Sweet Coconut Shrimp and Frozen Yogurt Pie

For Memorial Weekend we usual go out of town but this year we decided to stay home. 

We barbecued at my parents, cooked some great food at home, and even had dessert on a Saturday (and Sunday too)! :)

I found a new recipe while watching the View this week. The Hungry Girl was on the show and talking about her new book 300 under 300.  One of the recipes from the book is a Sweet Coconut Shrimp. I am not a big shrimp fan, but my husband is, so I decided to give it a try. 

Everyone loved it! 

Coconut Shrimp

Ingredients 

1/4 cup corn flakes

1/3 cup shredded sweet coconut 

3 tbsp panko breadcrumbs

1/4 tsp chili powder 

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp pepper 

dash salt 

12 oz. raw large shrimp, peeled, tails removed, deveined

3 tbsp egg substitute 

 Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 and crush up corn flakes in a baggie. 

2. Add all other dry ingredients into the baggie, mix well, and pour on a plate. Set aside.

3. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Dip the shrimp into the egg substitute. Pull them out one at a time, shaking a little to get excess egg off, and roll around in the coconut mixture. 

4. Spread out on a  cookie sheet. 

5. Bake for about 12 minutes, until nice and crunchy. 

Each serving (about 5-7 shrimp depending on size) is less than 200 calories!

Now on to dessert. Dinner being low-calorie, I was on a low calorie kick so we made Frozen Yogurt Pie for dessert and it is only 4 Weight Watcher Points for 1/8 of the pie! 

My mom made this when I was a kid and not only is it delicious, it is pink! Abby was in heaven!

Frozen Yogurt Pie 

Ingredients 

fat free cool whip 

2 light strawberry yogurts

1 reduced fat ready crust 

Directions 

1. Mix thawed cool whip and yogurt together completely. 

2. Pour into the ready pie crust. 

3. Cover and freeze for 4-6 hours. 

Enjoy! 

I'm linking up here...
Melt In Your Mouth Monday
Make a Food-e-Friend Monday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tuesday Night Supper Club
A Little Birdie Told Me...

Friday Night Dessert Night #11: Low-Calorie Pina Colada Cupcakes

"Do you like Pina Coladas...?"

Summer is coming! A pina colada in hand on a tropical beach sounds perfect! 

However, that will not be happening anytime soon so I will settle for Pina Colada Cupcakes...

and low calorie too! 

One cupcake is only 3 Weight Watcher points! 

The original recipe comes from the Hungry Girl 200 under 200 cookbook by Lisa Lillien. 

Pina Colada Cupcakes

Ingredients 

Cupcakes 

2 cups yellow cake mix 

16 oz. crushed pineapple in juice (undrained)

1/2 tsp coconut extract

Frosting 

4 oz. pineapple (drained)

1 tbsp sugar 

1/8 tsp coconut extract 

1 1/2 tbsp low-fat cream cheese (softened)

1 fat-free vanilla jello pudding snack

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350. 

2. Stir together all the ingredients for the frosting. Mix until creamy. Put in the fridge until ready to use. 

2. Mix together all the ingredients for the cupcakes. 

3. Pour 1/4 cup cupcake mix into prepared muffin tins (should make 12 cupcakes).

4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

5. Allow to cool completely then frost and sprinkle.

Enjoy! 

This post is linked to: 

Sweet Tooth Friday 

Feasting in Fellowship Friday

Weekend Show Off Party

Sweets for a Saturday 

So Sweet Sundays

Sundae Scoop Link Party 

Think Pink Sundays

Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Abby Cooks: Kid-friendly Pasta Salad

Abby loves to help me cook. 

She is always eager to grab the ingredients from the cupboard, help measure, pour, and stir. 

However, lately, being the 3 1/2 year old that she is, she wants to cook "all by myself." 

So I found a few recipes that (with a small amount of prep work done by me) she can make herself. 

The first recipe she tried was a pasta salad that we have been eating for lunch.

 She is so proud of herself and it is too cute! 

Kid-friendly Pasta Salad

recipe adapted from Live, Laugh, Cook

Ingredients 

About 8 oz. cooked whole grain rotini

4 oz. low-fat cheddar cheese (cubed) 

1/2 a bag of turkey pepperoni (cut into fourths) 

about 1-1 1/2 cups low-fat Italian dressing

Directions 

Dump all the ingredients into a large bowl.

 Mix well. 

Store in the fridge in an air-tight container.

The Chef taking a taste test 

Pasta Salad! 

Breakfast Cookies

I wanted to take a break from the usual pancake, waffle, oatmeal routine I have been in lately and try some new things for Abby in the morning. Last week we tried Anytime Popsicles and Baked Donuts and loved them. This week, breakfast cookies! 

These are something my mom made for my sisters and I when we were little. They are so quick and easy to make and taste delicious!
Abby gobbled them up (and so did I). 

Breakfast Cookies 

recipe from my mom 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (wheat or white is fine too) 

3/4 cup white sugar 

1 tsp salt 

1 tsp nutmeg 

3/4 tsp cinnamon 

1 tsp baking soda 

3/4 cup shortening 

1 egg 

1 or 2 mashed ripe bananas 

1 1/2 cups oats 

Directions 

1. Combine all the dry ingredients, except oats. 

2. Cut in the shortening and then add the egg and banana. Mix well. 

3. Add oats and stir until mixed well. 

4. Drop teaspoon sized mounds onto ungreased cookie sheets. Makes 3 dozen. 

5. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. 

Enjoy! 

*Each cookie is 2 Weight Watcher Points!

I'm linking up here...
Melt In Your Mouth Monday
Make a Food-e-Friend Monday
Tuesday Night Supper Club
A Little Birdie Told Me...
Life Made Lovely
DIY Thrifty Thursday

Friday Night Dessert Night #10: Cookies and Cream Cookies

     When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make them! 

How could I resist? 

You actually put cookies in these cookies!

 Does that even make sense? 

Who cares! 

Once you try these cookies, you may never be able to eat another cookie without comparing it to these!

Cookies and Cream Cookies 

recipe adapted from Recipe Shoebox

Ingredients 

1 cup butter, softened 

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

1/2 white sugar

1 package Cookies 'n Creme Pudding Mix

2 eggs 

1 tsp vanilla 

2 1/4 cups flour 

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

10 Oreos, chopped 

1/2 cup white chocolate chips 

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 350. 

2. Cream together butter and sugars. Add pudding mix and mix until combined. 

3. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. 

4. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. 

5. Add the Oreos and chocolate chips.

6. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet.

7. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until slightly brown on top.

Enjoy!

This post will be linked to: 

Sweet Tooth Friday 

Feasting in Fellowship Friday

Sweets for a Saturday 

So Sweet Sundays

Sundae Scoop Link Party 

Think Pink Sundays

Sweet Indulgences Sunday

This Week's Favorites

This is what I found this week...

Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

from My Kitchen Adventures

Cheeseburger Ring

from Jam Hands

Avocado Chicken Salad

from Recipe Shoebox

Whole Grain Cheddar Cheese Pancakes 

form Recipe Shoebox 

Chocolate Waffle Iron Cookies

from Sweet as Sugar Cookies 

I am totally doing this! I am collecting jars (I only need a few more) and then this is on my do-to list. We use spaghetti sauce at least once a week so this is a must!

5 Jars, 5 Minutes, $3 (Spaghetti Sauce) 

from Real Food, Allergy Free

I am linking up to...
Friday Favorites at Finding Joy in My Kitchen

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I always use the Pioneer Woman's recipe for pizza dough. Recently I have started using whole-wheat flour and it just wasn't 100% perfect. But this time it was! I followed the Pioneer Woman's recipe, but instead of 4 cups white flour, I used 3 1/2 cups whole-wheat and that did the trick. The dough was not dry, not too moist, rolled out to perfection and tasted delicious! 

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Ingredients for dough 

1 tsp active dry or instant yeast 

3 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour 

1 tsp salt 

1/3 cup olive oil

Toppings 

1/2 cup BBQ sauce 

1 cup cooked chicken (boiled, grilled...) 

2 cups low-fat mozzarella 

Directions 

1. In a small bowl sprinkle yeast on 1 1/2 cups warm water. 

2. In a large bowl combine flour and salt. 

3. Slowly add the oil to the flour mixture using a mixer. 

4. Slowly add the water mixture to the flour mixture. Mix until well combined. 

5. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil in a large bowl and roll the dough around until all sides are oiled. 

6. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise for at least 1 hour. 

7. Divide the dough in half. Use half for tonight and freeze the other half (or keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days and use to make breadsticks with spaghetti later in the week!). 

8. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, roll out the dough...

spread on the BBQ sauce...

combine the chicken and cheese and sprinkle on top of the BBQ sauce... 

bake for 10-15 minutes or until edges look crisp. 

Enjoy! 

This post is linked to:

DIY Thrifty Thursday

Bruschetta Chicken Bake

     This recipe is so easy! I found the recipe for this Bruschetta Chicken Bake at kraftrecipes.com. The recipe has chunky tomatoes in it, which made me a little nervous because I am the only one in my house that likes tomatoes, but they ate it (tomatoes and all) and liked it!

Bruschetta Chicken Bake 

recipe from Kraftrecipes.com

Ingredients 

1 can diced tomatoes (undrained) 

1 cup low-fat mozzarella cheese 

1 box Stove Top chicken stuffing

1/2 cup water

2 tsp minced garlic 

2 - 4 chicken breasts (I used 2 large cut into 1 inch pieces)

1 tsp dried basil 

Directions 

1. Combine stuffing, tomatoes, water, and garlic. Mix well. 

2. On the bottom of a 9 by 13 pan place chicken, sprinkle with basil, and then put cheese on top.

3. Cover with stuffing mixture. 

4. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until chicken is done. 

5. Serve with a green salad and enjoy! 

*This made great leftovers too!

This post is linked to: 

Melt In Your Mouth Monday

Delicious Dishes 

Make a Food-e-Friend

Tuesday Night Supper Club 

A Little Birdie Told Me

DIY Thrifty Thursday

Feasting in Fellowship Friday

Baked Donuts

 This recipe has been on my to-do list for quite sometime but I had two problems with it that kept me from doing it: 

#1 It is time consuming. Abby wakes up hungry and having to wait an hour and half for breakfast would not go over well. 

#2 It a yeast dough, which I usually don't have the patience for.

But this particular morning, Lucy woke up at 5:30 and was back to sleep for her long nap by 6:30, no one else was awake yet (unusual for us, we are very early risers), so I made a cup of coffee and decided to make the donuts.

 I didn't take pictures of the process because I was in too big a hurry to get it done before my people woke up!

Though these donuts are not necessarily healthy, it is another healthier alternative to the donut shop! 

Baked Donuts 

recipe from Cooking Creations

Ingredients

1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk (heated to 115 degrees)
1 tbsp dry active yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick butter, cut into 1 inch cubes

Directions

1. In a stand mixer, beat the egg and sugar on medium speed for 1 minute.

2. Add the milk, yeast, salt, and vanilla.

3. Turn the speed to low and add 2 cups flour (gradually).

4. Attach the dough hook to your mixer, and add the butter one piece at a time until smooth.

5. Add the remaining flour until the dough sticks to the hook and pulls away from the bowl.

6. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cover and allow to rise for about an hour. The dough will double in size.

7. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness and cut out 3-inch circles (I used a coffee mug upside down). Cut a 1-inch circle out of the middle of each (I used a tiny flower cookie cutter).

8. Place donuts and donut holes on a greased cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and place on top of oven. Now turn on the oven and allow donuts to rise on top of the warm oven for 25 more minutes while the oven heats to 400.

9. Bake for 7 minutes or until golden brown.

10. Top as desired.

The donuts were delicious and Abby woke up in time to help me add the toppings.

She chose pink glaze (a couple tablespoons powdered sugar mixed with water and red food coloring) and sprinkles. I chose to brush on a little butter and dip in sugar.

Abby put a party hat on because when
sprinkles are involved, it must be a party! 

Poor little Lu can't have donuts yet so here is what
she was doing while we ate! :)

This post is linked to:
Sweet Tooth Fridays
Sweets for a Saturday
Think Pink Sundays
Sundae Scoop Link Party 
So Sweet Sundays

Friday Night Dessert Night #9: No Pudge Fudge Brownie Muffins

         In a pinch, this is the best low-calorie dessert I have found. All you need is a box of no pudge fudge brownie mix and vanilla yogurt. If you only have plain yogurt, use that with a teaspoon of vanilla. 

Mix the two together, pour 1/4 mix into 12 prepared muffin cups,

 and lick the bowl (yummy eggless batter!). 

 Bake for 15 minutes at 350 and you have gooey, low-cal brownies! 

Top with a little whipped cream or a small scoop of frozen yogurt.