WEIGHT WATCHERS FOODIES: WHAT ARE YOU COOKING? PART 5

[Jeserf]

Continue your resolutions of delicious WW friendly food here!

skinytaste.com just posted a recipe for coconut brown rice - looks delicious. It'd be great as a bed of tofu or chicken and pineapple kabobs! Soy Vey teriyaki, some tofu/chicken, pineapple, and red onion. Might have to make that after my next shopping trip this coming weekend!

[mariacarmen]

Poof! someone asked for a new thread:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/838158

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight we had home made pizzas again...Friday night pizza night:) My husband's homemade whole wheat crust, rolled very thin, topped with his loaded with veggies marinara sauce, sliced skinnytaste meatballs, one link of sweet italian flavored chicken sausage, roasted red pepper slices, calamata olives, garlic, sliced red onion, and fat free feta. 5 points a slice and YUM! The other pizza, mostly for the kids, was topped with the marinara sauce, some reduced fat shredded mixed Italian and Mexican (because we ran out of the Italian) cheeses, and we sliced up some skinnytaste meatballs on part of it. We have two pizza stones, so heat them in the oven for like 40 minutes while we prepped the pizzas. We also recently bought a pizza peel, which we sprinkle lightly with cornmeal, and then carefully slide the pizza onto the peel, and transfer it to the preheated stone in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, and let sit for 5. Easy and delicious and pretty low in points.

[smilingal]

your pizza's always make me salivate! would your husband share the dough recipe? Only if it doesn't involve a bread machine.

[sunflwrsdh]

Thanks! I will ask him for the recipe and post it tomorrow or the next day, and no, it doesn't involve a bread machine, although he does use our KA stand mixer to knead. You could do it by hand, though.

[smilingal]

I bought King Arthurs's White Whole wheat flour - hoping to be prepared! :)

[iL Divo]

new thread please ;:~\

breakfast sandwich:
2 slices high fiber/high protein bread 6 gr each slice egg salad using 2 HB eggs 1 tsp mayo, mustard s&p
1 slice bacon nuked on papertoweling
medium tomato sliced
black coffee,

water lunch salad:
sliced apple&pear, cut up radishes, thin sliced cabbage, handful raw almonds
water, maybe a diet black cherry soda

although I'm sure breakfast this sounds like too much, a tv Dr. says 30 somethings [units of measure] of protein in the morning. so I'm trying it, very fulfilling........are y'all laughin?

[rabaja]

Not laughing at all, but that's gotta be around 12 points, just for breakfast!
Whatever works for you, il Divo, but I'd rather be satisfied with one egg, and whatever you want with it (this morning I am having a poached egg on a half cup of bulgur with an orange and banana for dessert) so that I can have more protein at lunch.
I find that my earlier meals are between 5 to 8 points, and then I allot around 10 to 12 for dinner...if I don't save enough for later I tend to blow it in the evening...
Also, I eat a ton of fruit and vegetables, on a good day.
How do you like whites on their own? Three whites is only 1 point!

[iL Divo]

oh I agree raba, but breakfast is early for me, I'm up with my husband around 4ish and don't go back to bed, so with my coffee or tea, it eventually creeps up on me that I'd better eat something and soon. lunch didn't happen today, because it really filled me up.
I had a banana around 1 and am waiting for hubby to get home before I tackle a very green salad with spritzer dressing on top and lots of veggies. lots of water also :)
I don't mind egg whites on their own and suppose I could incorporate them into the salad and hope I don't miss the yellow :()

[sunflwrsdh]

I add mustard to egg salad, so that I don't miss the yellow. I usually make mine with 1 whole egg, and 2 extra whites (my dog eats the yolks) I recently also tried subbing fat free greek yogurt for the mayo, and liked the flavor a lot. I am not a huge mayo fan anyway, but I did used to use a little in egg or tuna salad, and in potato salad in the summer. The yogurt might not be for you if you really like mayo, but it works for me. Glad your exceptionally high protein breakfast worked for you.....
I also find that adding protein in the morning helps me to stay more satisfied, and I almost never eat anything between breakfast and lunch. I usually have a smoothie, made with 1/2 cup of the fat free Greek yogurt, about 1/2=3/4 cup frozen mixed berries, a banana, and about 1/2 cup of unsweetened, vanilla flavored almond milk. Sometimes (but not really often, maybe once or twice a week) I will also have 1/2 cup steel cut oats, with 1 choppped apple, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and about 1/2 cup of almond milk.

[mimilulu]

Since I shared CallAnyVegetable's maple mustard chicken recipe on a Facebook WW board I belong to (search "Point Trackers" - it's a closed group so you will need to request permission to join) - I will share a yummy spaghetti squash recipe someone on that board shared. Only points are for the olive oil (which adds a lot of flavor so don't skip it - just measure & count):

1 baked spaghetti squash, cooled and shredded (Squash can also be microwaved)
1 can of artichokes, drained and chopped
3 good size tomatoes ( I used canned diced tomatoes drained)
3 Cloves Garlic, diced
1 Tbls. Oregano
1 Tbls. Parsley
Salt
Pepper
1-2 Tbls. Olive Oil (optional)

Dice the tomatoes, place in a bowl and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt, set aside long enough to make it juicy.
Add to the tomatoes the Garlic, Oregano, Parsley and Salt and Pepper to taste
Mix the tomatoes in with the Spaghetti Squash and the Artichokes
Add Olive Oil and mix thoroughly

[sunflwrsdh]

That sounds wonderful. And I have 2 spaghetti squashes in my kitchen right now, and was looking for a healthy, quick or do-ahead side for fish for a work night next week. Thank you so much for sharing this!

[smilingal]

maple mustard chicken??? please share more!

[nerdette]

I'm still here, but I've mostly been lurking because work has been super crazy. I actually have a fridge full of food that needs to be cooked, but I've been subsisting on sandwich thin sandwiches, eggs, and pb2. Lame :(
Tonight I'll finally get myself in the kitchen and make couple dishes that will make good leftovers.
I have shiitake mushrooms, tofu, ginger, garlic, lemongrass and santaka peppers, so I'll probably make soup base, and add bok choy and peas to it when I heat up individual batches.
I also have a pork butt and some bison stew meat that I have to use up pretty soon, so one of those will probably end up in the slow cooker. I'm thinking either lettuce carnitas tacos, or old-school beef (ie bison) stew.

One thing I really miss about my pre-WW life is baking. I've always been more of a baker than a cook, and I'm having a hard time finding recipes that are not really bad point-wise and not extremely time-consuming. I just didn't care for the soda cupcakes that so many WW-ers love.
I normally enjoy baking time-consuming things, but life has been so busy and stressful that sometimes I just want to bake a quick batch of cookies that's not going to use up all of my weeklies for one cookie. If anybody knows any good pp-friendly (or calorie-friendly) recipes for choc chip cookies or chocolate cake, please send them my way.

[sunflwrsdh]

I miss baking too! I have found that most of the lightened up baking recipes I've tried are not very satisfying. Sometimes, I just bake something I want to make. Check out skinnytaste...she does have some low fat chocolate chip cookies. I haven't tried them, but I have made lots of her other recipes with good results.

[smilingal]

with regards to baking - have you heard of a product - perhaps by sunsweet - i think in a jar - resembles prune butter? - that can be used as a substitute for oil in baking? someone at a meeting told me about it but i couldn't find it in the store - i hope to see her at this week's meeting - we missed the meeting last week :(

[sunflwrsdh]

I did some googling about this, because I do remember hearing about this product a long time ago. I found an old (2000) Cooking Light Message board thread that mentioned it...Sunsweet Lighter Bake, I think it was called. don't know if it's still around, but also a lot of posters on that thread mentioned using baby food pureed prunes instead, and there are a couple of directions/recipes for making your own prune puree. Also saw some mentions of pumpkin pureee as a sub for fat. Interesting, and I may try some of it this weekend.

[smilingal]

thanks for trying - it must still be around as the person recommended it at a meeting just recently. I also liked the fact that it stated the equivalent of the product for oil exchange. Now just to find it! and THAT IS what it is called - THANKS!

[smilingal]

I found it!! Haven't used it yet - but instead of devoting 56 points to the oil it cuts it down to 8 points over the recipe! not bad - hope it is a good substitute!

[rabaja]

Now that it's morning, perhaps I can be a bit more articulate...
We've been down with colds and eating lots of chicken soup, which has been great for me, point wise, as I usually add lots of veggies to homemade stock and use bulgur for oomph. The better half keeps bringing home Easter candy which, between the girl scout cookies we got from my niece, is kind of killing me. Luckily he brought the bulk of our haul to the office today. I honestly have seen my thighs grow because of those darn cadbury eggs with the crispy shell.
Last night we had burgers, not super point friendly, but mine was four oz and I had it on an Alvarado whole wheat bun, with lots of veggies. -I'd made white, cream buns, but at the last minute used whole wheat for myself. The empty calories just go right to my butt, I swear.
Tonight I have a "business" dinner at a Vietnamese joint, so I'm hoping for spring rolls and a bun, maybe some soup. I know it will be caloric, but hopefully it will inspire me to make more Vietnamese food at home, something I miss.
I really can't wait for the warm weather to stay. 70F here today and tomorrow, but chilly again by the weekend, sigh. At least we get to Spring Forward on the clocks Saturday night, which will make grilling more likely.
The fact that the candy went away this morning tells me we are both on the same page in terms of getting in better shape for our trip to Hawaii next month. We don't want to scare the locals, you know?
Tomorrow night we will likely have tuna steaks, with spinach and maybe brown rice and salad. Boring, but healthy and we love it. Annie's shitake-sesame dressing makes a nice marinade for fish, we've found.

[sunflwrsdh]

Where have all the Weight Watchers gone? Tonight was our "dance" night ( which I wish meant a pleasant musical exercise for me, but actually means just taking my grand daughter to her tap, ballet and gymnastics class, with her cousin, and then my sister-in-law and I take the two girls to McDonald's for supper after. Happy Meal with a cheeseburger, fries, and fat free chocolate milk= 12 points. And it isn't even that good. But, as I've said before...watching two six year old girls playing dragons and princesses at the Playland is worth it. These days will be gone too soon, I know:)
Anyway, since it's midweek, I haven't done much (any) cooking since Sunday. Last night my husband made Skinnytaste's chicken rollatini, which was delicious and only 5 points per serving, I had mine with his marinara sauce, which he loads with vegetables (celery, carrots, onions, garlic and spinach) over spaghetti squash, and salad on the side. Took some for lunch at work today too.
Feeling a little tired of staying on plan, but I know it's worth it. May be time for a treat, though. I've been carefully avoiding any desserts except for fat free greek yogurt, sugar free jello and fruit. i saw a recipe for chocolate banana mug cakes today, that sounded worth trying. Possibly this weekend. I'll post details if I make them.

[rabaja]

I'm coming, I'm coming!!!
Pants are still a little tight, fighting off a cold, but darnnit, I'm coming back very soon!!!
:)

[sunflwrsdh]

I've been missing you! Had that cold a couple of weeks ago, and it is miserable! Hope you feel better soon:) Chicken soup!

[smilingal]

i really enjoy the WW icecreams - those are our treats - almost every night! I also enjoyed the keylime pie - smart ones - but that is 5 points - i have only had it once - the icecreams can be 2,3 or 4 points.

[Jeserf]

I like the chocolate covered raspberry ice cream bars. 2 points and delicious.

[smilingal]

good to know - i haven't tried those!

[sunflwrsdh]

They really are great! I found Haagen Daas rasberry sorbet on sale for like 2.49, also 2 points for 1/2 cup serving!

[Solstice444]

I love that sorbet, I didn't know it was so low in points - I will have to buy it!

[sunflwrsdh]

It really is great!

[Jeserf]

I'm here! I've been crazy busy and, honestly, not focused on my food which is bad. I gained this last weigh in (Saturday) and am up on the scale again. However, my trainer re-took my measurements and I'm down a number of inches in 6 weeks (I think 1.5 in my waist and 2 in my hips...and 1/2 in my calf!)

My husband returns tomorrow night to HOME (he's already back in the US, just not home...) so I've been really focused on cleaning and organizing everything. I know it's an excuse though :(

I have a lot of recipes in my arsenal for his return. I MUST make this:
http://www.macheesmo.com/2010/12/sear...
(tofu w/ brussels sprouts)

Also the weather is GORGEOUS today so I will be going for a run tonight. I have not been slacking at all on activity, which just goes to show that for me to keep losing, it has nothing to do with how much activity I get and everything to do with how much I eat. Which is very depressing :(

I'll be "absent" for a little while I welcome him home, but since I'll be cooking more, I'll have more food to share! I hope people stick with our threads - they're nice motivation!

[sunflwrsdh]

Jeserf, your measurements are a very impressive accomplishment! Yay! So happy for you that your husband is home!
It is depressing that the weight doesn't seem to be related to increased activity (but surely your overall fitness is related to being more active!) and is only about what we eat, but you are doing so well, you will achieve ALL of your goals.
I agree..these threads are great motivation for me too!

[Solstice444]

I haven't been cooking much lately *insert embarrassed face here*. I've been eating alot of Lean Cuisines, got takeout Thai food last night, etc. I've been stuck at the exact same weight, to the tenth of a pound, for my past 3 weigh ins. I should probably drop down to 26 points/day, or use less weekly points, or exercise. Tomorrow is my mom's birthday, then I have two other family birthday parties to attend on Saturday, so next week I'll go food shopping and hopefully get back on track with cooking more.

[sunflwrsdh]

I've been through those "stalled periods" for most of the past year. It can be soooo discouraging. When you are ready, you'll get back on track. Sometimes I just have to take a break too!

[shygirl]

I haven't worked out the points yet, but I am just crazy about vegetarian brown rice sushi. It is delicious, filling, and makes me feel healthy and yet spoilt at the same time. It's a genuine treat, not a substitute for more fattening things.

Another thing that makes me feel healthy and happy is "jugo verde" (green juice), which I whip up in the blender. Lots of raw green stuff: spinach, celery, parsley, mint, etc., with some sort of juice to blend it all together. Probably not to everyone's taste, but I can't believe how refreshing it is, and the points would be minimal. Only proviso: have it cold & fresh - it does not keep well.

[sunflwrsdh]

Last night I made Alton Brown's guacamole, which we had with some baked scoops, and also Skinnytaste's skinny chicken enchiladas. They were one of the first recipes we ever made from Skinnytaste and they are consistently good. And only 4 points each.
Tonight we had a slow roasted sirloin (directions for which I got on CH, just do a search for slow roasted sirloin...great instructions for roasting low and slow!), mashed "fauxtatoes"...but still doing about 1/3 actual potatoes, along with mashed cauliflower, carrots, brussels sprouts and salad. A wonderful glass of Shiraz along with.

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight, we had homemade, whole wheat crust pizza. My husband made the dough while I was at work. One grandchildren-friendly pizza was topped with my husband's home made marinara ( which includes lots of veggies, carrots, onions, peppers, garlic, spinach) and sliced meatballs (skinnytaste's spinach meatballs) and about 4 ounces of decreased fat shredded mixed Italian cheese, (like Kraft or Sargento, but I think ours might have been store brand) and a sprinkle of shredded Asiago. The other pizza was also topped with thinly sliced onions, roasted red peppers, calamata olives, chicken italian sausage, some of the aforementioned meatballs and the same cheeses. We preheated our pizza stones in the oven at 450, and I rolled the dough out really thin, topped the pizzas, and used our recently purchased pizza peel to transfer the "loaded" pizzas to the pizza stones. cooked for about 5-7 minutes, until we saw just a slight browning around the outside of the crust, and then removed, transferred to pizza pans and served. Close to the best pizza I have ever had, pretty points friendly, and so easy. (Goes great with my glass of red wine, too;)
We are bringing back home made pizza Fridays!

[smilingal]

push - push - push ---- whole wheat crust pizza dough recipe? pretty Please?

[Solstice444]

Finally found a Skinnytaste recipe I didn't care for. I made the Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp. It was too salty and didn't really have any flavor. I'll probably eat the leftovers though since it's low in points and I don't want to waste shrimp.

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight my husband made a baked chicken parm, homemade marinara, which I ate with the leftover spaghetti squash from the other night, a salad and a glass of red wine.

[Jeserf]

YUM - send your hubby here!

I again hit the crock pot with the coconut peanut curry chicken....so boring, but it's just me!

NEXT week is my last full week of cooking for one (YAAAY), and it will be very busy so I'm actually going to hit Soupergirl to get soup for the weekly dinners.

I have been collecting recipes that are light and either veggie or can be made with tofu to cook when my hubby returns. He said he might try adding chicken to his diet which would make my life easier!

I have some good recipes for curries that I'll share when they're tested :)

[sunflwrsdh]

I am really fortunate that my husband is such a great cook, and retired and has the time!
Glad to hear your husband will be home soon!

Tonight was supposed to be my granddaughter's dance night, but we discovered (after driving over there!) that it had been cancelled, due to the weather. (We're getting the first! snow of the year, pretty much, and it's not really all that bad) So, although dance night generally means McDonald's, we talked our 6 year old grand daughter into trying wood fired pizza at a great Saratoga restaurant that we had been wanting to try (Max London's). She was a trouper, was not crazy about the pizza (house made mozzarella...yum!), said it "didn't taste like real pizza cheese, but she definitely approved of the dessert...flourless chocolate cake with house-made vanilla ice cream! Great dinner, and although I chose not to actually count points, not too awful bad...my husband and I shared a wood-fired clam and pancetta pizza, I had a glass of Malbec, and we also shared a chocolate/butterscotch layered pudding with creme fraiche, caramel sauce and sea salt...delicious and worth every single point:)

[mariacarmen]

a smallish slab of firm tofu marinated in nom pla (homemade, with added ginger and habanero) and soy, then covered in pickled red onions, scallions, cukes, carrots, daikon and jalapenos. sprinkled heavily with shichimi togarashi. i figured the whole shebang at 2 pts. so i added a bag of pop chips for a lunch total of 5 pts.! going to need all the extra points i can get: tonight is fancy schmancy tasting menu dinner out, and also, i managed to sprain my foot running, so i've been fairly sedentary the past 2 weeks.

[sunflwrsdh]

Sorry to hear about your sprained foot! And you dinner sounds great!
also, I love Pop-chips, they don't taste "diet" at all.

[sunflwrsdh]

I have been trying to increase the amount of fiber and protein I eat, because I noticed that those were the things I ate most of on the weeks when I lost the most weight. So....tonight's dinner was roast chicken ( I had about 3 oz of skinless breast) mashed potatoes and cauliflower, which were mostly cauliflower ( I love these! Taste every bit as good as "the real thing", and I only took 1 point for 1/2 cup) Brussell sprouts and a glass of chardonnay. And I also made a huge pot of cubed beef and many vegetable chili, onions, peppers, celery, garlic, zucchini, butternut squash and tomatoes and kidney beans. A little tough to figure points, but if the entire recipe makes 16 servings ( and I think its more like 20 servings) then it is 5 points a serving.
I'm planning to take it for lunches much of the week. It's filling, and loaded with fiber. Oatmeal with a chopped apple and almond milk (3 points) and a smoothie with 1/2 cup fat free yogurt, 1 banana, about a cup of frozen mixed berries and 1/2 cup of almond milk( 2 points) for breakfast, leaves me 16 points for dinner and snacks. 4 of that is for a glass of wine:) I'll usually have either 1/2 cup of fat free greek yogurt, flavored with 1 tablespoon no sugar added fruit spread, (2 points) or an apple with 1 tablespoon peanut butter (3 points) or air popped popcorn (3 points for 3 cups) for snack, which leaves 9 or 10 points for dinner. I'll let you all know how it goes this week.

[Jeserf]

Have a feeling tomorrow won't be a good W-I....but I have a big shopping trip to Wegman and Costco planned for tomorrow - I'm stocking up on some things that my husband will want when he returns (costco salmon spread...heh). I'm sticking to making more crock pot dinners this weekend - the coconut curry peanut chicken again since I liked it so much.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

[sunflwrsdh]

I hope it went better than you thought, jseserf! I was only down point 2, but at least it was in the right direction. Hope you had a great weekend too!

[nerdette]

We've been feeling under the weather, so DH made a giant pot of chicken soup on Tuesday. He added lots of garlic, ginger, and santaka, and we've been stirring in bok choy, snap peas, and scallions to individual batches when we warm it up. It is really pp-friendly, and very good for getting over a cold.
Couple days ago I made skinny taste's crockpot carnitas,and I was a little bit underwhelmed. They were ok, but pretty bland and dry. Nothing really compares to pork that's been simmered in lard for hours,so I didn't expect stellar results, but I think next time I'll add a lot more spices and leave some of the fat on.
I got bored of eggs, so lately I've been having oatmeal with a teaspoon of nutella, or with almond butter, some cocoa, and coconut. It kind of tastes like Almond Joy, and it's not too pointy.

[sunflwrsdh]

Feeling under the weather here too, and living on soup and chili and jello today. Your oatmeal sounds good. I've been trying to increase fiber and protein, so I had steel cut oats a couple of times this past week. I like them with a chopped apple and a sprinkle of cinnamon, and some almond milk.

[mariacarmen]

"not too pointy" - i love that! i'm going to steal that, i'm afraid, and use it wherever i can. hope you feel better soon, nerdette - obviously your poor health has not afflicted your language skills!

[JerryMe]

Oatmeal with nutella . . I am so there!

[nerdette]

Jerry: I love Nutella, and I love oatmeal, so I thought - why not put them together. As much as I love Nutella, I can't justify spending 5 pts on a serving before I even spread it on anything ( I can easily eat tablespoons of the stuff). Putting it in oatmeal makes a teaspoon go a long way.
Maria : thanks for the laugh. I'm not a native English speaker, and my husband is, so it drives him crazy when I occasionally make up random words (mostly nicknames for our pets and gems like "pointy" foods). Good to know that somebody appreciates my linguistic creativity.

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight my husband made skinnytaste's spinach meatballs and sauce, and served it over spaghetti squash. Delicious, and 1 point per meatball with sauce. I had 3 meatballs, so my entire entree was 3 points, and insanely good and satisfying. Plenty of points left for that glass of Italian red:)

[smilingal]

must try spaghetti squash

[mayjay]

I made a Brazilian fish stew from Food52. Rock Cod marinated in cumin, paprika, garlic, and lime juice and then stewed with sweet potato, coconut milk, bell pepper, cilantro, and onion. This was fantastic and worked out to 5 points/generous serving. I'm going to do more fish stews now.

[smilingal]

that sounds so yummy - can you share this recipe? what did you make to accompany it?

[mayjay]

You can see the recipe here:

http://www.food52.com/recipes/9670_fi...

I only made half the recipe and substituted rock cod for salmon. I don't have a clay pot, but I have a small enamel pot that just held it all. I baked it in the oven at 300 degrees. With my other half-can of coconut milk I made Skinnytaste's Jamaican Red Beans and Rice (also half the recipe). They went well together, but plain rice would also work well. That fish stew is really delicious.

[smilingal]

thank you so much - sounds so good - might even make it tonight!

Edit - oh just read that it needs time to set up - will have to prepare it another day and make the following day. Sounds so great! Did you like the skinnytaste recipe as well? I haven't made anything from skinnytaste yet but everyone chats about that site.

[mayjay]

I love skinnytaste, but that recipe is just okay. Admittedly, though, I left out the scotch bonnet b/c I was hoping my 2-year old would love it. So, perhaps it's not fair to say it was a little boring. If you make the fish stew, I did the points plus for it and it works out to 8 pts per one quarter of the recipe. That was a huge portion, though w/ the sweet potato included.

[smilingal]

i bought most of the ingredients last night - looking forward to making it early next week!

[smilingal]

I still haven't made this but have been thinking of it daily! Maybe I will marinate it overnight on Sunday - we'll see. But I have another question - yesterday, after having bought a can of Coconut Milk I noticed that it also comes in "Lite" version - I bought that one as well. Which one have you used?

[Solstice444]

I made blackened chicken tonight, and cornbread also. The cornbread came out dry but the blackened chicken was awesome! Since it's just spices, you only count the points of the chicken :-) Made a salad on the side. I'll definitely be making it again.

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight I was planning to make Skinnytaste's chicken noodle and broccoli casserole, but ended up going with my daughter to take my sick grand daughter to the Dr, so my husband made it. I didn't eat any of it yet, but it looked good. I ate at Denny's, with feeling slightly better and wanting pancakes granddaughter. I figured a bowl of chili would probably do the least damage at Denny's! so that's what I had. Last night's dinner was great, but many many points (too many to even figure out in muffaletta!) So I just took away half of my weekly points, and went back "on the wagon" today. Also went for an hour and a half, about 6 mile walk with my husband and dog today, to sort of make up for last night. I did figure points for my seafood gumbo,because I want to take it for lunches this week, and its not as bad as I thought. It comes out to 7 points per cup, and rice is extra. And it is very filling and loaded with protein. What else I'm planning to make (or ask my husband to make, actually) is black bean burgers, probably tomorrow night, and spaghetti squash and meatballs, probably Thursday. Probably home made pizza Friday.Wednesday night is granddaughter's dance night and we will probably go to McDonald's, where I get the Happy Meal, hamburger, tiny size fries, apple slices and diet soda, for about 13 points.

[Jeserf]

similar to the casserole your husband made, her tuna noodle casserole recipe is DELICIOUS. To ours, I add broccoli - that's the ONLY change. My husband can eat a whole dish of it. It's very good. I highly recommend it.

[rabaja]

I am so making that tuna noodle casserole this week!
Been craving it for two weeks now. I will definitely add the broccoli too, thanks.

Tonight I'm making tacos using London Broil. I got a good price on one last week, and it seems like a lean cut.
My tacos will be packed with salsa and cabbage, with a plate of crudités to fill us up first.

[sunflwrsdh]

We will definitely make the tuna noodle some time soon..we are huge tuna noodle fans:)

[Jeserf]

Tonight I made the Coconut Peanut Curry Chicken in my crock pot a la Cara's Cravings.
Recipe: http://www.carascravings.com/2009/09/...

It was excellent - since I'm now not scared of my crock pot, I followed the directions instead of worrying too much that there wasn't enough liquid. I also used garam masala because I didn't have just 'curry powder' and a serano pepper instead of a jalapeno.

I served it with brown rice (as a currently living single person, the frozen brown rice is awesome...hot and perfect brown rice in 90 seconds! I use Whole Foods or TJ's version), some steamed snap peas and broccoli and chopped peanuts on top. Oh, and some extra serano and scallion on top, too.

Excellent dinner for a cold night - it had a kick!

I am going to make santa fe chicken, too, this week - probably Wednesday.

Down .4 this week, which is WAY better than I thought I'd do. Down 71.6. I don't think I'm going to get to 75 by the time husband unit returns...but, I'll keep trying!

[jujuthomas]

Jes, you're doing great! your crock pot dinner sounds very tasty. :)

[Jeserf]

This dish is excellent and I really recommend trying it.

[Solstice444]

Great job! I am down 0.2 this week, but I definitely thought I would gain as I indulged in a few drinks and not-so-great-for-you good at my dad's bbq.

[sunflwrsdh]

Great job! At least it's .2 in the right direction!

[sunflwrsdh]

Great job! .4 in the right direction! I find that I am using my crock pot a lot more lately too. It really is great for healthy cooking, and soooo nice to have dinner all done ahead of time!

[sunflwrsdh]

Forgot to post earlier....this week's tracker will be a keeper...down 2.4 pounds at this morning's weigh-in!

[rabaja]

Congrats!!!
Great loss!

[Jeserf]

wow way to go!

[jujuthomas]

great job! I'm down about 2.5 since we started back on points 2 weeks ago. I start a new job tomorrow so I have to get back down to fit into my nice work clothes!!!

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight's dinner was more chicken and dumplings ( we had a lot left), and a glass of chardonnay.
We have a "no kids or grandkids" weekend, and are having another couple over for dinner tomorrow night. I've been looking at recipes all afternoon, and here is the plan so far:
Muffalletta
Shrimp gumbo
still deciding on dessert, but neither option is really WW friendly (I'll do portion control and will use my weekly points allowance)
so far either...Bananas Foster, Pound cake with berries and /or a caramel whiskey sauce or bourbon chocolate pecan pie.
And cocktails:)

[CanadaGirl]

I made a salmon chowder for supper. I used some grated potato, which helped thicken without too many points since one potato goes far that way. Instead of cream I used fat free evaporated milk, which still has that nice mouth feel. Very yummy.

[sunflwrsdh]

Sounds yummy, although I am not a big salmon fan ( it's one of those things I keep trying to like, but hasn't happened yet!) that would work with any chowder...any idea on points?

[CanadaGirl]

It was pretty low, and another fish would make it even lower. I just sweated a bit of diced onion, carrot and celery until soft. I used 1 tsp butter (1 pt). Then I added 3 cups chicken broth (1pt) and the grated potato (3 pt). I simmered until the potato was soft then added 1 cup evaporates milk (5 pts) and the salmon (5 pts). A bit of thyme at the end. So, 15 points for the pot which I divided three ways. 5 points for a bowl of chowder seems pretty good to me :)

[sunflwrsdh]

Yeah, 5 points per serving is great! I will try it with clams, I think!

[CanadaGirl]

Oh, and for trying to like salmon I highly recommend trying this:
- heat broiler and move rack to top. If you have convection, use it
- line baking pan with foil and place salmon skin side down
- brush with maple syrup and sprinkle with salt and pepper
- cook until well browned and knife inserted into middle is hot. Takes about 10 minutes in my oven.

Make sure to have your fan on. Itll get smokey!!

[EM23]

Well I just discovered the Morningstar Spicy Black Bean Burgers and I am hooked! I bought a box a few months ago and they remained unopened until last night when I realized I had nothing protein-wise to make for dinner. I ended up using them for tacos last night. These patties are delicious and they are only 3P+. I have linked below to the nutrition info.
One patty, one corn taco shell, a little onion sautéed in olive oil and a T of sour cream was 7P+. We had them with lettuce and tomato. Made for a very satisfying, quick and delicious meal.
http://www.morningstarfarms.com/morni...

[sunflwrsdh]

Y'know, I have actually been thinking about making black bean burgers myself. thanks so much for reminding me. I need to research some recipes. Your taco idea sounds like a great way to use them!

[EM23]

Well then Sun let me share these links with you. I have had these boomarked way longer than that box of burgers sat in my freezer. Hopefully you will get around to making one of them sooner than I will. lol

http://operagirlcooks.com/2010/03/28/black-bean-burger-recipe/
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/714750
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/homemade...

[sunflwrsdh]

Wow! Thanks! I may get to them this weekend!

[Solstice444]

I guess these aren't really called black bean burgers, they're black bean cakes, but I made them once and they were really good. (I didn't make the avocado crema, or have an egg on top though.) Although, looking back at the comments on the recipe, I commented on it and said there was way too much salt. So just lower the salt if you make them. Thanks for the reminder everyone, I will make them again soon, or perhaps try a different recipe!

[sunflwrsdh]

Em,
I made the operagirlcooks smoky black bean burgers tonight, and they were excellent! My husband grilled them, with about a tablespoon of reduced fat shredded Mexican style cheese on top, and I ate mine with about a tablespoon of pico di gallo, no bread or roll and didn't miss it at all, and butternut squash fries ( 0 points!)on the side...excellent meal, (which I will also be having for lunch tomorrow. I figured the black bean burgers to be 5 points each.

[EM23]

Oh, good for you Sun! 5 P+ is great. They held together on the grill with no trouble?
I’m off rice for Lent so I will have to wait to try that recipe but I’m thinking about trying the allrecipes recipe and will report back when I do.

[sunflwrsdh]

Yes, they were fine on the grill, and it gave them a nice flavor. Are you just off rice, or all starches for Lent? Because I think you could probably increase the bread crumbs instead of the rice.

[Solstice444]

Thanks for the recommendation - I bought them and they are delicious! I see they also offer a Chipotle Black Bean Burger. If I ever see that, I'll try it. Also, has anyone tried their Asian Veggie Patties?

[EM23]

You're welcome. They are handy for a quick P+ friendly meal.
I have not seen the Morningstar Chipolte burger in the grocery store but that was, in fact, the product that I was looking to buy after reading multiple positive comments on the Chains board. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7933...

[rabaja]

Last night I made Sante Fe chicken again, low and slow on the stove, no crockpot. I use cubed thighs though, and serve it over bulgur with fresh cilantro, scallions and 1/4 an avocado. We loved it and I felt much better upon waking up this morning.
The last two months I fear I've gotten 'fat and happy'. We are overindulging and until two weeks ago, my exercise routine had largely stopped. A combo of moving two households and being entirely in love has taken it's toll...haha.
Now it's back to the grind, hopefully I havent done too much damage.
I turn 40 in April and a trip to the Big Island is planned, so this is my cue to get bikini ready.
Egg whites and cottage cheese for breakfast, a salad with tuna or trout for lunch and more Sante Fe chicken tonight! I really do like that stuff, and need to spend some time on skinnytaste.com finding some more cold weather dishes.

[mariacarmen]

"entirely in love" - such great words to hear! rabaja, sooooo happy for you, and you'll get back on track, i know it.

[sunflwrsdh]

+1 on so happy for you that you have found love:) I also know you'll get back on track. Skinnytaste has tons of great comforrt, winter food recipes.

[rabaja]

Thanks ladies!

You both inspired me so much last year during my first foray into WW's, it's good to be back in the mix again.

Last night I made boneless pork chops, browned and then very lightly simmered in a tomato/onion/barbecue sauce thingy. Very comforting, totally pedestrian.

With spinach and applesauce, not too bad points wise either.

I am trying to remember to give up my plate when I start to feel full. This made a big difference last Summer in getting me down to my goal weight.

Unfortunately, my uneaten plate does get consumed by someone else, but he's responsible for fitting into his bikini, not me. :)

[sunflwrsdh]

well ,that is the measure of true love...he finishes your plate so that you can fit into the bikini:)
Your last night's dinner does sound very comforting.
Our dinner tonight was pure comfort too. Chicken and lots of vegetables (actually leftover from a veggie tray from last weekend's party...broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, peppers, stewed into a nice pot of chicken and dumplings (made with fat free Bisquick) didn't figure points exactly...I think around 6 ish per serving. It was yummy with a glass of Chardonnay. Oh...I forgot...my husband, who did the cooking, added the whey he has been straining off our home made Greek yogurt to the broth, which gave it lots more protein and a kind of zippy, almost smoky flavor.
Looking forward to a quiet three day weekend...kids are off to Boston in the am, so just my husband and I for the weekend...time to cook some interesting stuff that we like, instead of trying to please everyone:)
And tomorrow is my weigh in, which I think will be good news...I sort of feel lighter, and have done well with staying on target this week, still have more than half my weekly points left.

[Jeserf]

you can do it! You certainly have the kitchen chops to make the best food to fuel your life and stay on plan!

[jujuthomas]

congrats on the happy changes, sounds like you have lots of positive incentive to be back on track. did you see the mardi gras inspired recipes on skinnytaste this week? Makes me want to go back to New Orleans. Instead I'll make some shrimp creole. yum!

[jujuthomas]

last night a simple turkey meatloaf, with teeny tiny roasted potatos. lunch today a roasted veggie and turkey sausage pizza. dinner is our favorite chicken taco whatever-you-call-it in the crock pot. :)
comfort food is the name of the game this week.

[jmcarthur8]

For our Valentine's dinner tonight, I made a pork loin cooked in balsamic & apple cider vinegar with bay leaves and peppercorns, and the side was roasted cauliflower and mushrooms, shallots and garlic stirred into angel hair pasta. Not too bad for the points, so we can use a few extra tonight at a "dessert concert" of love songs that the high school choir is doing.

Live music and dessert - that's my kind of date with the hubby!

[sunflwrsdh]

sounds really good, jm.

[mariacarmen]

Today for lunch and tomorrow too i'm having a tofu salad - a small block of firm tofu with a marinade of soy, ponzu sauce, scallions, cucumber ribbons and a little goguchang or sriracha (we'll see which i feel like tomorrow). I figure it to be 3-4 pts, and it's really fresh and satisfying.

[sunflwrsdh]

I made a combination Weight Watcher/ Lynn's Kitchen adventures chili this weekend. Used some very lean top round, cubed, browned with just cooking spray, cooked my kidney beans from scratch, and chopped up....one onion, one green and one red bell pepper, two zucchini, 4 ribs of celery, 4 cloves of garlic, one whole butternut squash, and simmered all in 2 28-oz cans whole tomatoes, about 2 cups of beef stock, added 4 tablespoons chili powder, some cumin, salt and pepper, coriander, oregano and thyme (just use whatever chili seasonings you like) for about 6 hours (it was supposed to be a slow cooker recipe, but made too much to fit into my slow cooker!) Delicious and I have lunches for the week! Also make Skinnytaste's lightened up corn casserole, which was also very good.

[Jeserf]

I love putting zucchini in my chili - I dice it up and it's a great sweetness to the dish.

I bet the corn casserole went great with the chili

[sunflwrsdh]

It really did! 6 points for the corn casserole, but only 2-3 for the chili balanced it out. The zucchini in it was great, but I really loved the addition of the butternut...picked up the spices nicely and gave it sort of a richness.

[iL Divo]

tnx for helping with the dressings.
I've done ff mayo with Dijon and oj and zest and vinegar.
it was good.
don't know where y'all are getting blood oranges.
I want some ;:+)

[Jeserf]

whole foods :)

Try looking for balsamic glaze (or just reduce balsamic) I LOVE it on my salads. it coats the lettuce and its delicious - there is like 1 point for a TBSP I think.

[Jeserf]

Work is insane, and it's just beginning all over again today unfortunately!
Last night I steamed some beets and made a salad "topper" with blood orange segments, parsley, shallot, some chopped walnuts and a little balsamic. I'm going to put this on top of mixed greens at work today (packed the greens separately) and some diced grilled chicken breast. I wanted iron and protein for the day ahead. I'm on a beet kit - love them so much! I really need to get on making some good ol' fashioned borscht!

Down a little this week, too, even with the business and not always wisest food choices. Expect not a great outcome next Saturday even though the week has just started - went out last night with another Marine's wife so we could have SOME sort of Valentines Day and enjoyed every bite (bloody mary...YUM!) and amazing beet risotto. I could have made way worse point choices, so I'm ok if it means a gain. The food at the place we went is amazing, so worth it!

Down 71.2. I'd be thrilled to hit 75 by the time hubby gets back, but I do know his return will mean a LOT of food lol

[sunflwrsdh]

Sounds great, Jeserf!

[mrsmegawatt]

Tonight we made Rustic Vegetable soup with Polenta. It is a recipe from Giada DeLaurentis. I added spinach and fat free Italian Turkey Sausage. The polenta thickened it and made it so creamy. It was fabulous!

[Jeserf]

Wow sounds fantastic- can you post a link to the recipe???

[mrsmegawatt]

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gi...

We added the Turkey Sausage and chopped baby spinach and it was wonderful. we used home made stock but skimmed the fat. The polenta makes this dish!

[sunflwrsdh]

It does sound wonderful. Any idea on how many points? Maybe 5 ish per cup?

[mrsmegawatt]

It doesn't have many points at all. I used less than 1/3 cup of polenta. The stock was homemade with fat skimmed. Mostly veggies with the exception of the fat free turkey italian sausage. I had a big bowl and counted it as 7-8 points which was on the high side I think.

[Jeserf]

It didn't get soggy...? (the polenta) I mean, I guess it would be mushy but I guess I meant gloppy? heh

[mrsmegawatt]

The polenta was evenly distributed throughout the soup. I know what you're asking...it made it "rustic", the best I can explain it. It really is yummy

[ChristinaMason]

How important do you think it is that the polenta be "instant"? I have some on hand, but I think it's the regular type. Aside from making the vegetables somewhat softer because of the longer cooking time, would using regular cause problems?

[Solstice444]

Made Skinnytaste Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken again yesterday. So easy! I put it together in 10 minutes after coming home from an overnight shift, and it was ready to eat when I woke up 6 hours later :-)

[Jeserf]

Love that recipe! I add a can of hatch chili peppers to mine and it's a great addition

[freia]

SOUP! Food of the gods! Made home made chicken stock using chicken wings, onions, peppercorns, leeks, carrots, clove (just a few)...boiled and strained and defatted. HUGE pot on the stove!
Took 1/3 of the stock, added new thin sliced onions, leeks, carrots, parsley, bok choy, celery, prepared chickpeas from yesterday.
Stripped the chicken wings (boiled but not overboiled believe it or not) and kept the meat, put it aside for DH to bulk up his bowls of soup.
I might add vermicelli noodles to this tonight.
MMMMmmmm!

[sunflwrsdh]

Soup is indeed, the food of the gods.

[sasha1]

I've started to observe that my most low point dinners, which are also delicious and filling, involve some combination of white fish, rice, and veg. I can have a full plate of food, usually, for 6-8 pts, which is insanity.

Last night, I sauteed some Tilapia in pam in a nonstick. S&P only. Pretty amazing the color I got on it. Everyone got a 4 oz fillet (2 pts). I could've easily eaten 2x as much, but the fish ran out. Once the fish came out of the pan, I tossed in some grated garlic and ginger for a minute, then some mirin, then light soy, a hit of citrus marmalade, and some scallions. I figured about 1 pt per tablespoon. Served that with white rice and roasted asparagus (pam again). The asparagus was free, I made do with 1/2 cup of rice. And it was mouthwatering good.

[jujuthomas]

sounds wonderful!

[freia]

Awesome! I need to incorporate more fish in my life...

[sasha1]

It took me a while to realize that I get 2 oz of fish for a point, as opposed to 1 oz of chicken/turkey or better yet, .5-.75 oz of red meat. After that it was a no brainer. Who among us doesn't want to eat a big plate of food and still lose weight!

[sunflwrsdh]

+1 on that. I do well with fresh caught fish when we are on vacation, but have had some pretty bad experiences buying it here in land locked upstate NY. Not sure what to buy, and/or how to cook it. sasha's method sounds good, though:)

[sasha1]

I bought one of those big trays from Costco. I'll typically just portion it and freeze. Thaw for a couple of hours on my granite countertop, which is great for thawing - geological properties I'm guessing. I think I got my nice brown on the fish because I paper-towelled it off. You have to be willing to lose a little in the pam, and use your spatula aggressively, because it did stick.

A couple of months ago, I steamed the fish and served it with a similar asian broth (no marmalade, some chicken stock) and braised bok choy. So, it's versatile.

Last night, Sara Moulton had on a guy who grilled swordfish, then served it on a coulis that I believe was fresh tomatoes, long sauteed bell peppers and onions, red wine vinegar, evoo, s&p. And that looked delicious too. The veggies gave it body w/o many calories.

[jmcarthur8]

sasha1, that sauce sounds delicious! I am absolutely going to make that. I always have all of those ingredients in the pantry, anyway. We love fish,and we love the low points, too.

[sasha1]

Ironically, it started as a way to use up this marmalade, which I bought on sale but find too bitter for my taste.

It's been a while but I used to also make a quick pan sauce w/canned tomatoes, capers, a few sliced kalamata olives, and some red pepper flakes (also pantry items - for me at least).

[mariacarmen]

that sounds fantastic. i love tilapia.

[iL Divo]

anyone tried Milton's seed&nut bread or their Squaw bread? I bought them both yesterday at Orowheat bakery because they are both 5 grams fiber per slice. they look great. was thinking Costco white tuna for sandwich without mayo but a little ff sour cream instead and a lot of mustard and onions/celery/carrot&apples.

[jmcarthur8]

For dinner last night, we had mahi -mahi sprinkled with a little of Penzey's Mural of Flavor herb blend, and fresh steamed asparagus, both with a little bit of butter. For me, that was a 4 point dinner, for hubby, it was 6 PP. And it was filling and excellent.

The low PP dinner let us each have a nice serving of Apple Bundt Cake from Epicurious.com. that I baked yesterday afternoon. Oh my goodness. That cake is so delicious, I don't care how many points it is! I told DH I would be taking half of it to our Master Gardeners pot luck dinner tonight, but after he had a taste, he said, 'No, you are NOT taking this to the pot luck!'.
I had another piece for breakfast today with a glass of almond milk. So I got fruit, carbs, calcium....that's a healthy breakfast!
Weigh in is this afternoon. Last week's total to date was 43.8 lbs lost. I love what WW has done for me!

[iL Divo]

jmcarthur, great news for you .................I'm clapping here! :)

cooking, hum, cooking. right now I'm thinking about breakfast and it may include [but won't be limited to] a slice or two of mango/apple/orange... that depends on how hungry I am after the steel cut oats. oats: cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice and 1 tsp real maple syrup & 8 dried sour cherries for 2 portions.

Jeserf: I'll have to look up that coconut rice.

my mind is telling me that I'd love a good and hearty lentil soup for dinner with low fat or almost fat free sausage for the husband otherwise he won't be impressed. I don't care about the meat in there for me [not a lover of sausage at all] but maybe I could find a low fat one [kielbasa] that could flavor the broth. < any suggestions or is it a no all together? Brussels Sprouts sound good to me too. Getting tired of spritzer salad dressing and wonder [there as well] what anyone's suggestion would be?

last night we had fillet Mignon steaks on the inside grill plus salad and corn on the cob [mine was 1/2 cob] no butter or salt or pepper] au gratin potatoes with the cheese sauce I'd made for hubby's mac and cheese [that I made too much of so froze] and "Coolio's" Ghett-alian cheesy bread. I didn't eat that and had a small scoop of the potatoes, my fillet was 4 ounces, water to drink.

[jmcarthur8]

Thanks, iL Divo!
I agree with you about meat and sausage, but smoked turkey sausage is okay in lentil soup. Gives it more rich flavor, and it doesn't get flabby.

About the salad dressing - I've never tried the spritzer kind, but DH and I do use the WW technique of dipping the fork in dressing, then into the (undressed) salad. You get the flavor without puddles of salad dressing racking up the points. Now, if it's super chunky blue cheese, well, a little discretion will be necessary, but it works great for a vinaigrette.

[Jeserf]

I really like just lemon juice on salad sometimes. Or, even grapefruit.

You can mix some fresh grapefruit juice with champagne vinegar and maybe dijon mustard - dressing right there! Even 1TSP of oil won't hit you too hard so if you blend that in, it's delicious. Maybe some fresh taragon.

Try infusing your own EVOO with some citrus peel and herbs (blood orange and thyme?) and use that with a light vinegar.

I think even that with it's little bit of EVOO is healthier than bottled stuff with chemicles....IMO.

[JerryMe]

IL Divo - Costco has an excellent chicken, red pepper sausage that is 5 grams of fat per link. Not sure how that measures in WW points (I don't do WW just read these threads for inspiration).

[sunflwrsdh]

il Divo...also not a fan of the spritzer dressing...makes me not like salad:( Some lite ones that I do like are : Wishbone parmesan asiago
Ken's raspberry walnut viniagrette
Either brand asian sesame
Simply Dressed, which is in the produce section
I also will add tiny amounts of things like toasted walnuts or pecans, which add a lot of flavor, I maybe add a teaspoon of them, or won ton noodles or tortilla strips
also olives, and a little fat free feta sometimes. I'm actually having the most difficult time finding decent salad greens right now, so haven't been eating a lot of salad because of that. Soups instead!

[ChristinaMason]

<Wishbone parmesan asiago>

I got this on a recommendation in this thread series, and to me, it's OK. I haven't tried it in a while (not since switching to a lower-calorie meal plan), so maybe it will taste better now that my taste buds have adjusted. Heh. I think Kraft makes it though, no?

I think Kraft makes a decent light creamy French dressing, too.

[ludmilasdaughter]

I have to say that I really like the Newman's Own light dressings. At least they are all natural. Very few calories per serving, and the servings size is way more than I typically need on my salad.

[Jeserf]

43.8 - WOW contrats! Keep it up!

[sunflwrsdh]

43.8 lbs in a great success, jm! Congratulations to you and it sounds like your husband is following the plan too.
I have been avoiding desserts for the most part lately, except for sugar free jello. It might be time for me to make a cake:)

[Jeserf]

This month's Cooking Light has TONS of yummy looking chicken recipes - if you're in a rut, there is a serious amount of options in the one on stands now. I bought it but haven't had time to tag any recipes.

Additionally, Mark Bittman was on the Today Show this morning making a yummy looking root veggie sautee - shredded root vegetablessauteed low and slow so they turn in to a mush with a little bite more than having any brown on them. He tossed in chili powder, green onions, and fish sauce at the end. It looked really good! Found the recipe!

Mixed root vegetable saute
Mark Bittman
Ingredients
1 medium onion
Olive oil
2-3 carrots
2-3 sweet potatoes
5-6 radishes or 1-2 turnips
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 lime
1/2 teaspoon chile powder
2-3 whole scallions
Fish sauce

Preparation: Cook a thinly sliced medium onion in olive oil over medium-high heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and grate a few carrots, sweet potatoes, and radishes or turnips; add them, along with some minced garlic, to the pan and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes. Add the juice of half a lime (this will loosen the mixture a bit) a sprinkle of chile powder, a handful of chopped scallions, and fish sauce to taste. Garnish with lime wedges and serve.

Sounds like it would be excellent with salmon (maybe poached in coconut milk, or a dry rub and roasted/grilled?) or even tofu steaks!

[sunflwrsdh]

Thanks for the tip on the Cooking Light; I looked at it, but for once in my life, decided maybe I didn't really need another magazine full of recipes, but maybe I do need just one more:) The Bittman recipe sounds good too. Thanks for sharing it!

[Solstice444]

Has anyone tried the Simply Filling technique?

[jujuthomas]

My bff did and was very successful on it between her pregnancies.

[Solstice444]

I'm thinking of trying it just for a week to switch things up.

[mimilulu]

Yes, I love it. I cycle back and forth depending on the circumstances. Best to know portion sizes, the most important thing is eating to satisfaction, NOT until you are full/stuffed. If you think of the power foods list as ingredients, you can be pretty creative.

[Jeserf]

Work has been CRAZY....I worked out a bit so far this week but tonight, my trainer was sick so instead of hitting the cardio, I went home.

work is CRAZY but I pre-cooked some of the Senegalese Peanut Stew stuff AND turkey chili - I'm still eating the stew. It's such a good stew and I swap the kale for the spinach - the kale holds up very well and is chewy. I have been adding some salted peanuts, chopped, to the top but am fresh out of them, sadly. I highly recommend this stew - the leftovers are better than fresh. I have never freezed it.

Turkey chili. Eh. Turkey chili can be bland - I added some spice, but I find that I search for crunchies and I think adding to many baked tortilla chips will do me in.

I'm bracing for a gain on Saturday based purely on how much is going on at work. I'm not doing well on my scale at home, but I'm sticking to eating as well as I can and really, that's the best anyone can do...right?

I hit 70lb exactly this past Saturday, so a gain this weekend will definitely bum me out, but I'm expecting it and won't be upset given the other stuff going on in my life.

[jujuthomas]

Jes, have you tried the Turkey White bean pumpkin chili recipe from skinnytaste? it's really tasty - we made it this weekend, NOT bland. DH ended up eating all the leftovers because he asked me to add 2 cans of chopped chilis and some hot ground chili and it was a bit too much for me. :)
good job on the 70lbs!
I wasn't terribly creative tonight - ground turkey and onions simmered in a jarred sauce (locally made!) I had mine over spaghetti squash, DH had high fiber pasta. it was tasty and comforting.

[Jeserf]

no, I've eye'd that recipe, though! This coming week is a no-cook week. Work will be nuts and I'm going to my Supergirl shop to pick up soup for nightly meals. It'll be much easier for me. That, and Sun night I'm having a "Valenines Day Dinner" with another Marine's wife (wait, that sounds bad....). We figured since we're alone on V-Day to try to at least do something.

[sasha1]

Regarding needing crunch in your chili (I make a turkey chili too - for years, never beef), maybe try adding some chopped fresh red onions and bell peppers on top. Texture w/o pts. A few chips won't hurt either, and will give you the salty starch you are probably craving as well.

[CallAnyVegetable]

Batali's tortilla española with some braised bok choy on the side, real tasty for about 6pts+ for an eighth of it with a few added pts for the greens, filling...

[nerdette]

Last night we made shrimp kebabs (shrimp, pineapple, onions), broiled them and glazed them with pineapple juice (with soy sauce and spices) . We served it on top of skinny taste's coconut brown rice, and topped it off with cilantro and lots of lime juice.
It was really, really tasty, and very reasonable in points. I doubled the ginger and the garlic in the rice, and it came out perfect.
Tonight we're having tandoori inspired chicken breasts (marinated in yogurt & spices, then broiled). DH will have them with brown rice and raita, I'll sub the rice with cauliflower.

Does anybody have any suggestions for WW-friendly tofu recipes? It's extra-firm, so I'm thinking kebabs or steaks, but I've never cooked tofu before, so I'm really open to suggestions.

[sasha1]

If you enjoy Asian flavors, I do a Thai curry with tofu pretty frequently. You want to dry out the tofu a bit so it can soak up the curry flavors. Either press it between paper towels, or roast the block in the oven for an hour.

Then saute your favorite veggies (I use onions, bell peppes, and bamboo shoots) in pam and remove from skillet. Combine about 1 tbsp brown sugar with 1 tbsp or more fish sauce, melt that up, then throw in 1-2 tbsp thai curry paste (best variety is at an Asian market but regular grocery has a few), and mix till a uniform consistence. Add 1-2 cups liquid (either all broth - super low pts - or part broth part coconut milk) and cook that all together for 10 minutes on low. Then toss in your cubed tofu for about 5, then the veggies to warm through. Throw some chopped basil on top.

[ChristinaMason]

Another idea: I just made ma po tofu using firm tofu and ground turkey (85/15), with extra veggies added in (zucchini and mushrooms), served over riced cauliflower. It was great and very low calorie by my calculation (no added oil whatsoever, except for a mist of cooking spray for the zucchini).

[Jeserf]

what did you do for the sauce?

[ChristinaMason]

It's just chicken broth, spicy/hot bean paste, soy sauce, corn starch slurry, and fermented black bean paste. Here's the full recipe from Hound buttertart (I added sliced zukes and dry-fried sliced mushrooms, and subbed 3/4 tsp. fermented bean paste for the whole beans):

"1 lb firm tofu cut in 1 in cubes and left to steep in hot salted water, 1 tsp Sichuan pepper roasted and crushed, 6 oz ground pork or beef, 2 1/2 tb chili bean sauce, 1 tb rinsed fermented black beans, chopped,1 cup chicken stock (I cheated with Knorr broth powder), 2 tsp soy sauce, 3 small leeks or a bunch of scallions, thinly sliced at steep diagonal and washed well (especially if they're leeks), 4 tb cornstarch in 6 tb cold water.

Cook the meat over high heat until browned. Add the chili bean sauce, the black beans, stir well, let cook a min or so. Drain and add the tofu, stir gently to combine, trying not to break up the tofu too much. Pour in the stock and simmer for a few mins. Put in the leek/onion, stir up, thicken with the cornstarch slurry (you won't need it all, stop when the sauce coats things nicely but isn't gloopy). Top with the Sichuan pepper. Serve. If you're as handy with kuaizi (chopsticks) as my man is, eat it with chopsticks. I like to eat it with a Chinese porcelain soup spoon.
Can add cayenne/Chinese chili powder with the chili bean sauce (I added 1/2 tsp of one I got in a cellophane packet labeled "Chinese crunch chili" - sort of beige-y colored and hot as the hinges of Hades)."

More on hot bean paste: http://www.foodsubs.com/CondimntAsia....

p.s. this is seriously spicy!!

[jujuthomas]

DH and I just went back to the old points system today - ditching Points plus because we both gained weight on it! can't say we didn't give it a good try tho. Thank goodness our phone app allows us to do either since I recycled our sliders when PP came out. Doesn't change our cooking that much, I think tonight will be spaghetti since it's snowing and I'm in need of comfort food. :)

[sunflwrsdh]

We have Hungarian goulash seasoned pork and sauerkraut that we made in the slow cooker yesterday for dinner tonight, because everyone was too full from an afternoon party to eat supper. I didn't figure out the point on that....like 4 or 5 a serving, probably. Also, my wonderful husband is making chicken vegetable soup as I type this. He will probably put in some brown rice, so it will end up being about 3 points a cup. I'll take that for lunches for the rest of the week along with 1/2 cup of homemade fat free Greek yogurt, another 3 points, because I add some preserves to flavor it. The plan for the rest of the week isThai seasoned chicken stir fry tomorrow night, 4 points a serving. Wednesday will be McDonald's, after dance with my granddaughter. Maybe I will try one of their salads this week. The happy meal I've been having just isn't worth the points and I am hungry again before I go to bed. Thursday will be eggplant and/or chicken parm..probably Skinnytaste's something similar. Friday will be pizza; homemade whole wheat crust and plain cheese on one and for the other one this week, I'm making Emily Bites buffalo chicken pizza, with some variation...I couldn't find the Laughing Cow lite bleu cheese wedges the recipe called for, so I bought some reduced fat blue cheese and will cream that with some Neufchatel, and hope for the best. I was down 1.4 lbs this week, and am happy about that!

[Solstice444]

Congrats on your loss! I maintained exactly this week. Did not lose nor gain even 0.1 pound. That takes talent, right? ;-) At least I didn't gain. I suppose I will have to start lowering my daily points...but this week I have Tue-Thu off and I am going to try going to the gym twice and see what effect exercise has. Btw I have Laughing Cow light blue cheese wedges available in my area! That is too bad you don't have it. If you have a Hannaford near you, that's where I got it.

For lunch I made Parmesan Artichoke pasta, a recipe from laaloosh.com, with whole wheat fettucine. Dinner will be leftover Skinnytaste barbacoa pork that I had in the freezer, and a salad.

[sunflwrsdh]

Thank you! And maintaining exactly does take talent:) Exercise definitely seems to have a positive effect for me...I've been gradually increasing mine every week, with good results so far. Thanks for the tip on the Laughing Cow lite bleu cheese. We do have Hannaford, and that isn't the store I was in.
Your lunch sounds great, as does your dinner:) Our pork and sauerkraut was good too.

[Solstice444]

Is anyone making anything WW friendly for the Super Bowl? I have to work during it, so I'll just be treating myself to some pizza and frozen poppers, and maybe finishing my last few weekly points with a bit of chips and dip. The times I've had to work during the Super Bowl, I usually bring in unhealthy food on purpose, but this time I'm not going to mindlessly eat chips and dip all night :-) If I was going to a party, I would've tried the Skinny Taste buffalo chicken dip, b/c I've made the fattening version before and I would've liked to have seen how it compared. I would like to try the Skinny Taste poppers sometime too.

[sunflwrsdh]

I didn't make anything for Super Bowl specifically, although I did make guacamole (Alton Brown's recipe) for a family birthday party. 1/4 cup is only 2 points and great with baked scoops (3 points for a serving, which is 12) I also ate shrimp cocktail at my sister's party. and did pretty going very easy on the dips, etc, then used a whole lot of my weekly points on a piece of my niece's lemon raspberry cheesecake mousse pie, as well as 1/2 of a piece of my sister's chocolate espresso cake. And then the three glasses of pinot noir.....which are either free or 12 points, depending on how you look at it:) Anyway, it was a party, and that is what the weeklies are for.

[freia]

Tonight we went Greek -- feta cheese canapes, spanakopita, pastitsio, yogort cherry cake. Total on tne dinner was 14 Momentum points so I dipped into my Bonus points today. MMMmmmm

[Solstice444]

Last night I made chicken breasts with crushed tomatoes, feta, shallots, and olives, and had salad on the side. The breasts I used were large which made it kind of high in points. But if you use, say, 6 oz breasts, it would be 8-9 points. I just bought Bolthouse yogurt based ranch salad dressing which is really good and only 1 point for 2 tbsps! Many of the other Bolthouse salad dressings are also 1 point for 2 tbsps and they are delicious.

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight's dinner was pizza. My husband made homemade whole wheat crust. I topped one with a homemade tomato sauce ( one we had earlier in the week with meatballs and roasted spaghetti squash) and reduced fat shredded mixed Italian cheeses. second pizza was Emily Bites chicken alfredo pizza. Same whole wheat crust, topped with Classico lite alfredo sauce, shredded cooked chicken, sauteed spinach and garlic, and reduced fat mixed Italian cheese, and a little grated pamesan on top. It was delicious, and 5 points per slice. Having 14 daily points left at dinner time, I had two slices of the chicken alfredo pizza for 10 points and two glasses of nice Italian red wine for the remaining 4 plus 4 weekly, of which I had like 15 left. Hopefully, it has been a good week for me...tomorrow's weigh in will tell!

[sunflwrsdh]

Leftover braised chicken thighs with spinach and 1/2 slice of bread for supper tonight. I'm making Emily Bites chicken alfredo pizza with the rest of the leftoverr braised chicken thighs for tomorrow night's supper (Friday nights are often pizza night at our house) only with my husband's home made whole wheat dough instead of the Boboli crust she uses.
We are going to Saratog's Chowderfest on Saturday,from 11-4, (AFTER my weigh- in!) but the tastes of chowder (from like 40 or so parrticipating restaurants!) are 3 ounces, so I figure if I share 3 oz with my husband, it will cut down on the points! And I am researching my skinny slow cooker magazine forr something to throw together Saturday morning that will be ready when/if we're hungry for dinner Saturday night. Birthday dinner at my sister's on Sunday....there go the weekly points!

[Heatherb]

I've started replacing pasta with barley. I'm not doing WW currently, but I am eating more consciously. I used barley to make risotto the other day in my slowcooker - sooooo easy! And a few days later decided to replace pasta with barley for dinner. Steamed some asparagus, dumped the sauce over the veggies, barley and a little parm and it really worked wonderfully. And the barley is easy to prep in my cuisinart rice cooker.

[CallAnyVegetable]

Lentil soup tonight... amazing how something so cheap and filling can only be 2 pts+/1 cup..

[sasha1]

DH requested beef stew, which we haven't had in a long while. It's not the lowest point dish to begin with, but I am lightening it up by trimming all the fat from the meat, using less oil to brown, thickening w/whole wheat flour, and filling it chock full of carrots, peas, and mushrooms. All told there will be at least a 1:1 ration veg to beef, maybe more. I am taking the potatoes out completely, and preparing them (somehow) on the side so that my 3 boys can put their stew on top of the tuber, and I can skip it.

[CanadaGirl]

I live adding pearl onions to beef stew. It will help bulk it up without adding points.

[sasha1]

I didn't do potatoes, I ended up doing roast butternut squash instead.

I add lots of regular onions to the stew - not a fan of pearl onions. However, I was thrilled when I went to look up butternut squash and found that a cup was 0 pts. I was counting on having to allocate 3 at least. So a happy surprise!

[CallAnyVegetable]

Last night's dinner was Roasted Sesame Pork with some mashed potatoes and carrots. Side should've been some kind of stir-fry but plans got derailed. It was pretty good, my boyfriend liked it too.

ROASTED SESAME PORK (4 servings (about 1/4 lb each) - 5 pts+ each)

1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 lb pork tenderloin
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Preheat oven 425F. In bowl mix first 5 ingredients and roll the tenderloin into that mixture. Pat the sesame seeds on top and sides of the tenderloin. Use parchment paper or spray Pam on a small baking dish. Bake 25-30 minutes, remove from oven and let stand 5-10 minutes. Slice in 4 pieces.

[mariacarmen]

sounds SO GOOOD!

[mariacarmen]

so i have a pack of pork loin boneless ribs defrosting, and i really want to make this dish, but i'm afraid they won't get tender enough in 25-30 minutes, anyone have any idea?

[freia]

Addicted to two things right now -- WW potstickers OMG so FREAKING good (home made) and cilantro-lime rice.
Tonight, ham steaks with apricot-mustard glaze, 3/4 cup cilantro-lime rice, green beans and a thin slice of pumpkin loaf for dessert. Total....9 Momentum points (points plus SO not working for me...)
:)

[sunflwrsdh]

I do use the points plus system, but the 2012 whatever it is version (the one where I got cut from 29 to 26 points plus!) is difficult for me. I am losing...don't want to say steadily yet, but have been down the past two weeks. So I will keep trying to stay within my daily points plus allowance, but some days it is really hard. I find I use more of my weekly points plus allowance than I used to...so I think that probably means I am eating about the same amount as I was before, when I had 29 daily points plus....I have also been steadily (although slowly) increasing my activity points every week.
Tonight's dinner was a mcDonald's Happy Meal again, after my granddaughter's dance class. 15 points, and not much food. But a happy little girl.

[Solstice444]

I got cut down from 29 to 26 also! However, since I was still losing with 29, I just switched it back to 29...and I have still been losing luckily. I'm only 2.5 pounds or so from my goal weight, having lost 15, but I think to look the way I want to I'm going to have to start exercising. I might lose a pound or two more past my goal weight, I'll have to see how I feel once I reach it. I usually use most of my weekly points, I am impressed that you don't :-)

[CanadaGirl]

Solstice444 is right - if you were happy with 29 points you can go back to it WITHOUT cutting into your weeklies. I try to save my weeklies for those unexpected meals out or special occassion, but to each her (his) own :)

[sunflwrsdh]

@ Solstice...how awesome...2,5 pounds from your goal weight is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel! Exercise really does help.....I wish I was one of those people who could find some type of physical activity that I love, and that it didn't feel so much like work and take a LOT of discipline to do it every day, but sadly, I'm not. I do, however see definite good results from it, and especially from keeping at it and gradually increasing it, a little more each week. If there is any activity you love, try doing that. What I do is work out to a DVD...it's Leslie Sansone's walking dvd....the one I am currently using has 5 different miles on it, 4 of them are 14 minute miles and they target different muscle groups...abs, upper body, lower body, and two of the miles are just general. There is also a "fast" 12-minute mile. I do this early in the morning, after I have my coffee and before I get ready for work. I started with doing one mile a day, and am trying to ...gradually work up to 4 miles a day. I am currently at doing one mile every day, and 2 miles 3 times a week. I can really see the difference in how I look and feel, but I still don't love doing it. I do like earning the extra activity points, though:)
@ Canadagirl....I know I could go back to the 29 points a day, and I would do that before giving up, but I hope to continue losing, and will try sticking with the 26 for a few more weeks. I mostly can do it, it's those damn point for the wine that make the difference!

[smilingal]

so thankful to have found this thread - just joined WW today but will start the diet on Sat when DH and I get to our first meeting- having left a couple of years ago and gained all and more back.
@ sunflwrsdh - you reminded me that a few years ago I bought a tape or DVD of Leslie Sansones from an online offer - which is still in the unopened box that it was shipped to me in! Do you do it on a treadmill or just in front of the TV?

Can anyone share any links of recipes or anything that will be inspirational to keep us motivated in these early days? I have been reading about some recipe suggestions from a new site source that isn't familiar to me. I will have to check it out. Thanks and good luck for a healthier lifestyle.

[Solstice444]

Check out www.skinnytaste.com. Great healthy recipes and they are usually pretty simple to make. Some of my favorites are the Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken, Thai Pineapple Chicken Stir Fry, Pepper Steak, and Turkey Meatloaf.

[smilingal]

Thanks - that is a great start for us!

EDIT - I just checked out that site - thanks again - looks creative - are these recipes according to WW? Haven't delved in too deeply yet - are there point allotments?

[Solstice444]

Last night I made an Asian ground pork with green beans dish over rice, and tonight I made Skinnytaste Chicken Tikka Masala and had that over rice. Both were tasty. By the time I finish the leftovers I will be tired of Asian food over rice for awhile :-)

[Jeserf]

what's the ground pork with green beans? I don't eat pork, but I could use chicken - is that from skinny taste or what? THAT is something I would make. Please share :)

[Solstice444]

Here is the recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/szech...

I doubled it since I had 1 lb of ground pork and didn't want to just use half. I probably would use less hoisin sauce or less sugar next time b/c it was a bit sweet. But it was tasty! I was happy that it had the nutrition info on the side, which includes the rice. As written, it's 6 Points Plus per serving, for 4 servings. Obviously less with chicken, so if you doubled it, it would definitely be less than 12 Points Plus per serving, and that includes rice which is nice. I went over to my boyfriend's house after cooking and eating and he said I smelled like Chinese food, so I figured that was a good sign ;-)

[Jeserf]

Yum sounds good and super easy!

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight's dinner ( again cooked by my wonderful husband, while I was at work) was braised chicken thighs with spinach, kalmata olives and roasted red peppers. Served with tossed salad and his homemade french bread. Yum!

[CallAnyVegetable]

Tonight I made Maple-Mustard Chicken Breasts (6 pts for 1/2 breast) with a side of rapini (1st time trying it - and not nearly as bitter as everyone made it out to be! - 1 pt) and a cup of plain rice (5 pts). It was pretty good, the BF had seconds. I can't remember where I picked up my recipes as I went on a light-recipe frenzy bookmarking a billion things when I realized how much weight I had gained.

[Jeserf]

How did you make the maple mustard chicken...?

[CallAnyVegetable]

MAPLE-MUSTARD CHICKEN (4 servings (1/2 breast + 1-2 tbsp sauce) - 6 pts each)

2 tsp oil
4 pieces boneless chicken breasts halves (about 6 oz each)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp dried thyme (or 2 tsp fresh)
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp stone-ground mustard

Preheat oven at 400F. Season chicken with salt/pepper on both sides. Heat oil in large ovenproof skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken, fry 3 minutes on each side, remove from pan and set aside. Add broth + syrup + thyme + garlic + mustard + vinegar. Boil, cook a few minutes while scraping pan. Return chicken to pan and spoon sauce over chicken. Bake in oven 10 minutes. Remove from oven , set aside chicken and let it stand 5 minutes; meanwhile reduce sauce a bit more if needed.

Resulting chicken is cooked to perfection and the sauce has a subtle sweetness. It was my first time trying this recipe and I would make it again.

[Jeserf]

This would be excellent with a roasted sweet potato. Adding this to the list of things I say I'll make :)

[mimilulu]

Thanks so much for sharing this recipe -- we had this tonight and we liked it a lot. Served with brussels sprouts and purple potatoes cooked in my actifry (quartered and cooked in 1 Tbsp of olive oil). Really good dinner.

[CallAnyVegetable]

Glad you liked it...

[ChowFun_derek]

alright share the news ...how does actifry. fry...really...fried chicken??? etc
inquiring minds....

[freia]

My sister has one, used it when I visited to make home fries. It really DOES work, absolutely amazed by it.

[jujuthomas]

never heard of an actifry before, so checked amazon. Oh, if only I had the counter space for it!

[freia]

I tells you, it is amazing to see. I have no counterspace or cupboard space either so I'm out of luck, too. But if I had room for one thing, I think I'd do this. Now, I DO have a popcorn maker that works on the same principle..I wonder what would happen if I used potatoes in it instead of popcorn...hmmmm...gotta google!
Hmmm...googled. Probably not. Seems the blade in my Cuisinart popcorn machine would be too thin to push those ovenfries around. Sigh...

[jujuthomas]

one of the items on my list is to redo my kitchen completely. When that happens, a contraption like this will be on my list of "must buys"! :) I think making fries at home would make me MUCH less likely to get them when I'm out to eat.

[mimilulu]

Haven't used it for chicken... so far just for potatoes. And it works really well for those!

It has a stirrer built in so I would think the coating on the chicken would fall off.

[freia]

Tomorrow? Chi-faux-tles...yup, making lime cilantro rice, stewed black beans and barbicoa beef...all home made and points accounted for! Nom nom nom!

[sunflwrsdh]

Sounds great!

[jujuthomas]

i've got a craving for comfort food. I think tonight I'll make chicken with gravy.
This afternoon I roasted 2 small zuchinni, a head of broccoli and a head of brocoflower with an onion and some evoo. YUMMY! I never had brocoflower before, it's pretty tasty! I like it better than cauliflower.

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight's dinner was great, although I didn't cook it. My husband made Hungry Girl's Spaghetti Squash with meatballs, and it was great! (He actually used Skinnytaste's spinach meatball recipe) A plateful of "spaghetti" and meatballs (I had 2) for 2 points!!!! We had a green salad and French bread (his home made, and higher protein, since he has been using the whey we drain off from our home made Greek yogurt as the liquid in the bread.)

[Jeserf]

I love spaghetti squash - Everyday Food has some great recipes including spaghetti squash fritters and gratin this month.
Gratin: http://www.marthastewart.com/873340/spaghetti-squash-gratin
Fritters/"pancakes": http://www.marthastewart.com/873338/s...

Both look wonderful from the magazine.

[jujuthomas]

i think i'll be getting some spaghetti squash next grocery run! i haven't had it in a while. yum

[sunflwrsdh]

Thanks for those links! both recipes sound great, and really points friendly! I will be trying both of them.

[Jeserf]

store bought new mexico chili taco sauce from Frontera brand tonight...chicken and veggies in it with corn tortillas - it was actually delicious. Some sliced avocado and FF greek yogurt - I estimated 10 points.

down this week for a total of -68. Not sure how accurate it is because it's a new location and the scales weren't hooked up to the computers, which is frustrating!

I bought more stuff to make another pot of the South African Sweet Potato stew stuff. It's so good and even better as leftovers.

[CanadaGirl]

-68!!!! Fantastic work!

[sunflwrsdh]

Jeserf,
Down 68 pounds is an awesome achievement! Good for you!

[Solstice444]

Congrats!!!

[iL Divo]

-68 sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh, that's stupendo!

[mariacarmen]

you must be thrilled! congratulations!!

[freia]

Dinner tomorrow night: spanakopitas made with phyllo pastry into individual small triangles (so I can portion control and DH can gork out), followed by pastitsio and a half piece of pumpkin loaf.
Recipe book: Take out Tonight WW love love LOVE this book!
http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Watchers...
Points are calculated the old way (Momentum vs Points Plus) but all the nutritional info is there so you can calculate however you like.
Nom nom nom!

[CallAnyVegetable]

Been eating a lot of light ranch dip (half greek yogurt + half light mayo with garlic and other condiments). Also pitas filled up with a ton of veggies and 3-4 tbsp of hummus.

I make a game of buying random vegetables and forcing myself to find ways to prepare them before they go bad. As my budget is tight I never end up throwing any way.

I also discovered on the late that chicken meatballs could be made from boneless skinless breasts by dropping them in the food processor with some garlic and herbs like oregano or basil, then forming little balls (no need for binders) and pan-frying them in a little spray oil then finishing them in the oven. Then you can use them in several ways: fill a pita (with greek yogurt based homemade tzatziki) on pasta with tomato sauce, etc. 5 of them are about 6 pts.

(First post here, hi all..)

[freia]

Hi! Great ideas!

[sunflwrsdh]

Hi, CallAny Vegetable...
Those are excellent ideas. I especially love the vegetable challenge...I've been trying out new vegetables and new ways of preparing them too.....gotta love those zero point ones!

[CallAnyVegetable]

Hi sunflwrsdh,

Tonight my veggie challenge was rapini, which I simply braised in chicken broth. It was more successful than I thought it would be! A whole 1lb bunch is about 2 pts.

[CanadaGirl]

I am addicted to rapini cooked as follows:
- blanche until bright green, rinse in cold water and dry (you can do this part ahead)
- add a couple tsp olive oil to frying pan and a couple of sliced cloves garlic and big ping pepper flakes. Sauté until fragrant
- add rapini and sauté until the desired level of "cookedness".
- eat!!

Super low points and delicious.

[CallAnyVegetable]

Thanks CanadaGirl, that's totally my next try with them.

[sunflwrsdh]

Yum! Sounds really good. Rapini will be a good vegetable for me to try!

[mariacarmen]

welcome and thanks for the great idea about the chicken meatballs!

[Solstice444]

Has anyone tried cooking with the "Hungry Girl-approved" Tofu Shirataki noodles? I bought some, and I'm going to make her Fettucine Alfredo recipe, but I was wondering if anyone has actually tried them. I feel like I'm going to hate them or else think they're awesome.

[magiesmom]

I find them completely repulsive, personally.

[CanadaGirl]

I've not had the tofu shirataki noodles, but I have had the regular and they were fine. A bit bland but they bulked up a stirfry for 0 points.

[sunflwrsdh]

I did try them once, and I thought they had an odd taste and I also didn't care for the texture. Sort of rubbery and almost fishy tasting.

[CanadaGirl]

Did you rinse them first? It doesn't fix the texture but it does fix the smell.

[sunflwrsdh]

I did rinse them, both before and after. I do however, love spaghetti sauce as a zero point swap.

[CanadaGirl]

I love sandwiches, but I don't want to use oodles of points on a non-special meal. Lately, I've been using Dijon and a big dollop of caramelized onions. It adds the moisture of mayo, but for no points and more flavour. I do a big batch of onions in my slowcooker and use only 2 tbsp butter for 6 lbs of onions. There is so litttle butter per serving that the points = 0.

[freia]

Caramelized onions are absolutely delicious!
I'm not a mayo person, thankfully, except in my FAVORITE tuna salad sandwiches which are like a billion points the way I make them and no I'm sorry non-fat sandwich spread alternatives just don't make the cut so I don't eat alot of tuna salad LOL but I digress...
Caramelized onions are a fridge staple for me too, but I usually add them to mashed potatoes for a great depth of flavor, and to fritattas and omelets. I'll add them to my ham sandwiches in the future, sounds like a great idea!
xoxoxo

[iL Divo]

"I'm not a mayo person"

oh how I wish I was on your team of not liking mayo. honestly for me it's on the food chain.
my family thinks I'm bonkers cause none of them like mayo but all could suck the life out of a jar of "mutarde" \?/

[freia]

LOLOL go figure, huh...
I'll even go out of my way to say HOLD THE MAYO, even when I'm not strictly on WW.
Just to give you an idea -- I make potato salad maybe once a year. This year I made it, enjoyed it, then it dawned on me...how old IS that mayo? See I didn't recall buying some for ages. So I checked the date on the jar, and it was 18 months out of date! I mean, the mayo is always "there" and you get used to seeing it, so it just didn't occur to me to actually CHECK. Just assumed it was fresh and new since it was about 2/3 full.
Wouldn't recommend this, but all I know was that the potato salad was EXCELLENT, and we suffered no ill effects.
LOLOLOL

[mariacarmen]

i'm with you, i can eat mayo right out of the jar with a spoon.

[sunflwrsdh]

Great idea! I'm going to try some of my unflavored fat free Greek yogurt mixed with Dijon as a sub for mayo, which isn't something I am crazy about anyway.

[debbypo]

Hi... I love both dijon and carmelized onions... how do you do them in the slow cooker? Thanks

[mariacarmen]

debbypo, i'd imagine you just slice 6 lbs of onions thin, add 2 tbs of butter (i'm just following what Canadagirl said above), and put everything in your slow cooker on low until they're super caramelized. maybe you'd add some water every now and then, if it looks like they're getting too dry? that's what i'm going to try, anyway, unless we hear back from canadagirl....

[CanadaGirl]

Those directions look good, but there's no need to add water. It might not look right at about the 3 hour mark, but stuck it out :)

[mariacarmen]

what a great idea re the caramelized onions....

[freia]

Ham steaks with apricot-mustard glaze, green beans and garlic mashed potatoes. Nice slice of Pumpkin Loaf. All WW recipes. Still on the old Momentum program (new points don't work well for me). Total on the meal? 7 Momentum points (probably around 9 PointsPlus points). I know it sounds boring, but I need to plan and cook ahead and sometimes simpler is more convenient that elaborate meals during the week.
Tomorrow -- Turkey potstickers with sesame/ginger dipping sauce, orange beef stir fry with rice, and green tea ice cream. Heavy on the points, but all home made (from "WW's TakeOut Tonight cookbook), except the greet tea ice cream. My fave meal!

[jujuthomas]

freia, your ham steak dinner sounds delicious!

[freia]

thank you ! Its one of my "go to" meals when I'm short on points. Very filling, very satisfying, low points. Does it get any better?:)

[sunflwrsdh]

freia,
Both of your meals sound wonderful! I'm really thinking I should make pot stickers soon....

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight's dinner was super easy and delicious. I recently bought Better Homes and Gardens "Skinny Slow Cooker" special publication magazine ( I am such a sucker for these things in the supermarket check out line!) and made " Balsamic pot roast with polenta for tonight's dinner. It was excellent. 10 points for the whole meal, which is a little high, but very good, and perfect for a Saturday when I had a lot of running around to do. So nice to come home and have it 90 % done. All I had to do was cook the polenta. There are several good recipes in it, and I'm sure I will be making more of them and will report back when I do.

[nerdette]

Tonight we're having bison chili (with beans) . As long as I pay attention to the cut of meat that I'm using, chili is actually very pp-friendly and perfect for a gloomy dreary day like today.
Couple days ago DH made cooking light's spicy honey-brushed chicken thighs. I very highly recommend them- they turned out very flavorful, and they were very easy to put together on a weeknight. They're very point-friendly as-is, but we cut the honey in half and there was more than enough glaze.

Canada girl- thank you for suggesting yogurt with cocoa. I've been enjoying greek yogurt with cocoa or instant hot cocoa powder stirred in pretty much every day. If I whisk it, it tastes like pudding or mousse, and it takes care of one dairy GHG without having to "resort" to cheese (I'm not a fan of plain milk and I can't really control myself around cheese).
Besides the yogurt, my current obsessions are roasted green beans with garlic and parmesan and celery puree/mashed celery root.

I have lots of pork (several different cuts) that I need to use up, so next week I think I'll try skinny taste's carnitas and the sweet and fiery pork loin.

[sunflwrsdh]

Those honey brushed chicken thighs sound great, and we just bought a bunch of chicken thighs on sale, will check it out, thank you:)
Wow...I missed the post about the yogurt with cocoa, and was thinking about that today....how much cocoa powder to how much yogurt? do you add sugar or some other sweetener to it? I have the exact same dairy things you do...don't care for milk by itself and like cheese way too much!

[Solstice444]

Last night I made Skinnytaste's turkey meatloaf - you can eat half the meatloaf for 13 points! It just needs a bit more ketchup or some kind of sauce on the top to add a bit of flavor, since it's made with 99% lean ground turkey, but I was very happy with the results. I am making chili today for a chili cookoff. I won't be counting points tonight or tomorrow (going to a buffalo wing competition), but as I have 42 weekly points left, plus probably 15 points leftover each day to use on the yummy bad for you food, hopefully I'll be ok!

[sunflwrsdh]

wow! 13 points for half the meatloaf is great! We have a chili cookoff going on in our town tomorrow too, that I wish I was going to, but I'm not. Probably a good thing points wise, but actually chili isn't that bad. Good luck with your cookoffs!
I made a Greek inspired pizza tonight; my husband's whole wheat pizza dough, actually jarrred Classico Florentine sauce, a little shredded 2% mixed Italian cheese, about a cup of chopped spinach, mixed with a little chopped basil, some fat free feta, roasted red peppers, thinly sliced garlic, and kalmata olives, topped with a little more fat free feta. 5 points per slice. YUM!

[Solstice444]

I won the cookoff! :-) It was just a small one with friends, but I got a $25 Amazon gift card so that was exciting! Yeah, chili is pretty decent points wise, except the chili I made this time had alot of meat in it including sausage. But if you use lean ground beef then it's not bad! Or bison, as nerdette mentioned below, I've never tried that but I bet it would be good.

That Greek inspired pizza sounds very good!

[sunflwrsdh]

Congratulations on your winning chili!

[Solstice444]

Thank you!

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight's supper was grilled burgers, with small slices of cheddar, on whole wheat english muffins. about 9 points in total. And butternut squash "fries" on the side. 0 points for them, and delicious! and 2 glasses of wine. Tomorrow night will be pizza, and I read this blog called "Emily Bites",where I have seen several intriguing home made pizza recipes, one of which I may check out.

[CanadaGirl]

Dinner tonight wasn't so much cooked as assembled. I have these mini chicken wontons from the freezer section at Costco that are only 1 point for 4 wontons (!!!!!!). I brought 3 cups of chicken broth with some soy. Threw in some chopped broccoli and 16 wontons. A bit of sesame oil and sriracha and I had a big bowl of yummy and filling soup for far fewer points than seems reasonable.

[mariacarmen]

I inadvertently made a pretty pts-friendly dinner tonight. i was just craving something gingery and spicy, and a friend pointed me to this: vietnamese boiled chicken. To the boiling water I added lemongrass, crushed garlic and ginger, then simmered the cut b/s chicken breasts for about 20 mins. i made a nuoc cham and added scallions, habanero slices, cilantro and slivered ginger to it. i served the poached sliced chicken with jasmine rice, and on the side, the spicy/gingery nuoc cham, a little bowl of chili garlic sauce, another of sriracha, more cilantro, lime slices, sliced shallots, sliced scallions, and more slivered ginger. the nuoc cham was so spicy (love habanero) we really didn't end up using the chili garlic sauce or the sriracha - and we usually love that stuff. also did a quick pickle of sliced daikon for more crunch. Nary a drop of oil in this meal, yet packed full of flavor. Quite a bit of sugar in the nuoc cham, and also the daikon pickle, but you don't drink the sauce/marinade (and i have a lot left of both.) And 40 minutes, start to finish.

[CanadaGirl]

Ooooooh! That sounds fabulous.

[Jeserf]

What time are leftovers being served? Sounds amazing!

[sasha1]

Impressive - you must have a well stocked pantry! Can anyone throw out an idea for steaming mussels? The last 10 times I've made it, it's been a version with garlic or leeks, tomato, white wine, etc. I'm getting a little tired of that prep. A new prep using pantry ingredients would be wonderful. I went to the store yesterday and probably won't run out again today.

[Jeserf]

do you have curry paste/coconut milk?

I don't eat mussels, but I know that is a popular prep for them.

Pr maybe adding pesto to the steam mixture?

[mariacarmen]

thanks everyone! i do have a lot of condiments and sauces again - i'd purged awhile back but have been slowly replenishing.

what are some of your pantry staples? do you have any sherry or vermouth? if so, i'd do butter, minced shallots and vermouth or sherry. if you have pastis (Ricard), so much the better.

[sasha1]

Thanks you two. We actually had a veggie thai curry yesterday, so I can't do the curry/coconut thing tonight w/mussels. A good idea otherwise. I do have butter, shallots, but not vermouth/sherry. I have cognac, rum, that would be weird I think. I may just do my same old same old and branch out the next time.

[sunflwrsdh]

Nice!

[iL Divo]

mariacarmen, I lerve the sound of your nuoc cham, I mean really yummy

[mariacarmen]

thanks! it really is pretty good....

[sunflwrsdh]

McDonald's after dance again tonight:) I had a Happy meal, with a cheeseburger and happy meal sized fries, and a ff chocolate milk. About the 14 points I had left for the day. But...at least they come with apple slices now:)

[Solstice444]

A bit offtopc but I looked at your profile and see you are from Schuylerville, NY...near Poughkeepsie, NY here! :-) Anyway, I've been eating Lean Pockets and other frozen things the past couple of days. Food shopping will happen tomorrow though, and I'm buying stuff to make Skinnytaste Chicken Tikka Masala and ST Turkey Meatloaf as well as some WW recipes. I work varying shifts so I don't have as much motivation to cook big meals at lunch as I would if I was home for dinner.

[sunflwrsdh]

ahhh, Solstice....my daughter went to school in New Paltz, so I am familiar with your area!
I hear you about the not really wanting to cook a big lunch. I am extremely fortunate to have my husband home all the time and willing and able to cook for us! Most nights he has supper ready or nearly ready when I get home, which is oh, so wonderful. We usually plan meals and shop together, which is nice too.

[Solstice444]

That is great! :-) And I love New Paltz.

[sunflwrsdh]

Yeah, the Parent's Orientation weekend activities were at Mohonk Mt. House,,,,,what an amazing place! And some great local eateries too!

[herby]

Jeserf, just read your OP - did you make that coconut brown rice? Sounds amazing. Must make!

[Jeserf]

No, not yet - I will...I've been taking the easy way out!

It sounds amazing with tofu and pineapple. I definitely will soon though!

[herby]

I am trying to get the food in the fridge/freezer consumed and with just me to feed it is not going fast. Add to that hosting dinner club last Sat and book club tomorrow and I am making more new food than I am consumming the existing. Serving meatballs from the freezer tomorrow - cooked them a bit tonight to re-fresh and reduced the sauce a lot - I think they are yummy and hope that everyone will enjoy without a clue about where they came from:)

I really want to start cooking Japanese with February COTM - such a wonderful point-friendly cuisine!

[Jeserf]

I'd love to be part of a cooking club - DC is so sterile sometimes and people don't like do meet new people. Lamers.

People have been posting about a book about Indian slow cooking in the home cooking board and I'm very intrigued

[CanadaGirl]

I made a big batch of low point spaghetti sauce tonight
- 2 onions, diced
- 2 bell peppers, diced
- 2 cups mushrooms, diced
- 4 carrots, diced
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 pkg extra lean ground beef
- 1 pkg extra lean ground chicken
- 1 big can fire roasted tomatoes
- 3 bottles puréed tomatoes.
- various spices

All told, 1 cup = 3 points.

[mariacarmen]

do you use any oil in that at all, CanadaGirl, or is it just all simmered together?

[CanadaGirl]

I did use a bit of olive oil. I sautéed the carrots and mushrooms a bit, then the onions and peppers until the onions were almost soft. Added the meats and browned them. Garlic went i and cooked until i could smell it. Added the tomatoes and simmered a while. I did add a Parmesan rind, but figured that didn't add to the point total. I had about equal parts meats and vegetables before adding the tomatoes. Maybe a bit more veg. I calculated 46 points for the whole thing and had 18 cups, so I rounded up to 3 points. I did drink enough wine to negate the low points of the sauce ;)

[mariacarmen]

GOOD FOR YOU!

[sunflwrsdh]

+1. I had 2 glasses tonight, and still stayed within my daily points. So far:)

[mariacarmen]

so far - ahahaha love it.

[iL Divo]

CanadaGirl, I'm gonna do that for dinner tonight. I have cooked ground lamb and the fat has already rendered off into first dish we already ate so very little fat. bought canned salt free whole tomatoes yesterday and have all the other veg ingredients. bought 100% whole grain whole wheat whole everything penne pasta that I'll serve sauce over. the way I figure from going into
DWLZ.com
I can even do 1 TB grated parm cheese over top right? I'll watch the serving size and will have a huge ole salad with spritzer dressing over all. breakfast this morning was again a smoothie: doesn't look like my son is gonna get the Ninja after all...........we'll see though "breakfast smoothie" 1/2 mango 1 banana 1 c oj 1 c ff milk 1 small red apple 1 small yellow apple 1 bosc pear 2 carrots ice cubes 1 pkt splenda whirl around in the Ninja until smooth. have enough for a snack later or when I need a pick me up. the way I figure is with skins and all, it's gotta be around 7-8 points. this is where I get my point count:

http://www.angelfire.com/me/kyoddie/p...

lunch is going to be a mostly all green salad of multiple greens plus spritzer dressing and a hard boiled egg sliced on top, maybe 10 raw almonds too.

[iL Divo]

sad face here, husband hated pasta sauce.
I think I overloaded it with too much celery, you know how celery can overpower?
also really hated the penne pasta that was 100% good for him.
so the entire pot got dumped. oh well, I'll stick to my regular sauce but will try to knock it back a bit using less fat and better meat fat to meat ratio.

[CanadaGirl]

Celery can TOTALLY overpower. That's why I usually don't even use it. I think the easiest way to sneak in more veg is to dice and brown a bunch of mushrooms before the meat.

[iL Divo]

CanadaGirl, I love the ideas of shrooms much more than celery, you're right, it was waaaaaaaaay too much.

[freia]

How many points per serving are you looking for? Because I have a great great great WW recipe for spaghetti and meatballs -- I find that making meatballs instead of putting ground meat into the sauce lets me account for my points easier, as the sauce is mostly veg. The meatballs are what add up along with the pasta that I love love love! Let me know, I can post if you like? :)

[Solstice444]

Please post :-)

[freia]

Ok here goes:
Meatballs:
1 lb extra-lean ground beef
1 slice white bread, torn
2 tbsp skim milk
1 egg
2 tbsp minced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/8 tsp salt

Tear the slice of bread, add the milk and let soak and form a paste. I use WW white bread for this.
In a large bowl, combine beef, egg slightly beaten, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and the bread paste. Mix well.
Form into 24 meatballs.
Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Bake at 350Funtil browned and slightly pink on inside. Then add to tomato sauce of your choice.

I don't have the Points Plus points, but for Momentum
3/4 cup cooked spaghetti plus sauce (veggie based, homemade) plus 6 meatballs plus 1 tsp grated Parmesan cheese works out to 7 Momentum Points.

One of my faves....

[Solstice444]

Thanks!

[iL Divo]

freia, you're a doll and I like I like I like.............and my darling husband ADORES meatballs.......I'll make one change, gonna use a slice of that seeded/nut bread I bought yesterday just to up the fiber factor.

I don't count points per say except in my mind and I'm pretty good at that.
not sure what momentum points are or the points plus either. I just go for about 20 regular old time points from how they used to be. thanks.

[freia]

We still have these as leftovers, made them the other day. Delish! Just be aware, if you use seed/nut bread, you'll get some texture in your meatballs. Some love this, my DH hates this, hence the white bread. Let me know how you like it!
:)

[smilingal]

i have also made meatballs with plain instant oatmeal - very tender!

[Jeserf]

really hungry this week. Must be coming up on t.o.m (tmi? :) )

I have santa fe chicken in the crock pot as we speak. I'm going to have it tonight on some romaine with a little extra sharp cheddar (they were out of my normal 50% light stuff, which kind of stinks). I have a neighbor tee'd up to take some, too, so I shouldn't have TOO much left over!

My barley salad with beets and tomatoes and spinach was a great lunch, too - I liberally calculated 10 points given that barley is high in points and I put some walnuts and dried berries in it, too.

[jarona]

Tonight it is a kind of leftover/breakfast for dinner kinda vibe. I know for me, I'll do an egg white omelet filled with lots of veg and two laughing cow cheeses.

[sasha1]

Had to post today bc dinner was yummy and healthy! Grilled chicken breast (under the broiler) marinated for about 6 hrs in yogurt, mint, and harissa. Quinoa pilaf with scallions, mint, parsley, cherry tomatoes, lemon juice and evoo. Salad of julienned bell peppers (not green - don't like green), cukes, and a little crumble of rogue creamery blue cheese, sherry vinegar and evoo. Mmmmm.

[Jeserf]

sounds REALLY good!

[sunflwrsdh]

+1...it does sound yummy!

[mariacarmen]

that does sound really good sasha. all these chicken dishes sound great today, and i only wish i'd already purchased my chicken for dinner tonight so i could make use of a good marinade....

[sasha1]

Thanks :) I had a friend over picking up her child while I was chopping and mixing, and she was jealous.

Tonight, a not terribly point friendly dinner, but I just watch my portion size. It's thai curry, an old standby. I dissolve a little brown sugar in fish sauce, toss in a glob of curry paste, some coconut milk, some broth, and let that simmer awhile. Then I add in various sauteed veggies (personally I use red bells, onions, peas, bamboo shoots) and cubed oven dried tofu. Warm through. I serve it w/white rice, and if I minimize my rice portion, and don't get too much of the sauce out, it turns out not so bad.

Tomorrow night will be another family favorite (and I've got small kids!) - steamed mussels over pasta.

[sunflwrsdh]

My husband made the braised chicken leg quarters on top of a bed of spinach, sprinkled with calmata olives and feta for dinner tonight, which we had along with a salad and a slice of his home made bread. The chicken dish is about 5 points and the bread, which I have with a teaspoon of butter is 3. I also had a glass of chardonnay for 4 points, making dinner a total of 12 points.

[jujuthomas]

DH has been in a breakfast rut, asked last night for help finding "something different" he can grab and go. no cooking involved. So this afternoon I made a batch of baked oatmeal with smashed banana, strawberries and blueberries. I believe I got this from another Chow/WWer.
Baked Oatmeal - 4PP per serving.
3 cups Old Fashioned Quaker Oatmeal
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
2T Splenda (or another sweetener but NI may change)
1 cup Milk, nonfat
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Cinnamon, ground
1/2 cup Applesauce, unsweetened
1/2 cup egg substitute or 2 eggs

optional but recommended:
1 ripe smashed Banana
1 cup frozen unsweetened Strawberries
1/2 cup frozen unsweetened Blueberries
bake in a 9x9 pan for 35 minutes at 350.
9 Servings

[Jeserf]

Sounds delicious!

I've always wanted to try baked or crock pot oatmeal, but since it's just me...seems like a waste. I will definitely try it when my husband is home, though, so he can eat 90% of it! I'm an oatmeal fan, and can sneak some protein powder in it, too!

PS: New Chobani flavors. Blood orange is a winner, but 4 points :(

[CanadaGirl]

Try the crockpot steel cut oatmeal. It reheats really well.

[jujuthomas]

i'm personally not a fan of crock pot oatmeal. I guess since I can make it on the stove so much more quickly. :)
I love oatmeal, I have some pumpkin spice steel cut oatmeal in the fridge now.

[jmcarthur8]

I finally made crock pot steel cut oatmeal last night, for this morning's breakfast. Though it was convenient, it had lost that al dente chewiness that I like so much. It had a texture more like rolled oats. So, steel cut oats will continue to be made on the stove on weekends, with enough left over for a few mornings during the week.

[CanadaGirl]

Mine still have that great steel cut oat texture. I say try again with a bit less liquid as I think there's a bit less evaporation in the crockpot. It's so nice to come downstairs in the morning to a steaming bowl of goodness :)

[sunflwrsdh]

I have been intrigued by the idea of steel cut oats in the slow cooker, but found a quick cooking version, and make them in 5 minutes. I cook them at night to bring to work for breakfast the next morning. I put them on while I'm finishing up supper dishes and setting up coffee for the morning, and by the time I'm done with that, they are ready. I put them in a bpa free plastic lock top container, and put in the microwave at work for about a minute. They still have that "al dente" texture too.

[magiesmom]

They are also really good soaked raw overnight in milk or soy or almond milk with cinnamon and vanilla, eaten cold.

[sunflwrsdh]

mmmm....Thanks! I wouldn't have thought of that and it sounds like something I would really like.

[jmcarthur8]

Canadagirl, I'll give it a try. I do hate waiting for my oatmeal even on a weekend.

magiesmom, I want to try yours, too! I love my almond milk.

[smilingal]

Our batch (for DH and me) is a double recipe of what is on the steel cut oat canister - and I then measure by the cup full into 8 pint size containers - and we have breakfast all stacked in the fridge ready to pop into the micro. So worth the preparation to be able to have it quickly. My husband, who gets more points, has even taken one out for a snack with a banana.

[lakeforester]

I make a big batch of the steel cut oatmeal on the stove the regular way, once a week. Pour into a pan to chill. Cover in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. Cut into one-serving sized squares and microwave during the week--that is on slow speed covered. We add milk to it while heating it up. Easy "instant" oatmeal.

[sunflwrsdh]

Sounds really good, juju. I love oatmeal and you baked version sounds great. I was eating oatmeal almost every morning for awhile, with a chopped apple and some cinnamon, but recently have been having just my smoothie, to try to stay within the 26 points daily. The smoothie does satisfy me, and is quick, and if I get hungry before lunch, I have one Sargento light string cheese for one point.

[herby]

Do you think that steel cut oats will work in this recipe?

[jujuthomas]

that's an interesting question herby... I think maybe not, because SCO take a lot more liquid to cook than old fashioned do.

[sunflwrsdh]

Greek yogurt update.....it is done, and it is good. I tried some tonight with a teaspoonful of blueberry "speadable fruit, no sugar added" and it is delicious! Took all day and all night to make, but hands on time was maybe 20 minutes, if that. And the only special equipment is a thin pillowcase to drain it. Bonus: my husband saved the whey and used it in his home made bread, and it makes a really nice crunchy crust! Only ingredients are skim milk and 1/2 cup of yogurt with active cultures. Now that I have made this, I can save 1/2 cup and use to start a new batch. We got about 2 cups of the Greek yogurt out of 1/2 gallon of skim milk. The Chobani I have been buying is 4 six ounce cups for 5 dollars. This will save us a ton of money, because I have been eating about 1 1/2 of the 6 ounce cups a day. Yay!

[Jeserf]

I resisted the urge to go back to Soupergirl and buy a week's worth of soup...however, I think next week I will treat myself. Cooking is EXHAUSTING! LOL

Today I made two things for the week, and I bought chicken breasts to (again) make crock pot chicken, but I think I'll wing it with pinto beans, canned tomatoes, a can of salsa verde, and some other things just to experiment.

Tonight I made: Weight Watchers Senegalese Peanut Stew with Spinach and Sweet Potatoes. It's SO good - one of my favorite WW recipes - my only change is I add a jalapeno instead of powder, and kale instead of spinach (holds up better to cooking). It's SO good and tastes even better as leftovers.

I also made a spin on the weekly pamphlet's barley salad, using spinach, not arugula, and adding diced steamed beets and some dried berries and walnuts to make it a more complete salad to take to lunch. It's VERY good warm and would be fantastic as a bed for grilled chicken or salmon if you are so included. I'm a fan of it, and it was my first try!

[sunflwrsdh]

Jeserf,
Your stew sounds great! As do the crock pot chicken breasts.

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight is rotisserie chicken on the grill, and I'm trying mashed potatoes mixed with cauliflower puree, and a side of butternut squash, as well as Skinnytaste's lightened up corn casserole. Tomorrow night is going to be slow roasted siloin, which is marinating now in bourbon, soy sauce, garlic, cracked pepper and a little olive oil. Will be served with mashed potatoes and cauliflower puree, and carrots. Leftovers will be made into a beef pot pie with cheddar crust (because I happen to have a cheddar crust in the fridge that needs to be used up.) Rest of the week's plan is braised chicken legs and thighs atop fresh spinach and calmata olives with salad and bread for one night, meatloaf for another night, and homemade pizza on Friday. I also made a big pot of black bean and sweet potato soup, which I threw some underripe avocados that I had bought, and tastes pretty good! Thinking about some chicken soup as well, with carcass from tonight's chicken.

[jujuthomas]

we loved that corn casserole! I think i'm doing the sweet and fiery pork tonight - the last pork loin didn't smell good, we'll see what they have at the store today.
Last night was chicken salsa in the crock pot - 4 frozen bscb, 3/4 jar of salsa, 1 can of chopped chilis, a can of black beans and some taco seasoning. super easy and SO good.
Dh wants a turkey breast... I guess I'll roast that up tomorrow. Tuesday is weight watchers. Maybe I'll get a boboli crust and make pizza after our meeting. that would be a nice change for us! we rarely get pizza, but you all have put some ideas in my head! :)
beef pot pie sounds divine! yum.

[sunflwrsdh]

I didn't end up making the corn casserole, but I will one of these days. I've actually made the Paula Deen version, and it was great, and Skinnytaste's is very similar, just lightened up in a good way. We loved the mashed potatoes with cauliflower puree, which we had either plain or with just a little butter last night with the chicken, and tonight will be with a light gravy (more of a red wine/au jus sauce really, cause there is almost no fat of this sirloin!) with the beef, and carrots. I'm also experimenting with making my own Greek yogurt in the slow cooker today. I got the directions online, and sounds like it will be very do-able, and much less expensive than buying the Greek yogurt that I have recently learned to love. I'll report on the results. Also, last night's chicken carcass is simmering into chicken vegetable soup with just a few noodles thrown in, for lunches this week, alternating with the black bean soup I made yesterday, which turned out well.
Your salsa chicken in the crock pot sounds super easy and good...will definitely keep it in mind for those...NOW what am I going to do with bscb moments ?
For your pizza.....I recently started reading another WW friendly blog (points included with all recipes, which I love!) Emily Bites, and she had some good sounding pizzas.

[ChristinaMason]

Hi sunflwrsdh, I wanted to share my husband's yogurt method with you, which turns out great, expensive Greek-style yogurt. Here's what he does:

1. Measure 4 c. of milk into a glass bowl and microwave until it reaches 180 degrees F (this takes 10 minutes in our microwave). He usually uses 2% milk; skim will produce a runnier yogurt, and whole will be even richer and thicker.

2. Whisk 1 c. of powdered skim milk into the hot milk and let cool until it reaches 120 degrees. Meanwhile, very briefly pre-warm the oven and turn the oven light on (if you have a gas stove with a running pilot light, that would work instead). Do not get the oven too hot, or you'll kill the yogurt bacteria. Just barely warm---like for proofing dough.

3. Mix 2 tbsp. of plain whole-milk yogurt containing active cultures (he uses Stoneyfield) into the 120 F milk. Your milk-yogurt mixture will drop in temp. to around 115 F.

4. Pour the milk-yogurt into a well-sealed plastic container (such as Tupperware), wrap in a bath towel, and leave in the oven overnight with the light on for 8-10 hrs. (Alternately, you can place the container in an insulated container/cooler with a heating pad under it on the lowest setting.) Bear in mind that if you let the yogurt "go" for 12+ hrs., it will be very tart.

5. Refrigerate and enjoy!

I hope this helps you in your yogurt-making! :)

[sunflwrsdh]

Thank you Christina! You husband's method sounds good. I did end up trying a similarr method that I found online, only using my slow cooker, and it worked out really well. It is a little runnier than the Greek yogurt I usually buy, possibly due to the skim milk, but definitely acceptable! And saves a lot of money! Thanks again for sharing:)

[ChristinaMason]

sure! I meant "inexpensive" of course ;) this one is thick, too.

[sunflwrsdh]

We've made this three times now, and it comes out better each time, I think. The second batch was smoother and thicker, and I have been buying Price chopper (our local supermarket chain) brand "fruit spread" which doesn't have artificial sweeteners and tastes good, and adding a teaspoonful of that to the yogurt and it is really good! I also use it instead of sour cream, to top black bean soup. I can't believe how easy this is and with such good results!

[ChristinaMason]

nice! your third time with the crock pot method, right?

[sunflwrsdh]

Right! I remembered the site where I got the instructions....it was Salad in a Jar. You can google it, she has a pretty cool blog.

[mimilulu]

Tonight it's albondigas (Eating Well recipe) a few substitutions: brown rice instead of breadcrumbs, and ground turkey breast instead of 93%; green chiles instead of poblanos... tomorrow will be roast pork loin to go with the red cabbage and apple braise I made earlier this week (from NY Times Eating for Health). Eating well indeed!!

[jujuthomas]

tonight I'm making the sweet and fiery pork (tender)loin from Skinnytaste.com. had to go to the asian market to find the sweet chili sauce, but it will be worth it!

[Jeserf]

FINISHED the Sante Fe Chicken - it was great on top of spaghetti squash!

Must make something else next week....but the sante fe chicken is SO EASY! heh.

I went to Target today and....NEW CHOBANI FLAVORS! So excited.

[Solstice444]

Made the Skinny Taste chicken enchiladas, which were good, and had fat free spicy refried beans on the side. Although I see that regular and fat free have the same PP value for 1/2 cup, so I will probably use regular from now on as it does taste better! I used the La Tortilla Factory tortillas and I agree, they don't taste that great, but luckily with the enchiladas they have sauce and cheese to kind of disguise the taste!

[jarona]

Skinny Taste cauliflower fritters = heaven! My daughter and I saw the recipe last week and made them twice so far. I think this one will be a staple! Will have to try the chicken enchiladas!

[lakeforester]

OK I missed this somewhere. What is Skinnytaste???

[Solstice444]

www.skinnytaste.com. Gina, the author of the site, comes up with a bunch of great tasty recipes and lists the nutrition info as well as the WW Points/Points Plus values per serving, which is really useful. There are recipes from all different cuisines and many of us love her site :-)

[mariacarmen]

lunch today was a heaping pile of roasted broccoli which did not have me all that excited until i drowned it in KIMCHI! 0 PTS for my entire lunch!! i <3 Kimchi.

[CanadaGirl]

Hmmm. Ive just discovered kimchee; I'll add this to my list of ways to try it! I bet it would be even better on Chinese broccoli.

[debbypo]

Chop a little kimchee and add it with sauteed onion to a scrambled egg and egg white.

[sasha1]

Hi everyone - I've only been doing ww for about 10 weeks - 13 lbs down. Yay! Last week I made a gigantic batch of stuffed cabbage rolls, and since my family is not terribly enthused with them, I am eating them often. I stuffed with gr beef (95/5), gr pork (regular grind), 1/2 cup of white rice for the whole batch, garlic, s&p, and a combo of raw and sauteed (in pam) onion). Baked it in a sauce made also w/sauteed onion, chopped canned tomatoes, and herbs. The outer leaves got more stuffing than the inner leaves - so those are 6 pts apiece. The smaller rolls are 4 pts apiece.

By the way, my breakfasts seem to be altering entirely between eggs, steel cut oats, and morningstar sausage patties. I know there is a breakfast thread, which I've read, and it reads similarly. Are these really the only 3 building blocks for a good ww b'fast?

[CanadaGirl]

I have a couple of low point but filling breakfasts that I also rotate through.
1. Serving fat free Greek yogurt (3 pts) and 1 cup berries. It has to be Greek to have the protein needed to keep me full a reasonable period.

2. High fibre tortilla (1 pt) and 1 tbsp peanut butter (2 pts) wrapped around a banana.

[sasha1]

Hmm - I keep forgetting the yogurt. PRobably because it's not my favorite thing. Although it makes a smashing dessert w/some frozen berries, a modest # of choc chips, and some shredded coconut.

I've never seen hi fiber tortillas. What brand? Do you just buy them at the regular grocery store?

[CanadaGirl]

I buy "la tortilla factory" brand. They're at my regular grocery store with the other tortillas. They don't taste quite as good on their own as regular, but once the pb is added it tastes the same.

The yogurt desert is one of my go-tos. Do you blend it? It gets the consistency of soft serve ice cream.

[sasha1]

I just mix it with a spoon. I was surprised at how few points shredded coconut is, even sweetened. I think I was getting 4 tsp (i.e. a heaping tbsp) for 1 pt.

[mariacarmen]

regular corn tortillas are only 1 pt. too....

[CanadaGirl]

Would corn tortillas work with pb and banana do you think?

[sasha1]

That sounds kind of gnarly - not in a good way. Corn tortillas for pastor and carnitas!

[CanadaGirl]

That was my thought too :)

[mariacarmen]

ohhhh i get it. sorry. i don't eat flour tortillas (i'm a taco gal, not a burrito gal) - now i see why people are looking for a low pts. version!

[mariacarmen]

i've been eating a lot of Fage 0% yogurt, mixed with chopped bananas (2 pts) or if you like it savory, you can mix it with any type of seaweed/sesame-type furakake sprinkle thing. i love the stuff, makes me feel like i'm eating a bowl of dip!

[CanadaGirl]

I'm in Canada, so no Fage. But, President's Choice is my favourite of the Canadian brands. I absolutely love it. It tastes way too rich to not be a point monster :)

[debbypo]

No points in bananas... they changed all fruit to 0 points in 2010 at Thanksgiving but many carb and fat items are more points

[mariacarmen]

yeah i know. i eat fruit like crazy now. the yogurt has 2 pts.

[EM23]

I enter my regular meals as recipes on the WW website and a container of the Fage 0% Plain yogurt plus a small banana and a 1/2 cup each of strawberries and blueberries totals 7 PP. The recipe calculator counts the carbs in fruit:-(

[CanadaGirl]

Don't do it as a recipe. Do it as a meal and the fruit will still be zero.

[EM23]

Thanks CG. I hit a wall recently and someone at a meeting suggested tracking fruit intake by the recipe calculator to get a better read on the sugar grams I was getting - what an eye opener! I love fruit but, for me, it's a problem in my weight loss if I don't count the actual points. Using the online recipe calculator to get the real points value helped me start losing again - YEAH!!!

[CanadaGirl]

As long as you're losing :)

[mariacarmen]

oh wow, i had no idea! good to know, tho, when we hit those pesky plateaus...

[CallAnyVegetable]

My favorite breakfast these days is an egg fried in a spray of oil over a slice of whole wheat toast. On top I put 1/4 cup hot salsa that I preheat in the microwave 15 secs. Fast, filling, only 4 pts. Sometimes I add a cup of frozen veggies to the plate for extra bulk.

[sunflwrsdh]

worked late, cooked at work ( hamburgers, mashed potatoes, canned baked beans) came home to eat, because my granddaughter had to miss her dance lessons tonight (pinkeye, poor baby!) so ate take out roasted red pepper pizza, ordered by my daughter, for 5 points, and a glass of red wine, 4 points, and later, a banana with some sugar free jello creme brulee ( 2 points) which took me one point over for today. working even later tomorrow, and cooking again at work, so will probably eat there...salmon filets are on the menu.

[Solstice444]

Roasted red pepper pizza, sounds yummy! I have been eating pizza fairly often...I can have 2 slices for 10-12 points depending on toppings, and it really fills me up if there are toppings on one slice. Not the best thing to be eating regularly, but I figure there are worse things, and being able to regularly eat something I love and lose weight has been awesome! I do think I'm eating it too much though. It's just so convenient, there are lots of places to choose from around here. I tried making my own pizza recently with prebought dough but I didn't roll it out properly and that ruined things. I will have to try again.

[sunflwrsdh]

I know what you mean about how easy pizza is and not all that bad, points-wise! tonight, I made my own pizzas, one for my husband and my mom and I....rolled thin store bought whole wheat dough, spread some salsa on it, browned about 1/2 lb really lean ground beef with taco seasoning, spread that on top of the salsa, sprinkled some WW mexican cheese on top of that, sliced black olives and cilantro on top of the cheese...didn't figure points, but probably 6 or 7? Also made guacamole, and ate some of that with chips while the pizza was cooking. Probably 6 points there...3 for the guac, and 3 for the chips, and another 8 points for the couple of glasses of wine:) Ok, so the FOOD was pretty points friendly! :)

[Solstice444]

That pizza sounds delicious!

[sunflwrsdh]

It really was...had the one leftover slice for lunch today:)

[mariacarmen]

yes thanks, Jeserf! i have to get back to making some skinnytaste recipes. so far I've been making "regular" recipes but just using portion control. but i'm mindful of how much oil goes into something per a recipe, and try when i can to use a little less. tonight was a lamb stew that i figured for 8 pts a cup and a cup of israeli couscous for 4 pts.

i made a big batch of roasted broccoli for lunches tonight, sprinkled with Maggi seasoning for big umami-ness.

[Jeserf]

Roasted broccoli - nice!

It was leftover santa fe chicken....again.

Cooking for 1 is so boring, but since my husband doesn't eat meat (he eats some fish, and I don't eat fish) it is a mixed blessing!

I roasted some spaghetti squash last night and will eat that with the santa fe chicken with some 50% cabot sharp cheddar tonight. I love spaghetti squash.

[nerdette]

Yesterday my husband made pita pizza with leftover homemade tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella , some parm, and lots of herbs. For a makeshift meal it was quite tasty.
Today I had leftovers for lunch, and for dinner we're having skinnytaste's pollo in potacchio with whole grain pasta. I've made this recipe 5 or 6 times now and I definitely recommend it. It's good the first day, and it's fantastic the next day as leftovers.

[sunflwrsdh]

Tonight we had a great supper. Braised chicken drumsticks and thighs ( which we got on sale for 49 cents a pound last week!) with kale. They were just braised with some chicken stock, garlic and chopped tomatoes, on top of a bed of kale. Delicious! And only 7 points. My husband skinned and de-fatted them, and we had them with his home made whole wheat bread. I'm taking the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

[CanadaGirl]

I had a great gai lan (Chinese broccoli) dish for supper. Sauté about 2 tbsp minced ginger in 1 tsp oil until fragrant. Add bunch gai lan, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 tsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp oyster sauce to pan. Cook until broth is pretty much gone and gai lan is tender. I love Thai chilis, so I sprinkles some on mine. Had it with a nice piece of broiled salmon and some brown rice.

[mariacarmen]

that sounds wonderful CanadaGirl.. how many pts. do you think for the veg? 2-3, just for the oil and oyster sauce? so flavorful sounding....

[CanadaGirl]

I calculated 0 points. Oyster sauce is 0 points per tbsp and 1 tsp oil has 1 point, but this was enough veg to feed my family. I figure I ate about 1/4 of it, and that much oil is 0 points. Worst case scenario, you eat the while lot for 1 point :)

[mariacarmen]

LOVE when that happens!

[freia]

CanadaGirl I just heart you. Wanted to pass that on, Didn't know you were a fellow WW-ite! :)

[CanadaGirl]

Back at ya Freia <3

[mimilulu]

Hi! I'm a longtime lurker... so glad to be showing my "face" around here! This is probably an old WW trick but, I've been adding egg whites to my oatmeal in the morning - whisked until slightly foamy and added when the oats are just about cooked - and it lightens up the texture, adds protein and you can't taste them at all. I'm hooked...

[CanadaGirl]

Do you find it keeps you full longer?

[mimilulu]

Yes it sure does!

[sunflwrsdh]

Welcome, mimlulu. Thank you for the tip. I may try that some morning. Still eating steel cut oats with a chopped apple,some cinnamon and nutmeg, and a little almond milk. Egg white would add more protein and 0 points, right?

[mimilulu]

Thanks for the welcome! 1 egg white is 0 but 2 whites are 1 point. I use 2.

[lakeforester]

Excellent tip!

[Solstice444]

Making Eggplant Lasagna from the new WW One Pot Cookbook. It was supposed to be Eggplant and Mushroom Lasagna but I had the mushrooms for too long and they smell funny :-(

[sunflwrsdh]

Eggplant lasagna sounds great, and I don't like mushrooms anyway:)

[pine time]

If you can find them, try Japanese eggplant for that recipe--terrific (and less bitter than traditional eggplant can get). I grow the Japanese ones--already looking forward to spring planting.

[CanadaGirl]

Thanks for the new thread

[sunflwrsdh]

+1..Thanks for the new thread, Jeserf:)