Black Forest Cake Frozen "Cho-gurt"

This idea came into my site from "Mel", who told me she likes to mix non-fat yogurt with frozen cherries and crumbled Chocolate Vita Muffins ~ and then she freezes it for 30 minutes.  It sounded to scrumptious that I just had to run out and buy the stuff to try it myself!  I chose to use the vanilla flavor to make this because I used the plain for the Oven Fried Chicken earlier tonight.  Since the local store only had VitaTops, I substituted them for the muffins.

These were really tasty, with big chunks of cherries and some small nuggets of chocolate...and only took about 45 minutes to set up as soft frozen yogurt.  I only used one muffin top...but Chuck and I both agreed it would have been better with two...but as they were made, each parfait cup was a total of 4pp!

Hint for what comes next from my kitchen...

Let your imagination go wild ;0)

Don't forget to enter "My First Give-Away Ever"!  Winner will be chosen randomly on Friday, March 4th at 9am sharp!

Oven Fried Chicken - the Chobani way!

Tonight, in keeping with our theme of 'Playing with your Cho'...I quickly changed my menu and whipped up some Oven Fried Chicken, getting the recipe from Chobani's website.  If you have never made this recipe, I urge you to try it soon.  First, it went together very quickly and simply...marinate the chicken in a yogurt-based marinade for 30 minutes while the oven pre-heats and while you make the coating.  Shake the pieces one at a time in the coating and put them on a prepared rack and into the oven it goes!  Here is how it looks:

The aroma is mouth-watering...but nothing compared to how this chicken tastes.  Even my 17 year-old picky eater said he'd definitely enjoy having it again...and he's a huge fried chicken fan.

Don't panic when you see the mess under the baking rack - it's all captured on foil...so the clean up is pretty quick, too!

Oven Fried Chicken - 10pp for two pieces, 3/4 cup mashed potatoes - 4pp, and veggies - 0pp!  So worth the 14points.  We want a 'do over' soon!!

I have yet to assemble dessert...check back later ;0)

Don't forget to enter our give-away sponsored by Chobani!

Playing with Your Cho

This week's theme in my posts will be Playing with Your Cho - Chobani Yogurt, of course - in honor and appreciation to Chobani for hosting My First Give-Away Ever!  Already some great ideas are coming in from your comments on that post.  I'm seriously trying some of them this week!  Check them out at the bottom of the original post. 

What better way to kick off a week of Cho than with breakfast?  Starting with...drum roll, please....

Chobani's Honey Non-Fat yogurt!  Thick, creamy, smooth Greek yogurt that contains two times more protein than regular yogurt!  Add to that one banana, sliced up; 1/2 cup of any granola-type cereal; a squeeze of honey on top...

I chose Kashi GoLean Crunch Cereal because it "adds as much protein as an egg" - and those of you who read my blog regularly know that I have a real fondness for eggs to start my day!

One of the comments from 'JewliaGoulia' was to mix in Kashi - which I've been doing for some time, but she also adds Craisins...so I'm going to have to try that another day.  Thanks JewliaGoulia!

What I love about Chobani is knowing that it is all natural, has no artificial sweeteners, no preservatives, and it contains live and active cultures!  Total PointsPlus for this very filling breakfast: 7pp (Chobani Honey Non-Fat yogurt 4pp; 1/2 cup Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal 2pp; 1 sliced banana 0pp; and 1 tsp honey 1pp)  I am seriously full - now the real question is...will this breakfast keep me going as long as my usual eggs?  I hope so - and will let you know - because I'm sure some of you are getting tired of looking at all my pictures of eggs ;0)

It is great to welcome so many new visitors to my blog!  I am really enjoying reading your comments on "My First Give-Away Ever!" post.  I love your ideas for blending your yogurt with other ingredients like nuts, fruit and cereal.  I am seriously going to have to try Mel's version of "Cold Stone's Black Forest Ice Cream".  She mixes plain non-fat Cho with some frozen cherries and a crumbled Chocolate Vita Muffin...freezes it for 30 minutes ~this blend sounds wonderful.  Thanks for sharing, Mel!!  I am running out to the store later to buy the muffins and cherries to make this for dessert later!   Also - I am planning on making the recipe on Chobani's site for Oven Fried Chicken for dinner tonight...so stop back for my review and pictures. 

I have some special ideas of my own for great ways to play with YOUR Cho - and will share them with you all throughout the week, so keep stopping by!  Especially YOU, 'Bacardi Mama' - to see what I do with MYpineapple Cho this week.  I think you'll like it!

Don't forget to enter "My First Give-Away Ever!"

My First Give-Away Ever!

I am so excited to announce that the wonderful folks at Chobani Yogurt have graciously offered to help me build my readership through a Give-Away!  They sent me a case of 12-6oz cups of their yogurt to sample and review on my blog, and have offered to send the same to our winner! 

What a generous offer, for which I am very grateful.  Here is what YOU need to do to enter:

Post a comment on THIS "First Give-Away" blog post, telling me what your favorite flavor of yogurt is...

For additional entries:

1) Go to Chobani's FaceBook page and "Like" them...take some time to learn something interesting about Chobani and then come back to this post to comment again and let me know what you learned or about a recipe you'd like to try.

2) If you have a blog, put a link to this blog post on your FaceBook Status, and then come back to this post and let me know you did it.  Here is a link for you to copy and paste:

http://pointsplusliving.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-first-give-away-ever.html

3) Tweet or blog about this give-away, and again, come back to this post and let me know you did that.

4) Comment on this post, telling me your favortite flavors to combine or your favorite things to 'add in', such as my favorites (coconut and rum extracts to the pineapple yogurt)...I'm looking forward to this part the most...so be creative!

Unfortunately, my friends at Chobani must restrict the give-away to US residents, only.  Our winner will be chosen at random on Friday, March 4th at 9am EST.  Get busy!  I can't wait to see who gets to receive this gift from Chobani Yogurt!! 

Thanks again, Chobani!!

Busy Day - Lasagna Rolls to the rescue!

I woke up without an alarm at 6:30am this morning and was really rested up!  What a change for me...so even though I prefer to sleep in a little on the weekend - today was going to be a busy day!  We had all kinds of plans all over the place, so I got up and started the day with a great pot of coffee.  Breakfast was pretty easy because I had already chopped up an onion and green pepper earlier in the week and kept it in a container in the fridge...

So I cooked a couple of Tbsp of onion/green peppers in a pan with a coating of cooking spray. After a minute or two, I poured a scrambled egg over it and cooked it through (2pp), added 1/2 peice of multi-grain toast with a light spread of butter spread (3pp), and 1/2 an orange and 1/2 a banana cut into pieces.  Total - 5pp!  Don't you just love how coffee in a Disney mug can brighten up your morning?  Especially in a huge mug like this!

Lunch today was a tarragon chicken salad wrap with some lettuce leaves.  A delicious 6pp and easy to grab and go.  I was on the run, so I didn't have the time to grab a photo, sorry!

In spite of what a full day today was, I am happy to say that I was prepared for it.  Last weekend I made the lasagna rolls that are on the Week Two Menu...but I froze them for a snowy/rainy day.  Today was that day.  Lasagna rolls are relatively easy to make, and they taste every bit as good as the real thing - only much easier to control your portions.  I have to give credit where credit is due, however - the real work was done by Gina of Skinny Taste, who worked up this recipe in the first place.  Well done, Gina!!

Let me tell you that if you have never made a lasagna roll, basically its just combining most of the filling ingredients in one large bowl, cooking noodles, spreading a measured amount of the filling onto a noodle, and then rolling it up!  You put all your rolls into a baking pan, put sauce on top, sprinkle with a little cheese, and either freeze it as is like I did, or bake it and enjoy a short while later!  These rolls were hot, gooey, and sooo satisfying.  Along with the 6pp roll, I had a 1oz slice of fresh Italian bread with butter spread (3pp) and a tossed salad with Ken's Northern Italian lite dressing (1pp)

And the best part was I had points left over to enjoy a 8oz glass of red wine (7pp)!!  I didn't take a photo of the wine - you'll just have to use your imagination, but it really completed the meal.

One more suggestion regarding lasagna rolls - if you make these, and you are a small family or just one person - you can put the individual rolls on a baking sheet without the sauce, put them in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes until the ouside of the noodle is no longer sticky. Then place the individual rolls in a freezer container or freezer bag and freeze them.  Then whenever you need a simple dinner - take out only the number of rolls you need - defrost them, pour some pasta sauce over them, sprinkle the cheese on top and bake!  If you are really the ambitious type and have the room in your freezer - you could have easy dinners ready for weeks to come. 

Be sure to visit my blog tomorrow, when I will be announcing details for my first ever give-away!  Here is a little hint:

See you back here tomorrow!

Friday Weigh In

Friday is our Weight Watcher's meeting and weigh-in.  I have to admit that after yesterday's post, I was not really looking forward to the scale today.  Somehow I was feeling like I was not as disciplined with my points as when we started, and that really had me worried.  I went to bed early, feeling like if I didn't, I'd cave to a serious case of emotional munchies.  I had a large glass of water and tucked myself in. 

My day started off with a jolt.  Don't ask me why, but I woke up in a panic - not because its Friday, but because it was light out and my alarm did not go off!  What time was it?  Who knows - the power was off.  I ran downstairs to find my cell phone - to discover that Justin had exactly 11 minutes to get outside to catch his school bus.  We rushed - me, too - because it was raining hard, so I drive Justin out to the end of the driveway to wait in the warm car and stay dry.  We wait, and wait, and wait - listening to the radio, which 20 minutes later informs us there was a 2-hour delay due to slippery roads.  Ugh!  Make matters worse, we have no power to make coffee, no power to bring water up from the well - so no hot shower.  Not a good start to the day.  Sometimes a start like this can make the whole day seem bad.  We went back to bed where it was warm, and about half an hour later the power was restored.  Time to make the coffee!

We eventually head to our Weight Watchers meeting and face the scale - and what a surprising turn to our day - Chuck lost 2.8 lbs and I lost 1.4 lbs.  Guess what I learned from that is while we may not be quite as diligent in how we count our points (allowing for breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks)...as long as we stay within our points allowance - we will lose weight.  After our meeting, Chuck and I talked about this a while.  I have been staying within my points allowances for each day and using some weekly points allowance, too.  What I have been missing was the luxury of "formal snacks".  What I mean by that is when I first started the PointsPlus program - I followed the suggested daily PointsPlus Targets breakdowns by meal chart on page 60 of the Getting Started booklet.  Every breakfast for me was 5pp, lunch was 8pp, dinner 11pp, and there was room leftover for two snacks - 3pp and 2pp.  I really loved those snacks.  Take a look at a few of them and you'll see why:


Black Bean Brownies (4pp ea)



Hard boiled egg (2pp) and fruit (0pp)

Cheese (2pp), Crackers(2pp) and Grapes

Vita Top Muffin top (3pp), Fruit (0pp), Coffee with ff half & half (0pp)



WW Cheese wedges (1pp ea); Tostitos Baked Scoops (15 for 3pp) plus Salsa (0pp) plus guacomole (1pp)

 You get the idea - snacks can be fun.  BUT - what I wasn't thinking about was that instead of snacks, I've been enjoying the extra points in my meal portions...or in desserts.  Tonight it was a 'banana split' for 5 points plus: 1/2 cup of lite ice cream for 3pp, 1tsp chocolate syrup for 1pp, 1 tsp chopped walnuts for 0pp, 1/4 cup whipped cream for 1pp, 1/2 cup strawberries for 0pp, 1/2 cup fresh pineapple for 0pp and 1/2 banana for 0pp.  WOW!  I guess its not a bad trade off for the two snacks some days.  So if I'm missing my snacks - I can just PLAN for them.  If I want a banana split, I can just PLAN for it.  If I want one of the brownies sitting on my counter - no, never mind - they are regular brownies and about 12 pp for each one!  I can live without them ;0)

So - I'm still loving the new PointsPlus program - I'm just learning the ropes of real life.  Everything has its trade-off.  Points do, too.

Tell me - what are you willing to trade your snacks for?  I'm listening to you!

Staying on Track

Its happening - I feel like I'm getting off track again!  Do you have those days?  I'm sure some of you are nodding your heads in agreement.  As I was thinking about it - frustrated at the numbers on my bathroom scale being stuck - I realized that many of these feelings come about because of my expectations being too high.  I'd love to be having the 5lb losses that some of the newer members at our WW meeting are having.  I'd love to see the bathroom scale drop a pound every day!  Reality is that a safe way to lose weight is to lose up to 2lbs per week...so the scale will only move a fraction every day, regardless of how much I love whole numbers.  Reality is, perhaps I need to stop stepping on the scale every day.  So, I am planting my feet in the real world and here is where I'm going to try to stay.  I think I'll be happier here.

If you want to join me in the real world - here is how I am starting out.  Pull out your WW weight record - where the receptionist records your weekly weight.  Go ahead...take it out.  Take a good look at  your numbers. My husband, Chuck, is a numbers kind of guy...so that helps.  He noticed that for the 12 weeks we've been doing WW, most weeks I had a loss greater than a pound.  There were 4 weeks where I lost only a fraction of a pound, one of which the loss was 0.8lbs (almost a pound).  Also, 5 weeks were greater than 2 lbs each  so my average weekly loss is greater than a pound per week.  I can deal with that.

Another thing I got from re-visiting that record, was that there is a pattern I want to explore.  Not all of my 'big weeks' were in the first weeks.  That means that perhaps some weeks I just did a better job of food choices and tracking.  So - as much as I want to provide a great variety of recipes and ideas to all of you, I think for now I will repeat some of my 'best choices' a litte more often...so forgive me if I get a little redundant.  I am by no means an expert here...I'm learning along side of all of you.  I plan to check out my past weekly trackers to see what exactly a good week looks like!

What else can I do a better job of?  Drinking more water thoughout the day.  Getting out for a 20 minute walk most days.  Track every little thing (I admit I get a little sloppy at that).  What about you, what will you work on this week?  Any ideas you care to share?  Don't forget to comment below.

On to meals and photos!  Breakfast started out with my eggs...a few chopped red onions, green peppers, and 1/2 a cooked potato...

Add the egg, scrambled...

And some Ketchup (this was for my sister Mimi, who puts Ketchup on nearly everything!)...Mmmm.  Really filling breakfast for 4pp (egg-2/half a potato2pp).   I followed this up with a banana a little later for "0" points.

Lunch - well, I felt so bad I forgot to take a photo yesterday of my salad at Panera Bread - that I made Chuck go there with me for lunch again today ('you just have to try their salad!').  So here you have it...

Their "Pick 2" Thai Chopped Chicken Salad -5pp -with Low Fat Garden Vegetable Soup with Pesto- 3pp (see the swirl of pesto on top - that is what really makes this soup sing!)...and they forgot to ask me, but I would have chosen the apple instead of the bread.  I picked out some of the inside of the bread...but ate only about half of it...by Chuck's calculations, about 2pp.  Total for my lunch - 10pp!

Chuck ordered from the "Pick 2" menu also - but instead of the salad, he chose 1/2 a smoked ham and cheese on Rye bread

and a cup of really yummy Broccoli Cheddar soup

...total for his lunch - 12pp!

Don't forget...Panera has a great meal nutrition calculator...

http://www.paneranutrition.com/NutritionCalculator.aspx

You have to try it - you'll love it!

Dinner: Pepper Steak and Onions with Cilantro Rice. 

6 pp for the main course and 5 points plus for the rice...and you have a really lite meal at just 11pp total.  I could easily have added a salad, but was just too tired to bother (keeping my feet in the real world).  I just wish I had waited to have this the night before a weigh-in. ;0)

So there you have it - a day in the life of living the Points Plus way.  Don't forget to take a hard look at your Weight Record and remind yourself of how far you've come.  Make any necessary attitude adjustments to get back on track and be sure to share your thoughts!  Remember, other people who read this blog may benefit from your experiences, too!  Have a great day!!

Panera Bread For Lunch!

Probably one of the most difficult challenges for people on the new WeightWatchers PointsPlus plan is what to order when eating out.  I don't know about you, but many of the places I like to choose from are not included in theWW Dining Out Companion.  Not to fret - there is still a way to make this less painfull.  Many restaurants have nutritional information on their websites, making it easier to know what your best options are.  Also, it makes it easier to choose ahead of time and not be tempted by everything else when you arrive.

Yesterday a good friend called to meet for lunch.  I let her choose the destination - she chose Panera Bread.  I immediately cringed (silently, of course) because all I could think of was high-calorie-carbs!  After agreeing to a time to meet, I grabbed my laptop and did a quick search for Panera's website.  Not only do they have the nutritional chart there, but they have a friendly 'meal builder'...here's the link:

http://www.paneranutrition.com/

I explored my options and was so pleasantly surprised by what I discovered! I was able to enjoy a really filling lunch that really tickled my tongue...and stay well within my daily points allowance.  I didn't feel 'deprived' at all!!  What did I choose?

I chose the "Pick Two" option...and first ordered their new Thai Chopped Chicken Salad. It's layered with chicken, Thai spiced cashews, fire-roasted vegetables, with hints of lime and cilantro. Tossed with their Thai Chili Vinaigrette and finished with a peanut sauce, it was really, really good.  Also, I had a nice bowl of their Low Fat Vegetarian Black Bean soup.  Nicely seasoned, warm, thick, and also - really, really good.  A surprise to me was that you get an option - bread, roll or apple with that...and not being prepared with the knowlege of any low points options on the breads or rolls, I chose the apple.  So far - I am up to 8 points plus for the entire meal!  I say 'so far' because then I got thrown for a loop..."would you like something to drink with that?"  Usually, when I go out with Chuck, I just take a few sips off his drink...but Chuck was not here...so quickly I looked up at the menu, spotted "Iced Chai Latte" and took that...THEN I spotted the cost (ugh) and then I thought about the unknown cost...how many points?  I have to admit, my pride kept me from changing my order...I paid and enjoyed every bite and sip...and when I got home I pulled up my e-Tools tracker and began plugging in my nutritional info.  Iced Chai Latte was not really soooo bad after all...4pp, and I got in one serving of dairy to boot! 

Where are you planning on eating out?  Have you made a trip to the restaurant's website?  Care to share your points plus victories?

No Time to Fix Dinner!

Ever have one of those days when you forgot to thaw meat for dinner, or you left work late and you have to get a quick dinner on the table before running out for an evening meeting or the gym?  I have a few things I like to do ~other than panic ~ that I thought I'd share...maybe it will get your creative juices flowing for what fits your lifestyle and food preferences of your family.

 

First, there is the every handy "Rotisserie Chicken" at the grocer's deli counter.  Grab a package of prepared mashed potatoes (Shed's Country Crock brand or others) near the meat counter, most of which average about 5 -6 pp per cup...and a bag of frozen vegetables like broccoli cuts or green beans for "0"pp.

 

There are also some other options:

• Keep a few ham steaks frozen - they are easy to thaw and cook on the stove top quickly.
• Frozen seafood options range from grilled and seasoned fillets to some lightly breaded stuff you bake.
• Breakfast for dinner.
• Pasta and sauce from a jar.
• Black beans and rice are a quick fix.

Having a backup plan is always a good idea.  I usually keep a few things on hand to choose from because you never know!  I'm sure there are many good ideas out there..what do you suggest?

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? 

A word or two about breakfast...

Saturday mornings are work days in our house...whether it be out showing real estate somewhere, or just staying home cleaning, or general work around the house...we work!  What better way to start out a Saturday morning...than with a HUGE breakfast! 

Ham and cheese omlet: 2 eggs (4pp), one slice of ham (1pp), 1/2 slice of Provolone cheese (1pp) with salsa on top (0pp) - total for this huge omlet is just 6pp!  Then top that off with a huge bowl of fruit salad for '0'pp...and I'm full!  Really fuels my engine for the day ahead.  Remember, all you breakfast skippers out there - your body needs fuel after the evening fast- and you want to kick it into calorie burning mode within 1/2 hour of waking...so figure out what works for you.  It can be as small as a peice of fruit, an english muffin on the go...or as big as this breakfast of mine!  No matter...just grab something early in your day to get your engines revved up!

What about if you run out the door and forget breakfast?  On weigh-in day, I sometimes just have a peice of fruit before I go, than after the meeting I stop at McDonalds for an Egg McMuffin without the cheese for 7pp.  Or why not keep a peice of fruit (or more) at work as well as some snack sized baggies with nuts or raisins (or both) in single serving portions just for times like these?  Keep containers of low-fat or non-fat yougurt on hand (3-4pp each), frozen waffles (2 for 4pp), or other frozen breakfast items that can be 'grab and go' like Vita-Tops muffin tops.

Again - its all about thinking of your challenges and coming up with solutions that are workable for you.  Please leave a comment about things that help you ensure you get some type of breakfast in your day...you never know who will benefit from YOUR wisdom!  And thanks!

Some additional photos of breakfast ideas:



One egg (2pp), english muffin (3pp), and fruit (0pp) = 5pp breakfast!



two waffles (4pp), 1Tbsp Peanut Butter (3pp), banana (0pp) made into a sandwich = 7pp!
add an orange and don't forget your daily vitamin!!



2 eggs over 'light' (4pp), 1 cup plain non-fat yogurt (3pp) with berries (0p) = 7pp!



Scrambled egg whites and 1/2 grapefruit



Two waffles (4pp), 2 Tbsp blueberry syrup (2pp), fresh berries (0pp) and fat free whipped cream (0pp)




Grab and go VitaTop muffin top (3pp) and just take the orange (0pp)with you!



1 cup oatmel (4pp), chopped apple (0pp), sprinkle of cinnamon (0pp) and 1Tbsp chopped Walnuts (1pp)



hard boiled egg (2pp), fresh fruit (0pp)

Anyways you get the idea...plan for anything...and get your 'engine fueled up' for a great day!  Happy losing, everyone!






Friday's Losers

As you know, Friday morning is when we go to our Weight Watcher's meeting to get weighed in.  This week we were a couple of losers again - Chuck was down another 1.4 lbs and I was a full 1 lb...so we are two happy losers!

Today we talked about surrounding yourself with good food choices and removing temptations.  We do that pretty well in our house these days, but we are all subject to mistakes...bringing something in that later we wish we hadn't.  I appreciated what one member suggested: re-package those foods!  She said that as long as she didn't see big words like "Lay's Potato Chips" or "Chips Ahoy" staring at her, she wasn't as likely to be tempted, so she would repackage them into either Zip Lock bags or frosted plastic containers.  Another member said she puts those things on the highest shelves where they are hard to reach, or behind other things...so they were more difficult to get to.  I don't know if that would work for me if I was on a late night "prowl" for "something".  I have been known, however, to buy things for Justin, our 17 year old, and put them in his room...somehow it just feels like 'stealing' if I was to go into his room looking for something to eat.  Just sayin'.

So take few minutes today to think about what foods you might want to get rid of or disguise in your home to support your weight loss efforts...and at the same time, make yourself a small list of things you could spoil yourself with that support your efforts.  My favorite things revolve around fresh fruit...usually berries, pineapple and this week...MANGOES!!  They were perfectly ripe...and soooo full of flavor! Second on my list is some good dark chocolate...which I do keep in the kitchen...not in a candy dish.  Candy dishes just 'put it out there in my face' and make it too easy to mindlessly graze...don't you think?

I was so busy putting together another menu for you this week that I totally forgot to post photos of some of the food we ate...so by way of recap:



Breakfast: Thomas' Whole Wheat English Muffin (3pp), Smart Ones Light Buttery Spread (1pp), and a Chobani parfait (4pp)

  

Pineapple Chobani Yogurt parfait with fresh strawberries (4pp)

 Total points plus for Breakfast = 8!  A breakfast like this loaded with protein, fiber and yummy goodness keeps me satisfied until lunchtime, that is for sure!


Not the best photo, but salads to go with one of my favorite salad dressings!



Virginia Brand Vidalia Onion Vinegarette (3pp per 2 Tbsp), 2 oz Boar's Head Virginia Ham (2pp) and 1/2 slice of Provolone cheese (1pp), 6 large olives (1pp) Total pp for lunch =  7!



Orange Chicken (9pp), 1 cup of Jasmine Rice (5pp) and green beans (0pp)



Total points plus for this full plate of food = 14!

So there you have it...one really great day of food and totally on program!  What a way to lose!!

What are your favorite losing meals?  Comment among yourselves!