Fat Ticker Friday - Week 8

I'll keep this brief - I gained .5 lbs this week! I am not a happy camper. All I can say is that I will try to do better this week. There aren't too many weeks left of Hot for the Holidays and I had hoped to lose at least 12-15 lbs! At this point, I think I would be extremely happy to hit 10 lbs, but I MUST at least hit 5 lbs.

I will keep my chin up and keep working on it! I can always look at the positive - I am down a little and don't weigh more than when I started.

How was your week?

If you stop by Mel's 5 Point Fridays, you might find a new healthy recipe to keep you going!

Lisa :)

Healthy Recipe: Garden Vegetable Soup

This is the famous 0 point soup recipe from Weight Watchers! It's included in the Eat Wisely book that's in my giveaway. I adjust some of the veggies to things I like better. You can experiment with it!

Garden Vegetable Soup
2/3 cup sliced carrot
1/2 cup diced onion
2 garlic cloves minced
3 cups fat-free broth (beef, chicken or vegetable)
1-1/2 cups diced green cabbage
1/2 cup green beans
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced zucchini

Spray a large saucepan with nonstick cooking spray, heat. Saute the carrot, onion, and garlic over low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add broth, cabbage, beans, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, about 15 minutes or until beans are tender. Stir in the zucchini and heat for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 4 1-cup servings.

0 pts!

Give it a try if you haven't already - it makes a nice addition to lunch or dinner and another way to get your veggies.

Lisa :)

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival Is Back!

It's time for the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival again! Lots of fun things to be won on hundreds of blogs. Here is what I am giving away today.

These are a few Weight Watchers resources plus a low-cal recipe booklet. Included is a Pillsbury Calorie Wise cookbook, WW kickstart booklet, WW Eat Wisely booklet, WW Meals 101 booklet, and a WW Points Finder and Points booster. If you are on WW, these are nice to have with some extra meal ideas and an extra points calculator. If you are not on WW, this gives you a good idea of how it works, and still has lots of healthy recipes and meal ideas that you can use.

One random winner will be chosen from comments on this post. This giveaway is open to bloggers and non-bloggers, but please make sure I have a way to let you know if you win! Giveaway is open through Friday night 10/31. Winner will be notified by e-mail and will be posted on Saturday, 11/1. If I don't hear from the winner in 4 days, a new one will be chosen.

Have a great week and be sure to stop by the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival to enter some of the hundreds of giveaways listed and visit some new blogs!

Lisa :)

Fat Ticker Friday - Week 7

OK - Finally a loss! Not much, but I'll take it! I lost .5 lbs this week! I really want to try and lose 2 lbs this week (I might be dreaming, but I can try!) so I can hit the 5 lb mark. How can it take this long just to lose 5 lbs?

Christie at Baby Tea Leaves asked us to share our tips, recipes, etc. that help us. I love delicious healthy recipes! Most of our dinners are healthy and fairly low in WW points. My family likes them, too. Rather than try to list them all out for you, I'll tell you where to find them.

Check out my favorite healthy recipes by going over to the sidebar and looking at my labels. Click on "healthy recipe" and you'll find over 20 great recipes! You can also click on categories instead, like dinner, dessert, etc. Almost all of them include basics on nutritional value and the WW points per serving. I think you will definitely find something you like and something new to try.

I hope your week went well. Let's make this next week a fantastic one!

Lisa :)

Healthy Recipe: Chicken Caesar Lasagna

This is such a yummy recipe. Found it in a magazine a few years ago.  I passed it on to some friends and they loved it, too! And I made homemade light Alfredo sauce from my friend Kathy's cooking blog. Turned out great!

Chicken Caesar Lasagna
9 dried whole wheat lasagna noodles
2 (10 oz) containers refrigerated light Alfredo sauce (or homemade)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
1 cup bottled roasted red sweet peppers, drained and chopped
3/4 cup shredded Italian blend cheese

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain; rinse with cold water; drain again. Meanwhile, in a bowl combine Alfredo sauce, lemon juice, and black pepper. Stir in chicken, spinach, and red peppers.

2. Lightly coat a 3-quart rectangular baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Arrange 3 noodles in bottom of dish. Top with one-third chicken mixture. Repeat layers twice. Cover; bake for 45-55 minutes or until heated through. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Makes 9 servings.

268 cal, 10 g fat, 2 g fiber, 6 pts

Personally, I say use the homemade Alfredo sauce and sprinkle extra cheese on. Increasing the points per serving by 2 is worth it and still reasonable for dinner.

Enjoy!

Lisa :)

Fat Ticker Friday - Week 6

Well at least I didn't gain again. No change this week! I so wanted to lose that gain. I did get sick and was down about 2 lbs midweek, but started feeling better and obviously didn't try too hard.

It is very frustrating, but I refuse to give up! At this point, I will just set my sights on that 5 lb badge and keep working. Once I get that, I'll try for another 5. This is going to be really s.l.o.w. weight loss.

Christie at Baby Tea Leaves asked us to talk about our most favorite and least favorite body parts. It's hard for me to choose just one body part to work on right now!

I have always wanted toned legs though. I have lots of cellulite (yuck!) and had it even when I was a lot thinner. I have always admired other women's toned legs - no matter the size! Bigger legs still look great when they're firm and toned. To fix that requires many many squats, calf raises and things like that. I do think that running would be a great help, too.

My favorite body part would be my head or face, I suppose. I'm happy with my chin, nose, and eyes and I can usually manage to make my hair look semi-good! From the neck up - I'm OK with myself though I like my face better with less weight.

How did your week go? I hope to have a much better week this next week. Still gonna try to lose that gain.

Lisa :)

Healthy Recipe: Ham and Arugula Sandwiches with Cranberry Chutney

Since we are coming into the season of cranberry recipes, I thought it would be a good time to include this one. I found it in an older Weight Watchers cookbook. I tried it last year when a friend was kind enough to give me some homemade cranberry chutney. My hubby and I really enjoyed it - something different! I didn't even try to serve it to my son though!

Ham and Arugula Sandwiches with Cranberry Chutney
1 (8 oz) package Italian-cheese-flavored pizza crusts (such as Boboli)
1/4 cup cranberry chutney
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
8 ounces lean cooked ham, sliced
1 cup loosely packed trimmed arugula or chopped romaine lettuce

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Place pizza crusts on a baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes or until warm.

3. Spread chutney over bottom side of 1 pizza crust. Spread mustard on bottom side of remaining crust. Arrange sliced ham over mustard-coated crust. Top with arugula. Place chutney-coated side of remaining crust over arugula. Cut into 4 equal sandwiches. 4 servings

246 cal, 5.5 g fat, .7 g fiber, 5 pts

When I couldn't find the pizza crusts in cheese flavor, I just used the regular. You'll have to try it out and let me know what you think!

Lisa :)

Fat Ticker Friday - Week 5

Bummer! Not a good week, which I knew and maybe part of it is catching up from last week with company. I gained weight!! I gained 1.5 lbs! Yuck!

It won't stop me! But it is disappointing, especially when my losses are so small and then this gain takes almost half of what I've lost away.

I will work on keeping track of what I'm eating this week and try to do better. I want to at least lose what I gained.

How was your week?

Don't forget to stop by A Box of Chocolates for some healthy recipes to keep you on track! And you can check my labels on the sidebar for additional healthy recipes.

Hope you have a wonderful, healthy week and I'll see you back here next week - a little skinnier! :)

Lisa :)

Healthy Recipe: Buttery Tarragon Chicken

This recipe is from an older WW cookbook. I have made it a few times - it's quick and easy and my family loves it!

Buttery Tarragon Chicken
4 (4 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Butter-flavored cooking spray
2 tablespoons yogurt-based spread (such as Brummel & Brown)
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups cooked angel hair (about 8 oz uncooked pasta)

1. Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Coat both sides of chicken with cooking spray. Cook chicken 5 minutes on each side or until done.

2. Combine spread and next 3 ingredients in a small bowl.

3. Place chicken on a serving platter; top evenly with spread mixture. Serve immediately over pasta. (I make extra spread mixture and toss some in the pasta.)

Serving= 1 chicken breast half with 1 cup pasta
347 cal, 5.1 g fat, 2.4 g fiber, 7 pts

Try it out and see what you think!

Lisa :)

Fat Ticker Friday - Week 4

Another week done and I actually lost again! Amazing! I lost .5 lbs again. Small losses, but steady is good, I suppose. I have lost a total of 4 now. Um, that just puts me back to my weight at the beginning of summer. But, I think it's the most weight I've lost in one session of "trying to lose weight" this year! I will be really happy to hit 5, because that will be a good start for me.

I didn't keep track of points this week. Very busy and have company! But I did try to cut back and watch my portions. I think it actually worked. Woo Hoo!

Hope all of you had a good week! Keep at it - you can do it!

And check out Mel at A Box of Chocolates for some healthy recipes on Fridays!

Lisa :)

Healthy Recipe: Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter-Chocolate Brownies

Just the title sounds good, huh?! This recipe is from Cooking Light and I had kind of forgotten about it. I did make it for company before and everybody really liked it. Hope you do, too!

Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter-Chocolate Brownies
3/4 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk, divided
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 (18.25 oz) package devil's food cake mix
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine 1/4 cup condensed milk, butter, and next 3 ingredients ( batter will be very stiff). Coat bottom of a 13x9 in. pan with cooking spray. Press two-thirds of batter into prepared pan using floured hands; pat evenly (layer will be thin).

3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Combine 1/2 cup condensed milk and marshmallow creme in a bowl; stir in chips. Spread marshmallow mixture evenly over brownie layer. Carefully drop remaining batter by spoonfuls over marshmallow mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Yield 2 dozen.

176 cal., 5 g fat, .8 g fiber, about 4 pts each

If you try these, let me know what you think and what you like!

Lisa :)