I absolutely adore quinoa. Unfortunately, my husband (AKA Mr. Picky Pants) does not like it. He thinks its weird. I could not disagree more with him, I think its wonderful and delicious. So, with that being said, I can never make it as a side dish with dinner. I have to find ways to make it for myself for lunches. I found this recipe for quinoa patties on my favorite place, Pinterest. It’s OUTSTANDING! Definitely a must try people. I plan next time on adding some other veggies to the mixture.
Ingredients
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups water
½ tsp salt
¾ cup reduced fat shredded cheddar
½ cup reduced fat cottage cheese
2 small carrots, shredded
2 egg whites
2 whole eggs
2 TBS chopped onions
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 425
Rinse Quinoa (if not pre-rinsed) and cook in 2 cups water with ½ tsp salt.
Shred the carrots and mix all ingredients, including cooked quinoa, in a bowl.
Form into generous patties using a generous ¼ cup.
Place patties on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flip and bake for 10 more minutes.
Only a few official weeks left of summer and this recipe for Cucumber Salad is a perfect summer recipe. It is best in the summer when the cucumbers are plentiful, and the tomatoes are in season and delicious. Cucumber Salad is great either as a light meal with a slice of Italian bread, or a side for some hamburgers. It can be made ahead and let sit in the fridge, the flavors just get better. The servings are any where between 2 and 4, depending on if you are eating it as a side or light meal, the points plus value stay the same.
Ingredients
2 Large Cucumbers, peeled and sliced
3 small tomatoes
2 TBS fresh basil, minced
1 TBS Fresh oregano, minced (optional)
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 TBS olive oil
1-2 TBS wine vinegar (depending on taste)
Salt to Taste
Peel and slice the cucumber into rounds
Add the fresh herbs
Seed the tomatoes and cut into bite size pieces, add to the salad
Add Garlic, Olive oil, Vinegar and Salt.
Mix Well and let sit for at least 1 hour
Enjoy!
Nutritional Information (4 servings)
2-4 Servings = 2 Weight Watchers Points Plus
61 Calories; 4g Fat; 0.5g sat fat; 6.2g Carbohydrates; 1.8g fiber; 1.9g sugar; 1.4g protein
*** Nutritional Information calculated through weight watchers online recipe builder and Calorie-Count.com. Some Data may not be accurate
Italian Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
2 Large Cucumbers, peeled and sliced
3 small tomatoes
2 TBS fresh basil, minced
1 TBS Fresh oregano, minced (optional)
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 TBS olive oil
1-2 TBS wine vinegar (depending on taste)
Salt to Taste
Instructions
Peel and slice the cucumber into rounds
Add the fresh herbs
Seed the tomatoes and cut into bite size pieces, add to the salad
Add Garlic, Olive oil, Vinegar and Salt.
Mix Well and let sit for at least 1 hour
Nutritional Information (4 servings)
2-4 Servings = 2 Weight Watchers Points Plus
61 Calories; 4g Fat; 0.5g sat fat; 6.2g Carbohydrates; 1.8g fiber; 1.9g sugar; 1.4g protein
* Nutritional Information calculated through weight watchers online recipe builder and Calorie-Count.com. Some Data may not be accurate
As some of you may know on Friday Nights we normally have homemade pizza. Love pizza, all types, cant get enough of it. So when my husband and I were watching TV the other night a commercial came of for Pizza Huts Garlic Bread Pizza, I was drooling. Now, I normally do not drool over pizza hut. If I order pizza, its from our local pizzeria, not Pizza Hut. But boy do they have a good idea here. It’s a very simple thing to make, but was it genius. All you need is Texas Toast Garlic Bread, pizza sauce and cheese, How easy is that??? (did I just sound like Ina??). Why give Pizza hut your money! When its this easy, who needs take out
The Texas toast garlic bread I used was 3 Weight Watchers points+ per slice, just know that the points value may vary depending on the garlic bread brand you buy. You could even use a baguette and make your own garlic bread, the skinny loaves of French bread would make awesome appetizers!!
Ingredients
6 Slices Texas Toast Style Garlic Bread
6 TBS pizza Sauce
12 TBS Part Skim Shredded Mozzarella
18 Slices Turkey Pepperoni (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lay the garlic bread on a baking sheet.
Top 1 TBS of pizza sauce on each slice
Top with 2 TBS of cheese on each slice and any topping of your choice, We used Turkey Pepperoni.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until its browned and cooked to your liking.
Summer Tomatoes, Bacon, home-made guacamole… Its makes one pretty yummy sandwich let me tell you. I decided to swap out the mayo for some heart healthy guacamole and use Center Cut bacon to make one of the best sandwiches ever a little more healthy. The guacamole really gives it a nice touch.
I used my lightened up guacamole (2-3 TBS worth, 2 points) and bread that was 4 points for 2 slices. If you use a light bread that is only worth 2 points per 2 slices it would bring the sandwich down to 5 points+
I want to apologize for my lack of posting recipes. Its not that I am not trying, its just that a lot of the recipes lately have just been so-so. And I don’t want to post anything that isn’t good. This post will be short and sweet, and not just because its a smoothie recipe…bud-ump-bump! Sorry, that was a bad one huh?
This tropical smoothie is a great breakfast, mini meal or snack. Add some protein powder instead of the yogurt for a great post workout meal. Did you know you should eat with in 30-45 minutes of a workout for your muscles to get the maximum benefit? This recipe has Kiwi in it, which is a great summertime superfood. Its high vitamin C, fiber and potassium. There is also an option to make it a “green” smoothie. Try it, trust me, its good…despite the color
Ingredients:
1 Cup unsweetened almond milk (or skim milk, PP would be increased to 4)
1/2 cup fat free plain greek yogurt
1/2 frozen banana
1/4 cup diced pineapple
1 kiwi
1 cup spinach (optional)
Equipment
Blender
Add Milk, fruit and yogurt to the blender…turn on…Simple
Add ice and blend until smooth. Pour into a large glass, insert straw an enjoy!
OPTIONAL – At the very end, add 1 cup of baby spinach and blend.
Trader Joes makes this really good Eggplant Caponata, my mother and I buy it all the time and make sandwiches with fresh mozzarella and Eggplant Caponata. It’s delish. So I had this eggplant sitting around the other day and I figured, how hard could it be? I looked through tons of different Caponata recipes and settled on my own version. Its pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. I had mine warm over creamy parmesan polenta. But it would be good as well room temperature or cold on some nice crusty bread.
I chose to calculate this one on the recipe builder with the vegetables included. If you count the veggies as zero, the points drop down to 1 points+ per serving
Ingredients
1 TBS olive oil
1 medium eggplant
1 onion
1 rib of celery
5 small green olives
1 TBS capers
1 TBS Balsamic Vinegar
1 packet of Truvia
2 tomatoes
1 TBS tomato paste
2 TBS fresh chopped basil
Chicken stock as needed
Equipment
Cutting Board and knife
Large skillet
Mince the garlic and celery into small pieces.
Chop all your veggies into small bite size pieces.
Dice up the olives.
Heat oil in a large skillet and add onion, garlic and celery. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat.
Increase the heat and add the eggplant, cooking until browned, about 15 minutes. I added a splash or two of chicken broth to help keep it from drying out.
Add the remaining ingredients, olives through tomato paste.
(Calculated through calorie-count.com, some data may not be accurate)
Eggplant Caponata
Ingredients
1 TBS olive oil
1 medium eggplant
1 onion
1 rib of celery
5 small green olives
1 TBS capers
1 TBS Balsamic Vinegar
1 packet of Truvia
2 tomatoes
1 TBS tomato paste
Chicken stock as needed
Equipment
Cutting Board and knife
Large skillet
Instructions
Mince the garlic and celery into small pieces.
Chop all your veggies into small bite size pieces.
Dice up the olives.
Heat oil in a large skillet and cook onion, garlic and celery for 5 minutes over a medium heat.
Increase the heat and add the eggplant, cooking until browned, about 15 minutes. I added a splash or two of chicken broth to help keep it from drying out.
Add the remaining ingredients (olives through tomato paste), lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
I am going to admit that I have two major flaws in the kitchen. The first being that I really don’t like making breakfast, not a fan. I am not sure if its just the because I can’t function until I have two cups of coffee, or who knows. It’s just not my thing, I do it, but I don’t like it. But I am lucky because I can usually convince the husband to make breakfast on the weekends. The other flaw is I am a terrible judge at the amount of pasta I should cook. Seriously, I always either make too little or WAY too much. On the occasions where I make too much, spaghetti frittatas are a great way to use up that left over pasta. You can pretty much throw in any veggies too, I made this recipe sans veggies just because I was due for a shopping trip, but oh well. It’s breakfast and dinner all wrapped up into one.
Ingredients
2 Cups cooked whole-wheat spaghetti
4 large eggs
6 Egg whites
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup shredded part skim mozzarella
2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 onion, diced
2 Tbs chopped basil
salt and pepper to taste
Equipment
Cutting Board and Knife
1 large skillet
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a skillet, add onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes until onions start to soften (I don’t know why I didn’t take a picture – ditzy moment, sorry)
Meanwhile, gather your other ingredients. Crack eggs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk well.
Stir in your cheeses
Stir in the basil
Then add your spaghetti.
Add 1 more tsp of olive oil to the pan and add egg mixture to the onions.
Cook for about 5 minutes, pulling in the sides of the egg mixture. Cook until the eggs start to form up.
Then transfer to the oven, and cook for 10-15 minutes until eggs are set.
Serve with a salad and some crusty bread for a delicious meal
(Calculated through calorie-count.com, some data may not be accurate)
Cheesy Spaghetti Frittata Ingredients
2 Cups cooked whole-wheat spaghetti
4 large eggs
6 Egg whites
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup shredded part skim mozzarella
2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 onion, diced
2 Tbs chopped basil
salt and pepper to taste
Equipment
Cutting Board and Knife
1 large skillet
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a skillet, add onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes until onions start to soften (I don’t know why I didn’t take a picture – ditzy moment, sorry)
Meanwhile, gather your other ingredients. Crack eggs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk well.
Stir in the basil
Stir in your cheeses.
Then add your spaghetti.
Add 1 more tsp of olive oil to the pan and add egg mixture to the onions.
Cook for about 5 minutes, pulling in the sides of the egg mixture. Cook until the eggs start to form up.
Then transfer to the oven, and cook for 10-15 minutes until eggs are set.
You know how we do Friday night pizza night at our house, well plain pizza does get a little boring. So at times I like to try something a little different. I have to be careful though because my boys wont eat everything. When I was routing through my freezer, I found some extra turkey links I had left over from something or another. Sausage and onion just seem to go naturally together, and so was born Sausage and Caramelized onion Pizza.
I used sweet Italian sausage, but hot would be equally as delicious. The onions get super sweet when you cook them down. They just take a while, so you just need some patience. You could prep the onions ahead of time to cut down on your cooking time. You can also use store bought dough, instead of homemade. However, it may change the points+ value.
I got this recipe inspiration from a friend of mine who was making this sort of dish but with Spinach. Well, I did not have any spinach, I had Kale. Good Substitute. This is delicious! And it takes just minutes to cook, perfect! Especially for a quick lunch, I am sure you could make a big batch and keep in the fridge all week. This meal is packed with protein and fiber, which keeps you satisfied forever. It’s loaded with vitamins and has about 1/3 of your daily calcium intake. If you have not tried kale yet, I urge you to. You don’t know what your missing, you will like it I promise.
Ingredients
2 Cups chopped kale (Some store sell it already chopped for you, I know trader joes does)
½ cup cannellini beans, rinsed well and drained
1 link of turkey sausage
1 garlic clove, minced
about ¼ cup chicken stock, low sodium
Crushed black pepper to taste
1 tsp olive oil
Equipment Needed
Skillet
Cutting board and knife
Instructions
Heat your olive oil in a skillet. Remove the casings from the sausage and crumble into the pan
Brown well, breaking into smaller pieces as you brown it.
Add the kale, garlic and a splash of chicken broth. Cook until kale starts to wilt.
Add in cannellini beans and crushed black pepper. Cook for a 1-2 minutes until beans are heated through.
Serve and Enjoy!!
PS – you could probably grate a little fresh parmesan on there which would be awesome…shhhh I wont tell
I am a big fan of grab and go snacks or meals. Unfortunately a lot of the stuff you get in the stores is loaded with a bunch of stuff I don’t want to eat. Everyone once in a while its ok, but to eat that stuff on a regular basis is not good. These Almond Craisin oat bars are easy to make and you don’t even have to bake them. They are 4 Weight Watchers points+ per serving.
These oat bars super good for you too, with toasted oats, almond butter, and chia seeds. Rolled oats and almonds are good for your belly and chia seeds are a great little power food. If you don’t have them, you could leave them out but they are really quite beneficial to your diet, they boost energy, stabilize blood sugar levels; they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and Fiber. Try them; you can add them to almost anything. Oh yea, and try these granola bars too
Here are your ingredients:
1-½ tbs chia seeds
1 ¾ cup rolled oats (or old fashioned oats)
½ cup natural almond butter
½ cup maple syrup
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ craisins
Equipment
Parchment Paper
9×9 baking dish
Small pot
Mixing bowl and spoon
large skillet
First add your oats to a skillet and toast them for several minutes over medium high heat. They will smell nutty when they are done.
Add them to a bowl with the craisins and chia seeds
In a small pot, add your maple syrup, cinnamon and almond butter
Heat over medium heat until they are well combined. Let cool for a few minutes.
Add the almond butter mixture to the oats and craisins.
Mix well using either a spoon or your hand. I used my hands, its just plain easier.
Press mixture into a 9×9 baking dish lined with parchment paper.
Cover with foil and chill in the fridge for several hours.
Lift the parchment paper out and remove the oats.
Cut into 12 pieces and wrap. I store mine in the fridge.
They are soft and chewy and delicious.
I hope you will try them.
Enjoy!!
Nutritional Information
4 WW Points+ per serving (calculated through WW online recipe builder)
