Fun Soup

I know it has been far too long since I last posted here!  Please don't give up on me.  I certainly have not given up.  I have about 8 pounds left.  EIGHT!  Do you think I can do that before the holidays are over?  Meh, me either.  Not because I lack confidence but because there's not much time left!  So I would like to lose 5 pounds by the end of the year.  Okay...now onto that Fun Soup.  If you are not a bean person this recipe is not for you.  But worry not, I will be posting others that are not bean filled.  If you like beans...this yummy soup is for you!  At two points per one cup you can't get a tastier deal.  Two points in calorie land would be in the neighborhood of 100-150 calories. 

Ingredients:

1 can fat free chicken broth
1 can corn (drain)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can fat free refried beans
1 jar of salsa (it doesn't specify mild, medium or hot, but I imagine the choice is yours)
1 can black beans (rinse and drain)
1 can of chicken or fresh cooked chicken breasts.

Are you ready for how hard it is to make?

Heat all together in a pot.  It gets better each day.   

This soup is super good.  Perfect for a cold day.  Tonight I made hot dogs for the kids and I had the soup for dinner.  Easy (since it was already made, thanks mom!) and very satisfying. 

1 Point Cocoa Brownies

A Recipe from Weight Watchers

Ingredients 3/4 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa, powder    3/4 cup(s) sugar    1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour    1/2 tsp baking powder    1/2 tsp table salt    1/2 cup(s) low-fat plain yogurt    2 Tbsp vanilla extract    2 spray(s) cooking spray    Instructions Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk the cocoa powder, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Then use a wooden spoon to stir in the yogurt and vanilla until smooth but quite thick. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Spread the thick batter into the pan, evenly to the corners. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before cutting into 16 squares, 2- X 2-inches each. Yields 1 square per serving.  I needed to add a little more yogurt and an egg white.  At first the consistency was more dough like.  The extra yogurt and egg(white) made it more like a heavy frosting.  I would like to toy with this some more.  Feel free to do the same and let me know what you did and how it goes.   The brownies themselves are quite tasty.  I ate two. But I stopped at two.

Peach Cobbler

I love a good dessert.  I love a low fat, good dessert even more!!!

• 2 pounds of frozen peaches (unsweetened)
• 1 package regular white dry cake mix
• 12 ounces Diet Mt. Dew (I used diet cream soda) *

~For sweeter peaches, sprinkle with Splenda before cake mix~

Put peaches in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Spray with cooking spray first.  Mix diet soda with cake mix.  Pour over peaches.  Bake for 45 minutes at 350* until top of cake browns.  Check with fork, or cake tester for doneness.

* If you don't want to use diet soda, you can substitute unsweetened applesauce for the oil, but you will also need to add water as the box instructs.  Personally I would go with the soda.  (cream) It leaves no trace of any soda flavor.  The cake is moist and yummy.

As for the cobbler, it is SOOOOOO good!  Serve it with a scoop of Bryer's Fat Free Dreamy vanilla(I think that is what it is called) it's also super good.  Heat up the cobbler and plop that scoop of vanilla ice cream and you have a heaven sent dessert that is low in fat!  Super easy to make too.

The Sneaky Chef

Have you heard of the "Sneaky Chef"  this is another gem from my fantabulous leader.  Please only thank me for the link.  She gets the glory! Go check out the Sneaky Chef's site. 

Peanut Butter Cookies

A member from one of my leader's other meetings emailed her this recipe for peanut butter cookies.  She (the member) was over joyed when she saw at the bottom of the recipe that the cookies were equivalent to one weight watchers point.  My leader quickly did the math and figured it was really TWO points per cookie.  She revamped the recipe and turned them into ONE POINT cookies.  Unless the recipe has the Weight Watchers trademark, it has not been figured by the Weight Watchers program.  That doesn't mean it isn't a good recipe.  However, if you want the true points value you need to look for the WW trademark.  The nutrition information of course, would be accurate.

The weird thing about these cookies, is there is no flour in them.  How bizarre is that?  It is suppose to make 24 cookies.  I made 22.  They turned out very tasty.  Perhaps too tasty.  I worry about my will power.  Although my son and husband are helping me with that.  My only complaint, I guess is the cookies get stuck in your teeth like....peanut butter! haha.

Betty’s Amazing

Peanut Butter Cookies

(1 POINT  each – Makes 24 cookies)

Ingredients:

1 cup reduced fat peanut butter

3/4 cup Splenda

1/4  cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°   Combine peanut butter,

sweetener, brown sugar, baking soda, and

vanilla in medium bowl, stir until mixed well. 

Add egg and stir until dough is formed. 

Scoop dough, by level tablespoons, into 1-inch

balls.  Place on ungreased baking sheet and

flatten ball with fork, forming a crisscross pattern

on top of each cookie.  Bake for 9 to 11 minutes,

or until cookies are golden brown on the bottom

but still slightly soft in the center.  Remove

from the oven and let cool on the baking

sheets for 5 minutes.  Remove to wire racks

to finish cooling.

I cooked mine for 9 minutes and that seemed to be just right.  I bought the Target brand of reduced fat peanut butter.  It really is pretty good for REDUCED FAT NO-NAME peanut butter.  Try them...if you dare!  If you do...share them.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler     cakes POINTS® Value:    4 Servings:  8 Preparation Time:  20 min Cooking Time:  45 min Level of Difficulty:  Moderate   What could be better than sweet, bubbling fruit nestled under tender, flaky sour cream biscuits? Our version of this traditional comfort food is a delicious and low-fat alternative! Ingredients 16 oz unsweetened frozen strawberries, thawed for 15 minutes    14 oz frozen rhubarb, or fresh, cut into 1-inch pieces, thawed for 15 minutes if frozen    1/3 cup(s) sugar    1 Tbsp cornstarch    1 1/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour    3 Tbsp sugar, divided    3/4 tsp baking powder    1/4 tsp baking soda    4 Tbsp reduced-calorie margarine, cut into small pieces    1/2 cup(s) fat-free sour cream    1/4 cup(s) fat-free skim milk    1 large egg(s), lightly beaten    Instructions Preheat oven to 375º F. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine strawberries, rhubarb, sugar and cornstarch. Mix well and spoon mixture into bottom of prepared pan. To prepare dough, in a large bowl or food processor, combine flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Add margarine and mix with your fingers or process in the food processor until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add sour cream and milk and mix until dough comes together. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead 5 times, until blended. Divide dough into 16 equal pieces and roll each piece into a small ball. Place balls on top of strawberry-rhubarb mixture and gently press down to flatten. Brush the surface of dough with egg and sprinkle remaining sugar over top. Bake until filling is bubbly and top is golden brown, 45 minutes. Cool 15 minutes before serving. Yields about 1/2 cup fruit mixture and 2 biscuits per serving   I think serving this with Bryer's Smooth and Dreamy Fat Free Vanilla ice cream is absolute must.   I made the Shrimp-Fried Rice and decided it need more soy sauce at the table.  I served it with a sweet and sour slow cook recipe.  Lower in fat and super tasty.  The recipe can be found here

Shrimp Stir-Fried Rice

Here is a recipe I got from my Weight Watchers Leader.  It Serves 4 and is 7 points per 1 1/2 cup serving.

• 1 Cup regular egg substitue
• 2 tsp canola oil
• 3 medium scallions chopped
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed
• 4 ounces frozen salad size shrimp (thawed under cold water)
• 2 cups quick cooking brown rice, cooked
• 4 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

Instructions

Coat a wok or large skillet with cooking spray and heat until an added drop of water sizzles.  Scramble egg substitute in wok.  Remove when cooked and set aside. Add oil, scallions, peas and carrots and shrimp into the wok.  Stir-fry for five minutes.  Add cooked rice, eggs and soy sauce.  Stir fry for about three minutes.

Now I have not tried this one yet, but I am going to.  So come back next Friday to see what I think.  Share recipes here or send them to me and I will happily post them.

Dump Cake

I am going to share a recipe here today that I got from my WW leader.  And a shameless plug for Monday's What is Beautiful?  First...the recipe...

1 package regular white cake mix
12 oz frozen raspberries
12 oz frozen blueberries
2 cups diet 7UP*


Put frozen fruit on the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle cake mix over the fruit. Pour the diet 7UP over the whole pan; do not stir the cake mix in, but break up large lumps.  Cover pan with foil and bake 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake for 30 minutes longer at 350*

In WW land it yields 12 servings for 4 points each.  For the rest of you, it is a tasty low cal dessert.  Serve with whip topping or vanilla ice cream...Bryer's Smooth and Dreamy is 1 point for half a cup( a scoop).
*I use diet cream soda for white cakes and spice cakes.  For chocolate I use diet coke.