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.