A Taste of the UK

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I'm a true foodie.

I LOVE FOOD!!!!

I love trying new food & drink as well getting to experience even a small slice of another culture.

Today one of my friends and fellow co-workers, Missy, was kind enough to share a special treat with me.

She ate at a local British themed restaurant today and brought back a Rose Lemonade.

This is not exactly WW friendly at 7 pts per bottle but we split this and it was such a nice and thoughtful surprise.

The drink was pink and did indeed taste of roses and a carbonated lemonade.  Swoon!

What could be better than trying something new and beautiful with a friend?

Thank you Missy!

Halo Top Heaven

Those of you who've never heard of Halo Top ice cream or never tasted it are probably thinking "what's the big deal?".

The big deal is this- Halo Top is a low calorie insanely delicious, albeit expensive, ice cream.  

It's 2 Smart Points per 1/2 cup serving which is incredible!

In our area Hy-Vee has been the only one to carry this product until recently.
In response to my request my local Price Cutter is now going to carry this product.  Woo hoo!
This means I won't have to drive as far to get my fix ;)

The chocolate flavor tastes me back to my youth when, on very special occasions, my family would take me to Haagen-Dazs.  

I would dream of the days I could dive into my favorite, chocolate, chocolate chip ice cream.  

In my world there was nothing like it.  

Most of the time as a kid I would mindlessly devour whatever treat was put before me.  

Not so with this ice cream.  I remember eating this with an almost reverence, savoring every flavor and nuance.  

So now as a WW member finding something that, to me, tastes similar is like answered prayer.  

And, for the record, let me just say that the swoon is not dead!

I actually swoon when I'm eating this ice cream as in, "Somebody catch me! I'm swooning!" type swoon(yea, I'm totally laughing at myself here).  

I'd probably be somewhat of a spectacle if I actually ate this in public because Lord-love-a-duck but it's good.  

The best part, of course, is not having to feel guilty in the eating of it...

especially if you devour a whole pint!

Just be sure to track every delicious serving!  ;)

Oh look! It's FREE!!!

I, like  lot of people, sign up of for many store's incentive cards.

You know the ones I'm talking about:

"play 10 rounds of putt putt and get the 11th FREE!"

"Buy two and get one FREE!"

"Join our birthday club and we'll send you a voucher for a FREE meal!"

The list goes on and on.

It seems like my purse has become this endless void of frequent visitor savings cards.

If you put something in there you may never find it again.

I often find myself frantically digging through my purse as the checker and everyone in line behind me waits for me to find it.

Or, if I don't find it, then I get to yell out my personal phone number for the world to hear.

I'm not too crazy about that and invariably I get a "can you repeat that?".

Ugg....


Anyway, one of the restaurants that I signed on with keeps sending me loads of FREE stuff in my e-mail.

Most people would ask why I'm complaining.

It's because, while I can and do plan for restaurants, getting a constant barrage of free appetizers, meals and desserts from a place that gives you a free and endless supply of bread and olive oil BEFORE your meal even comes is kind of like offering a drug addict his fix on a daily basis.

Somehow I feel somewhat compelled to use this because, hey, it's FREE!

Who refuses free stuff anyway?!

I do.

I've had to learn to tell myself that just because it's free doesn't make it a good choice, doesn't make it my moral obligation and doesn't mean I have to run out in a frenzied panic and get it before all the food is gone(yikes- there's some old programming).

It's something I will plan ahead for at times but eating there as often as I get a coupon would mean going at least once a week and I have other things I want to use my weekly's on.

My husband, after tiring of hearing my complaining on the subject, said "why don't you just cancel it or hit delete before you can even think about it?".

I do hit delete now more often than not.  I find if I leave it in my In Basket it seems to taunt me.

Ah, if only all bad habits were so easy to delete.


It begs the question though- what stuff that doesn't serve you are you ready and willing to let go of?

Sometimes success it isn't just about what we get, it's about what we release.

Pizza Pizza!

With all those beautiful caramelized onions on hand I was inspired to make a pizza.

So, today I used the 3 pt Flat-Out brand Artisan Thin Pizza Crust with rosemary and olive oil flavor.

First I sauteed 2 oz of baby portabella mushrooms on the stove top along with 2 cloves of minced garlic.  Then I added kale to the skillet.

To the flat bread I added 2 Tbsp of no sugar pizza sauce, 2 Tbsp caramelized onions, the baby portabella mushroom mixture, 4 halved cherry tomatoes, and 1 oz of part skim mozzarella cheese(2 pts).

I baked it just until the cheese melted.

Here's what it looked like...

This is a 5 pt pizza!  

I was going to add some of my shredded rotisserie chicken as well but my husband and son had already finished it off.  That's the real world for you.  :)

The only thing I'd do differently next time around is maybe use a little less mushroom.  

I love mushrooms but the pizza was a little heavy and more wet than I like or than this thin flat bread could easily hold.

Another option would be to use a whole wheat pita.  Toufayan brand is 2 pts per pita and it's relatively thick and holds up well to lots of toppings.  

Often times I just use sauce, cheese and turkey pepperoni(14 slices is only 1 pt!).  It's dry and the crust is usually nice and crisp, which I like.  

This is still a great way to get a pizza fix without breaking the pts bank.  

Given that pizza has historically been a trigger food for me it's also nice that this has built in portion control.  

Caramelized Onions

I have to admit, I'm a little picky.  Not as picky as I was before getting married but still a bit picky.

One thing I hate is raw onion.

I do love onion flavor when it's cooked well done.

I really love caramelized onions but it takes a looonnnggggg time to get that beautiful brown caramelization to happen.

The other thing that makes it a little tougher is that since I started WW I really cut down the amount of oil I use.

I use to use olive oil liberally.  Now, if I use any, it's usually only 1-2 Tbsp.

Although olive oil is a good-for-you fat it's calorically dense.  A little goes a long way.

And, I don't want to spend all my points on oil!


So last night my husband asked me to watch a movie with him but a short way into it I realized it was too dark and scary for me so I moved to the computer and starting doing searches for WW friendly recipes for caramelized onions in the slow cooker.

Fortunately I not only found a recipe but I also found a new WW friendly website to use!  Win-win!

The website is simple-nourished-living.

This is the recipe I found for slow cooker caramelized onions.
I prepped this last night before bed.

Here's the before...

This is the after...

Oh isn't that beautiful?!!!

That's the best thing about the slow cooker, there's usually less time involved cooking and then you get to wake to this lovely smell and this beautiful site!

I'm going to parcel them off into small baggies and freeze them to use as needed for recipes.

I already have one in mind but you'll see that in another post.

Have a great day!

Let's Go Shopping!

I went shopping today.

Oh what fun it is now that I finally have a smart phone and can scan bar codes and look up points!

Since joining WW I have started shopping at our local SAM's Club more and more.

Here are a few items I purchased...

This is a variety pack of tomatoes and baby bella mushrooms both of which are 0 pts.  

Today they were sampling these mozzarella & roasted garlic chicken sausages.  They tasted really good and they're only 4 pts for one!  These are REALLY BIG!!!!  

The Johnsonville brand I usually buy is also 4 pts per link but they're so much smaller.  So this is a really great find!

I can't wait to try these Parmesan encrusted tilapia.  They're a little higher in pts, 6 pts per one 3.5 oz fillet, but our friends are in love with these so they must be good.  

I heard about these breakfast sandwiches from a member at my WW meeting.  They're really good and only 4 pts a piece.  On the mornings I don't feel like cooking you just pop one in the microwave for a minute and breakfast is served.  I usually have a piece of fruit along with it as well as my coffee of course.  

The turkey meatballs are 4 pts for five meatballs.  I'm eating these for dinner.  You'll see how that turns out on another post.  

The artichokes are a 0 pt food and they're chocked full of antioxidants and fiber.  

These are beautiful and versatile.  My husband gets into them all the time.  I like to put them into summer pastas among other things.  Yummm....

Hormel Black Label bacon is only 2 pts for four pieces!  You can eat them plain or put them on sandwiches or wrap them around shrimp.  They're so good and not having to stand at the stove and cook it is even better!

These last two products are actually from our local Price Cutter.  This Best Choice Light whipped cream is only 1 pt per 2 Tbsp serving, same as fat free Cool Whip. 

Rotisserie chicken is a great thing to have on hand.  If you're too tired to cook you can eat it plain or shred it and put it into other recipes, casseroles, enchiladas etc.  It saves a step in cooking and saves you a lot of time.  

Points vary depending on what or dark meat and if there is added bbq sauce or other sugars.  For regular white breast meat it's 1 pt per 3 oz without the skin.  

Buying in bulk can be a great way to save time and money.  

I hope this gives you some ideas of new things to try.  

Happy Shopping!

A Late Night Sweet Treat

So, it's late in the evening and you've nearly used all your points up or maybe you have used them all up.

You want something sweet but regular sugar laden foods are high in points.


The question is what do you eat?


Here's how I answered this last night.


I peeled an apple and cut it into chunks and added 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp maple extract, 1/4 tsp of almond extract, a tiny dash of nutmeg, a generous dash of cinnamon, 2 tsp of water and 1/2 tsp of Truvia.

 

I microwaved this for 1 & 1/2 minutes and stirred it up.

You can eat it like this and it would be 0 pts.

Or, if you have the 1 pt left, you can add 2 Tbsp of fat free Cool Whip.

Oh baby, is that good!  This is a 1 pt treat!

If you haven't done so already I would say it really pays to start experimenting with your extracts and spices.  

It adds a lot of flavor without adding points.  

This was so good I almost made a second batch for myself last night....

but I was too lazy.  :)

I hope you enjoy this low point, Autumn inspired sweet treat.  

What's Your Plan?

Until I made lifetime with WW a couple weeks ago I had been receiving weekly coaching calls through WW.

Let me first just say that I LOVE my coach!  She is awesome but it took a couple tries to find the right one for me.

Anyway, a year ago June when I started I remember talking to her about my plans for that day.
The conversation sounded like this...

"So, what do you have planned for the weekend Carrie?"

"I'm going to a water park with my family today" I said.

"What's your plan?"

"Um, go to the water park?".  Did she not hear me???

"Carrie, you need a plan.  You're going to be walking all day, going up and down tons of stairs all day and you're going to get tired and hungry.  I know.  I've done it with my family.  You need a plan.  You need to bring food with you.  What are you bringing?"

"Um, baby carrots?" I said.

"Carrie, you need protein.  You're going to need a lot more than vegetables.  What do you think you could bring?"

...

Needless to say I ended up bringing a plain turkey sandwich with carrots and an apple.

AND when I got to the water park we did to tons of stairs and walking and swimming and I was tired by the end of the day.

What I didn't expect was that they'd have a Domino's pizza and a bunch of carnival type food(think greasy burgers) at the park and that the smell of it would be subversively wafting throughout the park calling to the already hungry girl I was in that moment.

My husband and son ended up getting the pizza(that I totally wanted and wanted to binge on) in the car with me.  

Do you know how hard it is to sit in the car with pizza, one of my trigger foods, and smell that while you're eating a sandwich?!!!

IT'S REALLY HARD!

Especially when you've just started on the plan and, let's face it, change is always hard at the front end.

I was really glad I'd brought lunch because I know I would've folded and engaged in what Judith Beck calls "unplanned eating".


I'm happy to report that I made it through that experience and I learned A LOT from it.

Now, most of the time, I plan for those things.  I eat healthy food before I go, I drink plenty of water and I try to make sure my husband and son aren't eating junk food with me while I'm trapped in the car with the smell.  What torture!

So before your next event or activity ask yourself this- "what's my plan?" because there will always be temptation and part of succeeding is in planning for success.

500 Wins

I seem to be meeting all sorts of wonderful people lately who are asking me the most delicious(pun intended) questions.

You just gotta love questions really.  They're a great way to learn.

And, it's not just the people asking the questions who are doing the learning, it's also the people who are being asked.

That's why I love questions.

So this nice woman I met recently was relating to me that she was a seamstress.  She spends hours a day just sitting and sewing.

In her words she said "I'm a sloth".

She knows she needs to be more active and lose weight.

And, she really wants to but it feels like an insurmountable feat from where she's sitting.

She mentioned that she got a Fitbit but then told me she was "...only logging 500 steps.  Everyone says you need to get 10,000 steps in and I'm getting 500".

Here was my answer...

"You know what?  When I got on the treadmill this morning I just didn't seem to have a lot of energy and I ran a fraction of what I usually run BUT, I walked a lot and I ran a little.

In the old days I may not have gotten on the treadmill at all but today I did.

  I tell my son that when you compare yourself to other people and you think you're better- that's arrogant but when you compare yourself to you and know you're better than you used to be, that's confident.  And that kind of confidence is a great thing.


When I'm running or walking or skipping, or whatever I'm doing that's not sitting, I tell myself that every step is a win.

Just think of that!!!

You had 500 steps!

THAT'S 500 WINS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woo hoo!  Good for you!

Maybe you can set a goal of 600 steps and do that for a couple weeks until it feels comfortable.  Then maybe you can increase it to 700.

To shoot for 10,000 when you're starting at 500 isn't realistic and it feels so huge you're likely to never move past the mental inertia that it takes to even start.

As my minister and friend once told me "what other people think of you- that's none of your business!"

In truth, anything that you can do now that you couldn't do before is a win.

Where other people see losers I see a lot of beautiful winners!  :)

Mexican Sweet Potato Casserole & Fruit & Yogurt Jello Cups

One of my favorite WW friendly websites is skinnytaste.

It's author, Gina Homolka, has so many creative ideas and I love that she has the Smart Points and nutritionals listed for every recipe.

I recently tried her recipe for Spiralized Mexican Sweet Potato and Chicken Casserole.

This is 9 Smart Points and I thought the portions were really generous.

It is a bit time consuming but it's worth it.  I didn't have the guajillo peppers she mentioned and, in fact, I've never heard of them and wouldn't know where to get them.

I substituted chipotle peppers in abdabo sauce instead.  My husband and I like things spicy so it worked out well for us.

I also didn't have fresh tomatoes on hand so I used two 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes.

Take a look at my final product-

This was amazingly delicious and satisfying.  I didn't feel hungry enough to eat the rest of the pan afterward and that's pretty amazing for me!  

This is also one of those recipes that tastes even better leftover!  

I love that smoky flavor from the chipotle peppers.  

I really love coming home from work knowing dinner is already prepared, I don't have to cook and I already know the points!

Of course we can't forget dessert.  I found this 1 pt dessert on another of my preferred websites emilybites.  

Fruit and yogurt Jello cups are an easy and inexpensive recipe.  I wouldn't say it tasted great but it was good and at 1 pt it tasted even better.  

It definitely gets points for looking good ;)

The instructions said to pour this into a paper lined muffin pan.  I didn't have paper liners on hand so I used a silicone muffin tin.  

This worked okay but I would say getting them out perfectly is a little tricky.  Some of the bottoms broke apart a little.  

Leaving them in the fridge longer seemed to help somewhat though. 

So 10 pts for dinner and dessert?  Not bad and it tasted great!

Work Food

Saturday I had the most lovely experience.  I went to Afternoon Tea with my mom.

We were serenaded while we dined on beautiful little tea sandwiches and various other confections.

While we were there I had the privilege of meeting five delightful women and through the course of the event the talk turned to weight loss, Weight Watchers and dieting in general.

One woman in particular related to me that she felt she had no time to eat at work, something I completely relate with.

She said she had one 15 minute break and specifically asked "Do you have any really quick and easy recipes for things that I could bring to work?".

So today's post is for her and anyone else who is struggling with the same obstacle.

I personally take a mozzarella cheese stick and an apple to have around 9-9:30 am and then my Greek yogurt snack(see my blog post titled The Magic of the Late Day Power Snack for more on that) at around 4:30 pm.

Here is what putting together my work food looks like:

For my late day yogurt snack there's 1 c plain FAGE Greek yogurt, 1 tsp Truvia, 1 tsp vanilla extract and frozen cherries from SAM's(3 pts total).  

My salad is made from a romaine mix, Olive Garden light dressing and 3 oz Tyson grilled chicken breast(3pts total).  

I really love this Hefty brand lunch box with the separate container for my salad dressing.  It's really handy!

Here's the salad-

On to the yogurt...

Pretty in pink...

And now to put it all together...

Check out my Igloo bag!  It's insulated and with my plastic ice pack will keep everything cold all day. It's also big enough to fit a whole day's food.  I purchased this at Target.

This takes me about 10 minutes to prepare all of it.



Whatever you decide to bring try to keep balance in mind and the need for protein, without it you'll be just as hungry as if you hadn't eaten anything at all.

The following are some other ideas for great snacks that would also be easy to bring.

Certainly if you had the time you could do make ahead recipes for lunch like omelet muffins or leftover spaghetti squash with marinara or whatever you like.

Combine any fruit you like- grapes, apples, oranges, pears, strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, mango...

+

Protein like- boiled eggs, 1 tsp of peanut butter or premixed PB2 powder, part skim/light cheese stick, low fat cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, Butterball turkey sticks(get em' at Wal-Mart), nuts. lunch meat, turkey pepperoni(if you're okay with sodium and hot spice)

+

On the go veggies like carrot sticks, celery(a negative calorie food), cucumber(I don't know why but I love these!), sugar snap peas.

Hummus is good to take too but be careful of the portion sizes on this as well as nuts or nut butters.  These are all very high in calories so a little goes a long way.

I hope this helps address the question of what to bring and eat at work when you don't have a lot of time.

Chemistry & the Art of Cooking

Often people kind of assume that I'm some great cook or that I was just born knowing how.

That is soooo not true!  And, even now I'm no expert chef.

When I think back to my first experiences with cooking I always smile because what I know now was very much hard won.

Let me recount one of my memories from my twenties...

It was eighteen and a half years ago or so.  I was newly engaged to my beautiful husband and meeting my in-laws to be for the first time.

We traveled to Arkansas where my sister-in-law and her husband were living at the time.

I remember sitting in the front room of my sister-in-law's house, glued to Mark's side, feeling oh so nervous wondering what his family would be like and "Would they like me?  Will I like them?"

At that time I wanted nothing more than to stay close to Mark as I was in unfamiliar territory.

Then I hear my husband's step mother say "Come on in the kitchen.  You can help prepare dinner"

I remember sitting in stunned shock and thinking "what do I do?  Oh my gosh, I don't know how to cook!"

So I go in the kitchen and stand there with a lost look on my face saying "what should I do?"

My sister-in-law quickly assessed the blank expression on my face and they suggested I just chop vegetables.

I walked over to the cutting board and looked at the knife and the vegetables and gulped.

"How exactly do I do that?  I'm not really sure how to chop vegetables" I whispered nervously.

Now it was their turn to sport that blank look.

I'm sure they were thinking "Is she kidding?  Who doesn't know how to chop vegetables?"

More likely they were probably thinking Mark was going to starve to death if he married me.

Needless to say I survived that experience and it gave me a newfound sense of purpose to learn how to cook.

To bolster my confidence as I stepped forth into the unknown I told myself "Carrie, cooking is basically chemistry.  If you can do chemistry you can cook".

And, I have done chemistry.  Chemistry was one of my minors in college.  And of all the chemistry classes I've taken none were as harrowing as organic chemistry.

The lab class was done in microscale(think really small).  Part of our grade for each experiment was in obtaining an end product.

It was not uncommon to find my lab instructor standing next to me at the end of class staring at the glass jar that was to contain my product and saying "It looks like filter paper".

"What?"  I'd say innocently, "See if you look really hard it's right there".  He'd lift the jar up to the light and squint, looking at me like I was crazy and about half of those times he'd take pity on me and I'd get the credit.

You see when you're working on microscale there isn't much room to screw up.  Everything has to be very exact.  Often at the end I would have a product but then we'd have to use some of that to then test it's melting point etc in capillary tubes.

It's just that after that final testing to verify the identity of the product I wouldn't always have anything left.

Sometimes during the last step I'd be standing there at the Buchner funnel furiously scraping any product off of the filter paper into my glass jar praying for enough product to get the grade.

So when he said it looked like filter paper it probably was!

Thank heavens I can laugh about that now.

So this long story short is that I finally just started cooking.  Like all things it just takes practicing and a whole lot of screwing it up.

The really great thing is that it's a lot like anything else- once you practice and have the mechanics down then you can really start enjoying it and getting more artistic with it, experimenting with new twists on old ideas and generally putting your soul into it.

It can become be an expression of who you are just like when a violinist plays a piece from her heart and soul it becomes new in the playing of it.  She puts her own mark on it, plays it in her own way that only she can and it's beautiful and new and different.  The audience can feel it and in the end we're all Blessed in the basking of it.

That's why I love to cook now.  It's one of the ways I find to express myself and my Light.

No one is born already knowing how to do everything.  We all have to practice and make mistakes and learn.

It's those of us who persevere through the adversity and take it to the next level, the level of the heart, that really make the difference.

Those are the people who change the world.  Whether anyone else is aware of it or not they do, they change the world.

Let's be those people!

Have a beautiful day friends. :)

Carrie

That's a Wrap!

I just got back home from a trip to Hy-Vee.  It's not close to my house but it simply has the best selection and it's the only store in town where I can get my Halo Top ice cream fix.

So, clearly, it's a necessary drive.


Before I get to my Strawberry Halo Top treat I need a good lunch.

Today I made myself a lovely, summery wrap for lunch.

After seeing this product on the Hungry Girl newsletter I ordered one package of tomato flavored Gem Wraps.

They have several different flavors but I went with tomato.  This flavor is a ZERO pt wrap.  

It's a bit pricey but I wanted to try it at least once.  

This thing is really like a fruit roll-up.  

It's just sturdy enough to keep things from falling apart but does have a nice flavor.

  

So for my lunch today I put some romaine lettuce(0 pt), 3 oz of Tyson precooked and grilled chicken breast(This adds up to 1 pt in the calculator and scanner though 3 oz of chicken is typically 2 pts-I'm asking my leader about this), cucumber slices(0 pt), 1 tsp of Hormel Real Bacon Pieces(0 pt) and 1 Tbsp of Boathouse Cucumber Dill Greek Yogurt salad dressing(1 pt for 1 or 2 Tbsp) on my Gem Wrap.  

I thought I'd cut a point by using only 1 Tbsp of the dressing but then found out that there's no difference in pts between 1 & 2 Tbsp on the dressing.  You should totally go for the 2 Tbsp!  I'm going to next time around.  

Yummy Cucumber Dill Dressing only 1 pt per serving!!!
Woo hoo!!!

I didn't fold it up at both ends and cut it in the middle because I thought it might get a little too messy.

I'm one messy girl even on my best days.  I don't want this to be another salad-dressing-on-the-shirt day if I can help it. ;)

Boy's and girls you're looking at a 3 pt wrap!  

Yes, I'm totally doing a happy dance right now... and I haven't even had the Halo Top yet!!!  

There are so many possibilities for flavor and creativity when you're doing a wrap.  

The best part is knowing it's also good for you!  Win-win!

Get out there and get cooking, savoring and enjoying your food!  

BEST POPCORN EVER

You might think this Post Title is a bit dramatic but after trying this recipe last week I've decided it's the best popcorn I've ever had, truly.


I just picked up Geoffrey Zakarian's book, My Perfect Pantry, from the library and I tried his recipe for Sweet and Spicy Popcorn.

I just have to say, WOW.  I love that combination of sweet and spicy but there are also some unusual flavors in there.

The only danger here is eating too much of this stuff so make sure you have someone to share it with.

It's 8 Smart Points for half of this recipe and that's cutting down the butter from 3 Tablespoons to 1 Tablespoon and substituting Truvia brown sugar blend for the real thing.  

Ergo this would be something to use weekly's on if you so desired.  


His recipe calls for a blend of 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/4 tsp Chinese 5 Spice, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tsp packed brown sugar(I used Truvia brown sugar blend) and 3 Tbsp of butter(I used 1 Tbsp).  After heated on the stove top it's drizzled over 10 cups popcorn and salt is added to taste.

I actually felt like using coconut oil which is a little higher in pts and adds up to be 9 Smart Points for half the batch using 1 Tablespoon coconut oil.

These are not WW recipes but, as always, we can slim them down to make it work most of the time.

I may try mixing the spices and just sprinkling it on after spraying the popcorn with olive oil spray next time.

This book is worth purchasing or checking out from your local library just to get ideas for seasonings alone.

Let's just say I liked it so well I'll be bringing this with me to our next family gathering and may consider it for a small gift idea when the holidays roll around.


Happy Snacking!

Kale, Glorious Kale

On a never ending quest for healthy, low point, satisfying foods I did a little experimenting last night.

I often make kale crisps to snack on at night but last night I added some new flavors.

I found two new 0 pt popcorn spices at Wal-Mart.  One was Bacon Cheddar and the other is Garlic Parmesan.

I also tried one of my favorite spices, Frontier Co-Op's Chipotle Smoked Red Jalapenos.

This is how I make my kale chips:

After washing the kale I tear off large pieces and discard the hard spine.

I place the pieces on a cookie sheet and then spray them with olive oil spray.

Be careful not to overcrowd the pan or it won't cook properly.

Next I added my preferred seasoning.

My standard go to recipe for these uses 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar.

Even though I'm a bit of a salt-aholic I don't salt these until after they're done.  For me these don't need much salt at all.

I put them in a 350 degree oven for ten minutes.

Then I toss them a bit and set it for five more minutes.  This can vary a lot depending on your oven.

The end result should be a crispy, lightly browned kale chip.  They shouldn't be blackened.

And the winner is...

Bacon Cheddar has the best flavor I think but it's really mild.

If you really like a strong flavor, and don't mind spicy hot, go for the chipotle.

This is what I snacked on last night.

It tasted good and it felt good to get back on track.

Happy Snacking!

Being Human

I'm

NOT

Perfect



I'm not.  I don't have...

The perfect body

The perfect family

The perfect house

The perfect car or

The perfect life


I haven't mentioned that one week ago I actually made, not only goal, but lifetime membership with WW.

I had been waffling about where to set my goal.  Once I realized I could go much farther below my goal than 2 lbs(as long as you're in a healthy BMI) I decided to set it higher and lose another 10-15 lbs to give me some wiggle room, especially with all the festivals and holidays around the corner.

In the past two weeks, if I'm honest, I've really overindulged.

What I realized is that that same little gremlin that put weight on me years ago was back.

It's the gremlin that says "Wow!  Look at you!  You can eat that and not gain weight?!"

So I kept eating naughty foods, as I call them, and miraculously kept maintaining or losing weight.

Then I started to feel superhuman.

I started to think things like "I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight.  The laws of Physics & Physiology don't apply to me".


WRONG!!!!!



The truth is that it eventually catches up with you.  That's exactly what happened to me years ago after I had gotten married.

It's crazy what games our minds play.

Then eventually after I gained weight my thoughts did a 180 and sounded more like this:

"No matter how good I am or what I do to diet or exercise I can't lose weight.  I'll always be like this".

Of course the great thing is that we can always start over and there is always forgiveness.



My son and I were reading a library book I picked up for him called How To Get Unstuck From The Negative Muck:  A Kid's Guide To Getting Rid of Negative Thinking by Lake Sullivan, PhD.

This is basically Cognitive Behavioral Therapy(CBT) for kids.  I'm a HUGE CBT fan because it has really and truly helped me get unstuck in my negative thinking and I want my son to have these tools.

When we were reading this book I was reminded that those negative thoughts that use words like "always", "everything", "never" or "nothing" are a signal that we're engaging in what the book calls All or Nothing Thinking.  The fact is that life isn't just black and white and in most situations things just aren't that binary.

What I know is that I, and so many like me, start getting into a habit of fighting for our limitations.

It may be subconscious but we do this.  Sometimes when I pray I just ask for God to open my mind to understand what I haven't understood before, to see what I haven't seen.

This prayer is always answered.

The other thing I've realized at 42 years of age is that, not only am I not perfect, I don't want to be. 

The ideal of what our society calls perfect is not what God has made me to be.  I was made perfectly imperfect with all that I need for a beautiful life.

I tell my son that God created all of us, on purpose and with purpose.

Irregardless of someone's age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, handicap or strength(or any other differences you can imagine) I believe we're all made on purpose just as we are.

God doesn't make mistakes.  EVER.

I think, for me, ours is to be open to all our imperfections, to embrace them and use them to move forward with purpose.

What I know is that when I quit trying to be perfect but rather embrace all of my imperfections and weakness, it's in that moment I feel most powerful and most free.

To give credit where it's due I have to say that reading Brenee Brown's Gifts of Imperfections has really helped me with issue.

What I also know is that it's the only real way to also help other people.

I think when you live authentically people know it because they can feel it and it awakens something in them as well.

What a gift to be with someone who is living authentically as God made them to be.

It's a gift to them and a gift to all of us.

For me, to see this in life is really like seeing the face of God.

It's such a beautiful thing.  It's what I want more of in my life.



So, as I was saying earlier, I'm not perfect.  I don't have the "perfect" body, family, house, car or life but they're the perfect body, family, house, car and life for me and I am so thankful for them all.


In Joy,

Carrie

Pumpkin Pudding

You may have guessed by now that I go to the library on almost a daily basis.  It's one of my favorite stops.

I can't help feeling like I've won the lottery every time I check out.  I mean, they're letting me read FOR FREE!!!

The book I picked up yesterday is called From Junk Food to Joy Food by Joy Bauer.

Joy is a nutritionist and in this book she gives us slimmed down versions of all the goodies we love to indulge in.

Today I tried her recipe for Pumpkin Pudding and made just a couple small changes.

I bought Dannon Light & Fit 80 calorie vanilla Greek yogurt.  To this one 5.3 oz container I added 1/3 cup pumpkin puree.  Joy suggests then adding a dash of cinnamon and optionally using pumpkin pie spice.

I added the cinnamon but left out the pumpkin pie spice and instead added 1/4 tsp vanilla extract and 1/8 tsp maple extract and a small dash of nutmeg.

Mix this together and then garnish with 1 Tbsp nuts.

Remember 1 Tbsp almonds= 1 pt, walnuts= 2 pts, pecans= 2 pts.

I really wanted to enjoy this with pecans but sadly I'm out(I think my hubby has gotten into them again :0) )

I added a few almond slivers and it was still DELICIOUS!

What a great treat for 4 Smart Points(depending on which nut you use)!

After the hot and humid summer we've had I am longing for autumn.

Now I have a great fall treat to enjoy while I'm dreaming about cooler days to come.

Happy Cooking!

The Pink Drink

I finally ordered the Pink Drink at Starbucks.  I have to admit I felt really cool ordering off the secret menu! Kind of James Bondy of me don't ya think?  

It was good, not great, but it was good.  And, for being much lower in points(6 Smart Points for the tall) than your typical Starbucks drink it made it taste even better.  

I first read about this on the Hungry Girl newsletter and was even more excited to see she had her own slimmed down recipe for this that is only 2 Smart Points. 

Now comes the really good news.  I made the HG Pink Drink today and holy cannoli was it good!

This is probably the easiest recipe I will ever reference and it truly tasted way better than the drink I bought AND it's fewer points!

I am so excited about this!

So, in short, it'll feel really cool to order this at Starbuck's, so you should do it once, but it will taste way better if you make it yourself.

Now I think I'll cool down after a good run and kick back on the front porch with my pretty, sweet, pink drink.

Butternut Squash with Asiago Garlic Breadcrumbs

It's that time of year again where all those wonderful gardeners are sharing their bounty as they overflow with squash and tomatoes.

Fortunately I was just given a beautiful butternut squash.  There are so many things to love about this veggie.  It's low in calories and fat, high in fiber, B vitamins, potassium and minerals(I could go on).  It's also a 0 pt food.

So I decided to supreme(cut off the peel) it and dice it into one inch cubes.

I put it on a Silpat(or foil lined and sprayed with olive oil spray) lined cookie sheet, sprayed it with olive oil spray and baked it at 425 degrees for nearly an hour, turning the pieces halfway through.

Next I put a skillet on high heat and added 1 Tbsp of olive oil.  After a couple minutes on high I added 1/2 cup of whole wheat Panko breadcrumbs with 1/2 tsp dried parsley and 1/4 tsp of garlic salt.

I toasted the breadcrumbs in the pan for 2-3 min stirring constantly.

After I pulled them off the heat I added in 2 Tbsp of grated Asiago(I bought this at Target).

I often make extra as my son loves to munch on these alone.

I actually made this dish in pottery class!  It's not perfect but I made it!  Woo hoo!

This is a great side dish.  It serves 4 and is 3 Smart Points per serving.

It would also be wonderful with a couple tablespoons of bacon bits(with the addition of extra points) and roasted onion.
That's on the agenda for next time.

Happy Cooking!

Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Casserole

Have you ever just been in the mood for leeks?  I have been.  

So, I bought them not knowing what I wanted to make but then I found this recipe:

http://www.marthastewart.com/313007/chicken-leek-and-mushroom-casserole

Of course Martha Stewart's version is the full Fatty McFatty version so I had to slim it down a bit.  

Here's what I changed:

No bread

1 tablespoon of olive oil instead of 5(I used broth to keep things from sticking)

I added 1 lb of peeled and cut(1 inch pieces) parsnips.  FYI- roasted parsnips are heavenly!

I also added one purple carrot peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces(My son loves rainbow carrots).

I put the carrot and parsnips in a large bowl with an inch or two of water in the bottom and microwaved them for 4-6 minutes before I added them into the rest of the recipe.  

This recipe called for no garlic.  Gasp!  A day without garlic is like a day without color I'd say!  
So I added a dash of garlic salt to each piece of chicken before I cooked it and I used a cast iron skillet(these are just magic).

It turned out SOOOO well!  As I type this my husband, Mark, is asking if he can have a second serving stating "These mushrooms are annoyingly good.  I can't stop eating them".  Admittedly he knows this foodie is a little territorial about her food. 

There are six generous portions.  I figured this was about 7 pts per serving.  

Now, what would I change...

If you had the points to spend next time I would go ahead and use a nice rustic bread but I think I would cut it into cubes and first toast it in the oven with olive oil spray.  Then I would toss it in with everything(think rustic stuffing... yumm....)

I would also substitute Gruyere for the Parmesan cheese.  Is there anything that is not made better by a bit of Gruyere?  I think not.  

I think I might also experiment with using a bit of lightly steamed cauliflower and decreasing the amount parsnips solely to save on points.  Not sure how this would be until I tried it.  Will let you know the next time I make it.  

For my sweet vegetarian friends and family- This is definitely doable as a vegetarian dish.  Use veg broth and omit the meat and there you have it.  

Happy Cooking! 

Carrie