Wendy's Lunch: Chili topped Baked Potato

Typically, I'm not one to go out to eat at a fast food restaurant ... unless I'm picking up a pizza. But lately I've been going to sporting events on the weekends and dinners have been on the fly. Trying to opt for "healthier options" while at fast food joints can sometimes be tasking but I try to keep a few staple meals for common fast food chains. One of my favorite fast food chains happens to be Wendy's (I find they have a lot more options), due to that one of my favorites happens to be a plain baked potato with a small chili.

I order my baked potato plain with nothing on it (I add a little salt and pepper to it) and a small chili with no cheese. For my Weight Watchers folks - a baked potato is 7 points plus values and a small chili is 4 points plus values. If you wanted to save a few calories/points plus values you could easily order a side salad in place of the potato.

Then to avoid eating a plain potato with nothing on it ... I empty the container of chili over the potato and am left with a really delicious meal which is both satisfying and filling. Delicious, simple and quite a classic staple.

Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter Cheesecake

I purchased this Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter Cheesecake in December and popped it into the freezer. The idea was to have it around the holidays ... but with all the craziness that comes with the holiday hustle and bustle the cheesecake sat in the freezer untouched. For Easter I decided to opt out of making a dessert and serving this up to my family. 

 

The cheesecake is sold frozen and the directions state to defrost in the refrigerator or defrost at room temperature. The defrost times vary depending on the method you choose. This is your classic cheesecake, with a unique twist - added cookie butter on top. The crust if a crumbly, yet firm graham cracker crust, the cheesecake layer is smooth and creamy and the cookie butter smeared on top gives the whole dish a sweet, ginger snap flavor. It is sweet, but not as sweet as say a turtle cheesecake.  A single serving of cheesecake is definitely enough to satisfy ones sweet tooth.

 

Overall it was a smash hit for our holiday dessert - everyone that had a piece was equally pleased with how scrumptious is was.

 

Just in case you are a little bummed this isn't sold in stores at the present time, have no fear, Trader Joe's has mini bite versions of this available in the freezer section. They're basically the same thing, just cut into square miniature bites instead of served as a whole cheesecake.

 

A serving, 1/6th of the cheesecake, is 410 calories or 11 points plus values.

Two Sauce (Alfredo & Red) Meat Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those dishes my mother would make every once in a while throughout my childhood and even into my adulthood.  Like most folks, my mom’s lasagna in my opinion is one of the best lasagnas in the history of lasagna.  I’ve made her recipe in the past, but hadn’t recreated it since I’ve been a Weight Watcher. A little over a month ago, I tried a small piece of lasagna my aunt had made and I was instantly hooked. It was a lasagna she had made by mixing together alfredo and spaghetti sauce while also incorporating her own different ingredients. I decided to use the general gist of mixing alfredo and spaghetti sauce together, but overall followed the general idea behind my moms lasagna … except I used no-boil noodles (which my mother has never used).

 

This lasagna recipe is no word of a lie – out of this world delicious! I shared the recipe with my mother, my 4-yr old niece, my mom’s friend and her husband … and the general consensus across the board was it was delicious. My niece save me a “2-thumbs up” which is a lot coming from a somewhat picky 4-year old. My mother mentioned the lasagna was SO delicious (which is a big compliment since she’s not the fondest of some of the healthier dishes I whip up).

I had a piece for dinner for a few days and individually wrapped up leftover pieces in saran wrap and tucked them away in the freezer. The lasagna freezes quite well … all that’s required is allowing it to defrost fully in the refrigerator before heating through in the microwave.

Serves 12. 11 points plus / serving

Ingredients:

• 1 pound 93% lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• ¼ cup diced green pepper
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes, strained
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 box No Boil Lasagna Noodles (I used the ridged edge Market Basket noodles – box contained 6 servings)
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 jar Ragu Light Parmesan Alfredo
• 1 jar (26 oz) Barilla Traditional sauce
• 2 cups par-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tbsp seasoned breadcrumbs
• 32 oz Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese (I used Sorrento)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (I used Cento)
• 1 ½ cups water

 Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a non-stick chef’s pan add onions, green peppers, garlic and ground beef. Cook over a medium-high flame until meat is cooked through.

Once meat is cooked through, add in drained diced tomatoes, Barilla spaghetti sauce, Ragu Alfredo sauce, 1 ½ cups of water (add half of the water to eat jar and shake up to get any residual sauce out of the jars). Stir to combine mixture together then season with salt, 1 tsp black pepper, oregano, garlic powder, and 2 tbsp of tomato paste. Mix mixture together until the tomato paste is melted into the sauce then turn off flame and set aside.

 

In a medium-large bowl, blend together ricotta cheese, ½ tsp black pepper, breadcrumbs, and 1 ¼ cups shredded mozzarella. Smooth mixture together until well combined.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layer 1 to 1 ½ cups of sauce in the bottom of your non-stick cooking sprayed pan. Layer in 4 lasagna noodles to cover the bottom of the pan. Gently smooth 1/3 of the cheese mixture over the noodles, holding the noodles in place as best as you can.  Top the cheese with ½ cup of sauce.

Repeat the noodle, cheese, sauce layers 2 more times (3 cheese/sauce layers in total). Top the last layer of cheese/sauce with the remaining lasagna noodles. Top with the top lasagna noodle layer with the remainder of the meat sauce.

Top the sauce with the remaining ¾ cup of shredded mozzarella.

Cover the pan with 2 layers of tinfoil and place the pan into the preheated oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

When done, remove the lasagna from the oven and allow to rest on the stovetop 5-15 minutes before cutting into and serving.

Cauliflower Pizza

I have heard so much about cauliflower pizza but was always a little skeptical. The typical gist when it first became an internet sensation was that the crust wasn’t crunchy enough. So I waited … and I finally found a recipe that I decided I’d give a try.  I changed up the recipe just a tad because I used what I had on hand and seasoned it a bit more with what I liked.

For the most part I followed the general recipe except I used reduced fat parmesan and did my own blend of spices within the pizza crust.

The most tedious part of this pizza was cutting up the cauliflower and pulverizing it in the food processor. Then again, I have a little peanut of a food processor so I had to do small little handfuls at a time. But once that was done, it was easy-peasy. Cooking the cauliflower in the microwave and straining the water out of it was simple. Although I will say, trying to get little rice size bits of cauliflower off a white kitchen towel was an interesting feat.  The greatest part?

The ENTIRE crust alone was only 8 points plus values! If the serving is cut down into 2, half the crust is 4 points plus values. Quite a drop in stats considering the calories/Weight Watchers points plus associated with pizza crust!  Here’s how I doctored my crust up a bit:

Ingredients:

-          ¼ cup reduced fat parmesan cheese

-          ¼ cup shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese

-          1 egg, beaten

-          1 small head uncooked cauliflower

-          ½ tsp salt

-          ½ tsp black pepper

-          1 ½ tsp garlic powder

-          1 tsp oregano

-          ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

When the crust was done I decided to top the pizza with ½ cup Barilla traditional spaghetti sauce (because it’s what I had on hand), 1/3 cup Kraft fat free mozzarella, 6 slices of Hormel turkey pepperoni, a few slices onions and peppers and some banana pepper rings. I returned the pizza to the oven just for the cheese to melt and when done, I cut it up to serve.

After all the toppings my entire pizza was 11 points plus values! Quite a steal considering 1 slice of your average take-out pizza is 7 points plus values.

Final verdict? The pizza was quite good … the crust wasn’t as crispy and crunchy as regular pizza crust and you could definitely tell it was cauliflower but it wasn’t bad.  Would I make it again? Sure, thing.

McDonald’s Southwest Grilled Chicken Premium McWrap

I was awarded a Klout perk to try the new McDonald’s Southwest Grilled Chicken Premium McWrap. I was interested in trying it because I’ve tried the Sweet Chili Grilled Chicken McWrap and found I quite enjoyed that one. I figured with “southwest” in the title, it was going to be spicy.

The McWraps come in both grilled and crispy (fried). I always opt for the grilled version because I just find that to be more satisfying. The grilled sandwich itself is described as “Grilled chicken breast with cilantro lime glaze, crunchy tortilla strips, fresh spring greens, sliced tomato, shredded cheddar jack cheese, and a spicy, creamy habanero ranch sauce — wrapped up in a soft, warm flour tortilla.” Upon ordering my McWrap I opted to order it without cheese and tortilla strips because it was just a personal preference.

Bringing my sandwich home I unwrapped it and was anticipating it to be a little spicy … after all McDonald’s slogan on their nutrition page for the sandwich says “add a little spice to your day.” Now, I’m not a wimp when it comes to spice – I can pretty much handle my own.  I took one bite and it was okay, but rather plain because the sauce wasn’t on that part. I took another bite and whoooooo-weeee! It was spicy. I took another bite and my mouth was on fire.  After taking a fourth bite my nose was running, my mouth was in a blaze (I felt like I could breathe fire), and I was just overall uncomfortable. McDonald’s calls this sandwich spicy? This sandwich takes that statement to a WHOLE new level. In fact this should come with a warning because this is not for the faint of heart … nor is it for those who, like me, enjoy a pretty moderate level of spice in their food.  It was too spicy to be enjoyable, let alone palatable.

One day while out with my mother she mentioned something about the new McWrap.  She’s not a spice lover, so I told her to not even bother. I actually told her, I feel this sandwich could be fed to people on Fear Factor – except those folks would have to eat 5+ of these before their head blew off their shoulders from all the internal “steam”.

The grilled southwest McWrap as is without any substitutions is 520 calories or 14 points plus values.

The grilled southwest McWrap as I ordered it without cheese and tortilla strips is 430 calories or 11 points plus values.

If you wanted to order it without cheese but with the tortilla strips it would be 470 calories or 12 points plus values.

I can’t say I’d ever order this again … in fact, I’ll stay as far away from it as I can.

QUESTION:

Have you given the new Southwest McWrap a shot? If so, how’d it fare on your taste buds?

McDonald’s Deluxe Quarter Pounder

I was sent a $5 McDonald’s Gift Card from Klout to use to purchase any of my favorites from McDonald’s.  One night, my boyfriend and I decided to head to McDonald’s and I originally went in wanting the grilled chicken ranch McWrap but upon arriving I was told that they didn’t have any grilled chicken.  Weird, right?  So, instead of driving well across town to the other McDonald’s, I decided to just order the Deluxe Quarter Pounder without the normally added cheese and mayonnaise. The Deluxe Quarter Pounder is a newer addition to the McDonald’s menu.

Low and behold when I got home, I realized my sandwich was without lettuce, and mustard but it did have a helping of bacon (which I kindly removed and discarded).  Since I can’t eat burgers plain, I added a little ketchup and mustard onto my sandwich and ate it as such.

I have to say it’s not the greatest thing on the planet, but its okay for a burger you’d order from McDonald’s. I wouldn’t run out and order another one, but if in the future I was in the mood for a McDonald’s burger and I wanted to make a meal out of it, I’d probably order another … of course without cheese and mayonnaise but I’d ask for an extra helping of veggies.

It is hefty on the points plus scale.  The sandwich, sold as is (with cheese and mayonnaise added) is 540 calories which calculates out to 14 points plus values.  The sandwich as I ordered it (without cheese and mayonnaise) was 440 calories and 11 points plus values.

Granted, as I admitted high particularly when you can have a bigger (and essentially better) burger at home – but if out on the go and McDonald’s is the chosen fast food joint and you want to be one in the crowd, it’s an option. Just as anything in the world is.

QUESTION:

Have you tried any of the new McDonald’s Quarter Pounders?

Chinese food for dinner in 15-minutes or less!

This is a very quick and easy dinner we had after running a few errands. After deciding grabbing something out was not really on our idea of tasty, we opted to rather eat something at home … so eat something at home we did.  Since nothing was out and ready to cook, we went to the handy dandy freezer and grabbed a few items that could be cooked up and served.  This is totally an “on the fly” type of meal, but regardless it was tasty.

The greatest part was that the entire meal was super easy and quick to throw together.  Dinner was ready and served in 15 minutes or less … much quicker than the pizza delivery guy!  The rice and pork could be cooked in the microwave or on the stove top. After prepping the dish, I decided to use canned green and wax beans as our vegetable side.  The entire meal was 11 points plus.  Even with the added sodium from this being a frozen meal, it was filling, tasty and did the job!

I had 1 cup of InnovAsian Cuisine’s Caramelized Ginger Pork for 7 points plus.  I had 1 cup of Trader Joe’s Vegetable Fried Rice for 4 points plus and I had a little under 1 cup of canned green and wax beans.

The pork was surprisingly pretty good – I was a little hesitant thinking it was going to be chewy and tough, but it wasn’t.  The sauce was flavorful with a little zip in the background from the ginger.  The rice is delicious – it’s one of my favorites and is constantly a repurchase item from Trader Joe’s.  Overall, this meal got 2 thumbs up,.

Quick “Chinese” food at home!

I love Chinese food … but I don’t necessarily like the unnecessary amount of fat and calories that come with some of my favorite dishes. With this I’ve learned to make some of my favorite Chinese dishes at home, to my own liking and I’ve also found some frozen items at the grocery store that I like to have on hand when I’m looking for something different.  This is a dinner we whipped together in under 25 minutes (it took that long because the chicken had to bake in the oven).

Mandarin Orange Chicken is one of the dishes I would like to get at a local Chinese buffet so when I saw this bag at Aldi, I picked it up to store in the freezer.  We baked them off in the oven and when done covered it in the mandarin orange sauce.  It was quite delicious because the chicken was more along the lines of a chicken finger.  The mandarin orange bringing a nice citrusy sweetness to the dish.  I had a 3 ounce serving for 6 points plus values.

The Vegetable Fried Rice is a frozen vegan (don’t be scared!) rice I had picked up at Trader Joe’s.  I normally make my own fried rice, but that takes preparation because the rice has to be stored in the fridge overnight to make it nice and cold.  So with a frozen fried rice, I can stir fry it up and we’re good to go.  This particular rice had me use a tablespoon of olive oil and stir fry it up in a pan.  It was quite delicious and will definitely be something I repurchase. A 1 cup serving is 4 points plus – 5 points plus if you consider the olive oil used to fry it up.

Of course with any meal I added in some steamed frozen broccoli because no dinner is a dinner without some sort of a fresh vegetable.  11 point plus for it all – far less than it would have been if we went out and got this dish at a restaurant.

QUESTION:

Do you make quick “Chinese” food at home?

Jamaican inspired dinner

This is a meal I whipped up one night when we had sirloin tips out to eat, but I wasn’t too sure what we were going to do with them or what to have with them.  My boyfriend, the only Irish person on the face of the planet (I kid) is not a fan of potatoes.  He’ll eat them once in a while if they’re made a certain way, but I’m big into baked potatoes … so veggies have to be included it’s going to be a potato going into the rubbish after dinner.

After some thinking I decided to do some stewed steak – but I took the lazy mans way out and did it in the oven.  I cooked up the trimmed sirloin (cut into chunks) with sliced up onions and peppers and seasoned with minced garlic, powder garlic, black pepper, McCormick steak seasoning, a pinch of sea salt, a splash of teriyaki sauce, a squirt of ketchup, and a squirt of BBQ sauce.  I don’t measure when I season my meats because one thing I’ve learned from watching both my father and mother cook is they season with their hands and their noses.  My dad can take anything out of a cabinet or refrigerator, mix it up and make the best tasting marinade or sauce ever – as can my mom.  So I’ve graciously adapted this skill into my life.  I throw what I think is necessary into a pan, mix and smell.  I then adjust seasonings purely based on the scent of the mixture.  If I think it needs something, I go in search of whatever it may need and add it to the pan.

I bake the meat in a 350 degree oven for roughly 15-25 minutes (depending on how much is in the pan).  The one great thing is it creates a bit of a “stew” in the pan which are just the juices or “gravy” which are delicious.  Normally in a Jamaican dish you’d cook this oven an open flame in a pan and create a thickened gravy or “stew” to spoon over your meat and your side dish.

I simple cooked my potatoes in a very quick and easy fashion I’ve grown to love – wash your potato and toss them in the microwave.  Cooking times vary based on the size of the potato and the amount of potatoes you’re cooking – but I’ve cooked a smaller single serving once in 4 minutes, whereas I’ve cooked 8 potatoes in the microwave in ~20 minutes.  You know when they’re done when you can pierce them easily with a fork.

After I started cooking I got an immediate craving for some Jamaican dumplings.  Jamaican dumplings are a hard dough dumpling.  They’re dense, harder, chewy and just delicious.  I’m a quarter Jamaican, so I’ve grown up eating these with a meal or just straight in a bowl with a little bit of butter or gravy on them.  It’s a mixture of flour, salt and water.  You knead the mixture until it’s really well combined (which feels like it takes forever) and not sticky.  You then roll them out into balls and flatten slightly OR you can roll them into log form (which is what I do with soups).  You then boil these in salted water until they begin to float … usually take about 20 minutes or so.

I then went the lazy mans way out and made canned corn and carrots.  Nothing wrong with canned veggies!

Overall dinner was 11 point plus.  3 for the potato, 1 for the corn, 5 for the sirloin, 4 for the Jamaican dumplings.  Completely delicious and amazing!

QUESTION:

Have you ever made a dish similar to this one – if not, would you?