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!)

Omelette Cups

Our dinner tonight was thanks to my good friend Sara, who sent me the following email about a week ago:

I just found this core recipe on the WW msg board and thought of you. Sounds really good so I think I'll try it too!

Spray muffin pan with pam
For each muffin cup, put in 1/4 c. SW eggbeaters or plain ones or 1 egg
Add a pinch of FF cheddar cheese
Add diced ham or veggies or any combination you like

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes and voila.

These are core and are 2 for 3 points.

They're good to make ahead, keep in a baggie in the fridge for up to a week, or to freeze for up to 3 months.


I decided that this would be a good opportunity to use some of the leftover pot roast from last week... mainly because diced ham was mentioned and I don't eat ham.

I diced some of the leftover potatoes from the roast, shredded some of the meat, and started building in the muffin tins. I added sliced mushrooms (canned, because I don't have the time or money to buy whole mushrooms and clean and slice them), some of my frozen veggie mix, and a little pinch of cheddar cheese. I scrambled up some eggs (I ended up using 5), and spooned/poured egg on top of the veggie pile in each cup. I filled each cup to the very top, and baked them for about 30 minutes... I didn't think they looked done at 25 minutes.

I told the kids that they were omelette cups and the Prince had seconds! Sorry that I don't have pictures, but they were hungry hungry and I didn't have a chance! I ate two of these and thought it was enough food for me.

Todays food journal:
latte- CORE
FiberOne bar- 2 pts (2/35 WPA used)
Diet Coke- 0 pts
1/4 Laughing Cow wedge- 0 pts
carrots- CORE
2 omelette cups- CORE +1 for cheese (3/35 WPA used)

I know, that isn't enough food. But I haven't been terribly hungry, and I'm living with sick people- not appetite-inspiring.

Tomorrow night we're supposed to go to an Italian dinner with drinks. It sounds like a lot of fun, but I know I'll use several of my 32 remaining WPAs. Hubby is still feeling pretty yucky, though, so I'm not sure if we'll end up going.

Counting points

I just came back from WI- I lost exactly 1 pound this week!

I'm thinking that I need to work on my menus for a shorter timeframe than I'd tried to do, maybe do them a week at a time. I am going to revise our menu for the rest of this week and next week today, and probably will go to the store tonight again. Having a sick family has not been good for our following CORE, as I haven't felt the need to cook for a family of sickos. Our supply of leftovers has diminished to nearly nothing, so I'm needing to address this asap.

I've said before that I make myself a latte every morning. I have a great little stovetop espresso maker, I microwave my milk, and I use SF/FF DaVinci syrups for flavoring... I buy these at Sam's for less than $5/bottle. My latte is Core or 2 pts on Flex. I've gotten into the habit of eating a FiberOne bar with my coffee for breakfast, which is also 2 points (not Core). I'm not really a breakfast person and have trouble eating much in the morning, coffee seems to fill me up enough. The bar is a move in the right direction, though I'm also a big fan of Thomas LF/high fiber English muffins with reduced-sugar Smuckers (0 pts if you don't use much). I'm out of the muffins right now, but I think I'll add them to my Sam's list.

I'd like to stay on Core, but I'm going to keep better track of the points that I consume. I know that I would be losing more if I were staying closer to the 35 WPA... that's really hard to do! I'm trying to look at this as a lifestyle change- not a diet- and approach Core realistically. Honestly, I don't think that 35 points over and above any Core foods is terribly realistic for me; maybe 50 is more likely to happen... I'm a mom on the move, for goodness sakes! When I was losing a lot on Flex, I found that I lost more in the weeks that I didn't use my 35 WPA, or used very few of them; I know that the same approach should work on Core.

Snacks for Dinner

Tea for breakfast: 1 pt? (It had lemonade powder to soothe my sore throat)

Lunch was on the run:
Starbucks Skinny Latte: CORE
Starbucks Cinnamon Chip Scone: WAY NOT CORE... 19!!!!! points... totally not worth it (I should have stopped for a burger instead!)

afternoon treat w/ the kids: 1 scoop LF yogurt @ Baskin Robbins: 4 pts

and snacks for dinner. Potato wedges (CORE!) and HG's Onion Rings (CORE or pretty damned close)

The wedges I just sliced up a couple of potatoes, sprinkled them with seasoned salt and Mrs. Dash, and tossed them on a PAM-sprayed pan... they cooked for 15 or 20 minutes at 350. I just used one onion tonight, and sliced it rather thin... used 2 full eggs for dipping. I also used quite a bit of Fiber One. I've done these before and have really liked them. Tonight they were good, but I didn't think they were over-the-top good. Maybe that's because I've been craving real onion rings.


In other news, this is a short and to-the-point post tonight because of the situation at my house for the last couple of days:
2 sicko kids, 1 sicko Hubby, and my lymph nodes are way swollen. I don't have a full-blown version of what they've got, but I've got their sore throat. And I'm dealing with all of their whining. Oh, joy.

I am supposed to go to WI in the morning, but I'm not sure if I'll get that done- we'll see how the rest of the fam is.

Guilt-Free Alfredo!!!

OMG.
Seriously, wow. For dinner tonight, I combined a couple of things that I've learned about online:spaghetti squash and Hungry Girl's "girlfredo". And I'd like to repeat, WOW.

I used the Lite Garlic and Herb cheese wedges instead of the regular flavor, and I think that really added to the flavor. I served the kids the squash topped with leftover spaghetti/meat sauce from my cooking day last week. Their meal was entirely CORE, mine was not... but the couple of points were definitely worth it. HG says that one serving equals 1 pt, I know that I had more than one serving.

Hungry Girl's "Girlfredo"
1/2 Wedge The Laughing Cow Light Cheese
1 teaspoon Fat Free Sour Cream
2 teaspoons Kraft Reduced Fat Parmesan Cheese
Salt & Pepper (if desired)

Combine cheeses and sour cream, Mix thoroughly. Microwave to help melt cheese, and mix some more. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy. Serves 1.

I made this with 6 wedges and roughly 12 times the FF sour cream. I did not have 12 times the parmesan, so I dumped in what I had (maybe 8 or 12 teaspoons?). I loved it, so did Hubby!!!

For the squash, I pre-cooked and prepared it a few days ago; it's been sitting in the fridge, waiting for tonight. I'm glad that I did the prep work ahead, just because while it wasn't really time-consuming, it still took time. Hubby and I enjoyed the squash instead of "real" noodles, and he said that it really filled him up. Please note that this is a vegetable, and it does not taste like pasta!!! It is a bit on the sweet side, kinda smells like pumpkin (especially before you cook it!), and is definitely a veggie... that said, I will for sure make this again.

CrockPots, anyone?

I've decided that I need a new crockpot. The one I have works great, but it's getting a bit small. No, it isn't shrinking, but my family is growing (as is the amount of food that I cook!). The one I have was a wedding gift (8 yrs ago!), and I thought it was 2 quarts... but a bit of research on the company's website makes me think maybe it holds 3 qts... either way, I think I want a bigger one.



Do you have a bigger crockpot that you would recommend? I'm thinking probably 5-6 qts. I don't buy a darned thing without researching a little (to find out if what I'm buying will turn out to be crap), and I haven't found too many opinions on crockpots. I don't want to spend big money, but I don't want to buy something that I won't be happy with, either.

I'm also thinking about getting one of these neat units. My grocery store has a coupon for them this week- $10 off- that's 1/2 price! What a deal! Although I have no immediate use for this, I wanted something like it around the holidays, and I'm sure it would be a handy thing to have around. Anyone else have one?

Thank you so much for your comments! I appreciate any advice you can offer!

To increase my chances at getting responses to this post, I'm cross-posting it on both of my blogs... thanks for understanding!