Saturday, May 28, 2011

Fruit Angel Food Cake

Wow...I think it's been awhile since I blogged.  At least it feels like it's been awhile. 

I was given this recipe from my friend Jackie.  She is doing Weight Watchers as well, although I don't know if that is where the recipe came from.  But regardless, it is DELICIOUS!




1 angel food cake mix
1 can of fruit pie filling (whatever kind you prefer)

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

And that's it!  I topped it with fat free Cool Whip.

I was told it would be only 2 points if you got 24 servings out of it.  I used no sugar added pie filling so mine are actually 0 points if you get 15 servings out of it.  Then the fat free Cool Whip is zero points per serving...but I really like cool whip and didn't measure.  I tracked 5 servings of Cool Whip which I think is over estimating...but it was only 1 point.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

"If you are going through this drastic change - Do you REALLY love yourself for who you are?"

Well, if you are asking me if I love the person who decided I didn't want to worry about increased risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and a shorter life expectancy, then YES.  Yes, I do REALLY love myself for who I am. 

There is no question that I love the fact that very soon, I won't have to go to a certain section of a store to find my size.  That I won't have to go to special stores all together to get my clothes....that wasn't the case 6 months ago.  I can not dispute that I like that my face, arms, and thighs are smaller (I should actually do my measurements again to see how much smaller). 

I realize that these are vain reasons to want to lose weight.  But they aren't the only reasons.

I like the fact that I am becoming healthy.  I am losing the weight the right way by making changes that I know I can stick with.  I am putting as much emphasis on exercise as I am on what I put in my mouth.  I have lost 37 pounds since October.  That is only 4 pounds a month on average.  They say to lose weight in a healthy way, you are okay to lose up to 2 pounds a week.

Never before would I have considered running a block, much less 2 to 4 miles.  Before if I didn't have to work, I wanted to be lounging in front of my tv or be reading a book.  Although I still enjoy those things and try to do both when I can, I can't sit the whole weekend out.  I need to be up moving around some.  My house is becoming cleaner (slowly - I still don't actually LIKE cleaning house).  I am gardening, with plans to put in both a flower garden and a vegetable garden. 

My mental health is better.  My confidence is up.  I'm looking into other ways of improving my life like going back to school and thinking of doing something in health and fitness.

I have made some of the most fabulously supportive friends.  People who have pushed me to be my best.  People who I think would still have become friends had we met 10 months ago, but that share my same goals of self-improvement and so makes our friendships so more meaningful.

I think that the progress I've made is spectacular and the success that I've had has shown that I am doing the right things in order to get in shape.  I am doing this for me and the route I take may not fit into other people's plans.  That is unless their plan is to see me get fit and healthy in a way (and timeframe) that is enjoyable to me.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Hungry Girl Recipe #3 - The World's Best Chicken Empanadas

Tonight's dinner was fabulous!  Tasted great and was sooooooo easy.  Instead of giving you the recipe as it is written in the book, I'm just going to tell you how I did it in my own words.

Ingredients:

(1) 6 ounce chicken breast
salsa
can of Pillsbury Cresent Rolls

Boil the chicken until it is done.  Shred the chicken.  Put in the desired amount of salsa and stir.  Set aside.


Spray pan.  Lay one cresent roll on pan.  Put some of the chicken/salsa mixture on the cresent roll.  Put another cresent roll on top of that and pinch edges together all the way around. 

Continue this until you've used all your cresent rolls. 



Bake in the oven per cresent roll instructions. 



These were absolutely delicious.  And very filling.  We were very happy with this recipe.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

That was hard!

First off, I wasn't really sure what I was going to do tonight because of the storms.  I really wanted to work out, but if we were going to have severe weather, I didn't want to be in the middle of a trail by a river. 

I left home having made the decision that I was just going to run inside on the track.  This would also allow myself the time to lift, which I wasn't going to have time for when running with the group.

But, as I was pulling into the parking lot I decided that I was going to trust the leaders.  If they thought that we would be okay to run, I would run. 

Nobody told me what it felt like to run in humidity!!!!  I couldn't breathe!  I thought I had been doing so good.  But it was rough. 

However, it was our first night running 3 miles.  And I did do it.  During the second mile, I was thinking that I wasn't going to make it for the third.  But I did.   The leader said that we ran it at a 13 minute pace. 

Next week we are going to run a mile straight without walking.  So, I'll be working hard to get to that by Wednesday.

But what I want to know now is.....WHERE WAS THE BREEZE I'M FEELING NOW WHEN I WAS RUNNING AT 6:00?!?    LOL

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Personal Training Session and Hungry Girl Recipe - Cheeseburger Mac Attack

My Saturday has been awesome!!!!!! 

My workouts this morning were amazing!  Another great class by Amanda and with Nikki there too!  I love it when there is more than one instructor in the class.  Philicia needs to change her work schedule so that she can start coming back to class.  This isn't anything she wouldn't say.

She actually said it at the beginning of my personal training session with her today.  I LOVED my training session.  Todays session was a little hurried because I had to pick up Regan and Quinn.  But I did some new things and then some things that I've done in the past, but not for a LONG LONG time.  While gardening today, I suddenly felt my arms get very heavy.  I'll check back in tomorrow to let you know how I feel.  ;o)

Today's recipe was Cheeseburger Mac Attack.  It tasted good.  But did not look great.  The picture I'm going to post of it is from the cookbook.  I will be trying a few different things the next time I try it.  But, overall, we were very happy with the outcome.  ;o)

Cheeseburger Mac Attack

Per Serving (1/8th of recipe, about 1 cup):  179 calories, 5.75g fat, 512mg sodium, 19g carbs, 2g fiber, 3.5g sugars, 12.5g protein.

Ingredients:

5 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) uncooked elbow macaroni with at least 2g fiber per 2-ounce serving.
10 ounces raw lean ground turkey
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons ketchup
24 ounces (about 6 cups) frozen Green Giant Cauliflower & Cheese (or Three Cheese) Sauce
3 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese
Optional: salt and black pepper

In a large pot, prepare pasta very al dente, cooking for about half of the time indicated on the package.  Drain well and set aside.

In a bowl, combine turkey, onion powder, and ketchup,  Use your hands to mix well.  Transfer mixture to a crock pot.

Add frozen veggies and cooked pasta to the crock pot and gently stir.  Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours, until turkey is fully cooked.



Stir mixture and crumble turkey.  Add cheese wedges and stir until evenly distributed.  Season to taste with salt and pepper, if you like.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Through the week vs. the weekend

For the last couple of weeks, I have been losing about a pound a day Monday - Thursday.  Then the weekend comes and I have gained 2 - 3 pounds.  (We did have a murder mystery, easter, grandma's retirement brunch all mixed in there!)  I lose it all and then a pound or two more, so I always end my weigh week with a loss, but it is kind of frustrating to keep losing the same 2 to 3 pounds each week.

I'm very excited about this weekend.  As of right now, I'm down 1.6 pounds from Friday and 4 pounds from this past Monday.  If I weigh the same on Friday as I do today, I will have earned my Chinese dinner.  Yay me! 

Although Mother's Day is this weekend, I will not be eating poorly.  I have my Turbo Kick class on Saturday and then after that I am going to go get my cousins Regan and Quinn and we are going to work on my garden.  Grandma and possibly my mom will be coming over too.  For lunch I have a Hungry Girl recipe planned (surprise!).  Although I'm not sure what we are having for Mother's day, I'm sure that it will be something I can fit in to my day.  And for dinner on Sunday, a Hungry Girl recipe.  It it aint broke, don't fix it!

So, I'm pretty excited to see how my work weigh in goes next Monday.  For those who haven't been reading my blog since the beginning, right now I do two weigh ins.  My Friday weigh in is for Weight Watchers, my regular weightloss journey.  Then on Mondays I have a weigh in at work because we are having a weight loss contest.  Right now my team is 3rd.

So, I thought this was going to be a shorter blog, but I managed to spread it out.   ;o)

Monday, May 2, 2011

Another Hungry Girl Recipe - Loaded Bacon Wrapped Hog Dogs

Last nights experiment with spaghetti tacos went so well that we decided to do another Hungry Girl recipe tonight.  And we have another favorite. 


I will list the recipe and then tell you how I did it a little differently.  Again like last night, I will note next to the ingredient what I used in parenthesis.

Per serving (1/4 of recipe, 1 fully dressed hot dog):  186 calories, 4.5 g fat, 850mg sodium, 28g carbs, 5.5g fiber, 6g sugars, 138 protein.

Ingredients:

4 hot dogs with about 40 calories and 1g fat or less each (Oscar Meyer 98% fat free hot dogs)
4 slices center-cut bacon or turkey bacon (Oscar Meyer Center-Cut Bacon)
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup sliced red bell pepper (I also used orange)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced into strips - not rings  (I did not use these)
2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise (Light Helmans)
4 light hot dog buns  (98% fat free hot dog buns - generic brand)
4 teaspons yellow mustard



Carefully break 4 toothpicks in half.  Wrap each hot dog in a strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick half at each end.  Set aside.

Bring a large skillet or grill pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove.  Add onion, bell pepper, and jalapeno pepper and cook until softened, about 4 minutes.  Remove from skillet/pan and set aside.

Remove skillet/pan from heat, re-spray, and bring to medium heat.  Add bacon-wrapped hot dogs and cook until bacon is crisp and fully cooked and hot dogs are heated through, about 6 minutes, rotating the hot dogs several times to evenly cook the bacon.  Set aside.

Evenly spread mayo inside the buns.  Remove toothpicks from hot dogs and place a bacon-wrapped dog in each bun.  Top each dog with a teaspoon of mustard.

Evenly distribute veggie mixture among the dogs.  Eat up!

Makes 4 servings.



What I did differently was that I baked my bacon in the oven.  While that cooked I did the peppers and onion on the stove top.  Then I cooked the hot dogs in the microwave.  Instead of wrapping the hot dog in the bacon (I know - this directly goes against the name of the recipe) I placed 2 pieces of bacon each side (a serving of the bacon was 3 pieces).

Josh did not have the mayo or the mustard.  When asked which he liked better, the spaghetti tacos or the loaded bacon wrapped hot dogs, he replied that the spaghetti tacos were awesome and that was a surprise.  The loaded bacon wrapped hot dogs were also awesome, but that was meeting his original expectation.

These are a definite item to add to your menus on a fairly regular basis. 

 

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Hungry Girl - iHungry Spaghetti Tacos

Success!!!!

I was pretty sure that Josh wasn't going to like them and I was even beginning to think neither was I.  I'm not sure why.  But I bought a Tombstone pizza just in case. 

I gave Josh the first plate and watched him while he tried it.  He took a bite, looked at me, and nodded his head.  He said, "They are pretty good.  Yeah, they are really good."  I said, "Really?"  And he said that he really liked them.  I tried them and I had to agree.  They were awesome.  I asked Josh one more time and he said he wished I had made more.  I actually hadn't made them all so I went in and finished them up.  Josh ate 7 and I ate 3.  ;o)

Here is a picture of the ingredients I used.  Not included in the picture is the lettuce and reduced fat cheddar cheese.

iHungry Spaghetti Tacos

Per Serving (1/3rd of recipe, 2 tacos);  253 calories, 7g fat, 778mg sodium, 29.58 carbs, 6 fiber, 4g sugars, 18g protein.  These nutritional facts are from the cookbook if you use the exact ingredients from the recipe.  I did not and so will list what I used in paranthesis next to the ingredients in the book.

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen ground-beef-style soy crumbles (Morningstar Farms Veggie Grillers burger style recipe crumbles)
3/4 teaspoon taco seasoning mix
1 bag House Foods Tofu Shirataki Spaghetti Shaped Noodle Substitute (Barilla Whole Grain Linguine)
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
6 corn flat bottomed taco shells (we used 10)
3/4 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese (reduced fat)
1/3 cup chopped onion (did not use onion)
1/2 cup shredded lettuce

Place soy crumbles in a nicrowave-safe bowl and sprinkle with taco seasoning.  Microwave for 1 minute, or until hot.  Stir and set aside.

Use a strainer to rinse and drain noodles well.  Pat dry.  Place noodles in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave for 1 minute.  Drain excess liquid.  Dry as thoroughly as possible, using paper towels.  Cut noodles up a bit with kitchen shears (if you've got 'em)

Add the crushed tomatoes and seasoned crumbles to the bowl of noodles and mix well.  Microwave for another minute, until hot.

Give spaghetti mixture a stir and then evenly distribute among the taco shells, about 1/3 cup per shell.  Top each evenly with cheese, onion, and lettuce.




Josh liked the veggie grillers burger style crumbles, but I wasn't a fan.  Next time I will use a lean beef.





They were very messy.  But sooooo good! 

I highly recommend that you try them if you are wanting to find something different.

If you read this post, please say hi as a comment below.  ;o)