Frank Said Don't Tell

Are we in need of a little comfort? This is basically enchiladas for lazy people. I found  this recipe  over at Smitten Kitchen a couple of years ago and made a few tweaks to lower the points... enough to add avocado and still meet my nutrition goals. I also switched in kale, in lieu of spinach. Kale is better in baked tomato dishes, also, it was in my fridge. With over six cups of vegetables, and corn and beans being "free" on the new WW plan, one can enjoy this filling, delicious, AND EASY comfort dish, that won't screw up your diet. And these days, I feel we are all in need of more than a little comfort. Yield: 4 servings/8 smart points per serving Ingredients: 1 small sweet onion, chopped fine 1 small jalapeño, sliced. PLEASE add more if you like spicy 1 TBS olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp cumin 2 tsp chili powder 1 TBS fresh oregano and thyme 1 tsp salt, more to taste 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 1 14.4 oz can diced tomat

Warning, there are no chips, or cheese, but we like NOT-chos enough to eat them once a week. The richness of the avocado, the earthy black-eyed peas, and the spicy-sweet char on the peppers scratch the nacho itch without the uh-oh after. After the recipe are some thoughts on how to eat healthy, without giving up the tastes you love. Yield: 2 servings/5 smart points per serving Ingredients: 1 small avocado, diced or sliced fat free greek yogurt, to taste 1 can black-eyed peas 1.5 C frozen corn 1 poblano chopped into 1 inch pieces 6 small sweet peppers or 2 red bell peppers chopped into 1 inch pieces 1 Tbs olive oil Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400° and line sheet pan with foil. 2. Toss peppers with olive oil and spread on sheet pan. 3. Roast at 400° for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and scrape pan with spatula to free any charred on peppers. Set aside. 4. Bring small pan of water to boil and add corn. Cook according to di

Confession guys, I resisted the Instant Pot FOR YEARS. I had two Crock Pots, barely used, and a smattering of other small kitchen appliances of various levels necessity. Need? Want? You decide if you like standing around stirring the pot for a few hours, or would you rather give a few ingredients a quick sauté, AND THEN WALK AWAY, dinner ready in less than an hour? While I use my Instant Pot for a variety of bean dishes, this is consistently in the weekly rotation since a friend passed on this  recipe from Carve Your Craving. I made a few tweaks to make this a little more Weight Watcher friendly, and fiddled with the spices a bit. My FAVORITE outcome after including this in our meal plan, is the dramatic reduction in our family visits to Tarka Indian Kitchen. My smart point budget thanks me, and yours will too. Pair this dish with  this  recipe for incredibly easy naan, and you'll never order takeout again. Yield: 4 servings/2 smart points per serving (without the naa

Was it a great summer or what? Guys, so many wonderful books, especially,  Americanah , by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and The Cooking Gene , by Michael W. Twitty. AND TRAVEL. Washington! Oregon! Arkansas! Kentucky! Mississippi! and back home to Austin, TX. Summer of ADVENTURE, and a slight fluffiness. So, back to Weight Watchers, right guys? Needing to back away from: The craft beer: The coconut cream pie: And the super worth it Mississippi fried deliciousness: This lady jumped back into her meetings. Last week we all dug around the app for new recipes to get back on track for fall. Voila! I ran across their recipe for  Senegalese Peanut Stew with Spinach and Sweet Potatoes , totally in keeping with the theme of Summer of Adventure, but less calories. Win. Win, win, win. AND IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!! Well, mostly. I added a bit more oil, and reduced the cooked time on some of the vegetables (I don't want mushy), switched soy sauce for the salt (ginger+pean