Recovery Run

Thanks to all for your nice comments about my friend's Dad. I feel sad for her and I have been moping around the house all day, not doing much of anything that I should be doing. Well, except eating. I always manage to get that in. I think that even if I had my jaws wired shut, I would find some type of food that could fit in between that labyrinth of wires :)

I decided to try out a treadmill run this morning since the last of my stitches fell out yesterday. I think I am pretty well healed, so I cranked up the treadmill and did my 40 minute run. Yay! It felt so good! I can't believe how much I miss it when I don't run! I threw in 20 tricep dips and 15 wall pushups, too!

After that, I fixed a quick breakfast of an Ezekiel English Muffin with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light for 3 POINTS...


I fiddled around on the computer and did a little cleaning (very little), then it was time for lunch. I made a salmon salad wrap with a side of carrots and TJ's Sour Cream and Onion Rice Chips for 5 POINTS...

I still felt a little hungry, so I had 2 very sweet clementines -YUM for 1 POINT...

Before taking little daughter to dance class, I broke out a snack...

Another great Gnu Bar! I crumbled it onto 1/2 c. nonfat Greek yogurt for a filling 3 POINT snack...

While little daughter was in class, my friend ,Coleen and I went for a walk around the parking area and solved all the world's problems. We walked at a pretty good clip, so I got in an extra 30 minute exercise today! I love when bonus exercise happens :)

I was not into providing a creative plan for dinner that no one would appreciate anyway, so I gave the husband and daughters sandwiches and fruit and I had my leftover Polenta with Smoked Gouda and Mushroom Sauce for 8 POINTS. I added some roasted peppers to it to change it up tonight...(sorry about the pic; hard to make it look "pretty")

Here's the recipe for this full flavored dish:

Polenta with Smoked Gouda and Mushroom Sauce

• 24 oz. tube of prepared polenta
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. skim milk
• 2 oz. lite smoked gouda ( or lite smoked mozzarella), grated
• 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 8 oz. container of baby portabella mushrooms, sliced

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 11x7 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Slice tube of polenta into 1/2" slices and layer in baking dish.
3. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in salt and pepper. Sprinkle flour over butter; whisk quickly and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in milk and cheeses. Stir in mushrooms.
4. Pour sauce over polenta slices and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Makes 3 hearty servings at 8 POINTS each.

I ended the day with some Righteous Rounds for 2 POINTS...

And a handful of little chocolate eggs and bites, licks and tastes of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream. Ugh! Glad I took that extra walk today ;)

Looking forward to getting in bed early. Have a great night =)

Sad News:(

Hi guys. I'm gonna make this a quick post. I just got some sad news - my old college roommate's dad passed away, so I'm a bit distracted. Here's a rundown of the day...

Breakfast was 1/2 c. TJ's Nonfat Greek Plain Yogurt (I don't like plain, but I added a bit of Splenda and it was great), 1/2 c. Kashi Go Lean Crunch and 1 c. sliced strawberries for 3 POINTS. This took me a while to eat and held me over for hours...


I went out to lunch with Mom and Gram at a local diner. I ordered a salad with chicken, bacon, mandarin oranges, red onion with a raspberry viniagrette (I used the "dip fork" method). It was a small serving (well, an appropriate serving!) so I estimate it at 5 POINTS...

Afternoon snack was a Bluebran Vitatop and grapes for 2 POINTS...

I tried an interesting recipe tonight involving this...

I got the inspiration from this old Weight Watchers cookbook that I picked up at the Used Book Sale last weekend...

I reworked the recipe so much that I guess I can call it my own now! It was Polenta with Smoked Gouda and Mushroom Sauce....

It was 8 POINTS and out of this world good! I have leftovers, so I will be eating this again. I'll post the recipe the next time for you all :)

For dessert, another serving of Chocolate Banana Cake with Cocoa Glaze...

One word of advice about this "cake"- don't overbake it! Mine was cooked a little too long and it's more on the dry side. If you try it, start to check for doneness around 18-20 minutes. It doesn't take that long to set up and it's definitely better when it's moist! Dry cake sucks :P

Sorry to rush through this. See you tomorrow =)

Sunshine, Shopping And Sweets

I am diggin' this weather. Something about the warm sunshine really makes me happy! I planned on getting out for a walk this morning, but since I had to do a catch up post, I didn't make it out. I did a weighted treadmill walk instead. I tried to get my heart rate going by really pumping my arms. Boy, that works!

After my workout, I had a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel with 1 tbsp. homemade almond butter and a side of cantaloupe for 4 POINTS...




For lunch, I went with a yummy tofu scramble. This mix was 3 oz. tofu, red onion, mushrooms, spinach, roasted peppers, salsa and 2% cheese. Mmm.. my mouth is watering just writing about it! Seriously, it's that good! I had side of Triscuits for a salty crunch. A super filling 7 POINT lunch...


I went out to do a little shopping after lunch. I am in need of some summer clothes, mainly shirts. I tried on a few things and am still in amazement at the fact that I now wear a size M shirt. Comfortably. I can even get away with a Small here and there. In my mind, I still see myself as that 2x girl! Note to self: work on body image, girl!

When the daughters came home from school, I had a snack of lite string cheese, pretzel rod and clementine for 2 POINTS...

I felt like having something sweet after that. The munchies were gearing up for a visit. I decided to break out some armor...Arizona Pomegranate Green Iced Tea...

This tea comes in individual tubs that you mix with water. Each tub makes 2 Quarts. It is sugar free but, sweetened with Splenda. It is really good and helped kick the sweet munchies to the curb...

Dinner was low key tonight. The husband was traveling, so the daughters had free choice for dinner. They chose mac n chreeze (it's made with nutritional yeast instead of cheese), paninis and fruit. I decided on a panini and this new soup I picked up at my second home...

Sorry for the blurry pic! One cup serving is 1 POINT. This is a bit high in the sodium department, but has a ton of potassium!

I have to say that this soup is yuck -e. I think it is basically V-8 juice in a carton. I hate V-8 juice. Badly. Eeew. Gross. Okay, sorry. However, if you are a V-8 fan what is wrong with you? , you will definitely like this =)

Thankfully, my panini was the redeeming part of my meal. I made a ham and smoked gouda panini using 2 slices Trader Joe's Sprouted Flourless Wheatberry Bread, 2 oz. ham, 1/2 oz. lite smoked gouda, baby spinach and dijonnaise. A good 4 POINT dinner ( minus yucky soup)...

I had plenty of room for dessert and decided to conjure up a cake recipe using some overripe bananas that I had. I came up with a Chocolate Banana Cake with Cocoa Glaze. Basically, I used my whole grain Banana Bread recipe replacing the chocolate chips with unsweetened cocoa. When the "cake" was cooled, I drizzled it with a glaze made with 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa, 2 tbsp. powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp. instant espresso powder and 1 tbsp. water. Here's the result...

I played around with the amounts of the ingredients so as to keep it to 2 POINTS per serving(I run everything through my Weight Watchers Etools Recipe Builder). Even with the glaze, I was able to accomplish that. Here's the recipe, if you'd like to give it a try...

Chocolate Banana Cake with Cocoa Glaze
(8 servings)

• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. Splenda
• 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Hershey's)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 4 tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 medium bananas, very ripe, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix mashed bananas, applesauce, vanilla and egg in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients. Gradually add dry ingredients into wet ingredients until well combined. Spread batter into a 8" square baking pan sprayed well with nonstick spray. Bake for 20 -25 minutes. Let cool completely before adding glaze.

For the Cocoa Glaze, whisk together 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tbsp. powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp. instant espresso powder and 1 tbsp. water. Drizzle over cooled cake.

You can have your cake and eat it, too - even with a little lite whip ...

Have a sweet night ;)

Expanding My Horizons

The husband has been having computer issues, so we are all sharing my computer which cramps my blogging style hence no post last night! Here's what my day looked like yesterday...


I tried something new for breakfast. I have a love/hate relationship with oatmeal. I would love to love it because I know it is good for me, but I hate the texture. I also hate that, to make it taste good, I have to add a bunch of extras (toppings, milk, fruit) which puts it way up the POINT (calorie) scale. But, I'm willing to revisit it every once in a while. I came across a recipe for overnight oatmeal in The Perfect Recipe for Eating Great and Losing Weight. All you do is mix oats with milk and dried fruit, put it in the fridge overnight and in the morning, you have "instant oatmeal". You can eat it cold, but I nuked mine for a minute so it was warm. My mix was 1 c. oats, 1 c. unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze ,1/4 c. dried cranberries and a pinch of salt. This made 2 servings at 4 POINTS each... for a measly little bowl... :(



I have to say that I actually liked it. The texture was not "gluey" at all and the taste was great. For me, the volume eater that I am, this just doesn't cut it for 4 POINTS. Plus, it doesn't stay with me long enough. I was starving by 11:30 a.m.!


Needless to say, lunch was a bit earlier than usual. I had a Health is Wealth Chicken Free Patty on an Ezekiel Bun with 2% cheese, lettuce and dijonnaise. To go with it, I had my usual soy crisps, but an unusual-for-me fruit - papaya! I found this little nugget in my produce store and I decided to give it a try. It has many black seeds in the center which I scooped out; not sure if you can eat them or not - anyone know?? It was sweet and juicy. Another fruit I can add to my rotation! Altogether, a delicious and filling (unlike my breakfast) 9 POINT lunch...


Later, I snacked on a Pumpkin Spice Cupcake with Orange Glaze for 2 POINTS...

Then got some dinner going which included this mystery veg... (*in my best Ben Stein voice* anyone? anyone?)

Well, if you said jicama, you would be right! I really had no idea what to do with it, but thought it might be an interesting addition to my dinner salad tonight. I peeled it and cut it into sticks with my mandoline. It has a different taste than I expected. I guess because it sort of looks like a potato, I was expecting a bland taste, but it has a bit of a sweet bite to it. Interesting. I can't say I loved it, but I would like to play with it in maybe some type of slaw recipe. I think it would be good within that kind of preparation. Anyway, I added it to my Grilled Chili Lime Scallops Salad with Guacamole dressing. I seasoned sea scallops with chili powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and a squeeze of lime, then grilled them for about 4 min. per side. I arranged them over a mixed salad with red pepper strips and jicama sticks. Then topped with guacamole dressing that I made using 1/4 c. prepared guacamole (I buy Trader Joe's guac) thinned out with a little fresh lime juice and skim milk. I also had a cornbread muffin to go with it. A nice "beat the heat" 8 POINT dinner...

I ended the night with bites of this and that, which included Cheez Its, a couple chocolates and licks of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream! UGH! A way over POINT day, but I did make sure to get in a 45 minute weighted elliptical workout with 20 tricep dips and 30 wall pushups.

Next goal - make better choices!

Have a great day!!!

A Day To Play

Wow, it's another summer day today! It got to 90 degrees and felt like the middle of July! I think this is just an "appetizer" though; the temps are heading down this week. Again, I was feeling like an outdoor run, but I'm not quite healed, so I will be patient. I was going to head to the basement for an elliptical workout, but got so distracted with doing stuff around the house that I never made it! I guess I will consider it a "day off". I don't do that very often, but I think it won't hurt. I hope :)

I did manage to make time for breakfast. I was in the mood for cereal, so I broke out this oldie but goodie cereal, Quaker Crunchy Corn Bran...


A serving is only 1 POINT -if you can see with my sloppy writing on the box ;)...


I decided to use it as a topping for my Oikos Honey Nonfat Greek Yogurt. I also added some beautiful strawberries for a fiber and protein packed 4 POINT breakfast...


I'm trying to go through some freezer items, so that they don't get lost in the land of freezer burn. I found some leftover pizza that I made just last week, I believe. It was the one made with the spelt pizza dough. I reheated that for lunch and it was just as good as the day I originally made it! That's what happens when you eat something before freezer burn :) I went crazy and had a side of carrots to go with it! I've been avoiding carrots since my oral surgery, but I thought I would try it out today. No probs. Yay! A great 8 POINT repeat...

After lunch, we headed out to a friend's son's 3 year old birthday party. It was set up like a carnival with lots of moonbounces, games, carnival foods and plenty of "grown-up" food, too. Wow, sure glad I ate before I left! How -EVER, I could not, did not...resist...this...

Giant brownie with giant gobs of chocolate icing. You can't tell from this picture, but this thing was about 2 inches high. It stared at me for a long time, calling, beckoning, tempting. I caved. And you know what?? It wasn't THAT good! I think it sat out too long. But, I ate it anyway :) Not sure of the POINTS. Maybe 500??? LOL! Hopefully, I can run later this week :(

I also picked on a soft pretzel before I left the party. Again, not that good. Gotta work on the "don't eat it unless it tastes good" rule. Anyway, it was a fun time of outdoor play in the sun! Hope I sweat off some of those calories...

I wasn't all that hungry for dinner. The husband and daughters decided to eat hot dogs and some fruit. I was thinking of just having cereal or maybe skipping dinner altogether. I did some cleaning and then felt ready to have a little something. I remembered I had some tofu in the fridge, so I decided on a tofu scramble. I used 4 oz. extra firm tofu, roasted peppers, red onion, baby spinach, a slice 2% cheese and salsa. I crumble the tofu and brown it in a nonstick pan sprayed with cooking spray, then add the rest of the ingredients. Simple and absolutely delicious! I could eat this every day! I had a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light on the side. A quick and easy 6 POINT dinner...

Gee, for not being too hungry, I sure ate a lot! And I topped it off with a little "sweet"...

The flavors are so fun and they are only 1 POINT...

I went with the Banana Split...

A nice way to end a HOT day!

Hope the weekend was fun for you, too!!! Have a great night =)

Books, Bloggers And Brainless

The husband and I had a movie/date night at home last night. We got a movie for us and a movie for the daughters. They watched upstairs and we had our "date" downstairs. It was fun and no babysitter needed! Anyway, it got too late and I was too tired to blog, so here's my update from yesterday...


I woke up to some beautiful weather and was really itching to go for a run. My cheek is still a bit chubby and my stitches are still intact, so my gut was telling me to wait until everything was healed totally. Instead, I headed to the basement for a 40 minute stint on the elliptical with my weighted vest and did 20 tricep dips and 20 wall pushups. Good enough!

Breakfast was an open faced omelette with spinach, salsa and 1 oz. Cabot's 75% reduced fat cheese. Mmm... I love salsa on eggs! I had a slice of TJ's Sprouted Flourless Wheat Bread, all for only 3 POINTS...

I was really jonesing for some coffee this morning, too, but wasn't in the mood for something warm. I decided on a Vanilla Frappuccino with whip! I used unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze this time and some sugar free vanilla syrup and topped it with 1 tbsp. lite whip. This was a great 1 POINT treat!

After breakfast, the daughters and I went to a Used Book Sale over at little daughter's school. I was so excited for this! What a dork, right?? I could have spent hours there and lots of cash! Although, everything was priced at either $1 or $2, so you can't feel bad about spending with that bargain price. I scored some cool cookbooks...

And some summer beach reads...

The daughters picked up about 4 books each, too. It was a great time!

It was such a beautiful day that we ate most of our meals outside. So relaxing! My lunch was a Boca Bruschetta Burger topped with 1 tbsp. hummus (thanks to Kate for that AMAZING idea!) and roasted peppers on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. I had some soy crisps and a fuji apple on the side. A delish 6 POINT lunch...

Later, for a snack, I couldn't wait to dig into this....

Ever since seeing them on Kelly's blog, I had to have them! I have been searching high and low and finally came across them in Target. I chose the chocolate cookie caramel pecan flavor. Nuggets of goodness...

I think Kelly described these as "crack" and I would have to agree! Definitely leave you wanting more. Don't know if I could buy these again due to danger potential :) But, they are a fun and tasty 2 POINT treat.

After cleaning out my car, cleaning out the garage and running an errand, I wasn't in the mood to make a grand dinner. I pulled out a serving of Rigatoni(actually Ziti) with Three Cheeses from the freezer and heated that with some leftover asparagus. I made a side salad of tomato, cucmber and red onion dressed with a little olive oil and balsamic. Another outdoor dining 7 POINT meal...

Before we settled into our movies, I grabbed a Weight Watchers Candy Bar Ice Cream for a melty 3 POINT dessert...(sorry for the bad pic)

I won't embarass myself by telling you the brain cell deteriorating movie we watched! We had some good laughs, so it was worth losing a few brain cells :)

I just want to say how great it is to be part of this blogging community! I have gotten so many awesome ideas from you all and have tried things I might not have come across otherwise! Thanks so much for all the inspiration!

Enjoy the day and I'll be back tonight :)

Forgetful

I was a forgetful blogger today. I ran out the door this morning to my WW meeting (for my first weigh-in *wink, wink) and I grabbed breakfast to eat after the meeting, but forgot to take a pic! Thankfully, I had a whole box at home, so here's my "after" shot...


I found these on clearance at my supermarket. I think I know why! They are just o.k. A little on the dry side and not much staying power. I think you're supposed to microwave them, but I don't know that it would have made a huge difference. I do think they would be nice crumbled on top of some yogurt, oatmeal or ice cream, though. Each muffin bar has 140 cal., 3.5 gr. fat and 4 gr. fiber, but only 2 gr. protein. An o.k. 2 POINT breakfast...

After the meeting, I stopped home to change out of my "weigh-in clothes" and headed to meet up with my mother-in-law and sis-in-law for lunch. Again, I forgot my camera! I ordered a spinach salad with mushrooms, bacon. olives, red onion , hard boiled eggs and tomatoes. No dressing since I brought my own! At least I remembered that. This salad was ginormous! I asked the server to bring me a take-home box before I added my dressing because I knew I wouldn't finish this guy....

Along with my salad, I had a nice sized roll. I had only planned on eating half, but kept picking at it until I eventually ate the whole thing. Altogether, I'm guessing it to be an 8 POINT lunch.

For an afternoon snack, I cut up a beautifully ripe fresh pineapple for 1 POINT...

Then I realized I forgot to take my antibiotic this morning! Ugh! Must be this chubby cheek affecting my brain cells!

I originally planned on having pizza tonight, but decided I would use up the rest of my salad instead. My dinner salad consisted of 3 oz. grilled chicken breast, 1 tbsp. dried cranberries, 1 tbsp. sliced almonds and the remainder of the salad mix dressed with light balsamic vinagrette for another 8 POINTS...

For dessert, I tried a recipe that my friend, Donna sent to me. She just started WW in March and has already lost nearly 20 lbs.!!! You go, Donna!!! The recipe is for Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Orange Glaze. Here's what you'll need:

• 1 lb., 2.25 oz. box of spice cake mix
• 15 oz. canned pumpkin
• 1/2 c. egg substitute

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ingredients in bowl. Beat with a mixer on low until well blended. Then, beat on medium for 2 minutes. Divide evenly among muffin tins lined with paper baking cups. Bake for 18 minutes. Let cool completely.

For the orange glaze, combine 1 cup sifted powdered sugar with 1/4 tsp. grated orange rind and 2 tbsp. orange juice. Dip cupcake tops in orange glaze.

This makes 24 cupcakes at 2 POINTS each.

I ate mine al fresco with some new reading material...

I think Jil would approve!

Oh, and I almost forgot to say that I lost 4.6 lbs. this week! Not bad for my first week - heheh ;)

Have a great night =)