recipe
WW Weigh-In #16
31 month ago
by Nanci
in #expectamazing, ActiveLink, grocery shopping, meeting, recipe, run, water, weigh-in, weight, Weight Watchers 360
Good morning! How are things in your world today? Saturday is my favorite day of the week, no surprise there. I’m still on a roll, haven’t missed a WW meeting yet! Beverly was a treat as always at this morning’s “party”… So how did I do this week?
I expected more out of this week, but I’m still happy about it. I am now just 1 pound away from my 10% goal. I had really hoped to make it there today. Next week!
Things I did right this week are:
- I ran two days this week which is pretty amazing following a half marathon. My legs were feeling so great Monday and Tuesday, and I was inspired by the #runforboston movement going around so I joined in.
- Learned about Fitlife Foods, freshly prepared healthy meals!
- I did very well with lunches and snacks this week, taking them every day.
- Drank more water than ever this week, mostly because of the running and the heat.
What I will focus on this week:
- Grocery shopping is in order tomorrow morning, to stock up on everything for the week. Being prepared = Success.
- Make the Balsamic Asparagus and Cherry Tomato Salad recipe in this week’s WW Weekly. It looks SOOOO good!
- Still craving salads, so I will prepare chicken and shrimp to have on hand for the week.
- Continue to be active even though the awful heat is back. That is when I start to struggle with it, so I need to get creative.
- Still hoping to get back to hot yoga… (isn’t it ironic that I want to go to hot yoga even when it’s hot outside??)
This past week was a stellar one for activity points. I earned 44 points for the week, 27 of them were just from the half marathon last Sunday. It’s crazy to think I earned in just under 3 hours time what I might normally earn in a full week.
What are your plans this weekend? Tell me how you will be active this weekend!
Weekly Meal Planning ~ 04/06/13
21 month ago
In a perfect world, I go grocery shopping once a week, on the weekend. Sometimes we are so busy that doesn’t happen and I end up making multiple trips during the week and I buy too much of what I don’t need and not enough of what we actually do need. Yesterday morning all stars were aligned when I had the ability to go grocery shopping right after my WW meeting. As if that weren’t exciting enough, I took time Friday night to make a list so I was prepared.
I love to meal plan when I can. It makes the week easier when I am crazy busy and it’s one less thing that I have to worry about. I also love to make meals that create lunches the next day. It saves money and some meals are even better left over. Thank goodness hubby likes leftovers!
I don’t go quite as far as deciding what to have on a certain day, but I do plan enough for a full week and then decide the day before what to have the next day. That way if I need to take chicken out of the freezer, I can. Our schedules can vary during the week, depending on work, working out, or plans we may have.
I thought first that I would share what I bought at the store this week. It was a pretty big shopping trip and took me a good hour – another reason I love going on a weekend morning before the store gets busy.
When I meal plan, it’s for dinner. Lunches are prepped from those meals or I’ll have a salad with either chicken or tuna. Snacks on hand are always baby carrots and hummus, grapes, bananas, etc… We also always have frozen veggies in the freezer to have with any meal.
I will say that the meals I make during the week are somewhat determined by what is on sale that week. Like this week, boneless skinless chicken breasts are on sale at Publix. I bought 3 packages. Whatever I don’t need for meals, I freeze for future use. Also, I freeze one chicken breast per bag so I can take out whatever I need for one of us or both of us. The pork roast was also on sale.
So, what do I intend to make this week with all this? I’m pretty excited about it….
I made the pulled pork for dinner last night and there is enough to have again for dinner tonight. I am all about things being easy AND trying to eat healthy. For dessert, we are still hooked on pineapple cake. It’s so light and lasts the whole week. I made another one last night! I keep wanting to try it as cupcakes but I haven’t yet.
A great source of recipes is Skinnytaste. The Italian Sloppy Joe’s recipe is from there, although I did modify it and I cook it on a skillet, not a slow cooker. The panko chicken is a WW recipe. The pulled pork recipe I now use has been tweaked several times (I used to make it with BBQ sauce and now I don’t). Here are my recipes for a few of this week’s meals…
Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork
- Boneless Boston Butt Pork Roast (3-4 pounds)
- Fresh garlic, sliced
- 1 can chicken broth
Cut small holes in top of roast and insert garlic slices. Add can of chicken broth. Cook on low for 7 hours. When it’s done, I shred it with a fork and discard the fat. Put in a casserole dish and add a little of the chicken broth to it so it doesn’t dry out when you reheat it. Top with your favorite BBQ dressing if you like. I love Sticky Fingers Carolina BBQ Sauce.
Italian Sloppy Joe’s (my version)
- 1 package Italian Turkey Sausage
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 3 minced garlic cloves
- Pepper
Remove sausage from casing and crumble as it cooks, till brown. Add garlic, onions, and pepper (to taste) and cook for a few more minutes. Add green and red peppers and cook a few more minutes. Add can of crushed tomatoes and simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes. You can serve on rolls, we skip the bread and enjoy it without.
Baked Chicken
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
- Olive Oil (I use an olive oil sprayer and do one full spray per chicken breast which is 1 point in WW world)
- Basil
Drizzle chicken breast with olive oil and sprinkle with basil. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes (for 2 breasts). This chicken comes out very tender and juicy!
Panko Chicken
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
- Plain Panko breading
- 1 Egg
- 2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp. Paprika
- Basil
- Pepper
In large bowl, mix Panko breading, parmesan cheese, basil, and pepper. In another bowl, put egg to dip chicken in. Coat both sides of chicken with breading mix after you dip in egg. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and coat with oil spray. Bake for about 40 minutes (for 2 breasts).
Not every week is a planned out as this one, so I’ll share when I can!
Do you meal plan? What is your number one reason for meal planning?
Fun Fact Friday {Food Edition}
12 months ago
I thought it would be fun to do a Food Edition of Fun Fact Friday. Since I love food so much, it seems like it would be a good topic. Who doesn’t love food?
- It would be impossible to pick one favorite food since there is so much I love. Very high on the list, however, is pizza. More specifically, a pizza with pepperoni and sautéed onions. The greasier the better.
- My favorite healthy meal is broiled tilapia with zucchini, olive oil, and basil. It’s so simple to make, filling, and full of flavors that I love.
- My least least favorite food is American cheese. I know I’ve discussed this before, but it is the most disgusting thing EVER.
- My favorite vegetable is zucchini. Broiled, sautéed, in soup, you name it. Very versatile and so good.
- My least favorite vegetable is probably cauliflower. I want to like it, but I just don’t.
- My favorite snack is currently baby carrots and basil pesto hummus.
- My favorite type of food is Italian. Being Italian helps this, especially one who’s mother cooks the most amazing Italian food ever. My second favorite type of food is Mexican.
- If I had to choose salty or sweet, I would probably choose salty. But if you give me the opportunity to mix salty and sweet, even better!
- My favorite salad includes romaine lettuce, artichoke hearts, tomato, red onion, cucumbers, and banana peppers with oil and vinegar. It goes with everything!
- My favorite fruit is probably mango. I love fresh ones, but they are so messy, so I usually buy frozen mango chunks and have them throughout the week.
- My least favorite meal of the day is breakfast. It seems like the most rushed and the one I have to make myself eat.
- My favorite meal of the day is dinner. It’s meal I have the most time to prepare and the one that I am the most creative with.
- My favorite way to cook a meal is in the slow cooker. I love how the house smells when something cooks all day and it’s so easy.
- I am a dessert girl. I have to have something sweet at night. I like to keep pineapple cake on hand, or Smart Ones frozen desserts, or even fruit such as sliced banana with fat free cool whip. Mmmmmm…..
Share a fun food fact about yourself with me!
Sunday In The Kitchen
83 months ago
It’s been quite awhile since I’ve spent so much time in the kitchen. Our weekends seem to be busier and busier each month. While I’ve been really good about getting snacks ready for each week, yesterday was all about grocery shopping, snacks, planning meals, and making a great new-to-us dinner.
Hubby and I went to the store yesterday morning right when they opened. We are fortunate to live literally up the street from our favorite grocery store, Publix. I have a love/hate relationship with grocery shopping, so I prefer to do it in the morning before it gets busy. So, list in hand, and the recipe I wanted to make for dinner, we went shopping and were home in an hour. Not too bad.
The recipe I made was taken from Skinnytaste, a favorite site of mine for low fat recipes. And as a bonus, they include Weight Watchers points plus values, and the pictures of the foods are always amazing. I saw this recipe awhile ago and had it on my cookbook rack and yesterday was the day we would try it.
(Source: Skinnytaste)
Here is the recipe directly from Skinnytaste…
Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork)
Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 4 oz (1/2 cup) • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories:176 • Fat: 7.7g • Protein: 25.8 g • Carb: 1.3 g • Fiber: 0.1 g
Ingredients:
- 2.5 lb pork shoulder blade roast, lean, all fat removed (I used Smithfield)
- 6 cloves garlic, cut into sliver
- cumin
- dry adobo
seasoning (I used Goya)
- garlic powder
- 3/4 cup 99% fat free chicken broth
- 2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce(to taste)
- 2 bay leaves
Directions:
Season pork with salt and pepper. In a medium sauté pan on medium-high heat, brow npork on all sides for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Using a sharp knife, insert blade into pork, cutting small holes and insert garlic slivers. Season pork generously with cumin, adobo
Pour chicken broth in the crockpot, add bay leaves and chipotle peppers. Place pork in crock pot and cover. Cook low for 8 hours. After 8 hours, shred pork using two forks and combine well with the juices that accumulated at the bottom. Remove bay leaves and adjust salt and cumin (you will probably need to add more). Let it cook another 15-30 minutes.
I could not find a shoulder blade roast, so I asked the butcher at the store and they suggested a boneless Boston butt roast. I cut most of the fat off, but I left some of it on for flavor and extra juiciness. Here is the pork when I put it in the slow cooker, ready to cook….
And here is how amazing it came out, all pretty on a whole wheat tortilla with black beans and avocado….
It was super easy to make! It had a nice little kick to it and was very filling. Hubby liked it too, which surprised me with the little kick. We have enough left over for lunch tomorrow and then some.
I also spent about 2 hours getting snacks and such ready for the week. The less I have to do in the morning to get ready, the better. Any time I spend on the weekend to make my mornings easier is always a bonus and absolutely worth it. I cleaned,cut, and bagged celery sticks. I bagged baby carrots. I mixed a bag each of Italian salad blend and baby spinach and made up 3 containers, ready to go. I just have to add whatever veggies I want each day. For hubby, I cut up fresh strawberries and put them in single serving containers. I also made hard boiled eggs and peeled them. They are great for a snack or as a topping on a salad. Protein! I even went a step further and made part of tonight’s dinner so I would have one less thing to do. Who else out there likes a well stocked refrigerator?
And for dessert, I made pineapple cake. We’ve had this several times in the last month, so it’s definitely a favorite in our house. It’s literally the world’s easiest recipe with just two ingredients, one that I got from WW years ago when I first joined.
- Box of angel food cake mix
- 1 can crushed pineapple (in juice NOT heavy syrup)
Put cake mix in large bowl, add can of pineapple, and mix. Bake in a 9×13 cake pan for 38-40 minutes.
That’s it! Super simple! I actually like to make mine in a disposable foil tray, for some reason it cooks better than in my metal cake pan. If you’re following WW, it’s 2 points plus value for a 2×2 piece. You can have 3 tbsp. of fat free Cool Whip on it for no additional points. You know you want to try this….
And because I just have to, here is a picture of my sweet boy Blue… This sweet face was laying right next to me as I was reading yesterday afternoon. Sometimes I just cannot stand the cuteness!
I hope you all have a great week!
How much time do you spend prepping foods for the week? What is your favorite go-to snack?
2013 Goals
84 months ago
I’ve been thinking a lot this week about my goals for 2013. I don’t really like to make resolutions because it seems so easy to say “this is my resolution and I’ll stick to it”. Usually we forget about them a week later. In setting my goals for 2013, I try to keep them generalized. I don’t want to set a list of goals I know I can’t do and my goal is not to fail. Most of the items on my list are things I do already and are important to me so I want to keep doing them in the new year.
I was short on the number of books I read last year and didn’t hit my goal of 40. It certainly doesn’t seem like a lot so I’ll try it again this year.
Rather than specify a set number of miles I want to walk / run per week, I set a yearly goal. Let’s face it, in my world, there are weeks that it doesn’t happen. Life gets in the way and I can’t get any miles in. A yearly goal is better for me.
Complete 10 races… I am registered for 5 already, and have 4 more on the list I know I want to do. That leave me 1 more to find for December. I am determined to do my #10in2013!
For awhile last year, I was trying new recipes on a regular basis and I got away from that. I would love to get back to it and try 2 new ones a month and share them with you.
Go to yoga regularly… I start back today! I did yoga years ago…. It was highly recommended to me by friend Angela and it because something we both enjoyed. It was a great stress reliever for me during our infertility treatments and I found that it was the only place I could turn my brain off. The minute I walked into that room, I left everything outside the door and for that hour, I focused completely on the practice. I had a wonderful instructor. Sadly, the studio closed and since I’ve not found a studio since then that had the same feel. I recently bought two Living Social deals for the same studio so I am good to go for 10 classes and then a month of unlimited. This time around I am doing hot yoga, after hearing so many fellow bloggers rave about it. I am all for a good sweat session. Can’t wait to go today and you can be sure I’ll talk about it on here tomorrow!
Expand my blog…. This is important to me. My blog has become an extension of me and I put a lot into it, and share a lot with you all that I used to keep inside. I truly think it has helped me deal with things better. I have so many ideas for it and hope to try my hand at vlogging this year too. Next month, my blog will be 2 years old!
I already drink water like it’s going out of style, so this is one I want to continue on with. I really feel better when I drink a lot of water.
Start writing a book… This is something I’ve wanted to do for years and years. My mom and I are actually working on a book project together and I hope that it’s something we can complete in 2013. I also have thoughts, notes, and more written down over the last couple years for a very special book about my dad. More to come on both…
Hubby and I enjoy our time together, but we also have our own interests and hobbies that we do on our own. I love our date nights, even if it’s just the two of us going out to eat, and hope that we have more of them this year.
Confession, I am AWFUL with saving money. It’s definitely a weakness of mine. So the 52 week money challenge is a huge goal for me, for us, this year. It seems totally doable and quite frankly, when it’s put out there as a challenge, I’m in. We already have our first week set-aside! Here is the info on that….
And last, but certainly not least, is to meet my goals at Weight Watchers. While I do have a goal of the weight I’d like to lose – 40 pounds – I am not setting any deadlines. It is a journey that I will take once a week, a couple pounds at a time. It’s not a race. I am still very happy with my decision to go back, it has definitely been a fresh start for me this week.
Did you set any goals for yourself for 2013? Share one with me!
