Weight Watcher Friendly Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms

That’s a mouthful.  I’ve really been trying to recommit 100 percent to Weight Watchers lately.  To date I have lost 70 lbs, but in the last few months, nothing.  I haven’t gained though, so I still feel good.  Today I was hungry.  Like really, crazy hungry, but committed to staying within my points.  So I was looking for something hearty and filling that would be very low in points.  When I saw the box of mushrooms in the produce drawer I knew that would be my jumping off point.  So armed with some goodies from the fridge I set to work.  These mushrooms have only 1 pt for an entire serving!!  They were super yummy and satisfying, but you could also customize them to your tastes, just be aware that the points might change. 

Recipe:
serves 2 as an entrée, serves more for an appetizer
1 box washed and dried mushrooms
1/2 c.  Trader Joes light shredded Mexican cheese
1/4 head of broccoli, finely chopped (I used two florets? of broccoli from the head)
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp garlic seasoning ( I used Tastefully Simple’s Garlic Garlic)




Remove the stems from your mushrooms.  I use a spoon to do this.  Dice the stems and reserve in bowl.  Place the mushrooms cap side down on a lightly greased baking sheet.  In the bowl with the diced stems add the chopped broccoli, onion, poultry seasoning and garlic seasoning.  Stir together and fill each mushroom cap with a spoonful. You will need to use your fingers to gently press the stuffing into place.  Top with a sprinkle of shredded cheese.  Bake at 375 until the cheese is browned on top and mushroom caps are soft, about 10-15 minutes.
Kim

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D.I.Y. Sweets: Skinny Cherry Muffins

Recently I had dinner with my parents at a chain restaurant and my mom ordered cherry bread as a side.  I was pretty jealous, because I love all things cherry.  I didn’t try any because I could just tell that the calorie count was through the roof, but I did ogle it quite a bit.  I’m not going to lie, that cherry bread has been on my mind for a while now.  Then today I saw some diet cherry 7UP sitting on my counter and had a light bulb moment.  Why not recreate them in a Weight Watchers friendly form?  So that’s what I did this morning.  These are 2 pts each on Weight Watchers and the recipe makes about 26.  You could freeze some for later or give them to a friend. 

Skinny Cherry Muffins
1 box yellow cake mix
10 oz cherry 7UP
25 diced maraschino cherries and 1 tbsp liquid from cherries

(These heart shaped mini tins are from a million years ago, made by Reynolds.  I wish I could find them again, but I don’t think they make them anymore )
In a bowl combine the cake mix and soda and beat until no large lumps are remaining.  Add the cherries and liquid and stir until combined.  Pour into paper cupcake liners about 3/4 full.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. 
These came out so moist and the flavor is just perfect!
* Yes, I know these are full of chemicals and red dye.  I eat super healthy 95% of the time, naturally and organically.  Every once in a while I want something sweet and dessert like that doesn’t break my Weight Watchers points for the day.  I live by the “all things in moderation” code.  If you aren’t trying to lose weight you could certainly make these with out the soda and use a from scratch cake recipe.  I would suggest adding in fresh cherries and cherry juice, to avoid the red dye.

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D.I.Y. Sweets: Skinny Snowball Cake

Sunday we celebrated my dad’s birthday with a little brunch and cake.  As long as I can remember my dad has been a fan of those packaged snowball cupcakes that you can buy at the store.  This year he has decided to join Weight Watchers, so since now there are more people on WW than not in my family I really wanted to do a WW friendly cake.  I thought for days on how to make this and keep it fairly accurate to the original without going calorie cray cray.  The final result is a pretty good cake for 8 pts per slice (1/12 of the cake).  It’ s not 100% a copy of the original, the inside filling is more cheesecake like that the cream on the original.  You could totally make this full fat if you aren’t watching your calories.

Snowball Cake recipe:
1 box chocolate fudge flavored cake mix
12 oz cherry Coke zero
8 oz light cream cheese
2 tbs granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

In your mixing bowl mix the cake mix and soda until there are no lumps.  Pour into a greased bowl. I used a pyrex mixing bowl, it can be whatever size you like it just needs to be oven safe.

In a separate bowl mix the cream cheese, egg, vanilla and sugar.  Beat well until smooth.  Carefully and slowly pour into the middle of the cake mix.  I used a spoon to help make a well to pour the mixture into.
Place in the oven at 350 and bake until a tester comes out clean.  Mine took almost an hour, but it will really depend on the depth/width of your bowl.
Let the cake cool and turn out onto a cake plate.
Marshmallow frosting:
1- 7 oz. container of marshmallow cream
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. shredded coconut
food coloring –optional

In a mixing bowl combine the marshmallow cream and powdered sugar.  Frost the cake with this mixture.  It will be kind of sticky.

In a baggie mix your coconut with a drop of pink food color until tinted.  Press into the frosting.
WW pts + 8 per 1/12 of the cake
*note, I did have  bit of trouble with the frosting wanting to slide off of my cake a little bit.  This might be solved by adding more sugar but it may also raise the points per serving.

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