Date Day

Photo by HNA photography

Today was a great day.

Today I got to have a date day with my husband.

These aren't a common occurrence for us.  I saved up my weekly's, lost 2.8 lbs in the past week and I intend to indulge a little today.

We spent the day in my home town, Kansas City.

Growing up there means I wax nostalgic about most things and enjoying all of those things with my husband is so much fun.

So where do I go when I go back to visit?

That's what you get to see today.

We started our day out at a small coffee shop near the plaza called Crows Coffee.  This is actually something new to me as I decided that we need to do at least one new thing.

The coffee was fantastic!  The baristas were friendly.  The atmosphere?  It felt cozy, like coffee shops should.  I also heard whispers that they're opening another location in the Waldo area where I specifically lived in KC.

After we headed over to my all time favorite confiserie shop, Andres.  There are two locations but if you go you must go to the original one on Main St. near the Country Club Plaza.  There is sooo much more atmosphere there.  I apologize for not getting pictures but I hadn't yet decided I was going to post this.  I'm admittedly chicken about posting photos of myself but today I decided to be brave.  :)

I'll try to get pictures of Andres at Christmas because this place is so amazing that it should be on your bucket list of things to do before you die.  It's that good!

Next we headed over to another one of my favorite stores, Pryde's Old Westport.
It's a kitchen store but it is an experience unto itself.  My husband actually loves this place too.
I'm sure it couldn't have anything to do with the fact that they serve you FREE coffee or hot tea while you shop ;)
The thing here is that it's not a chain store.  It's a mom and pop store that's been owned by the same KC family for years and years.  The building itself is just delicious with it's old creaky wide wooden planked floors and bricks.
Take a look~

I had to get the pic of myself with the Fiesta ware and coffee at Pryde's to taunt my friend Jodie who also loves those things.
My husband quickly honed in on the coffee and espresso machines and I bought myself a cool new kitchen tool, a beater blade with rubber ends that mixes and simultaneously scrapes the bowl for you.

There's tea galore, indoor and outdoor decor and all things kitchen.  There's also a small bakery in the bottom level.  Today wasn't one of their regular baking days which is probably good for me!  Normally their little slice of heaven is wafting up the stairwells moving through the whole store to make it feel even more like home sweet home.  It's just the best shop ever!

Next we went to The Better Cheddar on the Plaza.  You can try like fifty kinds of cheese here!  What's not to love?!!!

      They not only have cheese, but also wine and confections, pasta and sauces.  So yummy!

For lunch we went to the Tuscan Brio Grille.  I have been craving the crab cakes they make.
They didn't have them on the lunch menu but you know what?  I spoke up for myself and asked.  They were served with roasted vegetables instead of mashed potatoes.  I had the Bisteka salad as well.  Both were out of this world!  I gave the small roasted potatoes in my veggie pile to my husband too.  Mark had the creamy pasta pictured on the right.  The plate was nearly licked clean so you know he loved his too!
























We window shopped at most of the places on the Plaza and then headed out to 119th street in Overland Park to finish our shopping extravaganza.
I found out that Restoration Hardware opened a new three story store in Overland Park and I have to tell you that it felt like walking into a museum.  It was cold and dark and felt more uppity than I know myself to be.  In other words I didn't feel like I fit in there at all.  No one bothered to wait on us while we were there.  I'm assuming one look at us and they knew there would be no commission.  Needless to say I wouldn't go back.

But here's the best part of the whole day~  it was the first time in a very long time that my husband and I had an entire day with just the two of us.  Most everything we do and talk about revolves around our son so I wasn't sure we'd really have much to talk about any more.

It makes my heart glad to tell you that not only did we talk but we talked non-stop and only a fraction of it was about our son.
Furthermore, the day flew by and what I realized is that I am not only still in love with my husband but I still really like him.  I know that sounds funny but it is possible to love people we don't like.
So it felt so good to know that deep down he's still my best friend, the person I want to come home to every night.

I know not everyone has a significant other but most of us have someone special in our lives.

There's no time like the present to rekindle special relationships because none of us know how long we'll be here on this Earth and because...

Every moment is precious.

Choose Your Points Soup!!!

Who doesn't love Olive Garden?

Everything about it feels decadent

The portions are ginormous and the food, well, it's just plain good ol' comfort food.

In my pre-WW days I would never have ordered the salad before my meal.

I always ordered the Zuppa Toscana soup which is a potato, kale and sausage soup.

For me, this is one of the quintessential fall and winter comfort foods.

Cold outside and inside through and through?

Time for some Zuppa!

Given that I'm also weight and health conscious I decided to make something similar for myself and slim it down a bit.

There are numerous other recipes on the internet that you can find but this is a bit different.

I'm using celeriac instead of potatoes.

Gasp!

Listen, if you've never tried celery root(celeriac) then you really need to at least give it a try.

Think about this too-

Celeriac = 0 pts

One medium Yukon Gold potato = 4 pts

BIG difference!

Sometimes you just gotta have the potatoes but right now is not one of those times for me.

I'm planning on having a date day with my husband Monday so I'm trying to save up weekly's before that day comes.

Now, let's talk turkey.

Once again I decided to make my own Italian turkey sausage using 99% fat free ground turkey and this recipe.

1 lb of 99% fat free turkey = 6 pts

1 lb of Italian turkey sausage = 16-21 pts depending on what brand you buy.  Jennie O = 17 pts!

That is a HUGE difference!!!!

Again, if you want the full fat I'm not criticizing.  It's all a matter of preference and you get to decide how you want to spend your points.

For me, it's not worth it.

And now we're off to the kitchen!

Ingredients

1 celeriac(about 2 1/2 cups peeled and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces.  The one I bought was the size of a large grapefruit before peeling.)

64 oz low sodium fat free chicken broth

1 medium yellow onion diced

2 tsp minced garlic

8 pieces of Hormel Black Label precooked bacon cut or torn into bite sized pieces

8 oz thinly sliced portabella mushrooms(no, this is not in zuppa Toscana but I love mushrooms and they're a wonderful 0 pt filler)

2 cups roughly chopped kale(with spines removed)

1 lb of ground turkey with Italian turkey sausage seasoning

This makes 4 large servings at comes out to 3 pts.

Optional

If you want to add potatoes I would add 4 medium Yukon Gold.  I would peel and cube these and then boil them.  You could boil them with the celeriac if you want to blend all of it for a base but if you want to have some separate whole pieces of potato in your soup you'll need to either cut them into slices(so you can distinguish them from the celeriac) or boil them in a separate container.  I think if I were going to use potatoes I would blend two of them and keep two in chunks for the soup.

Adding 4 potatoes = total of 7 pts per serving

3 potatoes = 6 pts

2 potatoes = 5 pts

1 potato = 4 pts


Back to the star of the day, celeriac.

First cut the green stalks off then start supreming this.  Supreming is to cut off the ends and then with your knife cut the skin off.  

Here's a peek~

Put the cubed celeriac into the chicken broth and boil for at least 20 minutes or until very soft.  

Then use a hand blender to emulsify this to a creamy consistency.  Be careful please!  Either let it cool before you blend or use something to shield yourself so you don't get burned with boiling hot broth.

In a separate pan saute the onion for 12-15 minutes using broth to prevent scorching and sticking(I didn't feel like spending pts on olive oil).  

Then add in the garlic and cook two more minutes.  Next add the turkey Italian sausage and brown.  

Add the mushrooms and cook for ten minutes.  .  

Add the turkey mixture to the celeriac mixture.  Throw in the kale and bacon and cook for 5 more minutes.  

And so there you have it, a ginormous bowl of 3 pt soup.  

Don't forget to add pts should you decide to use the potatoes or the regular store bought turkey Italian sausage instead of making it yourself.  It would also be good with fat free evaporated or skim milk.  Just remember to adjust the points.  

That's one of my favorite things about this plan.  You get to choose how you spend your points as you go.  This soup is very flexible.  You can make it very light like I did for 3 pts or go for something more decadent if you're craving it.  

Oh, if you're wondering, one serving of the soup at Olive Garden is 8 pts.  Keep in mind their serving sizes are significantly smaller than what I did here.  

Truth time~  

Did this taste like Olive Garden's zuppa?  Not so much.  The textures were the same but the flavor is different.  

However, even though it's different I still like it.  

It's still good and it still satisfied my craving and my husband told me twice that he liked it.  

I think he's really coming on board with healthier eating.  He wants to make good choices now just like I do.  

Even my son is echoing comments I make and consciously choosing healthier options.

That alone makes all this worth it for me.  :)

Here's to something good and warm to look forward to as days get shorter and nights get colder.

Happy Cooking!

"She Can Eat Anything She Wants & Never Gain Weight! It's Not Fair!!!"

Haven't we heard this story over and over again?

You know the one, usually everyone knows at least one person who they envy because "she just has a fast metabolism and can eat whatever she wants and stay thin".

Do you know what I think of that?

It's bull manure.

I don't believe it for a minute.

Sorry to offend but that's just my opinion.

You see all of us are subject to certain immutable principles such as gravity, the laws of motion(physics), and physiology etc.

If you consume more calories than you burn through exercise and metabolism of daily living you will gain weight.  

If the calories you consume are less than that which you burn then you will lose weight.

It's that simple.

Yes, there are a few exceptions to this rule, extenuating circumstances if you will, such as fluid retention in heart failure, kidney disease, lymphedema, Cushing's disease and hypothyroidism to name a few.

What I believe is this- those women or men who seem to eat junk food and stay slim are still creating a calorie deficit.

Yes, there are also a few physiologic problems, malabsorption for one, that can skew this but by and large most of the people you see who are thin are in fact creating a calorie deficit, whether they're conscious of it or not.

So what do they do?

They don't eat a lot of the junk.

You're not following them around day and night tracking everything they consume.

Some of them no doubt go home to eat healthier foods and in smaller portions.

For some they're eating the junk purposely in front of other people to put on a show.

It's the unspoken "See?  I can eat anything I want and look fantastic.  Aren't I cute?  Oh, and please validate me".

One of my guy friends in college used to call this a fishing expedition.

He said he hated it when women were clearly just fishing for compliments in this passive aggressive way and I tend to agree.

What else do they do?

They exercise, sometimes a lot, to counteract what they're eating.

Some people are very transparent about this.

They readily admit "Hey, I exercise so I can eat because I love to eat".

Lastly, we get into the more depressing reasons that we don't all see but certainly exist-

Anorexia

Bulimia(this includes exercise bulimia- working out compulsively as a purge for everything they've consumed)

Even the most put together people on the outside often have a lot going on on the inside that we never see.

What they need is compassion, understanding, love and support.

My Aunt Dee always said no one gets mad without first getting hurt and I believe that's true.

I think almost all self abusive behaviors come from low self esteem and lack of self love which can be due to a multitude of reasons.

But I say all this to reassure you.

There's no magic you're missing out on and they are no better than you are.

We're all doing the best we can with what we have, where we are in the time we're given.

It goes back to what your kidergarten teacher always said "You take care of yourself and let Susie take care of herself".

Don't compare yourself to other people because in the end you cannot compare two so completely beautiful, different and unique individuals.

Instead work on appreciating who you are where you are.

Hot Off The Press Halo Top News!!!

Just a short note today.

Did you know that Halo Top has several new flavors?

This is exciting news!

My favorite low point ice cream now has new flavors that include:

Peanut butter cup

Red velvet

Chocolate chip cookie dough

Pistachio

Black cherry

Sea salt caramel

Cookies and cream

S'mores

Chocolate mocha chip

Mint chip

Chocolate almond crunch

And oatmeal cookie.


My go-to grocery store doesn't carry these but I put in a request for them today!

I'll let you know if I get to try them!

Virtual Hugs

We've all heard that basic human contact is necessary to a baby's growth.

Without it they fail to thrive.

Then we grow up and somehow we decide that we're more evolved than babies and we don't need to be touched.

Now, hear me when I say I'm not talking about sexual touch or anything inappropriate here.

I'm talking about basic connection with another human being.

It makes me sad to think that there are many people all over this world who don't know what it feels like to be hugged without agenda but just for the sake of sharing love and connection with another human being.

So today I'm leaving you with an inspiring video.

And I'm sending out virtual hugs.

To anyone who's reading this post today, you're getting a hug from me.

All of us are precious, made with a Divine purpose.

And I believe part of that purpose is to love one another.

Let your Light shine and spread the Love!

Quesadillas. It's What's For Lunch :)

Today I was very excited to find a 1 pt tortilla so I decided on making quesadillas with them.

Here's what I bought~

These are the smaller 6 1/2 inch whole wheat, low carb tortillas by Mama Lupe.

I pulled out my Tyson grilled chicken breast(3 oz= 1 pt) and caramelized onions I made on a different day, packaged and froze.  See my post from August entitled "Caramelized Onions" for an easy way to make a large batch.  I put pre-measured bits into labeled bags in the freezer.  They add tons of flavor to burgers, quesadillas, egg dishes, you name it!

I sprayed one tortilla with olive oil spray and lightly toasted it on both sides on the stove top.

Next I added the onions to one half and to the other half I added the cut up chicken and chopped, small sweet red pepper.  

Lastly I added 1/4 cup of reduced fat Mexican cheese(3 pts).  

If I wasn't feeling so lazy I would be adding sauteed mushrooms and maybe some other 0 pt veggie.  

There are lots of possibilities here.  

That's 6 pts total for the whole thing.  

It was fast, easy and oh so good!

I love it when I plan comes together.  

Happy Cooking!

Slow Cooker Indian Turkey and Peas

I am so excited to announce that I've just picked up the new Skinnytaste Fast and Slow Cookbook. 

This is the first recipe I'm making from this new cookbook.  

Time to open up the spice drawer.  Indian food is all about bold, beautiful flavors.  

First things first- this recipe is actually called Slow Cooker Indian Chicken and Peas but I didn't have ground chicken so I used ground turkey.

Ingredients

2 tsp ghee or unsalted butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of minced garlic

1 tsp grated fresh ginger(I used a pinch of dry ground ginger)

1 lb ground chicken(or turkey in my case)

1 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup canned tomato sauce

4 Tbsp fresh cilantro(mine had already gone to seed so I used 1/2 tsp dried cilantro-I don't know if that's the correct conversion, it's just what I did)

1 fresh jalepeno or other chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped

3/4 tsp ground coriander

3/4 tsp ground cumin

3/4 tsp chili powder

3/4 tsp ground turmeric

3/4 tsp garam masala(see yesterdays' quick recipe for this if you don't want to buy it)

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon  

1 bay leaf

3/4 cup frozen peas

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Saute the onion for 6-8 minutes.  Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes.  

Add the ground chicken(or turkey) and salt and cook 5-6 minutes.  

Place this into the slow cooker and add tomato sauce, 1/4 cup water, 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, jalapeno, coriander, cumin, chili powder, tumeric, garam masala, cinnamon, and a bay leaf.  Stir.

Cover and cook either on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.  Add the peas during the last 30 minutes of cooking.  

Guess who forgot to add her peas!!!!  Geesh!

I was taking my first bite before I noticed so I just threw them in and it was fine.  

Don't forget to take out the bay leaf before serving too.  At least that's one is big enough that it's hard to forget.  ;)  

This recipe serves 6.  It comes out to 4 pts per serving.  

I chose to serve this with an additional 1/2 cup of jasmine rice per serving which brings it to 6 total points in the recipe builder though if you add it separately it's 5 pts.  

My thoughts on this recipe~

The flavor was fantastic and it wasn't too high in points.  

The portions were reasonable, not huge but not too small.

The thing I didn't like was that it was too dry.  I'm not sure if I did something wrong as her picture in the book makes it look almost like she has a sauce.  

It might be because I have a large crock-pot.  

So word to the wise, if you have a large crock-pot too make sure you add in more liquid.  

It scorched my white crock-pot and it took some soaking to get it cleaned.   

Would I make this again?

Definitely.  I'll just make some adjustments.  

Happy Cooking!

Garam Masala

I have a recipe I want to try that calls for the Indian spice, Garam Masala.

I'm sure I've had this before as I have at least sampled a lot of Indian food but I had to look it up.

So I thought about going out to buy this but then thought about how I can now make my own Italian turkey sausage after finding a recipe and decided to just make it instead.

I mean don't you hate always having to run to the store for yet another exotic ingredient?

It's expensive for one and time consuming for another.

Sometimes I don't even know what they're asking for so I have to look it up.

This recipe is quick and easy.

I had all the spices it calls for on hand but will admit the cadamom is something probably most people don't have in their spice cabinets.

To be really honest mine is really old but I'm using it anyway because I don't want to spend the money and run to the store as I said.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

I had to grind my cardamom seeds using my mortar and pestle.  

Mix them together and you have a quick Garam Masala.

You'll see what I'm using this for tomorrow.  ;)

The Post Holiday Update

Well, how did Halloween go for you?

Wanna know how it went for me?

Cue the announcer voice..

  "When we last left our heroine she had just blown through her weekly's but had not gone over them.  So the question that's on everybody's mind- did she make it through the holiday weekend without going over?"

That would be a

BIG

FAT

NO

Geez, I so wish I could tell you otherwise but I'm here to tell the truth because I believe we can only move forward in Truth.

So here's what happened...

Sunday we had a trunk-or-treat to go to at church.

We actually decided to hand out candy this year too.

Unfortunately it looked something like "One for you and one for me".

I also had a quarter pounder(plain and no cheese please!) with a medium order of fries from McDonald's.

I haven't had that in over a year!!!

We went through the drive through on the way home that night because I didn't want to cook and I was tired, hungry, it was late and (insert many more excuses here).  :)

Sunday we went to our local mall to trick-or-treat and I was accosted by Auntie Anne's Pretzel's which are basically a foodie's crack cocaine.

Uggg!!!!

Now they have pretzel bites with little pepperonis on them.  Did you know that?!!!!

So now you know the down side.

I went off course despite my best intentions.

Here's what I did RIGHT~

My exercise had really fallen off the past month but in the past week I worked out almost EVERY SINGLE DAY.

And the fries at McDonald's?

I gave about 1/3 of them to my husband.

I also managed not to eat after we got home from the mall Monday.  No late night eating for me is like an Olympic event.

I got a Gold Medal that night!  Yay for me!

I will admit to you that I was twisted up in my head with disappointment, anger, frustration and embarrassment at what I did and it sat heavy on me before I weighed in today.

But, I actually lost 1 lb!

Thank you God!!!!

Now, hear this- there are weeks just like the one I described to you where I do end up gaining weight or staying the same.

And, in those times, I certainly know what I did that put the weight on.

So what makes this different for me now as opposed to a year and a half ago?

I'm not giving up.

I went to my meeting.

I tracked even when it was ugly.

I weighed in.

I exercised.

I didn't let shame keep me from moving forward because by and large I think this is what makes the difference between lifestyle and diet, between keeping the weight off or keeping yourself in check and gaining weight or staying out of shape(run-on sentence much?).

How many people DON'T go back to weigh in?

How many hide in shame and self-loathing and crawl back into their caves of gluttony and self deprecation?

How many hold every slip as a shield, fighting for their limitations saying "See?  What did I tell you?  I knew this would happen.  I knew this wouldn't work.  Nothing ever works.  I'm just fat.  I have a slow metabolism.  I'm too old to really lose weight.  Insert even more excuses here!"

Sometimes I sit back and I listen to all those ugly thoughts in my head telling me what to do or not to do and then I say "what's the opposite of that? Because I want to do something different.  Following those directions has kept me fat so obviously I need to do something different".

You know what else?

Everybody does this.  Everybody has times where they fall.  We're human.

You know what helps me?

Sharing it with someone.  Going through this stuff alone is hard and I don't think God ever intended it to be that way.

When we share it with someone else the burden becomes lighter, our thoughts become more rational and real.  The stories we tell ourselves are usually uglier than the reality of any given situation.

So get some support.  Surround yourself with people who love and support you because you deserve that.

That support person?  They also have to be real.

This can't be someone who only ever tells you what you want to hear and is ready to enable all your bad habits.

They need to speak the truth, gently, with love and with compassion.

It's helpful to have someone who will commiserate with you but also be ready to move forward and get back on track.

So even if you slipped up too remember these words and

DON'T

GIVE

UP

Nancy's Apple Dumplings

This recipe comes from my WW leader, Nancy.

It makes 6 dumplings.  I cut the recipe in half for my family of three.

These are 2 Smart Points per whole apple dumpling.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp corn starch

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 McIntosh apples, peeled and cored

6 square egg roll wrappers


Preheat the over to 375 degrees.

Spray a large six muffin cup tin with nonstick cooking spray.  In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, vanilla and 1 Tbsp of water.

Add apples, toss to coat.  Place one apple in the center of each egg roll wrapper.

Bring up the corners to the top of the apple, pressing and folding to seal the edges.

Stand each dumpling in a muffin cup and lightly spray the tops with nonstick cooking spray.

Bake until golden 20-30 minutes.

Cool on a rack for 15 minutes.

Serve warm.  If you have vanilla Halo Top ice cream you can add 1/2 cup for 2 pts or 1 pt for a serving of light whip cream.