If you’re still with me, then nori snacks are what you’re looking for.  Trader Joe’s sells something called Trader Joe’s Roasted Seaweed Snacks, but these from Yama Mota Yama are better: they have a bigger, resealable package so they don’t go stale.  They also have less fat than the Trader Joe’s kind, which has 2 grams of fat per serving.  Now, a serving of the TJ kind only have 30 calories, but hey, 0 grams of fat still rules.  I believe you get more for your money, too; these were $2.30 a jar, which has 8 servings.  Trader Joe’s had 2 servings for a dollar.

Once you get over the fact you’re eating seaweed, these are fantastic.  They come in different varieties: plain, teriyaki, and my favorite, Hot ‘N Spicy, which indeed are, hot and spicy.

Best of all, you can just keep eating them and not feel guilty at all.  Indeed, they are healthy!  10 sheets are 10 calories, 0 fat but 50% of your Vitamin A requirements for the day.

Yes, it does taste better with the sushi rice and fish, but these nori snacks are very delish.

I found these at Berkeley Bowl, but you can probably find them at any store that sells asian foods.  Nori also comes in larger sheets for sushi making, but I prefer these jars because each sheet is smaller and more snack-like.

You’re still skeptical. I can feel it.  But trust me: these are great!

9lb 1 oz Spaghetti Squash

Have you tried spaghetti squash yet?  This squash is remarkably easy to cook, and is a reasonable substitute for spaghetti noodles at a fraction of the calories.  And at this time of year, it can be a bargain.  I bought my 9lb 1 oz baby at Trader Joe’s, which sells everything by the piece, not by weight.  So, at $1.79, this squash was less than 20¢ a lb!

My nutritional data shows that 1 C cooked is only 42 calories, with 2 grams of fiber and a good amount of vitamin C.  That’s 0 points for you Weight Watchers!  The zero pointage doesn’t last forever, though; 2 C is 1 point, and 3 C is 2 points.  That’s a lot of squash!

When you have a squash this big, cutting it feels more like slaughter.  It was surprisingly painless,

Still huge!

however.  To my surprise, there were squash sprouts inside!  They didn’t affect the flavor of the squash as far as I can tell.

Squash Sprouts

I cut it into quarters, then stuck one in the microwave with clear wrap for about 9 minutes.  After it cooled a bit, I used a fork to remove the flesh, resulting in a spaghetti-like texture.  I added tomato sauce and a little parmesan cheese–delish!

Joel eats huge amounts of spaghetti squash, but he prefers it with a little butter and parmesan cheese.  Any way you eat it, you’re getting a lot of food and nutrition.

I’m ho-hum about summer squash, but can’t get enough winter squash.  How about you?

How to turn spaghetti squash into spaghetti

It’s very easy to make a dressing, but let’s face it: I’m lazy.  I buy the pre-washed leaves in an environmentally unsound plastic tub, and you think I’m going to whisk together vinegar and oil?

Not a chance, especially when there’s Newman’s Own Lighten Up Sesame Ginger Dressing.  It’s got a lot of flavor, and only 1 Weight Watcher Point per generous serving size of 2 tablespoons.  With that, I can feel free to sprinkle on a few slivered almonds for a whopping 2 point salad.

Alas, it does contain sugar and perhaps more salt than many would like.  But for my husband and myself, this dressing is a pantry staple.  Got it on sale for $3.00, and usually a similar price at Target.

Stats

Serving Size:2 Tablespoons

Servings per Package:16

Calories: 35
Fat: 1.5 grams
Sodium: 390 mg
Fiber: 0 gram
Protein: 0 grams
WW Points: 1

Ingredients:

Water, Distilled Vinegar, Sugar, Soy Sauce (Wheat, Water, Soybeans, Salt), Ginger Pulp (Ginger, Cane Sugar), Ginger Puree, Sesame Oil, Canola Oil, Salt, Pineapple Concentrate, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Lemon Juice Concentrate, Garlic*, Onion*, Toasted Sesame Seed, Xanthan Gum, Caramel (Color), Spice *Dried

Whether or not you believe that the meat you’re eating really did come from humanely raised, organic feed, free range, grass fed animals, you can’t help but notice that eating happier meat definitely eats away at your grocery budget.  It’s a lot easier and cheaper to go vegetarian.

It’s better for weight loss, too, it turns out.  The vegetarian versions of your favorite meats won’t trick you into thinking they’re the real deal, but some of them are plenty good.

Would've looked better with grilled onions and peppers

Take the Morningstar Farms Italian sausages.  They look reasonably like a sausage, and taste good, too.  And only 120 calories?!? That’s 3 WW Points, for those who are Pointy like me. Heck, I can go crazy and eat it on a bun!

Compare that to a pork Italian sausage, with 286 calories and a whopping 8 Points. Yikes!  Gimme fauxage any day.

Stats

Serving Size:1 link

Servings per Package:4

Calories: 120
Fat: 6 grams
Sodium: 350 mg
Fiber: 1 gram
Protein: 10 grams
WW Points: 3

So I bought some and tried it with ripe strawberries.  Did you know it tastes great with strawberries, too?  It tastes great all on its own, too.  In great quantities.

They might have taken out the fat, but have done a great job of preserving the flavor with lots of sugar.  But it is fairly healthy as desserts go, with active cultures, vitamin A, vitamin C, and calcium.  It’s healthy!  Eat half a carton!

Stats

Serving Size: 1/2 cup (BWAHAHAHA!  Oh, they’re serious)

Servings per Package:8

Calories: 100
Fat: 0 grams
Sodium: 50 mg
Fiber: 0 grams
Protein: 3 grams
WW Points: 2

Trader Joe's Organic Polenta

Eating whole grains is tasty when you’re eating polenta.  And it’s remarkably low in points/calories, too.  Although you can make it from scratch, using it premade makes it a lot more likely you’ll actually use it and eat it.  Trader Joe’s polenta is under two bucks, is organic, and tastes great.

Stats

Servings per Package: 5

Calories: 70
Fat: 0 grams
Sodium: 310 mg
Fiber: 1 gram
Protein: 2 grams
WW Points: 1

Using it is super easy: open the package, slice, and bake or saute if you like.  I use it as a substitute for noodles in a vegetarian lasagna.  At this time of year, it’s a great base for Polenta with Tomato and Basil.

Polenta with Tomato and Basil

Serves 5 as an appetizer, or 2 as a light meal

Ingredients

1 chub polenta
2-3 ripe tomatoes
10 leaves fresh basil
parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375.  Slice the polenta into 10 slices, and arrange on a cookie sheet.  Slice the tomatoes, and place on the polenta rounds.  Chop the basil, and arrange on the tomato slices.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese if desired.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tomatoes are roasted.  2 slices are 1 WW point.

I’ve gotten away from sandwiches; sandwiches are tough when you’re trying to reduce your calorie intake, and my favorite bread is 2 points per slice.  Sandwiches require some sort of bready wrapper, and those typically have a lot of calories.  There are lots of high-fiber low-calorie breads out there, but they often have the texture of sawdust or taste more like chemicals then I’d like.

So the Orowheat Sandwich Thins are a great find. At 100 calories (1 gram fat, 5 grams fiber) they are only one Weight Watchers Point!.  The ingredient list isn’t as scary as many out there, too; you’ll actually recognize 3/4s of the ingredients.  The label touts no high fructose corn syrup, but it does have sugar, sugar alcohols and sucralose (aka Splenda). Weird.

The package doesn’t lie… they ARE thin.   They are big enough in terms of circumference for a burger, though, and a good container for the good stuff you want to be eating within.  For some reason they are not sliced all the way through, so I’d recommend using a sharp knife to finish the job or you’ll end up with holes.  They do a better job after a little toasting.  And they taste like real food, not some kind of sawdust concoction.  Give ‘em a try!

Well, just when you thought you Could Not Go On, I present to you: PB2.  Powdered peanut butter, with most of the fat removed.

Yes, it’s crazy…. crazy GOOD.  Mix two tablespoons of this dried stuff with water, and you have enough for a sandwich.  But it’s only 53 calories, one Weight Watchers Point! And yes, it does taste like peanut butter.  I read, from the ingredient list: Peanuts, Sugar, Salt.  I’m not crazy about the sugar, but I’ll put up with it for the peanut buttery wonder this stuff is.

Mix it into chocolate pudding and, voila, you have peanut butter cup pudding!  Put it in a blender with a frozen banana and yogurt, and you have a peanut butter banana smoothie!

Now, if it’s mostly the oily mouthfeel you love, this won’t do it for you.  And it’s not crunchy; add crunched up peanuts for added calories and points if you absolutly must do crunchy (and I understand many of you absolutely must).

It is available from Bell Plantation, who also offers PB2 with chocolate and, surprise, peanut oil.  If you are lucky enough to be near a store that sells it, I am jealous.  Otherwise, you’ll just have to do what I do and buy it online.

Lucky for you, they now sell a sample pack.  When I first learned about it, I bought a container from another WW member.  Now I have an obscene amound in my garage, and I’m not telling you where I live because it is MINE.

Ha.

Ahem.

Buy smaller yams that are called “orange fleshed” for sweetest flavor; a farmer’s market is your best bet.  Wash well, and then cook them by putting them on a baking sheet with foil on top to reduce cleanup.  I typically cook them in the oven with whatever else I’m cooking, but if I’m doing them solo I put them in at 375 for around an hour.  The skin is crispy and edible, and the sugars inside caramelize, likely even leaking out.

I eat them plain, but a smidge of butter and salt make them even better.  Don’t let the long baking time discourage you; make extra, then refrigerate and eat later after a brief trip in the microwave.  I often take them as part of my lunch.  But don’t cook them in the microwave.  Although you can, and they are edible, they are nowhere near as yummy.

There are lots of other ways to eat them as well, of course, but some involve adding marshmallows and other sweeteners.  Unnecessary, as they are plenty sweet all on their own, and packed with Vitamin A, C and other good stuff.  But if you do have some good low calorie yam recipes, do pass them along!

Points: 3 (1 cup; a good sized yam)

Calories:  180

Fiber: 6.6 grams

Fat: 0.3 grams

But let’s face it: berries all on their lonesome are… lonesome.  They want company.  They want shortcake.  Or… cheesecake!

Cheesecake is amazing stuff.  They say the Greeks made cheescake.  And their cheesecake was probably as detrimental to your health as ours, except you had to go to all the work of milking the goats, finding the honey, inventing graham flour for the crust, so you burned enough calories to justify it.

The Jell-o Sugar-Free Fat-Free Instant Pudding doesn’t require all that work.  Using an immersion blender means you don’t even need to tire your little arm whisking the pudding.  But it sure tastes good with those berries!  And at 70 calories, no fat, that’s only one point.

No, you won’t mistake it for The Real Thing.  But the berries out there nowadays are outstanding enough on their own.