Eat Yourself Skinny!: January 2012

January 31, 2012

BBQ Chicken Bites

Ready for more Super Bowl appetizers?
Well here you go.

These BBQ chicken bites were SOOO easy to make {emphasis on SO} and I thought they turned out super cute! All you need are mini phyllo cups, leftover pulled BBQ chicken, or even pulled BBQ pork, a bit of light sour cream and some cilantro...voila! The perfect little savory appetizer that I can guarantee your friends will drool over.

Feel free to buy the ready-made BBQ chicken as that will save you time, but since I had already made some chicken in the slow cooker for sliders, I used what was leftover. This is also the perfect way to create two fabulous Super Bowl dishes from one ingredient!

Saving you money too of course.

You're welcome.

These little BBQ chicken bites would pair really well some baked onion rings or even some baked mozzarella bites, with nice frosty glass of beer of course {light beer...duh}, giving your friends the feel they're at their local sports bar without worrying about the calories that comes with it!

Did I mention these are only 1 WW point too?

Yeah go ahead and indulge.

Don't forget to find these and other fabulous appetizers over at my Skinny Super Bowl Snack Round-Up that's going on ALL week! Just add this button by copying and pasting the code below:

to any post featuring a skinny appetizer for game day and link the recipe up on this page, it's THAT easy!! On Super Bowl Sunday I'll be choosing my favorite appetizers that were shared on the round-up and featuring them on my blog!

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

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Servings: 15  

Serving Size: 1 BBQ chicken bite  

Calories: 60

Fat: 3 g  

Carbs: 4 g  

Fiber: 1.2 g

Protein: 3 g  

Old Points: 1.2 pts

Points+: 1 pt

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Here are your ingredients:

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

1 package baked mini phyllo dough shells

2 oz. smoked cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3/4 cup cooked shredded BBQ chicken (recipe to come)

3 Tbsp sour cream

Snipped fresh cilantro as garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place phyllo dough shells on a baking sheet and place a cheese cube into each shell. Divide your shredded BBQ chicken evenly among shells.

Bake, uncovered, for about 20 minutes or until heated through. Top with a 1/2 teaspoon of sour cream and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

There ya go friends! I'll be sharing the recipe for my pulled BBQ chicken SOON, but for now, just use your favorite sauce for this...it will still be a winner!

For more skinny Super Bowl appetizers, check out my page here!

January 30, 2012

Mini Zucchini Pizzas

So as most of you all know, the Super Bowl is THIS coming Sunday and since {for most of us} it's a time to veg out on fattening food and tons of beer, I decided to make this week nothing but Skinny Super Bowl Snacks!

The first appetizer I want to share this week are these yummy Mini Zucchini Pizzas! These make the perfect substitute to your typical pizza rolls or bagel bites (ha remember those??) except these use fresh ingredients! Oh and they are seriously delicious. Feel free to use any toppings you'd like, I chose to use turkey pepperoni and some olives with fresh mozzarella, but the choice is yours. I can guarantee you these will be a hit at your Super Bowl party this weekend and you can go ahead and leave any guilt at the door!

Don't forget ALL this week I'll be sharing new skinny recipes for your upcoming Super Bowl party so make sure to link up as well!

Just add the following link:

to any blog post that you'd like to link up to this yummy Skinny Super Bowl Snack Round-Up and don't forget to add your recipes here! So far I've already come across TONS of amazing healthy appetizers! Go ahead and check them our for yourself! At the end of the week I'm going to feature some of my favorites from the ones you shared so keep them coming!

Along with these Mini Zucchini Pizzas, I'll also be sharing some fabulous desserts that you can bring to your next party, as well as some of my favorite cocktails and other low-cal appetizer options. So make sure to stop by all week!

Oh and I don't know about you, but I'd pretty much devour these any day of the week....not just Super Bowl Sunday.

Just sayin.

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Servings: 8  

Serving Size: 2 zucchini pizzas  

Calories: 75

Fat: 5 g  

Carbs: 3 g  

Fiber: 1 g

Protein: 5 g  

Old Points: 1.7 pts

Points+: 2 pts

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Here are your ingredients:
Recipe adapted from Campbell's 3 in 1 cookbook

2 medium zucchinis, sliced

3 Tbsp pizza sauce

2 Tbsp unsalted tomato paste

1/4 tsp. oregano

Dash of garlic powder

3/4 cup reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup reduced-fat parmesan cheese, shredded

4 Turkey pepperonis, cut in half

8 olives, pitted and chopped

Preheat your broiler on high. Slice your zucchinis at a slight diagonal so that you have about 16 pieces and place zucchini slices on a baking sheet and set aside. Mix together your pizza sauce, tomato paste, oregano and garlic powder and spread about one teaspoon over each slice of zucchini.

Mix together your cheeses and sprinkle about a tablespoon over each zucchini slice. Then add your chopped olives and pepperoni slices on top of the cheese and place baking sheet in the oven to broil for about 3 to 5 minutes, until cheese is melted. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

Hope you find some appetizers this week that you really enjoy! Don't forget to link up your favorite skinny appetizers here and we'll see how many healthy recipes we can come up with this week!

Thanks for joining in on all the fun!

January 27, 2012

Skinny Super Bowl Snacks!

So I don't know about you, but I LOVE preparing for the Super Bowl! Even if you can't stand the teams playing (*cough cough Patriots*) it's still a ton of fun with good friends, yummy food and fabulous cocktails!

Oh and of course Madonna...uh this should be interesting.

One of the tough things about Super Bowl Sunday is most of the people who started their diets per their New Years Resolutions are afraid to blow their calorie intake with all the cheesy dips, spicy wings and ever-flowing amounts of beer. Well folks that's where I come in, this entire week I'm going to be sharing delicious game day foods that won't break your diet and are sure to please your friends! And of course, I wanted to make this fun...duh.

All week I plan on having this link-up party going ALL week so that YOU can share your favorite healthy Super Bowl treats too! Just copy the following link:

and paste this little button into your post this week anytime you decide to make a skinny appetizer or healthy game day dish. Then add your recipe to the link-up below so everyone else can enjoy it as well! At the end of the week I'm going to pick some of my favorites and feature them on Super Bowl Sunday so keep them coming!

It's that simple friends!

Oh and just a side note....GO SKINS!

Anyway, I know I'm personally always looking for healthy alternatives when tailgating, going to a football party {or ANY party for that matter} so I'm really excited to see what y'all have to share!

Hey might as well start now, link up below!

January 26, 2012

Brie and Cherry Pastry Cups

Mmmm, is there anything better than sweet, cheesy warm pastry cups that you can sink your teeth into that will just explode with flavor in your mouth??

Sorry got a bit carried away.

But these are seriously THAT good! They're the perfect mini appetizers to serve at your next brunch and I promise you your friends will love them! The portion sizes are diet-friendly yet they taste sinfully delicious.

Plus, aren't they just so cute?

I found these when I was searching for appetizer ideas for my friends wedding and although we never used this recipe, I knew I had a keeper on my hands. They're super easy and take no time at all to whip together. Feel free to make the pastry cups ahead of time if inviting guests over, you can bake them up to 4 hours in advance. Just cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake and assemble the preserves and cheese right before they come over and pop in the oven!

Easy peasy loves.

Chris even had the brilliant idea of using jalapeno jelly next time to add a little spice to these. I LOVE any type of food that gives ya a good kick in the pants so I'll definitely be trying that next time!

I can't recommend this recipe enough to y'all, you can pretty much make the recipe to your liking!

Well enough of my rambling, I shall give you this recipe.

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Servings: 24  

Serving Size: 1 pastry cup  

Calories: 60

Fat: 4 g  

Carbs: 5 g  

Fiber: 0 g

Protein: 1 g  

Old Points: 1.5 pts

Points+: 2 pts

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Here are your ingredients:

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1/3 cup red cherry preserves

4 oz. Brie cheese, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/4 cup chopped pecans

2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 24 muffin cups (two pans) with cooking spray. Cut pastry into 24 (2 inch) squares. Slightly press each square into muffin cup and press center with finger.

Bake for about 10 minutes. Press center with handle of wooden spoon. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes longer or until golden brown. Immediately press again in center. Fill each with about 1/2 teaspoon cherry preserves and top with cheese slice. Bake about 3 to 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle chopped pecans and chives as garnish and serve warm. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

Don't forget!

I'm now accepting sponsors for February, 2012 and there are limited spots available! I'd LOVE to have you, email me at cook.skinny@gmail.com for more information!

January 24, 2012

Cucumber Cups Stuffed with Spicy Crab

Do you ever just come across one of those recipes and think to yourself must.eat.NOW. Um here ya go friends.

I found this recipe on a fabulous food blog called Domestic Fits and it is seriously a winner! I had originally planned to make these for hors d'oeuvres at my friend's wedding I recently helped cater, but due to the crazy amounts of food we already had, these unfortunately never made it to the table. SOOO I went ahead and made them for myself. ALL to myself.

Ok...so did I share a few of them, but let's get real folks, these are just too good to give away!

I loved how easy these were to whip up too! It uses simple ingredients and comes out tasting fantastic. This recipe yields a lot of crab dip so feel free to put some on the cucumbers while placing the rest in a serving dish with bread or crackers. Trust me your friends will thank you!

You can't go wrong with mini appetizers packed full of protein, low in fat and calories and essential vitamins such as B12! Oh and at 1 WW point for every 3 cucumber cups, you can afford to splurge!

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Servings: 6  

Serving Size: 3 cucumber cups  

Calories: 68.4

Fat: 1.2 g  

Carbs: 4.2 g  

Fiber: 0.9 g

Protein: 8.7 g  

Old Points: 1.3 pts

Points+: 1 pt

_____________________________________________

Here are your ingredients:

Recipe adapted from Domestic Fits

3 long cucumbers

1/4 cup light sour cream

1/4 cup fat-free cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup crab meat, excess water removed

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. brown mustard

1 Tbsp green onion, minced

Paprika, if desired

Peel your cucumbers and cut into 2 inch slices. Using a melon baller or small spoon, scoop out 3/4ths of the inside, being careful not to scoop through the bottom. You want to leave the walls and a thick portion of the bottom intact.

In a medium bowl, mix together sour cream and cream cheese until well combined. Add in remaining ingredients and stir until just combined. Fill each cucumber cup with the crab mixture and refrigerate until ready to serve. Feel free to sprinkle a bit of paprika on each cucumber cup for garnish. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week! Looking forward to sharing with you all how my training is going as well as other new and exciting ventures coming up!

How are your New Years resolutions coming along??

January 20, 2012

Sponsor Eat Yourself Skinny!

That's right loves!

I'm excited to announce that I will now be accepting sponsors for

February 2012!

What does this mean you ask?

Well I've gotten lots of e-mails from readers asking me if I could help promote their blog or shop and I've decided to do just that!

Email me at cook.skinny@gmail.com for pricing info.

I'll have more details very soon! There are limited spots available so let me know if you're interested. I'll even make a blog button for you!

Why sponsor?

With your blog or shop featured on my sidebar, it gives exposure to all the traffic that comes to my site each day! I will also be hosting giveaways and featured blog posts for each of my sponsors to help promote your site even more!

Stats

2,022+ GFC followers

6,970+ Facebook fans

Every blog post goes through my Twitter 2,250+ followers

Averages 6,000+ VISITS per day

Averages 12,000+ PAGEVIEWS per day

These numbers are always increasing!

Interested?

Email me.

{Guest Post} Coconut Mixed Berry Crumble

Happy Friday Lovelies!

I haven't done a guest post in quite awhile, but I sure saved a great one to share with y'all today! Amanda from the super fabulous blog at the red table is seriously one of the sweetest bloggers I know! She shares a wide variety of healthy recipes along with some super yummy indulgent ones not to mention she's a writer as well! So you know her stories are going to be fun to read.

I could go on and on about Miss Amanda, but I'll quit my rambling and let her introduce herself!

__________________________________

Hello, all you lovely Eat Yourself Skinny readers! I’m Amanda at the red table, and I’m so happy to be here guest posting and sharing one of my favorite quick, easy and healthy dessert recipes with you! One thing you need to know about me and the things that I cook: If it’s fussy or time-consuming, I probably won’t bother, so most of the things I make are easy to put together and taste delicious (of course!).

This Coconut Mixed Berry Crumble couldn’t be easier – and it’s incredibly tasty. I make it often simply because I always have most of the ingredients on hand and it takes about five minutes to throw together. Start with fresh or thawed-from-frozen berries in any combination, top the jeweled beauties with a mixture of oats, brown sugar, flour, butter and coconut, and you’ll have a bubbly, sweet treat ready in about 40 minutes. The touch of coconut adds another layer of flavor so you’ll never miss the heaps of sugar and butter that’s typical in other crumbles, crisps and pies.

One of the challenges in watching what you eat is feeling like you have to deprive yourself of desserts. Sometimes, though – sometimes you just gotta have something sweet! The trick is to find a way to make it lighter, eat a smaller serving (this one I have not mastered…) or find something that’s a little healthier that will stave off that craving for the big slab of pie you’ve been dreaming about.

Who needs pie when you’ve got Coconut Mixed Berry Crumble?

The crumble topping is so good. Totally the best part – you might have to hold yourself back from eating the topping off the whole works. This crumble is great right out of the oven or after it’s completely cooled into bars with just a little dollop of fat-free whipped topping. If you really want to dial up the decadence, serve it warm over ice cream. Dee-lightful!

This dessert (or snack, or breakfast) is great if you want something warm, filling and sweet and you want it fast! I’ve got a whole pocketful of tasty treats you can feel good about eating: This Creamy Lemon Pie, these Pumpkin Apple Muffins or a smoothie, like this Berry Cheesecake Smoothie definitely fit the bill when you need something sweet (but you need to fit into your pants afterwards).

Enjoy!

What you’ll need:

Recipe adapted from Weight Watchers (4 Points+)

4 cups mixed berries, thawed if frozen

2/3 cup light brown sugar, unpacked

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup quick-cooking oats

2 Tbsp light margarine (like “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” light)

2 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup shredded coconut

What you’ll do with it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toss berries in an 8x8 inch baking pan. Sprinkle the top of the berries with the shredded coconut.

Melt the butter and margarine in a small bowl in the microwave (it’s fine if it doesn’t melt completely). In another small bowl combine sugar, flour and oats. Then add the melted butter and mix until crumbly. Drop bits of the crumble over the berries.

Bake until berries just start to bubble, about 35-40 minutes.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

_________________________________

Thank you AGAIN Amanda for guest posting for me today! If you haven't already, make sure to check out her blog for more delicious recipes or you can check out her Facebook page here!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Anything fun planned?

January 19, 2012

Tomato and Basil Bruschetta

Do you ever have one of those days when you just want to snack?

I do ~~pretty.much.every.friggin.day~~ a lot and so this weekend I decided to just veg out on yummy bruschetta. I of course ate most of the tomato rather than the bread, but who are we kidding...sometimes you just need some carbs! I didn't get this recipe out of a cookbook or magazine, I just decided to whip together what I had on hand and what I thought would taste good.

Let me just say success.

Oh and that random yellow thing in the back of the picture...yeah that's supposed to be olive oil. Hmm.

So to make this, I chopped up some fresh tomatoes I had, threw a handful (or two) of basil, added some salt and pepper, drizzled a bit of olive oil and a added a splash of balsamic vinegar. Voila! The easiest bruschetta recipe you'll ever make!

I love the simplicity of this and wish more delicious recipes good be this easy. But of course where would the challenge be then??

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Servings: 16  

Serving Size: 1 baguette slice  

Calories: 125  

Fat: 8.7 g  

Carbs: 11 g  

Fiber: 1.3 g

Protein: 1.9 g  

Old Points: 3 pts

Points+: 4 pts  

__________________________________

Here are your ingredients:

1 French baguette, cut into 16 slices

4 ripe tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup basil, chopped (or more if desired)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Dice your tomatoes and place in a bowl, mix in your chopped basil, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar and set aside. Slice your baguette into about 16 slices (or however many it yields) and place on a baking pan to bake for about 10 minutes.

Feel free to drizzle a bit of olive oil on the bread before you bake it, but that will of course add extra calories. Spoon your bruschetta mixture onto your baguette slices while your bread is warm and enjoy!

Store your excess tomato and basil mixture in an airtight container in the fridge, tastes amazing over grilled chicken!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

I also wanted to let you know that I'm being featured on one of my favorite blogs today, Bouffe e Bambini and she's sharing pretty much all my deepest darkest secrets!

Ok, not really, but I do get pretty deep in her post so feel free to check it out and leave her some sweet comments because she's just awesome.

Hope you guys are having a great week!

January 18, 2012

Grandma’s Banana Bread

Is there anything better than fresh banana bread on a rainy day?

Yeah didn't think so.

This has been one of my favorite recipes since I can remember and I have to give my Grandma ALL the credit. She literally makes the best banana bread (among her many talents) and it was always a staple in her home when I was growing up. Since I had a bunch of bananas that I needed to use up, I figured no better time than the present to make her delicious bread!

This recipe is super easy, super quick and the bread comes out incredibly moist. Of course this isn't the healthiest recipe, but all things should be eaten in moderation anyway and, well frankly, this bread is just too amazing NOT to share! And at 3 points per slice, this isn't a bad breakfast with of hot cup a coffee...just sayin.

Oh and trust me, your family will thank me.

I used light sour cream, light butter and Splenda sugar blend to cut some excess calories, but if you're in the mood to indulge (which is OK!) I put the standard sugar measurements as well. I'm sorry if this frustrates some of you, but all I can say is I'm only human and really enjoy food. YUMMY food. I eat healthy 90% of the time (which is debatable depending on the holiday), everything in moderation, yet sometimes I want to indulge...that to me is healthy as well! And it wouldn't be right to only share the uber healthy stuff with you while keeping you from yummy delicious breads such as this.

Oh and my little disclaimer of the day, my pictures turned out really dark since it was raining all day so I played around with my photoshop to still make them look appealing.

Hopefully it worked.

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Servings: 12  

Serving Size: 1 slice  

Calories: 110  

Fat: 5 g  

Carbs: 12.8 g  

Fiber: 0.7 g

Protein: 3 g  

Old Points: 2.5 pts

Points+: 3 pts  

________________________________________

Here are your ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) light butter, softened

1/2 cup Splenda sugar blend (or 1 cup sugar)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup light sour cream

1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand mixer, or hand held, mix together softened butter and sugar until well combined. Then add in eggs and mix well. Next add in vanilla, sour cream and mashed bananas then, while the mixer is on, slowly add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix slowly until completely combined, scraping the sides and the bottom.

Meanwhile, grease your pan(s) and lightly flour so that your bread won't stick. If using one 9x5 loaf pan, bake bread for about one hour. If using two smaller loaf pans, bake bread for about 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

Did you think I forgot we need to choose a winner??

Oh ye of little faith.
Of course I remembered!

This giveaway had such a HUGE response (over 800 comments!) so be prepared to see this again in the future. Thank you to ALL who entered!

(Drum roll please...)

Congratulations Meghan! She has the super adorable blog Little Girl in the Big World so make sure to check her out sometime! Hope you're able to get the Le Creuset braiser you've always wanted!

Thanks AGAIN to everyone who entered!