flatbread pizza

This is a yummy lunch alternative. I'm so addicted to a good sandwich, I hate to pass up the opportunity to have one, but then I want chips with it and it all goes downhill from there. But this is actually less points than a sandwich and if I want more to eat I'm more tempted with a side salad than something salty.the healthy or nonhealthy part of it is what you make it with. I used light Italian Flat Out wraps, tomato sauce, freshly-ground pizza seasonings I happened upon at the dollar store (Yum) canadian bacon, tons of fresh mushrooms and sliced tomatoes. Oh and fat-free cottage cheese instead of mozerella. I felt like I was getting a lot and it was way tasty. (3-4 WW pts)

PLUStify

Crazy week - what with Weight Watchers coming out with a brand new program! And though I feel like a brand-new unknowledgable member now, I like it. . . mostly because I was apathetic about everything. Especially since the broken foot, and with the holidays approaching, but mostly because of the foot. It should be the opposite -- eat even more concienciously when I can't exercise like I'd like, but the whole thing has kind of been a downer. But now, I feel the sudden urge to TRACK! I don't really appreciate the fact that a lot of my favorite menu items cost me more points, but I EXTRA appreciate all fruit being ZERO! Yay! This breakfast looks really simple, but it's really, really yummy. I call it "Egg cordon bleu". (actually I don't call it anything, I made that up just now.)

I just soft cooked an egg in EVOO and put a slice of real swiss and canadian bacon to melt on top. I think some sliced tomato for the top wouldn't hurt anything either.

Chocolate: It's not just for Breakfast...

. . . and neither is ice cream. Ma -- this post is for you.

so here's the story: I've always hated cooked oatmeal, (makes me gag) but I like the idea of it. and I'm NOT picky eater at ALL, so I think I should like it, being the healthy breakfast option and all. Every so often I will try to like it by taking a bite of the kids' oatmeal 'cause it smells so good, but i end up spitting it out. Then I found this the other day:
I added raisins for a choc-covered raisin effect and I'll be honest, I only ate half the bowl before I really just didn't want to eat it anymore. but as long as i got a hard bite of ice cream in with the oatmeal bite, it tasted like some sort of moulten fudge dessert (which i don't really care that much about) So to sum-up: Mom -- you may want to try this -- just to see.

Warning: what NOT to eat

These, , , were delish. That is why I made them and took them to a quaint girly dinner party. And just because they don't fall under the "healthy" category -- doesn't mean they can't get some recognition. Super, SUPER easy. I made pie crust. Squished it with my fingertips into the ramekins. Filled them with my home-bottled apple pie filling, topped them with a circle of pie dough. (I really need to get a cute little shaped fondant cutter for these kind of things) Baked them at 375 for an hour and they were perfect (if I do say so myself) with vanilla bean ice cream for the top. I was very impressed with myself.

And now, I will resolve to track track track my eating through this week of Halloween. No matter how many fun-size candy bars I devour. No matter how many sugar cookies or donuts disappear (I can't see how I could top last weeks feeding-frenzy and I even lost .2 lbs! If only I TRIED -- I can't imagine the weight loss if I actually had a good week for a change!!!) PLEASE -- make me be accountable!

Family night mini-pizzas

Monday night dinner: these were sure fun for the kids to make. Just tube biscuits (only since I was lazy -- if I wanted better taste I'd have made my own dough) rolled out and leftover homemade spag. sauce, smoked turkey sausage, olives tomatoes and cheese. Such tiny bits of everything I figured one was 2-3 points depending on the amt of cheese.

lunch

Monday lunch: just another turkey roll-up. figured, if it filled me up once, it'll fill me up again.

part of this balanced breakfast...?

not really proud of this breakfast -- and i had a couple of rough eating days over the weekend. actually i ate each item this morning one by one and then realized i hadn't planned very well. the only way to get myself back on track is to own up to my breakfast, get on the treadmill this morning and make better choices the rest of the day.

Fish Taco

So I realize that these dinner-time pics are waaayy bad -- the lighting is horrible, and I don't know how to make things better. But these fish tacos were really yummy. I bought panko-breaded fish fillets at Costco -- they weren't cheap so I was hoping they were of a much higher quality than your average frozen fish stick. One was 4 pts so I figured I could fill it up with veggies and call it a meal. So we used cabbage, tomatos, avocado and some homemade tartar sauce concoction with ff mayo, must and dill relish. All the ingredients were really good together. If only I'd stopped (or started) with one fish taco. I was such a bad, bad girl today. Ryan made some 7 layer dip - which I didn't feel terrible about, considering everything it was made from was fat free (minus the cheese but I made him leave cheese off my portion); it was the half a bag of tortilla chips that did me in. . .

. . . that and the 7 chilled (my weakness) cupcakes, the scraps of totinos (another weakness) and leftover mac and cheese from the kids. over the course of a day, one can do real damage. and i was feeling so good this morning with my apple right after my sprint intervals. . . at least tomorrow is a new day. if this one would end already so i can quit eating my way through it!

Lower-fat Spaghetti Dinner

Friday night dinner: Ry needs to carb-load for his half-marathon so I tried to lighten up Spaghetti. I jazzed-up our favorite seasoning packet of spaghetti sauce with VERY FINELY (for the kids' sake, and it worked!) chopped red pepper, green pepper, half a red onion and used a half lb. of extra lean ground beef. So my meal totaled only 7 or 8 points. . . . . . leaving me plenty of points for the "healthy cupcakes" we made today for our family's half birthday celebration.
these aren't bran filled power muffins by any means, but i did lighten up the box mix with applesauce for half the oil, and 4 egg whites instead of 3 eggs -- and they turned out delicious. The frosting is 4 oz light cream cheese, 1 t. vanilla, a couple T. of powdered sugar (though I'm not sure it even need that) and 4 oz. fat free cool whip folded in. SUPER YUMMY. i may make these every time a cupcake is needed.

Turkey Roll-up

Friday's lunch: I lived on this roll-up (with a side of pretzels) when I was a new-out-of-the-house freshman at Ricks. Not as healthy of a version, (contributing to the "freshman-15") but the same flavor -- so it brought back memories. This one consisted of a wh. wheat tortilla, a huge slice of roasted turkey, lettuce, tomato, some light BYU ranch (MMMMMMM) and a little salsa. The salsa sounds weird but it adds something special - combined with the ranch. Just 3 points and only 5 for the whole meal. (I think if I wanted to spend some more points, this would also be excellent with a slice of bacon and some avacado.) ps. I think this posting my meals thing is helping me out. sometimes in the midst of feeding kids i tend to be an over-the-kitchen-sink-eater. this forces me to get everything i'm actually going to eat on my plate -- making me realize that i am indeed, eating a full meal. and i get to sit and eat it in one shift -- and i try to do it somewhat slowly -- but sometimes i have to hurry to get the screaming baby to bed or something. but overall, it's good -- i'm planning better.

Garden Veggies with Eggs

Friday morning breakfast: 1 egg plus 1 egg white, a whole (sm) green pepper, green onions, mushrooms, a tomato, whole wheat toast and a glass of milk. I'm stuffed and it was 7 pts with the oil and milk to drink.

Salmon Dinner

Thursday night dinner: Baked Salmon, 0-point garden veggie WW soup (with a couple ABC pastas to entice the kids), watermelon, and I also had a piece of fresh homemade bread, cause it was hot. 9 pts. total and very filling.

back to basics

I'm serious about this healthy-eating business. To prove it I am posting a picture of all my dinners this week. Breakfasts and lunches optional, but certainly may show up as well. This is a last resort to make myself accountable. okay then. . .

sun-dried pesto primavera

so I'm not good at taking a clear shot -- the chicken must've moved when I got to "3" --

but this was WAY yummy. and I did not plan it. I was actually just trying to use some stuff up, such as, the crooked-neck squash that is thriving in Marilyn's garden, a half carton of mushrooms, stuff like that.

Ingredients I used:

whole wheat pasta - 3 cups? (4 pts per cooked cup)

sauteed in as much EVOO as it needs: (5?)

chicken breast - just used one, could've used two (5)

sliced squash - I used 2 small, yet medium sized ones (0)

sliced mushrooms - like 6 oz. (0)

(salt and peppering everything as you go, otherwise it's on the bland side later)

added a 15 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes (0)

1/2 c. sun dried tomato pesto (which, as it turns out, is WAY lower in fat than it's cousin - regular pesto - weird) (4)

and a blob of fat free sour cream (0)

combined the cooked pasta and the veggie sauce,

sprinkled with fresh parmesan (1 pt/serving)

very summery feeling and not bad in WW points either. I won't quote it because depending on the amount of oil you use and the amount of pasta you eat, I guess it could add up. but in a good way.

grilled pizza

so this isn't the most beautifully-looking pizza, but it sure was tasty! Ryan actually did all the dough and the cooking -- so if you really want step-by-step instructions on grilling time or set-up etc, comment and I'll have him write something. All I know is that he threw the THINLY-rolled dough onto the grill for a minute or two -- just until it started to puff up, then brought it back into me to top the cooked side. Then back on the grill to finish cooking. The crispier on the bottom, the more we liked them. They had a really good flavor. (just in case you're curious, we topped this with alfredo sauce, tomatoes, canadian bacon, fresh mushrooms, green onions and cheese (oops, this one is shown minus the cheese) it was DELISH!)

Steamed Red Potatoes

really, I call these roasted potatoes -- but since they're not technically roasted, I guess I've been wrong all this time. But this is my favorite side dish in the summer because they don't heat up the oven or even the stovetop -- and they're QUICK and delish! Last night we had them with steak when what I envisioned involved lots of garlic, seasonings, butter, cream, smashing (mmmm) but then I thought about how I need to really stick to the ol' healthy lifestyle and this ALWAYS turns out to be a much better option for us. The kids even like them because they think they're fries and want ketchup for dipping. Directions:

Cube red potatoes into as big of peices as you want to serve. Throw them in a microwave safe bowl -- preferrable one with a lid. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, seasoning salt and parsley and toss to coat. Microwave, covered, on high, until spuds are tender. I always start with 3 or 4 min. and go from there.

Also: if you DO want to heat up the oven, or just have really good A.C. these are so delish really roasted too. 450 degrees and the kids really KNOW they're fries then!

Sugar

I'm not a sugar-free fan. I need my treats. But the other day I emptied out my system (some sort of flu) and then didn't eat much the whole day long -- but tried to drink plenty and ate a healthy salmon dinner by evening. By the end of that ordeal I felt so empty and clean and flushed, that I wanted to only put healthy things inside of me -- so I did well with my eating all day long. I wasn't even tempted to have a treat. After dinner, since I chose my foods so wisely, I still had a good 13 WW points left so I decided that called for a skookie!

oh how happy that made me, until about 10 minutes after -- the sugar headache. This doesn't always happen to me, but often enough that I really ought to learn from it by now. I took pain reliever before I went to bed, had a neck and head massage and still suffered through most of the night before I deliriously got up to get some second chance medicine around 5 am. It's interesting how lots of people (including me) will gladly ingest something that makes them feel better, but it's much harder to abstain from something of which the abstinence from, makes them feel better. I'm not promising from now on I will ban sugary treats from my life, but it's definitely skookies for thought.

Fruit Trifle

Happy Independence Day! This was my effort of a relatively low-fat and very refreshing dessert.

There are many ingredients you could add or subtract to make this just as good, but I'll post exactly what I used in case you're curious:

angel food cake

sugar-free strawberry jello

fat-free Cool Whip

sugar free French Vanilla pudding - made as directed

1/3 less-fat cream cheese

strawberries

blueberries

bananas

peaches

Divide angel food cake into thirds - layer chunks of 1/3 of cake in bottom of bowl. Pour Jello over (but first, let chill for 20 min or so) then layer 1/3 of cream cheese/pudding/cream mixture and all the fruits -- 3 times. (or however many times fits your bowl...) that is all.

fruit and cream crepes

This was our FHE treat this week and just for kicks, I calculated the points -- only 1 per crepe. not too bad for a yummy dessert. We filled these with sugar free French vanilla pudding, strawberries and fat free whipped cream. (which would add another point or two -- depending on the amount you wanna stuff it with.) But it was very refreshing for the hot summer night.

Breakfast Burrito

This, is what keeps me on track. I lost 3.8 lbs this week, and I attribute it to checking all my boxes. I only checked every single box ONE full day, and it was really hard -- 8 fruits and veggies? After I was done with that, my 3 servings each of oil, lean proteins and milk, I didn't have any points (or room) left for anything else. If I have something like unto this for breakfast:
I can usually count on it being a better eating-day overall. 3 points and totally satisfying, it really hits my spot.

the power fruit

I just love avacados. They are quite fattening, but I never feel bad about eating them because it's the "good fats". I especially love it when they are 4 for a dollar and I can stock up. I mash them up and they freeze really well in ice cube trays or just "cookie dough balls" to feed to Truman. It's some good brain food for the babe. (although just after I prepped these, I was way tempted to open a bag of tortilla chips and go to town ) There is also a recipe I've eyeing -- it's warm chocolate pudding made with a whole cup of pureed avacado. Healthy, rich and creamy??? yes. Would I rather have a cup of guac and top it off with a little sugar free pudding??? yes. (needless to say, I haven't tried it.)

Chicken Ropa Veija

This, I made from a blog Shelly refered me to, and I've actually tried quite a few recipes so far -- or at least stolen some ideas and adapted them to my own recipes. This one was only 4 points per serving and really full of flavor. If you want the recipe -- it's found on her blog.

Mock Lasagna

I absolutely loooved this. It's basically my mom's lasagna recipe but I guess I've had a lot of heavy, or at least complicated lasagnas lately and this was so simple in ingredients. I could taste every one and I loved the simplicity. (did I say that already?) plus, my 2-year old had multiple servings for 2 days and wanted more the next day. (shoulda made a bigger batch...)

Heat olive oil in pan -- maybe almost a T
brown:
1/2 lb all white ground turkey (97% fat free)
1-2 cloves minced fresh garlic
add:
15 oz can petite diced tomatoes (or fresh if you have them)
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 t. each S&P
1/4 -1/2 t. oregano

add to (around 3 c. dry) cooked elbow macaroni
add in around a cup of fat free cottage cheese and 1/2 to 1 c. grated mozzarella

stir together and consume. (enjoy?)
oh, it is good.

Oatmeal Raisin Bites

These cookies are a Weight-Watchers recipe and are go-ooood. (I can't stop at just one...or 3)

1 1/2 c. rolled oats
3/4 c. whole-grain wheat flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon

combine and set aside
cream:

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
add:
1 large egg
1 t vanilla extract
then add the dry ingredients, fold in:
1 c. chopped raisins

Bake at 350 9-10 min for chewy cookies, 11-12 min for crispy ones. Remove and let rest for 2 min before removing to wire rack to cool. Makes 40 cookies, at 1 WW point per cookie.

a new week

so last week I lost 2.8 lbs and you can't know how much happier that makes me to wanna be motivated and listen openly in the WW meetings to all the suggestions. Then came this week. I gained .6 lbs. I know when I stay the same or gain I have a scowl on my face the whole meeting-time. I hear everyone sharing about what good things they did or what worked for them this week and I just roll my eyes at them and sarcastically think, "good for you." But then I listen to the leader and actually do get motivated by what she says -- in only a half-hours time. So -- I'm gonna do great this week -- and I actually BELIEVE myself. Even though I do have 2 scheduled dine-outs and one big (yummy) Sunday dinner at the family's house, I know I can do it. Maybe it has something to do with turning over the 3 bags of snack-size candy bars to Ry so he could hide them from me instead of them hiding from everyone BUT me. Or maybe it will help that I also gave him the 5 boxes of Quaker Dipps that I'm ADDICTED to. Another booster will be that there is actually fresh produce in the house as of this morning.

They say, "If you continue to do what you've always done, you'll continue to get what you've always gotten". Change lady. That's what's got to happen. And though I have no pictures, I thought I'd share what I came up with for lunch. I call it the GUACADILLA wha ah ah ah ahhhhhhh! I got some nice looking avacados from the store and made my favorite guac with fat free mayo and piled it high on half of a whole-wheat tortilla, folded it over and it was yummy yummy. (and only 3 points) Then for a side dish/dessert I made a (very) low-fat take on my fav. pretzel jello salad, by slicing 1 1/2 c. of strawberries, a little fat-free Cool Whip on top and some broken pretzels. I just can't get enough of sweet and salty combo. (Laur...)

That is all for now. I will report as I go this week.

Asparagus Pizza

This recipe, I adapted from something that caught our eye from this month's Runner's World mag. Basically it's the same except it called for naan and I used my same favorite pizza crust recipe. It was SUPER tasty -- I loved everything about it. You really should try it. (And it's only 4 points per slice. . . I keep thinking I did my math wrong. . . cause that's amazing for pizza.) Pizza Crust -- I used half whole wheat flour, half white bread flour.

Top with :
1/3 c. low-fat ricotta mixed with 1/8 c. prepared pesto

Asparagus, tough ends removed, chopped into bite-sized peices and tossed with 1 t. olive oil and a little S&P.

2-3 oz. canadian bacon, thinly sliced

Bake at 425 for 11 minutes, then top with 2 oz. grated fontina -- then back in the oven for another 5 min. -- 'til cheese is melted and crust is crispy. (my crust could've gone another minute or two)

Turkey Tacos

My kids love soft tacos. Tacos are not the most low-fat thing you can cook while counting calories. . . until now: First, find a good tortilla, high in fiber, low in fat, or just skip the roll-up and go with a hearty taco salad. Then buy white ground turkey breast (97% fat free) even though it's way more pricey than your economy ground beef or the other ground turkey that's not really all that low-fat. (It tastes 20 times better too) Then make tacos -- just following the directions on the little seasoning packet -- or season it yourself. I like to add black or pinto beans, green and/or red peppers and then all the traditional toppings. Lettuce, salsa, ff sour cream, avacado, olives etc. Yum, yum yum. We were so excited to eat that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product -- but you know what a taco looks like.

Moo Shu Beef Lettuce Wraps

This is a Weight Watchers recipe -- it was pretty tasty. (and no water chestnuts Adrie!) The kids ate their filling in tortillas cause they weren't feelin' the lettuce. Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef - (7% fat)
1 c. chopped onion
2 T minced fresh ginger root
2 T minced garlic
1 c thinly sliced bok choy
1 thinly sliced red bell pepper
1 c thinly sliced button mushrooms
2 T low-sodium soy sauce
8 leaves bib lettuce (I used iceberg)

Use cooking spray and brown beef, onion, garlic and ginger (5-7 min). Then add the other ingredients (minus lettuce) and cook another 3-5 min -- til veggies are tender crispt and bok choy is wilted. Spoon about 1/2 c. into each lettuce leaf. Serves 4. (4 points per serving)

HOT DOG!

This week I started Weight Watchers again, so stay tuned for some healthy recipes (which I've already tried quite a few of) -- but for now I will explain how this hot dog is actually a good choice: throughout my whole pregnancy I've been dyin' for a good dog, and now that I'm not -- I'm supposed to shun them? I think NOT! Johnsonville has quite a tasty smoked turkey sausage -- for only 3 points! So with the whole wheat bagel, lettuce, tomato, pickle, mustard and ketchup, this lunch was a mere 5 points. Now THAT'S a good dog. (and tasty too.)

Baked Donuts with Cinnamon Glaze

here's a baked version of a normally fatty(er) treat. My mom made some baked chocolate donuts during her visit and they weren't all we were hoping for. I used to make these in college and they were always a hit -- so here Mom -- try these out.

combine:
2 c flour
2/3 c sugar
2 T yeast
1 t salt
1 t lemon or orange peel
1/2 t nutmeg

heat(butter doesn't need to be completely melted)
1 3/4 c milk
1/2 c butter

gradually beat liquid mixture into flour mixture for 2 min

add:
2 eggs
1 c flour -- beat again: 2 min

appx. 2 c more flour -- stir in to make soft dough
cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours

punch dough down
knead 1 min; adding 1/2 c flour if necessary
roll out 1/2 in thick
cut into donuts
place on prepared baking sheets -- cover with towel
let rise 30 min or until doubled

bake 8-10 -- 400 degrees 'til golden brown

Glaze:
1/4 c milk
2 c pwd sugar
1/2 t cinnamon

remove from pan and cool for 5 min -- dip tops into glaze and allow to drip down sides

makes 2 doz donuts and holes