Lettuce Eat Cake

March 6, 2010

Weigh in for my SIL's Biggest Loser contest actually went well. I weighed in at 168.2 on the Wii. I'm finding myself in an interesting situation. I've done pretty well at not eating out of my daily points for the most part, but I feel so full and heavy at the end of the day that I find myself wondering if I accounted for everything. I really didn't expect to see any weight loss at all. I'm ending this week with 29.5 weeklies remaining, but again, I'm not guaranteeing that is completely accurate.

I went through the clothes at Target on Friday and found a dress in a size 14 that I really liked. I was pleasantly surprised when it fit. Even more surprising is that the friend who was with me thought I could go down another size b/c the top is a little too big and there was even an inch in the waist that could be brought in. The dress was marked $10 from $40, so I bought it. I came home and tried it on again and took pictures. By the end of that I decided the dress wasn't really as flattering as I thought it was, and now I'm pretty sure I'll return it. I really like the A-line look, but I think it makes me look even more hip-y.




Since I was trying on clothes anyway, I tried the swimsuit again and took pics to see if I could tell a difference. I decided I couldn't. It makes me feel discouraged despite knowing that I really have made a lot of progress. We didn't do much by way of P90x this week either, so I don't feel like I really worked out much. I feel like I'm in a slump, but I think hormones are playing a part in it.

For now, I guess I'll just keep swimming, just keep swimming and see where I end up.

Grilled Mango Glazed Ham

Grilled Mango Glazed Ham, Lt04, 5 points for steak & 2 pts for glaze or 8 points total

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper
1 teaspoon minced fresh gingerroot
1 medium ripe mango or 2 medium ripe peaches, peeled and cut into wedges
1 bone-in fully cooked lean ham steak (about 2 pounds)
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, jalapeno and ginger. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes or until glaze is thick and caramelized. Strain and cool. Place mango in a food processor or blender; cover and process until smooth. Stir into glaze; set aside.

Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill. Sprinkle both sides of ham steak with pepper. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 10 minutes on each side or until heated through. Brush both sides of ham with mango glaze; grill 5 minutes longer. Serve ham with remaining glaze. Yield: 8 servings.


Nutritional Analysis: One serving (4 ounces cooked ham with 2 tablespoons glaze) equals 251 calories, 10 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 60 mg cholesterol, 1,454 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 21 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1 starch, 1/2 fruit.

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Made March 6th. Points were a little tricky to calculate for this. If I entered the recipe as written (with my ham substituted), the points equaled 8. I opted not to do it that way though because we had 1 cups of glaze left that didn't come anywhere near the steak. So, I calculated points for the glaze (2 pts based on the 8 servings in the recipe) and then points for the ham steak (4). The recipe includes 2 TB of glaze, so I figured I had 1/4 serving = .5 points. So, this entree cost me 4.5 points. I rounded up for the purpose of this post to be on the safer side. With all that noted, I've tagged this recipe at 8 points for the entire recipe as given. Clear as mud?

Now onto the recipe.... I had bought peaches to use instead of mangos, but when I decided to make the Creamed Spinach as a side dish I needed to make a run to the store for the cream cheese. In the process, I found a "quick sale' bag of 3 mangos for 99 cents. Score! So, I ended up with mangos after all. There was one medium and two smaller ones, so I used the big one and the smallest one. The third one I threw in for a fruit salad with the peaches I'd originally purchased - yum!

I did not add the jalepenos, and I think soaking the flavor out of them is part of the point of simmering for 30 minutes because simmering the vinegar, sugar and ginger didn't seem to do much except make the liquid content go down. Maybe I didn't simmer them correctly because I never really saw a carmelizing - and it was on the heat for almost 45 minutes.

This is another grill recipe that never went to the grill. The ham steak I had had microwave directions, and since it was still frozen, that was the route I took. The steak came from angel food and was only 1 pound. I had some ham filets from a spiral ham I bought, so I added those to the dish too. So, to cook this I put the steak in the microwave for 5 minutes, took it out and put it in a baking dish, added the pepper (because I forgot I was supposed to do that before cooking it) and the glaze, then stuck it in the oven until the rest of dinner was ready.

Grilled certainly would have changed the flavor a little bit, but I enjoyed this anyway. The jalepenos probably would have added a fun spice to the flavor, but I don't think the boys would have appreciated it too much.

I served the steak with corn on the cob, creamed spinach and chips/crackers, and fruit salad (1 mango, 2 peaches, 1 apple, 1/4 fresh pineapple). It ended up being a very high point meal. Oops. But it was a delicious one!

Creamed Spinach

Creamed Spinach, LT04, 4 points

Ingredients

1/4 cup diced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups fat-free half-and-half
4 ounces fat-free cream cheese, cubed
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 package (16 ounces) frozen leaf spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon shredded Parmesan cheese, divided

Directions

In a large nonstick skillet, saute onion and garlic in butter until tender. Stir in flour until blended. Gradually whisk in half-and-half until blended. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Add the cream cheese, salt, nutmeg and pepper, stirring until cream cheese is melted. Stir in spinach and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese; heat through. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately. Yield: 5 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1/2 cup) equals 131 calories, 4 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 12 mg cholesterol, 704 mg sodium, 13 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 10 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1 fat, 1/2 fat-free milk.

*******
Made March 6th. I used neufchatel cream cheese instead of FF, so the points may be a little bit different. I thought about buying the FF, but decided to go with the product that had more natural ingredients.

I made this as a side dish to the Grilled Mango Glazed Ham. This reminded me a lot of a spinach dip. I felt like it needed artichoke hearts :) In fact, I ended up putting chips and crackers on the table. It's ok by itself, but my favorites were with the Ritz Whole Grain crackers and tortilla chips.

I didn't get shredded parmesan for this but used the grated I had on hand. The asthetics probably would have been a bit better for the final look with the shredded vs the grates.

Diapers Day 3

Aaron seems to have adjusted quite easily to CD now. He never complains about diaper changes - at least no more than normal. Tonight I put on a truck print diaper and that made him pretty excited. CD certainly are more fun than sposies in that regard.

Last night went about the same as the night before. He woke up about 12:30 crying, and when asked if he needed a diaper change he shook his head yes. I changed him into the sposie and he fell back asleep fairly quickly. Aaron pretty much always wakes up in the 12 - 2 am hour, and I'm kind of wondering if it's because he's gone potty. He has never liked being in a wet diaper, even as an infant, so the effect of feeling the wetness in a CD might be especially aggravating for him.

We had our first public diaper change today. Aaron usually has a poop in the morning, but he hadn't done it before we needed to leave so I left him in the sposie from last night. We were going to a park and I didn't want to have to change a poopy CD there. Sure enough, by the time we left he needed changed. The CD I chose wasn't stuffed with much, which would have been fine if he hadn't taken a 2 hour nap in it. Poor guy. He woke up soaked :(

I've been trying to decide when to do my first load. I think it'll happen on Monday. Washing CD isn't a big deal except it can take a long time between soaking and running them through 2 complete wash /rinse cycles. I guess that means I really ought to go throw a load of clothes in now since the machine will be tied up on Monday....

Rotini Chicken Casserole

Rotini Chicken Casserole, LT03, 7 points

Ingredients

2-3/4 cups uncooked tricolor rotini or spiral pasta
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon Crisco® Pure Olive Oil
3 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) reduced-fat reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1-1/2 cups fat-free milk
1 package (16 ounces) frozen Italian-blend vegetables
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1-1/4 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup crushed cornflakes

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a nonstick skillet, saute onion, celery and garlic in oil until tender. Drain pasta; place in a bowl, Add the onion mixture, chicken, soup, milk, frozen vegetables, cheese, parsley, thyme and salt.

Pour into a shallow 3-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with cornflakes; spritz with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, 10-15 minutes longer or until heated through. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1-1/3 cups) equals 341 calories, 7 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 56 mg cholesterol, 698 mg sodium, 40 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 28 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 2 starch, 1 vegetable.

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Made on March 5th (kinda). I had planned on serving this on Wed, but dinner changed to pizza for the kids and Houlihan's for us (yay What What Wednesday!). I was being good and had already started preparing dinner when the plans changed. So, I just put it all together and stored it in a bowl until it was time to make it. This worked out really well. The only kink was in which dish to actually prepare it in. My guess is that a 3 qt dish would be about a 9x13 pan, but since mine have all gone MIA that wasn't really an option. My 11x14 or whatever the next size up is would have been fine to use for it, but it was being used to deliver dinner to another family. I tried to use a 7x10? but that was too small. This recipe makes a LOT. I then settled on two 8x8 pans. I filled one 8x8 and realized there was still enough in the 7x10 that I might as well not dirty another pan.

This recipe is pretty simple to prepare. The hardest part was finding Italian blend vegetables. I finally had to google it to figure out what vegetables were in it to find it that way. As it turns out, Italian is no longer the chic word. It's Mediterranean. So, look for Mediterranean blend vegetables instead of Italian blend.

The Diaper Chronicles Night 1

I had to leave for a piano lesson last night and figured I'd be back in about 45 minutes so no big deal about Aaron's diaper. Well, almost two hours later when I got home Aaron was asleep in bed with the cloth diaper I put on him before leaving. I knew he'd need a diaper change. So, I waited until right before I went to bed (at midnight). He was poopy AGAIN. I swear that kid had more poop yesterday in CD than he normally does in sposies. But, if he's going to go through diapers that quick I'd prefer it to be in the cloth. So, I changed his diaper and doubled up the microfiber insert and hoped that'd hold him through the night and went to bed. At 1:30 am Aaron was wailing at the end of my bed. Apparently he'd been crying for awhile but it took that long to wake me up. I discovered Jared was in my bed then too. ugh. He must have been woken up by Aaron's crying and had just gotten there because he was awake too. So, I pulled Aaron into bed next to me. 'WAH I want my sippy cup.' So, I go get his sippy cup, lay down next to him and get comfy only to discover that he'd soaked through. *sigh* No wonder he was so upset. I think he even told me that he was really really poopy (wet). So, I got back up and grabbed a disposable diaper so we can make it through the rest of the night. Finally we were able to all go back to sleep.


This morning I was happy to discover that the sposie was dry! YAY!! A sposie salvaged! I decided to hurry and change him into a CD to take Jared to school so that we can reuse the sposie. I'm not sure the cloth diapers will work at night, but I'm willing to give it a few more days to see if there's a pattern to his use.

Diaper Duty

We had our monthly budget meeting the other day and with budget cuts, I somehow forgot to set aside money for diapers this month. OOPS. I'd been going back and forth in my mind about using cloth diapers again to help ease the budget anyway, so this really forced me into it. I had also thought about potty training, but with teaching piano in the afternoons I wouldn't be able to dedicate the time to run him to the bathroom when he needed it. So, yesterday I pulled my CD (cloth diapers) out of storage and laundered them in preparation for use. We have about 4 disposable diapers (sposies) left and I'll just use them at night. Maybe. Now that I'm thinking about it Aaron hasn't been going very much in the night, so maybe the cloth will be fine. I guess we'll have to experiment and see. Jared would always end up red in the mornings, but I don't know how Aaron will do. Anyway, so as I was going through and sorting my stash yesterday, Aaron was curious about what everything was. I told him that these were his new diapers. He was very excited about the fun diaper cover prints and was telling me which ones he wanted to wear. I hoped this meant the transition would be pretty easy.

The journey began today in a less-than ideal status. Last night I folded all the diapers and stuffed most of the ones that needed stuffed but I wish I would have actually created a spot to put them all because it was very frazzling today trying to use them (which was fine for me, but not for anyone else). It was convenient that Aaron had his morning poop before I changed him out of his sposie from last night. Unfortunately when I went to change Aaron's diaper and let him know that he was getting one of his new diapers, he had a revolt. I explained to him though that we don't have money for the other diapers, so he either needed to wear the new diapers or go potty in the toilet. He didn't want to go potty in the toilet so he was much more cooperative after that. Thankfully I chose an all-in-one the first time (no extra cover needed, so it's kind of like a sposie). About five minutes after he was changed though he told me he went again. Things went much smoother the second time and every change since. The hardest part is figuring out which cover he wants to wear :p

Tonight I went to a PTO mtg and didn't have a chance to fill Matthew in on the diaper situation. I figured I'd be back in a hour or so and it wouldn't be a big deal anyway since I changed Aaron right before I left. Matthew called me at about the hour mark and tells me that Aaron went potty in the toilet twice. woohoo! Apparently Matthew had the CD or potty talk with him too. I got home to a very excited Aaron telling me about going potty in the toilet. I noticed he was wearing the CD I put on him before I left (or so I thought) but without a cover. He looked so cute in his bubble butt diaper. I walked into the livingroom and my eyes were immediately drawn to a wad on the floor in front of my computer. A diaper liner with a ball of poop in it. joy. Matthew filled me in on the potty situation. Aaron had taken his diaper off by himself to go potty (probably with a little bit of encouragement from Jared because they were in the bathroom at the same time). Amazingly Aaron even used the regular toilet - something he's always freaked out about before. So yay for Aaron, boo for the poo on the floor. These types of breakthroughs always seem to happen when I'm gone and Matthew is the one at home..... So I was way off about my assumption that Matthew wouldn't need to worry about CD. He went from no woories to having Aaron use the toilet twice and having to put a clean CD on him! lol With this kind of record, maybe Aaron will end up out of diapers soon after all.

Due to a lot of circumstances, there was no group P90X today. In fact, it was all quiet in our household when my alarm went off at 6:45 because there'd be no hussle and bussle to get Jared off to school either. He was sent home with a low grade fever yesterday, but it was nowhere to be found thereafter. Still, there's a 24 hour fever-free policy, so he stayed home and I reveled in it!! It was a beautiful morning and I actually felt awake and energetic.

After eating my now usual breakfast of oatmeal, I hopped on the treadmill and did the 4 mph/20 minute program. It's the first time in a long time that I've attempted it. Two years ago when I was doing WW, I did this program three days a week and got to the point where I was going 5 mph, and I think I even attempted the 6mph once. But when I started, it was torture at 4 mph. When the treadmill went to 4mph, I'd have to run to keep up with the speed and talk myself through each minute to keep going (6 minutes total running). On my birthday that year, my mom made me an absolutely delicious carrot cake but I felt so icky after eating it that I wanted to run it off. That was the beginning of the end of my WW diet at the time. Six months after I'd stopped WW and my routine, I tried the workout and felt like I was back at square one. It was amazing to me how quickly muscles atrophy when they're not maintained.

In the last few weeks there was another day when we didn't meet for P90X so I'd gotten on the treadmill, but I was too chicken to try the 4mph program. For whatever reason, today I felt empowered to do it. And I did! Easily!! I did break a sweat but it wasn't exhausting. My legs felt good. So good that I didn't want to sit at the computer even though there were things I wanted to do on it because I wanted to be up and moving. So, I went out and mowed the back yard (good workout for my arms). Side note about that experience... I 'knew' the gas can was empty because I saw it sitting there with the lid off, so I ran the mower until it died. Unfortunately there's a strip down the middle that still needs chopped, but by the time it died Aaron was awake and felt abandoned and needed rescued so it all worked out. This afternoon I filled the gas can up and put the lawnmower away and discovered the larger gas can sitting on a shelf. Full. ha!! Oh well.

On the food front, I've had the box for my Fiber One yogurt sitting on the cabinet waiting to go to recycling. For some reason I decided to look at the ingredients today and was sorely disappointed to discover aspartame in it :( I have one yogurt left and I won't be buying anymore. While at the store today I checked out several of the 'healthy' yogurt labels and found it pretty consistently. grrr. How can it be healthy when it has yucky dangerous chemicals in it?! Very frustrating.

Greek Pork Wraps

Greek Pork Wraps LT02, 151, 9.5 points

Ingredients

1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons Crisco® Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Canola Oil
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1-3/4 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pork tenderloin (1 pound)
1 cup chopped peeled cucumber
1 cup reduced-fat plain yogurt
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dill weed
8 flour tortilla (6 inches)
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Directions

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the lemon juice, oil, mustard, 1-1/4 teaspoons garlic and oregano; add the pork. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 2 hours.

In a small bowl, combine the cucumber, yogurt, salt, dill and remaining garlic; cover and refrigerate until serving.

Drain and discard marinade. Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill for indirect medium-hot heat. Grill tenderloin, uncovered, over direct-heated area for 2-3 minutes on each side. Move to indirect-heated area; cover and cook 10-15 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, wrap tortillas in foil; place on grill for 1-2 minutes on each side or until warmed. Slice tenderloin into strips; place on tortillas. Top each with 3 tablespoons yogurt sauce and 1 tablespoon green onions. Yield: 4 servings.


Nutritional Analysis: One serving (2 wraps) equals 402 calories, 14 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 77 mg cholesterol, 718 mg sodium, 34 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 34 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 2 starch, 1/2 milk.

*******
Made March 2nd. The nutritional info yields 9 WW points and my recipe came out to 9.5 - not bad.

I bought a 2 lb pork loin roast for this and cut it in half. Unfortunately I missed an even cut and chose the smaller of the two for the recipe (13 oz). By the time it was done and had shrunk, the meat fed us all but it wasn't very filling. It made more of a two-person serving than 4. I should have gone ahead and cooked the whole thing.

I didn't use the grill, but instead used the stove and oven. For the 5 minutes of 'direct heat' I browned the pork over medium heat in a skillet and flipped it half-way through. Then put it in a covered dish in the oven for the 'indirect heat'. Because our oven is off and doesn't go above 300, it took about 30-40 minutes to get it cooked all the way through. My guess is that at 350 or even 400 it would have been done in 15 minutes.

I loved the dressing! It was reminiscent of Wendy's Chicken Ranch pita that they sold in the 90s. Oh how I crave those every now and then only to be left unsatisfied. Now I can make my own!!

The other exciting thing was that I used green onions fresh from our garden! woohoo!!

Unlike most of the meals I've made in this endeavor, everyone liked this recipe!! Aaron even ate 3/4 of his wrap! Matthew (who doesn't like pork) found it ok. His response was, "It's not mutton". Having had real Greek gyros, this wasn't quite up to par but it was a decent substitute. The wrap felt like it was missing something, and he said it needed lettuce and tomatoes. This recipe is a keeper and one that I'll experiment with in the future.

Raspberry Thyme Chicken

Raspberry Thyme Chicken LT03, 129, 7 points

Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

In a nonstick skillet, saute onion in oil until tender. Meanwhile, sprinkle thyme and 1/4 teaspoon salt over chicken; add to skillet. Cook for 5 minutes on each side or until chicken juices run clear. Remove to a serving plate and keep warm.

In the same skillet, add the preserves, vinegar, pepper and remaining salt. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until preserves are melted and sauce is heated through. Serve with chicken. Yield: 4 servings.


Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1 chicken breast half with 2 tablespoons sauce) equals 227 calories, 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 66 mg cholesterol, 383 mg sodium, 21 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 27 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 meat, 1 starch.

*******
Made today, March 1st. This is another of those WW point discrepencies. According to the nutritional info, it should be 5 points. But, mine came out to 7 points.

I used the flash frozen breast fillets and didn't give them enough time to thaw before I started cooking them, so it took longer than the 5 minutes per side. Since your supposed to cook the chicken and then the sauce, I put the chicken in the oven to keep warm and make sure it was done while the sauce was cooking. After the sauce was finished, I added it to the dish and put it all back in the oven until the rest of dinner was ready. The extra heat caused the rapberries to go brown so it lost some of that color appeal. But, it didn't detract from the taste. I used homemade strawberry jam instead of the seedless raspberry preserves it called for too.

I am curious how well this recipe would do in the crockpot. I make a cranberry chicken that is just chicken breasts and a can of cranberries that turns out really well. I think this would be return a very similar result. Maybe one day I'll be adventurous. If I'd had the 3 hours for the crockpot I would have done it tonight.

This was really yummy. Jared gave me a big thumbs up for the first couple of bites, but then had a hard time finishing it. Aaron ate a few pieces, but he was more interested in the brown rice I served with it than the actual chicken.

Lettuce Eat Cake: Weigh in Day

Feb 28, 2010

Weigh-in: 169.5. Not as low as I'd hoped, but oh well. I lost a point today because I'm in the next set of 10, but I knew that was coming and with the way I've been eating this last week it'll be ok. Usually it's a bit 'traumatic' to lose that one point.

Apparently I've given the impression that I'm not eating, but I want to clarify that I really am eating!! I promise! I just am not eating all the junk food and large portions I had been. One of the keys I've found for sticking to my point level is eating 0 or 1 point items when I'm hungry. Fruits and Vegetables fall in that range, so WW encourages me to up those healthy foods and cut back on the not quite so healthy ones (or the ones I need to eat in moderation).

Lettuce Eat Cake

Feb 27, 2010

It's the end of my WW week and I have 28 of 35 weekly points left and 14 activity points. I did pretty well at the girl's night last night. I did my best to figure out points for it and only ate into 1.5 of my weekly points. In fact, I ate small portions and ended up feeling sick before finishing everything. I was amazed at the way my body responded to it. Then today happened. It was Stake Women's conference and lunch was served. We had a turkey club sub sandwhich with an Italian pasta salad and fruit-ki-bob. OH dang, I just realized I didn't account for the fruit. Oh well. I figured I ate about 13 points at lunch. I really wasn't hungry for dinner, but we were going out as a large family to a Mexican restaurant. I tried to eat controllably? and didn't do too shabby. I ate into 4.5 of my weeklies because of the little things I wasn't disciplined enough to say no to - tortilla w/ butter & sugar (particular weakness for those yummy tortillas), chips (didn't do too bad, but kept going for one more), and a sopapilla (allowed it b/c we never get them). I feel heavy and full now, and I'm hoping that the scale is kind to me tomorrow. I wanted to come home and do some P90x to feel better, but I'm on the computer avoiding dishes instead. And I want to go to bed.

Cheesy Beans and Rice

Cheesy Beans and Rice LT03, 186, 5 points for 8 servings

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked brown rice
1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese, divided

Directions

Cook rice according to package directions. Transfer to a bowl; add the beans. In a nonstick skillet, saute onion in oil for 4-5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, chili powder and salt. Bring to a boil; remove from the heat.

In a 2-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray, layer a third of the rice mixture, cheese and tomato mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining rice mixture and tomato mixture.

Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until heated through. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 6 servings.


Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1 cup) equals 306 calories, 7 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 13 mg cholesterol, 470 mg sodium, 47 g carbohydrate, 9 g fiber, 15 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 2-1/2 starch, 2 lean meat, 1 vegetable.

*********
I made this last night (Feb 26th) for a girl's night with Mexican themed food. This is not a dish that is new to me. I have made it a few times before, and it's usually well received by everyone but my family :)

When I've made it in the past I've always used white rice, but this time I used brown like it calls for in the recipe. It is good either way. The recipe calls for 1 c. of rice, but I cooked 2 cups and used almost all of it. The cheese helps soften the bite of the Ro-tel, and the flavors all blend really well.

The WW points came out to 5 points for 8 servings. I mentally divided the dish into 8 pieces, but one could easily get double that for smaller portions.

Reckoning Day

Feb 26, 2010

Today is reckoning day for my goal to fit into the clothes that Matthew's great aunt gave me. The capris are size 16 with the exception of a 14 which must be a more expensive brand b/c it fit before the 16s did. A month ago I could have worn them, but they wouldn't have looked so good. Amongst the clothes were two size 12 Levi Jeans. I had no delusions about being able to fit in those any time soon. So, how'd it go you wonder? I was nervous. The first set of clothes I pulled out are stretch bermuda shorts. The waist was loose, but the legs were iffy. I could get away with wearing them, but they probably wouldn't be my first choice to put on. They're excellent for a hang-out-with-the-family day. The two capris fit well and were flattering. It's kind of nice to be in clothes that fit. One of my normal capris were falling down this week :)

Just for the heck of it I decided to try on the size 12 jeans. The first one I pulled out are size 12 relaxed fit Levi's. Oh My HECK!!!! THEY FIT!!!! and they looked pretty good too!! I couldn't believe it! I was so excited!! I took a pic in them so that I can have some sort of comparison. They fit but they could probably fit better. They're bordering the line of long term/all day wearing comfort if that makes sense, but I'd be willing to wear them in public. The other pair are size 12M Levi boot cut 551 (I think). They did not fit as well, but I can pull them up and snap them so it's still good. Again I took a pic so that I can have some comparison. I am so excited. Since that trial session worked so well I decided to try on one of the shorts I bought the summer I got down to 167. Success!! In fact, the one pair I tried on was just right, but headed to being loose. woohoo! I have a new wardrobe waiting for me now :)

My efforts to not use any weekly points is going really well. I'm trying to decide how vigilant I'm going to be tonight though. I'm going to a girls' night out and there's ALWAYS lots of yummy food!! It's a Mexican food theme, so I already have an idea of what is waiting to tempt me. Unintentionally I have 15 points for the rest of the day still (and it's already after 4), so I have enough points to enjoy myself tonight w/o weeklies. I need to decide though so I can have a game plan in mind. It really helps when I can calculate points ahead of time and input them in. It makes it so much easier to know how many points I'm spending before I even start.

Oh yeah, last night for the heck of it I weighed myself on my parent's scale. I knew I'd weigh more because it was the end of the day and because I was dressed to shoes, but to my great delight I was 170.5!! I am excited to find out what my final weigh-in will be on Sunday because I was 170 on Sunday's weigh in. woohoo!!

This has been a fantastic week in Operation Get Healthy!!

Ham and Noodle Casserole

Ham and Noodle Casserole LT04, 151, 4 pts for 8 servings

Ingredients

6 ounces uncooked yolk-free fine noodles
1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) 1% small-curd cottage cheese
1 package (10 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained
1 cup cubed fully cooked lean ham
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dill weed or 1 tablespoon snipped fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add noodles and toss to coat. Transfer to a 2-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 4 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1-1/2 cups) equals 266 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 21 mg cholesterol, 702 mg sodium, 32 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 21 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 2 lean meat, 1-1/2 starch, 1 vegetable.

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Made Feb 24th. The recipe was pretty easy to put together, and it got a thumbs up from everyone but Aaron.

I accidently added the whole 8 oz bag of noodles when it only required 6, and the same happened with the mixed vegetables. I ended up using the entire 16 oz bag instead of just 10 oz. As for effecting the recipe, it didn't really - only in the point value. But, it evens out because it creates more servings which in turn lowers the point value.

I have no idea how the published nutritional info only equals 4 points for 4 servings because there are a lot of high calorie items in the recipe: ham, sour cream, cottage cheese, even the noodles are pretty high point. Oh well. This recipe is a keeper.

Lettuce Eat Cake

Feb 24, 2010

After reading how well others are doing in this contest, I'm a little weight-loss envy. I know that slow and steady is the best way to lose weight but I'm willing to kick it up a knotch. I decided to make some changes this week. Just to see if I can do it, I'm trying not to eat any weekly points and so far I have success! Actually it's working really well. By the end of dinner I've been having at least 4 points left over. Oh how wide the world is with points at the end of the day!! Yesterday I had 8, so I had a toaster strudel with milk and cheese and crackers. Yes, I know, not the healthiest of options - I could have had a ham sandwich or another helping of dinner, but the food I chose is a special treat. Plus I felt like a ham sandwich would have been too filling. I wasn't very hungry and wanted a snack, not a meal.

My daily menu has been working well for me: Breakfast (3.5 - 4 pts): 1/4 c. dry oatmeal, .2 oz dried apples or 1 TB raisins, with 1/2 c. milk; Lunch (5 - 8 pts): ham sandwich made with Whole Wheat Thin Buns (awesome b/c they're only 1 point and you get a full bun) or dinner leftovers and 5 baby carrots; Dinner (about 10 pts): whatever I make :)

As for exercise, Monday was CardioX (usual), Tuesday was PlyoX (every time it gets easier, but it is still hard), and today I tried the Core Synergy. I'm sore from the plyo yesterday, so I thought the core would be a good choice because in my mind it wouldn't be working my legs so much. Uh, WRONG! It's synergistic because it works everything. Oh the lunges!! I hate pushups and guess what kind of exercise helps the core? ugh. It'll get better, but I have the same feeling about this one as I did about plyo - get thee hence!! I think I'll have to do it in a group to be willing to really bring it. It's too easy to sit and watch the video on the hard ones when I'm by myself.

I don't normally pay attention to the image in the mirror, but I've taken a peak the last couple of days. Monday I was kinda shocked and disgusted to see my ribs peeking through and thought, if only the weight would disappear a little more proportionately (spelling?). Then I noticed my arms. Wow! I have definition! I can see biceps! My triceps could use some work, but it was kind of exciting to see muscles there nonetheless. In yesterday's peak, I noticed I actually have some tone in my abs. woohoo! The baby belly flab is still around, but I'm motivated to work the core some more (another reason I chose to try the Core Synergestics video today). YAY for P90X!

Sweet Potato Lentil Soup (Crockpot)

Sweet Potato Lentil Soup LT04, 183, 5 pts

Ingredients

4 cups vegetable broth
3 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 1-1/4 pounds)
1-1/2 cups lentils, rinsed
3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro or parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a slow cooker, combine the first nine ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the cilantro and salt.
Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1-1/3 cups) equals 247 calories, 1 g fat(trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 785 mg sodium, 48 g carbohydrates, 13 g fiber, 14 g protien.
Diabetic Exchanges: 2-1/2 starch, 1 very lean meat, 1 vegetable.

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Made Feb 21st. This is one of those rare recipes that didn't make it to the website which didn't seem like a big stroke in its favor, but I was pleasantly surprised. I prepared this for our Sunday meal, so the house was smelling really good when we got home from church. Matthew and I liked it, Jared thought it was so-so, and Aaron wouldn't touch it.

This recipe is my first really good experience with lentils. They turned out so soft, and the sweet potatoes and carrots blended into a really good flavor. This dish is really filling and hearty too. I would be willing to make this again.

Tasty Lentil Tacos

Tasty Lentil Tacos LT02, 179, 1 pt (for the taco filling in one taco)

Made Feb 1st. The nutritional info on the recipe gives me 7 points, so that is how I'm going to label them.

I made these once before when the '02 cookbook was new to me, but they didn't turn out very well. My lentils were old and never softened up. I decided to give them another try and bought a brand new bag of lentils in hopes that they'd turn out better this time. The lentils did soften up a bit more, but I've decided I just haven't had enough liquid in the pan for them to absorb and soften. These are ok, would work in a pinch, but they are not a favorite method of preparing tacos.

Seven Grain Bread

Seven Grain Bread LT02, 192, 2 points (depending on the width of the slice)

Made Feb 10th. This is another of those recipes I've wanted to make for several years, but never had. One of the things stopping me was the Five Grain Cereal. I found a recipe to make my own and purchased the barley for it, but still never did it. I finally found the umph this month to make it. The recipe I used for the five grain cereal is here.

We really liked the consistency of this bread. It was somewhat chewy with a slight crunch to it.

Mozzarella Pepperoni Bread

Mozz Pepperoni Bread LT02, 18, 2 pts

I don't have the dates for when I made this because I've made it several times. I LOVE this recipe!! It is so easy to make, and it really is only 2 points a slice!!

The first time I made it I bought a french bread loaf off the grocery store rack and cut it myself at home into the 1 in slices as the recipe directs. The second time I went back to the bakery and asked them if they could slice it for me, but to make sure that it didn't cut all the way through the loaf. She wasn't sure she'd be able to meet my request, but she did!! The slices ended up being more like 1/4 - maybe 1/2 inch in width. I loved having uniform pieces, but I discovered the problem with thin slices is that they get stuck together and tear really easily.

The boys didn't care for this type of pizza very much because the crust is so hard, but Matthew and I like it. I took it to a playgroup and it was a big hit amongst the adults there too.