Adventures In Cooking

So I have said this a million times in the past couple of weeks since Ive started actually cooking real food for myself, "I just want to take pictures of everything Ive been making and post them online... Well I did! Here are a few things I've made in the past few days that are super yummy and easy to make! Did I mention they are healthy? It literally amazes me that I am able to make healthy food, that is yummy, easy, and that I actually want to eat. Oh and did I mention I am not starving an hour later drinking water, and chewing gum trying to convince myself Im not hungry! Its true...

So I am not going to lie here and say that I thought of any of these things on my own. I didn't, I have never really cooked consistently on my own. A lot of the ideas I have gotten from other bloggers on Pinterest, and Weigh Watchers.com. I am not claiming to be a professional chef or anything, but here are some of the things Ive made. You can add or modify them in any way to suit your own taste. I also have not used any techniqual terms, and basically don't have a clue what I'm doing in the kitchen. So feed back, and ideas are always helpful for me :)...

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So the first food adventure I took was making chicken fried rice!! I got the basis for this recipe from weight watchers.

This is not a photo a took, its from the website, but mine was very similiar. The ingredients I used were:

One pound bag of stir fry vegetables

One 14 oz can of bean sprouts

Frozen boneless skinless chicken breast

2 eggs

3 cups of cooked brown rice

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

8oz of boneless skinless chicken breast

I microwaved the frozen veggies with a little water, until they were thawed.

I grilled the chicken on my George Forman grill without using any extra fat, and cut it into large chunks.

I then cooked two large eggs in a frying pan using cooking spray. I let them cook a little and once they began to cook I started stirring them. Once the eggs were done, I added the vegetables, cooked brown rice, and the soy sauce into the frying pan. Once everything was mixed nicely and cooked all the way through it was served...

2 cups is about one serving, and this makes about 8. Each serving is about 4-5 weight watchers points.

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This is what I like to call my better than McDonald's oatmeal. This is not really cooking, but since I eat oatmeal on a daily basis, I was all excited with myself for getting creative!

I used:

Meijer Brown Sugar, High Fiber Instant Oatmeal (but really any kind will do)

1/4 cup of craisins

1 small granny smith apple

8 chopped almonds

It is the perfect blend of sweetness and it keeps you full for hours in the morning. This makes one serving and is 8 weight watchers points. I don't always use the almonds, and that will also save you two points!!

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This idea I got from Pintrest, Im not exactly sure which blog it was, but Ive seen it on there a few times. It is crock pot chicken. I made tacos, and quesadilla's from it

I used:

 Thawed (previously frozen) boneless skinless chicken tenders

1 packet of taco seasoning (any kind will do)

1 16 oz jar of salsa (any kind will do)

The directions I found online said to cook this all in the crock pot on high for 6 hours. I cooked it on high for about 2 hours, but it may depend on your crock pot, or how much you are making. (This was the first time Ive ever used a crock pot, so I have no idea).

Once the chicken was cooked all the way through I took two forks and pulled all the pieces apart.

The tacos and quesadilla's have the same basic ingredients:

2oz of the crock pot chicken

La Tortilla High Fiber Low Carb Tortillas

Diced Tomato

Lettuce

Onion

Low Fat Cheese (I used less than one 1/2 serving for the tacos)

Greek Yogurt (sour cream substitute, I used about 2 tbsps)

For the quesadilla's I added an 2 full servings of cheese and baked it in the oven until the tortilla was crispy and the cheese was melted. For the tacos I just put the ingredients in the tortilla.

Each taco and quesadilla is one serving, the taco's are 5 weight watcher points, and the quesadilla's are 8 because of the extra cheese.

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This is a single serving of Cookie Dough Oatmeal Cake

This recipe I got from the blog chocolatecoveredkatie.com. She has lots of deserts, and yummy stuff I can not wait to try!!! Although this has cake right in the title, I just saw the oatmeal part, and made it for breakfast! 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oats (50g)

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

 1 1/2 T Sugar Free Maple Syrup 

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (60g) (Or sub banana)

1/4 cup skim milk

1/8 tsp salt

Mix ingredient together in a mixing bowl and bake in either two muffin tins, or in one large oven safe bowl on 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. I divided the mixture into two muffin tins and added sugar free cool whip it was yummy!!

This makes one serving which is 8 weigh watchers points, but if you divide it in two muffin tins you have two 4 point treats :)

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Smoothies!!!

So believe it or not, this is the same smoothie, except the one on the left has spinach in it. Both taste about the same, and if you are tracking weigh watchers points both are 0 points.

Ingredients:

1 large handful of frozen unsweetened mango

1 large handful of frozen unsweetened strawberries

1 large banana

2 Cups raspberry ice crystal light (any flavor will do)

Ice to taste

** If you are adding spinach, I used about 2-3 cups chopped

So these have been my adventures so far...