Roasted Red Potatoes

There was this one time, I needed to make a side dish for dinner with friends and I wanted something fairly easy and healthy.  So I looked up on Weight Watcher's website for an idea, and came across a recipe for Roasted Fingerling Potatoes.  I opted to substitute the fingerlings for red.  Why?  Because they're easier to find and less expensive.  Either way, they were good!

Roasted Fingerling Red Potatoes
Yields about 1/2 cup per serving, serves 4; PointsPlus 2

Ingredients

• 12 oz. uncooked potatoes, fingerling red, well-scrubbed, sliced in half lenghtwise quarters
•  1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup canned chicken broth, divided
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, (plus extra for garnish)
• 1/8 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a small roasting pan, combine potatoes, garlic, and 1/4 cup broth, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
3. Roast for 15 minutes (broth will evaporate); add remaining broth, flip potatoes and roast for 15 minutes more.

Maple Glazed Sweet Potato and Sausage

This is so yummy!  It's the perfect fall/winter dish.  And it's healthy!  A friend made it at a dinner once.  I was the only one that liked it.  So he gave me the recipe, the original recipe.  I've made it once before, but that was awhile ago, so I decided it was time to make it again.  And my family loved it.

I've decided that my friends that didn't like it, well, their taste buds are dead.

Maple Glazed Sweet Potato and Sausage
Prep Time:  17 minutes
Cook Time:  12 minutes
Serves 14 (small servings...)
Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 to 3/4" cubes
3 tbs butter
1 lb. smoked sausage, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 medium onion, halved crosswise and cut into thin wedges
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbs packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne

Instructions:

1. Bring 1" water and 1/2 tsp salt to boil in dutch oven or large saucepan.  Add potatoes; return to boiling.  Cover and cook over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender.  Drain well.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add sausage, onion and apple.  Cook and stir 5 minutes.  Stir in maple syrup, brown sugar, salt, nutmeg and cayenne, mixing well.
3. Stir in sweet potatoes, stirring to coat.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until lightly glazed.

Per serving:  163 cal; 3g fat; 7mg cholestrol; 146mg sodium; 32g carbohydrate; 2g protein; 4g fiber
WW: 3 pts.

Notes:
-Looking back through the ingredients, I realized that I used 2 apples instead of 1.
-Substituted regular maple syrup with light/low sugar syrup.
-Subbed normal smoked sausage with Jennie-O turkey smoked sausage.  I quartered the sausages pieces.
-Have everything chopped before you start.  I got the potatoes going first, then started the rest.  The potatoes were more than fork-tender.
-Recipe says serves 14, but it's more like 7-8.

Penne and Chicken Tenderloins with Spiced Tomato Sauce

One Friday afternoon, (cause that's the new thing, I make dinner for the family Friday nights) I was looking for a recipe to make for dinner. I needed something quick and easy but yummy. So I stumbled upon this recipe. Total time 36 minutes, perfect! First time making it there were a couple boo boos, but it was still good. Second time around it was perfect and delicious! Ask anyone that was at TND this week...

(And of course I don't have a picture of the final product. Why? Cause I'm a slacker liker that.)

Serves 4 (about 1 1/2 cup serving size)

1 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound chicken breast tenders, cut into (1") pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups canned diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup white wine
8 ounces uncooked penne
1/4 cup (1 oz.) freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl; rub over chicken.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes, turning once. Remove from heat; set aside.
3. Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic; saute 30 seconds or until garlic is soft. Add tomatoes and wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Add chicken, and simmer 5 minutes.
4. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Toss pasta with sauce in a large bowl. Sprinkle with cheese and basil.

Calories 446; Fat 7.2g; Iron 4.2mg; Cholesterol 70mg; Calcium 153mg; Carbohydrates 57.1g; Sodium 774mg; Protein 38.5g; Fiber 6.5g

Cooking Light, April 2006

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The recipe is pretty simple... Follow whatever current chocolate chip cookie recipe you have. Me? I tend to always make the recipe that's on the chocolate chip bag.

But here's the difference...

• Instead of all-purpose flour, use whole wheat flour.
• Instead of butter, use half butter and half unsweetened applesauce.

Bake as normal.

Now, when I made these, I substituted the WHOLE amount of flour with whole wheat. But as I put the first sheet into the oven I read on the bag that when substituting, use half all-purpose and half whole wheat. Maybe it would have made a difference. Maybe not. The cookies were still really good. There was a slight flavor difference, but only if you really knew that there should be.

These cookies also froze and shipped well. I sent a majority of the batch to Alaska where Dennis and his kids gobbled them up.

Here you have, as my dad called them, Poop Pounder Chocolate Chip Cookies. Very high in fiber! 3 grams per 1/4 cup of flour...