Dinners have been my downfall when it comes to Weight Watchers – I can eat healthy, reasonable portions all day but by 6 pm I’m incapable of eating less than my body weight in pasta and cheese. It doesn’t help that my husband thinks ketchup is a vegetable and would rather starve to death than eat a nice spinach and goat cheese salad. But between my Weight Watchers cookbook (see What’s For Dinner? Volume 8) and healthy recipes I’ve found online, I’m doing pretty well so far in 2012.

This week’s recipes are almost all from Skinny Taste, my newest obsession. Luckily she’s got years of archives plus new posts every week so I don’t think I’ll get tired of the recipes any time soon.

1. Spicy Shrimp Fried Rice – Skinny Taste
2. Chicken with Leeks Sun-Dried Tomatoes in White Wine Sauce – Skinny Taste
3. Carne Bistec – Skinny Taste
4. Chicken Panini with Arugula, Provolone and Chipotle Mayonnaise – Skinny Taste

I also made Pollo in Potacchio, which was so delicious I forgot to take a picture before shoving it in my face.

1. Spinach Lasagna Rolls – Skinny Taste
2. Skinny Baked Macaroni and Cheese – Skinny Taste (I chopped up the broccoli really tiny and even the most veggie-adverse members of my family ate it.)
3. Dr. Weil’s Broccoli (for those who think they don’t like broccoli) – Girl’s Gone Child (I hate broccoli, I LOVE this – I made it without the olive oil so it was only 1 Weight Watcher’s PointPlus for a huge bowl)
4. Chicken Pizza Quesadillas – I used the leftover chicken thighs and tomato sauce from the Pollo in Potacchio , threw in a little basil and some cheese and put my quesadilla maker to use. SUPER fast and I was so proud of myself for using up leftovers (We have a real leftover problem in my house – no one eats them).

And for dessert:

Phyllo Fruit Tart – Skinny Taste

So what have you been eating in 2012? Any really amazing new recipes? Found anything on Pinterest you’re dying to try (or want me to try first)?

(Sorry for the terrible, terrible pictures – it’s winter and my kitchen s a cave by 5 pm.)

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Elmer’s #gluenglitter #collectivebias #CBias but I came up with the idea and did all the work, so you can direct all your adoration to me in the comments.

One of my absolute least favorite questions in the entire world is “What’s for dinner?” For the first 5 years of my marriage the answer was almost always “I don’t know, what do you WANT for dinner?” – and then we spent 30 minutes saying “No, YOU pick” and “No it’s YOUR turn”. Honestly, sometimes we still play that game all night. Most of the time we end up having popcorn and throwing Goldfish at the kids. (more…)

Today I am thankful I have the time, freedom and budget to try new things in the kitchen. I am thankful my husband will at least taste my cooking and that my daughter loves all of it.

1. 44-clove garlic soup – Smitten Kitchen (you’ll smell like garlic for a week)
2. Barbecued Salmon With Corn Relish – Better Homes & Gardens (one of my favorites)
3. Pumpkin and Goat Cheese Pies – Give Me Flour (Really, really good. Caroline agreed.)
4. Butternut Squash & Mushroom Chicken Pot Pie – Bitchin Camero (actually a really beautiful food blog)

1. Shrimp Pil-Pil – Everyday with Rachael Ray (LOVE this recipe, especially served with a fresh loaf of artisan bread)
2. Chicken & Feta Orzo – PreventionGuide 30-Minute Chicken Dinners (meh)
3. Tilapia with Roasted Vegetables and Olives – Weight Watchers PointsPlus Cookbook, link is similar but not identical (It was really good, even without the olives because E hates them. I added lots of other zero point veggies.)
4. Butternut Squash Risotto – Live Love Pasta (I’d never made risotto before but it was amazing)

This is a little bit of a cheater What’s For Dinner post because these meals were spread out over the past 2 months. Since E is gone so much I’ve been eating a lot of salad and popcorn instead of making a real meal (and making a real mess). We aren’t hosting any of the holidays this year either, so I’m expecting we’ll be eating a lot of homemade pizza and sandwiches in between stuffing ourselves with turkey.

All of these recipes came from the Weight Watchers PointsPlus Cookbook which I bought at my meeting a few weeks ago. (It appears you can get it used on Amazon but not new. Although I like it SO MUCH I am going to recommend you find a WW storefront and go pick one up.)I apologize for not linking all the recipes the way I usually do, but they’re not online (although I suspect a Google search would turn up close-enough approximations)(not that I would suggest you use plagiarized recipes)(but since technically you can’t copyright a recipe it’s probably not illegal)(good God why am I still typing this paragraph?)

I’ve fallen off the diet wagon a few times over the past few weeks and the hardest part of getting back on is cooking at home – it’s so easy to make a “healthy” dinner that gets totally out of control with the portion sizes. But these recipes made with actual real ingredients (as opposed to some extremely popular diet cookbooks that use a lot of scary substitutes – soft yellow butter flavored oil-based spread vs. BUTTER) and were eaten happily by everyone.

Except for the soup, since E hates soup. I KNOW. YOU tell him how ridiculous that is.

1. Smoky Shrimp and Corn Soup
2. Cauliflower with Tomatoes and Lemon
3. Rosemary Chicken with Balmasic-Glazed Onions
4. Wasabi Steak and Snap Pea Stir-Fry

1. Asian Turkey and Noodle Salad
2. Texas Chicken Soup
3. Falafel Sandwiches with Lemon Yogurt
4. Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Spring Vegetables

What did you have for dinner this week?

I just spent 45 minutes trying to decide if I should start this post with a disclosure about how it is NOT SPONSORED or if I should just write the damn thing and because there is no disclosure people will know I’m not being compensated. I’ve seen a few posts/Twitter conversations recently where readers are torn on the subject – they HATE that bloggers do a non-disclosure disclosure for every single post where they mention a brand or a product (“This post is NOT SPONSORED by unicorns! Unicorns have no idea I exist!!”) but they ALSO hate when they get to the end of a really nice, heartfelt post and they get a surprise disclosure (“This post about how awesome toe nail fungus is was sponsored by the United Coalition of Toe Nail Fungus Enthusiasts – but I REALLY DO love toe nail fugus! It’s so great!!”) Obviously I decided to go with a disclosure – in a sort of rambling, round about way – because it is about a diet program and in the blogging world there’s a lot of diet sponsorship.

So. Let me explain. No, there is to much. Let me sum up: I am a paying member of Weight Watchers, a program I’ve been using for a few months and love. I bought this cookbook and all the groceries with my own money. Weight Watchers has no idea who I am – beyond someone who pays them and has lost 15 lbs so far.

Galette: n, a general term used in the French cuisine to designate various types of flat, round or free form crusty cakes. But it’s not really a cake. It’s like an unemployed pie that’s stopped brushing its hair in the morning. A tart that’s had four tequila shots and is getting sloppy. A pastry getting a liberal arts degree in underwater basket-weaving and whose mother keeps asking what it really wants to DO with its life.

It’s easy-going, is what I’m saying. And easy to make – no lattice tops or fancy crimped edges here.

Up until about a month ago I had no idea what a galette even was. And then damn Martha Stewart went and mentioned them on TV and ever since I’ve been stalking recipes like it was my job. But it’s been a zillion plus degrees and baking is hard with two babies trying to crawl into the oven so this weekend was my first chance to attempt one.

But because I’m an overachiever, we had a galettefest on Sunday and I made (and invented recipes for!) both a savory galette and a sweet galette. One from scratch, one the easy way. One was husband approved (I’ll let you guess which one) but both were delicious.

Farmer’s Market Galette

Ingredients:

1 ready-made pizza crust
2 ½ cups ricotta
1 medium squash
1 small eggplant
½ onion (red or white)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tablespoon tarragon, chopped
2 Tablespoon dill, chopped
2 Tablespoon parsley, chopped
3 Tablespoon milk
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan or Romano cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza stone with cooking spray & roll out pizza crust. Spread 2 cups of the ricotta over the crust (like pizza sauce) leaving about 2 inches around all the edges. Thinly slice the squash, eggplant and onion (a mandolin makes this extra easy, but a knife works too) and put it in a medium sized bowl. Toss in the garlic and herbs and stir to combine.

Spread the veggie mixture out evenly over the ricotta and fold the 2 inch edge up over the filling. Beat the milk, egg and last 1/2 cup of ricotta in a small bowl and drizzle it over the veggies, starting near the edge (too much liquid in the middle will make your crust soggy)(trust me on this). Top the galette with the Parmesan and pop it in the oven for 25-35 minutes until the crust is browned and the middle is firm. Let it cool a little before shoving it into your face parts.

(Notes: This would be even MORE DELICIOUS with goat cheese, but E is anti-goat cheese so I made it with ricotta. He still didn’t eat it, so next time it’s goat cheese all the way. If you’ve never had fresh tarragon before, smell it/taste it before tossing it into your galette. I love it but it’s got a very distinctive flavor. Feel free to use whatever herbs you have sitting around. Same with the veggies: anything you love and can slice would be great.)

 Berry Almond Galette

Crust

3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup water

Filling

1 pint blueberries
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp almond extract

Topping

½ cup almonds
¼ cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

For the crust, combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and use a fork to press it into the flour mixture until it looks like coarse crumbs (or use a food processor, but you won’t get the awesome arm workout). Add the almond extract then the water a little at a time until you can press the dough together to make a ball. Try to touch it as little as possible. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for a few minutes.

Toss all the filling ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine. Let it sit while you make the topping.

Combine almonds, brown sugar and butter in a food processor. Process until almonds are finely ground and topping looks all crumbly.

Get your chilled dough from the fridge. On a well-floured surface using a well flowered rolling pin, roll out the dough into a big circle. Roll it up around your rolling pin, transfer it to a cookie sheet and spread it out again. Pour the filling into the middle of the circle and fold up at least 2-3 inches of the edge all the way around and press the pieces together so none of the filling leaks out (or you’ll have to scrub it off the bottom of your oven after it’s burnt on)(trust me on this).

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle almond-sugar mixture over the berries. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes until golden brown. Let it cool for at least 20 minutes or you’ll burn yourself. Top with whipped cream or ice cream for extra bonus yum.

(Notes: I had too much dough when I folded up the edges so I tore some of it off to make sure I had enough berries showing to top with the almonds. Pretty much ANY fruit combination would be delicious in this recipe. ANYTHING.)

I’m adding the recipes to the Tasty Kitchen site tonight, so you can save them to your recipe box over there (if you’re a member) and find other amazing galette recipes for your summer produce.