Polynesian Roast Beef

Ingredients:
1 boneless beef top round roast (3-1/4 pounds)
2 tablespoons browning sauce, optional
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
1 can (8 ounces) unsweetened sliced pineapple
1/4 cup Domino® or C&H® Pure Cane Dark Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medium green pepper, sliced

Directions: Cut roast in half; brush with browning sauce if desired. Combine the flour, salt and pepper; rub over meat. Place onion in a 3-qt. slow cooker; top with roast.

Drain pineapple, reserving juice; refrigerate the pineapple. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch and ginger; whisk in the broth, soy sauce, garlic and reserved pineapple juice until smooth. Pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Add pineapple and green pepper. Cook 1 hour longer or until meat and green pepper are tender. Yield: 10-11 servings.

I found this recipe a while ago in the simple and Delicious magazine and today I tried it...Justin loved it and so did I! It was a really good alternative to regular Pot Roast and I would definitely fix it again. I loved the Soy sauce and Pineapple flavors...very good! I fixed a baked potato and steamed carrots to go with it and we ate too much!

Posted By Julie

Sloppy Joes Mex style

1 Pound Lean Ground Beef
1 tsp Taco Seasoning
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 1/2 Cups prepared black bean and corn salsa
1/4 Cup fat free or lowfat sour cream
1 Tbs Lime Juice
Whole Wheat tortillas
2 Tbs coarsly chopped fresh cilantro
1 Scallion, Chopped

Directions:
1-Heat skillet and combine hamburger, taco seasoning, salt, pepper. Cook until meat no longer pink. Stir in salsa and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2-Combine lime juice and sour cream in a small bowl.
3-Place 1 warm tortilla on a plate and spoon 3/4 cup of the meat mixture onto the tortilla. Top with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of sour cream mixture. Sprinkle with the cilantro and scallion.

Note: You could use ground skinless chicken breast instead of hamburger and cook it in a little olive oil with the taco seasoning, salt and pepper. Also, I used more taco seasoning than recipe calls for and I added some chopped spinach leaves on top with the cilantro to make them more taco like. I liked having something more than just meat in the tortilla. Hope you like them as much as we did!

Post by Julie

Frozen Yogurt Dessert

1 Ready Made reduced-fat graham cracker crust
1 1/2 C fresh or frozen strawberries, sliced (sweeten with Splenda--optional)
3 C Vanilla fat free frozen yogurt, slightly softened

Let frozen yogurt thaw slightly so the strawberries can be mixed in. Spread into reduced-fat graham cracker crust. Freeze until set then serve.

Note: Any flavor of non-fat frozen yogurt or fruit may be used. Enjoy! Serves 8. 4 pts each.

Post By Julie

I saw this on the Today Show....Salad & Spicy Salsa Dressing

Mexican chicken salad with spicy salsa dressing

"The 5-Factor Diet" by Harley Pasternak

Servings: 2

INGREDIENTS

• 6 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast

• 1 cup nonfat Sour cream

• 1 cup salsa

• 1 small head iceberg lettuce, coarsely shopped

• 1 1/2 cups canned corn, drained

• 1 teaspoon fajita seasoning mix

• 1 pinch cumin

• Salt and cracked black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine the fajita seasoning mix, cumin, salt and pepper. Coat the chicken breast with the seasoning mixture. Microwave the chicken for 6 minutes. Remove from the microwave and set aside to cool slightly.

2. In a blender, combine the sour cream and salsa. Pulse until smooth. If the dressing is too thick, add a little water.

To serve: Cut the chicken breast into 1⁄2-inch pieces and toss it with the lettuce, corn, and salsa dressing. Serve immediately.

I SAW THIS ON THE TODAY SHOW AND THOUGHT THAT THE DRESSING MADE OF SOUR CREAM AND SALSA WAS A GREAT OPTION FOR A HEALTHY SALAD DRESSING.  DRESSINGS ARE THE KILLER TO A HEALTHY SALAD! HOPE YOU ENJOY! ALSO, I THINK I WILL PASS ON THE MICROWAVING OF CHICKEN...SORRY BUT THAT SOUNDS A LITTLE BIT WEIRD. I WILL STICK TO BAKING OR GRILLING CHICKEN!  JULIE

Green Valley Spa Pancake Recipe

From Julie

This is a recipe I got while Justin and I were at Green Valley Spa. The Head Chef gave it to me so that I could make this low fat pancake at home. I hope you enjoy!

Pancakes
Mix
2 Cup Wheat Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 T Cinnamon
Soy Milk (Amount depends on amount of dry mix used)

Directions: Mix these ingredients for the dry mix. You can make this ahead of time and use some or all of the dry mix at a time. To make a batter...just add enough Soy Milk for the amount of mix you use.

Waffles
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Egg
1 T Yogurt
Soy milk to make it a batter for waffles.

Directions: Make the Dry Pancake mix above, add vanilla, egg, yogurt and soy milk

To top these you can use fresh fruit or whatever you want. I use low fat vanilla yogurt, bananas and granola...I love that!

Easy and Healthy Bran Muffins

Bran Muffins

3 Cups All Bran Cereal
2 1/2 Cup Water
1 1/2 t Baking Powder
1 Box Krusteaz Fat Free Orange Cranberry Muffin Mix

Soak All Bran Cereal in water for 5 Minutes (No Less!). Add other ingredients. Cook as directed on box. Makes 18. Note: Makes a thick mix, Can use other Fat Free Muffin Mix flavors. 1 muffin=1 point

Also, you can Substitute the muffin mix for Fat Free Krusteaz Brownie Mix. 1 brownie=2 pts

Potato Soup

1 pkg O'Brien potatoes (hash browns with red and green peppers)
3 Cans Chicken Broth
1 Pkg Country Gravy mix

Combine, Cook and simmer. Soup will thicken after removed from stove. Can add turkey bacon, broccoli or cheese. 1 Cup=2 pts

I made this for Justin the other night and it was really yummy for a fast and easy soup!

Sugar Sugar!

Although sugar is a part of life...there is a really great article about this in the new "Family Fun Magazine." It is called "Beat the Sugar Blues." It talks about simple strategies to reign in the sweet stuff without sacrificing the fun:

The article said that the average American kid consumes 116 pounds of sugar a year!
Here are a few tips from the article:
1) Mix sugar Cereal with non sugar cereal and each time you refill the container add more non-sugar cereal. Example would be Frosted flakes with cornflakes.
2) Turn Fruit into dessert by Freezing bananas, strawberries and blueberries and serve them as fruit kabobs or fruit-sicles.
3)Limit the Juice. Apple and Grape juice have roughly the same amount of sugar that Soda does. The recommended amount of juice for kids age 1-6 is no more than 4-6 ounces.

Also, it had two websites to read more: http://www.askdrsears.com/ and http://www.calorieking.com/
On the Askdrsears.com site go to "Nutrition" and then "Sugar'