Thursday, December 23, 2010

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

These were SO tasty and SO easy to make. I saw the recipe in a magazine and knew I wanted to try it. A simple switch from regular sugar to Splenda and they are now Diabetic friendly (except for the pretzels themselves of course). Not only are they a delicious snack but make a wonderful food gift for the holidays.

If they have the brand where you shop I suggest the Hanover Pretzels over the Rold Gold brand. The Hanover pretzels are a bit smaller and fatter so they hold the cinnamon sugar mixture better. The picture below was a batch using the Rold Gold brand and I didn't like them as much, although they do make a fat free version.
CINNAMON SUGAR PRETZELS
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Splenda
2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 16 oz bag small pretzel twists

Preheat oven to 300°F

In a large roasting pan, stir together oil, cinnamon and sugar. Add the pretzels and toss well to coat with the cinnamon sugar.

Bake, uncovered for 40 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Store in airtight container.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Here is an old standby that I have made many time before but usually one of the Tuna Helper meals. I never thought to make it myself until now and I will never go back to Tuna Helper again.

I looked at many recipes online, in cookbooks and in magazines and used them as guidelines to throw this recipe together. Easy to make and sooooo yummy. The wheat noodles tasted the same as regular noodles but helped keep the fiber count up. Using skim milk, light sour cream and 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup helped with the fat content.

You can substitute some shredded cheese for the crushed potato chips but I have always loved this topping on any kind of chicken noodle or tuna noodle casserole.
TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE

1 12 oz bag of wheat noodles
2 cups frozen peas
1 5 oz. can of tuna
1/2 light sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can full of skim milk
1 cup shredded cheese
1 cup of crushed potato chips
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F

Cook noodles to slightly al dente. Drain and set aside.

Open the can of tuna and drain.

In a large mixing bowl. mix together the soup, milk(fill empty soup can with milk), sour cream, shredded cheese, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Add the tuna, breaking up any large pieces, and the peas. Toss well and add the noodles, mixing thoroughly.

Pour all of it into a large greased casserole dish. Top with the crushed potato chips.

Bake in the oven for 30 min.

Let stand about 10 min. and then serve warm.

Mexican Potato Casserole

I saw this recipe on Mennonite Girls Can Cook and thought it looked yummy! My version is slightly different but was a big hit and tasted delicious. I have made this several times since finding it.

MEXICAN POTATO CASSEROLE

4 to 5 medium potatoes, with peel
2 T butter
4 1/2 T taco seasoning
1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers, any color
1 1/2 cup grated jack or cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Cut potatoes into bite-size pieces and place in greased casserole dish. Melt butter...stir in 2 1/2 T of the taco seasoning. Pour over the potatoes and stir to coat well.

Bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Stir...bake 10 minutes longer. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the cheese

Brown and crumble beef; add onion and cook until soft...then drain. Sprinkle 2 T of the Taco seasoning, stir in salsa and chopped peppers. Mix well and cook until peppers are tender. Pour over potatoes.

Top with remaining cheese.

Bake uncovered for 10 minutes.

Serve with salsa and sour cream (optional).

Mac and Cheese Lasagna

Here is a tasty little dish I found on Mom! What's for Dinner? It wasn't hard to make and tasted wonderful. As always I tweaked it a bit here and there to make it healthier.

For starters, for the packaged Mac and Cheese, I used Kraft's 50% Whole Grain version which ups the fiber content. I used lean ground beef but you can easily use ground turkey and for the spaghetti sauce I used my own recipe which has very little sodium.
MAC AND CHEESE LASAGNA

2 7 1/4 oz packages 50% Whole Grain mac and cheese
2 1/4 cups spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef or turkey
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
3 T parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

Lightly grease 9x13 baking dish.

Cook and drain ground beef and mix with spaghetti sauce.

Prepare Macaroni and Cheese using the directions on the box.

Place a layer (exactly half) of Mac and cheese in the baking dish, top with a layer of meat then a layer of cheese. (Repeat).

After the 2 layers are complete, bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Then top with Parm Cheese.