Pineapple Pretzel Salad

My friend Jessica, who I work with at Mother's Day Out, made this to share. I took one bite and one bite only, but it was soooooooooooo good! Here is her recipe. I'm trying to figure out how I can make it more weight watcher friendly.....I have some ideas!


Pretzel Salad

1 cup of crushed pretzels
1 stick of butter or margarine (melted)
1/2 cup of sugar
Combine above ingredients and pour into a small baking pan. Spread flat and bake for 7 minutes at 400 degrees. Stir as it cools so that it is crumbly.

1/2 cup of sugar
12 ounces of cool whip
1 package of cream cheese
1 12 ounce can of crushed pineapple (well drained)

Mix ingredients together well and top with the pretzel mixture before serving. Keep chilled.

Weight Watchers Bean Salad

I so love a good bean salad...so fresh and tangy tasting. I haven't tried this recipe..but it's seems less in points that the store bought one I Love from Sam's.


Weight Watchers Bean Salad recipe
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients
4 (16 ounce) cans beans (green beans or kidney beans or chickpeas or cannellini beans or wax beans or black-eyed peas), rinsed and drained
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Let sit to marinate for several hours (to overnight) before serving.

WW POINTS per serving: 5Nutritional information per serving: 250 calories, 13.9g fat, 8.1g fiber

Ways to Cut Calories

I was reading online and found these "tips" to cut calories. Some good ideas here!



11 Simple Ways to Cut Calories

Anyone who's ever tried to lose weight knows it takes work. But it may not require as much as you think. Throwing everything at the problem might, in fact, be exactly why you fail at the latest plan you've sworn you'll stick to. "You have to start small," says Holly Wyatt, MD, a clinical researcher at the Center for Human Nutrition in Denver. "People tend to launch on a weight-loss program and try to change everything in their lives all at once." Therein lies the problem, experts say. Such drastic attempts rarely ever work. The simple solution? Make incremental adjustments to your eating and exercise habits that can shave calories here and there for maximum impact. For example, consuming just 100 fewer calories each day is enough to avert the 1 to 2 pounds the average person gains each year, says Wyatt, who co-authored a study in the Journal Science on battling obesity. To lose weight, you have to go a step further, she says, downsizing by 500 calories a day. But you don't have to slash them all from your plate. "You can eat 250 calories less and then burn 250 by walking for 30 to 45 minutes. Over a week, that will produce about a pound of weight loss," Wyatt says. You won't see dramatic changes immediately, but small tweaks like these can, and will, pay off over time.

1. Order two appetizers.Instead of an entrée, that is. It's no big secret that serving sizes at restaurants have grown exponentially over the last couple of decades. According to a study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the average hamburger is 23 percent larger today than it was in 1977, and soft drinks are a whopping 50 percent bigger. So rather than ordering a main course that might leave a long-haul truck driver requesting a doggie bag, choose a pasta dish and salad or soup from the appetizer column. The smaller sizes here won't wreak havoc on your dietary goals.

2. Visit the vending machine.Nibbling on single servings is better than digging your way to the bottom of a mega bag of chips. Just don't bring a whole roll of quarters along during your next snack attack.

3. Start with salad...and eat less during the rest of the meal, says a recent study from Pennsylvania State University. Researchers there had 33 women eat a variation on the same garden salad 20 minutes before a main pasta course. When the salads were topped with low-fat mozzarella and low-calorie Italian dressing instead of high-fat alternatives, the women ate 10 percent fewer calories over the course of the day.

4. Stick a fork in it.If you prefer your salad dressing on the side, dip your fork into it before stabbing your greens. That little maneuver could cut 500 calories, say Lyssie Lakatos and Tammy Lakatos Shames, authors of the book Fire Up Your Metabolism: 9 Proven Principles for Burning Fat and Losing Weight Forever (Fireside). Plunging an already-loaded fork into the buttermilk ranch will pick up more of the creamy condiment–and the calories that come with it.

5. Watch coffee calories.The fancy concoctions that are now the javas of choice for many people can contain as many calories as an entire lunch. A 16-ounce Starbucks Caffé Mocha with whole milk, for instance, packs 400 calories–the same number as in a grilled-chicken sandwich–along with 22 grams of fat and 33 grams of sugar. If a regular cup of joe bores you, slim down your latte by going with skim or 2 percent milk.

6. Walk and talk.The next time a call on your cell phone keeps you yakking for a while, slip on your walking shoes, and stroll the halls at work or hoof it outside. If you did this for 10 minutes every workday at a moderate 3 mph pace, you'd burn about 1,000 calories a month and lose 3 pounds a year.

7. Crack a nut.Dieters in a Harvard University study who ate a handful of peanuts or mixed nuts daily were more likely to keep weight off than a group whose regimen didn't include the high-fat snacks. Remember, though, that nuts are not only rich in heart-healthy fats but also calorie-dense: Count out 15 almonds or cashews or 30 pistachios to keep your consumption in check.

8. Don't just sit there.The average person burns 100 calories per hour sitting and 140 per hour standing. Get on your feet two hours a day while you work, and you could drop an extra 6 pounds over the year. To this end, Frances Wilkins, publisher of MemoryMinder diet journals, put a counter-height worktable in her office. "As a result, I move around much more, and it gives me a break from that office-chair posture," she says.

9. Sleep well, lose more.According to a recent study in The Lancet, sleep loss may hinder your efforts to lose extra pounds. Insufficient shut-eye appears to increase production of the stress hormone cortisol, which regulates appetite. High levels seem to worsen bingeing and hunger; moreover, too little sleep could keep your body from burning carbohydrates, which translates to more stored body fat.

10. Double your protein.The high-protein, low-carb approach may help keep you from losing muscle along with fat, according to a new study published in The Journal of Nutrition. Twenty-four overweight women ate 9 to 10 ounces of lean meat, three servings of low-fat dairy, and at least five servings of vegetables a day–roughly double the protein and half the carbs of the average American. Over 10 weeks, the women lost 16 pounds, about the same number as a control group who ate according to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. But the women who pumped up the protein lost 2 more pounds of fat while maintaining a pound more of calorie-burning muscle than the other subjects. The secret: the amino acid leucine, found in beef, dairy, poultry, fish, and eggs. According to study author Donald K. Layman, PhD, of the University of Illinois, it may help preserve muscle tissue.

11. Keep an exercise journal.Writing down your fitness achievements is a great way to track your progress, give yourself positive feedback, and maintain focus on your goals. Molly Kimball, RD, a sports nutritionist at New Orleans' Ochsner Clinic, goes one better, encouraging her clients to share their exercise diaries with friends. This fosters accountability by making your accomplishments and aspirations a matter of public record.

Summer Veggie Stir Fry

2 medium squash, washed
1 medium green pepper
1/2 red onion
Olive Oil
Roasted Garlic Grinders Salt
Butter Buds ( low cal butter flavoring)

Wash veggies. Diced into desired size. Add about tablespoon olive oil, salt and Butter Bud. Stir till veggie are tender. Enjoy over rice with a bit of soy sauce. (Sometime I add soy sauce while I'm cooking them)

Cheesy Potato Skins

Cheesy Potato Skins

2 POINTS per serving

Ingredients:
4 Large potatoes
2 tablespoons butter -- melted
1 medium tomato -- chopped
1/2 cup cheese -- colby-jack
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
5 medium green onion -- sliced

Instructions:

Heat oven to 375º. Scrub potatoes; pierce potatoes to allow steam to escape. Bake about 45 minutes or until tender. Let stand until cool enough to handle.Cut potatoes lengthwise into fourths; carefully scoop out pulp, leaving 1/4 inch shells. Save potato pulp for another use.Set oven control to broil. Place potato shells, skin sides down, on rack in broiler pan. Brush with butter.Broil with tops 4 to 5 inches from heat 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp and brown. Sprinkle tomato and cheese over potatoes. Broil about 30 seconds or until cheese is melted. Top with fat-free sour cream; sprinkle with green onions

Yield: 8 serving2 POINTS per serving

Nutrition information:Per serving: 89 Calories (kcal); 3g Total Fat; (28% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; 9mg Cholesterol; 47mg Sodium

LuAnn's Note: I haven't tried this one yet..but it sounds yummy! I hope it's really only 2 points a serving. I LUV potato dishes!!!

Potato, Onion and Carrot Bake

My mom used to make something similar to this. I think it's easy and good.

5 or 6 Potatoes ( I like Idaho)
about 10 baby carrots
1 medium onion , sliced or diced
1 small red onion ( adds color)
1/2 of butter or margarine
Garlic Salt ( I like the "grinders"....roasted garlic sea salt
pepper to taste

Sliced potatoes (I use my Pampered Chef apple/peeler/corer/slicer to do mine... Gives it some "curly Q" effects.) I take the "core" since it's still all potato and slice it in the dish. I dice 10 baby carrots, both types of onion and toss it around. I top with about 1/2 cup butter or margarine and grind the sea salts and pepper over the dish. I toss it around. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake about 50 minutes until potatoes, carrots, and onion are cooked. Enjoy!

Cucumber Sandwiches

Italian Cucumber Sandwiches


1 cup mayonnaise1
(.7 ounce package dry) Italian-style salad dressing mix

1 (1 pound) loaf cocktail rye bread
1 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced

Directions
1 In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix mayonnaise and dry Italian-style salad dressing mix.
2 Arrange the cocktail rye bread slices in a single layer on a serving platter.
3 Place mayonnaise mixture in a pastry bag and squeeze an approximately 1 inch dollop of the mixture onto each cocktail rye bread slice.
4 Top each cocktail rye bread slice with a cucumber slice.