Outdoor Cooking - Foil Packets!

I have to share a great idea I found in a magazine at the doctor's office this week.  I've been meaning to create a weekly menu of outdoor cooking ideas, but this one just can't wait ;0)   The magazine Just Fun had a spread about making foil packets on the grill. 

You start with one large square of heavy duty foil per person.  I would recommend having a can of cooking spray to spray the foil before putting ingredients on them, but that wasn't mentioned in the directions.  Then you put out a spread of the following ingredients for each person to customize their own layered creation:

1) the protein selections: any combination of chicken strips, steak strips, hamburger patties*, sliced kielbasa, uncooked shrimp  *(boost your burgers by adding 2T worchestershire sauce, 2T mayonnaise, 2tsp Montreal steak seasoning, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper to 1 pound of hamburger - mix thoroughly and shape into patties)

2) add up to 2 cups of veggies - any combo: sliced raw potato, sliced red onion rings, sliced bell pepper rings, sliced carrot coins, sliced zucchini coins, sliced summer squash coins, cherry tomato halves, sliced mushrooms, asparagus spears, corn kernels, black beans...anything you wish!

3) the seasonings:   Herbs ~ add 2 tsp per foil pack:
    Regular: 2T chopped parsley, zest of one lemon, 1 clove of garlic, minced
    Asian: 2T minced cilantro, 2T orange zest, 1 1/2 tsp grated, peeled ginger, 1T sliced scallion greens
    Tex Mex: 3T minced cilantro, 2T minced chipotle in adobo, 1T sliced scallion, 1/2 tsp minced garlic
                    OR   Sauces ~ 1 1/2 tsp per packet
    Mustard Madness: 1 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard, 2T lemon or lime juice, 3T Vegetable oil, salt & pepper
    Vinegar Splash: 2T balsamic vinegar, 1 clove garlic, minced, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt & pepper

I'm thinking you could easily use A-1 sauce on steak and burgers or your favorite BBQ sauce on steak, burgers, chicken...again, here's your opportunity to be creative.
 
Once everyone has assembled the layers above, they fold and seal the foil to make packets - leaving no air space - it makes for better cooking ~ then write each person's name on theirs with a sharpie marker and place them in a pre-heated grill (high or 400 degrees) - and cook for 10 minutes each for shrimp or 15 minutes each for all other meat selections.

What is great about this is that you can really impress your friends with this casual cookout idea and get everyone in on the fun!!  Just have one awesome dessert ready and a signature drink or bottle of wine and relax!!

Enjoy!!

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I'm a big fan of the Shells and White Cheddar  

Grill your next Pizza!! Its the Best!!

For those of you who have been following this blog for a while, you know I promised to grill some pizzas to show you how its done.  I just wish you could smell and taste these, too!  After a very stressful day at our new office trying to get our phones and Internet hooked back up - only to find out the problem was with our carrier and not our equipment - I knew I had better plan something to end the day on a high note. Talk about frustrating!!  You have no idea.  Anyways...turns out it was a lovely day for grilling...

We got started with a fire in the firepit.  There is nothing like a crackling fire outside...You will notice we have not opened up the pool yet, or done the general yard work and gardening out there yet either...but here in NY State, there is no rush...its too cool to swim yet and keeping the dark cover on it helps the water absorb some of the sun's heat.  I do plan to start some of the gardening soon...so in time I'll share photos of the finished area.

On to the pizzas...I use store made pizza dough. One pound of regular for the boys and one pound of whole wheat for us WeightWatchers.  I cut each mound of dough into fourths...making each pizza crust 8pp.  Keep the dough covered until you are ready to use it.

Next, I cut up and prepare all the toppings pretty quickly...and opened a can of crushed tomatoes with Italian spices and also a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes with basil and oregano.  Put everything on a tray so its really handy...

Counterclockwise from bottom: crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, sliced pepperoni, fire roasted diced tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, green peppers and spices - dried oregano and crushed red pepper.  The sky is the limit with these...you can totally make white pizzas, bbq chicken pizzas, buffalo chicken pizzas...you are the boss here! Keep your tray handy by the grill, but keep the spoon handles pointed away from the grill...we learned the hard way! They really got hot!!  On the other side of the grill was the bowl of pizza dough and a small bowl of olive oil and a basting brush.

Next, take one portion of the dough and an oiled baking sheet...press the dough out on the baking sheet to make a thin, round-ish crust.  Don't worry about perfection...freestyle is great.  Carry it carefully to the hot grill and place it oiled side down.  Don't worry about the edges falling in between the grate...the dough stiffens up pretty quickly.  Next take a basting brush and brush the top side lightly with olive oil.  Close cover for a few minutes to toast the bottom of the crust.

The crust will bubble a little, and get brown-ish along the edges.  This one is ready to flip...

You can see we already started the "happy hour" without you...sorry...

Ladle some sauce or diced tomatoes onto the cooked side - totally your choice which you'll use.  This one is our friend Mike's pizza...he's 18 yrs old, and goes for the 'normal' stuff...

Mike added some fresh basil...then some pepperoni slices...

Then a little cheese...

He was a little shy about the cheese, so when he turned his back, I heaped more on top!  Here are a few more shots of our pizzas in no particular order...

The one on the left is made with the whole wheat crust...mmm...see it below, too...

Did someone say "happy hour"?  Of course, we needed something refreshing to go with the pizzas...

Gin and Tonics, anyone?  4pp for the gin and we used diet tonic water...so it was a great choice!

Wait a minute...you have to measure it so you know how many points you're drinking!

It was a tough day, so Chuck certainly earned an opportunity to relax tonight...
                                            On to dessert....

 I love these jumbo sized mallows when near a fire...

Yummy - and only 2pp per Jumbo marshmallow - good deal.

Points Plus for Grilled Pizzas - depends on how you make them, but here is a general guide:

1 oz refrigerated pizza dough = 2pp...I made ours 4 oz each...so 8pp each for the crust

Tomatoes, onions, peppers, mushrooms - all ZERO pp

Pepperoni - 1/2 oz = 2pp

Part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded - 1 oz =2pp

I definitely would save this meal for after your weigh-in...By the way, Chuck was down 0.6 lbs today and I lost another full pound!  I love that we can eat like this, enjoy ourselves, and still lose weight.  Like the Weight Watcher slogan says...Its a New Day!!  I'm loving it!!

How to handle Buffet-style meals

My advice is to AVOID THEM! 

But really, most of us find that buffets get us into trouble...from the many tempting offerings to the "unlimited" nature of the meal...I'm just not a big fan.  BUT sometimes the buffet comes in the form of a wedding reception, graduation party, family reunion...

so face it - they are a part of our lives and we need to learn to deal with it.  Believe it or not, when I used to work for WeightWatchers many moons ago, we'd sometimes have training sessions at a hotel that served only a lunch buffet.  Can you imagine the pressure of making the right choices and not having seconds when eating with the upper management of WW sitting at your table? Here is what I learned that helps me to this day:

*Take a walk along the buffet and scope out what REALLY looks great, but then fix your first plate with only a garden salad with dressing on the side.  This works for me because it takes the edge off hunger before I start filling my plate so I make better choices and don't over fill it and so I'm not so tempted to eat two plates full of those higher calorie offerings.

*Sit as far from the buffet as possible.  The peer pressure of having to walk past every other table with another plate of food may help you - or - you may be too lazy to get up for one more trip ;0)

*While eating your salad - you have made time to listen carefully to the conversation of others about what doesn't taste as good as it looked and avoid those foods - and just head for what they say is "to die for".  That way you will feel more satisfied.

*Breakfast buffets are a real challenge because of all the baked goods offered as "food".  Focus on power foods here - eggs, meat, fresh fruit and veggies.  They will fill you up fast and keep you satisfied for a long, long time.

*If you are at a dessert buffet, look for the fresh fruit and put that on a small plate first.  If you can just eat fruit and wait until others comment on what is "unbelievablely great" - this might save you a truck load of points on the not so great offerings.  Maybe you can enlist a friend to 'share' a small sample of the really tempting baked goods.

I have to admit, some of these LOOK very tempting - but I'd find someone to share a sampler plate of them with me!

*When all else fails, if you know you're going to be tempted beyond what you can bear, plan to use your Weekly Allowance Points for that event and simply enjoy yourself within reason.  Don't beat yourself up - its not worth it.  Just jump back onto program the next day.

How do you deal with the temptations on a buffet?  Comment among yourselves ;0)

Building a satisfying lunch

Is it lunch time yet?  There are so many great ways to enjoy lunch - where do I begin?  Often I'm

packing up leftovers and bringing them to the office for lunch - just to make room in the fridge at home for more leftovers ;0)  But there are days that there are no leftovers around, making planning lunch a necessity.  Here are a few of our lunches from my archives to inspire you.  Some are ones I packed - some are eaten out at a nearby restaurant or fast food establishment.  I'll try to include PointsPlus values wherever I can remember them easily enough.

Turkey wrap with this fabulous Cranberry Mustard!  Made with an Ole Extreme Wellness Wrap (1-2pp per wrap depending on variety), 3 oz cooked turkey 3pp,  lots of veggies like lettuce, tomato, roasted red peppers - ZERO pp and the Cranberry Mustard ads ZERO pp to the sandwich - total for this plate full = 5pp!



I don't remember the brand of bread I used here - for anyone ambitious, its listed somewhere among my 120+ posts - but I find for ME, bread can be an expensive proposition.  For the guys who have way more points to use -its a no brainer.  I typically will make my sandwich on a half slice to keep the points down, but fill up the middle to make the sandwich filling for me.  This honey mustard is sweet and hot...a real flavor boost to a ham sandwich!!



ZERO pp WW Garden Vegetable Soup - recipe on this site!  You can add 2 TBSP of grated parmesan cheese for just 1pp!




Chicken Salads with cucumbers, olives, carrots, a hard boiled egg and some pepperoncinis on the side.  For a snack afterwards, plain, fat free yogurt with fresh strawberries and bananas.

 



I loved this lunch!  Egg salad made with lite mayo, served on Romaine lettuce leaves with cute pimento stuffed green olives on top - really a winning combo - and makes a pretty presentation.  A small serving of carrot salad and some fresh grapes.  All recipes for this plate are on my recipes page!



McDonald's Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad with the entire package of dressing - 11PP and yumm-o!!  For me, this counts as a lunch for 8pp with a snack for 3pp, but its so worth it.

This was great but had to be made at home - it was a lite ham and swiss "quesadilla"made with one wrap - then once toasty, I cut it in half and stacked it with some lettuce, tomato and honey mustard between the two peices.

Barbacoa Beef and Cole Slaw Sandwich made from week one recipes! 



PANERA BREAD - Pick Two Menu Options: a cup of Low-Fat Vegetarian Black Bean Soup with a Thai Chopped Chicken Salad for 8PP  (I didn't eat the bread since I didn't know how to count it)  Loved this lunch, though!



Garden Salad with leftover Rotisserie Chicken Breast on it - all you count is the 3 oz of chicken for 3pp and whatever salad dressing you choose to put on it.  (This photo is from a dinner I ate, so the wine would not really be part of my lunch - but if it WERE - it would be 4pp for 1/2 cup)

*Always look for low points plus options to bulk up your lunches - fresh veggies are one way for ZERO pp.

*Mustard instead of Mayo saves points.

*If you still want to eat but your brain tells you that you've eaten your portion of points for this meal - finish with a peice of fresh fruit.  The fruit cleans your palate and gives your stomach enough time to register fullness - ZERO points.  Or you can suck on a peppermint and usually get the same results.

I'm always looking for new ideas for great lunches to be eaten at home or packed for the office.  What are your favorite lunches?  Inspire me!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake Recipe - You have to check this one out!

What a great day!  It rained all day long, but I had planned to take the day off from work and just read.  I finished reading the book "Water for Elephants" (but I have to reveal that I already had it half read since Monday).  What a great diversion from the day to day!

My day started with incredible eggs!  I think I've told you all before that I make a habit of chopping an onion and a green pepper each week to streamline my mornings -

That is one reason I have never regretted buying my Cuisinart Mini-chopper!!  So after grabbing these two KEY ingredients to my incredible eggs, I chop a little low fat ham leftover from a previous evening and I'm on my way!

I start with a little cooking spray on the pan, then add a Tbsp of each - onion, green pepper and ham (1pp).  After giving them a few minutes to soften, I crack a fresh egg over them and break the yolk:

 Give it a quick flip to heat through....

 It would have been a 3pp breakfast (2 for the egg and 1 for the ham) but I then decided that it was screaming to be put on a toasted english muffin....

The Thomas' Whole Grain is 3pp each, but the ShopRite Light are just 2pp - so I chose the latter to make mine just a 5pp sandwich.  But...that is where I got distracted...my tummy got the better of me and I ate the whole thing before I remembered that I never took a photo of it.  Sooo Sorry!!!  It was Soooo Goooood!!!

The day was spent mainly on the couch in my living room reading...so I never took photos of lunch, either!  Please forgive me!  To make it up to you, however....I have the scoop on a great new recipe (to me, anyways)...But first a story. 

I was reading all day - oh, that's right, I said that already.  So when I finally finished the book, I took a moment to check my e-mail before I had to run out to the grocery store for something for dinner.  There sat a new message from a dear friend with the recipe below - and she was asking what I thought.  There were incomplete instructions, and no PointsPlus values for it - but a recipe with only TWO ingredients ??- one being cake mix and the other being pineapple ??- WELL, I just HAD to add those two ingredients to my grocery list ASAP.  I then plugged the ingredients into the Recipe Builder on WW Online e-Tools.  Doing that lets you tell it how many servings you'll cut it into and it then calculates the points plus value for it.  So, I figured 12 servings (big ones) and it said 4pp!!  Woo Hoo!!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake - 4PP!!

Two easy ingredients:

1- 20oz can of Crushed Pineapple in its own Juice

1- Box of Angel Food Cake mix

Here's how easy this is - put the entire contents of each into a mixing bowl, juice and all.  Mix at medium speed for about 2-3 minutes.  In my Kitchen Aid mixer it was almost to the top of the bowl by the end of 2 minutes!  It beats up like egg whites.  Pour the entire contents into an UNgreased 13X9" pan and level it off.  It practically fills the pan to the brim!  Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes until golden brown on top.  Remove from the oven and loosen the edges of the cake from the pan.  Put a tray over top and flip it carefully.  Let it set like that for a couple of minutes, then remove the pan carefully.  Cut into 12 even peices for 4pp each.

If you are a pineapple lover -as am I - then I'm sure you will find this cake is awesome!  If you look carefully, the whipped cream in the photo above looks a little messed up.  I was shooting it with my Flip camera - and while doing that, my 17 year old was asking about the laundry he was doing (this is a first for him)...and I didn't even notice that the cherry was sliding right off the cake!  Here is the picture at the beginning of the film strip as it first began to take its slide:

Ah, who cares - it all goes to the same place anyways, and my tummy is thankful for that!!

By the way - this recipe was shared with me by a good friend and follower of this blog - THANKS LORI - I love it and I love you for sharing the recipe with me!!