Bangers and Colcannon -light - 12.5 points

Bangers and Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish that is very fattening, but very tasty. This year I was determined to have some without gaining weight or starving the rest of the day. Here's what I came up with. I hope you enjoy. The pics are my hubby's serving below and my serving on the bottom right lol.

4 servings - 12.5 points per serving.

4 banger - 32
8 mini potatoes or 3 small potatoes- 10
5 strips bacon- 5
2 tbsp FF sour cream-0
1/4 bottle guinness-1 point
1 tsp brown sugar-0
1/2 tsp flour- 0
1/2 tsp butter -1
1 head cabbage (chopped)-0
salt and pepper to taste



Cook the bacon in a large skillet until almost crisp. Add  the cabbage. Saute until cabbage is almost tender but a slight amount of crunch remains. While these cook,  place potatoes in a saucepan of cold water. Add a pinch of salt and boil until potatoes are fork tender. Mix 1/2 tsp butter, brown sugar, salt, and flour together and set aside. Brown bangers on all sides. Add Guinness to pan and reduce to simmer. Braise until bangers are fully cooked and the beer reduces slightly. Drain the potatoes when they finish boiling, but retain a cup or so of the water in case you need it for mashing. Keep the potatoes in the pan. Then remove the bangers from the pan and whisk in brown sugar, butter and flour and salt until the mixture is smooth.  Bring gravy to a gentle boil and reduce to a simmer until thickened.
Add sour cream and water if needed to the potatoes and mashed until mostly smooth.  Fold in the cabbage-bacon mix and plate with the bangers. Drizzle with the brown sugar gravy.

Stuffed Portabellas - 3 points plus (could be 1.5)

 These are great for the entree or the side dish.
 
Makes 6 mushrooms - 3 points plus per mushroom

Ingredients
6 large Portabella mushrooms.-0
1 bag steam in bag rice and veggies- 10
1/2 avocado (chopped)-4
1 can chicken (drain water)- 2.5
1 laughing cow light cheese (chopped)- 1
diced garlic to taste
salt and peper to taste

heat oven to 350

Place bag of rice in microwave as directed on package. While it cooks, remove stem and clean brown gills from portabella mushrooms and prepare other fillings listed above.. Mix avocado, chicken, cheese, seasonings, and rice mixture together in a large bowl. Place mushrooms on   cookie sheet and stuff with mixture until mixture is gone.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until brown and smelling delicious.

You could also omit the rice in favor of other veggies and cut down on the points, but it will be a little less filling if, like me, you have a man who eats like a horse to feed. lol.

Turkey Fruit Wrap - 6.5 points

 For the tortillas, I got la tortilla factory 100 calorie because they were large burrito size. You could use the low carb wheat ones from LTF, and they are only 1 point per, but they are smaller.The pictures are only of half the burrito because I once again forgot to take the picture until we were halfway finished. lol

Makes 2 giant burritos - 6.5 points

3 oz skinless turkey breast (shredded) -2.5 points
grapes (cut in half) - 0 points
apple slices (skinless) - 0 points
2 tsp almond slices - 1 point 
1/4 cup Greek yogurt - 1.5 points
2 laughing cow blue cheese - 2 points
2 tortillas - 6 points

Mix laughing cow and yogurt until mostly smooth. Spread half on each tortilla. Place half of the turkey, grapes, apples, lettuce, and almond slices on the tortilla. Roll up and cut in half. Plate and enjoy.
I added 10 grapes to each and 1/4 of an apple to each, but you can add what you would like since they are 0 points. You might also want to add avocado. I was going to, but I forgot. lol.

(Mock) Applebees Chicken Wanton Tacos, Weight Watcher's style - 6 points

Check your wonton wrappers. Points vary from brand to brand.

3 servings of 5 tacos each = 6 points per serving



15 wonton wrappers - 3 points
Olive oil or Pam spray - 0 points
5 chicken breast tenderloins (cooked and shredded)- 10
3 tbsp Asian sesame vinaigrette dressing 4.5
1 tbsp soy sauce - 0
1 tbsp teriyaki - 0
3 cups coleslaw veggies -0
diced green onions -0
diced fresh cilantro -0
1 tbsp almond slivers -1



Heat oven to 375.

Warm the chicken in a pan or the microwave. Spray or brush the wonton wrappers with olive oil or pam to lightly coat. Drape them over a wide edged baking pan or taco rack, and bake for a few minutes until the shells are brown. Remove from oven, but not from pan.
Add teriyaki sauce and soy sauce to chicken and mix well. Mix sesame dressing with the coleslaw, cilantro, green onions, and almonds. Split meat then coleslaw between all shells.

Click here to view: http://www.recipelink.com/cgi/msgbrd/msg_script.pl?getmsg=1&board=14&thread=35997

Faux fried night - Fried chicken and zucchini - 5.5 points

This is a delicious alternative to fried chicken. It won't have the oily consistency, but it tastes great and the texture is crunchy. I eyeballed the seasonings, but I've given approximate amounts below. You can actually stick your finger in the flour before adding the cornflakes and adjust the seasoning to taste. 
Sorry the pic is so bad. I forgot to arrange them and take a pic until the hubby and I were almost done eating.

1 zucchini - 0
5 chicken - 10
1/2 cup greek yogurt - 1.5
1 tsp garlic -0
2 tsp onion powder -0
2tsp garlic powder - 0
2 tsp red pepper -0
1 cup cornflakes (very well crushed)- 3
2/3 cup flour - 8
1 spray Pam - 0 points

4 servings - 5.5 points


Cook at 360 degrees.
Put yogurt and fresh garlic on a plate and mix well. On a second plate, mix flour, corn flakes, and spices. Cut zucchini in strips. Dip in yogurt, then in flour mix. Line on cookie sheet. Cut chicken tenderloins in chunks. Dredge in yogurt, then flour, and place on cookie sheet.
Cook for 30-33 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Cup O' Lasagna - 7.5 points

For the veggies, I suggest squash and zucchini, but it's your choice.
makes 4 servings - 7.5 points plus per serving

6 oven ready lasagna noodles - 10 points
1/3 lb ground beef (93%) - 8 points
1 tbsp garlic - 0 points
1 1/4 cup prego traditional - 7.5 points
1/2 cup ff cottage cheese (squeezed dry inside of cheese cloth) - 2 points
1 egg white - 1 point
Italian spices - 0 points
1/4 cup mozzarella - 2 points
6 mushrooms (sliced) - 0 points
2 cups mixed 0 point veggies - 0

Heat oven to 350.
Crack noodles in ramekin friendly sizes and split into four piles. Brown beef with garlic. Add veggies and cook until slightly softened. Turn heat down and drain any fat. Add mushrooms and 1 cup sauce. Set the rest of the sauce aside.
In a bowl, combine dry cottage cheese, egg, and Italian spices. Mix well.
Split all ingredients in four. Layer in ramekins: a layer of noodles, 1/2 cottage cheese, 1/2 meat/veggie sauce, repeat. Top with final noodles. When all the layers are assembled, top with extra sauce and cheese.

Cook for 40 minutes.

Black bean casserole - 3 points

I love black beans. They're tasty, and 0 points. Who could complain about that. So I'm sure that over time, you'll notice that I use black beans a lot. Here's a great and super fast casserole you can pull together quickly for a fast and healthy dinner. You can pair with rice or serve larger servings, up to you. It's great on tortillas too. You could also top with light sour cream, fresh cilantro, avocado, etc... Just make sure you configure points for these extras.

4 servings 3 points per serving

1 can black beans - 0 points
1 tsp garlic - 0 points
1 tsp garlic - 0 points
1 tsp red pepper flakes - 0 points
2-3 grinds of pepper - 0 points
1 tsp lime juice - 0 points
1.5 cups water - 0 points
1 can diced tomatoes with lime and cilantro (drained) - 1 point
2 chicken tenderloins - 4 points
2 tbsp sliced olives - 1 point
6 fresh mushrooms (sliced) - 0 points
3 slices cheese - 6 points

Heat oven to 350.
Bring water to boil. Add chicken, 1 tsp garlic, red pepper flakes, pepper, and lime juice. While this is cooking (about 15 minutes until it's cooked through) put beans in small casserole dish. Mash with fork and stir to mix so you have an almost refried bean texture. Combine olives and mushrooms in a bowl with garlic and mix well. layer atop beans.
When chicken is done, cube it and place it atop the casserole, then cover with tomatoes and top with cheese.
Cook for 20-25 minutes.

Sweet and savory stirfry - 4 points

This is a super stir fry with an interesting flavor. Good for when your bored with other stir fry flavors. The cinnamon and ginger really combine to create an interesting sauce.

4 servings - 4 points per serving

4 frozen chicken medallions -8 points
1 bag frozen Asian veggies - 5 points (I like carrots)
1/2 can pineapples - 0 points
5 mushrooms (sliced) - 0 points

sauce
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce - 0 points (watch the carbs or you have to add a point)
4 tbsp pineapple juice - 0 points
1 tsp chopped garlic - 0 points
1/2 tsp crushed ginger - 0 points
2 shakes of cinnamon - 0 points

Put frozen medallions in wok with water. Let cook until white around edges while putting together the sauce.
Combine soy and juice, add garlic and ginger. Stir. Then add cinnamon and stir well.
When the chicken is white around the outside, drain water and add 1/4 sauce. Flip chicken and cook in sauce until browned. Then add veggies and 1/4 more of the sauce. Let cook while you chop the pineapple and mushrooms into chunks. When the frozen veggies are mostly thawed, add the mushrooms, pineapples, (and sauce to taste).

Cook until mushrooms start to soften. You can serve this over rice, toss in some cooked angel hair pasta with the mushrooms, or eat it by itself.

Also, I'm sure you'll notice I cook straight from frozen. That's because I'm too busy and not attentive enough to thaw. you can, of course, alter any of my recipes to use fresh/thawed food.

Reuben Casserole - 6 Points Plus

I love reuben sandwiches, but with all that fattening cheese and sauce, plus butter, they aren't worth the points. So I came up with a low points version of the recipe. This is a really simple and quick dinner.

serves 4 - 6 points plus per serving

Ingredients
6 slices of corned beef (cut into strips) - 6 points plus
1 jar of sauerkraut (drained) - 0 points
4 slices rye (cut into chunks) -- though I use sourdough - 8 points (might be more. check your brand)
2 tbsp thousand island - 3 points
1 tsp mustard - 0 points
1 tsp relish - 0 points
1/2 cup swiss cheese (though any white cheese works, and some are lower in points) 6 points


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix mustard, relish, and thousand island in casserole dish. Add corn beef strips and mix thoroughly, so corned beef is mostly coated and covers the bottom of the dish. Spread jar of sauerkraut over the top, then top with bread cubes and finally the cheese. 

Cook for 15 minutes until bread is brown and cheese is melted.

Sheppards Pie (Cottage pie) - 5 points per serving

Another recipe I really love is Shepard's Pie (Cottage pie). Here's a healthy(er) alternative.

Serves 6 - 5 points per serving.

2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped - 6 points
Head of cauliflower, chopped - 0 points
1/4 1% milk - 1 point
2 tbsp fat free sour cream - 0 points
1 lb 95% lean ground beef  - 20 points

1 tsp garlic - 0 points
1/4 cup chopped onion - 0 points
3 cups frozen vegi mix (I use carrot and pea mix, but you could use 0 point vegis to save points) 2 points
1 tsp soy sauce -0 points
2 tsp red wine  - 0 points
2 tsp ketchup - 0 points
2 tsp flour - 0 points
1 cup fat free beef broth - 0 points
Salt and pepper - 0 points






Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Boil the potatoes and cauliflower in a large pot until fork tender, usually about 9 minutes. Drain well. Put milk, sour cream, and salt and pepper (to taste) in blender with cauliflower and potatoes. Blend to mashed potato consistancy.
While potatoes are boiling, saute onion and garlic until they begin to brown then add the ground beef. When brown, drain, then add soy sauce, red wine and ketchup, along with frozen vegis. (if  you use fresh vegis, be sure to saute them a bit, then cook the beef.)
When everything is soft and smells cooked, put it into a pie tin and cover with potato mixture.
Cook for 16-20 minutes until bubbling.You might broil a minute or two at the end to brown the top, if you'd like. Or add a bit of cheese if you want to be extravagant. Just be sure to add the points.