Butternut Squash & Sage Pasta

This is one of my favorite recipes from the Weight Watchers website. I love butternut squash and quick easy meals.  Oh, and theirs the whole I LOVE pasta. The recipe is ideal when you have leftover butternut squash sitting around. Cutting it up is the most time consuming part. I normally cut this recipe in half to just feed the two of us.

Butternut Squash & Sage Pasta
Adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 1 spray of cooking spray
• 20 ounces uncooked butternut squash, fresh, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch chucks
• 8 ounces uncooked bow tie pasta
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
• 5 1/3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided (1/4 cup plus 4 tsp)
• 3 Tablespoons sage, minced

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375ºF. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
• Place squash on prepared baking sheet and roast until tender and starting to caramelize, about 25 to 30 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. After squash has been roasting for about 15 minutes, cook pasta according to package directions; drain and return to pot.
• Add squash, buttermilk, salt and pepper to pot; toss over low heat to warm through, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and add 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese and sage; toss to mix and coat.
• Spoon about 1 1/2 cups of pasta into each of 4 serving bowls; top each with 1 teaspoon of remaining Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

If you don’t like sage, this recipe is also delicious with fresh basil or chives.  (I have not tried this, let me know if you have success with these!)

Servings = 4

Weight Watchers Points Plus = 9

Blueberry Granola Crisp

This was an amazing treat that took a little bit of time to make, but is completely worth every second. It is sweet but not too sweet and it make only two serving which makes it even more perfect!

I topped my blueberry crisp with some lite cool whip. I would love to try it at some point with a scoop of ice cream but currently ice cream is not safe in our house.

Blueberry Granola Crisp
Adapted from: LaaLoosh

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup low-fat, ready-to-eat granola cereal
• 10 oz unsweetened frozen blueberries
• 2 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1 tsp honey
• lite cool whip or ice cream (optional)

 Directions

• In a saucepan, combine sugar, nutmeg, frozen berries, and cornstarch in a saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring gently and frequently with a rubber spatula.
• Reduce to a simmer and cook until thickened – about 3 minutes.
• Turn off heat, stir in fresh blueberries, orange rind and salt, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes
• Meanwhile, in toaster oven or dry skillet, toast granola until lightly browned, about 3 to 4 minutes. I used the oven broiler and it worked great.
• To serve, divide blueberry mixture among 2 bowls and top with granola and drizzle each serving with ½ tsp honey.

Servings = 2

Weight Watchers Points Plus = 4
using sugar substitute = 3

Chicken Fiesta Bake

Quick and easy 2 serving meal with ingredients that I had lying around the kitchen. It almost reminders me of a mexican pizza. Not super filling, more of a lunch or serve with a side.

Chicken Fiesta Bake

Adapted from WW Recipes

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup Bisquick Heart Smart® mix
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons fat-free egg product
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons shredded, reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
• 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup Thick 'n Chunky salsa

Instructions

• Heat oven to 400ºF.
• Spray 7x7-inch pan with cooking spray.
• In small bowl, stir together Bisquick® mix, water and egg product; spread in pan(will not reach all sides, just spread as far as possible).
• Sprinkle top of batter with 1/4 cup of the cheese.
• In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook chicken over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until outsides turn white; drain.
• Stir in salsa; heat until hot.
• Spoon over batter in pan to within 1/2 inch of edges.
• Bake about 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons cheese. Bake about 2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.
• loosen from sides of pan, and serve

Servings = 2

Weight Watchers Points Plus = 6

1 serving

Sweet Cauliflower Curry

I LOVE curry! Every time I come across a recipe with curry in the name I want to try it. One problem with most curries is that they normally come with a lot of fat. This curry recipe is based with cauliflower which takes away a lot of the fat.

This is a slightly modified version of Juli Bauer's Sweet Curried Cauliflower Soup from paleOMG. I love how a lot of paleo recipes overlap with what I am trying to do with weight watchers. There idea is eat like a cave man, anything natural, no additives or bread for that matter (I could never live without bread).

I took her soup recipe and turned it into a veggie filled curry and served it over rice. This is a HUGE dish with very few points!

Sweet Cauliflower Curry
Adapted from paleOMG

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 1 apple, cored and chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 can (7 3/4 ounce) light coconut milk
• 2 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth)
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon raw honey
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1-2 teaspoons salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• dash of black pepper
• 1 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 cups broccoli (2 medium heads), cut into florets
• 2 green peppers
• 1 red pepper
• 1 zucchini squash
• 1 yellow squash
• 1 1/2 cups baby carrots

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
• Clean off your cauliflower and roughly chop into florets. Drizzle 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil on top with a bit of salt. Roast for about 20 minutes in oven.
• While the cauliflower is roasting, pull out a soup pot and add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to it over medium heat.
• First add your minced garlic, once the room is fragrant, add chopped onions and Once they’ve begin to sweat, add your chicken broth and light coconut milk.
• Then add curry powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, pepper and honey.
• Simmer under low heat for around 5-8 minutes.
• Now add apples, cauliflower and soup pot contents to immersion blender or food processor (I used our BlendTec). I had to do mine in 2 separate batches so it didn’t overflow, I have learned this lesson the hard way.
• When blended put back into soup pot. Add veggies*.
• Cook covered on low-med for 20 mins or until veggies are tender.
• Serve over rice.

*Add whatever veggies you feel fit. You can also add some cooked meat too.

Servings = 4

Weight Watchers Points Plus = 3
with 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice = 8



1 serving

Chicken Taco Salad

This salad is not lacking of taste. It is loaded with veggies, beans, and chicken. And is tossed together in a creamy dressing. It reminds me a lot of having a Chipotle burrito bowl without the rice and with a lot more lettuce.
I modified a recipe that I found on Nugmeg Notebook. I took out the chipotle chiles canned in adobo sauce because I couldn't for the life of me find them in a store. I don't know if I was looking down the wrong aisle or what? Because of this I dropped the Chipotle from the name of the recipe because I thought it was weird to keep it if I didn't have them in the ingredients anymore. The salad turned out great without them.

I added in diced jalapenos to give it more of a kick. I also doubled the avocado in the recipe from 1/2 an avocado to 1 whole avocado because I didn't want it to go to waste. This change moved the amount of weight watchers points up one per serving.

Chicken Taco Salad
Adapted from: Nutmeg Notebook

Ingredients

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2/3 cup light sour cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 4 teaspoons lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Salad:

• 4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
• 2 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (I like grape tomatoes so much more)
• 1 diced & peeled avocado
• 1/3 cup thinly vertically sliced red onion
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (8 3/4-ounce) can no-salt-added whole-kernel corn, rinsed and drained
• 1 (4-ounce) can diced jalapenos (optional)

Instructions

To prepare dressing:

• combine first 7 ingredients
• stirring well

To prepare salad:

• combine lettuce and remaining ingredients in a large bowl
• Drizzle dressing over salad; toss gently to coat
• Serve immediately

Servings = 4

Serving size = about 2 1/2 cups

Weight Watchers Points Plus = 7



1 serving = about 2 1/2 cups

 

Skinny Banana Split

My new favorite healthy snack.

Strawberries+

Bananas+

Chocolate+

Cool Whip =

Love!

Skinny Banana Split
Created by: Me

Ingredients

• 4-6 strawberries
• 1 banana
• 1/2 Tbsp mini chocolate chips
• 1 scoop lite cool whip

Directions

• Cut up strawberries and banana.
• Layer all ingredients in bowl.

Servings: 1

Weight Watchers Points Plus = 1

Chicken & Biscuits Casserole

Quick and easy version of a chicken pot pie made healthier. A very yummy comfort food. One serving was plenty to fill me up.

Chicken & Biscuits Casserole
Adapted from emily bites

Ingredients

• 1 can (10 3/4 ounce) Campbell’s 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup
• 3/4 cup fat free sour cream, divided
• 2 cups cooked chopped chicken (cooked it on medium in the microwave, can also season with garlic power and black pepper and grill on the George Foreman)
• 1 pkg (16 ounce) frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup Bisquick Heart Smart baking mix
• 3 Tbsp skim milk (I used almond milk because that is all I had)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Combine the can of soup and 1/2 cup sour cream in 8” square baking dish. Add chopped chicken, vegetables, and cheese and mix until well combined.
• Mix Bisquick, remaining 1/4 cup sour cream and milk in a medium bowl and stir until dough becomes stiff.
• Drop 6 even mounds of biscuit dough over top of the chicken mixture. Bake on the bottom rack for 35 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

Servings: 6

Weight Watchers Points Plus = 6

Side note: Reheats great.



1 serving