skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Trader Joe’s does it again – making my Weight Watchers dreams come true, giving me yet another WWgasm. I had only a couple minutes between calls to whip up a good-for-me-beyond-delicious lunch. This literally took about three minutes.
INGREDIENTS
½ cup Trader Joe’s Frozen Jasmine Rice
1 tsp Dark Sesame Oil
½ bag of Trader Joe’s Kale (it’s pre-chopped – roughly)
1 bag of Trader Joe’s Sliced Mushrooms
Rice Vinegar - to taste (I do about 2 tsp probably)
Red Wine Vinegar- to taste (I do about 2 tsp probably)Water -- about 1/8 cup
Red Pepper Flakes
Garlic Salt
DIRECTIONS
- Pop the frozen rice in the microwave for about 2 1/2 minutes.
- Put Dark Sesame Oil in big sautee pan. Warm it up on a fairly high heat.
- Add everything else in the ingredients list.
- Cook it up! I kept mine on a medium high heat the entire time and it was deliciously inflused with all the flavorings by the time it was all done, which was just a few minutes.
- Put 1/2 cup of rice on your lovely salad plate. Yes, all this food fits nicely on a small dinner plate! Add the veggie mixture.
- Have your own WWgasm!
Buon Skinny Appetito!
Just had to quickly post about this because I've been in WWgasm heaven for 24 hours. And, all of this comes from Mecca, aka Trader Joe's. So, we're hitting all the Lazy markers: easy, inexpensive, simple, healthy, and delicious!
- Lazy Ass Delicious Potato -- I believe in butter -- used sparingly. I would never dream of using substitutes, though I know I am in the minority on that one. But, I think if you want butter, just have it -- in moderation. I allow for the points for it. But since getting on Weight Watchers, I actually have not used as much as I used to. I'm not a butter freak. I am not a fat person, I'm a sugar person. So, I have always used oils and butter sparingly for my taste buds' sake. The only item that I have always put more butter on is the Almighty Baked Potato. Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, I found a most divine substitution for buttering said Almighty on. I wasn't even seeking a substitution. I have gotten very used to less butter on my potato, and frankly have enjoyed the flavor of the potato even more. But, I accidentally ran out of butter yesterday. So, I whipped out the Trader Joe's Creamy Goat Cheese and took just 1/4 of the container -- which is only 1 point -- yes, ONE point -- and slathered it in the potato. Add salt and pepper and you are in potato heaven. Sometimes I grill up a portobello mushroom (on George Forman Grill with no fat added) and slice it on top of the potato. Wowza Potato WWgasm Bonanza! ONLY FIVE (5) POINTS PLUS (if medium sized potato)!
- Triple Berry Bran Muffin Peanut Butter Bliss -- The Triple Berry Muffin mix is unbelievably easy -- add two eggs and a cup of water, pop in the oven for 30 minutes. Done. And, they taste so homemade! Then, it says let them sit for about 20 minutes. Well, when they came out of the oven, I got way inspired. I popped the top off of one of the muffins and put a teaspoon of peanut butter (1 point) on top and put the lid back on. Do you understand what that means? It means I had a WWgasm coming! I had just created hot peanut lava in the middle of the warm cakey deliciousness. Are you kidding me? WWgasm Maximus. FOUR (4) POINTS PLUS!
- Crunchy Filling Snackalicious -- Trader Joe's scored even more points with me when they added Lundberg Rice Cakes to their menu of items they carry. I just tried the Lite Cheddar Sliced Cheese for the first time this week -- just to check it out, not expecting much. Well the texture of this super-crunchy rice cake with the perfectly chewy and surprisingly rich for a lite cheese, is divine. It's very tastebud fulfilling and tummy filling. THREE (3) POINTS PLUS!
Buon Lazy Lite Appetito to All!
I loooooooooooove to bake, and because I've been baking since I was a little kid none of it seems daunting to me. Some recipes are more complicated than others, of course, but even the most complex baking tasks are fun to me.
I've actually always pooh-pooh'd baking mixes. Never understood why another five minutes wasn't worth it and/or had a major judgment that it would never be as good as the real thing in terms of flavor. But, recently when BBIW (Best Boyfriend in the World) and I were going to Los Olivos to stay in a guest house for the New Year's Weekend, I thought it might be fun to have something hot and freshly baked one cold morning. When I was doing the final Trader Joe's shopping I happened to pass by the mixes and one caught my eye: Triple Berry Bran Muffin Mix. I looked at the ingredients which looked great and then the instructions. I just needed two eggs and one cup of water. I thought "That's worth trying!"
Well, I ended up making a different egg, potato, toast extravaganza on New Year's morning and the mix sat in the cupboard until I thought "Let me check how many POINTS that is on Weight Watchers." Lo and behold it is only THREE -- yes 3 -- that would be one, two, THREE points. So, I made them last night and they are DEEEEEEESCRUMPTIOUS!
They really taste pretty darned homemadey, have a great texture. I had fresh blueberries to throw in but decided to make the first round without to test the mix, but next time I will do blueberries and maybe banana too. But, they are truly fabulous just in their purest form.
BBIW who is definitely NOT on Weight Watchers and usually is not a bran muffin kind o' guy really loved them too! So, it's a win-win-win-low-points-treat!
Buon Bran Appetito!
I know I've talked about both quesadillas and Mr. George Forman but oh my god I just have to mention them both again.
First, the George Forman Grill is the best LAZY tool for your kitchen for the following reasons:
1. It is FAST -- it heats up fast and works fast -- without overcooking.
2. It takes NO FAT -- you literally put no fat on it!
3. It gives you TEXTURE -- for instance if I want a crunchy quesadilla I leave it on longer ...if I want a warm, soft, gooey one, I take it off sooner.
4. It's SUPER EASY to clean -- super easy to take the grills off, super easy to clean.
5. It's CHEAP -- look around for best deal but it is never going to be an expensive proposition.
6. They come in all SIZES -- Teeny tiny to family size. Name your size, he done got it!!!
LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZY! Super LAZY.
Now, I'm on Weight Watchers, as we all know now and the best thing about WW is it's not a diet. You get to eat anything you want -- WITHIN BOUNDARIES. I need boundaries. If I don't have them I run wild.
The new WW Points Plus System is slightly irritating to me because it's clearly a low carb plan. As a vegetarian, I tend to do a lot of carbs. I'd rather count calories, which always works for me. But, the calories boundary has its own pitfalls -- eating stupid food being the biggest! LOL!
I had a craving for a quesadilla last night, went to Trader Joe's and started calculating the points for my favorite quesadilla ingredients -- Yogurt Jalapeno Cheese, Ezekiel Tortillas and/or Corn Tortillas. The total with one slice of cheese and two corn tortillas was going to be 6 points. So, I started looking around and found a LITE cheese and a LOW CARB tortilla. I brought them home, made a quesadilla and while it was totally fine to eat. It wasn't DELICIOSA which is important. I refuse to eat sub-par food to lose weight. I have to be having WWgasms at every meal.
So, tonight I made the real deal and made my new favorite salad:
A few cups of Lettuce
Pearl Tomatoes (the big deep red ones)
2 tablespoons of Bob's Big Boy Lite Blue Cheese Dressing
4 tablespoons of Salsa (my new favorite is Trader Joe's Serrano Fresh Salsa)
It has the perfect mexican-y salad to go with a quesadilla!
This is one fulfilling WWgasm meal -- at only SEVEN (7) POINTS!
Yeeeehaaaaaw!
