Weight Watchers Meal Planning

I think the hardest part of WW is planning. It takes some forethought to decide what to eat so that you don't blow all your points. A while back I created a board on Pinterest dedicated to WW recipes. I use it all the time. When I did my big grocery shopping at the beginning of the month, I took some time to sit down and look at that board. I compiled a list of my entrée items and wrote the points beside them. Then, I tried to look for side dishes to go with each dish and labeled the points. I have used that list to plan meals and cook this month, and it has helped tremendously. I am a big meal planner, and with three little kiddos, I think if you are going to cook dinner you sort of have to be. I have decided what to make as to whether or not Jason will be home during the cooking phase/what things I can do a ton of prep before (as in nap time)/or things I can throw together very quickly. Here is a list of some of the meals with links and points:

Bubble Up Enchiladas - 7pp per serving
Spanish Rice - this comes to about 2-3 points per serving.

I made the enchilada bake for a second time. I mentioned in a previous post that I looked at the comment section and doctored the recipe up a bit by adding cumin, red pepper, and garlic powder to the meat, used salsa instead of tomato sauce, and made everything in a cast iron skillet for a one pot dish. I use a recipe from food.com for the rice and get about 8 servings out of it, so the point value is pretty low after putting it into the Recipe Builder on the WW site.

Meatloaf- 6pp
Marinated Tomato Salad - 1pp
Scalloped Potatoes - 3pp

This was good. I am picky about my meatloaf, but this one was good. I will add in some green peppers next time. The texture was a bit soft, but I think that was my fault. The boys gobbled it up. The potatoes and tomato salad were pretty good sides to pair with the meatloaf.

Baked Ranch Chicken - 5pp
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes - 4pp
Balsamic Roasted Carrots - 2 pp

This was a good meal, too. My breading fell off the chicken, but once again, I think it was "operator error". These potatoes were good.

Chicken Pot Pie - 4-6 pp depending on how large of a serving you have
This was good. Mine was not as pretty as the one in the picture, but it was a good lightened up version of comfort food.

Tamale Bake - 7pp
Baked Southwest Egg Rolls - 2 pp per roll
I made the tamale bake a second time, and I had family here. They thought it was good, too. These egg rolls are really good. I have made them many times and taken them places. They always get eaten.

Burrito Bake - 6pp
Spanish Rice - 2-3 pp per serving
This was good and easy. I had leftover rice from another meal, so we ate the leftovers with this.

Pulled chicken - 2pp
Bun - 3pp
Mango Slaw - 2pp
We've had this chicken a ton. I didn't make it as a WW recipe, but once I put it in the calculator it came out to be 2 pp a serving. I think the recipe is on here, but you put a pack of chicken breasts in the crockpot, sprinkle almost a whole packet of zesty Italian dressing, and some pepperoncini pepper juice and cook until done. Then you shred and top with BBQ sauce. The slaw was okay, but I probably won't make it again.

Enchilada Skillet - 9pp
I have this one on the menu this week.

Carne Guisada (Lain Beef Stew) - 6pp
Brown Rice - 5 pp for one whole cup
I have this in the crock pot now. I made the spicy condiment that the recipe recommends, and it is SPICY which I love. I can rate this one later.

Spaghetti Pie - 9 pp
We had this on Sunday night and again as leftovers last night. It was really good. I would make it again if I weren't doing WW. I had some extra points, so I had a small salad with it.

Meat Lover's Pizza - 5 pp per slice
This one is a great recipe. My boys LOVE it. The slices are pretty large, so after a slice and a salad I am full.

Chicken and Goat Cheese Sandwiches - 8pp per sandwich
This is on the menu this week. I love anything with goat cheese, so how could this be bad?

Balsamic Pork Roast - 5pp
Crustless Zucchini Pie - 3pp
Bruleed Sweet Potato Bake - 3pp
This was the first thing I made when I compiled this list, and it has been one of my favorite combos. Everything in this meal was good.

Sour Cream Enchiladas - 10pp for 2 enchiladas
This is a high points meal if you add rice, but I have made it several times.

Sweet and Sour Chicken - 8pp
Broccoli
Cauliflower Fried Rice - 3pp
I have made the sweet and sour chicken many times. The cauliflower fried rice serving is BIG for 3 pp, so I will make this soon. I would imagine that it would work a lot like rice. According the to the reviews, it is good.

So I realize this is a giant list. I wanted to put it out there in case anyone was doing WW and needed some dinner ideas. I usually keep lunch pretty low points and do oatmeal for breakfast. I always have extra points at the end of the day to have a larger dinner. Hope this helps!

A Few Tried and True

This post if for those of you who have asked for some good Weight Watchers Recipes. I am on my third week, and I am down 12 lbs. I have been cooking some new recipes - mostly because I like to cook, but also I have made new stuff because there are so many WW recipe out there that sounded good! Breakfast in the mornings has been oatmeal with brown sugar and maple syrup or fruit added to it. I recently discovered chia seeds, and I add a TBSP of them into my oatmeal, too. The chia seeds don't add any flavor, but they are a super food packed with great nutrition and they swell when they get added to liquid. They make you feel full longer. I haven't been hungry before lunch time since I started doing this.

A few great sites to find recipes on are:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/
http://www.emilybites.com/
http://www.laaloosh.com/

These are the ones that I often go to search for new WW recipes. I have created a board on Pinterest, and if you are interested to see what's on there, hop on over:
My Pinterest Board for WW

Here are some of my "tried and true" recipes. I will keep adding more as I find good ones. One suggestion I have when searching any recipe online is to read the comments. If multiple people have tweaked a recipe a certain way, I will go with the crowd and follow their suggestions.

Crock pot Chicken Santa Fe - this is one I have made for a while. I usually use it in those wraps from the last post and create a burrito with a little cheese, sour cream, avocado, etc. You can have 2 of these for very low points.

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken - this is one that I make even when not on WW. I usually do it with fried rice, and I will be trying the cauliflower fried "rice" soon because the points are much lower than with regular fried rice.

Meat Lover's Pizza - The boys loved this one, too. This is a great one.

Chicken Tamale Bake - I tried this one earlier in the week, and it was good. I would add this into the rotation even not on WW. We had it with some Mexican rice.

Club Sandwich - I have eaten this for lunch with a pickle a few times, and it is a winner.

Bubble Up Enchiladas - I have seen this all over Pinterest. I took the suggestion of several people in the comment section and made the following changes: I added cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder to the turkey while it was cooking, subbed salsa for the tomato sauce, and cooked it all in a cast iron skillet for a one pot meal.

Bubble Up Enchiladas

Caramel Apple Fluff - This stuff is yum! The boys and I love it.

Coconut Mango Chia Pudding - I had a bunch of mangos and decided to try this. It was a good little sweet treat.

Salsa Verde Enchiladas - Okay, so I haven't made this one since I started WW back, but I have made it before. We liked it.

Southwest Egg Rolls - I used to love Chili's Southwest eggrolls, so when I saw this I knew I had to try it. I have made this many times, and I have made it to take to gatherings with friends. These little things always get eaten.

So there you have it. A few little WW recipes that my family and I have liked. I am trying to put some meals together from the Pinterest board for next month's meals. That way I can know what to shop for and have a plan on what to make.

Busy, More Busy, and Gettin' Skinny

Life with three is tiring business, folks. Not that I am complaining because I don't mean to do so. I am just stating a fact, but there is nothing in the world that I would want to do differently. These three little people keep us on our toes, and I am thankful for them even though I am sure I have more gray hair because of them. Nothing that a little visit to the hair salon can't fix :)

Tucker is two months old! How DOES that happen??? It seems like yesterday I was in the hospital and then, BAM! 2 months old! But he sure is cute. And sweet. And oh, so snuggly. He is starting to "talk" and smile. His little giggles are my favorite.

Such a happy boy

He looks malnourished, doesn't he? haha

 On February 22, Connor turned 2! Once again, how does that happen??? I wish all of you could hear this child talk. I have never heard a two year old that speaks like this one does. He cracks me up with the way that he pronounces every syllable and speaks in sentences. You really forget that he JUST turned 2. We spent his birthday at Oatland Island looking at the animals and followed it up with some birthday cake that evening.

 Just in case anyone was wondering, that isn't Connor's slice. I just bought a little cake square for us all to share. Nothing fancy, but he enjoyed it all the same. I decided with Jake to wait until he was three to have a big party, and the tradition will continue with Connor. I don't think he cared one way or the other, so we will save our money until next year and do it up right :)

They boys still love to talk to Tucker and "pet" him as they say. I love watching them play, and I realize that it won't be long until I have three wild boys running around the house.

 



I decided to start Weight Watchers again since I have had success in the past after Jake and Connor were born. I had lost back down to pre-baby weight without doing anything. Well, without doing anything except taking care of a newborn and chasing two toddlers - haha. I decided that since we are officially done having babies that now is the time to kick it into high gear and get down to "fightin' size." Yeah, I have no idea what that really means, either. I just want to comfortably get back into clothes and feel cute again. I love WW because I like rules and guidelines and plans. I need a "map" of sorts, and this works for me. I never feel hungry, and I don't feel like I am dieting. It becomes more of a lifestyle change than a diet that I won't stick to doing. The worst or hardest part is the planning. It takes time, and I don't have a ton of extra time these days after taking care of the kids. And it works. If I did something where I didn't see results, I would stop doing it in a minute, but I lost 5 lbs the first week. That, of course, will drop to 2 or 3 lbs a week now, but that first week is always where you see a big drop.

 

I have tried some new recipes, and I try to find things that Jason and the boys will eat as well. Some recipes I make I make to stretch out over several lunches and dinners and eat in different ways (in wraps, over rice, etc). One new thing I have tried is crock pot chicken taco chili. It was pretty good. I ate it over rice, and then I made a wrap out of it with some cheese and salsa for a quick lunch. It is 5 points plus for a serving size of 1 1/4 cups. Not bad... I also tried gooey pork chops and garlic cauliflower mash. The pork chops were good. The cauliflower mash was a weird texture but it tasted like garlic mashed potatoes. I guess I like smoother mashed potatoes, so if you like your taters chunky maybe it won't be so weird. I love these wraps:

They are only 1 point a piece, and you can find them at WalMart. Another snack fave is the 2 point pumpkin muffin. My friend, Lauren, made some for us when we had Tucker. The boys love them, too. The recipe is a box of spice cake mix, a can of pure pumpkin puree, a little vanilla, and a 1/2 cup of water. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Yep, that's all. I usually bake for 20 minutes, turn off the oven, and let them stay in the oven for another 10 minutes or so. They are a great snack or breakfast item. We also throw in some butterscotch chips, too. As long as you keep it to about 1/2 cup, you don't change the points. My new favorite low point dessert are these:

2 Points Plus per muffin! They are yummy, too. It's the same concept as above except you use devil's food cake mix, 1 can pumpkin, 1/2 cup water, and about 10 T or 1/2 cup chocolate chips and bake for 20 min at 350. They really hit the spot for a chocolate craving. And at 2 points plus, I can have several throughout the afternoon and not feel bad about it.

 

I will share new recipes that I like since I have some new ones to try in the upcoming weeks. The boys are napping now, so I might join them. Jake just called me to his room to ask me to help him snap his pants. He proudly informed me that he had just gone to potty, and had pooped and wiped all by himself. Well, son, I am happy for your three year old, independent little self. I am not so happy for this Mama who has to discover later if you actually wiped well enough... On that TMI note, I will sign off for now.



 

 



Stocking Up and Waiting

I hope that you all have had a wonderful Christmas. We sure did here. The boys were so into Christmas this year - from looking at lights, to hearing about the Christmas story, seeing Santa, and all the fun of anticipating that one special day. I will share some pics from our day here in a few. I felt sort of like a big Scrooge on Christmas night. The hubs was at work, the house was quiet, and all I could think about was that I could sit and watch absolutely nothing on TV - because let's face it, nothing is on Christmas night - or I could be productive. Well, I chose the latter and took down all the decorations. It all went back into boxes and on shelves in the garage until next year. I have never had the urge to rip down decorations on Christmas night. However, I have never been 38 weeks pregnant on Christmas, either. There has been some serious nesting going on around here. Things are clean, organized, and today I tackled freezer meals. In 3 hours, some serious damage was done. I thought I would share the results. I tried to pick recipes that were easy, would make more than one dish, and didn't have a ton of prep. I ended up with this plus a bag of cooked, chopped chicken breasts which will be perfect for casseroles or chicken salad:

Here are the links and yields for each:

Roast Beef and Ham Freezer Sandwiches - I got 12 sandwiches (and I totally used the Cheese Whiz)
Baked Ziti - I did one large pan instead of 2 smaller ones, but you can do whichever works best
Poppy seed Chicken - I divided this into 2 round pans, left off the topping - will add crackers, butter, and poppy seeds right before baking
Cheesy Black Bean and Chicken Enchiladas - I got one large pan and one small pan of these
Crock pot Orange Chicken - this was super easy, no cooking before required, just mix and put in bag
Chicken Pot Pie - I got 3 small round pans. I should have done one more, but I didn't have enough crusts. As it stands now, I still need to place a top crust on the pies before baking but no biggie.

Most of these recipes came from the Six Sisters site. Press here for the link to 50 freezer-friendly dishes. After this bambino comes, I don't really want to have to think about meal planning and this will surely help. Now for the fun stuff.

I said earlier that Christmas was exciting for the boys this year. Jason and I don't go overboard with toys and stuff for them. A)I think that is just dumb to spend excessive amounts of money on toys B) I can't stand clutter C) they don't need a bunch of crap that they aren't going to play with D) that is NOT the meaning of Christmas. That list is in no particular order, mind you, since the last reason should be #1. After all was said and done, they got new toys and books and have enjoyed playing with all of them. Everything happily has a place which makes this OCD Mama very happy. Here are some pictures of the boys at their Christmas program at school and of our Christmas morning.

The Christmas Orange

And while we are talking Christmas, may I just say that at our house Santa does not wrap. I mean, ain't nobody got time for that! Everything is already assembled, those annoying plastic doo hickies meant to make saints curse removed, batteries in place, and toys ready to go. The boys had presents to unwrap from grandparents and other family but not Santa. The man is busy!

Now I must go clean the kitchen and try to induce labor (I am almost 39 weeks and nothing going on), so I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year. Hopefully, we will be back to report news soon :)

A New Definition of Adventure

A few weeks ago I made the decision to sign up for a women's Bible study that will start this next Tuesday. It will focus on this book:

I was doing my reading and got to page 45. Here is the excerpt that jumped out at me:

"And women are tired. We are drained. But it's not from a life of shared adventures.

No, the weariness of women comes from lives that are crammed with routine, with

chores, with hundreds of demands. As Chekov said,"Any idiot can face a crisis. It's

the day to day living that wears you out." Somehow, somewhere between our youth

and yesterday, efficiency has taken the place of adventure. Most women do not feel

they are playing an irreplaceable role in a great Story. Oh, no. We struggle to know if

we matter at all. If we are at home, we feel ashamed we don't have a "real life" in the

outside world. We are swallowed by laundry. If we have a career, we feel as though

  we are missing out on more important matters like marriage and children. We are

swallowed by meetings."

That day to day living is tiring. The days (often like those in the movie Groundhog Day) are spent doing the same things. Playing with children, laundry, making sure everyone gets fed, cleaning, spending some quality time with the hubs, and the list goes on. It is an endless cycle of trying to take care of everyone and everything that is dear to me. And I strive to do it all in the most efficient way possible.Where is the adventure? And then I get my answer:

Today I went to a baby shower during the boys' nap times. When I walked into the house, I was greeted by a dance party. The older one was dancing on the ottoman using a dog's toy as his microphone. The little was was being carried around on his Daddy's shoulders while they all rocked out to "Rock the Casbah" blaring on the Dance Party Favorites station on the TV (or PD as Jake calls it). I dropped my bag and promptly joined in the dance party contributing my seizure like movements to the PAR-TAY. The rest of the afternoon, we played a lot of dress up, cruised around the house, and right now Jake is cooking me paper grilled cheese sandwiches before he heads to bed. This is the adventure in my life right now, and while it's not the adventure I sought at 20, it certainly makes my heart smile.

Arrrgh, matey



Tennis ball while balancing on the rocking chair. No worries, right?

So one of my goals for the New Year is to embrace the adventures of right now and let go of some routine. Now that doesn't mean that I'm going to let the house fall in around us while we play all day. There are still clothes to wash and people to feed, but I must remember that they will only need me in this capacity for such a short time. And on that note, dinner was a quick 15 minute prep time affair tonight. These little sandwiches are yummy for a quick dinner or snack:

Sassy Tailgating Sandwiches

Package Kings Hawaiian Rolls

Onion and Chive Cream Cheese

Sliced Ham

Swiss Cheese

1 stick butter

1 TBSP Worcestershire

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 TBSP minced onion (I used the dried flakes)

Split and separate rolls. Place ham and cheese on bottom part of roll. Spread cream cheese on the top of roll and put the top and bottom sections back together. Melt butter in microwave and stir in parm, Worcestershire, and onion. Spoon over each roll. I didn't use all the sauce but not much was left over. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or so until the cheese is melted and the rolls are browned. Yum! No stress dinner.

Tall Ships and a Little Sandwich

On Saturday, I took Jake and Connor downtown to the Tall Ships Challenge. I originally thought that this was something that happened every year, so I had just about decided not to go because Jason was working. Downtown Savannah, although beautiful, is becoming flooded with tourists this time of year. Parking isn't easy, and traveling with 2 children that can't really help out in any kind of way is a daunting task. However, I learned that this is the first time that Savannah has hosted a Tall Ships Challenge in either 12 or 15 years (I can't remember which). So then I really felt the need to see this since everyone kept telling me how cool it was. The ships dock on River Street for the weekend, and if you buy a ticket to the festival you can get on and off the boats to tour. The ships leave on Monday and race to NY and NJ, then head to Nova Scotia.

I have said before that our day goes much smoother if I get up around 6, feed Connor, shower and dress myself, THEN get Jake out of the bed. By doing this, I can feed Connor once again after Jake has breakfast and is dressed and we can all head out the door for whatever activity we want. We left the house shortly before 9, and I managed to get a prime parking spot. For those who don't know, River Street in Savannah is accessible by car (which I have no desire to do), by elevator (on one end), several ramps made of cobblestone, and very steep flights of death stairs. So with the Cadillac of a double stroller (this thing is HEAVY as hell) the only options are the ramps and elevator. I parked far from the elevator, so we bounced down the cobblestone ramp. The gates had not opened to the festival so we people watched on River Street. Once the gates opened, we entered to look at the ships. I think Jake said "bo" for boat and "fwag" (flag) about 1,000 times. He loved looking at all the ships. We couldn't get on any of them due to the massive stroller, but it was fun all the same. There were food vendors and art vendors. We enjoyed some cherry Italian ice :) Here are a ton of pics from the day:

I am so glad the we went because it was really cool. There was even a parade. Well, there was this band that walked down the road and played. My sweet Jake clapped the whole time.

With all the cool factor aside, let me say that it was 90 degrees by 10 am that morning. Do you see this?

Yeah, well it's not light all by itself. Add to that the children, diaper bag, camera bag, and the coconut pirate head I bought for Jake's new pirate room. Okay, okay, so you see this. Well, how about this?

This ,my friends, is at the end of River Street leading back up to Bay St where my car was parked. The car and the elevator were on opposite ends. Usually I think things out a little better, but I was afraid I wouldn't find parking the farther I got down Bay St., so I snatched up a handy dandy street space right near a fire hydrant so no one could park in front of me. Well, since we were down on this end of River Street anyway, and the car was just right near the top of the hill along the street, I decided to brave it. I was already sweating like I had run a mile. For those of you who are unaware, I do not do the pretty sweating thing. No siree, if I get hot, I sweat like a man, my face gets about 10 shades of red, and even my hair gets damp. At this point, there was a shower in my future so I braved the hill. Holy Mother...By the time I got to the top, I think I might have a had a small heart attack. There was a lady that said, "Goodness, that sure looks like a workout." I might have bitten her if I could have. As it were, I couldn't even manage a sentence to comment, but I think my eye roll my have conveyed my feelings toward her at that moment. I should probably hit the gym soon...

I haven't included any recipes lately. I have been cooking like crazy, but I haven't come across anything that I wanted to post. I made these little sandwiches the other night. On the blog where I got them, the lady said that they were in her top 10 meals ever. Okay, maybe she doesn't cook that much. I definitely won't say that, but they were pretty good and easy. Here is a pic - excuse the lousy pic, I am sooo not a food stylist.

Chicken Swiss Sandwiches

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped

1 1/2 tsp butter

1 garlic clove, minced

2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed

1/2 cup sweet roasted red peppers (from jar), chopped

1 TBSP honey mustard

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp Italian seasoning

2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

12 Rhodes frozen dinner rolls, thawed (you can get these at Wal-Mart or other grocery stores)

2 TBSP melted butter

Thaw dinner rolls. The package says a few hours, but it only takes about 30 minutes or so. Press the rolls into about 5 inch circles onto a greased cookie sheet. I tried a rolling pin first, but it worked better to just use my hands. I didn't measure, I just tried to get them about the same size.

In a skillet, combine the 1 1/2 tsp butter, mushrooms, onion and cook until tender. Add garlic and saute for another 30 seconds or so. Add the cooked chicken, peppers, seasoning, salt, honey mustard and stir to heat through. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Place a small amount of mixture in the center of one of your circles of dough, leaving a rim of dough exposed around the outer circle. Place another piece of dough on top and press the edges to seal. Brush the tops with a little melted butter and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Work Hard, Play Hard

Now it's back to grind. Around these parts, it has been a wonderful week. Jason has been off for the past 5 days, and he heads back to work tonight. He managed to spend most of the day with us today, so it has felt like 6 days off. It has been WONDERFUL having him home, and it is during these times I find myself thanking God for sending such a great man to me. I feel blessed. He is such a great dad, and I love watching him spend time with Jake. I could go on and on, but I will save that for another post and just ramble about our past week.

We have enjoyed just spending time together. The Jakeman is FAST!!!! I mean, this little tiny man can RUN. I have a hard time keeping up with him in the house, so most of the time going out to the playground takes more energy than I have these days. With Daddy in tow, we headed over to the playground. I chose the sand playground over the one with the wood chips because a) no one is ever there and b) the little man is not as hard to catch due to the sand slowing him down!! After running around for about an hour, he was exhausted. Here are the pics from the playground.

The poor child came home with several new knots on his head due to the swing popping him in the head while he was trying to play with the big swing. He was so hungry when we got home that he ate and ate. I gave him some peach salad to finish his meal, and apparently the spoon (which he had been using) was not working fast enough. Jason and I happened to look at him at the same time. We couldn't help but laugh because this boy was shoveling this stuff in as fast as he could get it!!!

The boy was growing a quasi-mullet, so he got his first haircut January 19th. He got a little concerned when they first put the cape on him, but a Bubblegum flavored DumDum cured any hesitation. He sat there patiently and drooled pink drool all over the cape while he got a new 'do.

On Saturday, we made a last minute decision to head to the circus. Ringling Brothers was in town, and the Jakeman sat for 2 and 1/2 hours watching the circus! By the end, he was getting antsy because it was about an hour past the usual nap time, but he did really well. We heard a lot of "Oh, Wow!" during the performance, and he pointed at everything. It was really cool just watching his little face.

We have wrapped up the weekend with church, grocery trips, and naps. For dinner tonight, I made these. I found the recipe on Pinterest, and I have seen other variations that are made with Hawaiian Sweet Rolls and onions. These were pretty yummy, and I will make them again. If you need a quick and easy dinner, give them a try.