recipe review: cherry cheesecakes

I made these a few weekends ago for a potluck and they were a hit!  No one realized they had come from Weight Watchers, and they gobbled them up.  The only thing that was a bigger hit was my Chocolate Chip Cookies, but they're 3 Points Plus per cookie, and simply not as filling or satisfying as these mini cheesecakes.  

I highly recommend that you make these for your next family gathering, office party, or just for you and your friends!  

Cherry Cheesecakes

3 Points Plus

makes 12 servings

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (this is about 1/2 of a sleeve of graham crackers)

2 tbsp of light butter

2/3 cup low fat cream cheese

6 tbsp fat free cream cheese

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup lite pie filling, cherry

Place 12 cupcake liners in a cupcake pan. Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Spoon 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture into bottom of each liner and press down gently; refrigerate until ready to use.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat both types of cream cheese until fluffy. Add lemon juice, egg whites, vanilla extract and sugar; beat until smooth.

Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly into muffin liners; bake until set, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Top each cheesecake with 1 tablespoon cherry pie filling. Yields 1 cheesecake per serving.

You will have extra pie filling, so I put it into a plastic bag, removed the excess air and threw it in the freezer for the next time that I make this.  

I couldn't find light butter or fat free cream cheese, so I had to make due with "full fat" butter and all low fat cream cheese.  This added one Points Plus, bringing the total treat to four Points Plus but to be honest, it was still worth it!  I felt like I was eating something I definitely shouldn't have been, and the egg whites make the treat sort of light and fluffy!  

recipe review: apple and maple steel cut oatmeal

I am not really into breakfast, but this was a pretty good take on the boring old oatmeal!  Give it a try, I'm sure you will enjoy it, or you can add your own twist on it.  

Apple and Maple Steel Cut Oatmeal

4 servings

3 Points Plus

1/2 cup steel cut oats

1 cup fat free milk

1 cup water

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 small apple, peeled and diced

1 teaspoon imitation maple flavor

Bring the water and milk to a low boil in a medium saucepan.  

Add sugar, diced apples, and the steel cut oats. Reduce heat to medium-low.  

Simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  

Once the liquid has been absorbed and the oats are tender, stir in the maple flavor.  

Serve in small bowls, or if you're like me then just put it into your favorite tea or coffee cups.  

Now I have to be honest about this recipe, the first time I made this recipe I calculated it out to be only 2 servings at 6 Points Plus per serving.  Then I sat down with a bowl full of it, and I could only eat half of the serving!  So I've adjusted it to four servings, and it's only 3 tasty Points Plus per serving!  

Plus, you can put it into a storage container and reheat it throughout the week!  What a time saver for those of us on the go.  

fridge tour: day after grocery shopping

I thought it would be fun to periodically take a look inside of my fridge, because in all honesty when I'm at a friend's house I love to look inside of their fridge!  No really, it's an obsession.  

What's this?  

Oooh!  I love those!  

How do you cook that?  

It's sort of a past time of mine, but I happen to have really cool friends that have tons of fun stuff in their fridge.  Next time you're at your best friend's house, ask if you can take a fridge tour.  It's totally fun!  

So, welcome to my fridge tour.  First up, the door.  

Top left, yes I have butter.  Real butter.  I am not one of those people that puts butter on things, in fact I cannot stand butter on bread or on vegetables.  However, I believe that when a recipe like Chocolate Chip Cookies calls for butter, you should use real butter.  It's just me.  

Next to that you'll see a white bottle of spray ranch dressing from Wishbone, soy sauce, worchestire sauce, teriyaki sauce, spray butter, ketchup, and Tabasco sauce.  

On the second shelf is a flat bottle of diet wild cherry Pepsi (note to self, throw that out!), tartar sauce, an upside down bottle of ranch dressing, a small green bottle of an amazing sake that I've discovered, an upside down bottle of mayo, a hidden bottle of mayo made with olive oil, a bottle of home made salad dressing (in one of these fabulous gadgets), fat free milk, and fat free half & half.  

And the bottom shelf is a melange of salad dressings, hot sauces, and some sadly neglected bottles of wine.  Actually it's one bottle of left over bubbly, a bottle of V Sattui fortified wine (it's STRONG!), and a highly prized bottle of Ethiopian honey wine that I save for special desserts and occasions.  

On the interior top shelf you'll find all of my bread products: flour tortillas, Oroweat Double Fiber bread, hamburger buns, and whole wheat English muffins.  Also up there is a bag of sun dried tomatoes (love them!), eggs, and a store bought spinach dip that I bought for a potluck with some friends.  That spinach dip is just visiting, I think it needs to go away before I devour the whole thing!  

Second shelf contains a large box of pre washed spinach (not visible), corn tortillas, reduced fat cheeses, Laughing Cow wedges, Carl Buddig sandwhich meat, a butter dish, a container of salad dressing that a friend gave me (thanks Marcy!), regular (what I call "full fat") sour cream, fat free feta, and our Brita water pitcher.  

The third shelf is overflowing with Chobani products, low fat cream cheese, two baked potatoes with a turkey breast, a spinach salad with strawberries and feta, Cherry Cheesecake from the Weight Watchers website (3 Points Plus), a container of my Apple and Maple Steel Cut Oatmeal (not visible, I'll post that recipe in a few days), and a ton of produce like mini bell peppers, grapes, and strawberries.  

The bottom two drawers of my refrigerator are always full of fresh fruits (left) and vegetables (right).  I rotate through whatever looks good at the time, and at the moment I've got apples, oranges, Cuties, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, and zucchini.  

So there you have it, I gave you the run down of my cold storage.  It happens to be exceptionally full a the moment, but I only go the grocery store once every two weeks or so.  Also, I share it with a non-Weight Watcher who happens to love his full fat foods.  

As the week progresses, the fresh fruits and veggies will dwindle down and be replaced by storage containers full of yummy foods like spaghetti and ground turkey meat sauce, butter chicken, stir fry, and more! 

So what's in your fridge?