Instant Pot Chicken and Couscous soup - 3 points on Weight Watchers

Sometimes you just can't eat any more zero point taco soup, am I right?!? This chicken and couscous soup may be your salvation. Yes it's 3 points instead of zero but it's a big serving and a different flavor for when you just need a break!

Soups are an excellent item for meal prepping for success on Weight Watchers. They make a big batch, are easy to keep low in points and store well. I always feel like I do better on my points when I have a soup ready to go.

Ingredients:
1 cup Israeli couscous (also called Pearl couscous)
1 zucchini, diced
1 can of corn
3 ribs of celery, diced
1 cup diced green beans
juice of half a lemon (optional - I love it with lemon but my husband less so, you can suit your taste)
6 cups of water
2 tsp of Better than bullion chicken base (or you can use FF chicken broth iinstead of the water + bouillon)
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
2-3 chicken breasts (depending on size)

Place all ingredients in a 6 quart Instant Pot with the chicken breasts on top. Ensure there is enough water to fully cover all of the ingredients. Cook on manual, high pressure for 10 minutes.

When the time goes off, allow to naturally release a few minutes (to avoid soup spraying out) and then quick release the pressure. After you open the pot, take the chicken breasts out and shred them using two forks and add the shredded chicken back to the pot of soup and stir.

It's steaming!

The recipe makes 5 servings, 3 points each. Please note that it will take some time to come up to pressure because the pot is really full. When being extra healthy, my husband and I take a walk while it's coming to pressure and cooking.

I make variations of this soup a lot, using different zero point vegetables. You can also make this recipe using chicken thighs, because they are smaller you probably need 3 thighs. If you are doing WW, using thighs will be higher in points.

This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. Point values were checked in April 2018 under the Freestyle program. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase from one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Pumpkin muffins - 2 points on Weight Watchers

Do you need a new breakfast or snack option? Try these pumpkin muffins! They are fluffy, lightly sweet and only 2 points for a muffin or Weight Watchers Freestyle program or 2 for 3 points, thanks to Weight Watchers math.

The recipe makes 24 muffins, try not to eat them all in one day!

When shopping for your ingredients, make sure to get canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie mix. This would be bad for your point count!

Since the recipe doesn't have any butter or oil in it, it might stick to paper cupcake liners. For this reason I recommend using silicone baking liners and spraying them lightly with cooking spray.

If you like this recipe, try my two-point apple muffins.

Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup water
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
3 eggs
1 can pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tb pumpkin pie spice
cooking spray
Silicone baking liners

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with either paper liners or silicone baking liners. If using silicone, spray them lightly with cooking spray. The batter should make 24 muffins.

Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer. I use my Kitchen Aid handheld mixer with the beater attachments.

Fill each liner with batter until approximately 3/4 full. Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and it comes out clean. Store muffins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. They also freeze well.

This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. Point values were checked in April 2018 under the Freestyle program. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase from one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Almond milk crepes - 1 point on Weight Watchers

Have you developed an irrational craving for pancakes since you started Weight Watchers? No? Just me then?

Crepes are a very WW friendly option to help stave off your cravings. This dairy-free crepe recipe  is only 1 point per serving and there are many options to stuff your crepes with zero or low-point fillings. Such as:

• Eggs + bell pepper + tomato
• Eggs + mushrooms
• Eggs + reduced fat cheese (points for cheese)
• Eggs + 99% fat free deli turkey
• Eggs + tomato + avocado (points for avocado)
• Reduced fat cheese (points for cheese)
• 99% fat free deli turkey + reduced fat cheese (points for cheese)
• Bananas + Powdered peanut butter such as PBFit (1 point/serving of PBFit)
• Strawberries + Greek yougrt
• Strawberries + light whipped cream (points for whipped cream)

2 points - crepe with eggs, veggies and reduced fat feta

If you really must have a pancake and have a few more points to spare, check out my recipe for high protein peanut butter pancakes using powdered peanut butter.

Batter ingredients:
3/4 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1/4 tsp of table salt
Non-stick cooking spray
* if you are making only sweet crepes, add 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Directions:
Whisk together all ingredients to form a thin batter. I suggest using a hand mixer to ensure there are no clumps of flour. It should be thinner than pancake batter, if it's too thick, you can add a little more almond milk or water.

Preheat a round, non-stick skillet to medium-high heat. On my stove, I use temperature setting 7 of 10. Give the pan a quick spray of cooking spray and pour about a 1/3 of a cup of batter in the pan. You will want to spread the batter out by swirling the pan or there is such a thing as a crepe spreader.

Not quite ready to flip....if you use a spreader it will be easier to make it more round.

Allow the crepe to cook until lightly brown, about 2-3 minutes and then flip it over. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes. Top with your preferred toppings, or eat plain!

Recipe makes 6-8 crepes.

Nice light brown!

Mine don't look as pretty as the ones sold on the streets of Paris but they still taste good!

2 points - crepe with banana and a drizzle made from PBFit

This recipe was adapted from a Weight Watchers recipe for Whole Wheat Crepes to be dairy-free. This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. Point values were checked in April 2018 under the Freestyle program. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase from one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Blueberry lemon cake - 3 WW pts

Summer is coming! This great cake has all the summer flavors you crave and less guilt.

Even though I'm trying to eat healthy, sometimes I still feel like baking. I mean I want to eat the baked goods too but sometimes you really just feel like baking. Just me?

So I decided I would bake something to take to my friends house. That would kill the urge and I'd only eat 1-2 pieces.

Even though it was for non-WW people, I baked it WW style and planned to warn them that it was healthy.

This cake is light and summery. You could almost eat it for breakfast with a side of yogurt! It's not overly sweet, with about half the amount of sugar of similar cakes. I avoid artificial sugars, if you want it sweeter you could add some stevia or drizzle some honey on top.

Ingredients
2 large eggs
1/2 brown sugar
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups self-rising flour
1 Tb lemon juice (approximately the juice of half a large lemon)
16 oz frozen blueberries, thawed
1 Tb corn starch


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9-inch square cake pan.

Whisk eggs with sugar until it's light in color and thick. I use the whisk attachment on my Kitchenaid stand mixer.

Fluffy egg sugar

Add yogurt, applesauce, vanilla and salt and whisk on low speed until mixed thoroughly. Add flour and whisk until incorporated fully. Add the lemon juice and stir well until fully combined.

Rinse thawed blueberries thoroughly. Pat dry with a paper towel and toss with corn starch until no white remains from the corn starch.

See the white corn starch? Keep mixing!

Pour half of the batter into the greased cake pan and top with half of the blueberries. Add the remaining batter and top with remaining blueberries.

Bake at 375 for 38-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cut into 12 servings, each piece is 3 points on WW freestyle or 2 pieces for 7 points.

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of these links this blog may receive a small commission, thank you for your support. This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. Points were calculated in April 2018 using the WW freestyle program.

Peanut sauce - 2 points on WW

Anyone who has met me, can tell you that I love Thai food. Cooking it the dishes I love from take out at home has been an ongoing project (see here my attempts at Pad See Ewe).

One of my frustrations since I started Weight Watchers, is that there aren't as many entries ethnic foods (hint hint WW powers that be). For example, I couldn't find a point count for my beloved Thai iced tea.

If you've read any of my recent posts, you also know that I am obsessed with low calorie powdered peanut butter. I might have to start ordering PB Fit by the case, unfortunately Amazon only sells the chocolate variety by the case.

I decided to try making a peanut sauce out of PB Fit so I could have it for Asian dishes, store bought peanut sauces can have a lot of sugar. You could easily use 1-2 points worth for an Asian dipping sauce. 1/4 of this recipe is 2 points, compared to 2 points for a Tb of most  pre-made peanut sauces, that's barely a dollop. This whole recipe is 8 points.

I initially used this sauce on a rice noodle stir-fry but it would also make a great dipping sauce for grilled chicken. I'm planning to try it shortly in my Instant Pot recipe for Asian style peanut chicken.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of PB Fit (or similar powdered peanut butter such as PB2)
1 Tb dark soy sauce (or you preferred soy sauce)
1/2-3/4 cup of water

Place PB Fit in a small bowl and add soy sauce. Whisk in 1/2 a cup of water. Gradually add small amounts of additional water until sauce reaches desired thickness.

If you are using it as a sauce on noodles like I did below, you might want a thinner sauce. If you are using it as a dip for chicken, you might want it a little bit thicker.

Each serving is 2 points on Weight Watchers Freestyle, the recipe makes 4 servings. The size of each serving will vary based on how much water you add. If you add more water, the serving will have a large volume but still be 2 points. With the full amount of water it's maybe 1/4 cup for a serving but to be honest I didn't measure because I poured it  all on some noodles and just included the full count for the sauce in my recipe. I put one batch of this sauce on a whole box of rice noodles, made with the full amount of water.

Peanut sauce on rice noodle stir-fry was 8 points/serving.

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of these links this blog may receive a small commission, thank you for your support. This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. Points were calculated in April 2018 using the WW freestyle program. 

Apple muffins - 2 points on weight watchers

These apple muffins make a great snack when you craving the carbs but trying to behave. They are not very sweet, which is why I'm calling them "muffins" but they could easily be a cupcake if you wanted to toss some frosting on them. They have a moist bread-y texture and are great fresh from the oven or if you microwave them for about 10 seconds.

They are only 2 points each for a full-sized muffin on Weight Watchers freestyle!

This recipe grew out of the two-ingredient dough (1 part self-rising flour and 1 part fat free Greek yogurt) that is all over Weight Watchers circles. I was using that to make bagels one Sunday and thought, "what else can I do with this?" A few test batches later and these apple muffins were born.

After a little tweaking, my official taste tester (also known as my husband) pronounced them delicious.

If you leave out the sugar, or use a point-free sugar substitute you can actually get the recipe down to 1 point each, however, I prefer to use real sugar when possible. I made a sugar-free batch and honestly, they're not bad but I'll take the extra point for the sugar.

I am using brown sugar because it's fewer points than white! I seriously sat with the recipe builder and looked at how much sugar I could use before the points went up.

Yum! Brown sugar.

They stick to the paper cupcake liners a little bit at the bottom, I would recommend using silicone liners if possible.

Ingredients
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 eggs
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup unpacked brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 small/medium apple, cored and diced into small pieces

Ready to mix!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients until thoroughly blended. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners (ideally silicone ones) and place 1/4 cup of batter in each liner. Bake in preheated oven for 17-20 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins. Each muffin is 2 points on Weight Watchers freestyle. Muffins can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.

If you like these, try my 2 point pumpkin muffins, they also don't have any artificial sugar.

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of these links this blog may receive a small commission, thank you for your support. This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. Points were calculated in April 2018 using the WW freestyle program. 

High protein peanut butter pancakes - 2 smart points each

Sometimes you just want some carbs for breakfast? Right?

These pancakes satisfy the carb cravings while sneaking in protein. They are Weight Watchers friendly and the whole recipe is only 8 points on WW Freestyle. Even if you eat them all, that's not too bad!

To keep the points low, I cook them in my cast iron skillet. I give a quick spray of cooking spray beginning and don't need to use any additional oil.

They get the peanut butter flavor from using powdered peanut butter, I like PBFit. When it's mixed it tastes very similar to peanut butter in my opinion. I also mix it up to have with celery as a low-fat snack. Even my dog loves it! The PBFit  also adds extra protein to these pancakes.

The recipe makes 4 medium-sized pancakes, using 1/3 cup batter for each. I split the recipe with my husband and we have two. I top mine with a low fat berry cream and he puts as much butter and syrup on his as he likes. His are a little less WW friendly :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Krusteaz Protein Butermilk pancake mix
4 Tbsp of PBFit powdered peanut butter
1 egg
2/3 cup of water
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
Cooking spray

Directions:
Turn on oven to medium-high temperature and heat up your cast iron skillet. When the pan is heated, turn the heat down to medium. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients.

Spray skillet with cooking spray. Pour 1/3 cup of batter into the middle of the heated skillet. After the top of the pancake begins to look cooked (approximately 2-3 minutes) using a large spatula, flip the pancake over to continue cooking (approximately 2 additional minutes).  Repeat until the batter is used.

Makes 4 pancakes. Each pancake is 2 points on WW freestyle and it's 8 points for the whole recipe.

Top as desired, I suggest this one point berry cream topping!

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of these links this blog will receive a small commission. Thank you for your support. This blog is not affiliated with weight watchers in any way. Point values were checked in April 2018 for the WW Freestyle program.

Low fat berry cream topping - 1 WW point

This berry cream makes an excellent low-fat topping for pancakes. It saves me from smothering them with syrup! Try it on my high protein peanut butter pancakes. The best part is that it's only 1 point per 1/2 cup serving and 4 points for the whole recipe on Weight Watchers Freestyle program.

It can also be used as a healthy dip for fruit for a point-friendly snack. I haven't tried on ice cream yet but I can see it being used as sundae topping too.

I like that it's naturally sweetened by the fruit but if you want to toss in a little Stevia I won't judge. However it's sweet enough from the fruit for me.

I blend it up in my mini food processor in just a few minutes. In fact, you can do it in between flipping your pancakes.

Ingredients
4 oz fat free cream cheese
1/4 cup fat free greek yogurt
1/2 cup mixed frozen berries

Add all ingredients to a mini food processer and pulse for 2-3 minutes. Makes about 2 cups. 1/2 cup is 1 point on Weight Watchers freestyle. It can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days.

The post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of these links I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support. This blog is not affiliate with Weight Watchers in any way. Point counts were checked in April 2018 under the Weight Watchers Freestyle program.