Cooking With TJ- Fake Chow Mein At Home

Many of you have asked…
Here I am cooking! It’s EASY & delicious!
Fake  Chow Mein at home!
WARNING- I filmed this video from my iPhone4s alone, so it is a little BLAIR WITCH-LIKE! lol Sorry!
ENJOY!

*UPDATE*  I quickly dumped in my bowl of veggies and left out what everything was. Can ya tell I was nervous & it was my first time? lol SORRY & thanks for reminding me to post about what I used Beth! :)

In my big ass bowl:
Broccoli slaw! I love this stuff! It's so great in this dish because it's NOODLE-LIKE!
Shredded carrots- just because I LOVE them!
Snow peas- I just cut them into pieces

-the last item in my bowl was the noodles which I get in the refrigerated section (by the produce) at my local grocery store. I usually split the package with Sean for dinner but this time divided it up into 4 servings and bulked up the vegetables for a healthier lunch.

I pretty much added whatever I had in my fridge! I think bean sprouts would be good, of and those bamboo shoots that come in a can too. Anything works! :)

Technorati Tags: Cooking Video,WeightWatchers,PointsPlus2012,CHOW MEIN

Merry Christmas!

Hi everyone! Since I know I will be swamped the next few days I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

I will be cooking Christmas dinner and I decided to make home made gnocchi. If you remember that Danica and I worked on a recipe together a while back- Baked Ricotta Gnocchi with 2 Cheeses and Walnuts. Well I am altering it a little,  but looking forward to a fantastic dinner! **CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL RECIPE **

I wish everyone a warm & safe holiday!

Tracey

OH! I almost forgot! I was down 1.8 today at my Weight Watchers meeting! That is -4.4 in 3 weeks :) I am really proud of myself for doing so well when I haven't been feeling so well. Sometimes I use food to comfort myself and then all I do is regret it. That right there is a NSV for me! :)

Who else is rocking the new PointsPlus2012 plan?? SHARE AWAY MY FRIENDS! :)

Quinoa Casserole with Broccoli & Cannellini Beans

 

 

Hey guys! I am addicted to finding recipe ideas on Pinterest and when I saw THIS RECIPE I knew I had to make it! I also knew I wanted to lighten it up, and make it more of a full meal, and I think I did ok!

Quinoa Casserole with Broccoli & Cannellini Beans

Serves 6      1 C = 6 PP

(Original recipe HERE)

1 Can Cream Soup- I used cream of celery 98% FF

1 Can cannellini beans- or white kidney beans

1 Cup 2% Colby-Jack Cheese

1 Tablespoon light mayo

1 Tablespoon FF Milk

1 Tablespoon water

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 Cups cooked broccoli florets

Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese- to add to top of casserole

**1 1/2 Cups cooked quinoa**

To make Quinoa-

3/4 C uncooked quinoa- Rinsed very well!!

1 &1/2 C water

1/4 teaspoon salt.

Bring to a boil; then cover and simmer on low for about 20 minutes; until water is absorbed. Done!

 

In a large mixing bowl add soup, colby-jack cheese, milk, water, mayo, pepper, broccoli, beans, and  mix well. When quinoa is finished cooking stir that in too.

Place mixture in a shallow baking dish and top with parmesan cheese. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. I turned on the broiler at the end to brown the top a little to make it pretty.  

I just dipped my fork in for TASTE TEST PURPOSES…and YUM! I love it! I think adding the beans for was a good idea for me to make it feel like a main dish. I will be serving it with a simple side salad for a delicious dinner tonight! I can’t wait!

 

BYE!

 

Technorati Tags: Weight Watchers,PointsPlus2012,Healthy Cooking,Quinoa,Casserole,Broccoli

Weight Watcher’s Scanner

Hi guys! Has anyone been using the new Weight Watcher’s scanner app? What is it exactly? Well…it’s a cool app for iPhone & Android users-you also need to pay for e-tools with Weight Watchers. All ya do is scan the barcodes on packages and boxes of the foods you already have in your home- or ones that you might be wanting to get as you are in the store shopping.

First off let me say this is just my opinion on the app- I do not work for WW or was I asked to take part in a review.

I was excited when the app became available last week and I got busy scanning! I did my yogurt, string cheese, salad dressings, and I thought I’d take a few pics to share with you my cottage cheese scan.

Ya see the black app titled WW SCANNER? Well that is it! Right there next to my WW Mobile app!

This app is really easy to use! I love a user friendly tool! Open the app up…..

Select SCAN at the bottom of the menu and this screen comes up-

Get your item ready to be scanned out….



Hover the camera of you phone over the barcode and you will see it focus on the numbers & lines.

Then you hear a SNAP…. like it took a picture…or maybe that’s just on my iPhone? lol THEN….
TADA!
The PointsPlus value appears before you!

It gets saved in your HISTORY-

Or you can add it to your FAVORITES list that automatically syncs with WW mobile and e-tools! Love this!

They also have a SHOPPING LIST! But my list is empty right now…


You can see from this screen that you can TRACK THIS ITEM-

and then another menu offers a few options-

EDIT SERVING SIZE is something that I find handy in this app! What if I don’t want a 1 Cup serving of cottage cheese for 3 PP? Well ya just adjust the wheel to make it whatever size you want to have! Here I selected 1/2 C for 1 PP!

Once ya hit DONE you can hit ADD TO TRACKER! EASY!

This app also has the PointsPlus CALCULATOR built in too so you don’t need to switch to the WW Mobile app to use it.


So for me this is a handy app to use occasionally. I really don’t have a lot of foods that have barcodes on it to scan but I think about the yogurt section at the grocery store for this being an easier way to find a low PointsPlus option! lol

Previously I used another version not WW related and found it to be less accurate than this one. Not everything I scanned was in this system…I think a carton of Egg Beaters came back a mystery, but ya can’t expect every item to be listed.

So have you been scanning? What do you think?
Happy scanning!
BYE!

Technorati Tags: Weight Watchers,PointsPlus2012,Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner,Barcode scanner app,iPhone4s Scanner app

The Bad Baker Returns!

 

I gave myself the title BAD BAKER a while back and I’m serious…if I’m not closely monitored in the kitchen while I bake things can go horribly wrong. I honestly think it’s OK…I can live with the fact that I cook well, yet bake bad. lol

So when I want to bring a treat to a dinner party I rely on GOOGLE (yes, I Google) to help me find something EASY!

BEHOLD the two…yes 2! Ingredient cake:

oohh…. tasty!

Ok ok…so I made a glaze and threw on some toasted almond slices, but the cake is really only 2 ingredients! whoohooo

 

Pumpkin Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

1 can pure pumpkin

 

With a hand mixer; mix cake mix and pumpkin together until smooth. Pour into an 8x8 Pyrex dish sprayed with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Added into the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder

24 slices are 2 PP each-- sans the glaze & almonds.

*optional glaze- mix juice from a fresh squeezed orange with cinnamon and powdered sugar until thick. No I don’t measure- I just mix till thick.

 

ENJOY!

tj the bad baker

 

Technorati Tags: Pumpkin cake,2 ingredient cake,Weight Watchers,PointsPlus2012

Baked Eggplant Parmesan

 

Hey guys! The folks over at Kikkoman sent me a package of Panko breadcrumbs and Kara-Age seasoning mix to try out. Kikkoman was at the FoodBuzz Tasting Pavilion and of course I said YES to be able to cook with and  sample their products.

Since I am more familiar with Panko I decided to use that one first. Actually I still need to decided what to make with the other product. I plan on checking out the Kikkoman web site to see all of the recipe ideas they they have. It’s a great web site- go check it out!

Now on to my recipe!

 

Baked Eggplant Parmesan

Serves 6

6 PointsPlus per Serving

Ingredients:

2 Medium sized eggplants

1 28oz can Low Fat Marinara Sauce

1 1/2 C Egg Beaters

1 C Panko Breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon Italian seasonings

2 oz. light mozzarella cheese

1 oz. grated parmesan cheese

Fresh cracked pepper

 

The first step I always do when cooking with eggplant is to slice it, sprinkle it with salt, and let it sweat out a little bit in a colander over my sink. Helps it get rid of some water and also get any bitters out.

Then mix the Panko with the Italian seasonings. You can also add in fresh cracked pepper if you like at this time.  Place this mix in a shallow dish- large enough to be able to dip your eggplant rounds into.

Add the Egg Beaters to a shallow bowl- also large enough to dunk your eggplant rounds into.

Dip the eggplant into the egg beaters- then the Panko to coat; Placing on a baking sheet as you go. I filled 2 large baking sheets.

When the rounds are all coated place in oven at 400degrees for 15 minutes each side- or until slightly browned.

Next I placed a layer of Marinara sauce in a deep baking dish then layered on the eggplant rounds- sprinkled with mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. Topped that layer off with more sauce and kept repeating until my baking dish was full. I did have 2 eggplant rounds remaining…guess I could use a larger dish! lol

Then I covered the baking dish tightly with foil and popped it in the oven at 400degrees for an hour.

You can serve it as is or make a little pasta to go with it for a full meal.

**I used very little cheese- so if you enjoy this dish a little cheesier, feel free to adjust it!

 

This came out really well! I am a HUGE eggplant parmesan fan so I was leery about making this BAKED version but I gotta say I didn’t miss the fried step to this dish at all! YUM!

BACK UPDATE! I am doing much better today! I was able to go to the pool to walk laps! Baby steps! I missed doing my full water workout- but I need to start out slowly. I know with having arthritis that sitting (or laying) down in bed for 5 days is NOT a good thing. I feel so stiff!! SO I gotta start at scratch and just get the therapy from that pool that I need.  Thanks for all the well wishes guys! I appreciate it!

Hope everyone has a great day!

BYE!

 

Technorati Tags: Weight Watchers,PointsPlus2012,Kikkoman,Panko,Baked Eggplant Parmesan,Italian Food,Healthy Cooking

 

#PointsPlus2012- My 1st Weigh In!

Hi guys! I had a bit of bad luck last week when I bent down to tie my shoe and couldn’t stand back up! My darn back was spasming so bad that I had a hard time talking. After a pointless doctor visit I decided to go to the ER and they were able to do trigger point injections to ease the spasms. Boy do I know how to have fun right? lol I’m slowly getting better and will be happy when I can cook for myself and also be able to walk around better!
All of that excitement was why I didn’t get around to a post on Friday about my weigh in. Well I am very happy to report that I was down 1.6 for my first PointsPlus2012 weigh in! Yipeeee I knew that I wanted to have a good week and I did fine with the adjustment to 26 daily PointsPlus rather than 29.
I was happy to have all of the NEW handouts too! I’m so geeky when it comes to being able to see it all in front of me. lol  I was only able to go to WI since my back was so bad, but next week I will stay for the meeting.
I took a few pictures for you guys of what I was given.
Everything was tucked away in the little pouch-


The weekly handout was in there too…along with great tips on how to make the most of the new plan.

I think the main focus for the 2012 PointsPlus program is to show people how FLEXIBLE the plan can be. It really can work for anyone. You make it what you want it to be!

The MEET the PoinstPlus2012 book was in there…I liked this page filled with YUMMY foods that are all plan friendly and total in at 26!

This book is cool…it helps you along the way. Helps you set small goal, tracking tips…

Plus I like that it had ANSWERS to questions that I know I have been wondering about. Makes me feel less alone in my battles!

This was a good idea- The PowerStart Tracker will be very helpful to NEW people as well as people who might need some new food ideas on the plan. Gives you meal ideas with the PointsPlus all set and ready to go! SO Helpful!

Also got a new little pocket guide. I actually like that its less clunky than the last one I had. lol

Some people were concerned that they went and chaged all of the PointsPlus values again…yes some items have changed. Some for the worse…
LIGHT BEER-  Then 3,  Now 4
ALMONDS 23- Then 4, Now 5

BUT some for the BEST!
WINE- Then 4, Now 3
Baked Beans- Then 8, Now 5
hehe

For me not a lot has changed on this new plan. I will continue to eat healthier and choose less processed foods through out my day. I think eating whole foods OR POWER FOODS as Weight Watchers refers to them has made this plan successful. I also think making those choices has made me feel less deprived. I shed a tear over losing those 3 daily pointsplus last week but I can honestly say that I had a GREAT week on plan, even dipped into my weekly 49 and still had a loss of 1.6!

Have you gone to your first PointsPlus 2012 weigh in yet? Share your success with me, tell me all about it!
Have a great day everyone! BYE!

Technorati Tags: Weight Watchers,PointsPlus2012,Weigh In

The Tale Of Two Breakfasts

 

Hello! I thought I would discuss the most important meal of the day…..BREAKFAST!

I pretty much wake up HUNGRY. I have since I was a little girl…sorry Mom. hehe I find that with trying to limit my carb intake I am constantly trying to adjust my meals to make a balanced day.

For example if I know pasta will be a part of dinner I try to skip or limit my breakfast and lunch carbs. So for example I might use a corn tortilla with my egg whites instead of a light English Muffin. Or pick a salad for lunch instead of a sandwich.

I always ALWAYS add in fruit to my AM meal because I LOVE it and why yes, because it’s ZERO PointsPlus! I find it helps me balance out the meal and keeps me full longer too! BONUS!

So this week I wanted to eat a breakfast that I know is good for me. Behold- The Fage 0% Bowl!

1 C Fage 0%, 1 TB Low Fat Granola, Handful of Berries. This bowl comes in at 4 Pointsplus. However I am not usually satisfied after eating it.

 

Growing up I loved to cook breakfast for my family and I was known for THE TRACEY SPECIAL! I used any bread we had, ham, or bacon, and cheese! I would serve doubles upon request and to this day I still love my breakfast sandwich!

Just today I ate this version…

Double Fiber English Muffin, 2 egg whites, 1slice of ham, 1 slice of 2% cheese. YUM! I’m drooling now just thinking about eating it. lol  This combo is 6 PointsPlus (although technically I could of had 3 egg whites for 1 PP so if ya wanna say 5 I wouldn’t mind! lol) Hands down The Tracey Special kept me satisfied longer.

Other breakfast ideas for me include the Morningstar soy sausage patties. They are packed with protein and I love the taste of them too. Plus they make a great addition to the breakfast sandwich! In the winter I like my BAKED OATMEAL and also like Bob’s Red Mill 8 grain hot cereal. On a HOT Summer morning I turn to a green smoothie to keep me going.

What do you like for breakfast? Do you pick things that satisfy you or just go with whatever you feel like eating that morning?

I hope everyone has a great day!

BYE!

Technorati Tags: Breakfast Ideas,Weight Watchers,Pointsplus,Low Carb