leftover delight

as someone who wastes a lot of food and doesn't plan weekly menus in advance to get the most bang for her buck, I'm always happy when recipe ingredients come together from what I already have in the fridge. When grilling the chicken for the Chicken Shawarmas (last post), I had dh bbq a couple extra chicken breasts (remaining from the large Costco boneless chicken pack). I was happy to come upon this Mediterranean Chicken Salad Pitas recipe in the same Cooking Light (July 08). It calls for cooked chicken, Greek yogurt (it called for whole, but I used the 2% one from the Shawarmas) and pita bread! woo hoo! all of which I had in stock. Actually, I even had remaining red pepper, salad greens (I used romaine instead of Bibb) and red onion. I feel so virtuous when I'm not wasting stuff (especially fresh vegetables, which often end up in my green bin.)

The only things I needed to buy were the chickpeas and green olives. I usually have green olives since I really, really love olives, but I've been not indulging lately, so no olives. I've also been wanting to work more beans and lentils and chickpeas into my diet, so I was happy to find that I needed some for this recipe. To make this post even more happily braggy, I actually walked- an over hour long walk over very hilly terrain to the store to buy the chickpeas. So...APs earned + unwasted food = braggy Janet.

The salad pictured above looks a little wet (sorry), but this IS supposed to be a creamy salad- like the kind my mom always used to make that I wasn't crazy about as a kid. (Sorry Mom!) The magazine one looks creamier- maybe because of the full fat yogurt? and food-making and food picture taking-experts?

I, again, had the larger pitas (re my post the other day), so instead of the two pita pockets per person, I had a single large one. You are supposed to also get one cup of the salad and I misread and did 3/4 of a cup, so in fact, you get more salad than shown. (woo hoo) My family did NOT enjoy this concoction, by the way, but I very much did- happily eating leftovers and chickpeas. I even had it again today for lunch. (8 points)

"Shawarma" fun to say...

...and fun to eat! Last night I made my first recipe from the new (July) Cooking Light. The recipe for Chicken Shawarma caught my eye immediately because my friends and I really love the Shawarma that they make at a local Middle Eastern restaurant (although, truth be told, I've been getting the falafel instead lately- as mentioned in a prior post). Also very appealing to me, is that the Shawarma recipe is in the Dinner Tonight (my favourite) section of the mag, so it features other kebab recipes (prior post love) AND gives side dish suggestions- which I enjoy looking at and trying, too. I made their suggested side salad last night. (Too bad it wasn't the fattoush though- which is the ME salad I heart the most. I'll have to get a recipe for that next time.)

Anyway, the chicken shawarma was so very good! The chicken was spicy and the tahini/yogurt sauce was delicious. I'd definitely make it again. The recipe called for 6 inch pitas, but the freshest I could find (at Fortinos) were the bigger size, so I cut 2 in half to make the recipe. In the end, to make it easier to eat AND more like the restaurant Shawarmas, I tucked the chicken, etc inside the warmed-on-the-grill pita. It was just so good and well worth the 8 points.

Pesto Power

Isn't it weird how something that you find so tasty- in this case pesto made from fresh basil from your garden, freshly opened pine nuts from Costco and olive oil from your cupboard, can be so unappealing to other members of your family. I think at least my youngest dd would enjoy pesto, if she would really give it a try (she has the most open taste buds in my little family- my broader family- and I don't mean as in personal size- loves many different foods. Not so much my immediate-living-in-my-house family AND they're the ones I mostly have to eat with! boo hoo for moi. Oh well! I'm making some stuff for my OWN enjoyment anyway. Last night, I made their pasta plain- served with delicious bbq chicken, btw.

So, last night, for my own personal enjoyment apparently, I made Classic Pesto from the Cooking Light Complete Cookbook. I bought a number of basil plants previously from a local gardening center and they were in full bloom beside my house, so I thought I'd better use them before they got too overgrown. (side note: my parents are true gardeners- and I grew up with all kinds of fresh vegetables and shorter-growing-season fruits. I feel guilty that this green thumb was not passed down to me and that I'm too lazy to try gardening to any real extent. I want to do better! *sob*)

Anyway, enough of that, the pesto last night was so delicious! Probably the freshness of the basil helped. Following this CL recipe, it's 1 point for 1 tbsp. I had it on a cup of rotini pasta with cut up (grown in Ontario, but not by me) tomatoes. mmmmmmmm... well worth every single point! (*The pesto pictured above was not mine, btw. I didn't have time to take a pic, rushing to get ready for our evening out. The CL one doesn't have that extra oil look and mine was a little darker because I used some purple leaves of basil, too.)

This recipe is also freezable, so I put tbsp servings in an ice cube try to be transferred to a freezer bag later. Now I can use my single serving pesto whenever I feel like a little and I don't have to listen to my family complaining. (I'm hoping for my girls' sake that they will eventually like it, cause I feel sorry for them in their pesto-deprived state. The dh- I've given up on. lol.)

p.s. The drive-in was a lot of fun! We saw Kung Foo Panda and Get Smart. I packed some low point snacks (and some high point ones, too) and used my flex. We'll definitely be going back. :)

ah summah!

Ok, my first morning of holiday is kinda non-weight watcherish and unproductive. Not in terms of breakfast (had my usual cereal and skim milk- sans fruit cause I NEED to get groceries- *note: non-productive), but in terms of it being noon and I'm still in my pjs. oops! I'm not even feeling rested and sprightly cause one of my "friends" called me this morning and woke me up. I didn't then spring out of bed and promptly start exercising, partly as I stayed up late last night watching a video (definitely, maybe which was good btw). It's an evil-unproducted cycle of lazy, my first day of holiday.

Anyway, I'm thinking I'll get dressed and go for a walk or a bike ride? or at least go and buy groceries so I can actually make something healthy later? I did, at least- during a quick run for milk last night- buy stuff for a non-fat yogurt smoothie. Maybe I'll have that for lunch and make my day more weigh watcherish.

We are taking the girls to their first drive-in movie later tonight! I SHOULD, therefore, be less lazy and make a healthy dinner to have before all the movie snacking. Anyone with tips on what you bring to the movies? when you're being good that is? (I got the high fat movie snacks down- pat and don't need tips on that.)

the day after

The wi the day after the bbq, that is- was a good one. I lost 2.5 pounds- YEAH! (I got the "losing too fast" lecture from the online tracker. I really am not though. I had dipped down the previous week before wi and then went up a bit, so I was probably down more last week than showed on the scale. kwim? So it's revealing the extra bit this week, putting me over 2. I've not lost more than 2 pounds since the beginning and it's been usually 1 or 1.5, it seems.)

The bbq was very fun. I took my camera to take pictures of a couple people leaving our workplace- who didn't come!- so I got a lot of crazy pictures instead. Drunk people kept borrowing my camera. lol. I scored some very minor APs golfing (badly) and dancing to some disco numbers when some dancing broke out.

I actually stayed within my points with a Licks veggie burger and Mike's low point lemonade cooler (2pts). I avoided the donuts and chips and had the veggies and dip. So overall, it was an OP day- just low on the calcium and water.

Hope the rest of my Wednesday wi buds had a good wi! I know a certain someone lost over 3- woo hoo for her!

Size 14 checking in!

How can it be HYC Tuesday check in already? Anyway, I've had a pretty good week and think I am down at least a pound for the week, if I don't blow it all at my work related bbq later. I need to improve my daily commitment to exercise and water. Other than that I am just happy to be surviving fattening June with any losses at all.

I took a picture of the outfit that I'm wearing today for my work related golf adventure *see above* since I haven't really posted other stats on this site (other than the weight loss scale thing on the bottom) and I do enjoy looking at weight loss stats on other people's sites. It's so inspiring to see how far some people have come. Makes any of my whining seem frivolous. kwim?

I'm happy about the outfit because (a) it fits me well and doesn't give me a muffin top, (b) it would not have fit me well a month or so ago and so (c) it helps me to feel like I'm progressing. The outfit makes me feel less happy in that it is (a) size 14- in the skirt and (b) the first time I wore it, it was pretty loose (they didn't have a smaller size at Winners).

Anyway, in trying on my other summer stuff, some things fit and some things are too tight (though I can squeeze into most things- definitely earning my muffin top title). Most my recent summer stuff is size 12, with a few 10s thrown in for good measure. I'm hoping that by mid-July, a few more size 12s will be wearable.

Have a good day everyone! I'm off to earn APs the slow and hard way: playing golf...poorly. ;)

I love cereal with blueberries

... or raspberries, like I had with my Quaker Corn Bran today! :) Isn't this time of year the best in terms of berry availability? Even though it's unseasonably crappy weather wise, we're still berry delicious in Southern Ontario. The A&P had raspberries on for 3 for $5. the other day (ergo the raspberries in my cereal), but otherwise I like to head to Costco for one of their Jumbo-large packs of blueberries.

Anyone want to share their favourite cereal (with berries or without)? I'm always game for a new cereal. The ones that I've gotten into a breakfast routine with lately are Quaker Corn Bran and Kellogg's Guardian. After I had my eldest dd, I kept on the weight for a bit and my doctor sent me to speak to her nutritionist to evaluate my diet. (Just after that I started Weight Watchers for the first time.) One of the things I remember was that she complimented me on my cereal-for-breakfast eating habits, saying that that was something she usually had to get people to start doing. (I was happy to be doing at least something right in a whole lot of wrong.)

I know it's a good idea to have a little protein for breakfast, too, but for a good, quick breakfast, nothing beats cereal and berries for me as I'm rushing off to work. Another benefit for me is that it helps me get one of my servings of milk- which is one of the areas in my diet that sometimes gets somewhat neglected. So yeah for cereal! :)

How to eat a burger

How to eat an actual REAL meat burger- and still stay within your points: make it a mini ground sirloin steak burger appetizer on a mini dinner roll.

Last night- before our rush to get dd off to her dance recital (where she did a Hannah Montana number with her jazz class- very cute), I spent part of the afternoon trying a couple of Cooking Light recipes. Both are from the June Cooking Light magazine. The one pictured above (rushed picture taken whilst family asked, "Why are you taking a picture of your dinner?) is Sliders with Shallot-Dijon Relish. The recipe could be cut down further pointswise (like take out the butter in the relish maybe and forgo the pickle chips).

Good lord! I just realized that dill pickle chips are not actual dill pickle chips!! rotfl! What a dolt I am!! Note to self: look at picture in magazine more closely before trying a recipe. Too, too funny! Should I edit this? or the picture with the dill pickle chip sticking out of it? No! What's dignity among bloggers? Anyway, who knew that dill pickle slices are called dill pickle chips? I thought the since this was an appetizer that the dill pickle chips were just a funky addition and who hasn't stuck potato chips on one's burger (well, before ww anyway)?! Chips are good with anything, really. right?!

Moving on, red-faced...all the adults enjoyed the burgers (esp. with the crunchiness of dill pickle chips). The children weren't sold. I think in the future, I would forgo the shallot/mustard mixture for the children and serve their chips on the side. har. Dh really liked how the burger wasn't greasy- the sirloin was really lean. I found he cooked it a little too long (he likes things really well done) and would have liked him to have followed the 3 minutes per side as the recipe called for and how I carefully instructed (bossed) him to do, BUT it was enjoyable anyway. (esp with the extra crunch.) I DID think that salsa would have been a nice addition to this burger, so I think that the actual dill pickles might have helped with that- crazy how it's all falling into place.

I'll definitely try this recipe again and do it properly. :P Part of the reason I tried it was because it was picked as a "Greatest Hit" by the staff. Guess they all knew about the pickle chip thing, eh?

The grilled veggies or Grilled Vegetable Salad pictured above was also very tasty. The veggies should be cut a bit more- but I was rushing for the recital at that point. I'd definitely do that recipe again as it was well-liked by all adults present and it doesn't call for chips of any kind. :)

Putting down the fork

or at least using it to gingerly dip into the gazillion point dressing. I haven't really cooked for a number of days (or, sadly, exercised) but I did make some good choices in a room of tough choices, so I'll take that and move on.

I had a really good salad out at Jack Astor's for lunch yesterday called Chopsticks Chicken Salad. It wasn't too bad pointwise as I had the dressing on the side and they forgot the candied, spicy pecans- until I noticed most of the way through the salad and, of course, requested them- lol. Anyway, they were on the side then in a little dish, so I could better account for how many I added (and then stuff the rest in my purse for another day). They were spicy AND delicious, btw. (sidenote: I did a Cooking Light recipe with candied nuts awhile back that remind me of these. I'll have to look it up to do again.)

The rest of the salad was greens and veggie items, grilled chicken, sundried cranberries, and fried wontons. (They did have the points (2) in the online calculator for the fried wontons, though they were from a specific company, so who knows if that was accurate? The salad didn't have a ton of them or the cranberries for that matter. The sometime skimpiness of restaurants helps in the weightloss dept, eh?)

For the salad dressing I did that old WW trick of dipping the fork into the dressing and then spearing the forkful of salad. You do use a ton less dressing this way (like it looked like none was gone), but you get the full flavour (it seemed anyway) of the dressing without it being sopping with dressing.

In exercise news, I did not go on my Saturday run this morning because my running partner (subject of a prior blog entry) broke her foot tripping over one of her teenage daughter's shoes left out where she'd told her a milllion times not to leave them: just inside the door to the garage. Anyway, poor rp has a broken foot and poor me has one less person to drag me out to exercise. (Yes, I know, most of the pity should go to poor rp. It's not all about me and my muffin top, eh?)

Anyway, I pledge to exercise sometime before we leave for younger dd's dance recital. Though it's raining out AND my house is messy. Have a great weekend, everyone and heal fast rp! (for yourself and your own welfare, not mine. ..really.)

a Muffin Top funny

Someone on the Canadian Weight Watcher's site posted a link to a You Tube video about the expression "Muffin Top." It's actually a Lifesaver's commercial. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out HERE. It's cute.

I had a good wi today: being down 1.5 pounds. I wasn't all that good today though as I attended a pizza party at lunch (Pizza Hut has huge points, btw) AND I didn't exercise! oops. I'm super tired for some reason and had to rush dd to a baseball game after dinner. I will try to be better tomorrow though we are going to another party (a potluck). *sigh* June is bru-tal on the healthy eating. I'll have to sneak looks at salad recipes tomorrow at work so I can bring something point friendly at least.

I'm closing with a picture (*actually, it ended up on top of the post-see above- I'm too sleepy to move it and I'm sure you don't care anyway*) of a Thai Cold Spring Roll. I made a "version" of this tonight. Mine wasn't quite so pretty, but still tasty. I'll try to perfect mine to share. I learned how to roll the rice paper at a Thai restaurant cooking class with a friend. They're actually really easy and the rice paper is only 1 point. It's REALLY good with avocado (continuing with my obsession with the green, high fat/ healthy fat veggie). Tonight, I filled mine with shredded carrot, chopped lettuce, green onion, a tiny bit of scrambled egg (cause I made it for the kids for dinner- lol. It actually wasn't bad), avocado, rice noodles, bean sprouts and sweet and sour sauce. It's a very fresh, summery dish. If mine looked more professional, I'd take them to the potluck tomorrow. :)

a recap of the diet- er, healthy lifestyle thus far...

since this is Tuesday, which is check in day and I'm not sure what state I'll be in after the field trip with eldest dd to a water park for the day (if I'll have the energy or wherewithal to try a new recipe and post or do anything that doesn't involve a drivethru), I thought I'd post a recap of the weight loss journey thus far. (Doesn't the way reality shows bandy about the word "journey" all the time really irritate you? If not- and you LOVE the word journey used for all kinds of artificially staged ventures, a large "never mind!")

Anyway, overall I'm feeling great about my "journey" (har) and am not feeling deprived in any way. My exercise routine needs a kick start, so I told a friend that I'd do the boot camp that she's organizing for this summer. I've done it before and it's brutal in the best sense of the word. There are 2 main instructors that we work with and they really push you to go past your exercise limits- which is good for me, cause I have the tendency to be lazy and only go to the point where I FEEL like I can't go any further, not to the point that I'm about to have a heart attack. kidding! kind of...

They do studio work some days where you do half circuit and half floor exercises and then they do cardio days (the most brutal part) where you do a gazillion stairs and hill repeats. (again, way more than I'd ever do on my own, of course.) They take your measurements before and after the boot camp, so it's inspiring in that way, too.

Lately, (as the boot camp doesn't start till July) I've been enjoying DDR (Dance, Dance Revolution) quite a bit for a fun workout where you don't notice that you're exercising, but you are sweating buckets. I'm trying to get a passing grade on all the songs on beginner and basic. Goals seem to work with me in general and the game aspect makes me keep going. Last night, for example, I did it for an hour and I had to keep calling dh upstairs for the time as I had other things to do (and didn't have my watch on). Very annoying to him, I'm sure, but good proof that time passes quickly when doing exercise that you like, eh?

In between songs, cause DDR has this whole scoring/saving the score aspect, I try to keep moving with hamstring curls or kicks. (Yes, I'm sure I look like a dork, but I'm in my own basement getting my groove on, so it's all good.) I gauge it an an intermediate workout for the online exercis-o-meter @ ww.com

In the food department, I feel like I've been eating healthier and- overall- eating more interesting meals than usual, so hopefully this continues. The last WW newsletter from the Canadian site seemed to have some good recipes, I might try something there this week and post. Tomorrow is my wi and I expect to see about a 1.5-2 pound loss judging by my peeking this week. (Knock on wood.) :) I'd like to see the 150s by mid July if possible. Have a good day!

Don't you just love skewer recipes?

I guess I should have take a picture of this while it was still on the skewer (the chicken and onion bits, I mean. The bread/croutons are cooked on a skewer separately as well.) but my skewers are large and metal (new President Choice- PC- ones that I just got at Fortinos). So though the recipe calls for a skewer on each plate, mine wouldn't work. (They'd hang over your plate and my children might start swordfighting with them or something. Then there would be yelling from dh. Who needs the headache for the sake of presentation, I ask you? Bamboo ones would be pretty though.)

Anyway, I really liked this recipe. It's from the new June issue of Cooking Light: "Grilled Chicken Caesar on a Skewer." It was pretty easy, too. I really like how the chicken cooked on the skewer and enjoyed the caesar flavouring on the chicken, too.

It called for fat-free bottled Caesar dressing which my local store didn't have. We Canadians don't have a ton of fat-free products, do we- I mean of the manufactured kind? I always wonder why that is? I know we have less products in general, but much of the really low or non-fat stuff isn't sold here. Anyway, I used the PC blue label stuff and a bit of my light Renee's Caesar dressing. I think next time I will use the PC stuff just for the marinating part and use the Renee's in smaller amounts for the main salad and adjust the points. The Renee's dressing was just so much tastier and denser. I plan to play around with it and see how to maybe combine it with something else? and still have that great "real" dressing taste? The PC stuff just seemed so artificial and bland. kwim? Any Caesar experts out there with tips?

I really liked the grated cheese in this recipe, too. We have one of those handle-turning cheese graters where you put the chunks of cheese in it. Having it done this way makes me realize how much more flavourful it is than the pre-grated stuff we usually go with (from a bag from Costco). You need less of it for the flavour, too. (So that's good pointwise, eh?)

Finally, I think next time I'll add a bit of lemon, too. I love a lemon taste with a Caesar- and a bit of yellow would like pretty, too, what with the lack of skewers in the presentation and all. ;)

The Problem with June

...is too many work related parties and functions! (though I can never, really hate June for all its other loveliness of features- including the sunshine, the flipflop weather, the bbqs, the approaching (YEAH) holiday, etc. etc.)

Anyway, I haven't posted for awhile and this is just a quickie as we are about to go out for a Father's Day brunch- I'm thinking pancakes maybe? I was over my points yesterday- sheerly by alcohol consumption, if the WW online tracker is correct.

I was at a 40th bday party that involved a bonfire and while I didn't eat the (a) sausages (not a hardship for me, I don't really love them) (b)s'mores (I was going to, but was inside when they cracked them out) (c) bday cake or (d) slab pizza, and I did eat the (e) veggies on the platters, I did also drink the cosmopolitans that I brought with me. I bought the premixed canned stuff that you can buy at the liquor store and brought acrylic martini glasses so I could share. Anywhooooo...a couple friends who were supposed to come late to the party, didn't, so I drank quite a few (2 and a half?!) myself.

The trouble with the mixed cocktail that tastes enjoyable is that you don't notice how strong it is as it is easy to drink much like Koolaid. Plus, when one is dieting, one's resistance to alcohol is a little down, so I was a little head spinny getting ready for bed- just minorly, but still, not good.

Anyway, another part of the problem was that I was doing a scrapbook for the bday girl AND decided to do it pretty much last minute, so I had no time for dinner preparation for the family and dh had to go out to the WEndy's drivethru last night. He got me the Chicken Mandarin Salad and didn't double check that they packed everything and they left out all the good stuff that I eat and add to the points (the noodles or the almonds- I usually add half of the almonds). Sooooooo...I didn't eat enough actual food yesterday. I was actually down a couple of pounds this a.m. but I'm not going to switch over to the Alcoholics version of WW anytime soon. The head spins are a killer afterall. ;)

have a Happy Father's Day everyone. Will, hopefully, post a new recipe later (though I'm not promising!)

Deep Thoughts at Bedtime

I had a nice time at my work party yesterday and survived without falling face first (mouth open) into the Chinese food. I took a little bit of everything (probably, the highest in points was the orange-beef that this particular place does in a spicy way that I love) and just enjoyed eating it. I knew I was only having one plate, so I took my time and just enjoyed everything. kwim?

I found that by the end, by taking my time and all, that I WAS full enough and I didn't have to eat the dessert squares (that looked really good and were from this amazing little bakery in the town that I live in). I wasn't even tempted. I think part of it was knowing that I'd have to track them and I could get more "bang for my point buck" if I had some frozen yogurt or something at home, but part of it was just not mindless eating like I usually would do at a party.

I will never stop loving food. I know that about myself. I think I actually enjoy food MORE when I'm being conscious of what I'm eating and appreciating it. I could have had a delicious square and tracked it if I wanted, but that delicious square wasn't the boss of me. "Take THAT, delicious square!"

WI Day and Chinese Food

Yeah! I made it to my official Wednesday WI without a major salt retention or sudden weight gain tsunami and was even 1/2 pound down more from my peek- bringing me to a 10 pound loss exactly! woo hoo! I'm back in the 160s for June- a mini goal I had. Ok, so it's not the first of June, but I'll take it!

My other weight loss hurdle today is a party that I'm going to after work where we're having Chinese food and I don't think they're getting the steamed rice, if you know what I mean.

A New (4 Me) Icecream Find

...that I think also earns you APs, simply by trying to scoop the rock-hard stuff out! I have had the double churned Breyer's before- but in the cappuccino-chocolate flavour- which I didn't enjoy as much as this. (For Cappuccino frozen yogurt with bits of chocolate, Chapman's Frozen Yogurt rocks.)

Anyway, I found this on the weekend @ Fortinos and really like it, but why is the double churned icecream so hard to scoop? I tried letting it soften, but only the edges kind of do and the rest remains like a boulder in the middle area. I figure major AP points for trying to get a waffle cone's worth for the kids! ;)

In the exercise department, I did 24 minutes of WiiFit on the spot jogging (around a picturesque cartoon island) and I was really sweating it out. It's not too bad, for jogging on the spot and all. The cartoon waterfalls and such take your mind off some of the pain. It would be cool if you could suddenly run in another direction, through the Mii village or down by the beach- lol. Then I did some of the Yoga. I THINK I'm improving. I'd like to take a yoga class again irl. I know I need to work on my core muscles and posture. I'm way too slouchy!

Sidenote: you know how when one is eating healthier, sometimes one's dh annoyingly starts dropping pounds without breaking a sweat? Mine is currently eating chips and drinking beer at the kitchen table. I sent him out for skim milk and he did a little shopping for himself. I think I'm going to beat him in the weight loss competition even with his manly calorie burning power. Luckily the chips aren't calling to me. I must be in the zone, eh?!

Why I'm too tired to exercise tonight...

I stayed up late last night to finish "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer. Anyone who enjoyed the books from her Twilight series is sure to like this one. Quel page turner, but now there is some guilt involved in taking another day off from exercise. Oh well! At least I'm not sharing a body with an alien (though if the alien could do a little cleaning and exercise here and there...) Anyway, tiredness kills my evening workouts.

I'm feeling pretty pumped about my weight loss though, since I was down a bit more today (and basically reached my June goal, partway into June). My official WI is on Wednesday, so hopefully I can be officially happy then. (so a quiet yippee for now)

I am also celebrating my cooking another new Cooking Light recipe. I'm on a roll! I did the cover pork recipe from the June issue ( Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Barbecue Sauce)
on Sunday and had left over pork (torn up and mixed up with some of the mustard sauce) on fresh whole-wheat kaiser rolls for dinner tonight. Very tasty! (to me anyway. dh has a thing against pork- even though it IS the OTHER white meat and in spite of the fact that he loves bacon which also comes from the pig, and my dds only like their foods separated so everything was on the side for their serving. They both liked the pork recipe in general though and youngest dd asked if we could "definitely have it again." So that was good news because they are worse than the harshest food critics out there usually and not afraid of letting you know that supper was horrible.

Another, final kid funny. I've trained my girls to help pack their lunch bags. I make their main sandwich or bagel, but they help out putting in the extra things. My youngest asked me today if she could get something out of my "box of American snacks." har. It's like she's been reading my blog or something.

I heart avocado (and fresh tomato)

Sunday afternoon is a nice time to "cook", too. Actually, we are all cookin' in Southern Ontario today. Can you say "Yikes! It's hot out?" Before we went to the Busker's Fest (I feel sorry for the performers with costumes. It was sweltering!) I made this recipe, Heirloom Tomato and Avocado Stack from the June issue of Cooking Light. It was heart-breakingly delicious- in a good way. I think I'm in love (though it can't do the laundry like dh).

The recipe has a highish fat count (note the avocado), but worked out to 2 points. I got to use my leftover buttermilk (from the CL pancakes) for the dressing. You get 2 tbsp of the dressing which is delicious. It calls for Heirloom tomatoes of varying colours and Fortinos only had smaller tomatoes in a four pack in multi-colour, so I used those instead. So, in the end, my tomato slices were much smaller than those pictured in the mag, and they also cut the ones in their glossy picture much smaller- as it called for 4 slices per tomato (unless you were supposed to have left-over tomato?! )

Anyway, whatever, I can not describe the loveliness and deliciousness of these tomatoes, topped with avocado and onion and drizzled with buttermilk dressing. It was like tasting summer.

Saturday Night's All Right for Eating 2

I had a nice Saturday that reached a crescendo of niceness with a dinner from the new (June) Cooking Light on our patio with a cold glass Rickard's White beer with orange slices. delicious! :)

I took a picture of a single serving of the salad: Grilled Chicken Salad with Sweet and Spicy Dressing. You can find the actual recipe on the CL site by clicking here.

I couldn't find chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce, so I used a tsp of chili sauce that I had left from a previous recipe. Not sure if that was a crazy thing to do or not, but the dressing did taste good. lol. I also used the tomatoes I had had on hand- the recipe called for 2 plum tomatoes cut up.

Dh and I really enjoyed this salad. My green-impaired children liked the chicken...and the beer was very, VERY nice. :) Did that sound like my children had beer? oops! They had milk. night!

If you enjoy Whoppers...

of the chocolate kind (remember those snacks filled with some kind of a malt candy?), you will enjoy the next snack up in my long list of Buffalo purCHASES, the Oreo Candy Bite. I really liked them (though my 7 year old thought they were gross). Isn't that just like the actual old Whopper candy? People either like them or hate them? I remember that from my own childhood candy memories with my sisters.

Anyway, these bites are filled with a cookie flavoured crunchy centre- instead of melt in your mouth malt candy- and covered with a candy coating. What's not to love for 2 points?! I'd definitely get them again. (My shopping list is getting quite long, eh?) I think I like snacks best that come in little bits: you can make them last if you are determined enough.

In exercise news, I got out for a brisk walk down to the harbour today at lunch with a friend (for about 30 mins?), but I'm way too tired to work out tonight. I was up too late last night, in part reading the new Stephanie Meyer book "The Host." It's hard to put down. :) I also seem to have pulled a muscle. It's in an unusual place behind my left knee. It's been bugging me for a few days now, so tonight will be my night off exercise. night!

a S'more for Barbie

...not that that chick needs a low fat, teeny tiny s'more! Are these things adorable or what? lol. Anyway, next up in my series of snacks discovered whilst shopping in Buffalo, are the forementioned Hershery's Snacksters: S'Mores. I tried them today before my DDR workout. (way to get extreme energy, eh?)

I did enjoy them overall and would buy them again. The best part is the chocolate (of course) and as a snack, it tastes best eaten all together- as an actual mini Barbie s'more(s). Seriously! Individually, the parts- other than the chocolate, of course, were a little bland if you kwim? Plus, it was way fun and time consuming stacking this little suckers- ergo making the snack last longer and seem, well "bigger". :P

Am I seeming obsessive about the snacks? lol. or- hopefully- helpful for future shopping trips to the big U. S. of A.?! Hopefully the second.

...in fitness news, I did about an hour and a half on DDR, mainly because I was trying to pass this crazy dance request level. I was sweating all over the place and yet, sadly, did NOT pass said level. Will try again tomorrow. Might have to eat a bunch of Barbie S'mores beforehand. har. *sweet dreams ww girls!*

Dance Off with Mr.Salty

Continuing in the series of US snack entries, I tried another new snack food tonight- the one I was MOST anxious to find after seeing its Bee-YOU-tuh-full picture in a glossy magazine ad- Mister Salty's chocolate covered pretzels. Can I just say, mmmmmmmmmmm! delicious!

I actually bought 2 boxes in the US, but now I must hide them from my children and hope that they forget they ever saw them. (dh let them stay up until I came home on Saturday night and they watched- and helped- me unpack the "goods." Anyway, the apple does not fall far from the tree as they say, and my children looked as deliriously happy as me at the bounty of snack items that their mother brought home and they both commented on the loveliness of the Mr. Salty box- but maybe I can hide 1 of the boxes. Don't tell them, ok?)

anywhoooo...the chocolatey, salty combo is to die for and I definitely recommend them. :)

In other weight loss news, I tried a new technique today and made myself workout as soon as I got home from work. It was kind of rainy out, so I did DDR for over an hour and capped it off with 20 minutes of Wii Fit Yoga. I'll have to do the strength exercises on it tomorrow, as I ran out of time and do want to work in those kind of exercises- and weight training- into my routine also. I'd love to lose some arm jiggle before deep summer. kwim?

a Chocolatey Mint snack

I tried a couple more snacks from my US goodie stash today. The Quaker Mini Delights in the flavour chocolate- mint were quite delicious. I had mine with herbal tea after the kids were in bed. Anyone else have the evening herbal tea to stop the mindless evening snacking? It makes me feel like I'm having something especially good for when I don't want to spend any more points.

The other snack was a Special K Bliss bar which I took to work. It was chocolate raspberry and pretty ok. I'll have to give it another try on an other day. I didn't instantly love it like the fiber 1 bars I found at the A& P for example.

I also made it out for a run/walk today, after everyone left for various activities. It was so nice out, I felt too bad about retreating to the basement for a workout, so I donned shorts and headed out. I ran 2 lightposts and walked 1 for a good interval training run. I'm not in great running condition currently, but I feel myself getting stronger. :) I finished off with a brief round of Wii Fit yoga. I'm still super wobbly at the Tree Position, but I'm working on it.

Yippee for New American Snacks!

Well, I survived my weekend with the girls (very fun) and was able to pick up some low point snacks. The other girls were not really into going to a grocery store and at one point one of them was following me around asking me questions about what I was getting (and pointedly not picking up anything herself), but I persevered and moved quickly down the snack aisle!

There wasn't the greatest selection, I should have picked up more at Target, I didn't have a cooler bag (I was already toting too much scrapping stuff), BUT I am happy with the new stuff that I did get. I'll have to go over for a grocery run at some point and just pay the duty.

Anyway, the snacks that I tried thus far (last night with a frozen pina colada which may or may not have influenced my judgement): Pringles Baked Wheat Stix with the Honey Butter flavouring and Reese's Snacksters Peanut Butter. I really liked them both. The Stix (2 points) come as shown in the picture above and have a sweet, buttery taste that I really enjoyed (though it might be too sweet for some people). I also liked how long this snack took to eat. kwim? There are so many little sticks in there (or should I say stix? :P) that take, like 3 bites each if you are nibbling.

I really liked the Reese's Snacksters, too, cause I'm all about the pb flavour. They also come in a little bag with multiple pieces and seem to last a long time, too.

I know some people aren't into the processed, package snacks and I like healthy (and unhealthy) home cooking, too, but sometimes a tasty, store bought snack is just what the pound-dropping lady needs to feel joyful. So yeah for my new US snack stash! :)