Roasted Root Vegetables (2 WW Points)

12 servings

We visited our dear friends in Chicago this past weekend. As tends to happen when visiting a city like Chicago, we ate a ridiculous amount of ridiculously fabulous food. I came home feeling like all I wanted to eat for the next week was veggies. Obviously, that hasn't happened, but I have had an unprecedented ability to resist the holiday treats.

The one healthy thing we ate while in Chicago were roasted root vegetables, prepared by our hosts, as a side to a wonderful beef stew dinner. (If I ever make this, I'll make sure to post. You won't want to miss it!) I decided to make up a giant pan of these tonight, to have for meals at work this week. I also thought it would be nice to share with our next door neighbor who loves veggies even more than I do and is always cooking for us. You could use any veggies you want, and any quantity. This is just what I bought, and how much I ended up with when I chopped them all up.

Ingredients

24 cloves garlic cloves (peeled, whole)
5 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cups raw parsnips, peeled and chopped
4 cups rutabagas, peeled and chopped
4 cups turnips, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil

Chop everything up, toss with olive oil.



Bake at 350 for and hour and a half or so, until veggies are tender.



Let me just say, YUM. A tasty fall side dish, or a nice light meal.

To be perfectly honest, before preparing this dish, I had never in my life purchased turnips, parsnips, or rutabagas. I had absolutely no clue how to prepare them, so I did a little research. In case you are like me, and somewhat clueless when it comes to the less common root vegetables, I will pass on my newfound wealth of knowledge. Rutabagas need to be peeled prior to cooking. Young turnips can be washed and trimmed, and not peeled. If they are more mature, peel. Parnsips, if small, can also just be trimmed. Medium and large ones should be peeled. This is also true for carrots - and I know with carrots so perhaps with other veggies, if you can avoid peeling you retain a lot more nutrients. Just give them a little scrub.

Keilbasa and Bean Slow Cooker Soup (4 WW points)

9 servings

Ingredients



58 oz fat-free chicken broth (4 14oz cans)
15 oz canned pinto beans
15 oz canned black beans
15 oz Cannellini Beans (these aren't pictured because I added them at the end, when I thought the soup needed more "stuff")
4 medium carrots, chopped
3 medium celery, chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 tsp thyme
14 1/2 oz canned diced tomatoes
16 oz low fat Kielbasa (I used Trader Joe's Turkey Kielbasa)

Instructions

Chop all your veggies.



Mix all ingredients, except tomatoes, in a 5 to 6-quart crockpot.


Cover and cook on low-heat setting at least 6 hours or until vegetables are tender.
Stir in tomatoes; cover and cook on high-heat setting until heated through, about 15 minutes more.



Yields about 1 heaping cup per serving.



This was good, but I wish it wasn't so brothy. I wish it was thicker, like a stew. Next time, I'd maybe make a roux using some of the soup base and some corn starch, and finish the soup off by boiling it. I have never tried thickening with a roux in the crockpot, but maybe cooking on high for 30 minutes or so after adding the roux would work? If I try it, I'll let you know. If you try it, you let me know. It's only fair.

Gooey Butter Cookies (3WW Points)

I'm sure the last thing you want to know is how many points are in those yummy holiday cookies. Well, if you don't want to know, get your recipes from somewhere else. I tell it like it is.

I got this recipe from this site. There were tons of good looking recipes, it was very hard to choose. Since Mark ate 4 of these in about 5 minutes, I think this was a good choice. They were the easiest cookie ever. And they were definitely gooey.

I ended up with 35 cookies, which is how I calculated the points. They were fairly small (not tiny, just not big). I liked this, it makes it possible to enjoy one and still eat your acceptable number of points for the day.

Ingredients



8 oz light cream cheese
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 large egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
12 box yellow cake mix
3 tbsp powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter.



Stir in the egg and vanilla.



Add cake mix, and stir until well blended.



Roll into 1" balls and then roll the balls in the powdered sugar. Place 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.



Bake for 10 to 13 minutes. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.



Try not to eat the whole pan. Seriously. I dare you to eat just one. Or even four.