Taco Soup {Slow Cooker}

Thought I would switch up the chicken today and utilize my favourite kitchen appliance, Betsy, my crock pot! :)

This is currently cooking and smells DELISH! I did make a few changes however. They are as follows, I did drain my beans (which I used black beans) and I drained my corn. We like thicker soup so, this worked out better! I may also add some additional taco seasoning to spice it up slightly :)

Also, at a mere 5 points plus per serving this is a great choice! We will serve it with some salad and other things, but yea! This recipe gets you 9 (nine) 1 cup servings! 

Enjoy! Come back later for an update and "maybe" some pictures!

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion (or half of a large onion), diced

1 can beef broth

1 can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained

1 can pinto beans, undrained

1 can kernel corn, undrained

1 packet taco seasoning

1 packet dry ranch dressing mix

1 cup water

Directions:

In a pan, brown and crumble ground beef along with diced onion.

I season my ground beef with a little salt & pepper.

 Drain excess grease.

 Put ground beef and onion mixture in slow cooker.

Add in diced tomatoes, corn, pinto beans and beef broth.

Fill tomato can with water (about 1 cup).

Add water to mixture.

 Stir in packet of ranch dressing mix

 And packet of taco seasoning.

 Give it all a good stir and set on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Serve with crushed corn tortilla chips, sour cream, Mexican cheeses and chopped green onion. Yummmm!

Enjoy!

Recipe comes from http://www.thecountrycook.net/2012/01/taco-soup-slow-cooker.html in case you are interested! 

"Sticky Chicky" - baked chicken in a sticky, sweet BBQ sauce

Okay so I got a new recipe book collection last week and I LOVE it! It is the authors of both "Looneyspoons" and "Eat, Shrink and be Merry". They take good yummy favourite recipes and make them healthy.

I saw this recipe and it sounded delicious so I thought I would give it a try. And guess what? It was DELICIOUS!!! Weight Watchers Points Plus comes in at 1 point for the sauce, plus the weight of your chicken. That is fantastic if you ask me! And the kids loved it too! We served it up with some baked potatoes.

So, that said, here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS
8 boneless, skinless, chicken thighs or breasts
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup OR liquid honey
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp grated gingerroot
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp cornstarch

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a 9 X 13 baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange chicken in pan in single layer.
2. To make sauce, whisk together remaining ingredients, except cornstarch, in a medium bowl. Pour evenly over chicken. Turn pieces to coat both sides with sauce. Bake, uncovered, for about 40 minutes (or until chicken is no longer pink in the center.
3. Remove chicken from pan but keep warm. Carefully pour sauce from pan into a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Combine cornstarch with an equal amount of water and mis until smooth. Add to sauce. Cook until sauce is bubble and has thickened, about 1 minute. Serve hot chicken with extra sauce on top.


Makes 8 servings
Per serving - 287 calories; 7.1 g fat; 35g protein; 19g carbs; 0.5g fiber

Chicken Teriwacky

Okay, so this recipe comes straight out of the Looneyspoons collection. I would highly recommend these books as they take recipes that we all LOVE and make them lighter. (Butter Chicken recipe from here as well).

I chose this recipe today as I had most of the ingredients and it is a grilled recipe, which means I don't have to turn on the oven! YAY! That said I will be cooking rice with it, but perhaps my rice cooker could come outside too. I plan to serve it with grilled red peppers (which in itself sounds DELICIOUS!!)

Marinade
2 tbsp each of soy sauce, freshly squeezed lime juice( I used lemon juice), liquid honey, ketchup, and green onion (which i did not have so I hope it turns out, lol)
1 tbsp grated gingerroot
2 tsp grated orange zest (which I had but completely forgot to add, whoops)
1 tsp minced garlic

Mix all the ingredients in marinade together in small dish,


Directions
Place chicken breast (about 1.5 pounds...I used thighs) in a large heavy duty resealable plastic bag. Add marinade and seal bag. Shake the bag a bit to coat the chicken. Marinate for at least 4 hours, or overnight if possible. **I think mine will be marinating for about 3.5 hours**

Preheat grill to a medium setting. Remove chicken from marinade and place on grill rack that is lightly greased. Grill for about 15 minutes, turning occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink in the center. Sprinkle chicken with toasted sesame seeds before serving. (These will also be omitted as I don't have any)

ENJOY!!! and come back later for pictures and an update!!!