Classic Chili (Slow Cooker)

I am so excited to share this recipe with you all, for several reasons. Here are 10:

1. It's perfect cold weather food.

2. It is made in a slow-cooker.

3. It's from Weight Watchers.

4. It's only 2 WW Points per serving on the old points system. Not sure how many on Points Plus but I bet it is still low. Visit the source of recipe for nutritional info. Click HERE.

5. It uses many pantry staple ingredients.

6. It makes great leftovers.

7. It's budget friendly.

8. Classic recipe and flavor the should appeal to all members of the family.

9. It's low in fat, high in fiber and gluten free!!

10. It tastes really, really great! Really!!

I love the color of the ground beef and peppers... just cooking away :)



I served this dish up with mini low-fat corn muffins. Total comfort food.



Ingredients:

1 lb extra lean ground beef or 1 lb ground turkey
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
1 sweet onion, chopped
1/4 cup canned diced chilies or 1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup-1 cup water (optional)
Sour Cream (optional)
Cilantro, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook the ground beef and garlic in a nonstick skillet breaking apart the meat with a spoon until well browned; drain off any fat very well, then return to skillet.
2. Add in the bell peppers; cook until softened (about 5 minutes).
3. Add in the chili powder and cumin and stir to coat.
4. In the slow cooker, mix together tomatoes, beans, sweet onion, chilies and tomato paste, then stir in the beef mixture.
5. Cover and cook on HIGH until flavors are blended (about 4-5 hours). If your chili looks too think at the end, feel free to add some water to thick it out a bit.
6. Serve with dollop of light sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro.

Source: adapted from Food.com

'Bella Asada (Veggie) Fajitas

Can I just tell you how excited I was to find this recipe on Hungry Girl...it's a delicious vegetarian fajita!

So many great things about this recipe:
1. It's low fat and low in WW points
2. It's easy and quick to make.
3. It tastes great!

And #4...it's gluten free and casein free!

I have a good friend who has 2 beautiful daughter. Her oldest daughter has autism and my friend has her on a gluten free/ casein free diet. The younger daughter will also be following the diet once she starts on solids and because of this my friend and her husband need to try to follow it as well. However, it can be so challenging... gluten and casein are in virtually everything!!

So, I was so happy to be able to post something that they could make too. I've added a GF/CF tab in my blog and hope to add more recipes in the future.

Look at all those beautiful veggies!


These corn tortillas from Trader Joe's are great. Only three ingredients (corn, lime and water) and no preservatives!


I added a little bit of shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese to my kid's fajitas. They weren't totally thrilled about a veggie only dinner.


Ingredients:
Makes 2 servings

1 tsp. olive oil
2 large portabella mushroom caps, sliced
3/4 cup sliced bell peppers (red, yellow, and/or green)
3/4 cup sliced onion
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. salt, divided
1/8 tsp. chili powder, or more to taste
1/8 tsp. cumin
Dash black pepper
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup roughly mashed avocado
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 tbsp. lime juice
Six 6-inch corn tortillas

Directions:
Drizzle a large skillet with oil and bring to medium-high heat on the stove. Add sliced mushrooms, bell peppers, and onion, and sprinkle with garlic powder, 1/8 tsp. salt, chili powder, cumin, and black pepper. Stirring occasionally, cook for 6 minutes, or until veggies are tender. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, and remaining 1/8 tsp. salt. If you like, season to taste with chili powder. Mix well and set aside.

Place tortillas on a microwave-safe plate, and warm slightly in the microwave. Top each tortilla with about 1/2 cup fajita veggies and a spoonful of the tomato-avocado mixture. Fold and chew!

WW POINTS: 5 (3 fajitas, half the recipe)

Source: Hungry Girl

Restaurant Style Salsa

I adapted this restaurant style salsa recipe from Pioneer Woman and must say that it tastes very good and very much like you would find in your local Mexican restaurant. The changes I made were minor and have to do with how much spice and liquid I like in my salsa. For me, I like salsa that is not too watery or spicy (I'm a wimp...I know).

So, first I drained the tomatoes and Rotel. PW's recipe says to keep all the juices but I think this would make the salsa way too watery, especially after pureeing when the tomatoes release even more liquid. I also removed the seeds from my jalapeno. The salsa was still a little spicy but my kids were able to eat it too.

My version of this recipe is below and for PW's original version, just click on the link in the bottom. Oh, one more thing...I only made 1/2 a batch, which yielded about 1 1/2 cups of salsa.

I know these chips look like Fritos but they are actually Trader Joe's corn chips. They are 4 WW points for 10 chips. If you are watching your weight you might want to stick with baked Tostitos, which are 2 points per serving.

I can't wait for my husband to come home and try this salsa...he is a bit of a salsa connoisseur.

Ingredients

1 can (14 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes ,drained
1 can (10 Ounce) Rotel , either mild or original
¼ cups Chopped Onion
1 small clove Garlic, Minced
1/2 Jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/8 teaspoons Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin
½ cups Cilantro (more To Taste!)
½ whole Lime Juice

Directions

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.
Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips.

WW Points= 0 (YAY!!!)

Source: Adapted from Pioneer Woman