recipe review: brown rice

I like to think of myself as a fairly good cook.  I am pretty fearless, and I generally make good eats for myself and my family.  I've bravely tried out new recipes hundreds of times, and modified them lately to make them my own healthier versions.  However, I have one item that I simply cannot get right. 

I cannot cook brown rice. 

Rice cooker. 

Fail. 

Stove. 

Fail.

Me.

Fail.

So I resorted to purchasing pre-cooked brown rice from Trader Joe's.  You read that right folks.  I can make just about any dessert or dish in a cookbook, but I have to buy ready made brown rice.  I felt like such a failure.  Plus, it would be so much cheaper for me if I just knew the secret to cooking brown rice! 

Well one day, my fair god-blogger whispered down from the heavens I have a foolproof method for making perfect brown rice that is never sticky! To which I replied SIGN ME UP! 

So here goes: From Skinnytaste! 

How to make perfect brown rice

5 servings

4 points plus per serving

1 cup of brown rice

8 cups of water

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

Rinse the rice with cold water for 30 seconds. Bring the water and salt to a boil over high heat in a large heavy pot with a tight fitting lid.

When the water is boiling add the rice, stir and partially cover (don't cover complete or it will spill over) and cook on medium-high heat for 30 minutes.

Drain the rice in strainer, then quickly return to the pot and cover tightly for 20 minutes so the steam finishes cooking the rice. Uncover the rice and fluff with a fork.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups. Different rice varieties may yield different amounts.

SUCCESS!  I can now cook my own brown rice!  That's amazing!  I'm extatic!  Thank you Gina from Skinnytaste! 

Then I saw this recipe and I drooled.  I'm going to have to try that ASAP.  Like this weekend!  Pulled beef and this side dish would be fantastic! 

recipe review: slow cooker beef stroganoff

I grew up eating beef stroganoff, and I love it.  My mom used to make it year round, even though it is sort of a cold weather dish, and I never complained.  If you ask me, it's got a few basic ingredients that I keep on hand most of the time because they happen to be delicious!  

I decided to look around for a slow cooker recipe for beef stroganoff a while back (because slow cookers rock!) and I ended up combining a bunch of recipes into one because I couldn't find one that suited me.  I'm a purist, I don't think beef stroganoff should be made from a can of cream of mushroom soup.  I think the flavor should come from the beef and the mushrooms, not some sodium filled metal container.  

So here goes, my take on beef stroganoff in a slow cooker.  

Slow Cooked Beef Stroganoff

8 servings

6 Points Plus 

(no noodles or rice included in that number, track separately)

1 1/2 pounds of trimmed stew beef, such as a round cut, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups of (hot) water

1 beef bouillon cube

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 cup finely minced onions

2 cloves finely minced garlic

2 cups or an 8 ounce package of sliced white button mushrooms

salt and pepper

8 ounces light sour cream

Start off by mixing the hot water with the cornstarch and bouillon cube.  You can do this over the stove, or just be lazy like me and microwave the water and mix it in the measuring cup.  It works fine either way.  

Combine the cut up beef, liquid mixture, onions, garlic, mushrooms, and Dijon mustard in the slow cooker.  Add salt and pepper, but don't worry about adding too much because you can adjust the flavor at the end.  Turn the slow cooker on low heat for six to eight hours.  

(After six hours the flavors will be developed, but the meat will still be in soft chunks.  After eight hours the flavors will be developed and the meat will begin to fall apart more, like a shredded beef.)

Check the mixture near the end of cooking, you may want to skim off and fat that is sitting on the top.  Depending on which meat I use, I find myself skimming a lot or not at all.  

Just before serving, add the 8 ounces (that's only 1/2 of an average container) of light sour cream.  Heat the mixture, adjust the salt and pepper to your liking, and serve!  

I serve mine over egg noodles, which adds an additional 5 points plus to the meal.  I know other people use rice or simply serve it with bread.  The choices is yours, but just remember that the 6 points plus is for 1/8 of the meat and sauce mixture, about a half cup or a hefty ladle full.  

Also, and I know a lot of people think it's gross, but I top mine with diced dill pickles.  It adds a nice and salty crunch as you dig in.  

It's a simple recipe and you can play around with it however you'd like.  You can use fat free half and half instead of the sour cream or substitute baby portobello mushrooms (sometimes called Baby Bellas) instead of white mushrooms.  Some people add worchestire sauce instead of the Dijon mustard, and others use flour instead of cornstarch.  I've tried it all different ways, but I've never found a style I didn't like.  I'm just sharing my favorite version, and also the simplest version I've found.  

recipe review: grilled beef taglaita, rucola, and parmigiano-reggiano with aged balsamico condimento

I face a lot of challenges when cooking, and one of the biggest ones is finding things that my boyfriend eats happily and I can enjoy without blowing all of my points.  I'm always on the lookout for recipes that fit this criteria!  

One of my favorite parts of being a Weight Watchers is that I can eat just about anything that I'd like.  One of my second favorite things about being a Weight Watcher is the online tool called the Recipe Builder.  Both of these statements are part of the recipe that I'm about to share with you.  

I've shared a recipe from the Mozza cookbook before, but it was extremely basic.  You can read it here.  

This is a new recipe, but don't let the fancy name fool you!  It's just a really amazing and marinated skirt steak.  Simple, easy, and probably one of the most delicious things I've eating in a long time.  

Is there a word stronger than delicious?  Scrumptious?  Amazing?  Delectable?  Yah, those.  

Grilled Beef Tagliata, rucola, and Parmigiano-reggiano with aged Balsamico Condimento

about 1 cup of salad and 3 ounces of meat per serving

serves 8

8 Points Plus

For the salad dressing:

1/4 cup minced shallots

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon champagne vinegar

1/2 extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Start the day before with your prep work, it's really simple!  For the salad dressing, combine the shallots, lemon juice, and vinegar in a bowl and allow them to sit and marry for about five minutes.  Whisk in the olive oil and season to taste.  This salad dressing lasts about three days according to the book, but I've used it for up to a week after making it and I love it!  

For the steak marinade:

2 pounds trimmed skirt steak

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup fresh rosemary leaves or needles

8 whole garlic cloves

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

In your food processor, combine the vinegar, rosemary, and garlic.  Pulse until rosemary is finely chopped, then add in the olive oil and pulse until everything is combined well.  After you've made sure that the steak is trimmed and the "silver skin" has been removed, you can put the steak into a covered shallow dish or a plastic zippered bag with the marinade.  Allow this to sit overnight in the refrigerator (recipe says one hour minimum).  

For the assembly:

4 ounces freshly shaved parmigiano regiano

8 cups of fresh arugula

the salad dressing you made a few days ago

salt and pepper

aged balsamico condimento (this stuff is delicious and syrup-like)

Bring the steak out of the fridge and to room temperature.  Heat up an indoor grill pan or outdoor barbeque to high heat.  Remove the steaks from the marinade and throw the marinade away.  Salt and pepper the meat well and place it on the grill to sear it.  About 5-6 minutes per side should give you a medium-rare steak, but it all depends on the thickness as well.  Place the steaks on a cutting board to rest while you assemble the salad.  

For the salad, begin by shaving the parmigiano regiano if you haven't already.  You can use a mandoline if you have one, or just use a vegetable peeler if you're like me!  Toss the arugula with the salad dressing that you've made (about 8 tablespoons of it, which is about all of it) and assemble the salad dressing stacked with the parmigiano.  

Slice the steaks diagonally against the grain into 1/2 inch thick slices and use the knife to slide the steak slices onto the plate in a fan like arrangement next to the arugula salad.  Drizzle the steaks with the balsamico condimento and serve.  

Here's a snapshot from the cookbook:

By the way, this is an amazingly great recipe for cold leftovers!  If you'd like to have it later in the week as a salad, just make sure that you don't dress all of the arugula with the dressing.  Then, throw the arugula and steak into a travel container and when you're ready to eat it it, toss everything with the vinaigrette and enjoy!  

recipe ideas: breakfast bonanza

I should start with some sort of a disclaimer or warning: I dislike breakfast foods.  

I don't like scrambled eggs, eggs over easy, hard boiled eggs, or poached eggs.  

I hate eating bacon, sausage, or big ham steaks.  

Cereal just doesn't fill me up.  

I have never had good luck with the first meal of the day.  Even at my skinniest, I ate a horrible breakfast every single day.  I think I may have told you this before, but I used to have a daily Pop Tart and a Hi-C juice box every day.  Then I graduated to a daily Pop Tart and a diet Pepsi.  Yah, I thought since I got rid of the high sugar juice box and substituted a sugar free drink, I was being "healthy."  

I am an idiot.  

But now that I'm getting into the swing of being on plan, I'm opening up my views on breakfast and forcing myself to find healthy options.  Here comes the hard part: I have to try a lot of different foods that I had long ago decided that I didn't like.  You may not have to do this, but I forced myself to revisit a few things that I had crossed off my list.  Some stayed on my "I don't like that" list, others got a second chance.  

Here are some things I've found that work for me:

1.  On weekdays, I eat a first breakfast and a second breakfast.  Yes, like a Hobbit.  

I got the idea from a Twitter friend of mine, Whitney.  Since I am up around 6 in the morning, but I avoid traffic and don't go into the lab until 9 o'clock, I ended up becoming extremely hungry around 10 o'clock and I was filling that void with some really bad choices (translation: doughnuts, candy bars, and Pop Tarts).  

Now I eat a small breakfast (about 4 or 5 Points Plus) and then on my commute to work I drink a Weight Watchers smoothie blended with ice, milk, and fruit.  They're delicious and that protein is exactly what I need to carry me into lunch time!  

2.  I brought back some high point food that I thought I couldn't have!  

Granola.  I like granola, but it can wreak havoc on my tracker if I just try to eat it alone or with milk.  So I started using it as a topping for yogurt and ice cream!  Viola!  2 Points Plus for 1/4 cup of Trader Joes' Lowfat Granola with almond.  It's worth it for me, but I make sure that I don't go overboard with it.  

3.  I started incorporating foods I already knew I liked with foods I didn't think I liked.  

And this is how my favorite weekend breakfast was formed!  The spinach and mushroom omelette.  I didn't think I was going to like it because of the eggs, but the trick was to use the eggs simply to bind everything together.  One egg plus one egg white is plenty of egg for me, then I add in loads of spinach and sliced mushrooms (at least a cup of each) and sprinkle what ever low fat cheese I have on hand.  It ends up being 5 Points Plus, and I pair it with toast or home fries for a weekend Points Plus splurge.  

4.  I stopped forcing myself to eat breakfast foods.  

It's true, I sometimes make myself a sandwich or a quesadilla for breakfast.  Gasp!  

Okay, it's not that big of a deal, but I can fit in a handful of veggies and some good protein this way.  Who said you have to eat eggs and yogurt for breakfast every day?  No one!  

So there you have it, my breakfast shennanigans.  Do you have any?  If so, I'd love to hear about them!  

recipe review: banana nut oatmeal

There was once a period in my life that I ate oatmeal every single day: it was when my mom went back to work and my poor father was in charge of feeding his snotty daughter breakfast every day.  I love my father, but the man cannot cook anything that does't come out of the microwave or off of the grill.  You want a steak?  He's your man.  You want mom's cheese eggs or toad-in-a-hole?  Well, good luck with that.  

My father gave me some options for breakfast: cold cereal, packets of oatmeal, or Pop Tarts.  

Alas, my love for Pop Tarts came later.  

But then I grew away from oatmeal, far, far away from it.  I hated it.  Couldn't stand it.  

Then, recently, I've re-discovered my love of oatmeal, but it took a little help from some of my Twitter friends and some well placed oatmeal additions.  

@whitgetsfit mentioned adding banana to oatmeal, then nuts, and all of a sudden I was enjoying BANANA NUT OATMEAL!  Yummy!  So here is my simple take on it, only four ingredients (five if you want to sweeten it up!).  

'Nana Nut Oatmeal

4 servings

5 points plus each if you track individually

7 points plus if you put it into the recipe builder

You pick, but I know what I'm doing!

1 cup steel cut oats (I used the Fresh & Easy store brand)

4 cups of water

2 ripe bananas

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Splenda (optional, to taste)

Bring the water to a boil in a medium sauce pan, then dump in the oats.  Drop the heat to low or medium low.  

Keep checking on it and stirring.  

It should take about 20 minutes to get really good and cooked.  

Dump in the two chopped bananas, chopped pecans, and the optional Splenda.  

Stir it up, check for seasoning, and enjoy!  

By the way, I place this into individual baggies and freeze them laying flat.  Then I can just grab one when I'm on the go and take it to work with me for breakfast.  As an added bonus, it keeps my lunch cold on the way to work!  Score!  

recipe review: mozza basic tomato sauce

I don't know if you're like me, but I like easy meals.  I also like healthy meals that I have control over.  This poses a problem in a lot of areas of cooking.  For example, spaghetti sauce.  

Sure, I can buy Prego (my favorite) and throw together dinner in just a few minutes with some noodles and ground turkey or beef.  That's a great dinner, and one that my non-Weight Watching boyfriend will enjoy.  To him, this is not diet food.  For me, it's usually a 10 Points Plus dinner, and I usually add a salad or some soup in to round out the vegetables.  

But have you ever scoped out the back of the Prego jar?  Well I have, I'll share.  Prego is made by Campbells, a trusted American brand.  Luckily, they post everything!  So here you go: Ingredients in Prego Traditional Sauce

Tomato puree and diced tomatoes aren't bad, but the sugar and dehydrated onions and garlic slow me down.  I understand that the citric acid and natural flavorings aren't going to kill me, but some times I'd just like the real thing, not a flavoring.  

Just about the time that I was doubting my beloved Prego sauce, I received The Mozza Cookbook as a Christmas gift.  What a treat!  It's the answer to all things Italian!  What's that?  How do I make this?  Where in the world would I find one of those?  

I've sticky tabbed all over this book, and I've tested out a few recipes like their amazing Lemon Vinaigrette!  But now, I have to share their Basic Tomato Sauce.  Prego, meet your nemesis.  

Basic Tomato Sauce

makes 2 quarts, approximately 8 cups

8 servings
3 Points Plus

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced (about 2 cups)

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or slivered

1/2 medium carrot, peeled and shredded (about 1/2 cup)

3 tablespoons fresh thyme

2 28 ounce cans whole peeled plum tomatoes, and their juices (San Marzano is recommended)

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, 1 tablespoon salt, and pepper; cook, stirring often, until onions are soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook until softened but not browned, 1-2 minutes. Add carrot and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until carrot is soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring often to break up tomatoes, until sauce is thickened, about 30 minutes.  Set a food mill over a large bowl. Pass sauce through food mill for the best texture (or purée sauce in a food processor). Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. 

This sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Let cool completely, cover, and chill (or store airtight and freeze for up to 6 months).

It's that simple!  Most of these ingredients you have at home, I simply had to go purchase two cans of tomatoes.  The sauce tasted extremely bright and fresh to me, no sugar or preservatives here!  The added bonus is that instead of 4 Points Plus per cup of sauce (Prego), it is only 3 Points Plus per cup of sauce.  It isn't a huge difference, but it is full of good stuff.  That's a good reason to use it more often.  I'm not going to get rid of my Prego, believe me, Mr. Full Fat loves it too much.  

I'll just switch it out every once in a while for my Mozza sauce!  

recipe review: cherry cheesecakes

I made these a few weekends ago for a potluck and they were a hit!  No one realized they had come from Weight Watchers, and they gobbled them up.  The only thing that was a bigger hit was my Chocolate Chip Cookies, but they're 3 Points Plus per cookie, and simply not as filling or satisfying as these mini cheesecakes.  

I highly recommend that you make these for your next family gathering, office party, or just for you and your friends!  

Cherry Cheesecakes

3 Points Plus

makes 12 servings

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (this is about 1/2 of a sleeve of graham crackers)

2 tbsp of light butter

2/3 cup low fat cream cheese

6 tbsp fat free cream cheese

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup lite pie filling, cherry

Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Spoon 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture into bottom of each liner and press down gently; refrigerate until ready to use.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat both types of cream cheese until fluffy. Add lemon juice, egg whites, vanilla extract and sugar; beat until smooth.

Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly into muffin liners; bake until set, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Top each cheesecake with 1 tablespoon cherry pie filling. Yields 1 cheesecake per serving.

You will have extra pie filling, so I put it into a plastic bag, removed the excess air and threw it in the freezer for the next time that I make this.  

I couldn't find light butter or fat free cream cheese, so I had to make due with "full fat" butter and all low fat cream cheese.  This added one Points Plus, bringing the total treat to four Points Plus but to be honest, it was still worth it!  I felt like I was eating something I definitely shouldn't have been, and the egg whites make the treat sort of light and fluffy!  

recipe review: apple and maple steel cut oatmeal

I am not really into breakfast, but this was a pretty good take on the boring old oatmeal!  Give it a try, I'm sure you will enjoy it, or you can add your own twist on it.  

Apple and Maple Steel Cut Oatmeal

4 servings

3 Points Plus

1/2 cup steel cut oats

1 cup fat free milk

1 cup water

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 small apple, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon imitation maple flavor

Bring the water and milk to a low boil in a medium saucepan.  

Add sugar, diced apples, and the steel cut oats. Reduce heat to medium-low.  

Simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Once the liquid has been absorbed and the oats are tender, stir in the maple flavor.  

Serve in small bowls, or if you're like me then just put it into your favorite tea or coffee cups.  

Now I have to be honest about this recipe, the first time I made this recipe I calculated it out to be only 2 servings at 6 Points Plus per serving.  Then I sat down with a bowl full of it, and I could only eat half of the serving!  So I've adjusted it to four servings, and it's only 3 tasty Points Plus per serving!  

Plus, you can put it into a storage container and reheat it throughout the week!  What a time saver for those of us on the go.  

recipe review: butter chicken

Butter chicken is an Indian dish that I've yet to try at an Indian restaurant because I love my version so much!  I originally read about it on the Pioneer Woman's blog, but it was made with a lot of butter and cream.  It was delicious!  But it wasn't all that good for me, so I put it into my recipe box and forgot about it.  

One day, my boyfriend asked me what had happened to it and why I hadn't made it again.  I told him that it was pretty fattening, but I decided to try to make it healthier with the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder tool.  

So here goes!  

Better Butter Chicken

6 servings

9 points plus

1 pound of chicken cut into small bite size pieces (I use chicken breasts)

5 cloves of garlic, smashed or finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 lime, juiced

Put all of this into a plastic bag and marinate it overnight in the refrigerator.  Please note, I use all of that cayenne pepper and usually some more because I love the heat!  

1/4 cup salted butter

1 diced onion

14 ounce can tomato sauce

14 ounce can diced tomatoes

2 cups fat free milk

1 cup white rice

2 cups water

one bunch cilantro

Saute the onion in the butter until soft. Add marinated chicken and cook about 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Cook for 30 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on. 

Add the rice to the boiling water and cover.  Simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the milk just before serving and heat through.  Top with finely chopped cilantro and serve over the rice.

This recipe packs a lot of flavor and I think that's why I love it so much!  I can get loads of tomatoes and some delicious chicken all on one plate and the spices you use to marinate the chicken absolutely send it over the top.  Try it on your picky eaters, because even my picky eater loves it.

recipe review: it's THE soup!

The first thing everyone should learn how to cook if they're going to be a Weight Watcher is this soup.  My family and I simply refer to it as "THE SOUP" because we'll all know what we're talking about.  

So here you go, make this.  

Garden Vegetable Soup

6 servings

0 Points Plus

1 spray of cooking spray (like Pam)

1/2 cup sliced carrots

1/4 cup diced onions

2 cloves of minced garlic

3 cups of broth (anything fat free like vegetable, chicken, or beef)

1 cup diced green cabbage (this is a little less than 1/4 of a head of cabbage)

1 cup chopped spinach

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup diced zucchini

Spray a large saucepan with cooking spray; heat.  Saute' carrot, onion, and garlic over low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add broth, cabbage, spinach, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and salt; bring to boil.  Reduce heat; simmer, covered, about 15 minutes.  Stir in zucchini; cook 3-4 minutes more.  Serve hot.  

This recipe is great!  Six servings usually lasts me a week or two, and it's really easy to double the amount of soup you're making if you think you're going to go through it quickly.  You can freeze it also, but it does lose a little crunch in my opinion.  

If you go out on the internet and search "Weight Watchers Zero Point Soup" you will get a bunch of different recipes, this particular one comes from the 2012 guide I got in December 2011 at my meeting.  

If you're looking for something a little bit different, try this one: Mexican Zero Point Soup or look up one of your own.  

My recommendation if you're going to make this soup at home, buy the Pampered Chef 1-cup Prep Bowls and store them in those.  The bowls freeze, microwave, and travel extremely well and best of all they are glass and they don't stain or smell like other cheaper material storage containers.