Healthy Strawberry Pie

Ingredients:

Crust:
9 sheets honey graham crackers
2 Tbs butter (melted)
2 Tbs sugar
4 tsp water

Filling:
2/3 cup non fat greek plain yogurt
1/4 cup splenda
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla

Topping:
3-4 cups fresh strawberries (cut up)
splash of lemon juice (to toss)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Crumble graham crackers in food processor.  Add butter, water, and sugar and pulse until just moist.  Press crust mixture into greased pie pan and bake for 10 minutes.  Allow to cool completely on wire rack before adding filling.

In small bowl mix yogurt, splenda, almond extract, and vanilla.

In another bowl toss diced strawberries in a little bit of lemon juice.

Once crust is cooled add filling then top with strawberries.  Cover and chill for 3 hours.

Nutrition Info (1/8th of pie):
Calories: 130
Total Fat: 4.4 g
Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
Carbs: 20.9 g
Fiber: 1 g
Sugars: 10.2 g
Protein: 3.3 g

Note: You can replace the splenda with sugar and it will add 22.5 calories per slice. The original recipe called for light cream cheese instead of greek yogurt.

Monster Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
3 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon corn syrup
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
4 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup candy-coated milk chocolate
pieces

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a very large bowl, beat the eggs.
3. Add the remaining ingredients in order, mixing well.
4. Use an ice cream scoop to put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

That's right there is no flour in these cookies, so that makes them healthy ;) They are awesome and you really do need to use an ice cream scoop to make them turn out right. 

Mini Skillet Meatloaves

A really quick and easy way to make meatloaf.


Ingredients
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced
1 1/2 pounds meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and/or veal)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup ketchup
1 to 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Directions
Mix the breadcrumbs, milk, parsley, egg, Worcestershire sauce, onion, chili powder and garlic in a large bowl. Add the meat, season with salt and pepper and mix with your hands until combined. Shape into six 3-to-4-inch oval loaves.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the loaves and brown about 3 minutes per side.

Whisk the ketchup, sugar and vinegar in a bowl and brush a few tablespoonfuls over the meat. Add 1/2 cup water to the skillet, cover and simmer over low heat until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Transfer the loaves to a plate. Add the remaining ketchup mixture to the skillet and cook over high heat, stirring, until thick, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve meatloaves with the hot glaze.

Per serving: Calories 380; Fat 24 g (Saturated 8 g); Cholesterol 111 mg; Sodium 800 mg; Carbohydrate 16 g; Fiber 1 g; Protein 23 g

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Per Meghan's request here is the Green Chile Chicken Enchilada recipe that John uses with a few tweaks. They are seriously awesome.

Ingredients


5-6 cups boneless chicken thighs
4 cups shredded cheese (jack, colby mix or just jack)
6-8 diced Hatch green chiles
24 yellow corn tortillas
1 cup sour cream
1 - 15oz can Hatch Green Chili enchilada sauce
10.75oz can condensed cream of chicken soup


How to make it


de-skin chicken, season and bake until done (375deg for approx 1hr). dice chicken.


chop green chilis.


mix chicken, 3cups cheese and green chilis together in a large bowl.


combine sour cream, enchilada sauce and cream of chicken soup.  heat on low until barely simmering.


heat tortillas by running through warm cooking oil until tortillas firm up.


roll each tortilla with chicken mixture.


arrange side by side in 9x13 baking dish 


leftover chicken mix can be used to make more enchiladas or spread over the top of the prepared enchiladas.


cover enchiladas with sauce and the remaining cheese.


cook uncovered at 350deg for 30min or until bubbly hot. 

So are the tweaks: 

We usually use a whole chicken either already cooked from the store or if we have a raw one we throw it in the crock pot with garlic, chicken broth and rosemary. Then you just shred it up. 

John heats the tortillas by running them through warm chicken broth instead of oil

We don't roll the tortillas. We just layer them and make a casserole. 

Request for Enchilada Recipe :)

So, I made enchiladas the other day (chicken), and honestly, I really didn't like them. I have tried making them off and on using different online recipes and it seems like they are a no brainer, but I can never get them to taste REALLY good. Any secrets to making a good enchilada you know of?

Thanks :)

Mini Crustless Pumpkin Pies

These are yummy and low cal.
Makes 12 mini pies.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin spice
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup milk
Directions:
Spray 12 baking cups with pam and put in muffin tin. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In small bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice. Set aside. In medium bowl combine pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and milk with whisk. Whisk in dry ingredients until combined. Divide batter into 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool in pan then transfer to fridge to chill before serving. Muffin tops will deflate as they cool. Add some redi whip or whatever you like on your pumpkin pie before serving if you want.
Note: When I made them I replaced half of the white sugar with granulated splenda. I also used 1% milk. Be sure to spray the side of the muffin cups. I didn't get the sides as well as the bottom so some of it stuck, but since it is so moist I just scraped it off with my fork (actually I used my teeth because I have no shame and they are so yummy). I squirted a little redi whip on mine, but you can use something else or nothing.
Nutritional Info (does not include any topping) for 1 mini pie:
Calories: 83
Total Fat: 0.9 g
Saturated Fat: 0.2 g
Cholesterol: 29.7 mg
Sodium: 106.6 mg
Carbs: 17.4 g
Fiber: 0.3 g
Sugar: 8.8 g
Protein: 2.7 g

Pumpkin Bread

It's almost fall... and I love pumpkin! Plus, I had most of a can left from making the low cal cinnamon sugar bread.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups pumpkin
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg whites
2 Tbs oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Directions:
Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Combine oil, egg whites, vanilla, and pumpkin in large bowl. Beat until thick. Mix in dry ingredients until combined. Do not over mix. Pour batter into greased 9x5 loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees or until toothpick comes out clean.
Notes: I used 1/2 cup granulated splenda and 1/4 cup sugar instead of 3/4 cup sugar to save some calories.
I also had to make my own pumpkin pie spice. I doubled the following recipe to make 2 tsp.
For 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice:
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Nutritional Info (1/12th loaf):
Calories: 91
Total Fat: 2.3 g
Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
Sodium: 164.4 g
Carbs: 17.4 g
Sugar: 2.9 g
Protein: 2.3 g