Back in the day I loved a site called Ziplist for all my recipe collecting needs… alas like most things on the internet it eventually got axed (RIP Google Reader) but now I see that as a good thing. The CopyMeThat team really stepped up there game and improved their tool to be way better than Ziplist ever was.

How it works:

Add a browser button similar to pinterest to your browser and click it on the recipe page.

CopyMeThat adds it to your ‘queue’ to confirm.

Next time you log in you get to confirm it, my favorite thing to do at this point is give it a ‘tag’ for the type of recipe it is,and clean up any formatting before CopyMeThat saves it, the ‘magic sauce’ of CopyMeThat is that the entire recipe is saved in their app, if the blog goes private you still have your capture of the recipe.

From the main screen you can see your recipes in a photo list and importantly you can check mark if you’ve made them or not, and what your rating is, sooo important!

You can also cleanly print the recipe from CopyMeThat, but also access from the app where it’s in the same clean format that is easier than scrolling through a endless blog post (I’m looking at you Ree!) even better when you are looking at a recipe on the app your phone will not go to sleep mode!

From the recipe page you can add the recipe to your grocery list and your meal plan calendar.

The grocery list feature is awesome on CopyMeThat, you can dynamically switch between sorting by “recipe” or “by category” YES it auto groups by aisle and it works even with stuff you add in.

 

Meal Planning View if that’s your thing (No my meal plan isn’t that involved!)

Overall CopyMeThat works really well for me, especially the tagging function since when planning our week I’m looking for 1 crockpot thing, 1 chicken thing, etc. the tags let me do that easily.

You can also share your recipes in CopyMeThat, check out mine here.

I know lots of people got Instapots for Christmas, here’s my “Pressure Cooker” tag.

If I have promised to share a recipe with you in the past 6 months, here it finally is! Now that I’m home with Leagan cooking in the evenings has been nice ‘actually complete a task time’ and gives Daddy some Leagan time though he normally has the evening fussies! This desire to cook might have some strategic value…

See ALL of my recipes in my CopyMeThat profile, after Ziplist died I moved to CopyMeThat and really like it,my FAVORITE feature is that I can switch my grocery list between by recipe or item category!

Anywho, here are some good but easy things I’ve been feeding us lately.

PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps via Damn Delicious

These are spot on and easy! If you like them at PF Chang’s it’s worth buying all the special stuff to make these since you’ll definitely be making them again.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup in a Pressure Cooker via Pressure Cooking Today

Gotta love the pressure cooker especially since they are so popular now and more recipes are popping up. This one’s rich flavor is awesome and the pressure makes the celery’s texture seem like a potato!

Sausage Breakfast Casserole via Two Peas and their Pod (My photo =)

Breastfeeding makes me HANGRY especially in the morning, so one Saturday I made this monster casserole and it was so nice to have for the next few days.

Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Honey Lime Chicken Tacos via Carlsbad Cravings

Remember that salsa jar crockpot chicken recipe that EVERYONE was making like 6 years ago? This is the grown up actually flavorful version of this, soo sooo good! I totally burned Andrew out on the salsa chicken but he really liked this! Go ahead and buy the smoked paprika it really adds a lot, McCormick now has one so it isn’t one of those $7 spices you’ll never use again.

Cinnamon Roll French Toast via Tasty

So bad, so easy, half it for 2.  Good holiday breakfast treat!

 

One Pot Red Beans and Rice via Iowa Girl Eats

This recipe is new to us and already getting worn out! I love that it’s easy and stuff we generally have, I keep a Andouille in stock so I can pull this out when I want to cook but not.

Simple Baked Chicken Breasts via All Recipes

I STINK at pan cooking chicken so this has become my foolproof method of adding chicken to whatever else I’m making, so good so easy. I generally cut each breast in half to get more flavor and will sometimes broil for a few seconds to get a bit more color.  Great method and easy to handle on top of your other cooking.

Those are our latest favorites, you have any new favorites in your house to share?

We just celebrated Andrew’s sister Natalie’s birthday with a family dinner. When she requested spaghetti, I was quick to volunteer to make it, since I NEVER get to make spaghetti anymore since Andrew isn’t a fan of red sauces sans pizza.
I used Pioneer Woman’s recipe with a few alterations, but it turned out great.
I also got to experience the true wonder and power of cast iron cookware. I have my Le Crueset bundled up in my Pyrex To-Go container (It’s one for a large glass bowl, so it works great for anything round).  When we got to Andrew’s folks at least an hour after I pulled it off the burner, the pot lid was STILL to hot to touch, and it came back to a simmer in less than 5 minutes. Impressive!
I will admit though since halving of this recipe still filled my 2 quart pan almost all the way up, driving with it that full swaddled in a trash bag lined cooler on the highway was a little stressful… It did make it and only a little big of tomato juice leaked out.
Get the recipe over on Pioneer Woman’s Blog, but here area the ingredient swaps I did to great success. I followed her directions.
Ingredients already halved

• 2.5 pounds 90/10 Ground Beef  (I drained mine in a strainer)
• 1.5 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 whole Large Yellow Onions, Diced
• 1 whole Green Bell Pepper, Seeded And Diced
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1/2 cup Low Sodium Beef Broth
• 1 cans 28 Ounce Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 can (14 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes
• 1 can (6-ounce) Tomato Paste
• 1 jar Good Store-bought Marinara Sauce (this is funny but I skipped it and added a can of tomato sauce)
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Thyme
• 2 whole Bay Leaves
• 1 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper (optional)
• 1.5 3 Tablespoons Parsley Flakes
• 1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)

I ripped this recipe out of Cooking Light ages ago, and have made it 3 times in 7 weeks, so it must be good!
We bought a big bag of individually packed Hake loins to try and learn more about cooking fish, so far this has been so consistently good that it’s the only thing we’ve made with them.

Crispy Fish with Lemon-Dill Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless cod fillets (I’ve been using the individually packed Hake Loins from Costco to get success).
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray
• 1/4 cup canola mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped dill pickle
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill (I used dried since it was what I had, it was still good)
• Lemon wedges

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Place egg whites in a shallow dish. Combine panko, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder in a shallow dish. Sprinkle fish evenly with pepper and salt.
3. Dip each fillet in egg white, then dredge in panko mixture; place on a broiler pan (DEFINITELY a must to get it not soggy) coated with cooking spray. Broil 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. (I cut mine into little bites and cooked for a total of 10 minutes for my oven).
4. Combine mayonnaise, pickle, lemon juice, and dill. Serve with fish and lemon wedges.

Adeena Sussman, Cooking Light
APRIL 2010

Happy Labor Day, today I've got a great minimal labor dinner for you Skinny Taste’s Crock Pot 3 Bean Turkey Chili!
This is the perfect “dreaming” of fall recipe from the indispensible Skinny Taste, don’t you just LOVE Gina? My dad loved it so much he ate it for breakfast. Yes really.
For once I actually left the recipe alone and just followed the directions, surprising I know. I topped mine with 2% cheddar cheese, and low fat sour cream.
Get the ingredients and super simple directions over on Skinny Taste.

UPS showed up with my engagement present from Bestie, a Le Creuset Dutch oven, just in time to make dinner! So excited to join the Le Creuset enamel cast iron cult!  When picking the color at Williams-Sonoma she literally asked “Which will photograph better?” and had to further clarify that I was a blogger, so this was important! (Apparently it was the oddest question the associate had ever been asked!) Ocean blue-grey looks pretty good through the lens, don’t ya think?

Printable Recipe
A summer friendly soup. Adapted from Weight Watcher’s Summer Corn, Bacon, and Potato Chowder.

Ingredients:

• About 5 smallish russet potatoes or 3 big ones
• 1 Bell Pepper Diced (I used Red)
• 1 Medium Size Onion Diced (Vidalia was perfect)
• 1 Can Corn (Also good with creamed corn or frozen corn)
• 2-3 Cups 2% Milk (enough to get your potatoes swimm’in)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp.. black pepper
• 1/4 hot sauce
• 6 pieces cooked turkey bacon
• Cooking Oil (I just switched to Coconut Oil, so good and same price as EVOO)

1. Wash and pierce your potatoes, then cook them in the microwave. Time will depend on your microwave, I used my potato sensor.
2. In the bottom of a Dutch oven or a nonstick stock pot on medium heat 1 tsp. of oil. Add your diced onion, pepper, and drained corn. Sauté for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
3. Get your bacon pan ready to go, and get the bacon going so it will be ready to crumble on top at the end.
4.When the potatoes are cooked dice them roughly.
5. When the veggies are tender, add the potatoes, milk, and seasonings, bring to a simmer. Once simmering cover and cook for 10-20 minutes. When done I smushed the potatoes a bit to make it more creamy.
6.  Top with crumbled bacon and a bit of scallion.
Printable Recipe
This post is partying here.

Last weekend Andrew’s band The Centennial Hiptet played a gig at Arrington Vineyards (Kix Brooks’ Vineyard) so I packed up some Sodastream and made these tasty dips for us to munch on. You can’t see him in the picture since he’s their drummer. They traveled well and were a hit!  Both recipes make a pretty hardy ‘party portion’ so I’d start there before doubling them if you’re hosting.



Preppy Pink Crocodile's Black Bean and Artichoke Dip (The Tasty Healthy One)

• 1 can black beans with their bean juice
• 1 can artichoke hearts, drained
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tbs. vinegar (I used apple cider like KK did)
• 1-3 tbs. EVOO to taste (I only used 1)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Dump everything in your food processor/blender/magic bullet and blend. I served with scoop tortilla chips.
So tasty and easy, and less guilt!

Jalapeno Ranch Dip – A Chuy’s Copycat (The Tasty ‘bad’ One)  (Adapted from this recipe)

• 1 1/3 Cups Duke’s Regular Mayo
• 1/3 Cup Buttermilk
• 1 Baby Can of chopped jalapenos, drained fairly well
• 1/4 Cup Salsa Verde/Tomatillo Salsa
• Cilantro to your tastes (I used 4 cubes of the Trader Joe’s Frozen kind since I was short on time).
• 1 Packet Dry Ranch Dressing Mix (Or make the equivalent via a Pinterest Recipe).

Dump everything in your food processor/blender/magic bullet and blend. I served with scoop tortilla chips.

P.S. If you are in the Nashville area and enjoy live jazz, The Centennial Hiptet plays free events throughout the year, I’d love to meet some bloggy friends too! They will be back at Arrington on November 17th and 30th.

This post is partying here.

A’s family is pretty darn sweet, so sweet in fact the we gather at his Granny’s house on Thursday evenings for dinner. This past Thursday I volunteered to bring dinner, before pondering what exactly would travel the 30 minute drive well enough to not have to mess with reheating. Lasagna was the perfect solution, and it arrived pretty darn warm even though it took us over an hour to get there thanks to my Pyrex portables carrier and microwave hot pad. (Nashville apparently forgot what tiny bit they knew about driving in the rain during our mini drought). 
I wouldn’t call this a ‘skinny’ recipe, but it’s definitely better than others since it uses lean turkey sausage and skim ricotta, I and A’s family thought it was a nice balance and didn’t even know it was a little ‘skinnied’ until I told them.

Lasagna the Kirsti Way

View Printable Recipe.
Makes one filled to the brim 13 x 9 Pyrex.
Marinara Sauce (Adapted from Serious Eats Marinara)

• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 56 oz. of canned tomatoes (I used one 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes and 2 14 oz. cans of Italian Diced)
• 1 Medium Onion Diced
• 4 Medium Cloves of Garlic Pressed
• 2 Microplaned Baby Carrots
• 1/4 Tsp. Dried Oregano
• 1/4 Tsp.  Crushed Red Pepper
• 1 Tsp. Dried Basil
• Fresh Italian Flat Leaf Parsley to taste
• Salt & Pepper to Taste

Lasagna

• 6 Lean Italian Turkey Sausage links Casings removed (1 1/4 Lbs. I used Jenny-O Lean Sweet)
• 9 Lasagna Noodles
• 15 oz. Skim Ricotta
• 1 cup Grated Parmesan
• 2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 cup Snipped Fresh Italian Flat Leaf Parsley to taste

For the Marinara:
1. Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a nonstick large sauce pan over medium heat. If using whole canned tomatoes, using clean kitchen shears snip them to in smaller pieces while still in the can.
2. Add diced onions and good about 5 minutes to soften.
3. Add microplaned carrot and pressed garlic. Let cook about a minute.
4. Add canned tomatoes, and dried spices. Stir.
5. Bring to a steady shimmer, and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
6. Remove from heat, add salt, pepper, and snipped parsley to taste.
For the lasagna:
1. Prepare lasagna noodles per instructions, or use the bakable kind.
2. Heat a large deep skillet over medium heat. (A’s parent’s got me this Kitchen Aid one for Christmas, it is my favorite pan ever!)
3. Break up sausage and add it to the pan. Cook thoroughly to 165. Use a spoon to ladle out most of the fat. Remove from heat. Add a few spoon fulls of marinara to the sausage, leaving enough marinara to coat the bottom of the pan and the top of the lasagna.
4. While sausage is cooking combine your skim ricotta with your egg, grated parmesan, and snipped fresh parsley.
5. Layer your lasagna in your dish. I did it this way from Bottom –> Top.

Bottom	Marinara Noodles Mozzarella Sprinkle Ricotta Sausage/Marinara Mozzarella Sprinkle Noodles Mozzarella Sprinkle Ricotta Sausage/Marinara Mozzarella Sprinkle Noodles Marinara
Top	Mozzarella Sprinkle

(Note: if you use an offset spatula to ‘level’ your ricotta, you are a baker).



6. Bake 365 for 30 minutes ‘tented’ with foil.
7. Bake another 10 minutes without foil to brown the top cheese.


View Printable Recipe.

This post is partying here.

Ever since their first appearance on Hello Kirsti back in August of 2010 my Quinoa Stuffed Peppers have been a staple at our house, we’ve made them at least every two months for nearly 2 years, now that’s a keeper recipe!
This past week I for the first time switched it up a little bit, and LOVED the result.
What I did differently.
I skipped boiling the peppers: I just washed them really well, and misted them with olive oil before putting in the oven. This saved a ton of time (a lot of water to wait on boiling) , and washing a big pot.
The Result: Less mushy peppers, they still had crunch, one downside is that the quinoa didn’t seem to ‘hold on’ to peppers as much, but I can live with that.

I used Vidalia onion vs. red. It’s what I had on hand 
The Result: Slightly different flavor, one less pretty color on the plate. Still tasted Great.
I added some frozen corn. I threw some kernels of frozen corn in the pan at the same time as the carrots.
The Result: Yum and crunch. Corn is my favorite veggie, and it worked well in this dish. I will definitely be trying to rotate the random throw in veggies for this dish now.
We also now love topping these off with reduced fat sour cream for added creaminess.
Don’t you just love favorite recipes you can switch up?

Even since the Hungry Girl Crab Ragoons, I’ve been loving using wonton wrappers as a skinny alternative for anything I can think of.

Following a mix of different things I found online and recipe on the wonton wrapper container I came up with this combo.

Ingredients:

• Wonton wrappers
• Thawed and drained frozen spinach
• Light Ricotta Cheese
• Blended Low Fat Cottage Cheese
• Grated Parmesan
• Italian Seasoning
• Salt to taste

Combine the spinach, ricotta, and cottage cheese in equal parts, add the rest to taste.

Preheat the oven to 375

Line your sheet pan with foil, spray with olive oil.

Scoop on wrappers, close using water and a fork.

Mist with olive oil.

Bake for 10-12 minutes

Make a complete disaster in the process…

After some success with sautéing ‘Zucchini Noodles’ I decided to make something casserole like that would have the satisfaction of Mac & Cheese but without the carbs of the mac. I think this totally achieves that and even ends up a little like one of my other favorite carb dishes, hash brown casserole.
Get a printable recipe here.
Ingredients for a full 9 x 13 Pyrex

• 3 Large-ish Zucchinis
• 1 small onion
• 6 oz. (1 1/2 Cups) 2% Cheddar Cheese
• 6 oz. (1 1/2 Cups) 2% Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 package 1/3 Fat Cream Cheese Softened
• 1 Large Whole Egg Beaten
• 1 Tsp. Salt
• 1 Tsp. Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute, or your favorite blend.
• Panko to top

Special Tool: Julienne Slicer, I got the Swissmar brand  via a recommendation and it works great and is cheap!
Steps:
1. Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wash and julienne all 3 zucchinis, line bowl with a clean tea towel to absorb the zucchini's moisture a bit. Once you get the the very seedy middle you’ll have to bail.
3. Salt and squeeze out your zucchini a bit. (This is important! The pieces I froze got really watery when I microwaved them).
4. Dice your onion and add it to your zucchini
5. Grease your 9x13 Pyrex and add the zucchini onion mixture
6. Add your beat’in egg, mix in, add your softened cream cheese, mix in.
7. Dump your big pile of cheese on top, and mix in.
8. Sprinkle the top with panko bread crumbs, mist with some olive oil spray.


9. Bake 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees, or until golden and bubbly.

Get a printable recipe here.

If you read Two Peas & Their Pod (Which if you like food you should. If you don’t like food, we probably shouldn’t be friends) you probably already pinned the “ 4 Ingredient Chocolate Cookies 'n' Cream Ice Cream” they posted from Savory Sweet Life.

By some miracle, the 3 important ones were all things in my pantry. (YES a ice cream recipe from only pantry items, perfect for cravings!) It is totally amazing, and Andrew really liked it too!

I’ll let you get the recipe over at their site, but all you need is a can of coconut milk, sugar, coco, and mix ins.  My one tip is don’t skip the blender, I tried to get away with whipping the coco in, but since it’s dry you really need the power of the blender, my magic bullet made it easy.

Since Andrew and I have zero Oreo self control I added milk chocolate chips, and cut up marshmallow. It turned out amazing, and is a little less guilt since it’s the coconut milk. It came together super quick, love that it’s a 1 step recipe, that whole cooling the custard thing just isn’t going to happen…

Some more coconut milk ice cream recipes I found to feed my new addiction….

 

Vegan Banana Coconut Ice Cream from Serious Eats

Source: serious eats.com via Hello Kirsti on Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

Blueberry Coconut Milk Ice Cream from Roost

Source: roostblog.com via Hello Kirsti on Pinterest

 

Vanilla Coconut Milk Ice Cream from The Nourishing Gourmet

Source: thenourishinggourmet.com via Hello Kirsti on Pinterest

I first tried Skinny Taste’s zucchini casserole over a year ago, I can’t count how many times I've made it since, it’s a go to recipe, I’ve even come up with tweak options to switch it up.
Zucchini Casserole from  Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 12 servings • Old Points: 2.5 pts • Points+: 3 pts
Calories: 110.2 • Fat: 6.2 g • Carb: 10.6 g • Fiber: 1.2 g • Protein: 3.7 g 

• 4 cups grated zucchini 
• 1 cup bisquick (using heart smart)
• 1 small onion, grated
• 3 egg whites, 1 whole egg
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (Use fresh, or the can, or use a shredded cheese, I tried cheddar in the photos and it was awesome).
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp parsley

Preheat oven to 350°.
Grate your zucchini, I find using a large hand grater and my Kevlar glove makes this go the quickest. 4 cups is about two little zucchini or one big one. Do the same with your small onion.

Mix together your 3 egg whites, and whole egg, parsley, salt, and olive oil. Sometimes if I know I’ll never use the 3 yolks and I’m not calorie counting I just use the whole thing… it works out fine.  Add your Heart Smart AKA Healthy Bisquick (Don’t forget to store it in the fridge like the box says).  Then finally add your zucchini and cheese.

Spray your 9x13 Pyrex, spread it out and bake between 30-45 min, use a toothpick to test it.

Enjoy, it’s great, warm or cold, even for breakfast…