English Muffin Recipe

For those of you who asked about it, the English Muffin recipe has been posted to my camping website.

I just sort of threw it up there tonight as we wanted to quickly get it posted for a leaders meeting tonight…FabHubs will be making them there, right on site!

But over the next few days I plan on adding all the step by step pictures to the instructions and cleaning it up a little, AND adding the basic recipe in a downloadable PDF file to make it easy to copy.  So if you want to print out and try the recipe, it will be easier for you to check back in a couple of days and print it out then.

For now, I am off to a Girl Scout meeting and hope to post today’s eats later!

OH!  And for those who care….each muffin is 4 WW points!

Happy Healthy Eating To You!

A Healthy Cooking Frenzy Part Two

I knew I wanted dinner to be meatless.   LOL…when I was serving it, FabHubs kept asking where the rest of dinner was.  He ate it but didn’t go back for seconds.  When we have meat dishes he will usually finish up ALL of the meat….seconds and thirds…whatever it takes!  Remember…he is gifted  with one of those metabolisms…he could eat a whole cake and it wouldn’t show!

We had gotten a lot of interesting veggies in our last two produce boxes and I had a lot I needed to use up.  So I decided to make a giant balsamic veggie roast and throw in whatever I had, or could fit!

I put in:

Sliced mushrooms, some halved cherry tomatoes, chunked up carrots, chunked up onion, a whole bunch of garlic cloves (Oh Yeah!), half of my little sugar pumpkin, two absolutely GORG purple potatoes, broccoli, and  I think that was it!

Look at this potato!

And remember this pumpkin I meant to use up last week but didn’t?

Well FabTeen chunked it all up and it looked like this!

  Aren’t those colors just GORGEOUS!

And then we decided to dress it with balsamic and olive oil.  I put about 1/8 cup of balsamic, and then topped it off with 1/8 cup of olive oil.

We tossed all the veggies into a huge bowl and then dumped the dressing onto it so it wouldn’t all pool in the bottom of the pan.  We stirred  and stirred until the veggies were well-coated (this was some of my directing part!  Remember, I wasn’t cooking tonight!)

And into the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.  This was the result:

Boy…look how much color gets cooked out of them! 

Then the Indian spice rice….Oooohhhh this was fantastic!  Normally I find recipes I like and then adapt to whatever I have, but for a rare change I actually followed this one!  It came from Enlightened Cook and I know I will be back to her site!  We did use Basmati rice instead of brown…although I do love brown rice.  I know I will buying brown Basmati when I run out of what we have on hand now.

FabTeen did this one all by himself…I only found and printed the recipe, he did the work! 

This has all sorts of very healthy spices in it, including SuperFoods  cinnamon and turmeric, as well as raisins.   It also  has caramelized onions and raw cashews.  I probably could have eaten the whole bowl!  Guess what I am having for dinner tonight!

My dinner plate:

Finally, to finish off the little sugar pumpkin, we decided to roast it.  I wanted to make savory, but we found this recipe for sweet and I was outvoted!

For us it didn’t come out great…it needs some tweaking.  Next time I would lower the temp from 400 to 350, especially since we had thin  wedges.  The sugar sauce was overdone, and the pumpkin was a little underdone…but we ate it nonetheless.  More superfoods in the pumpkin and all of the spices.  I did do a little squirt of canned whipped cream I have had in the fridge for a while, since before embarking on my whole food path but after Weight Watchers.  It really made a difference in the palatability of the pumpkin  wedges.

Our version:

Mixing  the spices  and melted butter:

Adding it to the pumpkin wedges (sorry, a little blurry):

Our roasted pumpkin wedges:

My dessert plate: 

I can’t believe I have gotten so excited about veggies!  What is this world coming to!!!

Straight to the Point

Breakfast:  Espresso with 1 tsp sugar

Regular coffee w/ FF Coffeemate

Green Monster:  Almond milk/flax meal/1/2 banana/spinach/Amazing Grass

 

Lunch:  Salad with all sorts of veggies,  7 shrimp, 1 TBS feta, 3 Kalamata olives

1 Honeycrisp apple;  1 TBS almond butter

 

That is it so far today…I picked up an organic produce box Monday and we are gorging on fruits and veggies. 

 

I will try Kale Chips later today with the head of kale that came in the box.

I am sucking at entering things into WW too these days!  But I know I am staying within my points.  

Boy do I need to  be writing when biting!

Revisiting the Rest of Yesterday

Since I never had the chance to come back on yesterday and finish off my meals, I wanted to quickly log in what I had the rest of the day:

Lunch was an awesome salad with my fresh organic produce topped with half an ounce of feta and 4 Kalamata olives from the Middle Eastern store.  I put a splash of red wine vinegar on top, although I didn’t need this…the feta gave enough flavor.

On the side I also had a TBS of baba ganoush, a TBS of hummus, and an Arnold Sandwich thin for the dips.   I originally had brought out a piece of the whole wheat pita I bought at the Middle Eastern store the day before…but to my great disappointment it was moldy!  I will take it back to exchange…but I had to settle for the Arnolds.

Dinner was on the run…as it always is on Tuesdays.   Not only do wee have scouts on Tuesday nights but we have to pick up two of our kids from two different places (one from his mother and one from her father) and they do not live close.   For tonight’s dinner on the run I mixed up the rest of the avocado and made some more of that delicious homemade guac (chopped up scallion, grape tomato, and a huge amount of  cilantro…then a sprinkle of lemon juice and salt).  I put this on an Arnolds again with a bunch of lettuce.  This was Heaven!!!

I also took along a Honeycrisp apple but I was too full to eat it!

When I got home I still had 5.5 points left!!!  So I snacked on two  of the oatmeal/flax/raisin cookies and indulged myself with 2 tsps of almond butter…I rarely have enough points extra to have that treat.

I ended the day using exactly my allotted 22 points!  Not bad.

Not Quite Pumpkin Pie

By 11:30 I was starting to feel a little hungry but I didn’t want to stop working quite yet for lunch  so I had my Green Monster of the day.  

Since I had an open can of pumpkin in the fridge I decided to experiment a little and turned this into a Superfood bounty!  Into the blender went the Almond Milk, 1 TBS ground flax seed, 1 scoop Original Amazing Grass Superfood, big handful of raw spinach (from the organic box!), some crushed ice, and I dumped a whole bunch of pumpkin pie spice into the blender as well.  I had brought out a banana for sweetness, but decided to save the extra point and didn’t add it in.

Not bad!  Not quite pumpkin pie filling, but sweet and very good as far as these green powersmoothies go.

Best of all, full of super health goodness with pumpkin, spinach, and cinnamon (in the pumpkin pie spice) all from the Superfoods list…plus the big benefits of the flax seed and the Amazing Grass. 

All for only 1.5 points!

Speaking of pumpkins…while the rest of the country seems to be breaking out into fall, here in South Florida we are SUFFERING through a heat wave this week!

In my house we have not had A/C since last fall.  Not so bad when it was cool last winter but this summer in our house was brutal for our family.  Since right now we don’t have $$ means to replace it, we have eagerly been anticipating the arrival of October, which, while we don’t cool down as much as the rest of the country, is when the humidity breaks and normally we get some relief from the brutal hot and sticky temps in the 90s. 

Yes…normally in October we make it down to the 70s, but all this week will be record highs for South Florida.  OH JOY!

Kicking Off The Day

Today started the same way I start most.  FabTeenager asked for juice this morning instead of a Green Monster, so that is what I had as well.   His was carrots and Granny Smith apples, mine was the same with a little bit of beet and fresh ginger thrown in.   A very refreshing and energizing way to start the day.

After the school run I was really hungry!   I forgot to put the oats in the fridge last night and originally I was going to have a yogurt mix-in (fresh fruit and cereal mixed with the yogurt) but I was so hungry I decided to pull out the Egg Beaters I haven’t had in a while and make myself some Egg Tortillas.  I used two corn tortillas heated up, on each I put one cooked Egg Beater, 1 TBS reduced fat shredded cheddar, and 1 TBS salsa.  That was really filling.  I also had a shot of espresso with 1 tsp of sugar along with this.

This came to a total of 6 points.

Great WI Today!

Today was WW weigh-in day and I did a whole lot better than I did for BL weigh-in day last Thursday.  I had been sort of hovering up and down for a few weeks, unable to get down past a certain point, ready to cross a zero but  never making it.

As of last Thursday though, I have been trying to lean more towards a plant-based diet with less meat products.  (more on that later) I did have chicken on Friday night, and I did eat a hot dog at the pumpkin unloading Saturday (and felt ridiculously guilty after that!)  but otherwise since Thursday a.m. that is the only meat I have eaten.

Well TA-DA! That seems to have been the boost my needed to get over the hump it was struggling with! This morning’s weigh-in was a surprise!

Down 3 pounds from last Monday….and last Thursday.  Across a zero (YAY!) but down one point in my Weight Watchers food points as well (BOO!) 

And I am feeling great to boot!

Twas The Night Before Weigh-In

Yessiree!  Tomorrow is a BIG DAY in Loserville…our first weigh-in!.

I personally have had a pretty crappy last two weeks and when I checked this morning (tsk tsk..I KNOW!)  I am up from Monday, which was up from last Monday.  Not good!

But I am really excited to see how great my fellow Losers are doing and looking forward to seeing the results.

Yesterday was overall a pretty good day point-wise, until we got to the potluck scout Court of Honor.   I had a plan…but you know what happens when you plan don’t you!

My good intentions were to take a piece of chicken (they always have chicken) and then load up my plate with a ginormous pile of salad.  They always have a great selection of salad.  Well guess what….NO SALAD AT ALL…and a paltry selection of veggies at that!

So I took a piece of chicken (ummm….a fried thigh) and a small taste of Shepherd’s pie.  And I took a nice helping of fruit, green beans (with nuts), and some carrot soufflé that I thought was sweet potato, but was still really good.  Although I am sure it was not as healthy as regular old carrots.  And that was going to be it.   I wasn’t going to have dessert.  No, not me!  But of course I caved…BIG TIME!  My daughter brought me back a dessert plate and I ate it all.  I had a brownie (a little one), and a cookie, and (gulp) a piece of carrot cake.  So much for good intentions.

Now today was a different story.  Today I ate really really well…and still came in with half a point leftover.  That was even after half of a Take Five bar I decided to taste since I had all  those extra points.

Today I decided to try and  forgo most meat and really load up on some nutrient  dense foods, especially veggies.   I kicked off the day by lugging out the juicer and making a glass of fresh juice before breakfast  while I was still getting kids ready to go (carrot/granny smith apple/a slice of beet/a slice of ginger).  That was so incredibly refreshing and energizing.  A great way to start the day…and I halved the amount from yesterday so I could enjoy it and not compromise my points.

When I came back from the school run I had a cup of Kashi  U with currents and walnuts (YUM!) with some almond milk.  About an hour later I had an Amazing Grass Green Monster.  I hadn’t had one with spinach for a while and I have been craving this.

Lunch was meatless and fabulous.   (It was pretty too but I was in a hurry and forgot to take a pic!) I put a bunch of spinach leaves in a bowl, cut up some red pepper, threw in some  grape tomatoes, 1 ounce of crumbled feta cheese, 1 tablespoon of walnuts, 1/2 cup of chickpeas, and 1 ounce of hot pasta.   I tossed this with a simple dressing of balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil.  This was so filling and so good and other than the fact it was a few more points than I had bargained for…it was really healthy so I felt good after eating it.

And then I decided for dinner to try to go meatless totally and cut up a half of an eggplant, sautéed that with some red pepper and Adobo seasoning, and my three corn tortillas that I love so much.  I made chicken Caesar salad wraps for  the rest of the family…and then I caved and stole 1 ounce of chicken tenderloin to add to my eggplant mix. 

After that I still had 3 points left and debated some almond butter…but went with the half of the Take Five.  It was just okay…I am glad I used the points on that so I know I don’t want one anymore.  There are plenty of other things I would much rather have.

So that is my day, part of yesterday, and look ahead to tomorrow.  Still failing in the photo journal  department.  I do have pictures of the juice but I will add those maybe tomorrow as it is almost midnight now and I am tired…and the computer is running kind of slow.  One day I hope to manage that much better.

Eating Out

Tomorrow marks two months since I started Weight Watchers.   Counting back, I realize that since I started, I have eaten out exactly twice.  One night we were in a pinch for time and going to a meeting so we grabbed Little Caesar's pizza.  The other was for the Teenager’s birthday at the Thai restaurant.  But all well within my point limits for the week. 

While I love going out to eat, it wasn’t something we did several times a week anyway…it was  usually a treat, maybe three or four times a month just because of $$.

But while counting points over the last eight weeks, I have noticed several things have happened.

I don’t seem to want to eat anywhere but home anymore!

In thinking about this, I think it comes down to three main reasons with the first one being the biggest reason, but the others playing a role as well.

First reason is the desire for CONTROL over my food intake.  When I eat at home, I am much more in CONTROL of what I am eating.   I can eat well, be very satisfied, and still stay within my point range.

When I eat out or even at someone’s house, I have a lot more temptation dangling in front of me and I usually end up eating  more points than I should be having, and more points than I would be eating at home.  Basically I am losing control.

Second is my desire to eat HEALTHIER.  I have noticed that, while I have always had a bent towards alternative foods and health remedies, more recently, starting with the Amazing Grass shake, I have started to incorporate more and more organic and healthy living changes into my and my family’s diet.   Many healthy organic foods are high in fat so I still need to watch what I am switching to, but I can definitely see an evolution in my way of eating….and this is much harder to incorporate when eating out. 

I can’t say I have no desire for junk at all…I can easily see going out to a breakfast buffet and still getting myself in trouble!!!  But it is easier to lessen this desire when I am in my own environment, buying and cooking my own foods.

Also, I love knowing exactly what is going into what we are eating, as well as the environment in which it is prepared.  I don’t know why…lately I have a growing aversion to restaurant kitchens…their cleanliness, their prep methods. 

Finally, I am enjoying saving $$.  More and more when we were going out I would feel irritated, for example that I would pay $7 for a glass of Merlot when I could buy the same bottle for $11.99.  Or  $40.00 for breakfast at Denny’s for the five of us, that we can prepare at home for around $10.  

Maybe the flip side of the control issue is the fear of not being able to control my intake….is that something I need to address?  I don’t know.  I have never been a binge eater so I am not worried about losing control in that respect, it is more the fact that I usually prefer the unhealthy fatty choices over the leaner healthier choices (give me Alfredo over Marinara any day!)

How does everybody else handle the eating out while trying to lose weight dilemma?

I Survived The Weekend

and with only a small "negative point" value too! Not that I am happy about that...but it could have been worse.

First of all...I have no idea how many extra activity points I might have earned while camping. I don't think it was a large number because it wasn't a high activity campout...but it had to be something. I did make a point of getting up and doing every little walking activity we did as well as helping to cook and clean up rather than sit in my chair most of the weekend. I only gave myself 1 activity point for each day for a total of 2 (for the week!) but I know it could have very well been a little more.

Since we did the grocery shopping for our patrol, (all adults, this was a leader training weekend for beginning campers) I did take some liberties..such as buying the R/F cheese and R/F sour cream. I also was vigilant about taking only ONE HELPING! Yay Me!

Some of the things were hard to count...but when we got home today I forced myself to review the weekend and log everything in. It was hard to get an exact count...such as with the exercise and the dump cake I made for dessert in the Dutch Oven. I looked up a similar recipe on Allrecipes.com and gave it my best guestimate...(don't look if you don't want temptation!). I always guestimate conservatively too...on the lower side for exercise and on the higher side for points. I don't think I had a complete serving of the dump cake but I did have some, still, I put down the whole amount because I really have no clue how much I had!

Overall I went over all of my allowed points for the week, including weeklies and bonuses, by 8.5 points. Not too bad, and the first time I have gone over as I finish my 7th or 8th week of WW.

Tomorrow is weigh-in though and I am a little nervous. I know I did a cheat WI Friday morning ( I felt down in pounds and I just had to know) and I was down...but after this weekend I am not sure that number will still be down!

Crossing my fingers for tomorrow morning!!!!!

So What Happens When You Run Out Of Week?

It was bound to happen…I have been on WW now for 7 or 8 weeks (I can’t remember exactly!) and I have never run out of points yet. Two or three times I have had 1 or 2 leftover at then end of the day…but that is all. And once or twice I have had a couple of my WPA left at the end of the week…but again very rarely. I try to make sure I use up all my dailies and weeklies. I have even dipped into my activity points on a couple of occasions…although I am content to not use all of those.

BUT THIS WEEK…OY!

Starting off with Labor Day on Monday, we had a neighborhood block party and I used a bunch there.

Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday I stayed on track.

And I planned on staying on track today….saving what I had left for the weekend (because we have plans this weekend…stay tuned further down).

But today at the last minute we decided to stop at one of our favorite pizza places and everyone else wanted the family special, which is one XL pizza (pepperoni for everyone), one dozen of the most delicious garlic rolls on the planet..soaking in garlic and oil and UMMMMM, and a pitcher of Coke. I was really irritated I had left my camera at home to share this fantastic looking pizza with you too!

So…I had ONE garlic roll and ONE slice of gigantic pizza and ONE glass of Coke. It was hard to estimate points…but I think pizza was 7 and garlic roll was 5 and I put down 3 for the Coke…and ended up finishing my points for the day and dipping into my diminished bank of weeklies I was hoarding for the weekend!

Then later on as we packed for our campout this weekend (yes…we are camping..Girl Scout training…not that we need to be trained we are old pros at this…but we have to take it anyway as leaders)….hubby poured us our weekend vino. Another 6.5 points.

So off I go on this campout with only 7 points in my point savings account…to make it through to Sunday!

I have never gone over before!!!! I don’t want to. But realistically I know I will. I will watch myself and track…but I will not starve and totally deprive myself either.

Breakfast tomorrow is at home…and while I know hubby will be cooking eggs and bacon for all…I will stick with a Green Monster shake. It is filling and should keep me until at least 10 a.m.

I brought an Odwalla energy bar for when I get hungry before lunch.

Lunch will be homemade pizza in the Dutch Oven and fresh fruit (the pizza sounds so good when our group planned it last week…not so much after my pizza today!)

Dinner will be hubby’s World’s Best Grilled Chicken (not too bad…but we did get thighs), caesar salad ( bought light dressing), baked potatoes on the fire with reduced fat cheese and reduced fat sour cream, and dump cake in the Dutch Oven for dessert.

Breakfast on Sunday will be Rocky Mountain Eggs in the DO again…I pulled for bacon instead of sausage as it is far less in points, English Muffins (hubby’s homemade…NOT Thomas’s), OJ, and coffee.

At least I was in charge of buying the groceries for our group so I could sneak in a few lower fat items.

I will also bring my almond milk and some Green Superfood with me in case i get hungry between lunch and dinner and can’t wait. I also think there is a good chance some of the fruit from lunch will be left over and I can snack on that.

BUT…I still think I will not make it through Sunday night in points. Oh well….It was bound to happen but I am not happy about it….and at least I will be somewhat active at camp this weekend.

Until Sunday then…have a great weekend all!!!