Never Trust a Skinny Girl to Make Your Guacamole

Bethenny Frankel's Mock-a-Mole

4 Weight Watcher Points Plus (1/4th of recipe, plus points for chips)

I am officially admitting it online: I do like Bethenny Frankel and I do watch her show Bethenny Ever-after. I decided I should give one of her recipes a try. As a guacamole lover I was disappointed with her mock-a-mole. I purposely did NOT tell my husband there was anything different about the guacamole and he noticed right away. I didn't think it was horrible but I did agree that it just wasn't the same. I guess I'd say don't mess with my guac, Skinny Girl!

You give it a try and tell me what you think.

Cravings: Sometimes You Just Have to Give In

Garlic Fries & Sriracha Mayo
6 Weight Watcher Points Plus

Ever since a friend sent me this link, all I could think about was fries & sriracha mayo. She wasn't trying to tempt me she just knows I am obsessed with Sriracha. Last night at about 8:30 I decided to give in. I made Ellie Krieger's garlic fries & whipped up some Sriracha mayo with low-fat mayo. It was so, so, so good that if I get into it more the obsession will return and I will be headed back in the kitchen to make some more.

I didn't get fancy with the Sriracha mayo. I just added in Sriracha to mayo until it was a pretty orange color and tasted yummy. It is 1 point plus for 1 T of the mayo. This would be great on sandwiches and burgers.

Enjoy!

Weekend Wrap-Up: Garage Sale, Weigh-in & A Grilling Experiment

Tilapia Piccata w/ Snap Peas
10 Weight Watcher Points Plus
(for the whole packet & yes there is fish under there)

It was a great weekend but busy weekend! I finished off a garage sale with a friend. Man was it good to get rid of a bunch of junk! It was a lot of work though. And not the most diet friendly activity. Stress + going through boxes in the basement = pizza cravings for me.

My friend did cook a bunch of healthy yummy food for me when I was at her house, which helped. I wish I would have taken a picture of this Ina shrimp she made. So good!!

I must not have done too much damage because I was down 2.2 lbs at my weigh-in. Which brings me .6 pounds away from my goal. I can hardly believe it.

I haven't had much time to try new recipes lately. Tonight I made Tilapia Piccata w/ snap peas from the June Self magazine. They had a whole story on packet grilling. You steam the food in packets on the grill so you don't have to use as much oil or butter (according to them; although they did call for 1 T of butter/packet?). These are also perfectly portioned because your whole meal is right in the packet. Click here for the recipe.

I thought the dish was good but I think the points where a bit high for tilapia. Confession: sometimes I don't calculate the points until after I have cooked and consumed a recipe. I don't advocate this approach!

I think in theory the packet approach could be really good and easy. I am going to try and look for some other packet grilling recipes. If you have anything that works for you let me know! I am trying to get better on the grill this summer.

I hope you had a great weekend!

Cool as a Cucumber

Cucumber Feta Salad
2 Weight Watcher Points Plus (1/4th serving)

One thing that is hard about summer is the salads. Seriously people does every salad need to be covered in full fat mayo? I have made this salad 3 times now and so far it has been a big hit.

I am in love with this salad right now because:

1. It uses feta. I love feta, almost as much as I love blue cheese.
2. There is no lettuce which I normally pick around anyways to get the good stuff.
3. There isn't any mayo.
4. There is nothing better in the summer than a cold cucumber salad.

This is really easy to throw together and you could make substitutions for what you like or have on hand. I served this for the Moms at a playgroup and added some drained canned tuna (points will change). Here is how I made mine today...

Ingredients

• One large seedless cucumber, diced = 0 pp
• 1 medium plum tomato, seeded & diced = 0 pp
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced = 0 pp
• 2 oz of feta, crumbled (I like to use the block feta in brine because I think it tastes better) = 4 pp
  
• 1 T olive oil = 4 pp
• 1/2 - 1 T lemon juice = 0 pp
• Splash of vinegar = 0 pp (I used white wine vinegar but use whatever you fancy)
  
• Salt, pepper & oregano to taste = o pp
• Total = 8 pp
• 1/4th serving = 2 pp

Directions

• Dice vegetables & combine with feta
• Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar & seasonings. Pour on salad.
  

Weight Loss Update & Cheesecake?

Strawberry Cheesecake
4 Weight Watcher Points Plus (for 1 slice NOT whole pan, unfortunately)

Apparently you can lose weight AND have your cheesecake too! More on that below, but first some updates on why I have been MIA lately...

I missed a weigh-in last week for a very special 1st birthday. My nephew turned 1 so my family and I took a major road trip to help him celebrate. MI - IN - IL to IL - MO - KS (with two tots). I spaced the trip out so I was gone from home for a whole week. I tried to be good but I also wanted to enjoy the visit with my family. We had a blast.

This week I weighed in and was up 1.2 lbs. Given all of the wine, bbq & fast food that I consumed I am very happy.

We celebrated Father's Day on Sunday with my hubby's family. It was a great day. I made strawberry cheesecake from Gina's Skinny site. I was shocked at how good it was. I didn't have strawberry jam so I topped it with fresh strawberries. Click here for the recipe.

I hope your summer is off to a great start!!

Sweet Summertime!

Coconut Cream Pie

6 Weight Watcher Points Plus

It is so nice to approach the summertime without complete fear of the clothes. The shorts that I squeezed into last summer are literally falling off of me this year. I can actually take them off without unbuttoning or unzipping them. (I guess it is time to buy some new summer clothes)

At my weigh-in on Saturday I was down 1.2 pounds which puts me 1.6 pounds away from my goal. I can't believe it. To be honest I am a bet scared of being at my goal. I know this sounds silly but this is when the hard part really starts - keeping it off for good.

We had friends over on Saturday and I wanted to serve dessert that everyone could enjoy but wouldn't leave me feeling completely guilty. My Mom makes this coconut cream pie that is awesome. It makes enough to fill up a 9 x 13 pan which is way too much dessert to be trusted around me. So I thought I would try to cut the quantity down dramatically and make it healthier. I also but it into individual servings so it was impossible to have too much.

It took two attempts but I was happy with the results.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Edy's Slow Churned Vanilla Ice Cream. slightly softend = 8 pp
• 1 box instant coconut cream pudding = 10 pp
  
• A few splashes of fat-free milk = 0 pp
• 1/2 0f 8 oz container of fat-free cool whip, defrosted = 2 pp
• 12 graham crackers, crushed = 18 pp
  
• Total = 38 pp
• 1/6th serving = 6 pp

Directions

• Crush graham crackers in a plastic bag or in a food processor. Add water to soften the crumbs slightly. Normally you would combine the crumbs with butter to form the crust. I decided to try just water and I didn't really miss the butter. I definitely didn't miss the fat and calories! Press your bread crumbs with wet fingers into your serving dish. I used margarita glasses for mine.
  
• Mix ice cream, box of pudding and a few splashes of fat-free milk with a mixer until well combined. You may have to let your ice cream set out for awhile to soften. You want to add just enough milk so you can pour the mixture. Pour mixture on top of crust.
• Top with cool whip.
• Chill in the fridge for a few hours or up to overnight.
  

You could make this even lower in points if you skip the crust. I hope you had a great weekend!

My New Favorite Lunch-time Friend: The Frittata

Veggie Fajita Frittata
5.5 Weight Watcher Points Plus (for the whole thing!)

First I must say that this meal was completely unplanned. As the lunch hour approached, once again, I peered into the fridge wondering what to make myself for lunch. I normally make easy lunches for the girls like PB&J or nuggets. (Judge me if you want but at my house I usually serve something I know they will like for lunch and save the battles for dinner.) Those options are not something I want to eat or should eat. (Well to be totally honest I do like nuggets.) I digress, my point is that I never seem to have a lunch plan for myself.

I miss the variety in my lunches that I used to have when I was working. Going out to eat isn't in my budget or even fun anymore. Taking two tots out dangerously close to nap-time to eat in public with the working folks - I don't think so. You people working and trying to have a nice lunch can thank me for that one.

So today as I stared into the fridge thinking I should really eat these left over peppers & onions from my fajitas a light bulb went off - make a frittata! I have always wanted to make a frittata. I am not sure why I waited so long because it was easy and delicious.

Here is the scoop...

Ingredients

• 2 eggs = 4 pp
• 2 egg whites = .5 pp
• 1 slice of 2% american cheese = 1 pp
• Leftover faijita peppers & onions = o pp
• Tomato = 0 pp
  
• Total = 5.5 pp

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
  
• Beat eggs & add salt & pepper.
• Dice veggies (except tomato) and add to egg mixture.
• Tear apart slice of cheese and add to egg mixture.
• Pour in a hot oven proof non-stick skillet. Cook egg mixture until it begins to set up.
• Slice tomato and put on top.
  
• Put in the oven and bake until the eggs are completely cooked. At the end turn on the broiler to get the top and edges nice and bubbly. I got impatient and took mine out early.
  

This is what mine looked like out of the oven.


Here is what it looked like on my plate halfway through with some sriracha.


I hope you had a good lunch today! TGIF.

Do you know the Muffin Man?

Blueberry Muffins
4 Weight Watcher Points Plus (for 1 muffin)

We recently purchased a large (and by large I mean LARGE) container of blueberries from Costco because my 3 year old adores them. If I let her she would eat one pint in one day so I normally ration them. But of course now that I splurged and bought the big one, she decided that she didn't really like them. What to do now? Bake some muffins.

I went to Gina's website, skinnytaste.com because that is often the first place I look for healthy recipes. I found this recipe for whole wheat blueberry muffins. I didn't have the whole wheat pastry flour she suggested so I used 1 cup of all purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat. They were great! Let's just say after hosting playgroup today they are all gone. Next time I will try using the flour she suggested and I think I might make them mini muffins so they aren't so messy for the kids. (Both girls shirts are soaking in vinegar & water as I type this to remove blueberry stains.)

For her recipe click here.