Tortellini Primavera

We loved this dinner, and I can not wait to make it again! It was simple, with ingredients we always have on hand, and it was so flavorful and delicious. The leftovers were great for lunch the next day also, which doesn't always happen with pasta. Head on over to Annie's Eats for hundreds of other great recipes just like this. Seriously, I love her blog, she is always posting something that I just have to make!



Tortellini Primavera

Ingredients:
1 cup mushrooms, chopped (omitted for Michael's sake)
½ cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp. margarine
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tomato, chopped
¼ cup milk
¼ cup parmesan cheese
1 t. Italian seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
family size cheese-filled tortellini, cooked and drained
1 large chicken breast cooked and cut into bite size pieces (not in original recipe, I added for Michael)

Directions:
Heat margarine in a skillet. Add mushrooms, onion and garlic and saute. Add all remaining ingredients except tortellini. Heat until all have melted together and are well blended. Cook until the mixture just begins to boil, stirring occasionally. Stir in tortellini.

Make your own calazones!

This has become a regular in our dinner rotation, and for good reason. There are very few meals that Michael ever requests, but this is one of them, and I am happy to oblige because they are really easy and quick. I save time by using Trader Joes pre-made pizza dough so all we have to do is roll it out, but if you want to go the homemade route, knock yourself out. Calazone fillings can be whatever you want, be creative, the possibilities are endless. Just don't skimp on the ricotta, that is my favorite part!



Calazones

1 container of part skim ricotta cheese
2 TB Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
pizza dough
grape tomatoes halved
mozzarella
green onions diced
olives diced
red and green peppers diced
pepperoni
sausage fully cooked
1 egg white
marinara sauce for dipping

To start roll out dough and cut into two halves. Please realize now that this does not make traditional shaped calazones, more like funky circle/squares. If you want them shaped traditionally divide your dough into two pieces before rolling out into 2circles. I just don't have time for that!
In a small bowl mix together ricotta, Parmesan, egg, basil, and oregano.
On one half of your pizza dough spread 1/2 cup or so of ricotta mixture. Top with ingredients of your choice, leaving just enough room to fold one side over the ingredients and seal, like making a little pocket.
When all your edges are securely sealed brush with egg white and then bake in 425 oven for 15-20 minutes, until crust begins to brown. Let cool and then enjoy with a side of marinara for dipping.

More soup from the crock pot

I LOVE this soup, and I love that it sits in my crock pot all day while I work and I come home to an awesome filling meal. This recipe makes a lot of soup, but I love to freeze it in individual tupperwares so I have lunch for work. This recipe is supposed to be like the Olive Garden's Pasta Fagioli, but mine is always thicker then theirs, even more like a chili I guess. So anyways, I prep everything at night and just put it in the fridge, so in the morning before work all I have to do is put it in the warmer and let it do its magic.

Pasta Fagioli

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb cooked ground beef
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup of chopped onion
3 stalks celery chopped
40 0z can of tomato juice
14 oz can of beef broth
2 cans of kidney beans with liquid
1 can of white kidney beans with liquid
26 0z can of tomato sauce
8 0z of cooked macaroni noodles
oregano, basil, paprika, and garlic to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Add all ingredients except for noodles to crock pot and let simmer on low all day. 1 hour before serving add cooked macaroni noodles.
Serve with Parmesan cheese and bread sticks for dipping.
And if your married to a husband like mine, he will need a sandwich to go with it, because soup is not enough to fill him up, or so he says.

Serious comfort food...done lighter!

This recipe for alfredo sauce is all over the Weight Watcher's website for good reason. It is incredibly easy, and delicious. We added some sauteed scallops, shrimp, and sun dried tomatoes and served it over tomato flavored fettuccine. Something else that I also love about this recipe is that it is just for 2 servings, since alfredo sauce left overs are never great warmed up. Enjoy.

LAUGHING COW ALFREDO SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:
3 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Garlic & Herb
3/4C skim milk
1 tbsp reduced fat Parmesan cheese
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder


INSTRUCTIONS:
In a medium-sized saucepan, combine all the ingredients over a low heat, until everything is melted and the sauce is velvety smooth, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately over hot cooked pasta of your choice

Homemade pesto, the Weight Watchers way!

We love pesto in our house on sandwiches, in wraps, on pasta, you name it and we have probably tried it. But it is expensive to buy prepared and it is SO fattening, so I did some investigating and found this wonderful recipe that lightens it up quite a bit, yet it still tastes great! We made ours into a cream sauce (which was not Weight Watchers friendly) and served it over tortellini with chicken and broccoli. It was excellent! Pesto also freezes really well, my favorite method is to freeze it in ice cube trays, then you just pop out however many you need, instead of defrosting a whole batch. I actually intend to freeze some today if I ever get off the nest and my blog. Enjoy the lighter side of pesto!

Pesto

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tbsp pine nuts
2 cup basil, leaves, fresh
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium garlic clove(s), peeled
1/2 tsp table salt


DIRECTIONS:
Place pine nuts in a small skillet and set pan over medium heat. Cook until nuts are golden, shaking pan frequently to prevent burning, about 3 minutes. Transfer nuts to a plate to cool.
In a blender or food processor, combine nuts, basil, broth, cheese, oil, garlic and salt; process until smooth and thick. Yields about 1/4 cup per serving at a points value of 2. Makes 4 servings.

*If you want to make it into a cream sauce as we did, we mixed 2 cups of 2% milk with 1/2 cups of pesto and let simmer on stove top. I added a little cornstarch to help it thicken up.*