Short Saturday Note

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. I took my Mom to a little farm that we have been going to for years. They have a small cafe area that from memory only really served up hamburgers and hot dogs. Oh, and the best home made ice cream ever! Boy were we shocked at the menu. It was full of fresh delicious salads, soups, and sandwiches. I was prepared to splurge slightly but the only thing I ate that I haven't had in many moons was some potato chips. I even wrote down the CAL/FAT/FIBER on a napkin and stuck it in my purse to track later when I got home. lol I only ate 1/2 of the bag so it really wasn't a huge splurge! So I ordered a chicken sandwich that came on a roll. That roll was my biggest point splurge of the day. lol I told you that I was a bread girl! lol Oh!! I didn't mention that this place has homemade pies. Can I tell you how bad I wanted a slice??!! To top it all off they were only a dollar a slice and EVERYONE around us had some! Talk about torture! lol Anyway, lunch was yummy and the weather was so warm...it made for a very nice day. :)

My Mom cooked one of my favorite chicken and potato dinners for me tonight. I dug into my plate and forgot to take a picture first! Ooopps! I even had my camera right next to me!

Tomorrow will be an interesting day with snacks while watching the superbowl. I did get a few things to munch on and I will report back on how it all went.

:)

Finally Friday!

Hope everyone had a good week! Once again I was gone almost all day yesterday but I managed to stay on track with food. This is something that I applaud myself on. In the past I would just drive through the closest fast food window and eat on the run. We all know how many points that can add up to! I had a chance to come home to grab lunch and I had to have some of that turkey that I bought. It was so good! With the low point bread (not my favorite…hey Im a bread girl! Lol) and the low point mayo, I had a sandwich for only 4 points. Added a cup of fresh strawberries for another point. I grabbed a Yoplait yogurt for the road and headed out again this time for a haircut. Before I left I packed up dinner to take to my parents. Remember Tuesday’s turkey taco night? Well for dinner last night my Mom and I enjoyed turkey taco salads. We put all of those leftovers to good use and had a yummy meal. Points for my JUMBO salad was 10! Sorry I didn’t bring my camera!

Now on to today, Friday. I’m about to make my breakfast sandwich. Speaking of that, anyone try the new Morning Star soy sausage patties that are maple flavored? I have not seen them yet in the stores. I wonder if I would like them? Gotta try! Looking forward to the same turkey sandwich for lunch today and I will cook up one of our favorite dinners for tonight. I usually double the recipe to freeze a container. Here is what I am making…

Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Curry with Warm Pita Bread

1 tsp canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
Coarse sea salt or kosher salt--to taste
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 large or 2 small garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 bay leaf
1 ½ cups red lentils
Whole wheat pita bread

1. In a saucepan or kettle, bring 3 ½ cups of water to a boil.
2. In a large saucepan over high heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, and 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Add the sweet potato, ginger, garlic, curry powder and bay leaf and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in the boiling water and stir in the lentils. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the lentils break down and the sweet potatoes are tender, 18 to 20 minutes. Season with salt.
4. While the potatoes and lentils are cooking, warm a stack of pitas. Use pita bread to scoop up curry…or grab a spoon!

7 points per serving--serves 4


Before I added this recipe to the WW recipe builder I thought I was eating something really high in points. Once I plugged in all of the ingredients I was happy to see that if you portion it out you can have just about any of your favorite dishes! Along with the curry I will have a small side salad. Im looking forward to dinner already and I haven't even had breakfast yet! :)

Hope Friday is fabulous for all!

:)

Wednesday

Today I spent the day with my parents. We went to chinese for lunch and I had some Woh Won Ton Soup. It was filled with fresh veggies and very tasty. I Drooled a little over my Mom's pork fried rice. lol We ran some errands and I picked up some turkey that is fresh slices from a rotisserie cooked breast. It is so good! Also bought some Sara Lee Delightful bread whole wheat w/ honey. Two slices= 1 point...cant beat that! :) I found a new bar that I really enjoyed WEIL by Natures Path. They come in a bunch of flavors but I chose the Goji Moji. It has cranberry and goji berries...also had some cashew pieces in it. I loved the tartness of it. This flavor was 3 points. Some of the others were higher in calories.


Dinner was a treat. We had steak, baked potatoes, sautéed spinach, and salad. I ran home to check out the points for the piece of steak that I had and was happy to see it was 5 points for 3 oz. I thought it was way more! Anyway I loved dinner and have one more point left today for some papaya with lemon on it for dessert. YUM!

Today I got my new subscription to the Clean Eating Magazine. If anyone sees this on the magazine racks check it out! Great magazine, filled with easy, healthy recipes! Hope everyone had a good day! :) BYE

Is it OK to high 5 yourself?

Weigh in this morning was a success! I lost 2 more pounds and I am thrilled! If you do it right, Weight Watchers works. Plain and simple...I planned, I tracked, and I exercised. YES! ( High 5ing myself!!!) :)

I just did 3 miles/1 hour on my treadmill. Probably should have walked outside today since its so nice and sunny but sometimes its easier to just do it here. If that is me being lazy I will take it! Better than skipping the workout all together. Last week I had a treadmill accident. I went to fold it up to store it and did it at a strange angle and I lost my balance. I fell down and the treadmill came towards me, slamming down on my foot. I was wearing shoes but it still caused a huge bruise. :( I guess thats why ONE of my nicknames is BooBoo. Safety first everyone! Haha!

Anyone watch the reality show called Ruby? I watched a few episodes on the On Demand feature on Comcast and I love this woman! She is an inspiration. I believe she started out at 480lbs and is losing weight like crazy. She follows a meal plan system and goes to a trainer for her workouts. She has a team of people helping her. The last episode I watched she has lost almost 100 pounds! What I love about the show is Ruby herself. Her attitude, her sense of humor, and most of all her willingness to succeed. Ruby is from the south with a great accent and I find myself talking like her! lol If you can watch it, I highly recommend it.

Todays meals...my normal breakfast ( yeah, yeah lol) I skipped my AM fruit and my mid-morning snack due to weigh in so I was HUNGRY when I came home. My Mom sent me home with a container of the turkey potato bake that we made together on Sunday so I heated that up. Im having an apple right now...will grab a yogurt soon too. One thing that I really crave a lot is Mexican food. I miss going out to my favorite local place. So I try to make an at home Mexican meal to help with those cravings once in a while. Tonight will be an easy one, tacos. Im using 99% FF turkey breast and I found corn tortillas that are 2 points for 2 of them. For a side dish I have those cuban style beans that I made so I will have a small dish of those minus the rice. I need to put everything in my online tracker to see how many points I will have left for snacks later.

Biggest Loser tonight! I think that show is great. I enjoy the tips and I am inspired by the hard work that the contestants put into it. I also know that losing weight fast is not the best way to do it. Slow and steady wins the race...and Im off and running!

:)

Twas the night before weigh in.

Happy Monday to you all! Today was grocery shopping day. I picked out a few things to make for the week, wrote up my shopping list, and headed out to Trader Joes. I also had to go to a "regular" grocery store for the odds & ends stuff that I can not get at TJ's. Booo Hisss! I puffy heart Trader Joes and I wish I could do my entire shopping there. Anyway I got everything I needed and headed back home to put things away and realized for the first time that I do not care that I drive by 3 fast food places that are a block away from where I live. If you count the 2 chain sandwich places, that makes 5. Wow. Oh!! There is also a Baskin & Robbins Ice cream shop across the street. lol I use to go to those drive through windows and always regret doing so. I think you can truly measure how far you have come in your weight loss journey if you can ignore the temptations of fast food. LOL

Back to my food! lol Breakfast was good...I added egg today to my usual sandwich. :) I also had some blueberries. They were tart just the way I like them. I also found out that they are an anti-inflammatory. No wonder its a super food! Lunch was a WW recipe that I've made before. Check it out!

Classsic Rice and Beans Cuban Style

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 assorted colored bell pepper seeded/chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 15 1/2 ounce can black beans, undrained
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
4 lime wedges
Cooked brown rice

1. Prepare rice OR buy this:


2. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, oregano and cumin; cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the beans with their liquid and the hot sauce. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the sauce thickens slightly. Serve over rice with a lime wedge.

(I like to mash up some of the beans as it cooks)

Serving size 1/2 cup brown rice with 3/4 cup beans = 6 points

The first time I made this I measured everything and put it in my bowl and knew I would be heading back for seconds. No seconds needed. I was surprised how filling this meal was! Now that is what Weight Watchers has been trying to get us to understand right? lol Those "filling foods" really work! lol That was lunch today and a few hours later I grabbed a yogurt. As I started to cook dinner I remembered that I had some WW string cheese (1)in the fridge so I ate one of those too.

For dinner I made scallops. I bought a bag of them at Costco. I totally forgot to take a picture tonight but I served them with whole wheat couscous that I flavored with chicken broth. I also made roasted brussel sprouts. I cut the brussel sprouts in half, slice up a red onion, drizzle them with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast them for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. I could eat the entire package of these! lol

I can not ignore the fact that tomorrow is weigh in. I use to skip my nightly popcorn due to people at meetings saying that they avoid salty foods the night before. I never saw a difference if I ate it or not. So now I dont let that scale ruin my popcorn party! lol POPCORN FOR ALL! :)

Where did the weekend go?

Here I sit and I can not believe it is Sunday evening. Wow! Time flies when your cooking yummy food! :) Lets see....Saturday breakfast, I am just going to say THE USUAL. lol Im sure your sick of me typing the same breakfast sandwich every day....right? lol LUNCH! Ok so Sean and I went to Panera Bakery. I love this place! I know I rambled on about Panera a few postings ago but they really do have good food and you can make healthy choices there. I tried the new chicken tortilla soup and 1/2 of a turkey sandwich on multigrain bead. It was very good. All that for 8 points...with the help of their GREAT nutritional info online. THANK YOU! I wish they had that available at more restaurants!!

So dinner came around and Sean begged me for linguini with clam sauce. This is something that I do not make. It is from a can...well the sauce is anyway. Progresso makes it and we love it. I checked the NI and for 1/2 the can of sauce was 3 points. I just had a small amount of linguini and a salad. I found the WW Giant Latte bars (1) on sale and we enjoyed one of those for dessert. I love those. They remind me of a Starbucks Frappuccino. YUM!

Saturday I didnt exercise till later and I pooped out after 1.65 miles. Something is better than nothing. :)

Sunday my Mom and I bought all of the ingredients to make a recipe from the latest WW magazine. We went to Japanese for lunch I had miso soup (2), side salad (2), California roll. Serving comes up 4 pieces on the tracker but it was 6 pieces (4.5) Tasty!

Heres the dinner we made:

Turkey-Potato Bake

1 1lb. eggplant diced
1 tsp. salt
3 cups refrigerated fully cooked potatoes
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb. ground skinless turkey
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 1/2 cup FF milk
2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1 cup FF cottage cheese
1 cup crumbled LF feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1. Toss the eggplant with 1/2 tsp. of the salt in a large bowl; transfer to a colander. Set colander in the bowl and let stand 30 min.
2. Bring the potatoes and salted water to a boil. Cook until potatoes are fork tender. Drain well.
3. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with non-stick spray. Spray a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray and cook onions 5 min. Add turkey, 2/3 of the chopped garlic, oregano, cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. salt; cook stirring, just until the turkey is no longer pink. Add the eggplant and cook 5 min. or until softened. Add tomato sauce and cook 5 min. Pour mixture into baking dish and top with potatoes.
4. Whisk 1/4 c. of the milk and the flour in a saucepan until smooth. Whisk in the remaining 2 1/4 c. milk Add the remaining garlic, bay leaf, and pepper; bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and cook until thickened, about 3 min. Whisk the eggs and 1/2 c. of the hot milk mixture in a bowl. Whisk the egg mixture into the remaining milk mixture and cook, whisking 1 min. Discard bay leaf. Whisk in the cheeses, parsley and the remaining 1/4 tsp. salt. Pour over the filling. Bake at 425 for 40 minutes uncovered. Let stand 5 min. before serving. (2 cups per serving = 7 points) Serves 6





Did you see that serving size? TWO cups is a serving for ONLY 7 POINTS! Can you tell I am excited about that? lol We all liked it, including Dad who after we told him it was a WW recipe asked for "weight" in his! LOL! As you can see we had some corn with it and also a salad. Filled me up! Dessert was a WW Smart Ones sundae...it said it was new. I should have taken a picture of the box (sorry) it was a peanut butter cup sundae. It was good, but my Dad said it made him just want 3 more. lol Special thanks to my Mom. Dinner was not an easy recipe. I was glad that I had her help. THANKS MOM! :)

Hope everyone had a fun weekend! :)

TGIF!

Hi! Hope everyone had a good Friday and is getting all set for a great weekend! The rain is still here and from what they say I have to get use it to for a while. :( Lucky for me I have plenty of ways to exercise indoors! lol Since I did the Wii workout yesterday I decided to use my treadmill today. My usual walk is 3 miles which takes me 1 hour. I listened to music as I walked today but I need to get another audiobook from itunes soon to keep me interested. I love getting lost in a book then realizing that my hour is over!
I did well with food today. My normal breakfast sandwich with an asian pear for breakfast. Tuna (Im on a tuna kick lately??!!) with All Bran crackers and an apple for lunch. Dinner is a new one that we tried last week. I took a picture of the box for everyone.



If you like Indian Spices check these out. We had them last week on rolls, like a burger but for tonight I roasted a bunch of veggies with some olive oil and curry powder. Im just going to eat the patty plain with the veggies. The roasted vegetables smell so good...Im dying for them to be finished! :) The NI on those Masala burgers are CAL120/FAT8/FIB1=3 Points

Have a great evening everyone! Oh I took out the popcorn popper and Im dying to finally watch LOST! That show is on WAY to late for me! Thank God for DVR!

BYE :)

Thursday's Leftovers

Not many people enjoy leftovers, myself included. lol I knew all week that my HUGE pot of split pea soup was going to be on the menu again. So I took it out of the fridge tonight and low and behold I enjoyed it all over again. :) I also had another leftover turkey burger patty for lunch with some carrots. I used that raspberry wasabi mustard as a dip again. I had an apple and a couple of oranges for snacks along with my yogurt. So Im all on track for the day. :)

I was not able to stay awake for the entire LOST show last night. It was 3 hours with the 1st hour being a re-cap show. I promised Sean that I would wait to watch the rest of it with him but Im dying to see it! lol

I worked out with the Wii today. I tried a new workout selection on the My Fitness Coach. It was called Flexibility and I thought it was going to be a lot of stretches and yoga type stuff but I was jumping and kicking around. Wheeww that "game" is a real workout! Totally worth the $30 bucks! I like how Maya (the trainer) cheers you on and when she pauses the workout she asks you how you did with it and you select one of the choices. Im assuming that they keep track of your level of fitness that way. Pretty cool!

Well I guess thats all! Sorry no pictures, it was just leftovers. :)

Bye :)

Wonderful Wednesday! Except for the rain :(

Hello! I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I woke up with a headache and I got a slow start to my day. Breakfast was something different than my usual sandwich that I make. I have a lot of veggies in the house so I decided to make an omelet. I used small piece of zucchini, some onion, and 3 mushrooms. I sliced and diced everything all up and added 1 teaspoon of olive oil to sauté everything. I remembered that I had some ham steak already diced up so I added about 2 tablespoons to the pan as well. I use egg beaters and I added ½ cup. The whole breakfast with a slice of 2% cheese was only 4 points! I am not good at omelet making so it ended up being a scramble instead. (see pic) lol

For lunch today I had a leftover turkey burger-no bun(5points). I dipped it in some specialty mustard- raspberry wasabi flavor. I also ate a small salad with it (3points). I had some carrots and a yogurt for snacks today.

Working out has become easier the more I do it. (Noooo really? Lol) I know this is going to sound strange coming out of my mouth…but I do enjoy how I feel after I exercise. ☺ I know it is important and it will help my weight loss journey.

Dinner tonight is a new recipe that I found in a 5-ingredient 15 minute Weight Watchers cookbook.

ANTIPASTO SALAD

1 9 ounce pkg. fresh light raviolis
1 14 ounce can quartered artichoke hearts
2 tablespoons chopped drained oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
¼ cup sliced black olives
¼ cup torn basil leaves
½ cup Fat Free balsamic vinaigrette

1. Cook pasta according to directions omitting salt, drain.
2. Combine pasta and all ingredients in a large bowl; toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings (1 ¼ cups per serving) 4 points
CAL231/FAT4.3/FIBER2.8


This was delicious! I had slightly more than the serving size and gave myself points accordingly. I also made whole-wheat garlic pita bread with it. I use I Cant Believe Its Not Butter spray and I get my pitas from Trader Joes (2 points).

One of my favorite shows comes back tonight…LOST! I am so excited and I plan on making some air-popped popcorn to enjoy later. Oh! Ever see the Kernel Season’s popcorn seasoning??? I have used the parmesan & garlic flavor (gotta brush after using this one! Lol) and the white cheddar flavor. Both are very tasty! I found coupons for them in the Weight Watchers magazines for $1.00 off! How’s that for a savings! Hey anything helps these days!

Hope everyone has a great evening!
tj ☺

TUESDAY- WEIGH IN!!

Drum roll please……. -2 lbs.! Whoohooooo! Im excited can you tell? Haha Ok so all of the exercise probably was the key, but I must say that writing this blog has helped me so much. It is like a diary for me and I guess its turning into more than just a place to post recipes that I try. ☺

Alrighty! Down to business, lets talk food! Breakfast was the same old same old that I love. No egg today. I try to eat light before weigh in. lol When I came home I was hungry! I had a salad made up in the fridge already (lettuce, red cabbage and some garbanzo beans) and I added some dried cranberries, 1/2 of an apple diced up, and sliced almonds to it. For the dressing I used oil and vinegar. I have so much left over split pea soup that I could possibly open a soup kitchen. Haha So I decide a small bowl of that with my salad would be a good lunch choice.

I made another old favorite tonight for dinner. Turkey burgers. I got this recipe originally from a Pampered Chef cookbook.

1 pound ground turkey ( I get the 7%) My package was 1.44lbs
2 tablespoons onion soup mix
¼ cup egg beaters
1 tablespoon dried parsley
pepper
2 garlic cloves minced

Mix all ingredients…I made 4 burgers ( one was a little larger due to the extra meat)
I put them on the BBQ but I also have made them on my George Forman grill indoors.

I like to grill red onions to put on the burgers. For sauce I make a honey mustard dressing…couldn’t tell you measurements…I just add a little honey, sorry. ☺ The rolls that I like are from Trader Joes and they are so good! They are in the fresh baked section- they get them delivered to the store. They are called Michette Rolls and even have the NI! CAL210/FAT1/FIBER7=3 Points. So I plugged in the info for the turkey and seasonings to the Recipe Builder and came up with a 5 for the burger, add another 1 for the honey mustard and for 9 points I get a juicy burger! YUM! But wait…I found a good side to go with the burgers! This was in a new WW cookbook. Take one large zucchini, slice into ¼ inch thick rounds. Dip into egg whites, then breadcrumbs. Bakes at 475 for 10-12 min on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. 7 rounds=1point

Hope everyone had a good day. I enjoyed watching President Obama’s Inauguration. I must admit it was emotional, I cried. It was an historic moment and I am so proud to be an American.

☺ Tj

Monday-Shopping day

Hello... My typical Sunday evening consist of flipping through cookbooks to pick out a few things to make for the week and write up my shopping list. Last night was no different. I recently bought a few new Weight Watcher cookbooks so I started with those ones first. Looks like a tasty week! :)

For tonight I have been craving an old favorite. Split pea soup. I call it Nanny's Split Pea Soup because it was a soup that I use to make with my Nan. She never measured anything so I tried real hard to always watch her and took notes here and there as we cooked together. I think she would be proud of me after all of these years making it on my own. :)


Nanny’s Split Pea Soup
-------------------

2 medium yellow onions, diced
4-5 carrots, diced
4-5 celery stalks with leaves, diced
2-3 potatoes, cubed
2 bags split peas
2-3 heaping tablespoons chicken bouillon
Ham/bone or diced ham steak
Pepper to taste


Put all veggies in pot filled with water ¾ full. Add ham, peas, and bouillon. Cook 1 hour. Add potatoes last 15 min of cooking time. Nanny says, “ when carrots are done, soup is done.” ☺
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember nothing is an exact measurement. I cook like that myself and realize a little bit of her has rubbed off on me. :) When I make this I LOVE ham in it. Sean is a little picky and does not like ham. So to make everyone happy I cook the soup without ham but always buy a ham steak to dice up and add to mine. Everyone is happy in the end! I added the recipe to the WW recipe builder and came out with 5 points for a 1 & 1/2 cup serving without the ham. Ham steak was 2 points for 3 ounces.

Let me explain my pictures today. lol The bread in the back of my bowl of soup is one of my favorites to have with spilt pea soup. On the road down to Los Angeles there is a restaurant called PEA SOUP ANDERSONS. They serve their soup with this bread and I love it! There are many different brands so the nutritional info may vary but for the one I bought its CAL120/FAT1/FIBER6=2 points per slice. For butter I like to use Brummel and Brown Natural Yogurt spread. 45/5/0 = 1point per Tbsp. I took a picture of my yogurt because thats my favorite mid-afternoon snack lately. I never liked yogurt and typically stay away from milk products. For some reason I thought Id try them again and when I tasted these I liked them...and my tummy didnt hurt! haha

I got ahead of myself with dinner ( because I was excited about it! ) and forgot to mention that I had the same tuna with crackers that I had last week for lunch. I like those pouches in water...so easy!

Tomorrow is weigh in!! I always get nervous the day before! Maybe its just me but that scale scares me! lol I did really well with points and getting in some exercise this past week so I hope that dreaded scale drops a bit for me. We shall see! :)

Bye for now! :)

How the weekend is going...

We woke up Saturday ( had the usual breakfast plus some blueberries) and decided to go for a drive. We went out to Sacramento and walked around a bit. We got hungry for lunch and we were surrounded by fast food places with a few restaurants in between. Sean always asks me where I think would be best but honestly any of those places could turn out to be the worst! We went in 2 places, read the menu and left after I didnt see anything not smothered in cheese or bacon. TGI Fridays is not very WW friendly! lol So we decided on Tahoe Joes Steakhouse. Sean wanted a burger (thanks! lol) and I got the BBQ chicken. It was a nice skinless breast lightly coated with sauce with some extra on the side. It came with green beans and mashed red potatoes. I mentioned I was going to ask for double green beans instead of potatoes however Sean already had his heart set on them. :) Well for a dining out challenge I didnt do so bad with what I ate for lunch after all! Whoo hoo!

Also to mention I dont leave the house without packing up some snacks. I always take water. I always have some sort of low point bars in the house. RIght now I have some of the organic Cliff Kids bars that are 2 points. I dont always eat these just good for on the go snacks. Yesterday I cut up an asian pear ( online tracker says ZERO?) for the car ride and also a WW string cheese(1). We didnt even end up eating the bars I brought....but knew that if I needed it it was there.

Dinner Saturday night was not planned but turned out well. Funny story...I actually stood in front of the fridge and told Sean to write down the ingredients I was calling out to him! lol Well it worked. Here is what we came up with... I had some frozen shrimp that were already cooked. I thawed them, cut the tails off and spit them in 1/2. I sautéed some carrots, bell pepper and red onion in 1 tsp. olive oil (1) until the carrots were soft. Next I added 2 tablespoons curry powder and 1 can light coconut milk and stirred until blended. The shrimp I added last to just heat up since they were already cooked. We had it with brown rice. It was very good! Sorry I didnt remember to take a picture!! :( oopps! I added the ingredients to the WW recipe builder ( I love that online tool!) and gave myself 8 points for dinner.

So here I am Sunday morning typing this...eating my breakfast sandwich, with egg beaters. I forgot that Sean and I did the 30 min Yoga workout last night on the new Wii game: My Fitness Trainer. It was nice having a yoga buddy but I had to keep telling him to shut up...he was breathing too loud! lol I was sore when I woke up Saturday from the yoga the day before and yep...Im sore today too! lol No pain no gain ( it should be: no pain no LOSS!) lol :) Im headed to my parents house today....not sure what lunch will be but I know dinner is leftover pork chops and Im looking forward to them already!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!!
:) BYE!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I just tried my new Wii game-My Fitness Coach. Maya (the trainer) talks your through the workouts and I was able to follow along. I tried yoga today for 30 minutes...you can pick how long you want to workout. I was sweating! I feel like I got in a good little workout. Whoo hoo! Pretty good for a video game!

Food today... I admit I didnt plan lunch or dinner for today, I guess I was being lazy. Sometimes that can come back and bite me on the ass if Im not careful! I dont know if I mentioned that every day I tend to have kinda the same breakfast. I love my 1 point Thomas's double fiber honey wheat english muffins ( boy thats a mouthful! lol) I top it with a slice of Kraft 2% cheese (1point) and a Morningstar soy sausage patty (2 points). Sometimes I make a little egg beaters to add on to the "Tracey Mc Muffin" :) Its a great low point ( 4 or 5 ) breakfast that keeps me full. So for lunch today I felt like tuna. I use the kind in the pouch so I dont have to touch the can! Im strange I know...but hey its easy! One pouch is 2 points and I added 1 tablespoon light mayo ( 1point) I had it with All Bran crackers. You get 16 crackers for only 2 points! WOW! Then I had a bag of broccoli that you steam in the bag so I had that with lemon squeezed on it...ZERO points! Gotta love the zeros! :) So total points on the lunch was 5 and Im full. Im really not sure about dinner. I have some stuff that I can whip together, just not sure what it will be yet.

Hope everyone has a great weekend planned! We are having beautiful weather here right now so Im hoping to take advantage of it tomorrow with a nice walk or hike somewhere. If all else fails I know Maya ( my new Wii trainer) will be here if I need her!

:)

Thursday Night Extras!!

Ok so I have a bit of a sweet tooth lately, kinda unusual for me...anyway... I saw these Fiber One muffin mixes at the store and had to try it. On the side of the box there are instructions to make it even healthier than they already are! lol So you use applesauce instead of oil, egg beaters instead of real eggs and POOF you have a friendly 2 point muffin. They came out pretty too! :)

Then I was looking online at Wii games and checked out the reviews for My Fitness Coach game. Everyone seems to like it although it just came out last month. Compared to the Jillian Michaels game this one got more thumbs up....so off to Toys R Us I went and picked it up. I will try it out later and give my review soon. Ok thats it for today....bye!

Wednesday/Thursday all in one :)

Hello....I had a lunch date on Wednesday with a friend. She asked me where I wanted to go and that is always a challenge for me! My brain was telling me, "all you can eat chinese buffet" thankfully, Panera Bakery came out of my mouth. haha! They have a great nutritional guide on their website which makes it easy to figure out points. I also love that they have packets of LIGHT mayo available. Vegetable soup and 1/2 a turkey sandwich was my tasty lunch.

Dinner was at my parents house. My Mom makes meals that make my mouth water just thinking about them but she is being very kind to me by cooking up some of her healthier meals when she knows I will be over. :) THANKS MOM! So dinner was one of my favorites ( I have a lot of favs!) Pork chops with sauerkraut and potatoes. YUM! We also had a salad with oil and vinegar dressing. So I managed to stay within my points on a day that I was out and about which always makes me proud. :)

Thursday (today) for lunch I felt like one of my frozen Eating Right meals from Safeway. If you have access to these frozen tv dinners they are my favorite. I prefer them over Lean Cuisine and the Weight Watchers ones. They have the WW points on the box too! Whoo hoo! So I made my butter nut squash raviolis and I also sautéed some fresh spinach to serve with it. Its a good way to get in some extra veggies and to beef up the meal. I fogot to take a picture of my meal ( I started to eat it then remembered!) so I took a picture of the box...go out and get some of these, they rock! :)

Dinner tonight will be a new one for me. Trader Joes Vegetable Masala Burgers. They are 3 points each. I might have mine on a bun...I also get those from TJ's again 3 points each. With the burgers Im baking some sweet potato spears. Nothing fancy today...kinda like a day off for me! lol

I went for a walk today...I did 2 "laps" around the block 3 miles! whoo hooo! My feet are not saying whoo hoo...for some reason they feel like Im getting blisters. lol Walking injuries can ONLY happen to ME! lol I listen to an audiobook as I walk, makes the time fly by! It was nice to feel the sunshine on my face as well. Hope everyone has a great day! :)

Tuesday's Mexican Fiesta!

Today was weigh in...seeing how I came off of a BIG loss last week ( 5 pounds!) I was not hopeful....however I did not expect a 1.4 lb. gain. But I tracked SO well! Oh well. I did go for a walk today....I promised myself to exercise more, way more. :)

Ok so my biggest challenge is going out to eat Mexican food! Hey at least Im honest! :) I always feel like I pigged out and the only way I can get that Mexican fiesta fix is to make something at home. Heres a good one I enjoyed tonight....


Vegetarian Enchiladas

¾ cup FF refried beans
4 (8inch) flour tortillas
1 cup meatless burger crumbles ( like Morningstar brand)
¾ cup enchilada sauce
½ cup (2 ounces) reduced fat shredded Mexican cheese
Chopped green onions (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Spread 3 tablespoons beans over each tortilla. Sprinkle ¼ cup burger crumbles down center of each tortilla. Arrange tortillas, seam sides down, in a 8-inch square baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over tortillas; sprinkle with cheese.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Top with onions if desired.

This recipe is from the Weight Watchers 5 ingredient 15 minute cookbook.

Makes 4 servings (serving size 1 enchilada ) 4 points per serving.
CAL 242, FAT 4.8, FIB 5g


I just checked the points value on my tortillas and they are 3 each…so I am adjusting the points for my serving accordingly. I wish they would tell you how many points to allow for the tortilla alone. Or what brand they used. That would be easier!

I made a small side salad with lettuce, tomatoes, red cabbage, and black olives. For the dressing; I had a container of sour cream in my fridge that I had already added a pack of Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix to, so I added some salsa to it to water it down to make a dressing for my salad. YUM! ENJOY!

Welcome

Hi everyone!  Welcome to my blog. My name is Tracey and I love food! I love to cook and I love to find new healthy recipes to make. I am a member of Weight Watchers and really enjoy the program as well as the numerous cookbooks they have. 

The purpose of this blog is to help others enjoy good tasting, healthy foods. Each week I plan on picking out a few recipes to make and I will be posting all of the juicy details...or not so juicy. lol  Yummy foods have made my weight loss journey feel less like a diet and more like a new way of life.   So feel free to log in often to take a peek at what I have to share with you.

Hope everyone enjoys the journey with me.

:) Tracey