Super Bowl Food: BLT Dip and Sideline Smokies

I'm still in Hawaii stuffing myself with coconut pancakes, malasadas, and huli hulu chicken. But I haven't forgotten that the 2nd biggest food day of the year next to Thanksgiving, the Super Bowl, is only one week away. So to start you off on a week full of great Super Bowl food, check me out over at Betty Crocker where I'm being featured for a couple of game day recipes.

Click here to see me and the recipes over at Betty Crocker or on the photos below for just the recipe.

BLT Dip:

All the flavors of your favorite sandwich in a hot and bubbly dip. 
You must eat these with Fritos...it's the only way to go.

Sideline Smokies:

Little sausages wrapped in bacon, topped generously with brown sugar, and cooked until crispy in the oven!

Healthy Sun-dried Tomato and Bacon Chicken

Aloha! I'm alive! I know I dropped off the face of the earth. A couple of days ago my husband called me a surprised me with a trip to Hawaii! So I've been running around like a mad woman getting ready. Now that I'm here, I'm relaxed. I did a little surfing yesterday and burned my buns snorkeling today.

Macadamian nuts, cookies, cake, and pineapple we were welcomed with.

But I'm not going to leave you totally in the dark. I've been posting over at Tablespoon and here's my latest Sun-dried Tomato and Bacon Chicken that my husband said tastes like pizza.

Click here for the recipe or on the photo below!

Don't worry. I have a line up of Super Bowl recipes that you are going to love!

Slap 'Yo Momma Good Praline Cookies

A reader, Heather, emailed me to thank me for this Slap 'Yo Momma Good recipe and wanted to return the favor by giving me her own Slap 'Yo Momma Good world famous Praline Cookies that people swoon and fight over. I love my sweet momma, so my expectations were really high for these.

Well Heather...you were right.

Slap.   Your.   Momma.   Good.

I knew I liked Heather even more when she told me her rule is that if you make these more than 4 times you can call them your own. Just givin' it away for free...

So what makes these cookies so good?

Two words. Browned Butter.

They practically melt in your mouth. They are sinfully rich. One will do ya.

Heather’s World Famous Praline Cookies

by Heather Walker

2 cups browned butter

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped pecans (reserve 1/3 cup for sprinkling on frosted cookies)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat stirring occasionally for 5-8 minutes or until deep brown with small flecks. Butter will melt, bubble, foam and then turn a deep brown, from the bottom up. Be careful at this point, it can burn quite easily once it has turned brown. Remove from heat. Take out ½ cup and set aside for frosting.

Beat slightly cooled remaining butter with brown sugar until it isn’t hot anymore. Add eggs, vanilla, soda, powder and salt. Beat thoroughly. Add flour and 2/3 cup chopped pecans.

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes depending on size of cookie you scoop out. Small ones are better because this is a VERY rich cookie. Combine frosting ingredients and beat well. Spread over cooled cookies and sprinkle remaining chopped pecans on top. Makes 4-5 dozen.

Frosting:

½ cup reserved brown butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

¼ cup hot water

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Frosting is thick but you can add a tad more hot water to make it spreadable if you need to.

Italian Sausage Soup with Cheese Tortellini

Feast or Famine. Half the year my husband is really busy with work and gone a lot and the other half he has a lot more leisure time to spend with us. Thank goodness because I was pretty fried there for a while. It takes about a week for us all to adjust to him being home more. It's not that I don't love my husband but I have my own schedule of things that I do everyday and it's just a matter of saying, "Hey, are you coming with me to the gym? Whatcha doing today?" He's been helping me a ton with the kids and we have been working out together which is why I can barely move today. But the one thing about having him home more is that I am cooking a LOT more than normal. Is that even possible?

Here's a super hearty soup filled with sausage, cheese filled tortellini, and a ton of veggies. I know you probably all think I'm obsessed with sausage but my husband just happens to love it. I would be interested to see what it would taste like with chicken. The nutritional info says that it's 323 calories per serving (8 servings in the recipe) but I'm not sure if I'm buying it. It's just too good and too filling.

Short on time? I often use the prechopped veggies in the produce section when I know I don't have time to dice and chop all my veggies. For this soup I used prediced carrots and onion.

Italian Sausage Soup with Cheese Tortellini
adapted from Allrecipes

1 pound Italian sausage (I usually use Jimmy Dean so I don't have to deal with removing the casing)
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red cooking wine
2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian diced tomatoes
1 cup thinly sliced or diced carrots
1/2 tablespoon packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups green beans or sliced zucchini
8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta (can be found by the cheese...I used Buitoni)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. In a large pot, brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain.

2. Saute onions and garlic in drippings. Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

3. Skim fat from the soup. Stir in beans and parsley. Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.  Serve with warm garlic bread.

*Just be aware that if you save this soup for leftovers the pasta tends to drink up the broth so the result is a really thick soup if you eat it the next day.

Baked Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Dipping Sauce

We had a lot of fun with our friends that were visiting. We shared a lot of good food, a lot of old memories, AND...a violent stomach bug that rocked us all to our core. It slowly made its way through our families and after bragging about my solid immune system, I was hit with it today. So I don't feel much like cooking, eating, or even looking at food (that doesn't happen often).

Thankfully before I was hit with it, I posted this Baked Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Dipping Sauce over at Tablespoon today. I saw on the news today that Florida is the only state that does not have snow in it. So for those of you shivering in the snow, this recipe will make you feel like you are on an island somewhere, lying in the warm sun, snuggling your toes in the hot sand. Although these coconut shrimp can be enjoyed as an appetizer, I often turn it into a meal by adding a simple green salad. Don’t feel too guilty eating these as your main course; they’re baked and a much healthier alternative to the fried version.

Click below for the full recipe:

Baked Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Jalapeno Dipping Sauce

6 Tips to Eating Healthy and Shedding those Pounds and Fiber-One Parmesan Crusted Chicken

I have friends visiting and have been super busy but I posted a couple of tips over at Tablespoon today that I use when I'm trying to slim down and a recipe for Fiber-One Parmesan Crusted Chicken. Tastes a lot better than it initially sounds. My husband thought I had fried chicken and my kids smelled it and thought I was cooking chicken nuggets. Everybody is a winner!

Healthy Spicy Beef and Black Bean Chili

It's the 3rd day of the New Year...how are you holding up? Are you still sticking to your resolutions? I thought for once I wouldn't have to lose weight this New Year. I held my ground until mid-December when my husband's family came for Christmas and then it was an eating free for all. I tried as hard as I could to not water down my calories with healthy things like vegetables. I considered it my personal responsibility to taste every dish at every holiday party AND every treat on every holiday plate from my neighbors and friends. Soooo....I have a couple of elle bees to lose. I'm not going to be too hard on myself. Last year at this time my baby was 5 months old and was 35 pounds heavier than I am today so compared to that I'm doing better.

People always think that if you are trying to eat healthy you have to stick to chicken and fish. The truth is if you eat the right cut of beef or pork, it's just as low in calories. You need to choose a lean cut of meat like sirloin in this recipe. Make sure the package has a lean to fat ratio of at least 90/10. I know everyone has a chili recipe...but do you know exactly what's in your chili recipe? I have peace of mind when I know how many calories are in a recipe (unless I'm indulging then I don't want to know :) ) and one serving of this chili is 298 calories. It takes around 12 minutes to cook start to finish so cross the "healthy cooking takes too long" excuse out of your brain.

Spicy Beef and Black Bean Chili
(Printable Recipe)

1 pound ground sirloin
1 Tablespoon less sodium Taco seasoning
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, undrained
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 Tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
chopped green onion or cilantro for garnish (optional)

Cook beef in a medium pot on medium high heat until browned. Drain and return to pan.  Stir in taco seasoning and all of the other ingredients except sour cream and garnish. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 7-8 minutes or until heated through. Pour into bowls and top with sour cream and garnish. Yields 6 servings (1 cup each).

Each serving with sour cream: 298 calories

Source: adapted from: Weight Watchers 5-Ingredient 15 minutes cookbook and is 6 WW points on the old system (can anyone figure out the new points for this?)