Weight Watchers Chicken & Dumplings

Val's Version
(Denver, CO)

Being healthy isn't easy. Truthfully, it's rather challenging. It's a life choice. A life change. It comes with many benefits and can definitely prolong your life and therefore happiness of those who need you, but for those of us who are less disciplined, there are many sacrifices. Some may think the complete opposite, but let's be honest … sometimes it's much easier to do away with the fuss, the thinking, the counting, the planning and the contemplating. Sometimes it's much easier to just go with the quick and easy drive thru lane. THAT, I hardly ever do anymore, but it is much simpler. 

Time for something new. Time to satisfy Juliemybestfriends request and hit up the Weight Watchers recipe book. Even though this title has WW in it, who doesn't love the sound, smell and site of chicken and dumplings?? You can make this fattening - believe me - but pulling out the low sodium and fat free ingredients can be just as fulfilling. 

Speaking of filling … look at my eyes. They are filled with water. I truly despise chopping onions. Pluses and minuses.

Toss the chicken, seasonings, liquids and liquid producing veggie into the pot. Set the temperature according to how much time you have and let the crock pot do all the work.

Well, until you have to add the biscuits. There's just something about biscuits that make me giddy. They come in so many shapes and sizes. So many flavors and textures. I don't care how gluten free I try to be, I will never give up biscuits. 

Cut up da biscuits and toss 'em in with the almost perfected meal. Have your favorite sou chef give it a quick stir. The chicken will shred all on it's own when you stir. 

Boomchakalaka!!! An incredible meal that won't completely rest on your thighs!

Weight Watchers Chicken & Dumplings

(Imitation by Design, 8 WW Points)

Ingredients:

20 oz chicken breast (about 3 large breasts) 

1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped 

1 (10.75 oz) can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup

1 (10.75 oz) can 98% fat free cream of celery soup

2 c chicken broth- 99% fat free, reduced sodium

5 canned buttermilk biscuits

Optional Seasonings: pepper, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, parsley

Directions:

Remove visible fat from chicken breasts and place in crock pot. Sprinkle with pepper, garlic powder and poultry seasoning. Add onions, soups and broth. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8.

At this point the chicken is super tender so you can just use your fork to break the breasts up into smaller pieces or let it cook a little while longer and they'll shred when you stir.

Flatten biscuits with your fingers and cut them into small strips. Drop biscuit pieces into broth and continue to cook on high for 20-30 more minutes or until cooked through. Sprinkle individual servings with parsley if desired.

Jen's Version

(Acworth, GA)

We recently had a reader reach out and request that we make something "healthy" but specifically "low sodium" and "weight watchers friendly" so that she could try something from our blog. I'm very "quote happy" today. Okay, the reader was our aunt, but she's a trusted blog follower, and we listen to our followers. And that was a fair request. So make your requests people! Go ahead. I dare you to request something like a burger with krispy kreme donut buns, because we will do it!

I was nervous about this one, but I'm gonna tell you right now, this was the bomb! The bomb!

Oh yeah - did I mention this was a crock pot meal? I mean, the more good ones I have in stock, the better! 

I dumped all my chicken in and seasoned first. I actually had quite a few low sodium seasonings on hand, so I used those. And some pepper of course.

My lovely shadow...

This just looks warm and cuddly. 

I didn't capture the biscuit process, but it was simple enough. Just cut em up and pop em in until they cook for 20-30 minutes. 

I enjoyed mine with hot sauce and a salad and it was perfect! A new healthy, too busy to cook a big meal to add to my queue! A special thanks to Julie for inspiring the meal :)

Weight Watchers Chicken & Dumplings
(Imitation by Design, 8 WW Points)

Ingredients:

20 oz chicken breast (about 3 large breasts)
1 medium onion, chopped 
1 (10.75 oz) can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 oz) can 98% fat free cream of celery soup
2 c chicken broth- 99% fat free, reduced sodium
5 canned buttermilk biscuits
Optional Seasonings: pepper, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, parsley

Directions:

Remove visible fat from chicken breasts and place in crock pot. Sprinkle with pepper, garlic powder and poultry seasoning. Add onions, soups and broth. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8.

At this point the chicken is super tender so you can just use your fork to break the breasts up into smaller pieces or you can remove them and shred them. I like to leave them in decent sized chunks because they will break up more whenever your stir them.

Flatten biscuits with your fingers and cut them into small strips. I used the smaller "junior" sized biscuits and cut them into 8 pieces. Drop biscuit pieces into broth and continue to cook on high for 20-30 more minutes or until cooked through. Sprinkle individual servings with parsley if desired.

Crock-Pot Balsamic Pot Roast

Jen's Version

(Acworth, GA)

It's birthday season! October houses 75% of the birthday's in my family. It's basically Christmas. And then, it is Christmas!

I came across this recipe on Pinterest, and the balsamic caught my eye when paired with pot roast. My husband LOVES pot roast and also really enjoys balsamic flavoring. Once I scanned through the ingredients, it was an easy blog worthy meal. Val pushed it off until the fall though, so here we are. Fall and birthday season, making pot roast. 

I started by mixing all ingredients minus the roast and carrots. 

This is a really clever shot, I know. 

Have you guys met Jack? This is our pet hermit crab from Garden City beach. He has been with us for over a month and a half now. That is something special. Worth noting, Jack used to have a friend. (RIP Jessica)

It does not matter WHERE you stand in my kitchen, there WILL BE a shadow. But you get the point. That's a pretty roast!

For all the food bloggers out there, this picture is valuable to us, because that's a hard shot to take and pour at once! 

What I should show you is what I do in the interim, while my food cooks itself; because that's what's happening here folks. The food is cooking itself!

A perfect fall dinner. 

Oh and I made these:

I am the mom who makes homemade birthday treats. How else do you put love in them :) Yay for birthday month! 

Crock-Pot Balsamic Pot Roast
(slightly adapted from The Chic Table)

Ingredients:

4 – 5 Lbs of Beef Chuck Roast
2 Cups of Beef Broth
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 T of Soy Sauce
1 Tsp of Salt
1/4 Tsp of Red Pepper Flakes
3 Cloves of Fresh Garlic – Pressed
Zest of 1/2 an Orange
3-4 Carrots, chopped

Directions:

Place meat and carrots into crock pot and turn on low heat. Whisk together all the other ingredients and pour over the top of the meat. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.Serve with mashed potatoes.

Val's Version

(Denver, CO)

I was totally waiting for it to get a little colder so I could thoroughly enjoy cooking this recipe. In Denver, we seriously experience all 4 seasons within a weeks time. It's crazy. Before we moved here I thought it was always cold. Total lie. That's actually seldom the case. There are many times it's in the low 40's and I'm only wearing a long sleeve shirt with jeans. No jacket. No hat. No gloves. No scarf. Sometimes, no socks. Like today …

But, there needs to be a little nip in the air to enjoy something so hearty and soul warming. That would be this concoction. Not a lot of ingredients but it blasts you in the face with flavor. So delish and it's definitely good mood food. (((Arby's thief)))

Sooooo, this is what happens when you plan to cook a meal for 15 people AND celebrate your little girls first birthday. You remember to take one picture. One. A good one, but only one. 

Good thing Jen stayed on task this week and had better documentation. I failed and I apologize. I can't promise it won't happen again because let's be honest … this is part of my reality. But, I'll pay more attention next time. 

I stayed pretty true to this recipe. I did, however, pick the wrong meat. I did pork instead of beef. Again, my reality. But, it was quite tasty and there was barely enough to go around. Served this over a bed of egg noodles with buttered bread and salad!

Oh, and this was not baked by me, but was too cuooooooote not to post. 

Our little Peanut is the newest addition to our October birthday extravaganzas and I must say …

 the cutest! Happy 1st Birthday, Princess!!

Crock-Pot Balsamic Pot Roast
(slightly adapted from The Chic Table)

Ingredients:

4 – 5 Lbs of Pork Roast
3 Cups of Beef Broth
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 T of Soy Sauce
1 T Hot Sauce
1 Tsp of Salt
1/4 Tsp of Red Pepper Flakes
3 Cloves of Fresh Garlic, minced
Zest of 1/2 an Orange
1 lb bag of Baby Carrots
Red Potatoes (don't overcrowd crock pot)

Directions:

Place meat, potatoes and carrots into crock pot and turn on low heat. Whisk together all the other ingredients and pour over the top of the meat. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with egg noodles.