Cheesecake Delights

Cheesecake Delights

Simple and delicious!

What you will need:
2 boxes of cream cheese of your choosing - full fat, partial or fat free - you choose; I go with Neufchatel
One package of Oreo cookies
Greek yogurt
Sugar
Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs
Muffin Tin
Muffin Papers
350 degree pre-heated oven
A little bit of time
Desire for cheesecake goodness

How to make:
16 oz cream cheese (2 boxes)
2/3 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
Mix well, until smooth

1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix

2 eggs
Mix one at a time and mix well, until completely combined.

Put muffin papers in regular sized muffin tins and add one Oreo cookie as the crust.  Plop some cheesecake filling on top of the Oreo - keeping in mind that it is not going to grow much so fill close to the top.  Bake for 20 minutes or so. Not until brown but it shouldn't jiggle either - find the sweet spot. I take them out just before I think they are perfect as they sit in the muffin tins and will cook slightly until they are cool enough to take out and place on a cooling rack.

Super tasty and fun and quick to make. I received numerous comments about just how tasty these were - that they had a great flavor to them.  Then you say it's make with Greek yogurt and you get to go back and have another because that must mean they are good for you.... ;)

Variations I haven't tried yet would be to use lemon extract instead of vanilla and adding fruit to the top.

One variation I have tried that I highly recommend is to use any leftover Oreos and make a cheesecake sandwich. Yum.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

1 pound uncooked chicken, cubed
1 cup lower fat sour cream
1 jar taco sauce or enchilada sauce
12 corn tortillas or tostadas
1cup sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine chicken and sour cream.

Pour 1/2 of jar of sauce in bottom of 9x13 nonstick pan. Top with 4 tortillas, then 1/2 the chicken mix, and 1/2 of the cheese.  Top with 4 tortillas, the last chicken mix, and the other half of the cheese. Top it off with the 4 remaining tortillas and pour the other 1/2 jar of sauce on top.

Bake 35 minutes.

I topped it all with some extra cheese because cheese is gooooooood. :) Another recipe from my low fat cooking class that is pretty remarkable. How can it be so tasty with hardly any ingredients in it!? Yummers.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

Looking for an amazingly easy and quick homemade tomato sauce?  Look no further.  This was part of my low fat cooking class with my slight modification.

1/2 red onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
15 oz diced tomatoes (no salt added)
8 oz tomato sauce (no salt added)
6 oz tomato paste (no salt added)
1/4 cup fresh basil (or slightly less of basil paste)

If you'd like it to be a beef sauce - add another 8 oz of tomato sauce and a pound of cooked ground beef.

Cook the onion and garlic to your liking.  Add everything else and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  If you want it a bit sweeter add a bit of sugar (Tbsp or so).

Done.
Yum.

Breakfast Pasta

1 package silken tofu (any firmness)
4 eggs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp black pepper
other seasonings of your choice
6 slices diced cooked bacon
6oz cooked Fettuccine noodles

While you are frying your bacon and cooking your noodles blend the tofu, eggs, cheese and spices until smooth.

Add fettuccine to a large frying pan that is hot.  Add the tofu mix and cook until the eggs are set.

This recipe is from a low fat cooking class. I personally found it bland but super good the next day.  My recommendation is to make it and put it in the fridge for the next day to eat!  Not exactly what you were hoping for? Me neither but there it is!

Slow Cooker Chicken ala King

A low fat version via the slow cooker.  Looking for quick and easy - here you go!

2 tomatoes
4 sliced green onion
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 pound cubed boneless skinless breast (or thigh if you want extra vitamins)
1 (10 3/4 oz) can low fat/reduced sodium cream of chicken soup
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp freshly ground four peppercorn
1 cup rice
1 1/4 soup can of water (or low sodium chicken broth)

Dump one cup of rice into slow cooker.  Mix soup, water, nutmeg and pepper and pour over rice.  Top with uncooked chicken cubes. Top with mushrooms and green onion. Cook on low for 8 hours.  Add tomatoes, mix and serve.

Without the slow cooker remove the rice and water and throw everything into a skillet to cook until chicken is done.  Serve over whatever makes you happy - toast, rice, orzo, potato or how about spaghetti squash?  Yum.

Enjoy!

Mexican Lasagne

This is a low fat version of Mexican lasagne with all the flavor of regular!

1 pound extra lean ground beef
1 (15oz) can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 small red onion, diced
1 (4oz) can diced green chiles
1 1/2 Tbsp taco seasoning
1 (15 oz) can no salt added tomato sauce
8 flour tortillas (normal small size)
1 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 smashed avocados

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.

If you rinse your canned beans you remove much of the salt content - therefore you can save money by buying the regular canned beans (rather than the low sodium kind that costs more) and simply rinse them before use.

Brown ground beef (if you want small Taco Bell sized ground beef you can add water to the mix while you brown and the beef will end up being smaller than if you brown without water.

Stir in beans, onion and taco seasoning. Cook for about 3 minutes until onion is soft.

Spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on bottom of baking dish and cover with 4 flour tortillas.  Spread with half of meat mixture and another 1/2 cup of tomato sauce. Spread with 1/2 of the smashed avocado. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat with tortillas, meat, sauce, avocado and cheese.

Bake until bubbly. Around 15 minutes.

If you want to make your own taco seasoning (to avoid the extra salt):
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves
dash ground cayenne

This is quick and healthy. Enjoy!

Greek Pizza

The ingredients may not sound all that great together but as long as you like all of them you might find them just as wonderful as I did as a pizza.  It's a low fat variety to boot!

Make your own pizza sauce - this sauce recipe will make twice as much as you need for one pizza so you can freeze the remainder for next time.  Oh and there WILL be a next time!

Sauce:
1 (8oz) can no-salt added tomato sauce
1 (6oz) can no-salt added tomato paste
1/2 tsp basil leaves
1/2 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 (12 inch) pizza crust of your choosing
1/2 of a red onion, chopped or sliced
1/2 can of artichokes (sliced)
2 Tbsp chopped Kalamata olives
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup feta cheese (crumbled)
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (finely shredded)
1 sliced tomato

Preheat oven to 400.  Spread sauce on the crust. Sprinkle mozzarella over sauce. Top with your veggies and top that with feta.  And top it all off with slices of tomato. Bake 15-20 minutes.

Golly-gee-whiz that was tasty.  Parakalo!

Jalapeño Popper Delights

Jalapeño Popper Delights
Oooh la la these are tasty!

12 jalapeños
1/2 cup Opa Ranch dressing (by Litehouse)
1/2 cup shredded or chopped mild cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp crumbled bacon

Flour
Egg wash
Bread crumbs, hot and spicy variety

Preheat oven to 350. Prep your jalapeños by deveining and removing seeds.  If you can do it without slicing them more power to you.  I sliced mine in half lengthwise, then removed the seeds and veins.  Putting most of my effort into the seed removal.  I did this all by using my fingers so just be sure you don't go sticking that finger in your eyes!

The recipe I found called for Opa jalapeño ranch but I can't find that flavor sold anywhere near me so I went with Opa Ranch. If you don't know Opa please introduce yourself as soon as possible.  It's sold as a salad dressing but it's amazing as a dip. I'm partial to the Feta and Dill and Caesar flavors but Ranch is pretty fabulous as well.  Litehouse is the company name and Opa is the Greek yogurt salad dressing product line.  You can find Opa in the refrigerated salad dressing area usually near the packaged salads.

I didn't shred my cheddar but rather chopped it up into little bitty pieces. Worked fine - the point is that the cheese will melt and you want it melted all over so whichever means you decide on will be fine.

Have some bacon for breakfast and save four or so strips.  Once they are cool - rip or chop them up so they are all crumbly for this recipe.

Mix the Opa, cheddar and bacon.  Slather the mix into the jalapeños and then completely dredge in flour, egg wash and then bread crumbs (in that order).

Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

They are sooooo good you might not want to share!