Weight Watchers Lasagna

This is based on the Weight Watcher's recipe for meatless lasagna.  I have adapted it to my taste, and I'll include their recipe for homemade tomato sauce at the end of the recipe.  Super easy!

6 Servings--Use a sprayed 9x9 baking pan for this.  One slice is 9 points+, and 1/4 of the recipe is 13 points+. 

Ingredients:

2/3 C low fat ricotta cheese
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley
2 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese plus 1 TBSP Parmesan
6 uncooked whole wheat lasagna noodles
4 oz. 2% shredded mozzarella cheese
8 oz. lean hamburger, cooked and seasoned to taste (I use Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic powder)
15 oz. jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I use Prego Three Cheese, with a little doctoring)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Coat your 9x9 pan with cooking spray.  In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, egg, parsley and 2 TBSP Parmesan cheese.  In a separate bowl, mix your pasta sauce and cooked hamburger.  Add 3-4 TBSP of pasta sauce mix to the cheese mix, enough to turn the sauce pink.

Spoon about half a cup of sauce into the pan, and spread around to coat the bottom.  Cover sauce with two lasagna noodles, breaking if necessary to make them fit and cover the pan.  Cover noodles with half of the ricotta mixture and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese.  Spoon 1/3 of the sauce over mozzarella.

Add another layer of noodles and remaining ricotta cheese mix.  Sprinkle with another 1/3 of mozzarella and then another 1/3 of the sauce.

Add the final layer of noodles and cover with remaining sauce.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and 1 TBSP Parmesan cheese.

Bake until noodles are cooked through, cheese is melted and sauce begins to bubble at the bottom of the pan, about 35-40 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let sit another 10-15 minutes before cutting.

Optional ingredients for homemade sauce:
1/2 TBSP olive oil
3 medium cloves of garlic, minced (or to taste)
1 large uncooked onion, Spanish variety, cut in half and thinly sliced
35 oz. plum tomatoes, whole, canned, mashed into pieces
3 oz. can tomato paste
3 leaves basil, fresh
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. table salt
Directions:
To make the sauce, coat a large heavy pot with cooking spray, set over medium heat.  Add oil; when it starts to shimmer, add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic begins to soften and become fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.  Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions turn translucent and start to brown, about 10 minutes.  Add tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, sugar, red pepper flakes and salt, and stir to combine.  Bring sauce to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, stirring every 20 minutes, scraping bottom and sides of the pot, until sauce reduces slightly and thickens, about two hours.

Rich Pumpkin Custard

This recipe comes from Taste of Home.  My MIL made these one Thanksgiving for those who don't like pie crusts.  These were delicious!

Ingredients:
3 egg whites, lightly beaten
2/3 C sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon, or to taste (I always add more)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger, or to taste
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Dash ground cloves
Allspice, to taste
1 Can (15 oz) solid pack pumpkin
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 can (12 oz) fat-free evaporated milk

Directions:
In large bowl, beat the egg whites, sugar, and spices.  Add pumpkin and vanilla, mix well.  Gradually beat in milk.  Pour into six ungreased custard cups. 

Place cups in a 13 x 9 baking pan.  Add 1" of water to the pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes, or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Serve warm or chilled.

So good with Cool Whip on top!

These are 4 WW points + per serving.

Weight Watchers Chicken and Cheese Casserole

This recipe can be found on Food.com.
Add some spices and enjoy some cheesy comfort food!

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked macaroni

2 cups chicken breasts, chopped

2 cups cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

2 cups skim milk

8 ounces low-fat cheddar cheese 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a large casserole dish with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients in the casserole dish, mixing well.  Bake, covered, 35-45 minutes.  Remove cover; bake 10-15 minutes longer.  Serve immediately.

Weight Watchers Deep Dish Pizza Casserole

This recipe can be found on Food.com.
Super good, and super easy!  This is a great weeknight meal.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground round

1 (15 ounce) can chunky Italian-style tomatoes

cooking spray (Pam)

1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza dough

6 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425°. Cook meat in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring until it crumbles. Drain, if necessary, and return to skillet. Add tomatoes, and cook until heated through. While meat cooks, coat a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Unroll pizza crust dough, and press into bottom and halfway up sides of the baking dish. Top the pizza crust with meat mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 425° for 12 minutes. Top with cheese, and bake 5 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese melts. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: 6 servings. 

Each serving is 6 Weight Watcher's points. 

Serve with a salad mixed field greens and a fat-free or low-fat vinaigrette.

Weight Watchers Parmesan Chicken Cutlets

As found on the Weight Watchers website

Ingredients:
1/4 C parmesan, grated
2 TBSP dried Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/8 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about a pound)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400*.  In a resealable bag, mix parmesan, bread crumbs, and spices and shake well.  Pour mixture out onto a plate, and dip chicken in, coating all sides.  Place chicken on a nonstick baking sheet, and bake 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

4 points per serving.  Serves 4.

Weight Watchers Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

This recipe comes from Weight Watchers

Ingredients:
10 medium uncooked red potatoes (halved-5)
1/2 C buttermilk, warmed (halved-keep the same amount)
3 TBSP strong-flavored grated parmesan cheese (I just used Kraft parmesan cheese in the bottle) (halved-1 1/2 TBSP)
1/4 C chopped chives (didn't have on hand, so I sprinkled in dry oregano for flavor)
Table salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Scrub potatoes and cut out any bad spots.  Boil whole for around 30 minutes or until fork tender.  Drain, return to pot, and mash.  Stir in remaining ingredients with masher and mix well to combine.

Full sized recipe makes 8 servings, half size recipe makes 4.  6 points per serving.

Chocolate Dipped Macaroons

As found on Weight Watchers.

Ingredients:
3 large egg whites
2/3 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 C dried shredded and sweetened coconut
3 oz. semisweet chocolate (approx. 1/2 C)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*.  Line one or two cookie sheets with parchment.  In a large bowl, whisk egg whites and sugar.  Add vanilla and coconut, and stir to combine.  Drop by level tablespoon onto cookie sheet, about 1" apart, and bake for 15-18 minutes (until tops turn light brown).  Put cookies on rack to cool for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate over double boiler over low-medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning.  Take each cookie and dip tops in melted chocolate, and return to cold cookie sheet.  Place dipped cookies into freezer until chocolate sets, about 20 minutes.  Store cookies in the fridge in an airtight container.

Serving size is one macaroon.  2 points per macaroon.

Weight Watchers Chocolate Chip Cookies

As found on Laaloosh.com --a delicious recipe!

Ingredients:
– 2 tbsp light butter, softened (I used Country Crock)
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, dark-variety
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp table salt
- 1 large egg white
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 1/2 cup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
In a medium bowl, cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add vanilla, salt and egg white; mix thoroughly to combine.
In a small bowl, mix together flour and baking soda; stir into batter. Add chocolate chips to batter; stir to distribute evenly throughout.
Drop rounded teaspoons of dough onto one or two large nonstick baking sheets, leaving a small amount of space between each cookie. Bake cookies until golden around edges, about 11 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Makes 24 servings.

Serving size is 1 cookies
Each serving = 1 Weight Watchers Point

Chicken Vegetable Turnovers

This recipe is straight from the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry website.  It was a great comfort food meal on a cold and rainy day.  Check out their website--they had so many wonderful-sounding recipes on there!  I hope to try more soon.

Kind of got away from me, but so good!

Ingredients:
1 jar (12 oz) Campbell's Slow-Roasted Chicken Gravy
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/8 tsp garlic powder
Salt & pepper (to taste)
1 1/2 C frozen mixed veggies, thawed
2 C chopped cooked chicken
Flour
1 package Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry (two sheets), thawed
(Note: I added more herbs and seasonings, to our taste.  This recipe seemed to be a bit bland.  Play around with what you have in the spice cupboard and make it your own!)

Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Stir the gravy, thyme, garlic powder, veggies and chicken in a medium bowl.
Sprinkle a work surface with flour.  Unfold one pastry sheet on the work surface and roll into a 12" square.  Cut into four 6" squares.  Repeat with the second pastry sheet.
Spoon about 1/3 C of the chicken mixture in the center of each pastry.  Brush the edges of the pastries with water.  Fold the pastry over the filling to form triangles.  Crimp the edges with a fork to seal.  Place the pastries onto two baking sheets and bake for 25 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.
So good!

I plugged this into the Weight Watchers website, and they come out to 4 Points Plus/turnover.  Not bad, and delicious!