Sausage and Black Bean Stew

This is a nice thick stew for a cold winter day. It has definitely started to get really cold around here finally.

Ingredients: (Serves 6)

3 15oz Cans of Black Beans, drained and rinsed

14 1/2oz Can of Fat-free Chicken Broth

1c Celery

3 Cloves of Garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano

3/4 tsp Ground Coriander

1/2 tsp Ground Cumin

1/4 tsp Ground Red Pepper (not Cayenne)

1 lb Link Turkey Sausage, thinly sliced and cooked

Slice celery

Mix all of the ingredients except the sausage in the slow cooker.

Cook on Low for 5-7 hours

Remove 1 1/2 cups of the bean mixture and puree in a blender

Stir the puree back into the slow cooker

Slice the sausage. When I made the recipe I missed the word "Cooked". Oops. So we ended up putting the raw sausage in the slow cooker. We just had to cook it a lot longer. (1 hour)

Cook sausage and stew for 30 minutes on Low.

Dinner is served. It was pretty good. It was a little spicy for our tastes. I realized today that the red pepper I used said "Cayenne" in very small text. Oops. Haha

Nutrition:

292 Calories

8g Fat

10g Fiber

29g Protein

40g Carbs

8 WW Points Plus

Recipe from Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly

Shredded Taco Chicken

This one is a lot like the Garlic Chicken.  I made it because I wanted to switch up my salads for the week.  I also received a chili dip mix at a Tastefully Simple party and I thought it would work better spread out on two pounds of chicken because it was soooo spicy.

Ingredients:
2 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken
1 packet Taco Seasoning (I used the Dip Packet)
1/2 cup Water
I forgot to take the picture of the ingredients but it was pretty basic.

Place the chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Mix the water and the Taco Seasoning together and pour it over top the chicken.

I set it on low for 8 hours and then warm for 2 more hours.

Take a fork and shred the chicken.  It was really moist and came apart really easily.

For dinner I put the chicken on top of Tortilla chips and cheese and then I covered it with lettuce.  It was so good!! Then I had a Crystal Light Margarita with it. :)

I'm having the rest of it for lunch this week.  I'm using it on a salad with black beans, corn and cheese.

Nutritional Info
5.5 Servings (4oz)
WW Points Plus: 3
Calories: 110
Fat: 2.5g
Fiber: 0g
Protein: 23g

Pinto and Barley Soup

I've really started liking bean soup lately and thought this would be worth a shot.  I decided to make it vegetarian to cut down on the calories and fat.

Ingredients:
8 cups Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Dry Pinto Beans
1/2 cup Barley
3 cups Carrots, chopped
1 large Onion, chopped
2 cups Mushrooms, chopped
1 teaspoon Parsley
3 Garlic Cloves, chopped

I did this the night before to give the beans some extra time to soak in the broth.  Then chop the vegetables and mix everything together.

Sorry this turned out so blurry

I set this on low for nine hours and then it sat on warm for 2 more.

The kitchen smelled fantastic when I got home!

Nutritional Info
6 Servings
Points Plus: 4
Calories: 92
Fat: 1
Carbs: 20
Protein: 5

Cinnamon Oatmeal

I never want to spend much time making breakfast at 6am. So I was looking for something I could heat up quickly in the morning. I don't like cereal since it doesn't keep me satisfied for long. Oatmeal is a great option with lots of fiber. :D This is my first time making it in a crock pot.

Ingredients: (Serves 6)
3c Old Fashioned Oatmeal
4.5c Skim Milk
4.5c Water
1t Vanilla
1t Ground Cinnamon
3T Margarine

You can reduce the amount you make pretty easily. Just use the 3:1 ratio for the milk/water to oatmeal.


Spray the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix the oatmeal, milk, water, butter, vanilla, and cinnamon in the slow cooker. You don't even need to melt the butter.

I have heard of a lot of people that had issues with the oatmeal burning to the slow cooker. I made sure that I sprayed the crock and added butter to prevent the burning.

Cover and cook on warm for 9 hours. I cooked the oatmeal on warm, because people suggested this to prevent burning. I did this and the oatmeal was pretty liquidy. None of the oatmeal burned. Next time I will cook on low for 4 hours, and then have my slow cooker switch to warm for 9 hours. Hopefully, this will make thicker oatmeal without burning.

Stir and divide into tuperware for the week. :)

I ate my oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar. It was very good! I'll be enjoying it for the rest of this week.

Nutrition:

249 Calories

7g Fat

4g Fiber

11g Protein

36g Carbs

6 WW PointsPlus

Chicken Stroganoff

I spent the last 4 days on a test trip up north. After a long drive home, I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner the next day. Luckily, I had this recipe that I have always loved to make in the past, and I had all of the ingredients already. :) This is a very simple chicken stroganoff.

Ingredients:

1lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

10 1/2oz Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup

16oz Light Sour Cream

Envelope of Dry Onion Soup Mix

Place chicken in slow cooker

Mix soup, sour cream, and french onion soup in a separate bowl.

Pour mixture over chicken.


Cook on Low for 7 hours or High for 4 hours.

Break chicken into chunks with a spoon.

Serve over noodles or rice.

Nutrition: (Serves 4 without noodles or rice)

369 Calories

19g Fat

1g Fiber

34g Protein

14g Carbs

9 WW PointsPlus

Applesauce Chicken

I had quite a bit of applesauce on hand so I thought I would be resourceful and try Applesauce Chicken.   It turned out really good!  It would be a great Fall dish.

Ingredients:
1 lb Boneless Chicken
1 1/2 cups Applesauce
1 tablespoon Onion Flakes
1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tablespoon Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic (or two cloves)
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Pepper

Place the Chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker.  I used a two cup measuring cup to mix everything else together.  Then I spread it out on top of the frozen chicken.

Before work I set the slow cooker on low for seven hours and then it sat on warm for five hours.  It has to sit on warm longer when I leave earlier for the gym.

We really enjoyed this one because it was so different than most chicken recipes.  If you are looking to get out of a rut this would be a great one to try!  I served mine on wheat couscous with broccoli.

Nutrional Info (Not including couscous):
WW Points Plus: 5
Calories: 840
Fat: 7
Protein: 38
Carbs: 10

Cheesy Vegetable Alfredo

When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it!! I love alfredo. :D

Ingredients: (Serves 6)
8oz Fresh Green Beans, trimmed and halved crosswise
2c Fresh Mushrooms, sliced
1/2 Head of Cauliflower, cut into large florets
9oz Package of Frozen Artichoke Hearts
1c Carrots, thinly Sliced
1 Medium Onion, chopped
1c Fat Free Evaporated Milk
5-6.5oz Container Light Semisoft Cheese with Garlic and Fine Herbs
1c Shredded Parmesan Cheese (4oz)
6oz Dried Whole Grain Linguine, broken
1c Cherry Tomatoes, quartered or halved
Shredded Fresh Basil




Combine green beans, mushrooms, cauliflower, artichoke hearts, carrots, and onion in the slow cooker.

Pour evaporated milk over all in cooker

Cover and cook on low for 5-5.5 hours

Add semisoft cheese and Parmesan cheese to cooker.

Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir gently until cheese is melted.

Meanwhile, cook linguini according to the package instructions. Drain pasta.

Add linguine to cooker and toss to coat

Top each bowl with tomatoes and basil. I forgot to do this step.

Dinner is served.

It was a very yummy meal! :) Definitely doesn't taste like a healthy meal. :p

Nutrition:

387 Calories

13g Fat

10g Fiber

25g Protein

44g Carbs

10 WW PointsPlus


Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Diabetic Slow Cooker