Power Chocolate-Covered Cherry Smoothie

'Tis the season for glitzy, eye-catching retail candy displays. You all know, the kind that make you want to buy enough candy to kill an army of elves in one sitting. Everyone has their one holiday candy they can't resist, and for me it's chocolate-covered cherries. I'm not talking about some preciously expensive, fancy things from the Godiva store that I can only afford to purchase and savor one at a time. I mean the kind available for $1 a box at the Menards checkout counter. The kind that NEVER go bad, ever, thanks to a million preservatives. The kind with 70 calories per piece. The kind I buy and promptly devour at least once every December.

This smoothie is kind of an homage to my favorite candy. It's got all the necessary elements: cherries, chocolate, cream, and a rich vanilla sweetness that seem to be satisfying my candy needs for the short term. It's made of all power foods except the cocoa powder, which only adds 15 calories and probably saves me from eating about a million calories in chocolate later in the day so I don't worry about it too much. Any type of berries could be substituted here, but cherries will always be my favorite.

Power Chocolate-Covered Cherry Smoothie

1 cup frozen sweet cherries

1/2 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup skim milk (may need more)

1.5 T unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t vanilla

1 packet Splenda (or more to taste)

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Add more milk if mixture is too thick to blend.

Power Nacho Dip and Chips

Over the past few months, I've gotten into some eating habits I'm not too happy about. I decided to go cold turkey and cut the junk out of my diet by sticking almost entirely to foods from the Weight Watchers Power Foods list. These foods are all very nutritious and filling, but sticking to eating them all the time could get boring without some creativity. So far I'm having lots of fun coming up with recipes using only foods from the list. From now on, any post on this blog with "Power" in the title is a power foods only recipe.

This nacho dip recipe is great because it really does feel like junk food, but it's not at all. I was quite pleased with my "junky" dinner tonight. There are many ways to vary this recipe: topping with lettuce and tomato, swapping the refried beans for black beans, adding nonfat plain Greek yogurt to the top (I use this in place of sour cream, tastes about the same but much healthier), or even adding a cream cheese/taco seasoning layer were all possibilities. I stuck with what I had on hand, but I will definitely be trying variations of this one.

As for the chips, I have been making different versions of these since I was a kid. Fresh-baked tortilla chips, even fat free ones, are so much better than the ones from the bag that you won't miss the extra calories. I have seasoned these a million different ways: taco seasoning, seasoned salt, ranch dip mix, garlic and parmesan cheese, etc. These are the perfect treat when you're craving junk food but know you shouldn't have it.

Power Nacho Dip

1/4 cup refried beans

1/4 cup salsa

1/4 cup fat free cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a small (6 inch or so) baking dish with cooking spray. Spread refried beans evenly in the bottom of the dish. Top with an even layer of the salsa and then top with the cheese. Bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with chips and fresh vegetables for dipping.

Power Chips

1 Flatout light Original flatbread wrap (Any type of tortilla/wrap will work)

cooking spray

garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray top of entire wrap with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with garlic salt. Using kitchen scissors, cut wrap into 16 equally-sized squares and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes or until browned and crispy.