Kutya - Updated!

[3 SP per serving] Christmas is coming and that means Kutya in my house. This Ukrainian dish has been my tradition since I can remember. I have tried to healthy-up this recipe before (link here) but this version is much closer to what I grew up with and, due to using Truvia instead of sugar, is much fewer points. Who can resist this sweet dish on a cold morning or as the first dish in a traditional 12 course Ukrainian Christmas meal!

Sweet Hawaiian Crock-Pot Chicken

[6 SP per serving] My mother used to make a fantastic Hawaiian chicken and that taste still lingers in my memories, but with many of the recipes that I grew up on, it is not very healthy. Enter the saviour, Truvia! The brown sugar replacement is fantastic and placed this recipe firmly back on my menu!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash and Bacon with Maple Soy Glaze

[3 SP per 1 cup Serving] I happen to love Brussel sprouts, but I know that many others around me do not. With this recipe, the bitterness that normally comes with Brussel sprouts is almost completely gone and replaced with a delicious Maple Soy flavour. Add the turkey bacon and you have a winning dish.

Italian Wedding Soup

[3 SP per 1½ cup serving] Now that December is finally here, and Christmas is only a couple of weeks away, I suppose that I have to admit that winter is here. On the bright side, winter means soup to warm your bones and heat you up from the inside. One of my all-time favourite soups is Italian Wedding and this recipe is a much healthier version. Give it a try, I am sure you'll agree that it is delicious.

0 Point Foods

With all the changes to the system, it is a little hard to know what is a 0 point food. With the definitive list below (source: Skinny Recipes) we all should have no further issues.

Apples	Applesauce, unsweetened	Apricots
Arrowroot	Artichoke hearts	Artichokes
Arugula	Asparagus	Bamboo shoots
Banana	Beans 1	Beans, refried, fat-free, canned
Beets	Berries, mixed	Blackberries
Blueberries	Broccoli	Broccoli slaw
Broccoli rabe	Broccolini	Brussels sprouts
Cabbage 2	Calamari, grilled	Cantaloupe
Carrots	Cauliflower	Caviar
Celery	Cherries	Chicken breast or tenderloin, skinless
Chicken breast, ground, 99% fat-free	Clementines	Coleslaw mix, packaged
Collards	Corn 3	Cranberries
Cucumber	Daikon	Dates, fresh
Dragon fruit	Edamame, in pods or shelled	Egg whites
Egg, substitutes	Eggplant	Eggs, whole, including yolks
Endive	Escarole	Fennel 4
Figs	Fish fillet, grilled with lemon pepper	Fish 5
Fruit cocktail	Fruit cup, unsweetened	Fruit salad
Fruit, unsweetened	Garlic	Ginger root
Grapefruit	Grapes	Greens 6
Greens, mixed baby	Guavas	Guavas, strawberry
Hearts of palm (palmetto)	Hominy, canned	Honeydew melon
Jackfruit	Jerk chicken breast	Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes)
Jicama (yam bean)	Kiwifruit	Kohlrabi
Kumquats	Leeks	Lemon
Lemon zest	Lentils	Lettuce, all varieties
Lime	Lime zest	Litchis (lychees)
Mangoes	Melon balls	Mung bean sprouts
Mung dal	Mushroom caps	Mushrooms 7
Nectarine	Nori seaweed	Okra
Onions	Oranges 8	Papayas
Parsley	Passionfruit	Pea shoots
Peaches	Peapods, black-eye	Pears
Peas and carrots	Peas 9	Pepperoncini
Peppers, all varieties	Persimmons	Pickles, unsweetened
Pico de gallo	Pimientos, canned	Pineapple
Plumcots (pluots)	Plums	Pomegranate seeds
Pomegranates	Pomelo (pummelo)	Pumpkin
Pumpkin puree	Radicchio	Radishes
Raspberries	Rutabagas	Salad, mixed greens
Salad, side, without dressing, fast food	Salad, three-bean	Salad, tossed, without dressing
Salsa verde	Salsa, fat-free	Salsa, fat-free; gluten-free
Sashimi	Satay, chicken, without peanut sauce	Satsuma mandarin
Sauerkraut	Scallions	Seaweed
Shallots	Shellfish 10	Spinach
Sprouts, including alfalfa, bean, lentil	Squash, winter 11	Squash, summer 11
Starfruit (carambola)	Strawberries	Succotash
Swiss chard	Tangelo	Tangerine
Taro	Tofu, all varieties	Tofu, smoked
Tomatillos	Tomato puree	Tomato sauce
Tomatoes 12	Turkey breast or tenderloin, skinless	Turkey breast, ground, 99% fat-free
Turkey breast, skinless, smoked	Turnips	Vegetable sticks
Vegetables, mixed	Vegetables, stir fry, without sauce	Water chestnuts
Watercress	Watermelon	Yogurt, Greek, plain, nonfat, unsweetened
Yogurt, plain, nonfat, unsweetened	Yogurt, soy, plain

1. Beans: including adzuki, black, broad (fava), butter, cannellini, cranberry (Roman), green, garbanzo (chickpeas), great northern, kidney, lima, lupini, mung, navy, pink, pinto, small white, snap, soy, string, wax, white.
   
2. Cabbage: all varieties including Chinese (bok choy), Japanese, green, red, napa, savoury, pickled
3. Corn: baby (ears), white, yellow, kernels, on the cob
4. Fennel: anise, sweet anise, or finocchio
5. Fish: anchovies, arctic char, bluefish, branzino (sea bass), butterfish, carp, catfish, cod, drum, eel, flounder, grouper, haddock, halibut, herring, mackerel, mahimahi (dolphinfish), monkfish, orange roughy, perch, pike, pollack, pompano, rainbow trout (steelhead), rockfish, roe, sablefish (including smoked), salmon (all varieties), salmon, smoked (lox), sardines, sea bass, smelt, snapper, sole, striped bass, striped mullet, sturgeon (including smoked); white sucker, sunfish (pumpkinseed), swordfish, tilapia, tilefish, tuna (all varieties), turbot, whitefish (including smoked), whitefish and pike (store-bought), whiting
6. Greens: beet, collard, dandelion, kale, mustard, turnip
7. Mushrooms: all varieties including brown, button, crimini, Italian, portabella, shiitake
8. Oranges: all varieties including blood
9. Peas: black-eyed, chickpeas (garbanzo), cowpeas (blackeyes, crowder, southern), young pods with seeds, green, pigeon, snow (Chinese pea pods); split, sugar snap
10. Shellfish: abalone, clams, crab (including Alaska king, blue, Dungeness, lump crabmeat, queen) crayfish, cuttlefish, lobster (including spiny lobster), mussels, octopus, oysters, scallops, shrimp, squid
11. Squash: Summer (all varieties including zucchini) and Winter (all varieties including spaghetti)
12. Tomatoes: all varieties including plum, grape, cherry

Herb-and-Yogourt Baked Whole Salmon Fillet

[0 SP per serving] Right off, you read that correctly, 0 SP per serving. No that is not a typo, it is real. I love salmon, and I really love baked salmon in a creamy dill sauce; unfortunately, creamy dill sauce is a points killer. With this recipe and Weight Watchers Freestyle, this little gem is back on the menu!

Spinach Gratin

[3 SP per serving] Everyone knows someone who says that they hate spinach, but I defy even those people to say that they hate this dish. Creamy spinach with a little bit of nutmeg, baked in the oven and topped with melted cheese! How can anyone say no?

Chicken, Bacon & Cheese Mini Bites

[1 SP per serving] I love coming up with new appetizers, especially this time of year. We all have parties to attend or host when the holidays arrive, and these little bites are a perfect addition to your appetizer table. It's also hard to stay on track over the holidays with all those tempting snacks in front of you, but they are only 1 smart point each.

Recipe Update

Ok... I thought it would take me days to update all the recipes, but I saved them all into my Weight Watchers account and all I had to do is compare the points from the blog to WW. What a smart boy I was :).

Below are all the recipes that have changed on the blog and it is a bunch. I have sorted them based on the highest change to the lowest change. Have a look, and then click on the link below to see all the recipes!

Changed Recipes << Click the link to see them all on the blog

Recipe	Old Pts	New Pts	Change
Skinny Baked Chicken Parmesan	6	2	-4
Slow Cooker 3-Bean Turkey Chili	4	0	-4
Black Bean Brownies	4	1	-3
Buffalo Chicken Rolls	7	4	-3
Corn and Zucchini Summer Frittata	4	1	-3
Slow Cooker Santa Fe Meatloaf	5	2	-3
Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup	5	2	-3
Spiralized Mexican Sweet Potato and Chicken Casserole	6	3	-3
Turkey Chili Taco Soup	6	3	-3
Asparagus, New Potato and Chive Frittata	3	1	-2
Baked Chicken Parmesan	6	4	-2
Breakfast Burrito Bowl with Spiced Butternut Squash	5	3	-2
Broccoli Chicken Zucchini Boats	4	2	-2
Cauliflower Hashbrown Egg Cups	5	3	-2
Chicken and Broccoli Casserole	6	4	-2
Chicken Crack-Slaw	3	1	-2
Chicken Taco Casserole	6	4	-2
Provencal Beef Slow Cooker Stew	4	2	-2
Quebec Tourtiere	8	6	-2
Sausage, Egg & Cheese Hash Brown Cups	4	2	-2
Shrimp Zoodles Parmesan	5	3	-2
Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Garlic Cilantro Lime Slaw	9	7	-2
Turkey Fajita Stuffed Zucchini	5	3	-2
Broccoli Cheddar Tots	5	4	-1
Chicken & Broccoli Mini Pies	3	2	-1
Chicken Caesar Bubble Up Casserole	7	6	-1
Eggplant Parmesan Casserole	6	5	-1
Eggplant Tomato Pie	3	2	-1
Ground Turkey and Potato Casserole	4	3	-1
Hamburger Soup	2	1	-1
Lightened-Up Shepherd's Pie	6	5	-1
One-Pot Cabbage Casserole	2	1	-1
Parmesan Zucchini Fritters With Lemon Garlic Yogurt Sauce	6	5	-1
Skinny Broccoli & Cheddar Turkey Quiche	1	0	-1
Skinny Eggnog	3	2	-1
Skinny Slow Cooker Fudgy Dark Chocolate Brownies	4	3	-1
Sloppy Joe - Stuffed Peppers	7	6	-1
Spinach and Ricotta Breakfast Pie	6	5	-1
Spinach and Turkey Lasagna	4	3	-1
Strawberry Yogurt Cake	4	3	-1
Sugar-Free Carrot and Date Cake	3	2	-1
Sweet and Sour Turkey Meatballs	2	1	-1
Sweet Potato Pancakes	2	1	-1
Turkey Stuffed Peppers	4	3	-1
Zucchini Fry Nachos	7	6	-1
Zucchini Tots	2	1	-1

Weight Watchers Freestyle

Welcome FREESTYLE!

Well, Freestyle has launched in Canada on Sunday and it has many, many, many more 0 point foods; more than 200 of them!

Below is a small list of the items that have been made 0 points:

• Skinless chicken breast
• Skinless turkey breast
• Fish
• Shellfish (shrimp, lobster, oysters, mussels)
• Eggs (including the yolks!)
• Beans and lentils
• Tofu
• Fruit
• Vegetables (including corn and peas!)
• Nonfat plain yogourt

What this means is that most, if not all, of my recipes will need to be updated with the new points. I will be working on them in my spare time. Until I am done, I will not be posting any new recipes... but I am keeping a list of the recipes to add!

Sugar-Free Carrot and Date Cake

[2 SP per Serving] We have been looking for a cake for our little girl to smash next month. I may have found it in this cake. I'll be making this cake this weekend to see if my daughter will like it!

Lightened-Up Shepherd's Pie

[5 SP per serving] Lean ground beef makes keeps the fat and calories low here. Cauliflower is mashed with the potatoes to keep carbs down but still results in a creamy mash. Scallions add a pop of fresh flavour to the topping and tomato paste gives the filling a rich depth of flavour.