Happy Halloween!!!!

Year after year I keep saying I'm going to be more organized and do some really good decorating for trunk or treat and at the house.

We do have several decorations at home but I really wanted something more.

One of the things I love watching every Halloween is the Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin special.

We own it and watch it every year without fail.

My son and I don't really like creepy, scary things and this show is sweet but festive.

So I decided that would be the perfect theme.

I found several awesome pictures on Pinterest.

Searching on Amazon I found a backdrop and a large cardboard cutout of Linus and Lucy.

We bought pumpkins for the pumpkin patch.

I'm lucky enough to have a handy husband and he made some small, standing wooden poles with prongs at the top.

We put a kick ball atop each one and then threw over white sheets.

I cut out black felt for the eyes and, voila, ghosties!

They were so cute!

Of course, as a WW, I was also thinking about all the treats.

My personal kryptonite is the Reese's cup, especially any holiday ones.

Why?  You ask.

Because I love the peanut butter to chocolate ratio they have, 2:1.

I purposely didn't buy any Halloween candy until we were on the way to the church to hand out candy.

I know my husband and I would just eat it all if we kept it at home.

My son is actually the good one.  He's so honest.  He never takes any junk without asking first.

The other thing I've done is look up point values ahead of time.

Hungry Girl has a great page with point values you can find here.

My advice before you head out for trunk or treats or parties?

Look it up ahead of time.  Allow yourself a pre-tracked treat.

Eat good-for-you food and drink lots of water before you head out so you're not hungry.

Enjoy yourself!

If this isn't a diet but rather a lifestyle you should be enjoying yourself and all the holidays.

If holidays are still a source of anxiety and stress talk to your leader.

Lastly, don't beat yourself up if you go over.

Let's face it- you've probably spent your whole life beating yourself up over your weight and food choices.

Did that ever work for you?

Why not try something different?

I always say, you can hate yourself into change but you can only love yourself to transformation.

So have fun, and have a safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

A Fun Halloween Crafting Idea

One of my favorite places in the world is our local library.

We are so Blessed to have, not only tons of free brooks to read, but also tons of free programs for people of all ages and interests.

I take my son to the library for an Impromptu Inventor Hour every week and he LOVES it!

Occasionally I'm feeling kind of tired and not really motivated but my son always insists we go and I'm always glad we did.

This past week our amazing librarian, Jennifer, had another great idea.

She took expired marshmallows, graham crackers and frosting and let the kids make their own Halloween Houses.

I even decided to participate.

She had expired hazelnut spread and peanut butter to use to bind the graham crackers together.

There was also old fruit roll ups and chocolate pieces for doors or whatever you could imagine.  

A hot glue gun was also available.  

I found it was pretty difficult to get the graham cracker walls to hold together with food products but the hot glue worked very well.

The above pictured house was mine.  

My son, who forever has to do anything and everything different than everybody else, decided to let the chocolate bars melt in his hands and then use that to hold the graham crackers together.

Was it messy?

Yes.

Did he have fun doing it?

Yes.

Was it unique?

Absolutely.

Do hands wash up?

You bet.

Part of the fun of being a kid is making a little mess and if we don't want our kids to be afraid to cook or experiment they have to be allowed a little messy creative leeway for expression.

Here's my son's house.  I said it was Frank Lloyd Wright inspired ;)

He used the fruit roll ups as some binding material too.

I used them as faux stained glass windows, in part because we were running low on graham crackers.

You know what?

This was really fun!

Too often we adults sit back and let the kids have all the fun.

I personally think it's more fun for EVERYONE if we get in there with our kids and play.

They love it when their parents or grandparents play WITH them.  

And you know what else?

Often times we inspire them too!

They love to see what we're up to and we can share all of our good ideas.

My son inspires me and I inspire him.  

And doing things together is where memories are made.

So if you have children, grandchildren or favorite nieces, nephews or Godchildren you might try this little project.

It's a whole lot of fun!

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie

This past week has been trying.  

We've had several activities planned and in the midst of all of that my husband caught a cold and my grandfather passed away.

The day after the funeral, Saturday, I was just plain pooped out.  

But, I wanted comfort food.  

It was also turning colder and really giving me that Autumn feeling so I wanted to find something plan friendly to make.

I started browsing on the internet and quickly decided I was craving chicken pot pie.

I mean, does anything say comfort like chicken pot pie?

So, I found this recipe on the WW site.

Although I didnt' look it up I think I've actually made this before but I remember thinking I'd change it next time.

So today I did change it just a bit and it was fantastic!

Here's a brief rundown on what I changed.

I omitted the cream cheese altogether.  I didn't think it added enough flavor to keep it and I just missed having milk in the recipe last time.

So out with the cream cheese and in with 1 cup of fat free half and half.

I also reduced the amount of broth from 3.5 cups to 2.5 cups to compensate.

As you've heard me say before, I just don't like the taste of thyme, so I nixed that as well.

If you like thyme by all means keep it and enjoy.  

And, I added 1/2 tsp garlic powder.  I mean, can you imagine no garlic in a recipe like this???

I also added more salt and pepper than it called for but again, it's added to taste.  You choose what works for you.

Get ready for some good comfort food....

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb chicken 

4 medium celery ribs, finely diced

5 tsp unsalted butter

4 large, raw carrots, diced(about 2 cups)

1 large yellow onion, chopped(about 11/4 cups)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups chicken broth 

1 cup fat free half and half

1 cup frozen baby peas

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

8 oz reduced fat crescent rolls

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  

Line a baking sheet with foil and place your individual ramekins or crocks on the sheet.

Place all of the butter in a large skillet.  

Add in the celery, carrot, onion and saute on medium high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables start to soften.

Reduce the heat and sprinkle vegetables with flour; cook, stirring, until vegetables are coated, about 1 minute.

Stir in broth; bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add peas, salt, pepper and garlic.  Simmer, stirring occasionally until mixture is thickened and vegetables are just tender, about 8 minutes.

Stir in the chicken.

Next add in the milk and stir.  Let this simmer another 2-3 minutes.

Now add this evenly to 8 ramekins or individual crocks.

I only have a set of 4 so I had to do these in batches.  

Unroll the crescent dough and pull apart individual triangles.

Place one folded triangle over each crock.

Bake for 11-13 minutes or until crescent roll is lightly browned.  

This recipe serves 8 and still comes out to 7 pts per serving.  

Let me tell you what my husband said about these without my asking.

He said "These are as good as any pot pies I've had in any restaurant.  Well, really, they're better".

He grilled me on all the ingredients..."so there's carrots and peas and onions.  Any other vegetables?  What else was in here?..."

So, yes, they were that good.

You know how you feel when you're wanting something good, I mean really good comfort food? 

I get really fussy when I'm in those moods.

If I fix dinner or get something out and it's not good I'm in a terrible mood.

I know that sounds ridiculous but it's true.  

Ah, well, thus is the life of a foodie.

Anyway, I was in that mood and this totally satisfied me.

It satisfied my hunger, my need for comfort, delicious taste and staying on plan.

What a combo!

This is absolutely, undeniably a keeper for me.

I will be making this one again and likely for company too.  

I hope you enjoy it too!

Happy Cooking!

Fall Food and Sweet Surprises

The other day my husband came home with a kabocha squash and said "Honey, can you make that stew I love".

This recipe is vegan mind you. 

Never did I think my husband would have a favorite vegan recipe that he'd be begging me to make but we both LOVE this one!

This is one of my Why's- because when you keep practicing healthy cooking it actually starts to taste better than all the junk you've been eating for years.

You can read the post on this delightful stew from Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet here.

I'll also give you my small changes in my recipe iteration below~


Black Bean and Kabocha Squash Stew

Ingredients


1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, thoroughly rinsed

1 inch piece of Kombu seaweed

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4-5 cloves thinly sliced fresh garlic

1 medium to large yellow onion, chopped

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

Sea salt

Pinch of red pepper flakes

2 cans diced tomatoes

1/2 kabocha squash cut into one inch pieces

1 cup mirin

2 tsp white miso

2 celery stalks, diced


Instructions

Place oil in the bottom of a large stock pot and bring to medium high heat.

Saute onion for 4-5 minutes and then add in the garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt and chili powder.

Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly so you don't burn your precious garlic.

Add in the tomatoes, squash, mirin, water, kombu and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Next ladle out around 1 cup of the juice and put it in a small bowl.

Mix it well with the miso and then add it back to the pan.

Remember, you don't want to ever boil your miso!  It kills the precious probiotics.

Finally add in the beans and celery and Voila!

You're done.

This is a mixture of smoky, sweet and spicy all in one bowl.

It's also incredibly hearty, perfect for a cool, Fall day.

Happy Cooking!

Weight Watchers Zucchini Lasagna

I had a new WW buddy give me this recipe the other day.

It's very simple, doesn't use a lot of ingredients and is very affordable.

I did add a bit to this however, but if you follow me at all you know that's par for the course.

I change almost every recipe to suit my tastes.

I've made zucchini lasagnas before but I've never cubed it and so that's pretty interesting.

I actually like the idea because previously I've cut them into lengthwise thin strips.  It looks nice, more like a faux lasagna noodle, but it doesn't always cut well.

This is functionally easier to cube too.

On with the show!


Ingredients

1 lb 93% lean ground chicken(18 pts)

3 cups no sugar added, marinara(16 pts) I made my own to save points!

2 cups 1% cottage cheese(7 pts)

3 1/2 cups uncooked zucchini, cut into bite sized cubes(0 pts)

1 egg(2 pts)

Additional ingredients on my list:

1 (14.5 oz can diced tomatoes)

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 yellow onion, diced

4 cloves fresh garlic, pressed(or minced)

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 Tbsp whole wheat flour(1 pt)

2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese(2 pts)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese(9 pts)

Broth of choice


Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Brown and crumble chicken.  Once cooked pour the jar of spaghetti sauce over the meat and mix together and set aside.

***I did this differently.***  I sauteed the onion and garlic and then added the chicken to this.

Then I added in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and all the spices.

Let this simmer on low medium heat for 20 minutes or so.

In a separate bowl mix together the egg and cottage cheese.

For my variation I also added in flour and grated Parmesan cheese to the egg mixture.

I used a 9 x 13 pan which was a bit large for this amount but it still worked out.

The instructions on this recipe say to start with the meat sauce and layer the zucchini, then cottage cheese mixture.  Continue layering and end with the meat sauce on top.

I put a scant amount of the meat mix on the bottom then evenly spread all the zucchini.

Next I evenly spread all of the cheese mixture on top of that.

Top that with the remaining meat mixture and sprinkle the mozzarella on top.

Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted through.

This recipe serves six.  

Whether you follow the original recipe or my version the points actually come out the same.

This is 7 points per serving.  

This tasted fantastic! 

Another Weight Watcher win! 

It was a little soupy but that is a consistent issue with any zucchini lasagna I've ever made because it's such a moist vegetable. 

I've thought about pre-cooking the zucchini in lengthwise slices in the oven to reduce the moisture but the truth is that it's really not that big of a deal to my husband and I.

We ate ours in a bowl but it was fantastic and, so good in fact, that between me and my family it was gone before I had good pictures of an individual slice!

Now if that doesn't say delicious I don't know what does! :)

Thanks to my WW buddy for this recipe. 

Happy Cooking!

Are You Party Ready?

This past weekend my family hosted a Fall Festival at our house.

This has become an annual tradition between my husband's close circle of friends and our families.

It's something I love, but like all holidays, it takes a bit of planning.

I told myself I wasn't going to go overboard in cooking and cleaning but it seemed to happen anyway and I was okay with it in the end.

I spent 4-5 hours cleaning and almost the same cooking for the crowd.

It was a lot like preparing for hosting Thanksgiving at our house.

I was up early and started cooking and prepping then. 

I had previously made skinnytaste pumpkin butter which I used in making homemade granola to serve atop the pumpkin custards one of our friends brought.

My husband smoked burgers and I bought the 2 pt Sara Lee buns for those. 

Our friends also brought pumpkin spice chili with sweet potatoes. 

I have to admit though I thought it would taste ghastly it was quite good and relatively clean.

I also set out the above pictured tray of fresh fruits and vegetables. 

There was chipotle bacon dip and artichoke dip and lots and lots of varieties of chips(aka Carrie's crack).

What I can tell you is that I kept my 32 oz water bottle close by and kept drinking throughout the day and night.

That alone was huge.  In addition I ate almost a whole can of plain artichokes while I was making the dip but ultimately didn't eat any of the chipotle bacon dip and only 2 Tbsp of the artichoke dip.

I snacked on the fresh veggies and fruit throughout the morning and early afternoon such that by the time the party came I was only slightly hungry.

I had smaller portions of everything and felt quite satisfied.

I sent all the chips home with our friends, much to my husband's chagrin, but didn't get rid of all the granola and ended up eating too much of it later that night when I was up by myself unwinding.

We also had lots of non-nutritive fun.  My clever and crafty husband organized pumpkin archery in which we used pumpkins for target practice.

Everyone loved that and some of the kids bested us adults.

My son got a shot in through the stem of the pumpkin.  He didn't intentionally aim for the stem but was tickled pink as you can imagine. 

There was also a hayride for the kids and my husband made this cute pumpkin carving and small rice ball ghosties to serve as a bean bags for a bean bag toss through the pumpkin mouths.

What I've found over the years is that typically on the day of the event I don't typically do too bad.

We talk about it at meetings and plan for it and anticipate it and we feel so good when we succeed that special day.

However, the trouble usually comes AFTER the big day.  It's when everyone's gone home and we're pooped out from traveling or cooking and cleaning and all the holiday cheer.  

That's when it's tough.  I've learned that more than ever before do I need to get trigger foods out of the house after the party.

I've also learned that I need to have pre-made foods I can easily warm up after or I'm going to binge by grazing continuously.  

I also think having some type of self care ritual after the party or holiday is a great idea.

Treating yourself to a massage or a hot bath with scented candles and nice music or other quiet time.

After the adrenaline rush there is a huge let down and we end up feeling exhausted.  It's great to set yourself up to be cared for when that hits or you'll end up trying to find solace in food.   

Well, at least that's what I do.  

So, as you plan for the holidays, which are upon us, I encourage you to give just as much thought and attention to the time after.

And may you and your loved ones have a very safe, healthy and Happy Holiday Season. 

Skinnytaste's Baked Pumpkin With Oatmeal and Bananas

Today's recipe comes from skinnytaste.  

One of my CONNECT friends recommended this one and posted a pic that was drool worthy.

So, I decided to make it for myself.  

Ingredients

3 medium ripe bananas, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 cup canned pumpkin(NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1 Tbsp honey

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1 cup uncooked quick oats

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Pinch of salt

1 cup fat free milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Spray an 8 x 8 pan and set aside.

Arrange the bananas in a single layer at the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle 1/4 tsp cinnamon and honey over the top of the bananas.  

Cover and bake for 15 minutes.

While the bananas are cooking pull out a bowl and add oats, half of the nuts, baking powder, remaining cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg and salt.  Stir to combine.

In a separate bowl mix together the pumpkin, egg, vanilla, brown sugar, milk and egg.

Pull the bananas out of the oven.  

Then top evenly with the oatmeal mix.  

Next, cover evenly with the pumpkin mixture and sprinkle with remaining nuts.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown. 

This recipe yields 6 servings and comes out to 5 points per serving.  

This was very good, not over-the-moon good but good.  I think part of the issue is that I am not usually a fan of bananas.  I like to eat them plain but that's it.  

I have, however, been trying to expand my horizons and open my mind a bit.  So I thought I'd give this a try.  

In the past I would've hated this because of the bananas.  I didn't hate this.  I liked it and that alone is a victory but I don't love it enough to want to binge on it(this is a good thing!) or make it again.  

I'm still glad I tried it and honestly, if you do like bananas cooked in things like this, you'll probably love it instead of just liking it.  

So if you're a banana fan give this a try.  

Happy Cooking!

The All-Or-Nothing Trap

Lately I've been really mindful about my thoughts.

And, in being mindful, I've found lots of unwelcome thoughts cluttering my mind and wreaking havoc on my success.

I recently began doing 20 minute high intensity interval training(HIIT) from The FIRM.

After I had just finished one of them I was feeling pretty good about myself and thought "Wow!  In 20 minutes I got a good workout!  Twenty minutes is very doable.  I could always find time for that.  I should start doing these everyday.  That's what I'll do!  I'll do these everyday!"

Very shortly after this little mental conversation I heard another voice in my head telling me there was no way I was ever going to be able to do this EVERY SINGLE DAY.

"Something always happens to derail me.  This will be just another thing I fail at.  I don't know why I even try.  I should just give it up."

But then I made another choice.  I decided to give myself permission to NOT do it everyday and to have that be good enough.

The reality is that it's extremely unlikely that I will be able to do ANYTHING every single day for the rest of my life!

That's crazy!  And, I think there's part of me that knows this.  But holding myself to unrealistic standards sets me up to fail and for a negative self fulfilling prophecy.

So instead I said to myself "I would really like to do these workouts.  I may not do them everyday and that's okay.  But I would like to try to do them most days, whenever it is feasible.  That's my intention.  That's the intention I'm setting for myself.  I want to do this for myself and however much I do or don't get done it will still be okay and I'll be okay because it will always be better than doing nothing at all".

It works for food too.

Too often we gain or maybe we're not losing the way we want to lose and so we get serious and pull out our inner dictator and say "Okay!  That's IT!  Play time is over!  It's time to get to work!  No more Mr. Nice Guy.  From now on you're gonna start tracking EVERYTHING FOREVER and you're not going to eat junk food or overeat or eat in the evening or ever go over your points or splurge at holidays or engage in emotional eating...."

It goes on and on and on but you get the idea.

Why do we do these crazy things to ourselves?

I think the minute we say these kinds of things to ourselves there's a part of us that says "No way!  That's never going to happen and you know it!  You're going to fail!"

So again, I'm saying today-

This is the intention I'm setting for myself.  I would like to be more consistent.  I would like to honestly track most of the time or whenever I think of it.  I would like to choose foods that nourish my body.  I would like to feel my clothes fitting more loosely.

I've even had sabotaging thoughts about the holiday snowball that is now upon us.

"I'll never lose weight now.  It's the holidays.  It's impossible.  My weight is already up and I'll probably just gain even more weight now and be right back to where I started from.  I can't believe I did this!  Why do I let myself get this bad?!  Oh I'm so depressed!!!"

And now I'm saying that I'm not going to think too much about tomorrow or the next day or the next or the next holiday.

I'm only going to focus on what I can do RIGHT NOW in this moment on this day.

I'm going to try to make good choices today and to love myself through every choice, no matter how I feel about them.

Ultimately that's the best I can do and that's realistic.

And, I'm going to keep getting back up with the hope and joy in my heart of knowing I'm never too far gone and, no matter how today goes down, tomorrow is a new day and I can always start over.

Weight Watcher's Ham & Potatoes Au Gratin

Ingredients 

2 cups lean, ham, diced

1 cup onion, chopped

3/4 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese, shredded

1 (10 3/4 oz) can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup

1 tsp yellow mustard

4 cups potatoes, diced, raw

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 tsp dried parsley 

Instructions

This was originally written for a crockpot.  If you're using a crockpot for this you will follow the same directions but will cook it in the crockpot on low for 8 hours.

Spray the crockpot or casserole dish with cooking spray.

If you're using the oven preheat it to 350 F.  

Combine ham, potatoes and onions in your pot.  Mix well. 

In a separate bowl combine soup, mustard, pepper and parsley and mix well.

Pour the soup mixture over the potato mixture and stir to mix in.

Top with the shredded cheddar cheese.

Cover and bake 1 hour and 30 minutes.  

This recipe makes 6 servings that come out to 3 points a piece.

This was great!  It was super easy to make, had common ingredients and tasted fantastic.  

Honestly it made me think of Easter though.  You know how you just have certain food association?

My favorite Easter meal is ham with au gratin potatoes, green beans and rolls.

Somehow it doesn't feel right if I don't have that meal at Easter.

Still, it was good comfort food today and my husband loved it too.

And, at 3 points it's very doable.  :)

Happy Cooking!

Mudhustler's Pumpkin Spice Donuts!

A while back I tried to recreate WW member, Mudhustler's 1 sp donut.  

As you can see here.  It wasn't successful.

But, I believe in getting back up and trying again so I decided to make another attempt, this time making it the pumpkin spice flavor.

I am so happy to report that this time it worked!!!!

So, what did I do differently?

I bought aluminum free baking powder and I used 2 tsp instead of 1 Tbsp of baking powder.

When you're making the pumpkin spice version you also substitute pumpkin puree for the applesauce.

In addition I've noticed not all protein powders scoop measures are the same.  I think it's best to get the Quest protein powder.  

So, here it is...

Ingredients

1 cup Kodiak power cakes mix(whole grain buttermilk)

2 scoops of Quest Salted Caramel protein powder

2 tsp aluminum free baking powder(I used Rumford brand)

2 packets Truvia

1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree(NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 cold water

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 F.

Mix all the dry ingredients together with a whisk to blend well.

Next add in the wet ingredients and mix well.

Fill a standard doughnut size pan(6 donut pan) 1/2-2/3 of the way full.

Bake 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

These were fantastic!!!!

So yummy!

I'm so happy I finally got this recipe to work for me.

This is most definitely worth a try!

Happy Cooking!!!