Cooking for my meat eater and myself :)

So the husband eats meat, we all know this! What we also know is that I don't and I don't like touching it, but I try to make him happy and cooking it once in a while....so what's a non-touching meat girl to do?! Use the crock pot, of course! I cut an onion and a bell pepper, if on hand, into large slices, throw it into the crock pot, spray the sides with cooking spray and through in chicken thighs (or whatever) and yes, roll your eyes if you must, if they are frozen I throw them in frozen! I add salt, pepper, McCormick seasoning and they cook on high for approx. 4 hours or low for approx. 6.....VIOLA! Hubby adds hot sauce or BBQ sauce and the meat eater smiles.

So that is what I made last night, but more excitingly I made the two sides below also! AND OMG!! they are YUMMY YUMMY and SUPER EASY! Cheap, yummy and easy.....that's what I'm all about! Make these sides!! You will love them!

The two recipes below are from Hilah Cooking and you can watch her cook them, each episode is about 4 minutes! Believe me, she is well worth the entertainment!

How To Cook Collard Greens

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of collard greens (Last night we used my FAV!!!, mustard greens, but I also bought Collards)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (or balsamic, or cider vinegar)

The following is taken straight from Hilah's site: "Wash the greens well (spinach in particular has a nasty habit of being absolutely filthy). Remove the bottom inch or so of the stems. Holding the bunch together with one hand, slice the whole thing into about 1″ slices, perpendicular to the stem. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the garlic; cook it for about 10-20 seconds until it just barely changes color to light blond (like me! But real.) Add the greens, putting the stemmy pieces on the bottom and the leafier pieces on top. Sprinkle with the red pepper and salt. After about 30 seconds, toss it around to move the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top and all mixed up good. Continue tossing until the greens have wilted slightly and are bright green. Remove from heat and add the vinegar."

How To Make Rice Pilaf

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4-1/2 cup chopped other vegetables (optional) (***I added chopped baby carrots, YUM!)
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon each butter and oil, or just oil (I used 2 tsp olive oil and spray oil)
• 1 cup rice or bulgur (We only use jasmine rice around here :) 
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
• Optional herbs: a teaspoon of dried dill, oregano, fenugreek, thyme, mint, tarragon, or basil (or just go crazy. Experiment.)1 7/8 cup water (the more vegetables you add, the less water you need since the liquid in the vegetables counts, too. For every 1/4 cup of vegetables you add, take out a tablespoon or so of water) (I used italian seasoning, my go to for everything HA!, but I used a bit more water, 2 1/2 cups)
• Optional: about 2 tablespoons nuts (pistachios, almonds, walnuts, you know what kind of nuts you like) (I was going to add sunflower seeds and forgot, no worries this is now a regular around this house)

The following is taken start from Hilah: "Melt the butter and oil and saute your vegetables and garlic for a couple of minutes to soften them. Add the rice and stir it around quickly to coat every grain. Let it toast up, stirring occasionally, for a couple more minutes. Add your herbs and seasonings. Stir it up. Add the water. Stir it again. Bring it to a boil. Turn down to low and put a lid on that sucker. Let it cook over low for 15 – 20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Turn off the heat and set it aside for 5 minutes. This is important. If you stir it right away you will break up the grains and the rice will get mushed and not be so fluffy. After it has rested, add your nuts and toss gently to incorporate. Serve."

The Prince had already eaten, but still ate some of the pilaf because he thought it was soooo yummy! - OH! We added fat free spray butter on top!

Cap'n Crunch Shake with WW points included

HG's Cravin' Cap'n Crunch Shake
PER SERVING (entire shake): 182 calories, 3g fat, 245mg sodium, 35g carbs, 4g fiber, 18g sugars, 4g protein -- PointsPlus™ value 5*

Ingredients:
5 oz. Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze
1/2 cup Breyers Smooth and Dreamy fat-free ice cream, Creamy Vanilla
1/4 cup Cap'n Crunch cereal (original)
1 oz. sugar-free vanilla syrup (like the one by Torani)
1 tsp. Coffee-mate Fat Free or Sugar Free French Vanilla powdered creamer, dissolved in 1 tbsp. warm water
3 no-calorie sweetener packets (like Splenda)
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. Fat Free Reddi-wip

Directions:
Place all the ingredients in a blender, and then blend with 3 beautiful ice cubes (I hate lame ice). One at a time, add more ice cubes and then resume blending, until your ideal consistency is reached. (I like my shakes pretty thick, so I end up using about 5 - 7 cubes in total.) Then pour your shake into a glass, and top it off with the Reddi-wip!
As you know, the Prince loves the kitchen and his daddy loves to sample...so VIOLA good for both! ( We will use the Peanut Butter Panda puffs as a GF Cap'n Crunch substitute...they are sooooo YUMMY!)

Thanks, Hungry Girl

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When I return from FL, I am making these immediately!!!

Ingredients

• Rice paper wrappers (8″ or 22 cm diameter) – probably can make 12 rolls with the following amounts of filling ingredients
• 2.5 ounces bean thread (a.k.a. mung bean thread or vermicelli, NOT rice vermicelli)
• 1 t oil
• 1 carrot cut into sticks about 4″ by 1/4″ by 1/4″
• 1 cucumber cut into sticks about 4″ by 1/4″ by 1/4″ (cut out or around the seedy center)
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup cilantro and/or mint and/or basil leaves

Cook the bean thread noodles in boiling water for just about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir them around until they turn clear, not opaque. Drain and toss with the oil. Rinse with cold water for several seconds to cool them. Throw a couple ice cubes in there with them and let those melt. Cut the noodles with scissors, just a few times, right in the bowl. Fill a pie pan with hot water and place a rice paper wrapper in there and push it under until it softens, 10-30 seconds or so depending on how hot the water is. Pull it out and lay it on your work surface. Put your fillings on the lower third of the wrapper, in the center 4 inches. Fold up the bottom over the filling, while holding the filling together with your ring fingers, then the sides, then roll it tightly away from you. Put it on a plate and cover it with a damp towel. Repeat.

Peanut sauce!

• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 -4 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic or ginger
• cayenne pepper to taste

Mix all that together and add a couple tablespoons of water if you want it thinner.

GO HERE TO WATCH HILAH!! MAKE THESE!!

Have I told you about the new cooking site I LOVE!!

Learn to Cook with Hilah! HA! I LOVE LOVE HER!! She is soooo funny, as yes, sometimes she does enjoy a cocktail during her episode (watch veggie lasagna!)

I will be testing out her veggie burgers today! Don't fret meat eaters...she cooks me too! :)

Super Easy Pasta Fagioli

I have made this many many times (bootleg style, ofcourse), so I thought I should share! Easy and yummy! (NOPE, not my picture...from Google!)

Ingredients 

2/3 lb Ground beef ( I used to use a meat substitute, now I have to just leave it out)
4 oz chopped onion (about 1/2 of a medium)
4 2/3 oz slivered Carrots
4 2/3 oz diced celery
16 oz tomatoes, canned, diced
2/3 cup cooked/can Red Kidney Beans
2/3 cup cooked/can Great Nothern
32 oz  veggie stock
1 tsp. Oregano ( I use italian seasoning)
3/4 tsp. Pepper
1 2/3 tsp fresh, chopped Parsley ( italian seasoning!)
1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
16 oz Spaghetti sauce
3 oz dry pasta bow tie macaroni (or noodle of choice, I use GF)

Step 1: Chop up your onions, celery and carrots
Step 2: Brown the hamburger in a 10 qt. pan until it browns
Step 3: Add onions, carrots, celery and tomatoes. Simmer about 10 minutes.
Step 4: Drain and rinse beans, add to the pot. Then add the beef stock, oregano, pepper, tabasco, spaghetti sauce, parsley and noodles.
Step 5: Simmer for about 45 minutes or until celery and carrots are tender.

You should know this makes a lot....keep in mind it freezes and heats up really well!

Enjoy!

Adapted from Mama Cheaps!!

Weight Watchers - Bootleg Style, of course. **Added Calculator

I must start the post by saying that I am doing my bootleg version of WW (weight watchers) with a group which includes my fantastically sexy husband ;), so I have accountability and a support group. It seems to me that this is a huge part of the WW program, which is why joining them online and/or attending meetings may be beneficial to you and this bootleg version might not be the best for you.....there is my disclaimer...hope this freebie doesn't offend or irritate anyone...sometimes my bootleg versions of things gets flak for not being the "real" thing or some folks get frustrated because they feel I'm not paying for something...so I apologize for being a master GOOGLE FOR FREE chick :) HA!

THESE ARE PICTURES FROM THE LAST TIME I DID WW....AND DAMN IT MAN!!! I WILL GET BACK THERE!!!!!! I'm on the right track!!!
On to the post!!

Here are the WW cheat sheets I found! Interested in seeing what your daily point allowance is???? CLICK HERE!

My crazy friend and WW partner found THIS site that give you points and POINTS PLUS values (points is the old system, POINTS PLUS is the new program and is the one we are doing) for MOST!! restaurants!

So if you want to join our WW BOOTLEG STYLE group, hit me up and we can add you to our FB message link...or if you have any questions, I'm not WW leader...but, I know some stuff :)

*****Here is the WW Points Plus Caculator


Peace, love and skinniness!

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