Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

1 Point

Get your chocolate fix with this luscious low-fat treat.  Easy to make and ready to enjoy in just minutes.

25 chocolate wafer cookies, finely crushed

1 Cup + 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

1/3 cup honey

¼ cup + 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter

In a large bowl, mix the cookie crumbs and 1 cup of the confectioner’s sugar.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey and peanut butter until well combined.  Add to the cookie crumb mixture and stir well (the mixture may be crumbly at this point).

With your hands, shape the mixture into 1” balls (the mixture should hold together as you shape it).

Set the balls aside at room temperature until ready to serve, or store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.  Just before serving, roll the balls in to the remaining 2 tablespoons of confectioner’s sugar.

Turkey Bacon Cheddar Melt

Estimated Points per Serving 3, Servings 1

Ingredients

3 slices fat free turkey bacon

2 slices reduced calorie whole wheat bread (Oro wheat brand)

2 slices fat free cheddar cheese

Tomato slices

Mustard

Instructions

Cook bacon in microwave until crisp.  Lightly toast bread and spread with mustard.  Place 2 tomato slices on each piece of bread.  Cover with 1 ½ slices of bacon and top with one slice of cheese.  Broil, open-faced until cheese melts.  Enjoy!  This is the best 3 point “meal” ever.

Please Share...

Please share any successes, fabulous finds, or solutions to challenges in the comment section below.

Lemon Chicken Pasta Recipe

Cooking Spray
1 tsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 oz skinned, boned chicken breast, cut into 1/4" wide strips
1/2 c. frozen peas, thawed
1/3 c. shredded carrots
1/2 c. low-salt chicken broth
2 Tbsp tub-style light cream cheese
2 cups hot cooked Farfalle, cooked w/out salt or fat (about 1 1/4 cups uncooked bow tie pasta)
3 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

1.  Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; add oil, and place over med-high heat until hot.  Add garlic; saute' 15 seconds.  Add chicken; saute' 1 minute.  Add peas and carrots; saute' 1 minute.  Remove chicken mixture from skillet; set aside.

2.  Add chicken broth & cream cheese to skillet, and cook over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until cream cheese melts, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Return chicken mixture to skillet.  Stir in pasta, parmesan cheese, lemon rind, salt & pepper, cook 1 minute.

YIELD:  2 servings (serving size 1 1/2 cups)

10 Points Plus Value

Keith Rozema

Keith Rozema is approaching his 130 lbs loss, joining at the end of January 2009.  Keith has attended every week!  Congratulations Keith!

Keith Before

Down Over 100 Lbs!

Lee Bollwinkell

Lee is now on maintenance, approaching lifetime membership.  Total weight loss 106.6!  Congratulations Lee!

Lee Before

100 Pounds Lost!

Lee at goal weight!

Please read a little about Lee's experience in the comments below!

Hi my name is Lee Bollwinkel.
I thought I would share with you a lttle bit of my journey and how I lost 106.8 lbs. My whole life, I have struggled with my weight. I would lose weight and then I would gain it right back. I had tried diets that would help me lose weight; however once I stopped the diet the weight would come right back on. December 2008, at 48 years old, I weighed 275 lbs.; the heaviest I had ever weighed and the thoughts of losing any amount of weight seemed impossible and so far out of reach. For me I had lost all hope. 
My wife tried to get me to join Weight Watchers with her, however I was reluctant to join, and I would come up with any excuse why I didn’t need to join. The one excuse I would use was, “it’s for women not for men”. Reluctantly I joined Weight Watchers January of 2009, weighing 275 lbs. During this past year, I have found that I was wrong. Weight Watchers is not for women only; it can be used by men as well. Weight Watchers does not feel like you are dieting, you still get to eat what you want…..but in smaller portions and in moderation. 
Weight Watchers showed me that there is a better way; I just needed to make me a priority. It also helped me to be focused and disciplined in setting goals. It has helped me change the way I look at eating and exercising. I am finding out that I am becoming the person I thought I had lost for good. Weight Watchers has taught me that by attending the weekly meetings (for support) exercising, and eating healthier I can lose weight. I am proud to say that on February 24th 2010, I reached my goal weight of 168 lbs and my wife has lost 55 lbs. Through my weight loss I have regained my confidence and self-esteem, and most of all I am happy again
I won’t lie, it has been hard work and alot of patience to lose the 106.6 lbs, but it has been worth every minute. The main thing that I have learned in losing weight there are no quick fixes, it takes time and a strong commitment to you. I have found that dreams can become reality, I am proof of that. 

Thanks Kris for your support.


Thinking back over the past 14 months, it is hard to believe all I have accomplished with my weight loss. Losing over 100lbs., took sacrifice, commitment and the determination to never give up on myself. Over the past 25 years I have had continual high blood pressure and I have had to take medication to control it. As I was losing weight I would have the question asked, “how much weight do you want to lose”, and my answer would be, “whatever weight gets me off of my blood pressure medication”. That day finally came. On Wednesday I had a checkup with my doctor. She was so impressed by my weight loss and how low my blood pressure was that she finally took me off my medication. That, in and of itself, was well worth the hard work it took to lose the weight. I know that losing weight can be hard and frustrating at times, and, for those of you that are struggling, remember that you need to make yourself number one, stick with your plan and never give up on yourself. You are worth the effort and the changes you make today, are changes made for the rest of your life. 
“Failure is not an indicator of the future, but just a building block to get there”.
~Dave Ramsey~

Shepherd's Pie Recipe

12 oz. extra lean ground beef
½ cup chopped onion
1 cup each sliced baby carrots and frozen petite peas

½ cup low sodium beef broth

2 cups instant potato flakes prepared according to pkg. directions

Dash paprika

Preheat oven to 375.  In a non-stick skillet cook ground beef over medium heat. Add onion and cook 2 – 3 minutes stirring constantly until onion is softened. Add carrots and peas. Continue to cook and stir a couple of minutes until vegetables reach desired tenderness.  Add broth and bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and let simmer about 10 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Transfer mixture to a casserole dish.  Top mixture with prepared potato flakes, spreading and fluffing with a fork.  Sprinkle with paprika.  Bake until heated through 15 – 20 minutes. 

*note:  I like to leave more of the liquid in the mixture when I add it to the casserole dish, so I do not simmer as long... and sometimes I like to add extra potatoes, just make sure you adjust points accordingly!

Makes 4 servings
7 Points Plus Value

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

1 pkg spice cake mix

1 can 15 oz pumpkin

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray cookie sheet lightly with Pam or cover with parchment paper.  Drop 1 1/2 - 2 inch balls of mixture on cookie sheet.  Bake 18-20 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

1 Point Each

Easy Pineapple/Orange Cream Cake

This moist cake is the perfect choice because of its preparation and make-ahead ease

1 (15 ¼ oz) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

1 (18.25 oz) pkg yellow cake mix

1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges, in light syrup, drained

½ cup egg substitute

½ cup fat free mayonnaise

1 (12 oz) container frozen fat free whipped topping, thawed

1 (1 oz) pkg sugar free vanilla instant pudding mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Drain pineapple, reserving juice;  set pineapple aside.  Combine reserved pineapple juice, cake mix, mandarin oranges, egg substitute, and mayonnaise in large bowl.  Beat with a mixer at medium speed, until well blended.  Pour batter into a 13X9” baking dish, coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in dish on a wire rack.  Combine drained pineapple, whipped topping, and vanilla pudding mix, in a medium bowl, at beet at low speed, just until blended. 

Spread pineapple mixture evenly over top of cake.

Cover and store cake in refrigerator.                

Yield: 18 servings, 

4 POINTS.

8 Layer Salad Recipe

Use a clear glass bowl to show off all the pretty layers in this salad.

6 cups torn iceberg lettuce

8 cups torn romaine lettuce

6 (40% less fat) bacon slices cooked and crumbled

¾ cup chopped red onion

1 (10 oz) pkg frozen green peas (thawed)

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts (drained)

¾ cup (3 oz) shredded, reduced fat, sharp cheddar cheese

¾ cup reduced fat mayonnaise (such as Hellmann’s Just 2 Good)

¾ cup 30% less fat, or fat free, sour cream

1 (0.7 oz) dry Italian dressing mix

Combine lettuces in a bowl, toss well.  Layer bacon and next 5 ingredients on top of lettuce.  Combine mayonnaise, sour cream and dressing mix in a small bowl, stir well.  Spread dressing over top of salad, sealing to edge of bowl. Cover and chill up to 24 hours.  

Yield 12 servings.  

Serving size 1 1/3 cups.  

2 POINTS.