I am the resident baker in my family and am in charge of desserts for pretty much every holiday. I love baking so much and I definitely get that from my aunt. When I was little and would have sleepovers at her house, we would always bake something. From brownies to cookies and cakes, to her special nut tarts, I always loved baking when I was there.

As I grew older and learned the powers of Pinterest, the world of baking only grew. Now, I try to make something different every holiday and try to make things as festive as possible. It's fun for me to do but also I like to try to make things nice for my family.

My mom yells at me every holiday to take it easy, not go so crazy and just try to make things a little easier on myself. I tend to stress myself out with baking; one Christmas, I baked so much I made myself sick (and threw up for days because of the sugar overload). Two Christmas' ago, I baked so much I passed out on my couch halfway through because it was so exhausting.

This year, I've made a vow to take it easy in that I'm not going to make any crazy concoctions. I'm keeping it simple.

I think it's important to note that I bake for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (Christmas Eve is the big holiday in Italian families) and my family are not huge dessert people. Everyone is usually so full from dinner, they take a few bites of one or two things and I'm leftover with tons of sweets. Those are two other reasons I'm keeping it simple this year.

Here's what I'm planning...

Gingerbread Cookies

Last year's gingerbread cookies

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Credit

Chocolate Covered Oreos

Last year's sugar cookies

What are you making for Christmas this year?
xoxo
B

In the world of Weight Watchers, I haven't felt super deprived of anything, except maybe bagels and pastries, which I do not eat that often.

I can have a slice of pizza, I can have pasta, it's all well and good. However, when I saw this recipe floating around the Internet a few weeks ago I immediately jumped at it.

The Two Ingredient Dough is 6 points in total, which is a STEAL. Once you add toppings it is, of course, more, but I hardly count that if you use the right stuff.

I've never made a dough in my life and even though it's only two ingredients, it was still hard to make. There was a lot of kneading involved, and it makes quite a mess but it is so worth it.

What are the magical two ingredients you ask? They are self-rising flour and greek yogurt.

1/2 cup of each gives you a small, little dough that tastes pretty damn good.








So far, I've created multiple pizzas, garlic knots, and everything bagel knots. There has never been a better time to test out Trader Joe's Everything Bagel Seasoning than with some dough and butter.



Really, you can make anything with this dough; I wonder how it would taste/come out as just a regular loaf of bread.

Even though I have created little bagel knots, I haven't done actual bagel yet and I really want to try. That requires me boiling the dough before baking it and that's a big commitment for me.

In conclusion, this dough is delicious and very versatile. If you're not on weight watchers but still want a good, diet alternative I highly recommend whipping a batch of this up!

When I started Weight Watchers I knew I needed to find recipes for my favorite meals. I couldn't go without certain things and one of those things was macaroni and cheese. Sometimes I just get an intense craving for cheesy goodness and it cannot be stopped.

I searched Pinterest for a low point recipe as well as one that was easy to make. I love to cook, I love to bake but I hate when things are too complicated.

When I discovered this recipe, I knew that it would be good. It's only 4 points for 1 cup and 1 cup is more than enough. Also, 4 points is pretty decent for a lunch or dinner.

I have to say, this recipe is one of my favorite Weight Watchers recipes I've found. It doesn't taste like 'diet' food and I don't feel like I've really limited myself.



*I altered the recipe just a bit to my liking.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of macaroni
• I usually use more than this but do whatever your heart desires!
• 1 can low fat-cheese soup
• 1/2 can of water
• 3/4 cup of low-fat milk
• I use Almond milk
• Handful of reduced fat shredded cheese
• Handful of breadcrumbs

As I mentioned last week, I love sweets and carbs so trying to distance myself from all my favorite breakfast foods while I'm on Weight Watchers was going to be an issue.

I searched Pinterest high & low for breakfast recipes that would satisfy my hearty carb craving and when I stumbled upon these easy to make biscuits, I immediately made them. They are originally a recipe for Cheddar Cheese biscuits but I opt out of that and take off 1-2 points.

They are so delicious and you would never know the difference between these and regular, fatty biscuits.



It also only takes 2 ingredients: Reduced Fat/Heart Smart Bisquick and low-fat milk. I use Almond Milk because I just like it better and I like to think that it's fewer calories and a little more healthy than low-fat milk.

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups Reduced Fat/HeartSmart Bisquick
• 3/4 low-fat/soy/almond/fat-free milk

Let me start off by saying how much I've always disliked soups. A weird introduction, right? But it's true! I never ate soup or stew because the texture freaked me out. What's the point of eating flavored water??

There was only one type of soup I liked and that was Baked Potato Soup (because it's fattening and delicious). I realized that the reason I liked it was because it was hearty and thick. I started to wonder what other types of soups I could whip up that I would enjoy...and was also healthy enough for my mom and sister.

I've gotten into the habit of cooking dinner for my family on Sundays since I'm home alone and both my mom and sister work.

I was searching Pinterest high & low for a soup recipe that seemed suitable for November weather and finally decided on this Chicken and Dumpling recipe.  I followed it pretty closely, if not exact.

The major plus side of this recipe? It's made for the Crockpot. That's usually what I stick to on Sunday afternoons because even though the prep is a little much, I can just sit back and let the meal cook without worrying about it.

Spoiler alert: this soup was DELICIOUS and I need to make it again ASAP.

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 Tbsp of butter
• 2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup
• 14.5 oz of Chicken broth
• 4 Grands Flaky Refrigerator biscuits

On Sundays, I'm home alone all day. Both my mom and sister are at work so I usually have the most relaxing day on planet earth and I cherish my Sundays with all my heart.

Because I'm home all day with Gossip Girl on Netflix and the only real responsibility of blogging to keep me busy, I sometimes experiment with recipes. I'll make myself a fancy, aggressive breakfast and I've just started cooking dinner for my family.

Well, last week I made a kick ass Loaded Cauliflower Soup in the Crock Pot but forgot to take photos so we'll wait on a blog post on that. That's what I originally had planned for today but then I also forgot that I made dinner Monday night too.

I was off last week for Columbus Day and decided to try my hand at another recipe and this was even more delicious and easier that the soup.

My mom wanted something healthy, while I wanted something flavorful and easy. That is how Garlic and Brown Sugar chicken was born.

It sounds kind of gross but my goodness it was tasty. It had a sweet, but not overpowering taste -- similar to what a teriyaki sauce tastes like.

And like I said, it was ridiculously easy.

Ingredients:

• Chicken of your choice (I used thin sliced chicken breast cutlets) 
• 4 TBSP of Brown Sugar
• 2.5 TBSP of chopped garlic (I didn't have cloves but the original recipe calls for 4 cloves) 
• 3 TSPs of Olive Oil

Cooked pasta

Grated Gouda cheese

Cheese sauce simmering on stove

Finished sauce

Combine the pasta and cheese sauce

Finished product :)

I took one out of the pan before I could take a pic #bloggerfail