Dinner Guest
So last night a very good friend of mine came over for dinner. My hubby was working so it was a girl's night. My mom, Laurie and her daughter and my little princesses... lol. Since we were all very "bad" this holiday season, it was important that we didn't completely blow it with dinner. Although it's very tempting when having people over, it is possible to stay on track while having tons of flavorful, delicious food!
I started with my new favorite... Brussel sprouts. Laurie and my mom both love them, but are used to soaking them in butter after boiling them. I figured that it was my chance to show them how to eat them guilt free, with the roasted brussel sprouts version. They loved them!
Next, I moved onto chopping my veggies for a stir fry. I know that there is no real rule for a stir fry, but I'm pretty new to this area so I was a little nervous. I chopped a red bell pepper, an orange bell pepper and about 1 cup of baby carrots julienne style. Then I sliced about 1 cup of white mushrooms, chopped the ends and halved 1 cup of snap peas, and chopped a head of broccoli. I cooked them all up in about 1/2 cup of fat free chicken stock. Seasoned with some salt, pepper, and onion powder. I was going to make a sauce to go on this, but realized I didn't have any teriyaki sauce. Oh well, it was super yummy all on it's own.
I seasoned my pork tenderloin with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder. Then seared all sides and put it in the oven with the brussel sprouts for about 10-12 minutes. I used the thermometer and took it out when it was about 150-155 degrees at the middle. While sitting on the table to rest it will continue to cook to the 160-165 and this will allow all of the juices to redistribute. OMG... it was perfect. Just slightly pink in the center, almost melt in your mouth tender... mmm mmm mmm.
Not having a sauce was a little bummer, but I had some Thai Peanut Sauce from the Pampered Chef that adds tons of flavor with just a little sauce. This helped to keep the points down... yay!!
In total, this was a very low points meal. The stir fry was completely free with the fat free chicken stock instead of oil. I used just 1 tsp of oil with the entire 2 cups of brussel sprouts which means that side was free of points as well!! The pork tenderloin was browned in my 12" nonstick skillet so no oil required. That means that for 1 pt per oz, it was about 4 pts per serving. The sauce was 3 pts for 2 Tbsp and thats significantly more than you need!!
I made some white rice in chicken stock and chicken breast with baby corn for the kids. So with a half of a cup of the rice and a glass of 1% milk the entire meal only "cost" me about 9 points. Not bad!
So Laurie felt bad not bringing anything. She decided on some pineapple and grapes with a dipping sauce made with fat free cream cheese and marshmallow creme. This means that with 1/2 cup of the sauce (2pts), 1 cup of pineapple and 1/2 cup of grapes (1.5 pts), it brings our entire evening up to 12.5 pts!
That might seem like a lot when you factor that I get only 23 pts per day, but for an extravagant evening that I knew about it is very doable!! Hope that this gives you a little incentive to try to entertain while staying on track. I know that it might be hard to relate to the points if you don't follow Weight Watchers, but the idea is it keep it "healthier" while keeping all of the flavor!
Have fun. Play with flavor combinations! Add spice! Worst case scenario... you end up eating soup... lmao! Good luck!
I started with my new favorite... Brussel sprouts. Laurie and my mom both love them, but are used to soaking them in butter after boiling them. I figured that it was my chance to show them how to eat them guilt free, with the roasted brussel sprouts version. They loved them!
Next, I moved onto chopping my veggies for a stir fry. I know that there is no real rule for a stir fry, but I'm pretty new to this area so I was a little nervous. I chopped a red bell pepper, an orange bell pepper and about 1 cup of baby carrots julienne style. Then I sliced about 1 cup of white mushrooms, chopped the ends and halved 1 cup of snap peas, and chopped a head of broccoli. I cooked them all up in about 1/2 cup of fat free chicken stock. Seasoned with some salt, pepper, and onion powder. I was going to make a sauce to go on this, but realized I didn't have any teriyaki sauce. Oh well, it was super yummy all on it's own.
I seasoned my pork tenderloin with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder. Then seared all sides and put it in the oven with the brussel sprouts for about 10-12 minutes. I used the thermometer and took it out when it was about 150-155 degrees at the middle. While sitting on the table to rest it will continue to cook to the 160-165 and this will allow all of the juices to redistribute. OMG... it was perfect. Just slightly pink in the center, almost melt in your mouth tender... mmm mmm mmm.
Not having a sauce was a little bummer, but I had some Thai Peanut Sauce from the Pampered Chef that adds tons of flavor with just a little sauce. This helped to keep the points down... yay!!
In total, this was a very low points meal. The stir fry was completely free with the fat free chicken stock instead of oil. I used just 1 tsp of oil with the entire 2 cups of brussel sprouts which means that side was free of points as well!! The pork tenderloin was browned in my 12" nonstick skillet so no oil required. That means that for 1 pt per oz, it was about 4 pts per serving. The sauce was 3 pts for 2 Tbsp and thats significantly more than you need!!
I made some white rice in chicken stock and chicken breast with baby corn for the kids. So with a half of a cup of the rice and a glass of 1% milk the entire meal only "cost" me about 9 points. Not bad!
So Laurie felt bad not bringing anything. She decided on some pineapple and grapes with a dipping sauce made with fat free cream cheese and marshmallow creme. This means that with 1/2 cup of the sauce (2pts), 1 cup of pineapple and 1/2 cup of grapes (1.5 pts), it brings our entire evening up to 12.5 pts!
That might seem like a lot when you factor that I get only 23 pts per day, but for an extravagant evening that I knew about it is very doable!! Hope that this gives you a little incentive to try to entertain while staying on track. I know that it might be hard to relate to the points if you don't follow Weight Watchers, but the idea is it keep it "healthier" while keeping all of the flavor!
Have fun. Play with flavor combinations! Add spice! Worst case scenario... you end up eating soup... lmao! Good luck!
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