Nancy's Amazing Ideas!

This past Tuesday was a day FULL of endless errands for me.  

I was running all day.  

Fortunately I have a completely awesome WW leader, Nancy.

She mentioned a little Chinese place in our meeting that had steamed veggies(no butter or oil) with either chicken or shrimp.

I felt like I had no time to eat and hadn't brought anything with me but I was STARVING!!!

Because of the information Nancy shared I went by and picked up the veggies and chicken and ditched the rice.

It was delicious!!!

And I didn't feel sick and bloated afterwards nor did I binge later from being overly hungry.

Nancy's wonderful leadership has been a BIG part of what has made the difference in my success.

There are numerous things I love about our meetings and my fearless leader but here are a few:

1. The recipes she shares with us that have the Smart Points already calculated.

2. Ideas for dining out and the points involved.

3. Sharing product ideas at various super markets and the points for those things.

4. Positive re-framing.

5. Unfailing support, honesty, authenticity and kindness.

She has created an environment where we feel safe to share and to be ourselves.

We laugh.  We cry and we are definitely better together!

So here's to you Nancy!

I couldn't have done this without you!

I'm so thankful to have you as part of my tribe!

This world needs your beautiful Light!

Keep on shining!

Love,

~Carrie

Breyers Ice Cream

I first saw this on CONNECT and then heard about it from my WW buddy, Sandi, in my meeting yesterday.

Thanks Sandi!

It's 4 pts per 2/3 cup serving!  

Points may vary depending on what flavor you pick up.  This one is chocolate.  

That's a bigger serving size than the normal 1/2 cup so that's exciting.

I found this at our local Hy-Vee after the meeting and tried it after dinner last night.  

It was really good!

I also like that they're more realistically giving us a bigger serving.  :)

It's kind of neat that we're seeing more options now than ever before.

I think that's one of the many things I'm seeing that I love.

In the old days if you were trying to eat healthy you were relegated to dine on flavorless, expensive cardboard.

Now, many top notch chefs are making more healthy meals that taste great!

No more deprivation.

No more cardboard diets.

Just delicious food and LOADS of options!

That's just one reason I love my plan!

Santa Fe Meatloaf

My mother-in-law was kind enough to get me a subscription to Cooking Light magazine.

Today I was looking through the last couple issues and the one recipe that intrigued me most was from Gina Homolka, the author of skinnytaste and several great cookbooks.

Hands down Gina's recipes are my favorite.

They can be a little higher on points sometimes than Hungry Girl but they are over the moon on flavor and presentation.

This was actually one of her slow cooker recipes but you know me, I was feeling lazy and impatient all at the same time and decided to make this today.

So, I baked this in the oven.

I also didn't feel like thawing out a second pound of ground turkey(it calls for 1 1/2 lbs) so I only used one pound.

This is a do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do thing.

You really need to use all of the 1 1/2 lbs of meat or it comes out too soft and doesn't hold it's shape well.

The flavor and idea of it was still great and I'll definitely make this again.

I would probably even go ahead and do it in the oven again.


Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs 93% fat free ground turkey

2/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp, mild red enchilada sauce, divided

1/2 cup quick oats

1/2 cup chopped green onions(I used 1/4 cup pre-cooked caramelized onions)

1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp, fresh or frozen corn kernels, divided

5 Tbsp, canned unsalted black beans, rinsed, drained, and divided

1/2 cup chopped, fresh cilantro

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp onion powder

1 (4 oz) can mild, chopped green chilies, drained well

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 garlic clove, crushed or grated

1 1/2 oz pre-shredded Mexican cheese blend(about 1/3 cup)

1 jalapeno, thinly sliced(optional)

Cilantro leaves(optional)


Instructions

Cut parchment paper to about 15 x 9 1/2 inches to form a sling to allow you to easily insert and remove the meatloaf from your slow cooker.

Combine turkey, 2 Tbsp enchilada sauce, oats, onions, 1/3 cup corn, 1/4 cup black beans, chopped cilantro, cumin, salt, onion powder, chilies, egg, and garlic.

Mix everything well using clean hands, and then shape into a 9 x 5 inch loaf flattened slightly on top.

Place loaf onto the prepared parchment paper; while holding edges of paper, carefully insert into a 5-6 quart slow cooker(make sure lid closes well without paper getting in the way).

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.

I decided to bake mine in a regular loaf pan at 350 F for 40 minutes.  

Pull loaf out of slow cooker using parchment sling; set aside.  Wipe parchment clean; drain liquid from bottom of slow cooker.(Since I didn't use the slow cooker I didn't have to mess with this messy step.  Ha ha ha!)

Return loaf to slow cooker using parchment sling.  Cover loaf with remaining 2/3 cup enchilada sauce, cheese, jalapeno(if using), remaining 1 Tbsp corn, and remaining 1 Tbsp black beans.

Cover and cook on high until cheese is melted, about 10 minutes.  Garnish with cilantro leaves, if desired.

Pull loaf out of slow cooker; cut into 12 slices.  

I set this to serve 6 which puts it at 7 pts per serving.

I think if I hadn't been lazy and had used the full 11/2 lbs of turkey it called for it would've been perfect.

As it is it was still fantastic.

It's something I'd never tried before and that's what intrigued me to begin with.

Happy Cooking!

Rachael Ray's Lettuce Tacos

So, anyone who follows me(@clg12225) on CONNECT knows that 8/25/17 was my husband's birthday.

Before his birthday came along I asked him if he would want to go out to eat or if he wanted me to cook.

His response was "One of your healthy meals".  When I asked what dessert he wanted he said "something with fruit, maybe one of your crisps".

And so I ended up making Rachael Ray's lettuce tacos which are basically a lettuce wrap and Cooking Light's Cherry Almond Crisp.

The lettuce tacos are in her book Rachael Ray 365:  No Repeats; A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners.

I bought that book more than ten years ago.  I remember making the lettuce tacos when I was pregnant with my son and had gestational diabetes.

This is a tried and true recipe and it's super plan friendly.

I only made a few changes: 1) I substituted turkey for ground beef  2) I omitted the olive oil  3) I used a whole red bell pepper instead of a half of one  4) I added in a 4 oz can of precooked sliced mushrooms.


Ingredients

1 lb 90% lean ground turkey

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves minced garlic

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp chili powder

Salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup tomato sauce

Broth of choice for cooking


Instructions

Spray your skillet with cooking spray and turn on to medium high heat.

Saute the onion and bell pepper using broth to prevent sticking and scorching.

Stir frequently and cook until well done, around 10 minutes.

Next add in the garlic and saute another 2 minutes.

Add the ground turkey to the mix and cook until browned.

Finally add in all the remaining ingredients- mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, tomato sauce.

Turn the heat down and simmer for five minutes or so.

Place these in a large leaf of ice burg lettuce to make your tacos.

Or you can do what I did and put it in a bowl.

These are so flavorful you don't really need cheese.

In fact, the truth is these were so insanely good my husband and I split this!!!!

Yikes!

He said, and I quote, "The only problem is that they're so good I want to eat the whole pan".

Yup.  They're that good.

So, I set this to serve 4 which comes out to 4 pts per serving.

Not bad, if you actually have only one serving!  lol

I'll let you see one picture of the crisp but I'm not giving you the recipe because this was not a low point wonder and it was unbelievably, dangerously delicious.

I had my parents come over to share the crisp and everyone but mom had two helpings!

After they were gone my husband told me that he couldn't seem to stop himself from sneaking back in there to eat "just one more" bite.

At the end of the evening out of a 9 x 13 Pyrex dish there was only about 1 cup leftover.

We all felt miserably full!

It reinforced how rotten I feel when I overindulge and reminded me of just how good I normally feel on plan.  

My health and how I feel are totally worth it.  

Next time I make either of these things I'm either going to portion down the recipe, give a bunch of it away or have loads more company over.  

It was still a great birthday for my husband I think.  

I even bought him this non-nutritive gift because, as he once said to me, "Just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I can't appreciate beauty". :)

Happy Cooking!

When Your Taste Buds Change

You know lately we've been talking in our meetings about learning to like vegetables.

I myself grew up with canned green beans.  My mom would keep bacon grease in a jar under the stove and add it in for flavor.

Granted I was also an incredibly picky eater so it was a lot on me but I didn't eat much in the way of fresh vegetables at all.

When I met my husband he was kind of shocked that I didn't.  

You see, his mother and sister both have their masters degree in horticulture and his mother always had a garden.

When he'd come home from school he'd walk straight to the garden and start munching.  

So when we met I didn't like vegetables at all.  They seemed more like a punishment.

But, I was determined to learn to like them and little by little I have.

I think part of making that transition was just trying to be open minded to trying new things.

I started watching this vegan cooking show on PBS called Christina Cooks.  I was so intrigued by all the strange ingredients she used, completely foreign to me.  

But, I couldn't stop watching it and then I found myself wanting to try it.  

And you know what?  There were a lot of things I did like.  

It didn't happen overnight but it did happen.  Now I love just about all vegetables and instead of eyeing new and unfamiliar veggies with disgust I get excited about trying them.

Recently though something odd happened.  

I started eating tomatoes.

Ask my mom and she'll tell you I've hated tomatoes my whole life.  Oh, I can stand to eat them cooked in casseroles and sauces but not raw.

So it was much to my surprise that out of the clear blue sky I started craving raw tomatoes!

I specifically got a craving for diced tomatoes in an egg white omelet.  

And so that's what I made and you know what?

I freaking loved it!!!!!

And it was only 1 pt!  Total win!

I used half a cup of liquid egg whites, spinach, pre-cooked mushrooms, a dash of garlic salt, a tsp of grated Parmesan and those little diced tomatoes.

Here's a peek~

This was oh so good!  It really hit the spot.  And getting all this for 1 measly point?

Awesome!

I love eating omelets after dinner when I'm feeling snacky.

So, if you feel like you're never going to learn to like vegetables, take a look at me.

I never in my life thought I'd eat tomatoes but today I did and if that can happen ...

Anything can happen!

Here's to keeping an open mind.

Amazing Cod Filets!

I heard about this product at my weekly meeting.

These are Wild Caught Cod Filets that I bought at SAM's.

They are only 6 pts for two pieces!  

My leader, Nancy, said they tasted almost too good to be true and was going to double check the nutritional info.

Well, Nancy, I did put the nutritionals in the WW calculator and it's correct!

These are sooooooo good!

This is a really great option if you don't like to cook or you just plain don't feel like it.

I can't tell you how good these were.

Yummo!

Zucchini Lasagna & A Laugh For Today

Today I decided to make a recipe I haven't made since I started WW.

This recipe originally came from Clean Eating magazine.

One of the nice things about this is that it wasn't necessary to change this a lot to make it point friendly.

However, I felt it needed more spice so I did add in there.  

I also substituted the 1 egg it called for with liquid egg whites.

The laugh will come later..   ;)

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped

1 tsp minced roasted garlic(you can buy this at the store already minced and roasted)

2 Tbsp tomato paste

2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, drained

1 lb sweet Italian turkey sausage

1/2 cup liquid egg whites

Pinch red pepper flakes

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 cup white wine

1 Tbsp whole wheat flour

2 cups fat free cottage cheese

1/2 cup part skim mozzarella cheese, divided

2 1/2 cups zucchini(about 2 medium), sliced into 1/4 inch thick pieces, divided(My mandolin worked great for this!)

Broth of choice 

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Spray a 9 x 13 inch Pyrex dish with cooking spray and set aside.  

Carefully cut the casings away from the Italian sausage and place in a non-stick skillet.

Using broth as needed, cook until done, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks.  

Transfer the meat to a separate plate.  

Using the same skillet, saute onion and garlic over medium heat until tender.  

Add in the pinch of red pepper flakes.  

Throw in the wine and use that to deglaze the pan, scraping up and stirring in those brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  

Next add in the tomatoes, tomato paste and meat.  

Let this mixture simmer for 15-20 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally.

While that's simmering pull out a large bowl.

In it mix together the cottage cheese, 1/4 cup mozzarella, whole wheat flour, Italian seasoning and liquid egg whites.

Again, with the zucchini, you can use a knife, but if you have a mandolin it works really well.  

The pieces are all uniform in size and it's so easy to use!

Place 1/3 of the meat mixture in the bottom of the Pyrex dish and spread it evenly.

This won't entirely cover the pan.  It's okay.

Next place a layer of zucchini over the top followed by another 1/3 of the meat mixture and then all of the cheese mixture.

Place another layer of zucchini over this and then top with the remaining meat and the remaining 1/4 cup cheese.  

Bake for 30 minutes covered and an addition 10-15 minutes uncovered or until the cheese is well melted and the zucchini is tender.

So here's the laugh I promised.  Check out the pictures above.

I think because I didn't pre-cook the zucchini separately(& keep in mind the recipe didn't say to do this) this thing was way soupy!

I literally stood there using a turkey baster sucking out some of the excess liquid!

CRAZY!!!  

Sometimes you just have to laugh at your cooking faux pas.  

Not only did I laugh at myself I'm sharing it with you. :)  

So, points- I set this to serve 8 and it came out to 5 points per serving.

Admittedly this Hungry Girl needed an additional salad and fruit with it to get full but it tasted GREAT!

.... even if it was a little swampy.  Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself who can you laugh at?

So, word to the wise:  I recommend baking the zucchini separately first.  I'd probably bake them for 10 minutes or so before I added them to the casserole.  

Hopefully with these changes it will come out well for you.  

Just goes to show you, cooking is always an adventure!

Happy Cooking!!!

G Hughes Smokehouse Sugar Free BBQ Sauce Original Flavor

So, this is a new product for me.

It's one I've seen over and over on CONNECT but hadn't tried yet.

It's G Hughes Smokehouse Sugar Free line of BBQ Sauce.

I bought the Original but it also comes in Honey flavor, Hickory and Maple Brown.  

It's 0 pts!

And the verdict?....

It's good.  

Not as good as my favorite, Kansas City's Gates, but it's the best sugar free BBQ Sauce I've tried.

So, if I'm out of points or saving them up for an occasion I'd be okay with doing this one.

But, if I've got points a plenty I'm still going to stick with my Gates BBQ Sauce.

I may be biased given I grew up in KC but it is awfully good, even at 2 pts a pop.

You get to decide.

Asian Veggie Bowl

Today was one of those days where you kind of rummage through the fridge to figure out what you're gonna make.

I had bought myself some shiitake mushrooms, which I freaking LOVE, and I didn't want them to go bad so I knew I needed to get them used up.

I went into my pantry and pulled out some canned baby corn and water chestnuts I'd had on hand as well as various veggies and tofu in the fridge and threw it together.

Just a quick note about toasted sesame oil used here:  It is amazing!!!!  Toasted sesame oil is much more than functional, although being a high heat oil it can withstand a wok.

It's flavor is beyond compare.  This is one instance where the oil is absolutely part of the seasoning here.

This can be found at your local Asian store or health food store.

I'm finding it more and more at the regular grocery store too.

It's a little pricey but definitely worth the money and a little goes a long way.

The shiitakes are also admittedly pricey but it's something I splurge on once in a while because they too have an incomparable taste and texture.

The dried shiitakes are more affordable but, for me, they don't taste the same.

So, here's what I did~


Ingredients

3 Tbsp BRAGG aminos(or coconut aminos or soy sauce)

1 Tbsp oyster sauce

1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 cup broth of choice(I used chicken broth)

1 medium zucchini, cut into large matchstick pieces(or whatever shape you prefer!)

1 yellow onion, diced

1/2 package (7 oz) package extra firm tofu, cut into one inch cubes

7 oz canned baby corn spears cut in half

2 oz water chestnuts, chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 tsp minced roasted garlic(or regular garlic)

8 oz shiitake mushrooms(or button mushrooms or mushroom of preference)



Instructions

Place the toasted sesame oil in the skillet on medium high heat and throw in the onion and red bell pepper.

Saute on high for 7-10 min or until they're cooked well done.

While those veggies are cooking pull out a small bowl for the sauce.

Add broth, garlic, oyster sauce, BRAGG aminos(or soy sauce), rice vinegar and mix well.

I bought the pre-minced, jarred ROASTED garlic.  This was so much tastier than the regular kind.

Well worth it as this is a zero point flavor punch.

To your skillet add in the remainder of the veggies and tofu and stir.

Note- to get matchstick pieces cut the zucchini in an oblong pattern, then stack the slices and cut out the matchstick pieces.

It doesn't matter what shape you cut this into.  I just get bored of cutting them into the same shape every time and I thought this Asian dish would look pretty with matchsticks.

Now dump in the bowl of sauce and bring to a boil then reduce to simmer.

Stir and simmer this for another 7 minutes or until the veggies are tender(not mushy).

Let's talk points~

I set this to serve 2 which yields GINORMOUS servings!!!  

Each serving is only 4 points!!!  Woo hoo!

This is juicy enough to put in a bowl.

And, it was light, fresh and delicious!!!

Happy Cooking!