Easy Corn Muffins!

1 cup of cornmeal
1.5 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar, or other sweetener
1 standard size can of creamed corn

Mix them all together (preferably with a mixer), and bake them off! I used a mini muffin tin and got exactly 24 cute lil muffins. I also sprinkled them with paprika before baking. They took about 12 minutes in a 400 degree oven. :)




These are 2 for 1 weight watcher points plus value, in case you were wondering (and I know you were).

Chicken Carbonara!

So, I sort of want to start a "Cooking Light" blog, but have no idea what to call it, or anything like that, so for now, I'll just add this recipe on to my old blog. If you have any ideas on what I could call a recipe blog featuring (mostly) light cooking, please give me your suggestions!!

Anyway, as requested:

Chicken Carbonara

Ingredients:

• 8 oz linguine pasta
  
• 18 oz. chicken breast
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 1/2 cups peas
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 clove garlic
  
• 6 strips bacon
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth
  
• 2 tbsp skim milk
  
• 4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
• 3 oz 2% velveeta
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• Basil, Parsley, Seasoned Salt, Salt and Pepper

1. Dice up your sweet onion, and get it sauteing in your olive oil, along with your garlic (chopped finely or pressed)
   
2. Once they start to get brown and fragrant, cut your chicken into bite sized pieces and add to pan with some basil and parsley, cook chicken, lightly season with seasoned salt.
3. While chicken is cooking, partially cook your bacon in the microwave (about 4 minutes in the microwave), or however you prefer. (I did it in the microwave to keep as much grease out of the picture as I could.)
4. Once your bacon is partially cooked, chop it into small pieces, and add it into the chicken. Add about 1 tsp of the bacon fat to the chicken and onion mixture- discard the rest.
5. Let everything cook together, and cook your pasta while the chicken cooks.When straining pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. The starch from the cooking process will help thicken your sauce!
   
6. If peas are frozen, give them a zap in the microwave.
7. Make your cream sauce by melting your butter in a large skillet, and then whisking the flour into it, whisking constantly so no lumps form, making a roux. Once your roux is a bubbly paste, add in your pasta water, and continue to whisk over medium heat, until mixture thickens.
8. Add milk, whisk until thickened once again.
9. Add chicken broth- again, mix until thickened.
   
10. Add in velveeta and cream cheese, stirring and helping them to melt by breaking up. Keep heating and whisking until thick.
11. Season with salt and pepper.
12. Now, fold in chicken and bacon mixture until covered in sauce. Add peas and pasta, stir until all is coated with sauce.
13. Transfer to an oven safe baking dish, and top with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

This has been adapted from Cooking Light magazine. I made my own changes. The bacon adds a lot of flavor, but cooking it separately and draining off all but 1 tsp. of the grease cuts calories, as well as using very little butter. The reduced fat cream cheese and velveeta also help keep the calorie count down on this recipe!

I calculated approximately 11 WW points plus per 1.5 cup serving. :) Enjoy!