Chocolate Crescents

One night Will wanted ice cream. We didn't have any and neither of us wanted to get out and get any. I knew I had crescent rolls in the fridge and chocolate chips so I made chocolate crescents for him and cherry pies for me. Chocolate crescents are very tasty and satisfied Will's sweet tooth. These a very easy to make.







Chocolate Crescents
a Lacey creation

8 crescents, 4 WW points per crescent

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1 tube reduced fat crescent rolls
8 T milk chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Unroll the tube of crescent rolls. If your rolls unroll okay you should have 8 triangles. When I made these I was having difficulties and mine were not unrolling very well. That is why I didn't end up with crescent shapes. I separated the dough as best as I could and ended up smooshing each piece of dough into a round, filling it with 1 T of chocolate chips, and closed up the round so the chocolate chips were completely enclosed. If you don't have those type of problems and your triangles come out okay you can place 1 T of chocolate chips on each triangle and than roll each triangle up starting at the wide side working towards the point making sure to keep the chocolate chips in. Place the crescent rolls unto a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Enjoy all the chocolaty goodness.

Sausage Egg Breakfast Cups

I saw this recipe for Crescent Sausage Egg and Cheese Bake on Cassie Craves and I knew I wanted to try it. It is super simple so that was just an added bonus. It has eggs, sausage, cream cheese, and crescents, whats not to love about it. The original recipes calls for making into a casserole which I intended on doing but I didn't have enough crescent rolls so I improvised and made muffins. These turned out awesome and were really good. I will be making these again and trying different variations like ham or bacon.


Sausage Egg Breakfast Cups
adapted from Cassie Craves

8 servings, 4 WW points per serving

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1 roll reduced fat crescent rolls
1 cup Egg Beaters
1 cup Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Crumbles
4 0z fat free cream cheese
2/3 cup Weight Watchers Mexican shredded cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350

Unroll the crescent roll tube. In a muffin pan place a crescent in each well. You will have eight. With your fingers stretch the dough up the sides of the well and so that you have some dough hanging out. Set the pan aside. Heat a skillet and spray with cooking spray. Cook the Egg Beaters until scrambled. Once done add the cream cheese and melt. Add the sausage crumbles and stir well with the eggs and cream cheese. Add the shredded cheese and melt. Take off heat. Place heaping tablespoon full of the sausage mixture into each crescent. Once all of the sausage mixture is divided between the eight crescent rolls then close each muffin up. Take the dough that was over lapping on top and seal up over the sausage mixture. Place pan in oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until crescents are cooked through. Enjoy.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

When I saw these on Life as a Lofthouse's blog I knew I wanted to try them. I love pancakes, and I love cinnamon rolls. The idea of combining them sounded great and I knew I wanted to try and make them WW friendly. Let me tell you these ended up being a labor of love. But after taking that first bite oh so worth it. They tasted so yummy. Now I know not what to do so next time everything will go smoother.

To make these less fattening I decided to use light stick butter for the cinnamon filling. I have cinnamon sugar already made up for when I make cinnamon toast so I didn't use the brown sugar that the recipe called for. What ended up happening was that when I melted the butter it never set up like it was supposed to and you can't make the swirl with runny butter. It just goes all over the pan and makes a mess. But I'm not a quitter and I was determined to make these pancakes so I added more cold butter to the liquid mixture and smooshed it together and then drained off what didn't incorporate. That made the cinnamon mixture thick enough to keep the swirl on the pancake. Next time I will only melt the butter slightly, just enough to mix in the cinnamon sugar. I didn't make the cream cheese glaze because by the time I got these pancakes made I was starving but next time I think I might because I'm sure the glaze would put these over the top.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
adapted from Life as a Lofthouse

14 pancakes, 4 WW points per serving

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For the Cinnamon Filling (You want to make this first so it sets up while you make the pancake batter):

1 stick light butter, melted for no more than 20 seconds
6 tsp. cinnamon sugar
or
6 tsp. sugar
1 or 2 T cinnamon depending on how cinnamony you want it

Mix the butter and the cinnamon and sugar together. Place in a zip lock bag. Snip a small hole in one of the corners. Set aside.

For the Pancakes:

I used Heart Smart Bisquick mix, you can make your favorite pancake batter it will just change the point value.

2 cups Bisquick mix
1 1/4 cups fat free milk
1 egg

Mix all of the above ingredients together.

Heat a skillet and spray with cooking spray. Pour a 1/4 cup of batter onto the skillet. I can fit two pancakes on my skillet. Take the butter mix and make a swirl on each pancake. Let the pancake cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip carefully and cook on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter. You should be able to make 14 pancakes total.

Chicken Lo Mein

This doesn't really taste anything like the lo mein from a Chinese restaurant but I thought it was quite tasty. I don't think it was Will's favorite meal but he said it was all right. This was a very easy meal since it was cooked in the crock pot and to finish it up all you have to do is cook the pasta. I added water but next time I won't since the chicken was frozen and that added water. I think it would have been even better if the sauce would have been a little bit thicker.




Chicken Lo Mein
adapted from Get Crocked

8 (1 cup) servings, 3 WW points per serving w/o noodles
1 cup of whole wheat noodles is 4 WW points

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1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, frozen or thawed (if thawed cut into bite size pieces)
1 bottle (11.4 oz) Kikkoman Stir Fry Sauce
5 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 medium onion, sliced
16 oz package fresh stir fry vegetables
1 small package mushrooms
1 T minced garlic
1 tsp ginger, fresh would be great but powder would be fine
1 box wheat noodles, cooked according to the package directions

In a crock pot place the chicken, onions, water chestnuts, stir fry vegetables, and mushrooms. In a bowl mix together the stir fry sauce, the garlic, and the ginger. Pour into the crock pot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until the chicken is cooked through. If the chicken was frozen take out of the crock pot and cut up, place back in the crock pot. Serve over noodles.

Creamy Garlic Alfredo

Along with not being able to make a great potato soup I couldn't make a great Alfredo sauce. I have tried many recipes and all have been mediocre. This recipe is not one of them. This recipe was fantastic. I found it on Mel's Kitchen Cafe. I drool over her blog on a regular basis. She's just amazing. I tried to make this WW friendly. It's still a little points heavy but oh so worth it. Paired with my Garlic Bread Sticks I felt like I was at Olive Garden. Enjoy!

(I doubled this recipe since I think you can never have enough Alfredo)

Creamy Garlic Alfredo
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

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8, 1/2 cup servings-6 WW points per serving for the sauce
1 cup of wheat pasta is 4 WW points

4 tablespoons butter
6 garlic cloves, minced (I used 3 tablespoons jarred minced garlic. It was very garlicky)
8 oz of reduced fat cream cheese, softened and cut into pieces
2 cups skim milk
5 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium pot or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, taking care not to let the garlic burn. Add the cream cheese, stirring with a whisk until the mixture is smooth. It will look curdled at first, but with constant whisking for 2-3 minutes, it should come together to form a smooth, creamy paste. Add the milk gradually, about 1/4 cup at a time, whisking quickly and constantly until each addition is incorporated fully into the sauce. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, pepper and salt. Stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is the desired consistency. Cook for 2-3 minutes for a thicker sauce or remove right after the cheese is melted for a thinner sauce. Serve immediately over hot, cooked noodles.

This reheats well too.

BBQ Chicken Calzones

I found this recipe on Life as a Lofthouse's blog. Holly has some really great recipes and so far all the ones I have tried have been yummy. Will even liked these though he told me he would have liked them better without the green stuff, meaning the cilantro. I love cilantro and all this time didn't realize that he really doesn't. I really liked the filling for this calzone all by itself. I think it would make a great BBQ chicken salad.




BBQ Chicken Calzones
adapted from Life as a Lofthouse

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10 servings, 4 WW points per serving

2 cans Country Style Biscuits (there are 10 biscuits in a can and they are smaller)
1 can Chunk Chicken, drained
1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup Real Bacon Pieces like Oscar Meyer's
2/3 cup shredded Weight Watchers Mexican Cheese or low fat cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mix together the chicken, BBQ sauce, onion, bacon, cheese, and cilantro together. Remove biscuit dough from cans. Take one dough piece and lay out on a clean surface. Roll out flat into a circle. Repeat with all dough circles.

In the center of a flattened dough circle, place 2 tablespoons of the BBQ chicken mixture. Take another dough circle and place over the top. Seal the edges by pressing them together. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. You will have 10 calzones total.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately!

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes

There was a change in the weekly meal plan. I had about two hours of sleep last night and there was no way I was going to be able to get anything cooking in the crock pot this morning to make the baked chicken chimichangas. The beef was sitting in the fridge so I knew I could come home and make the sloppy joes. I just wasn't sure if I was going to make it the whole day. Once I got past that sick feeling I was okay but still really tired. But here I am at 9:45pm and I'm feeling wide awake. When I do lie down after I get this posted I better fall straight to sleep. No lying wide awake in bed like I did last night until 5am. I have to get up tomorrow at 6am so I can be at the Dyer library at 8am. Someone hates me to make me get up that early.

I liked these sloppy joes. Do they taste exactly like a Philly Cheesesteak? No, but they have a really good flavor with the onions, green peppers, and mushrooms. I could have done without the cheese sauce. The original recipe called for provolone but I couldn't find what I needed at the store. I'm thinking that the provolone would have been better. I should have just gotten a chunk at the deli but I was tired and didn't want to have to go back that way. So I settled for a block of reduced fat mild cheddar. Will and I both agreed that it didn't have a lot flavor. Maybe I should have used sharp cheddar. I think even a slice of melted provolone would have been better. So yeah I could have done without the cheese, which I don't say very often, but the meat was really good.

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
adapted from A Taste of Home Cooking

8 servings, 4 WW points per serving includes 2 point hamburger bun
2 tablespoons of the cheese sauce adds 2 WW points

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1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound really ground beef
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 tablespoons steak sauce
1 cup beef broth
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained
8 low calorie and fat hamburger buns
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 cup reduced fat mild cheddar, shredded

In a large skillet heat the oil and add the onion and green pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables start to get tender. Add the ground beef and garlic powder and brown the beef until cooked through. Drain. Place the beef mixture back in the pan and add the steak sauce, beef broth, and mushrooms. Bring to a bubble and cook for 2 minutes.

While the meat is cooking, melt the butter in a medium-size pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and cook about 1 minute. Whisk in milk, bring up to a bubble and let thicken, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir the cheese.

To serve, place a scoopful of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the rolls, then top with the cheese sauce and replace the top of the roll.

Oven Fried Drumsticks

I have given myself a goal this week of cooking every day, Monday-Sunday. I haven't done that in a long time. Cooked everyday I mean. It's just to easy to go out to eat, especially when I'm tired after a day of work. But I'm tired of spending money every week on groceries and then spending about the same amount on eating out. It's getting way too expensive. Not to mention unhealthy. No matter how hard I try it's hard for me to pick healthy choices when I go out to eat. Really what's the fun in that. So I came up with a meal plan this week. Like I said my goal is to follow it.


Monday: Oven Fried Drumsticks
Tuesday/Wednesday: Zuppa Toscana Soup with Garlic Breadsticks
Thursday: Rio Rancho Tacos
Friday: BBQ Chicken Pasta (Recipe to Come)
Saturday: Turkey Sausages and Brats on the Grill
Sunday: Left Overs

These Oven Fried Drumsticks were so good. Will said they were awesome, which in Will speak means I got an A plus from him. Very flavorful and very moist. They had a nice crunch to them. I will definitely be making these again. I can have three for only 6 points. Score! I served these with mashed potatoes and we had a very nice meal.


Oven Fried Drumsticks
taken from Hungry Girl

Makes 3, 2 drumstick servings at 4 WW points per serving

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6 raw chicken drumsticks, skin removed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup Fiber One Bran original cereal
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 tsp. onion powder
3/4 tsp. oregano
1 1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1/4 cup Egg Beaters

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside. Hungry Girl says to use a blender or food processor to grind the cereal into a bread crumb like consistency. I just put the cereal into a large zip lock bag and used a rolling pin. Once I had the cereal to the bread crumb consistency I added in the rest of the spices right into the bag. Set aside.

Place the Egg Beaters in a wide shallow bowl. Two at a time, coat the drumsticks in the Egg Beaters, gently shake to remove excess liquid and place in the bag with the crumbs. Seal and shake to coat. Transfer the drumsticks to the baking sheet and repeat with the other drumsticks. Bake for 20 minutes and then flip over and bake for 2o more minutes, until crispy and cooked through.

Greek Style Turkey Burgers

Yes, that is a big bite taken out of that burger. I was hungry and I couldn't wait to take a picture before trying it. I thought they turned out really good. Will did not enjoy them as much as I did. Will probably would have liked them better if they had some grease and were made with beef. I use the really lean turkey so it's not fatty at all. I admit that these would have been even better with a bit of fat but I didn't want to spend the extra points. These turkey burgers have feta, oregano, and Greek yogurt in them. Yummy.



Greek Style Turkey Burgers
taken from Diabetic Livings Quick and Easy Meals Cookbook

4 servings, 4 WW points per burger w/o bun

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1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 egg white
1 tablespoon plain low fat yogurt
1 teaspoon oregano
1/3 cup crumbled reduced fat feta cheese
1 lb ground turkey
pepper
4 light hamburger buns

In a bowl mix together the bread crumbs, egg white, yogurt, oregano, 1 tablespoon feta cheese, turkey, and pepper. Shape into four patties. Cook on grill or in a skillet until cooked through. Serve on hamburger buns with onion, tomato, and more feta cheese.

Bisquick Pinwheels

Pizza is on my brain. I took a stab at making pizza pinwheels using Bisquick. Will and I both agreed that they turned out pretty tasty. I put pizza sauce in them but they needed a little more sauce so I served sauce on the side. I think these would be good dipped in ranch.

Bisquick Pinwheels
a Lacey original

8 servings, 4 WW pints per serving

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2 cups Heart Healthy Bisquick
3/4 cup water
1/4-1/2 cup pizza sauce
9 slices reduced fat provolone
Toppings of choice (I used pepperoni on half and veggies on the other half)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl mix together the Bisquick and water. On a clean surface dusted with Bisquick knead the dough 10 to fifteen times. Using a rolling pin roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the sauce on the dough. Top with cheese and then the toppings. Roll up as tight as you can like a jelly roll. Spray a cookie sheet with cookie spray. Using a sharp knife slice the pizza roll into 8 slices. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until dough is cooked through and the cheese is melted.

Homemade Pizza Pockets

I have been having a terrible craving for pizza lately. Of course I have gotten back in my Weight Watcher wagon and I think pizza out is a lot of points. Who can only eat one or two pieces? Pita pizzas are really good but I wanted something different. These pizza pockets turned out really good. I wasn't sure how they would turn out when I made them. Sometimes my experiments just work out. I love when that happens.




Homemade Pizza Pockets

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8 servings, 4 WW points per serving

2 cups of heart healthy Bisquick
3/4 cup water
8 tablespoons of pizza sauce
8 slices of reduced fat provolone cheese
Veggies of choice chopped up small, I used onion, mushrooms, and green pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl mix together the Bisquick and water. If dough is sticky add a little more Bisquick. If it is to dry add more water. On a clean work surface sprinkled with Bisquick knead the dough 10 to 15 times. Using a rolling pin roll out the dough. Using a large round cookie cutter cut out as many rounds as you can. Re roll out the remaining dough and cut some more. Flatten out each round a little more with the rolling pin. In the middle of each round spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce. Place a slice of cheese on the sauce. You may need to break up the piece of cheese to fit. Place some of the cut up veggies on top of the cheese. Fold the dough over and seal the edges together. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until dough is cooked through and cheese is melty.

Szechuan Chicken

I really enjoy Asian food. Heck, I really enjoy most food period. I found this recipe on a food blog I enjoy, Life as a Lofthouse. She recommends using Yoshidas Original Gourmet Marinade Sauce but I couldn't find any at Walmart so I used La Choys original stir fry sauce. Next time I would like to try the other sauce if I can find it and I would recommend doubling the amount that you use. The sauce really gives this dish it's flavor. It was good but could have been better with more sauce.


Szechaun Chicken
adapted from Life as a Lofthouse

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10 one cup servings, 4 WW points per serving

2 chicken breasts, cut up into 1 inch pieces
1 cup La Choy original stir fry sauce
1 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 package frozen broccoli
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 lb spaghetti
olive oil

Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. When it is almost cooked add the frozen broccoli to cook. Once cooked drain the pasta and broccoli.

Coat a skillet with olive oil. Saute the green pepper and onion until soft. When done remove from pan and set aside. In the same skillet cook the chicken until no longer pink. Once cooked through add the green peppers and onion, garlic, and sauce. Turn the heat down and let simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until sauce is heated through. Add the sauce mixture to the pasta mixture and serve.

Crock Pot Asian Beef and Veggies

I made this last year for the first time and I loved it. Not only is it easy but it's pretty healthy to. When I made it this time I didn't have everything so I improvised, which I seem to have to do a lot. I substituted La Chow Original Stir Fry Sauce for soy sauce and I only had 1 pound of meat. The WW points are for these substitutions. I would imagine it would be a little higher if you used 2 pounds of beef.




Crock Pot Asian Beef and Veggies
adapted from Bluestar on The Tasty Kitchen

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8 one cup servings, 4 WW points per serving
Brown rice is 5 WW points per cup

1/2 cup water
1 cup soy sauce or La Choy Original sauce
2 pounds beef stew meat or 1 pound beef stir fry meat
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 cups packed brown sugar
6 cups chopped veggies of choice, make sure whatever you use can hold up to cooking in the crock pot for several hours. I used fresh stir fry veggies, fresh green beans, green peppers, and onions.

When I went to make this I discovered I was out of soy sauce so I used the La Choy and I think it turned out pretty good. I only had a pound of meat. If your not a huge fan of veggies like my hubby make sure you have two pounds of beef. It was fine for me but Will would have liked more meat.

In the crock pot place the meat, water, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and brown sugar. You want the meat covered so it will get tender. Place the veggies on top of the meat mixture. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve with rice.

Very yummy dinner and the crock pot does all the work. You can't beat that.

Mexican Beef Stew

I got this really yummy recipe from my friend and co-worker Laurie. Thank you Laurie because I really enjoyed this stew. Unfortunately my hubby thought it was to spicy. I didn't think it was spicy at all so I'm a little confused by that but I did eat it with cheese, sour cream and crackers. If it was spicy maybe all my extras cooled it off. But even if it had been spicy I still would have loved it. This recipe is so easy and cooks in your crock pot which I love. Crock pots are your friends. At least I think so anyway.




Laurie's Mexican Beef Stew

8 one cup servings, 4 WW points per serving

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1-2 cups cubed leftover beef or pork
1 (14 oz) can pinto beans rinsed and drained, I used kidney beans
1 (14 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 little can mild chopped green chiles
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 cup chunky salsa
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin

I added a can of diced tomatoes.

Put all in your crock pot, stir to blend. Cook on low 4 to 8 hours. Serve with crackers, crushed tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream if desired.

Salsa Verde Enchiladas

A few weeks ago I went with some friends to Ikea for the first time. I was in heaven in the kitchen accessories section. They had some really neat things for reasonable prices. I tried to control myself. The rooms they have set up to give you ideas are awesome. One room had book shelves all the way up to the ceiling. You needed a ladder to get to the top. The librarian in me was in heaven. I would love to have that in my house one day. The foodie in me was drooling over the kitchens. If I had an extra $10,000 to spare I would so do a kitchen makeover. Not in the home I live in now because I plan on moving in the near future but my future home. Unless I'm lucky to buy a house with my dream kitchen in it. Then that would be great.

Anyway after shopping we stopped at Hoolihan's to eat. I have never been to a Hoolihan's and I really enjoyed the food there. I will definitely go back. They had a three course special going on so we each ended up doing that. The first course you got to choose salad or soup. The second choice was an entree and the price varied depending on what entree you chose. The third course was dessert. I got the Chicken Tortilla Soup to start, Smoked Chipotle Chicken Enchiladas for my entree, and the Chocolate Cappuccino Cake for dessert. Everything was really good and I wanted to try and recreate the enchiladas. The menu's description of the enchiladas is Enchiladas filled with tomatillo-marinated chicken, onions, garlic and queso fresco atop a spicy, chipotle-smoked mozzarella sauce. Served with pico rice, black beans and sweet chipotle slaw. I have no idea how to make chipotle-smoked mozzarella sauce. I searched the internet with no luck. Since I couldn't make the sauce I improvised. The enchiladas I came up with are not the same but I thought they turned out quite tasty. A little too spicy for my hubby but I didn't find them to be too spicy for me.

Salsa Verde Enchiladas
11 Servings, 4 WW points per enchilada

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2 lbs. chicken breast
1 jar salsa verde
1 small onion, chopped
1 ts. minced garlic

11-15 corn tortillas
1 can mild enchilada sauce, red
1 cup reduced fat Mexican shredded cheese

In a crock pot place the chicken, salsa, onion, and garlic. Cook on high for 1 hour and turn down to low. Cook 2 hours more or until chicken is done. Take the chicken out and cut in up into chunks. Place back in the crock pot and turn down to keep warm. If your chicken breasts are frozen the cook time will be longer.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat up the tortillas before trying to roll them. This is an important step because trying to roll cold tortillas ends up in disaster. They just break apart. You can heat them in a dry skillet on medium high heat or place damp paper towels between them and heat them up in the microwave for about a minute.

In a 9X13 pan pour half of the can of mild enchilada sauce on the bottom. Take a heated tortilla and fill it with 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture. Roll it up and place face down in the pan. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas. I was able to fit 11 in my pan. I might have been able to squish more but I wanted to be able to get them out of the pan hopefully intact. I should have squished them because they didn't stay intact very well. I had about a 1/4 of the filling leftover since I could only made 11. Pour the remaining mild enchilada sauce on top and top with the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

Serve with sour cream and salsa if desired.

Garlic Breadsticks

I can't make Zuppa Toscana without making garlic breadsticks to go with it. To me you can't have the one without the other. It would just be wrong. You can find the breadsticks I use at Wonder Bread Bakery and at Walmart. They are called Bread du Jour Original Breadsticks. The bag boasts that they are hot and crispy in minutes. The bag doesn't lie. These aren't as good as Olive Garden but they come close and I find them just as addictive.





Garlic Breadsticks
4 WW points per breadstick with butter
3 WW points per breadstick w/o butter

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1 package Bread du Jour Original Breadsticks
1/2 stick of butter, melted or I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray
garlic salt

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

On a baking sheet spread out the eight breadsticks. Brush with melted butter or spray with butter spray. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Take out of oven and brush with more butter or spray and sprinkle on generous amount of garlic salt. Place back in oven and bake for 2 more minutes. You will not use all the melted butter unless you like your bread really buttery.

Zuppa Toscana

Olive Garden is my favorite place to eat at. If you give me 100 choices and Olive Garden is one of the choices I will choose Olive Garden every time. I love their soups, salad, bread sticks, and Chicken Parmigiana with Alfredo sauce. Their Alfredo rocks.

The menu describes Zuppa Toscana as spicy sausage, russet potatoes and cavolo greens in a creamy broth. It is so good. It's funny because when I was younger I wouldn't touch this soup. Sausage wasn't my favorite. My mom loved it and could eat bowl after bowl after bowl. I love that they put Romano cheese on everything. I make them grate it onto a plate so I have a pile of cheese and I can distribute it on my soup for every bite. Extravagant you say, but oh so worth it. Their Pasta e Fagioli is really good too but the Zuppa is my favorite. Don't get me started on their bread sticks. I could eat ten of them at a time if I allowed myself. I knew I wanted to try and make this soup at home because you can't always get to Olive Garden. I searched the Internet and found a copy cat recipe and it tastes just like their soup. I use Italian turkey sausage instead of regular but I can hardly tell the difference.

I cook this soup in the crock pot. I brown the meat the night before and then put it all together in the crock pot the next day. The crock pot does the bulk of the work and leaves us with delicious soup when I get home. I decided to make this soup on Tuesday. Tuesdays are my WW nights and I go to Kim's house to weigh and then we go out to eat. I wanted to have dinner ready for Will so this soup sounded good and I knew there would be plenty of leftovers for the both of us to enjoy over the next few days. Since I wasn't going to be home to add the cream and the kale I texted Will to add both around 2pm. I told him to just tear up two or three pieces of the kale since the bunch I bought was huge. Later that night when I got home from Kim's I looked in the crock pot and noticed only a few small pieces of greenery. I thought Will had ate most of the kale but upon further inspection I realized he added cilantro to the soup instead of the kale. I asked him if it made it taste weird but he said no and that he only put a few leaves in the soup. If you are familiar with cilantro you know the leaves are little. He probably thought I was crazy for telling him to only put in two or three of the leaves. So I scooped out what little was left of the cilantro and put in the kale let it cook for another hour. Next time I'll put the kale next to the crock pot so we don't end up with cilantro again but it didn't affect the flavor the soup. Cooking with help from hubby is always an adventure. But he's a good sport.

Zuppa Toscana
About 14 servings, 4 WW points per cup

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1 lb. Perdue Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage Links
1 1/2 ts. red pepper flakes
1 large onion, diced
2 Tb. real bacon bits
2 ts. minced garlic
10 cups water
5 chicken bouillon cubes, low sodium
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb. potatoes, sliced
1/4 bunch kale, chopped

Take each sausage link and remove the casing. Discard casings and place the loose sausage, onions, garlic, and bacon bits into a skillet. Cook the sausage mixture, breaking up the sausage as it cooks, until the sausage is cooked through. Drain the meat mixture.

In a crock pot place the meat mixture, water, bouillon cubes, and potatoes. Cook on low for seven hours. In the last hour of cooking add the heavy cream and kale. I like to sprinkle on cheese if I have it but it's not necessary. I serve with bread sticks.

Yummy Olive Garden in the comfort of my home. You can't beat that.

Link to original recipe: Copy Cat Zuppa Toscana