I don’t know what happened to my one plug-in for all my recipes. I have Get Me Cooking and it’s a plug-in that keeps track of all your recipes and you can format it to put them in a fancy box like I have been doing for quite awhile now. I’m guessing that it won’t let me do that any more because it’s at the number of recipes it can hold. If that’s the case then I am bummed. Until then, I’ll just be posting recipes without it, until I can figure out what is going on.

I am going to come out and say, I do not like corn tortillas. I decided to give them another try since I haven’t for awhile, and I’m just going to stick with flour from now on. I assembled my pork tacos as you normally would with any taco, and since the pork ends up really juicy and moist in the end, the corn tortillas kind of just fall apart after awhile. I can’t stand that! Even with a soggy taco crust these pork carnitas were just delicious. Very spicy too and they’re pretty low in calories. Can’t wait to make some quesadillas with the leftover pork. I topped mine with cilantro,avocado, and pico de gallo. These are also Weight Watcher friendly!.

I got some of this syrup. I will be trying out many alcoholic drinks with it soon!

Recipe and Nutrition Info from the Slender Kitchen

Points Plus: 6
Nutritional Info: 224.9 calories, 7.7g of fat, 1.3g of carbohydrates, .1g of fiber, 25.8g of protein
Servings: 8

Ingredients

2.5 lbs. pork shoulder,lean only, trimmed of fat
1 onion, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1-2 diced chipotle peppers and 2 tbsp adobo sauce
3/4 cup light beer or chicken broth
1-2 bay leaves

Instructions

Season the pork with salt and pepper. Place it in the crockpot.
Mix together the remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over the pork.
Cook for 6-8 hours on low until the pork is fork tender and easily shreds.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Lay pork out in a single layer on a non-stick baking sheet. Roast for 4-5 minutes until the edges become crispy and toasted.

Did you know when you cream bananas and sugar together it almost looks exactly like it would when you cream butter and sugar together? Not to mention, it’s a lot healthier too! I want to try this method out on cookies, and I plan on making a batch this weekend using bananas and sugar. I love it when I can find a healthy recipe for baking that doesn’t make something taste like crap. I had these cupcakes for breakfast this week.  There is protein in the peanut butter, bananas, and some greek yogurt for even more protein. Why would you not have these for breakfast? They are awesome!

Servings: 12

Calories: 226, Fat: 8.57, Carbs: 36.36g, Protein: 5.23g, Fiber: 3.2g

Recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes

Print recipe

Ingredients

• 2 large ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large egg whites or 1 large egg
• 3/4 cups greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla exract
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (melted )
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup peanut butter chips

Directions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Line a muffin tin with baking cups. Set aside.

Step 2

In a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork or use a hand mixer. Mash them very well – no big lumps. Stir in the sugar, egg whites, greek yogurt, and vanilla extract.

Step 3

Sift* the flours, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Slowly stir in the wet ingredients, being careful not to overmix. Fold in chocolate chips. The batter will be a little chunky.

Step 4

Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups – fill them all the way to the top. Take 1 teaspoon of melted peanut butter and spoon it on top of the batter. Swirl it around with a knife or a toothpick. Sprinkle with peanut butter chips. Repeat with all 12 cupcakes.

Step 5

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Muffins stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Well, It’s been almost 2 1/2 weeks since I’ve had a cold. I can’t seem to get rid of this cough either. I’m hoping by next week it’s gone. The flu season is really nasty this year and it seems like everyone I know is getting sick. I’ve been eating a lot of soup lately  because of that. This weekend I made a big pot of potato soup and I’m so sad it is gone. It was so good. I might make another pot of it this weekend. We shall see.

This dish was super easy and delicious! I served it over noodles (gotta stock up the pantry again) and had some garlic bread. The seasoning packet makes the cream of chicken soup almost taste like a fancy gravy you’d  get at a restaurant.  I love easy crock pot recipes like this with only 4 ingredients. This one is a keeper. I’m usually not a fan of  much processed junk but canned cream of chicken soup and seasoning packets make cooking really super easy. Cook or not, anyone could make this.

Points Plus figured without noodles and using 98% ff cream of chicken soup and low fat cream cheese.

Recipe adapted Life as a Loft House

Servings: 6

Points Plus: 6

Fat 11.65g, Carbohydrate 9.48g, Protein 26.17g, Fiber 0.7g

Creamy Italian Chicken

Print recipe

Ingredients

• 4-6 boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 package Italian season mix
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 8oz package cream cheese
• noodles

Directions

Step 1

Spray crock pot with non-stick spray. Place the chicken breasts in crock pot, and sprinkle the Italian dressing mix over the tops. Pour the cream of chicken soups over chicken, and then spread the cubes of cream cheese evenly over all.

Step 2

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Remove lid and stir mixture together.

I was contemplating on whether or not I should post this recipe. At first, I didn’t like it and thought it was just so, so. I think my problem when I first tried it was, that I tasted it when it was at room temperature. I tried some more of it today and liked it a lot  better, because it had been sitting in the fridge. Also, I cut the snickers bars kind of too big and would have preferred them to be a bit smaller. This “salad” tastes like a caramel apple dipped in nuts. It almost reminds me of one of those fluff recipes that are popular too. I had seen this recipe floating around on pinterest a lot lately, so I thought I’d give it a try. Then, I found it again on Taste of Home’s website and they had the nutrition info posted for this recipe.

The pictures kind of look like just a bunch of cool whip. Believe me, the apples and snickers bars are in there. Cool whip type desserts are hard to photograph.

218 calories, 9 g fat, 31 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein

Points Plus: 6

3/4 cup per serving

Candy Bar Apple Salad

Print recipe

Ingredients

• 1 - 1/2 cups milk
• 1 package instant pudding mix (vanilla )
• 4 large apples
• 4 snickers candy bars

Directions

Step 1

In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Fold in whipped topping. Fold in apples and candy bars. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 12 servings (3/4 cup each)

I saw this pasta recipe and started to figure out the nutrition info for it and didn’t like the amount of carbs that were in it. It was pretty scary. I was thinking of ways to make it a little more carb friendlier so it became soup. Chicken florentine is basically chicken, pasta, spinach and tomatoes. Sounds good doesn’t it? Ben asked me if I added in the pesto and I wish I would have now. That would have given it even more flavor. I know it’s almost summer time, but it doesn’t hurt to have soup every now and then. Especially when fresh produce is becoming more available.

I went to Minneapolis this weekend to visit my brother. It turns out he’s a pretty good cook. He made this shrimp dish which he still has to give me the recipe for. It had 4 heads of garlic in it. We went to this place called Mozza Mia and they had the best pizza there. I bought all the ingredients I needed to make this fig, caramelized onion and prosciutto pizza. Plan on seeing that post sometime later on this week. That bowl in the picture came from Pottery Barn too. The plate underneath it, I want to find a plate holder for it to hang up in my kitchen.

Servings: 6

Points Plus: 6

calories: 219, Fat 6.2, Protein: 23.7, Carbs: 17.1, Fiber: 2.4

Ingredients from Oxmoor House

1/2 cup uncooked ditalini (very short tube-shaped macaroni)
1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, chopped
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons commercial pesto
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Grated fresh Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Set aside.

2. While pasta cooks, combine chicken, broth, and water in a large Dutch oven. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon; keep warm. Stir in tomatoes; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Stir in spinach; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Add cooked chicken and pasta to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Stir in pesto and pepper. Ladle soup evenly into 6 bowls, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Every year for Easter, my family will have this cheesy hash brown potato casserole. I love it because it’s full of cheese and really creamy. My mom would put those crinkle cut potato chips on hers. Maybe known as wavy lays potato chips. Some people put corn flakes and I wanted to do that, but I didn’t have any corn flakes. I used some oyster crackers instead and I think I like the crunchy potato chips better, but the oyster crackers still worked. This version has a little less fat in it than the full fat version. I always try to have a bag of frozen hash browns on hand too. You can do so much with them.

Also for Easter my grandma likes to make her frosted sugar cookies. These are so good.

Ben (my husband) has spent most of Easter weekend painting the dining room. It’s a pretty red color.

Well, I hope everyone has a happy Easter!

Recipe from Plain Chicken ( love this website!)

Servings: 8
Points Plus: 6

I halfed the recipe from the original one. 30 oz of hash browns would make a lot for 2 people.

Ingredients:

15 oz of frozen hashbrown potaotoes
8 oz of fat free sour cream
5 3/4 oz of 98% fat free condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoing Salt
1 cup of 2 percent cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons of oyster crackers

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350

2. Combine sour cream, cheese, cream of chicken soup in a bowl with the potatoes. Spray an 8X8 pan and spread out the potatoes in the pan. Use your hand to crush the oyster crackers on top of the potaotes. Spray with cooking spray.

3. Bake at 350 for 45.