Weight Watchers slow cooker cheeseburger soup

Review by Lyndee

Ingredients:

cooking spray

1 medium garlic clove minced

1 medium onion chopped

1 medium celery stalk chopped

6 baby carrots chopped (not in original recipe but I’m glad I added it)

1 red chili pepper (also not in original recipe)

1 lb uncooked lean ground beef ( with 7% fat)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups canned chicken broth, divided

1 cup low-fat evaporated milk

8 ounces Kraft Velveeta reduced fat cheese product cubed

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

24 baked corn tortilla chips, crumbled (optional)

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat for about 30 seconds.

Add garlic, onion, celery, carrots and pepper to skillet; cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender, about 5 to 10 minutes. Coat a 3-quart or larger slow cooker with cooking spray; spoon in vegetables.

Place same skillet over medium-high heat and brown beef, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks, pour off any liquid and add meat to slow cooker.

In a small cup, combine flour and 1/2 cup of broth; stir until lump-free. Pour flour mixture into same skillet; add remaining 2 1/2 cups of broth.

Bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits in bottom of skillet with a wooden spoon, and then pour into slow cooker; stir in evaporated milk, cheese, paprika, salt and pepper.

Cook on low setting for 2 hours.

Serve soup topped with crumbled chips.

Yields about 3/4 cup of soup and 3 tablespoons of chips per serving.

Note: If the soup cooks too long, the cheese could separate.

If that happens, combine 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup of soup in a cup; stir to a paste.

Stir flour mixture back into soup in slow cooker; cover and cook on low setting for 10 to 15 minutes (does not affect POINTS values).

This soup was awesome! It was so good I didn’t add the tortilla chips.  Figured that was just wasted calories and I liked it without just fine.  Excellent flavor and I’m a sucker for crock pot soups.  

Skinny Arroz con Pollo

Review by Lyndee

Ingredients:

4 Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into strips

1 Onion, diced

1 Green Pepper, diced

6 Garlic Cloves, diced

4 Cups Chicken Broth

2 Cups Water

1 Cup Light Beer or 1/2 Cup Dry Sherry + 1/2 Cup Water

3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

1 Bag Frozen Mixed Vegetables (I use carrots, broccoli & cauliflower with red peppers)

1 Bag Frozen Peas

1/4-1/2 Cup Green Pimento Olives (or to taste)

3 Tablespoons Goya Adobo Seasoning (lemon pepper, cumin, garlic powder, salt oregano, parsley)

1 Cup Cilantro (or to taste), chopped

1 Cup Ketchup

3 Cups Instant Rice

In a large pot, add all of the ingredients except the rice and half of the cilantro.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the rice and cover the pot with a lid.  Bring the mixture back up to a boil, then turn off the heat.  Allow the mixture sit, covered for 30 minutes.  Resist the temptation to open the lid and stir during this time!  The rice will soak up all of those delicious flavors while it sits!  When you're ready to serve, gently stir in the other half of the cilantro.  Serves 12 People.

I made a couple of modifications here.  I didn’t use the peas or the olives.  I went with sherry cooking wine over light beer.  This was pretty good.  Easy and cheap to make.  This makes a huge batch though so if you’re not expecting company or planning to eat leftovers for days, I would recommend freezing some.  This can be easily frozen in freezer bags and pulled out for a meal down the road, according to the blogger.  

5 weight watchers points. 

Weight Watchers Cheesecake Squares (5 points)

Review by Lyndee:

Makes 16 squares

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (I used low fat)

3/4 cup M&M or Smarties candies

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

1 egg

1/3 cup margarine (I used butter)

1 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar, granulated

1/3 cup sugar, brown packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Beat the margarine and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the walnuts and flour; mix well.  Reserve 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture; press the remaining crumb mixture into bottom of an 8″ square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Combine the softened cream cheese, granulated sugar and vanilla; using an electric mixer, mix at medium speed until well blended.  Add the egg; mix well.  Layer 1/2 cup of the Smarties or M&M candies over the crust; top with the cream cheese mixture.  Combine the remaining candy and reserved crumb mixture; mix well.  Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the cream cheese mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Let cool completely before serving.

WW POINTS for one square: 5

Nutritional information for one square: 217 calories, 13.6g fat, 0.7g fiber

These are really delicious! I did not use the walnuts and I opted for butter and low fat cream cheese.  Easy to make and came out tasting great.  You could use any variation of the M&M’s. I think dark chocolate or peanut butter would be amazing!