The Pioneer Woman "Lightens Up" Low Carb Recipes with SmartPoints

The Skinny on Pioneer Woman "Lightens Up"

I just finished watching a fun episode of the The Pioneer Woman called Lighten Up on The Food Network. In it, Ree shared some of her favorite recipes for when she's trying to "lighten up" and lose a few pounds by eating a little less and moving a little more.

In the episode Ree is home alone in the snow — a perfect opportunity to eat lighter and pack in some exercise.

For a pre-hike dinner, she made a delicious low-carb lettuce burger.

To kick-start the next day, she had a carb-buster breakfast, complete with poached eggs, followed by a butternut squash and kale stir-fry lunch, all topped off with a fabulous orange resolution smoothie.

Since discovering how many of my readers are also huge Pioneer Woman fans, I thought it would be helpful to share the recipes here, along with suggestions for lightening them up even further. I've also calculated the Weight Watchers SmartPoints for those interested.

All of these yummy dishes are now on my ever growing list of recipes to make!

Enjoy!

The Pioneer Woman Low-Carb Recipes with WW SmartPoints

The Pioneer Woman's Low Carb Lettuce Burgers  - Burgers and all their fixins - sliced tomato, onion, pickles and avocado,  wrapped in crispy lettuce leaves instead of a bun. (*7 SmartPoints with suggested changes below)

To make these lower in calories/Weight Watchers SmartPoints:

• Use 1 pound of lean ground beef instead of 2 for better portion control
• Skip the butter when cooking the burgers (use nonstick spray or just cook in a hot dry cast iron skillet instead)
• Use 1 avocado instead of 2
• Substitute fat-free Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise in the sauce

Weight Watchers Friendly Ingredients List:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup fat free plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 1 whole avocados, sliced
• 1 whole tomatoes, sliced
• ¼ whole thinly sliced red onion
• 1 head iceberg, green leaf, or butter lettuce

The Pioneer Woman's Carb Buster Breakfast - Poached eggs on a bed of delicious veggies with a wedge of swiss cheese. (*7 SmartPoints with suggested changes below)

To lower the calories and Weight Watchers SmartPoints:

• Use 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Substitute reduced fat cheese

Weight Watchers Friendly Ingredients List:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil (1SP)
• ½ cup diced zucchini (0SP)
• ½ cup diced yellow squash (0SP)
• ½ whole medium onion, cut into chunks (0SP)
• Salt And pepper
• 1 whole tomato, sliced thick (0SP)
• 2 whole eggs (4SP)
• 1 teaspoon vinegar (0SP)
• 1 ounce reduced fat Swiss cheese (2SP)

The Pioneer Woman's Butternut Squash and Kale - A simple and delicious combination of diced butternut squash, sprinkled with a bit of chili powder, and kale cooked until tender provides wonderful contrast of colors, flavors and textures. Colorful, flavorful and oh so good for you too. (*1 SmartPoint with suggested changes below)

To lower the calories and Weight Watchers SmartPoints:

• Omit the butter
• Cook both the squash and kale in just a tiny bit of olive oil

Weight Watchers Friendly Ingredients List:

• ½ whole butternut squash; peeled, seeded And cubed (0SP)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (4SP)
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• Black pepper to taste
• ¼ teaspoon Chili Powder (more To Taste) (0SP)
• 1 bunch kale, leaves torn, stalks discarded (0SP)

Are you a fan of Butternut Squash & Kale? Check out this video from Clean & Delicious for a vegan butternut squash and kale chili (3SP) that looks delicious...

More Weight Watchers Friendly Kale and Butternut Squash Recipes:

Kale Salad with Apples & Dates (3SP)
Pasta with Italian Chicken Sausage and Kale (9SP)
Lentils, Sausage and Kale
Creamy Kale Spaghetti Squash (4SP) - Hungry Girl
Harvest Kale Salad with Roasted Winter Squash (5SP) - SkinnyTaste
Turkey Sausage, Kale Butternut Squash Soup (4SP) - Slender Kitchen
Butternut Squash, Kale and Feta Skillet (5SP) - Slender Kitchen

The Pioneer Woman Orange Resolution Smoothies - A cornucopia of orange colored fruits and veggies whizzed together with yogurt till creamy.
(*2 SmartPoints with suggested changes below)

To lower the calories and Weight Watchers SmartPoints:

• Omit the honey (or use less)
• Use plain fat free Greek yogurt
• Cut back on the amounts to make fewer servings (Divide ingredients by 2 or 4)
• Eat with a spoon, instead of drinking to avoid having to count the Weight Watchers 0 SP fruits and vegetables 🙂

Weight Watchers Friendly Ingredients List: 

• 2 cups frozen mango chunks
• 2 cups frozen peach slices 
• 2 cups plain fat free Greek yogurt 
• 1 cup miniature carrots 
• 1 cup orange juice 
• 1 cup pineapple chunks 
• 1 banana, peeled 

*PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT Weight Watchers Zero Points fruits and vegetables using the WW Recipe Builder.

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