Crescent Roll Taco Ring

Ingredients:

for the dough-

**if you don’t want to make your crescents from scratch, use 2 cans of store-bought crescent rolls

 

1 c warm water

5 tbsp + 1 tsp dry milk powder

1 tbsp active dry yeast

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 c Smart Balance Light butter + 1 tbsp melted (to brush on top)

2 tbsp Egg Beaters

3 1/4 c all-purpose flour

for the filling-

homemade taco seasoning OR one packet of store-bought taco seasoning

3/4 lb extra lean ground hamburger

3/4 c reduced fat Mexican cheese, shredded

1/4 c water

(optional serving suggestions) taco toppings-

refried beans

taco sauce

white con queso cheese dip

sour cream

Directions:

**If making your crescents from scratch follow steps 1-7. If using store-bought crescents, skip to step 8.

 

1. Begin by combining water and milk powder in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until well combined.
2. Add in yeast, sugar, salt, butter, egg beaters and 1 1/4 c of the flour. Mix on low speed until all ingredients are just wet. Increase mixing speed to medium for 2 minutes.
3. Reduce speed back to low. Add in another 1 c flour. Once flour is mixed in, increase mixing speed to medium for 2 minutes. Switch attachment to dough hook at this time for easier mixing. Add remaining 1 c flour at low speed until integrated in, then increase mixing speed to medium for 2 minutes.
4. If necessary, add additional flour until you reach the desired consistency. Dough should be soft and not overly sticky, but not stiff either.
5. Scrape dough down into bottom of bowl with spatula. Coat the sides of the bowl with non-stick spray or a tbsp of oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and place in a warm place. Allow dough to rise (about a 1 hour to 1.5 hours) and double in size.
6. Scrape dough from bowl onto flour-dusted counter top (if dough is still sticky, kneed a little flour into it until you are able to work with it without it sticking). Using a rolling pin, roll dough into a circle.
7. Use a pizza cutter to cut into 16 triangles. 

8. On a round pizza pan, begin overlapping triangles to form a circle. Each time you add a new triangle, pinch dough seems together. Repeat until all 16 triangles have been used and dough forms a complete circle.

9. In a large skillet, brown hamburger over medium high heat. Drain excess grease from hamburger and discard. Add taco seasoning and 1/4 water to cooked hamburger. Reduce heat to low and stir until the water has been absorbed and the meat is evenly coated with seasoning.

10. Spoon hamburger filling onto crescent ring. I try to fill it as much as possible. Sprinkle 3/4 c shredded cheese over the top of the hamburger.

11. Begin pulling the triangle pieces over the meat and cheese filling. Pinch the crescent dough underneath the ring so that it won’t separate when cooking. Repeat with the remaining triangles until all of the meat and cheese filling is encased in crescent dough. 

12. Brush 1 tbsp melted butter on top of the taco ring. Sprinkle some shredded cheese on top of the brushed, melted butter. 

13. Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until crescent dough is baked through.

14. Cut taco ring into eight equal pieces. Serve with your favorite taco toppings.

 

Yields 8 servings, serving size 1 piece

7 points on Weight Watchers Points+ System

*add additional points for toppings

 

I am in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers.

Homemade taco seasoning

Ingredients:

(per 1 lb of ground hamburger or ground turkey)

1 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cumin, ground

1/2 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp cayenne, ground

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients into a small bowl. Stir until well combined.

Pepperoni Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust

for the crust-

2 1/2 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1 c warm water

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, divided

for the toppings-

1 tsp Italian seasoning

pinch of garlic powder

2/3 c pizza sauce

1 c reduced fat mozzarella cheese

24 turkey pepperoni slices

Directions:

We have usually have to do half cheese and half pepperoni at my house for those picky eaters 🙂

1. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in stand mixer mixing bowl. Add water and 1 tbsp of oil into bowl with dry ingredients.

2. Knead dough for 5 minutes with dough hook attachment. Dough should pull away from the sides and form a nice ball.

3. Remove ball of dough from bowl and spray mixing bowl with non-stick cooking spray and return dough ball to bowl. Toss to coat dough with non-stick spray. Cover with plastic wrap or dish towel. Set in a warm area for 20 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 450°. Set out a pizza pan.

5. Remove dough from mixing bowl. Spread dough out with hands (do not use rolling pin) on pizza pan all the way to the edge of the pan. Make sure dough is an even thickness all the way around.

6. In a small dish, combine remaining 1 tbsp oil, Italian seasoning, and a pinch of garlic powder. Brush mixture about 2 inches around the outside edge of the pizza dough for the crust.

7. Spread pizza sauce inside the ring you just made with the oil mixture, leaving about 2″ around the outside for the crust. Top with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.

8. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until pizza is golden brown and dough is cooked through. Remove from oven and cut into 8 or 12 pieces.if cut into 8:
Yields 8 servings, serving size 1 piece
6 points on Weight Watchers Points+ Systemif cut into 12:
Yields 6 servings, serving size 2 pieces
8 points on Weight Watchers Points+ System (4 points/slice)

I am in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers.

Baked Chicken Tacos with Avocado Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:

for the tacos-

8 crunchy taco shells

2 c chicken, cooked, chopped

1 c reduced fat Mexican cheese, shredded (Substitute dairy free cheese shreds for dairy free option)

2 c shredded lettuce

for the yogurt sauce-

1 avocado, pitted

1/2 c fat free Greek yogurt, plain (Substitute dairy free or soy yogurt for dairy free option)

pinch of salt

pinch of garlic powder

1/4 tsp cumin, ground

1/8 tsp white pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. 

2. Stand up taco shells in a baking dish. Fill each taco shell with 1/4 c cooked chicken and 1/8 (or 2 tbsp) of shredded cheese. 

3. Bake tacos in oven for 10-12 minutes, or until heated through and cheese has melted.

4. While tacos are baking, make avocado yogurt sauce. Place yogurt, avocado, salt, pepper, cumin, and garlic powder in a blender. Blend ingredients until smooth. Place mixture in a piping bag or Ziplock bag with the corner snipped to drizzle.

4. Remove baked tacos from oven. Top each taco with 1/4 c shredded lettuce. Drizzle with avocado yogurt sauce.

 

Yields 4 servings, serving size 2 tacos

7 points on Weight Watchers Points+ System

 

I am in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers.

    

White Chocolate Lemon Jell-o Cookies

Ingredients:

for the cookies-

1/2 c  Smart Balance Light butter, at room temp or softened
1/3 c + 1 tbsp light brown sugar, packed 

1/8 c white sugar
2 small boxes (0.3 oz each) sugar-free lemon flavored jell-o, dry
1/4 c Egg Beaters (or 1 large egg)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/8 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp table salt

1/2 c white chocolate chips

for the lemon glaze-

2/3 c powdered sugar

1 tbsp smart balance light butter

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/4-1/2 tsp fresh lemon zest

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. 

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir until well incorporated.

3. In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine butter and both sugars until light and airy. 

4. Add eggs, vanilla, and jell-o packets to butter and sugar. Stir until well combined.

5. Gradually add dry ingredients in to wet in three different portions. Mixing until just combined after each addition of dry ingredients. 

6. Fold in white chocolate chips.

7. Scoop by the heaping tablespoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet (I used my medium-sized cookie scoop).

8. Bake for 10-13 minutes.  Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire cooling rack to cool completely.

9. In a small bowl, mix together ingredients for lemon glaze. Stir together until smooth. If glaze is too thick, add more lemon juice (a tiny bit at a time) until desired consistency is reached.

10. Pour glaze into a piping bag or Ziploc bag with the corner snipped. Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.

 

Yields 15 cookies, serving size 1 cookie

4 points on Weight Watchers Points+ System

 

I am in no way affiliated with Weight Watchers.