Happy New Year's Eve!

Hi Everyone! I am not a big believer in resolutions. Mostly because in the past I would make them and break them. Of course it was to always lose weight, year after year I failed. 2009 was good to me but I am looking forward to 2010 because that will be the year I reach my goal weight. :) So I guess you can say I have a goal! I'm not putting a time frame on that goal and I know I have the whole year to do it. 2010 is all mine! :) For the first time in my life I feel so in control over my weight. I know I can fluctuate up and down a few pounds and everything will be OK. I know the lack of physical ability to push myself to an intense level while exercising makes my journey a S-L-O-W one, but I have accepted that. :)

Here is to a FABULOUS 2010 filled with goals met, health, and much happiness!

Oh...you wanna see food? Is that the only reason you guys come over to visit me? lol OK, you got it...but be warned today I made some yumminess!

Do you know what these are? If you guessed square pretzels, Hershey's Hugs, and M&M's you are correct! lol These are easy to make, oh so cute...and did I mention YUMMY? All you do is place pretzels on cookie sheet, top with unwrapped Hugs- place in 200 degree oven and WATCH CAREFULLY! The Hugs melt FAST! Just as they are a little melty *yes that is a word* take out the cookie sheet- throw an M&M in the middle and then place the cookie sheet in the freezer to set up. DONE! Easy too!

Ok next drool worthy picture is a dip. Now first let me say that I use to make this dip all the time. But I made it the full fat way and yesterday I got the idea to lighten it up. Behold, CHEESEY CORN DIP!

Cheesy Corn Dip

3 cans corn, drained well
16 ounce fat free sour cream
2 cups 2% sharp cheddar cheese
3 green onions-diced
1 red bell pepper diced
1/4 cup light mayo

MIX everything...serve with the large scoops corn chips. Oh wait that was the BAD way. Serve with Baked tortilla chips! :) hehe

That is it...nothing else from me. Special post tomorrow, so come back! :) Have a happy and safe New Years everyone! BYE! :)

Salad with Tj! :)

I made a salad for my afternoon snack. I took pictures then started to laugh at how many salads I have done a photo shoot with! Thought I'd let ya see a few. There are over 100 pictures- just salad. I will spare you the entire collection. I just thought it was kinda cool. :) I could make a coffee table book! lol



















Now go eat your veggies everyone! :) BYE!

The Oatmeal Experiment

Growing up my Dad was always asking me if I wanted oatmeal for breakfast. I would say yes...sometimes...then sit there with a BIG bowl of mush, loaded with butter and sugar. I'd take a couple of bites and the say I was full, yet about 30 minutes later I was hungry. lol I know it was more of a consistency thing. I hated the texture. I loved cream of wheat growing up, maple and brown sugar please! :) So with being on track with most of the foods in my life these days I decided to jump into some oatmeal experiments. OH FUN! :) I told you the other day that I am bad with sticking to a recipe. I like the ideas that I get from many of them but I also enjoy changing it to make it my own. So, I saw in the Clean Eating Cookbook-by Tosca Reno a baked oatmeal recipe I wanted to try. It was loaded with dried fruit and nuts but I was in search of something a little lighter in calories. Here is my version...

BAKED OATMEAL

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups light soy milk
1/3 cup slivered almonds sprinkled on top

In a large mixing bowl add oats, soy milk, vanilla-mix until blended. Place in 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray. Top mix with slivered almonds. Bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Cut into pieces and top with whatever you want to. I liked almond butter and or sliced bananas on top. Store in refrigerator in air tight container- heats up nicely! :)

Ok so last night was my experiment with steel cut oats! I decided to search online for crock pot recipes since I know they are time consuming to cook in the AM. Here is what I came up with by using a few different ideas blended together.

2 cups steel cut oats
8 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Spray inside of your slow cooker with PAM, place all ingredients in crock. Cover and cook on LOW 8 hours.

Here is what I woke up to this morning-

Sean took a bowl out early to tasted before work and he liked it. So a couple of hours later I had some-
Then I had to clean up- burnt mess. It is still soaking...I am not a fan of clean up. lol

My verdict is....BAKED OATMEAL! I know that the steel cut oats are suppose to be better for me but they were mushy and reminded me of eating them as a kid. lol 2 hours later and I am kinda hungry too. :( Anyone try these or similar versions of baking or crock pot oats? Let me know!! :)

Not cooking today. I have meatloaf muffins in the fridge for lunch and the eggplant rounds will be toasted up later for a repeat dinner. No complaints here, that meal is TASTY! :)

Have a great day everyone! BYE! :)

Today The Scale Said....

163.6

SAME AS LAST WEEK!!!! I am THRILLED to see that number! I was sure because of the holiday FUN I was going to be up a little. oohh what a nice surprise! :)

I'm just running errands and doing chores today. Eggplant rounds for dinner tonight. Not a new recipe but certainly one we love. Here it is just in case you missed it the first, second, or third time I posted it. lol :) ENJOY! Have a great day everyone! :) BYE!


Clean Eating Magazine- Eggplant Rounds

2 eggplants -sliced into 3/4 inch rounds
Mozzarella Cheese (I used red. fat- 1 ounce for 2 eggplant rounds)
Marinara Sauce
3 egg whites-lightly beaten
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
pepper
Parmesan cheese to top with

Mix spices into panko, then dip each round into egg whites, then toss into panko/spice mixture-making sure eggplant gets covered.

Oven at 425. Spray cookie sheet with PAM. Bake coated eggplant for 30 min-or until eggplant is soft; turning over 1/2 way through.

Remove from oven when finished, set broiler on. Top eggplant rounds with sauce and cheese. Broil until cheese melts.

Dinner Last Night-YUM!

I am guilty. I do not like to follow directions. If I see a recipe I always think of other ways to make it, ways to switch it to vegetarian, or just make it healthier. So I will not be giving you the original recipe in the newest issue of Martha Stewart's Living (with swiss chard that Sean said YUCK to, but with all due respect to Martha-it looked tasty! lol) This is my version.

Mushroom Quinoa With Sauteed Spinach

Quinoa Directions-
1 cup quinoa-washed well!
2 cups water
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon

In a medium saucepan with lid add washed quinoa, water and bouillon. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for approximately 15 minutes or until water is absorbed. Place aside.

Mushroom Directions
10 ounce package sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Add oil to sauté pan; toss in mushrooms and parsley. Stir until mushrooms are cooked. Add cooked mushrooms to cooked quinoa, stir.


Spinach Directions
6 ounce bag fresh spinach
1-2 large cloves of garlic-pressed
1 teaspoon olive oil
fresh ground pepper

In a large sauté pan add olive oil, press garlic into pan, add spinach and toss to coat. Add pepper, cook until wilted.

Serve spinach with quinoa topped with shaved parmesan-YUM!

We had a small container of quinoa leftover- but no leftover cooked spinach. I had 1 cup of the quinoa mix with 1/2 of the spinach, it was really good! :) ENJOY!

**I had to come back to share my 3 point breakfast tacos! 2 thin corn tortillas, 1/2 cup egg beaters, 1 string cheese-cut into strips, plus a handful of fresh spinach. YUM!

Shopping and Wii!

HELLO!
Today was shopping day- loot: I did not need much but I spent a lot! lol I guess all of the items I bought added up. I got some vanilla, and those small bags of cashews for Sean's lunches and that right there is 11 bucks worth! Good thing I had some pantry items at home already to create meals this week. For lunches this week for myself I decided to make Turkey Meatloaf Muffins. It's been a while since I made these and my normal recipe called for adding stuffing mix but I skipped that step today. This was simple-

1.25 pounds lean ground turkey
1 red bell pepper-diced
1 yellow onion-diced
handful of mushrooms-chopped up
1 egg white
1 cup shredded carrots
salt, pepper
shake or two of onion and garlic powder
a few splashes of worcestershire sauce

Mix throughly and make 12 meatballs. Add them to a cupcake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. 2 per serving for 3 WW points. :) YUM! These freeze great too! I had mine today with some leftover brussle sprouts that we roasted yesterday.

Over the weekend I picked up the Wii Fit Plus game. I already loved the Wii fit so I wanted to see what new games this one included. It was nice when I loaded the disk it remembered me and all of my previous exercises. I guess I dont really need the 1st disk anymore huh? I was hoping it included more step classes. That is by far one of my favorite games on there. Remember that they sell a piece to make the Wii Fit higher so you get more of a workout!! It is made by Everlast and I got mine at Best Buy for $30. Yeah they get away with murder for a piece of plastic for 30 bucks! lol OH! Here it is: I bought it because I can really feel a difference in taking that step up a bit. Another cool thing about the Wii Fit Plus is that it can track your calories burned. Very cool feature since it can already tell you how much you weigh.
Here is a screen shot at the section that is NEW on Wii Fit Plus- Tried quite a few already, they are fun!

Also got the Wii Sports Resort game- Love it! Loaded with fun games. Oh and for the geek in me Super Mario for Wii is fun too- but only AFTER you play the others to get a workout! lol :)

Making something new for dinner tonight. Saw it in a magazine over the weekend and thought Id give it a shot. I will take pics and share with you soon! Weigh in tomorrow. I am positive I will see a gain. I had a great Holiday and ate what I wanted...but also skipped TONS of goodies so I am not really worried. Besides, I'm not derailed, I am more focused than ever!

Have a GREAT evening everyone! :) BYE!

OHH! I almost forgot! Look what I found today! Fiber One cottage cheese! 1/2 cup is ONE POINT! I am VERY excited can you tell?? I was eating this same snack as 2 points- not any more! Whoo hoo! Now I hope my grocery store continues to sell it! lol Snack-Cottage cheese 1/2 Cup, with cubed cucumber, and grape tomatoes. YUM!

Christmas Fun!

What a FUN holiday! It always goes by so fast, but it was a great couple of days! What I planned to do was ENJOY myself without tracking. No point values on anything I ate and even though there were plenty of temptations, I feel good about the choices I made over the past two days. I was not about to say NO to my Mom's traditional dishes- so I made the decision to eat, and move on. :)

On Thursday Sean and I went over to his Aunt and Uncles house and I forgot my camera! On Christmas we went to have breakfast with Sean's Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Uncle.

We drove over to my Parents in the afternoon, and began the traditional yearly pizza making along with my Mom's family recipe for a pork pie- Im not going to try to spell it because I know I will mess it up! lol Anyway her great Grandmother made it, her Mom use to make it now she makes it- YUM! I know I will make it eventually too, I gotta-it's in my blood! lol Here are a few pics from the kitchen-





Present time- Mom and Dad opening up gifts:

Some cheesy smiles-

Family pic- came out blurry (boo!)so we are going to do a re-do on New Years Day (also my Dad's Birthday!)

I feel like it is hard to get back into the old routine of things. Anyone else having that problem? lol Tomorrow Sean and I will go over to the produce stand-see what fresh stuff is there and I need to plan out a menu for the week. Another short week with New Years Eve/Day. I'm not sure yet what we are up to on New Years Eve, but I know Friday we will go celebrate my Dad's Birthday at my Parents house- so that will be fun. I am going to make dessert but I cant tell you what I'm making since my Dad reads my blog! (HI DAD!) :) Something yummy and WW friendly so we can all (including me) enjoy it. :)

Hope everyone had a great holiday! Have a nice weekend!! :) BYE!