Soup!

Oh, I have made the most marvelous soup.  Beef, lean round, cut into bite size pieces, about 1 1/3 lbs.  I salted, peppered and garlic powdered the meat and quickly seared it, just a spray of oil in stew pot, and then covered with 6 cups of fat free, low sodium beef broth.  (Ultimately, I would also add another 3 cups of chicken broth because there was not a big enough ratio of solids to liquids for me!)  Then I started chopping veggies - 3 celery stalks, 3 cups of sliced carrots, half an onion, 2 turnips, C&W frozen corn kernals.  Seasoned with fresh parsley, some rosemary, oregano, bay leaves.  I plan eventually to add some potato, but damn, it does not need it at all.  So very good, I may never buy another can of vegetable beef soup as long as I live.  I swear. 

Dinner, Breakfast and Random Fat Thoughts

Dinner last nite was not so OP, but as I really didn't eat alot of it, it worked out ok.  We grilled a couple of chuck eye steaks (5 pt for 3 oz), baked a couple of potatoes and I steamed some asparagus and sauteed (just sprayed a nonstick pan with some olive oil actually) some mushrooms.  Turns out I at less than 3 oz of the steak, about 1/4 of a potato with some B&B and light sour cream, lots of asparagus and mushrooms.  I think got out of there for about 8 points.  Not bad.  Don't tell anyone, but I think I could swear off beef forever.  Its so heavy.  I eat very little of it when offered.  On the otherhand, I crave some recipes, like my machaca, which is more about the seasonings than the meat. 

Then breakfast this morning I wanted a pancake soooo bad.  So I made some!!  I had 1 whole wheat pancake from scratch with a little B&B and maple syrup and 2 slices of bacon.   8 points and I am totally satisfied.  And whole wheat pancakes aren't half bad. 

I was thinking this morning about the reason I joined Weight Watchers the first time (about 5 years ago).  I was at the airport, getting ready to fly out to DC probably, and this woman and her little girl were there waiting also.  Little Girl was maybe 5 or 6 years old and cute.  I like kids, usually.  So I stand up to gather my computer case and the rest of my paraphenalia and Little Girl is sizing me up.  Head to Toe.   Then she looks at me and in the most innocent way asks "Are you gonna have a baby?"  I just started laughing out loud.  I thought the child's mother was gonna implode and I know she was trying to figure out why she didn't drown this child at birth.  I reassured the mother that I was not nearly as insulted as she was embarrassed and told the little girl that "No, I am just fat!".

When I got home from my trip, I started Weight Watchers.  Outta the mouths of babes...!

Yesterday's Dinner

For the WW out there that may be following, yesterdays dinner was 8 points.  I even impressed myself!

Weigh In and Groceries

Weigh In today.  Down 1.2.  Just short of 20 lbs and almost to my 10%!  Woo Hoo!!  I am losing right around one pound a week, which, while certainly not setting any land speed records, is totally acceptable.

Our WW meeting center is right next to a Sunflower Market, which is the other natural, organics store we have in town.  Tucson has a great healthy eating mentality and we have Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Sunflower Market.  If one doesn't have what you want, surely the others will.  In addition, our Fry's (Kroger's) has a pretty full WW line of products, not to mention many of the other items I use alot.  So I ran into Sunflower Mkt on my way home from the meeting and managed to wander around for about 30 minutes.  I bought some lentils and some Cotija (Ko tee ha) cheese.  If you don't know about Cotija cheese, its like Mexican parmasan.  Its dry and crumbly and is amazing on refried beans and most any other mexican style dish I can think of.  Its got a very strong flavor, not bitter or pungent, just impressive flavor and is exceedingly salty so a little goes along way.  Its really, really good.

I still need to do some more shopping, but I was so hungry after the meeting, I didn't dare do any more than I did.  Once again, half a bacon breakfast burrito filled the bill and I am good now.  I think I will do a little recipe planning and then head out.  Have great day all.

Dinner was Wondermus!!

Ok, this was wonderful dinner!!  Diver Scallops (get the ones from Costco, they have no chemical additives), rice from heaven, and sweet white corn.  I know, sounds like lots of starch between the corn and the rice, but I need the fiber right now and I love corn!!  Let's see if I can figure out how to put some pics in here.  Start with these ingredients.  They are for the marinade.

Notice the pineapple can is opened.  That's cause I started making the marinade before I started taking pics!!  I will post the recipe at the end of this.  Anyway, you make the marinade out of the pineapple juice, some chili sauce, a little ketchup, honey and a teaspoon of oil.  Also some minced garlic and a little salt.  Now, next time I make this, I will reduce this until it is much thicker and use it to not only marinade, but baste.  This is a little thin. I think the flavors would be soooo much better concentrated down.  It also makes alot of marinade and I was only making 8 diver scallops.  So you will want to play with it.  The flavor combinations can't be beat tho'. 

Oh, here is my minced garlic.  I have learned so much from Food Network and I still have all my fingers. 

So mix all of this together and this is what you wind up with.

Arrange your diver scallops in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over them.  This will marinade a couple of pounds of scallops, seriously, so don't be afraid that you won't have enough!!  Marinade for 15 minutes or so.

In the meantime, get your rice ready.  In a sauce pot, bring 2 cups of water and a couple of teaspoons of salt to a boil.  Add one cup of this wonderful stuff:

This is the best rice!!  It's also stupidly expensive, like somewhere between $6 and $8 for this jar, but so worth it.  And its still 3 points per cup and again, worth ever luscious bite.  When the scallops are practically point free, its an easy trade off.

Anyway, add the rice, reduce the heat and cover.  Cook for approximately 15-20 minutes on low medium until fluffy. 

Lastly, prepare your frozen corn kernels.  I just put them in a bowl, put them in the microwave and push the magic frozen vegetable button.  If you have a bettter or preferred way, have at it.

About 5 minutes before your rice should be done, put your scallops on the grill.  I have an indoor electric grill that is perfect for this, but they can go outside.  If you like, skewer them or put them in a BBQ basket.  3 minutes on each side should have them beautifully done.  If you like, grill some pineapple rings while you're at it.  Yum.

It all kinda looks like this when you are through.   I am so full and it was so good, it was almost criminal.

Ok, so the marinade recipe calls for:

1/2 cup of pineapple juice
1/3 cup of chili sauce (I use sriracha)
1 tbsp ketchup
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp salt

Mix thoroughly.  This is theoretically enough marinade for 1 lb of scallops and 1 lb of shrimp for Kebabs.

And the butter looking stuff on my rice, between the pineapple rings, is some Brummel and Brown, which I love dearly.  Buying stock soon.

TJ's Giveaways

For all my working friends out there, my pal over at TJ's Test Kitchen is giving away an awesome lunch kit.  Everything you need to pack a healthy lunch including the room to add some chill factor.  You know, those frozen things to keep your food cold? Go check it out.  Post a comment.  You know you want this!

What a Week!

Well, tomorrow is Weigh In.  And I have been a particularly good girl.  Really boosted up my veggies and fruits and the scale (home) is showing it.  I am well beyond the TOM period (no pun intended) of my life so I don't have to worry about hormone fluctuations affecting my weight.  On the other hand, that could be a really good excuse if I had no other.  So I am out there, naked with no where to hide!!  On my own, fessing up to my diet crimes. What is one to do?

We are have a great cafeteria at work and a super young general chef manager named Anna.  She is very open to suggestions about making the cafeteria selections a little more healthy and has started putting out some marvelous concotions that I can just munch and drool and then track my little Weight Watchin' heart out.  Case in point, thinly sliced apples mixed with craisins (not a lot, just a hint), cinammon, and some other spices, coated with a balsamic vinegar dressing, and topped with some toasted sliced almonds.  We weigh these at the cafeteria, so I even know how much I am getting ounce wise.  Good deal.  My taste buds are doing the happy dance as is my tracker.  Anna is going to print me out the recipe.  I will pass it on when I get it.

Mentally, it has been a tough week.  DH has quit his job and I am ready to drown him in the pool.  His temper and lack of patience have finally driven him to do something so foolish and self destructive that I cannot even comprehend what he was thinking.  Thankfully, he is eligible to retire in September and we are not in a desperate financial situation, but it worries me to no end.  I know that people get cranky when they get older but they are also supposed to have developed some psychological tools to deal with the annoying little things that life deals out on a daily basis.  We have been talking about doing some international travel in the the near future, some of it to what is considered 3rd world countries.  I have told him that before I consider going anywhere with him at this point, he has to prove to me that he can stand in a service line for however long it takes to get something accomplished without losing his cool.  I have no desire to be hauled off an airliner because my husband was acting the ass when the plane didn't take off on time.

Yum! Cheese

Great Yummy find for all of us dieters.  Laughing Cow Light French Onion cheese.  Holy Moly, is that good!!  I am a cheese connisseur (who am I kidding, I can't even spell it?!).  But I love cheese.   Even when I wasn't watching my weight per se, we often had apples and cheese and Triscuits for dinner.  We are rarely hungry at dinner time and if we want something, its just to munch.  So I try to keep it at a minimum. 

I love cheese.  One of the things about the WW plan is having to reallly watch the cheeses because, lets face it, they are fat in a pretty package.  I have lived in the US and Spain and have spent a great deal of time in Mexico and I have yet to try a cheese that I really didn't like from any of them.  I remember when we lived in Spain, I could not find a Colby or Longhorn to use for my Mexican Food so I used Edam.  It was perfect.  Any cheese port in a storm. I think there is a rat in my genetic background somewhere or maybe a dairy farmer who made his own cheese.  I need to work on that family tree!

Someone Stirred It with a Stick

Is your significant other messy?  I don't mean dirty, I mean prone to leaving things where they last touched them.  Do you have pliers in your bathroom?  I do (or at least I did until I PUT THEM AWAY). Biggest problem with this problem is I am kinda messy too, so that's messy x 2, which might not be so bad if there was clean up x2 without cajoling, brow beating, stomping and generally ass acting to get things put away.  It scares me in light of my "Mother of the 4 Room Cabin" experience.  The only difference between us is square footage.  AHHHHHH!!

Memoir Monday

Ok, so I am figuring some of this stuff out (finally) and BatCrap Crazy has the Memoir Monday thing going on that I kinda like.  Mondays are a day when one needs a chuckle.  Let's see if I can provide: 

The Day I Met My Mother in Law

Hubby and I were married for about 1 1/2 years before I met my in laws.  We were poor, they were poorer and lived half way across the country. My husband had been married before and had 3 kids.  His mom was adamantly opposed to those children having a stepparent (she apparently had one from hell while she was growing up) and totally wanted nothing to do with me.  My husbands Ex was all that she was concerned about.  I have nothing negative to say about DH's ex.  She's cool and we get along just fine.  They were divorced before I entered the picture.

My husband was in the Air Force and we had received orders to go live in Spain for 3 years.  We were going to ship a car, so we drove it across country and stopped to visit the Hubby's family.  MIL worked at a shirt factory (think minimum wage in the early 80's).  They knew we were coming in to visit, on what day and when.  

When we arrived, MIL was still at work.  We walked into the house and I was introduced to my Brother in Law, his wife, their children, my Father in Law.  It was a party!!  The table was set like it was Thanksgiving!!
And it was barely noon!!  In June!!  It all smelled marvelous.  My MIL showed up shortly after we arrived and headed for the kitchen.  She finished up the FEAST and put all the food on the table before she rang the proverbial dinner bell. 

I was raised with impeccable dinner manners.  If you didn't follow the rules, you got sent from the table.  So, with that in mind, I had a little bit of everything (choking down just a couple of things) and was incredibly full.  MIL kept asking if I wanted more and I tried numerous times to reassure her that I was quite satisfied and didn't need any more, but Thank You!!

Finally, she looked me square in the eye and said "Well, I don't know why you are so fat, you eat like a bird!" 

I too dumbstruck to react. 

We eventually worked it all out, but I will never forget that encounter as long as I live.

Control Freak Outta Control

Its so sad when someone you love is hurting and there is nothing you can do about it.  I want to wave a magic wand and make all the bad stuff go away and then everyone will be happy.  Yeah, right!

Just a brief HI!

Monday the first of February we have a pre-trial conference for a civil suit we are involved with.  We are in the unfortunate position of having to sue one of our kids (husband's daughter) over some property.  I have so much preparation to get done yet.  I hate this kind of crap!!

But I am not going to eat the stress or, God Forbid, light a cigarette.  Yesterday marked 9 months since I quit smoking.  I am very proud of that.  It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done, EVER. 

Did you see this?

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I have followers!  How cool is that? --------------------->

Dinner was AWFUL

I am not having a lot of luck with recipes lately.  My poor long suffering husband (who would frankly eat ALPO if I told him it was a new recipe), did not care for it, nor did I. 

Keep trying.

Blogs

Um, I need to fit my LIFE somewhere into reading blogs!!  This has become some kind of addiction!!  Man, there are so many good bloggers and I love to read and you all make me laugh and cry and learn, its amazing to me.  However, I am NOT doing laundry, NOT working out, NOT cleaning out the refrigerator, NOT doing lots of things that really need to get done and won't unless I DO THEM.  No fairies come to visit me and the Shoemaker's elves were one trick ponies. 

Signing out for now.  The refrigerator calls.  Working out?  Later, maybe.

Yummm!!

That is all.

The Wonderful World of Chili!!

Ok, so I am like a chili whore.  I love chili, not just any chili, but my chili, which any purist would tell you is Crap!!  And that's Crap with a capitol C!  Its the same chili my mom made when we were kids and it's basically ground beef and canned stuff but it smells and tastes amazing and is uber fattening if you make it the way she did.   

My problem is the ground beef.  I don't like to use a regular ground beef (too mushy) and I can't find a chili grind that is less than 80/20 fat percentage.  Yuck, fatty!!  I have a wonderful kitchen center thingy that the hubby bought me many moons ago.  This was back when he was still of the mindframe that buying his wife vacuum cleaners for her birthday and assorted small appliances for Christmas was a good thing.   He has since learned.  But I do love it, so its all good.  Anyway, it has a grinder attachment!!  You can even get a sausage maker attachment for the darned thing!! So I bought some nice top sirloin meat the other day and went to drag out my Oster thingy and damned if I could find all the parts.  And this thing is really, really old. 
Shit!!!

EBay to the rescue!!  I order a new grinder attachment and today I triple wrapped the sirloin and placed it in the freezer to await the arrival of said grinder attachment.  Except, the dang thing came in mail today!!  Wow, talk about service!!  So, ground me some sirloin, had enough to freeze half and there is the most amazing smell emanating from my kitchen at the moment.  I can die happy now.

Weigh In and Walking at Walmart

Weigh in was ok this morning, -1 lb.  I am glad this isn't a race!!  Only problem was I also weighed in at home and my home scale is much more generous than WW's.  Buggers!!  Its all good. 

On the way home, I stopped at Walmart.  Now let me reassure you, I don't shop at Walmart often and really didn't plan on shopping a whole lot today.  My meeting is at 7:30 am and once it was over, I just didn't want to go home and get laundry started.  Wally World was the lesser of the two evils. Well, as it turns out, I strolled around for 90 minutes = 4 activity points.  Go Figure.  I could get to like Walmart at that rate and I picked up a few things while I was at it.  Shared a bacon breakfast burrito with hubby when I got home.  Its ok, I earned it!!

And I kinda don't mind doing laundry so much right now!

Wii's Working Out Now!

Hubby finally got off his deathbead and went back to work so I started working out yesterday to my Wii Fit Plus.  Love this little devil!  Anyway, right now, because I haven't broken a sweat in, lets see....40 years, I am starting out with the aerobics side.  I run and I love me some Rhythm Boxing.  How cool is that?  I am lame at any of this, but I know have to build up to it.  So 20 minutes is good for now.  Like losing the weight, I can't expect it to all happen at once. 

Can anyone tell me why I get cramps in my legs when I am running in place on the rug in my living room?  Its not exactly boot camp!

Yuck!

Finally able to get back in here and talk about what is YUCK?  I am trying to find recipes that I like and fit within my point constraints and sometimes I do really good and sometimes they are just YUCK!  Today I baked an applesauce cake that was vaguely reminiscent of baked bricks!!  And I made a phony guacamole with green peas that only resembles guacamole in color and texture. The taste is certainly different if not totally inedible.   I will keep trying.  We are going to have meatloaf tonite with a baked potato and veggies.  It will be just fine and totally normal.  Which I desperately need a shot of right now. 

Phfffffttt!

Weigh In was disappointing.  I was down a little, but would like to see more impressive results.  Having said that, I admittedly could put more effort into it. I am not moving nearly enough.   I had committed to exercising every night for 30 minutes now that hubby is on swing shift for 3 months, but about the time I set that goal, he came down with the galloping crud and I just can't seem to get anything accomplished when he's here, especially if he is unwell. 

This weeks challenge is 10 meals of filling foods.  Hmm, there are so many things to chose from I should be able to pull this off.  I am going to make a pot of chili, which I could eat for every meal, but will need to cool it on that. 

I am realizing that I have been calculating lots of points wrong (not sure how just yet).  I have also been realizing that points and "filling foods" definitions may vary depending on the sources you check, e.g., my books vs the etools.  I guess I need to stick with one or the other because it can really screw me up!

New Foods Old Routines

Doing pretty good so far this week.  Broke down and had Chinese for dinner on Saturday and, of course, leftovers for Sunday.  But on Sunday, I also cooked a Cauliflower Soup and made a yummy salad that I found from Hungry Girl, Sweet and Chunky Chicken Salad (low fat Chicken Waldorf) that's to die for!! 
Tonite, I am thinking about Hungry Girl Chicken Pot Pies.  I think I love this woman. 

Like a sister, OK?!  And I have a lesbian sister, so that's ok, too.

Right now I am so full I can hardly breathe.  I need to stop doing that.  So today, at 10:30 am, I decided I was ready for lunch.  I did eat because I was hungry, and it was good and it filled me up.  But my mouth wasn't satisfied so off to the cafeteria we went to see what was available that wasn't going to ruin the whole week for me.  They had roasted butternut squash with some brown suger.  I got some of that and figure it was worth a few points.  It was sure good and took care of what my mouth wanted.  However, because I was already full, now I am too full.  Not Good!!  Mine points are used up (ok, I saved one for a Tootsie Pop I didn't eat!) and thats good, I didn't go over, but I need to eat to live not live to eat and I can't seem to find the place where that concept really lives in my head.  Probably packed up and moved out when the neighborhood got so crowded with fat cells!!

The (Not Quite So) Little Engine That Could

But we are working on it.  Weigh In this morning - 1.4 for a total of 16.8 lost.  And it was a tough and not altogether "good" week for me.  I didn't eat a single cookie all thru the holidays, so why is it that when someone brings them to work, I can't stay out of them.  They were very good, but I begged my dear sweet boss to stop.  So come he didn't bring any on Weds.  I still managed to consume plenty on Mon. and Tues.
But I also ate well when it came to normal meal stuff, so I probably burned up my weeklys on cookies.  Thank God it only happens once a year!!

First Weigh In of the Year

Way to start the year off!! Down 2.2 lbs.  So, still need to lose 1.3 of what I put on over Christmas, but that's ok.  I am working it and I am happy with the result. 

We had Tacos for dinner last nite and hubby was so happy.  I was too.  Too happy!  I ate 5 of the dang things.  That's 14 points!!  But they are so good and this is one meal I will absolutely eat for my mouth and my stomach will suffer.  I did only make one dozen, so there was not much in the left over department (DH ate 5 also).  I had the other 2 for brunch this morning.  I posted the recipe before but if anyone wants it, just let me know, I will be thrilled to post it again.  The tacos are 3 points apiece, 3 for 8 points (or 5 for 14 pts, geez).

Tonite we will probably splurge.  I have a beef and noodle stoop cooking.  I just found a great looking cauliflower soup recipe that I want to try so maybe will work on that for tomorrow.  Then we can have leftovers for the rest of the week.  

I bought a trampoline before the holidays and I haven't even taken it out of the box yet.  Should do that today, don't you think?

Happy New Year!

I am so glad 2009 is over!  What a horrible miserable excuse for a year! On the other hand, we did send it out on a good note.  Dinner with Carrie and Dave at their house.  I cooked and everyone ate and raved.  The menu was Seared Scallops, Lobster and Mushrooms in Mustard Sauce, Grilled Mahi-Mahi, wild rice and broccoli and cauliflower.  Its weird cooking in someone else's kitchen, but I love doing stuff like that and they DO have the pool table after all. 

Happy New Year everyone.  Please God, let the new one be multiples of better than the old!  Thank you.