Fabulous frozen veggie find!

I generally stay away from convenience foods that are labeled with the latest gimmick phrases, like chocolate chip cookies “made with whole grains” (give me a break – it’s still a cookie!).  But I had a coupon for Green Giant’s new boxed frozen veggies and decided to try two different varieties – “Healthy Vision” and “Healthy Weight”.

I was not a huge fan of the “Healthy Vision” flavor, but tried the “Healthy Weight” blend and it was delish! 

It steams in its own pouch in about 4 minutes so it’s easy for a quick weeknight dinner, or to take to work. And with black beans, edamame, snap peas, and carrots it’s very filling. The butter sauce was yummy, too.

It claims to make 2 servings, but it’s small enough that I can see eating it all myself in one sitting (it’s about 1 cup, tops).  According to the nutrition information it’s 1 PT per serving (90/2.5/5) or 3 PTS for both servings in the bag(180/5/10).

The beans make it very filling, and with some chicken breast meat mixed in would make a great light meal.

African Chicken-Peanut Soup (4 PTS)

My dear friend (and exercise buddy!) Chris was sweet enough to bring me a sample of some soup she made this week. It’s a really different recipe, African Chicken-Peanut Soup. It’s 4 PTS per 1 cup serving, and very tasty. The recipe is one she adapted from Cooking Light Magazine’s September 1999 issue.  I tried to look for a link online but couldn’t find one, so here’s the version she sent me:

African Chicken-Peanut Soup

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
2 c chopped cooked chicken breast (about 8 ounces)
1 c bottled salsa
1/2 tsp ground cumin
8 c fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 c cooked brown rice
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (455 calories, 42 g fat, 5 g fiber)

Place a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat until hot. Add sweet potato, onion, bell pepper, garlic, and jalapeño; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in chicken and next 5 ingredients (chicken through beans); bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes. Add peanut butter, stirring with a whisk; cook 2 minutes.

Yield: 11 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

– adapted from Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 1999

Thanks, Chris!!

Planning for a wine & cheese party

I am going to a wine and cheese party tomorrow night, and need to figure out how to fit it into my day. It’s the first day of my WW week so I don’t want to go off the rails and leave little wiggle room for the rest of the week. I know I can do it, just requires a little thought in advance. To develop this menu I worked backwards from the party, deciding what I want to have then planning the rest of the day around that.

Breakfast: 1 packet of Kashi hearty oatmeal (2), 2 turkey sausage links (2)

Snack: 6 oz vanilla greek yogurt (2), Small banana (1)

Lunch: Gigantic salad from Sebastian’s with cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, grilled chicken (5 SET Points) and 2 Tbsp blue cheese (2). Topped with 2 Tbsp fat free sun-dried tomato vinaigrette (1).

Snack: 1 cup light hot cocoa (1), 1 small orange (1)

Party: 1 4-oz glass of wine (2), crudite with 2 tbsp regular dip (2)

Dinner: Quesadilla made with 1/2 lavash wrap (1), 1 oz shredded chicken (1), 1/4 cup fat free shredded cheese (1), 2 Tbsp salsa (0). Served with 2 Tbsp light sour cream (1)

Total PTS: 25
GHGs: Fruits & Veggies = 6, Protein = 3, Dairy = 1.5, Oils = 0, Grains = 2 

I’m hoping this is a realistic plan I’ll be able to stick to. I’m going to try savoring the wine, stocking up on veggies at the party, and talking instead of eating. Worst case, I’m also going to bring gum or mints to make things taste worse after I’ve had my fill. I’m also not going to stay til the end of the party so there’s less temptation. It only goes a few hours anyway, so that won’t be hard or rude.

Daily Menu Plan: 12/15/09

First – HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!  OK, now here’s my plan for staying on track as we hit the t-minus 10 days til Christmas mark:

B: Kashi Oatmeal (2), 2 links turkey sausage (2), 1/2 grapefruit w/ Splenda (1)

S: 1/2 cup strawberries plus 1 small banana (1), 6 oz Chobani yogurt (2)

L: Turkey, ham, cheese and avocado sandwich (6), 1 cup tomato soup (1), side salad w/ evoo & vinegar (1)

S: Light hot cocoa (1), one small orange (1)

D: Chicken quesadilla made with 3 oz shredded chicken (3), 1 lavash wrap (1), 1/4 cup salsa (0), 1/4 cup 2% Monterrey jack cheese (2), 2 Tbsp light sour cream (1)

Total PTS: 25
GHGs: F& V = 4, Grains = 4, dairy = 2, oils = 1, protein = 3

Exercise: KILLER Bootcamp class! (~3)

A good night’s sleep will be key to staying on track because I have to get up early in order to make it to exercise class. So, I’m off to bed!

Daily Menu Plan: 12/9/09

It’s going to be a cold, wet day so I want food that’s going to make me feel warm inside and out. Here’s the plan:

B: 2 packets Kashi Hearty Honey Cinnamon Hot Cereal (4)

S: 1 cup frozen strawberries (1) with 6 oz Chobani yogurt (2)

L: Turkey, Ham & Cheese sandwich (6), 1 cup low sodium tomato soup (1)

S: 2 cups of grapes (2), 1 light hot cocoa (1) 

D: 2 oz whole wheat pasta (3) with 1 serving of meat sauce (4) and a large salad with 2 Tbsp balsamic vinaigrette (1)

Total PTS: 25
GHGs: Fruits & Veggies = 7, whole grains = 5, oils = 2, dairy = 1.5, protein = 2

E: Wednesday is my full day so I don’t have time to fit in a workout. Plus I’m likely to be a little sore from the amazing bootcamp class I went to today. I’m auditioning the instructor as a possible personal trainer and I know I’d be in shape, but to be honest I’m a little afraid…he works you out HARD!!!

A Tasty Sandwich for 6 PTS

I’ve been pretty bored with my lunch options lately, and tonight it popped into my head to try making my own version of a club sandwich.  I bought all-natural, no preservative turkey and ham along with my normal reduced fat natural provolone cheese.  I put together a 1/2 sandwich for dinner tonight to test out my idea, and the taste was amazing. Here’s how I would make the full version:

2 slices of Vermont Bread Company Soft Whole Wheat (2)
1 oz of natural turkey breast, approx 1 medium deli slice (1)
1 oz of natural ham, approx 1 medium deli slice (1)
1 slice Sargento Reduced Fat Provolone cheese (1)
2  tsp Miracle Whip light (0.5)
2 tsp avacado (0.5)
Lettuce and other veggies to taste

Toast the bread. (I had to because mine was frozen!)

Spread the Miracle Whip on one piece of bread, and the avacado on the other.

Pile everything else onto the sandwich and enjoy! I would likely use lettuce, cucumbers, and sliced green peppers on mine b/c I don’t like tomatoes. But you can use tomatoes, sprouts, or whatever else you like for 0 PTS.

This sandwich is increadibly flavorful, and feels like something you’d get at a deli. But the PTS are very reasonable. The Miracle Whip (feel free to use light mayo) and avadado add great flavor for very few calories.

Your Freezer Is Your Friend

In WW we talk alot about red light foods – foods that you simply can’t stop eating once you start. I don’t actually have too many red light foods, but I have alot of what we call “yellow light” foods – things that I can sometimes control and sometimes eat too much of. These foods are especially dangerous when I am stressed, upset, angry, bored, or feeling anything else that’s a trigger for emotional eating. 

One of the problems for me is that my “yellow light” foods are not things that you can banish from the house completely, like ice cream or sweets. They include the whole wheat english muffins that I use for breakfast and the bread I use for sandwiches, which I will top with sugar-free jam, reduced fat peanut butter, Laughing Cow cheese, or even just a few spritzes of spray butter. 

For the bread-based foods like this, I’ve discovered a trick that can help me stay in control – the freezer! I freeze my bread products so that it takes alot more work for me to eat them on impulse because I have to defrost and toast them before I can eat them.  Those few extra steps are enough to make me reconsider. Also, when they’re in the freezer it’s more likely that I’ll forget they are there.  It helps me avoid the temptation altogether when I got to the fridge for lemon juice to put in my water, or a refill on diet soda.

All of the bread products I use freeze well, thaw in the microwave, and toast up great. In fact with bread slices I pop them directly from the freezer into the toaster when it’s time to make a sandwich, no thawing needed.

So if you have foods that are a slippery slope for you, consider freezing them.  It gives you that moment’s pause that is sometimes all you need to resist a craving.

Crockpot Pulled Chicken for 6 PTS

The lovely woman who is bringing pulled chicken to the Southern themed going-away party tonight saw my blog post about calculating PTS in advance and sent me the recipe.   (I have the best friends!)  It’s from recipezaar:

http://www.recipezaar.com/Crock-Pot-Pulled-Chicken-202703

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this sounds, and that it’s only 6 PTS*** for a full entrée serving (with a few substitutions**). I’m looking forward to trying it tomorrow and may actually make it myself as a regular meal soon. This is definitely the season to break out the crockpot, and it doesn’t get much easier than this.  My favorite part is that it’s made from ingredients that I always have on hand in the kitchen.

** The only substitutions I would make are using Splenda Brown Sugar Blend instead of regular brown sugar, because it’s what I have on hand, and Healthy Request Condensed Tomato Soup instead of regular. Although honestly looking at the nutrition on the Campbell’s site they don’t appear to be much different in calories or fat. It looks like the Healthy Request actually has MORE fat than regular, and only 70 g less Sodium. Just goes to show…always read the labels!

*** UPDATE: this is only 4 POINTSPlus values under the new system, even better!

Choosing from a Southern Food buffet

As I was planning the menu for tomorrow I decided to check the invite to see what is being served. Here’s what people have said they are bringing:

• Gumbo
• Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Sweet Tea (me)
• Pulled Chicken
• Rolls
• Spiral Ham
• Cheese Straws
• Pimento Cheese
• Corn Bread
• Wine
• Soda

Looking at this list it’s actually pretty easy to decide what to have.  I love, love, love corn bread so that is a definite must. Plus the person bringing it is a friend so I can ask her for the recipe and get an exact PT count using Recipe Builder.

I’ll also have some ham as a protein – it’ll be easy to count. I may also have a small amount of pulled chicken depending on what kind of sauce it’s in. Hopefully it won’t be too bad.

The rest of the stuff honestly doesn’t appeal to me. I don’t like gumbo, pecan pie, pimentos, sweet tea (even though I’m bringing it!). I can have rolls any time and would rather eat the cornbread. The cheese straws sound interesting so I may have to try one of those, but honestly that’s about it.

I’m feeling much better about the party now that I have a plan. I still have to check PTS for the stuff I plan to have so I know what serving sizes I can go for. But it will be easier to make good decisions when I can mentally rehearse what I’m going to put on my plate before I ever get there.

(It also helps that several of the ladies attending, including the guest of honor, are on WW. Hopefully they’ll take that into consideration when choosing their recipes)

Daily Menu Plan 12-4-09

Tomorrow is one of those challenge days – I have a going away party tomorrow night whose theme is “Southern Cuisine”. Why? Because it’s a going away party for a friend who is moving from Boston to Oklahoma.  Southern food isn’t well-known for being healthy or low-calorie, so it will be tough. But I have a plan! 

B: Breakfast sandwich with evoo (4)

S: 1 cup blueberries with 6 oz Chobani vanilla yogurt (3)

L: Grilled cheese on whole wheat sandwich thin (3) with 1 cup tomato soup (1) and a medium apple (2)

S: 1 cup light hot cocoa (1) and a Vitabrownie (1) to help me avoid sweet temptations later!

D: Large salad w/ evoo and balsamic vinegar (1) eaten before I leave to stave off hunger.  Food at the party – 9 PTS. Here is the approximate plan based on what I know about what people are bringing (it’s Pot Luck):

• 1/2 cup Crockpot Pulled Chicken (3)
• 2 oz spiral ham or a 4 oz glass of wine (2)
• 1 piece homemade southern cornbread (4)**. It’s someone’s grandma’s recipe, so you know it’ll be GOOD!

Total PTS: 25
GHGs (pre-party): Dairy = 1.5, F&V = 7, Protein = 1, Grains = 2, Oils = 1 

Exercise: 45 minute spin class that my friend is making sure I go to by calling me at 5 am to wake me up!!

** I don’t have the recipe for this yet, so I’m basing it on the fact that Boston Market’s cornbread is 4 PTS per loaf. When I make it it’s only 2 PTS but I’m not going to assume this recipe is equally as low in PTS.