Snow Day Today!

We got a few inches of new snow this morning ~which was great for Justin because today is his very first experience at skiing.  We bought him a learn to ski package to Windham Mountain and he is up there with his brother Jared, sister-in-law Katie, and some other friends. Hopefully he'll have a great time and want to do more skiing next year.  By then Chuck and I hope to be maintaining our goal weight and we'll be there skiing with him.  We love to ski, but our weight has been one major reason we stopped.  We would have had to buy new ski jackets, pants, and skis to accommodate the weight.  Also, I have an old ski injury that requires I wear a special brace that was made for me to protect my knee - its mostly made of metal, so there is no allowance for a weight gain.

Back to the snow day - since Chuck and I sell Real Estate for a living, we don't get a lot of buyers looking to come out in a snow storm to see houses, so we decided to work from home today.  He is working on our house (spackling our new walls) and I am just working on menus, recipes, and my blog.  Its nice to have some time to devote to it, as some days I don't have as much time to give.

Before I begin today's food, let me take a moment to welcome visitors from Germany, Denmark, Canada, Singapore, Australia, Russia and the U.K.!  While primarily my readers are from the US - some of these new visitors are U.S. transplants, and have joined Weight Watcher's in their respective homes and found my blog while there.  I am thrilled to know you have found me, and hope you'll continue to visit and to send your friends!  I'd love to hear from some of you about how Weight Watchers is working for you in your country.

So on to the food and photos!  We started out today with a nice hot breakfast the easy way.  Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Whole Wheat frozen waffles, toasted - 2 of them for 4 points plus.  To mine, I added a whole banana for 0 pp, a Tbsp of chopped walnuts for 1pp and a Tbsp of pancake syrup for 1pp.  Loads of fiber, protein, and goodness...Total pp = 6!  What a great way to start my day!!

I have a story to tell you about this breakfast, though.  I really love the combination of bananas, walnuts and maple.  So today I decided to test a new product  - new to me - Walden Farms Calorie Free Pancake Syrup.   I have heard so much about their products when at our Weight Watchers meetings, so I wanted to give them a try.  Here is MY opinion:

The syrup is lighter color than the usual pancake syrups we use at our house (right now we have Log Cabin and Mrs. Butterworth's 'Original' brands on the shelf).  That is not a deal breaker for me because some real maple syrups are lighter amber in color than others, right?  While my preference is for the 'real stuff' when I can afford it, the other two are on my shelves because of coupons or sales.  Neither of the other two are 'diet' or Lite...so keep that in mind with this review.  That being said, this syrup has pretty much the same consistency as the other brands, has a fairly nice maple flavor - and just a 'hint' of the taste of Splenda, which they used for the sweet flavor.  I am not a big fan of artificial sweeteners, but I do partake under certain circumstances.  Would I use this syrup again?  Actually, yes - I am using it in a recipe later this week (HG's Sweet 'n Sticky Sesame Chicken).  Could you make this recipe with regular syrup?  I already have - and it worked out fine.  Would I prefer to use real maple syrup whenever possible?  Of course.  So you be the judge.  Some of you already consume Splenda in your coffee and sodas, and in that case - this is a great "0"pp way to treat yourself to something you love.  Go for it!

While I'm on the subject of Walden Farms ~ this company has a whole host of products on their website that are sugar free and low points values.  The lady at our Weight Watchers meeting told us about the Alfredo Sauce that she uses on her spaghetti squash and veggies that she says is really tasty for "0"points.  I have yet to find that on my grocer's shelves...but when I do, you'll hear about it.  What a wonderful pre-weigh-in dinner for "0" points total!!

On to lunch:  Since Justin is off skiing, and its just the two of us - I made a salad plate for us (Justin is not a fan of salads).  We had a bed of baby greens, topped with an English cucumber split between us, a few radish slices, a few strips of green pepper and red onion (all for 0pp), 3/4 cup of chicken salad (4pp), and a few slices of fresh pineapple...and our choice of salad dressings:

I chose the Northern Italian for 1pp per Tbsp - and Chuck took the Vidalia Onion vinegarette for 1pp per Tbsp.  Huge lunches for just 5 points plus.  It totally left me points for a cup of hot chocolate! (3pp)

Dinner:  I'm planning salmon, baked potatoes and green beans...simple but filling.  I have the potatoes in the oven, but may not have time to post photos later...I'll do my best!  In the meantime - 6oz Salmon Fillet (7pp), large baked potato (5pp), 1/4 cup fat free sour cream (1pp) and 1 cup of green beans with I Can't Believe Its Not Butter Spray (0pp).

EDIT: Got the photos for you...and a couple of small adjustments:

I put a hawaiian tropical glaze (from a bottle) on the salmon which added 1/2 point per peice...and cut down the sour cream to a Tbsp...making it less than 1/2 point...so I'm counting the two together as 1 point plus...I also added 1 Tbsp of Smart Balance Buttery Spread for 1pp, and a few slices of mango and lime for 0pp...total for dinner =14!  Wow - are we full!

So what do you add to your food to make it special?