I need some low point sweet ideas. Don't know why, but I have been craving them (could it be the prozac?) Anyway, I would welcome any ideas. Thanks ! Amy

This may sound a little strange(it did to me at first). First - you have to like pumpkin or pumpkin pie. Someone suggested this at my Weight Watchers meeting and I saw another variation on Dotti's site.

Take one can of Pumpkin (not pumpkin pie), one package of Fat Free-Sugar Free Vanilla Pudding Mix, a couple packets of Equal or Sweet N Low or Splenda (whatever you use), cinnamon, and/or pumpkin pie spice. Mix it all up and eat the entire bowl for about 2 points. I usually can't eat all of it, but I count it as 2 anyways.

I like it cold, but the girl at my meeting likes to microwave hers.

I also like to eat "Lemonheads" They are like 60 calories for 10 of them. I'll pop one in my mouth when I want something sweet, and it takes that away, and it makes any chocolate or anything taste really gross.

Good Luck! :D


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Lisa K.
6/00 - 202
2/01 - 164
St. Paddies Goal -158

I find that SF hot cocoa does the trick - it has that combination of chocolate and creaminess.

Mmmm... SF Hot Cocoa is good. 1 pt for the Swiss Miss kind with Marshmallows :)


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Lisa K.
6/00 - 202
2/01 - 164
St. Paddies Goal -158

If you don't mind cooking or baking a bit there are some fabulous recipes on this site as well as WW's and Dottis.
My favorites are the chocolate muffins, the chocolate wacky cake made with baby prunes (don't ask--it's really good!), all the angelfood variations--especially the Lite Cherry Pie Filling one and the crushed pineapple recipe. These all range from 1-3 points a serving.
I happen to LOVE the pumpkin/LF instant pudding mix dessert. I make it every week.
For a NO BAKE sweet, I really like all the varieties of the Just 2 Points WW bars. With a tall glass of water they are filling and help out with that sweet tooth.
Diet Jello with or without fruit, with or without yogurt, with or without Cool Whip (FF)
Hope this helps.
If I'm out, I'll buy a mini Peppermint Pattie for one point. The dark chocolate and the mint work for me. I can't have a bagful in the house, but buying and eating one doesn't throw me off.
Good luck.
:cool:

Hi,

I really, really hate fat free products, etc. I can't stand the taste of aspertame and the ones with real sugar are way too sweet. So, you won't get go to the store and buy this ideas from me. What I do is to search for easy recipes.

So, I found some cookbooks that have recipes that run the gamut from super simple treats you can make quickly to special occasion recipes that are more complex, but your guests will prefer them to the "real thing".

My favorite is "Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts" by Alice Medrich. The lemon bars and Michael's Fudge Brownies are wonderful and easy to make. One lemon bar is 2 points and one brownie is 3 points.

It's not the cheapest cookbook around, but it is the best of the low-fat baking books. One of the best features is the section in the back with the "new basics". They're basic recipes you can combine to create your own low-fat desserts.

One other suggestion--check out the web site for "Cooking Light" magazine cookinglight.com I have their series of annual cookbooks and most of the recipes are available online.

Enjoy!

Lin

Hard candy! That's what I do--I keep a bag of Hershey's Tasteation chocolate or butterscotch hard candies at my desk. When I get my afternoon sweet craving, I just pop one into my mouth. They're only 10 calories apiece, so they're 'free' unless you eat three, in which case you've used one point.

For evening sweet cravings, I keep Stewart's diet root beer in the house. It tastes lovely and somehow the carbonation makes me feel full. If you don't like root beer, try browsing other diet sodas, like cream soda. Of course, if you don't like aspartame, that won't work.

Also, look in the freezer section of the supermarket; some sorbets are pretty low in points, but be careful, as some are very high. My nightly snack is 1/2 cup of a soy dessert, Simply Delicious Awesome Chocolate. I just scoop out 1/4 of the pint for 2 points. It doesn't taste at all like ice cream, but it's chocolate, so who cares http://www.3fatchicks.com/ubb//spinning.gif

[This message has been edited by Lenore (edited 02-16-2001).]

I am a big sucker for chocolate, so I have found that After Eight Dinner Mints are a great solution for me. One mint comes out to about 3/4 point. And I eat it really slowly! :)

-Kim

Altoids!

Actually, these are my weapon against any food craving. I love the strong mint flavor, and the flavor in my mouth makes the thought of putting any other taste in my mouth sound gross (kind of like brushing your teeth, then drinking orange juice - yuck!) I go through 2 or 3 tins a week. . . .

I've only been on WW for a few weeks, so who knows how long this trick will work for me, but so far, so good!

Rachel
169/162/130

How about the WW 2Point Bars? I find them very satisfying and for 2 points you can get a chocolate fix too! They are my favorite :)

Tara

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Failure is not falling down, failure is staying down!

I too love sugar free hot cocoa. Every night I eat a See's sucker with my hot cocoa. So yummy and it last quite awhile too. I also love to put f.f. coolwhip on top of some oranges. The coolwhip turns my humdrum fruit into a delicious dessert. I like to eat two caramel viactive candies a day for the extra calcium.

No Pudge brownies (avail at Trader Joes) topped with Cool Whip Lite are fabulous -- very chocolaty and the CWL takes away any aspartamey flavor. I freeze mine and nuke each about 10 seconds. Two pts for the brownie and I count the entire tub of CWL over 10 days, so it's "free" every time I dip into it, minus a point a day.

Bakers Breakfast chocolate/chocolate chip cookies (available on line) are a little too good. 4 pts for a huge cookie that you really CAN'T eat in one sitting -- especially if you remember to drink your water with one. I eat a half at a time.

WW Just Two Points Chocolate/Peanut Butter are the best -- if you can get them. Milk chocolate is okay, but nothing comes close to the peanut butters.

SlimFast peanut butter and chewy caramel are also filling and delish (make sure the peanut butter is fresh -- it'll really stick to your fillings if it's stale).

Last resort, try a small bowl of Lucky Charms or Cocoa Pebbles -- with or without milk.



[This message has been edited by HospitalWriter (edited 02-18-2001).]

Hi,

I like the golden grahms cereal bars. If you put it in the micro for 15 sec. it is really gooey and sweet. They have 2 pts. each. Also Rice Krispie treats bars, the carmel chocolate and the double chocolate in the micro, they have 3 pts. each though.

Hi, there! I had to try the pumpkin and vanilla pudding mixture taht ChrisNJakesMom posted above and I LOVED IT!!!! I re-calculated the points and came up with a total of 4 points for the whole thing -- 2 points for the can of pumpkin and 2 points for the entire mix of s.f. f.f. vanilla pudding. Does that sound right? Our meeting leader said to count the mix in the points. The mix is 0 fiber, 0 fat and 100 calories for the whole box. :confused:

Begging your pardon, I could easily eat THREE bakers breakfast cookies at a sitting! I haven't...but I COULD!

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There are many paths up the mountain but we'll all reach the peak if we just keep climbing.

Hmm, I think you may be right about the Pumpkin stuff. I'll have to recalculate it at home. I've been counting it as 2 no matter how much I eat of it and it seems to be working, but I don't want to over do it. For some reason I was thinking that the Pumpkin only came out to barely 1 for the can??? I'm probably mistaken :) Thanks! Isn't it delicious though?!

These are some great ideas!



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Lisa K.
6/00 - 202
2/17- 165
St. Paddies Goal -158

Here's a low point treat you should all try. It tastes exactly like an ice cream sandwich. Take chocolate graham crackers, break one in half so you have two squares (duh) spread with FF or lite cool whip and top with other half of cracker. I make up a package of crackers at a time. Then put in a zip lock bag and put in the freezer. For some reason the cool whip tastes just like the ice cream in an ice cream sandwich when it's frozen. I figured one sandwich out to be 1.5 points and they are so yummy. They satisfy both my chocolate craving and craving for sweets. Gotta love em!!!
Space

Pumkin is a free veggie, which explains the pudding/pumpkin recipe confusion. If you don't count the pumpkin, it probably does work out to 2 points, not 4.

Kim

pdx2mo,

Pumpkin is only free if you get the points from the Getting Started book. The Complete Food Companion lists only FRESH pumpkin as a freebie; canned is 1 pt for a cup. What a rip, heh?

Hey, ChrisNJakesMom, let me know what you come up with!!!! I just figure it's better to be safe than sorry when caclualting points. I try to get the most out of each point I count. Our WW Leader said that the points listed in the companion and guide books are only averages and it's best to go by the nutritional information on the side of the box/can. The 15 oz. can of Libby's pumpkin that I buy has 3.5 servings (1/2 cup each) in each can which totals 140 calories, 1.75 grams of fat and 4 fiber (actually, there's more fiber, but we can only count 4) for the whole can - that comes out to 2 points for the can. I am going to a different WW meeting today on my lunch hour and I'll get a few other opinions on how people are counting pumpkin.

And I love the ice cream sandwich idea - I've had that before. Although, again, with the new POINTS system, the graham crackers came out 1 point higher than before.

Liz.

But Liz, unless you eat the whole batch of whatever it is you put that can of pumpkin into, you can count as much as 4 g fiber PER SERVING. True, the whole can comes out the 2 points, but if you were splitting the calories/fat/fiber 4 ways and allowing up to 4 g fiber per serving, you might find what you are adding is just negligible.

There are lots of great ways to use pumpkin in baking. Try a box of chocolate or spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin to make some dense, rich, low point muffins or cupcakes. If you make 12 big ones, they'll be about 3 points--lower points if you make smaller ones, obviously.

Thanks, Bumby. The recipe is just a simple can of pumpkin, a box of sugar free, fat free vanilla pudding mix and a few spices (of course topped with fat free cool whip). I have been splitting the dessert into two servings and having it after dinner. I did not have a problem eating the entire mixture at one time - so when I do that, I should probably count it as 4 since I am eating the entire thing. Do you think that sounds right?

Liz, sounds right to me--it's 240 cal for the whole thing, so 4 points is fair. Bet this makes a filling and nutritious dessert!

Thank you for all of these great ideas!!! I am going to try them this weekend. And I think 4pts for a dessert sounds great. A lot more bulk than those small (but yummy) frozen ww desserts for 4pts.

Also, I am going to try the grahmcraker sandwhich thing.

Another good thing to do with cool whip (got this off the 20-somethihg board years ago) is to mix with yogart (ff/sf or regular depending on your preference) and freez. Makes an icecream as well. Points vary on kind of yogart.

Trish

[This message has been edited by Trish O (edited 02-22-2001).]

Bumby, this is definitely a filling and worthwhile dessert for 4 points! It's hard for me to pass up not eating the entire thing. If I have the points to spare, you can consider the entire dessert a goner!! What I usually try to do is split the mixture into two containers (2 points each) and top each serving with 2 tbsp of fat free Cool Whip (0 points). It's tastes just like a little pumpkin pie - which is a favorite dessert of mine!! I like to take one to work with me for a little treat in the afternoon. Something little like that makes the rest of the workday a little more bearable. :)

I calculated it per serving. One serving equals 0 points So technically 3.5 times 0 equals 0. But I think when you actually do the whole thing it is 2 points...that's where the new fiber rule screws you ... Then when I calculated the SF FF vanilla, I got one point. Oh well... whatever the points.. it is great!! I think I'll keep counting mine as 2 since I barely eat half of the whole thing at a time. So, if I ate the whole entire thing I'll count it as 4!! :)

Sorry for the confusion :confused:

You guys have some great ideas! I'm going to try the "Ice-Cream Sandwiches"

Lisa K :D

Re: the pumpkin pudding thing - I think the change in the pumpkin points came about with the "Winning Points" program. For 123 Success, pumpkin, canned or otherwise, was 0 points. So it depends on which plan you're following. :-) It's yummy and satisfying either way - especially warmed up with some FF Cool Whip on top!

Helen

I'm going to steal your idea about splittng it up and putting FF CoolWhip and making "Liitle Pies" ...That way i won't get bored with it.
I went to a different grocery store the other night, and couldn't find the Pumpkin, so I found the Grocery Manager stocking on a differnet aisle and asked him if it was in a different place. He took me to where it was supposed to be, where the tag was, but said they only order it during the holidays, b/c it doesn't sell... I was like "What???" I was so mad :mad: I begged him to order some, but b/c he has to order it by the case (and I don't want a whole case at this point) he said he couldn't.
I wish I'd of brought it to work with me now :D

Lisa K.

Lisa - You have GOT to be kidding???? What grocery store wouldn't keep pumpkin in stock? They obviously don't know how important it is! I bet if they tasted this dessert, they'd keep the pumpkin well stocked at all times!

Thanks, Helen, for the tip on warming it up! I didn't even think to warm it up a little bit! I will definitely do that tonight. I can't wait to go home and eat dinner so I can get to the dessert! The treadmill comes first though!!!

Liz

I tried that pumpkin desert~ oh my gosh, who ever invented this did a GOOD job!! I suppose you would have to be a pumpkin lover (I am) but oh so good and very low in points. You can even go further and put cool whip light with a couple of graham crackers! WW is getting eaiser!

pumpkin pudding
 

I want to try this, it sounds so good. My daughter made a version of this a few years ago and it required cooking. Does this recipe require cooking or only mixing and cooling?

Great ideas! I *love* the grahm cracker/coolwhip ice cream sandwiches and eat them every day! I have to only make 1 serving a day or I'd eat way to many!

Folgers has a new coffee drink out - instant latte. 2 pts for a large mug, and it is very good! Much better than International Coffees (more coffee flavor). I like the Straight Up Latte version. Very sweet and creamy (not sugar or fat free). It is a great drink to have while doing a little surfing :-).

Holly

Sara Lee Cheesecake bites are only two points each. They come 10 to a box for about $4.99. They are perfect to end a meal and are individually wrapped.

I woudln't be without a box in my freezer!

More sweet stuff....
 

I live for dessert! I like things I can easily throw in my lunch bag and things that are 3 points or less. Some of my favorites are:
Sweet Escapes bars - 2 pts, and the triple chocolate wafer bar is really chocolatey.
Jellie Bellies - 15 for one point. Mixed flavor bag yields a lot of surprises.
Honey Nut cheerios - the individual serving box is 2 pts, I eat them like little kids do - dry.
Golden Graham treats - esp. the S'mores flavor - 2 pts. (Note, these do not like the fridge.)

I like pumpkin pie, but the recipe sounds scary. Maybe I'll try it sometime, though. I mean, I've tried enough weird stuff lately -- half of which seems to be a flop, but the other half is good new stuff to try.

I do fat free pudding cups (2 points) for a chocolate fix. Or sometimes I do hard caramels, like Werther's Originals, but I haven't done them in a long time so I don't remember the points -- maybe 3 for 2 points, but don't quote me on that! Cat's Cookies, from Trader Joes, are good -- I think it's 2 points a serving, but I forget offhand. Sometimes I can eat a Hershey miniature, or a Girl Scout Thin Mint, or a Keebler fudge cookie -- but other times, one leads to a dozen!

I eat something sweet every day, spending 2-5 points on it. Today's sweet with a Clif chocolate chip bar for breakfast. Yesterday's was 30 (yes, I counted, hee) chocolate-covered raisins. Ofttimes I'll have a Smart Ones dessert, or a small dish of light ice cream (which I always figure as 4-5 points, as my version of 'small' seems to differ from the manufacturers' when it comes to ice cream).

Scuttle:

Have you tried the Sara Lee cheesecake bites? They are only 2 points each and wonderfully satisfying!

Nope, but I've seen them in the stores, near the pudding. I think when I run through this 6-pack of fat free pudding, I'll pick up a box of those instead.

Er, how many are in a box? Part of my sometimes-binge mentality makes me cautious of buying things with more than 6 servings in a box, just in case I go haywire. Man, you know it's bad when you start figuring out points not by the serving, but by the box! :eek:

Hey Scuttle....

There are 10 in a box...individually wrapped!!!
They are about $4.99 a box and you will love them!
I don't binge on them and have that same binge mentality!

Enjoy. They are worth it. I picked up another box tonight.