Turkey Wrap

Before I give you another delicious recipe, I thought you might want to check out this VERY interesting article on where NOT to eat in a pinch. Click here for MSN's Health and Fitness: Top 20 WORST Mall Foods in America! Which ones of these have you eaten lately? I have to admit, I've had several of these delicious-yet-oh-so-bad-for-you meals.

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Sponsored by The Laughing Cow®

POINTS® Value: 2

Servings: 2

Level of Difficulty: Easy Preparation

Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 0 min

Craving a creative snack? The pairing of apples and Swiss cheese makes this turkey wrap an extra special treat

Ingredients:
2 wedges of The Laughing Cow® Light Creamy Swiss Cheese
1 medium whole wheat tortilla, 6 inches
1 tsp honey mustard
2 slices smoked turkey
1/2 cup shredded lettuce or arugula
1/2 cup apple slices

Instructions:
Evenly spread cheese wedges over tortilla; top with mustard, turkey, lettuce and apple.

Roll up tortilla, tucking ends in and securing with a toothpick, if desired.

Yields 1 half wrap per serving.

A History Lesson (and my new obsession!)

If I've talked to you at all after Christmas, you've probably heard me going on and on about the HBO Series John Adams starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney. Its a three disc, seven part miniseries, base on the Pulitzer Prize winning book by David McCullough. The show takes you through the first fifty years of the United States through the eyes of John Adams. It is an amazing documentary of Adams and everything he, and the other founding fathers, sacrificed and overcame to make this country great! I bought the set for Kelly for Christmas, and we spent the majority of Christmas afternoon (and the next few days to follow) glued to the TV watching it. We loved it so much that we bought it for Kelly's parents as well. My Mom and brother didn't get to finish watching our copy soon enough, so they went to Blockbuster and rented it. I only wish we had this documentary when we were in school. I definitely would have learned more than just that John Adams was our second President. (And if it weren't for my history buff husband, I probably wouldn't have known that at all!)

Next time you're out, pick up a copy. You'll thank me later.

Layered Mexican Chicken

POINTS® value 6
Servings 12
Preparation Time 20 min
Cooking Time 45 min
Level of Difficulty Moderate

I've heard this is very similar to King Ranch Chicken.






Ingredients:
1 spray(s) olive oil cooking spray
2 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
30 oz canned black beans, rinsed and drained
3 cup(s) fat-free sour cream
2 cup(s) shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese, divided
8 oz chopped green chilies, two 4-oz cans
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
12 medium corn tortilla(s), cut into 2-inch strips
1 cup(s) salsa, mild, medium or hot

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a lasagna pan with cooking spray.

Place chicken in medium saucepan and fill with enough cold water just to cover chicken. Set pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes; drain. When chicken is cool enough to handle, cut into 1-inch pieces.

Transfer chicken to a large bowl and add beans, sour cream, 1 cup of shredded cheese, chilies, cumin, and pepper; mix well and set aside.

Arrange half of tortillas in bottom of prepared lasagna pan, overlapping pieces to cover surface. Top tortillas with half of chicken mixture, layer with remaining tortillas and then top with remaining chicken mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese.

Bake until filling is bubbly and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing into 12 pieces. Serve with salsa on the side.

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Tex-Mex Rice and Bean Casserole

POINTS® value 4
Servings 6
Preparation Time 15 min
Cooking Time 40 min
Level of Difficulty Easy

Creamy, cheesy Mexican food is irresistible. This one-dish casserole is a vegetarian feast.





Ingredients:
1 spray(s) cooking spray
1 cup(s) canned yellow corn, drained, or frozen, thawed corn kernels
1 tbsp canned green chili peppers, chopped, mild or hot
15 oz canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup(s) cooked brown rice, fresh or day old
3/4 cup(s) shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese
3/4 cup(s) fat-free sour cream
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp scallion(s), chopped (dark green part only)
2 tbsp shredded reduced-fat Mexican-style cheese

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 2-quart glass baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine corn, chilies, beans, rice, 3/4 cup of cheese, sour cream, chili powder, salt and pepper; stir in scallions.

Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons of cheese. Return to oven and bake until cheese melts and casserole is slightly bubbly, about 10 minutes more. Let stand for 5 minutes to firm up before slicing into 6 pieces. Yields 1 piece per serving.

Notes:
Change the beans or cheese to your liking: white or black beans, reduced-fat cheddar or Monterey Jack cheeses all work well.

If you want to brown the cheese more, place the dish (make sure it's broiler safe) under the broiler for a minute or two.

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Will you make it to Valentine's Day?

No, not to celebrate the love filled holiday with your "love bug," "pookie pie," or "sugar plum." But will your New Years resolutions make it to Valentine's day? According to The New York Times, four out of five individuals that make New Year's resolutions will break them, and a third of us won't even make it past January. (Another statistic I heard was that our resolutions won't make it past Valentine's day.)

Well, I have to say, without the support from those around you, it can get pretty tough after weeks of working out and eating right with still no signs of success. Well, I'm not going to sit by and watch my resolutions turn into wishful thinking. I'm going to make every effort to stick to my goals.

This year has been the year to get fit! (Yes, I know it's only January 7th, but still... that's the goal.) My whole family is back on the "plan" counting their points, working out, and watching the portion control. My mom joined Weight Watchers and has been sending me some pretty amazing recipes, so I thought I would share some of them with you. And hopefully by blogging about yummy looking, low-cal food, I might actually be inspired to cook a substantial meal (this probably should have been one of my resolutions - cook more.) I also think I'll share some tips on healthy snack foods (or maybe just food in general) worth looking into.

I'll start with today's favorite food: Nabisco's Cream Cheese and Chives Wheat Thins. Can you say DELISH?! They taste just like a Sour Cream and Onion chip! Try to exercise some restraint when opening the box, you'll want to dive right in! Pair them with a wedge of light Laughing Cow Cheese and you've got a great afternoon snack!

Enjoy!

Cooper's First Play Date

Ok, ok. So we don't technically get to bring our little guy home to live with us until Friday, but yesterday we were able to bring him over for an hour to get him acquainted with his soon-to-be new home.

We have lived in a puppy fairytale during these past 5.5 weeks. We were so lucky to know Cooper's owners, and live close enough by, that we have been able to experience all of his monumental "firsts." The first time he opened his eyes, his first step, the first collar (a green hairband), his first bark (and bite!), the first photo shoot, the first time playing in the grass, the first... ok, you get the drift. Usually, puppy owners don't get to experience all of these precious moments, but we feel truly lucky to have been there from the very beginning!

So, last night we had high expectations of Cooper's first play date at our house! Here's a quick recap of our adventure:

• Naturally, Coop was a little scared on the drive to our house, and cried the whole way home. But he seemed to be OK once we got him to the living room.


• We picked him up from the owner in a white blanket. When we put him down he wouldn't get off the blanket for quite some time, and was a little skittish of the carpet. He would stretch his front legs out as far as they would go without moving his hind legs off the blanket.


• Once he got comfortable, he sniffed around for awhile, peed on the floor, laid down on his HUGE doggie bed and passed out.


• We fed him some milk and a few dog treats - he LOVED the milk!


• While he was up walking around, he fell into his water bowl and scared himself... too cute!

When we dropped him of I left a black lamb and the white blanket to absorb the "scent" of the other puppies. Cooper didn't take to the lamb right way at our house (pictured below.) He more or less licked it to death. But when we dropped him back off at the owners, one of the other puppies, Cheyenne, tried to take it away from him and he wouldn't hear of it. He yanked it away from her and took it over to the other side of the dog bed and played with it. (Very proud moment for the parents!) Bella, another one of the pups, found the white blanket and kept trying to pull it down and wrestle with it.

And as you can see from the photos, he LOVES to sleep! (Well, at least for now he does!)

Cooper sleeping while Dad watches the bowl game!

Sweet pup!