Shake up your salads: A 450 Calorie DELICIOUS Option!

Just swinging by this long abandoned blog to share one of my favorite salad recipes of late with you fine people still reading!

This salad is full of flavor, juicy, packed with protein, healthy, delicious and under 450 calories!  Win, win, win, win, win!

ingredients:

3-4 cups chopper romaine lettuce

1 serving turkey (I use Hormel natural) OR 1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded chicken, whatever you have!

1/4 cup blueberries

1/3 cup chopped strawberries

1/2 chopped apple

1/4 cup chopped pecan

1/4 cup feta

2 Tbs raspberry vinegarette (I love Sprouts brand dressings!)

It's really simple to assemble.  Chop up your meat, fruits, and nuts.  Toss it all onto lettuce.  Drizzle with dressing and ENJOY!

Salads are so wonderful and such a good go to meal for a dieter or someone working to maintain their weight and health, but they can get SO BORING! I  hope this recipe helps you spice up your salad life.

For more on what I eat, follow me on Instagram (@mynestinginstincts).  I'm taking a break from social media for lent, but there's some old ideas and new ones coming soon.  In the meantime, I'll try to show more love to the 'ole blog here. 

10 Point Weight Watcher Pasta

Saturday night was a rare one in our house.  Both of our kids were asleep by 6:05pm and Josh and I had not yet eaten dinner.  The realization hit us we could get crazy in the kitchen and cook ourselves whatever we wanted to eat, take our time, and eat our food while it was hot.  WHAT?  Parents of toddlers understand.

So naturally, Josh chose to make fried chicken nuggets and homemade french fries.  Toddler food.  ;)

I decided I wanted a treat to but to be more conscientious.  So I whipped up so delicious pasta and pretended I was Giada and said "mozzarella" the right way while walking around the kitchen.  I posted the below pic on Instagram and my friends wanted the recipe so I thought I'd put it here for everyone!  Enjoy!

10 point Delicious Pasta

Ingredients
1 chicken breast tenderloin (mine was 2oz) (2 points)
2 slices of bacon (2 points)
1 cup of pasta (5 points for 1 cup cooked)
1 tsp EVOO (1 points)
1 cup brocoli florets
kosher salt
pepper
crushed red pepper
garlic powder
lemon juice (optional)
mozzarella (optional - adds points)

First up, get your pasta boiling.  I NEVER cook pasta al dente because, well, toddlers.  This time I did and it was delicious!  I also had frozen broccoli florets on hand so I got those boiling too.

Cut chicken & bacon into small pieces while raw.  Toss with garlic powder to taste (I used about 1/2tsp), black pepper (I used about 1/4tsp), crushed red pepper (about 1/4-1/2 tsp depending on how spicy you like it), and salt (about 1/4tsp).  Spray a pan with PAM and cook meat until done stirring frequently and breaking into smaller pieces.  Set aside.

When pasta is done, drain and toss with 1tsp EVOO. Add a little kosher salt, a little more of the black and red pepper and a squirt of two of lemon juice.  Toss in meats and then broccoli.  Stir well and let everything sit together and absorb flavor for a minute or so.  Add salt or pepper or garlic to taste and enjoy!

Simple, filling, satisfying, fairly guilt free and 10 points!  This pasta is such a win for me when I'm having a craving!  Hope you enjoy!

P.S. You can sprinkle the top with mozzarella if you want to add the points.  I found the flavor was fine without the mozzarella and it didn't enhance the flavor enough to spend the points.

Baked Cauliflower "Chips"

Just sharing a quick go to recipe I've been using lately (and by lately I mean 3-4 times a week) for baked cauliflower!  I conjured this up during my early "reentry" days when I knew I still wanted something salty alongside a sandwich but not chips (since then chips have become the devil to me and the treadmill and I have been getting cozy to counter my indulgence of them... and now the chips are in the trash can, btw).  I once claimed on Twitter this cauliflower tasted like popcorn.  I was kind of crazy when I said that as I hadn't had popcorn in, like, 4 months.  I've since had popcorn and no.  No, this is not popcorn.  But it's good!  And to me, it's better than a chip because it's actually filling, full of flavor, and great for my body!

Baked Cauliflower "chip" Florets:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cut half a head of cauliflower into small floret pieces (think bite size).

Toss in 1-2tsp EVOO.

Toss in 1 tsp kosher salt

Toss in 1 tsp black pepper

Toss in 1 Tbs garlic powder

Toss in 1-2 Tbs paprika 

Bake for 5-7 minutes and then turn and bake another 5-7 minutes.

And that's it!  You may want to add more salt to the finished product (the raw salt tastes more chip like anyway) and possibly more pepper.

1tsp of EVOO is 1 Weight Watcher point so if you eat half a head of cauliflower with 2 tsp of EVOO you've had 2 points and your plate would have been full of yummy cauliflower as oppose to the 9 potato chips you counted out just sitting there looking dinky and unsatisfying.

Hope you enjoy this!  If you do or don't, I always love your feedback!

0 Point Fruit Smoothie & 0 Point Popsicles

So I see all these awesome spinach smoothies all over Pinterest.  And they look great and refreshing and like an awesome way to pump your body full of good things while enjoying a seemingly naughty, cold beverage.  The problem is they usually have yogurt or milk or almond milk or all kinds of things that have calories and points.  And while milk and yogurt are excellent sources of calcium, so is spinach and I don't want to waste 2-4 points on this snack.

So I found a solution!  Apple juice that is 1 point per serving!  It's Healthy Balance apple juice and I found it in a normal grocery store (with a great coupon no less).  A serving is 1 cup but unless you drink a whole lot of smoothie, you won't drink that!  Half a serving (1/2 cup) is 0 points!  Hallelujah!  We've found our liquid base for a 0 point smoothie!

Yesterday I mixed this same mix up in a small hand mixer.  I only used 1/2 a cup of the apple juice and drank all 14 oz of delicious goodness guilt free.  Today I used a full cup of the apple juice and took it to the big blender to mix up a great smoothie as a morning treat and make up some Popsicles for later.

Ingredients 
(For a doubled recipe - enough to make a smoothie & Popsicles.  Half this if you want to just have a 0 point smoothie or make Popsicles only!)
1 cup Healthy Balance apple juice
1/4 cup blueberries
10 strawberries
2 bananas
3-4 cups spinach leaves
4-5 cubes of ice

Pour apple juice into your blender.  Then toss in your raw ingredients.  Blend and pulse until smooth.  Add in your ice.  Blend until you don't hear the racket of the ice.  Pour into your Popsicle molds and enjoy the rest!

Let popsicles freeze 4-5 hours and enjoy in the hot sun while your kids play.  And MAYBE your kids will eat this too.  Mine didn't.  It's like they know the spinach is in there.  It's probably the color.  ;)

As always, I'd love your feedback if you tried this and liked it!  Have a happy, refreshing weekend!

0 Point Pasta

Well in the last 61 days I haven't posted many recipes because let's be honest, when you eat 10oz of lean protein, 7oz of veggies, 2 pieces of fruit, and an egg every day there's just not a lot to write home about in your cooking.  BUT after 61 days you get bored with your food and there are days you're desperate to find delicious.  In the last few weeks I feel I've mastered two DELICIOUS 0 point vegetables.  Later this week I'll give you my mushroom recipe, but today I want to share this delicious 0 point pasta.

Now I want to disclaimer this before I dive into the recipe... I haven't eaten pasta in 61 days (or any carbs aside from two very delicious times I took communion) so my tastebuds are very much like, "HEY THIS IS DELICIOUS!" To be fair, I was expecting to make something fresh and full of flavor NOT creamy and heavy, so my expectations were satisfied.  This recipe is husband approved as having a lot of great flavor and not leaving you feeling sleepy and heavy like you would be after eating buttery pasta.  The toddlers, however, did not approve this recipe and were NOT fooled by spaghetti squash.  I found this very disappointing as I'm trying all sorts of trickery in getting them on board the healthy train too (But flax seed sprinkled all over things?  THAT works!).

Ingredients
Spaghetti squash
Fat Free/Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Dried parsley
Dried basil
Dried oregano
Garlic powder
Pepper
Mushrooms
Roma tomato

Start by preheating your oven to 375* and quarter your spaghetti squash while you're waiting (it will be a light arm work out cutting the thing).  Scrape out the seeds and pulp and place quarters on a baking sheet.  Bake 30 minutes.  Once the spaghetti squash are done baking, take a spoon and scrape with mild-moderate pressure going lengthwise down the quarter squash.  Place noodles into a bowl.

Next, pour 1/3 cup fat free chicken broth into a skillet over medium heat.  Let broth come to a simmer.  While waiting chop up some mushrooms and a roma tomato (cherry tomatoes were tested and proved to be too sweet and they're what you're seeing in most of these photos FYI) and toss them into the simmering broth.  Sprinkle with garlic powder, pepper, basil, oregano and parsley.  ...When it comes to veggies and seasonings, use what you like.  Everyone is different when it comes to flavor.  For me, I use very few mushrooms and tomatoes because I can only use 3.5oz of vegetables total in the whole pasta.  When I end this diet and switch to back to Weight Watchers, I'd make a BIG bowl of this stuff.  I also use a healthy amount of garlic powder, pepper, basil and oregano when sprinkling the veggies but not very much parsley.

Let the veggies simmer about 5 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.  Add another 1/3-1/2 cup chicken broth depending on how many of the noodles you decide to cook.  Dump in your desired amount of noodles, sprinkle again with garlic powder and stir.  Let simmer on medium heat about 10 minutes (or until liquid is absorbed - whatever comes first).

And that's it!  I've eaten this pasta with grilled steak and grilled chicken.  It was delicious with both and both tasted great mixed in with it too.  This dish is completely guilt free (you can eat the whole spaghetti squash!), packed with flavor, fresh, and delicious!

If you don't eat the whole spaghetti squash, I recommend making a little "grab bag" with your measured noodles, tomato and mushrooms (tomato and mushrooms on top!).  The next day when you want more you can just do the same process by grabbing the tomatoes and mushrooms to throw them into the broth and repeat the whole recipe.  I've tested this and it works great.  I did not test cooking it all and reheating the final product, but I can't imagine that would taste as fresh and delicious when microwaved.

So there you have it! If you try this, please comment and let me know what you think! :)

Spicy tuna that will change your life!

Today I'm sharing SUCH an easy recipe that's a total game changer.  ...At least, for me it was a game changer!

Tuna is one of the proteins I can have on my diet and a can is 5oz so it's perfect and has become my lunch on the go or speedy lunch.  Plain, the stuff is awful.  Just last Friday I was at the park with our friends and I had to eat it from the can with my hand (forgot a fork!) and it was like choking down wood chips it was so dry.  Disgusting.  After loathing tuna but needing it in my life, I came up with this super simple recipe to make it amazing and delicious and when I eat it I just picture myself indulging in a spicy tuna roll.  Mmmm!

Ingredients
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on your level of bold and daring, of course)
1/8-1/4 tsp chili powder
garlic powder
black pepper
1 can tuna in water

So, dump your can of tuna in a pan cooking on medium high.  No need for Pam or oil because the water is going in with it.  Now sprinkle on your powders (I'd start with 1/8th tsp of cayenne pepper and chili powder and work up from there) and add a few shakes of garlic powder and pepper and give it a good stir.  Let it simmer.  It takes about 5 minutes to cook (so meanwhile I'm steaming a bag of broccoli in the microwave usually) and tastes great hot off the oven!

Dump it onto your plate with some broccoli and maybe some brown rice if you can eat carbs and want the extra calories and you have a delicious, salt-free, high flavor protein packed lunch!  100 calories for that delicious tuna!

And believe me it's GOOD (even though it looks like cat food).  Just talking about it has made me decide I'm making it for dinner because I haven't cooked it since Saturday and that is just too long!

Enjoy!

Tasty diet chicken recipe & a little check in.

I mentioned lately on Instagram I may start blogging how I'm cooking my boring diet food and some friends seemed interested, so here I am ready to share!

To recap... I'm on an intense diet right now.  I'm only consuming 800 calories a day (under Doctor and Nutritionist supervision!) and receiving weekly HCG/B12 injections in addition to taking B vitamins 3x a day.  I've completed 18 days of the diet and have 66 days left to go.  While on the diet I should lose 1/2-1lb a day.

Week 1 I lost 6.2lbs.
Week 2 I lost 5lbs.

I've also lost a lot of inches in 2 weeks... 2.5" off my stomach, 1/2" off each arm, 3" off my bust and breasts, 1-2" off each leg (like, literally I'm losing more from one leg than the other - ha!)... it's been great and the loss and daily visible changes keeps me highly motivated!

Here's my initial picture taken 2 weeks ago today and my week 1 picture taken 1 week ago today (another one being taken tonight - yay!).

Can you tell a difference in just 1 week?

And this is my face after 10 days.  Lots of differences!

please excuse my wild, crazy hair on the right. it was curly so the pony tail was all wobber-jawed.

So my daily eating looks like this...

Breakfast: 1 egg
Lunch: 5oz lean protein (fish, chicken or tuna usually) and 3.5oz vegetable (mostly green)
Snack: 1 piece of fruit (usually a bartlett pear)
Dinner: 5oz lean protein and 3.5oz vegetable
Snack: 1 piece of fruit or 1 cup grapes/melon or 1/4 cup berries
+ a TON of water

I can't use any "yummy" things on chicken like BBQ sauce and I've limited my sodium intake astronomically.  I still want my Diet Coke as a treat for the 3 liters of water I drink each day, so I've tried to cut salt completely.  This has made cooking really challenging because I LOVE eating and I LOVE flavor (obviously!).  So I've really been flexing my culinary and healthy muscles and working to find ways to make food delicious without salt or using too much sodium.

...On a sidenote I was SO pumped to try Mrs. Dash which is a sodium free seasoning after day 1 and rushed to the store to get some... yah, I was so disappointed because without salt food is just... dry!

But I'm trying to remedy that.  I've learned using low sodium broths can help with my cooking and here's a go-to chicken recipe I use several times a week.

Ingredients 
1/2 cup low sodium fat free chicken broth
1/2 bay leaf
pepper
garlic powder
5 oz chicken (or whatever you're eating)

First, I pour the broth and a little water in the pan.  Then I cover the chicken with pepper and garlic powder (seriously, I COVER!  These seasonings are strong so they help with the no salt thing).  Then, place the chicken in the pan and top with your half bay leaf torn in half.  Cover and let simmer.

After a few minutes I check my fluids and notice they're running low from that steaming business.  So, I cut my chicken into pieces with my spatula to cook faster and pour in a little more water.  Then simmer covered a few more minutes.

Once you notice your chicken isn't pink inside I remove the lid.  The fluids are usually gone by none and your starting to smell that burned smell from your pan (yay! Dishes will require scrubbing!).  I then let the chicken brown up and get a little crispy off that burned stuff so it's slightly caramelized.  This helps!

Then push onto a plate sans bay leaves and enjoy!  You could also bake chicken this way at 350* for 45 minutes, but anytime you bake chicken, let it stand 5 minutes so the juices redistribute!  Baking chicken has been my go-to this weekend because it's a little crunchier.

And, if you must, salt that chicken.  It's hard to quit cold turkey but any cut back and water increase will help you with water weight and reaching your goals!

Quick & Easy Semi-Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Sunday night in our house was brought to you by spaghetti and meatballs.  J scraped his elbow for the first time on a walk home from the park and I needed toddler comfort food/something easily prepared since my kids were melting down on me.  So, naturally, I chose that high pressure must-cook-dinner-fast-NOW to think up a new little recipe for spaghetti sauce.  I spent the 20 minutes the dinner was cooking hoping and praying it would be delicious and my children would eat and my husband who is an avid spaghetti hater would like it and guess what?  It was awesome.  Josh loved it, J loved it, and E just ate meatballs and threw his broccoli on the ground. So there's that disclaimer.  If your palette is like E's, you may not like it.

Quick & Easy Semi-Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:
2 14oz cans tomato sauce
1 Tbs parsley
1 Tbs basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup mozzarella (optional!)
1  Tbs Parmesan (optional!)

Combine all your ingredients except the cheeses in a sauce pan and let it all come to a boil over medium heat.  Once your sauce is bubbling and making a mess in your kitchen (WHY does only tomato sauce do this?!) and then turn it down to a simple simmer.  Let it simmer about 20 minutes (this was easily done while my spaghetti cooked on the stove and meatballs cooked in the oven).  In the last few minutes before serving toss in cheese and stir so it doesn't get clumpy.

And that's it!  I dumped this sauce over our noodles (half a box).  We like our spaghetti super saucy so I'd say it'd serve 4-6 depending on how saucy you like it.  Also, if you're interested, I did NOT figure up the points on this, but I called it 1 point.  The only real point contribution comes from the cheeses so if you omit them, call it 0!

Enjoy! :)

0 Point Weight Watcher Soup

Two posts in one week? It's a miracle. Or maybe a sign of good things to come!

Today I'm posting a recipe for 0 point Weight Watcher soup.  This recipe is all over in various forms.  I've seen it on Pinterest and it's one of those pins that makes me laugh because I remember my parents making this stuff for years!  That being said, I can't take all the credit for this at all!  My parents made this soup a lot throughout my childhood when they'd diet.  At one point their resolve was to eat it before every meal to help them feel it up and make it harder to over eat on the good portion of the show.  

As I mentioned, we've been so sick here lately and it hit Josh and I toward the middle of the week.  I know I wanted buckets of hot, spicy soup and that I wanted to be indulgent with the saltines.  So I made this soup which is not only very healthy and 0 points, it's also super cheap.

0 Point Weight Watcher Soup Ingredients:

1 tiny can tomato pace

4 cans water

1 can chicken broth

1 tsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1/4 cup onion

1/2 head of cabbage

1 zucchini squash

3 brussel sprouts

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

So my Mom told me she actually used tomato juice for this recipe! I didn't have any, so I made my own by mixing 1 can of tomato pace with 4 cans of water and blending.  So FYI, you can do that!

1--> Pour 1 tsp olive oil in a pot and saute diced onion and diced garlic.  I also used brussel sprouts and sautéed these as well.  If I had seen the carrots I had in my refrigerator I would have added those and sautéed them too.  Basically you're just sautéing anything hard and crunchy + the garlic and onion.  I sprinkled it all with a little salt and pepper and ended up sautéing about 3-4 minutes.

2--> Pour in your tomato juice mix and dump any veggies you want! I used cabbage and zucchini squash because it's what I had.  My parents often added green beans and carrots and I think asparagus would be good too!  There are so many options since most veggies are 0 points on Weight Watchers!

3--> Put a lid on that soup and let it simmer up.  I put my kids down for a nap while I did this and then did a few chores... it simmered a total of about 30 minutes.

And voila! 0 point soup!  Now, this soup isn't extremely flavorful unless your veggies are flavorful.  Beef broth would enhance the flavor, but I only had chicken.  Also, spices like oregano and parsley should be considered and might I recommend tossing in a bay leaf while you're cooking?  I didn't do this because I needed the soup HOT to help me with this congestion so I just made sure my salt/pepper ratio was good and then added a ton of Siracha to my bowl!  I thought about cooking in a little cumin and chili powder but I didn't know if I'd want spicy tomorrow and you can always dump this back into a pot, add some seasoning and let it all simmer together again!

So there you have it!  0 point soup that's extremely versatile!  I had 3 cups and was stuffed all afternoon which helped me avoid snacking temptation! 

Oh, and a note... if somehow you ate this whole pot of soup it would not be 0 points since you're using 1 tsp of olive oil and a can of broth.  There's about 3 points total in this whole soup so if you ever have more than 4 cups you may consider counting it as 1 point.  ;)

Oatmeal Cookies

I'm in the thick of it today with a wisdom tooth gone wild, TMJ developing, and sudden cold-turkey weaning of my 13 month old so I can have surgery to get that sucker out.  Additionally, that same 13 month old broke my favorite mug and glass bowl today.  I cried a lot of tears because both held deep sentiment and let's be honest, I was just waiting for something to cause me to break down.

Today, I'm glad I spent my Sunday afternoon baking cookies.  These are Josh's favorite and I literally hadn't made them in 2 years.  I had to consult my old, now private blog for the recipe and guess what?  I didn't even put how much oatmeal to put in.  I've come a long way in blogging even though I've had to start over.  HA.  Anyway, these are saving my life today.  E loves them so between letting him munch away at a tasty cookie and letting him watch all the Yo Gabba Gabba he wants as a distraction, I'm able to not hold him for the five seconds I need to go to the bathroom.  Motherhood is the best, but not every day is sunshine and rainbows.  ...But y'all know that, right?

Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (melted)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 T vanilla
- 1 t baking soda
- 1 t salt
- 2 T cinnamon
- 1 T honey
- 5 cups oatmeal

First, preheat your oven to 375. (I put that in bold because I can never find it on blogs even though it's right in front of my face - lol.)  Melt your one cup butter (2 sticks) while you mix together your two sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla to the mix and then the melted butter and mix that all up.

Next, in a separate dish, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and whisk together.  Slowly pour these into your mixer (or add while you're hand mixing) to the wet already mixed ingredients.  I let my mixer go 5 minutes, but it probably doesn't matter.

Add in your honey - the secret ingredient - and give it a quick stir and then dump in 5 cups of oatmeal and let your mixer (or your hand) give it a few more whisks.

Using a spoon, put about a 1" ball of dough onto your greased cookie sheet and let bake 11-14 minutes.  I also flatten my balls a bit because I like a bit thinner cookie and they cook easier that way.

This recipe should yield about 32 cookies and each cookie is 4 Weight Watcher points.  Not too shabby since a chocolate chip cookie is 5 points, right?  And you can feel KIND OF healthy eating it (or giving it to your 13 month old) since there's oatmeal.  ;)

NOW, below I've added a picture with all the ingredients and instructions.  I'm doing this because one of the easiest ways for me to try new recipes is to be able to save an image of them to my phone!  This is especially handy when grocery shopping if I don't have time to make a list but really wanted to try something.  If you're reading this on your phone, you could just do a screen capture of this image and have all you need!  OR if you're on a computer and want to print but DON'T want to print my rambling at the top, just print this image and you have all you need!  If you do this and it's helpful, please tell me and I'll do this for all my recipes!  I'm all about simplifying your life.

Enjoy!

Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff

Lately, my little one, E, has made it impossible to cook dinner.  At 12 months, he's hit that age where he straddles toddlerhood and babyhood and wants to be independent until he really needs you to pick him up especially if you're doing something because he's a toddler and is curious! Whew!  It was the worst when it was time to make dinner so I resolved to browse through Pinterest and find a lot of crock pot dishes to try because ladies and gents, when you have a toddler (or even if you don't) and especially if you have more than one busy toddler, the crock pot is your bestest best friend.  Anyway, in my hunting, I've had a lot of hit and miss recipes we've tried, but two have risen to the top and been added to our "go to" dinners.  I've tweaked both recipes but because I found them through Pinterest I've given the original blogger credit because without them, I would not have had created such delicious, CONVENIENT dinners.

So today, chicken stroganoff originally from Chef-in-Training found here.

Below, is my version... (which is 9 Weight Watcher points for 3/4 cup)

Ingredients:
- 1 lb chicken breast
- 1 packet dry onion soup (2oz)
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 8 oz light sour cream
- coriander seasoning (optional)

This is SO simple, friends.  Just take your raw chicken breast and toss it into your crock pot.  Then, mix the two soups together in a bowl and cover the chicken with them.  Next, sprinkle on a pinch of coriander, set your crock pot to low and walk away for 3.5-4.5 hours.

Thirty minutes before you plan to enjoy your dinner (or whenever you're down to 1 hour before dinner and your children are momentarily distracted), add the 8 oz of sour cream to the crock pot (I also went ahead and shredded my chicken. Shredding it removed the process of cutting it all up at dinner for me!).  It's best not to add creams or milks to your crock pot in the beginning of cooking because the food will break down too much and you'll lose a lot of that rich, creamy flavor and you could also scald the dairy product.

And that's it! 30 minutes or so later switch your crock pot to warm or serve up your chicken stroganoff over some yolk free egg noodles with a side of green beans (my recipe here is good!) if your kids will continue to be distracted long enough for you to cook a side.  But just so you know, this is so good you don't HAVE to have egg noodles.  I opted out when I wanted seconds to save myself the extra Weight Watcher points.  ;)

Enjoy!

My toddlers ate this pot roast!

Good evening, friends! I'm swinging by to share my pot roast recipe with you because it was especially delicious tonight so my confidence is up and my toddlers both ate it so my confidence is really up!  I hope you like it!!!  And sorry for no actual pot roast picture.  I inhaled it too quickly to take something you might want to see a picture of!

A note, I like to cook my roasts 10+ hours.  Tonight it cooked closer to 11 hours.

Ingredients
1lb beef pot roast (I literally buy the bag from the butcher that says, "Pot roast" on it)
3 cups beef brother
1 cup water
1/4 cup chopped white onion
2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic smashed
1/2tsp pepper
1-2tsp salt
1tsp garlic powder
1 T EVOO
optional Ingredients
Brussel sprouts
Carrots
Red potatoes

Fill your crock pot with 3 cups brother, 1 cup water, onion (I like to chop dice mine up so it's edible with the veggies in post), bay leaves, and crushed garlic.  Then, place your roast in the crock pot (mine are usually frozen). Sprinkle in your pepper (I only start with about 1/2 t because I don't want it to be too spicy for the tots), your salt (I start with about 1 tsp) and about 1/2 tsp-1tsp garlic powder.  After about 6 hours (or when there's 4 hours to go) chop your veggies and dump them into the crock pot.  Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil atop the veggies and then add another 1/2tsp of garlic, a few shakes of pepper, and about 1/2-1tsp of salt depending on how salty you like your food (you can always add, but you can never take away!).  Let cook 4-5 more hours until the veggies can be pierced through like butter with a fork.

Serve up and enjoy with some delicious crescent rolls (but wait to serve the crescent rolls until after your toddlers have eaten a sufficient amount of meat/veggies because when they eye those suckers, it's done and they will finish strong by eating only crescent rolls.  Enjoy and as always, please let me know if you try this and like it.

And just an extra honest note, I think the brussel sprouts really helped enhance the flavor of this roast!  All the bitter cooked out and I think the roast picked up some of the brussel's really good flavor!  I'll definitely make them a permanent fixture in the pot from now on!

Homemade (quicky & easy!) Fish Sticks

*Linking this recipe to Kelly's Korner today because fish sticks make for great kid game watching finger-food! Boomer Sooner, baby!  ;)

Hi, friends! I'm swinging by this afternoon to share a quick and easy recipe I thought up last night.  This is for kids (or was at least intended to be for kids but after trying a bite, Josh proclaimed he'd eat them too), so I didn't figure out Weight Watcher point values.  They CAN'T be much though.

Anyway, last night I was making fish tacos which my toddlers hate so I wanted an option for them to go along with their rice that wasn't more chicken, so I thought I'd give homemade fish sticks a whirl with a few things I had on hand and they turned out great!

Ingredients
1 piece of tilapia (I only needed 1 which was about 4oz for my 2 guys because they're so young)
Extra virgin olive oil
Panko (about a tablespoon)
Italian bread crumbs (about 1/4 cup or so)

Since we're Oklahomans and our only fresh fish is catfish (not really, but basically), I first thawed my frozen tilapia.  Then, I cut it into small strips (about 1/2" wide/deep and 2" long).  I then rolled those strips in a little EVOO and then rolled them in a bowl where I had my Italian breadcrumbs and then put them on a sprayed baking sheet and sprinkled them with a little Panko for extra crunch.  You could probably mix the Panko and the breadcrumbs, but I remembered the Panko about half way through and didn't want to change it up.  Cook at 400 degrees for 25 minutes (or 20 but I'm a freak about things being well done in exchange for the bottom being a little burnt) and enjoy!

Personally, I thought they were a little dry and might have added a pinch of salt but Josh liked them and the kids did too and they don't need anymore salt anyway!  If you make these, please let me know!  I'd love to hear what you think!  :)

5 Things I'm Loving: October Edition + a smoothie recipe!

I love this link up with Julie's blog and have missed out on it the last few months!  So now that I'm back on the blog scene (and feeling a little like I'm starting from scratch after shutting my old blog to private a year and a half ago), I'm excited to do another 5 things link up post!

ONE

The HGTV magazine.  I honestly had not read a magazine cover to cover since before J was born over 2 years ago.  I even subscribe to two (Nylon and Disney Family Fun) and they've just stacked up in a drawer begging to be read.  Part of that stack was HGTV's first issue from May they had sent me.  I took it to Disney World and our boys both slept on the long plane ride so from Houston to Orlando I read and read and read and took in beautiful images and inspiration.  I  loved that the magazine wasn't too cluttered with advertisements and was full of good articles and information.  I LOVE Pinterest, but there's something about a magazine in your hand that is so great.  SO, when we got home and were at Sams I picked it up since it was 30% off cover price and finished it that weekend.  It's just so good.  I promise!

TWO

I won't lie.  Having two babies 14 months apart is pretty hard and exhausting and you often wonder if you'll ever stop having to break up fights or disciplining or changing diaper after diaper or have time to yourself ever again.  Lately it's been getting better and better.  There are new challenges that come with my boys getting older (more discipline, more fighting), but along with those challenges comes a bond.  They make each other laugh, they're starting to play, they're wrestling often (above they're wrestling in a slide at Chick Fil A), and they're taking an interest in each other.  I know this will only get better with time and in a few short years I'll be able to cook dinner in peace while watching them play out back from the kitchen window and I'll miss being in the middle of it all and I'll miss them being so tiny.  So I'm loving them and their relationship.  A whole lot.  ;)

THREE

Fruit smoothies! I cut all my nursing points out of my Weight Watchers daily points allowance because my loss was slowing down and E's drinking of whole milk is increasing so I've needed to make myself things that will satisfy without using a lot of points.  Right now I'm loving this little recipe:

5 strawberries

1/4 cup frozen blueberries

1/3 banana

2T strawberry yogurt

splash of apple juice

4 ice cubes

Blend, blend, blend and YUM!  I'd add spinach too, but that actually hurts E's little tummy so for now just fruity goodness I try to drink slowly.

FOUR

Opening the windows while the air is crisp.  We've still been up in the 80s by mid-afternoon but the mornings and evenings are cool and I just love the way the fall air makes the house smell.  I can't wait until we park it in the 60s/70s for awhile so this can be an all day thing!

FIVE 

Pumpkin spice lattes.  Isn't this on EVERYONE'S list this month?! But seriously, so yummy!  Those and caramel apple spices.  Mmmm!!!!  Just all hot drinks are so good now.  I've been cheap and have only bought one PSL so far, but I've been really enjoying a cup of green tea a few nights a week.  So good!

What are you loving this month? Head to Julie's blog and link up with us! :)

5 Minute Guacamole

In June, I did a pin review on copy cat Chipotle guacamole. We make it frequently because as I mentioned then, Josh loves it.  I've come to just like it.  I'm not the biggest fan of raw, crunchy onions and I just don't like the random heat that comes from jalapeño chopped up in the mix.  Sometimes you don't taste it at all, sometimes you taste too much.  Josh disagrees with me and finds no fault with the recipe so if you like it, stick with it, but if you want something different, I have something for you!

I've been playing with guacamole a lot and I've finally found something I really like.  Guacamole is only time consuming when it comes to chopping everything up.  In this recipe, there's less chopping and the whole process is much quicker.  I'm able to make this in 5 minutes which is perfect when I want a little something fun with my lunch or when I'm mixing up some guacamole for our Mexican food night (although I'm only ever making this version if we're out of onion or jalapeño).

And, by the way, this recipe yields about 1 cup of guacamole.  If you eat it all it'll cost you 6 Weight Watcher points, but if you eat 1/3 a cup (like I do) it's only 2 points! Win!

...So here we go! 

Ingredients:

2 avocados (mine were medium-ish)

1/2 small tomato

1/2 tbs lemon juice

1/2 tsp lime juice

1/2 tsp jalapeño juice

2 tbs cilantro (unpictured)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

salt to taste

When making the guacamole I first get my avocado mashed.  I slice, de-pit, score*, scoop into a bowl, and mash.  I like to leave some chunks initially because by the end of the process there's been a lot of mixing and I don't want it to be free of some chunkiness in the end.

Next, I cut my tomato, scoop out the seeds and liquid and chop it up.  Set it aside and do the same with the cilantro.

Now take your juices - lemon, lime, and jalapeño and add them to the avocados.  Toss in your salt (less is more when you're starting) and garlic powder.  Give the mix a stir and give it a taste (preferably with a chip so you can measure the saltiness against the chips saltiness - you can tell this is serious business, right?).

Mix in tomato and cilantro and stir once more.  Now, have your official taste (the previous taste was more like a teaser) and decide if you need more salt or more garlic or more spice or more acidy.  Guacamole is so personal so this is more of a jumping off point and what I specifically like.

I hope you enjoy this!  As always, be sure to let me know if you try it!  For me it's so easy to mix up and there's something about the process of making guacamole that makes the fact your infant is pulling up on your leg to be held and your toddler is covering himself with infant saline solution that makes the world still seem ok.  ;)

*By scoring I mean slicing the avocado while it's still in it's "shell" as pictured above.  I saw this on Food Network once and my life was forever changed.  It's genius.

Grandma T's Cream of Chicken Noodle Soup

Today I posted this picture on my Instagram feed and it got a lot of love from my online friends.  I gave out the recipe here, but it's so simple and delicious I thought I'd come over here and share it too!  We've been a sick house here lately and although we're all on the up and up, there's a lot of congestion.  So, despite it being 100 degrees out, soup seemed like a great lunch for the boys and me today!

Josh taught me how to make this soup so I take no credit.  It's what his Mom made him when he was sick and what he makes us now.  I just learned how to make it this last year.  It's simple, but comforting and delicious.

Ingredients:
1/2 bag no yolk egg noodles
2 cans Healthy Choice (reduced fat) cream of chicken (or normal... Josh likes the normal kind)
1 cup milk (I use 1%)
1 cup water
salt
pepper


Cook up half a bag of no yolk egg noodles.  While they're cooking whisk together two cans of cream of chicken soup, the 1 cup milk, and 1 cup water.  Keep it on low heat so milk doesn't boil and let it all heat up and get friendly.  When you drain your water and add the noodles back to your pan, pour in your creamy soup and stir.  Add salt and pepper to taste and voila, you have what I call Grandma T's cream of chicken noodle soup!

J, who is almost 2, ate 2 (toddler sized) bowls of this soup for lunch today so it's definitely a favorite among small children!  This amount serves two adult sized people and is 11 Weight Watchers points a serving.  And it only takes about 10 minutes to make.  Bon appetite!

P.S. I like this soup w/ a lot of pepper and a few saltines and Josh likes it with Ritz crackers.  :)

Sweet Tea

My Dad is a sweet tea guru and he taught me his method when I was very young.  When I was older, only I knew the secrets of my Dad's sweet tea and was often in charge of making it for my family.  I found out early on in my dating relationship with Josh that he was not a fan of sweet tea; he liked it plain. After getting over the shock of this I just determined that we'd work together to find a tea that works for us.  So, I've spent the last several years finding a balance.  I'd make un-sweet tea and gag.  I'd make my family's very sweet tea and he'd gag.  And somehow, we've found a balance and we can now enjoy tea together without me having to make two pitchers!  So today, I'm bringing you the secret of my sweet tea.  (Which I think is better than any sweet tea I've ever purchased and is so much cheaper to make at home!)

Ingredients
1 gallon jug
6 tea bags (I love Luzianne brand)
1 cup sugar

Fill a pot of water and throw in your 6 tea bags.  Turn on your burner and let that tea boil.  I usually let it brew about 15 minutes.  You want this tea to be strong, but you don't want the bags to break.

Turn the heat off and drain the tea from your bags.  I do this by hand if I'm feeling especially fearless but that's really stupid and I always regret it.  The best way to do it is to take two spoons and softly press the tea bag between the spoons before throwing it out.  Be careful not to break the bag!  This isn't necessary, but it's going to make your tea stronger and strong tea is good when you're making it sweet!

Now for the most important thing -- and this is the thing my Dad taught me so he gets all the credit (thanks, Dad!) -- pour your 1 cup of sugar into the hot tea while it's still in the pot!!!  Your sugar will melt into the tea and it will be so much better.  I promise.  Give the sugar a stir for about a minute or two until you feel it's dissolved.

Grab your empty gallon (we have gallons of water for those times we need formula and for this I just used one of those) jug or pitcher and pour your tea through a funnel on into the jug (funnel not needed if you're using a pitcher!).  At the end of the pouring you'll be pouring in caramelized tea sugar.  Pour in as much as you can.

Fill the pot back up with warm water and send it through the funnel.  You're basically adding your water and rinsing the last of the sugar out of the pot at the same time.  Now continue to fill the pot (now with cold water) and dump it into the jug until it's almost full.

Give that jug a good shake (or give your pitcher a stir) and then top it off with water.  Put it in the fridge and feel free to enjoy time and time again!

Weight Watchers info: 2 cups = 3 pts plus (More volume and less pts than a can of soda! Win!)

I hope you enjoy this recipe and it helps you!  I feel like it took me years to perfect sweet tea and I couldn't have ever done it without my Dad's tips and guidance!

Baked Green Beans

Today's post is my green bean revelation.  I've always loved green beans and grew up eating them out of the can.  They've been my go-to veggie because buying a can, throwing it in a pot of water, and letting it go has been so easy.  Josh HATES green beans.  He made that abundantly clear at some point when we talked about veggies and has never backed down.  Until now!  When we were at Disney World, he had green beans with an entree at one of their amazing restaurants and loved them.  I realized in that moment it wasn't the veggie he hated, it was the texture and flavor.  So, I started buying fresh green beans and playing around with them and I finally stumbled across something that works and that my husband loves. Now I fight him for green beans because he wants to eat them all.  Go figure!

Ingredients
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs garlic powder
1/2-1 tsp salt
1/2-1 tsp pepper
3 cups fresh green beans

Weight Watchers Info: Serves 3, 1 point per serving -- I usually take half and call it 2 pts!

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees*.

Cut the ends off your fresh beans, wash, and dry them (my beans are starting to have brown spots-- brown spots are not ideal, but they're not bad either).

Put the beans in a bowl.  Pour 1 tablespoon of oil over the beans and mix the oil all over giving them a good coat with your hand.  Pour on about 1 tbs garlic salt and anywhere from 1/2 to 1 tsp pepper and then salt depending on how spicy/salty you want them.  I eyeball it, but I'd say I use about 1 tsp pepper and 3/4 tsp salt.  Sea salt is even more ideal!  Now give your beans another good toss with your hand (it'll be oily and gross) and then dump them onto a baking sheet or dish lined with foil (not necessary, it just makes for easier clean up).  Pop those babies into the oven and let them cook 20-30 minutes depending on how crunchy you like them.  I like them less crunchy but still with a little bite and let them go 30 minutes.  You may have to check on your beans about halfway through and give the pan a shake.  Your littlest ones may brown a bit, but maybe you have someone in your life who likes browned things who will eat those?  For me, that's Josh.

I hope you enjoy these green beans!  I LOVE them and we eat green beans all the time now.  I serve them with casseroles, chicken... they pair nicely with so many things!  And, as an added bonus, Joel likes them too and I'll cook any veggie over and over again if that means he'll eat it!

*I don't ALWAYS cook my beans at 400.  If I'm baking something else I throw them in with it and just adjust my times by keeping an eye on them.  I find 350 generally takes more like 40-45 minutes and 425 can take 15-25 minutes.  Just use your judgement and don't be afraid to taste as you cook!  That's the best way to figure out how you like things and what flavors/textures work for you!

Crispy Parmesan Ranch Chicken

When Josh & I first got married I really, really struggled with how to cook chicken.  I had a serious lack of creativity and know how and sadly, Pinterest wasn't around to aid me in my culinary adventures.  Early in our marriage I "did my own thing" to several meals and about half of them turned out awful.  This one, however, did not and has become a staple in our home!  This dish is really flavorful the chicken is moist and best of all a serving is only 4 WW points plus!

Ingredients

12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 packet ranch (3 tbs)

1.5 tbs olive oil

1/4 cup bread crumbs

2 tbs parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Cut your chicken breast into strips.  I like to cut mine about 1" thick and sometimes if the breast is thick I even butterfly it.  I've become a freak about the internal temperature of food ever since I started feeding J table food.  No raw chicken will get into his tummy! I also trim the white off the chicken and toss it out.

If you're super paranoid about having raw chicken hands (like me) use a fork to place each strip into a ziplock bag.  Dump in 1.5 tbs of olive oil and give your chicken a shake insuring each piece is coated.  You can also do this in a bowl with your hands.  Open the bag and toss in 1/4 cup bread crumbs and a packet of ranch (or 3 tbs).  Give that bag another good shake (or if you're sure no chicken goo escaped, let your toddler shake that bag - he'll have a blast and you can clean your work area).  Place the chicken in a greased pan and top each piece with the 2 tbs parmesan cheese.  (You can always try to shake the parmesan onto the chicken in the bag, but I find it never sticks which is just so frustrating to me so now I just place it on top).

Cook the chicken for 45 minutes*, let stand for 5 minutes (except your toddler's piece, pull that and let it start cooling!) and then enjoy!  We frequently enjoy this meal with roasted green beans (coming soon!) and basic mashed potatoes (coming soon!).

Be sure to let me know what you think! :)

*A hard lesson it took me far too long to learn is that every oven is different.  Sometimes I'd put this chicken in for 30 minutes and the temperature would never get above 140.  I timed the whole meal around the chickens completion and the menfolk and I would end up eating the sides and then consuming the chicken 30 minutes later.  I've found 45 minutes at 375 is pretty solid in my oven for this recipe, but remember each oven is different and for you it might take longer.  I highly recommend testing the temperature after about 30 minutes to see how you're progressing.