Recipe Corner: Weight Watchers Beef and Bean Chili

This is a different take on chili....well for me it is. I've never had one that isn't soup like to this extent....with that being said it is really tasty and I am always looking for new and different ways to cook the traditional foods we eat. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Weight Watchers Beef and Bean Chili
Serves 6
9 points plus/ 7 classic points per serving


Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1lb ground beef (7%fat or less) ( I used ground turkey)
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (14.5oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 (15.5oz) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
6 tablespoons fat-free sour cream
3 cups hot cooked brown rice

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large nonstick dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celef and cookery, bell pepper, garlic; cook, stirring, until carrots and celery are softened, about 15 minutes. Add beef and cook, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and black pepper; cook, stirring, 2 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes with their juice and beans to pot; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until flavors are blended, about 20 minutes. Serve with sour cream and rice.


Per Serving: 1 1/2 cup chili, 1/2 cup rice and 1 tablespoon sour cream.
373 calories/7g fat/2g sat fat/0g trans fat/ 47mg chol/452 mg sod/52g carb/8g sugar/11g fiber/25g protein/83mg calc

Weight Watchers Beef and Bean Chili with a Jimmy Corn Bread Muffin

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Recipe Source: Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
get yours here:
http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Watchers-Complete-Cookbook-Publishing/dp/047061451X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390431160&sr=8-1&keywords=weight+watchers+new+complete+cookbook

Recipe Corner: Staci's Taco Salad

My taco salad usually gets lot of attention, I've had several private messages and a few comments on it so I figured I'd write it all out for you guys! This is one of my favorite things to make so much that I don't really make regular tacos anymore.  Honestly it's just something I threw together one day and I've been in love with it ever sense.

Staci's Taco Salad
Serves 6

1lb of meat ( I usually use Chicken or Ground Turkey)
Taco Seasoning
1 can pinto beans or black beans (I use pinto)
1 bag of Spanish rice ( I use Knorr)
garlic, minced 
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1/2lb mushrooms, sliced
Lettuce (shredded)
Tomato (diced)
Avocado (diced)
Corn Tortillas (I use Mission thinly sliced, you get 3 per serving!!)
2% mexi blend shred cheese (optional for garnish)  
Salsa (optional for garnish)
Sour Cream (optional for garnish, I use light) 

 I'm going to give you the directions on how I make my personal taco salad. You can play around with the ingredients to you're liking....just remember the points value is based off the below information and it will change based on how you prepare yours.

TORTILLAS/MEATS/RICE/BEANS:
Preheat the Oven to 365. Spray a cookie sheet with non stick spray, place tortillas on pan, spray them with cooking spray and sprinkle salt on them. Before oven is fully preheated place them in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes or until desired crispiness is achieved.

Heat the beans and cook the rice according to packaging.
 
 When using chicken(3oz = 3pts) I sprinkle the it with about 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning, grill it on the George Foreman, once it's cooled some to where I can touch it I rip it to sherds and usually give myself 3oz. If using ground turkey(4oz = 4pts) I brown it and then add 1/4 cup of taco seasoning and 3/4 cup of water and cook until thickened)

VEGGIES:
Spray a skillet with non stick spray add desired amount of garlic and sauteed whatever veggies you'd like until tender over medium heat. To keep the veggies free of points I only add water as needed to keep them from burning.

MAKE YOUR SALAD:
When making the salads, I layer desired amount of lettuce, 1/2 cup of rice, 1/4 cup beans, desired amount of veggies, meat, tomatoes, 1 oz avocado, 1 tablespoon salsa, and 2 tablespoons light sour cream. I stick 3 cooked tortillas on the side. This salad with 3oz of meat of choice is 9 classic WW pts.

Just remember you can change you points based off of how much of each item you use, so just use your calculator to figure out the points.  I'm always available if you have any questions! Enjoy!!!

Staci's Taco Salad

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Recipe Corner: Weight Watchers Honey Chicken with Cashews

Weight Watchers has done it again....another AMAZING recipe I made tonight. I love making recipes that I haven't tried before, it's so exciting! I kept taking bites thinking....surely I didn't just make this....this most definitely should be considered "bad" for your "diet". One of the many many reasons I love WW is because I always feel like I'm cheating when I'm actually not, I'm making my own food which is delicious and it tastes so so good! I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we did! I added a few things to it to spice it up for our family and I will note them in ingredients.


Weight Watchers Honey Chicken with Cashews
Serves 4
8 points plus/ 6 classic points

Ingredients:

3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons corn starch 
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1lb chicken tenders, cut length wise into think strips
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 red bell peppers (I used 1 mini red bell pepper since I'm the only one who likes them)
6 baby carrots, cut into 4 slices each (I added this)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced (I added this) 
1/4 cup unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped
2 cups hot cooked whole wheat thin spaghetti

Directions:

1. Whisk together broth, cornstarch, soy sauce, and honey in a small bowl until smooth

2. Sprinkle chicken with salt. Spray wok or large deep nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over high heat until a drop of water sizzles in wok/skillet. Add chicken and stir-fry until browned and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds; transfer to plate.

3. Add bell peppers (onions and carrots if you are using them) to wok/skillet and stir-fry until crisp-tender, about 3-5 minutes. (I added a little bit of water while they cooked so they didn't burn) Return chicken to wok/skillet along with cashews; stir-fry until heated through, about 1 minute. Re-whisk broth mixture; add to wok/skillet and stir-fry until sauce bubbles and thickens, about 1 minute longer. Serve over spaghetti.

**Weight Watchers healthy note suggestion
Add 2 cups of trimmed and cut green beans to the wok/skillet along with the peppers in step 3. ** 

Weight Watchers Honey Chicken with Cashews

** In the above photo I added a small about of cashews to the top of each plate for a little extra crunch (just make sure if you do this you account for the added points)

Serves 4
Per Serving: 1 cup of chicken mixture. 1/2 cup of spaghetti
310 calories/7g fat/2g sat fat/0g trans fat/ 63mg chol/504 mg sod/33g carb/10g sugar/5g fiber/30g prot/38mg calc


Source: Weight Watchers One Pot Cookbook
You can get yours here:
http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Watchers-One-Pot-Cookbook/dp/1118038126/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_har?ie=UTF8&qid=1384439966&sr=8-1&keywords=weight+watchers+one+pot

www.weightwatchers.com 
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Happy Birthday....to me!

January 7, 2013 197.8lbs

Today I am no longer an infant, I am a one year old! You're sitting here thinking, has Staci lost her mind...isn't she 30?! What is she talking about....well a year ago today I started my fitness journey. On January 6th, I was drying my hair and realized the only thing I truly liked about my physically appearance was my hair, after all....it is pink. I looked at my daughter who was sitting in her bouncy seat and I thought I can't let her grow up with me as a role model. That was it, that was all it took, putting my children in the muse spot. Sure I could fail myself, I could hide behind people in photos, I could crop pictures, I could wear jeans and be miserable during the summer, I could hate myself every single day, but what I couldn't do....is fail my kids. I had the power within me to change and all I needed was a good focus point and I had found it. It was so simply really, honestly I can't believe it

January 7, 2013 197.8lbs

had never occurred to me before. When I lost 65lbs in 2008-2009 a year after my son was born I did it because I didn't want to be fat anymore, it wasn't a lifestyle change it was a diet to get rid of the weight, yeah I felt amazing when I got down to 145lbs, I was 210lbs when I started. But once I hit 145lbs (my goal was 130lbs btw) I stopped everything, went right back to the same old Staci who just shoved it in and didn't exercise. I gained about 30lbs back between 2009-2011. In February 2011 I found out I was pregnant with our second child and there I was after delivery at 215lbs. I had gotten myself right back to where I had been before and I hated myself so much for it. I couldn't bring myself to fully commit to losing the weight because in my mind I was going to work so hard to get it off and then just fail

December 23, 2013 (Yup in Florida) 146lbs

again. But on January 6, 2012 I had an epiphany and I am grateful for it every single day, because  I am a new person. I woke up on January 7th with a new attitude towards weight loss and what it really was all about and started my journey to a better me. Yeah I recently went totally nuts on Christmas vacation and I gained 10lbs from it but I have hit the refresh button and I am fully focused again. I think I may of needed that because I have been struggling since September with my weight loss....it's not about the number, I know that. I feel amazing and I am so very proud of how far I have come. I have reached the goal I set out to, be a role model for my children. These last pounds are for me....no one else. I will hit that goal of 135lbs which is now 18lbs away....but you know what I will get there in 2014. It's been a year of tears, sweat (lots and lots of sweat), disappointments, over powering joy, weeks of ease and weeks of struggles but in the end it has been one amazing year and honestly I am super excited to say that I won't ever have to make again because I will never go back to the obese Staci. Yeah she is still inside of me screaming...but she isn't screaming for

My family <3 December 2013(yup hot in FL)

food....she is screaming at me to never give up and fight each and every day, to push myself to be better than I was the day before. I know I will make mistakes and I know I will have weeks where I gain and weeks where I lose but as long as I stay in control and keep fighting I will never be a failure. If you are sitting here reading this thinking that you can't do it, I'm here to tell you, YES YOU CAN DO THIS. You can be the person you've always wanted to be. One of the biggest steps you will take is believing that you can do it, because you can. Coming from a food lover, emotional eater and a mother of two young children (giving them snacks is one of my biggest daily challenges) if I can do this, you can do this. Never ever give up, if you mess up, just keep going, keep your eye on the prize and you will reach that goal!!!! Smile, because no matter what that number on the scale says, you are beautiful....now get healthy!!!!

NEVER GIVE UP!

 PS! Take pictures....I didn't really start documenting my weight loss photo wise until I had already dropped 20lbs...I was so ashamed when I started (note the above start day photos with no face) that I didn't want to do it and I really wish I would have done more than just the two. Even if they are never seen by anyone but you, take photos....you see yourself every day you may not see all the changes that are happening. Having photos to compare really shows how much you've accomplished!

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Recipe Corner: Skinny Deep Dish Taco Pizza

Skinny Deep Dish Taco Pizza

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• • 1 lb. ground turkey
• • 1/2 cup chopped onion
• • 14.5oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies
• • 1 packet reduced-sodium taco seasoning
• • 3/4 cup water
• • 1 1/2 cans reduced fat crescent rolls
• • 1 can fat-free re-fried beans (optional for added fiber)
• • 1 cup cheddar cheese
• • Salsa (to garnish)
• • Fat Free Sour Cream (to garnish)

Instructions

1. Brown meat and onion in a large skillet and drain well
2. Add water, seasoning, and drained tomatoes to meat/onion mixture
3. In a 9x13 baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray - press crescent rolls into the bottom and halfway up the sides
4. Spread re-fried beans on top of the crescent roll layer (Yes, this is harder than it sounds...just do it gently and your rolls wont get too mangled.) This step can be left out, I just added it for the fiber.
5. Spoon meat mixture over the bean layer
6. Bake at 425 degrees F for 12 minutes - remove from oven and top with cheese
7. Return to the oven for 5 minutes (or until the cheese melts and the edges of the crust are browned)
8. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving

Skinny Deep Dish Taco Pizza (serves 6)

Nutrition Info and Tips

Calories: 286
Fat: 10g
Carbohydrates: 31g
Fiber: 3g
Protein: 19g
Sugars: 5g
Weight Watchers Plus Points:8pp/ Classic Points 6pts