Recipes!

Here are the 3 new recipes we tried in my house for the week! Any changes I made are in italics.

#1: Mini-Sliders - www.weightwatchers.com
3 PP+ per serving. Serving = 1 slider

4 oz reduced-fat crescent roll dough, 4 rolls
2 tsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 pound(s) uncooked 93% lean ground beef
1 spray(s) cooking spray
6 Tbsp ketchup
1/8 tsp chili powder, chipotle-variety
1/4 cup(s) sour pickle(s), or sweet pickle(s), round slices
Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Unroll dough and form into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a thin sheet. Cut ten 2 ½-inch circles of dough, collecting scraps and rolling out dough again as needed. Place circles on a nonstick baking sheet and sprinkle with salt; bake until golden, about 8 minutes. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack. Slice each roll in half to make ten tops and ten bottoms.
Meanwhile, prepare sliders. In a medium mixing bowl, combine salt, paprika and garlic powder. Add beef and gently knead; divide into 10 portions. Flatten each portion into a 2 1/2-inch patty, about 1/2-inch thick.
Coat a large stovetop grill pan with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Arrange burgers on pan making sure not to crowd them. Cook until well-browned on bottom, about 6 to 8 minutes. Flip and cook until meat is cooked through, about 4 minutes.
To serve, in a small bowl, stir together ketchup and chile powder. Sandwich each burger between a roll, spread with 1 1/2 teaspoons ketchup and topped with pickles. I didn't make the ketchup sauce and instead just used ketchup, pickles, lettuce and tomato.
Yields 1 slider per serving.

#2: Pumpkin Oatmeal - http://cooktj.com/content/pumpkin-oatmeal (Trader Joes)
6 PP+ but I got in one of my servings of dairy for the day.

Ingredients
1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup milk or soy milk
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or more if you like more spice)
Dash of salt
1 Tbsp chopped nuts
1 Tbsp dried cranberries
Honey or maple syrup to taste
Instructions
1. Place milk, oats, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove from heat and place in bowl. Stir in nuts and cranberries. Sweeten with honey or maple syrup to taste.
I made it with soy milk and didn't add the nuts or cranberries. I sweetend with Splenda.

#3: Broccoli, Chicken, Rice Cassarole www.abicyclebuiltfor2.com
6 PP+ per serving, makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked white rice
2 chicken breasts, shredded
1 head of broccoli, steamed and cut into small pieces
1 can of cream of broccoli, chicken or mushroom soup
3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used 2% cheddar)
Simply combine all of the above ingredients together in a dish and top with the shredded cheese. Place in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted (the rice, broccoli and chicken should still be warm from just cooking beforehand).

Getting Started

I've decided to start a blog to log my effort to be healthier woman, wife, and momma. Since my daughter was born it's become more important for me to be an example of healthy living. I can't expect her to eat right and be active if I don't set a good example, right? Yea, she's only 3 months old but I figure if I start now, I should be on a good track once she actually knows what's going on! Haha!


For starters, I joined Weight Watchers again. It's free through my work so I figured why not. I used the online service a few years ago and successfully lost 25lbs. But then I fell in love and got "fat and happy" as they say :), had a baby, and now I'm back where I started from. I like the online tool because it helps me track what I'm eating and keeps me accountable. Yes, it's true you can eat whatever you want as long as it's within your points range so theoretically you could have donuts, tons of bread, pizza, etc. But I find that I'd rather spread my 28 points a day out on lean protein, fruits, veggies, and healthy snacks that are going to leave me feeling full and energized. Don't get me wrong, I love pizza and donuts and most definitely bread but Weight Watchers is helping me enjoy those things in moderation and pair them with things that are good for me, like a salad with tons of veggies...well maybe not with the donuts. ;)

I'm also taking part in a 12 week weight loss challenge that my cousin Dani is coordinating. We are 9 women grouped in teams of 3 working hard to eat right, get our daily exercise in and lose weight. Each week Dani assigns us a challenge and we compete as individuals and teams for the highest weight loss. Last weeks challenge was to work out for at least 30 minutes a day (I was able to do 5 out of 7 days....yay for yoga!) and this week we are tasked to eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day. Looking forward to my chicken pot pie lite and salad for dinner tonight to help me reach my goal! The challenge taps into my competitive side and helps me stay on track. Being part of a team is helpful because when I don't feel like working out or that poptart looks delicious I remember my team and make smart choices. Go Mommy Movers!

Current weight: 201.
Weight lost: 4lbs so far!