Asian Turkey Meatballs With Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

Servings: 4 • Size: 3 meatballs • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 229.1 • Fat: 11.1 g • Carbs: 8.5 g • Protein: 24.3 g

• 1/4 cup panko crumbs
• 1-1/4 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp ginger, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil

Dipping Sauce

• 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 chopped fresh scallion

Preheat oven to 500°F.

Mix ground turkey, panko, egg, salt, scallions, cilantro, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 2 tsp oil and mix with your hands until combined well. Shape 1/4 cup meat mixture into a ball and transfer to a baking dish. Repeat with remaining mixture. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.
For the dipping sauce mix together lime juice, water, soy sauce, and remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a bowl. Add scallions.

Transfer meatballs to a serving dish. Stir sauce, then drizzle meatballs with 1 tablespoon sauce.

Serve meatballs with remaining sauce, about 1 tbsp per person. Chances are you won't use all the dipping sauce.

Makes 12 meatballs.

Smokey Cheese Ball

INGREDIENTS
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
2 cups shredded smoked cheese (cheddar, Swiss, or Gouda)
1/2 cup margarine or butter
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons steak sauce
1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
Assorted crackers
DIRECTIONS
1. Combine cheeses and margarine or butter in a medium mixing bowl; bring to room temperature. Add milk and steak sauce; beat until fluffy. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours.
Shape mixture into a ball. Roll in nuts. To travel to a picnic or pot-luck, cover and transport in an insulated cooler with ice packs. Serve with crackers. Makes 3-1/2 cups (56, 1-tablespoon servings).

Mini Puffs with Goat Cheese and Herbs

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, cut up
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1/2 of an 8-ounce container cream cheese with chive and onion
3 ounces soft goat cheese (chevre)
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons snipped fresh dill or basil
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a baking sheet; set aside. For pastry, in a medium saucepan, combine the water, milk, butter, salt, and nutmeg. Bring to boiling. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously. Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Cool for 5 minutes. Add two of the eggs, one at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition until smooth. Spoon batter into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip with a 1/2-inch opening.

2. Pipe twenty-four 1-inch mounds (or spoon batter with a rounded measuring teaspoon) 1 inch apart onto prepared baking sheet. Lightly beat the remaining egg and brush over tops of pastry mounds. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.

3. Slice puffs in half horizontally with a serrated knife. For filling, in a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, goat cheese, and milk; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add parsley, dill or basil, and pepper and mix well. Use a pastry bag to pipe filling into the bottom half of each puff (or spread each bottom half with a rounded teaspoon of the mixture). Replace tops. Serve immediately or cover and chill for up to 2 hours. Makes 20 to 24 puffs.

4. Make Ahead: Prepare as directed through Step 2. Place baked puffs in a freezer container. Seal, label, and freeze for up to 2 weeks. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Continue as directed in Step 3.

Red Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS
12 cups cubed red potatoes
1 cup chopped green bell pepper (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup minced red onion
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
Cook potatoes, covered in boiling water, 10 minutes, or until tender; drain well and cool.
In a large bowl, combine potatoes, bell pepper and onion.
In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour over potato mixture, tossing gently to coat. Cover and refrigerate.

Back Again!

Well it's been a while. I'm still continuing on my weight loss path although with a little less enthusiasm as I have been incredibly busy for the last couple of months. Its hard to find time to eat right when you're stressing about work or busy coughing up a long. Stupid pollen! However, my total weight loss is up to 25 lbs! Still got a long way to go, but I'm getting back to Curves tonight after a two week absence and I vow to start counting my points again this week.

A few things that I am super excited about that are coming up over the next few weeks are the opening of the Sex and the City movie and my mom's 50th birthday party. Allison's coming to town on the night SATC opens so we can see it together. I'm hoping to find a great low-cal recipe for Cosmos and when I do, I'll post it. I've already found some great SATC themed drinks, but they were all major calorie splurges. Hungry Girl probably has some options. Just gotta make sure my shaker top is nice and tight so I can sneak my cocktail into the theater!

As far as my mom's birthday party goes, the diet is out the window! I am planning for other people of course. :-D She wants a casual backyard afternoon BBQ. For like 50 people!!! We're looking at getting fruit, veggies, and fried chicken trays from Publix. Kaki is ordering oysters to serve bbq'ed and raw. Those will be yummy! My mom has found a great looking recipe for salsa. We'll probably do a cheeseball and crackers. Now I thought maybe we should just stick to finger foods, but Mom said she'd like to make it more of a meal and do bbq, potato salad, and slaw like stuff.

Then of course there will be cake! That's what I'm in charge of. I'm still debating whether to order one of make it myself. I have this vision of a simple two-tiered cake with a big shiny 50 on top. I tried a practice cake to see if I even had close to the skills to make a two-tiered cake last night. I'm afraid I don't. Kaki thinks that that I could do it, but I'm worried that I'll screw it up in the end and I'll spend the whole day of the party working on it and not be able to help with the other stuff. I guess I have about a little while to decide. I just don't want her to end up with a boring sheet cake from Bilo. Blah!

So to conclude this extra long recap post that I swore I'd never write, the next few posts will be all about recipes I find for the party. Not about weight loss. So it's a little break from Anne Gets Skinny to Anne Plans a Party. My favorite thing to do :) My mom is so gonna hate me after this.

Baked Potato Skins with Creamy Spinach and Turkey Bacon

These look really good. I've had this recipe for a while but forgot about it. Won't forget about it much longer. Gonna make it Thursday night. Can't wait!

Points: 2
Servings: 6

INGREDIENTS
3 medium potatoes, baked, sliced in half, and cooled
1 spray cooking spray
20 oz chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
4 oz light cream cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 slices crisp turkey bacon, crumbled

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Scoop out flesh of potatoes, leaving about 1/4 of potato flesh in potato. (Reserve remaining potato flesh for another use such as mashed potatoes.)
Place potato halves on baking sheet and coat with cooking spray.
Bake until lightly browned, about 15 min.
While potato skins bake, combine spinach, cream cheese, salt, and pepper in medium bowl until well blended.
Remove skins from oven and spoon 3 tablespoons of spinach mixture into each skin; bake until warmed through, about 5 more min.
Remove skins from oven and top with about 1 tbs. crumble bacon.
Yields 1 potato half per serving.

Note: To easily dry spinach, place thawed spinach in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the liquid over the sink, as though you were ringing out a wet towel.

Green Stuff

Well I forgot to make this for St. Patty's Day. But I'll eat pistachio any time of the year so who cares!

Servings: 4
Points: 2

INGREDIENTS
1 package ff pistachio pudding mix
2 cups ff vanilla yogurt
1-20 oz can crushed pineapple (in its own juice)
1 c. ff cool whip

DIRECTIONS
Mix all ingredients. Chill and serve.

Pumpkin Mousse

Servings:4
Points: 2

INGREDIENTS
2 packages SF vanilla pudding
1 c. skim milk
1 c. ff cool whip
1 can pumpkin
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients. Chill and serve.

Weekly Weigh In

For the week : +1.8 lbs

Total loss : 14.8 lbs

Whoops!

Strawberry Pie

Its not quite warm enough outside for this yet, but it will be great this summer!

Points: 6 for the entire pie!

INGREDIENTS
1 package SF vanilla pudding
2 cups water
1 package SF strawberry jello
4 cups sliced strawberries

DIRECTIONS
In medium saucepan, stir together water and pudding mix. Heat to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately add the jello. Stir until dissolved. set the pan aside and let the mixture cool to room temperature. Place strawberries in bottom of a deep dish pie plate. Pour cooled pudding mixture over the strawberries. Refrigerate until chilled. Let it set well before slicing.

Mandarin Orange Mousse

I'm in charge of this for our Chinese Easter this year. Seems easy enough. And its a good excuse to buy a new electric mixer since mine went kaput on me last week. Hope it's good!

Servings : 4, 1 C. Each
Points: 2.5

INGREDIENTS
1 box SF orange jello
1 box SF white chocolate pudding
1 can mandarin oranges
1 8 oz tub fat free cool whip

DIRECTIONS
Mix jello with 1 c. boiling water. Dissolve jello completely.
Add 1 c. cold water and let it sit for 5 min.
Using electric beater, beat in pudding mix until well combined.
Fold in drained fruit and cool whip.
Chill and serve.

White Cake with Pistachio Frosting

I think this is the birthday cake my mom made me this year. It was really good but kind of messy. I think I may make a version of this with the bog cake recipe using white cake mix, applesauce, and mandarin oranges. Then I'll frost it with this pistachio frosting. Yum Yum!


INGREDIENTS
CAKE

18 1/4 ounces white cake mix
3 egg whites
2 1/2 cups diet 7-Up

FROSTING
1(1ounce)package sugar-free pistachio instant pudding
8 ounces fat-free cool whip(small)
1 cup diet 7-Up

DIRECTIONS
Mix all ingredients together. Spray 13 x 9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes. Test cake top by lightly touching the center which should feel slightly firm and will slightly spring back to the touch. (Cool cake completely before frosting.). Mix together frosting ingredients and spread over cake. Refrigerate until ready to eat and hold in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Fries, Fries, Fries, YEAH!

Saw this on Hungry Girl today. Can't wait to try it!

Points : 4
Servings : 2 huge servings !!Yay!!

INGREDIENTS:
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds -- large enough to yield 20 ounces uncooked flesh) 1 container Boca Meatless Chili (or 9.5 oz. of another low-fat veggie chili**)
1/2 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
1/8 tsp. kosher (or regular) salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Optional Toppings: fat-free sour cream, chopped scallions

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Use a sharp knife to remove the ends of the squash. Cut squash in half widthwise (making it easier to manage) and then peel squash halves using a vegetable peeler or a knife. Cut squash in half lengthwise, and then scoop out all the seeds. Next, cut squash into french fry shapes (for best results, try to keep them even in size).
Using a paper towel, pat squash pieces firmly to absorb any excess moisture.
Place squash in a bowl, add a light mist of nonstick spray, and sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper. Toss squash to evenly distribute salt and pepper, and then transfer to a large baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray.
Use 2 pans if needed. Squash pieces should lie flat in the pan.
Place pan(s) in the oven and bake for 40 minutes or so (longer for thick-cut fries, shorter for skinnier fries), flipping halfway through baking. Fries are done when they are starting to brown on the edges and get crispy.
Leaving the oven on, transfer fries to a large oven-safe plate.
Prepare the chili as directed on the package, and then pour it over the fries.
Sprinkle with cheese, and place the plate in the oven for 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Carefully remove from the oven and, if you like, top with sour cream and scallions. Makes 2 enormous and amazingly delicious servings.

Weekly Weigh In

For the week: - 2.2 lbs

Total loss: - 16.6 lbs

Hooray! Maybe this week's trick was that I ate more fish; sushi at lunch on Friday, ahi tuna burgers at Friday's Friday night, fish tacos at Big River Saturday night, and WW cajun-lime tilapia from Applebee's last night. Really, me losing weight makes no sense, but I'll take it!

Mexican Mac and Cheese

I've been adding chopped green chilies to my mac and cheese for a while now. It's so good! I like this low fat version but I would skip the olives cause those aren't my thing.

Points: 5

Servings: 4

INGREDIENTS

2 cups uncooked radiatore (nugget) pasta (6 ounces)
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives
1/2 cup fat-free (skim) milk or fat-free half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small red bell pepper, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 can (4.5 ounces) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles, drained
4 slices fat-free process American cheese (2 ounces)

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.
2. Stir remaining ingredients into pasta. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted and sauce is hot.

Pasta and Bean Skillet

This looks really easy and all the reviews for it are good. Think it will make an excellent week night meal. I'll use whole wheat macaroni and 2% cheese so it will be even less points.


Points: 5
Servings: 4

INGREDIENTS
1 cup salsa (any variety)
2/3 cup uncooked elbow macaroni (2 ounces)
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 cups red kidney beans (from 19-oz can), drained, rinsed
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (2 ounces)

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat all ingredients except cheese to boiling in 10-inch nonstick skillet; reduce heat.
2. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until macaroni is tender. Sprinkle with cheese.


Special Touch
Cater to kids! Use the fun shaped pastas they like, such as wagon wheel, bow tie, corkscrew or the novelty shapes found at specialty food shops.

Variation
Like it spicy? Use a medium or hot variety of salsa to wake up those taste buds.

Special Touch
Serve in shallow bowls, and arrange tortilla chips around the rim of each bowl. Top with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro for extra Southwest flair.

Light Lemon Cake

20 servings @ 3 points each

INGREDIENTS
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 pkg (3/4 oz) instant lemon pudding mix
1 3/4 cups water
3 egg whites
1/2 tsp. lemon extract optional
3/4 skim milk
1 pkg. (1 oz) sugar free vanilla pudding mix
1 carton 8 oz. Fat Free whipped topping

DIRECTIONS
In mixing bowl, combine dry cake mix, lemon pudding mix, water and egg whites. Beat at low speed for 1 min. Pour into a 9x13 baking pan coated with non stick cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 23-28 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool Cake.
In a mixing bowl, combine milk, extract, and vanilla pudding mix. Beat on low for 2 min. Fold in Cool Whip. Spread over cake. Store Cake in refrigerator.

Chocolate Gob Cake

15 servings @ 1 point each

INGREDIENTS
1 pkg. Devil's Food Cake Mix
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
4 oz apple sauce
1 small can mandarin oranges
Use juice and water to =1 1/4 cup liquid
8 oz container of FF Cool Whip for frosting

DIRECTIONS
Smash up oranges. Mix in rest of wet ingredients. Add cake mix and beat on low speed 1 to 2 minutes. Pour into 13x9 pan sprayed with FF Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cool and frost with FF cool whip.

HG's Magical 100-Calorie Margarita

Haven't tred this yet but I'm really looking forward to giving it a try this weekend.

INGREDIENTS
6 oz. Sierra Mist Free (or Sprite Zero, or your other fave no-cal lemon-lime soda)
1 shot of tequila (1.5 oz.)1 packet
Crystal Light on the Go Lemonade (you may use 1/2 of the packet if you don't want your drink as intensely sweet)
2 tbsp. lime juice from concentrate (or fresh-squeezed lime juice)

DIRECTIONS
Mix all ingredients together. Pour over 1 cup of crushed ice. Enjoy.

You can also make your margarita alcohol-free. This recipe, without tequila, contains just 10 calories (5 calories if you use only half of the Crystal Light packet).

1 tsp. Crystal Light Lemonade drink mix may be substituted.

Monthly Measuring

Totals since Jan. 3, 2008

Inches: - 18.00
Body Fat: - .9% or 7.52 lbs
BMI: - 1.98

Total workouts in January : 16
Total workouts in February : 12

Goal for March is to workout on Fridays or Saturdays no matter what! The sun will be out for an extra hour starting next weekend, so I will plan to take Lola for a walk at the park an extra 2 days a week. No excuses!