Now this is how you use up turkey leftovers

We had a lot of turkey over the various holidays in Q4 of 2010 (see how all-business I've become). Each time there was a bit left over that I ensured did not go to waste. Almost all the extra meat was shredded, bagged, labelled, and put in the freezer. Carcasses, vegetables and other goodies were turned into stock that was also saved in one or two cup servings in ziploc bags and also put in the freezer. The stock has many, many, many uses!

So it had been some time since I'd rustled up some Mexican food and over the weekend, I had a hankering. Also wanting to use up some of what we had in the freezer before our move, I thought I would do something with both the shredded turkey and some stock. I really enjoy the chicken tacos with chicken tinga so thought I'd adjust a recipe from my Mexican Home Cooking course and use turkey to make some tinga. It used some of the chipotle en conserva that I made last summer, and I added some tomatoes, herbs and other jazz and voila!

So, of course, this also meant a quick trip to the market to get a few goodies like my new favourite fresh tortillas, some queso fresco, etc. etc. Put that all together and you have a totally delicious turkey taco (with a not so excellent picture to illustrate the point).

While at cooking school, we also had this fantastic soup of poblano peppers (crema de chile poblano), which I really wanted to make. It was a cold day and soup was going to warm the soul. So put that together as well - really easy and relatively fast except for the charring and cleaning of the peppers - and I used my homemade turkey stock as the base. The soup was so smooth, creamy, a slight hint of spice and just generally absolutely delicious.


Not only was the food great but we also got to use this spectacular tortilla warmer that J's family gave me. Put eight tortillas in it in the microwave for a minute and you've got steaming hot flatbreads that stay hot! Yeah.

And the other most awesome thing for those on the Weight Watchers: low points, ahoy. Four tacos, with a bit of queso fresco, some salad, a bit of crema, and a plate of soup is only about 12 points. That's a big feed for not too many of the Points Plus!

I feel like chicken tonight...

As a girl who has only recently embraced the vegetable as friend, I am still finding ways to incorporate them into my life that will trick my brain into eating them happily.  Case in point?  BBQ chicken dinner night with twice-baked potatoes.  Oh sorry, were you wondering where the vegetable came in?  No silly reader, it's not JUST the potato!  Them there potatoes had SPINACH lurking within!!!

Oh yes, bbq chicken is lovely.  And green beans lightly steamed with some salt, pepper, and lemon is a delight.  But the twice baked potato was DIVINE!!!  I sauteed some spinach (or did I microwave it?  hrmph) and, after baking the potato sans foil in the oven for about an hour, I cut the spud in half, scooped out the innards, mixed in some light laughing cow and spinach (and salt and pepper), and then stuffed the shells with the filling.  Sprinkled a little bit of grated old old cheddar on top (grating gets you the feeling of lots of cheese for very few points) and baked for about 15 more minutes.  You can't beat that sort of feel-good comforty food!!!  And pretty points friendly!  (I don't know about you, but I tend to save about half of my daily points for dinner.  It's how I eat and how I am comfortable keeping track... you???)

Where have YOU Been?

Hello!

Where have you been?!

The cat's nose is always in the kitchen, checking out what we're doing. And we have been doing, even though the blog has been quiet.

I feel like I am getting my food legs back again, after sometime of not really sure where I was going with it all. After starting Weight Watchers and beginning my running and everything, it was really difficult to talk about food. I have spent a lot of my food reading time reading about running instead, and I am gradually getting stronger. My goal for this year is to gradually (very gradually) continue to build my time and to try and run a half-marathon next year. I know. The physical therapist I am seeing to sort out my incredibly tight leg muscles thinks it will happen. I think it will happen. G thinks it will happen.

But slowly, my head is coming out of the sand and I am starting to get back into thinking about food.

For example... one of my new favorite post-run breakfasts...


Proper oatmeal with sauteed banana. OMG this is so delicious. The banana is sweet and hot and a little mushy with just the stodgy almost rice pudding texture of the oatmeal. It's fantastic, and some days on my "long" run (which is not really long compared to alot of people), it's the only thing I can think of! This was this morning's oatmeal, not after my run (which was yesterday), but before my 45 minute strength training episode.

But what WAS yesterday's post-run breakfast?

You will be so glad you asked...


Whole wheat tortillas filled with scrambled eggs, half a potato with a tiny bit of chorizo and sliced tomato with green onion. YUM! It was 7 points, I think, which totally worked because I had had a decent long run.

And after that delicious reinforcement, I went and cleaned out my closet. Filled two more bags with clothes that no longer fit (yeah! that's a total of 4 bags of clothes!!!!) and organized my closet shelves. I am pretty pleased with myself. I am working on getting more organized at home.

But alas, today has been full of crazy Passover prep (G is Jewish and we are hosting the first night of Pesach at our house tomorrow) and an unfortunate lunch trip to a shwarama place nearby that completely wrecked both of our stomachs. Something about the lunch was not good, and while it wasn't the most enjoyable food ever, I didn't think it would make me sick later. But sick we have been. So it's been a real joy frying 40 gefilte fish balls. Sweet!

Cruisin....

I am back from vacation! I relaxed. I walked around New Orleans. I ran and lifted weights. I ate. I ate. And then I probably ate some more! The cruise was fantastic, New Orleans was interesting, and we really had an overall nice time. (And work didn't seem to implode in my absence, so that was good, too.)

We started our trip with a few days of sight-seeing in New Orleans. Crazy schedules and G being sick before we left meant that we had zero plan when we got to New Orleans. But all was well and we walked around, ate beignets, drank coffee, listened to jazz, and drank. We then met up with our Norwegian cruise and headed off to W. Caribbean. Wow. Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. Fantastic! The cruise was very strange, but I really enjoyed our room with the giant window, the restaurants, the pool, the deluxe gym, the outdoor running track, and the incredibly friendly staff.

I have lots of photos but thought I might share a few early on with you folks...

Wait... what? You want more shots of me? *Blush* Of course!

Here I am, rocking my now baggy size 8 jeans and medium shirt. We're about to embark on a day of touring, and....

Hurricane drinking! Oh yeah, you have to do it, right? That was almost nothing but alcohol. The first few drinks (before the ice melted a bit) tasted like cough syrup.

And the best thing I ate while in New Orleans? This beautiful plate of red beans and rice with andouille sausage and blackened chicken... (bad photo...)

Gracious me, but that was delicious.

So what can I say.... New Orleans was pretty, the cruise was great, and the skies were mostly blue...

And yeah, I gained a few pounds on the cruise. The fitness trainer on board said that on average people gain between 7 and 14 pounds on a week-long cruise!!!!!! I believe it, and managed to come in under seven pounds of weight gain -- so go me, go me, go me.

I was not ever particularly motion sick on board the ship (surprisingly) but was crazy motion sick all day yesterday when back on dry land and in my office. I was so dizzy, I felt really out of sorts. It's all gone today, thank heavens. So back to the exercise grind tomorrow, and I've been counting WW points since I returned.

And now for the next vacation... Greece and Turkey anyone????

That's Amazing.

Okay, so who knows what I am going to do with this blog, but right now, I am going to post some before and after photos...

This is April 2009, right around when I started having chest pains...


Oh yeah, I actually think I wore this to work.

Then August 2009, about a month into my new lifestyle, I was feeling pretty good about myself....


(Jess, I am horrified that I wore this to your wedding!)

And now, here's me this morning, getting ready for work...


Oh yeah! Shirt. Tucked into... JEANS. That's me. And I'm wearing my snazzy new BELT. Yep.

Another Delicious Day -- With More Chili Fries.

It's a sickness. I get these crazy cravings and find something I like, then make it over and over.

This weekend was no exception, and I had to make some Super Bowl Kick-Off Chili Cheese fries...


Oh yeah. I cooked that chili all day. I started with one onion, one fat carrot, half a red pepper, a stalk of celery, and some garlic all chopped up, then cooked slowly with some cooking spray and a bit of water. When soft, take out and then add the super lean ground beef. Use some paper towel to soak up any fat from the meat... Then add the veggies back in, along with chili powder. Stir up then mix in a litre of V8. Cook for hours and hours on the stove until it's super thick and the veggies are super soft. (I didn't add beans because G can't eat them, but they would be lovely here...). I gave G a bowl of chili for lunch tomorrow and I divided the other serving up into two containers of low-fat refried beans to have burritos for lunch! Can't wait!

The fries are oven baked, one potato each, cut into strips, sprayed with cooking spray and tossed with more chili powder, salt and pepper then baked at 450 for 15 minutes, turned over and then cooked another 10 or so. Fantastic! Top your crispy fries with delicious chili and some fat free sour cream... YIPPIE!

But that's not ALLLLL we ate today...

We started the day with a new recipe that G made... Oatmeal Pancakes...


Yummy! These were really really good and very filling, which is something I don't generally find pancakes to be. In fact, I rarely eat pancakes for breakfast because while I find them to be delicious, I also find that I am hungry right after! Not so with these... three pancakes were five points, I think.

For lunch, knowing that chili fries were coming, we had a low point lunch of broccoli soup that G made last night alongside a grilled cheese sandwich...


I cooked the sandwich in a non-stick skillet with a little cooking spray. The sandwich consisted of two slices of Weight Watcher's bread (1 pt) with some tomato slices (0 pt) and one slice each of low-fat cheese slices (1pt). The soup was about 1pt for a bowl based on the Recipe Builder, so we got away with that delicious and filling lunch for about three points.

Oh yeah. It's all doable if you just do it.

For the rest of the game, we've got some pirate booty to snack on (which is higher point than I expected, but I was just SO excited to see it in the store here... I used to love it when I lived in the States, but have never seen it for sale in Canada!) and lots of water and MAYBE some PC hot chocolate in a bit...

And COME ON Saints... sheesh!

Lowest Weigh-In Yet!

That's me after my lowest weigh-in yet! I've lost 29 pounds!!! I hit my unofficial (yet in my heart of hearts official) goal, and am pretty danged pleased with myself. This dress is now about a size too big, but it's still comfy and perfect for casual Friday's. (You can see Bello's backside while he's eating breakfast behind me!)

I am contemplating changing my WW points to the maintenance level. I see mixed reviews on the net... anyone with any real life weight watcher's maintenance they'd like to share? You can email me... I am now almost always eating my weekly points (I have 19 points a day), and about half of my activity points. I'd love to hear other's experience....

On Point and Delicious.

So after the hamburger binge of the day before, Saturday was an on point day!

I started the day with my morning training run. 2 miles!


That's my 5K training schedule (thank you Hal Higdon!)... the 2 miles went pretty smoothly. I have downloaded a bunch of new songs for my iPod and so I was really feeling it. You'll see on my schedule that I alternate running with Wii cross-training days (EA Sports Active)... it seems to be a combination that is working. I feel strong and I am not constantly sore, which is brilliant.

After the run, I came home and made G and I some breakfast sandwiches. Nothing special, so no photos. Just a fried egg (in a non-stick pan so no added points), a very toasty English Muffin, some old cheddar, and for me, one slice of bacon and some ketchup. Yummy.

We then took off for errand running and ice skating lessons! The second lesson went really well. I feel like I am getting the hang of it, and today, we even learned how to skate backwards. It was really cold yesterday and the ice was crazily slick. I really enjoyed it, though. It's challenging but I am pretty proud of myself for trying despite my terror!

We realized that we hadn't had a lot to eat, especially since it was now after 5pm! We ate a couple of Fibre 1 bars, and then went home to make dinner...


Oh yeah, crispy turkey schnitzel with brown rice and asparagus. It may not seem glamorous, but it totally hit the spot last night. We had bought some very thin turkey scallopini that G breaded in WW bread crumbs and spices. The brown rice was a new try, we found this parboiled brand that all you have to do is boil the rice like pasta. It seemed to work, though G felt it was a bit dry. The asparagus was on sale at the Loblaws, so we had to get some. Lightly steamed, it was a delicious addition to the day!

We ended the day with some President's Choice low-fat hot chocolate (which RULES) and all in all, it was a good day. Went too long between breakfast and dinner due to the no lunch situation, but all in all, on point and delicious.

Alfredo suckfest.

Like many people who didn't get fat overnight, I love love love Fettucine Alfredo. (Or maybe, just like me who ate alot of heavy pasta dishes.) Add some chicken, a little diced tomato, extra cheese, and yeah, I could eat my dinner and yours and the rest of whoever else happens to be nearby. I really love it.

But it's not particularly healthy, and so it's something I don't have very often. In fact, I haven't made it in months and months. So, with G being out of town (and her not being a huge fan of the original dish) I decided to whip up a "what I had on hand" version of the recipe in the new Cooking Light magazine.


Barf. The sauce tasted like diet alfredo sauce, like the kind that comes on frozen dinners, and it was just really not substantial. The original recipe called for bacon, which I didn't have, and I did mix in some fresh parsley and tomato to try and make it not taste like total crap, but it didn't work. Diet-y and not at all pleasant, I really could not believe how unpleasant it tasted. And I even used extra cheese!

If you have the January/February Cooking Light and you have tried this recipe, please let me know and I may try it again down the road, but for now, thanks but no thanks.

I didn't make a full recipe, and so the points came out to be 7 for a serving. Not really worth it, but whatever.

Oh-My-Gosh-Paprikash!

Beef paprikash. Amazing.

I found the recipe in one of the British magazine's I read, but I can't for the life of me remember which one! But it was simple, brown some stewing beef dusted with a little flour, add some sliced onion, garlic, red pepper and a bunch of mushrooms with 1/2 teaspoon of smoked and regular paprika with dill and cumin, cook for a bit then add in some beef broth and stewed tomatoes. Cover and put in the oven to cook for a couple of hours. Stir in some chopped parsley and serve. YUM! It came out to be about 6 points a serving, so a goodly dinner amount...

I served it with some delicious cooked orzo and a dollop of fat free sour cream. It was an amazing dinner which made superb leftovers and really was extremely satisfying. I loved having it with orzo (also remarkably low point) and the fat free sour cream tastes exactly like regular sour cream.


I highly recommend this, and the recipe above, while not very specific, gives you a general idea of how you can make it and what to do. It's deliciously low point and feels really decadent.

Starting the Day Off Right!

I love fried egg sandwiches. For the first part of my weight watchers adventure, I made lots of eggs in the microwave. Really simple. But now, I take the two extra minutes and actually cook it on the stove, in a nonstick pan with a bit of cooking spray. Much more delicious, and while I am sure my intake of eggs may be a bit excessive, I love them no end and am happy as can be to eat my sandwich...

This one...


is pretty straightforward... fried egg, slice of reduced fat cheese, and some ketchup on a very toasted english muffin. What could be better?! (And at only five points, it's a good start to the morning.)

Bad Photos. Delicious Breakfast.

G is away at a conference, so I was alone for my breakfast hunting and gathering this morning. I woke up with a solid craving for chili and eggs and potatoes. It is also a running day, so I knew that I needed a complete breakfast that would warm me up as I headed out into the extreme cold for my run this morning!

So I pondered, and after a second and a half, I knew exactly what I wanted... chili cheese fries with scrambled eggs on top. And so I turned on the oven to pre-heat to 450 and dreamed of the deliciousness awaiting me.

First, I made the french fries...


Simple. Cut up a small to medium potato into reasonably sized matchsticks. Place in a bag, spray with cooking spray, salt, pepper, and add a little chili powder (or whatever you like). Shake it up. Spread on a foil lined sheet that is also covered in a bit of spray in a single layer and put in your 450 degree preheated oven. Cook for 15 minutes, putting an ice cube in the mix (or just in the oven) in 7 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, turn them over and put them back in until cooked and browned. Mine took another ten minutes or so to get crispy and brown.

Then take the fries, place them in a bowl and cover with heated prepared chili, grate on a little cheese, and add some scrambled eggs with a bit more cheese on top.


Now this doesn't look delicious because it's yellow (still trying to work out the lights in the kitchen) but believe me when I say that this is amazingly delicious. So much so that I am going to make myself another plate of chili fries for dinner. (Oh, and really low point. One potato was 3 points, chili was 1.5 for 1/2 cup, cheese was 1 pt, and the eggs were 2 for one whole egg and one egg white. 7.5 points for a feast fit for a queen... totally worth it.)

Despite being low point, it gave me the energy I needed to embark on my run and to successfully finish in my best time yet. And now, I am off to pre-heat the oven for fries round 2!!!

Dinner on Plan -- Chicken Tostadas.

We had a bit of a tostada fest in our house recently, having discovered these amazing baked tostadas...


at the Planet Organic. They are amazing (and only 1 point for THREE). I can't recommend them highly enough, and you can try to id them by the box since I somewhat ridiculously cut out the first of the name in this photo...

Anyway, food blog. Check.

G made some amazing salsas and sauces a while back, I am sure you remember. Really delicious, and we had tons of the Roasted Tomato Chipotle sauce leftover. So in the freezer it went. For this meal, we took the sauce out of the freezer and marinated some chicken breast in it, and then baked the chicken with the sauce for about 30 minutes or so, or until done. I then shredded the chicken and used it as a tostada topping. Two chicken breasts makes A LOT of shredded chicken!


It was so spicy and tender, really the perfect type of topping for tostadas!

We also used some sauteed peppers and onions...


That I "fried" in a little water and cooking oil spray. (Frying in water is a great trick, it gets the onions soft and then you can brown them with the cooking spray.) We also had some queso fresco which you can see to the side in that picture.

Our friend P had canned some corn salsa at the end of the summer and gave us a HUGE jar of it! We used that on our tostadas, too! It was really delicious!!!


Looks good!!!!

We also chopped some regular lettuce and cut up some tomatoes to top with. I also put some pickled jalapeno peppers on mine, just to get an additional kick. My lips were absolutely burning!!! It was such a great dinner and really easy to keep on the low point side because all of the toppings are vegetable based and therefore, pretty low point. We will definitely have this again... as soon as G has two days to rustle up some more sauce!

And leftover tostadas lend to some delightful egg tostadas...


That's one tostada with a schmear of low-fat refried beans (.5 point for 1/4 cup!) and one egg fried in a non-stick pan without added oil, 1 pt worth of cheese, and some roasted tomatillo salsa on top. Breakfast fit for a queen!

(I am happy to report that when in the States over Christmas, I did buy a can of Rotel in order to make some good ol' fashioned queso. Maybe Super Bowl Sunday (even though the Patriots AND Cowboy's are out of the running)???

Is it Easy??

I saw a friend yesterday whom I haven't seen in awhile who is also doing Weight Watchers Online. She gave me a compliment, which I returned (she looks GREAT!) and she said how hard it's been for her this time (she's lost before, but gained some back). She said something that gave me pause, because it's something I've said repeatedly for the last few months, "It's just been so easy for you!"

And I do keep saying that, too. All the time I say, "I don't know why it's worked this time!" with a shrug of bewilderment. But after my friend said that, it hit me. I absolutely DO know why it's working this time, because I made a 100% full commitment to it! I track my points every day, even when the points are 16 points over my daily amount. I work out, dragging myself out of bed in the mornings more often than not and do it. I have chosen to eat better, to exercise more, to make myself a priority. And that's why it's worked. I have chosen not to stress out if the exact food I ate isn't in the points tracker, I just pick something close or find something a nutrition calculator online that I can approximate with. And that's why it's worked.

So enough of this "Who knows, gosh golly." I am working my ass off here, and I am going to start walking proud because of it! I will try not to be insufferable, but can't make any promises.

And on the topic of walking proudly, I bought a pair of Earth shoes today... anyone have these? They make your posture unbelievable. They are going to be GREAT for vacation!

AND, on the topic of new kit, I bought a nike+ sportband yesterday (it's charging in the USB while I am typing this). I am really looking forward to using it to track the length and pace of my runs. I signed up for my goal 10K yesterday (it's a ways away, lots of time to get comfortable) and found the 5K I am going to do this spring. Slow pace, gradual build up. It's going to work this time. Anyone with a nike+ system, I'd love to hear how you love it. Email me.

Oh yeah... Dinner Fit for a Queen!

So normally I am weeks (months, even) behind in posting about meals, but tonight's meal was so rock awesome and so right on the Weight Watcher's points that I had to turn on my computer, out down the book I am reading (what am I reading? well, since you asked, Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde), and blog this bad boy.

It looks like a right mess, but it was a right mess of DELICIOUS! It's what I am calling "Fast Huevos Rancheros". For those of you who know me, or read my blog like the Bible (that's right, every night before bed), you may have picked up on the fact that I love Huevos Rancheros in all it's many forms. From my first taste in Santa Fe, to the many many many versions I have made at home, I think it's one of the overall best meals on the planet. But, alas, G is not keen. *Sigh* So, which G is away tonight being all Board of Director-y, I made up a mess of dinner.

Apparently, Huevos Rancheros (Or Ranch Eggs) was essentially a meal served on the farm to fill up the men-folk who were working hard and burning a kajillion calories. It's really caught on in America (I went to an Ihop once that had a version on the menu!) and is something that I rarely order out since I really like my own. However, I've only recently started eating fried eggs on mine instead of scrambled eggs (ooh, radical!), so my new version is currently my favorite!

It's basically this: Three of the baked tostadas that we've been using (1 pt for 3)... wowie, really crunchy, really corny, hold their shape, delish; topped with 1/3 cup of low-fat refried beans (I only had 1/3 cup left... we've had lots of mexican food, you'll see in upcoming posts) (.5 points), two eggs fried in only a smattering of cooking spray (4 points), topped with two tablespoons of ready made enchilada sauce (mine was from the freezer, a batch I made months ago. .5 points), and sprinkled with 2/3 ounce of cheddar cheese (2 points), and some chopped fresh tomato (0 points). If I had been more patient, I would have put the plate under the broiler to melt the cheese, but I knew the eggs were just the perfect amount of runny yolk and done-ness, so I didn't dare! Really a fantastic dinner!

(I've had people question the eating of 8-10 points for dinner, and I have to say, it's how I function. I like having big filling dinners, and regularly spend 10-12 points on dinner alone. It works for me, I am a big fan of three meals a day.)

(And the picture, I am in a low-lit room and can't tell if the picture is really dark or if it's just me... sorry if it sucks, but I know you are used to it by now!)

Two Dinners -- Delicious and Low-Point!

Look at that pizza! It's probably been one of the most difficult things to lighten, especially since I can't seem to find any low-point pizza base ideas that I see on other blogs (other than tortillas and english muffins, neither of which I like as a pizza base)... I tend to save about half my points for dinner each day, so I often will have a 9 or 10 point dinner without any issue, and I am more than happy to give an extra point or two from my weekly allowance for such delicious indulgences.

For this pizza, I used a pizza crust that Whole Foods makes, thin crust, whole wheat and really delicious IF you spray the crust with cooking spray and sprinkle on a bunch of herbs before making the pizza. If you don't, it's a bit bland. Anyway, half of that comes out to be about 6 points. I added low-fat moz, turkey pepperoni, some low-point sauce and a TON of veggies. Really delicious and well-worth the points.

Another good alternative for a full-fat dinner? Healthy fish and chips!


Look at that! We used the President's Choice Blue Menu Haddock fillets, and I oven baked some potatoes. Look how brown and crisp they are! I have to give a huge THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the You Tube video's that the WW Chick puts up. Her chili cheese fries was inspiring. I make the fries by cutting up the potatoes, spraying liberally with cooking spray and adding about 1 teaspoon or so of oil and salt and pepper and chili powder. Put on a well-sprayed baking pan, put in the oven (450 degrees) initially for about 5 minutes then put in the pan about three ice cubes. Close the oven and cook for another 10 or so minutes, flip over and cook for about 15 more. They get super crispy. Our nod to the Brits was to include peas, though they weren't mushy. I love this canned pea, Lucerne Canned Baby Peas. I have eaten them since I was a little girl and I really really love them. They don't really taste like peas, but they totally hit the spot.

Two great dinners for reasonable points. G loved them, too!

Good Day at Chez HungerOverThirst.

Food is a feature in my life, no doubt about it. But today was a triumph of a different sort. I packed away my suits that no longer fit. I folded them up, gave them a pat and stuck them in the giant tupperware container that will be going down to the storage locker to sit until I know for sure they can leave the building. But having them out of my closet is an amazing feeling. As I get nearer to my goal, I can't believe that it's really happened. (And that I bought jeans on sale at Old Navy yesterday THREE sizes smaller than the jeans I was wearing over the summer AND on sale for $15 a pair!)

And so you don't think I've completely lost it... a random dinner from the last few weeks featuring lovely roasted ontario beets. I think I could honestly eat roasted beets every day.


The steak was from out CSA, the salad was just salad, and the potatoes were my attempt at a cross between potato salad and mashed potato. They were delicious. I just boiled the potatoes and then drained them, added a bunch of salt and pepper, some light mayo and mustard, and just stirred/squished it all around. Good times!

Pumpkin Banana Bread.

Gina is a genius. I don't know her, but man, I can honestly say I love her! I have followed her blog since embarking on my Weight Watchers journey, and her food has yet to lead me astray.

She recently had a recipe on her site for pumpkin banana bread. I love pumpkin bread, but it's my brother's "thing", and he makes the best I've ever tasted. But I am not going home for a month still and it was necessary for me to have pumpkin bread NOW. Gina's recipe seemed like a good place to start... See for yourself...

I made a few changes to her recipe... I used diet margarine, because it's what I had in the house and it's gross on it's own. I only had two banana's, so I used a bit extra pumpkin. In sheer laziness (and my inability to tear myself away from the Sookie Stackhouse books -- finished nine last night -- Eric is the best vampire character ever), I failed to properly mash the banana's, so they all settled in the bottom of my loaf. Hence you only get a picture of the loaf itself.

I am still working with the settings on my camera, so please try to hang in there with my photos. I will get there, I am confident. After two courses at Henry's, I do think I am finally getting the hang of it, but I keep needing to refresh my memory with the notes from the course. I like this one, it's just really dark. Still haven't gotten down the whole no flash thing...

Anyway, go to Gina's site. It's fantastic!

Baked pasta...

Sometimes, I just can't get enough of something new that I've found that I like to eat. When that something ends up being low on the Weight Watcher's points scale, everyone's a winner.

This is my recent favorite...


It's so easy...

Take a whole wheat cheese tortellini. (If you follow points, you have to find one that fits your allotment.) Boil it until almost done, but not quite. (I made one cup (5.5 points) for just me.) While it's boiling, preheat the oven to 425. Once the pasta is done, mix in your favorite sauce (homemade or jar, up to you...the one I used was .5 points for 1/2 cup serving) and stir in a little bit of parmesan cheese. Then pour into individual ramekin, top with a bit more parmesan cheese (I used .5 ounce for the whole thing... 1.5 points) and bake for twenty minutes.

It's FANTASTIC and only 7.5 points for quite a lot of pasta. I served it with a salad with one point dressing and it was really really a filling dinner and a good comfort food warm fuzzy hug.

(About the points, I don't snack during the day, so I tend to have my points break out like this: 5 or so points for breakfast, 5 or so points for lunch, and the remaining 10 or so for dinner. This is perfect for me, as it gets me an egg sandwich (see below) or some such thing for breakfast, a tv dinner or leftovers for lunch, and then a good filling dinner. It fits the way I like to eat. I know when I've said to other people that I like something that's 10 points, they wonder how I fit it in... that's how!!!!)

Risotto, I love you!

Phew. It's all good. The change in eating habits (I won't say 'd-i-e-t') has been going really well. I have lost TWENTY pounds as of today. *applause and bow thank you* I have two more to go to my goal!!! Yippiee!

I've totally benefited from the world wide web and it's bevy of recipes, but none more so than Gina's Recipes, a fantastic site with amazing recipes. And it was here that I first tested her delicious and super easy risotto. I figured the points out a little differently than she did, mostly I think because of the way we calculated the wine. (For anyone doing WW, how do you calculate cooked wine in a recipe???) But the flavour was spot on, and I had it with a little baked crunchy chicken to add a protein kick to the meal...

Yummmmmmmmmy. The risotto was rich and creamy, the chicken just added that little bit extra, and I was all manner of feeling high on comfort foody goodness. I am not going to repeat the recipe here because it's hers, but I highly highly highly recommend that you go over and try it out. It's just an amazingly delicious meal.