A filling late lunch or light dinner, pasta salad paired with a mixed green and fruit salad

Salad (Left side) :
2 cups mixed baby greens - 0 pp
1/2 green apple, sliced - 0 pp
1 clementine - 0 pp
2 TB Trader Joe's Champagne Vinaigrette - 2 pp
1/2 cup pineapple chunks, in it's own juice, drained - 2 pp
Cracked black pepper to season

Pasta salad (right side):
2 oz multi colored mini rotini - 5 pp (weighed before cooking)
1 oz blue cheese, crumbled - 3 pp
1/2 cup green peppers, chopped - 0 pp
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved - 0 pp

Directions for pasta salad:
Cook pasta until al dente, drain water (reserving about 1 TB of pasta water), return pasta to pan.  Add pasta water, blue cheese and veggies.  Stir over low heat until blue cheese melts most of the way.  Serve warm, room temp or cold.

Total: 12 points plus

Tri-color rotini pasta with blue cheese, tomatoes and zucchini

Today's Lunch:

Pasta:
2 ounces tri-color rotini pasta (measured before cooking) - 5 points plus
1 ounce blue cheese crumbles - 3 points plus
1 zucchini, peeled and sliced - 0 points plus
1/2 large tomato, seeded and sliced - 0 points plus
Thinly sliced onions - 0 points plus
1/4 cup fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth - 0 points plus

Directions:
Spray frying pan with non stick olive oil cooking spray, add sliced zucchini.  Season with cayenne, dill, chives, smoked sea salt (Trader Joe's) and cracked black pepper.  Saute about 5 minutes until it begins to be translucent.  Add tomato and 1/4 of chicken broth, saute another 5 minutes, until tomatoes break down.  Add pasta, blue cheese and onioin.  Stir frequently until blue cheese melts into sauce.  Topped with fresh parsley. Serve warm.

Served with 1/2 green apple sliced and 2 cuties oranges - 0 points plus

Total: 8 points plus

Bow tie pasta salad - 9 points!

Another variation on the bow tie pasta salad I normally make:

This time it was 9 points plus value

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces of bow tie pasta (weighed before cooking) - 5 points plus
• 1/2 ounce blue cheese crumbles - 1 point plus
• 1/2 ounce feta cheese crumbles - 1 point plus
• 1/2 ounce toasted sunflower seeds - 2 points plus
• 1 cup of organic arugula, torn into pieces - 0 points plus
• 1/4 of a red bell pepper, chopped - 0 points plus
• 3 portobella mushrooms, pan grilled with non stick olive oil spray, salt, pepper and garlic, chopped into small pieces - 0 points plus

Instructions:

Boil pasta until al dente.  Meanwhile grill portobella mushrooms in a pan sprayed with olive oil cooking spray, sprinkle mushrooms with sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper and garlic powder.  Grill for about 4 minutes then flip, grill another 2 to 3 minutes until soft. 

Chop mushrooms and bell pepper into pieces (try and keep them bite size, and close in size).  Remove pasta once cooked, and drain well.  Put pasta and arugula in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap until arugula is wilted slightly.  Add peppers, mushrooms, cheese and sunflower seeds.  Stir well and serve.  Makes 1 serving.

This made a whole plate of food for 9 points! So filling and tasted great.  That picture is a dinner plate to give you an idea of the serving.

Bow-tie pasta with broccoli

Today's 12 point plus value lunch:

2 ounces of bow tie pasta (weighed before cooking) - 5 point plus value
A couple thin slices of red onion - 0 point plus value
Extra virgin olive oil from my Weight Watcher's Sprayer - 1 point plus value
1/2 ounce of walnuts, chopped - 3 point plus value
1 cup of broccoli, raw, cut into small pieces - 0 point plus value
1 ounce of blue cheese crumbles - 3 point plus value

I just boiled the noodles until al dente then added all the other ingredients, some cracked black pepper and then sprayed the olive oil.  Yum! The protein from the nuts and cheese make it filing as does the fiber from the broccoli.  Great quick and easy lunch to give me the energy I need to tackle grocery shopping!