Dinner In Advance

No time for a fancy snack since I had to run little daughter to dance. I ended up bringing this bar with me to eat in the car...




This is the best Kashi bar, well, bars -there are actually 2 in the pack. The flavor is mellow, but tastes great. A good 3 POINT treat.



Since tonight is a late night with dance class, I made dinner earlier in the afternoon so it would be ready for when we dashed in. I'm trying to use up some of the things in the fridge and freezer before they expire. We had some ham and salami that was about to go, so I used it to make strombolis for the husband and daughters. I decided on some chili for myself. I got creative by using these instead of ground beef or turkey...

I had these in the freezer and I must say that I do not love these. I have tried them twice so far and they have not impressed me. They are really bland and weird in texture. But, I decided to reinvent them one last time by crumbling them up for chili with onion, green and red peppers, canned tomatoes, chili powder and some kidney beans. I let it simmer for a bit til the flavors came together. I had a bowl of it topped with 1 oz. Cabot 75% Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese and a side of carrot sticks. And I couldn't resist having a slice of the stomboli! I guess that took the place of my brownie dessert tonight!!

No, I can't miss dessert 2 nights in a row! I ended the day of eats the same way I started -with a Vitatop! I had my good old standby - Deep Chocolate Vitatop with PB2...

Gotta love a decadent dessert that's only 2 POINTS!

Off to do some weights - gotta hit my 45 min. -a -day exercise goal!

Have a good night =)

Giving It ... 75%???

I was almost there. Giving it the old college try for getting back on track at dinner. I had meatball subs planned for dinner tonight. The husband and daughters had regular meatballs and I went with the Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs. In trying these for the second time, I have to say they are not my favorite. The texture is soft and the flavor of these guys is just plain bland. I added some of my homemade marinara sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan. It helped, a little. I went with a plain green salad with EVOO and vinegar. An o.k. dinner...

The husband and daughters had tater tots along with their subs and somehow they found their way onto my plate into my mouth! A good handful of them. Ugh! I was almost there; almost back on track.

I cleaned up the dinner dishes and proceeded to make (I know you'll think I have completely lost my mind) chocolate drizzled popcorn!! I was adding it to big daughter's basket of goodies to bring to the teachers. Did I have to do it?? Could I have gotten away with not adding it to the basket?? I think I know the prize winning answers to these questions, however, I get myself on these dumb kicks and then I have to finish it out. So, I made the chocolate drizzled popcorn using lowfat popcorn of course! Isn't that so ridiculous - like it matters - it's covered in chocolate!! Anyway, it came out very good. Don't ask me how I know... :(

Heat and Eat

Tonight's dinner was a heat and eat again. The day was busy and time got away from me. Before I knew it , it was 6:15 and the natives were getting restless. I decided on meatballs that I made and had in the freezer. I nuked them (thank God for the micro) and put them on rolls. Dumped some carrots on their plates with ranch dressing and called it "dinner". Little daughter complained that she hates meatballs and proceeded to eat the entire sandwich! I guess that's the key, starve them so they'll eat what you make!



I didn't want to spend the points on "real" meatballs, so I decided to try out these Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs. A serving is 6 (I'll call them "mini" meatballs -they are smallish) meatballs for 140 cal., 6 gr. fat and 4 gr. fiber...





I am generally a fan of soy-type products. I was even a vegetarian for a while (unfortunately, chocolate and cheese were considered vegetarian, so that didn't work out very well for me in the weight loss department!), so I'm not skittish about trying these types of products. I nuked the 6 little guys in the micro and put them on a roll. Unfortunately, I didn't have any sauce to put on it, so I just squirted a little ketchup. They were fine tasting on the roll. I did try one plain and it was a bit bland; I do think these need some doctoring. But, texture-wise they were good. I'll give them another whirl.


I also ate some carrots and Gram's green beans(had a serving in the freezer) ...

I had room for dessert and bought a few different ice creams earlier today for the husband and daughters . I got some Breyers Fat Free Double Churn Ice Cream in the Caramel Swirl flavor. This tastes AMAZING (even the husband LOVES it AND he KNOWS it's fat free!!). One serving is 1/2 c. , 100 cal., 0 gr. fat, 3 gr. fiber...

I topped it with a Holiday Ginger Cookie...

YUM-E!