1 Pro Point Mini Pizzas

When it's May and it's supposed to be summer but it's cold and wet outside you need a little bit of comfort. For me this week that comfort was pizza, I just wanted pizza! I started thinking about the mini pizzas from my childhood and how I loved them. I wanted the mini pizza comfort of my childhood, but I didn't want the Pro Point damage so I created a version that is surprisingly tasty and satisfies the need for comfort food.

Mini Aubergine Pizza

Whole recipe - 6 Pro Points
1 Pro Point per 2 Pizzas

Ingredients

1 Aubergine
2 Tbsp Tomato Puree
80g Light Mozzarella
Dried Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Fry Lite

Method

Slice the Aubergine into 6, 1cm rounds,
Place the rounds on kitchen paper and sprinkle with a little Salt,
leave for 30 minutes (this draws out excess moisture & stops the Aubergine from going soggy)
Spread each round with Tomato Puree,
Sprinkle with Pepper & Oregano,
Slice the Mozzarella into 6 & top each pizza with one slice,
Spray with Garlic Fry Lite & bake at 200oC for 15-20 minutes or until the Mozzarella is bubbling & golden.

Serve & enjoy with a side salad & home made garlic bread (make sure to add extra Pro Points)

Avocado & Greek Yoghurt Dip With Home made Tortilla chips

Chips & dip is a wonderful combination, great for parties, for snacks, nibbles for watching a movie. Unfortunately they are typically very high in calories and therefor not so great for us weight watchers. I have come up with a wonderful chip & dip combination that wont break your Pro Point bank. And if I do say so myself it's absolutely delicious!

Avocado & Greek Yoghurt Dip with Home Made Tortilla chips

Serves 2

7 Pro Points per recipe on the Pro Points plan

4 pro Points per recipe on the Filling & Healthy plan

Avocado & Greek Yoghurt Dip

Ingredients

1  Large Avocado 

Juice of half a Lime

3 tbsp 0% Greek Yoghurt

2 garlic Cloves, Crushed

1 Inch piece of Ginger, peeled & grated

Half a tsp Smoked Paprika

Half a tsp Cayenne pepper (optional)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Small dash of water\

2 Weight watchers Wraps

Calorie Controlled Spray

Sea salt & Ground Black Pepper

Method

Half the Avocado, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh,

Add it to the blender,

Then add the remaining ingredients,

Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides half way through

Home Made Tortilla Chips

Preheat oven to 180c

Cut the wraps into triangles,

Place on a lined baking sheet,

Spray with Calorie Controlled Spray,

Sprinkle with Salt & Pepper or seasoning of your choice,

Bake for 8 minutes or until crisp and lightly golden

leave to cool

Serve & enjoy a very tasty savoury snack!

   

Quinoa Buffalo Bites

Quinoa Buffalo Bites

The whole recipe works out as 6 Pro Points on the Filling & Healthy program

5 Bites are only 1 Pro Point on Filling & Healthy

1 bottle of Franks Buffalo Wing sauce

2 cups cooked Quinoa

1/2 Cups Paxo Breadcrumbs

1 Egg

Salt & Pepper

1 can Cannellini Beans, mashed

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

In a bowl combine the Beans, Quinoa, Egg & Breadcrumbs with 4 tbsp of Franks Buffalo sauce, add salt & pepper to taste.

Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Form into balls, using about half a tablespoon of mixture to make about 30 bites.

Heat a frying pan and add oil.

Add the bites and cook until crisp & golden on all sides (about 5 minutes)

repeat with remaining balls.

When all the bites are cooked, roll each bite in the leftover Franks sauce being careful not to break the balls.

Serve as finger food at a party or accompany with salad for a tasty lunch or dinner.

Or you could be a little naughty and serve them with home made oven fries with taco sauce and cheese for a friday night fake-away!

Filling & Healthy Granola Yogurt Pot

Filling & Healthy Granola Yogurt Pot

Ok, so it's not really granola, but it certainly does the job when your on a Filling & Healthy day or even for those looking for a low pro Pointed breakfast or snack. 

Serves 1

Free on Filling & Healthy

2 Pro Points

3 tsp Filling & Healthy Jam, I used a mixed berry one I made during the week.

80g 0%Greek Yogurt

1 tsp Vanilla extract

20g Toasted oats.

1tsp Sweetener, I used Stevia

1tsp Cinnamon

Fry Lite

Preheat oven to 200

Place your oats in a small oven dish or baking tray, sprinkle with Cinnamon and sweetener and spray with a little Fry Lite.

Bake in the oven for 5 Minutes, mixing once half way. Oats should be lightly golden.

Place the jam in the bottom of a glass.

Mix the yogurt with the vanilla and layer it on top of the jam.

When the Oats are done and have cooled a little place on top of the yogurt. 

Serve and enjoy!

Filling & Healthy Pumpkin Bread and White Chocolate, Pumpkin Muffins

I love pumpkin!

From Pumpkin Pie to Pumpkin Spice Lattes I have become a little Pumpkin addict! I am blaming my friend Mandi, who is originally from America for the addiction. I found cans of Pumpkin puree in my local Supervalu and I just about exploded with excitement, but at €2.49 a can, its pricey.
Mandi, however, very kindly gave me two cans of Pumpkin puree courtesy of her mothers care packages. I was excited to use it as soon as possible, pumpkin pie being the obvious option but not necessarily the most Weight watchers Friendly!
I came up with a few ideas and I settled on Pumpkin bread and some muffins to start with and off I went on a Pumpkin baking spree!

First off for these recipes you will need pumpkin puree and Pumpkin Spice. If you can't get your hands on canned Pumpkin you can make your own Puree from roasting and mashing fresh Pumpkins. Pumpkin spice is a mix of Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Clove, All Spice and Ginger, here is the mix I used for mine - http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/pumpkin-pie-spice-recipe/

Filling & Healthy Pumpkin & Oat Bread

Free on the Filling & Health plan

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree (canned or home made)
1 Cup Low Fat Natural Yogurt
4 Cups of Porridge Oats
2 Eggs
2 Tsp Pumpkin Spice
3 Tbsp Sweetener of choice
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Dash of Skimmed Milk
Fry lite

Preheat Oven to 180

Stir together the Pumpkin and yogurt in a mixing bowl.
Add the Eggs, Pumpkin Spice, vanilla, oats, sweetener and baking powder and mix well, adding a dash of skimmed milk as needed.

Spray a 2lb loaf tin with Fry Lite and fill with the bread dough.
Bake in the oven for 40 - 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and turn onto a wire rack to cook further.

White Chocolate Chip & Pumpkin Muffins

Makes 12

1Pro Point each on the Filling & Healthy Plan

1 Cup Pumpkin Puree (canned or home made)
1 Cup Low Fat Natural Yogurt
4 Cups of Porridge Oats
2 Eggs
2 Tsp Pumpkin Spice
3 Tbsp Sweetener of choice
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Dash of Skimmed Milk
80g White Chocolate Buttons (Smashed in a bag using a rolling pin)
Fry lite
2 Squares White Chocolate

Preheat Oven to 180

Stir together the Pumpkin and yogurt in a mixing bowl.
Add the Eggs, Pumpkin Spice, vanilla, oats, sweetener, baking powder and White Chocolate,
Mix well, adding a dash of skimmed milk as needed.

Line a cupcake tin with Muffin Cases and spray the cases with Fry Lite.
Using an Ice Cream scoop, pack the scoop with the muffin mix and empty into the muffin cases.
Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack
Melt the 2 squares of White Chocolate and drizzle over the tops of the Muffins.

Homemade Beetroot Hummus

This homemade hummus is so quick and easy to make, great for those mid afternoon munchies!

Homemade Beetroot Hummus

Free on Filling & Healthy.
Whole recipe 15 Pro Points,
2 Tbsp is 1 Pro Point

400g Can of Chickpeas
400g Ready Cooked Beetroot
1tbsp Ground Cumin
2 Cloves of Garlic
1tsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 tsp Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Blend the drained Chickpeas, Beetroot, Cumin & Garlic in a food processor until a thick lumpy paste has formed.
With the processor on a low speed slowly add in the Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar then blend on a high speed until smooth.

Serve with toasted Bagels, Carrot sticks or toasted Pita Bread.

Filling & Healthy Rhubarb Breakfast Crumble

Dont worry I did not have dessert for breakfast! This is a savoury crumble but you could make it a dessert by adding sweetener to it if you fancied.

I was out and about very early, not like my typical Sunday where I grab a nice lie in and then make a yummy Filling & healthy Brunch. Today i was Babysitting at 9am, so I was up at 8am and grabbed a bowl of Bitesize Shredded Wheat. When I got back home at Midday I was feeling peckish and I started to stew some Rhubarb & cooking apples, I was going to have them with yogurt when William came up with the bright Idea of turning it into a sort of Crumple, Genius!

Filling & Healthy Rhubarb Breakfast crumble

2 sticks of Rhubarb, chopped
2 cooking apples, peeled & chopped
Porridge oats (I didn't Measure them, so this will need t be done by eye)
Cinnamon
Ground Clove
Ground Ginger
water
0% Greek Yogurt

Preheat oven to 200 Degree C

Place the chopped fruit into  saucepan with a tbsp of water, Stew on low/medium heat for 20 minutes
Pour out a large portion of Oats (enough to cover the top of your baking/pyrex dish)
gradually mix in the water to the Oats a bit at a time, to make a spreadable paste like consistancy and mix in the spices.
when the fruit is done pour it into your baking dish and spread the Oat mixture on top.
Sprinkle the top with more Oats and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until golden on top.
Serve with a dollop of Greek Yogurt and enjoy!

Filling & Healthy Falafel

I was inspired to try and make Filling & Healthy Gluten Free Falafel after a conversation with my friend Amy, who told me that she misses being able to have them since she began to suffer from a gluten & wheat intolerance.

Filling & Healthy Gluten Free Falafel

Makes: 10

(If you were to eat all 10 you will need to take 2pp for the Gluten free Flour out of your weekly 49)

1 Can Chickpeas, drained
2 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
1 small Onion, finely diced
1 tbsp fresh/dried Parsley
1 tsp ground Coriander
1/2tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Cumin
1 1/2 tblsp Gluten Free Flour (alternatively use regular flour)
1/2 tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder (alternatively use regular baking powder)
Salt & pepper to taste
Fry Lite

Preheat oven to 200.

Place the drained chickpeas into a food processor, add the garlic & onion and blend together.
Add the remaining ingredients and blend well, until a thick paste has formed.
Form the paste into small balls and place on a lined baking tray that has been sprayed with Fry Lite.
Spray the tops of the balls with more Fry Lite.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, turning halfway.

I made a delicious Filling & Healthy salad out of my Falafel. I placed 3 of the falafel on a bed of  Rocket & Spinach leaves, topped with left over Whole-wheat couscous, a sprinkle of Feta cheese (taken from my 49 weekly pro Points)
You could also make some Filling & healthy Humus and make a falafel wrap/pitta with shredded lettuce or red cabbage. Yummy!

Porridge Bread Scones & Home Made ''Nutella''

Firstly I would like to apologies for my disappearance lately, I have been very busy. I have been doing my Weight Watchers leader Training. I passed my assessment last week and I am now officially a Weight watchers Leader! I am very excited and also eager to get going with classes. I will have more news soon about where my classes will be, for those of you interested in that.

Now I would like to make a splash back into blogging with my new recipe.

Porridge bread is by no means a new creation to us Weight watchers people, since the beginning of Simple Start in January we have all been raving about its wonderfulness. It truly is genius! However I did begin to get a little bored with the bread and mine was ever turning out quiet right, it was always a bit soggy in the middle. I would leave it in the oven for double the stated time but no such luck would come about.

So I decided to try turning the bread dough into scones instead and it worked a treat, they cooked perfectly and I am now in love with them. The scones, like the bread is free on Simple Start or Filling & healthy. I have worked out the Pro Points for those of you who prefer to count. I am now a complete convert to Filling & Healthy myself, so I do recommend you give it a try if you haven't already.

porridge Bread Scones

Serves 12

Free on Filling & Healthy
or 4 Pro Points each.

500g  tub Low Fat Natural Yogurt
Twice the empty Yogurt tub filled with Porridge Oats
1 Tsp Salt
2 Tsp bread Soda

Preheat oven to 180c

Empty the Low Fat Natural Yogurt into a mixing bowl,
Fill up the Yogurt tub twice with Porridge Oats and mix into the Yogurt along with the Salt and Bread Soda. Mix well to form a wet dough.
Grease a 12 spaced Bun Tin with Fry Lite. Using an Ice-Cream/Potato Scoop, Scoop the dough between the 12 spaced Bun Tin. Sprinkle over Wheat Germ if desired and bake in the oven for 40 Minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Place on a wire rack to cool.

*update - I got a new oven and now my Porridge Bread Scones cook in 20 - 25 minutes, so make sure you keep an eye on them.

Now the scones are just to get you started, the real delight is the home made ''Nutella'' I have come up with. It is what I would describe as a healthy grown-ups Nutella, a dark Chocolate and Hazelnut spread. It works out much the same in Pro Points as Nutalla does but it has less Sugar and no Palm Oil, so is much better for us. I am really in love with this one! It is the perfect accompaniment for the scones and will curb any Chocolate craving!

Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Spread

2pp for 1Tbsp or 3pp for 2 Tbsp

150g Whole Hazelnuts
60g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
50g Sweet Freedom Syrup (Light or Dark)
120ml Skimmed Milk
1tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 180c

Place the Hazelnuts on a lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 10 minutes.
when the hazelnuts are done place them between 2 pieces of Kitchen paper and rub to remove the skins (this is tiresome work but do prevail!)
Place the skinless Hazelnuts in a food processor and blend on a medium/high setting for 10 minutes or until a peanut butter consistency is achieved, scraping down the sides as necessary.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend until well combined.

Spoon into a sterilised jar, I used 2 small ones and refrigerate and use within one week.

Enjoy! :)

Filling & Healthy Porridge Oat Pancakes

I have had a longing for pancakes for days now. It's seeing all the pancake mixes and toppings filling the shelves of the supermarkets. Pancake Tuesday is on it's way and gosh do I love pancakes!

I am filled with lovely thoughts of stuffing myself with pancakes all day on Pancake Tuesday. The reality is I will probably have 3 or 4 and be stuffed! While I am saving myself for ''Real'' Pancakes on Pancake Tuesday I don't want to waste any of my weekly pro points on them right now. I have been making alternative filling & healthy pancakes to keep me satisfied for now.

Most of us know of and love the banana & egg pancakes that have been circling around for a while now. I had them yesterday. While they are quick, easy and a good substitute for pancake cravings, sometimes I am a little bothered about the banana taste that comes with them.

Today I decided to try out a different method and the results were very, very surprising! These pancakes tasted very much like the real deal and were very satisfying and filling. I will be opting for these pancakes instead of the banana ones so long as I am following the filling & healthy program.

Porridge Oat Pancakes.

Free on Filling & healthy
Makes 4 Pancakes.

4 scoops of Porridge Oats (I used the red scoop that comes with microwave porridge oats, this works out at 60g)
2 eggs.
A large dash of Skimmed Milk (I did not measure the milk, I added in a little at a time until i got the desired batter consistency for pancakes)
1tsp Vanilla Extract
1tsp Baking Powder
Fry Light

Pour all ingredients into a baking bowl and blend using a hand blender. Alternatively mix together with a spoon or whizz in the food processor.
Spray your frying pan with some Fry Light and heat the pan to a medium/high heat.
Using a serving spoon or ladle pour some of the batter onto the frying pan.
These pancakes cook very fast so keep an eye on them.
After a minute flip over to the other side and cook for a further minute.
Repeat with the remaining batter and serve with your favourite topping.


You can make these pancakes gluten free by using gluten free oats and baking powder.