Yum! Heathly Breakfast

So now that I am pregnant and had been battling nausea, I don't always want to eat right when I get up in the morning. I need to be eating small meals every couple of hours, but I just didn't have much for breakfast besides cereal which was getting boring. I grabbed a few WW yogurts and found some really great flavors! One of my absolute favorites is the Apple Pie a la Mode flavor:

The name says it all; it tastes just like apple pie! It even has little chunks of apples in it! Soooo good! To top it all off it is only 2 WW PP Points! :)
I eat this with a banana and a glass of skim milk and my breakfast is set!

Just a little WW hint...

I have a couple of little surprises that you might find interesting! On my quest of counting points I discovered a couple of items that are surprising low in points and wanted to share them with you!

The first one is Fritos:

Most chips of any kind are very high in points and I unfortunately usually have to avoid them. It may come as a shock to you, as it did to me, but Fritos are actually very low in points! If you look on the back of a regular sized bag you will see that the serving size is one ounce or 32 chips, and if you calculate the points for this serving it comes out to be only 4 points! I have seen bags of chips that are this amount for like 10! This is a great snack for a salty craving and add a little bit of hot sauce or salsa to make it even better for no added points!

The next one is:
Having a fast food craving? Especially for FRIED goodies? Well you will be surprised to know that some items at Long John Silvers are actually not that bad! I have not had this for a long time because I assumed that it was horrible since it was fried. Well I was wrong! I am not talking about their healthy menu which includes things like grilled salmon, rice, and veggies. Those items of course are healthy, but I am talking about something a little more shocking on their regular menu and that is the Chicken Plank! This fried succulent goodness is only 3 points! If you want two, that is only 6 points! Not too shabby! :)

I hope you find this info useful, I know I sure have! :)

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are one of the best versatile and low cal snacks! Not to mention that they are ZERO Points Plus Points! Even though they are wonderful they can get pretty boring. This is why I am going to share 3 great cucumber ideas with you!

Cucumber Chicken Sandwich




















For this sandwich I used:

• About 5 slices of cucumber
• 1 Slice of Oroweat Potato bread (pic)

• 1 wedge of Laughing Cow Original Swiss (pic)1 Morning Star Grilled Chicken Pattie (pic)And a little bit of pepper.

I toasted the one slice of bread and then cut it in half.
While the bread was toasting I heated up the grilled chicken pattie in the microwave according to the directions on the box.
I spread the cream cheese on top of the chicken pattie and placed the cucumbers on top.
Then I sprinkled the top of the cucumbers with a little bit of pepper.

I had this nifty little sandwich for lunch and it was delicious! The potato bread is only 80 calories, the chicken pattie is only 80 calories, and the cream cheese is only 50 calories!

All together this sandwich comes to only 5 Weight Watchers Points Plus Points!


This brings me to the next great snack with cucumbers which is only two ingredients that I already listed above.

Cucumbers with 1 wedge of Laughing Cow cream cheese, delicious and only a 1 Point snack! :)

The last cucumber snack I will discuss is one that I have been doing for quite a while and absolutely love it! All it consists of is cucumber slices doused in vinegar and oil! I prefer to use red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. The points for this snack will depend on how much oil you use. 1 tablespoon of evoo is 2 points depending on the brand you use. I usually use more vinegar than oil in order to offset the points. I also sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper for added flavor making this another great low cal low point cucumber snack!

Enjoy! :)

Sweet Feats - Key Lime Cups & Banana Crumble Parfaits

As promised here is this weeks Sweat Feats Series recipes!
I thought I would do two, just because! :)


Key Lime Cups
What you need:

4 4.5 oz. clear cups or 2 9oz cups (use half)*
1 14 oz. can of fat free sweet condensed milk
1 low fat honey graham cracker1/2 cup of lime juice
4-8 tbsp. fat free cool whip
Lime zest

What to do:

Crumble the graham cracker between the 2 or 4 cups evenly on the bottom saving a corner or two for the topping later.
Mix the sweet condensed milk and lime juice in a bowl until blended together and pour evenly into all of the cups.
Let cool for about an hour.
Top each cup with 2 tbsp. of fat free cool whip.
Crumble the saved graham cracker corners on top of each dollop of cool whip.
Top each dollop with a little bit of lime zest and serve.

*If using the 9 oz. cups, each serving equals 1/2 a cup so 4.5 oz. total.

Each 4.5 oz. serving = 6 Weight Watchers Points and about 309 calories and no fat.

Compare to a slice of Key Lime Pie: 450 calories and 22 grams of fat!



Banana Crumble Parfaits
What you need:

1 banana sliced
1/2 low fat honey graham cracker
2 tbsp. fat free cool whip
1 9 oz. clear cup

What to do:

Fill the 9 oz. cup with all of the banana slices.
Crumble the 1/2 of graham cracker all over the top of the bananas, shaking the cup a little so the crumbs fall all over the slices; saving a corner for the topping later.
Top the bananas with the cool whip and crumble the saved graham cracker corner on top and serve.

Serving size: 1 9 oz. cup = 3 Weight Watchers points and about 162 and 0 grams of fat.

Compare to a slice of Banana Cream Pie: 360 calories and 15 grams of fat!

ENJOY!!! :)

Sweet Feats - Crimson Cocoa Cake

Crimson Cocoa Cake

What you need:

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups splenda
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
3 egg whites
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh cherries chopped
2 cups boiling water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 oz. sliced almonds
1/4 cup shredded coconut
14 oz. can of fat free sweet condensed milk
20 oz. can of fat free cherry pie filling
8 oz tub of fat free cool whip

What to do:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the first 8 ingredients in a large bowl.
Pour in the boiling water little by little and keep stirring.
Add the vanilla and stir in.
Smooth into a 13 X 9 cake pan sprayed with non-fat cooking spray or sprinkled with a little bit of flour to prevent sticking.
Cook for 35 min. or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, then let cool for about 20-30 min.
Poke holes all over the cake with a round-ended wooden or plastic spoon.
Pour the whole can of sweet condensed milk and then the whole can of cherry pie filling all over the top of the cake. The liquids will seep into the holes you made giving it a molten effect.
Cool the cake in the refrigerator for about 30 min.
Top the cake with the fat free cool whip and sprinkle on the almonds and coconut.
Cool an additional 20 min. if you like, then cut the cake into 16 even pieces and serve!

Cake serves 16
Each serving is about 7 Weight Watchers points and about 300 calories.
Omit the almonds and coconut for a 6 point and 272 calorie serving.

Compare to regular cherry chocolate cake: Betty Crocker Chocolate Cherry Cola Cake = 11 points and 480 calories and 19 grams of fat!

Potato Casserole

Here is a new healthy recipe that I created! I hope you like it! :)

What you need:

6-7 small red potatoes
1 14.5 oz. can of french style green beans
1 10.5 oz. can of 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup
1 10.5 oz. can of cheddar cheese soup
1 lb. of ground turkey
About 1/2 cup chopped onions
Garlic salt to taste
Rosemary to taste

How to cook:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Slice all of the potatoes into little wedges and boil them until they are mostly soft, but not soft enough to mash. Drain, and set aside.

Brown the turkey adding the chopped onions for flavor. Cook until there is no pink and the onions are soft. Add garlic salt to taste then drain.

Layer the turkey in the bottom of an 8 X 11 glass pan. On top of that spread the cheddar cheese soup all over. On top of that layer the green beans (drained). Next place the potatoes on top of the green beans in a nice layer and add garlic salt and rosemary to taste. On top of the potatoes spread the cream of mushroom soup all over.

Place pan in the oven for 10-15 min. and enjoy! :)

Serves 6.
Each serving contains approximately: 277.5 calories, and 8.5 grams of fat.
Each serving is only 5 Weight Watchers points!

Guilt Free Pizza!

Ever since my new healthy lifestyle obsession I have been creating my own recipes. I basically just take some of my favorite foods and change the ingredients to healthy substitutes. I came up with a pizza recipe tonight and it was delicious so I thought I must share it! It is actually very cheap too!

Mama Mary's Whole Wheat Pizza Crusts (comes with 2)
Kraft Fat Free Shredded Mozzarella (2 7 oz bags)
Dei Fratelli Pizza Sauce (15oz can)
Hormel Turkey Pepperoni (1 pkg.)
Fresh Sliced Mushrooms
Sliced Olives
Sliced Green Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
Place a crust in a pizza pan, top with 1/2 can of sauce, then 1 bag of cheese, then veggies, and 1/2 bag of pepperoni last.
Put in the oven for about 10 min. and viola!
Repeat for second pizza.

Super easy! This recipe makes two pizzas for just about $15! That is about what one delivered pizza would cost and is way way way less fattening! In fact this recipe ends up only being 3 Weight Watchers points per slice!
Enjoy! :)

Jessica Clark