Balsamic Spinach sauce

I saw this recipe in a magazine and it just jumped out at me and I just had to try it!
We grilled some sirloin steak and I prepared the sauce to go over the top. It was a big hit with our family and I will certainly try it again soon.
Balsamic Spinach Sauce

1 Tbs olive oil
1 lg onion - chopped
1 red pepper - chopped
3 cloves garlic - minced
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs fresh rosemary chopped
7oz bag fresh baby spinach

Heat oil in skillet.
Add onion, pepper and garlic and cook until vegies are tender-crisp, stirring often.
Stir soup, water, vinegar and rosemary in skillet and heat to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium, and stir in spinach
Cover and cook 2 minutes or until desired doneness.

Roll With It

I can't remember if it was Ginger or mom who first introduced me to Hungry Girl.  Well, I'm so glad she did.  I found these little gems on the website Hungry Girl and have now become a staple in my mealtime planning.  I hope you'll try and love them too!


Exploding Taquitos

8 small (6-inch) yellow corn tortillas

One 9.75-oz. (or 10-oz.) can 98% fat-free chunk white chicken breast in water, drained well

1/2 cup salsa

1/3 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp. dry taco seasoning mix

Optional: red enchilada sauce, additional salsa, fat-free sour cream, for dipping

In a medium bowl, combine the chicken and salsa, and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. 

Remove chicken mixture from the fridge, and drain any excess liquid. Add cheese and taco seasoning, and mix to combine. This is your filling. Set aside.

Prepare a baking sheet by spraying with nonstick spray, and set it aside.

Dampen two paper towels, and place tortillas between them. Microwave for about 1 minute, until tortillas are warm and pliable.

Take one tortilla (keep the rest between the paper towels), spray both sides lightly with nonstick spray, and lay it flat on a clean dry surface. Spoon about 2 heaping tbsp. of filling onto the tortilla. Spread it evenly across the entire surface, and roll tortilla up tightly, so that you have a cigar-shaped tube. Secure with toothpicks and place seam-side down on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

Bake for 14 - 16 minutes, until crispy. Allow taquitos to cool for 5 minutes. If you like, dunk in enchilada sauce, salsa, or sour cream!

MAKES 4 SERVINGS          

           

Serving Size: 2 taquitos

Calories: 197

Fat: 2.5g

Sodium: 594mg

Carbs: 22.5g

Fiber: 3g

Sugars: 2g

Protein: 20.5g

POINTS® value 4*

Apple Bars

I was flipping through a new Fall Magazine and saw this recipe that looked sooo yummy! I didn't really want the entire magazine so I just copied down the recipe :) (is that stealing?)
I was super anxious to try it so decided to make it right away. They were super simple and so yummy!
I think I might try making them into mini muffins next time.

Apple Bars

3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 c. sugar
1 c. oil
2 c. flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3 c. chopped apples (do not peel)
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1 tsp vanilla

Combine eggs & salt and beat until frothy (about 1 min)
Mix in sugar and oil until blended
Mix together flour, soda and cinnamon and add to wet mixture
Fold in apples, walnuts & vanilla until well blended

Spray 14 x 10 " Jelly roll pan with pam with flour and spread batter in bottom.
Bake 350 degrees for 30 - 35 min or until golden brown
While cooling prepare glaze

Glaze
1 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbs softened butter
2-3 Tbs milk

Spread glaze over top and let set.
Cut into squares and enjoy!!

Crockpot Lasagna

With it being so hot this summer, Amy and I decided to use the crockpot more often as to not have the oven heat up the kitchen. Luckily we had on hand the Fix it and Forget it Lightly cookbook. This was the first recipe we tried out of the book and it was mighty tasty.


CrockPot Lasagna

This makes 8 serviings
(Ideal slower-cooker size: 4 or 5 quart)

4/12 cups fat-free, low sodium meatless spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup water
1 pound ground turkey
16 oz container fat-free ricotta cheese (I could only find a 15 oz...it worked fine)
2 cups shredded park -skim mozzarella cheese, divided
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning (I didn't have this so I mixed oregano, basil, onion powder and parsley together)
8 oz. box no-cook lasagna noodles

1. Brown ground turkey
2. Mix spaghetti sauce, 1/2 cup water and browned ground turkey together in a bowl
3. In a separate bowl, mix ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, egg, garlic and italian seasoning.
4. Spread 1/4 of the sauce mixture in botton of slow cooker. Top with 1/3 of the noodles, breaking if needed to fit (yes...you will need to break them)
5. Spread with 1/2 of the cheese mixture, making sure noodles are covered.
6. Repeat layers twice more. (we did 5 layers and we still had noodles left over)
7. Spread top with remaining sauce.
8. Cover. Cook on low for 5 hours.
9. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover. Let stand 10 minutes to allow cheese to melt. (I let it cook for 20 minutes with the cheese so that it would get a little brown)

For those of you who need the breakdown here it is:

Per Serving: 360 calories (90 calories from fat), 10g total fat (4.5 saturated, no trans fat) 40 mg Cholesterol, 870 mg sodium, 39g total Carbohydrate (6g fiber, 10g sugar), 25 g protein.

Fire Cracker Bites

Here is a recipe Amber did for a treat in Relief Society. It tasted really good!
She didn't add the fuses (licorice) and used multi colored sprinkles, but it was great!



Fire Cracker Bites

1 Pkg. (8oz) Cream Cheese Softened
1 Cup Cold Milk
1 Pkg. (3.40z) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1-1/2 Cups Thawed Cool Whip
1 Pkg. (12oz) Nilla Wafers
½ Cup Red, White & Blue sprinkles
42 Pieces Red String Licorice (1 inch)

Beat cream cheese in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in milk. Add dry pudding mix; beat for 2 min. Whisk in 1 cup Cool Whip

Spoon about 1-1/2 Tbsp. pudding mixture onto each of half the wafers; cover with remaining waters to make sandwiches. Freeze for 2 hours or until filling is firm.

Spread tops of wafer sandwiches with remaining Cool Whip. Dip in sprinkles. Insert licorice piece into top of each for the fuse. Freeze until ready to serve.

Fruit Pizza

Here's a prize winning dessert made for a Relief Society cook-off. Congrats Amber for the win!!

Fruit Pizza
1 tube Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookie dough
2-8oz packages of cream cheese
2/3 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
Assorted fresh fruit (sliced, if appropriate)--strawberries, blueberries, peaches, bananas, kiwi all work well
lemon juice

Spread the package of cookie dough onto a pie pan 12 - 14" and cook according to package directions.

Let Cool

Mix Cream Cheese, vanilla and sugar together and spread over cooled cookie.

Arrange fruit in any design or pattern you'd like... be creative!

Zucchini Crumb Sheetcake

I went to my local Farmer's Market this last Saturday and a 3 pound zucchini was calling my name. So I bought it thinking a nice zucchini treat would be a neat. I called Ginger for a recipe and she gave me 4 to try. This is the first one I made and boy is it tasty! I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I have.

Zucchini Crumb Sheetcake

Combine together:
3 eggs
2 c. Sugar
3 t. vanilla
1/4 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt

Then add:
2 c. grated zucchini
2 c. flour

Put the cake mixture into a greased and floured cookie sheet (with sides). Then put the crumb topping on top.

Crumb Topping
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
2/3 c. butter


Cook in a 350 degree oven for 25-28 minutes. Take out of oven and cool slightly. Drizzle with a glaze.

Glaze
1 c. powdered sugar
1 T. butter
2 T. warm orange juice