You never know what your going to get...

Another long Saturday of school work! After a super stressful week and a long day of working on projects, I decided to reward myself by taking the time to try something new for dinner. I started off by trying to recreate something my mom told me she ordered at a restaurant and I got this:


Random? Yes. But equally delicious. Here's what I did:

Took one whole wheat pita and warmed it slightly. Added a tsp or two of pesto sauce. Sauteed some mushrooms, onions and green pepper in 1/2 tsp of EVOO. Topped the pita with the sauteed veggies. Then I added 1/2 oz of garlic goat cheese and popped it in the oven at 350.

Meanwhile, I made my first ever balsamic reduction. I looove balsamic vinegar so I have been wanting to try this. It was super easy but I could have left it boiling a little longer (I was worried about burning it after last weeks quinoa disaster) and it would have been a little more syrupy.

Baked the pita in for about 10 min, took it out and topped with the balsamic reduction.

Yum! I would definalty make this again. Lots of opportunity to add/subtract points based on how many you have left! It was delishious and filling.

That's about it for now. Have been staying as on track as possible this week and trying not to stress about being perfect (I have a lot more insights on this that I'll post when I have a bit more time).

I'll leave you with Today's Menu:

1 cup Cheerios
6 almonds
1/2 cup strawberries
skim milk

Grilled cheese on weight watcher bread
Veggies

Walk to TCBY!
Junior 96% fat free chocolate frozen yogurt with warm peanut butter sauce!

Dinner as above :)

Hope you're having a great weekend!

WI

Not much to report, school is consuming my life!

However, WI is Thursdays so I wanted to post quick to announce I stayed the same this week. I am more than happy with that. I was totally on track this week but at the same time I wasn't expecting a loss because of last week, I'm just happy I held on to my 2.4 from then :)

Staying surprisingly on plan considering the amount of stress school is bringing. We'll see if I can keep it up. Regardless, I know I'm making better decisions than in the past and it's just one week! I will have time to get back on track as soon as school slows down and I can get back to C25K.

Almost Friday! Have a good day!

Quinoa!

I have been hearing about quiona a lot lately and since it's the grain that is the highest in protein, as a vegetarian I thought I should try it!

So I looked up a bunch of recipes online and then made one up based on stuff I like/have handy.

So here's what I used

1/2 cup cooked quinoa
cucumbers, sweet peppers and mushrooms
1 tsp olive oil
lemon juice
a sprinkle of light feta cheese

I also meant to add chickpeas and then just forgot! It was very good. I really liked the texture of the quinoa, it's comparable to couscous but heartier. The only probelm with it is that it isn't nearly as easy to cook as couscous. You have to rinse it which I found messy with the limited amount of dishes I have here at the appartment and my cooking instructions wern't good and I really badly burnt the bottom (not sure how it's going to clean up!). I'll deffinatly make it again when I have some time and I'll try to find new instructions (let me know if you can help!)

I also did day two of C25K today! It felt good! Lots of days when I'm busy with school I don't make time to leave the appt at all let alone exercise but I felt so much better being out in the sun getting active, even for just 30 minutes :)

That's about it for now. Here is today's menu:

English muffin with peanut butter
Apple

Egg Salad:
1 hardboiled egg mixed with 1/2 tbsp light ranch dressing and 1/2 tbsp light sour cream
on weight watcher toast
veggies

1/2 oz mozarella

Quinoa salad

and I'm thinking about making some sweet potato fries as a snack for my tv shows tonight, we'll see :)

Have a great week!

WI and C25K

So weigh in was this morning and drum roll please...I am down 2.4 lbs!!! That is my biggest loss since starting up the program this time around so I feel really good about it. Not too sure where it came from because I was about 5 points over this week but I'm guessing it was either catching up with me from last week when I ate fewer WPAs or it's because I havn't been eating enough...I'll hope it's the latter haha.

Yesterday, I FINALLY started C25K - a running program designed to help beginners. I have to say it was a lot more difficult than I expected! I couldn't believe how out of shape I was, it's a real eye opener. So hopefully I will make some good progress with the program although I doubt I'll be able to fit it in the suggested 3x a week until the term is over but I'll do my best. I also figured out how to make podcasts that time the music to the program - it's actually really easy! So I can't wait until I can find some time so I can run to my own music :)

That's it for now. It's going to be a busy weekend - lots of school work to finish up the term! Can't wait until Easter when things will be almost done and I can finally relax.

Have a great weekend!

Today's Menu

Yogurt
Apple with 1 tbsp melted peanut butter

1/2 cup Chili
1/2 oz light cheddar

Almonds
Veggie sticks
Granola crunchers

Whole wheat pasta
Peppers, Onions and Mushrooms cooked in balsamic
1 oz light feta
1 tsp olive oil

vitamuffin and strawberries

Prep work

Today I did all my prep for my snacks and dinner this morning. I cut up all kinds of veggies to take to class and some to put in a wrap for dinner. Everyone always says cut up your veggies ahead of time to make your life easier and your snacks healthier but I never actually did it until now. Yes it makes sense, but in practice I just never got around to it. So I think my goal for next week is going to be to keep up with meal planning and advanced preparation. I'm going to need it because life is crazier and it's only getting worse every day.

Other then that not much is new, I am on track this week but still haven't quite worked out how to fit in more exercise but I'm still working on it.

Today's Menu

1 cup cheerios, 1/2 cup blueberries, skim milk and 6 almonds

1/2 cup Chili with 1/2oz light cheddar, 2 pieces weight watcher bread
An apple

Veggie wrap with 1tbsp light cream cheese, chickpeas, loads of veggies and 1/2oz of mozarella

3 pieces of 71% dark chocolate

Goat Cheese Dip

I'm at home for the weekend and tonight was just my mom and I for dinner and we made the most wonderful goat cheese dip!

The recipe called for 3x this but made 3 cups...so I cut it in 3

75 g goat cheese
2 tsp butter
1/3 cup cottage cheese
1 egg yolk
lemon zest
1 tbsp flour
salt and pepper to taste
colour and texture - i used sundried tomatoes and herbs de province, you could used roasted red pepper, spinach...anything...and any herbs you have or like
The sun dried tomatoes were good but made it salty, I would use less next time.

Mix first seven ingredients with a hand mixer then stir in your colour and texture choice. Bake @ 350 for 20-25 min

Serve with crackers or bread.

It was very good and 25 cal per tbsp = 5 points for half a cup or half the recipe as posted above

If your not in to eating dip for dinner it would make a great appetizer for guests and it doesn't have a strong goat cheese flavour so people who don't like it probably wouldn't be able to tell :)

Another amazing discovery: Compliments balance Fudge Brownie Frozen Yogurt. 120 cal for 1/2 cup...I had just 1/4 cup with some sliced strawberries and it was wonderful!

Tomorrow will be a challenge as Imight be going out for lunch and dinner. I'll just do the best I can even if I have to use all my WPS - I'm getting a lot better at sticking to 18 pts on weekdays so hopefully I can last with very few until Thursday!

Have a great weekend!!!

This weeks weigh in

Weigh In was the morning. Down 0.8 which is good...but then I considered in 3 weeks I have lost 1 pound. But I guess that is better than gaining. I cut down my WPAs this week so I thought I might see a bigger loss however I can't deny I don't exercise enough. I WILL start C25K this week if it's the last thing I do! It's getting nicer out and soon I'll start running outside.

Going home this weekend :) Need to motor through a couple assignments and then tomorrow night I'm heading to Oakville. I'm pretty excited, I need a bit of a break, although I'll be working a lot of the time. I shouldn't have too much trouble staying on plan because it's only a few days and Friday it's just my mom and I anyway :)

Today's Menu

Yogurt
Curves Bar
Tea

Couscous salad:
1/2 c Couscous
1/2 c Celery and onions
1/2 c Chick peas
1 tsp oil and 2 tsps balsamic vinegar
(I took this to school but if I'm home I also add a bit of goat cheese, yum!)

Whole Wheat pasta with peppers, mushrooms and onions cooked in balsamic and light feta on top

Dark Chocolate


Have a great weekend everyone!

Sweet Potato Fries

Today I have just been in the house all day working so I decided to treat myself to a real dinner (as opposed to the quick salad or wrap I usually throw together). And even at that, the dinner wasn't anything fancy - frozen broccoli, veggie chicken and sweet potato fries. It was awesome - the sweet potato fries were the best part. And there were pretty easy too - here's all I did:

Peel the sweet potato. Cut into strips. Whisk together 1 egg white and 1 tsp of olive oil. Toss with sweet potatoes and some seasoning (I used garlic salt) Bake at 450 for 15 min, turn and bake for 10 more min. Make sure you use foil because they stick!

This isn't a picture of mine because I forgot to take a pic - I'm still getting used to thinking of doing that! But you get the picture. They were super good and sweet potatoes are really good for you :)

Okay so today's menu:

Cheerios
Milk
Blueberries
Tea

Grilled cheese on weight watcher bread
Minestrone soup

Apple with 1 tbsp of melted peanut butter (try this! it's really good)

Veggie Chicken
Brocoli and cauliflower
Sweet potato fries

Vitamuffin and strawberries

Daylight savings tonight! No too happy about the lost hour but I do enjoy the light so I guess it's worth it! Hope you're having a good weekend.

The good news is there is no bad news...

WI was this morning - a little disappointing, I just stayed the same as last week. Which ruins my 8 week losing streak. BUT its much better than a gain so I will take it. I was on plan this week but it could easily have been last week catching up with me. I'll try and up my exercise this week :) This afternoon I am just drinking as much lemon water as possible and buckling down to get some school work done (except for when I watch Ellen to see Melissa from the bachelor haha!)

Today's Menu/The Plan for now

Curves Bar
Mango Yogurt

Salad (Mushrooms, chickpeas, almonds and goat cheese)
1 tsp oil, 2 tsp balsamic

Apple with 1 tbsp peanut butter

Quiche and veggies

Vitamuffin

Wraps!

Came home starving and wasn't sure what to eat. From the stuff in my fridge that needed eating I came up with this:

Veggie Wrap

2 whole wheat small wraps
2 tbsp low fat cream cheese
2 tsp low cal ranch dressing
30g skim mozzarella
1/4 cup chick peas
Veggies, I used mushrooms, red pepper, carrots and lettuce

Mix the ranch dressing with the cream cheese and spread on to the tortillas. Heat the tortillas and cream cheese in the microwave for 15 secs. Add the veggies and mozzarella (i mixed all mine together first) Quick, easy and 4 pts per wrap :) so good!

So with that here is today's menu:

Whole Wheat English Muffin with Peanut Butter
An apple
Tea

Carrots
Curves Bar

2 wraps
Water

1/2 serving Dove chocolate


which leaves a couple points for popcorn when I watch the Bachelor tonight!! :)

Last day of the weekend

Why oh why do the weekend pass so fast?


Had a pretty good weekend. Boston Pizza was fun last night. I ended up with Perogie Pizza - very high but totally worth it. So now, I am committed to a very good week. Today was a great start to that. Went grocery shopping and got lots of fresh food to help me. I really wanted some vitamuffins tho. They are so good and only 100 cals, perfect for a chocolate craving! Only every store I've check in the last few weeks has been out of the chocolate ones so I was pretty bummed. But DBF stopped at another store on his way home and finally found some :) <3


Well other than shopping today has just been chores and work, luckily I havn't been too hungry. Here's today's menu:

Special K
Blueberries
Milk

Soup
WW Pita with homade hummus and 1 tsp of EVOO
1 piece dark chocolate

Huge salad with:
Mushrooms
Chickpeas
Warm goat cheese
almonds
1 tsp EVOO, 2 tsp balsamic
yum!


Have a great week!