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Weight Watchers Cooking Take 3: Sweet and Sour Chicken, Roasted Veggies, and Diet Potato Au Gratin

21 Apr

I’ve had a recipe for Sweet and Sour Low Carb chicken in my stash for years.  I was pleased to see that the point value was quite low and I could take one of my favorite recipes from the past and use it without alteration.  The key is diet orange soda (I’m a huge Diet Sunkist fan now anyway).  I have served this recipe to many who haven’t been any wiser that it’s a “healthy” version.  It has a ton of flavor.

It takes a good amount of time for the sauce to cook down to look like this…

We decided to pair it with broccoli and yellow cauliflower roasted with garlic.



(I have a new camera that I love… and this picture marks the point where I learned how to use it)

I also found a recipe for Weight Watchers au gratin potatoes sounded so good.

I was shocked that this was so low in points and tasted so good.  Next time I’ll make it in a larger, shallower dish so the top crisps more, but it was delish and definitely worth adding to the recipe stash… Weight Watchers or no Weight Watchers!



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RECIPES
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Low Carb Sweet & Sour Chicken

4 Servings
3 Points per Serving

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Brown chicken and onions in a non-stick pan sprayed with cooking spray.
  2. When chicken is brown, add the remaining ingredients.
  3. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes until the chicken is tender and thoroughly cooked.
  4. Uncover and reduce liquid until it makes a syrupy sauce (about 20-30 minutes- Keep an eye on it that it doesn’t burn).

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Weight Watchers Au Gratin Potato

3 Points per Serving
8 Servings

Instructions:

  • 1 spray cooking spray
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 medium onion(s), thinly sliced
  • 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 2 cup fat-free skim milk
  • 2 pounds Yukon Gold potato(es), thinly sliced
  • 1 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 tsp table salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. Coat a 2-quart covered baking dish with cooking spray.
  3. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes.
  4. Stir in flour; add milk slowly, stirring. Add potatoes and stir to mix. Bring to a boil.
  5. Stir in 3/4 cup of cheese, salt and pepper.
  6. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and level out surface.
  7. Bake for 1 hour, uncovered.
  8. Cover and bake until potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 minutes more.
  9. Change oven temperature to broil.
  10. Sprinkle remaining cheese over potatoes.
  11. Broil 6 inches from the heating element until the cheese is golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes.
  12. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces.

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My First Weight Watchers Oops: Ramen!

19 Apr

One day I had soup with some dumplings. I was impressed to see that the broth was “free” for points and the dumplings were surprisingly low in points.  The lunch was one of the best I found (points wise) in Chinatown.  So Ramen couldn’t be THAT bad, right? Oh so very wrong…

I saw the serving of the noodles was 5 points… so I thought maybe this whole thing (including half an egg and some grilled pork) couldn’t be more than 8 points.  Well… it was 5 points for a HALF cup.  I had about a cup and a half… 15 points on NOODLES.  That’s a mistake I won’t make again.  Nearly 20 points of my 24 for the day slurped up in one sitting.

Luckily there is a great alternative… SOBA! Buckwheat noodles are two points for one full cup.  That’s a no brainer right there!

So after all this I’m sure you’re wondering if my 20 point lunch was worth it? Absolutely not.  It was just… bland.  So bland that it’s not even worth looking up what random place we went for this bowl of flavorlessness. 

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Weight Watchers Cooking Take 2: Zero Point Soup

9 Apr

I was told that there was a mysterious “Zero Point” soup recipe out there… and I figured “hey… I like soup. And I like making soup. And I really like the idea of eating meals that I don’t have to count towards my points!” So I went in pursuit of zero point soup.  Turns out there are several, but the “Italian Veggie” sounded best to me so I set to it.

It’s so easy and quick to make. Lots of fresh veggies. 

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RECIPE
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This is the original recipe as I found it:

Italian-Inspired Zero POINTS Value Soup
Makes 12 servings

POINTS® value | 0 per serving

Ingredients

  • 2 cups escarole, chopped (I used cabbage instead)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup onions, chopped
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 2 small zucchini, cubed
  • 1 medium red pepper, chopped (for allergy reasons, I ommitted this)
  • 2 cups fennel bulb, thinly sliced (one bulb)
  • 6 cups vegetable broth (I used fat free chicken broth)
  • 28 oz canned diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (ommitted for obvious reasons)
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped (I used dry)
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I went dry due to available ingredients)
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil

Instructions
Put escarole, garlic, onions, spinach, zucchini, red pepper, fennel bulb, vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes, thyme and oregano into a large soup pot; stir to combine. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, partly covered, for about 10 minutes.

Stir in salt, black pepper, parsley and basil. Serve.

Serving size: about 1 cup

Variations:
They used the POINTS Tracker to calculate the following additions to an individual 1-cup serving:
1 1/2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese, POINTS value: 1
2 oz cooked chicken sausage, POINTS value: 3
2 Tbsp cooked chickpeas, POINTS value: 0.5
2 Tbsp cooked orzo, POINTS value: 0.5
2 small, store-bought turkey meatballs, POINTS value: 2

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