Secret Recipe Club: Jalapeno Popper Chicken Burgers

Hello and welcome to my newest installment for the Secret Recipe Club! For those who may be unaware, this is a group of food bloggers that are "secretly" assigned a special blog each month to choose a recipe and recreate it in their own kitchen. Sounds like love, doesn't it? :)

I was so excited for my assignment this month. I was given The Lady Behind The Curtain. I had been following her blog for a little while and she always has such great ideas and recipes. You should check her out!

After a long decision, I finally decided to do my version of her Jalapeno Popper Burgers, delicious looking in their own right, but hubby doesn't like cream cheese. I went with a different cheese for the filling and the results were yummy.


Ingredients:
Burger:
1 lb ground chicken ( you could use 100% ground chicken breast to lighten it up some more)
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 tsp garlic pepper grinder seasoning
Filling:
4 tsp diced jalapenos, jarred with juice
1/2 cup shredded Colby and Monterrey jack cheese
Coating:
33g (or 3 servings) shake and bake coating (optional)

Preheat oven 400.
Mix Burger ingredients together, combining well.
Mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl, mixing well, breaking cheese in to small pieces, until it begins to stick together.
Measure burger mixture in to 5-6 equal size portions; do the same with the filling. Make flat patties out of the burger mixture and spoon one serving of the filling in to the center of each. **if the burgers don't see to want to close around the cheese, set aside some of the filling. you can place it on top of the burger when you bake it**Wrap meat around cheese and pepper until well sealed. Set aside. On a plate or something :) spread out the coating and coat each side of each burger. Place each burger on a baking sheet, sprayed with pan spray and bake at 400 for 20 minutes, turning halfway. Serve and enjoy :)

Makes 5 burger @ 5 PPV each
Makes 6 burgers @ 4 PPV each

Salsa Egg Bake

Need a new breakfast recipe? I know I did.
This was simple, yummy and filling. And Ed liked it; SCORE!
Use Egg Beaters to slim it down if you want.


Ingredients:
6 large eggs
2.2 oz (63 g) Oscar Mayer Smoked Ham Lunch Meat
4 tbs hot salsa
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup (28g) Colby Jack Shredded Cheese
1 tbs water

Preheat oven to 375; spray 8x8 glass pan with pan spray.
Beat eggs in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add water and salsa. Beat until well combined. Slowly mix in the flour until most lumps are gone. Pour egg mixture in to glass dish. sprinkle with ham, top with cheese.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and inserted knife comes out clean.
Serve and Enjoy :)

makes 4 servings @ 5 PPV
makes 6 servings @ 3 PPV
or if you are a hearty eater (Ed I am looking at YOU!) 2 servings @ 10 PPV

Skinny Monkey Bites

We have been trying to find "better"snack alternatives for both Ed and myself and in the process stumbled across this recipe at Once a Month Mom. The ingredients are basic and the prep is easy enough. Definitely a winner for me!

Ingredients:
3 bananas, mushed (mine weighed 406 g total, without peel)
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (I used skippy natural)
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat over to 350. Mush banana in a large bowl. Once smooth, mix in the peanut butter, apple sauce and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl combine the oats and the cocoa til well combined. Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients thoroughly. Let mixture stand for 15-20 minutes ( I skipped this step, impatient me!) Spoon out by teaspoon fulls on to cookie sheet, bake for 10-12 minutes.

Original recipe states yield 30, I got 33 out of mine.
based on 33 bites:
1 is 1 Points+
2 is 2 Points+
3 is 4 Points+
4 is 5 Points +

I enjoyed these; Ed said they are very banana-y.

Secret Recipe Club: Maple Ginger Pork Loin

Good Morning and welcome to my 4th installment of the Secret Recipe Club. If you are unfamiliar, each month, we are assigned a "secret" blog from which we pick  a recipe and make it. Who's blog you have stays secret to them until the reveal date. It is so much fun!

For September, I was assigned Glenda's Blog Busy At Home. She has so many great tips and tricks for all sorts of things all over the house as well as great recipes. I chose to make her Maple Glazed Pork Loin. She prepped her's to freeze and cook in the crockpot. I did the same thing, but then discoverd my baby crock pot had a crack in the bottom of it, so I baked it in the oven instead. So I pulled the loin out of the freezer and allowed it to thaw and marinade before baking.This was such a great hit! My hubby enjoyed the mash up of all the flavors!


Ingredients:
1.5 lb Boneless Pork Loin
1/2 cup BBQ sauce ( I used Kraft light)
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup
1/2 tsp orange extract
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 sweetner packets ( I used splenda)

Mix all of the ingredient, except the loin) until well combined. Place loin in a ziplock and pour the marinade over it. Freeze to cook in the crock pot, or bake later. Or you can allow it to sit in the fridge and marinade over night.

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 375. Spray an oven safe pan and pour the meat and marinade, coating the meat well. Bake covered for about 1 hour -1 hour 15 minutes. Uncover, baste and continue baking for another 15 minutes or internal temp is safe.

Allow meat to rest for about 10-15 minutes, then slice while still hot, allowing the chops to rest in the remaining marinade. Serve and enjoy!

Makes 6 servings @ 5 Points+ Each.

also linked at:
Fall Crawl Day

Choco-Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

When I made the original version of this I envisioned it with chocolate, so I finally went and bought some baking cocoa powder. Totally Rad. Totally!

1/8 cup oats
2 tablespoons dry PB2
2/3 cup 1% milk
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 frozen banana.
1 tablespoon water

In a blender, dump in the oat and blend til powdery. add in remaining ingredients and blend til smooth.
Enjoy!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this. Not over the top sweet. Fabulous!

1 serving at 4 Points+

Butter Pecan Pumpkin Cake

So, the big debate...How do YOU say it? It is Pee-can or Pee-con? For me it depends on the context. I know that makes absolutely no sense, but I figure I can put that off on being raised in the land of "might could, might should". For instance. If I want a pecan, I want a Pee-can. BUT if I want a slice of the Butter Pecan Pumpkin Cake, I REALLY want a slice of the Butter Pee-con Pumpkin Cake. Any who, enough of that! On with the recipe  =)

Ingredients:
1 Butter Pecan Box Cake Mix
2 eggs
3/4 cup Pumpkin Puree
1 1/4 cup water


Preheat oven to 350 and spray pan with pan spray. Mix all ingredients except the box mix in blender until smooth. Mix wet mix with dry mix until well combined. Pour in pan and bake as directed on box, testing occasionally until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool, serve and Enjoy!

TOTALLY YUMMY!
12 servings @ 5 Point+ each
15 servings @4 PPV each
18 servings @ 3 PPV each

Bourbon Chicken

My BFF Lorin posted that she had made Bourbon Chicken. Recipe originally found over at Mom's Who Think. I figured I would half the recipe and have enough for a few lunches and that went well until I started measuring for the sauce. BUT!! It still turned out great, very saucy!


Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (cut in to bite sized pieces)
2 tbl olive oil
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tbl ketchup
1 tbl cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce

Heat oil in large skillet.
Add chicken pieces and cook til lightly browned. Remove chicken
Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.
Add chicken and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Serve over hot rice.
ENJOY!

Just the chicken:
4 Servings @ 7 PPV each
5 Servings @ 5 PPV
(if I had made it with 2 lbs of chicken like the original recipe called for, it would have made 8 servings @ 5 PPV or 10 servings @ 4 PPV each)
(as pictured above chicken, rice and broccoli is 9 PPV)

Secret Recipe Club: Pumpkin Granola Bars

Welcome to my third installment of the Secret Recipe Club. It is always so exciting to get my assignment, and this month I was given Big Fat Baker. I love her blog! She has so many yummy things that it was REALLY hard to chose one thing. Some of my other top picks are Strawberry Rhubarb Crostata, Pumpkin Butter, and Light Banana Bread Pudding ( I plan on making all of those at some point!)

From her blog, I chose to make her Organic Pumpkin Granola Bars
(She made hers with all organic ingredients)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cup oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 8x8 or 9x9 pan, set aside.

Combine oats, spices and salt together; Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together then brown sugar, pumpkin, honey and vanilla til smooth.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together until all of the oats are moist. Evenly press oat mixture in the the bottom of the pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

Let them cool, then cut them using a sharp knife.

Makes 10 bars @ 4 Points+ each
or
8 Bars @ 5 Points+ each

I really enjoyed these! They came out soft and chewy. Depending on how you like your spices, you might want to tone down the allspice or the cloves. I thought these were great!

linked at:
melt in your mouth monday
Eat at home: ingredient spotlight PUMPKIN!!

Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes

Because the world can never have enough Oatmeal Pancake variations!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 egg
cinnamon
1 packet of sweetener
a drop of almond extract
drop of vanilla extract
enough water to reach pancake batter consistency
palm full frozen or fresh blueberries


Directions:
Preheat & spray pan over medium heat. Mix all above ingredients EXCEPT the blueberries. Pour in to preheated pan and spread evenly. Drop the blueberries in, spaced as you wish (if they are frozen, you don't have to thaw them, PROMISE!) Cook on each side for about 3 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

4 Points Plus for the awesome pancake!

Smoke House Maple Grilled Chicken

I was so excited to find McCormick's Smoke House Maple Grill Seasoning. It will be nice to be able to mix up some different flavors.

I started with:

1 1/8 lb boneless skinless chicken breast (3 large breasts, cut in half lengthwise)
1/4 cup Shredded Cheese (your choice of flavor) made with 2% or lower milk
Smoke House Maple Grill Seasoning

Preheat grill to medium heat. Sprinkle chicken with a good coating of the seasoning on both sides. Cook for 10-15 minutes flipping once about half way through, and adding cheese to melt in the last minute or two.

Serve and enjoy!

2 pieces = 5 Points+

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I found an awesome fish shaped cake pan, so I had to make something in it!
This cake is AWESOME and super moist.

Ingredients:

1 box (18.25 oz) Pillsbury Moist Supreme Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
2 eggs
1.5 cups grated zucchini (156 g)
1/2 teaspoon orange extract (or vanilla or almond would be good too!)
Sprinkle of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix all ingredients besides cake mix in blender and blend until smooth.
Mix wet mix to dry mix and stir until well combined. Pour into a cake pan that has been sprayed with pan spray. Bake for about 30-35 minutes.

12 servings @ 5 Point+ each
15 servings @4 PPV each
18 servings @ 3 PPV each( same all the way up to 24 servings?)
YUM!

linked at:
melt in your mouth monday
so sweet sunday
sweet indulgences sunday
sweets for saturday

Seven Grain Cinnamon Pancakes

I LOVE Tendabake's 7 Grain Pancake and Waffle Mix. SO I was really stoked when I saw Bilo had it on sale for pretty cheap. I normally will cook with this and not cut it with flour, but since Hubby and Matthew, our nephew, were eating them too, I figured I would let them try the mix this way. Super easy and they turned out great. We all enjoyed them!

Ingredients
1 cup (164 g) Tendabake 7 Grain Pancake Mix
1/2 cup white flour (I used self rising)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Sprinkle allspice
1 1/3 cup milk (I used Almond breeze)

Preheat your skillet/griddle to 350. Mix the DRY ingredients together first in a mixing bowl until well incorporated. Stir in the milk, gently. Spray griddle or skillet with pan spray, then pour on to griddle. Should make 2 batches of 6 pancakes each (or 12 pancakes total)

Each Pancake is 2 Points+ (even if you have more than one, the calcs still seem to agree 1=2 2=4 3=6, etc :D  ) The mix also says you can use water instead of milk, but I re-figured it that way, and the PPV stay the same!

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

I saw this recipe over at This Chick Cooks and KNEW I had to try it! It is easy enough to make and very tasty. I think I will try making it with PB2 Next time and maybe add in some cocoa powder!

1/8 cup (10g) oats
1/8 cup (26g) Peanut Butter (just less than 2 tablespoons)
2/3 cup milk ( I used almond breeze)
1 frozen banana

Put Oats in blender and process til powdery. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend til smooth. Serve and Enjoy!

1 serving at 6 Points+ as prepared above.

Eggplant Lasagna

Who says PBS has to be boring? In our world without cable, I was perusing the free antenna tv stations and stumbled on this recipe for Eggplant Lasagna. Now, I must say, the dude cooking had a grill pan, that he cooked his eggplant in, and he probably used more oil than I did, but I think I still turned out pretty good. Ed liked it, even said it was better than he thought it was going to be! I think Next time, I will use OIL and I will use less sauce, and less cheese, as it wasn't very lasagna-ie in texture. But still tasty, nonetheless. I think that some Turkey Pepperoni slices in there would be delish!

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, cut in thin slices, lengthwise
1 jar Light Ragu Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce (1 lb 10 oz size)
20 g or 8 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
18 g light mozzarella shredded cheese
McCormick Italian Herb Seasoning Grinder (or other Italian spices)
(optional)
1/2 lb ground turkey, browned

Preheat oven to 450.
Coat with oil spray and seasoning; Grill Eggplant slices til tender.
In an 8x8 glass baking dish, that has been sprayed with pan spray, assemble lasagna, layering eggplant, sauce, cheese, repeat. Bake for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve and enjoy!


makes 4 servings @ 5 Points+ each without the turkey.
makes 4 servings @ 8 Points+ each with the turkey.

I think I will skip the turkey and throw in some pepperoni next time!

Linked at :
fit and fabulous fridays

Pina Colada Chicken

Drool worthy? I think so. Super Easy and Super yummy.
Recipe inspiration from Healthy Delicious. I have made it the fried way, but I honestly think I like the baked version better. Less mess =)

Ingredients:
326 g Thin Sliced Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast(Sorry! grams easier than ounces at this point. I started with .92 lb chicken, but didnt use 3.2 oz?)
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
30g sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup pineapple juice (used about 1/4 cup)

Preheat oven to 400.
Mix panko and coconut together
Coat both sides of chicken in pineapple juice then in crumb mixture. Place on baking sheet lined with foil.
Bake for 15-20 or until cooked through and golden brown. (it is perfectly acceptable to stand by the oven and savor the smell!) Carefully remove from foil so the bottom layer of coconut doesn't stick!
ENJOY!

this was SUPER yummy. I will be doing this again. I will get Ed's verdict when he gets home from school :)
Makes 4 servings @ 4 Points+ each. As you can See below, he liked it! :)

Linked @
Hunk of Meat Monday
This Chick Cooks
Made it on Monday
Cast Party Wednesday
Full Plate Thursday
Fit and Fabulous Friday
Melt in your Mouth Monday
Mop it up Monday

Cream of Wheat Pancake with Strawberry Blueberry Sauce

<3 'Nuff said!

Ingredients:
1 Cream of Wheat Pancake
Palmful Fresh Blueberries
3-4 fresh strawberries, stems removed, diced
1 packet sweetner
sprinkle of cinnamon

Rinse berries together in collander. Sprinkle with sweetner ( I used Splenda with fiber) and cinnamon. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Put Berries in a cup and mash with a wire wisk. You can use a blender or a food processor, but I like the chunks in my sauce, plus I dislike washing the blender if not necessary! Mush to desired consistency, and top pancake with sauce. Serve and Enjoy

Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm! Sauce = 0 Points+
Pancake = 6 Points+


Featured on:

Linked at:
Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Full Plate Thursday

Apple Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Pancakes with Strawberry Blueberry Cream Cheese Sauce

Whether you make the sauce to go on it or not, you NEED to try these. Easy, simple, just as the other oatmeal pancake recipes I have posted. The secret ingredient is Quaker Hearty Medleys Apple Cranberry Almond Instant Oatmeal. One of the Walmart's here near town had it on clearance over the weekend, so I bought a box. Eating just as regular oatmeal: Fabulous
Eating it as a pancake: Super Fab =)

Pancake ingredients:
1 packet Apple Cranberry Almond Quaker Oatmeal
1 egg
enough water to get batter to desired consistency

Mix ingredients together and pour in to a preheated skillet that has been sprayed with pan spray. Cook 3-5 minutes on each side or until done.

While your pancake is cooking, get:
3 strawberries, rinsed, pat dry, stems removed and diced
a palm full of blueberries, rinsed, pat dry
1 oz light cream cheese

Nuke the cream cheese for about 10 second to soften, dump in the berries and mush together, leaving as chunky or as smooth as you want.

Pancake = 6 Points+
Cream Sauce = 3 Points+
or 9 Points+ for all of it.
Pretty Steep for me for breakfast but it is SO good! :)
Indulge, live a little!

linked at:
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Heart Smart: Recipes for a Healthy Heart

Oven "fried" Zucchini Chips

When I started chopping the zucchini for the Zucchini Stir fry, I realized that almost 2 pounds of squash chops up to be a lot more than I thought! Ed and I both love Fried Squash, and I have been wanting to try Zucchini Fries, but I didn't have all of the ingredients, so I figured I would try a basic simple recipe and see how it went. It is definitely NOT Oil Fried Squash, but it did turn out pretty tasty!

Ingredients:
175g Zucchini, thinly sliced in rounds
1/4 cup 1% milk
1/4 cup italian bread crumbs


Preheat oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with foil. Spray lightly with PAM. Dip each squash round in the milk, then coat with bread crumbs, spacing them evenly apart on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, then flip and cook for another 7 or so.

Makes 2 servings @ 2 Points+ Each