Feb 7, 2012

MORE PINTEREST, I KNOW.

successes! all of them! hooray! !!! lots of exclamation points!! just because!!!!

first up are the Peanut Butter Cup Blondies i referenced in yesterday's superbowl post. so, dave doesn't really love peanut butter. and dylan was only going to have one. and hallie said they looked yucky. and lucy wasn't really hungry.

and we pounded almost the entire pan.

these are weight-watchers and only 153 calories a bar. seriously.

Peanut Butter Cup Blondies
recipe and photo via pinterest
Ingredients
5 3/5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 tablespoons 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray
4 (0.75-ounce) peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt), stirring well with a whisk. Combine peanut butter and next 4 ingredients (through eggs), stirring well. Add peanut butter mixture to flour mixture; stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Scrape the batter into a 9-inch square metal baking pan lightly coated with cooking spray, and arrange the peanut butter cups over batter. Bake at 350° for 19 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

KERI's Notes:
I used skim milk, and instead of using PB cups (didn't have any), i just sprinkled my leftover PB & milk chocolate chips that i had from the pb cheese ball. next time (and there will be a next time) i will sub splenda and even try ww flour.


i also made a Chicken Alfredo Pizza that turned out great and it was really easy.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza
receipe and photo from here.
1 - recipe
no fail pizza crust, prepared (see my notes below)
1 - cup prepared Alfredo sauce, or homemade
3 - tablespoon real butter (i used combo olive oil/butter)
1 - clove garlic, finely chopped
2 - cups grilled chicken breast strips, cubed
salt and pepper to taste
4 - provolone cheese slices (omitted)
4 - mozzarella cheese slices (just used sprinkle moz)
1 1/2 - cups shredded Italian Style cheese blend (omitted)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare pizza crust. Spray your pizza pan with non stick baking spray or brush with olive oil. Press the pizza dough into the pan and pre bake for 7 - 10 minutes. Remove crust from oven and set aside.

In a large pan melt the butter and then add the garlic. Cook the garlic for about 2 minutes and then add the cubed chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and saute' the chicken for about 5- 10 minutes on med-low. Remove from heat and set aside.

Pizza Assembly: Spread one cup of prepared Alfredo sauce evenly on the pre baked pizza crust. Add the sliced provolone and mozzarella cheese (alternating every other cheese). Add half of the cooked chicken and then the Italian cheese blend.

Top pizza with remaining cooked chicken and sprinkle on a bit more pepper. Place finished pizza in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until bottom crust is lightly browned. Remove from oven and let set for 2 to 3 minutes before cutting.

KERI's Notes:
i used a frozen (thawed) loaf of Rhode's bread dough. it was delicious. i used bertolli's alfredo sauce and didn't have two full cups of chicken. i really maybe, maybe, had one? so i added some bacon. YUM. i didn't have any provolone OR moz slices OR shredded italian cheese and just used what i had...which was about a cup of mozarella sprinkle cheese. and it was perfect.
next time i would use LESS of the alfredo sauce - maybe just 3/4 cup.

and then probably my favorite thing that i made was Chicken, Bacon Ranch Quesadillas. dave loved these, hallie didn't like the "white" stuff (ranch) and i loooooved these things. they were supposed to have avacados too, but dave and hallie won't touch them and i didn't have any anyways. oh well. next time for me!

i didn't follow this recipe much at all, but just used the name and made it as easy as possible. see my notes below!
Pinned Image

Chicken Bacon Avocado Quesadillas
receipe and photo here

8 medium-sized flour tortillas
1 pound chicken breasts (see below)
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste (see below)
8 strips of bacon, chopped
1 avocado, sliced (omitted)
Lime juice (omitted)
Shredded Monterey jack cheese (see below)
1. Fry bacon in a skillet over medium heat. Set bacon aside to drain on paper towels. Drain all but 1/2 tablespoon of drippings from the pan.

2. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder and add the chicken to the bacon drippings. Cook until chicken is golden brown and cooked through. Let chicken rest for 3 to 5 minutes, then dice very finely or shred. (You can always dice the chicken before you cook it, but I think it’s much more tender if I wait to chop it until after it’s cooked.)

3. Slice avocado and sprinkle with lime juice to preserve color. Top four tortillas with cheese, chicken, bacon, and avocado. Sprinkle with more cheese and top with other four tortillas. Cook each quesadilla until browned and crispy.

KERI's Notes:
i used some of those tyson's pre-grilled chicken strips. i must have had a coupon a few months ago because i apparently bought some, put them in the freezer and forgot about them. they were perfect for this. i also used some of the chipolte cheddar cheese slices that i was going to use for the calzones these were supposed to be. long story. not important.

so basically i took some tortillas, spread with ranch, topped with chicken, bacon and cheese. toasted in the skillet and chowed. so easy, so delicious.

and finally, i made a low/no carb recipe that i was really excited to try. Cream Cheese Pancakes. i ate these last night for supper while dave and hallie at their superbowl yumminess. and they were delicious! the first batch was super thing, so i changed my technique a little - just see my notes below.


Cream Cheese Pancakes
photo and recipe here
Ingredients:

2 oz cream cheese
2 eggs
1 packet stevia sweetener
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Put all ingredients in a blender or magic bullet.  Blend until smooth.  Let rest for 2 minutes so the bubbles can settle.  Pour 1/4 of the batter into a hot pan greased with butter or pam spray.  Cook for 2 minutes until golden, flip and cook 1 minute on the other side.  Repeat with the rest of the batter.  Serve with sugar free syrup (or any syrup of your choice) and fresh berries. 
KERI's NOTES:
these were so good. i zipped them up in my magic bullet and let them rest...but i should have let them rest longer. the first batch was really thin - good, but thin. so the next batch was much better. and i changed my technique...i poured them on, waited a minute and then poured some more batter on top. it made for a thicker, fluffier pancake.
i also got more like 12 small pancakes out of the ingredients above. next time i will double/triple the recipe and freeze the remainder. GREAT snacks or an easy breakfast.




2 comments:

Kelly said...

that pizza looks amazing. also, how on earth are those blondies ww? because who in their right mind is going to stop at one blondie? pssssh. they should account for that fact before claiming they are "healthy". ha! (also: those pancakes also look delicious. good thing they are cream cheese, because if they weren't i would be scrapping our lunch plans and making those.)

Keri Beth Mason said...

Hey girl! Those blondies are freaking awesome. YUM. So good.

The pancakes are SUPER thin - be warned. And they definitely need something sweet to go with them - i used sugar-free syrup. but i bet they would be good sprinkled with powdered sugar. YUUUUM.