WW Pizza

My sweet friend Sarah, is NOT a fat chick...but she IS a fellow weight watcher and she's done a helluva good job at it. Check out THIS blog post for a delicious 5 point pizza recipe.

Kitchen Parade

I found this really cool site called Kitchen Parade (www.kitchenparade.com). They have many weight watcher recipes and you should defiantly go check them out! One recipe that stuck out was the Maple Glazed Salmon! Here is what second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg had to say about Salmon. the recipe follows.

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Every week, another story emerges about the miracles worked by salmon. If the claims are to be believed, it’s the cancer-curing, figure-fending, wrinkle-ravaging, memory-mothering, clock-stopping, energy-saving, chocolate-tasting (okay, not that last one) food of the decade.
Whether the claims prove true hardly matters since salmon is so readily available, tastes so great and gets to the table so fast.

My recipe box includes a dozen great ways to cook salmon but this maple syrup-glazed treatment trumps them all. It’s a reincarnation of the French-classic and 1980s-trendy peppered steak, this time with buttery fish and cooked in just minutes under high heat.
Truth be told, it is a miracle food.

ALANNA's TIPS Salmon steaks, individual filets and thick filets from warehouse clubs all work well. If the skin’s still on one side, the salmon will be slightly tastier. Believe it or not, pancake syrup, even sugar-free pancake syrup, is a decent substitute for pricey maple syrup. The maple syrup-soy mixture can marinate two pounds of salmon so consider cooking extra for planned-overs. Commercial coarse pepper works better than freshly ground pepper. Do use a lot of pepper, more than seems imaginable! as much as a quarter cup. If it’s too peppery for someone, it’s easy to scrape off later. The salmon can be grilled as well.

QUICK SUPPER:MAPLE GLAZED SALMON
Sweet & peppery marinated salmon
Up-front prep: 5 minutes

Then marinate 4 – 48 hours

Then prep: 5 minutes

Then time to table: 25 minutes Serves 4

1 pound salmon (see ALANNA’s TIPS)
3/4 cup maple syrup (see TIPS)
1/4 cup soy sauce
Cooking spray
Plenty of coarse black pepper (see TIPS)

Combine the salmon, maple syrup and soy sauce in a ziplock bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours (no skimping!) and as long as 48 hours, turning occasionally.

Move an oven rack to the top position and preheat to 500F.

Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spritz with cooking spray. Remove the salmon (discard the remaining marinade) and arrange (skin-side down for filets with skin) on the baking sheet. Thickly and firmly, press the pepper into the top side.

Cook the salmon for about 6 minutes for individual filets or 10 minutes for fat filets or steaks. (The rule of thumb is 10 minutes per inch of thickness.) The salmon is done when the flesh has turned pale pink but remains moist.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Serving: 275Cal (41% from Fat); 13g Tot Fat; 3g Sat Fat; 17g Carb; 1g Fiber; 374mg Sodium; 67mg Cholesterol, Weight Watchers 6 points

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This looks so good and I'm sure you can do it out on the grill. I'm attempting to this weekend, I will let you know how it turns out.

Layered Mexican Chicken

I LOVE MEXICAN!

1 serving cooking spray
2 cups cooked chicken or turkey breast cubed
1 can black beans -- rinsed and drained
2 cups fat-free sour cream
2 cups shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese
4 ounce chopped green chilies
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
5 large spinach tortillas -- cut into 2-inch strips
1/2 cup salsa -- mild, medium or hot

All of the measurements were approximately!! Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a lasagna pan with cooking spray. Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces. Transfer chicken to a large bowl and add beans, sour cream, 1 cup of shredded cheese, chilies, cumin, salsa and pepper; mix well and set aside.Arrange half of tortillas in bottom of prepared lasagna pan, overlapping pieces to cover bottom of pan. Top tortillas with half of chicken mixture, layer with remaining tortillas and then top with remaining chicken mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese.Bake until filling is bubbly and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing into 12 pieces. Serves 12

6 POINTS per serving

1 Point Soup

The 1 point soup:
1 lb of ground lean turkey
1 LG bottle of V8 juice... low sodium
1 LG bottle of picante sauce
1 pkg of frozen mixed veggies
1 pkg of frozen green beans

ground turkey meat, boil the V8, hot sauce & veggies... mix together.

1 cup = 1 point ...... take out meat & it's 0 points

6 Point~Baked Chicken & Roasted Broccoli

Cast of Ingredients: boneless skinless chicken breast, broccoli florets, fat free Italian dressing, canned diced tomato, part skim mozzarella cheese, salt & pepper & garlic

I thawed some frozen broccoli and added to a small baking dish. Sprinkled with some fat free Italian dressing, garlic powder, salt & pepper and roast in a 375 oven for @ 25 mins. I prefer to roast my broccoli (I think it gets limp when it's boiled).

I salted & peppered both side of my chicken breast, then opened a can of diced tomatoes and poured on top of my thawed chicken breast. I added some garlic powder too, cause I add garlic to just about everything! Cooking time on the chicken depends on the size & thickness, usually around 20-30 mins. This is also a great meal for any size family. I'm single, but made 2 chicken breasts and took the other one for lunch the next day....but you could make a bunch or just one!

Here is what the broccoli looked like once it was roasted. All toasted and crunchy!

When the chicken was almost done I added some mozzarella & put back in the oven to melt

Here is the finished product! It was really good and guilt free at only 6 points!

Weight Watchers Points: Chicken 3 pts (120 cal, 3 grams fat) Dressing 0 pts (10 calories, 0 fat) Cheese 2 pts (80 calories, 5 fat) Broccoli 0 pts (11 cal, .1 fat, .8 dietary fiber) Tomato 1 pt (66 cal, .5 fat, 2.6 dietary fiber)

Answers

Here are the answers from last week’s questions post.

First was a question from Rikki: OK girls! I've been following weight watchers for the past 3 months (down 12lbs!) My biggest challenge with a lot of the desert recipes is that I am allergic to artificial sweeteners. I can't eat any of them, or anything that has them in it without getting nausea, any suggestions for sweet treats that are healthy and don't have the sweeteners?

Rikki, I did some exploring and found 4 dessert recipes that look delish! The recipes are below.

Pumpkin Angel Food Cake

You will need:

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 (16 ounce) box 1-step Angel Food Cake Mix

14 tablespoons Cool Whip Lite (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.In a large bowl combine the pumpkin, vanilla extract, cinnamon and spices. Mix well and set aside.In another bowl prepare the cake mix according to the package instructions. Fold the pumpkin mixture into the cake batter. Spoon into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan.Bake for 38-44 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Remove pan from oven and turn upside down to cool.Slice cake into 14 slices and serve with 1 tablespoon Cool Whip.3 points per serving1 slice with cool whip = 151 calories, 1 g fat, 33 g carb, 1 g fiber

Passionfruit Ricotta Cupcakes

Ingredients:
500 g low fat ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of plain flour
1 teaspoon of grated orange zest
2 tablespoons of orange juice
1 egg
1/2 cup of cream
2 passion fruit
This is what you do:
You've got to preheat your oven 320 F
Combine the ricotta cheese, sugar, flour, orange zest, juice and egg in a mixing bowl till smooth.
Coat an 8-muffin tray with cooking spray, and pour the mixture evenly into the 8 muffin holes.
Bake the muffins for about 15 minutes (or till firm). Let them cool down, and remove them from the tray.
To do the passion fruit cream you just whisk the cream and combine it with the passion fruit.
Pour the cream on each muffin/cake, and enjoy!

8 servings
2.5 points per serving

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 large egg white -- lightly beaten

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1 cup raisins

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup sifted cake flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or coat with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, applesauce, egg white, oil and vanilla until smooth. Stir in raisins.
In a medium sized bowl, stir together oats, cake flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. using a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing just until blended.

Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto a prepared baking sheet, spacing cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

1 point per cookie.

Gold Cookies

Very very good, especially at using up egg yolks
Hands-on time: 10 minutes to mix, 20 minutes to rollTime-to-table: 2 hoursMakes 4 dozen cookies but easy to halve
· 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
· 1-1/2 cups sugar
· 4 egg yolks
· 2 tablespoons milk
· 2 teaspoons vanilla
· 1-1/2 cups flour, fluffed to aerate before measuring
· 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
· 1/2 teaspoon table salt
· 1/2 cup coconut, preferably unsweetened, ground fine in a small food processor (or 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts, preferably toasted first)
· 1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the yolks, milk and vanilla, beat in thoroughly. Add the flour, baking powder and salt, beat in thoroughly. Collect the dough into a big ball, cover and refrigerate for an hour.
Preheat oven to 400F. Stir together the coconut or nuts and cinnamon in a small bowl. Form dough into small balls, roll in coconut-cinnamon mixture. Place on baking sheet with plenty of space between. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes. Let cool a bit, then transfer to a rack or a paper towel to finish cooling.
- 1 point

Question #2

What types of jobs do you each have, and how do you think that may help or hinder your weight loss? Many jobs require sitting behind a desk, and this may make it more difficult to burn calories throughout the day. Just wondering. Thanks!

Picture of my desk

Ryan-I’m in Investor Relations, which is marketing for a stock. My job is to get our clients stock in front of investors eyes. I’m behind a desk 5 days a week and 8 hours a day. I know it plays a huge roll in my weight. I’m working on changing my lifestyle and becoming more active at least 30 minutes a day. It’s something I have to do since I have a desk job. It sucks! I’m jealous of all the interior decorators out there that can do “HANDS ON” jobs all day! That’s my goal!

Picture of Allie's desk

Allie: I work in an insurance office, selling & servicing policies…picture the most boring grey cubical you’ve ever seen and paperwork and files laying in every square inch of the tiny grey cubical! I sit at a desk staring at dual computer screens all day long. I do enjoy my job, (although it doesn’t sound like it) but it’s not very good for the weight. I can feel my bottom spreading as I type this! Oh, and we have vendors and company reps bring in all kinds of treats on a regular basis; which again is fine…unless you’re trying to lose 30lbs those treats added to your body in the first place. I do get up occasionally to go to the big printer/scanner/fax machine, but a lot of what I do I can do via websites or email, so I don’t get up as often as I should!


Lesli: Here's an old picture of me and my boss. I sleep with my boss... and that is what I like to call benefits! Not that any of you would want to or should sleep with your boss, but my husband and I run a restaurant together! How's that for losing weight at work? Here's the deal, I have two ways of looking at our situation. 1. I can make this into an opportunity to better my health by making wise decisions, or 2. I can give into the pressures and indulge my every desire. As far as being active, on most days I find myself running in 90 different directions 100 miles per hour, lifting this, running up the stairs for that. THAT part of the job is great, but in the past I definitely used the activity as my excuse to eat whatever I chose. Now it's great, because it enables me to be active at work and also maintain a healthy lifestyle.


Christina: I am a Sales Manager at a boutique hotel in downtown Chicago. Anyone who works in the hospitality business can tell you its about the worst job you can have on a diet...especially when you work in sales. My job is to literally wine and dine clients and that includes eating at great restaurants, cocktails in our bar/lounge, and traveling to do this as well. They see it as a treat, and so they tend to indulge....which in turn makes me want to indulge too. When i am not eating out, we have a cafeteria here that offers free lunch and dinner everyday. However, the food is far from anything healthy....fried chicken, mashed potatoes, lasagna, french fries etc. As far as activity is concerned, one day i could be out and about visiting clients all day, the next day i can be sitting on my rear with the phone glued to my ear. Since i am not changing careers at the moment, i have to find a way to make this work. It has been all about pre-planning for me. I look at all my appointments at the beginning of the week, plan what restaurants i am going to eat at and what i will order, then plan my points accordingly. When i am going to eat in the hotel cafeteria, i bring a piece of grilled chicken to put over salad, or the left overs from my healthy dinner from the night before. A co-worker and i take the stairs to the 16th floor, and then jog down for exercise throughout the day when we know that food consumption is going to be an issue. It only takes 15 minutes and it gives a couple extra activity points. When there is food floating around that is just too good to pass up, i indulge and reach for my flex points...that's why they're there.

Turkey Sausage with onions & mushrooms

I made a delicious self created dinner, lean smoked turkey sausage, caramelized onions, garlic and mushrooms served over vermicelli (I was really shocked to find out how low calorie & fat vermicelli is) Pleasantly surprised!

Jennie-O lean turkey sausage

Serving is 7 per package, so I cut into 7 equal part and then cut again lengthwise, sauteed in a little bit of no-fat beef broth. Then removed from pan. Sausage is 2 points per serving


Added a large sliced red onion & minced garlic to the pan and sauteed

While that was cooking I boiled some vermicelli until al dente. 4oz of pasta (1/3 of package) is 2 servings and 4 points for the 2 servings.

SORRY ABOUT THE COLORING, I'm terrible about the silly flash. This is the sauteed onions and then sliced mushrooms added to it. Once they were all sauteed, I deglazed the pan with Worcestershire & redwine vinegar

I combined everything together into the saute pan and transferred to a very low heat oven.

The low and slow oven combined all the flavors and made the pasta a bit browned and crispy.

Here is the lovely finished product.
It was a 6 point dinner. Sausage 2 Points, pasta 2 points (since I only ate 1 serving of the pasta), and then I added 3 more points for the veggies and liquids I used to make the sauce.

I dare anyone to tell me that THIS is diet food!

Love and encouragement to all my Four Fat Chicks Followers, hope you have a great week!

2 Point Breakfast Recipes

Tired of beginning your day with the same old breakfast? Try these easy recipes below!

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Sandwich

Makes 1 serving
POINTS® value 2 per serving

Ingredients
· 1 slice pumpernickel bread
· 1 1/2 tsp reduced-fat cream cheese
· 2 tsp fresh chives, parsley or dill, minced
· 3/4 oz smoked salmon
· 2 thin tomato, red onion and/or cucumber slices
Instructions
1. Spread bread with cream cheese and sprinkle with herbs; top with salmon. Layer with sliced vegetables.

Waffle with Cinnamon-Ricotta Cream

Makes 1 serving
POINTS® value 2 per serving

Ingredients
· 3 Tbsp non-fat ricotta cheese
· 1/8 tsp cinnamon
· 1/2 tsp sugar
· 1 store-bought low-fat waffle, warmed or toasted
· 1 large strawberry, chopped
Instructions
· In a mini food processor or small bowl, whip ricotta cheese with cinnamon and sugar. Top waffle with ricotta cream and strawberries.

Scrambled Egg White Pita

Makes 1 serving
POINTS® value 2 per serving

Ingredients
· 2 sprays cooking spray
· 1/4 cup scallions, chopped
· 3 large egg whites, whipped until frothy
· salt and hot pepper sauce, to taste
· 1 small pita pocket, white or whole wheat
· 2 thin tomato slices
Instructions
· Coat an 8-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium to medium-high heat. Add scallions to egg whites; pour egg mixture into skillet. Cook until edges just start to set, about 45 seconds to 1 minute. Scramble egg and cook 1 minute more. Flip eggs and cook until done, about 30 seconds more; season with salt and hot pepper sauce.
· Make a slit in pita; fill with eggs and tomato.

Breakfast Burritos

Makes 1 serving
POINTS® value 2 per serving

Ingredients
· 2 four-inch corn tortillas
· 2 Tbsp reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
· 2 Tbsp salsa (or chopped tomatoes)
Instructions
· Preheat broiler or toaster oven to high. Place tortillas on a cookie sheet and top with cheese; broil until cheese melts, about 30 to 60 seconds. Spread salsa (or tomatoes) down center of tortillas and roll up.

Asparagus and Bacon Frittata

Makes 1 serving
POINTS® value 2 per

Ingredients
· 1 oz uncooked reduced-fat bacon (about 2 slices)
· 1/2 cup water
· 1 cup asparagus, cut into bite-size pieces
· 2 sprays olive oil cooking spray
· 3 large egg whites, whipped until very frothy
· salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
· Preheat broiler to high.
· Microwave bacon according to manufacturer instructions; drain, crumble and set aside.
· Fill an 8-inch nonstick skillet three-quarters full with water; cover and bring to a boil. Add asparagus to skillet; cover and cook for 5 minutes. Drain asparagus and place in a bowl of cold water; set aside.
· Off heat, wipe dry same skillet and coat it with cooking spray. Heat over medium to medium-high heat. When hot, add egg whites, bacon and asparagus to skillet. Cook until edges of egg set, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Place under broiler until eggs cook through, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes more. Slide onto plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve hot, warm or cold.

I got these recipes from Weightwatchers.com, Hope you enjoy!

Burrito’s On the Brain

I’m so glad to be home and back on my daily routine! Being gone for over 2 weeks has really taken a toll on my weight watchers program. I have a confession to make…I ate at Taco Bueno 4 times, twice for breakfast. It was worth it, until I looked and added up how many points I had eaten in ONE meal…it was over 20! Those Muchaco's killed me! I have been a stickler ever since I have been home; I NEED to catch up with my girls! So I have to say, I am excited for this weeks weight in…I hope to beat my 0 and 1 pound goal!! WISH ME LUCK!

P.S. Speaking of Taco Bueno, try this below!

Ry’s Cream Cheese Bean Burrito

1 whole wheat tortilla (1 point)
Scoop of canned refried beans (2 points)
2 tlb spoons of LIGHT cream cheese (2 points)
Sprinkle of onions (0 Points)
Salsa (0 Points)

WARM IT IN THE MICROWAVE

TOTAL: 5 points

I know it might seem weird to put cream cheese on your tortilla, BUT TRY IT!! I PROMISE IT’S YUMMY!!!!

Posted by: Ryan