Lisa's Success Squad

Southwest Chicken Pot Pie

2019-04-06T01:24:05.021000Z

Southwest Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

cooked skinless boneless chicken breast(s)

16oz

00 Points

King Arthur Flour, All-Purpose, Unbleached

26g

33 Points

fat free evaporated milk

1⁄4cup(s)

22 Points

uncooked bell pepper(s)

1cup(s)

00 Points

cooked frozen yellow corn

1⁄2cup(s)

00 Points

uncooked onion(s)

1cup(s)

00 Points

505 Southwestern Organic Green Chile Sauce, Organic, Medium

1⁄2cup

11 Points

Pillsbury Reduced fat crescent dinner rolls

4roll

1212 Points

Instructions

Yields 4 servings -- 5 SP per serving

Roast the chicken with 1/4 cup of the green chili sauce (about 25 minutes at 350)
Roast the onion and bell pepper in the oven (about 30-35 minutes) after removing the bell pepper from the oven cover the pan or place it in a paper bag and let it rest for a few minutes. this will let you remove the skin easily
refrigerate the ingredients for use later
alternately you can pan roast the chicken and vegetables
mix the evaporated milk and flour together
heating the chicken, vegetables, remaining green chili sauce and milk mixture until the mixture thickens
add the chicken and vegetables to a bowl or small dish and stretch 1 crescent roll over top of it
bake at 375 for 25 minutes

Easy Crock-Pot Mexican Chicken Soup

2019-04-06T01:24:03.087000Z

[tags: #crockpot #freestyle #0SP]

Ingredients:

Four frozen chicken breasts
Two cans (reduced-sodium) diced tomatoes
One carton plus a cup or so unsalted chicken stock
One can black or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
Half a bag frozen corn (or more if you have it)
One bag frozen diced green chilies
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp chipotle powder
6 tsp dehydrated onions
garlic powder to taste
fresh cilantro to taste
one lime

Directions: place everything except cilantro and lime in Crock-Pot on high for six hours then shred the chicken (still in the Crock-Pot) with two forks. Ladle it up and squeeze some lime in it.... top with fresh cilantro!

Freestyle (0SP) customization ideas: top with a dollop of plain fat-free Greek yogurt or a scoop of pico di gallo.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Burger

2019-04-06T01:24:02.400000Z

Yields 4 burgers

2 - SP each

Ingredients:

1pound(s)uncooked ground chicken breast
1 ³⁄₄ozcrisp cooked bacon
4servingHidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix, Unprepared
4ozMusselman Apple Sauce, Unsweetened, Natural
- salt and pepper to taste
How to:

cook the bacon until it is nice and crispy using your favorite method.
- I just fried it in a pan until it was well done and dried all of the remaining grease off with paper towels.
let the bacon cool until it is close to room temperature (10 or 15 minutes should do the trick)
combine the ground chicken, apple sauce, ranch seasoning, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl
crumble up the bacon and incorporate it into the ground chicken mixture
form the mixture into four 1/4 lb patties and cook to an internal temperature of 165
enjoy with your favorite toppings

Some Notes:

The mixture is a bit loose, so they don't do well on the grill in the yard. They work just fine in a frying pan or a grill pan though.
Feel free to add some other mix-ins like diced onions and garlic or even fresh thyme and rosemary

Citrus Braised Chicken Thighs

2019-04-06T01:24:05.545000Z

So, I got inspired by of my favorite pork recipes and decided to find a version with chicken that we could eat throughout the week. Well, not to brag, but it came out freaking delicious! I will definitely be making it again.

Citrus-Braised Chicken Thighs

Yield: a whole bunch of chicken

SP value will vary by what brand and cut of chicken is used

Ingredients

4 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into large chunks)

2 large navel oranges (cut into quarters)

2 small lemons (or 1 large lemon - cut into quarters)

1 lime (cut into quarters)

1 large onion (sliced thin)

8 cloves of peeled garlic

2 tsp salt

2 tsp dried oregano

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 Tbsp Dark brown sugar

3 cups of water

Directions

preheat a large non-stick stock pot on the stove top over medium heat
add the chicken to the pot
let it cook uncovered for a couple of minutes
add the water
add the garlic, onion, bay leaf, salt, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and brown sugar
place the citrus, peel sides up, on top of the other ingredients in the pot
let it cook uncovered for 2-3 hours (or until the onion and garlic is completely cooked down and the liquid is reduced). You will want remove the citrus from the top of the pot every hour or so, give the chicken a stir, then add the citrus back to the pot.
once it is done, you will likely have some braising liquid left over (save it ... and read below)
preheat the oven to 450F
remove the chicken from the pot and place it in a casserole dish and spoon some of the remaining liquid on top of the chicken
cook the chicken in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until it has a nice brown color
let it cool down and enjoy!

NOTES

So what do I do with the remaining braising liquid????

Add some corn starch to it to thicken it up. it makes an amazing gravy!

What do I do with all of that chicken???

wrap it up in some tortillas and make tacos
serve it over some tortilla chips for nachos
serve it over pasta w/ some fresh veggies
wrap it in some egg roll wrappers with fresh veggies and make egg rolls
make a sandwich
add it to your favorite soup
just eat it plain with some of your favorite sides

It tastes even better the second and third day
Add some additional seasonings to change it up (we added a little Honey Teriyaki sauce and stir-fried it with some 0 SP Weight Watchers noodles)

Red White and Blueberry Muffins

2017-07-04T03:12:46.416000Z

With the 4th of July upon us, I thought it might be fun to make something w/ a red white & blue theme. I figured out a way to make some delicious blueberry muffins for a whopping 3SP each. Give this a try. They are delicious and the perfect low-point snack.

Red White and Blueberry Muffins

Yields 10 muffins

3 SP Each

Ingredients

1 5⁄8 cup Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Whole grain buttermilk flapjack and waffle Mix

1/4 cup Truvia Baking Blend

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

1⁄3 cup(s) unsweetened Applesauce

1⁄4 cup(s)fat free skim milk

3 oz fresh blueberries

3 oz fresh strawberries

1⁄4 cup Mrs Butterworth Syrup, Sugar Free

Directions

preheat the oven to 425 degrees F
combine the wet ingredients (syrup, applesauce, egg, skim milk, and vanilla) using a whisk until they are incorporated
combine the dry ingredients in large bowl (Kodiak cakes mix and Truvia baking blend)
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together with a fork. The batter should be somewhat thick
using a spatula, fold in the blueberries and strawberries
spray your muffin pan with nonstick spray
scoop the mix into the muffin pan
add a pinch of Truvia baking blend to the top of each muffin
if there are any open spaces, fill them with 2 Tbsp of water so the muffins cook evenly
bake the muffins for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean

Notes:

if you just want a regular blueberry muffin, simply sub out the strawberries for blueberries :)
if the muffins came out dense and didn't rise well, the batter was over mixed. Not to worry, I did this the first time I made these too. Next time you make them, just mix it a little less.

Ham and Cheese Hash Brown Quiche from Jayne

2017-05-20T18:49:06.564000Z

Thanks for finding this for us, Jayne! I decided to share this on the blog so everyone can enjoy.

The original recipe came from Emily Bites and can be found here:

http://www.emilybites.com/2015/04/ham-and-cheese-hash-brown-quiche.html

Ham and Cheese Hash Brown Quiche

yield: 8 SERVINGS

INGREDIENTS:

20 oz bag of refrigerated shredded hash brown potatoes (such as Simply Potatoes or Reser’s)
4 tablespoons light butter, melted (I use Land O’Lakes)
1 teaspoon salt, divided
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
4 large eggs
½ cup fat free milk
4 oz (about 1 cup shredded) 50% reduced fat sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (I used Cabot)
5 oz diced deli ham (I used Hillshire Farm Deli Select Ultra Thin Brown Sugar Ham)
1 scallion diced

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat the oven to 400. Lightly mist a 9" pie plate with cooking spray and set aside.
Place the shredded potatoes in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with the melted butter. Add ½ teaspoon of the salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper and stir together until ingredients are well mixed. Transfer the potatoes to the pie plate and press them down across the surface of the dish and up the sides to form a “crust." Place the dish in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
While the potatoes are baking, combine the eggs and milk in a mixing bowl and whisk together until well combined. Add the shredded cheese, ham, scallions and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper and stir together until thoroughly mixed.
When the crust is done, remove from the oven and pour the egg mixture into the crust, spreading the ingredients across but leaving a raised edge of crust all around the outside. Reduce the oven heat to 350 and return the pie plate to the oven for an additional 30 minutes until eggs are set and the hash brown edges are browned.

WEIGHT WATCHERS SMARTPOINTS:
6 per serving (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)

WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PLUS:
5 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)

NUTRITION INFORMATION:

183 calories, 16 g carbs, 1 g sugars, 8 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 11 g protein, 2 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)

mudhustler's Bird Balls

2019-04-06T01:24:03.393000Z

If you don't follow mudhustler on Connect, you should start. He always has great recipes and ideas on how we can indulge without blowing all of our weeklies on a single dessert. One of my favorite recipes of his is Bird Balls. They are easy to make, point friendly, versatile and most importantly delicious.

Ingredients:

Yields 12 - 14 bird balls for 2 sp each

20 oz of 99% lean ground turkey breast

1lb of 98% lean ground chicken breast ( can't find chicken this lean ? Just doublethe turkey)

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup romano cheese grated

use the seasonings of your choice but I use

1tsp of garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper

2 eggs

Instructions:

preheat oven to 400
hand mix all of the ingredients and form large balls big enough to fit in a full size muffin tin (makes 12-14 balls)
bake 20 min

Notes:

These things are soo good. You can change up the seasonings and do all kinds of fun stuff with them. You can put them on an bun or English muffin and enjoy them in burger format. You could season them Asian style and enjoy them with some riced cauliflower fried rice. Have them with some pasta or even spaghetti squash! The possibilities are endless. We will typically freeze a few and then eat the others in different ways through the week.

Thanks again to Mud Hustler for posting the recipe.

Easy Red Velvet-ish Cupcakes w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

2017-05-20T18:35:42.666000Z

Easy Red Velvet-ish Cup Cakes

It is no secret that I love snacks. I really had a craving for a cupcake and I had no interest in spending a ton of points. So I have been doing some experimenting and I'm pretty happy with how this recipe came out. Basically I subbed out the oil and sugar in the normal recipe for unsweetened apple sauce and used 1% buttermilk instead of the full fat variety. I also did away with the food coloring and used dark chocolate cocoa powder since that is what I had on hand.

Give it a try and let me know what you think. Feel free to provide some ideas on how I can make this better.

Cupcakes - 2 SP per cup cake:

Yields 18 - 20 full size cup cakes

Prep time: 30 mins, cook time 30 mins

ingredients:

--- dry ingredients ---

2 1⁄2cup(s) white all-purpose flour - 32 Points

1 tsp baking soda - 0 Points

1 tsp Morton Salt, Iodized - 0 Points

4 tbsp Hershey's Cocoa, 100% Cacao, Special Dark - 1 Points

--- wet ingredients ---

2 egg(s) Great Value Grade A large white eggs - 4 Points

1 tsp white vinegar - 0 Points

1 tsp vanilla extract - 0 Points

2 cup(s) unsweetened applesauce - 0 Points

1 cup Meijer Buttermilk, Cultured Lowfat, 1% Milkfat - 5 Points

Instructions :

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
spray cupcake pan with non-stick spray
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, vinegar, applesauce, and vanilla.
Using a standing mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined and a smooth batter is formed (It will likely be a little on the thick side).
Divide the cake batter evenly among the prepared cup cake pans. Place the pans in the oven. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through the cooking, until the cake pulls away from the side of the pans, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean or about 30 minutes.

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Cream Cheese Frosting - 0 SP per serving

Yields 18-20 servings

ingredients:

8 oz fat free cream cheese (softened)

4 Tbsp skim milk

1 envelope Quest Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder

instructions

Mix the milk and softened cream cheese together until creamy
whisk in the Quest protein until mixed
let set in the refrigerator for a couple of hours then enjoy

Stuffed Peppers with Cauliflower Rice

2017-04-21T21:20:05.779000Z

Sandi V found this fabulous recipe on one of the sites that Jayne found for us a while ago. Annette made these for us a few months back and they came out fantastic. They are so easy to make and really are a meal all by themselves. Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers with Cauliflower Rice

Makes 4 servings – 3 points per serving (based on 6 oz. of ground turkey)

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey or chicken (I used 6 oz. of pre-cooked ground turkey)

1 (12 oz.) package Green Giant Riced Cauliflower & Sweet Potato (I used the riced cauliflower medley)

1 small onion, chopped (I like onion so I put in a little more)

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp. Salt

1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided (I use the skim milk mozzarella)

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

2 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan cheese

½ tsp. Italian seasoning (I use oregano, basil, and parsley) (You can also make this using Mexican spices instead – cumin, cilantro, and taco seasoning)

4 medium red or green bell peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded

Directions:

Prep 15 min

Cook 40 minutes

Readin in 55 minutes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cook turkey, Riced Cauliflower, onion, garlic and salt in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until turkey is no long pink and vegetables are tender.
Stir in 1 cup mozzarella, 1 cup sauce, Parmesan cheese and seasonings.
Arrange pepper halves in a 3 qt. Baking dish.
Evenly fill peppers with turkey mixture. Top each pepper with remain sauce.
Cover and bake 25 minutes or until hot.
Remove cover, sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and bake 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Thanksgiving Burger!

2017-04-13T02:22:47.237000Z

I had another big package of ground turkey and some left over herbs and I wanted to figure out something fun to do with it. So, I decided to go with a make a Thanksgiving themed "burger". I mixed in some onions and herbs and made a versatile and savory burger.

Thanksgiving Themed Turkey Burger

Yields 4 qty - 4oz patties

4SP per serving

Ingredients

1 lbs ground Turkey (93% lean)

1 cups onion minced

1 package fresh poultry herbs (Rosemary, Sage, Thyme – found in produce section)

Instructions

remove the rosemary, sage and thyme from their stems
mince the herbs and onion in a food processor
mix the herb and onion mixture into the ground turkey
separate the turkey into 4 oz patties
cook in a pan (or grill pan) until they reach an internal temp of 165F

Notes:

In the photo, we served this on a single serving of stuffing with a variation on the apricot glaze recipe from the Turkey Meatloaf recipe
Polaner Sugar Free Blackberry jam also works well as a topping (and is a good stand-in for cranberries for this recipe)
Including the stuffing, the meal pictured was 8 SP
Another night, we had the left overs on a bun like a regular hamburger. It was delicious!

Egg Salad from free-ww-recipes.com

2017-04-13T02:28:24.242000Z

So, Karen M is a genius. Aside from all of her other recipe contributions, she sent this recipe to post for our Success Squad. What do we all have left over after Easter? You guessed it, a ton of hard boiled eggs! This looks like a great way to use them up!

The original recipe can be found at free-ww-recipes.com: http://www.free-ww-recipes.com/egg-salad.html

Egg Salad

3SP per serving

Ingredients:

4 large eggs
2 large egg whites, boil these as whole eggs and discard the yolks
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
2 tablespoons reduced-calorie mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon table salt
dill

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly groun

Directions:

1. Place eggs in a medium saucepan and pour in enough water to cover them; set pan over high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Boil 10 minutes; drain and place eggs in an ice-water bath.
3. When eggs are cool enough to handle, remove shells.
4. Discard yolks from two of the eggs. Cut remaining whole eggs and whites into 1/2-inch pieces (or use an egg slicer).
5. Transfer eggs to a medium bowl. Add chives, mayonnaise, mustard, dill, salt and pepper; mix until blended.

Makes 4 (1/2 Cup Servings)

Nutritional Info Per Serving: Calories 106, Sat. Fat 2.8 g, Protein 8 g, Carbs 1.3 g, Sodium 456 mg, Fiber 0.1 g

(Bread Not Included In Points Total!)

Easy Creamy Ranch Slow Cooker Chicken from Karen

2017-04-04T02:02:44.427000Z

Hi everybody! This is a recipe that Karen shared in our meeting a while back. It is perfect for those days when you have too much to do and want to make something everyone will love. Additionally, it is totally versatile since you can use

chicken or pork chops or whatever you want for the meat portion. Thanks for sharing this Karen! We make this fairly often and always find new ways to enjoy it.

Slow Cooker Creamy Ranch Chicken (or Pork)

SP varies on your protein choice (chicken breast ends up being 2 SP for 3 oz)

Yields 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

1 - 10 3/4 can Campbell's Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup

1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning mix

1 1/2 to 2 lbs of your favorite meat (chicken breast, chicken thighs, pork chops, pork roast ... anything that will hold up in a crock pot)

Instructions:

pour the can of soup in a mixing bowl
mix in the ranch seasoning and soup together with a whisk until blended
place the protein in the crock pot and pour the soup mixture on top
cook on low for 6-8 hours (or until protein has reached the right temperature)

NOTES:

I've made this a few times with chicken breasts and chicken thighs. You can serve them whole, but it is awesome if you shred the meat with a fork and mix it together with the remaining liquid in the crock pot.
- the shredded chicken has been used to top a pizza (see the pizza dough recipe), make wraps, sandwiches, put over rice (and riced cauliflower), the filling in a chicken pot pie and many other ways.
- Pork chops are great this way too and they pull apart easily if you want to shred them too
It reheats very well. Once it cools off, we will portion it out into bags and vacuum seal them so we can keep some in the freezer

Baked egg muffins

2017-03-31T03:21:56.632000Z

These baked 'egg muffins' have become a #makeahead staple at our house. I first saw the recipe on WW Instagram, and of course the link in their bio was already gone, so I searched until I found it:

https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/article/baked-eggs-3-ways

My notes: Yes, these are full-size muffins (like 12 cups per pan)!

In our oven, they take a little (5-10 minutes) longer than the recipe says... you'll be able to tell they're done when they are springy to the touch and no liquid is visible.

Depending on the size of your eggs and what else you put in the cups, I like to have some egg whites (0SP) handy in case I want to bring the level of each cup closer to the top of your muffin pan.

Our favorite 0-SP add-ins: thin-sliced tomatoes, fresh basil, and a 1/2 tsp. of grated Parmesan or romano cheese (we top these with a 0SP-tomato-based sauce after they are done).

Diced red/orange/yellow peppers, jalapeño, and green onion (after baking we top these with a green or red hot sauce)

Broccoli, shallots, and fresh-cracked black pepper.

The ones in this photo contain pico de gallo, orange peppers, and extra cilantro on top... and we top them with more pico after, because #allthepicoallthetime

My prep includes gathering and chopping all ingredients. I use a little non-stick spray in the muffin pan. I put all my add-ins in each cup, then I crack each egg into a bowl one at a time, scramble with a fork, THEN pour it into the muffin pan... this keeps me from getting any eggshell in the final product, or trying to fish a bit of shell out from amongst onions and peppers. Here is the point where you can top off with some egg white if needed, and stir with a fork.

After cooking: I let them cool on a baking rack. I store them in the fridge a container with a lid, with a layer of parchment paper underneath. To reheat a couple at a time in the microwave just takes 20 seconds, turn them over, and another 20 seconds.

TLS Chili from Sandi V

2017-03-24T03:09:23.603000Z

TLS Chili – found on Whole Foods Market website

Makes 4 servings

9 points each

Ingredients:

1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil (I don’t use this)

½ pound (95% lean ground beef) – I use 12 oz. (after cook weight) ground lean turkey (93/7)

1 large onion

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons chili powder, plus more to taste

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3 cups beef broth (low sodium in can)

2 cups fresh or frozen diced bell peppers (I use fresh and use all colors)

1 ½ cup frozen corn kernels (I use 1 can DelMonte – 7 pts for the can – frozen is less points)

2 (15 ounce) cans no-salt added beans, such as kidney, red, or black (I use 1 red and 1 black)

¼ cup tomato paste

Cookin' it:

In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook, breaking it up with a spoon until browned, about 5 minutes. (I don’t use the oil and my ground turkey is pre-cooked – so this step is skipped). Add onion and garlic; cook for 5 minutes. Stir in chili powder and cumin. Add broth, bell peppers, corn, beans, and tomato paste (I put my beans in a colander and run cold water on them to remove the juices from the can and it helps eliminate any additional sodium it is packed in). Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer, covered, until the flavors blend, 20 – 25 minutes.

Turkey Meatloaf with Apricot Glaze

2019-04-21T17:11:49.294000Z

Hello Success Squad!

I found a great recipe on the Weight Watchers web site for turkey breasts with an Apricot Glaze. Well, I couldn't find turkey breasts at the store for a reasonable price, so I decided to adapt it and turn it into meat loaf. I'm glad I did. It came out amazing and we enjoyed leftovers for days!

Here is the recipe:

Turkey Meatloaf with Apricot Glaze

Yields 8 servings 5 SP per servings.

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs ground Turkey (93% lean)

1 cups onion

4 oz Apricot Jelly (I used Sugar Free Smucker’s Apricot)

1 tsp Dijon mustard (or your favorite fancy mustard)

1 egg

1 package fresh poultry herbs (Rosemary, Sage, Thyme – found in produce section)

½ cup plain bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350

2. Mix the apricot jelly and Dijon mustard in a small bowl and set aside (I know it sounds weird, but it will be good)

3. Pick the leaves off of the rosemary, thyme and sage and mince the herbs

4. Mix the onions, turkey, egg, bread crumbs, salt and pepper & most of the herbs until well mixed

1. save some of the mixed herbs for leftovers!

5. spray a loaf pan with non-stick

6. Place the mix into the loaf pan

7. Top with the apricot/mustard mixture (like you would ketchup on a traditional meat loaf)

8. Cook until the internal temperature is 165 (about 40-45 minutes)

Notes:

* I used a package of "Poultry Herbs" that I found in the produce section at Kroger. It had a couple sprigs of rosemary and thyme and a few sage leaves. They came in a little plastic package and were by the other package fresh herbs.

* I used Inglehoofer Honey Mustard instead of Dijon for the glaze. It was a good combination of sweet and savory.

* We made open-faced sandwiches with some of the left overs. We toasted the bread, spread a little apricot jelly and sprinkled some of the left over herbs over the bread. It came out really good.

As always, let me know if you have any suggestions or questions.

Have a great week!

Dave

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

2017-03-24T01:19:07.935000Z

Greetings, Success Squad!

I had a happy accident today. I set out to make some low point chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. What I got was a bit more on the chocolate side than I had intended, but they are super delicious (and only 2 SP per cupcake). Yes, I said TWO SMART POINTS (including the frosting)!

They were so good and so easy to make that I'm going to share the recipe!

Chocolate peanut butter-ish cupcakes

Yields 16 cupcakes - 2 SP each:

Ingredients

1 ½ cups Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes Whole grain buttermilk flapjack and waffle mix

3 scoops (90 g) Quest Peanut Butter Protein Powder

2 Tbsp JIF Peanut Powder

3 Tbsp Hershey's Special Dark 100% Cocoa Powder

½ cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce

½ cup Truvia Baking Blend

1 1/2 cups + 1 1/2 Tbsp of cold water

Instructions –

1. Preheat the oven to 350

2. Mix all the ingredients together until smooth like cake batter. It will be about the consistency of cake batter, maybe a little thicker.

3. Spray a regular sized muffin pan with non-stick

4. Fill each cup about halfway or so

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

6. Cool on a rack when done

Peanut Butter Frosting

Yields 16 servings - 0 SP each:

Ingredients:

5 Tbsp JIF Peanut Powder

4 Tbsp Water

6 Tbsp Sugar Free Cool Whip

(Bonus – add a couple drops of your favorite Sugar Free Flavored syrup like Torani Sugar Free Salted Caramel)

Instructions – Yields 16 Servings:

1. Mix the peanut powder and the water together. The peanut butter will be slightly thicker than regular consistency

2. Mix in the cool whip

3. Let it set in the refrigerator for an hour or two

4. Spread it on a cupcake before you are ready to enjoy it!

Notes:

You can buy the Quest Protein Powder at GNC. Most stores sell individual envelopes (1 envelope = 1 scoop) for about $2.50 each. This way you don't have to buy a huge tub.
You can use different flavors of protein powder with the base cake recipe to make all sorts of cakes :). The base is Kodiak Cakes, applesauce, Truvia and water + 3 scoops of any flavor of Quest Powder. I'd love to hear any variations you all come up with :).
Costco has an awesome deal on the Kodiak Cakes. It's 9.99 for the equivalent of 3 boxes of Kodiak Cakes.
Got a few extra points to burn? Top one with 1 TBSP of peanut butter for an extra 3 SP. You will end up with an indulgent cupcake for 5 SP!!

Enjoy and have a great week!

DIY Sausage Patties

2017-03-24T01:19:18.696000Z

You can see the sausage in the bottom left.  This time, we enjoyed it with a Kodiak Cakes Waffle topped with some thinly sliced apple slices that I fried up w/ a little Brummel & Brown, a tsp of sugar, then added a little cinnamon to taste.  The topping is a little drizzle of Smucker's Sugar Free Caramel Topping.  I think this ended up being 8 or 9 SP total for this big breakfast.

Original posted recipe:

Hi Everyone! You might have heard me talking about making my own sausage in the meeting today. It's not as hard as you think and it DOES NOT entail grinding any meat or any special equipment.

What is my secret? Penzey's Spices on 82nd Street. If you don't know about this place, it is amazing. Here is a link to a map of where they are located: https://www.google.com/maps?q=Penzeys+Spices,+5345+E+82nd+St,+Indianapolis

Alright, back to the sausage. You can make it in about 20 minutes and it is delicious (and has less sodium & points than store bought).

Italian Sausage

1 lb ground chicken (1sp per ounce)

1 Tablespoon Penzey's Italian Sausage Seasoning (0 sp): https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/italian-sausage-seasoning/c-24/p-612/pd-s

Instructions:

1. mix the seasoning with the meat

2. cook up some delicious sausage

I cooked up a couple of sausage shaped links for sandwiches and then made some little 1oz patties for breaking up and putting on pizza or making sandwiches or whatever sounded good at the time.

---------------------------------------------

Breakfast Sausage (YES, BREAKFAST SAUSAGE!!!)

1 lb ground chicken (1 sp per ounce)

1 Tablespoon Penzey's Breakfast Sausage Seasoning (0sp): https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/breakfast-sausage-seasoning/c-24/p-606/pd-s

Instructions:

1. mix the seasoning with the meat

2. cook up some delicious sausage

I separated it out into 1oz patties and cooked them in a grill pan. (They go well with some Kodiak cakes. :))

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If you end up making a trip to Penzey's and buying something cool, be sure to share the recipe with the group. As always let me know if you come up with other ideas or improvements!

Enjoy!

Dave

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins from Sandi

2017-03-18T02:14:22.633000Z

Hey everyone. Hope you are having a great week.

I made these muffins today. I think I like them but my husband thought they were great (not a real shocker). Thought you might want to try them and see what you think.

Mix the following ingredients and set aside for at least 5 minutes so the oats and get soft

1 cup low fat plain greek yogurt

½ cup skim milk

½ cup uncooked quick oats

½ tsp vanilla

1 large egg, beaten

Mash 1 large ripe banana and set aside

In separate bowl, mix the following ingredients

1 ¼ cup flour

¼ cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ cup mini chocolate chips

Add banana to wet ingredients and mix well. Then incorporate the dry ingredients.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes in mini muffin tin. Makes 36 muffins.

My tip – use a Tablespoon of batter for each muffin (measuring spoon). It should come out to 36 muffins.

I put my first batch in and baked for 16 minutes and they were a little too done for me – so keep your eye on them to see what works best in your oven.

I couldn’t find low fat plain greek yogurt so I used fat free and I didn’t want to buy skim milk (we drink 1% milk) so I used what we had. I don’t think this would make any difference in the points. I need to change the ingredients in my recipe builder to see if it does.

I am wondering if putting in PB2 (or other powdered peanut butter) instead of the bananas would taste good. Nothing better than chocolate and peanut butter.

Hope to see everyone tomorrow at our WW meeting.

Have a great day!!

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

2017-03-24T01:21:18.080000Z

Hello Success Squad. In honor of “National Pizza Day" I’m going to share my pizza dough recipe with you. This is still a work in progress, so if you have any suggestions to improve it, please share with the group. There are a couple of pictures attached for reference. Enjoy!

White Wheat NY Style Pizza Dough

This is going to make a super thin and crispy dough that still manages to have some chew in the crust. Even though it is thin, it will hold up to a lot of toppings.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups (16 ounces) white whole wheat flour
10-11 ounces warm water
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp instant yeast
3/4 tsp salt

8 tsp Vital Wheat Gluten (it will add some protein and give the crust some added stretch & strength)

Yield: 32 servings. (This will make 4 – 12 inch pizzas)

Smart Points: 1 sp per slice (+ whatever toppings you put on it)

Makin’ the dough:

Get out your stand mixer and insert the paddle attachment
Mix the flour, yeast, gluten, & salt and warm water on low until a dough starts to form.
The dough should be a little sticky at this point.
Add the olive oil and mix until it is incorporated
Switch out the paddle and use the dough hook. Knead on the recommended speed for your mixer (mine is medium) for 15 minutes. Yep, 15 minutes
You should be able to pull a piece of dough off and stretch it so it passes the window pane test
if it isn't ready yet, mix it for a few more minutes
Separate the dough into 4 balls. You can stick any balls you won’t use in the freeze

Notes:

I’m still working on how much water to add. I would slowly add water to the mix until it is the consistency you think is right.

Using a frozen dough ball:

Remove the frozen dough ball from the bag you froze it in
Place it in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator overnight
Take the bowl of dough out a couple hours before you need it or just put it on the counter before you to work & it will be ready to go

Using unfrozen dough:

Place the dough ball in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap
Let it proof for 2 hours (it should rise a little bit, but it won’t get super giant)
spread some cornmeal or flour on a work surface and begin to stretch the dough into a flat round disk
1. Note: see tips on stretching the dough below
don’t add toppings yet

Cooking:

Preheat the oven to 500
Cook the dough on the bottom rack (without toppings) in a pizza pan for 8 min.
It should puff up a bit and get some bubbles. They will get mashed down when you add toppings.
Add your favorite toppings
1. Tip: You can brush a little olive oil on the crust if you want a barrier for the sauce
Cook @ 500 degrees until the cheese is melted and the crush is nice and crispy. This usually takes 5-8 minutes.

Some tips:

I like Mario Batali’s technique for stretching dough from this video. You should be able to get it super thin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXtD5DTjPk0

It’s ok if you tear the dough it can easily be fixed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vywgFiREusA

I adapted the recipe from here just for reference: https://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=717522.