Shrimp Francesca

 Ingredients

1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 (8 ounce) can (8 to 10 count) artichoke hearts in water, drained
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon finely shredded imported Romano cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
2. Arrange the shrimp in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Gently squeeze any excess liquid from the artichoke hearts, break the hearts into quarters, and arrange in spaces between the shrimp. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and parsley over the shrimp and artichoke hearts; sprinkle lemon juice over the crumbs.
3. Melt butter with garlic in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; drizzle the butter mixture over the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the top with Romano cheese.

4. Bake in the preheated oven until the crumbs and cheese brown lightly and the shrimp turn opaque and orange-pink in color, 10 to 12 minutes. 

 Serve with angel hair pasta, rice, or side dish of your choice!

Pink Lemonade Confetti Cupcakes

This delish recipe came from Skinny Taste.

You will need:

18.25 oz box confetti cake mix

2 1/2 tsp powdered sugar-free pink lemonade mix
1 cup water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
lemon zest from half of a lemon
2 drops pink food coloring (optional)
confetti sprinkles (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Line cupcake tins with 24 paper liners.

Stir together the water and pink lemonade powder.  Combine the cake mix, pink lemonade mixture, applesauce, lemon zest, food coloring and oil in a large bowl and with an electric mixer, mix until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. 

Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pans.  Add sprinkles if using and bake in the oven for 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Cool completely on wire racks before serving.

Enjoy!

I like them best when they are cold! So, I suggest, popping them in the fridge before eating them!

1 cupcake has 3 WW pts+

Chicken Artichoke Pasta

Whole Wheat Penne

Chicken Breasts 

Canned Artichokes (reserve some liquid from the can)

Mushrooms

Light Butter

Herb and Garlic Marinade

Light Sour Cream

Parmesan

Salt & Pepper 

Garlic

Cook pasta according to directions.

Add Herb and Garlic marinade to skillet, add chicken and turn to medium heat. Add salt and pepper and garlic to taste. Cook until chicken is done. 

Remove chicken from pan, add mushrooms and artichokes to pan. Also, add some liquid from the artichoke can. Cook until mushrooms and artichokes are tender. Set aside.

When pasta is finished add butter, sour cream, and parmesan to taste. Mix with pasta until melted. 

Add mushroom and artichoke mixture to pasta. Top with chicken and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Poppy Seed Ham Sandwiches

These are perfect for a party!

 Ingredients

24 rolls (I used two different kinds)

24 pieces honey ham (I used one package)

24 small slices Swiss cheese (I used one package of 2% Swiss)

1/3 cup mayonnaise (I omitted)

1/3 cup miracle whip (I omitted)

Poppy Seed Sauce

1 tbsp poppyseeds

1 1/2 tbsp yellow mustard

1 stick butter, melted

1 tbsp minced onion (I used onion powder instead, just a sprinkle)

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes. Serve warm.

** sandwiches can be assembled a day ahead and kept in the fridge ready to bake.

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips

 This is SOOO delicious! Definitely worth trying!

Fruit Salsa

 2 kiwis, peeled and diced
3 types of apples (I used Granny Smith, Red Delicious, and Pink Lady) - peeled, cored and diced
8 ounces raspberries

1 carton of blackberries
1 (16 oz) carton of strawberries, diced
2 tablespoons white sugar (more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon brown sugar (more or less to taste)
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor (I used strawberry)

Directions

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes. 

Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips

(Tip: If your grocery store sells Stacy's Cinnamon Sugar Pita chips, just buy those! Mine doesn't, so I made my own! :) They were good, though!)

Ingredients

Plain Pita Chips

Cinnamon (to taste)

Sugar (to taste)

1 tbsp melted butter

Directions

Heat oven to 350. Place chips in a single layer on baking sheet. Drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 5-7 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

 Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

4 tbsp cocoa

1/2 cup peanut butter

3-3 1/2 cups oats (I used old fashioned, which I worried would not work, but they did! So, either old fashioned or quick oats.)

2 tsp Vanilla

Directions

Add the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 1 minute. Stir in the next 3 ingredients and drop spoonfuls onto wax or foil paper. Let cool until set.

Monster Cookies

These just might be my new favorite cookie! They are ridiculously good!

You will need:

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
4 1/2 cups oats (quick cooking or old-fashioned)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup M&M’s chocolate candies

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat together butter and sugars.  Add eggs, vanilla extract, and baking soda, and mix well.  Mix in peanut butter until well-blended.  Add oats and stir until combined.  Mix in chocolate chips and M&M’s.

Drop cookies by ice cream scoopful to make monster-sized cookies about 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.  Let cookies cool on baking sheets before moving to wire racks.  Store in an airtight container.

I got about 27 monster-sized cookies out of this batch!

These would be fun for Halloween or any holiday, really. You could use different colored m & m's to match your theme. For example, red and green for Christmas, pink for Valentine's, etc.

Cream Cheese Lemon Bars

 Ingredients
1 box lemon cake mix
1/3 cup butter or margarine-softened
1 egg
8 oz cream cheese-softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 lemon-grated
2 tbs lemon juice or 1/2 squeezed lemon
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

In a mixing bowl, blend dry cake mix, butter, and 1 egg.

Press into a 9 x 13 pan, ungreased.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth.
Gradually blend in the powdered sugar.
Stir in lemon peel and lemon juice until smooth.
Reserve 1/2 cup of this mixture and refrigerate it for later use.
Beat the remaining 2 eggs, add the vanilla, and then beat this mixture into the remaining cream cheese mixture until well blended.
Spread over the cake mixture.

 

Bake at 350° until set, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool completely.
Spread the reserved cream cheese mixture onto the bars.
Refrigerate until firm; then cut into squares and serve.

 These were SOOOOO good! You have to try them.

Turkey Sloppy Joes

 You will need:

1 lb Extra Lean Ground Turkey

1/4 cup Diced Onion

3/4 cups Ketchup

1/2 cup Water

Worcestershire Sauce, to taste
3 Tbs Brown Sugar

1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp Prepared Mustard
1/8 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper
4 Buns or Sandwich Thins

 

Directions:

Cook ground turkey and onions over medium heat, until meat is no longer pink. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine next 8 ingredients. Pour over turkey and stir to combine. Simmer on low for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve on buns or sandwich thins.

For the ingredients I used, one Sloppy Joe was 7 WW points +.

Small Batch (6 Cookies) of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is perfect when you just need a few cookies and don't want to make a huge batch. For me, it made 6 regular sized cookies or 12 mini cookies. 

2 Tbsp. plus 2 Tsp. room-temperature, unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. beaten egg
1/2 tsp. good vanilla
1/3 cup flour
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cream the butter and sugars together in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon.  Mix in the egg and vanilla and beat well. 

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Stir the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar/egg mixture until well-blended and then stir in the chocolate chips and oats.  The dough will be stiff.  Divide batter into 6 balls of dough and place onto a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.   These cookies don't spread much, so you might want to flatten the mounds slightly with your fingers before baking.

Bake for 8-12 minutes.  Be careful not to over-bake the cookies for best results.