Hot Milk Sponge Cake

This is a super easy dessert if you ever need to make something quick with ingredients that you most likely already have on hand. I served it with powdered sugar and strawberries to keep it lower in calories and fat but I'm sure you could make it nice and yummy with a rich frosting of your choice.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon backing powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter

1. Allow eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease a 9x9x2-inch square baking pan; set pan aside. Stir together flour and backing powder; set aside.

2. In a medium mixing bowl beat eggs with an electric mixer on high speed about 4 minutes or until thick. Gradually add sugar, beating on medium speed for 4-5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture; beat on low to medium speed just until combined.

3. In a small saucepan heat and stir milk and butter until butter melts; add to batter, beating until combined. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool cake in a pan on a wire rack.

Servings: 9
WW points: 4/serving

Salsa Chicken

OK, so I like to make up recipes, so my measurements are never specific, so I will try my best to give an accurate account on this one. This has become Brett's favorite of the moment.

It can be done in the crock pot on low for 8 hours or in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour, depending on how much chicken you put in.

Ingredients:
Chicken- I use the tenders from Costco and put about 8 or 10 pieces in
1 can - cream of chicken soup - I use the healthy request kind
1 cup (or so) - salsa
1 pkg - taco seasoning

Mix it all up in the crock pot or casserole dish and bake!

Mix in fat free sour cream once it's cooked and serve over rice.

Spinach-Feta Calzone Casserole

I just tried this tonight and it is oh, so good. It takes a bit of prep ahead of time but it is worth it. Here's the link to the recipe from Cooking Light.

Yield 6 servings
WW Points = 5

Hoisin Pork Tenderloin

I found this recipe in Cooking Light. I've subsituted Hoisin sauce with terriyaki sauce and it's still very good but I definitely prefer the Hoisin sauce. You'll find Hoisin sauce with asian foods in the supermarket. This is also a fantastic recipe to prepare and freeze. I usually buy pork tenderloin in a large package (aprox. 4 pounds). I make one for dinner that night and put the other three in the freezer. That way, you can easily pull out a frozen tenderloin the night before and let it thaw in the fridge. It still tastes amazing and it makes life easier.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
2 Tb sliced green onions
2 Tb low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tb rice wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
1 Tb sesame seeds

Instructions:
1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; add pork to bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 2 hours, turning bag once.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
3. Remove pork from bag, resering mainade. Place pork on the rack of a broiler pan or roasting pan coated with cooking spray; place rack in pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Sprinkle pork with sesame seeds; bake an aditional 5 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160 degrees (slightly pink). Place pork on a cutting board; let stand 10 minutes. Cut into slices.
4. Pour reserved marinade into a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/3 cup (about two minutes); serve with pork.

WW points: 4 (serving size is 3 ounces pork)