HG's Candyland Peppermint Pie

Hungry Girl's Candyland Peppermint Pie

Ingredients:
Crust:
* 4 sheets (16 crackers) chocolate graham crackers
* 2 tbsp. light whipped butter or light buttery spread

Filling:
* 1/2 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand)
* 1/4 cup fat-free milk
* 1 small (4-serving) box Sugar-Free, Fat-Free Vanilla Instant pudding mix
* 3 cups Fat Free Cool Whip, thawed
* 3 tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
* 2 standard-sized peppermint candy canes, lightly crushed, divided (I couldn't find candy canes, so I used about 10 small peppermints
* Optional topping: Fat Free Reddi-wip

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. To make the crust, crush graham crackers in a food processor or blender (or place in large sealable bag and crush with a meat mallet). Transfer crumbs to a bowl and set aside.

3. Place butter in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted, about 15 seconds. Add to the bowl of graham cracker crumbs and mix until uniform.

4. Spray a pie pan with nonstick spray. Evenly distribute crust mixture along the bottom of the pie pan, using your hands or a flat utensil to firmly press and form the crust. Press it into the edges and up along the sides of the pan. Bake crust in the oven until firm, 8 - 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

5. To make the filling, combine condensed milk, milk, and pudding mix in a large bowl. Mix well.

6. Fold in Cool Whip until smooth.

7. Gently stir in chocolate chips and about 3/4 of the candy cane pieces.

8. Once crust has cooled completely, evenly pour filling into the pan.

9. Refrigerate until firm and chilled, at least 2 hours. (Overnight is best.)

10. Sprinkle pie with remaining candy cane pieces. If you like, top with Reddi-wip just before serving. Dig in!

Each piece (1/8) is 5 Pointsplus OR:

Calories: 202

Fat: 4.5g

Sodium: 250mg

Carbs: 37g

Fiber: 0.25g

Sugars: 24g

Protein: 2.5g

****UPDATE**** I made individual cups of this pie, used only 1 sheet of grahams and NO butter..I was able to distribute it between 7 cups, and topped with some graham crumbs. I counted 3-4 points per custard cup.

Brazilian Stroganoff with potatoes

So last night friends came over and I decided to cook. Since we just got back from Brazil I thought we would try a recipe from there along with rice and beans (like we had there). While there we had Brazilian stroganoff a couple times..It's very different there..we had it with chicken and mushrooms..the sauce is a sweet cream sauce and is very tasty! We didn't have chicken, but we did have pork chops, so I went with it. It didn't taste quite the same, but was still good. I may need a more specific recipe, but for now, this is all I found thanks to THIS site:

Aleatha, who lives in northern California, is a big fan of her Brazilian mom' s cooking and agreed to share some of her recipes with us. Well, you may ask, what does strogonoff have to do with Brazilian cooking? Nothing really, except that everyone in Brazil loves the dish and has their favorite recipe...so we decided to include it in Maria's Cookbook. It's very yummy! You can find Brazilian-style creme de leite on the Internet or in Latino markets around the U.S. Or use crème fraîche, available in fancy food markets. Or, in desperation, use good old heavy cream!

2-4 lbs beef or chicken (if using beef we recommend filet mignon)
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
salt to taste
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 to 3/4 tsp dry oregano
dry white wine (optional, but yummy, so use it!)
heavy cream or Brazilian creme de leite (sinfully good this stuff!)
3-4 tbsp catsup
3 tbsp yellow mustard

Cut up meat into 1-inch pieces. Put into a bowl and mix with garlic, half of the onion, salt, nutmeg, oregano and wine. Let it marinate for 1 hour. Sauté remainder with a bit of oil. Add meat/chicken and marinade to the pan and cook. If it is a bit dry, add a few tablespoons of water, and cook a little while longer. Then add catsup and mustard. When ready to eat, add cream and let cook for one minute.

So I also served this with roasted potatoes. I cut up the potatoes and tossed them in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, garlic salt, and of course, the melting pot seasoning. I baked them at 375-400 for about 40 minutes (stirring occasionally)..tasted great!!

WW Slow Cooked Pork Chops n Taters (with pics)

My mom loved this recipe! It was just something I found online. Unfortunately, I can't find the link from where I got it. I found similar recipes from Mastercook..Anyway, here ya go!

Pork Chops and PotatoesIngredients:
*6 4-ounce pork loin chops - trimmed
*1 10 3/4-ounce can Campbell's 98% Fat Free Cream of Mushroom Soup*1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
*1/4 cup Dijon mustard
*1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (I used italian seasoning)*1 clove garlic - minced, or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder (I used refrigerated jar garlic)
*1/4 teaspoon black pepper
*6 medium potatoes -- thinly sliced (I used 5)
*1 onion - sliced (I chopped)

Directions:

1. In skillet, brown pork chops in 2 tablespoons oil, if desired. Drain fat.

2. In any size Crockpot Slow Cooker, mix soup, chicken broth, mustard, thyme, garlic, and pepper. Add potatoes and onion, stirring to coat.

3. Place browned pork chops on top of potato mixture.

4. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH 4 to 5 hours.

Serves 6.

Per serving: 240 Calories (kcal); 6g Total Fat; 18g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 38mg Cholesterol; 565mg Sodium

WW Points: 4.7 pt.

Frightening Fingers

I got this wonderful recipe from a Taste of Home mega book. It's 3 Halloween cookbooks in one and I love every bit of it! This one is on page 20, and let me tell you, these are crowd pleasers for sure! And O so tasty!!

Ingredients:

* 1 cup butter, softened

* 1 cup confectioners' sugar

* 1 egg

* 1 tsp. vanilla extract

* 1 tsp. almond extract (I just use an extra tsp. of vanilla)

* 2 3/4 cups flour

* 1 tsp. baking powder

* 1 tsp. salt

* Red decorating gel

* 1/2 cup sliced almonds

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.

2. Beat in the egg and extracts.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to work with.

4. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll into 1-inch balls.

5. Shape balls into fingers. Using the flat tip of a table knife, make an indentation on one end of each finger for the fingernail. With the knife, make slashes for knuckles. Place 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets (or on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet). Bake at 325 for about 15-25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

6. Let cool 3 minutes.

7. Squeeze small amount of red gel on nail bed; press sliced almond over gel for nail (sometimes I slide it gently into the cookie). Remove to wire racks to cool.

Yield: 5 dozen (or less, it all depends on the size of your fingers!)

*Have a spooktacular time with these scary fingers!!*

Chicken in Wine Sauce (A new twist)

So I made this back in June and have been playing with the recipe ever since. Tonight I used chicken instead of fish and added a pack of spinach to the sauce before pouring over the chicken. I baked it at 375 for about 25-30 minutes. It was a little chewy so next time I would probably cook it the same amount of time but at 350 instead.

Holy Moly Cannoli Cones (thanks to HG)

So I LOVE cannoli's, and when I heard Hungry Girl had a recipe on them..I just HAD to try it! This recipe is on p. 258 of her book, Hungry Girl 1-2-3: The Easiest, Most Guilt-Free Recipes on the Planet. If you don't own one of her books, get out there and buy it! I think I said this on another recipe, but there hasn't been a single recipe of hers that I don't like!! Now without further ado (so I can get back to my cannoli's) here is the recipe!

Holy Moly Cannoli Cones

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. fat free ricotta cheese (I use low fat because my store doesn't carry FF)

2/3 cup cool whip free, thawed

1 1/2 tbsp. no cal sweetener (I use 1 tbsp. less than the original recipe, and I use truvia)

1 tbsp. FF SF vanilla instant pudding mix

1 tbsp. powdered sugar

2 tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

6 sugar cones

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients except chocolate chips and cones in a medium bowl and mix well. (The recipe says to use a hand mixer). Fold in half the chocolate chips.

2. Transfer mixture into a sandwich bag and snip one corner off to use as a piping bag.

3. Gently squeeze mixture between 6 cones and evenly distribute choco chips. ENJOY!

***Each cone is 3 WW points

Barilla No-Boil Lasagna

My mom made this for me growing up and I never knew the recipe was on the Barilla No-Boil Lasagna box! This is it! (I used my mom's famous homemade spaghetti sauce)

No-Boil Lasagna

Ingredients:

* 1 (9 ounce) box of barilla no-boil lasagna noodles

* 2 eggs (I used egg whites)

* 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese

* 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

* 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

* 1 lb. ground beef or sausage, browned (I used spicy italian sausage)

* Spaghetti or pasta sauce

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 and spray 9x13 baking dish.

2. In a bowl, mix together eggs, parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, and HALF (2 cups) of the mozarella.

3. Spread 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.

4. Overlap 4 of the uncooked noodles.

5. Top noodles with 1/3 of cheese mixture.

6. Top cheese with 1/2 of the meat.

7. Top meat with 1 cup mozarella cheese.

8. Top cheese with 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce.

9. Layer 4 more noodles overlapping.

10. Add another 1/3 of cheese mixture.

11. Top cheese mixture with 1 1/2 cup sauce.

12. Layer another 4 overlapping noodles.

13. Top with remainding 1/3 cheese mixture.

14. Add remaining meat.

15. Top with 1 cup sauce.

16. Layer remaining 4 noodles, overlapping.

17. Add 1 cup sauce.

18. Top with remaining cup of mozarella.

19.Cover with foil and put in preheated oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Uncover and cook an additional 5 minutes to melt cheese (if its not already melted).

20. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!!