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Since I am a part of a few Weight Watchers groups on Facebook, I asked others in the groups whose recipes they would like to see lightened up. So many people love the Pioneer Woman’s recipes but I am certain that eating them is what sent me to Weight Watchers. As a result, I did two posts on the Pioneer Woman’s recipes remade into Weight Watchers Freestyle recipes. To date, they are my most viewed posts since starting almost one year ago.
Other than the Pioneer Woman’s recipes (which I will continue to redo and post here), the Barefoot Contessa came in second for recipes to be remade and third was Rachael Ray.
Let me preface this by saying that if this entire menu was made with the original recipes, your daily points value would have been 93. Now that these recipes are remade, your daily points will be approximately 17 Points (or less). Enjoy!
So, below you will find a few of the Barefoot Contessa’s recipes remade the Weight Watchers Freestyle way.
I will show how many points the original recipe was per serving and what the new Weight Watchers Freestyle friendly point value will be. Also, there are times I will increase the serving size for the new recipe. This makes it easier for me to calculate if something comes out to say 4.5 points or 5.3 points or whatever. I will round up the serving size to make the points value even and easier to calculate for you.
If you would like to see the original Pioneer Woman’s Recipe posts that were remade they are below:
Pioneer Woman’s Recipes Remade into Weight Watchers Freestyle Recipes
Complete Daily Menu of Pioneer Woman’s Recipes for Under 9 Daily Points
These Barefoot Contessa recipes below are actually a perfect meal to serve on Father’s Day coming up. They are equally perfect to even serve at a barbecue during the summertime. The remade recipes will definitely appeal to those that are eating healthy and the other half won’t even know the difference. They are that delicious.
The original recipe for the Barefoot Contessa’s Cape Cod Chopped Salad recipe is right here. Per serving, it amounts to 22 Points! And the points mainly come from the salad dressing that you make for this salad. So, I’m going to give you an alternative if you do not want to make the salad dressing and fiddle with it. Like I did, but I did get it just right. It just takes some experimenting to see what non point flavors you want to add to get the dressing just right.
As a result with tweaking the recipe just so, we are now looking at the new recipe being 4 points per serving. Below are the new recipe adjustments:
- Replace 8 ounces of thick cut bacon with 6 slices of Turkey Bacon⇒ 6 Points (down from 11 Points)
- Omit 1/2 cup of walnut halves entirely and replace with 4.5 teaspoons of toasted Sesame Seeds⇒ 2 Points (down from 12 Points)
- Replace 1/2 cup of dried cranberries with 1.5 tablespoons of Ocean Spray Reduced Sugar Dried Cranberries⇒ 2 Points (down from 14 Points)
- Omit 6 ounces of blue cheese entirely and replace with 1¼ cups of Athenos Fat Free Feta Cheese⇒ 1 Point (down from 23 Points)
- Replace 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup with 3 tablespoons of sugar free maple syrup⇒ 0 Points (down from 4 Points
- Replace 2/3 cup of olive oil with 3 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil⇒ 4 Points (down from 23 Points).
You wil also add chicken broth and water to make your dressing.I started off with 1/3 cup of chicken broth and a drop or two of cold water. Make sure you put all the dressing ingredients in a blender so that it mixes well. You may want to add more orange juice, orange zest, vinegar, sugar free maple syrup. Just play with it until you get the flavor you want. I promise it is worth it.
Currently there are no points for the sugar free maple syrup. But as a side note, if you like your dressing on the sweeter side, you can add up to 9 tablespoons of sugar free maple syrup and it will only be 1 point for the syrup. After 9 tablespoons, it turns to 2 points.
I did not use the arugula since I know my son will not eat it. So, I used 2 salad mix bags and 2 apples instead of 1. Of course, adding these extras in will not change the points value. This is a very hearty salad for barely 4 points per serving.
Nut Toaster
I want to show you this seed/nut toaster that I use to toast sesame seeds without turning on your oven. It takes a minute or two to toast your seeds without burning them in the oven.
Next up on the menu are Barefoot Contessa’s Niman Ranch Burgers. The original recipe is right here. The obvious huge point cutter is switching out the meat, but using ground turkey breast can get very dry. I’ll show you how I make these burgers taste like beef and they will be very juicy.
- Replace grass fed beef and replace with 1 pound ground turkey breast and 1 pound of ground chicken breast.⇒ 0 Points. Down from 11 Points.
- Omit oil entirely.
- Add 1 egg yolk and 1 ½ tablespoons of this little beauty to the meat mixture and form into six patties.I get this off of Amazon because my store does not carry it. The last I seen it was on their clearance shelves a few years ago. This is what makes your ground turkey or chicken taste like beef and full of juiciness. Even though 1.5 tablespoons is 2 points, spread across 6 big sized burgers, it’s still 0 points per hamburger patty.
- Personally, I omit mayonnaise most times and just use my 0 point creamy dreamy hummus in its place. We even mix it with Dijon mustard to give it a “dijonnaise” taste. Delicious.
- Omit ingredients and directions for the Caramelized Onions and follow this recipe instead:
3 Red Onions, Peeled and Sliced into Rings
1/4 cup of Chicken, Beef or Vegetable Broth
1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Teaspoon of Salt
1/4 Teaspoon of Ground Pepper
Vegetable Cooking Spray
Directions:
1. Liberally spray a saute pan with vegetable cooking spray and saute onions. Add salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally about 15 minutes.
2. Remove lid and continue cooking about 10 minutes.
3. Slowly add broth and vinegar. Keep stirring until liquid reduces by half.
4. Add additional pepper and salt and serve on top of burgers.
So the original recipe for the burgers and onions (minus the bun) would be 16 points for 1 burger patty. Now it’s 0 Points per hamburger patty. Not too shabby. Now our burger needs a bun. Let’s see our choices:
Thomas Sandwich Sized English Muffin⇒ 5 Points
Nature’s Own Butter Bun Hamburger Roll⇒ 4 Points
Nature’s Own Whitewheat Enriched Bun⇒ 3 Points
OR
SmartBun Hamburger Bun⇒ 1 Point
Have you seen these buns yet? I don’t remember how I found out about them but I’m going to tell you they are extremely delicious. They are available on Amazon right here. Yes, they are expensive. Yes, they are as delicious as they look. They freeze well and if you are NOT going to eat the 4 buns that come in the package right away, freeze them. First I wrap each bun in plastic wrap and then I put them into a freezer bag. Lastly, these buns are full of protein, zero carb and gluten free as well. Win-Win-Win!
I think that Cauliflower AuGratin will be a nice side dish to this dinner. The original recipe is right here. For 4 servings, the original Points value would be slightly over 14 Points per serving. By substituting the following, the Points value reduces to just 6 Points per serving:
- Replace and reduce the 4 tablespoons of butter to 3 tablespoons of whipped butter. 20 Points⇒ 10 Points.
- Replace 2 cups of whole milk with 2 cups of 1% milk. 13 Points⇒ 8 Points.
- Omit 3/4 cup of Gruyere cheese and replace with 3/4 cup of Kraft Fat Free Shredded Cheddar Cheese. 13 Points⇒ 1 Point.
- Reduce 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese to 1/4 cup. 7 Points⇒ 4 Points.
The Points went from a little over 14 Points per serving down to just 6 Points per serving.
*Also, if you cannot find Kraft Fat Free Shredded Cheese where you live, you can substitute the fat free cheese with Cabot 75% Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese. Doing this will increase the Points value to 8 Points per serving.
I thought I would include this side dish too in case you wanted something more traditional to go with your burgers. The original recipe for Barefoot Contessa’s Matchstick Potatoes is here.
The original recipe would be about 10 Points per serving. Yikes! To me, it’s just not worth it for a few potato fries.
So, when we want fries we get out our handy dandy air fryer (below) and use nothing more than our favorite “fry” cutting tool (below) and carrots, parsnips and jicama. We then put all the slices into a large bowl and spray with vegetable cooking spray. I even spritz a large storage/freezer bag (after spraying it with vegetable spray) with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray and toss the vegetables into it. Then I get out our Himalayan Pink Salt, fresh cracked black pepper and another spicy seasoning and toss until they are all coated. Then we put them into our air fryer and spritz again. Halfway through baking time, flip and spritz again. Let me tell you how delicious these are! You will be hooked!
This takes the Points value from 10 to 0 per serving. So worth it. This is a picture of our Big Boss Air Fryer. It’s amazing.
The original recipe for Barefoot Contessa’s Mixed Berry Pavlova is right here. This will make 6 Pavlovas. So since we must never – ever skip dessert, let’s see how many Points we can shave off this sweet t-h-a-n-g:
- Replace sugar and substitute with same amount of Splenda 48 Points⇒ 3 Points.
- Omit the sugar, cream and extract to make the whipped cream. Instead use 12 tablespoons of Fat Free Cool Whip (2 tablespoons per Pavlova) 43 Points⇒ 3 Points.
- For making the Triple Raspberry Sauce do this: Substitute the sugar for the same amount of Splenda, omit full sugar Rasperry Jam completely and use 1/2 cup of Sugar Free Preserves and completely omit the Framboise Liqueur. I know it may be hard to find Sugar Free Raspberry Preserves so I will leave a link below for you to try Amazon in case your grocery store does not sell it. 66 Points⇒ 2 Points.
- The end result: originally one Pavlova would have been 26 Points!! Now it is barely 2 Points!!
Also, feel free to switch the fruit and jelly used in this recipe for Strawberry, Blueberry, etc.
I hope you like this remade menu and that you serve up it soon. Please let me know how you like it as well as what changes you made, if any.
If you would like to see some of the items I use in my Weight Watchers kitchen to make things go seemlessly preparing meals or foods I get that are just too good to resist, they are below.
Sesame Seed Roasting Pan
Ocean Spray Reduced Sugar Dried Cranberries
Kitchen Bouquet Browning & Seasoning Sauce
SmartBun 1 Point Hamburger Buns
Big Boss Air Fryer
Mandolin Vegetable Slicer/Spiralizer
Himalayan Pink Sea Salt With Grinder
Tony Chachere Seasoning Blends
Granulated Splenda
Sugar Free Raspberry Jam
Parchment Paper for Meringues
Also, if you would like to see how I consistent lose weight every week on Weight Watchers since 1/1/18, read my tips below:
Huge Party Menu with 13 Complete O Point Recipes From Drinks to Dessert – All Printable Recipes
Do These 2 Simple Things Every Week to Have Success with Weight Watchers Freestyle-PIC HEAVY POST
8 Foolproof Ways to Prevent Weight Watchers Burnout Until Goal
