Writing it down...

Are you like me? For days you try and remember to do something or to tell someone something, and you keep forgetting, but as soon as you actually write it down, you remember that when you can do it, and without looking at the note? For some reason, writing it sometimes seals it in my memory.

When I last wrote two weeks ago I wrote about my greediness on vacation. I can't remember if I wrote that after weigh day or not, but I gained about 3 pounds from it. Yikes--but better than the last time I did that on vacation. I worked really hard to stay within my daily points and not use all my weekly points the following week, and did really well. I lost about 2 pounds that week.

Then, my husband and I took an overnighter, courtesy of Sheraton Hotel's one night giveaway, and while I didn't do terrible there, I did use all of my weekly points up by the end of Saturday (and maybe more than my weekly). So, I still had Sunday-Thursday to go without using anything but my daily points. It's been a struggle. I think it's because of the abundance of candy all around my office and house, having a bad cold which just makes me want to eat that candy to feel better, lack of willpower, and unsatiable hunger. I've been hungry hungry, but probably not really. It probably just seemed like it. So, I'm not too excited for tomorrow's weigh in, but I am really excited to flip the switch into a new week and do better. It's like once I've blown it for the week, I keep blowing it for the week. If I start out good, I stay good.

On a side note, I made cheeseburger chowder for dinner tonight, and will share the recipe here, though I can't guarantee the point content for two reasons--to be explained afterward...

Cheeseburger Chowder

1 lb. 96% lean ground beef (12 pt.)
1 small onion, chopped (0 pt.)
2 cloves garlic, minced (0 pt.)
1 package potato soup starter/mix (I used Bear Creek) (24 pt.)
8 oz. 2% velveeta cheese, cubed (8 pt.)
diced pickles, onions, and tomato (optional) (0 pt.)

Brown the ground beef with onion and garlic, and drain if needed (I needed). While the meat is browning, prepare potato soup according to package directions. Add ground beef and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring every couple minutes. Add cubed cheese and let melt, while stirring frequently. Serve topped with cheeseburger toppings, like pickles, onions, and tomato. Good with toast dipped in it, for that "bun" flavor.

So, I can't guarantee the pointage per serving, because the stinking soup should have made 11-1 cup servings. The soup mix was supposed to make 8 cups, which made sense, because I added 8 c. of water. And then I added 3 cups of cooked ground beef. And then I added about a cup of velveeta (which I didn't count in the cup calculations). So, 11 cups right--so 4 pt. per serving. Well, I dished myself out a 4 pt. serving and my husband too, and then we went back for seconds. Then I noticed there was in no way still 7 cups of soup left, like there should have been. I measured it out and there was about 4 cups left. HOW IRRITATING! So, I probably consumed more points than I really thought I was. GRR! Yesterday I made mac and cheese that was supposed to make 2 cups, and it really only made 1 1/2 cups. What is with the shrinkage, especially when the package says it will make 8 cups, prepared, or 2 cups, prepared! I guess I'm going to have to start measuring AFTER cooking and then figure the points per serving.

Well, remember how I had some things I wanted to write down for myself to remember? Now I can't remember what they were. Dang it. Well, I think those motivating thoughts later and share them then. :)

Update & Glazed Green Beans

I lost 1.5 pounds this week! I was pretty surprised, as I used every last one of my flex points (again) and did a lot of "estimating" my points with certain foods. But, we also went for family bike rides a couple of times, in which I pull an extra 50 pounds (my son and the trailer he rides in). I guess that helped! I was in a munching mode this week and feel like I ate a ton of candy from passing by the bowl at work. A praise though--for the first time in many many weeks, I didn't dip into my flex points on a Friday--yesterday! I came in exact, and feel like I ate a ton of food. I made a new impromptu recipe at dinner last night, shared below, and ate them all! Good thing they weren't too bad for me! Now we're getting ready to make some of the cookies I shared a recipe for awhile back. Yum!

My total weight loss to date:

Glazed Green Beans
1 tsp. EVOO
1 pkg. fresh steamable green beans
4 pieces bacon, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. balsalmic vinegar
2 T. brown sugar blend

First, cook the green beans according to package directions. In the meantime, sautee the garlic and bacon. Add the green beans and drizzle with the vinegar (I used dressing) and brown sugar. Continue sauteeing until the vinegar starts to get a little syrupy. I estimated 4 points for this and it was so yummy that I ate it ALL! It was a combo of a few recipes I found online. YUM YUM!

I LOVE VEGGIES!

I took these pictures with my phone so the res isn't great, but I just wanted to say I LOVE VEGGIES! And, I'm so glad I love veggies, since they're usually 0 points!

I was going high on points today due to a lunch out and poor snacking choices in the afternoon. I was making pigs in a blanket for dinner with ff hot dogs and 1 pt. biscuits, along with some garlic noodles. I had gotten some zucchini today so decided to saute one of those and threw in some red onion and cherry tomatoes. This made up the bulk of my meal, so I only had a 6 point dinner!

I'm going to a family event tomorrow and needed to bring something. I wanted to ensure I'd have something I could graze on without blowing my points, so I made this fab corn and black bean relish (recipe below).

Corn/Black Bean Goodness:
3 cans canned corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 tiny can diced green chilis (don't drain)
Chopped cucumber (I used 1/2 of a large one)
Chopped green pepper (I used 1/2 of one)
Diced tomato (I used 2 smaller ones)
Red onion (I used 1/2 of a small one)
Cilantro (I probably used 1 T. dried)
Cumin (Again, probably used 1 T. dried)
Salt & Pepper (1/2 tsp. each maybe?)
Seasoned Salt (1 tsp. probably)
Dried Minced Garlic (1 1/2 tsp likely)

Combine and stir, let sit for a few hours and enjoy!!!


Oh, by the way, I maintained this week. Weighed in at the exact weight as last week. That's a first, but I was pleased with it since I had used all my weekly flex points + some. Here's hoping I can make that up this week! OH, and I hit our local thrift stores today and got three different things in size 20. I didn't think they'd fit yet, but maybe soon, so got them for later. I tried them on when I got home to see how far I had to go...and they all fit PERFECTLY! Not even tight. I was so excited!!! I started as a 24, so I'm down two sizes. I'm sure people at work won't know what to think this week when we have jeans day and I'm actually wearing some that fit!

Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!

AMAZING 1 point Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Ingredients:
4 T. margarine or spread, softened
4 tsp. veg oil
1 c. brown sugar blend
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
6 oz. chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Cream butter, oil, and brown sugar together. Add vanilla, salt, and egg white. Mix thoroughly. Mix flour and baking soda together and then add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Add chocolate chips and stir to distribute evenly. I used the medium pampered chef scoop and made 21 cookies. The whole recipe is 24 points, according to the recipes I found online. They baked for about 10 points. These were SO GOOD! I highly recommend them.

Now, on to other things! I lost .6 last week (yesterday was weigh day). I was kind of suprised that I didn't lose more, since I did good compared to how I had been doing, and kept track of points all the time. I did use EVERY LAST one of my weekly points though, which is probably the reason. But, I was still very satisfied with the loss. I have now lost 38.5 pounds. I got on my Wii Fit this morning, and it said I hadn't in 201 days. That's just after I started WW. It was neat to have it say that I had lost 37.1 pounds since my last visit. But, they still considered me at the top of the "obese" range. I enjoyed my time on it, and hope that it won't be even 10% of the time it had been before I jump on it again.

We're headed to a festival tonight. I've only had 8 points today in prep for this. :) I'm not sure yet what I'm eating, but I'll be sensible (as much as you can be at a fest!). I had an eggless breakfast burrito for breakfast (because I'm not that huge on scrambled eggs), with sauteed mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, a little lunchmeat, and a little bit of fat free cheese in a healthy tortilla with ff sour cream and salsa. It was a yummy and filling 3 points. For lunch I had one of my standby low point meals...a big salad! Isn't it great to be able to eat so much for next to no points?! Some 100 calorie lorna doons were my study partner when I was doing homework and the boys (husband and son) were napping.

It was as good as it looks! Until next time!

Pizza Pizza!

Originally posted on 5/12 on DMT

So, quick update, I gained a pound. Not so great. But, I saw it coming. Today I still have 7 left, even with eating out for lunch (work provided, but I ate smart) but think I'll only eat 2 of them. I know that I "should" eat my points, but I'm going to a conference and therefore eating out for dinner Thursday, and all three meals on Friday. So, even though you don't stockpile points on WW, I'm going to try! That's the bonus of doing it "off the record." I can make my own rules, and still lose weight. Errr...something like that. *lol*

So, a recipe for you, inspired by the dinner I fixed for my family tonight. The bonus is it doesn't make a lot of dishes!

Pita Pizzas
-Find your favorite kind of Pita bread. My Walmart deli section has some amazing "flax" ones that are "0" points for 1 pita, so I count them as "1" each since I ate 3.
-Top with pizza sauce, bbq sauce, ketchup/mustard, whatever floats your boat for sauce.
-Top with whatever meat or veggies you would like.
-Top with low fat cheese, whichever flavor you like.
-Bake until done, or be cool like me and use your Presto Pizza Pizzazz (I really could NOT live without mine). It took 8 minutes on that.

Here's how I actually made mine:
Pizza #1--Cheeseburger
1 Pita bread, topped with a big squirt of ketchup and a little squirt of mustard, then swirled around like pizza sauce. I then put 1/4 of a leftover hamburger from grilling on Sunday on it (broken up), thinly sliced dill pickles, and onion. I topped it with 1/4 c. ff cheddar cheese. It was 4 points of amazingness for the whole thing.

Pizza #2--Faux Margherita
1 Pita bread, topped with pizza sauce from a jar, swirled over the bread. I then topped it with spinach leaves (instead of basil--thus the "faux"), chopped tomato, and garlic salt. I then cut up one round of Baybel cheese and scattered it on top. This was another 3 points of amazingness...true amazingness, for the whole thing.

Pizza #3--BBQ "Chicken" Pizza
1 Pita bread, topped with BBQ sauce, swirled over the bread. I then topped it with about 1/2 oz. turkey breast (what I had on hand--obviously not chicken), onion, tomato, and 1/4 c. ff cheddar. This was again, true amazingness, for 3 pt.

So, I had 3 personal sized pizzas for 10 points. Can you belive that? The average pizza slice is at least 4 points, so I think I made a WW deal! And, as I said, not too many dishes!

Try your own variation and let me know what it was!

Crazy Good Pasta Dish Recipe

Orig. posted on DMT 4/29

I didn't post a recipe yesterday, but noted that I may do one soon. Well, today is the day! I made up a dish for dinner, and it was so fabulous that I wanted to share it! It doesn't have a name...leave a comment with what you think we could call it! Here it is:

Unnamed Pasta Dish

4 flavored Chicken Sausages, Cooked and Sliced (I used spinach/asiago from Sam's)
1 Jar Roasted Red Peppers, Drained and Sliced
1/2 bag fresh spinach leaves
1 tsp. dried minced garlic (or 2-3 fresh cloves minced)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. Fat Free Balsamic Vinegar salad dressing
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 box Penne Pasta (Ronzoni Smart Taste)

Cook pasta until al dente. In the meantime, saute sausage, red peppers, spinach leaves, garlic, tomato, salt, pepper, and basil together until spinach is wilted. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it, put back in pan, and then toss it with the balsamic dressing. Add the sauteed mixture and stir. Top with Parmesan cheese. This made 10 cups @ 3 points per cup.

My husband and I both ate 3 cups. If you like artichokes they would be really good in this, but my husband doesn't, so I didn't. Adjust points accordingly if you add them, of course. We grilled out on Sunday, so I had Bill grill the sausages then and just reheated them in the saute tonight. They don't have to be grilled. That's the reason that I said use 4, when they come in 5 packs--we split one the night we grilled. :)

Let me know if you try it out or find a great tweak for it!

Stuff I love & Donut Hole Recipe

Originally posted 3/29/09 on DMT

First, let me think about some things I've had none to very little of since I started WW on February 17th.

Real hamburger or beef products. I've been eating mostly 97% fat free turkey which is amazingly close to beefy tasting once it absorbs the flavors you're cooking with. I've also been tapping back to my vegetarian roots (was for 6 years) and eating veggie burgers. I was really craving a real burger yesterday and had a double quarter pounder without cheese from McDonalds. I saved my points for it, and put fat free cheese on it at home. It was so good! Next I want a diner burger, but think we'll just make those with turkey burger at home.

Real butter or margarine, full fat sour cream, mayo, and cream cheese. I am in LOVE with Parkay's butter spray, and am tolerating the ff mayo and sour cream. I used it to make taco dip last weekend and it was yummy! However, I am totally put off by the sweet flavor of ff mayo. Any ideas?

Full fat cheese. I am suprisingly pleased with the reduced fat and fat free version of cheese, as long as I'm not trying to eat it all by itself.

94% fat free popcorn. This is a staple. It is 1 point for the whole bag! And, the bonus is that it doesn't have the greasy finger problem like typical popcorn so it's fine to eat at work while you're typing and working with paperwork. Sometimes at home I make it extra special and spray the above mentioned butter spray on it and then put extra salt on it--yum! But, without the spray don't try to put extra salt or seasonings on it, it won't stick!

Real chips. I've been almost exclusively baked, and that's going better than I had hoped.

Sugar. Splenda for me! Lovin it! You can even order Unsweetened tea at McD and ask for Splenda Packets.

And another product I love is Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta. It has tons of fiber and is white, even though it is made of wheat. I'm not a big fan of wheat pasta, but this isn't wheaty and tastes exactly the same. 3 pt. for 1 c. Which is a lot when it's spread out on your plate. YUM!

Ranch Dressing. I detest reduced fat or fat free ranch because of that weird taste that is in all reduced dressings. Any good picks here? I've been eating it, but would honestly eat more salads if I found one I loved.

I'm eating tons more veggies and fruit than before too. Oh, and oatmeal and yogurt which I've grown to love and just was okay with before.

There are more, but these are the main things sticking out in my mind. These are all pleasing alternatives. Before I went WW I ate at McD for breakfast just about every day! Youch!

What are your awesome products you couldn't live without in your weight loss journey?


Okay, now for the recipe. I stumbled across this the other day on recipezaar.com (thank them for the picture) tweaked it just a bit and made it for breakfast today. They were YUMMY! More muffin looking than hole looking, but yum yum still. With the baking mix I used (I just had pancake mix on hand), it was .5 pt. each. Be sure to calculate it with your mix if you make them.

Healthy Donut Holes

Ingredients

• 1 cup + 2 T Bisquick reduced-fat baking mix or pancake mix
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 egg (or equivalent in egg substitute--which is what I used)
• 2/3 cup skim milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons (sugar substitute) for shaking
  
• 1/2 teaspoon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 12 hole mini muffin pan with butter flavored cooking spray.
3. In a medium bowl, combine baking mix, 1/4 cup Splenda and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
4. Add egg, skim milk and vanilla extract.
5. Mix well to combine (my batter was runny).
6. Drop by spoonfuls into prepared muffin pan.
7. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes.
8. Remove balls from pan (I had to use a spoon to dig them out)
   
9. In a ziploc plastic bag, combine sugar coating ingredients and place warm donut balls in 2 or 3 at a time and shake to coat.

I doubled the recipe and it made 36 holes. I ate 12. Yipes! But, since I just had salad for lunch it worked. I look forward to having some leftovers with yogurt in the morning for breakfast on my way to work. Let me know if you try to make them!