Anna's Guest Entry


Eggsellent!

Eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring or a time consuming process. I found an easy, delicious and low value point recipe on the WW website I prepared for dinner the other night. Luckily for me I had most of the ingredients in my fridge.

Here is the recipe for the Chicken Fried Rice straight from WW:

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked brown rice
4 large egg whites
1/2 cup carrot(s)
2 medium garlic clove(s)
1/2 cup frozen green peas
3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
12 oz uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 sprays cooking spray

Being the iconoclast that I am, I didn’t follow the instructions verbatim. Being creative in the kitchen is what cooking from the heart & soul is all about, right?

I used a medium frying pan and coated the pan with two sprays of Original Pam cooking spray. In went the egg whites. Scramble the egg whites for a few minutes; which are all it takes to cook the egg whites all the way through. Remove from the pan and set aside for later. Next I added the finally chopped garlic and scallions. Sauté until soft – about five minutes then throw in the peas, carrots and chicken breasts. I seasoned the chicken breasts with a little salt and a decent amount of pepper and cut into bit sized pieces. Cook and stir until the chicken is fully cooked then add the brown rice. Stir a little bit more then sprinkle the soy sauce in and stir again. Voila! Dinner in less than 30 minutes.

I added a couple of drops of Sriracha for added kick and it did nothing to increase the value points.

Chicken Fried Rice = 1 cup serving 3 points

Since I am cooking for one, I had plenty of leftovers. I found this interesting recipe from (where else?!?) WW for a fried rice breakfast omelet.... which I prepared and enjoyed this morning. The recipe is really simple. However, true to form, I didn’t follow the recipe on the WW website. I modified it to fit my daily points intake. Here is the recipe for my version:

Ingredients:

1 egg = 2 points
¾ cup egg whites = 0 points
½ cup chicken fried rice = 1.5 points
2 sprays cooking spray
salt and pepper

In a bowl, add egg and egg white then whisk.

Coat pan with two sprays of cooking spray then add the chicken fried rice. Cook until fried rice is heated. Then add the egg mixture and allow the eggs to sit for a minute until the egg mixture is solid:


Once firm, flip the eggs carefully to cook on the other side. The whole process will take less than 10 minutes.



I added a couple of slices of mango and some strawberries for garnish and the serving sizes are so small, it was 0 points. So the entire dish is a hearty and filling 3.5 points. Bon Apetit!

Relaunch

It's been quite some time since I posted last. I fell off the wagon a bit. I gained a few pounds, stopped keeping track and stopped being really good about buying weight watcher friendly groceries. BUT, I'm back! I've lost a few pounds in the last few weeks of gettin back in the swing and picked up my old (good) habits again slowly. Thankfully, I purchased an electronic weight watchers calculator last fall and that has been a savior while shopping. I'll post some photos of new recipes and favorite foods this weekend.

Relaunch

It's been quite some time since I posted last. I fell off the wagon a bit. I gained a few pounds, stopped keeping track and stopped being really good about buying weight watcher friendly groceries. BUT, I'm back! I've lost a few pounds in the last few weeks of gettin back in the swing and picked up my old (good) habits again slowly. Thankfully, I purchased an electronic weight watchers calculator last fall and that has been a savior while shopping. I'll post some photos of new recipes and favorite foods this weekend. In the meantime, check out this great ww blog

King Ranch Chicken Casserole (vegetarian)
This was a casserole I used to LOVE, and haven't had it in years. I tried my best ot make a low far version and it turned out to be wonderful, but there were some lower fat foods I couldn't find at my local Kroger that would have lowered the points more. There is always next time.
Ingredients:
4 quorn naked cutlets, chopped
1 lg. onion, chopped
2 tbsp. butter ( I just used ff olive oil spray)
1 tsp. chili powder (I used taco seasoning)
Dash garlic salt
1 can cream of chicken soup or 1 can cream of mushroom soup (I used the 98% fat free)
1 can (10 oz.) Rotel tomatoes and green chilies, drained and crushed
1/2 lb. Cheddar cheese, grated (I used low fat smart balance)
12 corn/flour tortillas, cut into strips (I used low fat mission)
1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
Directions:
Saute onion in ff olive oil spray. Combine taco seasoning, garlic salt, soups, 1/3 can of warm water and Rotel. Line 1/2 or tortilla strips in a large casserole; top with 1/2 chicen,1/2 soup mixture,1/2 onion and cilantro, then 1/2 cheese. Repeat layers. Cook covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes; then uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes. (You can also use flour tortillas instead of corn.)
Let stand for 5 mins becuase it comes out a little soupy when it's super fresh.
This came to 6.5 points if the dish makes 4 servings and 10 points if the dish makes 6. I think I got 6 hearty portions from But next time I will use 1/2 fat free cheese and the SUPER low fat tortillas to reduce the points even more.

The next day I took a scoop of leftovers and put it on the skillet with an egg for a mexi style omelet, mmmmmm good!

CHILI CHEESEDOG CASSEROLE
GUEST ENTRY BY CARRIE MURPHY

good afternoon hungry yet healthy readers.
this is a quick & delicious meal. this is great for those of you that
have kids, or are just a kid at heart that loves them some CHILIDOGZ!

i made this dish vegetarian.

the recipe calls for
8 hot dogs
8 hot dog buns
1 can of chili
2 tablespoons of mustard
2 cups of cheese
1/4 cup red onion (chopped)

what i used
8 veggiedogs
6 hotdog buns
1 can of veggie chili
almost 3 tablespoons of mustard
1 cup of kroger brand
casserole shredded cheese
1/4 cup onion (chopped)


preheat oven to 425
first you spray a casserole pan w/ kroger brand pam
tear up the hot dog buns and place in the bottom of the pan.
cut up the dogs into bite size pieces & scatter over buns. pour the
chili over the buns & dogs, sprinkle the chopped red onion all over,
then spread the mustard over everything. top off w/ the shredded
cheese & bake for 30 minutes.
Made about 12 sections and each section was 3 pts. We ate 2 sections each and filled us up!

i add dill relish to mine.

delicious!

Vegetarian Sheperd's Pie

For those who love (fake) meat and potatoes, this is a good meal for cold days when you want some comfort food. I buy Colman's of Norwich Sheperd's Pie Seasoning packet that is in the British section of my local Kroger. They have the recipe on back but I pretty much know it from memory, this recipe is close.
Ingredients
1 lb. fake ground beef
1 1/2 pound potatos- mashed (might want to add some milk and salt)
2-4 carrots, diced
1 onion diced
cup peas (optional)
1 cup cold water
1 package colman's
Brown the onions and fake beef in skillet, add carrots and water and seasoning and simmer- 5-7 mins maybe. Transfer mince mix
to casserole dish. Spread mashed taters on top. Bake 30 mins at 400, or till top is a golden color.
The recipe is on the mix so go by that but this is close. If you can't find the seasoning packet, you can use a meatloaf sesaoning packet and it comes pretty close.

Vietnamese Sammich, or Banh Mi
I was craving a vietnamese sammich, but wanted to try it on my own. So, I went to the grocery store and bought:
1 French Roll (this was actually a bollio, but for 20 cents, wutevz)
cilantro
cucumbers
shredded carrots
Quorn Naked Cutlets
I had low fat mayo at home (usually have ff nayonaise though), hoison sauce, one onion, Paul Newman's Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing, and soy sauce

First, I marinated the chicken (cut in half) and shredded carrots for about 15 mins in couple tablespoons of the sesame ginger dressing and soy sauce.
I cooked the chicken and a handful of onion on the skillet with some of the marinade and set the carrots aside to drain a little. While that cooked, I chopped the cucumber and cilantro. I took my lil baguette untoated but most places serve it toasted, and spread some mayo. Then I added all the veggies and chicken, cilantro, and put a little hoison on top. I usually get either tofu or bbq pork, but for an at-home healthy version, I'll try the fake chicken again. They also usually put fresh jalapeno on the sammich, but I'm a wuss so I left it off.

Just a little bit...
I have been busy with life and haute tuna so I haven't had much time to cook. I will be back for a little while after this week or next. I miss this blog. I miss cooking and taking photos of my dishes. So, in the meantime I thought I'd share some low-point foods that I've been munching on. CRUMPETS! GLORIOUS CRUMPETS! I'm a big fan of english muffins, but I found these at a Kroger on the other side of town and had to try them. The brand I got was Farm Country, but they are not online. They are kinda spongey and moist on the inside even when toasted. ZERO FAT. I calculated it and they are one point a piece. Great for breakfast or with coffee/tea. I'm hooked. Guess I'm going to have to go back to that Kroger. Here is a place you can buy them online, but they've got to be in a british aisle near you. Otherwise, find em here
I toast them till they are golden on top and put some ff spray butter. MMMMMM, delish!

Lean Cuisine Skillets Chicken Dish

I tried out the new Lean Cuisine skillets bag the other night. It's a bag with frozen pasta, sauce and veggies that serves 3 and is 15 points total! It was SO easy to prepare. I added a teaspoon of oregano, a tablespoon of spicy brown mustard, some ff vegtable cooking spray, about 10 sprays of ff margarine spray, some satl, pepper, and about 1/4 cup of sliced red oinios. This turned out way better than I expected and very flavorful. Had mine with a slice of 40 calorie light sourdough bread and ate more than 1/3 of the dish. I'd say this plate is about 8 points but it filled me up! I'm definately going to try more of these.

Asian Chicken Stiry Fry

I have decided to finally try cooking with frozen veggies. I went to the store and bought a bag containing broccoli, carrots, snow peas, water chesnuts and some noodles, a bag of chopped carrots, and a bag of chopped broccoli. I put on 3 quron cutlets in the skillet with a teaspoon of minced garlic, ff vegetable cooking spray, one copped green bell pepper (for robby only) and some chopped white onions. Added at least 1/2 cup from each bag of frozen veggies, a tablespoon of light soy sauce, a tablespoon of black bean garlic sauce, a tablespoon of hoison, and a tablespoon of plum sauce. It took a little over 10 minutes to cook and in the meantime I cooked some medium grain rice. This plate is about 1/4 of the skillet and 1/2 cup of rice. The points value for the plate is probably 5 points. SOOOO good! I ate all the leftovers!
*Note* Roadie (pictured above) provided supervision for this dish

LEFTOVERS!!!
I used the leftover chicken breast I had from last night's "lemon garlic roast chicken" and put it in a wheat pita pocket with 3/4 a serving of ff Lays on the side. MMMMMMM! So good and only 4 points for the entire plate! I need to do this more often with pita pockets.

Lemon Garlic Roast Chicken
I got this from the ww "Take-Out Tonight" book again. The recipe is way more complicated so I'm going to try my best to tell you how I did it. This recipe is using fake chicken so it doesn't have to be cooked long. If you want the recipe straight from the cook for chicken, I can type that up- just comment.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
4 quorn naked cutlets, thawed
1 pound small red potatoes, quartered
1/8 cup water

1. Preheat Oven to 425
2. Combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of the pil, the garlic, oregano, margoram, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/8 teaspooon of the pepper in a large bowl. Add the quorn, tossing well to coat and let sit 20 mins, turning occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, combine the potatoes, remaining 1/2 tablespoon of ooil, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of pepper, 1/8 cup water and 1/4 cup lemon juice in a casserole dish. Put in oven to roast for 15 mins. Add the chicken to the oven, maybe swapping racks and cook both for another 15 mins (check after 10). You may want to spray the potatoes with non-stick veg oil spray throughout and turn the chicken halfway through.
I served this with 1/4 cup chipotle style rice (i pt) and 1 "Whole Wheat Salad Pocket" (1 pt) with a lil ff margarine spary. Since I used fake chicken instead and the recipe was 6 pts for the chicke, I estimate the whole plate to be 6 pts with the fake chicken. It had a really nice tangy flavor and was in the greek section but could pass for italian.

Eggplant Parmesan Hero
I got this one from my ww "Take-Out Tonight" book. It's been my bible lately.
Makes 4 servings- 7 points each
Ingredients:
1 (1 pound) eggplant, unpeeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 large egg
1 tablespoon fat-free milk
1/2 cup italian bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (can use low fat kind)
1 cup marinara sauce, warm
1/4 cup shredded- part skim mozzarella cheese
4 italian hard rolls

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray nonstick baking sheet w/ nonstick spary, set aside
2. Lightly beat the egg and milk in shallow bowl. Mix bread crumbs and Parmesan on a sheet of wax paper (I didn't have wax paper so I used foil). Dip eggplant in the egg mixture, then in the bread crumbs, and arrange in one layer on the baking sheet. Lightly spray the eggplant with non-stick spray. Bake eggplant until softened and lightly browned, about 25 mins.
3. Divide eggplant into 4 portions on the baking sheet. Overlap each group so they are no longer than the dimensions of each roll. Top each portion with 1 tablespoon of mozzarella. Bake until the cheese is melted, about 2 mins.
4. Transfer each eggplant portion to the bottom of each roll; top each with 1/4 cup of the sauce. Replace top of rolls and serve at once.

I peeled these by accident first. I also added some salt n pepper at the end for extra kick that I think they needed. You can add some to the bread crumb mixture befcore you coat them.

Diana's Szechuan Chicken with Peanuts
We had ww at my house, but Diana cooked. She got the recipe from the weight watchers “Take-Out Tonight” book which is AWESOME. Everything in there looks fabulous. Here's the recipe.
Szechuan Chicken with Peanuts
From weight watchers “Take-Out Tonight”

Makes 4 Servings, 6 pts per serving (with chicken)

Ingredients:
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips (we used quorn naked cutlets)
3 tblspns hoison sauce
2 tblspns cornstarch
½ cup low- sodium chicken broth (can use vegetable broth)
2 tblspns rice vinegar
2 tblspns sugar (can use splenda)
2 tspns chili-garlic sauce (cut in half if you can’t have the spice)
1 tblspn canola oil
1 tblspn minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced on a diagonal
¼ cup unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts

Combine the chicken, 1 tblspn of the hoison sauce, and 1 tblspn of the cornstarch in a medium bowl; toss well to coat and set aside. Combine the remaining 2 tblspns of hoison sauce, 1 tblspn of cornstarch, the broth, vinegar, sugar, and chili-garlic sauce in a small bowl, set aside.
Heat a non-stick wok or a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles. Swirl in the oil, then add the chicken. Stir-fry until almost cooked though, 2-3 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic; stir-fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the bell pepper, carrots, and peanuts; stir-fry until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Add the hoison sauce mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens and the chicken is cooked though, about 1 minute.
We substituted the chicken with quorn naked cutlets and had ours with ½ cup of jasmine rice- It probably still came out to 6 points for the entire plate!

Snack Favorite of the Week!
I just discovered that Nabisco makes fat free fig Newton bars in lil snack packs that come 12 to a box. Hello convenience! Each pack is 2 points as opposed the the non ff packs featured here which are 3.5 points. I also found a site which sells a TWENTY FOUR pack for 11 bux!!! These are great for a snack or dessert and being individually wrapped should keep you from eating too many. It amazes me how many choices we have at the grocery store these days. I think my friend Ryan will be reviewing the smart ones breakfast sandwich next week. Mantry.

Pizza and Game Nite





My high school friends (who are still my adult friends), came over last night for pizza and games. We made pizza on pita bread or as carrie calls it, pitza. I forgot to use her recipe. I bought wheat pitas (2 pts), spread some regular ole pizza sauce on it (1/8 cup) because I could not for the life of me find any Healthy Choice ff sauce (.5 pts.), sprinkled some italian seasoning and pepper, added 2.5 oz of smart balance mozerella cheese (5 pts), and topped it with onions, mushrooms, and some more itialian seasoning. I cooked it on 350 for 6 mins and then broil for another 6 mins to get the cheese a lil golden. They turned out really great! Perfect size, crust was great, mmmm. I added a side salad of spinach, cucumber, olives, mushrooms, msall amount of diced onions and grape tomatoes. I finally tried the wishbone spray vinegarette salad dressing and it was AMAZING! Not too much vinegar, just tart enough, and being able to spray it on allows for full but not over-coverage. Everyone loved it. So the total points for the meal is 8. I might use less cheese next time or do half mozerella and half ff feta. Despite the stack of games, we only got to play Truth or Date Jenga and that didn't even last too long.

Anna's WW Nite



We had weight watcher's at Anna's last night. Diana did hair, I cooked Indian bread,Bubbles begged for food, Anna made her yummy curry veggies, and we watched KOQ (King of Queens) on DVD. Hello Heaven! Anna made this recipe up and it was so delish. I got the bread recipe from a ww cookbook, and we served it with Chipotle style rice (recipe on previous entry- scroll down).
Anna's Vegetable Curry
Ingredients:
1 can of low fat coconut milk
1 cup cauliflower, chopped
3 white potatoes (cubed)
1 1/3 cup baby carrots
1 samall can of peas
1 green green bell pepper, chopped
1 handful cilantro, chopped
1 tsp.salt
1 tsp. pepper
1-2 tsp. cumin
1 pkg curry mix of choice (i used taste ofAsiaaIndiann curry)
Directions:
In a large pot, Sautee veggies in ff vegetable oil spray for 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper & cumin (I sprinkled enough to cover the veggies). Stir veggies for a minute or so. Add low fat coconut milk and curry paste. Let it cook on medium heat for 25 minutes. Add cilantro last to bring out a nice flavor. Serve with rice, enjoy!
Serving size, about 1 cup. Estimated points value is 2-3 points.

Chipati Indian Bread (basically a wheat version on naan is how it turned out)
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp. salt
Directions: In medium mixing bowl, combine both flours and salt. Form a well in the center and add warm water. Mix (Knead) dough with hands 7-10 minutes (I recommend adding 1 tsp of veg. oil with the water to moisten the dough a lil). Set aside and cover, let sit 10 minutes. Split dough into 12 sections. Form sections into balls with your hands.Rolle each ball into a flat, round piece about 6 inches wide. Heat a skillet (I added a lil ff veg. oil spray for each piece) on medium heat and place onepiecee on at a time. Let cook at least 1 min., the top should bubble a little and the bottom should become browned. Flatten each side with a spatula as it cooks. You should cook each side 1-2 minutes. Just eyeball it to see that it's done. Pile em up on a plate be carefull, they are super hot when you take them off the skillet) and serve with curry veggies.
1 point per piece.

Robby's Italian Dinner


Saturday night Robby made me dinner! We had wheat spaghetti topped with Healthy Choice Garlic and Basil marinara sauce. In a skillet he browned 1 quorn nacken cutlet in lemon pepper seasoning, salt n pepper, and ff vegetable oil spray. I made garlic toast on 7 grain bread with spray butter and fresh garlic. The fresh garlic gives it a strong flavor that added to the meal. We split the quorn cutlet and topped it with some chopped basil I had that comes in a tube. I would say we had one cup of the wheat pasta. I estimate the meal to be 7 points, not bad!

Megan's Weight Watcher Nite

We had weight watcher's at Megan's new house. It was Chicken Parmesan made with Quorn fake chicken patties, wheat pasta, and healthy choice pasta sauce. We had a nice salad on the side with Newman's Own low fat vinegarette. MMMMM! Megan originally estimated the meal to be about 7 points, but I think it's more like 9. Either way it was a HUGE delicious meal, I can't believe I ate it all! I couldn't tell that the pasta was wheat either. And Anna brought Krusteaz fat free brownie muffins, so good!

The Diet Soda Challenge
My fellow ww-friend Anna , recently told me that she wanted to cut diet sodas out of her diet. I kinda laughed it off since diet sodas are no calories, thinking drinking them wouldn't change anything. I'm a diet soda addict (meaning I have to have at least one a day) so I think I just didn't want to comprehend giving up my bubbly.
Then I thought about it more. Consuming aspartame everyday is not exactly a good thing. Also, the carbonated can lead to bloating and gas (not pleasant I know). So I got back to Anna and decided to try to cut the diet coke out. I'm replacing it with tea to which I add Stevia, a natural calorie free sweetener made from Stevia Leaf. I found this Article .which doesn't go into why we gain weight from diet sodas. Then I found this Article which debates aspartame and it's long-term effects. I can't say now whether quittting diet coke will lead to any amount of weight loss, but it can't be a bad thing to reduce your intake of aspartame and cut down on the carbonated beverages. So, Anna and I will be taking on this challenge to see if we can find any results of our own. I can't say that I won't have ANY diet cokes, but for now I'm trying to resist them completely and not rely on them each day. Wish us luck!