the chicken, breast side up, on the cooler part of the grill rack; cover the grill. Grill the chicken, without turning, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into a thigh registers 180 degrees F, about 2 hours and 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let stand about 10 minutes before carving. Remove the skin before eating.

Special Notes:
To set up a grill for indirect cooking, preheat only one side of a gas grill or mound the charcoal on one side of a charcoal grill. With indirect grilling, larger items, such as a whole chicken, can be grilled for a long time without getting charred while acquiring a delicious smoky taste.

Recipe Source:
Weight Watchers All-Time Favorites Cookbook

Before the grill…


Before the grill side view…


Cooling on the cutting board…


Cooling on the cutting board side view…


Final product…


CLICK HERE for a printable version of the Grilled Whole Chicken with Garlic & Herbs recipe.

ASPARAGUS WITH BALSAMIC BUTTER

I was FINALLY able to dig up this recipe…since it is one of my favorites, I know how to make it without the exact instructions but I wanted to make sure that I provided all info to those of you that follow my blog. I love fresh vegetables as a side with my dinner; it seems to be the only way that I can get the husband to eat vegetables. But I digress, I had some asparagus that we got from Door to Door Organics and I decided to make it as our side dish. Again, since this was for guests I was a bit limited on my picture taking, but I do have a shot of the final product. Here is the recipe that I used…

ASPARAGUS WITH BALSAMIC BUTTER
Points Value: 0
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1 1/4 pound asparagus
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoon light stick butter
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:
1. Snap off tough ends of asparagus. Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a large skillet; add asparagus. Cook 4 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and place on a serving platter.

2. While asparagus cooks, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat; coat pan with cooking spray. Add shallots’ sauté 1 to 2 minutes or until soft. Remove from heat; stir in butter and balsamic vinegar. Pour balsamic butter over asparagus, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss well. Yields 4 servings (serving size: ¼ of asparagus).

Recipe Source:
Weight Watchers Easy Weeknight Favorites Cookbook

The final product…


Like I said earlier…one my favorites!

CLICK HERE for a printable version of the Asparagus with Balsamic Butter.

Enjoy!

BLACKBERRY COBBLER

I love this time of year…when the fresh fruits start to come out, and my all time favorite are blackberries. At my Weight Watchers meeting on Friday; our leader had this recipe posted on the board as we walked in…I knew that we were having guests for dinner, and this was exceptional timing!! So I had to try it out. I was a little bit limited on the picture taking, but at least I have the final product for you. Below is the recipe that I used.

Blackberry Cobbler
Points Value: 3
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 – 40 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 12

Ingredients:
16 oz. Frozen or fresh Blackberries
1 package of Angel Food Cake Mix
12 oz. Lemon-Lime Soda
1 spray of cooking spray

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat over to 350.
2. Lightly spray a 9X13 inch pan with cooking spray.
3. Place blackberries in the bottom of the pan.
4. Mix together the Angel Food cake mix and the lemon-lime soda.
5. Pour mixture over the top of the blackberries.
6. Cook for approximately 35-40 minutes. Let cool and serve. One serving size yields 1 cup.


The final product…


The final product with fat free vanilla ice cream…



This recipe was awesome! So VERY sweet and delicious.

CLICK HERE for a printable version of the Blackberry Cobbler recipe.

Enjoy!

MOVING UP IN THE BLOGGING WORLD!

Hi all, I am so excited about this…that I just had to post. I started this blog just as a hobby to share with my fellow Weight Watchers at Work folks, but it has since grown. Pretty exciting stuff! I was recently asked to be a Guest blogger on one of my favorite sites, so you can imagine how excited I was!

I met Mara, from ‘What’s For Dinner’ on Twitter. Some how we found each other and started to chat about Jazzercise…she is a new student and very excited about the classes, and being an instructor, it’s great to hear feedback from students; even if they aren’t your students! Any who…I took a gander at her blog and I was hooked…it is amazing! So just recently she started a new trend of having a ‘Guest for Dinner’…so I wrote a little blurb and she posted it on her site! AMAZING!

CLICK HERE to check out my posting on her site…

Be sure to check out ‘What’s for Dinner’, she’s always got some great low-calorie dinner ideas!
Enjoy!

Happy cooking!

Before & After Pictures

Hi all, I’ve had some requests for me to post some before & after pictures. Since I’m usually the one taking the pictures it was difficult for me to dig up some photos…but here is a start.

These two photos are wedding related; the first one was taken in 2006 at my engagement party. The second one was taken in 2008 on my wedding day. At this point in my journey, I had lost 7 inches off of my waist and dropped 10 pounds.

I do not have any current pictures of me with 9 inches off my waist now and an additional 5 pounds and I’m working on it. Once I get them, I will post them up here.

Before Pictures (10 pounds heavier)


After Picture (After loosing 7 inches off my waist and loosing 10 pounds)


Staying with Weight Watchers and Jazzercising at least 4 days a week has contributed to my weight loss goals.

Enjoy!

CHICKEN & RICE

This recipe is an old favorite of mine before my Weight Watchers days. It is an easy recipe and it was always a good comfort food during those cold winter days. And just a side note, this was the first meal I ever made for my husband; he stuck around…so it must’ve been good! After learning how to make recipes a bit healthier I decided to modify this one so that we could still enjoy this comfort food without feeling the guilt. Below is the recipe that I used.

Chicken & Rice Recipe
Points Value: 5
Preparation Time: 10 minutes.
Cooking Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 8

Ingredients:
2 cups of brown rice
8 oz can of Condensed Soup (Cream of Chicken, Cream of Broccoli, Cream of Mushroom, etc)
8 oz fat free milk
1 pound of boneless chicken breast cut into cubes
1 spray cooking spray
¼ cup reduced fat Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp garlic salt
½ tsp seasoned salt

Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 350.
2. In a cooking dish spray non-stick cooking spray and coat dish.
3. Place 2 cups of brown rice in the bottom of the dish.
4. Place cubed chicken on top of the rice. Salt & pepper chicken, very lightly coating.
5. In a mixing bowl, add condensed soup, milk, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, garlic salt and seasoned salt. Mix well.
6. Pour the soup mixture on top of the chicken and rice and place in the oven.
7. Every 20 minutes, stir the chicken & rice, bringing the rice to the top of the mixture.
8. Cook for 1 hour 20 minutes. Serving size yields approximately 1 cup each.


The ingredients…


Step #1, the rice…


The soup mixture…


Adding the chicken…


Ready for the oven…


Cooked and now cooling…


Final product…


Overall, LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe, it’s easy and good; I highly recommend it. I like to use the Campbell’s Broccoli & Cheddar soup, but that does add an additional Weight Watchers point to the meal.





CLICK HERE for a printable version of the Chicken & Rice recipe. Happy cooking!