Memorial Day Weekend: Sneezing, Seizing & Sizzlin'

Cilantro Lime Chicken & Veggie Fajitas
3 Weight Watcher Points Plus (1 chicken tender + as many veggies as you like)

This Memorial Day Weekend didn't go exactly as planned. It started on Thursday when my youngest started showing signs of a cold that then took over the whole family. Let's just say we haven't been getting much sleep lately. So there went our plans involving friends. How I wish I hadn't already told my 3 year old that her BFF and family were coming over for dinner on Saturday. (Yes my 3 year old already has a BFF. I know crazy, right?)

The next unplanned event was when my husband declared war over the woodchucks that have invaded our deck. This is probably the 4th generation of woodchucks that has lived under our deck since we moved here. They are annoying but we have been cohabiting with them for awhile now. Anyways, today he snapped and started chasing them with a shovel.

On a good note, I did make it to my weigh-in and was down 2.4 pounds. This sounds great but I think I am starting to plateau. This is how the past three weeks have gone: -1.6, + 1.6 and then - 2.4. I am going to try really hard to kick up my work-out routine this week because I am getting really close to my goal. I am a little less than 3 pounds away.

Even though sickness has kept us from our holiday plans it didn't keep us from grillin'. We ate these sizzlin' fajitas, which we were supposed to have with our friends, and they were delicious.
I didn't change anything in the recipe except I made ours on the grill so I didn't have to use any oil. They were great! The pp breakdowns are below and click here for the recipe.

Here is how I ate mine...


One chicken tender sliced = 3 pp
Peppers = 0 pp
Lime Pickled Red onions = o pp (have you made these? they are amazing if you love onions like me!)
1 T low-fat sour cream = 1 pp
Salsa = 0 pp
Tortilla = 2 pp
Total for my fajita = 6 pp

Weekend Wrap-Up: 25 lbs down and Super Easy, Yummy Grilled Chicken

Grilled Lemon Chicken

4 Weight Watcher Points Plus (for a 5 oz serving)

Besides the weather, we had a great weekend! At my meeting on Saturday I hit a milestone - 25 pounds down! I feel fantastic and I almost can't believe it. We also got to celebrate our nephew's 2nd birthday with family.

On Friday, still faced with my mostly empty fridge, I made the easiest yummy grilled chicken. I loved it and my 3 year old inhaled hers. (Major victory!) This recipe is from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. I didn't have chicken breasts and used chicken tenders instead. The only thing I changed was using more garlic because 1 clove is never enough for me.

Here are the details...

Ingredients:

• 1 garlic clove, peeled (I used 2)
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 t grated lemon zest
• 3 T lemon juice
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 4 (5 oz.) skinless boneless chicken breasts (I used chicken tenders)

Directions:

1. With the side of large knife, mash garlic with salt until it forms a paste.
2. To make marinade, combine lemon zest & juice, oil garlic paste, oregano, and pepper in a large zip-lock bag; add chicken. Refrigerate, turning bag occasionally at least 30 min up to overnight. (I did mine during nap-time and grilled at around 5:30)
3. Pre-heat your grill. Take the chicken out of the fridge and bring close to room temp before grilling.
4. Grill on both sides until cooked through.

I can't believe these are NOT bad for me: Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Buffalo and Blue Chicken Tenders

8 Weight Watcher Points Plus

This is another Rocco Dispirito recipe from his book, Now Eat This!. It was so, so good. I felt like I was eating boneless buffalo wings. If you love spicy food you have to try these. When you are eating them, close your eyes and you will be transported to your younger days when you were at the bar having wings and beers with friends -- until your 1 year old throws her plate on the floor and you are jolted back into reality.

I didn't have any blue cheese dressing so I just put about 1 T of blue cheese on top and ate it on a bed of spinach salad to bulk the meal up.

Here is a link to the recipe. Enjoy!

The Third Birthday... Season?

It seems like we have been celebrating my daughter's 3rd birthday forever. Maybe that is because we have been celebrating it for over three weeks now. It started two weeks ago with our visit to IL. We had an early celebration with the Grandparents in IL and some other family. Then we had her actual birthday this past Wednesday, which we commemorated with a trip to the mall to see the Easter bunny. Finally, we had her 3rd birthday party this weekend.

It was a Mommy & Me Fairy party. Wings, wands and crowns oh my! We had the usual kid birthday spread: pizza & cake but I did make a healthier option for the Mommy's and it was a big hit.

Crispy Pecan-Crusted Chicken
6 Weight Watcher Points Plus (for 5 ounce serving)

This recipe was from the Just 5 Weight Watcher cookbook. It was a big hit with the Mommy's. I used chicken tenders for mine and served them on a spinach salad. Pictured above is my first practice batch that I made earlier in the week with my monster potato wedges.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 4 (5 ounce) skinless chicken breasts (I used chicken tenders)
  
• 1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup plain dried bread crumbs (I used Italian because that is what I had)
• 1 teaspoon of Cajun seasonings

Directions

• Marinate chicken in buttermilk for at least 20 minutes in the fridge.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine pecans, bread crumbs & Cajun seasoning in a dish. Coat chicken allowing excess buttermilk to drip off before coating. Lightly spray chicken on both sides with cooking spray.
• Spray large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray. Add chicken and cook until golden, 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to baking sheet and bake until chicken is cooked through 10-12 minutes.
  

Well this brings an end to the birthday season. Because of the party I missed my meeting and weigh-in so I don't have any weight loss updates this week. Now we can move on to the next holiday: Easter. Which is er next week already !?#@@??!!! Hopefully I can eat healthy for this next season too!