Back at it! You know you missed me.

I missed you, too!  I'm officially back at "it" today.  It's just time.  At some point, I have to figure out how to take control of the household back from this new puppy, right?  Today's the day.

Had my All-Bran for breakfast.  Have my banana and Fiber 1 bar for snacks at work.  Have my meal plan all set for the week.  Have the groceried to make all of the things planned for the week.  I'm ready to ROLL!

Let's take a minute to talk about meal planning. SOOOOO important.  My brain needs to be locked down when it comes to food.  If I don't know what's for supper, it will just yell "ORDER PIZZA ORDER PIZZA ORDER PIZZA" until I do.  It's ugly.

To fight the pizza brain, I took all my recipes and ran them through the Recipe Builder on Weight Watcher's site.  There are other sites to do this as well if you search.  I *think* Sparkpeople.com has one as well.  But, I used Weight Watchers.  Most came through with a reasonable number of points per serving.  If they didn't, I looked at the recipe and figured out the best way to tweak the ingredients or portion size to get in a decent range.  Click print and put it in the magical recipe binder.  Ooooooo....ahhhhhhh.....magical recipe binder!  I can take a picture, but it's just a lime green three-ring-binder with colorful tabs and now, recipes in plastic sleeves.

Why is this nice?  Well, you have al lyour recipes pre-pointed out.  That way, you can add your intended supper points to your day right away and know your wiggle room for lunch and snacks.  It also makes meal planning WAY easier.  If you can just flip through your options, you know you need to pick enough to fill your week and be done.  The plastic sleeves are really nice too if you're a sloppy cook (like me!!) and need a buffer between your ingredients and the paper the recipe's on.  I shift the week's recipes to the front of the binder and as they're made, they go back to their spot.

Yup, it's a little anal-retentive.  Just like me.  But it works and that's the important part, right?  A girl needs to be prepared if she's going to succeed!!

What a day looks like for me.....in food.

Let's kick today off by talking about food.  Why not, right?

I've had a couple of emails wondering about what I typically eat in a day.  Clearly, the concern is about me not starving to death.  I understand - it's a large concern of mine as well.  Luckily, I have some natural padding to see me through the tough times still.  I'll have to start thinking of my survival plan to fight off starvation once I hit my goal weight though....

To get us started, here are a few broad ideas I like to keep in mind when planning my menus/meals:

• Don't bring food into the house that will tempt you to a point you're not ready to match with will power.  I have a six year old whose taste buds do not always go the way of healthy eating.  Intentionally, I'll allow her "fun" foods or snacks that I know I won't eat - fruit snacks, GoGurt, mini Baby Bel cheese.  She's a fan of dessert (who isn't??) but she has a drawer of things like mini Tootsie rolls and Dum Dum suckers.  If they were to get too frisky and entice me to eat one, damage would be minimal.  But she still likes them so it's a win/win.  We also have Cheez-Its in the house but I've built up a tolerance to their presence and only indulge when I know I have four points to burn. 
• Speaking of indulge, do it.  Not all day long obviously.  But if you KNOW there's something you always crave, find room for it.  What I have discovered is 90% of the time, I REALLY want a taste of chocolate after supper.  I have two choices, ignore it and hope I don't go C to the RAZY at some point and take down an entire pound of peanut M&Ms or induge it in a sensitive, controlled way.  Clearly, I indulge.  My indugence?  ONE Riesen candy.  It's exactly enough if I allow myself to slow down, taste it and enjoy it.  And one Riesen is ONE point.  Perfect!
• Along the lines of not bringing tempting foods into the house, it's also a huge help to have healthy tasty foods always available.  Some of the big ones for us are:  Homemade Ranch Dressing (see previous posts for that recipe!), pickles, carrots, blackberries, Fiber One 90 calorie bars, Jolly Ranchers (You get THREE for one point!) and sunflower seeds in the shell (that's for Mark.)  In a pinch, you've got something you love and will keep your mouth busy for zero to 1 points.
• Plan ahead.  I meal plan over the weekend and assign each supper to a night based on how busy our schedules are for that day.  Then, after breakfast I load in all my points for breakfast and morning snacks as well as my anticipated points for supper.  That automatically tells me how many points I have left for lunch, afternoon snacks or even dessert.  I've found this to be a great way to make sure I'm not only eating all my points and not hoarding them but also to spread them out appropriately throughout the day.  Trust me, I have no need for a points binge at the end of the day before going to bed!  That helps no one!
• Consistancy can really help.  I don't think it's the key to success, but if you take the thinking out of it, food gets put back to it's place as something YOU control - not something that controls you.  I always have cereal for breakfast.  This is a LEARNED behavior.  I've long since been one of those people who thinks that eating early makes me sick to my stomach.  And it did for the first two weeks I did it.  You're welcome metabolism, for getting you back on track.  Now, I'm appropriately hungry in the morning for the fuel to kick start my day.  I also have fruit and a Fiber One bar as my snack at work.  If I don't have it, by the time I'm home I'm ready to eat EVERYTHING.  Not good.  So, I pack a snack.  Lunch tends to be pretty similar every day - mostly so that I can just come home, make it and eat it before the hungries start blinding me.  Thomas bagel thins or mini bagels, Weight Watchers cream cheese spread, veggies and dip and some pickles are pretty common.  That leaves supper as my daily wild card.  So far, it's working.

Onto what an actual day or two looks like for me.  I'll go on record to say, at no point have I been out of my mind starving in the past month.  To me, that says I'm doing a good job with the types of foods I'm choosing.  Protein is always somewhat of a challenge for me because I don't like meat and eggs sort of make me gaggy unless I eat them at suppertime.  There are only so many beans a gal can eat and still be allowed to participate in society, so I just do the best I can.

So here's what I had a couple of days ago - note: I don't track water on my food list.  I drink plenty as it's the only thing I drink aside from coffee (and the occasionaly cocktail, but shhhhhhhhhh.....)

Morning
1/2 cup(s) Original All-Bran                          1
1 large banana(s)                                            2
1 serving(s) 90 Cal. Fiber One bar                 1
20 oz black coffee                                          0
1/2 cup(s) fat-free skim milk                          1
Subtotal 5

Midday
1 serving(s) Thomas Bagel Thin                    1
1 1/2 serving(s) Old Dutch FF Pretzel thins   3
1 oz Reduced Fat Cream Cheese Spread       1
3/4 cup(s) blackberries                                  0.5
1 cup(s) carrot(s)                                           0
1 Tbsp sunflower seeds                                 1
3 Homemade Ranch Dressing                        4.5
Subtotal 11

Evening
4 oz frozen grilled salmon                             3
2 Tbsp sliced almonds                                  1.5
1 1/3 cup(s) cooked green beans                   0.5
1/2 Tbsp canola oil                                       2
1 serving(s) Uncle Ben's Fast & Natural Brown Rice 3
1 cup(s) watermelon                                     1
1 serving(s) Smart Pop mini bag                   1
Subtotal 12

A perfect 28 points - which is what I'm allowed in a day.  I was never hungry.  And it's a LOT of food!  (As you can see by my lunch, I was craving salty/crunchy!)  While suppers change dramatically, I'd say, the point spread stays about the same - I use 5-7 for morning foods, 8-11 for lunch foods, and 10-15 on supper foods.  I'm working on trying to shift more calories to the mornings, but for now, this is working well.

Hopefully this will soothe some minds that I'm sitting here starving all day just nibbling away on clear broth and carrot sticks! 

Murphy's Hot Hamburger

AKA - Heaven on a plate for my meat loving husband.

I'm going to warn you.  This recipe contains gravy.  And fries.  And hamburgers.  MMMMmmmm.  I know.  It had me at gravy.

I originally found this on the Pioneer Woman website, but she links it to here:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/2010/03/a-tasty-recipe-murphys-hot-hamburger/

Here's the picture:

Seriously.  Do you hear the angels singing?  And I don't even LIKE hamburgers. 

This household always has a small challenge when it comes to meal planning.  Basically, Mark loves meat and I do not.  There's very little I enjoy about meat and in case you're fearing an ethical debate from me, fret not.  It's simply a texture thing.  I don't like to touch it raw and I don't love the texture when I eat it.  Fish being about the only exception to the taste texture issue.  Because I do most of the cooking, I win.  And Mark's pallatte has had to adapt.  I do try to have meat dishes a few times a week to play nice.  This is one of those that's great for both of us.  All I do is skip the eating of the hamburger patty.  Trust me, I'm down with just eating fries and gravy. 

Want to know the best part?  The way I prepare it comes out to only 8 points a serving!!  CRAZY, right??!  Doesn't it look way worse than that?  Onto the magical recipe...

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Murphy's Hot Hamburger

Ingredients

1 pound lean Ground Beef (7% fat)

Garlic Powder to taste
Onion Powder to taste
1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt
Black Pepper to taste
5 Tablespoons Flour
28 oz. Fat Free Beef Broth
3 Large Potatoes
1 Tablespoon canola oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice potatoes into fries. Place on large baking sheet. Pour oil onto fries and toss to coat evenly. Bake for approx. 45 minutes or until golden and crispy.

In mixing bowl, mix hamburger, garlic, seasoned salt, onion powder, and salt and pepper. Mix well. For 4 large patties. Place in large preheated skillet over medium heat. Brown burgers on each side until fully cooked.
Remove burgers from skillet and place on plate covered in paper towels. DO NOT drain the grease. Add the flour one tablespoon at a time, stirring with a whisk until all grease is absorbed and flour mixture gets thick and bubbly. Slowly add the broth, whisking constantly. Bring to a simmer and allow to thicken.
To serve, place fries on plate, hamburger on top of fries and cover all in gravy!
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Julie's Notes:

• Cutting the fries is actually not all that hard to do by hand.  I bought a cheap fry cutter from target and it was junk, so I threw it away and just do it by hand.  I also peel the potatoes due to a finicky 5 year old who lives in this house.
• Parchment paper rules.  I use it on the baking sheets under the fries and have no trouble with them sticking or burning.
• In using the 93/7 lean ground beef, I've found there is very little "fat" left over for the flour to get mixed into.  There's MAYBE enough for a tablespoon of flour and that doesn't make it thick enough.  I'm still researching a way for more flour to get incorporated without lumps.  Although the lumps don't seem to be slowing anyone down in this house when I make this recipe.

There's not much more that needs to be said for this recipe.  It's amazing. 

WHOA! Huh?

I lost this week!  .8 pounds to be exact!  Huh??!!!

To be 100% honest, I didn't track a single point from Wednesday afternoon on.  Life was just too busy with the craziness of the rummage sale and eating at my parents' house most of the meals.  There were donuts consumed, fancy coffee drinks swigged, Chinese food ordered and eaten.

And I still lost!

My theory?  I need to eat my activity points.  At least.  I've been trying not to - thinking it would help me lose weight faster.  And knowing that if I stopped losing, it would likely be due to needing to up my fuel intake.  This has proven it to me.  I wasn't eating enough.  I could sort of feel it too - I was really lethargic and FELT hungry pretty much all day long for the previous week and a half (pre-rummage sale madness).  But, since I don't have a great track record with proper eating, I didn't know if it was part of me adjusting to just eating LESS or if I wasn't eating enough. 

So, YAAAAAAAAAAAY!  I don't need to feel hungry and can still lose!  This has just totally jazzed me back up for the week.

(Although talk to me after tomorrow's run and you may not hear the same enthusiasm!)

Crab Stuffed Tomatoes

For many reasons, this wasn't the next recipe I planned to post.  One major reason?  I feel like "stuffed tomatoes" are such a weigh loss cliche.  Especially if they're stuffed with cottage cheese - aka "diet plate".  So, why post it?  Well, for one, it's super yummy (I was actually craving it last night so that's a good sign!).  For two, well...just remember the phrase "grapefruit spoon."  Trust me.  We'll come full circle.

What should you know before reading the recipe?  Orzo.  Yup.  Another totally "new to me" ingredient.  It's a really good thing I watch a lot of Food Network or I would still be of the opinion that orzo is a vegetable of some sort.  Thank you Rachel Ray for enlightening me.  (Please note:  This will probably be the only thank you Rachel Ray and her "Yumm-O!"s will ever get from me.  Bask in the glow Rachel.)  From her show, I learned orzo is actually pasta.  Yeah.  But it looks like flat rice so go figure.


Again, scale is tricky on a blog, but the little pieces are maybe 1/2" or 3/4" in length.  The only package I found was a tiny little bag of Barilla brand - maybe a cup or a cup and a half total?  So, keep those eyes peeled.  (Although, I'll admit I was flustered so it might not be as hard as I made it!)


Onto the recipe!  (Nope, not time for the secret of the grapefruit spoon yet!)  It's right off the Weight Watchers site - apparently from the book "In One Pot".

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Crab Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients
1/2 cup(s) uncooked orzo
8 medium tomato(es)
3/4 pound(s) cooked crab meat, lump, picked over for pieces of shell
1 medium stalk(s) celery, chopped
1/2 small sweet red pepper(s), seeded and chopped
1/2 small onion(s), chopped
1/3 cup(s) reduced-calorie mayonnaise
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp parsley, fresh, chopped
1/2 tsp OLD BAY Old Bay Seasoning

Instructions
Cook the orzo according to package directions; drain and rinse under cold water.


Slice off the top fourth of each tomato and reserve. Using a spoon, scoop out the pulp from each tomato. Place the tomato shells upside down on a layer of paper towels to drain; set aside. (Save the pulp for use in stews and soups.)

Combine the orzo, crab meat, celery, bell pepper, onion, mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, and Old Bay seasoning in a bowl; mix well.

Fill each tomato shell with about 1⁄2 cup of the crab mixture, mounding if necessary. Replace the reserved tomato tops.

One serving = 6 points.  2 stuffed tomatoes per serving. 
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Julie's notes and the reveal of the grapefruit spoon mystery:

1.  OK - are you ready?  I had an EPIPHANY last night while getting my tomatoes prepped for hollowing out.  And since my husband wasn't as enthusiastic as I needed in my moment of glory, I present it here for you to worship and adore.  You know that grapefruit spoon you have?  Serrated and shoved all the way back to your silverware drawer?  USE IT TO HOLLOW OUT YOUR TOMATO!  Seriously, I'm not sure I've even been more proud than when that occurred to me last night.  And definitely follow their suggestion of just cutting off the top 1/4 and then going in - sort of like if it were a pumpkin you were about to gut and carve.  The first time I made this, I didn't do that AND I tried to hollow it out with a small spoon with mediocre results.  I mean, it's a tomato and I'm a person, so I eventually won, but still.  GRAPEFRUIT SPOON.  Ahhh...soooo worth it.

2.  I used imitation crab both times.  Really, it was a matter of cost.  I'd never touched a piece of imitation crab and well, it's a little weird and creepy.  But it tasted just fine so I'll get used to it.  Not to be too graphic, but I bought the "leg" style and peeled them each like a piece of string cheese.  THEN I diced them up. 

3.  Due to my dislike for raw peppers, we left those out.  And used onion powder instead of onion.  That's due to laziness, not flavor.  And dried parsley.  For the same reason as onion powder.

4.  I'd never tried Old Bay either.  Is that weird?  Sometimes I'm not sure.  It's pretty yummy - no need to fear it.  Sort of like richer, slightly zestier Lowry's Seasoned Salt.  At least to me.

5.  It doesn't tell you to do this, but it's a lot better chilled.  More crab salad-y.  But, I don't always plan ahead as well as I should, so I can confirm it's good room temperature as well.

6.  I used regular mayo because that's what we had in the fridge.  With that change and the use of imitation crab, the points come out to 7 per serving instead of 6.

7.  The serving size is TWO tomatoes in case you missed that.  And while it doesn't seem like enough, it's absolutely filling enough for a suppertime meal.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this recipe.  Obviously, you'd need to like crab to like this.  I suppose you'd be able to omit the crab and just do the filling as sort of a pasta salad and it would still be good.  Maybe I'll try that next time just for research purposes.  Until then, I'll let you go find that grapefruit spoon so you're ready to make it on your own!

Freaky Deaky Leeks...

How many of you know what a leek is?  As in, you could go to the grocery store and walk right to it, knowing with utmost confidence you didn't pick the wrong item?

Yeah, I couldn't either until about three weeks ago.

But it's OK!  Not only can I go pick them out of the crowd of other random produce, but I have cooked with them twice AND ................ like them!  Add another into the "win" column. 

Never would I have considered buying a leek until all of the recipes I tore out of the magazine named for one, Ms. Martha Stewart, included them.  Of course they do.  Leek and "foil lined parchment."  Whatevs, Martha.  I don't have time for that nonsense.  But there was this recipe that looked DIVINE in the magazine picture..... so off to the grocery to find a leek.

I think you'll be proud to know that I didn't need to ask for help.  Although I totally would have.  I go to the grocery Mark manages so I'd have called his sorry butt over if necessary and HE could have hunted for it.  What?  That's what the little old ladies do!  Somewhere in the depths of my Food Network obsessed brain there was an image of a leek. Sort of greenish I thought.  So I headed to that big wall of leafy geen things.  You know, the one that is also located under the leafy green sprinkler system that seems to be perfectly timed to soak you just as you reach in?  The possibility of drenching aside, I started digging through the display. 

AHA!  Leeks.

I'll spare you having to ask - here's what a leek looks like:

I know!  Right?  It looks just like a friggin' giant green onion!  If someone *cough* MARTHA *cough* would have just said that, the process would have been a lot easier.  Some notes on using leeks ('cause I'm an expert on them now apparently!):

1.  An average leek is like 12" long.  You can't tell that from the picture.  But they're big.  You only use a tiny part of the plant.  Even though they sell you all the giant extra parts.  Stupid.  But, you hack off the big green leaves from the top and the root - keeping only the pale green and white parts to use.

2.  It will be STINKY as you start cutting into it.  It's a friggin' giant green onion remember.  And it smells sharp, just like you'd imagine a friggin' giant green onion would.  (If you were so inclide to imagine something like that.)  Don't worry.  It totally mellows out and that smell doesn't show up as a taste.

3.  You have to wash it AFTER it's all cut up.  Why?  Sand.  LOTS of sand.  All in between the layers.  And if you just rinse off the outsides, all that groady grit will still be in there and as a result, in your recipe.  Not good.  So, chop it all up and then rinse, rinse, rinse.

Want a recipe?  I knew you would!  Get your fancy-pants on because it's all Martha-y.

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Potato and Sweet Potato Tian

Ingredients

1 lb Yukon Gold Potatoes, thinly sliced

12 oz sweet potatoes, thinly sliced
1 green apple cored and grated
3 leeks, white and pale green only, sliced ⅛ inch thick
1Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp coarse salt
pepper to taste
2 oz grated Gruyère

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350F. Toss together potatoes, apple, leeks, oil, and 1 tsp coarse salt. Season with pepper. Transfer to a 9 X 12 oval baking dish and cover with parchment-lined foil. Bake for 15 min. Raise oven temperature to 400F. Remove, uncover, and top with Gruyère. Bake until bubbling and top is browned, about 30 min.

Makes 8 servings.  3 points/serving
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Notes from Julie:

1. Yeah.  I don't know what "tian" is either.  It's OK, we'll work through it together.  It's like super fancy-pants potatoes au gratin.
2. While there is a sign at the grocery indicating they sell both yams and sweet potatoes, I have no idea which is which.  Just grab one.  They'd cook up about the same for this I think.
3. Gruyère cheese.  O.M.G.  DELISH!!!  I had never tried it before.  At least not that I knew about.  I found it in the grocery store deli section - you know where all those fancy cheese are that you've also never tried?  And it's EXPENSIVE.  So be ready for that.  My 4 oz piece was $10.  Craziness for cheese.  BUT.  So worth it.  It's like a nuttier version of fresh parmesan cheese.  Also, a little goes a long way.  I'm a cheese-aholic.  I blame my geographical proximity to the state of Wisconsin.  And when I put that 2 oz on there I was skeptical.  It's enough.  Trust me.
4. You know what to do with the leeks.  Cut thin and rinse, rinse, rinse.  They'll look like little curly locks of hair.
5. Martha's Oval baking dish = Julie's 9"x13" Corningware dish
6. Martha's foil lined parchment = Julie's tin foil
7. The apple may throw you off.  Don't let it.  It totally works.  The first time I made it, I didn't read for comprehension and cut it into thin slices like the potatoes instead of Martha's way.  The second time, I went with Martha's way.  I kind of preferred it my way.  But don't broadcast that - Martha's an ex-con.  She may find me and shiv me.  I liked the random bite of sour.  Player's choice.

I think that's it.  I personally could eat this every day.  Very rich flavors.  And even Mark, "Mr. I don't like sweet potatoes", liked it.  High praise indeed.

Emeril's Oven-Roasted Cauliflower

Cauliflower. There. I said it.

It's sort of like ripping a Band-aid off.  Let's just get it out there so we can start the conversation.

If you're anything like me, your experience with cauliflower has probably been limited.  Relegated to the last thing left on a party veggie platter.  Sitting there, steamed, in the way of a few baby carrots and perhaps a piece of broccoli on the side of a plate at a wedding reception.   It has some strong disadvantages to overcome - bland color, its resemblance to broccoli, sort of stinky.  Truth be told, I've always just assumed I wouldn't like cauliflower.

Turns out, I LOVE it.  Well, at least one very specific version of it.  Thank you, Mr. Emeril Lagasse for opening my eyes to cauliflower's potential.  Admittedly, it helps that the veggie in question is paired with olive oil and parmesan cheese, but still.  Don't we all need friends sometimes?

I'm obsessed with this recipe.  It's crunchy and nutty and lemony and even a little decadent.  Again, this could be the starvation talking.  You'll have to try it and report back!

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Emeril's Oven-Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients

5 to 6 cups cauliflower florets, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter (from 1 medium cauliflower)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sliced garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
Chopped chives, for garnish


Directions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Place the cauliflower florets in a large saute pan or a roasting pan. Drizzle the olive oil over the cauliflower, and season with the garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Place the saute/roasting pan in the oven and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even roasting.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the Parmesan. Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately while still warm.

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Julie's Notes:

If you've never dealt with a whole cauliflower before, be prepared for it to be a little feisty.  I'll admit I've never dealt with one before, I'm not proud.  I expected it to behave like a head of broccoli but it's denser and tighter.  So, have a good, small knife to get in there.  The plus side?  It's less messy than a head of broccoli.

I'm not sure what sort of oven situation Mr. Lagasse has happening at his house, but in mine, I don't use my oven at 500 degrees.  First of all, it seems like overkill.  Second of all, it's the temperature at which my oven CLEANS ITSELF.  I'm not sure I want to put my food in there at that temp and risk spontaneous combustion.  Player's choice.  *I* kept it down to a nice, calm 450 degrees and it turned out just fine.

Another thing that I'm not sure of is what the heck constitutes a "large saute pan or a roasting pan".  So, I used a metal baking sheet.  And all was fine.

Fresh garlic and chives.  Go for it if you feel you must.  I just used powdered garlic and no chives.  It was still delish and no one came to arrest me for food abuse, so I think you're safe if you follow in my footsteps on that one.

In terms of points, well, here's where it's tricky.  When I ran the whole recipe through the WW site, it came out to about 3 points a cup.  If I break it down to 1 cup cauliflower, 1 tsp oil, and 1 TBSP cheese (which is what the recipe serving essentially is!),  I get 2.5 points a cup.  And yes, that .5 point is important to me.  Especially since I plan to eat at least two cups of it.  Don't judge.

I promise you this one's worth trying.  Even if you think you don't like cauliflower.  Even if it still looks a little yucky to you when it comes out of the oven.  Even if it smells a little funny to you once it's all assembled.  All of those things happened to me at first too, and now I have an addiction to this stuff.

The ABCs of food and me

I have a weird relationship with food. That's not really a secret to those who know me well. This process is a huge step for me in reclaiming that relationship and showing food who's boss. There are just a bunch of foods I either don't like or don't know how to cook or just have never experimented with enough to find the way I like them. Add to that a huge sensitivity to textures - the wrong one will put me completely off for an entire meal - as well as being super visual with food - if it looks sort of icky, it's ruined before I even taste it and yeah. Trouble's a brewin'.

Enter Weight Watchers. For those unfamiliar, you get a certain amount of "points" to eat in a day and every food has a point value. It's based on a lot of things, mostly weight and activity level. Example, I have 28. Plus some others. But let me tell you, 28 is NOT many. LOL! A banana? 2 points. 28 almonds? 4 points. Right there, almost 25% of my day's points would be done! On a banana and almonds. So, you need to plan ahead and be strategic. And to do that, there have been LOTS of new recipes going on in this household.

My plan is to post the ones that are standouts. I've been really surprised by some of them. This very likely could be due to starvation. I'll get back to you on that. If you're hungry enough, anything will taste good, right? But, I'm sort of confident that these are just good recipes despite the hunger. I'll post and let you be the judge!

A smidge of background...

I'm a work in progress. Currently under renovation. Making some changes. Please excuse my dust. And all those other great sayings.

Really, I'm newly re-dedicated to improving myself - my fitness, my eating, my health. Weight Watchers online and the Couch to 5K running plan are my two new best friends. I started a week and a half ago and am happy to report, am still going strong on both.

Why?

Well, I'm tired of feeling like I can't. Can't lose weight. Can't run. Can't make permanent changes and stick with them. This time it's all about can. And can in a very mindful way - sometimes it's minute to minute choices and in other moments, it's all about the big picture.

I started this blog to be a collection place for the things that stick out. My highlight reel I guess you could call it. For one, in the past week I've discovered all sorts of new and amazing recipes. I want to share them. I've also discovered that I can run for more than 1 minute and not only not die but actually sort of, kind of enjoy it. Eeek!

Give me a couple of days to get caught up! And as I go, I'll try tag things to make them easier to find. Thanks for coming on this journey with me!