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How To Calculate Points In Recipes

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weight watchers points plus, points, diet, weight loss

OK.  I finally did it. I have returned to the only weight loss plan that I can stick to successfully over a long period of time. Weight Watchers! I started –again –19 days ago at 152.8 pounds (I am short, guys— 5’2″) and now weigh 147.8. Five pounds off in 19 days and it shows…cuz I’m short! LOL

Now, mind you, I really have not been suffering. I have had dessert every day. I have gone out to eat three times and had 2 fullsize fish fry dinners and a steak dinner with all the trimmings. How? Just counted the points!

Complications?

So, I have been humming right along. Enjoying staying within my 26 points per day. Not veering off too far and always leaving some bonus points that could have been used but NOT using them all. Perfect!  More info: Calculating Weight Watchers Points

Weight Watchers, diet, weight loss, lose weight, points plus

And then Father’s Day shows up. Ugh. And my sweet hubby says that all he really wants is a Frozen Pink Lemonade Pie!  OK.  I can resist eating any myself but, when I bake, I really do like to have a smidge. Just a smidge. So, I decided to figure out what size piece I can have without destroying the good work I’ve done. Well, one tenth of the pie (a small slice in my estimation) is 12 points. THAT ain’t gonna happen! I’d have to figure out a much smaller slice than that!

That was complication number one.

Number two? Date night. We go out to eat, or get take-out, every Friday night. Tonight is Red Robin night. Oh my goodness!  A cup of chili and a ‘Shroom Burger are my favorites.  Cup of Red Robin chili is 6 points and the burger is 19. I can, and will, do that but that lemonade pie is lurking in the shadows 2 days from now. Gotta have a plan!

My Plan
That is why I decided to learn how to calculate Weight Watchers points in a whole recipe. I did it. I can have 1/16 slice of the pie for 8 points, if it really means THAT much to me. Guess what? Love that pie but it probably is not worth it. I can have a half cup of delicious Edy’s chocolate ice cream for 3. That is what I will do. 

But just how DID I calculate those points? I will show you right now. Please, relax about the math. There is a link below to a free online recipe calculator by The Food Lady that you can use but, what if the lights go out? Or, what if the battery on your laptop runs low just when you need those points! So here’s how to do this manually, just in case.

How To Calculate Weight Watchers Points In A Recipe 

1. Get out the ingredients. If you don’t have them all on hand, the nutritional labels can be found online (if you have power, LOL.)
2. Find a blank piece of paper and a pen.
3. Make columns at the top of the page with these titles: 
Protein     Carbohydrates      Fat       Fiber           Servings
4. Write a list of ingredients down the right side of the page. In this instance, I was calculating my recipe for Lemonade Pie so I wrote:
  • Graham Cracker Crust
  • Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • Frozen Lemonade
  • Cool Whip

5. Next to each ingredient, write the protein, carbs, fat and fiber for that ingredient PLUS how many servings in the entire pie.* Note: you can find that information on the product’s nutritional label or in a Weight Watchers Points Plus Pocket Guide (pictured below) 

So, if the crust says 1/10 servings then I will ultimately have to multiply each value of that ingredient by 10. i.e Fat 6 X10 = 60 grams of fat in the WHOLE crust.  

*That is your first goal. To determine the fat, carbs, fiber and protein of each INGREDIENT in the ENTIRE recipe. 
6. After you have done that for each ingredient, multiplying all of the factors by how many servings of that ingredient and writing them down, ADD each column up. You will have total fat, carbs, fiber and protein for the entire recipe. 
7. Divide the totals of all four by the size serving you want to know about. I started with a slice of pie that was 1/8 of the whole. So I divided them by 8 and THEN used a points calculator. 18 points! Yikes! I settled on 1/16 for 8 points or none at all. 
To discover the points in foods where the values are already noted on the label by a serving, you can purchase a Weight Watchers Points Plus Calculator or use a FREE online calculator.  To figure out points in a recipe that you are making use the …

             Unofficial Points Plus Recipe Calculator

“Finally, a weight loss plan I can stick with and even eat pie!” 
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easy desserts, lemonade pie, cool whip desserts

My Pink Lemonade Pie Recipe 
Featured on It Is A Keeper

      


Note: this author is an Amazon Affiliate. Anything that you purchase from Amazon through Ducks ‘n a Row will result in a small commission for me. In advance, “thank you.” … Sinea

Red Robin Knock Off Bonzai Burgers

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By Sinea Pies

Don’t you love a thick, juicy burger when it first comes off the grill? Can’t wait to get your hands on it!  Whether you select a traditional burger with ketchup, mustard and pickles or something more exotic, burgers are the best way to make cooking on a Saturday SIMPLE.  

This Simple Saturday post is for those whose Saturday is not going to be a staycation, but a working Saturday. You clean. You shop. You work outside. Maybe take in a ballgame…and you make dinner. Let’s make it fun for the whole family but not too much work for you!

So, let’s spotlight something exotic…
Teriyaki Burgers
Have you ever eaten at Red Robin?  One of their most popular menu items is the Bonzai Burger.  This is a Bonzai Burger “Knockoff” Recipe.

Teriyaki Burgers on the Grill

Ingredients
85 – 90% ground beef
Swiss cheese
Teriyaki sauce in a bottle
1 can pineapple slices
Soy sauce
Salt and Pepper
Hamburger rolls 
    Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. This will be used to melt the cheese on the burgers at the end. 

    Warm up a skillet on  the stove, medium heat, and spray with Pam. Place pineapple rings inside and sprinkle with soy sauce.  Simmer till the juices run almost dry.  Keep on low heat until time to serve the meal.  Start up the grill.

    Form hamburger patties by hand, making a ball from the ground beef about the size of a tennis or baseball.  Squish each on a plate using a sheet of waxed paper, aluminum foil or even another plate, till they are flat.  Lay the formed patties on a plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cover them on top with Teriyaki sauce. 

    Take the patties to the grill and place them on the grid, sauce-side down.  Now pour about 2T of Teriyaki sauce on the un-sauced side. (Is “unsauced” a word? It is now!) Leave them on for a while before the first turning.  Now, turn them a couple of times, as they cook.  
    When the juices just start to run, remove the burgers to a foil-covered baking sheet and bring indoors.  Top each with a pineapple ring, slices of bacon, slice of Swiss cheese and pop in the oven to melt the cheese.  About 3 minutes should do it.

    Place on hamburger rolls and garnish with the extras you like.  You may want to use: Thousand Island Dressing, Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Pickles and/or tomato slices or nothing extra at all.

    Serve with chips or macaroni salad on the side.  ENJOY!

            

      Photo credit: Hamburgers on a Wooden Board by Grant Cochrane on freedigitalphotos



      Top 20 Best Diets to Lose Weight

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      U.S. News and World Report just came out with its list of the Top 20 Best Weight-Loss Diets of the year.  Perfect timing for Weightloss Wednesdays on Ducks n a Row!

      As you can see, several weight loss plans tied for the honor of whatever position they achieved but the final result is that there are 20 in all!

                                           Ever Talk Back to Your Scale?
                                      photo: Dreamstime.com

      Here they are:
      1.   Weight Watchers                                      
      2.   Jenny Craig
      2.   Raw Food
      4.   Volumetrics Diet
      5  . Slim Fast
      5.   Vegan Diet
      7.   Atkins Diet
      8.   DASH Diet
      8.   Eco-Atkins
      8.   Mayo-Clinic Diet
      11. Mediterranean Diet
      11. Ornish Diet
      11. Southbeach Diet
      11. TLC Diet
      15. Vegetarian Diet
      16. Medifast Diet
      16. Nutrisystem 
      18. Zone Diet
      19. Glycemic Index Diet
      20. Paleo Diet

      Ever tried any of these? Do you have a diet of choice?  I’ve heard of many of them but some were a total mystery to me. Thanks to US News & World Report, each one is summarized in the article.  (Link below).


      Personally, of all of the plans on the list, Weight Watchers, Southbeach Diet and Atkins are my favorites. Weight Watchers is the easiest for me to stick with in the long term and I had been very successful on it, at one time.  I lost 14 pounds and kept it off for many months.  So, what happened? “Life”, I guess.  But I never give up.  In fact, I have started it again.
      Best Diets List from US News & World Report


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