Dinner at Our House: Taco Soup

Tonight we tried something new! And SURPRISE it was really yum. I'm kind of weird about anything with "tomato juice" in it so I've always been hesitant when it comes to soups with tomatoes...but I was brave and we tried this version of taco soup.

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef 
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1 envelope reduced-sodium taco seasoning
• 2/3 cup water
• 4 cups reduced-sodium V8 juice
• 1 cup chunky salsa
• 
  TOPPINGS:
• 3/4 cup shredded lettuce
• 6 tablespoons chopped fresh tomatoes [Mom thankfully put these to the side]
• 6 tablespoons shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
• Tortilla chips, optional

Directions

• In a large saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook the beef, onion and pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning and water; cook and stir for 5 minutes or until liquid is reduced.
• Add V8 juice and salsa; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until heated through. Top each serving with 2 tablespoons of lettuce, 1 tablespoon of tomato and cheese, and 2 teaspoons of green onions and sour cream. Serve with tortilla chips if desired.

My mom also made this sort of taco-pizza too. It was good but it dried out before we could all get home to eat it.

Snacking at Our House: Yummy Chocolate Cake

When I saw this in Taste of Home magazine I knew it would be delicious. I couldn't wait to try it. Chocolate is my great weakness, but this recipe is light, or at least lighter. When all is said in done one serving is only 4 WW points. Not too shabby.

I wish I could say the process was fun, but it got a little hectic in the kitchen. Problem #1 was the fact we had no cooking spray. I didn't want to try and grease the pan the old fashion way so I thought..hey! I'll make cupcakes instead of the cake. That way I'll also have exactly 16 servings. Sweet precious Tim tried helping me out so I could eat my cooling microwave dinner...and that became Problem #2. Tim did a decent job helping scoop batter into the cups, he just didn't attempt to level the cups. Because there is pudding in the batter, they kind of help some funky shapes and cooked all funny in the oven. Needless to say, I may have flipped out on him a little....ha!

Anyhow, this is the finished product:

Yummy chocolate cupcake.

The icing wasn't as great the first night, but the second night (after being in the fridge almost 24 hours) the icing is much better.

Ingredients

• 1 package (18-1/4 ounces) chocolate cake mix
• 1 package (2.1 ounces) sugar-free instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1-3/4 cups water
• 3 egg whites
• 
  FROSTING:
• 1-1/4 cups cold fat-free milk
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 package (1.4 ounces) sugar-free instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 carton (8 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed
• Chocolate curls, optional

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, water and egg whites. Beat on low speed for 1 minute; beat on medium for 2 minutes.
• Pour into a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
• For frosting, place milk and extract in a large bowl. Sprinkle with a third of the pudding mix; let stand for 1 minute. Whisk pudding into milk. Repeat twice with remaining pudding mix. Whisk pudding 2 minutes longer. Let stand for 15 minutes. Fold in whipped topping. Frost cake. Garnish with chocolate curls if desired. Yield: 16 servings.

Quick Fix Lunch: Creamy Bow Tie Pasta

This isn't a regular Dinner at Our House post, but I just had to share with you all the lunch I just tried out on this lazy holiday Monday. I'm at the computer scanning my usual suspects (Skinnytaste, tasteofhome, and allrecipes) looking for things to make for the week. I'm actually not looking for anything new, but rather I am checking out my "saved" lists.

However, I stumbled across this little gem that is going down as one of my new favorite quickie lunches (I may even whip up another batch tonight to take for work tomorrow). If I do the math correct, the WW total for this would be 5 points. I'm not quite sure that what I just made would amount to that though. We keep all low fat, fat free, etc products in our home (Update: I did the tedious math on all of our products at home and it brought it down to 4 points). I'll have to take some time to figure it up. Try it for yourself, it took me little to no time to prepare and we had all the ingredients at our house.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked bow tie pasta
• 1-1/2 teaspoons butter
• 2-1/4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1-1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• Dash salt
• Dash dried basil
• Dash crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon sour cream

Directions

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the oil, flour, garlic and seasonings until blended. Gradually add the milk, broth and water. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.
• Remove from the heat; stir in cheese and sour cream. Drain pasta; toss with sauce. Yield: 2 servings

Dinner at Our House: Creamy Chicken Rice Soup

We've done it again. This is our third recipe of the new year that we've tried and it is only January 6! My mom is the one who actually cooked it tonight because originally I planned to work late. This recipe also came from my tasteofhome cookbook gifted to me by Mom S. I wish I had been in the kitchen to photograph it more, but the picture I took of my bowl looked boring and didn't do the soup justice, thus I won't be posting it. The Creamy Chicken Rice Soup was delicious and one serving of it (1 cup) is only 4 points. We had green salads and some of our garlic knots to go with the soup.

You can find the recipe and nutrition info here.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups cooked long grain rice
• 1 cup cubed cooked chicken
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon white wine, optional

Directions

• In a large saucepan, saute the carrot, onion and celery in butter until tender. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually stir in broth. Add the rice, chicken, salt, pepper and garlic powder; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
• Reduce heat to low. Stir in the milk, lemon juice and wine if desired. Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 6 servings.

And yes, we used the white cooking wine :)