Italian Peasant Soup with Cabbage, Beans and Cheese

My sister sent me this recipe, but I have yet to try it. I hope to this weekend while the weather still qualifies soup as a suitable dinner.

Italian Peasant Soup with Cabbage, Beans and Cheese
Serves: 8
2 19-ounce or 15 1/2-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed, divided
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, halved and sliced
4 cups shredded Savoy cabbage (1/2 medium head)
3 cloves garlic, minced, plus 1 clove garlic, halved
3 14 1/2-ounce cans reduced-sodium chicken broth or 5 1/4 cups vegetable broth
Freshly ground pepper to taste
8 1/2-inch-thick slices day-old whole-wheat country bread
1 cup grated fontina cheese or 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Mash 1 1/2 cups beans with a fork.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened and lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add cabbage and minced garlic; cook, stirring often, until the cabbage has wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add broth, mashed beans and whole beans; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover and simmer until the cabbage is tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Season with pepper.
3. Shortly before the soup is ready, toast bread lightly and rub with the cut side of the garlic clove (lightly or heavily depending on taste). Divide toast among 8 soup plates. Ladle soup over the toast and sprinkle with cheese. Drizzle about 1 teaspoon oil over each serving. Serve immediately.

Points per serving: 4

(Omit cheese to make servings 3 points a piece)

Chicken Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich

I'm not sure why I was skeptical of this recipe, but it turned out a lot tastier than I thought. I've had it for lunch and dinner the last two days. Today, I ran out of hoagies, so I'm eating it on a tortilla with a little salsa and I'm omitting the cheese. It's a really yummy and versatile dish. I can easily add it to my favorites and give it 4 stars. I want to also mention that everything except the cheese and the bread in this recipe are core foods on the WW core plan. Score!

Philly Chicken Cheese Steaks
Serves: 4

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp table salt

1 tsp dried minced garlic (1 tsp fresh)

1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 medium sweet red pepper, thinly sliced

1 medium green pepper, thinly sliced

4 slice american cheese

2 uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded, cut into strips

4 steak rolls

olive oil cooking spray

In a medium nonstick skillet, spray with olive oil cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. Saute onion until browned and very soft, about 10 minutes. Add chicken, peppers and garlic and saute until chicken is golden brown and cooked through, about to 5 to 8 minutes; season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toast buns; spoon chicken mixture down center of each one. Place a slice of cheese in each bun and and close bun to help cheese melt slightly. Yields 1 cheese steak per serving.

Points per serving: 7

(Use low calorie bread or omit cheese to lower points)

Paula Dean's Rene Coleslaw - Dietified

My mom made this coleslaw for Easter dinner, and I loved it. So, I plugged it into Recipe Builder and made some substitutions and it turned out not to be that bad. I totally guessed on the number or servings though. I really think you could get more out of it (which would obviously make the points value per serving smaller). It's a 4 star sidedish, in my opinion.

Rene's Coleslaw
Serves:10

1 tbsp sweet pickle relish

1/2 c green peppers or red peppers, sliced

1/2 c celery, sliced

salt & pepper, to taste

1 c cranberries, dried

1 tbsp honey mustard

1/2 c reduced calorie mayonnaise

1 tbsp honey

1/2 c almonds, toasted (optional)

5 c cabbage, shredded

1/4 c green onions, sliced

Combine all the vegetables & cranberries in large bowl. Stir together dressing ingredients & mix well with vegetables. Serve & enjoy.
Points per serving: 3

Sloppy Joe's ala Houghtelling

I didn't have much time to whip up dinner last night and my grocery supplies were pretty depleted, so this is what I came up with. Jerod suggested the addition of the pinto beans, and I was very skeptical. But, I'll admit that it turned out pretty good. It was a nice way to fiber-up the dish. I give it a 4.

Sloppy Joe's ala Houghtelling
Serves: 6
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 beef bouillon cube
1 1/2 cup water
1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
1 packet sloppy joe seasoning.
6 oz tomato paste
6 slices Wonder Wheat bread

Dissolve beef bouillon in 1/2 water. Pour it over turkey as you crumble and brown it. After turkey is done, pour in the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over bread (or toast) open-faced sandwich style.

Points per serving: 5

Adding shredded cheddar cheese on top might also be good if you can spare the points.

Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Cauliflower

I love love love this new way to cook Cauliflower. Dude. They has garlic and parmesan on them. How can you go wrong? I'm totally burnt out on canned veggies and steamed veggies, so I'm always open to new yummy and healthy ways to cook veggies. So this gets an obvious 5 stars from me.

Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Cauliflower (from my desperate-to-find-a-good-way-to-cook-veggies mind)
Serves 2
* Olive Oil Cooking Spray
* 2 cups cauliflower
* 1 pinch salt
* 1 pinch pepper
* 1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 cloves minced garlic) (or BOTH!)
* 1 oz fresh parmesan cheese, shredded

Wash cauliflower (Don't soak it as acts just like a sponge! Just rinse it under a stream of water.) Cut you cauliflowers into bite-size florets. I like to cut mine so that it has a flat edge so that it lays flat in the pan. That way it gets a little crusty on the bottom...because we all know that crusty is good. Spray cookie sheet or casserole dish with a thin coat of olive oil cooking spray. Lay your cauliflower in the coated dish with the flat side down. Spray a quick coat of olive oil spray over the top of the cauliflower. Sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic over cauliflower. Put in oven at 425ºF degrees for 20 minutes or however long it takes to get to your desired tenderness or brownness (I know brownness is not a word). Take out of oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese while hot.

Points per serving: 1

BBQ Chicken and Black Bean Pizza

I love experimenting with different types of pizza toppings. It is one of the easiest ways I've found to get my veggies servings. Because anything covered with cheese is good, right? So, I got this recipe off of Weight Watchers and I edited it a little to fit what I had in my fridge and cupboards. This recipe is a yummy 5 stars for me!

BBQ Chicken and Black Bean Pizza (adapted from ww recipe)
Serves 8
* 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
* 1 Tbsp cilantro
* 1/2 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
* 7 1/2 oz canned black beans
* 1 crust Boboli Original Pizza Crust, 12
* 1/2 cup chopped red onion
* 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
* 1/2 cup chopped chilies
* 1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese
* 1/4 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese

Place rack in center of oven. Preheat to 400ºF.
Spray a nonstick skillet and stir-fry chicken over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes. Transfer chicken to medium-size bowl and toss with half barbecue sauce.
Place pizza crust on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup cheese. Arrange chicken and black beans over crust; sprinkle with onion, mushrooms, chilies and cilantro. Drizzle with remaining barbecue sauce; add remaining 3/4 cup cheese.
Bake 15 minutes or until cheese bubbles. Cut into 8 large slices and serve immediately.

Points per serving: 5

Turkey Noodle Casserole

Jerod came up with this recipe this week and asked me to add the ingredients to the shopping list. It sounded yummy to me and I'm always up for a casserole! I cooked a full turkey breast in advance and measured and weighed it out to get it ready for this recipe. That is definitely the healthier and cheaper route to go. You could also probably easily make the portion sizes smaller, but we have found that our lunches have been too small so we are STARVING by the time we get home, so we split the casserole into 4 servings rather than 6. For 6 servings, the points value per serving is only 5. I give it a solid 4 stars. It made awesome lunches this week.

Turkey Noodle Casserole (from Jerod's creative mind)
Serves 4
* 1/2 tsp table salt
* 6 oz roasted turkey breast
* 1 cup mushroom(s), chopped
* 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
* 1 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
* 10 1/2 oz canned cream of mushroom soup
* 1 cup green peas
* 3 cup uncooked egg noodles
* 1 cup water, with chicken boullion cube dissolved

Cook noodles. Combine turkey cubes and noodles in 2 or 3 quart casserole dish. Saute mushrooms and onions until tender and then combine with remaing ingredients except bread crumbs and cheese. Pour over turkey noodle mixture. Just before cooking, sprinkle with bread crumbs and cheese. Base, uncovered in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Fast and easy, can do ahead and refrigerate up to a day.

Points per serving: 8

Chicken Parmigiana

I made this the other night for Jerod's birthday. This has always been one of my favorite recipes and it's totally easy. I use the plain bread crumbs and make my own spices by adding fress herbs, dried onions or garlic, or whatever I feel like. It makes me feel so chef-y. Yummy Yummy. It gets a 5 from me. You can add spaghetti, salad, bread, or whatever you want just because it's such a nice low-point main course.

Chicken Parmigiana (from ww website)
Serves: 4
1 sprays olive oil cooking spray
1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly pounded (four 4-oz pieces)
2 large egg white(s), lightly beaten
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste
1 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.
Place egg whites in a shallow bowl. Combine bread crumbs with Italian seasoning and salt; pour into another shallow bowl. Dip chicken in egg whites; turn to coat. Dip chicken in bread crumb mixture; turn to thoroughly coat.
Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and add oil; heat over medium-high heat. When hot, add chicken and cook until lightly browned and no longer pink in center, about 4 minutes per side.
Pour 1/2 cup of sauce into prepared baking dish; place chicken in dish and pour remaining sauce evenly over chicken. Sprinkle with cheeses and bake until chicken is cooked through and cheese is bubbly, about 25 minutes.

Points per serving: 5