lemon chicken farfalle...

3 tsp olive oil

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; sliced

1 cup frozen baby peas

1 cup carrot, cut into small strips

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

6 Tbsp non fat cream cheese

6 cups farfalle pasta, cooked

9 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp lemon zest

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Heat a large, non stick skillet (med high heat) and add olive oil. Add garlic, saute one minute, being careful not to burn. Add chicken; saute until almost cooked through. Add carrots and peas and saute about 1-2 min. Remove from pan and set aside. Add broth and cream cheese to pan and cook over med high heat until cheese melts, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Stir in chicken mixture, farfalle, and next four ingredients. Cook about one minute.

I actually made this a while ago and just forgot to share it. The horror!! It was a delicious meal that we all loved. You could certainly use full fat cream cheese, but when it's melted like this, with so many other flavors...you really don't even notice or miss the extra fat and calories.

(serves 6; 8 pts per serving)

lemon cakes...

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temp

1 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup buttermilk or plain low-fat yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

finely grated lemon zest and juice of 1 lemon, plus 2 Tbsp juice for the glaze

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 6-cup jumbo muffin tin. (I used six regular and the rest in a mini muffin tin) In a med bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon zest and juice. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar until light. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of the buttermilk mixture.

Divide evenly among the muffin cups. Bake 20-25 min (less for mini muffins) until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before topping with glaze.

In a small bowl, stir powdered sugar with the remaining 2 Tbsp of lemon juice until smooth. Pour over the cakes, spreading to the edges with a small knife. Let glaze set before serving.

I actually made these a while ago and forgot to post them...I certainly have not forgotten how amazing they tasted, though. I love lemon desserts, but do think there is such a thing as too much lemon. The glaze was a little too tart for me with the lemon juice. Next time I will just make the glaze with milk...but that's just me. If you LOVE the extra tartness of lemon juice, leave it as is. I also wanted to get more than 6 cakes, that's why I made them in 6 regular size muffin cups and the rest in a mini muffin tin. Just watch the cooking time. It will definitely cut down on the cooking time so watch them closely if you make them into mini cakes.
Recipe from Everyday Food's Great Food Fast cookbook (my new favorite cookbook!)

glazed ham...

1 5-6 lb ham (fully cooked)

whole cloves

1 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 tsp cornstarch

1 1/2 tsp dry mustard

Score ham by making diagonal cuts in a diamond pattern. Stud with cloves. Place in a shallow roasting pan. Bake at 325 degrees until 125 degrees (about 1 1/2-2 hours)

In a medium saucepan combine pineapple juice, sugar, cornstarch & dry mustard. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir two minutes more.

Brush ham with the glaze. Bake 20-30 min more or until thermometer registers 135 degrees. Let stand 15-20 min before slicing.

This was the recipe I used last Easter and I really loved it. I'm not the biggest fan of ham and I thought this was delicious. There is something about pineapple with it that just takes it over the top. And...this is soooooo much better tasting than the glaze packets that come with the ham. We were obviously too consumed with dinner last year to take any pictures of the finished product, but it looked good (as far as I can remember!!) I have not forgotten how fabulous it tasted, though!

pizza pot pie...

pizza dough

pepperoni and/or sausage (cooked)

mushrooms, green pepper, olives

mozzarella cheese; cut into small cubes

pizza/spaghetti sauce

olive oil

parmesan cheese

Combine all pizza toppings (to your liking) and mix with sauce. Fill ramekins. Roll out pizza dough and cut out a circle that is a little larger than ramekin top. Place over pizza fillings and press onto sides of ramekins. Brush tops with a little olive oil, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, and cut a slit on the top of each pie. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 min, or until top is golden brown.

I will admit that I was a little skeptical of this at first, but pleasantly surprised in the end. The pizza lovers in my house LOVED it. I got the idea from Giada De Laurentiis. She made hers with chicken and broccoli in the sauce. That didn't sound good to me, so I just went with traditional pizza toppings. I didn't give exact amounts of ingredients because, like pizza, just add what you like in the amounts you like.

I've mentioned before that my grocery store bakery sells bread dough in 16oz increments. If you can't find that in your store, try the frozen bread dough. I've heard that there are some pizza places that will even sell dough.

spaghetti pie...

10 oz spaghetti; cooked

1/2-3/4 lb lean ground beef (or turkey)

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 egg

1 egg white

2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook meat and add spaghetti sauce. Set aside.

Cool cooked pasta to room temp. Mix with eggs & half of the cheese. Press into a greased 10in pie plate. Spread sauce/meat mixture over spaghetti and bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 25-30 min. Remove foil, top with remaining cheese and bake another 3-5 min. Let sit at room temp for a few minutes before slicing.

I make pasta several different ways, but for some reason this one takes the cake with my family. My boys each had two servings and still wanted more. I agree that this is my favorite, too! If your pie plate is a different size (most are 9 inch) just cut back a little on the pasta & sauce. You could certainly use less or more cheese, depending on your liking & how forgiving your hips are!

(1/8th of pie=8pts)