Latte Demonstration

I've had a couple of questions about how I make my morning latte, so I decided to walk you through. The princess thought I was nuts this morning, taking pictures of myself making my coffee- but I guess it's nothing new! LOL

About a year and a half ago I worked out how much hubby and I were spending on buying coffee... waaay too much. I decided that we could be making our own for much less money, so I did a little investigating and decided to start with a stovetop espresso maker. We paid less than $20 for the silver one at World Market, I THINK it is the 6 serving size.



I bought the pink one recently, thinking that I never use all of the espresso that I make each morning, and that I wanted the smaller, cuter one for myself. Hubby hasn't been drinking coffee lately, and I thought that this would be the perfect size for just me. I was wrong- I've only used it once, and it didn't make nearly as much as I use... I guess I use more than I realized.

I don't actually make espresso- it is technically called "stovetop espresso", which is similar to a "cafe americano"- or halfway between coffee and espresso. For more info on my espresso maker and how it works, this Wiki page about the Moka Express is fantastic!

I use regular coffee grounds instead of the expensive espresso grounds. I don't know if there is a taste difference, but the cost difference is incredible. I've been buying my grounds at Sam's Club- I pay about $6 for this big tin:



I measure out a cup of skim milk and microwave it- my microwave has a "beverage" setting that I use... about a minute and a half, I think.





While the espresso and milk are cooking, I measure out my syrup. This week I'm using the Kahlua flavor, and since I decided to decrease the amount of syrup I use, I've been using 50 mL- which is about 1.6 ounces. The measuring tube I use is a teeny baby bottle (Enfamil) that we got from the hospital when the princess was born- I use it because I don't have a teeny measuring cup and this does the job. I go ahead and pour it into my mug while I'm waiting for the milk and espresso.







When the milk is done, I pour it in, then add espresso to top off the mug- if I'm using a bigger mug, I end up having more caffeine for the day. I'd never measured the espresso before today, but it turns out that I use almost a full cup (!!!) of espresso! (Wow, no wonder I have the jitters sometimes!) I ALWAYS use a travel mug. I like to take my time with my coffee, and it might take me an hour or two to drink the whole thing... the travel mug really helps to keep it warm. Also, I am picky about my mugs and will only buy 16 or 20 oz mugs- anything smaller and I don't have enough room, anything bigger and it takes too much espresso.



And that, my friends, is how Blondie makes her morning latte. :)

Word Cloud

Becky created a word cloud for her blog today, and provided a link so we can make our own! You just go to this site, enter the address of your blog, and their webbot will search all of the content to create your very own word cloud- the words are those that you use most often, and their size is based on the frequency that you use those words... and they put everything into alphabetical order for you, too.

Here is my word cloud for this blog:



Kinda neat, isn't it?

Thanks Becky!

*^&%&#&$ Scale

I don't know that I've ever been MAD about a WI before.
Disappointed, sure.
Surprised, yes.
Mad? This is a new one.

I've been watching my scale here at home for the last week or so, it has been creeping downwards as I am extra careful about what I eat. I'm trying to be more careful and maybe go overboard on the "diet" (no, not lifestyle for now), trying to get rid of these pesky couple of pounds and down to goal.

I had a really difficult time with the last 10-15 pounds last time, too- it took FOREVER to lose them and no time at all to regain them. I ended up setting my WW goal weight higher than I'd wanted to, just because I kept hovering around it.

My scale at home this morning was clearly pointing to 140. 140!!! My goal weight is 138. I wanted to get to WI right away so nothing would happen to that beautiful number I saw on the scale... I weighed myself at least 5 times before I left this morning, just to make sure that it wasn't a fluke and that I really was seeing that number.

I had to wait and wait at WW this morning- about 20 minutes just to step on the darn scale. When I got on, I said "Now, that isn't right!" (and I think I said it a little louder than maybe I should have!)... that @#$%%$## scale said 146.2. 146.2!!! WTF?!?!

I overcame the very strong desire to go eat something yummy... realizing that it was habit, not desire or craving, and came home to make my coffee and bulgar and rant a bit. I ended up skipping the bulgar and having a half of a peanut butter sandwich, and now I feel better. But I'm still pretty ticked. Hubby thinks we just need a new scale.

I AM down from my last WI, and even down a bit from 2 WIs ago (Feb 7)- but only down 0.6 from then. Remember I skipped last week, knowing that it would be up. I guess it IS a good thing that I'm down, but I'm really steamed that my usually accurate scale was this far off- and that I was all ready to see a really fantastic loss this week, especially because I've been working so hard, and was really looking forward to being down so close to goal. Ugh.

APs and WPAs

Well, I did end up doing a bit of swimming tonight... all of 250 yards... or maybe just 200... either way, that sucks. Alot.

I am so out of shape, I can't believe that I just did around 200 yards- I'm sure I could have done more, but I didn't want to put in the time and effort if the quality wasn't there, and I knew that my technique was starting to suffer. I'm thinking I'd like to put in 15-20 minutes of swimming every day to start, and build up from there so maybe I can be back in shape by summer... but can't see paying $3/day to swim for maybe 20 minutes- that's a bit insane. So I'll swim the next few nights after this class, then I'll figure out what to do next.

I was reading on one of the WW Msg Boards about hula hoops- they were discussing how hula hoops are good for both cardio and abs- and specified one brand in particular... a weighted hoop, they were suggesting using a 3 lb hoop for 10 minutes every day. (Apparently the 3 lb version is what they use at Curves.) So I looked on the website- this 3 lb hula hoop is THIRTY BUCKS plus another ten for shipping! Holy cow- FOURTY BUCKS for a HULA HOOP?!? Uh, no. Not happening, though it does sound like a good idea. I think I'll start with a cheapo from Target instead.

On the WPAs front, I ended up using some tonight- the Prince wanted cookies and I gave in, and had to taste one...two...five. To the tune of 12.5 WPAs. Ouch. But they're gone now and I'm over it.

Be back tomorrow afternoon with my WI report! Have a great night!

Still OP

Yesterday I used 4.5 WPAs, and I'm thinking that 5 or fewer is "OP" to me... I haven't used any so far today, and have no plans to, either! This is a great feeling.

Last night I spent about 30 minutes shoveling snow. It wasn't terribly strenuous, but it certainly did use muscles that I haven't used for a while- I probably earned 1 or 2 APs for it, which makes the WPAs I used for lunch even fewer. Tonight I am supposed to do some swimming... I'm not sure if I actually will or not. I'm teaching a class that is half classroom and half pool, and offered to get in with them tonight and demonstrate some strokes. BUT they've got a lot of other things that need to be covered, so I might suggest that we skip the stroke work tonight and move it to Thursday. I'll let you know if I earn APs tonight for that swimming. :) This is the class that I'd mentioned a while back was cancelled- the very next day we had 4 people register, so we kept it a "go"!

I had my latte this morning, again with a smaller amount of syrup (and no adjustment period- good right away!). I also ate some bulgar and some of my stovetop popcorn- prepared core. I've not been super hungry lately and I don't want to force myself to eat just because it's "time to eat". I'd rather eat when my body is hungry and have the potential for losing more before I WI tomorrow. I haven't had my water yet today, but I know that I'll be able to get in at least 64 oz... yesterday I drank about 130 oz!

Dinner tonight is probably going to be leftovers for me. The kids want pizza and Hubby will eat at his meeting, so I'm not going to bother cooking just for me. I still have plenty to choose from in the fridge, and it's all core.

I'm really looking forward to my WI tomorrow morning- can you believe it?! I'll be posting at about this time tomorrow and I'll let you know about my day and about WI! Have a great OP day!

water-water-water and my scale

I told you that I'd put an old water bottle back to work... one of the reasons I wanted one with a straw is because I KNOW that I drink more if I have a straw. Why? Because I mindlessly suck it down. I'll sit with the bottle near me and just totally absentmindedly drink. And drink and drink. For something to do, I guess. Totally better than absentmindedly eating, which is a distinct possibility and I'm sure the main reason I am trying to LOSE weight. As I type this, it isn't quite 1:30 in the afternoon and I've already downed 64+ oz of water today!



I know that this is a good thing, and the scale is agreeing with me. Now that I've been doing this for a few days, the scale was much closer to the next number than it's been for a while. ??? What the heck does that mean, you ask? This is my scale:




(the "screen" had some water damage a few years ago... this is as clean as it gets... but it still works!)

I generally judge how I'm doing based on which number the pointer is closer to... or between. I've had it for several years, and it seems pretty accurate. I'm somewhat interested in getting a new digital model, but this does just fine, so why bother spending the extra money?

Bulgur and a Latte

Have I mentioned that I'm out of my two favorite SF syrups? I am. It really upset me that Sam's has been out of Caramel and Vanilla for weeks... but a week or so ago I decided to branch out and try some of the other flavors that I had in my cupboard. I emptied the Egg Nog a couple of days ago (I love this flavor, but I've had to order it online because I can't find it anywhere locally!), am almost out of Chocolate, and have moved on to Kahlua (which I haven't liked in my coffee, even though I love the "real" thing). I tried the Kahlua yesterday and it was pretty good. I did realize that I'm losing my taste for sweet, so I decided to cut back on the syrup today- I used about 75% of what I usually use. It took a bit of getting used to, but I'll use that (smaller) amount for now, maybe cut back more eventually. It feels good to be cutting back on sweets and eating healthier.

I've been eating bulgur for breakfast for a little over a week and I really like it- I'm almost out of bulgur! I've found that I don't have to cook it on the stove, just soak it and cook it just before eating. I've been preparing it at night, in a storage container, with milk and SF syrup, and have been adding in some unsweetened cocoa powder (the kind for baking). In the morning, I microwave it until it's warm enough for me and stir... it's pretty tasty. ***Warning! This (especially when combined with coffee) is pretty tough on your insides and will have you spending more time than usual in the bathroom!***

Both are Core, and it really feels good to be on plan. I stayed on plan all day yesterday and did not use ANY of my WPAs! I chose to use some today for my lunch, but I still feel like I made a good choice and didn't use them for something outrageous like I've done in the past. Also, part of my problem in the last few weeks has been peanut butter- I love the crunchy kind so I don't buy it... but Hubby did, and I'd been eating it- but it's almost gone now, and the Prince will be upset if he knows his mom ate the last of it, so I'm staying away. Hooray, I'm on plan!

On Plan!

After Thursday's post (and the sweets totally gone!) I've been doing pretty good. Sometime last week I dug out a water bottle that I haven't used in ages, thinking it had all of the characteristics that I was looking for in a water bottle (big, cupholder-friendly, straw, ability to "close" the straw so it won't leak)- and it meets all my requirements! I've been drinking tons this week, thinking that maybe this bottle holds 20-22 oz... I finally measured it out this morning and TADA- it holds a whopping 32 oz! Even though I'm spending significantly more time in the bathroom, I think that this re-find has been very good for me.

I will return to WW on Wednesday for the final WI of my monthly pass... the scale in my bathroom makes me think that I'll be satisfied with that WI, so long as I stay OP. While hubby thinks I look "fine", I'd be happier if I were in those clothes that I bought last year (when I was at goal)- so I WILL be staying OP and you're here to keep me accountable!

Flex or Core?

So I've been spending a lot of time reading message boards the last few days... mainly the WW Core Board. I found a couple of great threads that discuss this topic and wanted to share them with you. My favorite post of all comes from the Bootcamp Buddies board and I think it is so well written that I'm not only giving you the link, I'm giving you the post!

These questions always concern me because there seems to be too much interest in losing weight more quickly. I think the bottom line is which plan is the plan that fits your lifestyle and will become your LIFESTYLE...

I have done ww off and on most of my life. I came back to ww in June 05, almost 46 years old and 14 lbs over goal. I started core then and haven't done anything else for even one day ever since and I will never eat any other way. I lost the 14 pounds in two months. Prior to this I felt like I couldn't lose ANY weight, no matter what I did.

Flex is not for me. I would not lose or maintain on it because it is just not the right plan for me. It is too difficult for me to stay on plan....Flex allows me to eat things that are triggers and make it more challenging for me to stay on plan.

Core has pretty much forced me to stop eating the things that are triggers (or I eat very small amounts of them)...Core totally feels like a lifestyle and one that I love.

I think it isn't about which one is good for losing or maintaining it is about which plan is the plan for YOU...of course one might be the right plan for you right now and the other might be the right plan for you at some other point in time. But that still means that it is about WHICH PLAN is the RIGHT plan for YOU, RIGHT NOW...which plan will you STICK to!!!

Personally, I think that flex works better for people who aren't as sensitive to simple carbs and who can handle eating more refined type foods...people who truly only need portion control and increased self monitoring...whereas core may be a better plan for those of us who have a biochemical reaction to things like simple carbs that makes it REALLY hard for us to stop eating them once we start...So we need to be nudged into eating more complex carbs, etc. and away from the simple carbs. I know for me that core has been "THE ANSWER" to my lifelong eating problems....Flex can be that for other people with a different set of problems (perhaps more related to just learning which foods are healthier, learning portion control, etc.)...

No one can tell someone else which plan will be best for them...and neither plan is "better" for losing vs. maintaining.

Those are my thoughts.
__________________
Lynn

Click here for the thread that Lynn posted on

Click here for a great thread on the WW Core Board

Food Journal, Leftovers

latte- CORE
toast w/ cinnamon sugar- 2
leftover chicken fried rice- CORE
leftover xmas candy... pts guess- 24
popcorn- CORE (I pop it myself to keep it core)
LOTS and LOTS of water- CORE

Today was day 1 of my week and I am counting 26 WPAs used. I ate the candy because I was bored- not because I was hungry... but I insisted that Hubby and the kids finish the bag... I'm guessing on the points for it- I'm counting half of the bag. THANK GOODNESS that temptation is out of the house!

I really wasn't hungry after the popcorn- probably too many calories for my body to handle as it was. The kids had leftovers for dinner and Hubby had a dinner meeting, (and I was headed out to teach from 6-10 tonight) so I decided we'd skip tonight's planned meal. We had so many leftovers in the fridge, it helped to skip the cooking tonight and work on eating some of what we already had prepared.

Not a very good WWer or blogger...

I've been missing lately... I'm still READING blogs, but I've not done very well WRITING them. My other blog hasn't been updated in 3 weeks! Goodness, I'd better get working!

I decided not to WI this week. After my decision last week to get back to basics, I tripped, stumbled, and landed face-first (figuratively speaking, of course). I picked myself back up Monday and have been shuffling along this week, doing ok but not great. I went grocery shopping last Saturday and stocked the shelves with core foods, and I've been following our planned menu (and even eating those core leftovers for lunch!), but I still don't want to face the scale this week. Next Wednesday is the last day of my current Monthly Pass... I'll WI that day and hopefully I'll be down a bit. In reality, I won't need to go back until the end of March (assuming I get down closer to goal) to be free under the Lifetime rules. Not sure what I'll do about WI in March- we'll see how I do, staying OP and according to my bathroom scale.

I've made some tasty things this week:
Grilled Salmon and veggies on Sunday
Italian Pasta and Bean Soup on Monday
Chicken Fried Rice on Tuesday

No pictures, but good stuff. Hubby said that the soup seemed to be 99% done, but missing something- we couldn't figure out what that might have been. The chk fried rice was very good, I will definitely make it again. Here are the recipes:

ITALIAN PASTA AND BEAN SOUP
8 or more servings

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 large celery stalk, cut into 1/4-inch dice
Two 16-ounce cans cannellini (large white beans), drained and rinsed
7 cups water
2 cups diced zucchini
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian herb seasoning mix
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 1/2 cups ditalini (tiny tubular pasta) I subbed WW penne to make this Core
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery, and sauté over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onion is golden. Add the beans, cooking liquid or water, zucchini, bay leaves, herb mix, and tomato paste. Bring to a simmer, then simmer gently, covered, until the zucchini is just tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow the soup to stand for an hour or so to develop flavor.

In a separate saucepan, cook the pasta al dente. Rinse briefly under cool water until it stops steaming. Add the parsley to the soup and heat it through. When the soup is hot, add the cooked pasta and season with salt and pepper. Serve at once.
I found this recipe here...


CHICKEN FRIED RICE
2 sprays cooking spray
4 large egg white(s)
1/2 cup scallion(s), chopped, green and white parts
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
12 oz uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced
1/2 cup carrot(s), diced
2 cup cooked brown rice, regular or instant, kept hot
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set pan over medium-high heat. Add egg whites and cook, until scrambled, stirring frequently, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Offheat, recoat skillet with cooking spray and place back over medium-high heat. Add scallions and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add chicken and carrots; sauté until chicken is golden brown and cooked through, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.

Stir in reserved egg whites, cooked brown rice, peas and soy sauce; cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Yields about 1 cup per serving.
I found this recipe here...

Hiding

Yes, I've been hiding. From you.

My kitchen is stocked FULL of Core-approved foods.
My scheduled menu is posted, and is being followed.

I'm not hungry. BUT I'M EATING ANYWAY. I'm eating to eat. I'm eating because my habit is that I eat when the kids sleep. WTF is my problem? I had an inner-monologue/discussion and chose to eat anyway. Duh... I'm totally sabotaging myself. Ugh.

All I need to do is be down 7 pounds by my first March WI- probably 3/6. But this week I've likely GAINED again instead of lost, so I'll need to lost more than those 7 pounds. Seriously, I have issues.

Back to Basics

Well, I sure didn't deserve or expect a loss, but I was still a bit disappointed to see a gain (up 0.6) this morning... though I deserved it, and I probably had lost too much last week due to the illness (and not eating much). Still, it's back to basics for me.

I am sitting at my dining room table, drinking my latte (Core), and eating a new breakfast. Breakfast is something that has been difficult for me on Core- I like to have something with carbs and fiber along with my coffee... carbs are rather restricted on Core. After all of the interesting things I read yesterday about eating "cleanly", I decided to try something new. I got a bowl of leftover brown rice, added some skim milk, cinnamon, and about 1 tbsp of sugar (I don't use Splenda), and microwaved it- it tastes similar to oatmeal. It's a good breakfast, but I'd rather use a grain that doesn't restrict what I eat later in the day.



-------(skip ahead a couple of hours)-------

I cooked up some bulgar so I can eat this regularly. I used half water and half milk, and tossed in plenty of cinnamon and a bit less than 1/4 cup of brown sugar... I'll need to count 3 points for the entire batch, but it will probably take 3-4 days to eat the whole batch. I'm not sure if I'll try this tomorrow or wait another day for this, because I still have a good amount of brown rice leftover from the other night. Either way, I'm glad to have this waiting for me.

For lunch today I'm having leftover chicken with squash from the other night. It's just as good today as it was then! I needed the sweet taste of the squash to curb the cravings for sweets, mainly caused by my mom...



My mom sent over a bunch of V-Day gifts, including her traditional Rice Krispies heart. She decorates it with frosting and fills the middle with candy (last year it was Kissables!)... the container is about 12 inches in diameter, so it's a good-sized treat. Tons of points. The past two years I've hidden it from my family and eaten the whole thing myself (over time, not in one sitting). This year it is on the kitchen table... I'm hoping Hubby will do more than his part to help it disappear so I'm not tempted. :)

Food

I've been blog-hopping today and have found a couple that really interested me... and made me think about changing my eating habits. I mean, really changing them.

I'm thinking about eating more "cleanly"... fewer processed foods. This is a change that will take some time, and some adjustments, but I'd like to work towards it- certainly not something that I can do overnight.

Check out eat like a caveman and Kath Eats Real Food- two blogs that I found today that have intrigued me.

We'll see how this goes, but I'm willing to make an effort and work on this!

Chicken, Wontons, and more

For starters, tomorrow morning is my regular WI day. I absolutely DO NOT deserve a loss, so I'm not really looking forward to this WI. I haven't been eating well, and I can tell- I've been craving more sweets (once I start eating them I crave them more) and I've had less energy. I'm needing to write out a new menu and go grocery shopping, that coupled with the illnesses that are still plauging my family are causing me to slack off a bit in the food area.

Dinner last night, however, was AWESOME and Core... and I was very proud of serving it to my family. I used this recipe:

Maple-glazed chicken with sweet potatoes
This works equally well substituting a whole, lean boneless pork tenderloin for the chicken.

1.5 lbs bone-in, skinless chicken thighs (original recipe calls for a whole, cut up chicken)
1 yellow onion, cut into 1-inch wedges
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons maple syrup (150 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber)
6 sprigs fresh thyme

Heat oven to 400° F. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Arrange the chicken, onion, and sweet potatoes in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Drizzle the oil over the chicken and vegetables and season with the salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Drizzle with the maple syrup and top with the sprigs of thyme.

Roast, stirring the vegetables once, until the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes (increase time to 1 hr, 15 mins if you use a whole, cut-up frying chicken). Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Remove skin prior to eating.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

--Adapted from Real Simple magazine, December 2005

from Heather's site and tweaked it a bit. I went looking for chicken recipes, and this looked good. I used one butternut squash, about half of a large purple onion, and 4 chicken breasts. (I skipped the thyme)





I also served this with brown rice.



The kids and I loved this meal, but hubby was looking for snacks a couple hours later- he thought it was a "skimpy" meal. Sorry, hubs- this meal will definitely be back!!


A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I wanted to try artichoke/spinach dip in the wonton wrappers. I finally did this a few days ago and they weren't bad... not fantastic, but not bad either (or maybe my tastebuds are a bit off still from my cold). I used a recipe from this book and subbed Core ingredients for the non-Core ones (used FF mayo, etc). I used a whole package of frozen spinach instead of a smaller amount of fresh... I used the defrost mode on my microwave and squeezed out the excess liquids before adding it to the mix.






ready to cook!


ready to eat!

Core

I am a huge fan of Core. I was scared of it, and had no intention of trying it until Hubby suggested it... because the leader had mentioned that people are doing very well on it.

I love that I am being a great role model to my kids- they love to eat their veggies! They're learning what good foods are and how to eat healthy. They aren't asking "where are we going for dinner?" or "what's for dinner?", they're asking "what are you making for dinner?". While this isn't much different, it really is- they understand that mom is cooking dinner for them, and they know that it is going to be something healthy.

The Prince used the last of the jelly last week- he'd recently emptied both the reduced-sugar strawberry, and the regular grape jelly... so when we went to the store, he wanted to buy the "healthier kind" of both flavors. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a reduced-sugar grape in a squeeze bottle (I offered to buy the squeeze bottle of the full-sugar variety), and he decided that he'd rather just have the "healthier strawberry kind." Seriously folks, how cool is that?

Also, he had a friend over on Thursday... I served Baked Spaghetti for dinner, thinking that spaghetti would be good for the kids. The friend freaked out that it had "other stuff" on it- he just likes noodles, meatballs, and cheese. Prince said "it's got all of that, and yummy vegetables, too!" OMG. I don't know if I've ever been prouder. The friend ended up having PB & J.

But back to Core. Eating healthier... more of a lifestyle than Flex (who can count everything for the rest of their life, really?)... teaching my kids good habits... easier on my budget (less eating out, better planning). I HIGHLY recommend Core. I found this post that really backs me up- please read it, it's right-on.

Congratulations

If you're reading this, PLEASE stop over and visit my friend Sara- she had a rough time over the holidays and is just now getting back into the swing... and she had an AMAZING WI today, she deserves congratulations!

I'm proud of you, Sara! I know you can do this!!!

Down 2.8!

I guess being sick really did help me on this journey- this was a great WI. I am 8.8 lbs over my WW goal- so just 6.8 lbs away from being FREE again... I have confidence in myself, so I cancelled my Monthly Pass- effective 2/27. I asked about it, because I wondered if I had to get back down to goal before the 2 lb leeway went into effect (I don't!). The gal told me to figure out where I thought I would be on my expiration date and make sure to cancel on time... and that it would be worth it, even if I ended up paying for a week. I figure that even if I'm not quite there by the last day of my MP, I should be able to be there by my first March WI (if I can't lose 7 lbs in 3 wks, I should be able to lose it in 4 wks).

I don't have much planned this month that would deter me from my planned menus. I'll be teaching two full Saturdays, which will suck food-wise, because I usually run to Quiznos for the best sandwich ever- with added tomatoes. The stats on that thing are insane, so I'll have to make sure I take leftovers or something. I do have a class scheduled every Tuesday/Thursday night (starting next week), but as of yesterday it was going to be cancelled due to low enrollment. That class would have allowed me to have dinner at home, and would have had me moving more and getting in more activity than normal- I'm pretty bummed that it isn't going to happen (and the money really would have been nice, too).

Do you know the details about canceling your MP? YOU HAVE TO DO IT IN THE FIRST HALF of your MP month!!! They bill you about halfway through your month, and if they've already billed you, your cancellation won't go into effect until the end of the NEXT month! Of course, there are a couple of exceptions, but that's their normal procedure. This means that you MUST PLAN AHEAD when you think you might be ready to cancel. If you're canceling because you hit Lifetime, that's one of their exceptions, but (from personal experience) CALL THEM RIGHT AWAY when you get LT- don't dawdle.

Wonton Pizza Bites

I made these tonight, using Roni's recipe as a guide, and they were a hit! I only made 12- mainly because I was afraid they wouldn't all get eaten/they wouldn't reheat well- and I wish I'd made more. Everyone wanted more!

The fam was starving again (seriously, they eat constantly, yet they're always STARVING!), so no pictures tonight- sorry!

WI tomorrow... I'm interested to see how I do. I ate some outrageously high point foods (mainly this) a few days ago, but I also haven't eaten much period. (Do you eat when you don't feel good?)

That's all for now. Have a great night!

Turkey

Happy Shrove Tuesday! We were supposed to go to church for a Shrove Tuesday Mardi Gras celebration tonight- dinner included- but due to lots of snow and me feeling icky, we skipped out. While it would have been a great time, I know that I wouldn't have eaten anywhere near on plan.

So instead, I made a turkey... it was 'scheduled' for last Thursday. I've had this bird sitting in my fridge since I brought it home a week ago, and figured I'd better make it soon. If you've never made a whole turkey, IT ISN'T HARD. I make one every Thanksgiving, and I usually make one at Christmas, too. Today I just tossed it into the roaster, added some juices and spices, and let it go... it was done cooking by about 3:00. (A fully thawed turkey only takes about 3-4 hours to cook. I have no idea why my grandmother used to get up at 5 AM to start the turkey.)

I pulled it out and pulled off the meat, then decided to try something I've never done before- make turkey stock with the carcass. I put the carcass/bones/random scraps of meat into my stock pot, filled the thing with water, and let it boil. I lowered the temperature and covered it, and am going to let it simmer at least until I go to bed. This gal suggests letting it simmer overnight!

The bowl of turkey meat, covered in juices, went into the fridge to wait for dinner... when it was served with the remaining sweet potato fries from last night.

A nice Core dinner. It was so simple to prepare, and pretty tasty, too.

Funny Little Story/My Kids Eat Healthier Than Yours Do

ThirdKid is usually at our house for lunch, but his mom usually sends him a lunch (it's SO cute to see him carrying his lunchbox!!!). Today he was coming at a different time, but leaving right after he and my kids usually finish lunch. His mom asked if I could just feed him with my kids if she wasn't able to send him a lunch (long story, she's having health issues).

I had every intention of serving the kids clementines, peas, and Spaghetti-Os. Except I couldn't find the Spaghetti-O's in pantry. Anywhere. I knew I didn't have enough chicken nuggets for all three of them (because my kids have eaten so many lately), so I decided to stick with fruits and veggies. They all had 2 clementines, 1/3 can of peas, and 1/3 can of corn for lunch today. They loved it and they ate almost everything. Not a big deal for my kids, they love fruits and veggies. ThirdKid was a bit more of a struggle, but even he ate most of his peas- the one thing he told me that he didn't like!

When his dad came to pick him up, I explained what had happened, and that the Prince's favorite lunch is a can of corn and a can of green beans. (I am SO not kidding!) ThirdKid's dad was really surprised, and rather impressed that I got his kid to eat all of that for lunch! (He rarely eats even 1/4 of what his mom sends, and I NEVER let him have the "fun" stuff before he finishes his healthy stuff. That's the rule I use with my own kids, and if he's going to eat with us he can follow my rules. His parents think it's a good rule, but they don't use it.) ThirdKid's dad then says "I hope he doesn't grow out of that soon" or something to that effect. I responded by saying how that's what my kids are used to- they eat a lot of fruits and veggies.

Until I was sitting down to type this out, I didn't really realize just how much healthier my kids eat than pretty much anyone else we know. The Prince's friends always have cookies and juice and other treats at their houses- even strawberry milk! My kids know that these things are treats. They love cookies and juice, but we rarely have them in the house. I don't buy juice... if they're thirsty, their options are milk or water. When we go out, SOMETIMES I'll let them have a non-caffinated soda, but usually they get chocolate milk (and that's a nice treat for them!).

I am NOT saying that they don't eat junk, because they do. But I think my idea of them eating junk is a lot different than most people's. They snack on popcorn and fruit, and sometimes I'll make them chocolate milk or lemonade to drink. Sometimes I buy them crackers or yogurt to snack on. I buy Honey-Nut Cheerios and Fruit Loops and they love those. When I buy them fast food, I usually choose the fruit option (and yes, the Prince does use the carmel dip for the apples at McD's)... or I'll get one meal with fruit and one with fries, and they'll split both. Good grief, as I'm typing this I'm feeling more and more like my kids don't eat anything fun... but that's certainly not true, it just isn't the norm at our house.

The Prince had a friend over a while back, and when the Prince wanted a snack, his friend said "Me too! Let's have cookies!". He was almost confused when I said that we didn't have any cookies- like it was something that never happens at his house. My SIL always has tons of junk (yes, junk- candy bars, bags of sweet snacks, juice boxes, etc) at her house, available for the kids to help themselves.

Is this the norm? What is it like in your house? In the houses of your friends?

Meatballs and Sweet Potato Fries

for dinner tonight- yum. I didn't end up making meatballs yesterday, I started feeling pretty bad again and decided (once again) not to bother cooking.

The meatballs were just as I posted yesterday, I ended up with 64 meatballs. If my calculations are correct, that means that 5 of them are Core + 1 pt- not too shabby! I served them with a side of spaghetti sauce for dipping.

As promised, here is a picture of my "meatball pan":



See the nice grooves? These are great for collecting the grease, but they make this thing a royal pain to clean. My mom has something similar to this that she's had forever, she only uses hers for meatballs and bacon in the microwave. Shortly after I got married, we were having company over for dinner and I was making spaghetti and meatballs. I realized I didn't have one of these pans, crossed my fingers and ran to Wal-Mart... thank goodness I found this!

I also did sweet potato fries, using suggestions found here and here. I ended up using 3 sweet potatoes, the kids munched while I cooked. Unfortunately, I overcooked a few fries:


Ready to go down the disposal


Still a little burnt on the bottoms (these did get eaten, though!)

After a little trial and error, I found what I liked, though I would have preferred them to be a bit crunchier (the slightly burnt ones were crunchy!). Someone on Roni's food blog suggested double-cooking them, I might try this next time.


The best batch, though a bit soft for my taste

Roni suggested using a big knife to cut the sweet potatoes. She wasn't kidding. I love this big knife, but don't use it very often... cutting these things definitely called for it!



She also suggested curry powder on sweet potato fries. I did try that, but was not impressed. I really preferred just the kosher salt. Please realize in the pictures that I didn't clean the pans in between uses, I just laid new raw sweet potatoes on top of where I'd already cooked some- so the pictures look like I used a lot of baking spray and salt. (I didn't use as much as it appears!)

Everyone was happy with dinner tonight. I was surprised that I ended up needing all 3 sweet potatoes. Had the kids and I not munched while stuff was cooking, one probably would have done the job, but at the end of the night, we only had a handful left over (so three was a good number). Will definitely make these again.

Super Bowl food

On my planned menu for today, I have onion rings, spinach/artichoke dip, and sweet potato fries.

Because I just did onion rings this past week, I think I'm not going to be making those. I bought some wonton wrappers this week, (thinking I'd make some Pizza Bites) but then I thought about making Spinach/Artichoke Bites- putting some of the dip in the wrappers! I was also thinking about making mini meatballs today, as they were also on my menu for last week... which has been totally ignored due to the sickness at my house.

In all honesty, though- none of this really sounds good to me today. Hubby went back to the Dr. yesterday morning and was diagnosed as having the early stages of pneumonia... I have either a really light case of the flu or a nasty cold... and the kids are fine, just suffering from a few coughs and runny noses. Hubby has spent the better part of the last FIVE days sleeping... I have been pretty ok, except Friday when I was really dizzy most of the day. Mine goes in waves, alternating from being almost fine to wanting to crawl under a rock.

The kids have been eating a lot of chicken nuggets and canned veggies, we've been taking a lot of pills and vitamins. We're not going to even talk about the number of points I've eaten in the last few days. I figure that my body needs the calories to fight whatever this is. :)

At this point, I'm still planning on making the meatballs today. Those are SO good, and will get eaten. They are ALMOST core- the only non-core item in them is the stuffing. The entire box of stuffing is 12 pts, so depending on how many I make, these will be 1 pt for maybe 3 or 4. I'll figure it out and let you know how I do. The recipe is here (as a meatloaf), but I usually make it into small meatballs. I got a very similar recipe from a WW leader about a year ago, so I think that maybe this one has been floating around the WW circles for some time.

For some reason, the link to the meatloaf recipe isn't working- it appears that the entire site is down right now! I found this recipe on the Bootcamp Buddies- Weight Watchers Support Forum, under the heading "Stove Top Meatloaf":

2 lbs 96% lean ground beef
1 box Stove Top Stuffing
1/2 cup egg substitute (I will use 2 eggs)
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and add a bit of ketchup and dijon mustard (optional). Divide into 2 loaves, coat with a thin layer of ketchup or barbecue sauce and bake for 45 minutes or more until meat is no longer pink.

Serves 8
WW Winning points- 4.75/serving (Winning Points indicates that this has definitely been around a while!!!)

Total recipe is 38 points so you can choose to get more or less servings depending on how many points you have to spend. ***Be sure to adjust points if you use a different grade of beef.


Like I said, I make these into mini meatballs. I cook them in the microwave, on a pan that I know of as my "meatball pan"... but I don't know what it is really called. It isn't easy to describe, so I'll post a picture of it when I post pictures of the meatballs. I've also made this recipe in muffin tins (as someone on that forum suggested), but my family wasn't too impressed with them.

Sick today

I got it, too. I woke up this morning and it was rather obvious that I'd finally succumbed to the flu that has hit my house... so I won't be posting anything else today.

I hope everyone else stays healthy and I hope to be back here and posting my food journals again soon! (I have yummy stuff in store this week!)