Hearty Harvest Beef Stew

Yesterday, as you are all aware, was the first day of Autumn! Fall is my favorite season; I am in awe each year looking at the colors of changing leaves, feeling the crisp hint of cool that enters the air, and of course the sight of pumpkins everywhere! In celebration of the season I decided to adapt (only in using the healthiest version of each ingredient) a WW Online recipe for Slow Cooker Beef and Vegetable Soup. This soup combines flavors I had never before seen in beef stew...cinnamon, honey, sweet potatoes and prunes! I unfortunately did not have any prunes and used golden raisins instead which not only added the texture of prunes, and a similar dried fruit essence, but came at a lower points cost. Cannot begin to tell you how great this thick, rich stew tastes...or how amazing your house will smell after having this savory concoction simmering away for 8 hours! Gotta try: Hearty Harvest Beef Stew

Lubiya and Cinnamon-Apple Cake with Honey Glaze

L'Shanah Tovah! Happy New Year! Rosh Hashanah began last night as dusk settled and started off the High Holy Days for Jews around the world...to celebrate I made a traditional black-eyed pea soup and a WW adaptation of a apple spice cake from the, "WW Healthy & Happy Celebrations" cookbook. The use of black-eyed peas as a celebratory new years feast dates back as far as ancient Egypt where the bean was served up in a turmeric colored broth to symbolize fertility...other cultures, including U.S. Southern culture, still use this legume as a hallmark of the season. The recipe I used makes a hearty soup called Lubiya; the richness of the beans along with the spice of hot chilies and the distinct flavor of fresh cilantro make this a warm and spicy soup to prepare us for the cool fall days ahead (assuming you don't live in Texas!) for a mere 3pts. And of course in keeping with the traditional idea of consuming apples and honey in anticipation of the sweetness of the year to come I made a Cinnamon-Apple Cake with Honey Glaze. The cake is a great way of upholding this tradition with nutmeg, cinnamon, fresh apples, cider and brown sugar to name a few. At only 4pts per serving this cake will add a great end to any fall menu. With the Gregorian New Year coming up and fall/winter holidays in abundance before hand now is as good as time as any to re-energize our efforts and continue our healthy living into the season ahead. Happy Cooking! Lubiya and Cinnamon-Apple Cake with Honey Glaze

Sweet and yummy goodness!

Tomato-Pesto Ravioli

Last night's dinner is proof in itself that anyone with 10 minutes of time can make a WW friendly meal at home! As I keep mentioning we have been SO busy lately...no surprise then that around 7:40pm last night we realized our hunger and the need for an insanely fast meal. Several ideas came to mind but my penchant for Italian on Friday nights held true so pasta it was! The challenge to this dish is finding a store that sells pre-made light cheese ravioli...once you have secured the pasta add in fire roasted tomatoes and a bit of pesto and voile! Admittedly omitting the pesto will save you some points but for those of us that love the sweet nutty basil mixture an extra point or so is worth the trouble; top with fresh cut basil and parmesan (1pt extra) if desired and you have a great/fast Italian meal for 7pts. Happy Cooking! Tomato-Pesto Ravioli

Poutine with Mushroom Gravy and Garlic Cheese

First off this week has been crazy, not to mention that we still have two parties to attend over the weekend! So all apologies for the lack of cooking that has been occurring; I only hope that my exercise efforts are counter-acting said festivities. That aside...Happy Canada Day!!! or belated at least. So if you can't get Wojtek to Canada...bring Canada to him! Poutine, for those of you that don't know, is a food strongly associated with Canadian cuisine. Essentially it is all things terrible combined into one dish...fries, gravy and cheese curds! There are many variations but for this version I opted to go for flavor through herbs and veggies rather than using a fattier meat based gravy. The fries were freshly cut by hand and seasoned to make them carry a bit of flavor rather than fried crunch and oven baked until crisp. The mushroom gravy was accentuated by the addition of mushrooms and caramelized onions in sherry and the "cheese curds" were replaced by 100 Calorie Pack Mozzarella Garlic & Herb cheese bites. The end results according to W, "...best poutine I've ever had!" Clearly he is too sweet for words, but it really did turn out great and would make for a good introduction to this classic Canadian fare if you have never tried...plus not bad when only 7pts, pair with asparagus and you've got a great meal. Poutine with Mushroom Gravy and Garlic Cheese

Pierogies with Creamy Mushroom and Sherry Sauce, Balsamic Spinach and Turtle Brownies

Perhaps my favorite recipe thus far into the WW cooking experience (beginning around March) has been what I deliciously whipped up for dinner last night. Growing up I had the occasional pierogie from the typical sources...Oktoberfest festivals, international cuisine events, etc. However, since meeting my sweet Polish love, pierogies have become somewhat of a staple. So imagine my surprise when I found a fantastic and super easy recipe from the, "WW Stir It Up! Super Skillet Cookbook." This recipe has a truly phenomenal taste combination of nutty mushrooms with caramelized onions in a sherry flavored sour cream sauce that when topped with chives is pretty perfect. The pierogies themselves require no effort as pre-made low fat store versions are used to keep the fat/calories in check. A generous 1 1/2cup serving is a great way to spend 5pts! Definitely try Pierogies with Creamy Mushroom and Sherry Sauce

To accompany the very rich tasting pierogies I usually opt for a side of steamed asparagus, but since local stores were out I went for another lovely green staple...spinach! To "fanci-fy" my side I quickly sauteed the spinach (one bag of pre-washed baby spinach) in 1tbsp of balsamic vinegar. Upon wilt I added a few quick seasonings: 1/4tsp salt, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp black pepper. And to really add some extra flavor I used 1oz or 2tbsp of fat free feta for a great tasting side with a .5pt value! Serving size may vary depending upon how wilted you allow your spinach to become...however mine measured a very full 1/3 cup scoop.

For dessert I tried making a new kind of brownie; I love brownies and since starting WW I have tried at least four recipes that have results ranging from "ok" to "I actually had a friend try it and she spat it out." So imagine my surprise when the Turtle Brownies from, "WW Ultimate Classics 101 Best-Loved Recipes," turned out so good that I double checked the points value certain that I would find a 6 in place of the 3. These are definitely worth the effort! I think the secret lies in pre-toasting the pecans for that extra nutty flavor or perhaps it is just the inclusion of Rolos (by the way, I could never find Mini Rolos so I ended up cutting up a role of the regular kind...I cut each piece into fours.) To make this recipe even better (if you were not already convinced) by using butter, sugar and egg substitute I was able to make the brownies drop from 3pts to 2pts per brownie! If you are a brownie or chocolate lover you have got to try Turtle Brownies

So there you have last night's feast for a whopping total of 7.5pts! Happy Cooking!

Balkan Aubergines with Cheese, Salad with Fruit and Cherry Clafouti

I should first mention that I am on the second to last night of dinner rotation for the week; in an effort to make dinnertime mutually beneficial meal planning is accomplished by Wojtek and I sitting around a pile of cookbooks picking out random things to try. So for your very first peek into Weight Watchers cuisine here are last night's random pickings.

The main course is a recipe adaptation from Marlena Spieler's, "The Complete Guide To Traditional Jewish Cooking," and just so happens to be a frequent repeat. I love this dish! The official name of Balkan Aubergines with Cheese could just as easily be Eggplant Souffle. The rich taste of cheese combined with the nutmeg, cayenne pepper and toasted eggplant make for something entirely out of the realm of "diet" food yet only adds up to a mere 3 points per serving (for those of you not on WW, points are the calculation of fat, calories and fiber based on serving size.) I am still uncertain of how best to display recipes not found on WW so I'll wait until I hear feedback concerning preference, for now I am going to enter my recipes into the WW data-frame so that if you choose to make any of these dishes you will have quick access to a printer friendly recipe. The biggest changes in this dish were the use of fat free milk over whole; the use of fat free cheese over whole; and roasting the eggplant via oven broiler with only a sheen of cooking spray as opposed to the original recipe that calls for deep frying the slices in oil. So here is my version of Balkan Aubergines with Cheese

The salad I made for dinner has become a summer staple in this household; it just may be the most simple salad you have ever made that still retains a sense of being more than just your typical iceberg and ranch combo. Too simple to enter online I will just tell you what goes in it...

Salad with Fruit

1 Bag of Sweet Baby Lettuce (or any other preferred mixed green)

1 Cup of Sliced Strawberries

1/3 Cup Fresh Blueberries

2oz or 4tbsp Fat Free Feta Crumbles

2tbsp Maple Grove Farms of Vermont F.F. Balsamic Vinaigrette (0pts!)

Fresh Chives (optional) 

Toss everything together very well and serve it up! The only points in the salad come from the feta which is 2pts for the entire salad, so simply adjust your pts according to how much of the salad you eat!

For dessert think decadent, think French...I found this recipe on WW and given my love for cherries I knew it would be delicious. Apparently clafouti is a traditional French countryside dessert that is a distant cousin to Spanish Flan. First I should mention that not being a cognac drinker myself I found it quite amusing to stroll into the liquor store and head for the Courvoisier (flashback to college and Busta Rhymes I'm sure.) The results of this experiment were fantastic! The cherries were enveloped in a sweet custard that retained the smooth and distinct taste of the cognac (I feel pretty confident given the cook time that the alcohol cooks off, though I could be wrong.) The portion size is quite substantial and only 3pts per serving...be sure to try this one Cherry Clafouti

So there you have it...my dinner last night, in three parts with a total points value of: 7! Happy Cooking!