Pizza Pizza!

So, quick update, I gained a pound. Not so great. But, I saw it coming. Today I still have 7 left, even with eating out for lunch (work provided, but I ate smart) but think I'll only eat 2 of them. I know that I "should" eat my points, but I'm going to a conference and therefore eating out for dinner Thursday, and all three meals on Friday. So, even though you don't stockpile points on WW, I'm going to try! That's the bonus of doing it "off the record." I can make my own rules, and still lose weight. Errr...something like that. *lol*

So, a recipe for you, inspired by the dinner I fixed for my family tonight. The bonus is it doesn't make a lot of dishes!

Pita Pizzas
-Find your favorite kind of Pita bread. My Walmart deli section has some amazing "flax" ones that are "0" points for 1 pita, so I count them as "1" each since I ate 3.
-Top with pizza sauce, bbq sauce, ketchup/mustard, whatever floats your boat for sauce.
-Top with whatever meat or veggies you would like.
-Top with low fat cheese, whichever flavor you like.
-Bake until done, or be cool like me and use your Presto Pizza Pizzazz (I really could NOT live without mine). It took 8 minutes on that.

Here's how I actually made mine:
Pizza #1--Cheeseburger
1 Pita bread, topped with a big squirt of ketchup and a little squirt of mustard, then swirled around like pizza sauce. I then put 1/4 of a leftover hamburger from grilling on Sunday on it (broken up), thinly sliced dill pickles, and onion. I topped it with 1/4 c. ff cheddar cheese. It was 4 points of amazingness for the whole thing.

Pizza #2--Faux Margherita
1 Pita bread, topped with pizza sauce from a jar, swirled over the bread. I then topped it with spinach leaves (instead of basil--thus the "faux"), chopped tomato, and garlic salt. I then cut up one round of Baybel cheese and scattered it on top. This was another 3 points of amazingness...true amazingness, for the whole thing.

Pizza #3--BBQ "Chicken" Pizza
1 Pita bread, topped with BBQ sauce, swirled over the bread. I then topped it with about 1/2 oz. turkey breast (what I had on hand--obviously not chicken), onion, tomato, and 1/4 c. ff cheddar. This was again, true amazingness, for 3 pt.

So, I had 3 personal sized pizzas for 10 points. Can you belive that? The average pizza slice is at least 4 points, so I think I made a WW deal! And, as I said, not too many dishes!

Try your own variation and let me know what it was!

In the meantime, Brooke's been busy busy being sick, finishing up lots of school work, and dealing with some sadness at work due to an untimely death of a coworker. I'm sure she would appreciate your prayers for sanity and for health and WW success in the midst of stress. I'm sure she'll be back soon! We love you Brooke!

3 Point Pasta Dish

I didn't post a recipe yesterday, but noted that I may do one soon. Well, today is the day! I made up a dish for dinner, and it was so fabulous that I wanted to share it! It doesn't have a name...leave a comment with what you think we could call it! Here it is:

Unnamed Pasta Dish

4 flavored Chicken Sausages, Cooked and Sliced (I used spinach/asiago from Sam's)
1 Jar Roasted Red Peppers, Drained and Sliced
1/2 bag fresh spinach leaves
1 tsp. dried minced garlic (or 2-3 fresh cloves minced)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. Fat Free Balsamic Vinegar salad dressing
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 box Penne Pasta (Ronzoni Smart Taste)

Cook pasta until al dente. In the meantime, saute sausage, red peppers, spinach leaves, garlic, tomato, salt, pepper, and basil together until spinach is wilted. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it, put back in pan, and then toss it with the balsamic dressing. Add the sauteed mixture and stir. Top with Parmesan cheese. This made 10 cups @ 3 points per cup.

My husband and I both ate 3 cups. If you like artichokes they would be really good in this, but my husband doesn't, so I didn't. Adjust points accordingly if you add them, of course. We grilled out on Sunday, so I had Bill grill the sausages then and just reheated them in the saute tonight. They don't have to be grilled. That's the reason that I said use 4, when they come in 5 packs--we split one the night we grilled. :)

Let me know if you try it out or find a great tweak for it!

Cheesy Chili Dog Soup & Weigh-in day results for Brooke

Cheesy Chili Dog Soup!

Ingredients:
1 can Progresso Healthy Favorites 50% Less Sodium Garden Vegetable Soup
1 fat-free or nearly fat-free hot dog with 40 - 50 calories (like Hebrew National 97%Fat Free Beef Franks or Yves Meatless Hot Dogs)
1/4 cup fat-free shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp. chili seasoning mix

Directions:
Cut the hot dog into tiny, bite-sized pieces. Spray a small pot with nonstick spray, bring to medium heat, and add hot dog pieces. Cook for 1 - 2 minutes, until outsides begin to crisp. Then add soup and seasoning mix to the pot, stir, and continue to cook until very hot. Spoon the soup into 2 bowls, and top each bowl with half of the cheese. Allow cheese to melt and soup to cool slightly before digging in. Mmmmm!

MAKES 2 SERVINGS
PER SERVING (1 generous cup): 150 calories. Recipe is from Hungry Girl.com
If you have not checked out this website, it is a MUST!

In other news I weighed in on Friday and now have a total loss of 10.2lbs total. I received a sticker for the 5lbs lost..very excited since I had a wisdom tooth pulled at the beginning of the week and was sick with a fever with the extraction. I didn't get my walking/running in at all and was stressing about the weigh-in. It is not where I want to be but I am still on my mission for a good loss this week, that includes a Birthday for me this week. I am focusing on the goal and keep a mental picture of the scale and weigh-in day on Friday.

CuppyCakes

{Cupcakes used with Devil's Food Cake Mix and Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry Vanilla}



{Cupcakes used with Yellow Cake Mix and Diet. 7up}






1 Cake Mix of your choice
1 can diet coke (any diet soda works)
1 egg white Mix
Bake as directed on the back of the box

Cool

Frosting
1 package of fat-free sugar free instant pudding, (I used Sugar-free instant white chocolate)
1 cup ff milk
1 tub of sugar-free cool-whip, make sure it is not frozen.
Mix the pudding and milk together
Fold in the cool-whip.
Now Decorate! I used a cake decorator to make the cupcakes fancy.
Make sure you refrigerate.

Tip: Make sure to let the cake cook completely before you try to cut it. Because you aren't adding eggs, the cake will be tender and can tear if you cut it while it's warm. Some people have started adding 2 egg whites to the mix. It doesn't raise the points any (less than 1 point) but they report that the cake is firmer and rises better.

You have to figure your points from the cake mix you use. Multiply the nutritional info on the box by the number of servings the box says you get (usually 12). Then divide by the actual number of pieces you cut or cupcakes you make. The points will vary widely depending on how much fat is in your cake mix.

I wish this was my orginal recipe but it is not it has been floating around for years. I made these for work on several occassions, the first time people thought I purchased them at the store. I have made mini-cupcakes, regular and even the jumbo-cupcakes.
They are super fast and really good. Enjoy!

Awesome Stuff and Healthy Donut Holes!

First, let me think about some things I've had none to very little of since I started WW on February 17th.

Real hamburger or beef products. I've been eating mostly 97% fat free turkey which is amazingly close to beefy tasting once it absorbs the flavors you're cooking with. I've also been tapping back to my vegetarian roots (was for 6 years) and eating veggie burgers. I was really craving a real burger yesterday and had a double quarter pounder without cheese from McDonalds. I saved my points for it, and put fat free cheese on it at home. It was so good! Next I want a diner burger, but think we'll just make those with turkey burger at home.

Real butter or margarine, full fat sour cream, mayo, and cream cheese. I am in LOVE with Parkay's butter spray, and am tolerating the ff mayo and sour cream. I used it to make taco dip last weekend and it was yummy! However, I am totally put off by the sweet flavor of ff mayo. Any ideas?

Full fat cheese. I am suprisingly pleased with the reduced fat and fat free version of cheese, as long as I'm not trying to eat it all by itself.

94% fat free popcorn. This is a staple. It is 1 point for the whole bag! And, the bonus is that it doesn't have the greasy finger problem like typical popcorn so it's fine to eat at work while you're typing and working with paperwork. Sometimes at home I make it extra special and spray the above mentioned butter spray on it and then put extra salt on it--yum! But, without the spray don't try to put extra salt or seasonings on it, it won't stick!

Real chips. I've been almost exclusively baked, and that's going better than I had hoped.

Sugar. Splenda for me! Lovin it! You can even order Unsweetened tea at McD and ask for Splenda Packets.

And another product I love is Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta. It has tons of fiber and is white, even though it is made of wheat. I'm not a big fan of wheat pasta, but this isn't wheaty and tastes exactly the same. 3 pt. for 1 c. Which is a lot when it's spread out on your plate. YUM!

Ranch Dressing. I detest reduced fat or fat free ranch because of that weird taste that is in all reduced dressings. Any good picks here? I've been eating it, but would honestly eat more salads if I found one I loved.

I'm eating tons more veggies and fruit than before too. Oh, and oatmeal and yogurt which I've grown to love and just was okay with before.

There are more, but these are the main things sticking out in my mind. These are all pleasing alternatives. Before I went WW I ate at McD for breakfast just about every day! Youch!

What are your awesome products you couldn't live without in your weight loss journey?


Okay, now for the recipe. I stumbled across this the other day on recipezaar.com (thank them for the picture) tweaked it just a bit and made it for breakfast today. They were YUMMY! More muffin looking than hole looking, but yum yum still. With the baking mix I used (I just had pancake mix on hand), it was .5 pt. each. Be sure to calculate it with your mix if you make them.

Healthy Donut Holes

Ingredients

• 1 cup + 2 T Bisquick reduced-fat baking mix or pancake mix
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 egg (or equivalent in egg substitute--which is what I used)
• 2/3 cup skim milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons (sugar substitute) for shaking
  
• 1/2 teaspoon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 12 hole mini muffin pan with butter flavored cooking spray.
3. In a medium bowl, combine baking mix, 1/4 cup Splenda and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
4. Add egg, skim milk and vanilla extract.
5. Mix well to combine (my batter was runny).
6. Drop by spoonfuls into prepared muffin pan.
7. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes.
8. Remove balls from pan (I had to use a spoon to dig them out)
   
9. In a ziploc plastic bag, combine sugar coating ingredients and place warm donut balls in 2 or 3 at a time and shake to coat.

I doubled the recipe and it made 36 holes. I ate 12. Yipes! But, since I just had salad for lunch it worked. I look forward to having some leftovers with yogurt in the morning for breakfast on my way to work. Let me know if you try to make them!

Now, we just need Brooke to post her fabulous recipe for some awesomely healthy cupcakes. I made them for work the other day and got RAVE reviews. But, I can't take the credit--she gave me the recipe (and has a pic)!

Tips & 1 Point Biscuits

If you've read my facebook, you'll have already seen these. But, for others, I wanted to share them too, and cheat on having to think today. :)

--I was making 2 pt. packs of the bags of baked chips we had opened, and kept snacking, so had to end up giving myself 2 points. I had read somewhere to chew gum while cooking so you weren't tempted to do this. That would've been smart.

--For dinner recently we had spinach and asiago stuffed chicken sausages. We found these at Sam's Club. They're big sausages for only 3 points each, and really yummy! I don't remember exactly how much we paid for them, but there were three packages of 5. Sometimes I don't like a lot of spinach, but these really aren't too spinachy.

--Hostess 100 Calorie Cupcakes are only 1 point per pack! Holey Moley! I read this somewhere and had to check it out myself at Walmart. Yup! I've been craving a cupcake so this will be great--they have 4 flavors.

Here's the recipe for the biscuits. They're a little dense, but so worth it! Top them with some country gravy from the seasoning aisle (just mix with water--not too many points).

1 c. flour
1/2 c. skim milk
2 T. FF Mayo or Miracle Whip
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Mix and spoon into 6 muffin cups in a muffin tin. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes or until golden.

Until next time!