All the time cooking.

I have gotten several requests to know more about this "green sauce" that I spoke of the other day...

Here is a link to the WeightWatchers recipe. I did a few things differently...I sauteed celery and fresh jalapenos with the onion...and didn't use any olive oil, just Pam in the pan. I used two big heads of fresh broccoli, 2 cups of fat free chicken broth, and 1/2 cup of low fat cream cheese. I liked it, but I salted and peppered it pretty generously and had it on wheat angel hair with a scidge of shaved parmesan (so if you are counting WW points, it is a bit different than the recipe). Someone in the review section made a comment about not pureeing it...I think I concur as long as you chopped the broccoli pretty small. It made quite a bit. I had it twice, my sister and her husband had some (which they liked but found a bit bland...I forgot to tell her to salt/pepper it after heating it up), and I froze another third of it for a 'rainy day'.

Today I made a Cooking Light macaroni and cheese, and it is good, really good. It is creamy and rich for the times when Annie's isn't going to cut it. BUT, it is a bit spendy...the cheese alone cost $10. (Also...I built the recipe in WW and got 11 points, but the nutritional information on Cooking Light has it at 9 points, and I used whole wheat rotini instead of cavatappi, so not sure where the difference is.)

While on the topic of cooking...last night I made "Chicken Pot Pie innards" (I simmered boneless, skinless chicken breast in chicken broth, added pearl onions, diced potato, mixed veggies and Heart Healthy Cream of Chicken Soup. I had to doctor it with a little bit of butter, skim milk, and lots of pepper and a few healthy dashes of Tabasco. We ate it for dinner with crescent rounds, and that didn't quite get me the experience I was craving, so today I baked a pie shell that I cut into strips (before baking after laying it flat on a baking sheet) and we used the pie crust strips as garnish for a more thorough Chicken Pot Pie experience.

All of these foods I prepared in a way to maximize volume and minimize WW points, and I think they all turned out fantastic. Plus I got to feed my family (I delivered to my sister and my son) some homemade, nutritional food!

(OH, and I mixed an Angel Food cake with a can of crushed pineapple in its juice for a yummy dessert. ONE point for 1/8 of a cake. Now that is some counting I can live with.)