My version of Weight Watcher Free Soup

(free meaning up to 3 one cup servings a day)

6 cups chicken broth
1 medium diced onion
2 cups tomato juice
2 cups fresh chunky tomatoes
3 cups fresh or frozen green beans
1/2 cup diced celery
3 cups shredded cabbage
2 cups diced fresh carrots
2 cups julienned zucchini
spices of your choice

Mix all in large soup pot, and simmer until vegetables are tender crisp.

Add other "free" vegetables such as cauliflower, mushrooms, etc. if you want. If you don't have fresh vegetables, try to use frozen over canned. I freeze this in 2 cup servings, and add different spices as desired. For instance, I may add a little Italian seasoning one day, and chili powder another.

This is 0 WW points.

Chinese Chicken Salad
2 servings, 5 points each

6 oz cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 cups packaged coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
2 cups Iceberg lettuce greens, or any mixed lettuce you like
2/3 cup sweet red pepper, chopped or julienned
2/3 cup celery, sliced
2 Tbsp sliced green onions
2 Tbsp sliced almonds
4 Tbsp Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing
2 Tbsp packaged chow mein noodles

Shred or chop chicken breast. Toss with veggies, almonds, and dressing. Divide into 2 serving bowls or plates and sprinkle each with 1 Tbsp of the crunchy chow mein noodles (right before serving so they don't get soggy).

You can make this with a leftover grilled chicken breast, or from one of those rotisserie chickens from the grocery store. You can also add halved cherry tomatoes, snow pea pods, chopped broccoli, or lightly steamed green beans without really affecting the points. You can also leave off the chow mein noodles; we just like the extra crunch, but you could substitute more almonds instead. The almonds are better toasted if you have time.

I use Newman's Low Fat Sesame Ginger -- 35 cal for 2 Tbsp. Bernstein's also makes a great Light Fantastic Oriental dressing -- 60 cal for 2 Tbsp.

Thanks, Katie! This is similar to a Crunchy Lunch Wrap that I make:

1/2 cup slaw mix
1 T chopped walnuts
1 3 oz. cooked, chopped chicken breast
I T Miracle Whip
1 T Paul Newman Lighten Up Honey Mustard salad dressing
2 flour tortillas (whole wheat is best) about 100 calories each

Mix well the 1st 5 ingredients, and spread on tortillas.

Add bell peppers, lettuce, cucumbers, other "free" veggies as you like.

Makes 2 servings, approx. 250 calories each.

Fresh Vegetable Couscous

2 medium carrots, diced
1/2 cup diced celery
1 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup julienned sweet yellow pepper
1/4 cup sweet red pepper
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
1 medium zucchini, diced
1/4 cup minced fresh basil (or 1 tablespoon dried basil)
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
dash hot pepper sauce
1 cup uncooked couscous
1 1/2 cups chicken broth

In a large skillet, saute the carrots, celery, onion and peppers in oil for 5-6 minutes until tender crisp. Add zucchini, basil, garlic salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce, mix well. Stir in the couscous. Add broth and bring to a boil. Cover and remove from heat; let stand for 7-8 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve immediately.

Makes 4 large (1 1/4 cups each) servings.
272 calories
8 gr fat
0 cholesterol
513 mg sodium
43 gr carbs
4 gr fiber
8 gr protein

5 WW points

Personally, I eat 1/2 serving, for 136 calories and 2.5 WW points.

PUMPKIN HARVEST BARS --Points: 2
(this recipe was originally posted somewhere on 3FC, but don't know where or when...)
Serves: 16 (130 Calories 2g Fat 0g Fiber)

1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp grated orange peel
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup solid pack pumpkin
1 egg, 1 egg white
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray 9x13 baking pan with nonstick spray.

In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, orange peel, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. In large bowl, combine sugar, applesauce, pumpkin, egg and egg white, and oil. Add flour mixture to applesauce mixture; stir until well blended. Stir in raisins. Spread in prepared pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 15 minutes.

It's not pumpkin cookies, but sounds like it would be easy and good. Applesauce replaces a lot of the oil, and you could definitely use olive oil for the remaining oil required in the recipe Jane, you requested a diabetic recipe, I think? There is only 3/4 cup of sugar...could it be replaced w/Splenda for baking? I don't know, but I thought that diabetics also have to count/watch fruit intake, and there are applesauce and raisins in the recipe, so she might want to run it past her dr. to make sure it's good for her.

2 different pumpkin bread recipes:

CRANBERRY PUMPKIN BREAD --Points: 4
From: Healthy Kids via WW Boards
Serves: 12 (192 Calories 5g Fat 1g Fiber)

1-3/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1 cup pumpkin, canned
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1 whole egg + 2 egg whites
6 ounces dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly coat a bread pan with the nonstick spray.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. Using a separate mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, applesauce, egg and egg whites. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture, and stir until the batter becomes moist. Gently fold in the dried cranberries.

Pour the batter into the prepared bread pan. Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove the bread from the pan, and let it cool on a wire rack before serving.
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PUMPKIN BREAD --Points: 3
From: WW's In Season Cookbook
Serves: 24, 2 loaves (Serving size: 1 slice -- 149 Calories 5g Fat 1g Fiber)

3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 can (15-oz) pumpkin
1-1/3 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup skim milk
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

Combine pumpkin and next 5 ingredients; stir with a whisk until well blended. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Spoon batter into 2 (8-1/2 x 4-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan. Let cool completely.

From Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine - October issue

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

for a photo, click here: http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipe/29374/

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspooons paprika
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 tilapia fillets (about 1 pound total)
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 400º. In a shallow dish, combine the cheese with the paprika and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the fish with olive oil and dredge in the cheese mixture. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until the fish is opaque in the thickest part, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve the fish with the lemon wedges.

Ladies, I haven't tried this yet, but it looks delicious, and is on my menu for next week.

WW "Oven Fried" Zucchini

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
4 medium zucchini, ends trimmed, cut into 12 x 1-inch sticks each
3 medium egg white(s), lightly beaten
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Mix well with a fork to combine. Add zucchini sticks and turn to coat. Place egg whites and bread crumbs in separate shallow dishes. Add zucchini to egg whites and turn to coat. Transfer to bread crumbs and turn to coat.

Place coated zucchini on prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Bake 40 minutes, until golden brown.

Whisk together mayonnaise, honey and mustard. Serve zucchini sticks with honey-mustard mayo on the side. Yields about 6 sticks and 1 tablespoon of dip per serving.

Haven't tried this yet, but looks good. I like ranch dip, and make it with half light sour cream and half plain nonfat yogurt.

OK...some Thanksgiving ideas. May be too late, since you probably have your meals planned already, but these are some of our favorites:

Bourbon Pecan Sweet Potatoes

8 servings, 3 WW points each

1 1/2 lbs cooked sweet potato (you could use canned, but we liked fresh)
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup maple syrup (or 2 tbsp syrup and 2 tbsp brown sugar)
1 fl oz bourbon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Lightly toast pecan pieces in foil-lined pie pan in oven, about 5-7 minutes at 350. Mash cooked sweet potatoes w/butter, syrup, and bourbon. Stir in toasted pecans and season to taste.

Really easy. These are more "savory" than the traditional candied sweet potatoes, but we like that. You could always bump up the maple syrup or add brown sugar, and/or sprinkle with mini marshmallows and brown in the oven -- just adjust the points accordingly, but shouldn't make too much of a difference split up over 8 servings.

Bread Bowl Dip

1 packet vegetable soup mix, (1 2/3 oz, Knorr brand is good)
16 oz fat-free sour cream
1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
10 oz chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/4 cup carrot(s), finely grated
8 oz canned water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 loaf pumpernickel bread, round

In a medium bowl, combine soup mix, sour cream, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Stir in spinach, carrots and water chestnuts; chill. To serve, hallow out a the loaf of bread, by cutting a circle in the center of it. Cut up remaining bread into 1-inch cubes. Fill with dip. Yields about 1/4 cup of dip and 2 bread cubes per serving.

12 servings, 3 points each.

You can also substitute plain nonfat yogurt for 1/2 of the fat free sour cream -- the tangy taste works pretty well in this. The recipe calls for pumpernickel, which isn't my favorite, so I usually use a different whole grain bread with similar fat/calorie/fiber content. Veggie dippers are good, too -- carrot, celery, and jicama sticks, red pepper strips, broccoli, raw mushrooms, etc. and are free points. Makes a pretty party tray.

Cranberry Sauce

12 servings, 2 points each

After trying this, we'll never go back to the canned stuff again

2 cups cranberries
1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
1/2 cup red dessert wine (like port)
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
3/4 cup packed brown sugar

Rinse and pick over cranberries. Juice the orange, add to water and port, add cranberries, cherries, sugar, and zest. Simmer until cranberries pop, about 10-15 minutes, occassionally skimming off foam. Chill and serve in a pretty glass dish.

You can pull the orange pulp out of the rind, roughly chop it up, and add it while you are cooking it, too. You could also substitute cranberry juice (100% juice blend, not cocktail), cherry juice, or pomegranate juice for the wine.

Harvest Sweet Potato Pecan Tarts

1 cup mashed sweet potatoes (you can use canned or fresh)
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp table salt
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp dark corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg white
30 phyllo dough tart shells (I used Athens brand)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine sweet potato, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Combine pecans, brown sugar, syrup, vanilla, and egg white. Spoon 1 t sweet potato mixture into each shell, spreading to edges, top with 1/2 t pecan mixture, bake 20 min, cool on wire rack. 15 servings, 2 tarts each, 2 points per serving (or 1 point for each little tart).

These were a big hit. Instead of a second pie (I made a lightened up version of pumpkin pie, but my family always wants TWO pies), I served these. They were great -- kind of like a sweet potato/pecan tart.

Yeah, those little tarts were wonderful...it was like getting a little bit of sweet potato pie and a little bit of pecan pie, and each one is like two bites. Only 1 point each, instead of 8-16 points for one piece of pecan pie!!! I know I will eat more points than usual on Thanksgiving, but I'll cut back where I can.

I couldn't find the little phyllo tart shells this year, so I bought a mini muffin pan and I have phyllo dough, so I'll just make them, should be easy

Breakfast Burrito
4 WW points

This is a super-quick and easy breakfast, lunch, or even a fast dinner.

1 oz 97% fat-free deli thin-sliced smoked ham
1 small tortilla, flour, fat-free
1 egg
1 egg white
2 Tbsp low-fat shredded cheddar cheese

Chop deli ham and saute lightly in a non-stick skillet sprayed with butter spray (I use the natural Mazola Pure butter spray). Add egg and egg white and scramble. Warm tortilla in a separate, dry, non-stick skillet until pliable. Place tortilla on serving plate, fill with scrambled eggs and ham, sprinkle w/cheese, roll up into burrito, eat and enjoy!

You can also add 0 point veggies like green or red peppers, onion, chopped tomato, sliced mushroom, etc. -- just saute briefly with the chopped ham before adding the eggs to scramble. My husband likes this with salsa (also 0 points), but I prefer it without. Serve with fresh fruit salad on the side; pineapple and bananas are especially good.

BTW, Hillshire Farms Deli Select Ham is a great substitute for breakfast meat like sausage or bacon. One serving is 6 slices, and it's only 1 WW point! Some of the other brands are a little more, so read the label. But just saute it in a non stick skillet (don't even need to spray it) until very lightly browned, and it's kind of like thin sliced Canadian bacon!

OK, haven't tried this yet, but it's on our Christmas menu. I got the recipe from another website, and it got 5 stars from almost everyone who tried it!

White Russian Tiramisu
12 servings
WW POINTS: 4

1 3/4 cup black coffee
2 fl oz Kahlua, divided
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese (can substitute regular cream cheese)
8 oz fat-free cream cheese
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
6 oz ladyfingers
2 tsp unsweetened cocoa

Brew coffee very strong, combine w/ 2 T of the kahlua. Beat cheeses, sugars, and remaining kahlua until smooth. Split ladyfingers in half lengthwise.

Quickly dip 24 ladyfinger halves, flat sides down, into coffee mixture; place, dipped sides down, in the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish, slightly overlapping ladyfinger halves. Spread half of cheese mixture over ladyfingers; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon cocoa. Repeat procedure with remaining ladyfinger halves, coffee mixture, cheese mixture, and 1 teaspoon cocoa.

Place 1 toothpick in each corner and 1 in the center of tiramisu (to prevent plastic wrap from sticking to cheese mixture); cover with plastic wrap. Chill 2 hours.
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The reviews I read had some suggestions:

Some people substituted Amaretto for the Kahlua, but I love Kahlua... Others had trouble finding mascarpone cheese (I'm checking a local Italian market today) and substituted regular full-fat cream cheese for the mascarpone (adds richness to the dessert), but everyone also highly recommended using fat free cream cheese for the rest just as the recipe calls for, so the dessert is lighter, not too heavy. Others suggested cutting back just a little on the sugar in the cheese mixture, and adding a little bit of powdered sugar to the unsweetened cocoa. Someone else added about 1/2 a container of Cool Whip to add volume and further lighten the texture.

Edited after trying it: I liked this pretty well, and my family loved it. I would say just be really careful to QUICKLY dip the ladyfingers in the coffee/Kahlua mixture, because they are little sponges and it's really easy for them to suck up lots of liquid and get soggy. Other than that, I liked it a lot, but it's very rich! I think that's why my husband liked it so much, LOL...