277922 Sat May 14 07:55:05 -0700 2005 18 31 Home Cooking 0 1469868 'Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.' So after a few years of eating WELL.... time to lose a few lbs. I selected WW as my plan because you can make your own meals and it seems a very balanced, healthy plan. Only problem is the suggested meals are, well, not designed for the hound in me. Low fat Cool Whip on chocolate wafers anyone?? So I am wondering if there are any other 'franken food opposed' hounds on the board willing to come out of the WW closet and share a few low point gems. Anyone have a great low cal-low fat-high fibre pasta recipe? Or is that a distinct impossiblity. Better tell me now. Any Points in a truffle? (the mushroom kind) It's not in my book. ;-) Sat May 14 07:55:05 -0700 2005 0 Shiro Miso 1 1469871 A couple of issues ago, Cook's Illustrated had a great recipe for a winter tomato sauce using cherry tomatoes. Basically, you cut the cherry tomatoes in half and coat them with a small amount of oil, a teaspoon of sugar and some balsamic vinagar and garlic, and top with a shallot also doused in a bit of oil, then bake for 35-45 minutes, cut side up, in a 350 oven. The recipe called for 1/4 cup of oil on 3 pints of tomatoes, but I found half that to be fine if I bumped the balsamic up from 1 tbsp to 2. At the end, toss with pasta (whole wheat or high fibre to bring down the points), and a bit of chopped basil, top with parm and serve. Obviously, cook's illustrated has a two page spread full of in depth directions on how to do this, as well as the exact quantities for ingredients, but that's how closely I generally follow the recipe when I'm making it myself. The servings of it that I was eating, I figured out to be 8 points - 6 for the pasta and two for the sauce. It has a fresh, sweet flavour that I really enjoy, and makes for a fairly light meal. Sat May 14 12:15:20 -0700 2005 1469868 0 Jacquilynne 2 1469898 Wow... that sounds really fabulous. Totally up my alley - thank you! Sat May 14 18:35:55 -0700 2005 1469871 0 Shiro Miso 1 1469876 Folks, we discuss diets on the Not About Food board. We've removed all the responses discussing "frankenfoods", and Weight Wtachers in general, since this board is for discussing the preparaton of food. Please start a new discussion on the Not About Food board to discuss Weight Watchers in general, or the topic of "frankenfoods". We welcome posts with recipes or other food preparation tips, but please, no further posts that are not oriented towards Home Cooking. Thanks. Sat May 14 14:06:11 -0700 2005 1469868 2 The Chowhound Team 1 1469893 Here's a paraphrased favorite that I actually got from the WW website. Do subscribe to the site -- there are some great recipes and a calculator for figuring the points on your own (it's clunky but usable). Also CIA did a cookbook with Weight Watchers that is worth getting used via Amazon. Definitely top quality stuff. Asparagus Parmesan Preheat oven to 400. Take bunch of asparagus and rub with about 1 tbs olive oil. Sprinkle with some herbs de provence or fresh thyme. Using a microplane grater, grate over some parmesan and a bit of sea salt. Bake in oven for 10 minutes, turning once during that time. You can also then sprinkle on some lemon juice if you want and serve. This is very low points -- about one per half bunch of 'grass. If you want a buddy, contact me -- I could use one. Sat May 14 18:05:05 -0700 2005 1469868 0 Joan Kureczka 1 1469917 Was hanging with the girls tonight and realized that we were all vegetarian, and all doing, or have done WW. So when trying to decide what to do for the night, we deicded to have a bbq...so we threw together a simple feast that fit all of us... Portobello Mushrooms marinated in balsamic and fresh rosemary, with sliced red onion and a slice of provolone. (I've done this before with tofu, if thats your thing and your looking to add some protein). Asparagus marinated in a terriaki like sauce (soy sauce, fresh garlic, sugar) Veggie Kabobs, basted with lite italian dressing. Corn on the cob Grilled fruit - this time it was pineapple and peaches We were stuffed, and totally satisfied. Weekends are my hardest time to follow the plan, but this worked out great! Sun May 15 01:07:26 -0700 2005 1469868 0 naomi 1 1469924 A one-word hint if you love rice but are concerned about the lack of fiber and the unpredictability of cooking brown rice (which is not terribly high fiber, for that matter): Bulgur. It is cracked wheat that has been steamed (pre-cooked) and dried. It cooks fast; in fact you don't have to simmer it but can just pour hot broth or water over it and drain it when it has reached the tenderness you prefer. It also reheats beautifully, so you can prepare it ahead. Coarse or medium grind bulgur can be used like white rice for pilafs and most standard rice uses (I also love it in soup). And it has about 6.4 grams of fiber per 1/4 dry cup (more than twice the amount of brown rice), about 120 calories. Sun May 15 08:04:11 -0700 2005 1469868 0 Karl S. 2 1469929 I routinely make bulgur pilaf-- over med-hi heat, I saute some onions in olive oil with salt, pepper, and herbs that go with whatever main I'm cooking, and then add either pine nuts or slivered almonds for about 2 minutes, then add the bulgur, toss to coat in oil and onions and seasoning, then add double the amount of liquid to the amount of bulgur, cover, turn off the heat, and let it absorb the liquid for 10 minutes or so. If your bulgur's older, you might have to turn the heat back on for two to five minutes at the end to burn off the extra water. It's great at room temperature and cold, as a couscous substitute, with any of the typical couscous add ins, such as fresh herbs, or cukes, or tomatoes, or dried fruits. I usually buy the Goya medium-grained bulgur. Sun May 15 10:29:09 -0700 2005 1469924 0 emdb 3 1469933 Sounds incredible. I had never considered bulgar - thank you! I have never been a brown rice fan. Sun May 15 12:34:26 -0700 2005 1469929 0 Shiro Miso 1 1469977 don't know about the truffle but I have a good recipe from ww with pasta shells w/beans, spinach and sausage that is 8 points per serving, of course the servings are kind of small, my husband usually has 2!!! 3C small pasta shells 8 oz italian sausage, casings removed 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 t dried sage 1 19 oz can white kidney beans 5 C torn spinach leaves 2 C chicken broth s&p brown sausage then add garlic and sage, beans, spinach & broth; bring to a boil, simmer about 5 minutes. add cooked pasta and simmer about another 3 minutes... Simple, quick and tasty. I would also recommend the website and maybe one or two of their cookbooks. I lost all of my "baby weight" with ww and it was pretty easy to follow. I now use it as a guide to maintain and it is working for me... Good luck! Mon May 16 08:43:08 -0700 2005 1469868 0 cathy 2 1470034 Thank you! I just had a baby too and that extra weight needs to go! Thanks for the recipe - I'll try it. Mon May 16 16:00:45 -0700 2005 1469977 0 Shiro Miso 1 1469989 No good recipes, per se, more just the thought that you can probably modify recipes you regularly use to make them low point (depending on how you regularly cook, of course!). Once you start pointing out recipes, you see where the points come in (oil, fats of any kind) as well as where you get more food for fewer points (veggies, higher fiber foods) and you can tailor your recipes to that aesthetic (so to speak). Use less oil in a pilaf, switch (as Karl S. suggested) to bulgur or quinoa or other higher fiber 'grain.' The less already processed food you use in your recipes, the easier it is. Good luck! Smokey Mon May 16 11:05:04 -0700 2005 1469868 0 Smokey 1 1470053 In addition to the bulghur suggestion, try pearl barley. It's two to three points for a cup cooked. Sometimes a baked potato stuffed with veggies, cajun chicken breast, fat free sour cream, chives, and a little bit of butter if desired. Another great thing to do with potatoes is slice them incredibly thin and sprinkle with blackening seasoning, or Nature's seasoning, or ranch dressing mix and then bake until almost crisp. For making lower point and higher fiber muffins, I substitute for some of the flour using All-Bran Extra Fiber, ground to a powder in a coffee grinder. Obviously, applesauce as a substitute for fats works well also. Weight Watchers themselves makes these great cookies'n'cream popsicles that taste good even if you're not on the diet. You might want to check out Breyers low sugar ice cream too; it's pretty tasty. Total 0% fat greek yogurt is great with a little splenda or even a teaspoon of jam mixed in. If you like sushi, it's nice and low in calories, particularly if you like sashimi. Something else my family makes is grilled vegetables, seasoned heavily with garlic powder. They spray the veggies and the grill with cooking spray and sprinkle heavily with the garlic powder and continue to resprinkle during flipping. For snacks, you might check out the new Nabisco 100 calorie snack packs if you aren't looking for "healthy, healthy." Mon May 16 18:05:46 -0700 2005 1469868 0 Emme 2 1470108 I'm not a big fan of the WW brand "ice cream". Somethings just not right about it. But I discovered "no pudge" ice cream pops, at about 2 points each - way better. I've made great use of the blender on WW - frozen or fresh berries with flavored or plain seltzer is great (for company the other night I threw in some rum too, but thats not very WW friendly). Fresh fruit, yogurt, skim milk, vanilla or almond extract works well. Take that low fat ice cream that doesn't taste great on its own and throw it in the blender with some fruit, or even a squirt of chocolate syrup and skim milk for a milkshake. (Ok, I'll stop now - I'm obviously having sugar cravings at the moment!) Tue May 17 00:28:40 -0700 2005 1470053 0 naomi 1 1470143 Back on WW too and found that hitting the farmer's market for fruit and veg works wonders. Olive oil and lemon and sea salt for salad dressing is better than any bottlled LF dressing Ive found. Real full fat cheese in moderation is worth the points. And combining favorite foods works great too. This morning the 1/2TB of all natural peanut butter I added to my plain oatmeal made me happy. Good luck. Tue May 17 11:21:08 -0700 2005 1469868 0 MGB 1 1470189 I too am (attempting to) following weight watchers. In terms of pasta, you may want to check out Barilla Plus- it has more fibre than normal pasta, which cuts down on the pts. values, but it doesn't taste like whole wheat pasta (which reminds me of cardboard). I am also against these strange WW concoctions, most of which seem to consist of: fat free evaporated milk, FF cream of mushroom soup, and 95% lean ground beef. How in the world folks expect to get skinny eating cr*p like that escapes me.... BUT, since you asked for recipes, here's one: This lasagna recipe sounds pretty good to me, esp. at 5 points/svg., serves 6: Lasagna 1 14 1/2 oz can whole peeled tomatoes 1 Tbsp canned tomato paste 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped 1/2 tsp sugar 2 medium eggplants 1/4 tsp table salt, or to taste 1 medium leek finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 12 leaves of basil, torn or chopped 1/2 pound dry lasagna noodles, cooked 1 cup lower fat shredded mozzarella cheese 1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Lightly coat a 2-quart rectangular baking dish with cooking spray. 2. Blend undrained canned tomatoes with paste until combined. Stir in fresh chopped tomatoes and sugar. 3. Cut eggplant lengthwise into 1/2-inch slices; place in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Let stand 15 minutes, rinse and drain. 4. Coat a nonstick pan with cooking spray and warm over medium heat. Cook eggplant in batches until soft and well-browned; set aside. 5. Cook leeks and garlic in the same pan, stirring until leeks soften. 6. Cover bottom of prepared pan with 3 cooked noodles. Layer with 1/2 each eggplant, tomato mixture, leeks, basil and cheese. Repeat with 3 more noodles and top with rest of eggplant, tomato mixture, leeks and basil. Top with remaining noodles and cheese. 7. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Cool slightly and serve. Tue May 17 15:51:03 -0700 2005 1469868 0 redglass 2 1470247 Thank you for the recipe! Sounds great. Wed May 18 08:47:37 -0700 2005 1470189 0 Shiro Miso 2 1470253 Nothing wrong with lean beef if it's flavorful enough. See if your butcher carries 93% lean prime ground round (in NYC, I get it at Fairway). Mix it with your preferred seasonings. Grill it up with some sliced onions and portobello mushroom caps sized to cover the burger. Put the burger on a toasted English muffin, cover it with onions and the mushroom, and add your favorite condiment (I like mango chutney or hot/sweet mustard); serve with a salad. Works fine for me (65 pounds down on WW). Wed May 18 09:28:06 -0700 2005 1470189 0 Striver 1 1470344 For quick and easy, I use regular chicken noodle soup, low salt, 3 pts, and add whatever protein I want. Sometimes add vegetables. Works well for me. Wed May 18 21:14:03 -0700 2005 1469868 0 Connie