Fall, Fun, & Food!



Soon it will be time for the little cowboy's favorite holiday next to Christmas!  He gets his Halloween fever from his Nonna who's speciality is creating a yardfull of spookiness that haunts all the local treat-or-treaters for a lifetime!  When I was growing up we started decorating the yard the first weekend in October and it was always a lavish theme of zombies and other gruesome creatures created by mother.  She's the queen of fear and our house was always the best in town & we easily had over 300+ ring our doorbell every year in a town of roughly 100. 

The little cowboy's excitment keeps growing as he cuts ideas out of magazines and glues them to his goal poster of how he wants to decorate our yard.  We always have a big neighborhood Halloween Party and this year the cowboy has worked hard to create a masterpiece.  He has been building a table at the shop to display the kids candy treats on and he is so proud of the work he has accomplished. 

Since Fall Fever has hit our house I wanted to bring you some recipes that will add some spice to any day!!

  Pumpkin Pie Yogurt

110 calories (could be more or less depending on your yogurt)

1.5 grams of fat (could be lower depending on your yogurt and if it's ff)

Mix together…

• 1/2 a cup canned pumpkin (80 grams)
• 4 oz plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• Optional: sweetener of choice (I used to sweeten it but now I eat it plain)

Add endless toppings!

• Cereal
• Granola
• Chocolate chips
• Trail mix
• Nuts
• Raisins
• Chopped fruit

Lasagna Ole Henry

This generous serving is 359 calories, 5 grams of fat and 9 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS. A regular high fat recipe has over twice the calories, 763 and 6 times more fat at 33 grams!

Ingredients

1½ cup reduced-fat cottage cheese
1 cup white meat chicken, cooked (boneless, skinless)
⅓ cup fresh or frozen corn, thawed
¼ cup (½ can) Ortega diced green chilies
⅔ cup pasta or marinara sauce, from a jar, such as Classico or Prego
6 corn tortillas, cut each into four
1 (8oz) can fat-free refried beans
⅔ cup salsa (we like Pace Medium Chunky Salsa)
¼ cup reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9” square pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl combine the cottage cheese, chicken, corn, and green chilies.
3. Spread the pasta sauce on the bottom of the pan.
4. Arrange 2 tortillas (8 pieces) on top of the pasta sauce
5. Remove the beans from the can, place in a small bowl and soften in the microwave for easy spreading. Spread the refried beans evenly on the tortillas.
6. Arrange 2 more tortillas (8 pieces) over the beans.
7. Spread the cheese mixture evenly over the tortillas.
8. Cover pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and place the last cut tortillas on top of the casserole.
10. Spread the salsa evenly over the tortillas. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese evenly on top.
11. Cover the casserole and bake 15 minutes longer.
Makes 4 large servings (cut down on calories, fat and pts by making this casserole into 6 servings)

The stats for one sandwich is only 238 calories, 4 grams of fat and 6 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS.

If you're not cooking for a crowd like I always am you can cut the recipe in 1/2.

Ingredients for Chicken

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 (18 oz) bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue sauce or your favorite

Ingredients for Coleslaw
6 cups shredded white cabbage, 1 (10 oz) bag
1 cup shredded carrots
¾ cup scallions, chopped
4 tablespoons light mayonnaise, we like Best Foods (Hellman’s) Light
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2½ tablespoons spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon prepared white horseradish
2 packages Oroweat’s Honey Wheat Sandwich Thins, see shopping tip

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place chicken breasts in a roasting pan or rectangular Pyrex baking dish. Arrange sliced onions over the chicken, then pour the barbecue sauce over top, reserving 1 cup for later. Cover the baking dish/pan tightly with foil and place in the oven. Cook chicken for 1 hour, remove foil and cook for about 10 minutes longer until chicken is fork tender.
2. In the meantime, prepare the coleslaw-In a large bowl add the cabbage, carrots and scallions. In a small bowl mix together the dressing ingredients. Refrigerate the coleslaw and dressing separately until ready to serve. Don’t toss until serving to keep coleslaw crisp and crunchy, not soggy.
3. Remove the chicken to a plate or cutting board. Using two forks, pull the chicken breasts apart to shred the meat. Place the shredded chicken back in the pan, add the reserved 1 cup barbecue sauce and toss the chicken well to thoroughly coat in the sauce that’s remaining in the pan.
4. Serve the pulled chicken warm. Place on the bottom of each sandwich thin ½ cup barbecue shredded chicken. Add onion, ¾ cup slaw and top with sandwich thin.
5. If you have any leftovers, the shredded chicken freezes great.
Makes 12.

French Fries

These are wonderful fries and they have 110 calories, 3.5 grams of fat and 3 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS. A small Mc Donald’s fries has 230 calories and 11 grams of fat.

I like to make mine sweet potato fries:)

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
2 large baking potatoes (Russet potatoes)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoons Lawry’s seasoning salt, see shopping tip
Fresh ground pepper, to taste
Olive oil cooking spray

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Scrub the potatoes and cut lengthwise into 4 equal slices; cut each slice into thirds or fourths. As the potatoes are cut, place them in a dish of ice water and let soak for about 10 minutes
3. After soaking potatoes, drain off water, remove potatoes and pat dry with paper towels. Return the dried potatoes to bowl, sprinkle with seasoning salt and pepper and drizzle with oil; evenly distribute the oil and seasoning by tossing with your hands. Mix well.
4. Place potatoes on a baking sheet that has been coated with nonstick cooking spray. Spray top of potatoes with a little more cooking spray. Bake until golden brown and tender; approximately 35-40 minutes, turning frequently. If you like crispy fries, bake an additional 8-10 minutes.
5. Sprinkle with additional seasoning and pepper, if desired, and serve.
Makes 4 servings