4-Point Caramel Macchiato

One of my favorites at Starbucks is a Caramel Macchiato. However, usually after the first few sips, it becomes cloyingly sweet to me. So I started making them at home. The secret is leaving out the vanilla syrup that Starbucks adds in addition to the caramel syrup. The vanilla syrup is too much sweetness.
So I’d fill a glass up with ice, squirt caramel syrup over it (I like LOTS of caramel syrup), add 8-10 ounces of milk, and then pour a couple shots of espresso over it. Finally, I’d drizzle more caramel syrup on top. Yum! Before WW, I never measured the caramel syrup – I loved it creamy and sweet.
Since I started Weight Watchers, I wanted to skinny down the recipe. I still wanted it creamy and sweet, though. So today I made one using unsweetened vanilla almond milk and sugar-free caramel syrup.  It was a hit! It’s not as sweet as what I used to make during my non-measuring days – but it sure satisfied my sweet tooth.
Here’s the recipe:

4-Point Caramel Macchiato (Weight Watcher’s Blue Plan)

(1) Fill glass with ice
(2) Drizzle 1 tablespoon of sugar-free caramel syrup over the ice.
(3) Add 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk (1 point)
(4) Pour 2 shots of espresso into the glass (0 points)
(5) Drizzle another tablespoon of sugar-free caramel syrup (2 Tablespoons of syrup is 3 points)
(6) Enjoy!

A Quick 3-Point Meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner)

I went through my points faster than usual today, and by dinner time, I had 3 points left. I try not to dip into my weekly points, and so I thought of a quick meal for 3 points.

I sprayed a small frying pan with butter-flavored PAM. Then, in a bowl, I mixed 3 eggs with salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons of fat free Greek yogurt (0 points for all that). (Note: I always add something like yogurt or sour cream to scrambled eggs or if I’m making an omelet. As the yogurt/sour cream heats up, it releases steam which makes the eggs fluffier). On a small dish, I measured out exactly 1 tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese (1 point), and removed the packaging of one laughing cow light Swiss cheese triangle (1-point). I very finely chopped a little bit of fresh onion (about 2 Tablespoons), and chopped up a fresh tomato – I removed the seeds and used a paper towel to pat it dry.  I added the onion and tomato to the small dish with the cheeses.  I toasted one slice of light bread (1 point). In the photo below, I used a small dessert plate. The quantities look larger than they are. The shredded cheese is exactly 1 tablespoon. 

This is a small dessert plate. It looks like more than it is. The shredded cheese is exactly 1 Tablespoon.

I turned the oven to broil. Then, on the stove, I cooked the egg in a frying pan like I would an omelet – using the spatula to move the cooked portion to the middle, letting the uncooked egg fill in the spaces – going round and round the frying pan. I kept the heat fairly low so the egg wouldn’t brown. Once it was mostly cooked, I sprinkled the onion, tomato, and cheeses on top, popped it under the oven broiler and let it finish cooking.

I guess that makes it a frittata. Ha! It was absolutely delicious. Yum yum!! Great meal – very quick – only 3 points – very tasty – very filling.

Recipe: Pumpkin Muffins (3 points each)

I made these pumpkin muffins tonight because I happened to have the ingredients already on hand – and, more importantly, I had exactly 3 points left and I wanted something sweet and baked. These were REALLY good. The batter is very thick so it doesn’t spread out in the cupcake liner. You have to take the spoon and kinda spread it out.

The recipe that is shared so much on the WW Facebook pages just has the pumpkin and cake mix. However, I had a large can of pumpkin – so I added a little extra pumpkin and put the rest in the refrigerator for something else. I decided to add an egg (since that is a zero point WW food) to help the muffins rise better since I added extra pumpkin. I also wanted to make the batter a little less thick.

Pumpkin Muffins (3 WW blue points each) *****

1 can pure pumpkin (15 oz.)

1 Pillsbury sugar-free yellow cake mix

1 egg

optional: Spices, to taste (cinnamon, allspice, cloves) 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 12-count muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Dump all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix well.

Divide batter evenly between the 12 muffins.

Bake for about 25 minutes.

So now I have 11 muffins left over. I plan to put a couple in the refrigerator for tomorrow and Saturday. Then I will individually freeze the others for a quick and sweet treat in the coming week or two. Ron may want to try them out, too.

I give this recipe 5 stars. Now I’m anxious to try it with a chocolate cake mix. Supposedly it ends up being almost brownie-like – and that sounds wonderful to me.