Weight Watchers Peach Cobbler

You would never know this was light just by tasting it! Makes 6 servings. Per serving: 244 calories, 5.2g fat. 2.5g protein, 50g carbs.

Cooking Spray
1/4 cup light butter or reduced calorie stick margarine, melted
2 (16 oz each) cans sliced peaches in light syrup, undrained
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup fat free milk

Preheat oven to 375. Coat a 9 inch square baking dish with cooking spray. Add melted butter, and set aside. Drain peaches, reserving 1/2 cup syrup; set aside. Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Add the reserved peach syrup and fat free milk to the flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Pour batter into prepared dish, and top with peaches (do NOT stir). Bake at 375 for 35 minutes or til golden.
I like to top each serving with a scoop or 2 of some type of vanilla ice cream: regular, light, sugar free, frozen yogurt....whatever. It's all good.

Creamy Chicken Manicotti

This is a family favorite, but I don't make it too often, coz it's not the best for you lol! This was something my mom used to make when I was a teen, and it has always been a favorite of mine. It has manicotti in the title, but we have always used jumbo shells. Much easier than stuffing manicotti.

About 15 jumbo pasta shells
1/2 cup sour cream (I use reduced fat)
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) creamy chicken mushroom soup, undiluted
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I bake 2 chicken breasts, and dice them, small pieces, when they've cooled)
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp butter or margarine (I use light stick butter)
1 can (4 oz) sliced mushrooms, DO NOT DRAIN!
1 cup (4 oz) shredded sharp cheddar (can use reduced fat, but it doesn't melt quite as well)

Cook shells according to package directions, omitting salt; drain and set aside. In the meantime, combine the soup and sour cream; mix well. Put half the soup mixture in a separate bowl, and add in the cooked chopped chicken; mix well. Set aside remaining soup mixture. Stuff shells with the chicken mixture; place in a greased 13x9 baking dish. Melt butter in large skillet, add onion and saute' until tender but not browned. Add mushrooms WITH the juices in the can. Stir in the reserved soup mixture and mix well. Spoon over the stuffed shells. Bake uncovered at 350 for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and bake another 5 minutes or til cheese is melted.
I like to serve with warm buttered bread to soak up all the sauce!

Best. Fucking. Pancakes. EVER.

These were so good that after dinner, I made another batch to heat up for breakfast tomorrow. So good that my children each ate 4, and proclaimed them to be the best pancakes they had ever eaten, better than IHOP even. They're like a bowl of warm, soft, oatmeal wrapped up in a pancake. Make these. Trust me. Hell, make a double batch. Now, I'll warn you, these cook a little differently than most pancakes. They don't cook as fast, and the consistency can make them tricky to flip but if you let them cook long enough before flipping, it isn't too bad. They need to go a few minutes per side. Probably takes about twice as long as regular pancakes.

Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes
2 cups quick oats (I ran them through the food processor for about 10 seconds)
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1/3 cup veg oil
2 eggs, beaten
Combine oats, soda, and buttermilk. Let stand 5 min. In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, & sugar. Combine oat mixture, oil, & eggs. Add dry ingredients & stir till blended. Cook on lightly greased griddle or skillet. Yield 14-16 Pancakes.

Key Lime Cake

Cake:
1 (3 oz) package lime jello
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
5 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups veg oil
3/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
1/2 cup key lime juice (from about 25 small key limes or 4 large regular limes)
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

Cream Cheese Icing:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature (i'm using light real butter)
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature (i'm using light)
1 (1 lb) box confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour three 9 inch round cake pans. In large mixing bowl, combine jello mix, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Stir to mix well. Add the eggs, oil, orange juice, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir well. Divide batter evenly amongst pans, and bake 35-40 minutes on middle rack (you'll want to keep your eyes on the cakes, mine did not take this long. I rotated them after 15 minutes and the one in the back was almost done. So I rotated, cooked another 5, then removed that one, and cooked the other 2 for another 10 minutes). Test for done by lightly touching cake, or by inserting a toothpick in center. Cool the layers for 5 minutes in pans, then turn them out onto racks. While layers are still hot, mix the lime juice and 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar and pour over the layers on racks. You can pierce the layers before pouring on the glaze to allow the glaze to soak in better. Allow layers to cool completely as you prepare the icing.
For the icing, cream the butter and cream cheese. Beat in the confectioner's sugar until mixture is smooth and easy to spread. Spread the icing between the layers and on top and sides of cake.
Note: The cream cheese icing is optional. This cake is beautiful and tastes great with just the glazed poured over it.
Makes 12 servings.

Cheesy Spinach Treats

This was a recipe from a magazine that G gets, High Five from Highlights, for younger kids. So it's a recipe for kids to make with help from parents. You can let them do the "easy" stuff that doesn't involve cooking. G cracked one of the eggs, though that didn't go too well lol so I did the rest of the eggs. She scooped all the sour cream into the bowl, and did all the mixing. It has a very strong sour cream flavor, considering there is 2 whole cups in it...I wasn't sure about it, but she wanted to make it, and it turned out really good. It didn't call for the ham, but I added it, coz I can never make a damn recipe the way it calls for it to be made!!

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
4 cups baby spinach
1 tbsp olive oil
3 eggs
2 cups sour cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 cup of your favorite cheese, shredded
few slices ham, diced

Heat oven to 350. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Tear spinach into small pieces. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in skillet, saute' for about 4 minutes or til wilted. Remove from heat and cool. In large bowl, whisk eggs, add sour cream, salt, and pepper. Stir well. Add cooked spinach, and 1/3 cup of cheese. Fill 12 muffin cups with mixture. Top with additional shredded cheese. Bake on middle rack of oven for 25 minutes. Wait 5 minutes before removing from muffin tray. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Brown rice

This is a common side dish at my house. It goes with just about anything, I like it best with fish or chicken. It's nothing fancy, just an easy way I figured out to make rice a little more flavorful.

1 cup brown rice
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 tbsp butter (I use land o'lakes light salted sweet cream stick butter)

Add all to pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook 40-50 minutes, til tender and water is absorbed.
You need to stir it every 10 minutes or so. I don't care what the package says, it normally says to not lift the lid and do not stir for the entire cooking time. Fuck that. Do you know how many damn pots I have burned up by following those directions?? Rice is the only thing I have ever burned. And I have done it more than once. But not since I started stirring the shit more often during the cooking process! Also, keep an eye on the water amount. If the water seems to be absorbing too quickly, add a little bit, about 1/4 cup or less. The water should not be gone at the 20-30 minute mark, for instance.

Shredded Thai Chicken Salad

Made this a couple of weeks ago. Everyone loved it. Very good peanut flavor. G has wanted green onions almost every day since I made this lol! The leftovers were good as well.

Ingredients:
Salad:
2 cups shredded deli rotisserie chicken (from 2- to 2 1/2-lb chicken)
1 cup julienne (matchstick-cut) carrots (I didn't use quite a cup, but about 3/4, and then added an extra 1/4 cup of the broccoli slaw mix to make up the difference. Thought it would be a more even ratio, didn't want the carrot to be overpowering)
1 cup broccoli slaw mix
1 large green onion, chopped (I don't know why they thought 1 onion would be sufficient, but I used a few)

Dressing:
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon red pepper sauce
Fresh cilantro, if desired (you DO desire!! lol)

In large bowl, toss salad ingredients. In small bowl, beat dressing ingredients with wire whisk. Just before serving, drizzle dressing over salad; toss until evenly coated. Garnish with cilantro.