Shopping Escapades

What a day! I have been running around since early this morning. I had to be at big daughter's school by 7:45 for a presentation that she was giving on "Women I Admire" and she chose me! Very sweet and I was very dorky and teary the whole time. I am retaining a copy of the essay and making extra copies, laminating them and wallpapering her room with them when she turns 16. Just as a reminder for when she is banished to her room for saying, I hate you and the classic, You're soooooo mean! Not that I am expecting any of that to happen with her - she is very sweet and will remain so I'm sure. But, you always gotta have backup ;)

Anywho, I brought a Banana Date Breakfast Cookie with me since I knew I wouldn't be coming home for a long time after the presentation. A good portable 2 POINT breakfast...

After the presentation, I headed straight to one of the million stores I had on my list for the day. I needed to shop for summer clothes/bathing suits for the daughters and myself. I don't think I mentioned this yet, but we are going on a family trip to Florida and we all need updated summer things. I am thankful and happy that not many of my clothes fit from last summer. Some shirts are fine, but no bottoms fit. But for some reason, shopping was not a joyous event. I don't know what has happened to me, but I seriously dislike shopping. I KNOW! It's crazy! The only logical explanation I have is that the husband has been hypnotizing me while I sleep, chanting...you hate shopping...don't spend money...shopping is baaaad. If you knew him, you would know this could happen =] In the midst of my shopping torture, I stopped for an apple snack that I had stored in my handbag...

Two pairs of capris, a skirt, a shirt and two bathing suits(not mine) later, I was able to head home for a late lunch. I toasted a Kim's Light Bagel and topped it with baby spinach, roasted peppers and 3 sliced mini mozzarella balls. A side of carrots and a wonderfully ripe plum made up this terrific belated 5 POINT lunch...

A little later, I was feeling hungry, so I decided to have a real deal Larabar...

After making my homemade Larabar, I was interested to see how close they were in taste. I ate 1/2 which is 2 POINTS for the real deal and the homemade. Here's what the real Larabar looks like...

It was terrific and basically identical to the homemade recipe. Now seeing the real Larabar, I realized that I processed the almonds too much when I made it- there should be more chunks than when I made it. Since many of you have asked, here is the link to the recipe I used: http://www.cleaneatingonline.comhttp//www.cleaneatingonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=59:larabar-recipe&catid=39:snack-recipes&Itemid=59
Awesome stuff!

Dinner was chicken mushroom stroganoff using leftover chicken from last night. I used 3 oz. chicken breast and mixed it with a mushroom thyme sauce that I made from ...
I put the mixture over 2 oz. whole wheat noodles. It was a huge portion...


add a delicious green salad ...

And it was one filling 9 POINT dinner! But, you know, I always save room for dessert even when I go shopping for bathing suits and have scarred my retinas...

I still have no bathing suit :( Can't commit. But, I DO have chocolate marshmallow frozen yogurt :)

Have a great night =)

Awards And The Carb Party!

I received this terrific award from my buddy, Kelly over at Happy Texans and I was so excited! What a great way to start the day!!


When receiving this award, you must list 7 things you love and pass the award on to 7 bloggers. My list of loves goes like this...

1. the husband
2. the kids
3. all the family
4. cooking
5. blogging!
6. reading
7. exercising (huh???-a new love for me!)

Blogging and being a part of the blog community has been such a blast! There are so many great ones; here's a few that I'm passing the award to...

• Cooking with Kate
• Fat Fitness Food
• Living Life Happy and Healthy
• Mom on the Run
• My Journey
• Snippets and Bites
• The Incredible Shrinking Family

Now that the award show is over, let's get to the party! The carb party that is. I have been craving carbs all day! It started with breakfast...

A Kim's Light Everything Bagel with Laughing Cow Cheese and a small dish of cantaloupe and blueberries for 4 POINTS...

Then I hit the treadmill for a 20 min.weighted walk (18 lbs.!) and another 20 min. weighted elliptical workout. I also did 20 tricep dips off my weight bench - whew, those are tough!

I put off my errands because it was just too dreary and rainy to go out today! The cold and dampness really gets to me lately. I hung around the house and worked on my closet of "expired" clothes! I have been getting rid of 13 years of clothes that don't fit any longer. Kinda fun, but kinda scary at the same time.

When lunchtime rolled around, I definitely wanted some type of sandwich. I decided on an eggplant meatball wrap made with Dominex eggplant meatballs, 1 tbsp. marinara sauce, 2 tbsp. lite shredded mozzarella in a La Tortilla Factory Smart and Delicious Wrap. I paired it with 2 oz. leftover sweet potato fries (and ketchup!) and a fuji apple for a yummy 7 POINT lunch...



Dreary days = munchies. This afternoon they were in full force. I decided to have a snack with lot of crunch (and carbs); Kashi TLC 7 Grain Crackers and 2 tbsp. PB2 for 3 POINTS...

It was dance night with little daughter, so breakfast for dinner was the way to go. I wasn't in the mood to fuss with making something fancy for myself, so I had the same. I went with a "fried" whole egg plus one white, center cut bacon, an Arnold Sandwich Thin with Laughing Cow Cheese and 1 c. cantaloupe for a 6 POINT brinner....

Mmmm...I forgot how awesome whole eggs are; haven't had one in a while! I'm posting a bit earlier than normal tonight, so no dessert pic. Not sure if I'll have one or not. Maybe I'll just have more BREAD!!!! Mmmmm......I heart Carbs <3

Have a great night!!!

Excellent

I got on the scale this morning and I am up 1.2 lbs. Excellent. Whoooo Hoooo. I am doing a great job. Of gaining weight. Excellent, really excellent.



Okay, I got over it because really I can't get bummed about it when I know that I am not doing my best. The afternoon snacking has gone way out of bounds and apparently, my exercise is not making up for it. My body didn't want nor does it need those extra snacks and it's letting me know about it. So, I just have to try better that's all. I went out for a run this morning. It was 30 min. and a bit weak, but I think the dreary weather and my bummed out mood contributed to that. When I came in, I talked myself out of going to my Weight Watcher meeting this morning. I knew I didn't want to weigh-in, so I figured I would just skip it. But, I talked myself back into it because I knew that I should go to the meeting; even when I'm not doing my best something always speaks to me during the meeting and helps me refocus. That was true again today. The meeting focused on emotional eating, stress eating, eating "just because" and how to change/find alternatives to those behaviors. HELLO!!!!!! Just what I needed. I also spent some time talking to a Lifetime member after the meeting (Hi Chris!!). We talked about the trials and tribulations of getting the last 10 pounds off and she gave me lots of insight into what maintenance is like. I am so looking forward to it!!!

On to the food... (warning- it's weird today and not exactly healthy)

I had a quick breakfast in the car on the way to my meeting of a Kim's Light Bagel topped with Laughing Cow Light Cheese for 3 POINTS...


I had to stop at the supermarket after the meeting. While I was there, I was starting to get hungry and picked up a bag of "puffy" pretzels. I opened it and snacked on a few. Hundred. Did I learn nothing this morning???!!!! When I got home, I was still munching on them although I decided to put them in a bowl instead of eating out the bag. I also had a lite string cheese and a new Weight Watchers Cookies and Cream 1 POINT bar....

I blew it. I really blew it with all those pretzels. But, instead of classifying it as a "binge" and continuing to crank out the food, I decided I would figure out how much I ate and count it so I would know for sure how the rest of my week would need to play out. But, how do you figure handful after handful of pretzels? I decided to weigh what was left in the bag and deduct it from the net weight of the pretzels. Whoa. I ate 5 1/2 servings out of a 10 serving bag. And because my POINT slider doesn't go that high, I had to plug in the numbers on Etools POINTS Calculator. It was 605 cal., 2.75 gr. fat and 5 gr. fiber. Guess what that equals??? I literally closed my eyes as I clicked on the Calculate button and peeked through my fingers. 12 POINTS. 12 POINTS!!! For pretzels!!!! Ugh. Add in the string cheese and cookies and cream bar and I spent 14 POINTS for this chow fest. But, then a lightbulb went off. I still have 5 POINTS left for the day! And I didn't even touch my Weekly Allowance Points yet either. So, even though I felt like I blew my day/week out of the water with eating a half bag of pretzels, I didn't. That was EXCELLENT!!!!!

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing homework and then I headed out for dance class with little daughter. Instead of sitting around chatting with the moms for an hour, I decided to run for another 20 min. in the parking complex. I still had time to come in to chat before the girls were done, so it worked out great! No, Excellent :)

But what do you do with only 5 POINTS for dinner? I planned on hot dogs and black bean soup for tonight and I was able to fit that into my budget for myself. I had a Dietz and Watson Gourmet Lite Beef Frank on a light bun, 1 c. black bean soup and carrots with a tbsp. homemade almond butter for all 5 POINTS...

None left for dessert, but I'll manage ;) I don't want to dig into the WAP yet, gotta save them for some parties this weekend.

I'm glad I figured things out today. It really changed my outlook and I feel a bit stronger again, like I can refocus and stay on track. Which is most excellent =)

Parties And Birthdays And Friends, Oh My

This has been a fun weekend! Yesterday, the weather was beautiful, so I went for a 5K run in the morning. Then, it was off to big daughter's basketball championship game which was so exciting! Mom, Dad and Gram came to cheer her on and we were jumping out of our seats, yelling and cheering! They won and had a celebratory pizza party following the game, which I ducked out of to take little daughter to a friend's house to play. I headed home to make ESPRESSO BROWNIES to bring to the neighbor's St. Patrick's Day party that night. No pics. Trust me, you do NOT even want to see these!!! They sprout instant devil horns, tempting you to do the unmentionable. Pretend you NEVER heard of these - *fingers in ears* lalalalala :0) I was so busy getting everything together and everyone where they needed to be, that before I knew it, it was time to go to the party and I hadn't eaten dinner first as planned - DARN! It was a great party; lots of fun and FOOD, but I was so chatty that I ended up only DRINKING MY DINNER - haha!!! Mmmmm...margaritas are VERY nutritious ;)

It was a late night, but I felt pretty good this morning...considering. I started my morning with a non-liquid breakfast of a Kim's Light Bagel topped with a Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge and 2 hard boiled egg whites for 4 POINTS...



I did a measly 30 min. on the elliptical. Soon after, I was ready for lunch. I went with a Buffalo Turkey Burger cooked on the George Foreman Grill, served on an Arnold Sandwich Thin with lettuce and 1 tbsp. Marie's Lite Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing. Delish! I had a side of Kettle Baked Hickory Barbeque Potato Chips and a Fuji apple. An awesome 8 POINT lunch...


I spent the rest of the afternoon prepping for my friend, Coleen's birthday dinner. Her daughters came over to play with the daughters and I had them all stay for a Birthday Celebration! I made Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken in a white wine sauce. To make this, I cut a pocket in boneless chicken breasts and stuffed it with my Spinach Artichoke Dip (this dip is one of C's faves), then browned the chicken, covered and cooked it through. Then, I made a white wine sauce with a bit of light butter, flour, garlic, chicken broth and white wine and poured it over the cooked chicken. Yummy! I served this with roasted sweet potatoes, roasted asparagus with lemon zest, leftover cheese stuffed zucchini, garlic and thyme roasted mushrooms and amazing Italian bread. A happy 12 POINT dinner...

The birthday cake was a homemade angelfood cake topped with strawberry syrup and fat free whipped topping. I made the strawberry syrup using 1/2 c. of Smucker's Sugar Free Strawberry Jam melted down in a saucepan and added fresh sliced strawberries. Amazing! A "berry friendly" ;) 2 POINT dessert...

It was a great weekend! Lots of fun with family and friends. I'm coming down from the excitement now and fading fast! I'm going to clock out and get some sleep, but look forward to catching up with everyone's blogs tomorrow! Hope you all had a rockin weekend :)

Putzerella

You know how when you're sick, you just don't feel like eating?? Okay, well explain that one to me because I have NO IDEA what that is like!!! I woke up feeling blah with a scratchy throat and yet, could not wait to eat my breakfast! I would need full blown bubonic plague to not be able to eat and that might not even do it!!



I gave my body its fuel; a delicious Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin with 1 tbsp. lite cream cheese (and a huge cup of green tea!) for 3 POINTS...





Then, I putzed. Cleaned a couple things here and there, did a load of laundry and putzed some more. I didn't have much energy for anything. It was such a nice bright sunny day and for a second, I thought I might go for a run. I quickly decided against it - too taxing for my body in my weakened state ;) But, the need to exercise was looming over me so I popped in the Shred! Whew, I DO NOT miss Jillian ;) Still rough as ever, although I can rock a push-up now!



Soup was on the menu for lunch today. I had planned to make this Stuffed Pepper Soup yesterday, but never got around to it. It's a tasty soup; actually reminds me a lot of chili without the beans. I think I may morph it into a chili by adding some beans and chili spices to it next time I eat it. Here's what you'll need to make it...

• 1 lb. 96% lean ground beef
• 1 c. finely chopped onion
• 1 c. chopped green pepper
• 1 (14oz. can) diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz. can) tomato sauce
• 1 c. fat free beef broth
• 3 c. water
• 1 c. cooked brown rice
• 1/2 tsp. chopped basil
• 1/2 tsp. chopped dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper

1. Brown beef with onion in a large pot sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Add in remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered for 30 min.
3. Makes 6 servings - 3 POINTS per serving.

Along with my soup, I had a Golden Corn Vitatop and cantaloupe slices for 5 POINTS...

I was missing some crunch though, so I had a serving of TJ's Sour Cream and Onion Rice Chips for another 2 POINTS...

Then, more putzing. I actually got back in bed and soaked in the sun coming into my bedroom. Reminded me of 'the good ol days', when I was young and barely did anything, but still took naps on the weekend! *singing* Memories.......of the way we were...... Gotta love Babs:)

Back to my usual snack of Weight Watchers Yogurt topped with a serving of TJ's long name cereal for 2 POINTS...

I finally got my rear in gear to take little daughter to dance. I had planned on breakfast for dinner for the husband and daughters. There were squeals of delight, which I don't get because they just had breakfast for breakfast so what is the big deal??? But, it's easy for me, so I won't complain:) I wanted Spinach Artichoke Dip. Appetizer for dinner? I guess I'm just as bad!! So, I whipped up this dip for dipner (hehe)...

• 2 tbsp. minced red onion
• 7 oz. bag baby spinach
• 3/4 c. chopped artichoke hearts (not marinated)
• 4 wedges Laughing Cow Light Cheese
• 2 tsp. Hidden Valley Ranch dry dip mix (packet)
• 4 tsp. grated parmesan cheese
• 3 tbsp fat free sour cream
• 2 tsp. lemon juice

1. Saute onion in nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Add artichoke hearts.
2. Add cheeses and stir until melted. Stir in sour cream and dry dip mix until heated through.
3. Take off heat and add in lemon juice.
4. Makes 4 (1/3 c.)servings - 2 POINTS

I used the dip to top a Kim's Light Bagel and had a side of carrots and a Fuji apple for a great 5 POINT dinner...

And for dessert....Banana Cream Pie! Oh yeah! I whirred one whole graham cracker sheet in a mini processor until finely crumbled, added in 2 tsp. melted light butter, pressed the cracker mixture into a small ramekin to form an even crust. Then, added 1/2 c. Jello Banana Cream Sugar Free Fat Free Pudding (made from the box) and topped it with 2 tbsp. fat free Reddi Whip. A yummy 3 POINTS....

Well, it was a day of accomplishing nothing around here. I was Putzerella. But, I am feeling better; I think I killed the cold with B-12 and Vitamin C :) Thanks to everyone for the well wishes, too!!!

One more thing before I go....

I got a Blog Award!!! What a surprise! I have no speech planned, DARN! My BWWF (Best Weight Watcher Forever!) Heather - the ww chick sent me this cool award! Thanks, Heather - you are so awesome and my IDOL!!! I'll continue the blog award love and send this off to Angie of Angie All The Way. She has lost an amazing 130 lbs., is a team leader for the Biggest Loser Blog Edition and has a wonderful inspirational blog!

Have a great night everyone!

Putzerella...out :)

Behind The Times

I feel a bit messed up from the time change. I got a late start this morning since it is now dark again. I never feel like getting out of bed when it's like that! I did some things around the house and read a little and before I knew it, it was almost 11 a.m.! Time for breakfast! I wanted another one of the grocery goodies my Mom brought me...







Another low POINT bagel! These are called Kim's Light Bagels . They are made by a woman named Kim Bensen who has lost over 200 lbs. on the Weight Watchers Program. Her story is so inspiring and her bagels are delicious! My Mom picked me up the Everything flavor which is 110 cal., 1.5 gr. fat and 4 gr. fiber which is 2 POINTS. She does make other flavors that are only 1 POINT, too. I had mine toasted and topped with 1 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge and a sliced orange for 4 POINTS...

For lunch, I made a veggie tofu scramble. Don't say, "eeewwww"! It was really good! I made good use of leftover veggies, too. I took a 1/2 block of Nasoya Lite Tofu , crumbled and sauteed it in a nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray. To that, I added some leftover chopped grilled zucchini and leftover roasted potato, peppers and onions. When everything was heated through, I mixed in a slice of 2% cheese until it was all melty. Sooooo veggie-licious for 4 POINTS...

If you're scared of tofu, try it in a scramble. It takes on the consistency of a scrambled egg and really doesn't have much flavor on it's own, so it takes on the flavor of whatever you season it with. A few years ago when I "dabbled" in vegetarianism, I had tofu scrambles all the time for breakfast or lunch. It really is yummy!

I fit in another favorite snack this afternoon: Weight Watchers Strawberry yogurt and THAT Trader Joe's cereal for 2 POINTS...

I finally got around to doing my exercise. Instead of another 5K, I hit the basement for a pumpin 35 min. on the elliptical while reading, Intuitive Eating. I began reading this book a few weeks ago and I have been enlightened by the principles in this book. So eye-opening! My sister from another mister, Angie is currently reading this book also and has been doing some great recaps and self-discovery posts. Check it out; it's so interesting!

Dinner was a family favorite: Philly Cheesesteaks! I made some homemade baked fries ( I love my mandoline!!) and a big salad with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch to go with it. A yum-o 9 POINT din din...

After dinner, I "un-intuitively" (it's a word now!) ate 2 Hershey's kisses and another small chocolate that I, um, "forgot" to take a picture of ;D. So, to finish out my dessert, I had some tea and a Weight Watchers Chocolate Chip Cookie ( 1 POINT)...

Not too shabby, today. I feel a little off kilter with the time change, but I like that it is light longer in the evening! I'm off to catch up on that whopping hour of sleep that I lost; hey, every bit counts right?! Have a great night and good zzzz's!!