Cherry Baked Oatmeal

I know I know...another Baked Oatmeal. Well I love them, so you are stuck reading about them! This has really changed my breakfast routine over the past year, I make a pan once every two weeks, slice it into 18 pieces and have it for breakfast almost every morning and before a yoga class to tide me over as I find myself not eating dinner until 9:30/10:00 on those nights. Really you can make any variation of baked oatmeal you want, I tend to go to the frozen fruit section and find whatever is on sale that week. I saw frozen cherries and just had to try and I am glad I did!



Cherry Baked Oatmeal: Serves 12-18

4 Eggs
3C Milk - I use FF or 1%
2-1/2C Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1/2C Brown Sugar
6C Uncooked Old Fashioned Oats
2C Frozen Cherries
1.5tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Salt
1tsp Vanilla Extract

Mix the eggs and milk together then add all remaining ingredients. I let it sit for 5 minutes so the oats can absorb some of the liquid. Pour into a greased 13×9 or 10×15 pan and bake at 350° for 60-70 minutes until the top of the oatmeal is evenly cooked. Remove from the oven and let it cool on the counter, then slice into 12-18 slices, and refrigerate until you are ready to eat. I personally like to eat them plain, with a tsp of butter, a TB of cream cheese, some honey or some maple syrup, I really haven’t found a way that I don’t like baked oatmeal!

Other Baked Oatmeal's to Try:

Gingerbread
Blueberry Lemon
Strawberry Banana
Banana Bread
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie

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WW: 6 Points Plus / serving @ 12 servings
4 Points Plus / serving @ 18 servings

Baked Shells with Meatballs

Sometimes I really want stuffed shells but am way too lazy to do all that assembling, this recipe smashes together a couple different recipes of mine to make a great combo. Now I'm just sad that I finished my bowl already!



Baked Shells with Meatballs: Serves 6

1 Batch Italian Meatballs
12oz Pasta - I used Shells - you can use any fun shape you want

Tomato Sauce:
30oz Tomato Sauce
15oz Diced Tomatoes - Drained
2TB Tomato Paste
1tsp Oregano
1/2tsp Basil
1/4tsp Garlic Powder - or 1tsp Minced Garlic (I was out)
Salt & Pepper

Cheese Mix:
1C Part Skim Ricotta
1/3C Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1/4tsp Basil
1/4tsp Oregano
1/4tsp Garlic Powder

First make the Italian Meatballs - instead of frying in a pan I scooped the meat into 1/2TB balls and placed on a greased cookie sheet and baked at 400° for 10 minutes, removed from the pan and set to the side.

While the meatballs are cooking bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente. At the same time in a medium sauce pot mix together all the sauce ingredients, bring up to a simmer, reduce heat to low and continue to simmer lightly stirring occasionally as the pasta cooks. Once the pasta has finished cooking, drain it, return it to the pot, then add the sauce to the pasta and add the meatballs as well. Stir to toss it all together.

While the sauce and pasta are cooking mix together the cheeses and seasonings and set to the side.

Once all the parts are ready pour the pasta and meatball mixture into a 13x9 casserole dish, then drop rounded spoonfuls of the cheese mix on top of the pasta. Place the casserole dish into the 400° oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese has melted slightly.

Remove from the oven and let it cool for approximately 5 minutes, serve and enjoy!

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WW: 11 Points Plus / serving

Maryland Crab Stuffed Shrimp

This past weekend my parents celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary! To celebrate my sister and I threw them a dinner party with the main meal consisting of salad, roasted carrots, rice pilaf and stuffed shrimp. While I knew my mom liked my roasted carrots and rice pilaf and that stuffed shrimp were something she liked to order in restaurants I had never actually made them before! The weekend before I had to "suffer" through trying 2-3 different recipes for the crab stuffing before I realized I was trying to reinvent the wheel. I was trying to make the perfect binder for the mini crab cake that would sit on top of the shrimp when it occurred to me that my mom always makes great crab cakes and she uses a mix from Old Bay that has the perfect blend of spices that isn't too salty and isn't too much filler - Marylander's are very big on a crab cake being mainly crab! So off to the grocery store I went, if your grocery store sells Old Bay they will probably have a box of Old Bay Crab Cake Classic Mix right next to it - grab it, it is good stuff. Also mayonnaise....Hellmann's is the way to go here, believe me. Now get ready to get messy!



Stuffed Shrimp: Makes Approx 60 Shrimp

3lbs 16/20 Count Shrimp - De-veined and Peeled
2lbs Maryland Lump/Back fin Crab Meat
2 Packages Old Bay Crab Cake Classic Mix
1C Hellmann's Mayonnaise

First you want to make the stuffing for the shrimp. If you have kids this is a great time to use them. You need to take the crab meat and very gently pick through it to ensure that there are no shells in the mix - there are always shells, so the kids can pick through the crab and discard them. Next mix the Old Bay Crab Cake Classic Mix with the mayo until well blended. Add the shell-less crab to the mix and very gently with your hands spread the mix throughout the crab meat trying to not break the crab. Set in the refrigerator while you prepare the shrimp.

Spray 1-2 cookie sheets with baking spray and set to the side, now take your shrimp which have been de-veined and butterfly them - with a paring knife very carefully cut along the cut the was made to remove the vein, you do not want to cut all the way through the shrimp, you just want to open the shrimp up to create a nice flat plate to put the crab on top of. When you finish with each shrimp lay it flat onto the baking sheet, cut side up and repeat with the remaining shrimp.

Once all the shrimp are butterflied get the crab mix back out of the fridge and place a heaping tablespoon of the crab mix into your hand and gently form into a ball, press down onto a shrimp and repeat until you are out of shrimp to stuff! I used my handy dandy cookie dough scoop to ensure I was getting the same amount of stuffing on each shrimp.

Heat your oven to 350° and bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the sheets from the oven and serve and enjoy!

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WW: 2 Points Plus for 1 Stuffed Shrimp
3 Points Plus for 2 Stuffed Shrimp
5 Points Plus for 3 Stuffed Shrimp
7 Points Plus for 4 Stuffed Shrimp
9 Points Plus for 5 Stuffed Shrimp
10 Points Plus for 6 Stuffed Shrimp

Parmesan Asparagus

I love asparagus and all winter it has been upwards of $4.00 / # which makes me sad so I have been doing without. When I saw it on sale at the grocery store I jumped at the chance for it. I often have it mixed into pasta and a sauce but this time I wanted it nice and simple so I had a great meal of Rice, Jerk Chicken and Parmesan Asparagus. Sometimes the simple meals are the best meals and this was definitely one of those days.



Parmesan Asparagus: Serves 2-3

1lbs Fresh Asparagus - Ends Trimmed
1tsp Olive Oil
Salt / Pepper
2TB Shredded or Shaved Parmesan Cheese

Rinse and trim your asparagus, I usually take off about 2" from the bottom of the stalk which tends to be really fibrous and not appetizing. Toss the asparagus with the oil, salt and pepper and place in either a large saute pan or on a baking sheet. I prefer to saute my asparagus but you can roast it for 10-15 minutes (depends on the thickness - you don't want it to get soggy!). I placed mine in a saute pan over medium to medium high heat in a single layer and cooked for about 10 minutes until the asparagus was a vibrant green, still had a crunch to it but was fully cooked through. Then as soon as I removed it from the heat I sprinkled the Parmesan Cheese over it. A little goes a long way and adds just one more layer of taste to this side dish. Serve & Enjoy!

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WW: 1 Points Plus / serving @ 2 or 3 servings

Italian Chicken Pasta Salad

One of my favorite summer salads is my mom's Pasta Salad, I was in the grocery store and the mood hit me, who cares that it was snowing outside and summer was a distant memory?! I grabbed the good looking fresh vegetables and headed towards the meat aisle, while my Mom's recipe doesn't have chicken in it I decided that it was necessary if I was going to have it as a full meal. This took it from the nice refreshing side dish to a great dinner that had me wishing for the first Summer BBQ.



Italian Chicken Pasta Salad: Serves 4

8oz Pasta
3/4lbs Chicken Breast - Cubed
1C Kraft Fat Free Zesty Italian Dressing
2TB McCormick Perfect Pinch Salad Supreme Seasoning
Cucumbers
Bell Pepper
Carrots
Celery
Cherry Tomatoes

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and set to the side. While the pasta is cooking place the chicken and 1/4C of the dressing in a large saute pan and cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked through.

Once the chicken and pasta is cooked toss them together with the dressing, seasoning and 2-3 cups of your favorite salad vegetables chopped up. I used cucumbers, bell pepper, carrots and celery. Stir it together and if you have the time let it all sit in the fridge for 30-40 minutes before serving - this isn't required but the longer the pasta sits in the dressing the better it gets! Serve and enjoy.

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WW: 8 Points Plus / serving

White Chocolate Apricot Scones

In my office we have a very nice intern who works holidays and summers and she brought us these wonderful White Chocolate Apricot Scones on her last day over the winter break and I had to have the recipe! I have never been a huge fan of scones because many of the ones I have had were chalky and overly dry. These were delicious and not dry at all and the mix of apricots and white chocolate works very well together. If you are not a big apricot or white chocolate fan you can swap and dried fruit and milk or dark chocolate chips as well.



White Chocolate Apricot Scones: 24 scones

3C Flour - Sifted
2.5tsp Baking Powder
1/2C Sugar
1/2tsp Baking Soda
1tsp Salt
3/4C Butter (1.5 Sticks)
1C Buttermilk
1/2C White Chocolate Chips
1/4C Chopped Dried Apricots

Sift together your flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda and salt, cut in the butter - I normally start by putting chunks of butter into the dry mix and smashing with a fork but I always resort to my hands to really break up the butter and mix into the flour mix. Mix the butter into the flour mix until it resembles coarse meal - ie: wet sand. Stir in the white chocolat chips and apricots, gradually add the buttermilk and with with your hands just until the dough holds together, you do not want to over mix. Drop the dough onto a greased baking sheet (I would suggest using an ice cream scoop to get even sized scones).

Bake at 450° for 10 minutes, serve and enjoy!

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WW: 4 Points Plus per Scone

Cheesy Garlic Shrimp & Veggies

Someday's you just want a big bowl of Mac-n-Cheese right? Well in an effort to be healthy I decided to have mine like an adult...filled with veggies and shrimp so I could call it health food while I indulged!



Cheesy Garlic Shrimp & Veggies: serves 4

8oz Pasta
1lbs Shrimp, Peeled & De-veined
1tsp Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic - Minced
2tsp Butter
1TB Flour
3oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/2C Chicken Stock
1lbs Bag Frozen Cauliflower & Broccoli

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook until al dente, drain and set to the side. While the pasta is cooking steam the vegetables - if you do not have a steamer pot just add about 1" of water to the bottom of a sauce pot, add the veggies and cover with a lid, while some will boil in the bottom of the pan the majority will steam.

In a saute pan add the olive oil with the garlic over medium heat for about 45 seconds until the pan is hot and the garlic fragrant. Add the shrimp with some salt and pepper and toss together. Cook for 4-6 minutes until the shrimp is completely cooked through. Remove to the side.

In a small sauce pot melt the butter, add the flour and whisk together to create a roux. Allow it to cook for 30-40 seconds continually whisking so the flour does not burn. Add the stock to the pan and continue to whisk, bringing to a boil. Allow the sauce to thicken to a gravy like consistency, remove from the heat and add the cheese, stirring to melt it into the sauce.

Now that all the parts are done add the veggies and shrimp to the pasta and pour the sauce on top, serve and enjoy!

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WW: 11 Points Plus / serving