Cracker Barrel Grilled Chicken Tenderloin Dinner

It has been years since I have been to Cracker Barrel. Truthfully when I hear the words “Cracker Barrel” I automatically think southern style comfort foods which are not the healthiest choices. Considering I haven’t been to the restaurant in ages, I pulled up their menu online and I have to say I was surprised they had healthier options available. The one downside is they do not offer nutrition information on their website. Although, thankfully Weight Watchers has a handful of the restaurants foods listed on their website/app with the associated points plus values.

I decided to order the Grilled Chicken Tenderloin Dinner which comes with 6 marinated grilled chicken tenderloins along with your choice of 3 sides. After scanning over the available side dishes, I opted to go with a side garden salad with fat free honey mustard dressing, a baked sweet potato and steamed broccoli.

The salad was served first and was a classic mix of mixed greens. The salad dressing was of course the show stealer and was exceptionally delicious. When my entrée was served I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised at how good the grilled chicken tenderloin was! Typically I am very picky when it comes to getting chicken at restaurants – it’s either too rubbery, not cooked/seasoned to my liking, etc. But this was perfect. Aside from the few pieces of grizzle I found (only because I truly dissect my food when I eat), it was out of this world and the marinade that was used was fabulous. The sweet potato was delicious – cooked perfectly and the broccoli was steamed just right. The meal was flavorful, delicious and overall filling.

I actually enjoyed the meal so much that next time I go back to Cracker Barrel; it’ll be the exact meal I order. The chicken tenderloin was 6 points plus, the salad dressing was 1 points plus, and I guestimated the sweet potato to be 3 points plus (it could have been 2, but I’d rather aim higher than lower).

Eating Out @ The Chateau

I was asked if I’d be interested in picking up dinner at a local restaurant, The Chateau (if you’re unfamiliar it is an Italian restaurant). I knew what I would have ordered in the past (chicken parm with fried ravioli) but since I don’t just order impulsively anymore, I pulled up the menu on my phone. Browsing through it I noticed the restaurant had an “Under 598 calories” menu option. It intrigued me so I took a peek … and turned out that one dish in particular really stuck out to me.

Granted, I was in the mood for sirloin so sirloin is what I ordered. The great part is the menu gave the sirloin weight pre-grilling, which meant it would seemingly shrink 2-3 ounces on the grill which was exactly the case. Unfortunately my steak was cooked wrong (I wanted medium-well, I was served medium & since my order was a to-go order I couldn’t have it cooked to enjoy at once) so I took 2 bites of my steak and packaged the rest up to bring home to finish cooking off.

I ordered a side garden salad with Low Fat Zinfandel Vinaigrette as well as the grilled sirloin steak (8 oz – raw) alongside fresh grilled vegetables. Screw up aside while cooking – the meal itself was delicious.

Eating out @ Subway – Foot Long Black Forest Ham

Subway is one of my favorite fast food chains because I can get a delicious sandwich, exactly how I like it (loaded with all the fresh veggies I love). Admittedly I don’t go to Subway very often, but when I do I have a few options available for myself and I know the points plus values associated with whatever I’d like to order. This particular night Subway wasn’t on my particular menu, but after going back and fourth trying to figure out what we’d like to get “subs” were said at the same time … so subs it was!

Since I had the points and hadn’t had a decent meal I opted to go with the foot long black forest ham, no cheese, on whole wheat – toasted of course. After toasting it up, I pretty much had every vegetable offered put on it – lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, green pepper, cucumbers, spinach, banana pepper rings, a few olives, salt, pepper, oregano, a little yellow mustard and to top it off since my Subway carries it – crushed hot peppers.

The sandwich was delicious, filling and hearty. Definitely worth the 15 points plus values!

Taco Tuesday on a whole new level

Tuesdays are known as “taco Tuesdays” on social media. What does that mean? Well, for starters it means having tacos, in any shape or form, on a Tuesday. I admit I don’t always follow the taco Tuesday form; I merely have tacos whenever I crave them whether it’s a Tuesday, a Thursday or a Saturday. On this particular day I decided to transform taco junk (see recipe here) into a delicious salad.

What’s pictured is ¾ cup of taco junk, 4 tablespoons of Trader Joe’s Reduced Guilt Chunky Guacamole (see review hereand 2 tablespoons of Chi-Chi’s medium chunky salsa, alongside a big salad topped with 1 tablespoon Panera fat free poppyseed dressing.

This whole bowl was only 6 points plus and was ultimately delicious.

Rotisserie Turkey Dinner

I had a Shady Brook Farms Rotisserie Turkey Breast Tenderloin in the freezer that I had picked up at the grocery store. While meal planning for the week I decided it’d be a great opportunity to give the turkey tenderloin a try. Granted, I had never tried it before, but since I enjoy the brands turkey sausages I figured this couldn’t be bad. It turned out to be quite delicious!

The packaging listed it could be put onto the grill or baked in the oven. Since I had a few cooking bags on hand, I decided to cook the tenderloins in a cooking bag to keep as much moisture in the turkey as I could. It turned out absolutely perfect. The turkey browned, it was flavorful and it was very moist.

As with most turkeys it was very low in points. A 4 ounce serving was 3 points plus, or a 5 ounce serving for 4 points plus.

Here’s what I had for dinner (which might I add was delicious, filling and a homerun):

5 ounces Rotisserie Turkey Tenderloin (4ppv)

½ cup garlic mashed potatoes (3ppv)

¼ cup Heinz fat free turkey gravy (0ppv)

2 tbsp cranberry sauce (1ppv)

French cut green beans

Steamed Brussels sprouts

Chipotle Chorizo Sauce

I purchased a package of Al Fresco Chipotle Chorizo chicken sausage (see here) at the grocery store. I’ve honestly never tried chipotle chorizo sausage in the past, but I’ve heard it’s a great flavorful meat selection. Al Fresco makes a line of one of my favorite chicken sausages, so I decided to give it a whirl. The chipotle chorizo sausage actually is mixed with mango and adobo. Taking it out of the freezer I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with it or how I was going to serve it. After some thinking I decided on making a simple little sauce to serve with spaghetti squash and pasta.

The sauce was perfect. The sausage brought a level of heat to the dish which was unique and delicious. Those with a blander palette may not enjoy this dish, but if you’re a fan of a bit of heat this may be right up your alley.

I served mine over spaghetti squash, which I topped with some fat free mozzarella. It was perfect, spicy and filling!

Serves 4. 5 Points Plus Values.

Ingredients:

1 package (4 links) Al Fresco All Natural Chipotle Chorizo Chicken Sausage, sliced
26 oz canned crushed tomatoes
2 medium bell peppers, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp Cajun seasoning

In a large non-stick pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, over medium high heat add in sliced sausages and cook on both sides until crisped.

Once sausage is browned, place in a bowl and set aside. Add onions, garlic and peppers to the pan. Season vegetables with black pepper, salt, garlic, oregano and Cajun seasoning. Cook until onions are slightly translucent and peppers are a bold green shade (the onions should be softer, but the peppers slightly crunchy).

Add sausage and any juices into the pan then add in canned tomatoes. Stir to combine.

Allow the sauce to simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Adjust seasonings to your liking.

Taco Junk

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Ahh, Taco Junk! I never knew how amazing this dish was until I finally gave it a try. I’ve tried trashy taco soup in the past, but that was soup and not like “taco mix”. I stumbled upon this thanks to Pinterest. There was a picture pinned of canned food items lined up alongside taco and ranch seasoning, so I clicked on it because I was curious. And I’m glad I did.

Not only is this dish exceptionally easy to whip together, but it’s cooked in the crock pot and the end result is utterly delicious. So delicious that I’ve been asked on multiple occasions (in a week’s time frame) as to when I was going to make it again. It’s that good; that I’m pretty sure it’s going to be on this upcoming week’s dinner menu.

The original recipe has all canned ingredients being used with your choice of either ground beef or turkey, but I switched it up just a little bit as I do with all my cooking. I added in onion and McCormick Montreal steak seasoning, opted for frozen fire roasted corn and decided to not use the salsa that was listed in a few recipes. The end result was a nicely thickened taco mixture, which as it sat away from heat got thicker and even more delicious. Definitely a winner for all taco lovers alike!

Serves 13. 3 Points Plus. ½ cup serving size.

Ingredients:

20 oz. 93% lean ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp McCormick Montreal steak seasoning (optional)
14 oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
14 oz canned black beans, rinsed and drained
14 oz diced tomatoes, no salt added
1 ½ cups frozen fire roasted corn (I used Trader Joe’s brand)
1 packet Taco seasoning, reduced sodium
1 package Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning mix

In a non-stick skillet combine onion, ground turkey and Montreal steak seasoning and cook together until browned and no longer pink.

Transfer meat and onion mixture to a crock pot. Add in taco seasoning, ranch seasoning, drained and rinsed beans, canned diced tomatoes and frozen corn. Roughly 2 hours in give everything a gentle stir to get everything nicely incorporated.

Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Stir to combine all ingredients.

Serve immediately or allow to cool for 20-30 minutes to thicken up slightly.

Taco Salad

I find myself on “Taco Tuesday’s” reaching for my salad bowl instead of the taco shells. If I’m in the mood for the crunch, I will incorporate something crunchy (a broken up taco shell or tortilla chips) into my salad. This way I’m one in the crowd and I don’t feel I’m missing out on anything. Other times I simply skip the tortillas and make a “normal” taco salad.

This is one of those bang for your buck type of meals. It’s filled with greens, lean meat and flavorful components (taco seasoning and salsa). For those folks on Weight Watchers you can see there are many power foods in this dish. It’s satisfying, it’s filling and it’s incredibly low in points.

Pictured, I have tossed salad (romaine, baby tomatoes, cucumber and red onion), 3 oz of lean ground beef cooked with taco seasoning, 1 tbsp Trader Joe’s Queso Dip, 1 oz of Trader Joe’s Organic Tortilla Chips, Chi-Chi’s medium salsa and a few jalapenos to balance it all out. All of this for 6 points plus values!

Slow Cooker Sweet & Tangy Chicken Dinner

I was looking for something different to make for dinner, but I wanted something I could throw together in the crock pot because I had a busy day on my hands. After not being too impressed with the ideas I came up with I decided to check out Emily Bites blog. I know a lot of folks enjoy her recipes and I’ve looked but haven’t truly tried many of her dishes.

Looking over the dishes I opted to try out the Slow Cooker Sweet & Tangy Chicken(see recipe here) because I had all the ingredients on hand.

Like typical crock pot meals it was super simple to throw together. Then before I knew it, the main dinner dish was ready. As the directions state, I removed the chicken from the sauce, transferred the sauce to a pot and thickened the sauce up on the stove. My sauce thickened up, perhaps a little too much – but nonetheless it was a great addition to place over the cooked shredded chicken.

I served this over white rice and paired it with fresh steamed green beans and some canned carrots. Definitely a delicious diner!

A ½ cup serving of chicken with sauce is 209 calories or 5 points plus values.

The entire meal as pictured is 10 points plus values.

Dinner: Bangers and Mashed

Having full fat sausage is a treat because I usually eat chicken or turkey sausage just because pork sausage is heavy and can make me have a bit of a stomach ache. The only exception to that rule is when having English sausage – Bangers. I have an English market in town where bangers are made in house and are authentic to the bangers sold and served in England.

Last time I picked up some bangers, I opted for the thinner cased pork sausage. They’re also sold in the classic large banger form, but I find these are easier to cook and they can go further because you get more sausages in a pound package than you do with the regular sized sausages.

Growing up we always had bangers with macaroni and cheese – but since my boyfriend is not a fan of mac & cheese I opted to make garlic mashed potatoes to pair with peas. Considering this is the first time I’ve had bangers with mashed I was quite pleased with the dish. Delicious, simple and overall tasty.

The whole meal was 12 points plus. Definitely worth it!