Showing posts with label Weight Watchers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weight Watchers. Show all posts

Friday, May 14, 2021

Baked oatmeal - 4 points on WW blue

I absolutely love oatmeal. I eat it for breakfast, sometimes for lunch and often as snacks. I don't even need to put sugar in it if I load it up with fruit, chocolate chips or nuts. However, I often find these delicious additions don't fit well into my daily points when I'm trying to follow weight watchers.

In fact, when I chose my WW plan, I went for blue because oatmeal is zero points on purple and I knew I would over eat it if it didn't have any points attached. I also love sweet potatoes, so that would've been another temptation!

In moderation though, oatmeal can be a great option and this baked oatmeal is further fortified with eggs and applesauce to make it fluffy and filling and only 4 points.



Ingredients

2/3 cup quick oats

2/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

2 eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tsp Lankato granulated monkfruit or other zero calorie sweetener of your choice, optional

1 cup fresh or frozen fruit (such as mixed berries, blueberries, chopped apples, chopped peaches)

1/4 tsp of baking powder

1 generous sprinkle of cinnamon

cooking spray

Cooking equipment: small baking pan, I use a 7" round pan.



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray small baking pan with cooking spray. Put fruit in the bottom of the pan. Mix wet ingredients, taking care to whisk the eggs fully. Add dry ingredients and mix well into a wet batter, pour into the pan over the fruit. Bake for 18-22 minutes until the oatmeal is fully set.


Half the pan is 4 points.


You can also double the recipe and make four servings and use a standard 9" round pan to bake it. I tend to each too much when I do this, since I love oatmeal so much.

4 serving double recipe - this one had peaches on the bottom!

On the WW blue plan if you use the recipe builder it's 4 points for one serving and 7 if you eat two servings. Since WW sometimes has weird math, if you put half of the ingredients individually, it's only 3 points. I use the higher recipe builder calculation.


Friday, March 5, 2021

Peach Iced Tea in the Instant Pot


Pressure cooking is amazing at infusing flavors in minutes rather than hours. Honestly I am not even sure how long it would take to make peach iced tea if I had to wait for it to infuse the peach flavor naturally but I'm guessing quite a long time and probably some amount of muddling.

My trusty Instant Pot makes all of this unnecessary. It makes peach iced tea in one minute! Ok, it really takes more like half an hour because the full pot takes quite a while to come to pressure, if you've been pressure cooking a while you know how misleading those cook times can be! #realtalk

This tasty beverage is also a great option for healthy living it is Whole 30, Paleo and zero points on Weight Watchers (green, blue and purple). If I am feeling fancy, I add carbonation to it with my Drinkmate beverage fizzer. If you haven't tried sparkling peach iced tea, you are missing out. Be careful though it fizzes A LOT.


Take the tag off!
Ingredients

8 cups of water

2 family sized tea bags (I use Lipton Cold Brew)

1 can of peaches in 100% juice

optional: sweetener of your choice (none for Whole 30)



Directions: Put water and peaches (do not drain!) in your Instant Pot. Remove any paper tags from your tea bags and add to the pot. Set Instant Pot to sealing, manual pressure for 1 minute. Turn off the "keep warm" setting. Following the end of the cook time, allow to naturally release for at least 5 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure.

When I'm following Weight Watchers, I add 1/2tsp of Lankato Monkfruit 0 calorie sweetener (0pts) to each large glass! This is not Whole 30 or Paleo compliant though.


This post may contain affiliate links if you make a purchase from one of this links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Friday, June 26, 2020

Taco skillet casserole - 2 points on Weight Watchers



Are you looking for a one pan dish that is quick and easy to make? Look no further than this taco skillet casserole!

This dish uses cooked rice to come together really quickly, or if you don't have rice that's already cooked you can cook the rice right in the pan by adding 3/4 cup dry rice and 1.5 cups of water. The dish will take about 25 minutes longer if you use uncooked rice and cook it in the pan. I use leftover rice from the night before's dinner.

The whole recipe is only 10 points on Weight Watchers blue plan (formerly Freestyle) and it's easily 5 servings, making it 2 points for serving. Top it with a little cheese and sour cream for extra points. You can also roll it up in a in wrap for a burrito, I like to do this the next day for lunch.

If you are looking for another great one-pot meal, you can also try my un-stuffed pepper skillet. It's similar but more like a stuffed pepper than a taco flavor. 

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1.25 lbs 99% FF ground turkey (you can also use beef or higher fat turkey but it will increase the points if you are following Weight Watchers; my photos show lean beef)
1-2 packets taco seasoning, ideally low sodium
1 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can of corn
1 14.5 oz can of black beans
1.5 cups of cooked rice

Optional toppings:
Shredded cheese
Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
Wrap or taco shell

Cooking equipment: Very large skillet or high-sided pot or Dutch oven (preferred)


Directions:
Spray pan with cooking spray and turn on medium heat, add ground turkey and season with 1 packet of taco seasoning. Brown the meat until fully cooked, about 5-7 minutes.

Add tomatoes, corn, black beans and cooked rice. Stir. Add a second packet of taco seasoning if desired for a spicier/more flavorful dish. If the mixture appears dry (especially an issue with low fat meat) add up to a .5 cup of water. Allow to warm fully and simmer uncovered about 5-8 minutes.

Top with cheese and sour cream or yogurt,if desired and serve.


When made with 99% FF ground turkey, the recipe is 10 total points on Freestyle. Dividing it into 5 servings makes it 2 points each, excluding any optional toppings. The 5 servings are pretty generous portions, easily 1 cup.

This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Monday, August 12, 2019

Strawberry Jam - Low Sugar - Instant Pot

One of the things I don't personally like about Weight Watchers is so many pre-made food are either high in points or if you want a lower point choice, you have to get the sugar free option. "Sugar-free" is a misnomer, really it means "artificial sweeteners." There are varying opinions on artificial sweeteners and which ones, if any are ok. I do eat them but I try to do it in moderation.

The other option, one I have often employed, is it make my own from scratch foods when I can that just use less real sugar or in some cases a sugar replacement, like monkfruit, that I am ok with.

With this in mind, I set out to make some low sugar strawberry jam in my trusty Instant Pot.

This jam is 1 point for up to 4 tablespoons, the recipe makes about 5 cups of jam.

Ingredients
4 quarts of strawberries, hulled and sliced in quarters
1/2 cup of sugar
1 medium lemon, juiced
4 tablespoons of cornstarch

Directions
Put strawberries in the bottom of Instant Pot, sprinkle sugar on them and stir. Allow the berries to sit in the sugar for 30-60 minutes. The sugar will draw out the juice from the berries.

Using a small strainer, squeeze the juice from the lemon on to the berries and stir. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook, high, for 1 minute.

After the cooking cycle has completed, allow it to naturally release the pressure for 20-25 minutes. Should any pressure remain, you can quick release it.

Change the Instant Pot to saute, normal. Stir the berry mixture to break up any large strawberry pieces or if you want a less chunky jam, you can use a potato masher or immersion blender to get a smoother consistency. I prefer it with some berry chunks.

Scoop out about a cup of the berry mixture's liquid into a small bowl. Do this carefully as it's extremely hot. Wisk in the cornstarch until smooth. Return the corn starch mixture to the Instant Pot and stir well.

The mixture should begin to thicken, continue to stir until it's slightly thinner than jam and then turn off the heat. It will thicken a little bit more as it cools.

After it cools, pour it into jars or other containers and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or the freezer.

I split mine into several containers and put one in the fridge and the remaining ones in the freezer for future use. This jam is a little more tart than you will be used to with store purchased jams, if you want, you can add more sugar but it will increase the points per serving.


This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

10+ snack ideas under 5 points on Weight Watchers Freestyle


It can be easy to get into a food rut and fall off the wagon when doing the Weight Watchers program. For me, having options is key to consistency! To help you mix it up, here are 10+ of ideas for snacks, all under 5 points.

Note: the Freestyle plan is now the WW Blue plan, if you are on green or purple be sure to check your points on your plan.

1) Low Fat Mozzarella string cheese

Sometimes we just need a little something to make it until dinner. Grab a stick of low-fat string cheese to tide you over. Most brands are only 1 point per stick but scan the specific one you buy to make sure.

Total: 1 point for 1 stick

2) Cheese and pretzels slims

Take 1 wedge of light cheese, such as light laughing cow, and spread it on 32 pretzel crisps. You will probably not have enough cheese for all of them but the extras make a good snack on their own. Sometimes I also have this for breakfast (more breakfast ideas can be found here).

Total: 3 points



3) Fruit or vegetables with powdered peanut butter

Honestly, this stuff helped me eat more celery than I ever thought was possible. My favorite kind is PBfit but I have tried a bunch of different kinds. Use 2 Tb of whatever kind you like and have it with your celery, apple or banana.

Total: 1 point

4) Low calorie popcorn

Does anyone else find the nutrition labels for microwave popcorn to be really confusing? It's impossible to figure out what a serving size is. Now, I just buy the pre-popped bags of light popcorn and keep it simple. There are a bunch of different brands so you will need to scan the ones offered at your grocery store and make sure you buy the light popcorn. The light is usually 3-4 points for a serving of a couple of cups.

For example the Trader Joe's popcorn with olive oil is 4pts for 1oz and Aldi's simply nature lightly salted popcorn is 4pts for 3.5 cups.

Total: 3-4pt/serving, depending on brand

5) Goldfish crackers

You can eat 52 of these for only 4pts! You can adjust the serving size to be fewer points also if you like, usually I only have 3pts worth. It's nice when you have a lot of "units" in your snack.

Total: 4 points

6) Toast with powdered peanut butter

Toast one piece of 1pt bread such as Aldi's light and fit 45 calorie per slice bread and mix up 2 Tb of powdered peanut butter to go on top. Add some banana slices or cinnamon if you like. I also like to add a little salt to my PB powder when I mix it up.

Total: 2 points

7) Kind Mini Bars

Are you as surprised as I was how high in points granola bars are? Like aren't they supposed to be healthy? Well if you need a little treat for a few points, Kind Bars makes mini versions. The sea salt caramel one is only 4 points and like a little dessert in the afternoon. You can get them on Amazon or at Costco.

Total: 4 points

8) Black bean brownies

When you do your weekend prep, think about making a pan of black bean peanut butter brownies. The recipe is here with directions for a 1pt and 2pt version and I prefer a little more sugar. It makes a good chocolate fix in the afternoon. I also really like that this recipe doesn't have any artificial sugar in it and uses the real deal.

Total: 1-2 points
Fluffy black bean brownies


9) Pretzel sticks

It seems odd that pretzels (something salty and crunchy!) would be low in in points but they are! A serving of 53 pieces of Rold Gold pretzel sticks is only 3 points! Check the brand you buy as some are a little higher. Happy crunching!

Total: 3 points

10) Frozen grapes

Have you tried freezing grapes yet? If not you should give it a whirl. Pretend you are eating a Popsicle and enjoy for zero points!

Total: 0 points

11) Hummus & Veggies
So, a full-sized tub of hummus is no match for me. I will eat up to half a container if left to my own devices but if I portion it out, it goes bad before I've eaten it all. Now, I buy the mini-tubs which are 2 oz and only 3 points when paired with some veggies. Helps to spice up the veggies a little bit!

Beware, they also sell minis of the chocolate hummus but those are much higher in points than the regular flavor, the one at my store scans at 7pts for 2oz. :(

12) Low-fat chips

Is this a misnomer? Nope! There are a lot of different lower fat chips that can fit into your snack points budget. I buy the variety pack of mini bags because a the full sized bags will go bad before I can eat it all; and portion control is key on WW!

PopCorners are 3 points for the sea salt or 4 for the white cheddar or kettle corn. They taste like a rice cake and a chip had a baby. I love them and my husband eats them even though he's not following WW.

The baked variety pack from Lays is also a good option. The baked Cheetos are 4pts and sour cream and cheddar bag for 3 points. All of the options are low in points.

13) Pirate's Booty

These little cheesy puffs are great! I am not sure if I would call them a chip or popcorn or what but they are delicious. I buy the mini bags of these too, which are .5oz and 2pts. They also sell 1oz bags, which are 4pts, so make sure to check what you are buying.

This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Monday, April 15, 2019

Zero point Weight Watchers yogurt in the Instant Pot

The Instant Pot makes fantastic yogurt! It's thick, creamy and much less tart than store bought plain yogurt but there is a lot of confusion on how to make this delicious breakfast in a way that is zero points on Weight Watchers Freestyle.

After you have a bunch of yogurt you can make so many things! Such as:
First, you have to think about this process in a slightly different way than most "recipes". Plain, nonfat yogurt would have points if you calculated the nutritional value, as would all food. This food is zero points by magical Weight Watchers decree. So for your yogurt that you make in your Instant Pot to also be zero points, you need to make plain, fat free yogurt. Unlike most recipes, the milk you use will not be zero points if you enter its nutrition, look it up or scan it. It isn't a zero point food until it becomes yogurt. It's magically transformed when it becomes plan, fat free yogurt.

To make your yogurt magic you need:
  1. Fat Free Milk
  2. Fat free yogurt with live and active cultures to use as starter
I make the cold start, no boil Greek yogurt. It is really easy to make! Follow my directions below for zero point yogurt!
I use this milk.
Ingredients:
52 ounces Fairlife Fat Free Milk (or other ultra pasteurized fat free milk) 
2 Tb of nonfat, plain Greek Yogurt with live and active cultures as a starter or whey saved from your last batch of yogurt

Equipment:
Instant Pot Duo or other model with a yogurt button
Fine mesh strainer, or other straining method
Instant Pot Duo working it's magic!
Directions:
Clean and sanitize your instant pot (I run the sterilize cycle). Pour the milk in your inner pot and whisk in the yogurt. Cover the pot with an instant pot glass lid or other lid (I use one from my pan set that fits my IP). Press the "yogurt" button your pot and set the timer for 8 hours. When the cooking cycle finishes, the milk should now be a thick yogurt. There will be some thin liquid on the top and sides, this is the whey. To have a nice thick Greek style yogurt, you need to strain the whey from the yogurt. 
Straining out the whey to get a thick creamy yogurt.
Using your fine mesh strainer and a large bowl, strain the whey from the yogurt. I strain my yogurt about 2 hours to have a nice thick Greek yogurt. Refrigerate your delicious yogurt! It will keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. I add 1 tsp of maple syrup or agave and some fruit for a great 1 point breakfast on the Weight Watchers Freestyle program. 

Notes on yogurt starters and whey:
You can use a little of your previous batch of yogurt as the starter for your next batch. You can also keep some of the whey from your batch, freeze it and use it as your starter! I will usually use half a cup of whey as my starter. If you look up whey in the Weight Watchers app, it is 3pt/serving. However, if it's from a zero point yogurt batch and I use it as starter, I still count my yogurt as zero points. Now, if I use the whey in anything else, I count those 3 points. Is it logical? Maybe not but to me, when the items in the pot become nonfat plain yogurt they are magically transformed into a zero point food.

So what else can you do with your whey? Well you can use it as a liquid in smoothies, it has a ton of protein but I personally think it makes my smoothie taste funny. You can make bread with it, instead of water but you know, bread... I usually freeze mine for the next batch of yogurt or, I'm ashamed to say, throw it away. If you have any other whey uses, please share in the comments!

This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Chicken butternut squash & white bean soup - 1 point on WW



I am going to be very sad when winter is over! I am not a summer soup eater but soups are so easy to meal prep for low point options on Weight Watchers! Meal prep is key to staying on track :-)

This soups has only 4 points in the whole pot! The majority of these points come from using a little but of olive oil to sauté the onions. You can reduce the points by using cooking spray instead but I personally don't think it cooks the same way. You need a little bit more grease to get the onion cooking nicely.

I used pre-cut butternut squash for this recipe because I just hate cutting it up so much! We have to take short cuts where we can right? Many of the other ingredients I chopped up while the onions and chicken were cooking to save time.

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
2 tsp of olive oil
1/3 of a white onion, diced
1 large chicken breast (around 10 oz), cut into small cubes of about 1/2 an inch
3 cloves of garlic
2 tsp of cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp of salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
8 oz of butternut squash, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 ribs of celery, diced
15 oz can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
6 oz of frozen peas (I buy a 12 oz bag and use half)
4-5 cups of water
2 cubes of low sodium chicken bouillon

Cooking equipment: 6 quart Dutch oven and garlic press

Directions:
Spray a 6 quart Dutch oven with cooking spray this allows you to use less olive oil. Add diced onion and olive oil to the pot and sauté on med-high heat until the onions are translucent, about 5-6 minutes. While the onions are cooking, I cut my chicken into cubes. Add chicken to the pot and using a garlic press, add the garlic. Add the cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper to the pot and cook until the chicken is mostly cooked, about 5-7 minutes and then add the squash cubes. While the chicken and squash are cooking, I dice my celery. Add the celery, beans and peas to the pot. Cover the contents with water, about 4-5 cups and add the bouillon cubes. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.

The recipe makes about 6 bowl-sized servings which the recipe builder calculates at 1 point each. There are only 4 points in the whole pot, 3 from olive oil and 1 from the bouillon cubes.

This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Friday, February 1, 2019

Mediterranean chicken salad – 2 points on Weight Watchers


Easy lunch alert! When you are trying to plan your meals, can you have too many easy lunch ideas? I don’t think so!

This chicken salad was inspired by a local Mediterranean deli that makes the best chicken salad ever.
I seriously didn’t even like chicken salad until I had theirs. I’m not really a mayo fan but they use an olive oil mayo and magic, which makes their chicken salad fantastic.

So I set out to recreate it and recreate it in a way that was Weight Watchers (or I guess now it’s Wellness Works!) friendly. First the recipe and then I’ll give you some ideas on low-point pairings!

Ingredients:
12.5 oz can of 98% fat free chicken breast (must be breast! And at least 98% FF or it has points!)
1 cup of fat free, plain, Greek yogurt (approximately, see directions)
Juice of half a lemon
15-20 grapes cut in half
1 rib of celery diced
1 tsp salt
1 clove of fresh minced garlic or 1 tsp of garlic powder
½ tsp of celery seed
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp of ground pepper

Directions:
In a medium bowl with a lid, put chicken breast, mayo, grapes, celery and all spices. Add about half of the yogurt (or a big spoonful)  and the juice from the lemon. I suggest squeezing the lemon juice directly into the bowl using a small strainer to catch seeds. Stir until all ingredients incorporated, shredding the chunk chicken and adding more yogurt until it reaches desired consistency, approximately 1 cup.



The recipe makes two servings of a little more than 1 cup each, each serving is 2 points on Weight Watchers Freestyle program. Or the whole recipe is 3 points. If you use regular mayo instead of the suggested olive oil/reduced fat, each serving is 3 points.

So what are you gonna eat it with? Here are some ideas!
  • Pretzel slims (3pts/oz)
  • In a low point wrap (I like Aldi fit & active wraps for 2pts)
  • On low point bread (1-2pts/slice depending on the bread)
  • On top of a salad
  • With baby carrots (0 pts)
  • With celery sticks (0 pts)
  • On top of sliced cucumbers (0 pts)

Do you have any other ideas on what to eat it with? Leave them in the comments! 

This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Saturday, October 13, 2018

Skinny yogurt banana bread - Oven or Instant Pot


If you are looking for a moist banana bread, look no further! This might be a light recipe but don't let that fool you into thinking it is anything short of delicious. It makes a good breakfast or a nice dessert.

Adding Greek yogurt not only helps to make this bread extra moist, it adds protein and doesn't give you the sour taste that using sour cream would.

It's also a great way to use up bananas that are past their prime. You can use bananas that have been frozen but you need to thaw them first. I usually zap them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and they are thawed enough to mash them up

You can make this in your oven or Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. I first made this in my Instant Pot because we had finished the loaf I had made in the oven and I was craving more but my loaf pan was in the dishwasher which was running. It's nice to have options!
Ingredients ready to go

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 of unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup of low fat, plain Greek yogurt
3 overripe bananas
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
cooking spray

If you want a little different variety you can try adding 1 tsp of cinnamon or 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.

Cooking equipment:
Electric mixer
For baking in the oven you need a loaf baking pan or for the Instant Pot a 7" round cake pan. I use a 3" deep Fat Daddio pan in my 6 quart Instant Pot.

Oven directions:
Batter all mixed up
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash up bananas in large mixing bowl using a potato masher or large fork. Add all ingredients to mixing bowl and beat on med-low speed until all are fully incorporated, about 3-5 minutes. You may need to use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl to get the flour fully mixed in.

Grease the loaf pan with cooking spray and pour in the batter. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the top is lightly browned. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Instant Pot directions:
Place 1 cup of water into the bottom of your Instant Pot

Mash up bananas in large mixing bowl using a potato masher or large fork. Add all ingredients to mixing bowl and beat on med-low speed until all are fully incorporated, about 3-5 minutes. You may need to use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl to get the flour fully mixed in.

In the Instant Pot
Grease the 7" round cake pan with cooking spray and pour in the batter. Cover the cake pan with foil and using your trivet, lower it into your Instant Pot. Put your lid on and seal the vent. Press

the cake setting and set for 55 minutes. If you don't have a cake setting you can use high pressure. When the cooking cycle completes, quick release the pressure. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

I calculated this recipe at 150 calories per slice (recipe makes 10 slices) compared to a whopping 420 calories for a slice of Starbucks' banana bread. Wow!


This post main contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Thursday, September 27, 2018

The easiest, healthy, instant pot marinara sauce


This is the easiest recipe for homemade marinara you will ever find and thanks to the instant pot electric pressure cooker, it's also the fastest. I may never buy marinara sauce again.

This recipe also doesn't have any added sugar! By my calculation, the whole recipe is 3 points on the Weight Watchers Freestyle program. The 3 points come from the olive oil used to saute the onions and garlic but you could use cooking spray instead for a zero point recipe.

Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 of a small onion, diced
4 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled (or you can substitute 4 tsp of chopped refrigerated garlic)
32 oz crushed tomatoes
15 oz tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
2 Tb dried basil
2 Tb Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt

Equipment:
Instant pot or other electric pressure cooker, I use a 6 quart duo.
Garlic press, if you don't have a garlic press you can dice your garlic before you begin.

Turn your instant pot on the saute setting, low temperature and add the olive oil and onions to the bottom. After the onion cooks 2-3 minutes, add your garlic. I use my garlic press and press it directly into the pot. Saute the garlic and onion and additional 2-3 minutes.

Add all remaining ingredients to the pot, using the half cup of water to rinse the remaining tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes from the cans into the pot. Lock the lid in place on the top of your instant pot and turn the vent to sealing. Press cancel on the pot to end the saute setting and then set the pot to the pressure cook, high setting and set the timer for 10 minutes. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes and allow the pressure to naturally release for at least 15 minutes.

After the natural release is finished you can quick release any remaining pressure, carefully.

I have not tried to double this recipe in the 6 qt or made this in a mini 3 qt instant pot, I have intentionally not filled the pot full to avoid spraying sauce out of the valve.

I have used this recipe as a marina sauce for pasta and also as a pizza sauce for 2-ingredient dough pizza.

This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. This post main contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Monday, August 13, 2018

Berry cobbler - 2 WW points

When it's 2 smart points, I always have room for dessert.

This berry cobbler uses a variation of the fabulous 2-ingredient dough where you add an egg which gives you a fluffier dough. This dough topping isn't as buttery as a typical cobbler topping because, well, it doesn't contain any butter but it works pretty well for a lighter version of this summer dessert staple.

Fruit with sweetener and flour
This was one of my baking experiments using my new monk fruit sweetener. This is actually a blend of monk fruit & erythritol, which gives it the same sweetness as sugar so you can use it to bake at a 1:1 ratio, which is convenient! You can use another sugar replacement or real sugar if you prefer, but this will impact the point count of the recipe.

You can use any kind of fruit you would like, either fresh or frozen. I used mixed frozen berries and added some extra blueberries because I didn't have quite enough. For the 4 cups of fruit needed, I used more than whole 16 oz bag of frozen fruit. If you use frozen fruit, you need to thaw it first.

Ingredients

cooking spray

Fruit, all mixed up!
Filling:
4 cups of fruit, chopped, thawed if necessary
1/4 cup of flour (doesn't need to be self-rising, but can be)
4 tsp Lakanto Monkfruit sweetner

Topping:
1 cup self-rising flour
1 egg
1/4 cup of Lakanto Monkfruit sweetner
1/2 cup of Greek yogurt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 10in square baking dish with cooking spray. Mix fruit with 1/4 cup of flour and 4 tsp of Lakanto Monkfruit sweetner. Spread the mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.

Using a dough hook, blend all of the topping ingredients. If you don't have a dough hook, you can use a wooden spoon. Spread small amounts of the dough on top of the fruit mix, using your hands to flatten the dough. The dough doesn't need to fully cover the fruit.

Bake for 23-28 minutes until the dough has lightly browned on the top.

This recipe is 2 points for a serving on Weight Watchers Freestyle, one serving is 1/9 of the recipe. I normally like to cut the pan into servings but this is a little liquid-y for that, one serving was about 3/4 cup.


This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. Points were calculated in August 2018 on the Weight Watchers Freestyle program. This post main contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Friday, July 13, 2018

9 ways to use powdered peanut butter

Aldi's brand - SimplyNature
I'm still kind of in awe of powdered peanut butter. It is amazing to me that it has so few calories but still basically tastes the same as regular peanut butter. I found this magical substance, "astronaut peanut butter" as I like to call it, when I started Weight Watchers. It was quickly apparent that there wasn't room for full-fat peanut butter in my daily point plan.

There are bunch of different brands available including PB2, PBFit, PB Trimmed and TruNut and these come in a variety of flavors including chocolate, honey and salted caramel. I posted a taste test of all of the ones I have tried and will update it when I have tried more types!

If you have bought some but aren't sure to how to use it, here are all the uses I have come up with so far:

1) As peanut butter
Peanut butter toast and fruit dip!
This is the most obvious way but really, when mixed with water you will barely notice the difference.
I prefer PBFit for "regular" peanut butter use. I put it on toast, in wraps and dip fruit in it.

2) For baking
You can replace up to half of flour in recipes with powdered peanut butter! This will make your recipes healthier by adding extra protein. It is also fewer Weight Watchers points than flour. You can try this in my black bean brownies, where I added it instead of flour to make them more cake-y. You probably can't replace all of the flour in regular recipes with the powered PB so you might need to experiment a little bit; I have had success replacing up to half of the flour without having to make other changes.

3) In smoothies
Drizzled on a banana crepe
Instead of using protein powder, you can add peanut butter powder to your smoothies to add extra protein. It can also make them peanut buttery, which is great with certain fruits like bananas. Blended fruit does have points on Weight Watchers, so keep that in mind.

4) As a dessert drizzle
Instead of indulging in something like chocolate sauce, you make a drizzle to put on top of your favorite dessert such as ice cream. To use it like this you want to mix it with water as normal but add a little more water until it's a thinner sauce consistency. I would start with an extra tsp of water and add 1/2 tsp increments after than until it's how you want it. Chocolate flavored versions are really good for this.

5) Add flavor to plain yogurt
Peanut sauce
Plain yogurt can be really boring, a little peanut butter powder can help to jazz it up. I would add about 2 Tb for 1/2 cup of yogurt. Try this with the chocolate, salted caramel or vanilla flavors for more variety.

6) Make peanut sauce
Especially if you are doing Weight Watchers, you need something to jazz up your daily chicken breast. Peanut sauce turns your boring chicken into chicken sate! Doesn't that sound exotic? Here is a recipe for you to experiment with.

7) Use it in high-protein peanut butter pancakes
This was one of the first ways I used powdered peanut butter. I bought some Krusteaz high-protein pancake mix and used some PBFit with it to make 2-point peanut butter pancakes.

8) Make these frozen PB pops
You can try out these frozen almond milk popsicle with this recipe from PBFit.

9) In oatmeal
After my original list of 8 ideas, I have since discovered that peanut butter powder is delicious in oatmeal. It's funny because I wouldn't think to put peanut butter in oatmeal normally but a little of the PB power (I just add a little extra of the water/milk/almond milk I'm using for my oatmeal and stir it in) is amazing. I also suggest adding a few mini chocolate chips and cinnamon. It's basically dessert oatmeal.

This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. Points were calculated in July 2017 on the Weight Watchers Freestyle program. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.