Cooking, Cooking, Gone

This week I bought a new cookbook called Fresh, Fabulous Fast. It is a Weight Watchers sponsored cookbook that contains "130 recipes all under 30 minutes". I'm really excited about it because, for one I love cooking, and also because being on the go/busy all the time makes it hard to cook a real meal without it getting late.

Making grocery lists and going to the store are among two of my favorite things so today I sat down and went through it and decided on a few things I'd like to try out this week. The menu for this week includes: Greek Chicken with Peppers and Pasta, Chicken and Broccoli with Black Bean Sauce, Caramelized Risotto with Chickpeas, Grilled Lamb Koftas with Yogurt-Cilantro Sauce, and Mixed Berries with Honey-Caramel Sauce. (yes I PROMISE that all of these things are healthy!) I'm really excited to try some new things and experiment a little more.

Tonight I tried the Greek Chicken with Peppers and Pasta. It was delicious and light yet hearty all at once! While according to the book it should have only taken 15 minutes it took me about 20-25, but that's still pretty speedy. Here's the recipe!

Ingredients
8 ounces whole wheat penne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 sweet onion, halved lengthwise and sliced
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
1 cup sliced pepperoncini
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped oregano

Directions

1. Place pasta and salt in large skillet (I actually just used a pot); add water to cover. Bring to boil over high heat; cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally. about 8 minutes, then drain.

2. Meanwhile, spray large skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 3 minutes. Add chicken, pepperoncini, and red pepper, stirring often until heated through, about 2 minutes. Add pasta and oil, toss until combined then add in feta.

Serving: 2 cups, 8 WW P+, 312 calories.

I am undecided about what I want to fix for dinner tomorrow, but I hope it's as easy and yummy!

Cheeseburger Pizza

I stumbled upon this delicious recipe over at Emily Bites, a food blog started by a girl (Emily) who comes up with her own healthy recipes and also showcases some creations from other food bloggers. There's everything from salads to cupcakes and it all looks so good! For this week I planned out a few meals I wanted to tackle and her cheeseburger pizza was one of them.

The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

Boboli 12” Whole Wheat Thin Pizza Crust
3 Laughing Cow Light Queso Fresco & Chipotle Wedges
3 oz cooked 95% lean ground beef (I browned mine with McCormick Hamburger Seasoning – highly recommended!)
2-3 Grape Tomatoes, chopped
1 Scallion, finely chopped (green part only)
1 T Ketchup (that’s what mine worked out to be when I squirted the ketchup bottle back & forth across my pizza a few times – I did it first holding a tablespoon underneath to check)
1 T Yellow Mustard (mustard comes out in a thinner stream so it works out to be less)
¾ c reduced fat 2% shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450.
2. Spread Laughing Cow wedges evenly across the top surface of the pizza crust, leaving at least a ½ inch edge around the outside. Sprinkle the ground beef evenly over the top and repeat with scallions and tomato pieces. Squirt ketchup in a thin stream back and forth about 4 times (8 lengths total) over the width of the pizza. Repeat with mustard going the other direction, crisscrossing the ketchup (I went back and forth 2 extra times to cover the same area because the stream is thinner than ketchup). Finish the pizza by sprinkling the cheddar cheese over top.
3. Place pizza on a foil covered baking sheet, a pizza stone (my preference) or straight onto the oven rack (depending on how you like your crust) and bake for 8-10 minutes.
The recipe says it yields 6 slices, which mine also did, but I'm sure if you wanted to do squares  that would be fine too. It has 210 caolories per slice and for those following WW it's 5 points a slice.
 

It was so good and so filling! I liked it so much I warmed up 2 slices for dinner last night. I definitely reccomend it, as well as checking out Emily's blog!