Cupcake Liner Pom Pom

What you'll need:

1. Styrofoam Ball
2. Push Pins
3. Glue, I used tacky glue. You can also use a glue gun.
4. Candlestick. I got mine on sale at Michael's for $3!
5. Cupcake liners.

How-To

Arrange the cupcake liners so one will be inside out and the other with be the right way, so you don't see any of the white in the cupcake liners.

Bend the liners around your thumb...

Push the pin thru the center. Add glue at the base and push in the styrofoam.

Arrange all around the ball until covered!

Pasta Ziti

This is a favorite of my mom and my fiance! Win WIN! Super easy!

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground beef
• 1/2 a medium onion, diced
• Sprinkle of garlic powder
• 1 box of ziti or whatever type of noodles you like
• 2 jars of your favorite sauce, I used Prego Light Smart
• Whatever cheese you like, I used reduced fat shredded cheddar and grated parmesan cheese

Instructions: 

1. Brown beef with diced onions, sprinkle in garlic powder
2. Cook pasta in bowling water one minute less than the box says
3. Drain beef and pasta
4. Mix sauce and beef
5. In a separate bowl mix half of the noodles, half of the sauce, and 2 handfuls of cheese - stir and put in a 9x13 pan. 
6. Do this twice until ingredients are used.
7. Cover with cheese on top
8. Bake 350 degrees for 17-20minutes

This is definitely a great recipe to play around with!

Curly Noodle Dinner - Cheap Meal

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 package (3 ounces) beef ramen noodles
• 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces) of diced tomatoes
• 1 can (8-1/2 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained

Directions

• In a skillet, brown beef; drain. Stir in noodles with contents of accompanying seasoning packet, tomatoes and corn; mix well. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the noodles are tender. Yield: 4-6 servings.

Pumpkin Poppers - Yum

Who says you can't have pumpkin in the summer!? Well, I love anything with pumpkin and this recipe was easy enough to throw together on my day off and I just happened to have all the ingredients in my pantry! yay!  This recipe was adapted from another blogger.

Pumpkin Poppers
recipe from Domestically Speaking

• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup pumpkin -- I would add a little more pumpkin next time (maybe a 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup milk

For Coating

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F and spray mini muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine flour, baking soda,salt, and spices in a bowl and whisk until combine.

In another bowl, mix oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and milk.  Pour in flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Fill mini muffin tins until almost full and bake 10-12 minutes.  

Melt butter in small bowl.  Mix sugar and cinnamon in a separate small bowl.  After popper cool for a few minutes, dip them in the butter and roll them in the sugar mixture.  Enjoy.  :)

Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars

Want something quick and easy?  Want a snack that's not high in sodium or has a bunch of unrecognizable ingredients?  

Here's a 5-ingredient, satisfying oatmeal bar!

Ingredients:

• 4 large, raw egg whites
• 2 individual packets of Splenda (I used the packets with 1 gram of fiber)
• 3/4 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup chopped apple (but you can really use any fruit you like; if using another fruit, do not add cinnamon unless preferred)
• 3 pinchs of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
Coat a shallow baking dish with cooking spray, and pour the mixture into a 9x9 dish. 
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool. After cooling, increase oven temperature to 425. 
Slice into bars, and remove from baking dish. Recoat dish with cooking spray. 
Place bars back in dish in the oven for 5 minutes until golden brown. 

Makes 6 bars (depending on how you cut them)

Nutrition: (Serving size - 2)

Calories: 126

Total Fat: 1.4g

Sodium: 73.5mg

Carbs: 21.9

Fiber: 7.2g

Sugars: 7g

Protein: 7.9

Adapted from The Revolution (TV Show on ABC)

Lighter Chicken Sausage Breakfast Casserole

I LOVE LOVE LOVE breakfast casseroles, the only thing I don't love is the amount of calories per serving. I got a recipe from Taste of Home and made some changes to make it lighter.
I made this casserole for my bestest friend, Amber.  We usually meet for breakfast every other Saturday but this time I asked her to come to my house since I'm trying to watch my caloric intake. We both really enjoyed this lighter recipe!  Tasted just as good as the real thing!  The greatest part about it was the huge serving we got for 311 calories! A great way to start the day! Note - this recipe calls for the casserole to sit overnight.

Ingredients:

15 ounces Isernio's Premium Breakfast Chicken Sausage
1 medium onion, diced
1 1/4 cup egg beaters (you could probably do just one cup if you like the casserole more dry)
2 cups skim/nonfat milk
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
8 slices of Healthy Lifestyle 40 cal per slice bread, cubed
2 cups (8 ounces) reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese




Directions:

• In a nonstick skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until sausage is no longer pink; drain and cool.  You must allow the meat to cool, if not you will melt the cheese and cook the eggs!
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs beaters, milk, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir in the bread cubes, cheese and sausage mixture. Pour into a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

• Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. 
• Yield: 6 servings for 311 calories per serving OR 8 servings for 234 calories per serving.

Crescent Roll Pot Pie

This recipe is one of my family's favorites! I've adapted it from Pillbury's Classic Chicken Pot Pie so it's a little healthier than the original.  The total calorie count ends up around 480 per serving with four servings.

Ingredients:

Crust


1       Can of reduced fat crescent rolls


Filling:


1/3 cup of light butter or margarine
1/3 cup of diced onions (yellow or white)
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup skim milk
1 can chicken broth or 1 3/4 cup if from a carton
1/4 cup fresh parmesan cheese, shredded (you can cut this out but personally I feel like it adds more flavor. If you do cut it out it's 20 cal less per serving)
2 1/2 cups of cooked diced chicken or turkey
2 cups of frozen assorted vegetables, thawed.

Prior to being cooked:

Perfectly golden brown!

Directions:

1Heat oven to 350°F. 2In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Gradually (in about 3 batches) stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk, cooking and stirring until bubbly and thickened. Stir in parmesan cheese.3Stir in chicken and mixed vegetables. Remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into pan 9x13 pan OR use 4 ramekins. Top with crescent rolls.  You may need to stretch the crescent rolls to completely cover the mixture.4Bake 13 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  (If you use the regular crescent rolls, I've noticed it cooks faster, so just keep an eye on it).**You can also make the chicken mixture ahead of time and store in the refrigerator until later in the evening to cook. If you do this, increase the cooking time so the middle gets heated thru.  You may need to place tin foil over the crescent topping once it's golden brown so it doesn't burn.**