Recipes

I found a great website with a ton of healthy recipes!  Check it out! Skinny Taste

Turkey Meatloaf

Meatloaf has such a bad rap but it is really good if you find the right recipe.  Kristie mentioned making a meatloaf for dinner so I thought I would share a really good, low calorie meatloaf.  My kids gobble this up!

Turkey Meatloaf 
2 T butter
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (20 oz) package Jennie O Turkey Lean Ground Turkey
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 large egg
3/4 cup catsup
2 t Worcestershire sauce
3/4 t salt
1/2 t pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter in a small skillet over medum high heat.  Add onion and garlic, cook 5 min, stirring occassionally.  Transfer mixture to a large bowl; cool 5 minutes.  Add turkey, bread crubms, egg, 1/4 cup catsup, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to onion mixture; mix well.  Pack into 8x4 loaf pan.  Spread remaining 1/2 cup catsup over top.  Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until no longer pink in center and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.  Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

~Heather

Cravings

You know how earlier this week, I posted that I was having a hard day and craving really terrible things??  Well, I have found that that craving is not going away.  Very frustrating.  So, today I decided that I just need to give in to the craving and then maybe it will go away.  Maybe??

In my quest for this craving I have eaten some pretty bad things.  And made some pretty poor choices.  However, I think that since I haven't actually eaten what I'm craving I'm still left wanting.  Does that make sense??

So, my big craving this week??..... Jalapeno Poppers

I did a little research this morning on good ole' Pinterest, because all the best are on there, right? lol (Have I mentioned that I love this site and think everyone should be one there?? {cough, cough, Kristie!!})  I came across a recipe for "healthier" jalapeno poppers.  I bought all the ingredients and now I just need to make them. 

Jalapeno Popper Recipe

It's actually a very cool website where I found them.  Hungry Girl.  This particular recipe she compares to Arby's Jalepeno Poppers and has the WW points calculated.  I will be sure to let everyone know how they turn out!! :)

~Heather

Breakfast

I have a friend that loves cooking and even has a blog and Facebook page dedicated to her recipes.  I have tried a few things and have never been disappointed.  However, I despise cooking.  I can cook but I just plain and simple do not enjoy it.  I wish I did!!  In an effort to budget more wisely and eat more healthy, I have been cooking on a regular basis for a while.  It isn't too bad if you just plan it all out. 

So, one of Amanda's tricks is to bake breakfasts foods ahead of time and freeze them.  I took one of her ideas of mixing together eggs, sausage, splash of milk, and cheese then pouring it into greased muffin pans.  My one batch made 24 "muffins."  I will calculate the nutritional value and include that but I know the WW pts came out to 3 pts per muffin.  Not too shabby.  I talked about these in a previous post HERE but today was the first time I actually reheated them and ate it.

I reheat them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes (directly from frozen, would be shorter if they are defrosted) at 350.  I cut mine in half and put it on a toasted 100 calorie whole grain English muffin.  It is delicious and very satisfying.

(please forgive the iphone quality picture!)

After I cooked all of them, I cooled them off and  then put them on a cookie sheet to freeze and once frozen I put them in a large ziplock bag.

My boys gobbled  these up too.  I think these are going to become staples!

Nutritional Info: (per serving, 24 servings) (not including the English muffin)
Calories: 119
Total Fat: 9.5 g
Total Carb: 0
Fiber: 0
Protein: 7.9 g

Weekly Weigh In & Other Ramblings

I had my weekly Weight Watchers meeting last night and weighed in for the first time, well the second weigh in but the first since the initial.  I lost 3.2 pounds.  I know the first week is mostly water weight and I'm ok with that.  I actually ate a bit off plan over the weekend but I still tracked everything and accounted for everything. 

I might change my WW day to Thursday.  There was a sub leader yesterday and I really liked her.  She normally leads the meetings on Thursdays so I may try to make those meetings.  My mom is probably going to join too.  It will be fun to do this with my mom.  We went together the last time I did it and it was good to have her there for support.  She has reached lifetime membership when I was a kid so WW really does work.   I heard yesterday that if you stick to the plan and really make the lifestyle change then you will definitely see the results.  If you only half way work the plan and make the lifestyle change then you will only see half of the results.  I like that perspective. 

I went out with some girl friends last night and wanted a drink drink so badly so I ordered a "skinny" martini type drink.  Wasn't bad but don't know if it was really worth the calories. Oh well, the company was well worth the extra calories and it was super nice to get out with friends.  I also stayed out too late and ended up sleeping in so I missed the chance to get my exercise in.  It is way too hot here in Texas to get out and exercise past 8 am unless you can exercise indoors. 

This morning I made a chocolate smoothie for breakfast.  I bought a package of chocolate smoothie mix from the WW meeting.  If you mix it with water it is worth 2 pts and if you mix it with a cup of fat free milk then it is 4 pts.  I chose to do it with milk since it was my breakfast.  I mixed the milk and packet first so the powder dissolved then I added a few frozen strawberries and ice.  I blended it in my blender and it was YUMMY!!  And it took me about an hour to finish it all.  It filled a very tall glass.  I can definitely see that as a staple for my busy mornings. 

Next week is the start of school.  My oldest is starting kindergarten and he has to be at school by about 7:20.  That is freaking early for my house.  My kids usually sleep in until 8ish so the thought of having everyone up and dressed, fed and out the door at 7 terrifies me.  I have a friend that suggested making egg "muffins" and freeze them.  Then all you need to do is reheat them in the oven in the morning.  So, I figured I would give them a shot.  I combined a dozen eggs (minus 1 yolk...I cracked it and it was bloody...YUCK!!), about 5 oz shredded cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup milk, and 1 pound cooked sausage.  I poured them into greased muffin pans and cooked them for about 17 minutes at 350 degrees.  They turned out pretty tasty.  I calculated the points for me and they are 3 pts each.  If you add more veggies you could really have more for the same amount of pts since they would make more.  I might try adding spinach, onions, bell peppers.  I figure they will be really good on an English muffin.  The boys will love them in the morning just plain.

Hoping to get a good "before" picture taken this week.  Is ther such a thing a good "before" picture??? lol  I usually try to hind behind the camera and absolutely hate pictures taken of me.  So I know that if I don't purposely take a picture I will have a hard time finding a "before" picture.  I like the idea of taking weekly pictures in the same outfit.  Kinda reminds me of pregnancy pictures... It will be nice to look back and  truly see the progress.