Posts from — May 2009

Hey all! Another glorious day weather-wise. I started off with a 40 minutes treadmill run that went much better than yesterday! I felt strong from the beginning and got in a good groove so, I even upped the ante and ran a little faster than normal. It was great!

After a shower, I made a bee line for the kitchen and made breakfast. Salmon was calling me this morning, so I went with a Thomas’ Light English Muffin topped with a Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedge and 1 oz. of smoked salmon for 3 POINTS…

I spent the rest of the morning getting in some laundry, then it was time to head out to another nephew’s graduation party. My original plan was to eat before we went to the party and just have some fruit or salad while there, however, I wasn’t hungry at all before we left, so I opted to wait until we got there to eat something. Dun, dun, dun, duuuuun! I told my sister-in-law that I would gladly bring a dessert to the party, but the most IMPORTANT thing I forgot to bring was……………….. WANT POWER!!!!! Darn it! I needed to pack that stuff up and whip it out BIG TIME! There was some spread at the party and although, I started off with the best of intentions, all self control was lost by the end of the evening! Here’s how it started…

Soft pretzel sticks (for some reason, these are my kryptonite – LOVE THEM), carrot sticks and broccoli….. quite virtuous, don’t ya think?

Then came the big guns. A vat of homemade meatballs…

pulled pork…..

thinly sliced roast beef….

homemade baked ziti…

macaroni salad….

Grandmom’s potato salad…

beautiful fruit salad…

delicious spinach salad with mushrooms, egg and bacon…

Here’s my plate with a small roast beef sammie, fruit salad, and only itty bitty tastes of the “bad stuff”. Pretty good, eh??

After this my camera broke and I was unable to take anymore pictures of the extreme number of unmentionables that I continued to eat throughout the night ;P Just kidding. My camera didn’t break, but my Want Power was completely MIA. Gone. Bye bye. Nowhere to be found. I dug into 3 more (at least) pretzel sticks while chatting and hanging out. There were bowls of chocolates on every table that I was able to dodge, however, my sister-in-law is a FAB-U- LOUS cookie baker and there were gobs of cookie trays that I kept “visiting”. I am sorry I didn’t take pics of them, they are so delicious looking. But, I realize that food blogging is a multi-tasking job that includes the use of both hands which is, at times, difficult when you are too busy shoving mass quantities of cookies in your mouth. Booo! Well, just for the fun of it, I’ll throw out a “here’s a positive”. I did jump around playing badminton for about an hour. I am sure that burned off at least half a cookie. Yep, definitely a good calorie deficit there.

So, everything we do should be a learning experience, right? Okay, today I learned…

1. Go with your gut( or else you’ll get a bigger one) and stick to your original plan. Eating first, then going for a salad or fruit would have limited the number of choices when it was time to eat.
2. Do not sit for long periods of time at a table with a bunch of chocolate.
3. Do not stand anywhere NEAR the cookie table; especially when there are super irresistible ones that would love to make your hips their new home.
4. Don’t forget to bring the WANT Power. Bring it, use it and reuse it.

I will end my tale of woe as I always do. Ready…. everyone say it together…..

There’s always tomorrow…….. =)

Back again! Hope you all had as beautiful a day as it was here. The sun was shining, no humidity and a light breeze. Just perfect! I was tempted to go for an outdoor run, but decided the impact on my hip might not be as harsh if I stick with the treadmill for a while. I did 40 minutes; 14 of which completely sucked. Those first minutes seemed brutal for some reason. I was not feeling strong at all, but I perservered, then got into a groove and it was fine for the rest of the run. Watching The Hills kept me entertained during it, too.

After the run, I made a breakfast burrito with a small La Tortilla Factory tortilla, 3 egg whites and salsa. It was only 2 POINTS, but very filling…

So filling, in fact, that I wasn’t ready for lunch until 1:30! I dug around in the fridge and found some of the bbq baked tofu that I made (last week??). It still looked decent, so I made a bbq baked tofu sandwich on a honey wheat bun with lettuce and a slice of 2% cheese. Delish! On the side, I had a serving of crinkle potatoes, an apple and a fruit and nut bite for dessert. A voluminous lunch for 8 POINTS…

No snack attack this afternoon! My lunch took me all the way to dinner. Maybe the 8 POINTS is the amount I need or it could have been the combination of filling foods that kept me satisfied and not looking to munch. I hope that’s the ticket

I planned a nice, healthy dinner, but the husband and daughters had a different plan – PIZZA! I let them go the pizza route, but stuck to my dinner plan for myself …

Chicken and Broccoli with Garlic Sauce

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb. chicken breast cut in 1″ pieces
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 c. broccoli florets
• 1 1/2 c. fat free chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 2 c. cooked brown rice

1. In a large skillet, heat oil and garlic and cook 1 minute. Season chicken with thyme, salt and pepper and add to skillet. Brown on all sides for 3 minutes.
2. Add broccoli; cover and cook 2 minutes.
3. Add 1 cup broth, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through(about 5 minutes).
4. Dissolve cornstarch in remaining 1/2 cup broth, add to skillet and simmer 1 minute.
5. Serve over rice.

Makes 4 servings. 5 POINTS per serving. Each serving is 1 cup chicken mixture and 1/2 cup rice.

I found this recipe in one of my old WW recipe binders. It is quick and delicious! Best part is now I have 3 additional servings that I packed up and put in the freezer for those heat and eat dinner nights! Definitely a keeper…

I had plenty of room for dessert, so I made up my old favorite - Deep Chocolate Vitatop with PB2 icing for 2 POINTS…

and a blueberry crackshake (2 POINTS) to wash it down…

The daughters were intrigued by my crackshake and came running with their straws to take a taste. Some taste! They ended up drinking half of my shake – booo! It’s okay; I don’t mind sharing the health ;P

Another good day in! I’m hoping to get to my WW meeting this Thurs.; it’s been a while and I really miss it! I like going to the meeting; I just don’t always love the weighing part! I have been avoiding the scale the past couple of weeks, but I’m going to stay the course this week and see if the scale speaks good things to me =)

Have a great night!

Just wanted to give you guys a quick recap of yesterday. We were at my nephew’s graduation party last night and didn’t get home til late. I had to hit the hay right away!

I started the day off with a 35 min. treadmill run. It was great and quick, but my hip still bothers me afterward. Hmmm… may have to check into that. Anyway, I was in the mood for something different for breakfast. I have been craving a Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar since stealing a smidge of little daughter’s the other day. Yes, she likes Larabars! Since, I was able to recreate the Cherry Pie version, I thought I would give the Peanut Butter a try. Here’s what I used to make this Peanut Butter Cookie Bar:

• 1 oz. dried pitted dates (about 4-5 dates)
• 1/8 c. dry roasted peanuts
• 1 tbsp. rolled oats
• dash salt

1. Place dates in small food processor and pulse until paste forms. * sometimes I have to add a drop or two of water, depending on how dry the dates are or you can always soak them first.
2. Add nuts,oats and salt. Pulse until nuts are finely chopped.
3. Lightly spray a 1/2c. measuring cup with cooking spray. Spoon mixture into cup. Cover with plastic wrap and press firmly to mold cookie. Turn over and tap against counter to unmold.

This makes one cookie. Nutrition facts (calculated using calorieking.com): 207 calories, 8 gr. fat, 4 gr. fiber. 4 POINTS.

It turned out great! The oats aren’t necessary, but I thought it was a nice addition. It was the perfect craving buster…

Seriously good…

That held me over pretty well until lunch. I planned on a bigger lunch, even though we were going to the party tonight. I went with a grilled chicken wrap(made with 2 oz. grilled chicken, slice of Weight Watchers Pepperjack and salad mix in a La Tortilla Wrap), carrots, TJ’s Sour Cream and Onion Rice Chips and cup of Tabatchnick Vegetable Soup for 7 POINTS. Excuse the bad pic…

Love this 1 POINT soup…

Right before getting ready for our evening out, I had a snack attack! I wasn’t really hungry, but I wasn’t able to “talk myself out of it” either. I grabbed a handful of pretzels and some cheese for 5 POINTS. No pic, so….. it really didn’t happen, right??? I snapped out of it and told myself to REFOCUS!

After getting the daughters and myself dolled up, we headed to my nephew’s graduation party. Can’t believe he’s graduating from high school! Sniff, sniff! It was a wonderful party put on at a restaurant complete with a DJ and a delicious buffet. But, I was able to remember: WANT POWER! I decided on a small chicken drumstick, roasted potatoes, green beans and salad. I ate the chicken (which was about 4 bites), a bite of the salad (too much dressing, so didn’t want to waste calories on that), all the potatoes and most of the green beans. I’m estimating it at 7 POINTS (another bad pic, sorry!!)…

WANT Power kept me from eating the delicious looking cake, which I felt good about! Hey and no rolls either, which looked great, too! It was a nice time and so good to see my nephew hanging out with his friends and having a fun time! Just love him so much

So that’s the scoop! Hope you’re all enjoying your Saturday! See ya tonight =)