Healthified Red Velvet Cake

About 200 Calories per Serving (Serving size = 1 cupcake. Recipe makes 12)

"Healthified red velvet cake", says you, "HECK YES" says I! This was awesome! I could not tell that the cake was mixed solely with Dr. Pepper- it tasted completely normal. It wasn't dry or too moist... It was great. Also, the Jello pudding was really good too. Now of course, you can definitely tell that it isn't traditional cream cheese icing, but it's a good substitute. One thing to remember- the Jello box will tell you to use 2x as much milk as the recipe calls for, but just use 2 cups. This makes it thicker and intensifies the flavor. Also, I made mine into cupcakes instead of a cake. As you may be able to tell in the photo, the cupcakes came apart a lot in the pan when I tried to take them out. I'm not sure why that happened or how to keep it from happening again. It's not that they were sticking to the pan, they just crumbled when I tried to pull them out. It turned out fine though- as you can see in the pic, I just turned them upside down, put the crumbles on "top" and then put a dollop of the "icing". They may not have been as pretty as they would have been if I could have spread the "icing" on top- but it was good. Also, I'm not really a fan of cool whip, so I didn't put that on mine. If you want the cool whip, be sure to account for that in your calorie count.

Ingredients:

- 1 (18 ounce) box Duncan Heinz Red Velvet Cake Mix
- 8 ounces diet Dr. Pepper soda
- 1 (8 serving sized) package jell-o fat free sugar-free instant cheesecake pudding mix
- 1 (8 ounce) container fat-free cool whip (thawed)
- 2 cups skim milk

Directions:

1. Mix cake mix and diet soda. Pour in 13″x9″ pan sprayed with Pam- or into cupcake pans (makes 12).
2. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done (15-20 mins for cupcakes). 

3. Cool completely. 

4. Mix pudding and milk.When thickened, spread on cake. 

5. Spread Cool Whip over all.

6. Cover and refrigerate leftovers. 

Makes 15 servings of cake or 12 cupcakes.

Nutrition: 200 calories per cupcake, 160 calories per cake slice- without cool whip

Source:  http://www.laaloosh.com/2009/03/03/weight-watchers-red-velvet-cake-recipe/

Chicken Tamale Bake

254 Calories per Serving 

Wow. This was soooooo good. I made it 2x in less than a week!The first time that I made it, I had a friend over for dinner and we devoured it- eating 2nds later in the evening... But there would have been plenty left over for lunch or dinner the next day for the hubs and I. When I made it the 1st time, I used green chile enchilada sauce (mild) because I couldn't find any regular (red) sauce that was mild. The 2nd time, I used the red mild sauce and decided that the green chile enchilada sauce was alot better- but that's just my opinion. Also, to make things faster, I used canned chicken instead of cooking my own chicken. This is another one of those meals that does not seem like it's healthy- but it is. I think this might be one of those meals that I make several times a month. 

Ingredients:

(Makes 8 Servings)

1 cup shredded reduced fat Mexican cheese blend, divided (I used Weight Watchers brand)
1/3 cup skim milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 t ground cumin
1/8 t ground cayenne pepper
1 (14.75 oz) can of cream-style corn
1 (8.5 oz) box of corn muffin mix
1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles, drained
1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce
2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly mist a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together ¼ cup of the Mexican cheese, the milk, egg, cumin, pepper, corn, muffin mix and green chiles in a bowl until combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes until the layer is set (an inserted toothpick should come out clean).
3. Using a fork, liberally poke holes all over the surface of the corn cake layer. Pour the enchilada sauce over the top and spread across the surface of the corn cake. Sprinkle the shredded chicken evenly across the top and follow with the remaining ¾ cup shredded cheese. Return the dish to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before cutting into servings.

Nutritional Info: 

Yields 8 servings. 

254 calories, 29 g carbs, 8 g fat, 17 g protein, 1 g fiber
Source: http://www.emilybites.com/2012/01/chicken-tamale-bake.html

Skinny Burger Quesadilla

375 Calories per Burger

The hubs really liked this one. I don't know that I'd call it a quesadilla though, I think it's more of a burger with tortillas for buns. Either way though, it was really good. I deviated from the original recipe a little though. I used ground beef instead of buffalo burger... I also prepared sliced potato fries as well. This recipe definitely meets my qualifications though- it was both quick and easy. 

Ingredients: 

1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup pico de gallo
1 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar jack cheese
8 small flour fajita tortillas (trimmed if desired to match size of burgers)
salt and fresh pepper

Directions:

1. Form 4 flat patties, as thin as you can. Season with salt and pepper
2. Heat a pan to medium-high heat. Lightly spray the pan with oil and then add burgers. 
3. Cook burgers for about 2 minutes on each side, or until cooked to your liking. 
4. Remove the burgers from the pan. Place 2 tbsp cheese on each tortilla, then 2 tbsp pico de gallo, top with burger. Then place 2 tbsp pico de gallo and 2 tbsp cheese on each. Place the other tortilla on top. Once cheese melts on the bottom, flip and cook until cheese melts on other side.

Nutrition: 375 calories per burger
Adapted from: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/04/skinny-buffalo-burger-quesadilla.html

For sliced potato "fries" (2-3 servings):

Ingredients: 

2 baking potatoes
2 tablespoons Olive oil
Garlic Powder 

Directions:

1. Thinly slice potatoes into medallions. 
2. Mix with olive oil and garlic powder in a bowl.
3. Place potatoes in a greased pan and bake in oven for 15 minutes on 450 degrees
4. Remove from oven and cook in microwave (in a microwave safe dish) for 5 minutes, or until potatos are soft
5. Put potatoes back in oven for 10 minutes on broil until crispy/browned


Nutrition: 196 calories per serving