Friday, January 20, 2012

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies or Muffins





Have you had these cookies before? If yes, this is just a friendly reminder. If no, this recipe will change your life :) These cookies are fabulous, easy and work in the weight watchers point system for treats that I can have (sparingly). It's just a throw together and yet tastes so good. There is also a variation you can use that I have not tried out but it is using a chocolate cake mix instead of spice and making them into 12 muffins. I will be trying that at a later date. Whether you are trying to watch your weight or not, these little gems are amazing.







Only three ingredients.










Using a medium sized bowl mix the dry cake mix and the pumpkin together well by hand. Add the choco chips. I love the mini chips because then you have an explosion of chocolate in every bite but the regular ones work too. I use semi-sweet because they are my favorite.








Drop by spoonsful onto a cookie sheet and bake. I used a little toddlers spoon so they are smaller. They are about two bites or you can just shove the whole thing in your mouth at once. Just sayin.







YUMMY!!! Try them out. If you love pumpkin and chocolate together you will LOVE these.



Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (or muffins)

1 Spice Cake mix
1 15 oz. can Pumpkin
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix dry cake mix and pumpkin by hand. Add chocolate chips. Drop by spoonsful onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350* for 12 minutes.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Weight Watchers Broccoli Beef






Well, so I jumped on the Weight Watchers band wagon and I guess if I am going to keep this blog going, I'm going to have to try recipes that fit into my new lifestyle. I hope you will still try these out. I will be a good judge of if they are good or not and I probably WON'T be posting anything that is not good. So I tried out this broccoli beef recipe and totally loved it. It is easy to make and very very tasty. I love this kind of stuff anyway so it will fit right into my recipe book. I was lazy and didn't take a bunch of pics with this one but I hope you will try it anyway. I did make a couple of changes though. Some out of necessity and some out of laziness. It calls for fresh ginger and I didn't have any so I used my ground ginger and used only about half. I used beef broth instead of chicken-that just seemed like a no brainer to me. And I used garlic powder instead of the fresh stuff-that was the laziness. I also added onions because I didn't have enough broccoli and didn't want to go out into the cold to buy more (the laziness again). I liked it and think next time I will also add fresh mushrooms. Add what you like or keep it simple. Just sayin:)




Give it try. Even if you aren't watching what you eat, this is a good recipe to hold onto. You can serve it with rice, noodles, or eat it plain. Have fun:)


Weight Watchers Broccoli Beef

Ingredients
2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch, divided
1/4 tsp table salt
3/4 pound(s) uncooked lean trimmed sirloin beef, thinly sliced against the grain
2 tsp canola oil
1 cup(s) reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided
5 cup(s) uncooked broccoli, florets (about a 12 oz bag)
1 Tbsp ginger root, fresh, minced
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/4 cup(s) low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup(s) water


• On a plate, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch and salt; add beef and toss to coat.
• Heat oil in a large nonstick wok or large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and stir-fry until lightly browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes; transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
• Add 1/2 cup broth to same pan; stir to loosen any bits on food on bottom of pan. Add broccoli; cover and cook, tossing occasionally and sprinkling with a tablespoon water if needed, until broccoli is almost crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Uncover pan and add ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes; stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• In a cup, stir together soy sauce, remaining 1/2 cup broth, remaining 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch and water until blended; stir into pan. Reduce heat to medium-low and bring to a simmer; simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
• Return beef and accumulated juices to pan; toss to coat. Serve. Yields about 1 1/4 cups per serving