Tempting Tea Time

Hi blog friends! I have to make it quick tonight as I promised big daughter she could get some computer time in before bed.

I slept in a little this morning - 7:30 a.m. Funny that I call that "sleeping in". It is still early as all get out, if you ask me! How I wish for the days when my daughters will be cranky teenagers and want to sleep until noon! Yeah, right;) Anyway, since I lollygagged (is that really a word??) around this morning, I got hungry and ate breakfast before my workout. I went with an unconventional turkey sandwich on an Ezekiel english muffin for 3 POINTS...


A little while after, I hopped on the elliptical for a huffy 30 min. I amped up the resistance gauge to toughen up the workout since I knew I only had time for a 30 min. stint. Mission accomplished! I was huffing after 2 minutes!

Then, it was off to shower and dress for a Ladies Tea that the daughters and I were going to this afternoon. I knew there would be lots of tempting goodies, so I decided to eat something before I went so that I wouldn't be starving and overindulge. I had a hummus pita which was 2 tbsp hummus (I revamped the recipe using only 2 tsp. oil, so it is only 1 POINT now), lettuce and pickles (a la Sharon )stuffed in a Weight Watchers 1 POINT pita. I also had a cup of sweet cantaloupe for a nice mini 3 POINT lunch...

The Ladies Tea was held at the husband's old Christian school and sponsored by a ladies group that does fundraising for the school. It is a yearly event and my mother-in-law is always so kind to treat us to this event. The gynasium is tranformed into a "tea room" with fancy tables, antique dolls, clothing, doll furniture and other Victorian-type items. The food is presented on a line of tables that must reach 30+ feet. Here is just half of it...

Many goodies donned these tables including a huge variety of tea sandwiches, brownies, cookies, scones, cheesecakes, iced cakes, nuts, fruit, puddings and candies. It was a bad, bad place. Thankfully, I had my "mini lunch" or I would have went nuts! I ended up taking a cucumber sandwich, fruit, and 4 little bites - 2 brownie, one oatmeal raisin cookie and one oatmeal bar...

Not sure how to count those guys. I'm thinking about 5 POINTS.

And I had a lovely cup of Bigelow Pomegranate Pizzazz tea. Delish....

It was a wonderful time shared with my mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, the daughters, Mom and Gram:)

After much chatting and a few errands on the way home, we got back just in time for me to make dinner! I made raviolis for the husband and daughters with a side of garlic and oil green beans. I searched around for something low POINT for myself and came up with this...

I blogged about this before here. I am a fan of this Lean Cuisine. The fish is delicious and even the pasta is fairly good (being Italian, I am not one to eat frozen pasta meals - it's a sacrilege!). I paired this with a side of garlic green beans for a fantastic 7 POINT dinner...

I felt like having dessert tonight, so I went with a serving of Turkey Hill Chocolate Marshmallow Frozen Yogurt for 2 POINTS...

Big daughter is giving me the hairy eyeball, so I will relinquish the computer to her so that she can participate in brain cell dissolving IMing with her friends:) Don't ya LOVE technology???

Happy Spring...I Think

Today is the first day of Spring -yay!!! Wouldn't know it by the weather...brrr. I had trouble sleeping last night, too because I was so cold. The husband tried to use his furnace-powered body to warm me, but even that didn't work. He thinks it's all in my head. He actually lies on top of the covers while I am snuggled under 2 blankets wearing sweats and socks. I would wear a parka if it wasn't so uncomfortable to sleep in. I look like I'm in Anartica, he looks like he's on the beach. I'm fairly certain he will spontaneously combust one day. Anywho, I braved the cold outside this morning and went for a lame-o 30 min. run. I say lame-o because I felt weak while I was running. Not sure why, maybe it's the running every day that is doing it. I think I will take a day off from running tomorrow and do the elliptical instead. I'll see what I'm feeling like in the a.m.

After my run, I had a delicious breakfast of a mock egg mcmuffin made with an Ezekiel English Muffin, egg white, slice of canadian bacon and a slice of 2 % cheese for 4 hearty POINTS...




I spent the rest of the morning doing lots of errands and couldn't wait to come home to this yummy Chicken BLT salad...

I used 2 oz. chicken, 2 slices of center-cut bacon (50 cal), lettuce, tomato and 1 tbsp. of Kraft Light Three Cheese Dressing. It is one of my favorite salads and only 4 POINTS!

I needed some crunch with that, so I had a serving of 96% fat free New York Style Mini Bagel Chips for 1 POINT...

I still felt a little hungry after that, so I cut up some perfectly ripe cantaloupe and added a few blueberries for 1 POINT...

I hung out with the daughters for a bit after school, then went through a bunch of old cooking mags and pulled tons of recipes. I'm such a recipe hound! I have 3 binders full and now, I just started a "try-me" folder that I will keep out and hopefully, do some advance meal planning with. I would love to be that organized!!

It was Pizza Night for dinner and I was not fretting one bit! I was really looking forward to my Margherita Flatbread pizza. I used one of the flatbreads that I made the other day and topped it with 1 tsp. garlic oil, sliced tomato and 3 small mozzarella balls sliced and a sprinkle of fresh basil. I put it in the oven for about 10 min. until the cheese was melted. YUM-O! I had some carrots and cantaloupe for a super tasty 7 POINT dinner...

Ah, and finally, an old friend...

I've missed my Vitatop/PB2 dessert!! It is always so filling and hits the spot! Gram's birthday is coming up and we are celebrating this weekend; I think I'll bring my Vita dessert so I won't be tempted to eat the regular cake!!! Hold me to that, okay??????

Have a great night everyone!!!!!

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 =)

Like Butta

Spring is on its way! I can feel it! I love when the sun is shining in the morning; the first thing I think of is going for a run outside. I decided to wait to get the daughters off to school (so much for my early routine!) then headed out. I only ran for 30 min. because I had to get myself ready to meet up with Mom and Gram later. But, it was a glorious 30 min. of Vitamin D!! I am going to try to run everday this week. Did anyone catch Laura on the Biggest Loser last night saying that if you want to lose weight, Jillian would say to do a lot of running??? That's all I needed to hear! I'm on it Jil :)

After my run, I had a lovely breakfast of whole wheat raisin soda bread and an apple with 1 tbsp. homemade almond butter. LOVE this! The husband and big daughter are diggin the almond butter, too. I have to make more! A pleasing 4 POINT breakfast...

I went to meet up with the ladies for some shopping. We stopped for a quick lunch at Chick-fil-A. I had the Southwestern Chargrilled Chicken Salad with fat free Honey Mustard Dressing. It also came with a packet of honey roasted sunflower seeds and tortilla strips. I used half the dressing and half of the seed and tortilla packets. It was a surprisingly filling 7 POINT lunch...

I got the daughters from school and headed home for munch time!!! This is always my worst time of day - remember Pavlov's dogs???!!! I got smart today and remembered a great filling and voluminous snack - POPCORN! Duh, I don't know why I don't have this more often! It's a great munchie snack and low POINT. I have the Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop 100 calorie bags of both the regular and kettle corn flavor. I opted for the kettle corn and fancied it up even more by making it Chocolate Cinnamon Popcorn! I mixed a 4 serving box of sugar free, fat free Jello Chocolate Pudding with 2 tsp. ground cinnamon. After microwaving the popcorn bag, I sprayed the popcorn with cooking spray and sprinkled on a couple tbsp. of the chocolate cinnamon mix. Yummy 2 POINT snack...

I got another trampoline workout with the daughters and then, "prepared" dinner. I use that term loosely because I mainly heated up a bunch of leftover items in the fridge and freezer! I had a 3 oz. baked chicken tender, 7 0z. (total) of sweet potatoes and roasted potatoes and 2 measly broccoli florets. Part way through my dinner, I squirted some ketchup on my sweet potatoes - where has that been all my life!!!! That was soooo good! A delightful 7 POINT dinner...

And for dessert...nada. Well, that's not entirely true. I made some more almond butter and took a spoonful to "taste test". I am loving this stuff and so is the family! So, that was my 2 POINT dessert. I'm thinking about doing either an afternoon snack or a dessert, but not both for this week. I'll see if that helps me out any in staying On Program and getting the scale moving in the right direction...

Have a good night!

Which Way Is Down???

I was back to my normal early morning workout today. I did 40 min. on the elliptical before getting little daughter off to school. I really like that routine; I'm not sure why I got away from it the past few weeks. It's so good to be done by 7:45 a.m. and ready to start the day!

I dreamed of almond butter last night! Crazy, right?? Food is always on the brain and, unfortunately, on my thighs, too :) I incorporated the dreamy homemade almond butter into my breakfast by topping a Weight Watcher's Petite Bagel with it. I had some sliced banana on the side (probably would have been good on top, too) for 4 POINTS...

I had a craving for flatbread pizza after seeing the delicious recipes in the book, The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great. I decided to try out the quick flatbread dough recipe which was so easy. I used a mix of whole wheat and bread dough to make these and they were terrific! They resemble a crispy tortilla, but a tiny bit thicker. I'll be making these and using them a lot. Here's the recipe so you can, too:

• 1 cup bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 c. warm water, plus extra if necessary
• 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Mix flour and salt in food processor. Mix water and oil and pour over the flour mixture; process to form a soft dough ball. If dough is too stiff, process in another tbsp. if warm water. Continue to process until dough is well kneaded, about 15 seconds. With floured hands, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into quarters (*I did three). Working with one quarter at a time, toll dough out to about a 12 by 4 inch rectangle, dusting with flour and turning as necessary to keep it from sticking. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment or a silicone mat. Top with favorite toppings and bake.

I rolled these out and prebaked them, that way I can have them ready made for instant pizza! Each flatbread is 2 POINTS if you get 4 breads and 3 POINTS if you get 3 breads. A great bargain!

I topped mine with 3 tbsp. of homemade pizza sauce, chopped red and green peppers, garlic thyme mushrooms and 1/3 c. Weight Watcher's Shredded Mozzarella then baked it at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. Delish!!!!! The possibilities are endless for these! There are many amazing sounding combos in the book, too. I'm excited to try them all!

I had a bowl of berries on the side for a wonderful, filling 7 POINT lunch...

Isn't that yummy??!!!

I got in a little trampoline jumping with the daughters, then got a St. Patty's Day dinner going. I made flat cut corned beef (MUCH lower in calories and fat), roasted red potatoes, roasted broccoli and a whole wheat raisin soda bread. The soda bread was only 2 POINTS per slice and was a big hit with the husband and daughters!

My plate was 4 oz. corned beef, 4 oz. potatoes, 1 c. broccoli and a slice of soda bread for a 9 POINT feast...

I did have dessert tonight, even though I felt pretty full and probably should have skipped it. But, the strawberry sauce was "going bad" in the fridge and the angelfood cake was "getting stale" (*wink, wink), so I didn't let it go to waste...

This was still not a good On Program day. In the afternoon (before trampolining), I had a big spoonful of almond butter, some Cheez-Its and a macaroon. Don't know what to do about that. I'll keep trying; that's all I can do. Hopefully, I can rein this in before the scale takes off in the wrong direction on a regular basis. OH NO!!! STOP THE INSANITY!!! I don't want to go up...that is the ...

Time for Biggest Loser:)

Horsing Around

I've been horsing around. I've been feeling this way all day about my weight loss since starting this BLBE challenge. From the January start date, I have lost 4 pounds. That is very suckish. People have told me that sometimes getting those last 10 pounds off is harder than the entire weight loss to date and may take a long time. I'm feeling a little frustrated about that. Mainly because it's not that I'm plateauing; I'm just horsing around and not putting my best effort forward with the eating part of it. Exercise is still on target. I ran for 30 min. outdoors this morning and plan on doing some strength training tonight. Now, I just have to figure out how to refocus my eating.

I was on the right track with breakfast this morning. I made an egg sammie with an Ezekiel Plain English Muffin, a slice of 2% cheese and one egg white and had a nice steaming cup of Eggnoggin Tea for 3 POINTS...


I was determined to be productive around the house today and tried not to have any distractions like phone, TV and computer! I got in a good bit of laundry and cleaned up the kitchen, only to mess it up again with lunch! I do that all the time! I decided to have a Chicken BLT wrap made with 2 slices of grease- all -over -the- micro center cut bacon, 2 oz. chicken (Perdue Short Cuts), lettuce, tomato and a squirt of Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch wrapped up in a La Tortilla Factory Tortilla. Some crunchy Creamy Ranch Soy Crisps and a Fuji apple were a perfect side for this 7 POINT lunch...

Neeeeigh. It was a regular horse and pony show this afternoon. I started with a serving of pretzel sticks (I knew I shouldn't have bought these suckers the other day) and a string cheese for 3 POINTS...

And then, I had about 45 more handfuls of pretzels. And then, I had a handful of Peanut Butter Puffins. And ..... then...... I decided I HAD to mess up the kitchen again and make THIS...

If you're thinking brownie, cookie or cake batter, MAN, you have gotten to know me soooo well!! However, I decided to take a different route and created a new evil for myself...Homemade Almond Butter!!!! I have been seeing Barney Butter and other almond butters all over the blogosphere and have been convinced that I must try it. Since, I had some whole almonds in the house, I decided I would make it myself. I did some research and here is the recipe I came up with that I put through Weight Watcher's Recipe Builder for your POINT verifying convenience :) Oh my greatness! It is absolutely delicious. The husband and big daughter took a spoonful and were big fans! I, of course, had to try it by spoonful and then, spread on 2 flax crackers. I "forgot" to get pics of that ;) Don't worry though, you'll definitely be seeing it again!

That was a filling afternoon buffet snack, so I "downsized" my original plan for dinner and just went with 1 c. tortellini with marinara and 1 tbsp. parmesan for 5 POINTS...

And leftover Breaded Cheese Stuffed Zucchini for 3 POINTS...

There will be no dessert tonight! I said that quite emphatically, in case you didn't hear me :) I will distract any further thoughts of kitchen goodies by sitting down with the daughters to watch a heinous Disney movie that will inevitably begin or end with the death of a parent. I am going to write them a letter one day!

Then, it will be time to hit the hay. Neigh.

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 :)