March 18, 2021

Vonda’s “Smart Swaps”

All the protein and none of the fat! Squash and Black Bean chili is loved by the entire Zen team!

Meg has cooked this many times for backyard social distanced chili nights with a few girlfriends. Vonda has wowed her Grandma Gigi who hasn’t had anything like this before and it is in regular rotation at my house including all the toppings – Greek yogurt and lots of hot sauce. There is so much flavor from the combination of spices and fresh ingredients which is what makes this a special dish. Here are the SmartPoints for this recipe.

Find the full recipe here and a reel to show you how it’s done. If you’re in Chicago then lucky for you it is also available as a fresh meal kit Fresh Midwest.

Continuing our theme for March following the launch of our Family Favorites at WW (formerly Weight Watchers) Loves collection, Vonda has shared a list of SmartSwaps as a part of her own WW plan.

Check out what makes recipes lighter on points while maintaining all of the flavor here;

Greek yogurt A low-point creamy replacement for sour cream on top of chili or baked potatoes, chilis, in dips, salad dressing and other recipes. You can also mix half Greek yogurt and half light sour cream if Greek yogurt by itself is a little too tangy for you.
Hot sauce on everything! SmartPoints value: 0 (Green), 0 (Blue), 0 (Purple)
Stevia or Monk Fruit sweetener in place of regular sugar. I also mix half stevia and half real sugar sometimes to cut down on points but still indulge a little.
Ground turkey or chicken rather than ground beef…or mix ½ pound ground turkey and ½ pound lean ground beef for recipes. It cuts the points in half and your family will never know. ?
Cauliflower in place of potatoes/rice. You can find bags of riced and mashed cauliflower in the frozen section of any store. You can also make your own if you have the time. I like to mix half real mashed potatoes with ½ mashed cauliflower. Again, it is ½ the points!
My Bizzy Kitchen Skinny Pizza Dough – The possibilities with this dough are endless… it’s a MUST! More on that next week when we show you how to prove in the Instant Pot.
Smart Sweets Gummies live up to the hype – I always have a couple of bags on hand and they are the perfect cure for your candy craving. One convenient single serve bag is just 3 SmartPoints. Trust me you will not want to share.
Substitute applesauce for oil in baking, the ratio is typically 1:1
Use unsweetened almond, cashew or coconut milk instead of cow’s milk in recipes. Tastes great and saves you LOTS of points.