Tag Archives: Cayenne Pepper

Easy Sweet and Spicy Nuts

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!! These nuts are addicting. If you are making a batch of these nuts, may I suggest you make them for a group of people. Otherwise you will eat the entire batch to yourself they are that amazing. Weight watcher points? whose counting… these are nuts people.. they are high in points so eat moderately if you can.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup blanched whole almonds
1/2 cup whole cashews
1/2 cup unsalted peanuts
1/2 cup whole pecans
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add more if you’d like more heat)
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped

Directions:

Melt the butter and sugar in a large skillet over medium heat and add half of the salt.
Add all the nuts.
Cook until the sugar is melted and the nuts are fragrant about 5 minutes.
Add the rosemary, remaining salt and toss.
Immediately spread the nut mixture on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.
Cool completely, and then serve. Store in an air tight container.

Seafood Gumbo

If you like Seafood Gumbo here’s a great recipe that only takes 30 mins to make and contains a whopping 4 weight watcher points for 2 cups. This recipe is super filling and really tasty. It’s 100% husband approved and that’s coming from a hubby who’s had authentic gumbo down south. I will be making this recipe again and again it was that delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1/2 lb lump crabmeat (real crab meat not artificial)
1/2 lb okra, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 large celery stalks, chopped
1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped
3 cups fat free vegetable broth
3 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, mined
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp light margine
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:

Spray a large, non-stick pot with with non-fat cooking spray and set over medium-high heat. Add in garlic okra, bell pepper, onions, and celery. Cook until veggies are tender, about 5-7 minutes.
Transfer vegetables to a bowl and set aside.
Make the roux by adding the butter to the skillet, and then add in the flour; stir until blended. Continue to cook, stirring constantly for about 6-8 minutes.
Slowly add the broth into the pot, continuously stirring to remove lumps, and bring to a slow simmer.
Add in the thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and tomatoes.
Add the cooked vegetables back into the skillet and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Stir in the shrimp and crabmeat and simmer until shrimp are cooked, about 3-5 minutes.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

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In the spirit of the Hungry Girl from this morning’s post, I thought tonight’s dish should be something from her website. Here we have Hungry Girl’s Tuna Noodle Casserole. The only change I made was I replaced the peas with corn as it was all I had for a frozen vegetables. For spice, I added 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper to give it a little kick. This is another one of those under 30 mins recipes. Only 4 WW points for a quarter of the casserole… Quick and Easy

The noodles used in the recipe are Shirataki yam tofu noodles and one bag is 0 WW points…WHAT???? I know crazy talk right? The texture of yam noodles is different from traditional asian flour/egg noodles, but I am a huge fan of them and often use them to replace noodles in many of my other dishes that call for noodles. LOVE IT!

NOTE: These Shirataki yam noodles took forever for me to find anywhere in Edmonton or Alberta or anywhere in Canada for that matter. Seriously ask the hubby, I drove all over Edmonton looking for them. So to save all my foodie followers tons of wasted time looking for them, I will tell you that only T & T Supermarkets sell them. There is one in north Edmonton on 137ave and 97st and the second location is in West Edmonton Mall. It even has Hungry Girl’s photo on the package.

Beef & Bean Chile Verde

Beef and Bean Chile Verde – This has got to be the EASIEST chile recipe ever (30 mins to prepare). The only change I made to the recipe was the green salsa. Instead I used Western Family Classics Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa. This is the MOST AMAZING salsa I have ever had. WHY?? it’s not sweet, low in sodium and low calories. It’s only available at Save on Foods.

For 1.5 cups it’s a whopping 6 WW points. To all my foodie followers.. this is a must try recipe… I hope you all enjoy it as much as Mel and I have.. HUSBAND APPROVED…