Back in December I shared the exciting news that I became a partner with Weight Watchers as a Weight Watchers Insider.
With the launch of the new PointsPlus™ program, Weight Watchers introduced a handy iPad app called the Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion. The best part: they sent me an iPad so I could try the Kitchen Companion and share my thoughts. Pretty awesome, right?
We’ve had the iPad for about a month and it’s quickly become a favorite. I’m really enjoying the Kitchen Companion app.
Rather than overwhelm you with every feature at once, I thought I’d reveal a little at a time. There’s a lot to learn, and I’m still exploring many features.
One of our favorite kitchen gadgets is our little hot drink machine — the Latte Maker. We use it to make all kinds of cozy drinks during colder months, but those treats can add up in calories and fat.
The other night we decided to open the Kitchen Companion on the iPad and enter one of our own recipes to see if we could reduce the PointsPlus value and keep it tasty.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
From the front page, select ‘Menu’ and then choose ‘Add New Recipe’.
When you add your own recipe in the app, it calculates the point value as you add ingredients so you can tweak quantities to reduce points while maintaining flavor.
For example, adjusting the ratio of flavored creamer to milk made a noticeable difference. Using 1/3 cup creamer and 2/3 cup milk tasted just as good as 1/2 cup of each, but lowered the PointsPlus value.
The app also offers a “Lighten Up” feature to suggest healthier ingredient swaps. I clicked Add Ingredient, chose the Lighten Up tab, and it displayed items from my recipe that could be lightened — in this case, milk.
Lighten Up – Milk suggests options like fat-free milk, non-fat dry milk, evaporated fat-free milk, or pureed silken tofu. It explains when and how to use each substitute, when not to use them, and even includes a tip for making a whole milk substitute.
Pretty cool!
We chose 1% milk instead of the 2% we had on hand.
When I tried to enter our flavored creamer, it wasn’t listed in the app, but the Kitchen Companion lets you add custom ingredients. You simply enter the nutrition information from the label. For this creamer, a serving size was listed as one tablespoon, but our recipe used 1/3 cup. After measuring, I found 5 tablespoons equals 1/3 cup, so I entered the creamer as 5 servings in the ingredient list.
After adding all ingredients and directions, select Save and the recipe appears under My Recipes.
We adjusted ingredients and quantities until the point value matched what we wanted. For this drink, we settled on 3 points per serving for a delicious treat without sacrificing taste.
If you want to make our recipe, you can swap in other flavors of liquid creamer, but keep in mind the point value may change.
Skinny Caramel Macchiato Lattes
2
5 minutes
5 minutes
Weight Watchers points = 3 per serving
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup 1% cold milk
- 1/3 cup International Delight Coffee House Skinny Caramel Macchiato, fat free
- 1/3 cup water
- 1½ teaspoons instant coffee
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 cup aerosol whipped cream
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except whipped cream in Latte Maker and press “ON.”
- Dispense into cup, top with whipped cream, sprinkle with cinnamon, and enjoy.
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Retro 32-Ounce Hot Chocolate, Milk Frother, Cappuccino, Latte Maker and Dispenser
Did you make this recipe?
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*Disclosure: No compensation was received for this post. I am a Weight Watchers Insider for the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program and received complimentary online access to Weight Watchers, an iPad with the Kitchen Companion App, and other tools. My opinions and love for lattes are my own.