Pudding Yogurt

I started experimenting with different pudding mixes and yogurt.  I love how creamy it comes out and with a higher protein content, they are more filling than a regular pudding made with milk.  I have tried pistachio, white chocolate, and cheesecake so far, and they are all yummy!  This picture is of the white chocolate pudding yogurt.

Ingredients
2 cups nonfat plain yogurt (I like Dannon all natural)
1 box sugar free, fat free pudding mix (so far I like white chocolate, cheesecake, and pistachio)

Directions
Using a whisk, mix yogurt and pudding mix together very well until blended.  Divide into 5 individual containers evenly.

Weight Watcher Points: only 1 point each!

Pineapple Pistachio Pudding

My mom came up with this recipe and it reminds of a watergate salad, or as my family always called it, "Green Junk."  :-)  It is a healthier, creamy option.  It is yummy and satifying.

Ingredients
2 cups nonfat plain yogurt (I like Dannon all natural)
1 package sugar free, fat free, pistachio pudding
1 can crushed pineapple in juice, drained

Directions
Combine all ingredients well.  Divide into 5 containers equally and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Weight Watcher Points: 2 points each serving!

Cherry Pie Pudding

This is so yummy and creamy and delicious!  I came up with it from the original Cherry Pie Fluff recipe, just using yogurt instead of cool whip.  I like this this is thick and has a higher protein level to keep you feeling full longer. 

Ingredients
1 can lite cherry pie filling (could use sugar free if you want)
2 cups nonfat plain yogurt (I like Dannon all natural)
1 box sugar free, fat free, cheesecake (or white chocolate) pudding mix

Directions
Combine all ingredients and mix very well until all blended together.  Divide into 7 different containers and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Weight Watchers Points: 2 points per serving!

Banana pineapple mango smoothie

This has become my new favorite breakfast.  I drink it every morning, and it is very satifying, delicious, and only 4 WW points!

Ingredients
1 ripe banana
1 cup diced frozen pineapple and mangos (I found a huge bag at Sam's, by Dole)
1 cup almond milk
1 packet stevia or spenda

Directions
Blend all ingredients well in a blender and enjoy!  So yummy and good for you!

Weight Watcher Points: 4 points for the whole thing!

Pineapple Mango Smoothie

I love smoothies!  My husband and my kids also love smoothies.  This one reminds of a virgin pina colata, and I've made it with and without 1-2 Tbsp shredded coconut.  It was good either way, but unless you have a really good blender, it does have a different texture with the coconut.  I think this would be really good with coconut milk instead of almond milk as well.

Ingredients
1 cup frozen diced pineapples and mangos (I got a big bag by Dole)
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (I like Dannon)
1 packet of splenda or Stevia

Directions
Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Weight Watcher points: Ony 4 points for the whole thing!

Berry Green Smoothie

We love smoothies around here.  We really like them with peanut butter, but it really adds up in calories for me.  I love adding spinach to my smoothies because it so good for you, but you can't even taste it in a smoothie.  This one is packed full of nutrition and antioxidants, and it's not loaded with calories like many smoothies can be.

Ingredients
3/4 cup frozen sliced strawberries
1/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup vanilla low fat yogurt
1/2 cup almond milk (or you can use soy or cow's milk)
1 cup fresh spinach
1 packet of stevia or splenda

Directions
Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. 

Weight Watcher Points: 4 points for the whole thing, a nice tall glass

Banana and Peanut Butter

This is a fun post for me!  :-)  I grew up eating peanut butter and banana, my kids eat it all the time, and it's an all time family favorite for much of my family.  My grandfather eats this every day for lunch, and my oldest son eats this almost every morning for breakfast and now my almost 2 year old does too.  :-)  I am surprised how many people do not know about this amazing combination.  Eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack.  Use crunchy or creamy peanut butter.  I love this meal because it's fruit and protein.  It's filling and satifying.  When my 8 year old was little, he called it "Nonny Butter"  :-)

Ingredients
Banana
Peanut Butter (I like natural for heart healthy)

Directions
Cut up your banana and apply a small amount of peanut butter on each bite.... or if you want it to look more like an "adult" meal, just hold your banana and use a knife to put a small amount of peanut butter on the end, bite it off, and put more peanut butter on your next bite. :-)  Eat with a glass of milk if you like.  :-)

Chocolate Pudding Pie, no sugar added

This is yet another sugar free pie recipe.  This one is super simple, but everyone enjoyed it.

Ingredients
1 package sugar free chocolate instant pudding
1 1/2 cups cold milk (fat free or 1%)
1 graham cracker crust
8oz sugar free whipped topping, thawed

Directions
Beat pudding and milk together for 2 minutes.  Spread half into the crust.  Stir in 1 cup whipped topping into remaining pudding.  Spread over pudding in crust.  Smooth remaining whipped topping on top of the pudding.  (Mine doesn't look very even because I didn't allow my whipped topping to thaw completely.)  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

WW points: 4 points for 1/8th of the pie!

Peanut Butter Pie, no sugar added

So I had some friends over and a few of them were diabetic, so I decided to try the Skinny Taste blog PB pie lightened up and make it without sugar.  It was devoured and everyone loved it!  I personally could taste the splenda a little, but I still really enjoyed it.  The originally recipe called for low fat cream cheese, but I'm not a fan of it, so I used full fat.  You can add some sugar free chocolate chips or chocolate syrup on top if you like.  I chose not to because I had someone who can't eat chocolate.

Ingredients
5 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup splenda or confectioners' sugar or granulated sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter (regular or natural)
8oz sugar free whipped topping, thawed (or if sugar is not an issue, I would choose fat free)
graham cracker crust

Directions
Beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar together in a medium bowl.  Mix in peanut butter and beat until smooth.  Fold in whipped topping.  Spoon into graham cracker crust.  Cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 2-3 hours but best overnight or all day.  Drizzle with chocolate syrup before serving if you desire.

Weight Watcher points: 1/8th of the pie is 6 points using sugar free ingredients.  Or....  if you use sugar and use fat free whipped topping, it's 6 points as well.  Sugar free whipped topping is higher in points than fat free.

Coconut Custard Pie, no-sugar added

So I started cutting into this pie before I remembered to take a picture.  This is originally my Nana's recipe, but I lightened it up and also made it no sugar-added because I was cooking for some friends and some of them were diabetic.  I could not taste the splenda in this, and everyone absolutely loved this pie, including me!  A few of the people there said they've never had a no sugar added coconut pie and that it was delicious!

Ingredients
3 eggs - well beaten
3/4 cup splenda or sugar
1 cup shredded coconut, sweetened
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups fat free or 1% milk
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1 unbaked pie shell

Combine eggs, sugar or splenda, coconut, vanilla, and salt and beat well.  Heat milk and butter in microwave for about 2 minutes.  Slowly add to egg mixture while continuing to mix.  Pour into pie shell.  Bake 10 minutes at 425 degrees and reduce oven heat to 350 degrees and continue baking 15-20 minutes.  Bake longer if necessary.  Pie should be firm in the center but still "jiggle" a little.  I did end up having to bake mine an extra 5 minutes or so.

WW points: 6 points for 1/8th of the pie

Cherry Pie Fluff

I originally found this recipe on Pinterest.  It recommends using cheesecake pudding mix, but I used white chocolate since I had it on hand.  I tried it with cheesecake as well and either one is good.  The first time I made it, I could only find light cherry pie filling, not sugar free.  I liked the taste better with the light than the sugar free, but it does add some calories, so I figured if you divided the whole thing 8 ways with the light cherry pie filling or 7 ways with the sugar free cherry pie filling, it's 2 Weight Watcher points each.  I liked it either way and they were very satisfying portions for only 2 points.

Ingredients
20 oz can no sugar added or light cherry pie filling (see notes above)
1 box sugar free white chocolate or cheesecake pudding mix
8oz fat free cool whip

Directions
Combine cherry pie filling with pudding mix.  Fold in cool whip.  Refridgerate.  Enjoy!

Avocado Milkshake

My friend Danila, who is from Brazil, introduced me to this drink, and it is highly addictive. Apparently this is how they drink it in Brazil, and it's also how the Filipinos drink it as well. I thought it sounded very odd when she told me about it, but I knew avocados are so healthy for you, so I wanted to try it. It was delicious! You may have to play around with the amounts according to your taste. She and I don't really measure so much, and avocados are different sizes. She uses the large pear shaped smooth green avocados, but you could use any kind of avocado according to your tastes.

Ingredients
1/2 medium or large avocado or 1 small avocado
3-4 Tbsp sugar (or you could use splenda or agave)
1 cup milk (I use 1%)
3 pieces of ice

Directions
Scrape out insides of avocado into blender. Discard skin and seed. If you are using only half, leave the other half in the skin and put into a ziplock bag in the fridge. Add sugar, milk, and ice to the blender. Blend on high until well blended. Modify according to taste.

Danila's Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

My friend Danila makes this wonderfully delicious banana bread with chocolate chips. I made it because I wanted something sweet to have on hand that was somewhat healthy for me. She replaces most of the oil with applesauce, and she also made it for me with the brown sugar splenda blend, but I ended up making it with regular sugar. Next time I might try using half splenda and half brown sugar since I don't have the brown sugar splenda blend. Either way, it is super yummy! If you don't have a bundt pan, use a regular loaf pan and you probably have to increase your bake time. You could also leave out the chocolate chips if you prefer and add nuts or don't, but either way, it's delicious banana bread. Thanks for the recipe, Danila!

Ingredients

3-4 ripe bananas

1 cup sugar or 1/2 c Brown sugar blend Splenda

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup Quick Oats

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup apple sauce

2 tbsp canola oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanila extract

1 cup or 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup) (leave out for dairy free)

Directions

Mash the bananas with the sugar, add to the wetstuff, then add to the dry stuff, mix just until batter comes together. Do not mix smooth. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Allow to cool.

Peach Jello

This is my Nana's recipe, and a favorite among the families. It's sooo easy and yummy! It could work as a side dish, a dessert, or a snack. You can make it in a nice jello mold or put it in a 2 quart or 3 quart dish. I made it in a 3 quart dish (9x13) dish here and used alphabet cookie cutters for my children's initials. They really liked this and wanted to pick out other letters to cut out their own jello. You can also try different fruits and jello flavors if you like. This is another good way to incorporate more fruit into your child's diet in a fun and yummy way!

Ingredients
1 large or 2 small boxes of instant peach jello (use sugar free if you need to)
1 large can peach slices (you can use the kind in syrup or juice. I like the juice one so I don't have added sugars)Directions
Using a glass measuring cup, at least 2 cups, drain the juice from the peaches can into it and then dump the peaches in a blender or food processor. Add enough water to the peach juice to make 2 cups of liquid. If you don't have a glass measuring cup, just measure out the liquid and put it into a microwave safe bowl. Add jello powder to the juice/water mixture. Put jello liquid into microwave for 2 minutes on high. Stir liquid to dissolve jello powder into it a little bit. Pour the jello/juice/water mixture into blender over peaches. I use a spatula to get all the jello powder into the blender. Blend in blender for a few seconds or until there are no big chunks of peaches left. Pour everything into your jello mold or 2 quart or 3 quart dish. Cover and put in fridge until set. Store any leftovers in fridge.

Pumpkin Pie (No sugar added)

I made this last night for my Pastor and his family. My Pastor and one of his sons is diabetic, so I try to find good no sugar added recipes. Since Thanksgiving is coming up, and since my Pastor said he loves pumpkin pie, I set out to find a good no sugar added recipe. I found this on some random website message board. I could slightly taste the splenda but really not much at all, and it was a big hit with everyone!

Ingredients
-3/4 cup splenda
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice OR 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger with a light dash of nutmeg
-1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
-2 large eggs
-15oz can pumpkin
-12oz can evaporated milk
-9" uncooked deep-dish pie shellDirections
MIX splenda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and splenda-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F. oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

If you like this, try one of my other no sugar added desserts (see label to the right).

If you want a regular pumpkin pie with sugar try Perfect Pumpkin Pie

Blackberry Cobbler

My friend Kristin shared this recipe with me. She made this and put a picture up on facebook. I was so excited because I knew my mom was going to be in town in a couple of weeks, and she absolutely loves cobbler and loves blackberries. So.... I had to get the recipe and make this for her while she was here. I made it last night, and it was absolutely delicious!! It was also super easy to make. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with me, Kristin! We loved it!

Ingredients
The topping can be made 2 different ways:
Topping:
-2 cups flour
-3 tsp baking powder
-2 Tbsp sugar (see bottom for no sugar added option)
-1 tsp salt
-6 Tbsp shortening
-2/3 to 3/4 cup milk (you can use water if you need dairy-free)

Or..... the way I chose because it was easy, and I had Bisquick on hand.
-2 1/4 cups Bisquick
-2/3 cup milk (again, use water for dairy-free version)

Fruit portion:
-3/4 cup sugar (see bottom for no sugar added option)
-1 Tbsp cornstarch
-2 - 12oz bags frozen blackberries or 4-5 cups fresh (frozen are MUCH cheaper, but you can't find them at Walmart. I found frozen at Publix, and you probably can at another "regular" grocery)
-1/2 Tbsp butter or margarine
-1/2 tsp cinnamonDirections
Mix the ingredients for your topping in a medium size bowl and set aside. In a medium sauce pan, mix 3/4 cup sugar and the cornstarch. Stir in 1 cup boiling water, bring to a boil for 1 minute, then turn off heat and remove from burner. Add blackberries and mix well. Let blackberries sit in sugar water for about a minute or so. Pour blackberry mixture into a square baking dish. Dot with butter or margarine and sprinkle cinnamon over the top. Then drop in the dough by spoonfuls. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes!

The only thing I think I would have done a little different next time is to flip my topping over half way through cooking or spread my spoonfuls a little thinner. I had a little trouble with the bottom being a little doughy, so I just flipped my topping over and cooked for a few extra minutes. It was delicious!!

No sugar added: To make this a no sugar added dessert, substitute splenda for the sugar. I made this for my Pastor and his family one night, and you could hardly tell it was no sugar added. I honestly think if I hadn't made it myself, I wouldn't have been able to tell. It was really yummy!

New York Style Cheesecake (no sugar added)

Happy National Cheesecake Day! So, I really didn't know today was National Cheesecake Day until someone told me and after I had eaten the cheesecake. Who knew there was a day to celebrate eating cheesecake, or whatever! :-) Anyway, I decided to make this dessert because my Pastor and his family were coming over and 2 of their family members have blood sugar issues, so I decided to make a no sugar added cheesecake, so they could enjoy their dessert and not have to worry about it. I found this recipe on the splenda website, and you wouldn't believe, I actually stuck exactly to the recipe. Reason I made this particular cheesecake was because it literally had 15 reviews and all of them gave it 5 stars. My Pastor, and I don't know if he was being generous or not, said it was the best cheesecake he had ever eaten. I got lots of "wows!" I think if I didn't know it had splenda in it, I wouldn't have known it eating it. My Pastor's daughter, half way through eating her piece, said she forgot it was no sugar added. :-) Even my hubby, who does NOT eat cheesecake, said he wanted to try it, and he ate his entire piece and he said it was the best cheesecake he had ever tasted!

Ingredients
Crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used crackers, and it took 11 whole rectangles)
1/4 cup SPLENDA No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated
1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling:
2 1/2 pounds regular cream cheese (5 - 8oz packages), softened
1 2/3 cups SPLENDA No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated
3 tablespoons flour
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup heavy creamDirections
-Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
-Make Crust: Mix crust ingredients together and press into a 10-inch springform pan.
-Make filling: Beat cream cheese, SPLENDA Granulated Sweetener and flour in a medium bowl until well mixed and smooth. Add eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Scrape sides of bowl. Mix briefly and add heavy cream. Mix until well blended. Pour filling over crust. I did this the easy way: in my stand mixer.
-Bake 10 minutes at 475 degrees F. Turn oven temperature down to 200 degrees F and bake for 1 hour. Turn oven off and leave cheesecake in the oven for one more hour. Cheesecake will be slightly firm to the touch. Let cool 15-20 minutes before placing in the refrigerator. Refrigerate a minimum of 4- 6 hours or preferably overnight before serving. Top with fresh fruit before serving, if desired.

Tip:
Here's an easy way to put your crust together if you using the whole crackers. Take your food processor and blend your crackers until very finely crushed. Add your splenda to it and mix a few seconds more. While the food processor is running, drizzle your melted butter down though the feed tube. Pour all that into your spring form pan and press with your hands, ever so slightly up the sides (it won't go up much but just a little ridge is good), and evenly throughout the bottom.

Calories & WW points: 360 calories or 10 points per slice (1/16th of the cheesecake; does not include the cherries)