Hi

I love finding new blogs that I enjoy and ones that have good ideas. Jessi is a funny gal who is organizing an exchange. Sounds like FUN! Who doesn't like getting goodies in the mail?? Go check her out!

Went to chinese today with my parents for lunch. I ordered the WW veggies and tofu with brown rice. YES, they have a WW section. No points listed...but easy to figure out. So I took a bite and the lady came running over and said they brought me the wrong one. lol She took my plate away before I had the chance to get in a second bite. I wonder just how bad that sauce was that was dripping all over my bok choy? Anyway minutes later she returned with the steamed veggies and tofu dish that was mine. No mistaken that WW dish with the others...no sauce, no spice, no nothing. I poured hot mustard over it but some sweet and sour sauce would have been super delicious. Haha!

So now I am enjoying a green smoothie for snack and have dinner all prepared for later. An old favorite that I have already shared with you all, but here is the recipe again.

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!



I plan on a walk or a bike ride later when Sean gets home. :) Hope everyone has a great day!!

:)

what did I do?

I hit the treadmill after I last blogged...3 miles. Then after dinner a nice 2.72 mile bike ride. Am I pooped? You bettcha! lol On the path we take I love this tree with birdhouses so I had to bring the camera along. I had a fun time on the bike ride. See exercising can be fun! lol :)

Just when you think...

...that you have the WW program all down pat, your weighed out 2 ounces of cheese was a mistake. :( I was mad after I ate it and went to track online. I wanted only one ounce of low fat cheese on my quesadilla. However when I placed it on the scale and saw 2 come up I just grabbed it and added it to my lunch making it a whopping 9 points. So now I am faced with the fact that I have 1 point left for the whole day (I already calculated in dinner) I know I can munch on some veggies for snack but my friend popcorn will be calling my name later maybe even my buddy vitalicious. lol So what have we learned here today boys and girls? Planning and being on top of meals REALLY does make a difference. I really didnt mess up THAT bad, but today is the first day of my new week and to think I need to use my weeklies already...whatever.

Yes today was weigh in. No I did not lose. Nothing, not even a .2 lol. I am the same as last week. What will I do to see a loss next week....well I came home to eat lunch. I did not grab something fast, or go dine at the local chinese place walking distance from where I live. I Actually made lunch from scratch. I made taco meat with about 8 different jars of seasoning. But one lil mistake put that lunch over what I like to budget as far as points for lunch. So, with that said (again) plan better, track, move more, get in some walks, and take the bike out more. At the end of our WW meetings the leader has us say a quote (if we wanna join in) "I will do something daily for a healthier, happier life." That is what I plan on doing. After seventeen months of being a WW member some things come with ease and others I need to push myself to accomplish. I want to succeed. I deserve this.

I cooked dinner last night and I did not like it. You don't hear that from me very often. No pic, no recipe, no drooling. lol Sean loved it, and he is outta luck when he craves it again. lol Shrimp, mushrooms, barley, that is all I will mention. Bllaahh

I hope everyone is having a great day today. Its cooler outside than its been and I walked over to pick up dry cleaning and had good intentions on going back out on the trail but I think i will get on the treadmill instead. buurrr Oh Im not just being wimpy, the wind is blowing and there are fuzzy things in the air that get in my eyes. Ok that kinda sounds like another excuse too huh? lol No excuses....treadmill here I come!

:) Bye

Time Flies

Hello! I feel like the last week flew by! Wow...and this is the last week of the month! TIME FLIES!

Today I had lunch plans with two friends that I grew up with. I suggested Panera Bakery. Most people would cringe at the thought of going to a bakery. Yes, I breathe in deeply as I walk in and stare at all of the delicious looking pastries as I take out my printed out menu that has all of the nutritional info on it as well as my handwritten in points. :) Hey, whatever works right? Well it works for me. I love that place and with a lil handy ordering action I get a nice big salad for very little points. The asian chicken salad comes with a reduced sugar dressing and I get it without won ton noodles, to the horror of the teenager who was taking my order. She shouted out, "but that's the best part" to which I replied, "yeah, I know!" lol So with all of the excitement of visiting with old friends I forgot to take a picture of my salad...I brought the camera with me with good intentions...oopps.

Back at my parents house after running some errands to have a nice meal that my Mom made. Pork with verde sauce in the crock pot. I love how this comes slow cooking it all day in the crock pot. Delicious, tender and I came home with leftovers! YES! lol I toasted a couple fo low point corn tortillas and made baked chips to eat with mine. Also had some fat free refried beans. Take a look:

Let me fill you in on food on Friday! FOr lunch I made a big salad with some leftover grilled chicken. I usually use oil and vinegar dressing but I was getting a lil bored with it. Remembered that I had a small 1/2 of an avocado so I decided to mash it up really well ( it was very ripe) and add lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a splash of rice vinegar. It was great! I used it as a dressing and it was a nice change from my usual. Here is the mashing: Now the full salad:

Then on Friday night for dinner I planned on making a dish that I saw in my new issue of Real Simple magazine. This magazine always has one or more recipes that I make and we always end up adding it to our favorite list. (yes-we have such a list-we have to, I cook too damn much! lol ) Ok so remember these poaching pods?
I used them again for this super easy - super tasty meal that you can have any time of the day.

The name of the recipe is Asparagus and Soft Eggs On Toast. I changed some stuff( nooo really?? lol) They used rustic baguette bread and I wanted toast. More importantly I wanted low point toast. Then They drizzled the bread with olive oil and same with the asparagus to roast it. Omitting the oil, and steaming the asparagus helped keep the points/calories low. I poached my eggs, just like they called for but Sean wanted fried eggs...so you can prepare this pretty much to your liking. Shaved parmesan cheese, salt adn pepper topped the dish. The cheese was delicious on this! It added a great flavor to it. My version was 8 points and it was very filling. We had a nice tomato salad with fresh basil to go with it. Since I have more of everything in the house that we used for this I am hoping that Sean feels like it again Sunday night. :)

With the cooler weather I have been so much more active. I have been enjoying the trails behind our house. In the morning I take my bike or just walk it with my ipod. Then when Sean comes home we head out again together. I am just loving the new neighborhood!

Tomorrow back to the produce stand. I need to meal plan and make a shopping list too. I realized that last week we didn't have an easy meal night squeezed in there. We did have leftovers so I guess I didn't feel so over worked because of that. My Mom showed me a few new Smart Ones tv dinners that she tried and I think I might take a peek at those for one night this week. Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend! Suppose to be a little warmer tomorrow and I am looking forward hitting the trail!

:) bye!

Aaahhh 20 degrees cooler!

The HOT weather has left us for the time being and with the drop in temperature I felt motivated to get out today for some exercise. I walked over to drop of some dry cleaning and was about to turn to go on the trail but I decided that I wanted to ride my bike instead. If you go one direction on the trail it is slightly downhill most of the way. But when you turn to come back you feel the burn. The other way is mostly uphill, although it is gradual, but you immediately feel like your working your legs. I chose to feel the burn on the way back and when I got home my legs were like jello. lol Yeah, I know sad huh? The loop I did is about 3 miles. On a few blogs I noticed people using mapmyrun.com so that is what I used to figure out the miles on the trail. Before I would just drive around the neighborhood...but I can't take my car on the trail. Thank goodness for technology! :) So on my way back I felt like I was really struggling and felt kinda wimpy. When I got home I noticed that my back tire was kinda flat. Do I get extra brownie points for riding with a semi-flat tire? Haha! :)

Not sure what I was going to make for lunch today so I rummaged through the fridge and took a mental note. Chicken tostadas! I had leftover chicken that I grilled, some blue corn tortillas- that I realized are kinda higher in points than I would prefer, green chilies, shredded cheese, and some salsa. The plate I put them on I never use because they are HUGE dinner plates...so you can see how big these are...Lookie here:

I enjoyed them so much! I love love love Mexican food and I know that I could totally blow it if I went out to eat it at a restaurant so I try to do my best at home with creating some favorites.

Other news, lets see I was out running errands with my parents yesterday and I saw a cute blouse that I liked. I went to grab "XL", then remembered that I bought a "L" last time I went shopping. So off I went into the dressing rooms and out I came to get a "M"!!! HOLY TOLEDO!! I know all tops are fitted differently and can vary in sizes but I do not remember the last time I bought a medium anything...ever. Never, ever. lol I was happy. When Sean came home last night I ran to try my new top on and he loved it on me. I had to share that it was a "M" and I got a "WTG" from him. :) Whoohoo!
I really don't go out shopping much so when I see something I like I am tempted to get it. I know I dont want to go over board with buying clothes...just a few things here and there until I get to where I want to be. :)

I have a lot of my day left over here! I guess I might have to get outside again for another ride or maybe this time a walk. Hope everyone is having a great day! :)

Happy Earth Day!

I carried my re-usable water bottle with me today as usual but I started to think about what else I can do to help out our Earth. I use my own shopping bags when I go to the grocery store but I started to think of when I go to Target or Walmart, I never use them. I always come home with a bunch of plastic bags. I end up putting them into the recycle bin but I could walk into the store with my own, just like at the grocery store. So that will be a new one for me! I hope I can remember to bring them! lol What are you doing to help out? Lemme know! :)

We are having leftovers tonight. Tj's Italian Bake and I am looking forward to it! It really was yummy. If you missed it go back and see! :) For a snack today I made a salad. It came out pretty so I had to share it with you all.
Look at all of those colors! Haha! I topped it off with some red wine vinegar and a dash of Lawry seasoning salt and dug in. YUM! Speaking of snacks, check out Jessica's blog. Her recent post asked everyone to list their favorite snacks. I need to peek back later to see what people list to get more ideas. Good idea Jessica, thanks!

Bought some flat leaf parsley and spearmint today to plant. I have some sweet basil out there already. I love the spearmint in water. Flavors it and makes it so refreshing!
Off to plant them, hey that is a great Earth Day thing to do!

Have a great day everyone! :)

Weigh in Tuesday

Hello! Today was my WW meeting/Weigh in. I am down -.4 that POINT likes to sneak in there and cause me to lose at a snails pace but it all adds up right? :) My WW total is now 32.8. Grand total pre-WW 51.2 :) I am very proud of myself for deciding to change my life. When I tried in the past I would never stick to it for very long. So I gotta pat myself on the back for hanging in there with Weight Watchers. Oh, the reason? Well, it works for me. :)

Speaking of WW...in the recent magazine they had a recipe that I thought would be a good side dish for tonight. I just got finished making it.

Leek and Orzo Gratin

1 cup whole what orzo
2 tsp. olive oil
3 leeks, cleaned and sliced-white and light green parts only
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup shredded fontina cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 2 quart baking dish with nonstick spray.
2. Cook orzo according to directions, omitting salt if desired.
3. Heat oil in large saute pan over med. heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cooked orzo, thyme, salt and pepper.
4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until heated through, about 15 minutes.

Serves 4. Per serving (generous 1 cup) CAL 201/FAT 5/ FIBER 4= 4 points



I grilled a chicken breast for myself to go with it (No Sean (mr picky) , no chicken for you!) and I plan on making a nice big salad too.

Another HOT day for us. It cooled down last night so I am hopeful that tonight will cool off too. I would like to go for a walk later (hint, hint- Mr. picky) so MAYBE someone can leave at a decent time to go with me? Sorry, is this turning into a personal note to my boyfriend or what?? Lol

So does anyone set goals and reward themselves when they hit them? Like prizes?? I just visioned a huge wall, like at a carnival, loaded with prizes- but instead of ticket amounts next to them they had pounds next to each of them. Haha! Sounds silly maybe but I enjoy rewards. I even like the little bravo stickers at the WW meetings. lol How 1st grade of me huh? If you do reward yourself with things...let me know what you got. :)

Bye! :)

LOTTSA COOKING!

Today the local weather dude said heat advisory for us. Also it’s a spare the air day. Bad air quality + heat = yucky day. :( I went grocery shopping early this morning to beat the heat. Only had a short list. Sean and I went to our favorite produce market Sunday and loaded up the basket with tons of fruits and veggies, which helped me out today.

Back tracking a little, yesterday when I woke up I threw some black beans into the crock-pot. I looked up recipes online for black beans and hunted for ones that I did not have to soak the beans over night to save time. I tasted a spoonful as I put them in a container to have for lunch this week and it was tasty. Here is the recipe:

Crock-pot black beans

16 ounce bag dried black beans-rinsed, sorted
1 large onion, diced
1 large bell pepper, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 dried bay leaves
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
28 ounces water
2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 4-ounce can diced green chilies
1 teaspoon salt

Stir all ingredients together into crock-pot. Cover and cook HIGH 8 hours or until the beans are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove bay leaves. Serve over cooked rice if desired.

Today for lunch here is what I made with the black beans. One La tortilla factory tortilla, ½ tomato, ¼ avocado, hot sauce, 1 tablespoon light sour cream, and I used about ½ cup of the bean mixture. The beans were very good. I think that the vinegar gave them somewhat of a barbeque flavor. I might like them better with brown rice, although lunch was good today! ☺


The creative side of me decided to make up dinner for tonight. I bought some eggplant, bell peppers, and mushrooms. I thought why not cook everything up, add some ground turkey, some sauce and a little mozzarella cheese to it all?? Why not?? Here is what I did.

~Tj’s Italian Bake~ (yeah I named it after me!) haha!

2 large eggplants-peeled-cubed
3 bell peppers cut into chunks…look how colorful! ☺
1 diced onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
10 ounce package mushrooms
1 package lean ground turkey (1.25lbs)
4 cloves garlic, minced
28 ounce can marinara sauce-low fat
salt/pepper
½ teaspoon oregano
3 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese-skim milk
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Ok so since I am not good at measuring but need to in order to figure out WW points for myself it takes me a whole lot longer to make something up. I was back and forth at the computer playing with the recipe builder on the WW site. Adjusting how much of anything and everything I added. I guess that is a good thing when you think about it…and from the looks of the final result of servings to points ratio, man do you get a HUGE portion for little points of this dish! I am excited!

First I cooked the Peppers and onions in the 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once they were almost cooked I added the mushrooms, some salt, and pepper.
While those were cooking I peeled and cubed the eggplant. Placed them in a colander and sprinkled with salt. This lets the moisture come out and I guess takes away some bitterness. After the pepper, onion and mushroom mix was finished I placed them in a bowl and set aside. Added the eggplant and canned marinara sauce- this one from Trader Joe's to saute pan. Covered and stirred frequently until soft-about 25 minutes. Sorry I am BAD at watching the clock. I just cook until its cooked! ☺ Ok…so the finished eggplant/sauce mix went in as the first layer in a 9X12 Pyrex baking dish. In a separate pan I cooked up the turkey with oregano and garlic- a little salt and pepper too. That was the second layer. I then added the mozzarella cheese and topped with the bell pepper, onion, and mushroom mix. Sprinkled on the parmesan cheese to top it all off.
Cover with foil- bake 400 at degrees for 30 minutes. Done! I added this to the WW recipe builder and if you make this 6 servings ( HUGE !) it will be 7 points a serving. WOW that’s a lot of food!


It’s HOT here…A/C is cranking (Thank God for that!) and I am pooped! I feel like I got a lot accomplished already today. That Italian Bake will be a few meals. I might even freeze some, not sure yet. Weigh in tomorrow, I tracked really well all week I have 5 weeklies left as of today. I used some last night on frozen yogurt. They had the peanut butter flavor! I was practically jumping up and down when I saw it. Lol Yes, it is THAT good! ☺ I did OK with getting in some activity this past week too. We went bike riding a few times and a walk here and there. I enjoy going in the evenings when Sean comes home, after the sun has started to set a little. Perfect time of day to get out there! Also I burn super bad so it works for my pale skin too! Lol Oh! Hungry Girl this morning had a new Morning Star product that I am super excited to find. Italian Sausage!! Anyone see these yet? I am going to keep my eye out for them. I love love love that brand so I am crossing my fingers for another good soy product from them!

Hope everyone has a good day! ☺ BYE!

Home Cooked Meal

My Mom made pepper steak tonight so I was looking forward to dinner even before I ate breakfast today. :) We had some errands to run and just hung out today. We went to a local brewery for lunch and if your familiar with a menu at a brewery it is not exactly chock full of healthy options. I used to feel uncomfortable ordering food and telling the waiter/waitress to leave stuff off or put it on the side. Now I don't care. I knew that the chicken on the salad that I wanted was dipped in ranch dressing, and that the salad was loaded with crumbled blue cheese. I asked away, told her what I wanted and felt so much better for eating that salad the way I wanted it. So basically you gotta make the changes in order to succeed. :)

Back to dinner! My mom serves the pepper steak over rice. I prefer brown rice so we went to Trader Joe's to get the one I always get in the freezer section. They were out! OH NO! So I knew that they had packs on the shelf that you just microwave or boil the bag. It is fully cooked rice but I was hesitant because I bought something like that a few years ago from Uncle Bens and it was nasty...anyway I bought it, it was cheap enough to at least try, and it was pretty good! It was more chewy that the frozen packs that I use but tasted good. Here is the box: It really is convenient to make and perfect for one or 2 servings. It was listed as one serving and was 6 points but I thought 1/2 of the pack was good for my dinner. Speaking of my dinner...

We had it with corn and a HUGE bowl of steamed broccoli with lemon squeezed on it. I am actually still full from dinner. I ate a lot of broccoli. lol Thanks Mom for a great home cooked meal! I know what we are having next Saturday and Im drooling already! I will keep that dinner a secret for now. :) hehe

Beautiful day today! Tomorrow is supposed to hit 90!!! What happened to Spring? lol Sean and I are going to our favorite produce stand and stocking up on fresh fruits and veggies tomorrow, should be a fun day! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! :) bye

I Support My Friends and Family

The Sun Is Shining, It's A Brand New Day.

I love the weather today. Almost 70, sunny with a lil cool breeze. I cleaned off my deck and chilled outside for a while today. As I sipped my new found love of green smoothies, I felt a little antsy. I actually felt bad that I had the time to sit out there. I came back inside and prepared dinner, vacuumed, ironed a pair of pants for Sean tomorrow that never come outta the wash ready to wear (I do not iron otherwise lol) and when I just went to sit down to blog I wanted to go back outside. So much for feeling a little guilty for being unemployed. lol I feel like I need to be selective as to what I choose for a job because of my back and not being able to do what I've done for 14+ years makes me a sad. Feel like I am waiting for an opportunity to smack me on the face, but maybe I should be smacking myself. Hum. Well...I guess I felt the need to vent a little to all of you...sorry about that! :)

Food, food makes me happy. Cooking makes me happy. So off to the kitchen I went earlier to make an easy dinner that is actually a breakfast. It is in this Weight Watcher's cookbook:
and it looks like this: (yeah I took a picture of the picture in the book...I have not cooked the eggs yet, so I wanted to show you the final product and that pic looks good!)

Want the recipe? Sure, Ok...

Vegetable Hash with Eggs

Serves 4
4 teaspoons olive oil
1 8 ounce red potato, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 large eggs

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the potato; cover and cook, stirring once, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and lightly browned, about 5 minutes more. Stir in the thyme, salt, and pepper.

2. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in another large skillet over medium heat. Break the eggs into the skillet and cook, turning if desired, until the whites are firm, 3-4 minutes. Divide the hash among 4 plates; top each serving with an egg. per serving 1/2 cup hash and 1 egg- CAL 181/FAT 2/FIBER 2= 4 points

Of course I make a few changes...I love Yukon Gold potatoes so I uses those instead and I skip the thyme and garlic. When I eat this for dinner I split this for 2 people and adjust the points. We also have whole wheat toast, or an english muffin with it. Its super east to make and we always enjoy it.

Anyone ever see or use these before?
I am going to try to poach my egg for dinner in this tonight. I saw these at Bed Bath and Beyond for $9.99 and never thought it was worth it but I never saw them anywhere else for less or at all for that matter...so I will try them out later! They are silicone. The directions say to lightly oil the insides (I will use PAM) place the silicone cups in a saute pan with a lid. Crack eggs into cups, Add water to pan and boil 4-6 minutes or until eggs are cooked to your liking. We shall see! :)

I am crossing my fingers that Sean makes it home at a decent time tonight because I would really like to go for a bike ride on the new paved trail we found the other day. We had our bikes in storage and finally have them with us. It makes me feel like a kid again when I get on it. Makes me happy. I think I smile the entire time I am riding, or until a bug goes in my mouth...yeah that happened once. :)

Hope everyone has a great day!

:)

Happy Hump Day!

Not too much coughing today, yyeeaahhh! :) My stomach muscles are happy about that! haha! Thanks for all of the get well wishes everyone! Ran errands today and came home with a headache. I was going to grab a snack to eat and I keep thinking about all of the Green Monster smoothies I see online. Anyone else read about these or try them? Some add some different things and I guess it is all about personal taste. OR maybe about what you have on hand too. I have no problem getting in fruits and veggies at all but I thought this would be good to try and I love smoothies in the spring/summer. I was feeling brave so I decided to see what I could concoct. Here is what I added.
1/2 banana
3 large strawberries
1 cup vanilla soy milk w/ fiber
1 cup spinach
3 ice cubes

Blended it all up and sipped it cautiously.... I LOVED IT! I want to get some protein powder to add to it. I usually get one at Trader Joe's to add in smoothies, it's for women. When I get it I will pass on the name of it. Check out my green goodness of a snack...

I know that people add all sorts of fruit to those green monsters and even kale in place of or with spinach. If you've tried to make these at home let me know. Tell me what kinda stuff you add to yours.

Leftover Persian Cutlets tonight. Yes, Karen they re-heat well. :) I have a small container of "riced" cauliflower left. Kate, We loved it! Thank you and Jo- the salsa was spicy and I think made it taste great, however I love cauliflower anyway. :)

Have a great evening everyone! :) bye

Weigh-in, Game Of Eights, & Dinner

I was not hopeful this week due to a larger loss last week but I saw -.6 I will take that! I will take just about any loss. I just like complaining about -.2 lol I coughed a lot last night and woke Sean up (not an easy task) lol I feel crappy today. My head hurts when I cough so I am doing my best to control the tickle. Lots of tea and cough drops. My abs hurt too...Im going to count that as a workout. Haha!

I was tagged and thought I would be a good lil blogger and do as I am told, and pass it on. Here goes:

Game of Eights

8 Things I am Looking Forward to:

1. Getting healthy
2. Planning a vacation
3. Going on vacation
4. Sneaking in a mini getaway to see my brother in San Diego
5. Having my friends come see my new place
6. Hanging out with my parents tomorrow
7. Dinner tonight
8. Popcorn later

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Drove Sean to the train
2. Went grocery shopping @ 3 stores
3. Picked up Sean
4. Coughed (a lot)
5. Ate dinner
6. Went for a mini walk
7. Found a trail by my new place
8. Hung out on the couch with Sean for the evening

8 Things I Wish I Could do:

1. Find a job
2. Find a job that I love
3. Think of a way to make $$ from home (so I dont have a boss or a clock to punch)
4. Win the lottery so I do not have to find a job and so Sean can stop working
5. Color my hair without having to actually do it
6. Go on Vacation NOW
7. Lose weigh every week
8. Stop being my own worst enemy

8 Shows I Watch:

1. LOST
2. Brothers & Sisters
3. Biggest Loser
4. Desperate Housewives
5. ANY show on Food Network
6. ANY HDTV Shows
7. Los Angeles Lakers Basketball Games
8. Good Morning America

8 people I tag:

1. DINA
2. WILDFLUFFY
3. JESSICA-PUDGET
4. JO- 282.5
5. ASHLEY- THE OPPOSITE OF THIN
6. CARLOS
7. DEBBY-DE-PUFFING PIXIE
8. BVAR- ON MY WAY 100

Ok so with that outta the way, lets discuss dinner. :) Steak fajitas are in the spotlight tonight folks! I bought a skirt steak and my problem was what was I going to season it with??!!!?? I looked at the jar sauces and grabbed the fajita one. I knew it was going to be strongly spiced and the first ingredient was HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. Yum! lol I could use some advice on what to use next time if anyone has any ideas. Anyway I used 1/4 cup of the bottled sauce, squeezed 2 lemons, and crushed 3 cloves of garlic to marinate the meat in. I grilled the steak until medium-rare. For the peppers and onions I sprayed PAM on a baking sheet and baked for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees or until softened. I have some La Tortilla Factory (1 point) tortillas to use. They are big so I will cut mine in half or make a large burrito style fajita.

To go with dinner I saw Kate over at Kate is Losing it make Riced Cauliflower. I had to know how to do that..and she even made a spanish version. Kate was nice enough to email me the basics. THANKS KATE!

1 head cauliflower grated-as in on a cheese grater
1/8 cup olive oil
1 cup salsa
2 green onions- sliced
Salt/pepper

Put oil in a large saute pan, add cauliflower cook about 10 min. Add in salsa and green onions. I had to taste this as I cooked it to see if it was done and it was very good. I am curious as to what Sean thinks of it. It was messy to grate! It was all over the counter and floor when I was finished. Oh well! :) Take a look... Here it is finished...yum!

I am getting hungry writing all about my dinner...so I must go eat!

Have a great night! :)

MONDAY

I could not find my measuring spoons today. May have forgotten what drawer I put them into when I unpacked, humm? I cooked dinner, and went to wash off my hands and noticed that the sink filled up so I reached over and turned on the garbage disposal. I found my measuring spoons. OOpps!

For dinner I made cutlets. Not my Mom's cutlets that I grew up eating. She breads and fries thinly sliced steak and we squeeze lemon on it YUM! Im salivating thinking about it. lol I attempted to make Sean's Mom's version. He tells me that it is a low fat version of a Persian cutlet. All I know is that I did not have very detailed instructions and I had never made them before so I was faced with a little challenge. They turned out good, but apparently I used too much curry powder. My bad.

CUTLET
1 package ground lean turkey
4-5 small yellow potatoes
1 medium red onion
4 cloves of garlic
salt/pepper/cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 egg

Add potatoes to food processor, pulse until small pieces. Remove from processor and squeeze out any excess water. Add onions, garlic, pulse until finely chopped. Place all ingredients into large bowl and mix with your hands, blend well. Roll into balls and then make thin oval patties. Cover cookie sheet with foil, spray with Pam. Place patties on cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 12 min, turn over and bake 12 minutes more, or until cooked through.

Ms. Forgetful (still) forgot to take a picture of my dinner plate so here are the patties as I was taking them out of the oven. Doesn't look real appetizing now that I look at it, but it was tasty. We had them with whole wheat pitas, hummus, and a cucumber/tomato salad.

I sat out on my deck today for a little bit. I try to read out there and find myself staring out at the scenery. The creek below me makes for some peaceful sound effects too. :) Wanna see?

I got my new shoes last week. But due to the rain I did not dare take them out for a spin. lol They are comfy and I think they make my big feet (9 1/2) look small, my Mom thought so too! lol

Ok...Weigh in tomorrow. Always feel nervous before hand! I will let you all know how it goes. I've been slacking on my exercise. No excuses. I just need to do it. Sean and I did go for a short walk tonight and came across a trail. It is paved and seems very safe. I am so excited about taking our bikes out on it soon! No more excuses, it is right out side my front door! :) BYE!

Medicine head= forgetfulness

Ooops! I took no pictures of my actual meal OR the dessert I made. :::Sigh::: I was grumpy in the morning because I was a lil stuffed up and then when the medicine kicked in I felt better, but I spaced out and forgot to take pics to share with everyone. So sorry! :(

Sean and I went to my parents house and we had a wonderful day with them. My Mom made scallop scampi and I loved every bite of it! I brought some brown rice to have instead of eating her homemade fettuccine. Just looking at the bowl was driving me crazy but I made my decision before I got to the house as far as what food I was going to eat. I stuck to my plan. I enjoyed a big bowl of salad and attempted to eat my artichoke. It was HUGE! I have more than half of it packed up and ready to eat for lunch tomorrow. I can't wait! Oh I did take a pic of them:

As far as dessert goes I could do without it. But because of the holiday I offered to make something and lighten it up. My Mom is a cheesecake fanatic and I saw a recipe in a magazine I got a few weeks ago. I am so mad that I didn't take a pic...but here is the recipe....OH! and did I forget to tell you...It is NO BAKE! Whooo hooo! lol

No-Bake Cheesecake
Serves 12 prep:25 min Chill:4 hours

Crust
6 whole lowfat graham crackers-crushed to fine crumbs
2tablespoons butter-melted and mixed with 1 tablespoon honey

Filling
1 3ounce box strawberry kiwi jello
2/3 cup boiling water
1 tub 16 ounce container 1% cottage cheese
2 bricks (8ounce each) fat free cream cheese-softened
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons strawberry or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

topping
1 pint fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons strawberry jelly melted

1. Coat an 8x3 inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray
2. To make crust: mix crumbs with butter mixture until evenly moistened. Press firmly over bottom and 3/4 inch up sides of prepared pan. Place in freezer.
3. To make filling: Dissolve jello in boiling water in a measuring cup. Puree cottage cheese in food processor until smooth. Add jello, cream cheese, sugar and extract; process until smooth. Pour into prepared crust; smooth top. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.
4. To make topping: wash and dry strawberries; remove stems. Quarter each lengthwise and place in a bowl. Add jelly and gently toss to coat.. Remove sides of springform pan and place on serving plate. Spoon on berry mix.

Per serving 164 CAL/2 FAT/1 FIBER= 3 points

This came out good. I am not a fan of cheesecake and my dairy sensitive tummy is angry for eating it. I have a bad tummy ache :( lol Everyone seemed to enjoy it and I loved that I didn't have to bake anything. Super easy to prepare.

Hope everyone had a enjoyable day today! I sure did...well, after my sinus medication cleared me up. lol Here are a few pictures of me and my parents and one of Sean and I goofin off.

Good bye! :)

one nostril

I can only breath outta one nostril. Nice. Wasn't I just sick? :( I had my won ton soup last night but my new chinese restaurant doesn't make it very good. Actually it sucked. I would never order it again. I had to pick out all of the meat-beef slices (slimy), dark meat chicken hunks (eeww), and 2 shrimp that were obviously not deveined. NASTY! I have been slug like all day today. I seriously do not know where the day went. This morning I sat on the couch and all of a sudden it was 6pm. lol

The other day I bought a pedometer. Looked them up online and saw that the weight watchers one was suppose to be good. I ran to get it (well I didn't really run, I drove) and I programed it and put it back in the box. Not sure if it works real well yet. Someday I will actually put it on and see what happens. Not today, no. :( Here it is all ready to be taken out for a nice walk.

Oh I also kept seeing Blendergrl post recipes and talk about ESBM and she was nice enough to tell me what ESBM stands for. THANK YOU! Eat Shrink And Be Merry is a cook book that (of course) I had to order. I found it on Amazon and Sean just happen to have a gift card that he let me use! (aww how nice is he??) I went through it and I know a bunch of things I want to try already. Great cookbook, not as many pictures as I like to see but I like they way they set it up and add tips and tricks along they way.

Ok friends, off to sit back on the couch. I am such a couch potato today. :( Bllaahhh

Oh! I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter! :) bye!

That orange fuzzy guy works!

So here is what I did. I put HUNGRY on my fridge. Not only did I place him right where I can see him when I reach to open the fridge but I also wrote a lil something. See: Well it worked last night. Earlier in the week I made a box of those fiber one muffins. I did well all week with one for dessert at night. One night I even skipped dessert because I had no more points available to splurge. But last night I had one, then got up off of the couch to get another because I told myself that it was the last one, might as well eat it, get it over with. Do it, do it, dooooitttt! That is really what my brain tells me. lol I went to open the fridge and saw my note, looked at my new BFF, Hungry and said out loud, "NO, I am really not hungry." :) yeeahhhh!! The cost of that magnet ($4) has already paid for himself as far as I am concerned. Haha!

I feel yuckie today and might not cook tonight (crossing fingers that Sean can come home early to get me won ton soup) That is my go to meal when I am sick. Not sure what happened to me but my throat is a little sore. Sean immediately said that I caught it from a fellow WW member at the meeting on Tuesday. LOL He might be right because thats is the only place that I have sat close to anyone. Sad, but I've been busy and have not seen many friends lately. Anyway I hope to have soup later...no pics of food today people, sorry.

I do have something kinda random to discuss though. This is something that has bothered me for many years. I have bought a few cars in my lifetime and with each one have asked this to be removed. I do not understand why people leave them on cars. What am I talking about? BARCODE STICKERS! Why people? Why leave these on your car? It's not like anyone has yet to invent some sort of fancy drive through that scans your barcode to charge you as you pick up your super-sized meal??!! OMG! Why does this bug me so much?? I went out to get the mail today and one of our neighbors has it on his car. It is probably a 10 year old car!!! WTF???!!! Now when I go anywhere, any parking lot, I scan all of the cars and I see them everywhere. For those of you who want a peek here is the neighbor's car:
The barcode is always located on the drivers side usually the rear back window. I just do not see the point of leaving it on your window. lol If anyone still has one on your car may I ask why? lol I have no idea why I discussed this with you all...but I feel so much better for venting! Haha! I need to go lay down now. lol

Have a great day everyone! :)