Works-For-Me-Wednesday: Healthy Summer Recipes

WFMW today is about the best summer recipes. I already have lots of great healthy recipes that work well in the summer since they don't require any oven use. I hope you find something you like!

Main Dish Salads:

Bow Ties, Tuna, And Vegetables In A Balsamic Vinaigrette

Asian Chicken Slaw

Main Dishes - Stovetop:


Buttery Tarragon Chicken

Skillet Sausages & Peppers

Easy Chicken Tetrazzini

Parmesan Chicken and Rice

Poached Chicken Breasts With Apples

Pan-Glazed Chicken With Basil

Salisbury Steak With Mushrooms

Side Dishes:

Fabulous Fruit Salad

Summer Corn Salad

Vegetable Couscous Salad

Oriental Green Beans

Desserts:

Watermelon & Lime Granita

Cocoa Crispy Bars

Beverage:

Fruity Lemonade Slush

Head over to Works-For-Me-Wednesday at We Are THAT Family for a lot more summer recipes!

Have a great day!

Lisa :)

No WW On Saturday

Oops - I didn't make it to WW this Saturday for my weigh-in! I had every intention of going, but was co-hosting a ladies tea and still had a lot of prep work that morning. By the time I got to Friday night, I realized that I just would not have time to go. And I wasn't too sad because I had a bad week and my weight was up! Ugh!

My scale is usually not too far off from the WW scales, so my best estimate is that I ended up gaining 1 lb for the week. Terrible! But I ate scones and brownies all week and didn't track food or points all week. No surprise! I wasn't the best this weekend either, but I am back on track today. So I need to lose the 1 lb I gained, but I also need to lose beyond that so I can log in a loss at WW for this week! Of course, I have less days to make it happen because Saturday is the 4th and they will be closed. I will have to go do my weigh-in this Friday, so I really only have 4 days from right now to make this happen.

I will be tracking, trying to eat as healthy as possible, and doing some Wii Fit. I'll let you know what happens!

How was your week? Any struggles? Remember - if you fall off track, just get back up, dust yourself off and start again! You can do it! Have a fantastic week and plan ahead to make healthy choices for those 4th of July celebrations!

And that reminds me, I found a new site with great healthy choices, ideas, and information - it's www.skinnyscoopers.com - go check it out!

Lisa :)

Food Finds

When you find good stuff that makes eating healthy a little more fun, you just HAVE to share it! I have a couple of things to share with you today.

One is Reddi Wip Chocolate whipped cream (you know, the aerosol can). For 2 tablespoons, it's 15 calories and 1 gram of fat. On WW, that's 0 points! It's enough to give a nice little shot of whipped cream on top of a cup of coffee or fruit or pudding and it won't throw you off track! It's made with real whipped cream and chocolate and just makes everything a little more fancy. I don't see it in every store, but I always find it in Walmart. Have you tried it?

Another yummy find is Trader Joe's Champagne Pear Vinaigrette with Gorgonzola. For 2 tablespoons, it's 45 calories and 2.5 grams of fat - just 1 WW pt! And that is enough dressing for me on a small salad. It's delicious and has chunks of gorgonzola cheese in it. A friend at church told me about it and I'm so glad! I had some over some baby greens and cut up leftover chicken breast - it was fantastic! You can find it in the refrigerated section at Trader Joe's. It's my new favorite dressing!

Do you have any good food finds?

Have a wonderful day!

Lisa :)

Saturday Weigh In - Whew!

Went to my WW meeting this morning. I really wasn't sure if I would have a loss today! But I did - I lost .8 lbs. Yay!! That puts me at a total of 5.4 lbs lost, so now I will allow myself to go buy a few summer clothes (mainly tops). I really need to have a few cute things that fit while I work on the weight loss.

This week was tough - I didn't remember to track my points every day and I definitely was bad all last weekend. Also, we had an unexpected dinner out to a yummy restaurant to take a couple of BIL's out for dinner. But I was as good as I could be - I chose salmon with rice pilaf and steamed veggies. I only ate half the salmon and a third of the rice and a few veggies. Took the rest home and gave it to hubby to take for lunch the next day. But then Thursday night I made a chocolate cake to post on my other blog and homemade focaccia bread for a guest post and of course I had to sample! Then I was really really good yesterday to make up for it!

I plan to have a better week this week and continue the weight loss. I need to plan out meals for the week and do more Wii Fit this week.

How was your week? What was one thing that went well for you?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lisa :)

Easy Dessert Tip

You may have already tried this dessert, but part of it was new to me!

I had leftover strawberries and decided to slice them up. I lightly sugared them (you could use Splenda, etc.). I realized that we had Nilla Wafers on hand and that they are .5 WW pts each. Also had the canned aerosol whipped real cream - 2 tablespoons is 0 pts actually, but you could also use some fat-free Cool Whip.

I just made a parfait - limiting the number of Nilla Wafers. I used a couple of Nilla Wafers in the bottom (I used them whole but realized after that it would have been better to crumble them), then strawberries, then a little whipped cream. Repeated the layers one more time and YUM!! It turned out so pretty and yummy and was only about 3 WW pts!

What do you like to do with strawberries?

Lisa :)

Another Week, Another Pound

Good news again today at my WW meeting! I lost another pound - yay! I had hoped to lose at least 1.4 so I could hit my first 5 and then go shopping (my incentive to myself). I'll have to wait another week for the summer clothes shopping I guess!

But that means I'm down 4.6 lbs total. I have now lost the weight that I just gained in April during my trip, so now I feel like this is the real starting point. I really hope I can lose at least a pound this next week. I do feel like I have my motivation back right now though so I look forward to the week!

Except for the weekend, I kept really good track of what I ate and stayed mostly within my points. I also did Wii Fit a few times during the week. I will just do more of the same this week, but will try to add in a much-needed glass of water each day and more fruits and veggies.

How was your week? Any struggles or successes to share? Find your motivation and you can do it!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lisa :)

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Healthy Starbucks Tips

Going to Starbucks to treat myself works for me! But when I am trying to be healthy, I have to plan ahead a little so that I don't blow it while there. It is very possible to have Starbucks - whether on the go or hanging out there with friends - and be healthy at the same time.

Some of my favorite healthy drinks:

Grande Skinny Hazelnut Latte - This is a hot drink with nonfat milk and sugar-free syrup. I get extra pumps of syrup for a little more flavor - a grande usually has 4 pumps of syrup, so I order 6 pumps. On WW, this is 3 pts. Also, I'm getting a serving of milk for the day.

Venti Iced Skinny Hazelnut or Caramel Latte - When I get iced, I order bigger for approximately the same amount of liquid. And a good tip I learned - there is an extra shot in the venti iced compared to the grande hot even though they are similar amounts of liquid - so it packs more of a punch! Also a serving of milk and 3 WW pts.

Grande Caramel Frappuccino Light - Yummy blended drink, no whipped cream. The key is to order it double-blended so it's creamier and doesn't have ice chunks. I JUST found something out this weekend from a barista - you have to request it to be sugar-free, otherwise it's made with regular syrup. I never knew!! So, if you order it as normal it's 3 WW pts, but if you request sugar-free caramel syrup, I think it brings it down to 2 WW pts.

Some of my favorite healthy eats:

Oatmeal - I get the oatmeal with brown sugar and nuts. It's a nice satisfying breakfast. The oatmeal itself is 2 WW pts, the brown sugar adds 1 pt and I use half the nut packet for about 1 more pt.

Petite Vanilla Scone - You get to enjoy a pastry and not feel left out. These are delicious and cute! Order a 3-pack (better deal) and share. Each one is 2 WW pts.

Biscotti - This is the individually wrapped biscotti you can buy. I found different mutritional info for this - looks like it's 2 WW pts for a piece though.

Yogurt Parfaits - These are healthy, but just very high in points for me: 6-7 WW pts. If you have the points or it is your meal, then go for it.

You can look up a lot of nutritional info on the Starbucks site. There are more healthy options at Starbucks - these are just my favorites. What's your favorite?

To see what's working for everybody, stop by Works-For-Me-Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family!

Lisa :)