*This has been shamelessly copied from WW.com...and I'll continue to post these until I'm told to stop. Some of these items may not be available in your area yet, but hang on...maybe they will be soon. Some of these sound amazing! Blessings....Colette

Hot Dish
By Amanda Genge | 11/28/2005
   


Turn to Hot Dish each month for the scoop on new food finds from your Weight Watchers community. We're tapped in to what meetings Leaders and members and Weight Watchers Online subscribers from around the country are finding on supermarket shelves, at local farm stands, in kitchen stores and on restaurant menus. From food-prep helpers that do everything but the dishes to treats that won't take up your entire weekly POINTS® Allowance, this column will be a clearinghouse of delicious news and healthy food ideas served up by all of you. So stay tuned every month for updates about the goods and gadgets that have people like you buzzing – and don't forget to send us your Hot Dish!

Now that the holiday season is upon us, it can be hard to resist the temptation to indulge in sweet treats. Thankfully, we've got the scoop on five new finds that will help you enjoy this festive time without sabotaging your weight loss! You can add these sensible sweets to gift baskets, bring them along to holiday get-togethers, or just enjoy them during a cozy night at home.

Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too
The latest addition to the Weight Watchers snack cake range—which already includes rich chocolate and spicy carrot cake flavors—has barely made it to supermarket shelves, and the enthusiastic reviews for this lemon-flavored cake are already coming in! Just 1 POINTS value per cake, they "taste like a cross between a lemon poppy-seed muffin and a lemon square. Oh joy!" exclaims one Community User. Another Community User says she "treasured the lemon cake slowly," taking small bites with her eyes closed. Here at the WeightWatchers.com office, we loved them after a few seconds in the microwave to soften the icing and really bring out the tangy lemon flavor!

Dole-icious Fruit Parfaits
Newcomers to the canned fruit aisle, Dole's Fruit Parfaits—cream-swirled cousins to the single-serving Fruit Bowls—are a hot topic on the WeightWatchers.com message boards. They're available in three flavors (Peaches & Crème, Pineapple & Crème, and Apples & Caramel Crème), but our Community Users saved their biggest raves for the Apples & Caramel Crème variety. "They're delicious!" says one Community User. "The apples taste like pie filling with cinnamon." These "satisfyingly sweet" fruit treats are have a POINTS value of just 2*, making them a handy stand-in for traditional holiday desserts with sky-high POINTS values.

Crazy for CocoaVia
Our message boards are also buzzing with praise for a brand new line of chocolate bars, chocolaty granola bars, and chocolate-covered almonds from CocoaVia. "I'm not really a semisweet chocolate kind of gal (I prefer milk chocolate) but I must say that the CocoaVia chocolate-covered almonds are fabulous," writes one Community User. "One package has a POINTS value of 3*, and they are very decadent and satisfying." Another Community User says she bought 10 boxes of the solid chocolate bars and enjoys one bar every night—a sweet snack with a guilt-free POINTS value of just 2*.

Chocolate Chip Off the Old Block
The cookie aisle is probably the last place you'd expect to find foods with whole grains, but Nabisco has set out to give these snack-time favorites a healthy makeover. Not only do the new Whole Grain Chips Ahoy cookies taste as good as the original, say Community Users, but they're also more satisfying. Because they're only 1 POINTS value per cookie*, one Community User suggests stashing them in pairs in resealable plastic bags for a convenient, portion-controlled snack. "And they taste even better if you put them in the microwave for 15 seconds," she says.

Spice Up Holiday Drinks—and More!
Coffee-Mate Creamers are now available in 4 limited edition holiday flavors (Pumpkin Spice, Gingerbread, Peppermint Mocha, and Egg Nog) and our Community Users have already come up with ingenious ways to use them—in more than just coffee! Clocking in at just 1 POINTS value per tablespoon*, the creamers add festive flavor without heaping on tons of calories. "I used a splash or two of the Eggnog creamer in my French toast batter (made with egg substitute)—very delicious!" says one Community User. Here are more serving suggestions from other Community Users: add Pumpkin Spice creamer to hot cereal, pour a little Gingerbread Creamer over light vanilla ice cream, or blend some Peppermint Mocha creamer into a frothy smoothie.

*POINTS values based on manufacturer's nutritional information. These items have not been nutritionally tested by WeightWatchers.com.