Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Life is too short to eat bland food...

While eating healthy can be hard, and sometimes bland, there are plenty of resources out there to find delicious, healthy options, that can easily satisfy as much as the unhealthy versions.

Life is truly too short to waste time not enjoying what you eat. Sure we eat for fuel. Sure we eat for energy. But there is nothing wrong with eating for enjoyment. Like I said, Life is too short!

I found this great recipe for rice krispies. I make rice krispies often, generally forgoing any butter (crisco spray on my hand was about all I needed) but a little butter adds some flavor, I will admit! These are the perfect little treat and with such low point plus value, you can afford to splurge on 2!

Now here is one hell of a recipe that I found on pintrest! I made the recipe with 1 pound of rigatoni, 2 chicken breasts, boiled and then shredded and 2 cups of cheese and it came out to 12 pp per serving once I divided a 9X13 into 8 pieces. I kept the liquid in the tomatoes and spinach, and would consider adding another can of tomatoes. You can bring the pp level down to 11 by only doing 1.5 cups of cheese which is plenty...I just needed a cheese fix!

To make it even lighter, forgo the olive oil for cooking spray and use light cream cheese and real chives. This will bring the recipe down to 10 pp per serving but I have to preface though that oil is good for you, especially olive oil, so take the extra points and lube up that body!

Here is my version of the recipe from http://www.savingmoneylivinglife.com/

Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake

1 pound rigatoni
1 T olive oil
1 cup onion
1 (10oz) pack frozen spinach thawed
2 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
1 can Italian diced tomatoes (I would almost double this next time)
1 8oz container chive and onion cream cheese
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 and 1/2 cup reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese

Prepare pasta according to package. Add oil to the bottom of baking dish and add chopped onion in a single layer. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until tender.

Mix together spinach, tomatoes, and cream cheese. Add chicken, then add the entire mixture to the pasta. Once the onions are cooked, mix them in as well.

Place everything in the 9X13 baking dish. Cover the top with the cheese, cover with foil or a baking pan for 30 minutes at 375, then an additional 15 minutes uncovered. Yum!

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