I really like to spend time in the kitchen. I guess I love to bake the most-and I also love to eat what I bake, so that isn't always a good thing!
Lately I have been trying to come up with some breakfasts that are hot, filling, healthy, don't take too long and don't have too many Weight Watcher points, which are based on protein, fat, carbs and fiber. When it comes down to it one point is about 40 calories.
So, this is the ticket. Fried polenta with a touch of maple syrup, cinnamon, a banana and berries. Heavenly and only 3 Weight Watcher points [and that includes 1 healthy fat and a few fruits].
I buy my polenta already made up in tube-like packaging at Trader Joe's but you could make it yourself. It is only corn meal, salt and water, boiled. I have made this recipe which works well. We don't have a TJ close, but Bob goes to Columbus fairly often and picks it up for me then. What I like about the TJ polenta is that it doesn't have to be refrigerated until after you open it, so he can get me a few packages and I just put it in the pantry.
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POLENTA
Mix together in a sauce pan:
4 C of water
1 C ground cornmeal
1 tsp salt
Whisk together, bring to a boil, reduce heat and stir constantly till thick. It should be thick enough for a wooden spoon to stand up in it. Pour into 2 oiled small bread pans, or 1 large bread pan.After it sets you can remove from the pan and wrap it in plastic. It keeps in the fridge for at least a couple of weeks.
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At any rate, once you have polenta, heat 1 tsp of healthy oil, like olive oil in a frying pan till hot. Slice off 4 oz of polenta and fry for a few minutes on each side [Polenta is about 1 point per 2 oz]. I sprinkle with cinnamon on both sides. [With the round Trader Joe polenta I slice off four 1 ounce slices [about 3/8 inch thick]. Fry till crispy.
When hot and crispy, place on plate and I let any extra oil drip on the polenta, and top with 1 whole sliced banana, 1 tsp maple syrup, berries and 2T whipped cream from a can. Usually I don't have berries, but I ran into a fabulous sale last week at Meijer. Using just a banana is also delicious.
This is a fabulous breakfast, only 3 WW+ points and it is filling. Add a cup of hot tea--ahh heavenly.
Take care,
Jill
[As a note, the new Weight Watchers plan doesn't have any limit on fruit, so all fruit is 0 points. Also 1 tsp maple syrup is 0 points and 2 T whipped cream from a can is 0 points. I used to put 1 T maple syrup on it, which is lovely, but that adds 1 point and I decided that it wasn't worth it to me. Total WW+ points, 3]
Spray a medium hot frying pan with PAM [I like to use cast iron] and fry small bits of batter at a time. I did mine in about 2-3 batches and sprayed lightly between batches. There are only 130 calories in this entire recipe. I add once sliced banana and 1 tsp maple syrup or you could add 1 tsp of Hershey's chocolate syrup [no points] and omitted the sugar in the recipe. 2T of canned [under pressure] whipped cream would be wonderful and adds no points. 
