Guiltless Egg Beater Quiche with Chorizo

I love quiche. It's so easy to make but uses 8 eggs. This recipe uses Egg Beaters and cuts out on calories and cholesterol but not taste. You can go all out veggie or add some chorizo for that extra zip.

Egg Beater and Chorizo
8 servings 2pts. per serving WW

1/2 tube mild chorizo browned and drained on paper towel

1 Roma tomato seeded and diced
1/2 green pepper diced
1/2 onion diced
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
3/4 cup Egg Beaters
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 store bought pie crust
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the egg beaters, milk, cheese and baking powder. In a frying pan brown the veggie with some PAM for 3-5 minutes. Add to the bottom of the pie crust along with the chorizo Pour the eggs over the veggies, season with salt and pepper, and set on a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes. Insert a knife into the middle of the quiche. It should come out clean. Cut into 8 pieces.

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Brussel sprouts are loathed by children worldwide. For what reason? Most likely they were boiled to a inch of their lives and were mushy. Some grew to hate them due to world of mouth. Put all of those Brussel sprout anxieties to rest with this delicious recipe.

Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

1 lb Brussel Sprouts
2 TBSP olive oil
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and trim any loose leaves from the Brussel Sprouts and cut off the bottoms just below where the leaves start. Cut the sprouts lengthwise in half .In a bowl add the olive oil to a bowl and then the sprouts coating all of them. Pour them out onto a baking sheet. season with salt. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and flip them over. Season with salt once again and place back in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve with your favorite dishes. 1 cup equals 2 WW pts.

Hoisin and Citrus Glazed Salmon and Raisin Dotted Couscous

I started WW this week and I have vowed to eat healthier. This is one of our favorite recipes. I bumped up the healthy factor by purchasing whole wheat couscous. I buy in bulk because we love it so much. Only one cup can feed a family of four. You can also vary the herbs you put in or even add garlic. It comes together in less than 25 minutes. During the summer we grill with wood planks.

Raisin Dotted Couscous

1 cup whole wheat couscous
1 box sun maid raisins
1 cup chicken broth
a pat of butter
garlic clove (optional)

Bring the chicken broth and the raisins to a boil. Add the couscous and stir. Remove from the heat and cover. After 5 minutes fluff with a fork.
Serving size one cup 2 points WW

Hoisin and Citrus Glaze

2 TBSP Hoisin Sauce
2 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP honey
1 TBSP Ketchup
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Mix all of the above ingredients in a bowl. Reserve one half for glazing after the salmon comes out of the oven.
1 PT WW

Hoisin and Citrus Glazed Salmon 6 pts WW with glaze

4 4 oz pieces salmon
Hoisin Citrus Glaze

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray the bottom of a glass baking dish and place salmon skin side down. Add a TBSP of glaze over each piece of salmon and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and spread the remaining glaze over the salmon. Serve with raisin dotted couscous.

Super Bowl Food

Here's What I am Gnoshing On Super Bowl Sunday

For me it doesn't much matter who's in the Super Bowl since the Packers were knocked out. I am in it for the commercials and of course the food! We are having a Super Bowl appetizer dinner tonight. Here is the menu: BBQ chicken wings, baked pimento cheese toasts, mini pigs in a blanket, guacamole, and little taco salad cups. I will have pics up later.

Pimento Cheese Toasts

1 baguette
1 8 oz bag of shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup Mayo
1/8 tsp Cayenne
1 small jar pimentos diced
Soft butter for spreading

Mix all of the above ingredients up to the baguette. Slice the baguette in 1 inch thick pieces. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter the bottoms of each of the slices of bread. Place on a baking sheet. On the tops of the bread spread a TBSP. of the pimento spread. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and delicious. Eat immediately.

Note: I wouldn't make these taco cups too far in advance. If they sit in the fridge they get soggy. I did prep the lettuce and olives. They take about 20 minutes to make.

added the cheese over the top

Taco Salad Cups
Note: This is a lot more labor intensive than the traditional  taco dip but very cute.

1/2 head lettuce finely chopped
1 cup salsa
1-2 lbs ground beef browned and refrigerated
1 can refried beans
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 can black olives sliced
1/2 cup sour cream for garnish
1 bag Tostitos Scoops

Place a teaspoon of refried beans in the bottom of the tortilla chip. Next add a teaspoon of the meat,

with salsa

beans, a pinch of lettuce, cheddar, a dab of salsa, sour cream, and garnish with a black olive. Don't forget the cheese. Serve cold. Eat as many as you can.

Guacamole

4-6 avocados scooped into a bowl
1  tsp lemon juice to prevent browning
1/2 tsp. Goya Adobo seasoning

Add all of the above ingredients into a bowl and mash with a fork. The lemon juice will prevent browning. Serve with your favorite chips.

Chicken wings

1 bag of chicken wings defrosted
1 TBSP cumin
1 TBSP garlic powder
1 TBSP chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 container of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
tin foil
sheet pan

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and in a bowl add the seasonings and then the wings. This is your dry rub. Once the wings are coated add to a tin foiled sheet pan and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and coat with BBQ sauce. Return to the oven and bake for 10-15 more minutes. I like when the BBQ sauce is sticky. Check for doneness. Meat should be 165 degrees. Serve with ranch dressing. I have mine hanging out in a crock pot until I am ready to serve.

Mini Pigs in a Blanket

1 container Pillsbury Crescent rolls
1 pkg little smokies
sesame seeds and parm for dusting

Heat oven as to pkg. directions. Unfold the Crescent rolls and pinch together the seams. With a pizza cutter cut 5 strips lengthwise and then  about 3 down. Wrap each little smokie with a piece of dough. If you have extra strips wrap them twice. Dip in the Parm or sesame seeds. Bake per pkg. directions for 10-12 minutes. Serve hot with mustard and ketchup.

Chatterbox: SodaStream New Flavors

I became a SodaStream convert well over a year ago when I was chosen to be a Houseparty.com participant. I was given the Soda Stream "Source," 24 flavorings, and coupons. I then had a party and invited my friends. I was instantly hooked!  Now I have joined Chatterbox by Houseparty.com and have had the opportunity to try some of the new Crystal Lite, Kool-aid, and County Time flavors.

We are in the second Polar Vortex here and when I think about Country Time, the first thing that comes to mind to me is Summer. The pink lemonade was quite tart but refreshing. I also enjoyed the half and half which was half Country Time lemonade and half tea. I have purchased both before and will again this summer.

The nice thing about having a SodaStream is that it's not only environmentally friendly, but also very economical. Each bottle of syrup retails from $4.95/25 liters of soda up to $8.00 for the newer natural sugar options. We used to spend about $15.-20 a week on bottled water and soda. Now we spend an average of $20.00 or less a month including carbonation. We can exchange our used carbonator for a new one for around $12.95. We also signed up to Bed Bath and Beyonds website and receive 20% off discounts every month. Also you can vary the amount of fizz in your drink. Mine is the first light on the Soda Stream. My hubby prefers before the one and my daughter likes a fizz of 3. He was a Mountain Dew die hard and loves the diet Fountain Mist. There are a ton of diet sugar free options.


The Crystal Lite flavors were also very good. Crystal Lite offers drinks that are very low in calories and I really couldn't tell they were diet. Today I drank the Fruit Punch. Crystal Lite has 5 calories/8oz serving which is perfect for those of us watching our calories. The fizz adds a whole other dimension to the Crystal Lite flavors. Soda Stream also has Peach Iced Tea and Raspberry Lemonade. The great thing about Crystal Lite is that you can't tell that they are diet. The flavor is great!

The Kool-aid flavors quite honestly I am still getting used to. My daughter did like them though and has the Kool-aid smile to prove it. Here also you can control the calories at just 50/8oz.

I have rebate coupons and $5.00 off a purchase of $25.00 coupons too. Please feel free to contact me and I can help you choose the perfect flavors for you and your family.

Waffles! Special Breakfast Day

We call this day "Special Breakfast Day" because it's the one day we all sit down together and eat breakfast together. This past week I got a free waffle maker from our local casino. We made sure to put it to great use. We haven't had a waffle maker in some time. Our wedding gift bit the dust. I like to make a batch and freeze them so my hubby can just pull out and pop them in the toaster as needed. Another tip is put a baking sheet under the waffle maker to prevent needless clean up. I didn't add oil this time but they still came out good.

Waffles

2 cups flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/3 flour
2 eggs
1 3/4 c. skim milk
PAM for spraying

Add and mix all of the dry ingredients. Preheat the waffle iron and spray with PAM. Next mix in the wet ingredients and beat with a whisk until there are no more lumps. Use a ladle to add the batter. Don't overfill or it will spill out the sides. This is by trial and error. Don't peek for 5 minutes. Times will vary. Remove the waffles. Pop them in the toaster to reheat or freeze in zip loc bags. Serve with your favorite fruit or syrup.