Pizza Dip...in the Crock Pot!

Today was the October Dip Day at school, so, as usual, I had to try out a new dip! This was a Pinterest find that I adapted to be a little more health-savy and produce a larger amount. The original recipe can be found here.

Pizza Dip... in the Crock!

Ingredients:

* 2 (8oz) blocks of reduced fat cream cheese

* 2 tsp. italian seasoning

* 2 tsp. garlic powder (I used my Melting Pot Garlic & Wine seaoning)

* 2 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (reserve 1/2 cup)

* 3/4 cup parmesan cheese (I actually forgot this ingredient and it didn't matter!)

* 2 (8oz.) jars pizza sauce

* 3/4 cup turkey pepperoni slices, cut into fourths

Directions:

1. Put all ingrients into the crock EXCEPT the 1/2c. mozzarella and pepperonis.

2. Cook on low for an hour, then stir.

3. Add in pepperonis and continue to cook on low for another hour.

4. Turn to warm and top with reserved cheese and any additional pepperonis.

5. Serve hot! 

Marinated Tomatoes & Mozzarella Salad

My tomatoes are coming in LIKE CRAZY...Basil is way overgrown...so what better thing to do than to buy some mozzarella and make caprese salad.....but not just any caprese salad, because I have had too much of that this summer and am bored. I found a recipe that had other flavors and let me tell you, this is definitely a keeper! The original recipe can be found here. I lightened it up and added a few things to make it just right for my taste buds! I decided to turn my leftovers into a sandwich on my favorite italian bread, and that just took it to a whole other level! YUMMY!

Marinated Tomatoes & Mozzarella Salad

Ingredients:

* ~1.5lb. tomatoes (I used a Bradley, sliced and a whole lotta cherry tomatoes quartered)

*  Mozzarella cheese balls (I got 1 container and cut the balls into smaller pieces)

* 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil

* about 10 large basil leaves

* 2 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar

* 2 Tbsp. Balsalmic Vinegar

* 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

* 1/2 tsp. pepper

* 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Directions:

1. Combine vinegars, sugar, oil and all seasonings in a small bowl. Whisk.

2. Roll basil leaves and carefully cut into marinade. Mix well.

3. Add sliced tomatoes and cheese to a container that you can flip (like ziploc or glad).

4. Pour over marinade and carefully flip a few times. 

5. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

6. Flip a couple times just before serving.

7. ENJOY!

Freakin' Awesome Jalapeno Poppers

This recipe is SUPER simple, yet yields AMAZING results! It does, however, take some patience, but with only 3 ingredients, how can you go wrong?

 I always ask Brian to rate my food on a 5-point scale. The majority of my recipes get a 3-4 point rating (He's a tough critic!). These god a 4.5-5 point rating!! Needless to say, these are worth the time they take!

P.S. Recipe cred goes to my dear friend, Carrie! She made these for one of our "Bachelor Mondays" and we practically inhaled them then too!

Freakin' Awesome Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients:

* Fresh Jalapenos (As many as you want)

* Cream cheese (I use low-fat, and the amount depends on how many jalapenos you use)

* Turkey Bacon

Directions:

1. Cut jalapenos and remove all seeds and ribs. *MAKE SURE to wear gloves! The juices will burn your hands!*

2. Fill each half with desired amount of cream cheese.

3. Using a full slice of bacon, carefully wrap each pepper.

4. Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 20-30 minutes. Keep in mind, the longer they cook, the more mild they get.

5. ENJOY!

Homemade Pizza Rolls

This was a Pinterest find and can be found here. I made these, well technically Britt made these, for the Christmas party this past year and I forgot to blog them! Here they are!

Homemade Pizza Rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 cans refrigerated pizza crust (I used seamless creations crescent rolls)
• garlic salt
• Italian Seasoning
• 1 cup sliced and chopped pepperoni (I used turkey pepperoni)
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used mozzerella)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
• Marinara for dipping

Directions:

Prep: Preheat oven to 425.

1. Dust a large cutting board with flour and roll out each pizza crust (crescent).
2. Season each crust with garlic salt and Italian seasoning.
3. Top with cheese and meat
4. Start at one end and roll crust into a tight log
5. Slice into 1-inch pieces.
6. Place on lightly greased pan/cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 mins.
7. Serve with marinara. 

SO Good Cocktail Weenies

It's that time of year! Time to try out new recipes and eat lots of party foods!! I found this recipe via Pinterest and the original website can be found here. These were REALLY GOOD! I dare say that I liked them better than the original grape jelly version! I altered the recipe a bit, and ended up using 3 packages of the weenies before it was all said and done!

SO Good Cocktail Weenies

Ingredients:

* 2 pkg. Hillshire Farms cocktail/beef weenies (I used one of each)

* 1 1/2 can of jellied cranberry sauce (I had about a half of a can in the fridge so I threw it in)

* 6 Tbsp. brown sugar

* 3 Tbsp. ketchup

* 3 Tbsp. mustard

* 1 heaping Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

1. Heat the cranberry sauce, 6T. brown sugar, 3T. ketchup, 3T. mustard, 1T. lemon juice in the crockpot. Stir until combined and wait about 10 minutes to make sure everything gets melted together.  

2. Add the weenies and set on low for about 20 minutes until heated thoroughly.

3. ENJOY!!

Jalapeno Cream Cheese Spirals

This was, get ready for it, ANOTHER Pinterest find. I wanted to tone it down a bit, however, so you can find the original recipe here. They were a hit, and Brian really enjoyed them!

Jalapeno Cream Cheese Spirals

Ingredients:

* 1 (8oz) tub fat free cream cheese

* 1 tube of reduced fat crescent rolls

* Jarred jalapenos

* 1/2-1 tsp. Truvia

Directions:

1. Roll out crescent rolls and divide into 2 large rectangles (mine weren't cooperating, so I did 4). Connect perforated areas.

2. Mix the cream cheese, with however many jalapenos you want, and the Truvia until well mixed.

3. Spread cream cheese miture on each rectangle.

4. Carefully roll up.

5. At this point I put them back into the fridge until my guests were just about to arrive. Then I sliced them up and placed on a SPRAYED cookie sheet.

6. Bake at 375 for 13-15 minutes.

7. Enjoy!

 Per ~3 rolls, 1WWPP

"Skinny" Sensational Spinach Dip

Yum. This recipe comes from my favorite diabetic cookbook, Eat What You Love, page 131. I paired it with Homemade Pita Chips from the same book on page 135, or here. I thought the dip was fabulous, Brian thought it was too creamy, and Emily thought it was not creamy enough! Everyone did like the flavor though!

Sensational Spinach Dip

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup light sour cream

* 1/2 cup light mayo

* 3/4 cup plain low fat yogurt (I used plain fat free greek yogurt)

* 1/2 tsp. minced garlic

* 2 tsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce

* 1 (8-oz. can) water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped

* 1 (10 oz. pkg) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

* 1/4 cup dried parsley (I didn't have parsley, so I skipped this)

* 1/4 cup dried minced onion (whoops..I used fresh)

* 3/4 tsp. dried dill

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl whisk together the 1/2c. sour cream, 1/2c. mayo, and 3/4c. yogurt. Add 1/2t. garlic and mix well. Stir in 2t. soy sauce, and the finely chopped water chestnuts.

2. Add the spinach, 1/4c. parsley (if you use it), 1/4c. onion (DRIED, or fresh), and 3/4t. dill and mix thoroughly.

3. Cover the dip and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Breakdown per 1/4 cup:

2WWPP

70 cal

4.5g fat

4g carbs

1g fiber

3g protein

Crispy Asparagus

Again, I wanted to try a recipe using asparagus that would be edible. THIS WAS SO GOOD! I could barely tell it was asparagus, and it was crunchy to perfection! I dipped mine in ranch..next time I may add powdered ranch to the crumbs! MMmMM! Definitely a keeper for this veggie! I found it here. I kind of played the recipe by ear, so the pictures don't match the exact amount of ingredients.

Crispy Asparagus

Ingredients:

* 1 bunch of asparagus 

* 2 egg whites

* 1/4 cup flour

* 1 cup seasoned panko crumbs

* 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

* salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. Snap off hard ends of asparagus. I cut mine in half to make more.

3. Put egg whites in one bowl, and mix flour, crumbs and cheese then put in other bowl.

4. Dip asparagus in egg whites, then roll in crumbs.

5. Place on wire rack (I just used my even baking sheet).

6. I poured the extra crumbs over the asparagus to make mine extra crispy.

7. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until crispy to your liking.

8. Serve with dipping sauce, if desired.

Asparagus Crescent Rolls

After reading lots of good things about asparagus, I decided to give it a try. Of course I can't eat it by itself; it's too gross! These were pretty good, but I could still taste the asparagus a bit. Luckily the crescent roll made up for it! The recipe came from pinterest, and can be found here.

Asparagus Rolls

Ingredients:

* 1 package crescent rolls (I used reduced fat)

* 8 slices of deli ham (I used turkey)

* 4 asparagus sticks, cut it half

* Dijon Mustard (I used Dijonaise because I didn't have dijon)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. In a microwave bowl add asparagus and cover with water.

3. Add paper towel and microwave at 50% power for 2 minutes, or until tender.

4. On baking sheet lay out crescent pieces.

5. Evenly cover each triangle with dijon.

6. Wrap asparagus in meat.

7. Add asparagus to thick corner of crescent and roll up.

8. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden.

9. ENJOY!

HG Buff Chick Hot Wing Dip

Always a hit! I've been asked for this recipe multiple times, so it's about time I finally blog it! It's great as a leftover and my favorite dipper is celery....which happens to be 0 points! :-) This recipe comes from Hungry Girl: Happy Hour, page 128.

HG Buff Chick Hot Wing Dip

Ingredients:

* 1 (8oz.) tub fat free cream cheese, room temp

* 1/2 cup Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
* 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

* 1/4 cup fat-free ranch dressing (EW! I used reduced fat 3-chz ranch because they didn't have any reduced fat plain ranch, but it still tasted good!)

* 1/4 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt

* 2 (10oz.) cans of 98% fat free chunk white chicken breast in water, drained and flaked

Directions:

1. Place 8oz. cream cheese in large microwave-safe bowl and stir until smooth.

2. Mix in 1/2c. hot sauce, 1/2c. mozz chz, 1/4c. ranch, and 1/4c. yogurt.

4. Stir in both cans of chicken and stir until combined.

5. Microwave for 3 minutes. Stir, then microwave an additional 2 minutes, or until hot.

6. Enjoy!! (Makes 15 servings)

Breakdown (per 1/4 cup):

68 cal

1.5g fat

616mg sodium

2g carbs

0g fiber

1g sugar

10g protein

2WWPP

Mini Wreaths--lizzy's touch

So this recipe was orginally in a Kroger coupon book that was sent out about 6 years ago! I make it every year (as 1 big wreath) and it is ALWAYS a hit..so I thought about it and figure that I could make it more bite-sized and diet friendly..so that is just what I did!!!

Mini Wreaths

Ingredients (amounts vary):

Crescent Rolls-Seamless

Red, Yellow, Orange Peppers

Diced Ham

Pineapple tidbits

Cherry Tomatoes

Fat Free Cream Cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Keept the crescent rolls in place after taking out of the can...roll into a longer log and slice into at least 20 pieces. Place on a non-greased baking sheet (like you would with cookies).

3. Bake in oven for about 10-12 minutes. Keep a close eye on them as cooking times may vary.

4. Allow each roll to cool.

5. Apply 1 Tablespoon of FF cream cheese to each roll.

6. Add diced toppings and serve immediately!

Breakdown:

Per 4 'wreaths' (1/5 recipe)--5 WWPP

Bacon-Bundled BBQ Shrimp by Hungry-Girl

I have yet to try a recipe by Hungry Girl that I don't like!! This one is very tasty as well and at 3WWPP per 4 shrimp...you just can't go wrong!

You can find this recipe in Hungry Girl 200 Under 200, page 85.

Bacon-Bundled BBQ Shrimp

Ingredients:

*16 large (not jumbo) raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed (I boiled my shrimp a bit since my bacon was already cooked)

*8 slices extra-lean turkey bacon, halved widthwise (I used normal Oscar Meyer pre-cooked bacon)

*1/3 cup canned tomato sauce

*3 tablespoons ketchup

*1 tablespoon brown sugar (not packed)

*1 tablespoon cider vinegar

*1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Combine all ingredients but shrimp and bacon in a bowl and set aside.

3. Lightly spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray (I covered a baking sheet with a nonstick sheet and did this). Dip each half of bacon in sauce and wrap the shrimp and place it seam side down on sheet. After they are all placed on sheet, spray with nonstick spray.

4. Bake in oven until shrimp are cooked through and bacon crispy, about 10-15 minutes. (Since mine were already cooked I let them in the oven 5-8 minutes.

Breakdown:

Per 4 shrimp: 3 WWPP

116 calories

1.75g fat

587mg sodium

7g carbs

less than .5g fiber

6g sugar

16g protein