October 26, 2022
Dear WW Philadelphia Members,
It’s that time of the year when you might be thinking of cooking and baking a little more than usual. I know some of my favorite foods will be showing up at family get-togethers through the holiday season.
During my years as a Weight Watchers Member, I’ve learned a trick or two and one thing you should know about me is one of my passions is cooking and baking. My Mother claims I sat on the counter intently watching her prepare the turkey for my first Thanksgiving. You also need to know, I’m the firstborn and my Mother still tells every story about my childhood as if it were yesterday.
Substitutions of ingredients to bring down the POINTS have always been a little challenging for me. Mainly because if I’m not satisfied with the final product, it won’t fulfill my craving or desire for that food. There are times I’d rather have a smaller serving of the real thing than a larger serving that isn’t as delicious as I expected it to be.
Here are a few POINTS shaving tricks that DO work for me:
Using half-ground turkey breast and half-ground beef in my meatloaf. Add two or three cubes of beef bouillon or a big heaping tablespoon of Beef Better than Bouillon to your wet ingredients. If you put ketchup in your meatloaf reduce it drastically. Some recipes call for ¼ to ½ cup, I usually reduce it to a tablespoon or two. Ketchup really bumps up the Points in the meatloaf recipe because of the sugar in the ketchup.
Pumpkin pie is delicious, and the best part is the filling. I can save 3 Points by not eating the pie crust. I also saw several recipes on the WW app for pumpkin pie that was lower in Points.
This trick is from a favorite WW Coach and it took me years to try it because I didn’t believe it could be good. Mix mayonnaise with Greek yogurt in equal parts and use it for tuna salads or other mayonnaise-based salads. It really works.
When I’m eating a holiday meal, I eat the foods that are not the everyday foods, the ones that really say holiday to me. You know, the ones that are only served once or twice a year. This technique satisfies my holiday cravings without adding the extra POINTS from the foods I can have anywhere, anytime.
If you haven’t been to a workshop this week, consider getting to one. The workshop topic is all about lowering the Points in our cooking and baking and the other Members share the BEST ideas.
Take care,
