Un-Taco Taco Salad

For those days when you want a big salad and have very little PP left. This is not a recipe, just more like guidelines...

What you need:
Salad. I use this organic "Half-and-Half" stuff from Wal-mart- it's half bag-type salad, half spinach
Your fave salsa. I use a black bean and corn salsa
Taco sauce, cheese (optional), and taco seasoning (also optional)
Grilled chicken strips. I use organic pre-cooked fajita strip stuff

Pile in big bowl as desired. Mix up. Eat! If you like crunch, you can crumble a few tortilla chips on top OR get a small oven-safe bowl, spray outside with cooking spray, put a healthy tortilla on top of it and mush around the sides of the bowl, put it in the oven and bake until crispy. (Obviously, put the bowl upside-down, form tortilla around it, bake). Voila! A zero-to-very low PP but filling salad! Another tasty tip: squeeze a little lime juice over everything!

Soft Taco Bake

4 Ole' Xtreme Wellness High Fiber, Low Carb tortillas
1 lb extra lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
1/4 cup WeightWatchers 4-Cheese Mexican style shredded cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown and drain ground beef or turkey. Add taco seasoning, as directed on packet (calls for water), and let simmer 3 to 4 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, warm refried beans in a medium bowl in the microwave, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
When meat and beans are ready, layer ingredient in an 8x8 or 9x9 glass baking pan:

1 tortilla
1/2 c beans, spread to edges
1/2 c meat, evenly distributed

Repeat, ending in meat. Evenly sprinkle top with cheese, and bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Cut into 4 equal parts (it's easiest to do this corner to corner, diagonally). Serve, topping as desired. Suggested toppings are shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, onions, sour cream, and salsa. If prepared as directed and topped with 0 PP items, each serving is 8 PP on the WeightWatchers program!

Italiano Oven-Baked Chicken

1 tbsp butter or margarine (I use Country Crock with Calcium)
1/3 c flour
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 lb chicken breast, cut into 6 equal portions

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in 13x9-inch glass baking dish in oven.

Stir all remaining ingredients together, except chicken. Coat chicken with seasoning mixture. Place in heated dish.

Bake for 15 minutes. Turn chicken; bake about 15 minutes longer, or until juice is clear when chicken is cut at thickest part.

6 servings, at 3 WW PointsPlus each. Yummy!


NOTE: Okay after trying this, I discovered 3 things: 1) This recipe calls for too much butter for me. 2) I had quite a bit of the breading/seasoning mix left. Maybe next time I will do 2 pounds. 3) A 9x9-inch pan works just fine for 1 pound.

Buffalo Chicken "Wings"

I tried a new recipe a couple of nights ago and it was friggin' FANTASTIC! Super easy, healthy, and the spiciness can be dialed up or down, depending on preference. So here it is:

1 spray cooking spray
1 1/4 pounds uncooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 16 strips
1/2 tsp table salt or sea salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp minced garlic
4 tsp hot pepper sauce, or to taste (I used 2 tbsp)
2 tbsp Country Crock, or whatever margarine/butter you use


Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.

Place chicken on a plate and sprinkle with salt and paprika. Add chicken to skillet and cook, turning occasionally until lightly browned and cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic; reduce heat to low, stir and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Remove skillet from heat; stir in margarine and hot sauce until margarine melts.

Yields about 4 pieces of chicken per serving. You get the chicken wing taste without the mess and the extra fat. And if you happen to be on Weight Watchers, each serving is 4 PointsPlus. Delish, and it won't go straight to your butt!