LOW -CARB, SUGAR FREE Peanut butter cookies

Ingredients:
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Cup Splenda, plus a little extra for dusting
1 Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put all 4 ingredients into a medium size bowl. Mix thoroughly until well blended. Roll dough into walnut sized pieces, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Dip a long-tined fork into a small bit of splenda, and press into the balls making cross hatched design.

Cook for 12 minutes & move to cooling rack. Dust with splenda & cool. Store in an air-tight container.

Number of Servings: 16

I MADE THESE LAST NIGHT.  THEY ARE JUST AS GOOD AS MY NORMAL PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES I MAKE...BUT A BETTER ALTERNATIVE!!!!!

Lemon Dijon Chicken

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
lemon juice
4 tbs Dijon mustard
black pepper
Creole style seasoning

Place chicken in skillet over medium heat. Pour in lemon juice, stir in Dijon, pepper and Creole seasoning. Cook, turning chicken occasionally, until done. (takes about 15 minutes)

Chicken With Penne

2 chicken breasts cut into strips
olive oil
garlic
pepper
onion or onion powder
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 pkg penne pasta
broccoli, asparagus or vegetable of choice
Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. Drizzle olive oil in saucepan. Add chicken, garlic, pepper and onion. Cook over medium heat until chicken is browned. Remove chicken and add broth to the saucepan. Add more garlic if desired. Add vegetable and cover. Steam for 5 minutes. Add back chicken and pasta. Let sit for 5 minutes and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 chicken breasts
4 cups water
4 cups chicken broth (I used the Kitchen Essentials Chicken Broth)
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp pepper (I used a little bit more)
small onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup parsley
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 bay leaf
1-2 pkgs egg noodles

Place all ingredients except noodles in the crock pot. Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours. Remove chicken and bay leaf from pot. Shred chicken and return to broth. Add the noodles. Cook another hour on low (1/2 hour on high).

Spinach, Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This is Matt and Heather's recipe

3 cups water
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup
2/3 cup uncooked wild rice (rinse and drain)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey
2 cups shredded fresh spinach

1- In a 3 1/2 or 4 qt slow cooker, combine water, broth, cream of chicken soup, rice, chicken, thyme and pepper. (You could wait to add the chicken later if you want)

2- Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 3 1/2- 4 hours.

3- Stir in shredded spinach until just before serving.

Arizona Chili

2 chicken breasts, cut in thin strips
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbs olive oil
1 can chili style chunky tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 (4oz) can diced green chilis

In a large sauce pan cook chicken, onion & garlic in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Drain. Add chilis, tomatoes and beans. Simmer on low 10 minutes.

Good For You Cornbread

Jeff and I have both been given strict instruction to lower our cholesterol. UGH! We went out Wednesday night and bought this little ditty.

This book is great and has some pretty good recipes. Maybe lowering my cholesterol won't be so bland.

Now on to the cornbread I made today:

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup 1% fat free buttermilk

1 egg

1/4 cup tub margarine (trans-fat free)

1 tsp vegetable oil (to grease the pan)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together cornmeal, flour, sugar and baking powder. In another bowl, combine buttermilk and egg. Beat lightly. Slowly add buttermilk and egg mixture to dry ingredients. Add margarine and mix for 1 minute. Bake for 20-25 minutes in an 8x8 greased baking dish. Cool.

We had this with chili in the crock pot. I might post that recipe after dinner, if it is any good.

Ed's Meatloaf

1 lb Ground Turkey
1 Package Turkey Sausage
1 Cup Oatmeal
1 Egg
Garlic
Worcestershire sauce
Onion
Seasons you like

This is not an exact recipe but with meatloaf it doesn't need to be. Once you get the main things the rest is just a toss in. Because he uses the turkey this is a really healthy meal and very good and a favorite of the kids.

Cook on 375 until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

This is also a great thing to make ahead and freeze and just cook on a busy night you don't feel like cooking.

Spinach Feta Turkey Burgers

Usually the recipe calls for 2 lbs of turkey but I will put up the half recipe. One pound is supposed to make about 4 burgers, they are pretty big but that's good because you don't want to be eating all bun.

1 lb Ground Turkey (not ground turkey breast)
1 egg
half pack 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and sqeezed dry
half pack 6oz. Feta Cheese
about 1 tsp chopped garlic (I use the stuff that comes in a jar, to lazy to do fresh)

mix it all up in a bowl, pattie 'em up, cook 'em up, serve 'em up. I cook them on a non stick griddle. Or, cook them in a pan...If you were going to do it on a grill I suggest doing it on foil, they break up pretty easy in the beginning. Anyway, they are soooo tasty that even Ben likes them and he's super picky.

Spring Strawberry Spinach Salad

Salad:
1 bunch spinach, rinsed
10 large strawberries, sliced

Dressing:
½ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup white wine vinegar (balsamic or rice vinegar)
1 cup vegetable oil (I only use ½ cup)
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Almonds:
½ large bag of sliced almonds (or however many you want)
White sugar (maybe 1/3 to ½ cup)

In a large bowl, mix the spinach and strawberries. In a blender, place the ½ cup sugar, salt, vinegar, and oil, and blend until smooth. (you can also do this with a hand mixer) Stir in the poppy seeds. Sauté the almonds and sugar over medium heat until the sugar melts, stirring constantly. Cool. Add the almonds to the salad just before serving. Pour the dressing over the spinach and strawberries, and toss to coat. (just before serving)

I want to change the veggie oil to Olive Oil and the Sugar to Splenda to make it a healthy salad. I don't think it will change the wonderful flavor.