Thursday, June 25, 2009

The Saturday Edition....














Kids in the Kitchen...Weight Watchers' Style

One of my favorite ways to spend time with the boys is in the kitchen. Benjamin and I have been cooking it up for a couple of years now. Jonathan is now joining us more and more and loves to pitch in. Here's a couple of our favorites that you and your kiddos might enjoy, too:

Lazy Day Lasagna (there's now a check mark on Benjamin's summer list)
From the Complete Cooking Light Cookbook
This is a pretty basic recipe as far as lasagna goes, that's why I thought it would be perfect to make with kiddos. No frills. No fuss. But pretty tasty.

1 pound ground round
1 (26-ounce) bottle low-fat pasta sauce
1/2 cup water
2 cups fat free cottage cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Cooking Spray
1 (8-ounce) package precooked lasagna noodles
1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat mild cheddar cheese
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook beef in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain; wipe drippings from pan with paper towels. Return beef to pan. Stir in pasta sauce and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Combine cottage and Parmesan cheeses in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


3. Spread 1/2 cup beef mixture in bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodles over beef mixture; top with half of cottage cheese mixture, 1 cup beef mixture, and 1/3 cup cheddar cheese. Repeat layers once, ending with noodles. Spread remaining beef mixture over noodles. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with 1/3 cup cheddar cheese, and bake 5 additional minutes or until cheese melts. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with parsley, if desired. Yield: 9 servings.

POINTS value: 6 points per serving.




Benjamin loves to help with putting salad together. It's the perfect time-filler while the lasagna is in the oven.

Chocolate Sheet Cake
from Weight Watchers online eTools

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup fat-free skim milk
3 large egg whites
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
1 tbsp. powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt; mix well with a fork to combine.
3. In another large mixing bowl, combine milk, egg whites, melted butter and vanilla. Using an electric mixer, mix on low speed until blended; gradually beat in boiling water.


4. Gradually add flour mixture to milk mixture and mix on low speed until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool cake in pan, on a wire rack.
5. Sift powdered sugar over cooled cake before cutting into 12 pieces. Yield: 1 piece per serving (the pieces are HUGE).



POINTS Value: 4 per serving


4 comments:

Amanda said...

Weight Watchers Sheet Cake AND Lasagna! Now that's a great post!!! Thanks for all the great recipes. I have several that I would really like to share. Maybe when we are back home I'll post them.

Anonymous said...

This is probably a stupid question...but where do I find pre cooked lasagna noodles? Are those the same as plain old lasagna noodles?

Thanks,
Amy

kristi@ishouldbemoppingthefloor said...

Amy-- Oh, that's not a stupid question at all! The pre-cooked lasagna noodles also go by the name "oven-ready lasagna noodles". They are actually different than the regular ones. They're nice because you don't have to boil them first! Thanks for reading the blog! Hope you're doing well!

Anonymous said...

FOUND THEM!!!! :) Thank you so much!