Tag: PointsPlus

Easy-peasy Healthy Breakfast Bar Recipe

Healthy Breakfast Bar Recipe

Looking for a healthy breakfast bar recipe?  Want a recipe for a delicious chocolate peanut butter banana oatmeal bar for breakfast?  Well then you have come to the right place.

J asked for breakfast food the other day and  suggested granola bars.  The pre-packaged ones are good don’t get me wrong, but I just have a problem with filling our bellies with junk.  I looked up a healthy breakfast bar recipe and found one that caught my eye.  I did a little edit to some ingredients to make it a little healthier.  And I ended up with a tasty, healthy breakfast bar recipe.

Healthy Breakfast Bar Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
1 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. sugar substitute
5 t. baking powder (you can use 2 t. baking powder and 1 t. baking soda, but I was out of baking soda)
1/4 c. milk chocolate chips
1/8 c. Peanut Butter
1 large egg
2 large egg-whites
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c. milk, fat free
1 c. mashed bananas (approximately 2 full bananas)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease 24 muffin cups

Stir flour, oats, sugar, baking powder (and baking soda) and chocolate chips in a large bowl.

Whisk egg and egg whites together; mix in applesauce, milk, peanut butter and banana.

Create well in middle of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients.  Stir until moisten.

Fill muffin cups until about 1/2 full.

Bake for about 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Cool before serving.

Healthy Breakfast Bar Recipe

There ya have it a healthy breakfast bar recipe that was super easy to make.  Oh and the best part one of these little bad boys is only 2 weight watchers point plus value.  Sweet!

Looking for other uses for Oatmeal around the house? Check out how I gave my dog a homemade oatmeal bath to soothe her itchy skin.

Cheers!

I adapted from this recipe from allrecipes.com. 

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

smoothie So this morning I concocted a yummy, healthy smoothie. It was super easy, super quick and did the trick.

Ingredients:
1/2 frozen banana (I already had it sliced and in the freezer)
1 c. fat-free milk
1 t. PB2 (powdered peanut butter is my favorite right now)
1 packet of Weight Watchers chocolate smoothie mix

Combine the ingredients in a blender until smooth. The frozen banana will give it a thicker texture and won’t water it down like ice will.
smoothie2
The best part of this smoothie? It’s only 4 PointsPlus values! The banana and PB2 are both 0 PP+ values.

If you haven’t tried PB2 yet then I recommend it. 2 Tablespoons are only 1PP+. It can be combined with water or your daily oil, which is my favorite because it makes it a bit creamier.

The only sad part about my smoothie was when I finished it! HA!

Cheers!

reflection of the past 3 years

Photo on 2012-10-22 at 10.43 #2
I know, I know.  It’s a bit late around here, but I’ve been working all day and then came home to cook a delicious dinner for J and I.  Then in ironic fashion I sat on the couch for two hours while watching The Biggest Loser.  At least I got in some activity at work today!

Now, here I am prepping for my Weight Watchers meeting tomorrow and it’s got me thinking about where my life has taken me the past 3 years.  It’s been a pretty amazing journey and I’m happy to say that it’s nowhere near over.

I’ve discovered so much about myself.  For instance, I’m an extrovert.  I didn’t know that 3 years ago.  I love to cook healthy.  Developing a healthy body starts with your mind.  When I started to lose weight 3 years ago it never occurred to me that your mind needs to be in partnership with your body.  Once my mind snapped to it, then the rest followed in suit.  Such a great feeling!

Cheers!

P.S. I am still well aware that I need to share my Resolutions still.  However, for January I decided no more Diet Coke and so far … so good! I’m a week strong!

Diet 7-Up Biscuits

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a day filled with love and yummy goodness!


J and I celebrated our first Thanksgiving together this year.  Due to work schedules we both weren’t able to make the drive home, especially since our drive is in opposite directions of one another.  It just made it too difficult.  So, we made the best of it and celebrated on our own.

I got there just in time for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to start, which is my absolute favorite part of the day.  I’ve seen a 7-Up Biscuit recipe on Pinterest lately and it looked delicious.  I adapted the recipe to be a bit more Weight Watcher friendly and the results were a-mazing.

Ingredients:

2 C. Heart Smart Bisquick
1/2 C. light Sour Cream
1/2 C. diet 7-Up
1/4 C. melted butter (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix sour cream and bisquick together.  Add 7-Up to mix.  The dough will be really soft.  Melt the butter and pour into the bottom of a 9×9 pan.  Next, sprinkle some bisquick mix onto the counter and spread out the dough.  You don’t want to knead the dough, but just pat and spread to be about one-inch thick.  Use a glass or a biscuit cutter and cut out biscuits.  Place in pan and bake at 450 degree for about 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Makes 9 servings – 4 WWPointsPlus per serving

I had one biscuit that didn’t want to cooperate when I was putting it into the pan… I’m sure you can figure out which one that was.  Oh well! Recipes can’t always be picture perfect, but they were still delicious.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

spinartdip
So, here is another delicious outcome from a recipe I followed from Eat Yourself Skinny! Are you seeing a trend with where I get my recipes from? Sure I like to make some up as I go or adapt them to my tastes, but I swear Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny has the same tastes as I do.
spinartdip2
Spinach Artichoke Dip turned out great and was super easy. I actually put this dip into two smaller baking dishes before baking. The best part of this whole recipe was that 1/2 cup was only 2 PointsPlus. This dip is so doable during Sunday football.

Not too bad for you, oh so yummy Beer-garitas

beer-garitas1

I found a delicious drink recipe on one of my favorite cooking blogs – Eat Yourself Skinny! – check it out here.

I tasted tested it the morning after I made it and found that it was a bit too lime-y tasting for me.  I’m sure others would think that it was great, but I wanted to tone down the lime.  So, I altered the recipe a bit at that point.

Here are my final ingredients:
2 cups frozen limeade (see recipe below)
3 bottles of light beer (I used Select 55)
1/2 cup tequila

Ingredients for limeade:
1 cup fresh lime juice + 2 limes for zesting
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup Splenda sugar blend
How to make the limeade:

In a large saucepan, combine water, Splenda and lime zest from the 2 limes.  Heat until Splenda is dissolved.  Remove from heat and  cool to room temperature.  Stir in lime juice and freeze until ready to use.

How to make the beer-garitas:
In a pitcher, combine frozen limeade, 3 beers and 1/2 cup of tequila.  Place pitcher in the freezer overnight or until frozen, then mix so that it is in slushy form and serve.
It made 6 servings and was at 3 PointsPlus per serving.  Now, I used different beer than the original recipe.  I prefer Bud products over here, now when calculating the beer it said that 1 can of Bud Select 55 was 0 PointsPlus and 3 beers was only 1 PointsPlus.  Now that’s hard to believe so please don’t go crazy if using Bud Select 55.

beer-garitas2

It was a perfect drink to have in hand while watching football this past Sunday.

Perfection!

Crispy Baked Shrimp

crispbakshrimp
I adapted this recipe from one from Dashing Dish.  It was simple, quick and can trick the mind into thinking you’re eating something fried.  If you’re like me and love fried food, but know that it’s not the best thing in the world to eat then this is a recipe for you.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of cooked medium shrimp
2/3 c. of whole wheat bread crumbs
4 T. Egg Substitute (I used Egg Beaters original)
1 pkt. Stevia
1 spray of cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.  Spray cooke sheet with cooking spray.  In shallow skillet heat breadcrumbs on medium heat for about 2 minutes.  Then pour crumbs into shallow bowl.  Dip shrimp into egg substitute, let excess run off.  Then dredge into bread crumbs, shake off excess.  Place in a single layer on cookie sheet.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until warm.
crispbakshrimp2
It will serve 4 at only 3 PointsPlus per serving.

“fried” mozzarella bites

friedmozbites
I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs Eat Yourself Skinny!  I made it just as the recipe called, no substitutions and it turned out perfect.  It was a great snack for football this past Sunday.
friedmozbites2
Plus a serving is only 3 PointsPlus, can’t beat that!

Caramelized Onion-N-Steak Salad

Caramelized Onion Steak Salad

Here is a super quick, super easy salad recipe that is so, SO good.

I made this one on Sunday when I wasn’t feeling great and needed to avoid making poor eating choices.

I went out to dinner the night before and had some leftover steak – 3 oz. to be exact (it had to be fate to make this salad!).

Ingredients:
1/2 head of romaine lettuce
1 cucumber
1/2 small onion
1 hard-boiled egg
3 oz. lean steak
light ranch dressing
2 tsp. butter
2 tsp. Canola Oil
To hard boil an egg:
add egg to pan then cover with cool water.  Heat until at a boil.  Turn down heat, cover pan.  Let sit for 15-20 minutes.  Then add the egg to a bowl of ice water until cool to the touch.  Peel and slice.
Directions:
heat 1 tsp. oil and 2 tsp. butter in pan, add the onion.  Let caramelize – few minutes.  Remove onion from pan, set aside.
Add 1 tsp. oil to same pan and heat cucumber for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.
In large bowl – add cut lettuce, steak, cucumber, onion, and sliced egg.
Makes about 4 servings.  Top each serving with 1 T. light ranch dressing.

5 PointsPlus per serving (4 without dressing).

Chicken Salad

This past weekend I decided to mix up my lunch menu.  I mean, a girl can only handle so much deli meat before the thought of a turkey sandwich makes her want to scream.

Chicken Salad copy

Here’s my take on a classic, but with a healthy twist.  Healthy eating is a passion of mind and I’m a strong supporter of Weight Watchers.  I follow their Program and want to share the successful recipes I create, edit, alter, follow, etc…

Ingredients:

11 oz. of chicken breast, cooked without bone and skin, cut into small pieces
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
¼ c. light mayonnaise
1/3 c. dill pickles
2 T. light sour cream
2 T. parsley, chopped
1 t. Dijon mustard
1 t. lemon juice
pinch of salt, to taste
small pinch of pepper, to taste

Directions:

Mix well in large bowl.

Information:

Makes about 5 servings.

2/3 cup per serving.

3 PointsPlus per serving.