A Sweet Experiment

Rain, rain, go away.... But, it didn't. It was a downpour all day ! I did not want to go anywhere this morning. I'm not usually put off by some rain (although some may say I would melt- he he), but I wasn't in the mood to battle it. So I stayed in and played around in the kitchen! It started with breakfast. I wanted an omelette, but was running low in the veggie department. I scrounged around the fridge and found this in the waaaaaay back...



I forgot about this Red Pepper Spread with Eggplant and Garlic from Trader Joes's. I decided to put this in my omelette with 1/2 of a Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge. Wow, what a great combo! The spread is 15 cal. for 1 tbsp. and it is really tasty paired with the cheese. I had an Arnold Sandwich Thin spread with the other 1/2 of Laughing Cow on the side. Delicious and filling; all for 3 Points...

Lunchtime was the start of playtime. I really wanted sweet potatoes for some reason. Maybe I need some vitamin A or beta carotene! I have been toying with the idea of making sweet potato chips, but I haven't found a way to make my sweet potato fries crispy, so I wasn't holding out much hope for the chips version. I cut my potato as thin as possible with my really old plastic mandoline slicer and laid them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I cooked them in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes. They were extremely tasty, however, I had to discard quite a few of them because they were burned. The remaining "chips" were not chippy, more like - chewy. This has been the problem; to get them crisp, they have to be burned! Eeewww. There had to be a better way, I thought. While I pondered this very pressing question, I ate the rest of my lunch which was a ham wrap and a sliced apple...

I felt very healthy after eating this! Lots of color; veg and fruit on the plate. Weight Watchers would be so proud of me and this "filling foods" lunch for 5 Points!

After lunch, there was a ding dong at the door and to my surprise, it was a package for me from Kristi over at Healthy Living ! Look at this stash of awesome Ghiradelli Chocolates and the nice note she sent me...

Thanks, Kristi!

As much as I wanted to dive into that chocolate( there are so many cool flavors that I have never had!), I passed on it today and decided on some pretzel rods and string cheese...

The rain quieted down a bit, so I ventured out for a few errands. While I was out, I found this mandoline. I knew it would be the answer to my sweet potato prayers! I raced home, washed it and got to work slicing paper thin potatoes. This thing is a dream to work with, too. The blade is super sharp, so there was no fighting to slice these guys. I sprayed the slices with cooking spray and salted the heck out of them (I'll watch the salt next time), then laid them on the parchment -lined baking sheets. But, here was my trick. I decided to try and "dehydrate" them in the oven instead of cooking them. I put them in at 200 degrees and let them do their thing in there for about 1 hr. ...

It worked like a charm! They shriveled a little, but the "crispiness" was there! No more soggy, chewy sweet potatoes! Now, I must admit, I was getting a little impatient during this experiment, so when there was about 10 minutes left in the "cooking" process, I beefed up the temp to 350. Bad move; see how they started to burn a bit? They didn't look like that before I upped the temp...

Yeah, patience. It's not a virtue I possess, but I'm working on it :) So, maybe a bit more tweaking, but I'm calling this experiment a crunching success!

Of course, I had to eat them for with dinner ! In addition to the chips, I had a Cha Sui Bao (remember these? It's the last one in my freezer) and some grapes...

And believe it or not, no dessert tonight!! I'm not sick:) Just trying to lay low with the food because I planned on going to my WW meeting and get weighed-in tomorrow. Hopefully all the salted up sweet potatoes won't cause me to retain a small pond before I get on the scale :)

Sweet dreams=)

According To Plan

No need for the coffee pit stop. The Power Pumpkin Pancakes held me to lunch. I love when that happens! I stopped home for lunch and when I walked in the door, I was instantly hungry. I decided to make the quickest thing possible. I went with a turkey and cheese wrap. I used 2 oz. turkey, a slice of 2 % cheese, lettuce and a squirt of dijonnaise all rolled in a La Tortilla Factory Smart and Delicious Tortilla. I also had 2 clementines and a serving of pretzel sticks. A smart and delicious 6 Point lunch...





I've been craving a smoothie, shake or cold drink today, even though it's nippy outside. I used to have smoothies for breakfast, but they just don't hold me long enough. But for a snack, it works out o.k. I was getting ready to pull out the yogurt and fruit, but then I saw my new love, PB2! I thought it would be great in a shake! I was thinking chocolate (of course!) and peanut butter, so here's what I ended up concocting: a PB2 Black and White Shake. These are the top billing stars...

Soy Slender is another awesome product. It is 70 cal., 3 gr. fat and 3 gr. fiber for 1 cup. That is 1 WW Point and it tastes great, even in cereal! So for my shake, I used 1 c. Soy Slender, 2 tbsp. PB2 powder, 1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder and about 6 ice cubes all whizzed up in the blender! That's it, easy and yum for only 2 Points! I took it "to go" and sipped it while driving little daughter to dance class (she demanded I make her one when we got home!)...

Another quickie dinner tonight. I decided to subject the family to eating the delicious Cha Siu Bao that I really like. They put up a fight, but ended up eating it! It's doughy and soft - what's not to like people!!!! Okay, I'll stop yelling :) I made a salad with cucumbers and Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch Dressing. It was just right for a late dinner. A good tasting 6 Point dinner...

Now wait until you see dessert! I remembered I had a couple Deep Chocolate Vitatops in the freezer and I thought it should marry PB2!! I am really getting my fill of this stuff today. I defrosted the Vitatop, mixed up the PB2 and used it as "icing" on the Vitatop. I sprinkled with 1 tsp. mini chocolate chips for cuteness. Can you stand this- and for only 2.5 Points (the .5 Point is the tsp. of mini chips)?? Oh my greatness, if you are a chocolate and peanut butter fan, this is your new best friend...

BFF's =)

Breakfast In A Bag

I had my Weight Watchers meeting this morning and since I was going to weigh-in, I wasn't putting a morsel of food in my mouth until I got off that scale! Every ounce counts, I say. So, I packed up my breakfast to eat at the meeting. I had a slice of Whole Grain Banana Bread, an apple and Eggnoggin Tea with a splash of Vitasoy Holly Nog...


I saved the apple until after the meeting because it is annoying to others to chomp loudly while they are all starving (no one eats before weigh-in!). Plus, there was a general hush in the room since Weight Watchers has rolled out a new plan called Momentum and everyone was trying to listen carefully to make sure they were going to still get every morsel of food coming to them! Thankfully, we all breathed a sigh of relief - no reduction in alloted food consumption, just a new shift in thinking with respect to choosing more filling and healthful foods. A definite good thing. Glad I was able to make it in there today. Weigh in went well, too - lost 2.6 for a total of 67.6 lbs. Whew -almost to 70! Holiday cookies please stay away!!!!!!!!!


I ate a "late for me" lunch. I wasn't sure what I felt like eating and then I remembered the delicious dough boy from last night! I had a Cha Siu Bao(steamed bun), some carrots and a serving of Kettle Baked Potato Chips. I noticed the chips packaging has changed; here's what the new packaging looks like...

The yummy bun(a must try -instant love) with crunch and more crunch...

A happy 6 Point lunch. Who needs cookies :)