Crazy-Creamy Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

Per Serving (4 mushrooms): 1 Point+
53 calories, 1g fat, 323mg sodium, 5g carbs, 1g fiber, 2g sugars, 7g protein

The recipe: "Hungry Girl Recipes and Survival Strategies...", page 162
or http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/714

Mushrooms are one of my husband's favorite foods, so I try to incorporate them into meals every once in a while.  I saw this recipe for stuffed mushrooms, and it sounded like something he would really love.  With crab, cheese, and mushrooms, how could I go wrong? 

These turned out to be as tasty as I had hoped, and were only one point for four of them.  Nice!  The only thing I didn't like much was the celery, which I think I will omit next time I make these.  I will probably keep the bell pepper in, though, since that added a nice crunchy addition to the mushrooms.  I am just not a big fan of the flavor of celery.

These were obviously meant to be an appetizer, but since we both like mushrooms, and these were only 1 point for four, I doubled the recipe and made 24 of these.  I made a salad to go with it and we just munched on mushrooms for dinner.  Yum!  I bought the large mushrooms that say they are meant for stuffing, and they worked out perfectly for the amount of filling that the recipe made.  If you are picking mushrooms from a bulk bin, make sure you pick the larger size ones so they are big enough to stuff them. 

Overall, these are GREAT for an appetizer, especially considering their points value.  Most appetizers have many more points than these, and then you still have a whole meal to eat afterward!  Enjoy!

Creamy Caramelized Onion Bisque

Per Serving (1 cup): 3 Points+
109 calories, 1g fat, 912mg sodium, 21g carbs, 1g fiber, 2.5g sugars, 4g protein

The recipe: "Hungry Girl 1-2-3", pages 202 - 203

I'm not really sure what I was thinking when I decided to make this recipe, but onion soup in 100 degree weather is not exactly the most appetizing.  I think it just sounded like an easy recipe to make, and one that I had most of the ingredients for already. 

Don't get me wrong - it was delicious.  By cooking the onions for a long period of time and caramelizing them, you get a great onion flavor without it being too strong.  Blending the onions with coffee creamer was something I never would have thought to do.  It allows you to get a creamy flavor, but without the high amount of fat and calories that heavy cream would normally add. 

This soup kind of reminded me of a french onion soup, but without the bread and cheese that is normally on top.  I might make this again in the winter when the weather is more suitable for soup.  It's just been way too hot, and the leftovers ended up going to waste since my husband refused to help me with them! 

Upside-Down Bananaberry Crumble

Per Serving (½ of recipe): 4 Points+
140 calories, 1.5g fat, 174mg sodium, 32g carbs, 3g fiber, 14g sugars, 2g protein

The recipe: "Hungry Girl Recipes and Survival Strategies...", pages 224 - 225

Although this looks like a gross pile cooked fruit, it actually tasted really good.  I had tons of bananas and strawberries, so this was the perfect dessert for me to make.  The only problem was, I made this after the kids went to bed, so I had no one to share it with.  Since my willpower has been lacking recently, I ended up eating the whole dessert.  Luckily, the whole thing was still only 8 points, so the damage wasn't all that bad. 

This dessert was cooked in a mini loaf pan, with the fruit on the bottom and the graham cracker crumbs on the top.  Removing it from the pan requires you to quickly flip it over and have it land nicely on a plate.  Since my pan is actually four mini loaves in one, it was a little difficult to do a quick, neat flip.  I'm pretty sure this is why mine came out more as a blob of fruit than a nice-looking loaf shape. 

This was a great dessert for summer.  Nice and fruity, but still rich enough to be a delicious dessert.  It reminded me of a yummy fruit cobbler.  The graham cracker crumbs made a nice crust without adding too many calories.  If I had someone to share this with, I would definitely make this again.  Mmm!

Open-Faced Chicken Salad Melt

Per Serving (entire recipe): 7 Points+
299 calories, 7.75g fat, 1,224mg sodium, 26g carbs, 5.75g fiber, 4.5g sugars, 31g protein

The recipe: "300 under 300", page 295

For lunch on Sunday, I made this yummy sandwich for my Mom and I, who was visiting for the weekend.  We both love chicken salad sandwiches, which of course, are usually loaded with mayo and other fattening ingredients.  I made this healthy version, which both of us thought tasted decent, but wasn't anything super-exciting. 

I loved the fact that the sandwich was open-faced and that there were two halves to eat separately.  It made us feel as though we were eating more than just a small sandwich on light bread.  The flavor of the chicken salad was pretty good - it was just a little dry since there was not much in it to moisten it up.  I am used to using much more than just a half tablespoon of mayo in my chicken salad! 

I also loved the fact that the recipe called for broccoli slaw in the chicken salad.  The extra veggies really bulked up the sandwich without adding hardly any calories.  It also added a nice crunch to it that I really loved.

A pretty good lunch, and one that I might make again if I am in the mood for chicken salad again.  If I was in maintenance mode instead of weight-loss mode, I might add a tablespoon of mayo to add a little more moisture to the chicken salad.

Egga-Pinwheels

Per Serving (1/8th of recipe, 1 pinwheel): 4 Points+
134 calories, 5g fat, 555mg sodium, 13.5g carbs, <1g fiber, 3g sugars, 8.5g protein

The recipe: "300 under 300", pages 122 - 123
or http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1386

My Mom was visiting this weekend, so I wanted to make something fun and interesting for breakfast while she was here.  I've been wanting to make this recipe, and since I had some of the Pillsbury Seamless dough in the fridge, this sounded like the perfect breakfast to make. 

These turned out to be pretty tasty.  Almost like a ham, egg and cheese biscuit sandwich, but rolled up in a croissant dough instead.  Yum!  The main problem with these is that they are four points for only one!  Yikes!  And you definitely want to eat more than one - not just because they are good, but also because one is not enough to make you feel satisfied.  We ate two each with some fresh strawberries and blackberries for a delicious breakfast. 

My two-year-old also loved these, so I would recommend making these if you want to make something fun for breakfast for your family.  I would not necessarily recommend these as a filling, low-point breakfast, however!