Shake It UP

Sorry, I missed last night; things got a little hectic around here and it got too late for me to focus on writing, but I enjoyed catching up on some of your blogs! Also, other than a good 4.2 mile walk, I can't say I was on program yesterday. Lots of snacking went on and not much of an actual meal occurred :( I feel good today though and decided I wasn't going to try so hard, but just let the day come as it may. I wanted to try to listen to my body and take the time to understand when I am hungry and not go by the clock. I've been thinking about making some changes in my program. I haven't come up with exactly what I want to do yet, but I know I need to shake things up a bit! We'll see...


I had a million errands planned for today. We are hosting a family bbq this Sun. and I have lots to get done! I knew there would be no time for my hour long walk or a big breakfast this morning. I went with a simple bowl of Trader Joe's High Fiber O's (3/4 c.) and 2 tbsp. dried cranberries topped with 1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze for 3 POINTS...



I ran to buy some flowers for planting, bought some produce and stopped home to unload the car. Before I ran out again, I made a strawberry crackshake (1 POINT) to go...


Breakfast didn't stay with me very long. I was hungry by 11:30! Normally, I would try to ignore that because it seems too early to eat lunch. I would push it off until 12:30-1:00 and then be famished! Today, I "listened" and prepared my lunch. I was looking forward to it anyway! While getting the daughters ready for school early this morning, I had prepped and baked some tofu to have for lunch. I used a block of Nasoya Firm Lite Tofu that I cut into 5 slices. I dipped 2 slices in Frank's Hot Sauce and the other 3 in barbeque sauce, then baked in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. For today's lunch, I decided on the Baked Buffalo Tofu and made a sandwich (inspired by Kathi's awesome Tofu Reuben). I placed the Baked Buffalo Tofu on 2 slices of TJ's spelt bread with lettuce, tomato and Marie's Chunky Lite Blue Cheese Dressing. OMG, this was so good!!! I used a little extra dressing for carrot dipping and had the finally ripened apriums. They are really great. They remind me of a mini peach; I'm not sure if I detect the apricot, but it's been a long time since I've had a fresh one. I enjoyed them, regardless. A most awesome 5 POINT lunch...

Out the door again for more errands. When the daughters came home from school, it was the ominous snack time. I noticed that I was really hungry for a snack today. Most times, I'm not and I eat one "just in case". I know there are different schools of thought on this. Some say to eat to keep hunger at bay and others say, just eat when you're hungry. So, that's what I did today and I tried to keep my snack healthy and well, just a snack! I think I end up making snacks into a meal-sized portion instead of something that's just enough to get me to the next meal. I mean, really, what is a snack?? I think we forget sometimes. I actually looked it up in the dictionary. Webster's defines snack as : a small portion of food; a bite; a share. Hmmm....interesting. My snacks seem to be like buffets lately- lol! So, with that in mind, I chose some cherries (which I shared with the daughters) and a bite - a Larabite! I made these up yesterday. I took the homemade Larabar recipe (click HERE) and put it in a mini candy cup mold that I had gotten at the craft store. They are meant for making homemade peanut butter cups, but I used them to make these fruit and nut bites! I like the Larabars, but I don't like spending 4 POINTS on one and there is something about only eating half of one that makes me feel unsatisfied. So, I thought if I put them in these little cups, they would feel more like an individual serving instead of "just a half". I know it's silly, but it worked for me. The recipe makes 2 bars, which made 8 bites - 1 POINT each. Perfect "snack" ...

And I couldn't resist making another crackshake! This was a knockoff Mocha Frap. I'll call it a Mocka Frap! Gosh, I'm loopy today! I used 1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze, 1 tbsp. instant espresso powder, 1 tbsp. sugar-free fat-free chocolate fudge pudding mix and 7 ice cubes for 1 POINT...

Dinner was burgers and brussels! Can you believe there are no fries on my plate? Instead, I opted for some roasted brussel sprouts which were fantastic! I used 96% lean beef for the burgers, topped it with a slice of Weight Watchers Pepperjack Cheese and served with lettuce, pickles and ketchup on a Honey Wheat Bun. A delicious and filling 8 POINT dinner...

I debated with myself on whether or not to have dessert. I really wasn't hungry. It's okay to not have dessert, I said to myself! But the "horns" came out, so here's what I chose...

How's that for shakin It up??!!! I feel good about my choices today. It was refreshing to listen to my body and just trying to be relaxed about the whole thing. I'm also glad that my body wasn't calling for brownies and chocolate chip cookies! Cuz, I might have listened to that;)

I'd like to leave you with a Question of the Day: Do you eat meals because it's the right "time" (i.e. lunchtime, dinnertime)according to the clock or do you try to eat whenever you are hungry regardless of time?

Less Sucky

I was less sucky today. Primarily because of you guys! I am so thankful for your wonderful, supportive comments. It really did help me out today when I felt like grabbing handfuls of snacks. Thank you, thank you!

The day started off well with a filling 3 POINT breakfast of a Thomas' Light English Muffin with a Laughing Cow Light Cheese wedge and another Strawberry Milkshake made with 1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze, 4 strawberries, 1 tbsp. sugar free-fat free vanilla pudding dry mix and ice. It is serious addiction material. Just ask Kelly! I am now going to call them crackshakes. Thanks again for the new addiction, Becca!

After breakfast, I headed to a local trail to walk. I decided to get back to walking for a while. I love running, but my left hip has been sore for a couple of weeks now and I'm worried about the impact of running contributing to more damage. Just as I arrived, I ran into a friend that I haven't seen in a while (HI Sharray!), so we walked together (along with her little guy in stroller) for an hour. It flew by with all of our gabbing and before I knew it, we had gotten in a nice 4.2 mile walk!

When I got home, I immediately felt like munching. But, you guys helped out with that, so I make it through with a couple of small pretzels and a taste of these...

Apriums! These are a cross between an apricot and a plum. I think they will be really good, but not today. They weren't ripe enough. So, more on those later when they taste better :)

For lunch, I fished these out of the freezer...

These are a new find for me. I got them a while back in my local Super G (Giant). They looked yummy and the nutritionals were great: 2 pieces are 110 calories, 3 gr. fat and 3 gr. fiber which is 2 POINTS. I decided to make 4 bites to have along with a salad. I haven't had a salad for lunch in ages. I thought I would doctor up my plain salad with some of this...

Decent facts, too...


I wasn't sure what to expect of this marinated bean salad, but it was terrific! It was flavorful enough that I didn't even need to add dressing to my salad! A first for me! I used 1/4 c. of the bean salad on top of romaine with carrot slices and had my 4 spinach bites on the side for a 5 POINT lunch...

When the daughters got home from school, I told them we were going out for a special treat! It was such a beautiful day, I didn't want to spend it inside. I loaded them in the car along with our dog, Rocky for our adventure. Our first stop was for more "crack"; a Grande Mocha Lite Frappuccino for 2 POINTS.... (the daughters loved it, too!)

Then, it was off to the park for a walk through the wooded trail. We had such a great time, walking, talking about our day and drinking fraps! Rocky enjoyed his walk, too...

When we got home, I went to work on dinner. I made steaks on the grill seasoned with a homemade taco seasoning. The seasoning is awesome; tastes just like the packets without all the weird ingredients in it. I found the recipe HERE. I topped the steaks with salsa and a tbsp. of guacamole. Along with those , some crinkle potato wedges and a salad with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch. A great 8 POINT dinner on the deck...

I didn't have a dessert so far. I may go for my usual Vitatop or I may just leave it alone for tonight. I'm already out of the kitchen, so I may as well stay out!

Before I go, I wanted to announce the winner of the FitNutz giveaway! The winner is...Stacey of Dill My Pickle !! Stacey, please email me your address and your FitNutz packs will be on their way! Thanks to all who entered!

Have a great night everyone and thank you again for all your support =)

Recipes Galore And A Giveaway

Hi blog friends! Thanks for coming back tonight! I had a busy weekend and it was nice to finally relax a little today. I've got a couple things to catch you up on, so I'll get right to it. First up, remember these guys...


They are the Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Glaze that I came up with for the BSI challenge this week. Lara over at Thinspired is hosting this week's challenge and since it was my first time entering, I wasn't sure if I should post the recipe first, but Lara says it's A-OK. So here's the recipe for those....(by the way, little daughter LOVES these!)...



Chocolate Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Glaze

3 egg whites
1 large banana, mashed
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons skim milk, room temp
2 teaspoons peanut butter, melted


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat egg whites, banana and sugar. Add milk, vanilla and oil and beat for 2 minutes on low speed. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients until fully combined. The batter will be very thin.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, scoop batter and pour into 12 cup muffin tin lined with paper liners until all are filled. If not using liners, spray tin well with cooking spray.

Bake cupcakes for 12 minutes. Do not overbake! Let cool on wire rack.
After cupcakes are completely cool, prepare glaze. Place 2 teaspoons of peanut butter in a small microwave bowl and microwave for about 20-30 seconds until melted into liquid. Combine powdered sugar, milk and melted peanut butter and whisk until smooth. Top each cupcake with 1 tablespoon of glaze.

Makes 12 cupcakes.
Each cupcake with glaze comes to 137 calories with 2 grams of fat and 2 grams of fiber. (Nutritional data calculated using calorieking.com)






I didn't get a chance to exercise yesterday, so I was really itching to run this morning. I was about to head out, but it was raining so I was banished to the treadmill. It turned out to be a great 40 minute run while watching mindless tv shows -love it!

I wasn't too hungry for breakfast after that, so I decided on a liquid breakfast. No, not that kind ;) I was dying to try the "milkshake" that the brilliant Becca came up with, so I got the blender going. I used 1/2 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze, 2 tbsp. sugar-free, fat-free vanilla pudding mix, 4 large sliced strawberries and about 6 ice cubes. OMG!!! It was terrific! A really sweet Strawberry Milkshake for 2 POINTS (really less - I think it's 1 POINT with the almond breeze)...

Surprisingly, the milkshake kept me full until lunch, but then I got hungry all at one time. That's been happening a lot lately...hmmm. Anyway, I put together a sammie with 1/4 cup Spinach Artichoke Hummus, slice of turkey and lettuce on an Arnold Sandwich Thin. I went with some leftover sweet potato fries and carrots for a side. A tasty 5 POINT lunch...

Later in the afternoon, we went for a family hike in the woods. We huffed it through the trail and up a huge hill at a pretty good pace. Not as good as our dog, Rocky, though. We were amazed at how he runs at top speed for the entire 40 minutes!

When we got back, I set to work on dinner. I had prepared some dough earlier to make naan. Naan is an east Indian flatbread that is similar to a pita, but has a more chewy, doughy texture. I believe it is traditionally made with white flour, but I decided to try it using whole wheat. Click Here for the recipe that I used (put through WW Recipe Builder for your POINTS convenience :)

And the end result...

I also made some honey barbeque chicken thighs on the grill and sauteed zucchini with garlic and parmesan...

My plate for 8 POINTS...

and I couldn't help taking another half of naan. It's so good!

For dessert, I went with my standard for 2 POINTS...

But, there's a twist! Instead of using my usual PB2, I tried a new (to me) similar product called FitNutz. It is a low calorie, low fat powdered peanut butter that you reconstitute with water. It is a great bargain at only 1 POINT, like the PB2. I do have to say that I did notice a difference in taste between this product and PB2. I didn't feel that FitNutz had as prominent a peanut flavor as the PB2. It's odd because it is just peanuts, sugar and salt. Maybe my tastebuds were off today! So, with that said, I'll let YOU be the judge! I have 3 individual serving packets to give away! This product is available in regular, chunky and pro (which contains more essential fatty acids) and I'm giving away one of each to ONE lucky winner...

All you need to do is leave me a comment! And since I'm shipping, ANYONE can enter this time - whooo hooo Canada/overseas friends! I'll choose a winner (using random.org) on Tuesday, May 19.

Thanks for reading and hope you all had a wonderful weekend!