Sweet Potato Casserole

5 sweet potatoes (about 3.5 cups) OR 3 (14.5 ounce) cans mashed sweet potatoes
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

1. Bake sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove skins and mash potatoes in a bowl. (Not necessary if using canned sweet potatoes.)

2. Combine first 7 ingredients, stirring until smooth. Pour into a lightly greased 2.5 quart casserole. Cover sweet potato mixture and refrigerate up to three days.

3. Combine brown sugar and remaining ingredients, stirring with a fork. Cover and refrigerate separately.

4. Remove sweet potato casserole and brown sugar topping from refrigerator; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Sprinkle topping evenly over sweet potato mixture.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Neely's Vanilla Berry Protein Shake

1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
4 large strawberries
25 blueberries
ice
8oz. water (or skim milk, your choice)
Splenda to taste

Place all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Nutrition Info*: 181 calories, 2g fat, 14g carbohydrates, 27g protein

*Nutrition info is for smoothie made with water. Be sure to compensate for changes if you use milk.

Weight Watchers Diet Coke Chicken (BBQ)

1 lb chicken breasts
1 cup ketchup
1 12oz can of diet soda

1. Mix ketchup and diet cola (like Diet Coke or diet root beer) in a medium bowl.
2. Arrange 4 chicken breasts in a large skillet, pour ketchup and cola mixture over the top. Ensure that mixture covers chicken on all sides.
3. Turn burner to medium heat and cook for 30 minutes, covered, stirring and scraping occasionally to prevent sticking.
4. Remove lid and cook an additional 10-15 minutes until chicken is done and sauce sticks to chicken.

Nutrition Info: 184 calories, 1.6g fat, 0.2g fiber, 15g carbohydrates, 27g protein

Bûche de Noël (Yule Log)

Cake:
3/4 cup cake flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
3-4 tbsp confectioners' sugar
2 cups nondairy whipped topping

Frosting:
8 ounces tub cream cheese
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Spray a 15 x 10 x 1 inch jelly-roll pan with nonstick spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper; spray again with nonstick spray, then lightly flour.

2. To prepare the cake, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; mix well. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, sugar, and vanilla and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. With the mixer on low, gradually beat in the flour mixture and milk in 2 alternating additions each until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

3. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 8-10 minutes. Spread a kitchen towel on a work surface and cover with a piece of wax paper. Sprinkle the wax paper with the confectioners' sugar. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake and invert the pan and warm cake onto the wax paper. Remove the parchment paper. Starting at the long side closest to you, using the towel to help, carefully roll up the cake jelly-roll style. Allow to cool completely, about 45 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, to prepare the frosting, in the bowl of the electric mixer, place the cream cheese, sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Beat on low speed until just combined, then increase speed to high and beat until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the melted chocolate; increase the speed to high and beat until smooth, 2-3 minutes.

5. Unroll the cooled cake and remove the wax paper. Spread the whipped topping over the cake and again roll up jelly-roll style. Place the cake seam side down on a serving platter. From one end of the cake, with a knife on a sharp angle, cut a wedge. Spread the cut side of the wedge with 3 tablespoons of frosting and attach it, frosted side, near one end of the top of the cake, to make a "knothole". Spread the cake with the remaining frosting to cover. Using the tines of a fork, etch circles on the ends of the cake and on the top of the attached wedge. Run the tines along the length of the cake to make bark lines. Cover and chill 3 hours or overnight, then cut into 18 slices.

Weight Watchers Coconut Creme Caramel

1 cup sugar, divided
cooking spray
3 large eggs, beaten
2 large egg whites, beaten
1 cup light coconut milk
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coconut extract
toasted coconut (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Heat 1/2 cup sugar in a small heavy saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until sugar melts and turns light brown. Quickly pour hot caramel into 6 (6 ounce) custard cups or ramekins coated with cooking spray. Carefully tilt each cup to coat bottom evenly. Place cups in a 13x9 inch baking pan; set aside.
3. Combine remaining sugar, eggs, egg whites, and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Pour mixture evenly over caramel into prepared cups. Add hot water to pan to a depth of 1 inch. Bake at 325 for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean.
4. Remove cups from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Loosen edges of custard with a sharp knife, and invert onto serving plates, letting melted caramel drizzle over top. Garnish with toasted coconut, if desired. YIELD: 6 servings (serving size: 1 custard).

Nutrition Info: 5 points, 216 calories, 5.3g fat, 0g fiber

Neely's Sauteed Onions

While I am far from the first person who has ever sauteed onions, I put my name before this recipe because I have never looked up a recipe for sauteing anything. In fact, in response to my new diet and my craving for roasted veggies, I experimented with this tonight. It turned out wonderfully! It always amuses me that I can cook and bake the most intricate things, but the simple stuff is what I never do. It's time to do something about that!

1 large onion
2 tbsp olive oil
salt (I prefer coarse kosher salt for this)

Place 1 tbsp olive oil in saucepan and warm on medium heat. Add salt to oil. Chop onion into sections, the size of which is your choice. Place them in pan. Drizzle other tbsp olive oil on top of onions. Add more salt. Saute in pan, flipping occasionally, until onions get soft and turn a light brown. Enjoy!

Weight Watchers Pizza Casserole

1 pound ground round
1 (15oz) can chunky Italian style tomato sauce
cooking spray
1 (10oz) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
1 1/2 cups (6oz) preshredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Cook meat in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring until it crumbles. Drain, if necessary, and return to skillet. Add tomato sauce, and cook until heated.
3. While meat cooks, coat a 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Unroll pizza crust dough, and press into bottom and halfway up sides of baking dish. Top bottom of pizza crust with meat mixture.
4. Bake, uncovered, at 425 for 12 minutes. Top with cheese, and bake 5 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese melts. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Info: 277 calories, 7.7g fat, 1.6g fiber. 6 points per serving. Makes 6 servings.