Friday, December 14, 2012

LOW FAT, no bake/easy, cheap WW dessert you'll love!

Key Lime Pie 



I'm NOT a photographer & took this picture with my phone, it doesn't do this delicious no guilt treat justice!!!! 


I heard about this recipe from one of my friends on Weight Watchers and so decided to give it a whirl! Glad I did! 

First off this recipe takes 8-5 EASY minutes to whip up...AWESOME! 

Secondly, the pie only has 4 real ingredients you'll need, which all keep well in your house, so you can buy them and not worry about making it right away before they go bad, an unfortunate problem I have that plagues me. The only thing worse than really craving something, that you go to prepare and realize you are missing one crucial ingredient...is when you spend your hard earned money on groceries and they go bad before you eat them! When "meal planning" for the week, I try to really stick to what's laid out, which has helped me not waste as much. However, once in awhile life happens mixing it all up, and I keep telling myself  I'll cook whatever I planned to eat prior, but missed, the next day, until I go to the fridge and it's rotten. Ugh, the worst! 

Thirdly, this very scrumptious dessert can be made ahead of time, keeps well, and can even be frozen to enjoy in increments! There's nothing better than eating a great dessert for two days, freezing it, and getting to enjoy it again hassle free at a later date! Many times I feel when I make something, I must eat it all before it goes bad, so I don't waste time, money, and effort. This habit forming, bad behavior is not good for my waist line and tends to make me not want to eat that food again for at least a year after I stuff myself full of it for days on end.

Finally, this low fat, low cal treat is actually really tasty and it even packs 4g of protein, which will leave you feeling full and not give you the normal intense blood sugar spike you have after consuming most desserts. 

****HEALTH TIP:
Blood sugar spikes can give you a headache, and most likely make you hungry again in an hour or two. That's why when you go out to eat at a great restaurant, indulge in several courses or just plain out eat entirely too much, you tend to come home and soon feel tired and lethargic. After you wake up from your nap (or maybe that's just me) you are embarrassingly hungry again. How can that be when you just literally stuffed your face a couple hours prior with enough food to feed a small third world village???? I'll tell you how....spiked blood sugar. It's something nutritionists always tell you to avoid. Basically stay away from high glycemic (sugar) content food and drinks, eat smaller meals, limit alcohol consumption, exercise, and drink lots of water. Also, try this dessert ; ) 

Blood sugar levels are regulated in your body by a hormone influenced feedback mechanism. This is important because blood carries glucose (sugar) throughout out the body to all the cells, which use it for energy. Within a day, normal blood sugar should vary only slightly, increasing after meals and decreasing after rest or not eating. When the blood sugar levels do rise, the pancreas releases insulin (hormone) that causes cells to become more permeable, or take up and store the glucose. Muscles and the liver convert glucose and store it while fat cells are inhibited to break down fat to use for energy, so the extra glucose is used. You heard me, the fat cells aren't breaking down fat...you know what that means! It's also good to know that exercising your muscles causes them to break down and use the glucose they stored previously. 



This particular pie has a real light, aerie feel to it that compliments the tangy citrus flavor of key lime and creamy goodness of the whipped topping and yogurtThe boys in my house like the pie by itself or will add just a few miniature M&Ms to the top of it sometimes, which speaks volumes to the pie's natural sweetness and great taste, since they refuse to eat most reduced fat or fat free desserts period! 



Key Lime Pie 
Serves-8         Serving size- 1 slice (1/8th of pie) 
Fat-5g
Calories-205
Carbs-32g
Protein-4g

INGREDIENTS
-2 (1 serving) Key Lime Pie Greek Yogurt  ( Used Oiko's-any kind ok) 
-1 Reduced Fat GrahamCracker Pie Crust (Used Keebler-any kind ok)
-1 Container of Fat Free Whipped Topping (Used generic)
-1 large box of Sugar Free/Fat Free Lime Jello Mix
-1/4 cup of water

PREP TIME: 10 minutes + 2 hours refrigeration 
COOK TIME: 0 minutes

DIRECTIONS
1) Boil water
2) Put dry jello mix into a large bowl & whisk in boiled water well until smooth
3) Add key lime pie yogurts & whisk well until smooth making sure to get all lumps out 
4) Gently fold in whipped topping to mixture until incorporated
5) Pour contents of bowl into pie crust, making sure it's equally distributed & smooth over top of pie with wooden spoon for looks
6) Put pie in refrigerator for at least 2 hours so it's cool & flavors mix OR put pie in freezer for at least an hour. 

*Keep pie refrigerated & will last up to a week
*Keep pie in freezer & it will last one month. Just take out 30mins-hour ahead of time to thaw before serving. Although I really like it frozen too, the pie turns into frozen yogurt after thawing for 3-5mins & tastes really good that way too! 

Make sure that everything is well mixed before folding in whipped topping! 

What's your favorite Weight Watcher's Recipe??? 

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