Summer Ready with Laughing Cow® Light Cheese Wedges

Ready or not...summer is HERE!  What better way to make sure you look great in your summer outfits and swim suits than with the always amazing Laughing Cow® Light Cheese Wedges and some of my favorite ways to serve them?  (Disclaimer:  I was sent Laughing Cow® to sample and review for free.  All opinions expressed in this blog post are my own, and do not neccessarily reflect those of this brand.  I was not compensated for this review.)

I have been a huge fan of Laughing Cow® Light Cheese Wedges for some time now. (Yes, I've posted several recipes using them...just type in "Laughing Cow" in the search bar on the right and you will see for yourself!)  I love the variety of flavors and the fact that each cheese wedge is only 35 calories, which calculates to ONE POINT PLUS if you are following Weight Watchers!  THAT is an awesome deal for such deliciousness!  The taste of each flavor is outstanding and they are so versatile! They make a great addition to your summer snack menus.

I sat down with a good friend the other afternoon, and we had a few tasty snacks while enjoying each others company on my patio.  I didn't feel guilty one bit about the delicious treats we enjoyed, as each one was healthy and low calorie and featured the delicious Laughing Cow® Light Cheeses!

Our favorite pairing, hands down, was this one:   Refreshing cucumber slices, Light Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow® cheese wedges, grape tomato wedges, fresh basil and fresh ground black pepper.

This combo was outstanding.  Aren't they just gorgeous?  Imagine enjoying these tasty bites by the pool on a warm summer day with a cool glass of an iced beverage! (It's summer, remember to hydrate!)  I think they are beautiful enough to serve as an appetizer too!  Leave the fresh ground black pepper off if you aren't a fan, but we loved the bit of heat!

The next combo we put together was this one:  Your favorite cracker topped with Light Blue Cheese Laughing Cow® Cheese wedges, a dollop of fig jam, and a walnut.  

Salty, sweet, and tangy with the blue cheese.  These are great with a nice glass of a summer white wine spritzer! Yum.

The last paring we enjoyed was quite delicious:  Sweet red bell pepper chunks with Light Queso Fresco & Chipotle Laughing Cow® cheese wedges, and strips of crunchy raw carrots.

Love the colors and flavors of this one! Perfect start to a summer BBQ.  The Queso Fresco & Chipotle flavor adds a bit of smoky heat that goes wonderful with the sweet red peppers!  You can have 4 of these babies for ONE POINT PLUS!  (1 wedge of cheese divided between four pepper chunks)

Don't get me wrong, Laughing Cow® Cheese Wedges are great on their own with some crackers or spread on some raw veggies,  and perfect for "on the go snacks."  But when you have the time, why not treat your senses to something just a bit more creative?  (Remember we do eat with our eyes first.) You can feast on these beautiful creations and still not be cheating on your diet...but you might feel like you have!

Look for all the varieties of Laughing Cow® Light Cheeses in your grocers refrigerated section.  

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I love, love, love Laughing Cow® cheeses.  At any given moment, you will find a package or two (or more) in my refrigerator.  I use them in eggbeater omelets and in all sorts of recipes...I even eat them straight up.  ( Especially the Queso Fresco and Chipotle flavored one!) I am always happy to feature them on my blog!  

Check out a few of the other recipes I have made using Laughing Cow® Cheese:

Light Laughing Cow® Mac and Cheese

Smooth Sensations Creamy Cauliflower Mash 

Lightened Up Warm Spinach Artichoke Dip 


  

Grilled Peanut Ginger Chicken

Fire up the grill for a tasty boneless, chicken breast recipe you are going to love! Grilled Peanut Ginger Chicken is boneless, skinless chicken breasts marinated in a peanut butter marinade with Asian flavors then grilled to perfection. It's a unique way to enjoy boneless, skinless chicken breasts and it's an easy healthy recipe too!

Lemony Sweet Potatoes

One of  last month's Allrecipe's Allstar assignments was to visit the AR Australian/New Zealand site and make, review and provide a picture for recipes on it that didn't have a picture yet.   I decided to give the Baked Lemon Kumara recipe a try.  If you are asking yourself what a kumara is...it's a sweet potato!  Who knew? 

I have used oranges in my sweet potatoes for years now, but never lemon. I changed up the recipe because I made a mash instead of leaving the sweet potatoes cubed as instructed in the original recipe.  I reduced the butter and only used one lemon. What I came out with was a really unique, quite tasty, side dish my entire family loved. Even my husband, who shuns sweet potatoes, gave this dish two thumbs up.  The lemon tones down the natural sweetness of the potatoes and brightens the dish up.  It pairs great with chicken or pork.

Lemony Sweet Potatoes

adapted from allrecipes

Printable Recipe

Servings - about 6 or 7    Serving size - 1/2 cup     Points Plus per serving - 3 Points+

Calories - 128,   Total Fat - 4g,   Carb. - 23.3g,   Protein - 1.9g,   Fiber - 3g

3 large sweet potatoes (yams)

2 TBS unsalted butter, melted

2 TBS brown sugar

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp. lemon zest

salt and pepper, to taste

1.  Bake sweet potatoes in oven or in microwave until soft.  While still hot, cut open and scoop out orange flesh into a large bowl.*   Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Spray an 8" x 8" baking dish with cooking spray. 

2,  Add the butter, brown sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest to the sweet potatoes and mash with a fork or potato masher just until the additions are incorporated into the potatoes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Spread into prepared baking dish and bake for  about 20 minutes or until hot.  

*You could let the baked potatoes cool before scooping out the flesh (your fingers would thank you), then add the rest of the ingredients and put in a baking dish to heat up later.  You will need additional minutes on the baking time to get them hot if prepared this way. 

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It was so fun browsing through a recipe website catering to a different country and culture.  I made several recipes on this site...some turned out good, some not so much.  There were conversions to be done.  Some ingredients had different names.

As I mentioned...even my self-proclaimed sweet potato hating husband ate these and said they were good.  So give them a shot! 

Easy Strawberry and Cream Pie

This Easy Strawberry and Cream Pie is your go to summer no bake dessert! It's full of fresh, sweet, ripe strawberries nestled in a creamy layer with a graham cracker crust!