Halloween Cookie Bark

The original recipe for this inspired sweet treat came from HERE


Line a large cookie sheet with wax paper and spread evenly:
20 crumbled Double Stuff Oreos(works better if you chill them briefly)
2 cups stick pretzels, broken
1 cup candy corn



In a medium bowl, melt 2 10oz. bags of Wilton flavored wafers(I found this really cool green and had to use it!) by melting first for 60 seconds, stir, and melt in 30 second increments and stirring between until melted. Pour the melted chocolate over the cookie mixture and spread out. Before chocolate can set, drop 1/4 cup candy corn randomly and sprinkle with Halloween candy toppings. Put in refrigerator to chill for an hour. Remove and break into small bite size pieces.

Craft or Treat...

I love my Cricut! The witches came from a Silhouettes free font I downloaded. And the "Boo!" is in Sparkly I downloaded from fontdiner.com. Used the Sure Cuts a Lot program to cut these out on the Cricut. The glass boxes came from a Super Saturday craft I never got to even start. The good thing about this vinyl is, it comes right off with a warm blow dryer or Undo. So, next month I'm sure I'll change it from Halloween to Thanksgiving(ooohh, maybe some gorgeous leaves!), and then the day after Thanksgiving, onto the Christmas Nativity scenes.



I used some green feather trim I picked up a while ago to go around a small lampshade. I just pinned it snug under the glass block to keep it in place.



I also just pinned some sheer orange wired ribbon around the witch blocks, the lights helped reflect even more color behind them. The lights are small strands I picked up I think at the $ store, and they're just tucked in behind the blocks, no holes in the blocks.



Boo!

Hungry Girl Death by Chocolate Cupcakes....

Not mine, but definately worth passing on the low point delicious treat!

Here's the LINK

Breakfast Crunch Wrap (WW=4 pts)

These are SO tasty and fill the "fast food" spot. Great with Boca Burgers too.


Ingredients:
1 Tbl. Reduced Fat Bacon Pieces
1/4 cup liquid egg whites or egg beaters
2 Tbl. Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated
Salt & Pepper to taste
Chili Flakes(optional)
1 La Tortilla 100 Calorie tortilla
3 Tortilla chips
Taco Sauce
Butter Flavor Non-Stick Spray


I use two different sized non-stick pans, they're non-stick, easy clean up. I found this little pan at a dept. store going out of business, perfect size for Sandwich Thins by Orowheat/Arnold. A must have! And a large flat pan for the large tortilla.


Spray the little pan with some non-stick spray and cover with the bacon pieces, a Tablespoon goes a long way. It covers the entire pan! This is also a good time to add anything additional like diced onion, peppers, or some spinach leaves, yum!


When the bacon pieces are heated through add the 1/4 cup egg whites(Egg Beaters are just fine, but I don't like them). Add salt and pepper and pepper flakes if you like. Stir with a small, skinny spatula until almost set.


Give the top a squirt of non-stick spray and flip. The bacon and butter spray brown up a bit.


Heat up the large sautee pan and spray lightly with non-stick spray. Top with the tortilla and dump 2 Tbl. Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese in the center.


Top the cheese with the egg patty and hot sauce.


Place 3 tortilla chips over hot sauce. Begin folding in segments and press down.


Spray folded top with non-stick spray and flip, pressing down to help seal.


Flip back over after top is browned.


Serve with a nice portion of salsa, fat free sour cream if you like(be sure to count the points though). These would be great prepared the night before, warm in microwave in the morning and you can carry it with you in the morning to school or work.

Made a Double Batch of White Bean and Pumpkin Soup...

Recipe HERE. I LOVE this stuff. Used veggie stock instead of chicken, forgot the cumin, added basil instead and some garlic. Top with a little sliced parm and toasted pine nuts. Oh me! Oh my! Froze several servings, ready to go when I need something.
If you don't have one these, you need one. Pouring the soup into the blender is messy and dangerous(don't ask me how I know). This is the exact one I have, less than $20 at a big box store.

Red Velvet Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting(WW=2pts)

Updated 2/28/11:  I have not updated the points to see what they are for the PointsPlus program.  I'm going to play with this recipe anyways.  I'm not very fond of the artificial sweetener after taste since I've cut way back on them.  But please feel free to post your own findings!

 

Don't be intimidated by the surprise ingredient, I promise, you won't taste them! Red Kidney Beans. Yep, beans. I have made black bean brownies before, the first time was nasty, but like with a lot of substitution cooking, you need to play around. These not only looked pretty, but they tasted wonderful, even frozen. Makes 32 2pt. brownies.

1 can dark red kidney beans(3)
1 1lb. 2.3oz. box Brownie Mix(61)
2 Tbl. Cocoa Powder
1 1oz. bottle red food dye
water

Preheat oven to 350'. Spray bottom only of a 9x13" pan. Rinse and drain beans well. Rinse can. Return rinsed beans to can, fill can with water to within 1/2 inch of top of can. Pour into blender and blend WELL, and then blend again, really well! You shouldn't see any grains or skins. Blend dye in with bean mixture. Poor brownie mix and cocoa into large bowl and add bean and dye mixture and mix well. Poor baking pan and bake on bottom rack of oven for 24-26 minutes. Allow to cool completely and then flip onto a cutting board and freeze for about an hour. They will be flat, but shouldn't be dry. You can also substitute the beans and water for a can of pumpkin(2pts.). It won't change the point value but pumpkin tends to make fluffier brownies than the beans. You can also use a lower fat box of brownie mix and probably cut each brownie point down to 1.

Cream Cheese Frosting(0)

1 tub of fat free whipped cream(such as Cool-Whip)(7.5)
1 small 9oz. tub of fat free cream cheese(4.5)
1 small package sugar-free fat-free vanilla or cheesecake flavored pudding mix(2)
1 tsp. vanilla(0)
1/4 cup Splenda Granular(.5)
Beat the frosting ingredients well, until smooth consistency. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Entire recipe points value 15. Only use HALF of this to spread brownie bars with. Makes 64 servings, at 0 points each!

Spread HALF of the Cream Cheese Frosting mixture on brownies. Slice into 32 servings. 2 points each.

Double Sauce "Girlfredo" w/Chicken (WW=7.5pts.)

Check out Hungry Girl's version HERE. I found it a little too slimy and for only a point more you can double it. This is my version, with my added faves, bacon(1 more point) and chicken(a few more points).

The first time I tried these noodles, GAG! But there are a few steps I found out you HAVE to do. The noodles are pretty firm and stable, so don't worry about breaking them or crushing them, they can take a lot of handling. And creamy textures tend to taste better on them and have a better texture appeal.

1 package Shirataki Noodles(0)
1 Tbl. 50% Less Fat Bacon Pieces(1)
2 wedges Laughing Cow Cheese(2)
2 Tbl. Fat Free Sour Cream(0)
Salt & Pepper
Grilled Chicken(4.5)
Rinse noodles under water for several minutes, use your fingers to seperate really well. Squeeze out as much water as you can and spread on paper towels to absorb as much liquid as possible. In a medium-hot small sauce pan sprayed with non-stick spray(I'm in love with the butter flavored stuff on the shelf at Walmart, Great Value) spread noodles and bacon pieces. Stir to heat through for about a minute. Add in cheese, sour cream, and salt & pepper and mix well until all cheese is melted and noodles are evenly coated. Pour onto dinner plate and top with sliced grilled chicken. For the recipe above I split an 11 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast in half for 4.5 points to a 3 point full plate of noodles!!!! For 7.5 points, I got all of the above, and I really could have stopped eating half way, but it was SO good. Try adding any meat, leftover steak, shrimp, crab lumps, yummm!

(You can also do this in the microwave, cook on high 1 minute before adding cheese and sour cream.)

Breakfast Thin (WW=3.5 pts)

These are SO filling, you won't miss the fat at all!

1 Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin, Arnold or Orowheat(1)
1/8 cup Reduced Fat Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided(1)
Dijonnaise Spread(0)
1 Tbl. Hormel 50% Less Fat Bacon Pieces(1)
1/4 cup Liquid Egg Whites(.5)
Open the Sandwich thin and spread bottom inside with about a teaspoon of Dijonnaise, sprinkle with half the cheese so it "sticks". Spray a small saucepan(I have a really small one, about 4" across, perfect for Egg McMuffins or 1 pancake) with non-stick butter spray and sprinkle with bacon pieces. When heated through add egg white. Stir slightly, you're making a patty, not scrambled eggs. Add salt & pepper if you like. Flip when bottom is set and top needs to be cooked. Top cooked through side with remaining cheese. Place on top of Dijonnaise & Cheese topped bottom when cooked through. Add top to sandwich and enjoy!

Cream of Chicken Soup(made from white bean flour)

This sounds strange, but if you're lactose intolerant, or just looking for something healthier to use, this is it. From foodstoragemadeeasy.net. Thanks Ladies!!!!

Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup Recipe:
• Grind: 4 T of any white bean (lima, navy, etc.) to make 5 T bean flour
• Combine: 5 T bean flour, 1 ¾ c. water , 4 t chicken bouillon into a saucepan
• Cook: On stovetop at medium temperature until thick and delicious (whisk frequently).The soup should cook in 3 minutes! (this may be longer if your grinder makes a very coarse flour).

Use this with cooked veggies and or meat for a complete meal. You can also add this to recipes calling for cream of chicken soup cans (I have found this replaces a can plus the water or milk in recipes).

The original post: http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/03/29/beans-the-magical-fruit/

Split Pea Soup(Double Batch)

2 lb. bags split peas rinsed, cleaned, debris removed
2 Tbl. Chicken Stock Base
16 cups HOT water
2 Bay Leaves
1 onion finely chopped
6 stalks celery finely chopped
1 1 lb. bag baby carrots finelly chopped in food processor
2 4 oz. bags Bacon Pieces(cooked, found in salad toppings aisle)
salt & pepper to taste
white bean flour to thicken if needed

Rinse peas, remove rocks & debris if any, put in large saucepot with chicken stock base(as pictured on the side in this blog), and 16 cups hot water, and bay leaves. Bring to boil, remove from heat, cover, and let sit 1 hour. Add onions, celery, and about a 1/2 tsp. pepper and bring back up to a boil. Reduce heat to gentle simmer for 1/2 hour. Add chopped carrots and cook for another 1/2 hour. Add bacon pieces and cook for another 1/2 hour. Turn off heat. If you need to thicken it, you can mix about 2 Tbl. bean flour with 1/2 cup cool water, strain through wire mesh strainer if it's too grainy. Add to soup and bring to a slight rolling boil while stirring. The bean paste really thickens it up fast! Add salt and more pepper to taste.